Kakadu Sunset Page 23

  Rational thought fled and Kane’s heart kicked in his chest. This was dangerous territory. Her hand trembled in his and the intensity in her expression hit him low in his belly.

  ‘I’d appreciate that. Being alone is not too appealing this morning.’

  Ellie led him into the bedroom and pulled back the cover on the large bed. The air-conditioning was humming in the space next to the window. She kicked off her sandals and lay on her side and he stood looking down at her for a moment, before he sat on the side of the bed and took his shoes off.

  Ellie snuggled into him and he put his arms around her. The need rocking through him was muted by the exhaustion that overwhelmed him. Kane closed his eyes and let sleep overtake him as Ellie’s hair tickled his face.

  It seemed only a short time later that Kane woke with the sun shining through the thin curtains and hitting him squarely on the face. He lay there for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. Ellie still lay beside him, her soft curves pressed hard against his chest. He closed his eyes again and took comfort from her closeness; fighting the urge to run his hands down her sides and trace the curve of her breast with his finger. She moved beside him and when he opened his eyes again, Ellie was watching him; her pale blue eyes intense and fixed on his face. He returned her gaze steadily. There was no need for words. She lifted her hand and brushed the hair back from his forehead. Kane reached up and snared her fingers in his, holding her close so she couldn’t move away. Desire and uncertainty ran parallel inside him.

  ‘How do you feel this morning?’ Her voice was a whisper, and she, too, seemed a little unsure of herself.

  ‘I’m okay.’

  As they stared at each other, the mood shifted between them.

  Kane lowered his head and took her lips gently. When her lips opened beneath his, he reached around and cradled her head in both palms. He could feel the slow heavy beat of her heart against his chest, and he held back, willing to take whatever path she chose. Ellie’s soft sigh puffed against his mouth. Slowly Kane lowered his lips to her neck and her breath quickened as he trailed his mouth to the indent at the base of her throat.

  Lower. She arched against him with a soft cry as he closed his hand around her breast.

  He was lost.

  ‘Please.’ He had no idea if the words came from his mouth or if they were just in his head but he tensed when Ellie pulled away. Regret surged through him. He’d moved too fast.

  I shouldn’t have kissed her.

  Kane’s breath caught in his throat as Ellie pulled her dress over her head. He shivered as she reached out and slipped her fingers beneath the bottom of his shirt. Her lips curved in a smile as her hands slid up over his chest. She softly traced his skin, holding his gaze steadily with those pale blue eyes.

  He grabbed both of her hands and rolled over onto his side, and then reefed his own shirt off before he pulled her close. Skin on skin, face to face, their bodies pressed close together. A shudder ran through Kane’s body and he groaned and then lowered his mouth to hers again. This time the kiss was not gentle, and he took pleasure in the way she responded to his kiss, to his touch.

  ‘Ellie?’ He lifted his head and looked at her.

  ‘Yes.’ The single word sent a spark of healing joy rushing through him.

  Chapter 23

  8.00 am Friday

  Harbourside Motel, Darwin

  Ellie lay in the bed, listening to the shower run in the ensuite bathroom. She stretched, feeling the unfamiliar tingling and pleasant ache deep in her body. Being with Kane this morning had been different to the first night they’d slept together. As well as the physical pleasure given and taken, this time there had been an emotional connection. It was a tentative beginning that Ellie didn’t want to resist anymore. A new and unspoken level of trust had been reached.

  But was she ready for it? She rolled over and stared at the ceiling as the shower switched off. She’d long vowed to be independent. If she let herself fall for him, could she trust Kane not to leave her?

  Kane wandered out from the bathroom, droplets of water caught in the smattering of hair on his bare chest. A ripple of pleasure whipped down Ellie’s skin and settled in her lower belly. The white motel towel barely made it around his hips.

  He sat on the bed and smiled down at her. ‘Okay?’

  Ellie nodded but he must have seen the expression that flitted across her face.

  ‘I want you to know that what we’ve shared is very special for me. I haven’t been close to anyone for a very long time.’ He held his head proud as he stared at her; aquiline nose, his forehead wide and high. A rush of need raced through Ellie.

