Flood country Page 7

  Sharon asked, ‘Was your camera in the car with you?’

  ‘Yep, and my laptop too’ he replied, puzzled.

  ‘Well they’ve disappeared then,’ said Sharon. ‘The police have suggested some a-holes might have come past, thought you were dead and helped themselves; but why wouldn’t they take your other valuables as well, you have to ask?’

  Jack, beaming, said, ‘Well if they were after the photos we took I’ve got news for them,’ reducing his voice to a whisper. ‘I’ve still got them. I emailed them to my office in Sydney just before I left the motel.’

  Pip and Sharon looked at one another then back at Jack. ‘You clever dick, Miller,’ said Sharon. ‘How can I get them?’

  ‘If you’ve got a wireless Internet connection on your laptop, I can do it from here,’ said Jack.

  ‘I’ll be right back,’ said Sharon as she darted out the door.

  Left alone momentarily, Jack looked at Pip. ‘I just wanted to say thank you, for saving my life, it seems.’

  Pip returned, and held his gaze. ‘You’re most welcome. I told you there was a serious man shortage here. Couldn’t let the most eligible one bail on us, now could I.’ Then, continuing on, she said, ‘If you want to, when they let you out of here you’re most welcome to come stay at my place to recuperate. You’ll need some help, I figure, to get a car sorted and with your shoulder and all.’

  Jack paused, seeming to consider this offer at length, teasing her, then smiled. ‘That would be great, Pip. What happened to us meeting under the cover of darkness?’ She blushed again, just as Sharon threw back the curtain with her laptop already firing up.

  Jack quickly accessed his webmail account and downloaded the photos to Sharon’s laptop. ‘I suggest you copy those onto a few USB sticks and share them between us so we’ve got some backups. Seems there may be people keen to get hold of them,’ said Jack.

  This reminded Sharon of her news. ‘On that subject, I had a friend in the Lands Department track down who owns that block where the water ended up. It’s owned by Primus In-vestments,’ she said, lowering her voice. ‘I had to chase it further through the ASIC site; but surprise, surprise are you ready for this? Once you work your way back through all the various companies, of which GrowOz is one incidentally, there is a very interesting parent company.’

  She paused for effect which wasn’t needed as she had their complete attention. ‘Goodacres,’ she whispered. ‘Guys, this is all about the top end of town. One of our best known supermarket chains—a multinational—stealing water. There has been gossip for some time that the supermarkets were out here buying up land just for their water licences. It’s to make sure they have water for growing fruit and vegetables if the predicted impacts of climate change turn out to be real. It seems they’re also into nicking a bit of water on top of that.’ Sharon had that look of journalistic zeal in her eyes; as Pip and Jack, still stunned by the news, took a few seconds to absorb the information.

  ‘Are you sure, Sharon? If it’s true this is huge,’ Jack declared, ‘and scary.’

  Sharon replied confidently, ‘Oh, yes. There’s no doubt. You can directly link Primus Investments to GrowOz and then to Goodacres.’

  All three sat and stared into space for a minute, considering the enormity of what Sharon’s information might mean. A direct link between the owner of the land where water was being diverted illegally, it seemed, a major agribusiness company and one of Australia’s biggest supermarket chains—wow!

  Breaking their reverie, nurse Brenda hastened in, suggestng it might be time for them to leave Jack in peace, and bustled out again. End of conversation.

  As she was leaving, Sharon turned to Jack, ‘Now that I know your camera and laptop are definitely missing, my first call tomorrow will be Sergeant Pat McMahon to see what he’s got to say about that.’

  Chapter 23

  The next morning Sharon pushed her way through the heavy old timber door of the Dawson Police Station. Sitting at a desk cluttered with papers was a young female constable who she had never seen before.

  ‘Hi,’ said Sharon in a friendly tone. ‘I’m Sharon Davis from the Dawson Times. I was wondering if Sergeant McMahon was in?’

  The young constable stood up and approached the counter. ‘G’day, I’m Lisa Brown, the new constable here,’ she said extending her hand to shake Sharon’s.

  ‘Welcome to Dawson, Lisa. Hope you enjoy your time here. Where did you come from before here?’

