Page 118 of Stockman's Showdown

‘Oh, you’re far more than that, Bree. You have that rare outlaw quality, and bucketloads of mobster wife attitude that is rare for women in my world. With your level of cunningness, matched with my financial backing, we would have become very rich together without the need for getting our hands dirty.’ Leo glanced around the hovel with a level of disdain.

That was never going to happen, not least because this man had hurt her family and was holding her against her will. ‘What do you want? You know we had nothing to do with your uncle’s death, so let us go.’

‘Well…’ Leo licked his lips as his eyes crawled over her.

She answered it with a sneer.

It only made him chuckle. ‘I want to show you something.’ Leo swiped up a remote control, turning the monitor around on his desk and hit play. ‘Our cameras caught you finding our hidden pipeline.’

She remained expressionless, while watching herself on the screen at Starvation Dam, where she tracked that hidden irrigation pipe, with her black stallion dutifully following her to the border.

‘You were about to jump the fence,’ said Leo, fast forwarding the video, ‘but something spooked you and then once you mounted your horse, something spooked it too.’

She watched as Black Hand reared up as she tried to control him, before turning to gallop away and fast.

‘When was this, kid?’ Charlie asked.

‘A while ago.’

‘Must have been something bad to spook your horse, when Black Hand never once flinched when you cracked that whip as he raced ahead of that stampede.’

‘I agree,’ said Leo, pointing the remote at Bree. ‘You are fearless. It’s one of many qualities I admire about you. So when you found that water pipe, I was expecting you to jump that fence. But you never came back. And you never cut the water line. What was it that spooked someone like you?’

‘Ever hear of the Travellers?’ she asked, completely deadpan.

‘Noooo.’ Charlie dragged off his hat, shaking his head, with his voice full of doom and gloom. ‘That’s bad news of the worst kind if you’ve got Travellers, boys.’

‘What’s a Traveller?’ Hammer leaned closer from his seat.

‘Ancient spirits that guard the outback. They’re bad omens for some. You don’t muck around with the Travellers, even the animals know to steer clear of ‘em.’

‘Yeah, right,’ scoffed Gator. ‘Next you’ll be telling us it’s drop bears and bunyips.’

Bones shook his head with a low chuckle. But Charlie had Wrench and Hammer listening for more.

‘Well, we don’t just have the Travellers in this region, we’ve also got the Billabong Bunyip to deal with, too. He’s a legend in this area.’

Bree shuddered. ‘It’s the story every local bush kid gets told from the time they can walk.’

Leo narrowed his eyes at Bree while scratching his cheek, unconvinced. ‘Bree, how about you tell me the truth? What was it that scared you off enough to not come back?’

She peered at his men spread around the room. ‘You didn’t tell him?’

‘Tell me what?’ Leo shrugged.

She feigned a gasp. ‘Your men are keeping secrets from you.’

‘What secret?’ Leo leaned closer to her, with only the table between them. ‘What did they do?’

‘They shot at a plane.’

Leo spun around to face his men. ‘What plane?’

‘It was a red one, boss. It was getting too close. We had to do something,’ said Hammer with his hands out as if to calm down a lion. ‘We didn’t hit it, did we, Bones?’

‘No, boss.’

‘Oh, yes, you did.’ Bree was having fun stirring the pot. ‘They clipped that plane’s wing, the pilot had to land next door. And guess what?’

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