With a new, temporary senior sergeant installed in Dunton, Jake had finally secured a weekend off. Kelly and Mason Campbell were being held until their initial court dates some months hence; he had put Amelia, Charlotte and Lilith in touch with each other—which had apparently resulted in much squealing followed by copious tears; and he had sat at the Campbell manor kitchen table and gently explained to Max the wretched series of events that had led to him having both a grown daughter in Melbourne and a tiny, deceased grandson buried in the vineyard outside.

Seeing how deeply affected Max was by this news, on top to the revelations of his father’s gruesome crimes, Jake had ensured he was given a police escort to and from the airport when he returned to his dying wife. It was the least Jake could do for a man whose entire world was crumbling around him, genuinely through no fault of his own. And Jake would have blamed himself if Max had been in a car accident on the way home.

Which meant, as of today, there were no loose ends left for him to tie up in this case. Two glorious days of his body pressed against the rockface, walks on the beach with Meena and not having to put up with Murphy’s pathetic moping lay ahead.

Stretching his admittedly tight hamstrings, Jake wondered why he hadn’t heard from either Pete or Nic in the past week. Had Pete finally come clean? Was Nic now devastated? Furious with both brothers? Jake held no illusions that if she ever discovered his complicity in Pete’s betrayal she would ruthlessly cut him from her life.

Clasping his hands together and swinging them overhead to loosen his shoulders, he worried at his lack of plan for moving forward. Would he remain in Dunton for the balance of his two-year secondment or take up Hobart’s offer of a transfer to headquarters? They needed an answer by Monday and he still had no idea which way he was leaning.

And he didn’t want to give a moment’s thought to where things might be headed with Meena. That shouldn’t be a factor in where he decided to take his career. She was lovely, as was her ball-of-energy dog, but he’d known her less than a month. How long could he spend with her free of any future plans without becoming the stereotypical non-committal guy?

For now, at least, he didn’t have to make a decision.

Jake reached for the first cold, solid handhold on the cliff face and felt all thoughts of the future and past slip away as he and the mountain became one.

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