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
Sterling gave Flowers a grateful smile then looked at Ryder. ‘I think I needed to talk to someone from my real life, Sarge, and Flowers was the closest, and he’s the one I know best. I’ve seen you at our meetings, but that’s different, we’re on limited time.’
‘How do you feel now?’ Ryder asked.
‘Better.’ She looked him straight in the eye. ‘Honestly, I feel better.’
‘Ready to go back?’
‘Yes, I want to see this out.’
‘In that case, let’s get you out of here before people start to wake up.’
Thirty-four
‘Sterling’s back in Khancoban,’ Ryder said, looking at his phone as they walked towards the offices of Thomas and Associates. ‘A message just came through.’
‘That’s good,’ said Flowers.
Ryder glanced at his partner. He’d been quiet during the forty-minute trip from Thredbo to Cooma. ‘She did the right thing coming to see you.’
Flowers hesitated, his hand on the door of the legal office, and looked at Ryder. ‘Despite the risks?’
‘Yes, she recognised she needed to do something for her own wellbeing. That’s healthier than ignoring it.’
Flowers nodded and opened the door, and they climbed the stairs to the first floor.
The Lorrimer brothers were in the reception area. Ethan nodded from the other side of the room where he was casually flicking through a magazine. Dan stood up immediately and made a beeline for Ryder.
‘Detective, are you any closer to finding out who put the tractor on the runway? We’re all looking over our shoulders at the moment.’
‘I can assure you we’re doing everything we can to find out.’
Dan nodded and glanced towards the stairs. ‘Heidi didn’t come home last night, and we haven’t been able to get hold of her. We’ve left her several messages. Hopefully, she just hasn’t bothered to respond and will turn up anyway.’
Ryder looked around as Jeremy Thomas came into the reception area and beckoned them into the conference room. ‘That’s unfortunate,’ he told Dan, ‘but I think it’s more important that the two of you are here.’
Dan and Ethan glanced at each other as they filed in and took seats around the table. Ryder put his phone in the middle and asked for permission to record. Flowers took out his notepad and pen.
‘We appreciate your cooperation in allowing us to speak to Mr Thomas about the legal structure the family has in place,’ Ryder began. ‘During our discussions, Mr Thomas mentioned that around three weeks ago, a lawyer acting for your brother, Art, emailed this office and requested a copy of the family trust deed.’
Dan Lorrimer frowned. Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
‘Did you send a copy?’ Dan asked, turning towards Thomas.
Thomas turned a silver pen over in his hands. ‘I did. I was required to.’
‘Why didn’t we know about this, Jeremy?’ Ethan asked.