BooksBarbecue
Back Dead Horse Gap Save as PDF
Chapters (58)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  3. DEDICATION
  4. Prologue
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-one
  26. Twenty-two
  27. Twenty-three
  28. Twenty-four
  29. Twenty-five
  30. Twenty-six
  31. Twenty-seven
  32. Twenty-eight
  33. Twenty-nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-one
  36. Thirty-two
  37. Thirty-three
  38. Thirty-four
  39. Thirty-five
  40. Thirty-six
  41. Thirty-seven
  42. Thirty-eight
  43. Thirty-nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-one
  46. Forty-two
  47. Forty-three
  48. Forty-four
  49. Forty-five
  50. Forty-six
  51. Forty-seven
  52. Forty-eight
  53. Forty-nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-one
  56. Fifty-two
  57. Fifty-three
  58. Acknowledgements

‘I can handle it! I’ve been handling it for thirty years!’ She spat the words down the phone. ‘You have no idea the kind of shit you have to deal with as a woman, you’ve never had to deal with it.’

‘I—’

‘Would you have acted like that if it were Ryder?’

She had him there. Flowers closed his eyes. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t have reacted like that if it were Ryder.’

For a long time, she didn’t say anything, and he resisted the urge to try and explain further. She knew the reason, and he’d only make things worse.

‘You compromised your judgement, and my position,’ she said quietly.

And then she ended the call.

Twenty-four

Ryder sat in the armchair in the darkened suite, watching the snow build up on the windowsill outside. For safety reasons, Jack had installed lighting down both sides of the lodge, and with the curtains drawn back, the suites looked out at the softly illuminated snow gums.

‘Pierce?’

He turned to see Vanessa sitting up in bed. He’d been so preoccupied with his thoughts he hadn’t heard her move.

Vanessa pushed back the covers and came over to him. ‘Can’t you sleep?’ she asked, perching on the arm of the chair.

Ryder shifted a little to give her more room. ‘No. I wish I could, I’m tired enough.’

‘What’s on your mind?’

Ryder rubbed a hand over his eyes. ‘I’m worried about Sterling. I’m meeting her in Perisher in the morning.’

‘Is she handling the job okay?’

Ryder lowered his hand and nodded. ‘She’s been going really well, but we’ve had two serious incidents in the last forty-eight hours.’ He told her about Sterling’s terrifying encounter with the dog, and then her shock at finding Garrett loitering in her street the next day. ‘He had the dog in the back of the ute,’ he said.

Vanessa grimaced. ‘I agree, that sounds dangerous.’

‘I know. I don’t think Sterling will want to come out, but if I decide that she needs to, I might have to override her and extract her on the spot.’

‘And she won’t be happy about that?’

‘I don’t care if she’s unhappy. I care if she’s alive.’

Vanessa nodded, and for a few minutes they watched the snowfall together. ‘Pretty, isn’t it?’ Vanessa said eventually.

‘It’s nice. Jack did a really good job. It’s a lot safer out there now.’

‘And, as a bonus, we get to enjoy the romantic view.’

Vanessa stood up and Ryder did the same. ‘Come on, let’s go back to bed,’ he said. ‘I’m keeping you awake.’

‘Try not to worry,’ she said a little later as they lay side by side. ‘You have good instincts. You’ll know what to do at the time.’

Twenty-five