  ‘I’m fresh out of the academy. This is my first posting,’ she said, making Sharon feel all of her 36 years. ‘I think the sarge is here, let me check if he can see you.’ With that she disappeared out the back and Sharon heard her asking Sergeant McMahon if Sharon could see him.

  Sharon overheard him say, ‘What the hell would she want? Ah, ok, show her in.’

  Sharon wasn’t surprised by his tone—they’d had a few runins in the past over various stories she’d run in the newspaper. She had little time for him either.

  Smiling, Lisa showed Sharon through to the Sergeant’s office.

  ‘Hey Pat, how goes it?’ she asked.

  ‘Usual shit, Sharon, nothing that would interest the paper. A break in, a DUI and some young idiots throwing rocks at grey nomads,’ he mused. ‘What brings you here?’

  ‘Well, I’m a bit interested in that car accident involving Jack Miller. He and I were cadets together in Sydney years ago and there’s something about it seems a bit curious to me,’ she said, staring at him.

  ‘I hear he’s come out of the coma and is going to be alright, which is good news,’ Pat replied. ‘What aspect of the accident do you find of interest? There was nothing to suggest foul play from what I saw out at the crash scene.’

  ‘Jack’s adamant his camera and laptop were in the car, although Pip and Mike tell me they weren’t there when they pulled him out of the wreck. Did you see them anywhere, Pat?’

  ‘No, I didn’t. That is a bit of a puzzle. As I said to Mike, maybe somebody found him before he and Pip did and helped themselves. Better get Jack to come in and fill out a “Lost and Found” form so we can try to track ’em down,’ Pat offered.

  Sharon fired up. ‘Are you serious? You know that Jack is helping Mike look into some, shall we say, curious water diversions, and had photos of one such instance on that camera. It seems quite a coincidence that shortly after he took the photos this happens and his camera and laptop magically disappear. You don’t see any reason to do more than get him to fill in a fucking “Lost and Found” form?’

  Pat responded in kind. ‘Now you listen to me, Sharon bloody Davis. I don’t care who you work for. No-one comes in here and accuses me of having my head in the sand. I call it as I see it and if that’s not good enough for you, you can go to my superior officer in regional command and take it up with him.’

  Sharon stood and stormed toward the door. ‘Pat, I reckon your head’s not in the sand mate; it’s slap bang up between the cheeks of your arse. Trust me; this is not the end of this.’ She slammed the door of the police station for good effect as she left.

  Glancing back she saw a sheepish-looking Constable Brown following her with her eyes. She had a strange expression on her face which puzzled Sharon.

  Chapter 24

  Mike had spent the morning tending to the usual farm chores—repaired the tractor, fixed the chook run where a fox had gotten in the previous night and taken two of his prized hens, and started to make himself a new mailbox. After a quick lunch he loaded up the ute with some bales of hay to hand feed his few remaining stock in the bottom paddock and set off to get this done.

  He’d rung the hospital and got an update on Jack. When he got back from feeding the cattle he would ring Pip. As he headed away from the house, with old Max on the back of the ute and the younger dogs trailing behind, there were eyes watching him through binoculars from the main road. It was Billy. Marcus sat beside him. ‘Billy, what exactly are we looking for?’

  ‘Christ, I don’t know. Vinnie said
anything that looked like it had Wellsmore’s signature on it or was on Water Department letterhead. He said that if we couldn’t find anything, to just torch the place.’

  With Mike and the dogs out of sight, they drove slowly up to the front of the house, facing the car to make a quick getaway if required. They knew country homesteads were never locked so walked straight in the front door and started to look around. ‘You check out the office. I’ll see if he’s got any other stashes,’ Billy whispered, although he wasn’t sure why.

  After a few moments Billy heard Marcus opening filing cabinet drawers and rifling through the desk. He quickly searched the rest of the house but only found photo albums and other family memorabilia, nothing of interest. He joined Marcus in the study which by now was strewn with papers. ‘Find anything?’

  ‘Nah, just lots of letters bitching about people stealing water and shit like that. Nothing from Wellsmore, or signed by him. What’ll we do now?’

