Brandon woke them as he drove into town and Sam opened Amy’s laptop to the tracking app. “Still nothing.”
It didn’t matter. They’d get the lie of the land, figure out how many targets they had and then take photos of the number plates of all the cars. Dot had probably already done so but maybe Amy or Darcy would recognise one as a guest they’d had out at the Ridge.
He drove down a side road which ran between the caravan park and the beach. There were no streetlights and he doubted anyone would be out at this time of night. Switching off the car he made one last effort to keep Amy out of trouble. “You should stay in the car.”
She had the door open before he finished his sentence and admiration filled him. He reassured himself she should be safe. Most people in the caravan park would be asleep and he doubted they would confront their target.
The caravan park had low pine fences which weren’t meant to keep people out, but to demarcate the boundaries. They walked onto the property and over to the trees next to the ablution blocks. Sam checked his phone where he’d plugged in the GPS coordinates and then pointed. “Halfway along that road.”
Not many empty sites here. A couple of heavy off-road caravans mixing with more luxurious options with expanding sides, as well as two four-wheel drives which had rooftop tents. He dismissed the sites which had children’s bikes stacked against the caravan which left them with four options.
The lighting in the park was annoyingly good, with lit bollards every ten metres to illuminate the way to the toilets. As they stood under a tree on one of the empty sites, an older man came out of one of the caravans they were assessing and wandered along to the toilet without noticing them.
“Do we cross him off?” Sam asked.
Brandon nodded. The man shuffled along like he needed a hip replacement. No way he would have been able to search the farmhouse in the time they’d been away. But maybe the man could help them.
“Stay here.”
Amy opened her mouth to protest and he pressed his finger to her lips. The warmth of them set a spark through his body. “I’m in charge,” he murmured.
She nodded.
Brandon waited until the man exited the building and then moved out from under the tree, checking his phone and then the number of the site. The older man hesitated when he saw Brandon, so Brandon kept his steps slow as he approached him. “Mate, can you help me? I’m meant to be staying with a friend here, but my car blew a tyre just north of Geraldton and it took almost all day to get it fixed.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “My friend said he was in site twenty-three but it’s empty. He’s not answering his phone and I don’t know what rig he’s in. I don’t want to wake anyone I don’t have to.”
“Only guy travelling alone is an Asian bloke staying in the site behind mine.” The man pointed.
Excitement simmered in Brandon’s blood. If Stonefish was registered in Singapore it made sense it would have Asian workers. “Yeah, sounds like him.”
“Not very friendly, is he?”
“He’s not good with strangers,” Brandon said. “Thanks, mate.” He waved and walked towards the site the man had pointed out which had a four-wheel drive camper on it. Sam and Amy joined him.
“Good thinking,” Sam said.
“Doesn’t mean it’s the right place, but it’s a good bet.” But now what? The bed was on top of the car with a ladder to reach it. “You think there’s only one person inside?”
“Yeah. Unless Stonefish employees like to get cosy with each other.”
“I’m going to look inside the windows.” Make sure no one was sleeping in the car.
“We’ll wait by the chalet,” Sam said, indicating the building across from the camp site which had no car next to it.
Good call. He continued to the four-wheel drive as if it was his camp site. Soft snores came from the bed on the roof so he switched on his phone torch and scanned the interior of the car. A duffel bag, food and what looked like a gun lock box tucked under the seat. Not good. He moved around the other side and saw the edge of a laptop peeking out from under a blanket, the Milky Way skin on the front identifying it as Ed’s. Bingo.
The urge to drag the man from his bed was strong, but stealth would be better. He re-joined the others who were standing in the chalet’s shadow. “It’s him.”
“Should we wake him?” Amy asked.
“No, he’ll wake the whole camp.” He looked at Sam. “You think it’s better to leave him to the police?” Sam had argued against them coming, and now Brandon had seen the gun lock box he wasn’t as keen to confront the man. Particularly not with Amy here.
“Police might not get here before he leaves.”
So they would monitor him and call Dot if he made a move. Dot had been working hard the past few days and she deserved her sleep. Now he just had to get Amy out of harm’s way. “Where’s Georgie’s place?”
“Across the other side of town, close to the harbour,” she answered.
“We’ll stay here until morning,” he said to her. “I can take you to Georgie’s so you can sleep and we’ll pick you up when we’re done.”
