The Girl in the Hard Hat (39 page)

Gavin outside his donga. ‘Look, I know where you’re coming from. Sometimes the actions we take can have repercussions that seem to last a lifetime.’

Gavin in the car. ‘I don’t do commitment. And I certainly don’t do relationships.’

Gavin at the health centre. ‘Here I am trying to protect you and you get hurt anyway.’

Her own fingers trailing down his gorgeous chest. ‘If I didn’t know any better I’d say it was a bullet wound.’

She had been so naive.

So foolish.

So clueless.

Then she remembered one last thing that sent a chill through her bones.

The memory of Peter Marshall leaning close to the window of her car. ‘I won’t tell if you don’t tell.’

She stood up on shaky feet, whispering, ‘I led him right to him. He never would have found him if it weren’t for me.’ She clutched the desk beside her for support.

‘Wendy,
Wendy
,’ Mike was saying urgently. ‘What’s going on?’

Her eyes flew open. ‘I’ve got to find him.’ She turned unsteadily.

‘You’re not going anywhere.’ Mike reached out and grabbed her arm.

‘Let go of me.’ She tried to yank herself out of his grip.

But for a balding old man he was mighty tenacious.

‘No bloody way.’

‘What the fuck is going on here?’ It was Carl. The conversation in the group across the room ceased as eyes turned to her struggle with Mike.

‘I’ve got to get to Gavin,’ she rasped. ‘Now! Something dreadful has happened or is happening to him.’

‘Wendy,’ Lena came towards her, a hand reaching for her shoulder, ‘we’ve just been through this.’

‘Look.’ She drew Lena’s attention to the television, where the druglord’s photo had flashed up again to close the report. ‘That’s the man we left him with, right?’

She allowed the room to fall silent as the rest of the group came closer to observe what was going on. It didn’t take Lena more than thirty seconds to grasp the situation. ‘I’m coming with you,’ she announced.

‘Over my dead body,’ Dan growled. ‘I’ll go with Wendy instead.’

‘No way,’ Lena protested. ‘We’ll both go then.’

‘If Lena’s going, I’m going,’ Sharon announced.

Lena shook her head at Sharon. ‘You’ve got a broken leg. It wouldn’t be a good idea.’

‘It’s only half broken now.’ Sharon patted her boot but Carl threw her a stern look.

‘You’re fuckin’ staying here. I’m the project manager, I’m heading up this rescue.’

‘Nobody should go,’ Mike growled. ‘Not for that waste of space. This is ludicrous, all of you risking your lives for just one man.’

Silence fell as they all turned incredulous eyes on Mike.

‘Fuck,’ said Carl after a moment. ‘Forgot he was still here. Why don’t you just take yourself off, Mike? Have a fuckin’ Cuppa Soup. It’ll make you feel better.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,’ Mike growled. ‘And neither is Wendy.’

‘Oh fuck off, Mike.’ Something in Wendy’s brain snapped. ‘You don’t own me.’

All this arguing was just giving her a headache and frankly wasting her time. She wanted out of there
now
! And she didn’t care who followed and who didn’t.

‘Fine.’ Mike gritted his teeth. ‘But you can’t go alone. Somebody has got to go with you and it might as well be me.’

‘He’s right, little mate.’ Chub, who had been silent so far, finally stepped in. ‘You’re going into a war zone. You’ll need a plan of attack and of escape. It’s nearly five hours till impact. What are you going to do exactly?’

‘I’m going to search Wickham for him.’ Wendy threw up her hands in frustration, wishing they’d all just get out of her way.

‘What’s to say he’s in Wickham?’ Chub demanded. ‘They could have brought him to Karratha. After all, they need to get out of the weather too.’

Wendy pushed her fingers into her hair, scrunching it at the roots. ‘I don’t know. What do you think is more likely?’

‘You need more people on this.’

‘Dan and I will search Karratha,’ Lena offered.

‘Okay,’ Wendy agreed eagerly. ‘And I’ll search Wickham and Point Samson. We’re looking for a green Mitsubishi parked in someone’s driveway.’

‘All right, I’ll go with Wendy,’ Chub announced. Then another thought seemed to occur to him. ‘But what happens when we actually find this green Mitsubishi parked in someone’s driveway?’

‘What do you mean?’ Wendy asked.

‘Well,’ Chub’s expression was dubious, ‘what do you want me to do? Go knock on the door and say, “Hey, Mr Druglord, you know that guy you’ve taken hostage? We’d like him back?”’