  She pushed herself up in the bed and pulled the sheet up over her bare breasts as she spoke softly. ‘I’m pleased I could be here for you.’

  ‘Don’t sell yourself short, Ellie. You pushed my buttons since the first minute you strode across that hangar and tried to boss me around.’ His lips tilted in a boyish grin and the crinkles beside his eyes deepened. But his eyes were still full of sadness; she knew that it was more than the death of his mother that he carried with him.

  Kane reached down and took one of her hands. Ellie hadn’t realised that she’d been playing with the frayed edge of the cotton sheet.

  ‘I know we haven’t got much time this morning but I want you to know why I’m the way I am. Why I can be so bloody moody.’

  ‘It’s okay.’ She shook her head. ‘You don’t have to explain yourself to me. I’m not the easiest person to get on with at the best of times either.’

  He ignored her words. ‘I know Mum told you I was a hero. She was proud of me.’ His voice was bitter. ‘But she had nothing to be proud of.’

  Kane looked down at their hands still joined together on the white sheet, and then his attention moved back up to her face.

  ‘My entire crew died and it was my fault.’ His voice was flat and expressionless. ‘Ellie, I made one simple error of judgement. I flew in too close to the insurgents and we got shot up. I crashed my bird. One of my crew . . . Hawk.’ His voice shook for the first time. ‘You remind me of her.’

  Ellie listened as he told her about the crash. The death of his crew, and the hopelessness that filled him as he’d trudged through the desert carrying the woman, knowing she was dead, but not being able to leave her at the crash site.

  ‘The official line was that it was a mechanical fault but it was my fault, I listened to the guys and I flew too close. The first round shattered the cockpit and then –’

  Ellie lifted her hand and cupped his cheek. His eyes were flat and his mouth was set in a straight line. All she wanted to do was move his thoughts away from where they were. The haunted expression in his eyes chilled her to the depths of her soul.

  ‘You’ve had a lot to deal with.’

  ‘I can’t seem to let go. The day you took me to that billabong, I relived the whole fucking crash. It’s like being there all over again. Flying back to Darwin was hell.’ He put his hand over hers on his cheek. ‘And then when I went up with you that first day, I thought I was going to lose it.’

  ‘You need to see someone to work through it.’

  Immediately Ellie sensed his withdrawal and regretted her words. It wasn’t up to her to tell him what to do. ‘Just one step at a time.’ She smoothed her hand over his short hair and he relaxed against her again. ‘Dealing with the grief for your mum is the most important thing for now.’

  An ache filled Ellie’s throat as her hand brushed against Kane’s face, damp with tears.

  ‘How . . . how was Panos when you told him last night?’ Ellie had been wondering why Kane was so quiet when he’d come back in.

  He lifted his head and his eyes were cold and hard. ‘I didn’t see him. I waited on the corner but the bastard didn’t show. He still doesn’t know Mum’s gone.’ Kane’s eyes narrowed. ‘He’s such a money-grubbing lowlife nothing would surprise me about him.’

  ‘You know, I always thought he was helping out when he bought the fa
rm from Mum. But he was no friend to Dad. It’s been in front of me the whole time. He was after the farm all along.’

  ‘Don’t worry. I’ll get the truth from him. The truth about selling Mum’s home, and his involvement with your family’s farm.’ Kane’s tone was cynical. ‘How long had your dad known him?’

  ‘Only a few months, but they’d spent a lot of time together in the last few weeks before Dad died.’

  In those last weeks, the mango trees had been left to fend for themselves – not that that was really anything different, but Dad had spent more time in the paddocks before Panos had arrived on the scene.

  And then, it was only a few weeks later that Mum found Dad hanging in the shed.

  Dru had come home from school that fateful afternoon and seen the police cars and the ambulance at the house. Ellie could still hear Mum’s guttural sobs in the background when Dru had called her to tell her what had happened.

