Page 92 of Larapinta

‘Okay.’ Connor unbuttoned his shirt pocket and took out a small satellite phone. ‘Before I tell you what we know, what was that woman’s name?’

‘Maggie. Margaret Ferguson. From Sydney.’

‘Excuse me a moment.’ Connor turned away, but Graysen could hear his conversation.

‘Greg, we’ve found Sandra and one of the other trekkers. We’re about to take the chopper and retrieve three more. One’s injured.’

A pause.

‘Yes, she’s fine, and yes, I know, we saw them bringing them out. Two of them. Anything else?’

Graysen was surprised when Connor chuckled. ‘Yeah, that was us. They told us to land immediately, but Kane ignored the radio. Listen, the target could be a Margaret Ferguson. Yes, from Sydney, that’s the one. Rightio mate, over and out. I’ll talk to you when we either get back to Standley Chasm—depends what plays out there—or when we get back to the airport at Alice Springs.’

Graysen stared at Connor. ‘You’re Sandra’s son-in law?’

‘Yes. Dru, her daughter, is my wife.’ Connor’s look was challenging.

‘Who else are you? Who were you talking to, and how do you know all that? And who else did you see brought out? Two what?’

‘You’re pretty astute, mate. Look I’ll fill you in, but it’s not to be shared, okay?’

Graysen hesitated and then nodded.

‘I’m ex-Federal Police and I now have my own security business. Yesterday, my colleague came across some communications between Interpol and the Feds. Greg knew Sandra was on a trek, and he confirmed it was the one she was on. The first information we got was that there had been two fatalities, and I assume that’s the two bodies we saw being carried out about a kilometre back towards the Chasm when we flew over the track. No one knows about the woman you said was shot.’

‘She was. I witnessed it. It was a clean head shot and then Zed’s partner pushed her over the escarpment.’

‘If you saw that, you’re in danger, and by association, so’s Sandra.’

‘We’ve already figured that out. We guessed that they were going after the rest of us. Whether that was their plan all along, or something went wrong, we don’t know.’

‘That remains to be seen. Now, just so you know, when we get back to Standley Chasm, we’re gonna play this very low-key. Nobody knows what’s happened, it’s not on the news, and the Feds have closed the place down. They are obviously doing everything they can to get this pair before they get away, but Greg—my colleague—and I think, they’ve slipped through the net already.’

‘And you know all this for sure?’

‘Yes, and I’m sorry to tell you, that at the camp you were supposed to meet at, they’ve found two bodies out there.’

‘Oh, fuck,’ Graysen said. ‘Jodie and the other guide.’

‘We assume so. There was no truck there, and the Feds found it burnt out at the beginning of the Mereenie Loop. That’s the back road to Kings Canyon. They’ve obviously stolen another vehicle, and I’d say they’re long gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were out of the country by now. Interpol are looking at all the flights. If they identify them and find them on a flight, they might be able to apprehend them at their destination.’

‘And you all know all this how?’

‘Better off not to know, Graysen.’

‘Who are these people?’

‘Cold ruthless killers who’ll stop at nothing, so you and Sandra and the others need to be very careful.’

They both turned as the sound of the returning helicopter came from the distance and Connor spoke quickly.

‘One more thing you need to know. As far as anyone we talk to at Standley Chasm knows, the three of us were just on a flight across the trail and we saw you and Sandra waving for help. I won’t be disclosing that we knew anything. Absolute coincidence that it was our mother-in-law.’

‘Unbelievable.’ Graysen nodded slowly. ‘I can keep my mouth shut.’

They waited for the helicopter to land, but before they boarded, Graysen put his hand on Connor’s arm. ‘You said two bodies were brought out?’

‘Yep.’