‘The overseer disappeared,’ explained Craig, pushing up the brim of his stockman’s hat.‘They found his vehicle abandoned, with some blood inside, but no sign of him anywhere.’
‘Sounds like you know the place?’Stone asked.
‘I did a few musters on Dixby Downs, back when they’d put in a ton of money on a few new outstations, before the overseer disappeared.Rumour has it the overseer borrowed money from the wrong people, and well…’ He paused to rub the back of his neck.‘The family were so heartbroken, they shut the station down, and it’s been deserted ever since.’Craig then tapped on the map.‘There are three outstations.Here, here, and here.’
‘But do they have the facilities to run a crocodile farm?’Finn asked the team.
‘You saw how easy it was to set up the hatchery out at Craig’s place,’ replied Stone.‘Those hatchlings would only need water, shelter, and power run by a generator.If Griffin and Lenora have only bought their property, I doubt they’d have any infrastructure.Do those outstations have sheds?’
Craig nodded.‘Only one of them has a new shed.The other two have a covered structure, but they never finished the rebuilds.But all three outstations at Dixby Downs have bores to fill their tanks.’Craig tapped on the map at the possible locations.
Stone tilted his head at the spot.‘Well, hell, would you look at that?’
‘What?’Romy tugged on Stone’s shirt as she leaned in closer.
‘That outstation sits right along the edge of both Griffin and Lenora’s property line.And well within that one-hour travel time from Saltscale.’
‘Romy, that’s where I want you to do a flyover first.’Finn tapped on the map.‘Stone, can you do a scout around too, undetected?’
‘Easy as.I’ll look for a place to use for surveillance, and I’ll give you a heads-up on road conditions.’Already the adrenaline rush had begun.‘Come on, Romy, let’s get our birds in the air.’
‘Stone?’Finn motioned at him to step aside.
‘Go ahead, Romy, you can unpack your drone.’Stone watched her walk away, as Finn’s heavy boot tread crunched closer behind him—a stark contrast to the soft footfalls of the hatchery staff.It reminded him of the light walker Craig had tracked to the white lab coat.Could Bastion be the mastermind behind this theft and also be involved in the rough stock theft, too?
‘I know what you’re going to say, Finn.’
‘Well, I’m going to say it anyway.Are you too close, if it is Lenora Rowntree in charge of the thefts?’
Stone sighed, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.‘Even with the evidence pointing that way, I don’t want to believe it.But if it is, I’ll still do my job.Look, Malcolm may be a mongrel with his moods, but for Lenora to steal from her family, especially poor Celeste…’
Finn stepped in closer, his voice even lower.‘Being who you are, I want you to look at it this way… If you worked your arse off for your father’s company and he gave it to some mail clerk who’d barely turned twenty-two, wouldn’t you be ticked off?’
Lenora’s brother, Jed, was twenty-two, nominated to be the next in charge of a multimillion-dollar family business.But he’d always known Lenora as a sweet kid who doted on her baby brother and took care of her mother.
Stone rubbed his closed eyelids, blocking out the world, while effectively shutting down any emotions.‘I’d do everything I could to take it back in a hostile takeover.Like I’ll do everything in my power to help recover that stolen stock as part of this team.I may have had some differences with my old man, but I’d never steal from my family or my friends.’It was wrong on so many levels.
‘I know, that’s why you’re part of this team.’Finn patted Stone’s shoulder, then gave a slight wink as he said, ‘Now get out there and do what I pay you to do.’
‘Yes, Bossman.’
Twenty-nine
From the helicopter’s passenger seat, Romy guided her drone while Stone read over her shoulder, both scouting for any sign of the bad guys or their possible hideout.
‘You’re coming up on it now.’Stone pointed to their view of trees that shifted into a condensed sea of olive green.The only break in the vast terrain was the river, winding like a sparkling ribbon, and striking stripes of red dirt tracks as the only sign of human life out here.‘That’s Dixby Downs.’
‘That name gives me the creeps.’She shuddered.
‘Why?Because of the ghost story of the missing overseer?’
She shrugged.‘Do people go missing out here often?’
‘The outback is a dangerous place.’His feet shifted on the pedals as he moved the cyclic stick and throttle so effortlessly the helicopter danced in the air.The helicopter was so much more complex than her drone, yet Stone made it seem so simple.
‘Are we okay?’
Stone groaned into his headset, tilting his head back towards the roof, as if rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses.‘Let’s not do that, okay?’
