‘Which was highly unprofessional. It gives any defence lawyer worth half her salt the ability to defend Madison from anything short of a smoking gun!’ snapped the commander. ‘That’s out of our hands now. But I trust you’ve told Gabriella she’s off the case? Don’t make me do it myself. You’re the lead detective.’

‘Commander,’ said Con, reeling – this call was not going the way he’d expected. ‘I need you to reconsider.’

‘I’ve no doubt you do,’ she said. ‘I’m sending Detective Tran to the Fisherman’s Hut to join Forensics. You’re sending Gabriella home, right now, or you’ll join her.’

‘Commander, I —’

‘Get in there, Badenhorst, and determine if Jack is telling the truth or not. Before you go after Madison Mason. Oh, and Cornelius? I’m coming to Limestone Creek. It’s time I was on the ground. I’ll be there in a few hours. If I cross paths with Gabriella, I’ll know you were too weak to follow directions.’

The line went dead.

Maybe she’s not a morning person? thought Con angrily. Well, neither am I.

He stalked back into the waiting room. Gabriella was still sleeping, but Eliza was gone, replaced by a nurse who was scrolling through his phone. He saw Con coming and quickly put his phone away. ‘Mr Michaels is awake. You can head through, if you like. Your other colleague is already in there.’ He glanced at Gabriella. ‘I didn’t know if I should wake this one or not, but the other detective didn’t seem concerned.’

Con left Gabriella asleep, stalking after the nurse towards Jack’s room.

CHAPTER 26

ELIZA

Bare seconds after Con had left the room to make his phone call, Eliza looked up to see a young nurse enter the waiting room, typing on his tablet in a heavy-duty case.

The nurse looked down at Gabriella, gently snoring, and turned to Eliza. ‘Detective?’

Eliza didn’t hesitate. She nodded.

‘Mr Michaels is conscious now, but barely. He’s lost a lot of blood, and he’s only just come out of surgery,’ he said. ‘The surgeon insists that Mr Michaels needs to rest, but we understand you need to speak to him with some urgency. He’s not in a great way, but as he’s just woken up from the anaesthetic and we haven’t started him on the painkillers yet, this might be the only time you’ll get any sense out of him.’

Eliza glanced at Gabriella, asleep on the floor, and then back to the nurse.

‘Yes, we do need to talk to him,’ she said.

‘Okay. Well, please keep it brief, and I’ll need to stay in there with you to monitor his condition.’