Chapters (58)
- COVER PAGE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- DEDICATION
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Twenty-five
- Twenty-six
- Twenty-seven
- Twenty-eight
- Twenty-nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-one
- Thirty-two
- Thirty-three
- Thirty-four
- Thirty-five
- Thirty-six
- Thirty-seven
- Thirty-eight
- Thirty-nine
- Forty
- Forty-one
- Forty-two
- Forty-three
- Forty-four
- Forty-five
- Forty-six
- Forty-seven
- Forty-eight
- Forty-nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-one
- Fifty-two
- Fifty-three
- Acknowledgements
In the kitchen, he put a frozen chicken fettuccine in the microwave and set the kettle to boil. Unable to delay it any longer, he rang Sterling on his way back to the lounge room. It was already 8.15.
‘Hi, Mitch,’ she said a little hesitantly, and he realised he wasn’t the only one who was nervous.
‘Hey, Nerida, how are things with you?’
She sighed. ‘I don’t have anything to report. Heidi wasn’t rostered on today, so nothing more has happened there. What about you? I saw the case notes about the possible forged signature.’
‘It’s just been confirmed as a forgery.’ He told her about the meeting scheduled for the morning. ‘Sorry I didn’t call you last night; I was in the car with Ryder. We didn’t get back to Thredbo until three in the morning.’
‘I knew where you were. Ryder messaged me.’
‘Ah, I should have known he would have given you the heads up.’
‘Look, Mitch, I want to apologise,’ she said quickly, as though anxious to get the words out.
‘For what?’
‘For the way I spoke to you. I was so angry—’
‘You had every reason to be angry. Anyway, it was my fault. The guy was a dipshit, but I shouldn’t have let him get to me.’
‘And I shouldn’t have hung up like that. You’ve been so great, checking in with me every night. It was unfair.’
‘I’ll live, and I’m tougher than I look. I’m right into this mountain stuff now.’
She laughed, sounding more like her normal self. ‘Tell me what happened today. The case notes haven’t been uploaded yet.’
That was another thing he had to do.
Flowers told her about their visit to Garrett’s property and his second trip to Buchanan Hut.
‘Ethan Lorrimer and Cate Buchanan,’ she said softly. ‘Who would have thought?’
‘Not me,’ Flowers said with a chuckle. ‘My chin hit the floor when he stepped out of the dark.’
‘I bet.’
‘So, what’s tomorrow looking like?’ he asked after a few moments of silence.
‘I’m rostered on for lunch, so I’ll probably go for a run in the morning. It’s a bit like Groundhog Day, really.’
They talked for a few more minutes, and then Flowers said goodnight, relieved that she was no longer angry at him. Life wasn’t as enjoyable when things were tense between him and Sterling.
In the kitchen, he took his meal from the microwave and carried it over to the computer. He had ten minutes to eat before he was due to sign in.
Thirty-one
Sterling opened her eyes and stared at the blackness, struggling to orient herself for a few seconds before remembering where she was. Rolling over in the dark, she reached out and tapped her phone screen, then propped herself up on one elbow to look at the time. Ten minutes past midnight.