  ‘Ellie?’ Kane’s hands slid down her shoulders and gripped her arms. ‘Ellie, listen to me. Mum told me something that makes me believe there might be someone else behind Panos. Have you ever heard of a man called Russell Fairweather?’ His deep voice against her hair was soothing.

  ‘No. Should I have?’

  ‘I’ll make some calls and we’ll look into it when I get back tomorrow. Okay?’

  She lifted her head as she thought about his words. If there was someone trying to get this approval through, what else were they capable of. She fought down her rising apprehension. They’d hurt Bill for some reason. They could do it again.

  ‘You really think Panos was acting for someone else?’

  ‘I’m sure of it. He hasn’t got the ability to be in something this big himself. And he wouldn’t have the balls to hurt someone.’ His voice filled with disgust. ‘Just enough to dump his dying wife where she’s out of his way.’

  Ellie reached up with both hands and held Kane’s face. ‘There has to be a way to deal with this. Surely we can report it. But stay calm, don’t let your grief feed your reaction when you see him. Don’t do anything rash. Okay?’

  Kane dropped his forehead to touch hers. ‘That’s the story of my life. You really don’t want to get mixed up with me.’

  Getting him to face his anger about what had happened in Afghanistan and his mother’s death would be something to tackle together after they dealt with the funeral and what was happening at the farm. She knew more than anyone what he was going through. Dad’s death had shaped the adult she’d become.

  ‘I’m still here, Kane.’

  He ran his fingers through her loose hair and she smiled at him.

  ‘Thank you. So what are we going to do?’ he said.

  ‘Are you coming back to Makowa to stay after . . . after you organise things?’ Now that his mother had passed away, Ellie wondered if he really had any reason to be there.

  ‘Yes. I’m going to stay here. For a while anyway. I’ve been happier here –’ he reached up and covered her hand with his ‘– even with Mum being ill, I’ve felt like I belong somewhere for the first time since –’

  Ellie put her fingers against his mouth and shook her head. ‘That’s all I need to know – that you’re going to be around for a while.’

  ‘And we’ll work together.’ A great sense of relief filled Ellie, to know that she could share the burden of what was happening at the farm, but still a little trepidation stayed with her.

  ‘Sordina knows I’ve been down the back and seen the fracking. I fronted him about it on the phone the other day.’

  ‘Shit. Did you really?’ Admiration crossed Kane’s face and he reached out for her. ‘You are certainly one feisty little lady, aren’t you? Panos may be dishonest but, like I said, he’s a coward. Christ, he wouldn’t even meet with me.’ He stared past her shoulder, his eyes fixed on the wall above her head. ‘Now I’m not so sure. It depends who he’s working for. Trust me, there’ll be money involved.’

  ‘He said he’d see me this weekend when he came down to the farm. I doubt if he will now.’

  ‘Probably not. But don’t worry, I’ll get what I can out of him today.’

  Slowly Kane’s arms tightened around her and Ellie let herself rest against the hard angles of his chest. She loved him holding her and the comfort brought tears to her eyes.

  ‘My sister has emailed me some files that my mother has gathered over the years.’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘You know I think I saw that name, Fairweather, on one of the files.’ ‘But I still can’t believe Panos is involved. He can’t be. He’s in parliament.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean he’s honest. Maybe he doesn’t know what’s going on down there, but I doubt it very much.’ Kane frowned.

  ‘He knows. He lied to me. He told me that there was a new dam being built.’

  Deep furrows lined Kane’s brow as his frown deepened. She reached up and smoothed her hand over his forehead. He caught her fingers in his and stared at her, his eyes shadowed as he faced into the morning.

  Slowly he lowered his head and his lips were firm and cool against Ellie’s mouth.

  She put her arms around his neck and held him there as she spoke against his lips. ‘Thank you.’

  He leaned back a little but his breath still warmed Ellie’s lips as he spoke.

  ‘For what?’

  Chapter 24

  9.00 am Friday

  Makowa Lodge

  Gina tried David’s number for the fourth time that morning. She’d given up on sending texts after she’d filled her iPhone screen with texts that he didn’t answer.

  ‘Miss U.’

