Page 58 of Stockman's Showdown

‘Wait, I’ll do a scan of the area first.’ Ryder unclipped the detector from his belt and pointed it at the area.

‘What is that?’

‘An MMTD.’

‘Can we use big words for the civilians present, please?’ asked Bree.

‘It’s a combined thermal imaging and RF detection unit. It’s to detect people or animals, but it also scans for radio frequencies to identify hidden cameras, audio bugs, or other forms of surveillance equipment.’

‘Cool.’ Dex leaned in closer as Ryder adjusted the green screen and scanned their area. ‘How long is the range?’

‘In this terrain,’ Ryder said, nodding at the thick vegetation, ‘we’d be lucky to get ten metres. In the desert, I’d get two hundred. But the thermal’s picking up a large open field ahead.’He watched the small screen for any movement. ‘I’m only seeing wallabies, a dingo… and cameras.’ He pointed toward the field. ‘There’s a camera at two o’clock and another at eleven.’

‘So it’s like swimming between the flags, then?’ Crouched low, Dex adjusted his gun. ‘I’ll follow the pipe this way.’

Ryder grabbed his brother by the arm and slammed an earpiece into his hand. ‘Put this in and be bloody careful. Stay low. It looks like there are cameras set every thirty metres, pointing out at the bush, which would give them a range of anything between thirty to one hundred metres.’

‘In other words,’ said Bree in a hushed tone, ‘please keep your arse to the ground as much as possible.’

‘You, too.’ Dex winked at Bree as he slipped in the earpiece. Crouched low he followed the pipe, disappearing to their left.

‘So, I guess we’ll take pipe number two.’ Bree crept stealthily along the undergrowth, her footfalls incredibly silent, only to pause for her fingertips to brush away the leaf litter to feel the topsoil.

‘You can track?’

Bree nodded. ‘I’ve been hunting since I was a kid.’

She went to walk on, when he grabbed her shoulder, pulling her back. ‘What the—’

He covered her mouth with his hand. ‘Shh.’ He then pointed to the thin wire ahead of her, cleverly hidden behind a thick ant mound. ‘It’s a motion sensor. Dex…’ He hissed over the radio, ‘Watch for any motion sensors. They’re set just on the perimeter of the field. And be careful not to leave any footprints in the mud near those sprinklers.’

‘Got it,’ whispered Dex.

Ryder pulled Bree back to hide behind the thick trunk of a eucalyptus tree. ‘Stay here.’

‘Where are you going?’

‘To take some video. And don’t you dare pull out your phone. The backlight will instantly draw attention to yourself, even on night mode.’

‘Talking from experience, are we?’

‘Stay put. Please.’

‘Okay.’ She shrugged, as she stood on the toes of her boots to peer out into the field.

‘I’ll be back soon.’ He activated the camera integrated into his night-vision goggles, then bypassed the motion detector and stealthily followed the irrigation line deep into the crop of mature cannabis. It had to be worth millions.

And that meant it was now a deadly game with Leo.

With plenty of video footage of the area, giving him a clear sense of what he was up against, he set up a few of his own cameras before heading back to find Bree. ‘It’s one big field.’

Bree shrugged. ‘Is that unusual? Sorry, but this is my first dope field.’

‘Normally illegal growers have them scattered in smaller crops to avoid detection from the air.’

‘You do realise we’re in the middle of nowhere, in the most forgotten region of Australia? We’re not on any flight path, or near any major roads or even a large regional town. Come on, the only time the Northern Territory makes the national news is for a cyclone or a crocodile attack. Hey, would those satellite pictures have picked up on Leo’s field? I know Finn used a drone, but that was set for—’

‘Heat. I know.’ It’s what Ryder would do. ‘Come on, let’s go back.’ He led the way, tapping his comms. ‘Dex? Come in.’

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