Page 3 of The Bait

“He said they were camping, pointed to a map that was a little too close to your property boundary,” August said. “Now, maybe they’re legit. Maybe they’re here to actually go fishing. Maybe I’m wrong.”

“He’s never wrong,” Jake added.

Michael’s gaze went to Jake, and August had to tamp down his urge to protect him.

“I get that impression,” Michael said.

“Look,” August said, showing his open hands, non-confrontational. “I’m going to be honest with you both. I tried to look into who you both really are, and I got shut down by ASIO. So technically I know nothing.”

“Probably just as well,” Michael murmured, his gaze hard and flat.

“But what I do know is, these three men turning up here seemed it might be something you’d appreciate knowing.”

Michael stared at him, giving nothing away.

“I don’t want any trouble in my town,” August said. “Not that I expect there will be any.”

“Of course not,” Joshua said, his sweet smile not reaching his eyes. Their cat jumped up on the sofa and went straight for Joshua’s lap, purring. Joshua pulled itclose, kissing the top of its head. “We do appreciate you coming to visit though.”

“I thought you might,” August said. “For what it’s worth, I sent them to the western entrance. It might buy you some time to... do whatever you need to do.” August didn’t want to think too much about what that meant, but he had to look at the bigger picture. “So, just straight talking here, if the Australian government thinks you should be protected, for whatever reason, then it’s the least I can do. I won’t be adding this to my daily report, just so you know. It’s just a friendly house call, after all.”

For a moment, August thought Michael might even smile.

He didn’t. “Thank you,” he said instead. He stood, their meeting now seemingly over, so August and Jake did the same. “Friendly house calls are always welcome.”

When August gave Jake a nod to signal that was their cue to leave, he noticed Jake was watching Joshua. But then he gave August a bright smile. “We good to go?”

“Yeah.” He gave both a nod and began for the door.

“Thanks for your time,” Jake said as they left. “Might see you in town sometime.”

They walked to their vehicle in silence and didn’t even speak until they were halfway down the long drive. “What do you make of that?” August asked.

Jake shook his head. “That shit’s about to go down. And maybe we gave the good guys a head start.”

“I’m not sure any of them are good guys.”

“Me either. Did you see Joshua’s phone?”

August shook his head. “I saw you caught something. What was it?”

“Messages he sent to someone, about five or six, with question marks, and no replies.”

“He’s been trying to reach someone?”

Jake shrugged. “At a guess, yes. And someone related to this because why would he double-check a screen with two cops in the room?”

August didn’t want to admit he hadn’t even seen Joshua holding his phone, let alone the screen.

“Michael didn’t give much away,” Jake added.

“Yeah, he did. His eyes flinched, and his nostrils flared for maybe a tenth of a second.”

Jacob snorted. “You caught that?”

August nodded. “Yeah. Pretty sure we told them something they already knew. Or assumed. Or weren’t surprised by. Like we confirmed something. I dunno.”

Jake made a face and was quiet for a while. “Did we do the right thing?”

---