Page 13 of Clear Skies (Stormcloud Station)

Steve cleared his throat and Dale looked at all the people gathered in the kitchen. It was unusual to get all the Stormcloud staff together at one time. But as Dale counted, he realized there was one person missing.

“I’m worried about Karri,” Steve said, without preamble. “She was supposed to be helping me stable the horses and secure the equipment in case of flooding, but no one has seen her since lunchtime. I’ve checked with everyone on the station.”

There was a brief silence as everyone digested Steve’s news.

“She’s probably gone back to Koongarra,” Daniella said dismissively. “You know what she’s like, always flitting off to visit some relative or other.” His mother’s eyebrows drew together, her gaze flicking toward the door, as if she were more interested in getting back to the guests.

“Not without letting someone know,” Steve argued. “And not in this weather; the road is practically impassable.”

Dale tended to agree with him. Karri could be a little…flighty at times. Unreliable was too strong a word. She was a good worker, and had a special way with the horses and the cattle, a kind of empathy with them.

“No one is answering at the community on Koongarra. And I’ve tried to raise Bryan, but I’ve had no luck so far,” Steve continued. “He might be out moving cattle, so I’ll keep trying.” Steve paused, almost as if holding his breath. He continued in a rush, “If we haven’t heard from her by the morning, I’m calling in the police.”

That had Daniella’s attention. “What? Really? You’d call Robinson?” His mum almost rolled her eyes at Steve but stopped herself just in time. It wouldn’t do to look insensitive. Dale knew Karri wasn’t on the best of terms with his mother. Karri was one of their indigenous employees, part of the Kuku Group Initiative to get more indigenous people into employment, of which Stormcloud Station was a part. At first, Daniella had been all for the program and had welcomed Karri with open arms. But her enthusiasm had soured for some reason; Dale wasn’t sure why. He guessed that she and Karri had a run in about something, but he was yet to discover what.

“Yes. Karri’s ute is still in the parking lot. And one of the ATVs is gone.” Steve concentrated on Daniella and for the first time that night, Dale saw his mum focus her full attention on her partner. Her frown turned from impatience to worry as she finally understood the seriousness of what he was saying.

Dale tried not to judge his mother. She was a bloody hard worker, had poured her heart and soul into this resort. As had Steve. But Daniella almost seemed to get consumed by the whole thing sometimes, assuming that her partner and her family would always be there to back her up. She could be a tad flippant with them, especially when they had a full house, and her mind was on other things. Dale thought Steve was a very patient man, overlooking the way she often under-appreciated all that he did for her and for the station. He guessed it happened in lots of marriages, taking the other partner for granted over the years. He hoped that’d never happen to him.

“I heard she was seeing some bloke over at Koongarra,” Alek said into the sudden silence.

Steve spun around to face the Polish man. “Are you sure? Who told you that?”

“I heard the same thing,” Wazza said from beneath lowered eyebrows. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s where she is. Holed up with her lover, waiting for the rain to ease.” Wazza spoke carelessly enough, but Dale wondered why he had such a tight grip on his Akubra, now scrunched in one hand. Wazza and Karri worked closely together a lot of the time.

“Hmm.” Steve didn’t sound convinced. “I guess so. It seems odd that she said nothing when I asked her to come and give me a hand earlier.”

Dale studied both Alek and Wazza furtively. While Wazza and Karri had a friendly relationship, he’d also noticed Alek glancing in Karri’s direction more than once. The Polish man’s one fault was his conceitedness; he thought he was God’s gift to women. Dale wouldn’t put it past him to have tried it on with Karri. Could either of them be trying to divert attention away from the truth by saying she was sleeping with someone at Koongarra? And instead, Karri was actually carrying on an affair with one of them?

“She came in here and begged an early lunch from me,” Skylar said. “It seemed to me that she wanted to get back to work fast, because she wolfed down the sandwich I gave her. But she never mentioned where she was off to.” Skylar’s head was tilted at an angle, concern written on her face.

“And I haven’t seen her since this morning, when we moved the cattle,” Wazza said, his voice also gruff with concern. “Did you say one of the ATVs is gone?” He raised his head and stared directly at Steve, who nodded in agreement. “Could she have taken that and gone cross-country to get to Koongarra?”

Before Steve could answer, Daniella cut in, “It’s not as if she hasn’t done this before.” His mother’s tone was almost accusatory. She was correct, Karri had taken off back to Koongarra twice before without telling anyone, but that’d been early in her employment and she’d admitted she was feeling homesick and was having a hard time adjusting to the work. It hadn’t happened recently, not in the past six months, at least. But this almost sounded like Daniella was accusing Karri of something? But what? Sleeping around?

“I really don’t want to involve the police unless it’s absolutely necessary,” Daniella added. “I don’t want to upset the guests in—”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Steve exclaimed. “Don’t upset the guests, because, God forbid, we get a bad review.” His eyes flashed angrily, and Dale thought it might be the first time he’d seen Steve get mad at his mother in public. As if seeming to regret his words as soon as they were out of his mouth, Steve threw his head backward and gave a long sigh. “Sorry,” he apologized, then he stalked out the door, heading toward the family suites.

Daniella headed out the opposite door, flicking an apologetic look toward Dale and Skylar as she went. Wazza followed on her heels, his flirty, joking mood from earlier nowhere in evidence now. Alek took off after Daniella and Wazza with a start, as if only just realizing the discussion had come to an abrupt end. Bindi and Skylar went back to their scrubbing, but after a muttered conversation with Skylar, Sally took off her apron and headed out the rear door. Daisy hadn’t said a word, merely watched everything unfold around her with a bright, unreadable gaze.

“Do you want to grab a drink? Or would you rather to head to bed?” he asked.

“Sleep isn’t really on my agenda right now.” She cocked her head to the side and considered him for a second. “I’d love a drink. What did you have in mind?”

His mind raced with ideas. If they went to the staff quarters, they were more than likely to run into Wazza or Sally. They couldn’t go to the family living area, as Steve would be sulking around in there. And he wasn’t going to the main lodge, where they’d almost certainly get dragged into some horrible type of parlor game with the guests.

“Come with me.” He beckoned with a crook of his little finger. He led her down the hallway as if they were going to the main lodge, but right before they stepped into the large dining living area, he motioned for her to stay where she was. Ducking around the corner—he hoped Daniella was too preoccupied with speaking with the guests to notice him—he nipped in behind the large bar running the length of the room. He grabbed the nearest bottle of red wine on the shelves below the bar, nabbed two glasses and was back in the hallway in less than ten seconds.

“Where are we going,” Daisy asked, as he strode ahead of her.

“To the laundry,” he said a little sheepishly.

“The laundry?” Her tone was incredulous.

“I know. But you wait, you’ll understand in a second.” It might sound utterly ridiculous to hide out in the laundry, but there were many advantages to that utility room. It was a small outbuilding, connected by a covered walkway. It kept them out of the rain and the best thing was, no one would go out to the laundry at this time of night, so it’d be completely private.

Dale led them out a side door and into the dark shadows beneath the walkway. He shoved the door open with his hip, flipped a switch that turned on a set of recessed lighting, and went straight to the rear of the room, past two enormous, industrial washing machines and an equally large dryer, to where a set of shelves filled the length of the back wall. A few wicker laundry baskets were stacked together in the corner and he pulled two out and turned them upside down.

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