‘They’re not going on the mantelpiece,’ he chided her. ‘There’s this place in North Queensland called Wonga Beach – white sand, fishing shacks and long lazy days. I think it’s just the place to buy Uncle Frank his last beer.’

Epilogue

Epilogue

Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore

Even though the night air was soft and sultry, Mia Carter still hadn’t quite thawed out. Safe and sound, feet up on the balcony rail of their suite, it was hard to believe that a week ago she’d been drowning in a steel tomb – that her life might have ended there, instead of beginning anew with this man, Rob Nash, whose strong hand rested intimately on her thigh.

Helped by OPM, they had walked for a week, evading Indonesian patrols and aircraft, before making it across the PNG border where, to their amazement, a party of Australian journalists had found them. It seemed Saworno had got out by boat and raised the alarm. This had expedited their immediate evacuation from PNG, with no backlash from Sir Julius Michaels, who was destined for Bomona jail. It also meant the 9.8-kilogram chunk of melted gold bullion, their farewell present from Donte Babo, was safely being accommodated in the hotel safe.

Of course, her joy at being alive was tempered by loss. So many good people had died, and although there were other hospital missions in Papua, the US ambassador was adamant that Mia should never set foot on Indonesian soil again.

At the thought of that lonely stone marker among the oak trees, she felt a lump in her throat. Rest in peace, Paul.

Whatever the truth really was, I will always remember the good you did and the kindness you showed me.

Sitting beside Mia, Nash sensed she was re-evaluating where she was in the world.

So was he.

Rob Nash was not a religious or superstitious man, but no one would ever persuade him that Natalie had not come and saved his life that day under the Hoosenbeck. She had forgiven him. Now he was going to write a true account of the accident and publish it in the national cave diving journal. He was going to ring Brendan and explain. And he was going to take Jacquie and his parents on a holiday to Wonga Beach, and properly bury what was left of old Frank Douglas.

And he was going to go cave diving again.

Staring out at the glittering skyscrapers, Nash felt a moment of regret. That vast hidden passage, blocked by countless tons of rock, was gone, and with it the mysteries of the Hoosenbeck system. But who was he to begrudge anything? In its stone innards, he had been made whole again. He had found himself, and he had found Mia.

Nash brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

‘What now?’

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements