Whoever was with her, they were probably members of the Business. Would it be good if the crew saw him there?

Then he noticed the cars parked out the front. A Mustang and a Merc. Expensive cars were not that out of place in Shacktown, but their presence immediately put him on alert. Apart from those working senior roles at Dempsey Abalone, the crew knew not to flaunt their wealth – it always attracted the wrong attention. That meant these cars belonged to out-of-towners. Rich out-of-towners.

His mind went straight to Blackbeard.

Ahab hopped the front fence and slipped up the side of the yard. He spotted a sensor light mounted on the side of the house and hugged the wall, moving slowly underneath it to avoid setting it off. Once he was out of its range, he crouched and crept into the angular leaves of a squat white correa bush, sweet and heady, which afforded him a covert view of the backyard.

Chips had set the fire pot right in the middle of her overgrown yard. The smoke wafted across Ahab’s face, the smell of burning pine just like the Darling’s fireplace. She was in her familiar football jersey and baseball cap, but he didn’t recognise the two strangers who were with her. They looked like hard men, both of them huge and muscular. One of them had two gold chains around his neck, diamonds in his ears, and a black Nike beanie. The other was tall, with a pockmarked face and burning orange hair. They spoke in loud voices that carried across to Ahab as they fed pages into the fire.

‘. . . in that case, he won’t come for the kid,’ said the man with the gold chains.

‘Lucky Forest, I guess,’ said Chips. ‘Reckon Blackbeard would’ve gone through with it?’

‘He never backs out of his threats,’ said the tall one harshly. ‘That’s why they’re so effective. Good lesson to remember, woman. You wanna play with the big boys, you take him seriously.’

‘Don’t call me “woman” . . .’ said Chips. ‘I’ve played with plenty of the big boys.’

‘Yeah, Vance, don’t call her woman,’ said the one with gold chains.

Vance laughed. ‘Got some balls on her, doesn’t she?’

‘Laugh all you want,’ said Chips. ‘But it’s a bit rich coming from the man who couldn’t find Davey even after I told him exactly where his bolthole was.’ She chuckled scathingly. ‘Blackbeard needs me more than he needs your useless arse. So tell me, why does he want the kid left alone?’

Chips had betrayed Davey? No, Chips . . . not you . . .

‘Not up to us to ask questions. No one in your crew touches the boy,’ said the man with the gold chains, while Vance glowered and spat.

‘I’m telling you, Tranquil, I can get the crew to accept Blackbeard’s leadership,’ said Chips. ‘You don’t need to go through Forest to make it happen.’