  ‘Love U.’

  ‘Where ARE U?’ He must be in committee or he’d forgotten to take his phone off mute – again.

  ‘David pls TXT me.’

  She hadn’t spoken to him since Wednesday night, and she wanted to check he was safe. Not only that, it was unlike David not to call her here before he left for work, no matter how early it was. There’d been no sign of Ellie since they’d had lunch together on Wednesday. Gina tucked her phone into her bag, hoping David would get back to her soon. A persistent ache had dragged at her lower back since she’d lifted Binny up this morning and she was worried that she’d pulled a muscle.

  Gina held the children’s hands as she waddled over to the crèche at the back of the office building. Yes – waddled. She was getting bigger and more ungainly by the day. One of the women around the pool had even asked her yesterday if she was having twins.

  Heather, the pretty Aboriginal girl who had been on reception the day she’d checked them in, welcomed them. She had dark shadows under her eyes.

  ‘Hi, Ms Perini. Hi, kids. Have you come to play?’ She came over to the gate and crouched down to greet the children.

  ‘My day spa appointment has been changed.’ Gina glanced down at her watch. ‘Can the children stay here this morning instead of this afternoon?’

  ‘Of course. The day spa is closing at noon today.’ Heather stared at her before she turned to the children. ‘Come on, kidlets. Come and play with Heather.’

  Binny and Andrew ran inside to the playdough table.

  ‘I’ll come back and collect them as soon as I’m finished.’ Gina blew a kiss to the children. As much as the time here was restful, she was beginning to wish they could just go home to normality. She hated the days here without David. It was as though they were waiting for something to happen.

  The technician showed her into the treatment room and before Gina slipped her clothes off and stepped into the pale pink, fluffy robe, she grabbed her phone from her bag in case David called.

  ‘Is this the biggest size you have?’ she asked with a smile. The tie only just went around her pregnant bump.

  Gina lowered herself carefully into the soft leather chair and fought the usual vertigo as it tipped back. The girl positioned the chair so she could sit behind Gina and begin her facial. She grabbed for her phone as it slipped off Gina’s lap and threatened to slide to the floor.

  ‘I’
ll just put your phone over here, okay? Snazzy case.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Gina nodded and closed her eyes. The soothing music played soft and low and she let her thoughts drift as the technician’s skilful fingers moved gently over her skin. Warm cloths alternated with cool liquid, and then her face was covered with soft gauze. The light was muted to a hazy grey through the gauze pads that pressed lightly on her eyelids. The sharp smell of a fruity cream drifted up as the girl worked her magic.

  ‘I’ll leave you to rest for fifteen minutes. All okay?’

  Gina heard the sound of the door closing gently. For five minutes, she lay there alone and dozed lightly, aware of the low hum of voices in the next room. The music turned up louder as the door opened. Gina’s chair tipped back a little more as someone adjusted it. A muffled conversation buzzed around her. ‘Needed in the office . . . I’ll finish off here . . .’

  She frowned. It sounded like Heather’s voice.

  ‘Okay, thanks. Just the facial to come off.’

  ‘Is everything okay with the children?’ she asked but there was no reply.

  The door closed with a soft click. There was the sound of someone moving quietly around the room and Gina tried to open her eyes, but the gauze was stuck to her eyelashes. She tried to sit up but firm hands pushed her shoulders back gently.

  ‘Just relax. Everything’s fine.’

  Dread filled Gina as a sharp sting pricked the skin of her inner wrist. Grabbing for her arm with her other hand, she ran her fingers over the spot as an icy cold travelled up her arm.

  ‘What was . . . –’ Gina opened her mouth to protest but a wave of nausea and giddiness overwhelmed her. Cold sweat ran down her neck and her mouth suddenly felt as though it was full of cotton wool. Her panic increased and her heart began to race as a strong cramp seized her belly. She wrapped her arms around her chest and shivered as weakness stole through her limbs.

  ‘I’m sorry.’ The woman sounded as though she was crying. ‘So, so sorry. But it’ll all be okay . . . I’m so sorry.’