  ‘Vinnie said torch it so stick a match in this lot. I’ll do the same out here and then let’s get out of here,’ said Billy.

  Mike only had two bales of hay to spread for his few remaining cows so was about halfway back when he saw smoke coming from the homestead. He heard a car hightailing it down the road. ‘You bastards,’ he screamed as he drove the utestraight through two gates to get back to the homestead.

  Bush fires are a regular part of country life—especially during a drought—so Mike had his fire pump sitting in place and ready for action under the elevated tank. The fire hadn’t taken complete control just yet, so he started the pump with one practiced pull of the cord and it spluttered into life.

  Since Marg had died, and he was on his own, Mike had anticipated the need to fight a fire single-handed. He’d installed sprinklers along the ridge line of the corrugated iron roof, and he flicked the lever on the fire pump to send water through them. Instantly it was like it was rain falling on his house.

  It was then Mike saw smoke billowing out of the back door near his office. He ran with the hose to the office window, smashed it in and thrust the hose inside. In a few seconds the fire was extinguished and Mike withdrew the hose and went in through the back door to check for other fires. There was another one under his book case. ‘You mongrels,’ he exclaimed, and advanced into the back room and quickly doused that fire too.

  ‘Now, you pricks, where else did you light?’ Mike quickly checked the remaining rooms. They were all clear. He went back outside and turned the fire pump off before sitting down to survey the scene. He was full of seething anger but running low on adrenalin and he started to shake all over.

  Chapter 25

  After about 15 minutes Mike recovered enough to go back inside to make himself a cup of tea. The house smelled of smoke, ash and water. What a mess, he thought, but at least I didn’t lose the lot.

  While sipping his tea he called Pip and told her what had happened. Pip was livid. ‘You have to call the police. That’s arson.’

  ‘What’s the point? Bloody Pat won’t do anything. He’ll probably say it was caused by faulty wiring or some such shit and not even write it up. Or, he’ll say I’ve made some enemies and this was to be expected. End of story.’

  ‘I’m going to ring Sharon and see what she thinks. We might pop out in the chopper to see you in the morning. I think it’s time for another strategy meeting,’ declared Pip.

  Pip immediately called Sharon and told her about Mike’s fire incident. Sharon said, ‘I think Mike’s right. I’ve just come from seeing Pat McMahon and he’s firmly in someone’s pocket. We’ll get no joy there. It might be time to call my copper mate in Sydney again. I think the signs are now loud and clear that we’ve trodden on an ants nest and they’re coming out to fight. We need reinforcements.’

  ‘Why don’t you make that call and I’ll go pick up Jack from the hospital—they need the bed so he’s being discharged in my care. We can meet back at my place. I told Mike we might come out to see him in the morning,’ said Pip.

  ‘Sounds good,’ replied Sharon.

  Sharon called Luke Matthews again. She was agitated and it showed as she said in rapid fire, ‘Luke, Sharon again. Listen mate, we’ve had no joy with the local sergeant. Our boy Jack says his camera—with the incriminating photos—and his laptop were with him in the car and now they’ve disappeared. Sergeant’s blaming some passer-by scum for nicking them from the car while Jack was unconscious. Bit of a stretch if you ask me. Then, added to that, some bastards tried to set fire to our whistle-blowing farmer’s place. He saved it, though only just. This is starting to heat up and I think we need some serious law enforcement, not the tin badge copper we’ve got here. Oh, and by the way our clever journo Jack saved a copy of the photos, so I have them. Do you want me to email them to you so you can run the rego plate from the ute?’

  ‘Jesus Christ, Sharon, slow down a bit. Sure, send me the photos; I’ll check them for you. This is starting to sound a bit out of hand but I do have to be careful about jurisdicti—that’s not my patch you know. I’ve been thinking that if your farmer does have the proof he claims it sounds like something the Independent Commission Against Corruption, ICAC, should look into. Corruption is their game after all. With Jack’s photos we might have something to get them interested. I’ll make a discreet call and see what I can stir up. Hold tight, possum, and you guys avoid being alone. These fellas are ramping it up.’

