“They’re dangerous guys. You don’t want to get on their wrong side.”
“You never said—”
Lance cut him off. “It’s a massive operation, probably some kind of crime syndicate, what the hell did you think?”
“I didn’t.”
A flash of light caught Georgie’s eye in the range above them. It came from about halfway up and Georgie scanned the area looking for another flash. She hadn’t brought her binoculars with her. There it was again. Definitely something moving up there, and not an animal of the four-legged variety. She stiffened, suddenly feeling very exposed. From that angle the trees wouldn’t shelter them. The men were still arguing, but she interrupted them. “These people you’re working for, are they likely to keep watch on you—make sure you’re doing things right?”
Lance turned to her. “That’s what they said, but we’re in the middle of nowhere.”
Lee. It had to be. “For argument’s sake, what if someone was watching us now? What would they do if they knew the police were on their way?” Whoever was up there had a clear shot of all three of them.
Lance whirled around, checking every direction. “What did you see?”
“Someone’s up on the range. Get behind the cars.” Georgie moved around the back of her car, while the men went in front of it. No point giving them an easy opportunity to tackle her. She ducked low, the solid metal providing welcome protection. “Sit down.”
They both sat in the shade of their four-wheel drive. Georgie grabbed two water bottles out of her esky and threw one to each of them but didn’t sit. She crouched, keeping enough distance that she’d have warning if Lance chose to attack.
“What the fuck have you got me involved in?” Jay asked.
Lance shrugged, miserable. “I’ve almost got enough to buy a house. I was going to stop when I did.”
“They approached you?” Georgie asked.
“Yeah. I was up here on holiday and had been mouthing off at the pub about how expensive housing was and that I’d be renting forever. Someone approached me as I left that night.”
“This Matt?”
“Mark. His name is Mark.”
Relief filled Georgie.
“Said it was easy money. All we had to do was come up here every month, check the traps and bring anything we found to them.”
“Where?”
“The gulf. They’d ship the animals out.”
Interesting. Declan had said most animals were smuggled in the mail. But if they had enough animals, maybe it was more cost effective to ship them together—or they were shipping something else as well. “How long have you been doing this?”
“Six months.”
“This is my first time,” Jay said.
Sucks to be him.
It was another half an hour before the police arrived. Sergeant Dot Campbell drove and with her was her constable, Colin Lipscombe. She parked next to Georgie’s car. “Is this where the other traps were?” she asked Colin.
He shook his head. “They were another five kilometres south.”
Dot studied the two men on the ground. “Did they give you any trouble?” she asked Georgie.
Georgie shook her head. “But I think someone might have been watching us from the ranges.”
Dot gave her her full attention. “Why?”
“I saw a flash of light up there, like the reflection off glass. It happened twice, so we moved behind the cars so we were out of view.”