‘Yes, Cobber,’ Wendy hissed, her fist smashing fiercely into her palm, ‘that’s exactly what I want you to do. The alternative of just doing nothing is not an option.’

Chub took a hanky from his pocket and mopped his beading brow. ‘I was afraid you were going to say that.’

‘You should take some weapons,’ Sharon put in helpfully. ‘For the confrontation.’

‘Of course, that’ll improve our odds of success dramatically.’ Chub’s face seemed to be going slightly green.

‘I saw some cricket bats in the gymnasium,’ Lena offered.

‘Fuck, that’s good,’ said Carl. ‘You should take those.’

‘Oh yeah,’ Chub added, ‘bloody foolproof.’

‘Chub, stop being so negative or you can stay behind,’ Wendy shot at him. She knew he was just trying to be the voice of reason. But reason played no part in what they were doing. If it did, they wouldn’t be going at all.

‘Sorry, Wendy.’ Chub rolled his heavy shoulders and set his teeth. ‘Just thinking too much.’

‘I’ll be in charge of our cricket bat,’ Dan told Lena dryly. ‘And I’ll do the knocking if it comes to that.’

Chub nodded. ‘So I guess I’m batting for me and Wendy, God help us! But just one more practical question, if you please. Suppose we hit the Sydneysider on the head and make off with Gavin. Lena and Dan can come back here but what if Wendy and I don’t have enough time to make it back to Karratha?’

‘It’s not safe to stay at the camp during the storm,’ Carl interrupted. ‘But you could go to our place in Wickham.’ He shared a look with Sharon and she nodded in agreement.

‘Then that’s what we’ll do,’ Wendy said shortly, itching to be off. All she’d been doing the whole time they were planning was watching the clock. The precious minutes seemed like hours. Deep down she knew she was making decisions like a mad woman.

But it was Gavin out there. She’d served him up to his enemy on a silver platter and now she had to fix this.

Or die trying.

But her friends . . .

‘Listen,’ she started desperately, ‘I know how dangerous this is. You guys don’t have to join me.’

‘Okay, little mate,’ Chub held up his hands for silence, ‘stop talking or you might just persuade me.’

‘I left him behind too,’ Lena said quietly. ‘I want to go.’

Wendy dusted her hands and headed for the door. ‘Then let’s do it now!’

She couldn’t afford to waste another second. Unfortunately her uncle had different plans. He braced himself inside the doorframe, preventing her departure. ‘This is a suicide mission. You can’t go.’

‘Nobody asked you to join us,’ Wendy snapped. ‘Just move out of our way.’

‘No.’ Mike’s blunt refusal made her want to slap him.

‘Fuck, Mike,’ Carl shouted, ‘this is nothing to do with you. Piss off!’

‘Wendy is my family.’ Mike’s eyes were wild as they darted about her group. ‘I’m not going to let her place herself in danger.’

‘I thought I made myself perfectly clear to you months ago.’ Wendy’s voice shook. ‘There is not one drop of your brother’s blood running through my veins. You are not my uncle.’

‘No, I’m not,’ he croaked. ‘I’m your father.’

Wendy’s mind reeled. For a second she couldn’t comprehend his words. Couldn’t take them in. Not when she had so much else going on in her head.

‘I had an affair with your mother. I’m your biological father,’ Mike blurted out.

‘You’re telling me this
now
?!’ she yelled at him, feeling as if her circuit breaker had just hit overload. It was too much.

‘I know it’s a lot to take in,’ Mike babbled. ‘But stay, I’ll explain. We’ll talk about it.’

A lot to take in!

Her brain nearly melted.

‘Shut up!’ Her stomach flipped and she had to press her hand there.

‘I’ll tell you anything you want to know,’ Mike continued. ‘Right here. Right now. It’s what you want, isn’t it? What you’ve been searching for all year.’

‘You insensitive
bastard
!’ She spat out the words, tears smarting in her eyes. Her heart was too full for her ribcage and it beat against her bones, making it difficult to breathe.

Mike paled at her words but he persisted. ‘I’ll explain everything. I’ll tell you what happened. When it happened. Why I left even though it broke my heart.’

‘Wendy, what is he talking about?’ Lena asked.

‘Nothing,’ Wendy retorted. ‘Nothing I want to know about any more. Let’s go.’ She didn’t know where the strength came from but she managed to push him aside and walk through the doorway.

‘Wendy!’ She heard him calling her name. The pleading in his voice did nothing to bend her will.

If he did indeed have something to say to her, then he could wait on her convenience. After all, he had not breathed a word to her about their relationship until it suited his purposes. Perhaps her mother had been right. Perhaps she should never have tried to find him.

