Page 4 of The Bait

August nodded. “I think so. Like I said, those two men, whatever their real names are, are under ASIO’s eye.”

“Or watchlist,” Jake added. When August told him about the ASIO cease and desist at Christmastime, he’d run through a dozen possible scenarios. Some of them were crazy Hollywood action movie fantasies... well, August hoped they were.

“So where’s ASIO now?” Jake wondered. “If they are under ASIO’s protection, where are they now?”

August sighed. Confused, concerned, and completely in the dark. “I don’t know.”

A shrill crywoke August and Jacob up in the middle of the night. They both sat upright in bed, stock still and listening. “What was that?” August whispered, reaching for his phone. It was 2:12 am.

Another cry cut the night.

“That’s a kookaburra,” Jacob hissed. “Get up!”

They made it to the kitchen when a rap on the backdoor startled them both. August’s gaze cut to Jake’s. Who the hell would be knocking at two o’clock in the morning?

On the back door?

“Detective Shaw, Senior Constable Porter,” a familiar voice said. “Sorry to wake you.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

“Joshua Hill,” August whispered. He put his hand up, signalling for Jacob to go back to the hall, and August waited for him to disappear before he turned the kitchen light on.

He opened the back door to find Joshua with a grocery bag, smiling somewhat apologetically, and Michael standing on the patio steps behind him holding a cat carrier.

Not what he was expecting.

“Uh, it’s two o’clock in the morning,” August said. He looked again at the cat carrier, quickly deducing what this was about. “Come in.” He stood aside just as Jake walked out.

Joshua came in, standing nervously while Michael put the cat carrier on the kitchen counter. “I do apologise for the late hour but we... we’ll be overseas for a while, and I couldn’t bear to leave my poor baby Mala. I remembered you saying you had a cat, and I hoped you wouldn’t mind.” His eyebrows furrowed with worry. “She’s fully vaccinated and she’s the sweetest thing. I hope your cat won’t mind. I brought all the food we had for her. And there’s some money in there to cover any costs.” He put the bag of cat food on the counter. “I didn’t know where else to take her.”

August could see Joshua was clearly upset. “Uh...”

“It’s okay,” Jake intervened. “We’ll look after her. How long do you think you’ll be gone for?”

“We don’t know,” Michael answered. “Could be a while.”

Right.

Michael put his huge hand on Joshua’s shoulder, and Joshua nodded. He leaned down to the cat and whispered something through the cage door. Something not in English. Something possibly in Croatian...

Oh god.

August wasn’t game to ask about the three Croatian camping fishermen.

They walked to the back door, and it was Michael who stopped. “Uh...” He winced, uneasy. “Just so you know, next time someone’s at your back door in the middle of the night, don’t turn your lights on. You know your house in the dark better than anyone else.”

August felt admonished by that. “Uh, thanks.”

Michael went out first and he held the door for Joshua. Michael pointed his thumb at the railing. “Uh, you’ve got some visitors on your patio.”

August craned his neck, his heart hammering.

“Oh, kookaburras,” Joshua said. “The same that visited us”—he looked back at August and Jacob—“the first day we met you.”

“They’re here for me,” Jacob said simply. Both Joshua and Michael stared at him. So he explained. “They look after us. Probably sounds crazy to you, but?—”

“No, it doesn’t. It’s not crazy at all,” Joshua said. He smiled at Jake. “I like you, Jacob Porter.”

---