Page 115 of Stockman's Sandstorm

‘That if I didn’t want Mason, I could give him back,’ Ash replied to Dex, but he never took his eyes off Harper. ‘And that will never happen.’

‘Good.’ And she meant it.

But Ash stood firm and was as expressionless and cold as Ryder.

‘We were told you were overseas when your parents died? Why didn’t you come back?’ Cap spoke next. His face was the only friendly one out of the brothers, as if trying to help her, somehow.

‘I had been a victim of a car bomb from a terrorist attack in Belgium. My team had died, and I’d suffered a severe concussion. It was when I was in the hospital that I learned my parents had died. My. Parents. With my sister.’ Her words echoed with her grief shown for all to see. She couldn’t and didn’t want to hide it anymore. Bree had been right, she was grieving and had the right to grieve.

But she also had the right to fight for what she believed in. Her story.

‘Before I could get medical clearance to fly back to Australia, arrangements had already been made to bring Mason here as per Gemma’s will.’

‘You could have stopped it,’ said Ash.

‘I didn’t want to.’

‘Why not?’

‘From the day Mason was born, we promised Gemma that if anything happened to her, Mason would go to his father.’ Even though the tears welled up in her eyes, she stared at Ash.

‘Why should I believe you now, when you told me you were practically an only child?’

‘I was. I never lied,’ she implored. ‘My mother had Gemma when she was sixteen and put her up for adoption. I knew nothing about Gemma’s existence until I was fifteen. I’d just come home from school when Gemma knocked on our front door and introduced herself. Her adoptive parents had died and she’d tracked Mum down. As an only kid, it was the best thing to suddenly have this older sister. And my parents, especially my father, quickly accepted Gemma into our family. Gemma never knew who her father was—Mum never talked about it—but she did have a wonderful father–daughter bond with my father, like I did. Gemma wanted the same for Mason … You should know Gemma was coming to see you.’

Ash blinked fast in a flutter. ‘When?’

‘Soon after Mason was born, Gemma and I started planning this road trip together, but we had trouble finding you. You kept moving around.’

‘You were after him for the maintenance,’ said Dex with a snarl.

Dex was such a dick!

Harper spoke to Ash, ignoring the others. ‘We were never after money because we were doing it for Mason. Ash, you said yourself, you wanted to know who Mason’s mother was for your son’s sake. Gemma was doing the same with you as Mason’s father.’

‘Gemma talked about me?’ Ash’s brow shifted, his cold stance starting to defrost.

‘I have a photo of you two.’ She pulled out her purse. ‘You two met at a B&S ball in Longreach.’ Her hand trembled as she held out the photo.

Ash’s eyes widened at the photograph. ‘I remember that.’ He took off his hat to rake his fingers through his thick hair. ‘We spent the entire weekend together and had a blast. And then the weekend was over. I headed west, Gemma headed south. She said she was on contraception, so I thought we were protected.’

‘Gemma said the same. She didn’t realise she was pregnant until I came home for Christmas and found her being sick in our bathroom. She suffered badly with morning sickness, but she always said it was worth it the day Mason was born. Gemma loved Mason. Mum and Dad did, too. They built him a nursery and everything. They adored their grandson.’

‘Where was this?’

‘Adelaide. But they did build this playground for Mason in our summer house on the beach in Queensland. But not in the ski chalet at Thredbo, Gemma said Mason hated being cold and refused to go outside and play in the snow.’

‘Coz, he’s half Territorian, missy, where it’s summer every day.’ Charlie winked at her, while patting the mane of his horse, it somehow eased the thick tension in the air.

‘How did your parents, and Gemma, die?’ asked Cap.

Harper swallowed, allowing the tears to fall. She had nothing to hide. ‘They were in the city centre of Adelaide. My mother and Gemma, with Mason, were meeting my father for lunch. Dad had been in some heavy negotiations at Parliament House, so said the guys from ASIS—’

‘Who?’ Cap asked.

‘The Australian Secret Intelligence Service—ASIS.’ Ryder spoke for the first time. ‘They’re Australia’s equivalent of the CIA or MI6. Why were they involved?’

‘ASIS said threats had been made against my father over his position on a NATO international war trade agreement. Given my parents’ deaths occurred at about the same time as the car exploded in Belgium, landing me in hospital, ASIS had to investigate. But it turned out their deaths were just a tragic accident.’

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