Chub, Lena and Dan caught up with her. And in silence they marched through the gymnasium, collected a couple of bats, and a few other bits and pieces from the main hall, like torches and first-aid kits.

Then they were outside.

The wind whipped into Wendy’s hair, somehow refreshing her rather than scaring her. The storm outside was nothing beside the one now raging under her skin. Beating her blood like an ice-cream milkshake.

Anger made her senses sharp. An unstoppable energy infused her nerve endings. Worry fuelled her adrenaline. No one was going to stop her from saving the man she loved.

Not even Mother Nature.

Chub and Wendy wished Lena and Dan luck before hopping into their own ute and making for the main road.

The streets were deserted and wet.

The sun had already slipped behind the clouds. It was getting darker. The air was heavy with moisture and expectation. It felt more like six o’clock in the evening than twelve forty-five in the afternoon. In this light, it was usually common to see families of kangaroos by the side of the road. The dumb things had no sense of danger. But this time there were none to be seen.

Wendy tried to sit calmly in the passenger seat. It was an effort to keep her hands still. Her nerves felt live, like wire that hadn’t been earthed properly. She was sure if anyone touched her they’d receive a shock. There was just too much churning around in her body to suppress.

‘Want to talk about it?’ Chub asked as their vehicle moved onto the main road.

‘No.’

‘Are you sure?’ he prompted. ‘’Cause you look like you’re about to explode.’

‘I don’t want Uncle Mike distracting me from Gavin.’

‘Well, we’re stuck in this car for the next forty-five minutes or more, depending on how bad the weather gets. You might as well get some of it off your chest while there’s still time to kill.’

‘I just don’t understand it,’ she burst out. ‘He had an affair with his sister-in-law. Or his almost sister-in-law. It’s disgusting. I’m an episode of
Dr Phil
waiting to happen.’

‘Well, you know,’ Chub shrugged, ‘maybe that’s why he was so hell-bent on keeping it a secret. He was probably ashamed.’

‘Oh, the whole family was ashamed!’ Wendy threw up her hands. ‘I realise that now. My mum, my adoptive father Parry, my grandparents. Particularly my grandmother, who is a traditional Italian Catholic. They’ve all wanted to bury me in a hole since my conception.’

‘I’m sure that’s not true.’

‘No,’ Wendy sighed, ‘you’re right. Mum had them all fooled till I was six years old. And then Parry found out I was actually . . . his brother’s. I think that was the beginning of the end for everyone, including me.’

‘Why do you say that?’

‘Well, I got sent off to boarding school while they fought amongst themselves.’ Wendy thought back to her conversation with Parry. All the pieces were starting to slot into place. ‘Parry wanted everyone to tell Mike.’

‘Did they tell him?’

Wendy frowned. ‘No.’ She slapped a palm over her mouth. ‘I told him, when I ran into him in Karratha. He must have put two and two together when I said I was looking for my father.’

‘Wow. That would have been a slap in the face.’

‘For who?’ Wendy demanded bitterly. ‘After he knew the truth he wanted to know me even less.’ She clenched her fists. ‘He needn’t have worried. I wasn’t going to ask him to become involved in my life. I just wanted some answers.’ She shook her head. ‘And now I have them. Mike doesn’t have any children. My unknown family stops with him. Thank God!’

A sudden thought struck her. ‘Do you suppose he was just lying to stop me from going after Gavin?’

‘Sorry, love,’ Chub said. ‘Only a father’s conscience would have made him go to so much trouble.’

‘But my mother called my father Hector. Why would she do that when his name is Mike?’

‘To stop you from finding out the truth. Wait –’ Chub grimaced. ‘You said your mother’s name was Helen, right? And Mike’s brother is Parry.’

‘Yeah.’

‘I think I know why she called him Hector.’

‘You do?’ She turned her gaze from the road to look at him.

‘Well, it’s just a theory,’ Chub shrugged, ‘but you ever heard of Helen of Troy, the woman who caused that whole Trojan horse thing to be built?’

‘Vaguely.’

‘She had the two brothers fighting a war over her. Their names were Hector and Paris.’

‘My mother was just trying to make it a romantic story all about her,’ she groaned. ‘Typical.’

‘Well, you know,’ Chub shrugged again, ‘people will do and say almost anything to make themselves feel better.’

Wendy frowned as her eyes shifted back to the scenery outside her window. It was starting to get a little rougher. Trees were bending in protest. The weaker branches had already come off. She pointed to some of the ones that had blown onto the road. ‘Just be careful. We might need to drive a tad slower.’