  ‘If you do speak to ICAC they might be interested in what I found out about where the water from this illegal diversion ended up—on a property owned by a company called Primus Investments, which is a sister company of GrowOz agribusiness and both of these are in turn owned by Goodacres, the supermarket chain,’ said Sharon.

  Luke whistled at this bombshell. ‘Are you serious? Yes, I think that might get their attention. I’ll get back to you.’

  Sharon hung up, deep in thought as she emailed Jack’s photos to Luke. I need to know what Mike’s got on Wellsmore or this might all come to nothing, she thought.

  Pip walked into Jack’s ward—a little late—to find him dressed and waiting for her. He greeted her with, ‘Thought you might have changed your mind about me invading your sanctuary.’

  ‘Jacky boy, I keep telling you; you’re a rare commodity out here, so your chances of escaping are zero,’ she teased.

  I’m starting to like this Jacky boy tag, he thought, especially from Pip.

  They drove back to Pip’s place and she helped him gingerly remove himself from the car. She re-introduced him to her dogs Spanner, Chisel and Mallet. They were doing leaps and bouncing around, pleased to see Pip return. ‘The boys do like to have me home,’ she said. ‘C’mon guys, I’ve got some sheep offal for you as a treat tonight.’ Not for me thanks, thought Jack.

  Like her office, the inside of Pip’s house wasn’t what you would describe as orderly; but then, Jack thought, neither is my place. There was a small kitchen, with a centre bench squeezed in somehow. ‘Cosy’ was how a real estate agent would describe it. The lounge-dining area had polished floors and big rugs that made it feel welcoming. There was the usual old fireplace and mantel and some comfy looking lounges. The walls had photos of Pip in air force gear posed in front of an Iroquois helicopter; Pip and her mum and dad, Jack assumed; and several of Pip in her new life posed with lots of knockabout looking blokes including Jimmy the pig shooter. It was her life displayed through photos.

  ‘You look good in air force gear,’ said Jack. There was a momentary silence from the other room.

  ‘I’ve still got it somewhere. Would you like me to put it on?’ she replied. Touché, thought Jack.

  ‘Maybe later,’ he kept the game going.

  Pip came into the room. ‘I’ve put your stuff in the spare room, so maybe it’s time I filled you in on the latest developments.’

  They went outside under the pergola. The scent of the wisteria again dominated. While it was very hot, the scene was still idyllic and if he’d been feeling better Jack would have suggested t
hey go down to the river for a swim. While this thought was passing through his brain, Pip started telling him all that had happened since his accident. When she told him about the attempt to burn down Mike’s place, he was outraged. ‘How dare they,’ was all he could say.

  As Pip was finishing her account, they heard a car arriving. ‘That’s probably Sharon,’ she said. ‘We thought it might be good for us to come up with a game plan before we go out to Mike’s in the morning. We think it’s time we went on the front foot.’

  ‘Looking good, Jack,’ Sharon bellowed from the driveway; then unable to restrain herself, and looking at his arm in its sling, ‘Might have overdone the wanking, old mate,’ which lightened the mood.

  Sharon and Jack settled in and Pip went inside to organise some afternoon tea. While she was gone Sharon said, ‘I want to thank you Jack. You reminded me of why I became a journo. This story is huge, and if we can nail these bastards we’ll be bigger than Erin fucking Brockovich. That said, I have to admit I’m shit scared and think we need some reinforcements. What they did to you and the fire at Mike’s—these are bloody desperate people, Jack, and we still don’t really know who they are for certain.’

  Pip returned with a tray of food and juice in hand. Overhearing the end of their conversation, she said, ‘Sharon’s right. We really need to put a face or name to the enemy. Have you spoken to your detective mate again yet?’

  ‘Yes, a couple of times and again just before coming here. He’s arranged to see this bloke in ICAC tomorrow. He said that if they show interest we may need to go down to Sydney to brief them face to face. He reckons that if both of them showed up here it might spook the enemy and they’ll go to ground,’ said Sharon.

  ‘Ok, so we have to wait to hear on that front. Has anything happened regarding the hard evidence we need to get from Mike or his mole in the system?’ asked Jack.