‘I didn’t tell Stone I was allergic to shellfish.’
‘But I’ll know for next time.’Stone patted her shoulder to put her at ease.But it did nothing to douse the guilt from gripping his guts for doing that to her.
‘Hey, I’m Porter.’Porter wiped his hand on his shirt before holding it out to shake Romy’s.‘You must be the new backpacker?’
‘So I keep getting told.’Romy didn’t look happy about being labelled the backpacker.
But saying it kept her at arm’s length, reminding him she wasn’t here for long.
‘Stone!’Finn stood in the hallway.‘Stop annoying everyone and get your butt in here so we can begin.’
‘Yes, Bossman.Come on, Romy, it’s showtime.’
Seventeen
Romy sat beside Stone, nervously tapping her foot under the round table covered with an assortment of maps, as she listened to the Stock Squad talk about their investigation.It was almost like a production meeting.Except the team leader, Finn, who was running this morning’s meeting, was a scary man, with muscles and tattoos that only added to his lethal blend of a big, tough, take-no-prisoners kind of cop.
She shouldn’t even be here.She wasn’t a cop.But no one said she couldn’t, and like Stone said earlier, this was a rare opportunity to see the inside of an investigation.
‘So, what did you two find yesterday?’Finn asked, before taking a slug of his coffee.
Cowboy Craig put a plastic bag on the table.‘Near The Vegan’s place, we found a security uniform, a lab coat with a swipe card, and a map of the hatchery.Stone and I think they were trying to set her up as a convenient suspect.’
‘You didn’t touch it?’Amara dragged the bag towards her and inspected the contents through the plastic.‘I should be able to get DNA off this.’
‘Stone wore gloves, and I taped him opening the bag.’
‘Did you put the footage in the cloud link I set up?’
‘Yes, Duchess, just like you taught us.’Stone grinned at Craig like there was some inside joke.
Finn shuffled trough the pile of maps covering the table, which was big enough to fit a dozen people, and laid a smaller map on top.‘Did you work out where the thieves’ vehicle went after they left Saltscale?’
‘They left the hatchery here and travelled down the firebreak to the far east gate.’Craig traced his finger over an area of the map for everyone to see.
‘Doug said no one ever used that gate,’ said Stone.‘Yet, it seemed like a well-used gate because the lock opened too cleanly, and the gate wasn’t sticky like you’d expect after the wet season we had.’
‘I agree.’Craig nodded, keeping his finger on the map like a placeholder.‘Those thieves knew where they were going when they left Saltscale, because they headed straight for The Vegan’s place.And if Stone didn’t know her, I would have assumed Raven was the culprit.’
‘Why?’Finn’s question made Amara pause from taking notes on her tablet.
‘Raven has a van, similar to the one the crims drove.Before you ask, I checked out the van, there was nothing in there,’ said Craig.‘But they got right beside Raven’s van.Successfully leading us straight to her like some sort of decoy.’
‘But they weren’t counting on Craig’s exceptional tracking skills,’ said Stone.‘Which are supreme, brother.’
‘Thank you, brother.’The two men bumped fists in a man-bonding moment.
‘Oh, brother, gimme a bucket.’Amara rolled her eyes on the other side of the table.
‘If you two have finished brushing off each other’s egos, where did those tracks lead?’Finn grumbled with that deep gruff voice.
‘Back to the main dirt road.But here’s the funny thing…’ Craig shuffled to the edge of his seat to drag his finger across the map.‘They went a good twenty clicks through that Crown land, here, then turned right onto the main road, here, and headed back towards the crocodile farm.’
‘Why?’Again, Amara paused from scribbling down her notes.
‘It’s got me beat, and I was talking the scenarios over with Izzy last night for hours.’
‘Hmm…’ Finn’s low tone was like the rumble of a lion.‘So, what are we thinking?Did they get the key card from someone at the hatchery?’
