Page 57 of Crystal Skies (Stormcloud Station)

Nash patted Aaron’s shoulder. “It was a good outcome,” he said, tilting his chin toward Julie. “And just remember you did the best job you could under the circumstances.” He fixed his piercing gaze on Aaron, sending him an unspoken message. It seemed that Nash also understood the way self-condemnation worked.

Aaron guessed Nash had encountered the same thing during the time he and Skylar had been taken prisoner. It certainly damaged a man’s pride when he was unable to protect the one he loved most in the world from getting hurt. And Nash was right on the button, because the shame and guilt were already starting to descend. All the ifs, buts, and maybes were circling his head like flies over a corpse. If only he’d recognized Chase as a threat back at the lodge, days ago. If only he’d been more alert when they’d first arrived back at camp at lunchtime. If only he hadn’t allowed Julie to go on muster in the first place. The ways in which he’d screwed up were long and convoluted. Nash was probably right, he shouldn’t dwell on all the ways he’d fucked up. Because if he did, it was all downhill from there. But it was so hard not to when his pride and self-worth were so intrinsically tied to his ability to protect his client. To protect Julie. Which he’d failed at.

“Just remember, regret is a wasted emotion,” Nash added, then he turned and walked back to his vehicle, leaving Aaron pondering the deep meaning of his last words.

Dale jumped into the driver’s seat and spoke into a sat phone that’d been resting on the front dash. “Hello, Jake, are you there? We’ve got them. I repeat, we’ve got them. Both are alive and not looking too bad, despite their ordeal,” he reported.

Jake’s disembodied voice echoed from the phone. “That’s great news. You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that. I’ve got some more calls to make, so I’ll ring off now. But I want to talk to Aaron as soon as he’s up to it.”

“Thanks again, mate,” Dale said. “We couldn’t have done it without you.” Aaron understood that with the lack of cell reception out here, Jake had probably directed them to where Julie’s anklet was showing up on the map while talking to them over the satellite phone. That was a feat in itself, and showed a great level of ingenuity.

“You guys ready to head home?” Dale called over his shoulder, turning the ignition on.

“Most definitely,” Aaron replied. Julie gave a small snore on his shoulder, and he smiled as he took another swig of water.

The sight that greeted them back at Chase’s campsite was one of organized mayhem.

The place was lit by two bright-as-day spotlights strung up in large trees. Two more police four-wheel-drives were pulled up behind Chase’s hire car. The area around the wooden cross and farther up the creek had already been cordoned off with police tape, ready for the homicide team to come in and inspect the site. Aaron knew from experience the team would have to come from Cairns, at the very least, if not Brisbane, so they could still be hours away. From this distance, Aaron couldn’t make out Chase’s body, but he was sure that at least one of the police officers would be standing guard, and they’d probably draped a blanket or something over him.

The whole motley crew from the muster were also there. The Scanlons had ridden their ATV’s, but others, like Dave and Carrot, had unhitched their four-wheel-drive from the trailer and driven over.

Everyone converged on the car as Dale slowly drove up behind the gaggle of people.

“Is she okay?” Rosie was the first to reach the door and yank it open, Brian hot on her heels. “Please tell us she’s okay.” Rosie’s face was a picture of alarm. “Because if she’s not, I’m gonna kill that guy all over again.”

“Yeah, well, get in line,” Scanner growled from behind her, his large frame filling the open door. “We’re all ready to do some damage.”

Julie stirred and lifted her head from Aaron’s shoulder.

The rest of the team crowded around, all firing questions at the top of their lungs. Even Lee, normally taciturn, was hovering at the back, a worried frown on his face. It was great that they all were so concerned. But they were all getting a little too close for Aaron’s liking. Before he could push them away, however, Steve appeared at the back of the small crowd and said, “She’s good, guys. We got her back in one piece, thanks to Aaron. Now, can you give them a little space, please?”

“Sure,” said Scanner, ushering everyone else away from the door.

“Hi, everyone,” Julie said from beside him. She leaned forward, so she could see past him out to all her friends gathered outside. “Did you all come to help find me?” she asked.

“Of course, we did,” Scanner huffed. “That’s what country people do. When there’s a crisis, we all pull together. Right?”

There were calls of, “damn right”, and “sure is”, from behind him.

“Well, thank you,” Julie replied, seemingly humbled by their ardent support.

* * *

Aaron stretched out on the bed carefully, stifling a yawn. Every bit of him hurt. Bruises from his tumble off Chester were appearing all over, and his knee had swollen to double its normal size. But it’d been worth it. As far as he was concerned, every bruise and scratch was a badge of honor, and he’d do it a hundred times over, if it meant Julie’s safety was guaranteed.

Steve had told him that Chester had galloped back into camp just as they were returning from muster. At least Chester had returned unharmed, which lightened the load of guilt Aaron had been carrying around.

He turned his head to where Julie lay curled up, innocent as a small child, next to him. She’d begged him to stay with her, and he couldn’t refuse, so he’d helped her into her bed and then stripped down to his boxer briefs and edged in beside her; but she was already asleep. It’d been a long night. Nash had driven them back to the station in Dimbulah, where they’d given their statements to Nash’s superior, Senior Sergeant Robinson, and a forensics guy had collected samples from both of them. Then the local doctor had checked her all over and dressed Julie’s feet, telling her to stay off them for the next few days, if possible. It turned out he’d twisted his knee, and it was badly bruised, but nothing time and rest wouldn’t heal.

The sun was just rising over the floodplains when Dale drove them home to the lodge and Aaron had carried Julie inside, waving away Daniella and Skylar’s concern, and they’d both crawled into bed, exhausted. Aaron craned his neck to catch sight of the small alarm clock Julie kept beside the bed. Gosh, it was three pm already. That’d explain the bright sunshine beating at the curtains to be let in. They’d slept most of the day away. There was still a lot to do today, he really should get up.

Details were still sketchy about Chase’s movements in the previous few days, but Nash had filled them in from what they’d pieced together so far from the equipment, maps, and photos on a camera they’d found in the car. It seemed Chase had been watching the stock camp from the top of repeater hill, which Julie also confirmed to be true, from her stilted conversation with the stalker. When Aaron asked how Chase had found the stock camp, Nash relayed a conversation he’d had with Maddie Scanlon soon after he arrived at Chase’s camp. As soon as she’d seen his body lying in the creek bed, she’d come straight to him to confess.

Nash relayed her words. “I recognize that man, he stopped me on the way back from the stables to talk the night before we left the lodge. He seemed really interested in the muster and how it all worked, and said he was sad that they weren’t letting any guests attend this year. I thought he was harmless, and no one warned me not to say where we were going. So, I told him all about the permanent stock camp and how beautiful it was out there…and how to get there.” Nash said she’d looked absolutely stricken at the thought this whole thing might’ve been her fault. Aaron kicked himself for their decision not to tell the rest of the muster crew what was going on. His choice to keep them in the dark might well have been the lynchpin that allowed Chase to find her. Maddie wasn’t to blame.

There was also no sign of his wife, Maya, which left everyone with an ominous feeling. Julie said she thought Chase might’ve killed her, then she’d burst into tears. But until they found a body, Nash said they wouldn’t give up hope, and a search team was out looking for her. They now knew the name Travis Mailmann was an alias he’d concocted to get in with the church group. The beard and outfit had all been fake, a way for him to hunt his intended victims in secret. And it seemed Maya had also fallen prey to his false charms. For all accounts it looked as if it were a rushed marriage, orchestrated by him to keep the young, gullible woman under his control.

It was now a police investigation, so Jake had handed over all the documents and info he had on the case to Nash. But there were still so many unanswered questions. He’d leave Julie to sleep peacefully on while he went and made some phone calls.

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