Beyond Fear Read Free

run off the road and waiting in the cold so he should get his arse out here quick. That guy needed a bomb under him sometimes.
    Matt took as long as he could to get the Mazda ready for towing but there was still no sign of Dougie when he was done. As he radioed again, the women huddled together in the cold, the luggage they’d taken from the car in a heap beside them.
    ‘The cabbie said he’s about five minutes away. I’ll wait till he gets here. You can get in the truck to keep warm, if you want,’ Matt said.
    Jodie stepped forward. ‘We’re a bit worried about the time, actually. We have to pick up a key at a shop in town by eight and it’s almost seven-thirty already. If you left with two of us now, we might get there before they close.’
    Matt looked up and down the dark road. ‘Which shop is it?’
    She unfolded a piece of paper. ‘Smith’s Food Mart.’
    That made sense. It was next door to the real estate agent. He didn’t know the Smiths well – they hadn’t owned the place when he’d lived in Bald Hill as a kid – but everyone knew they liked to close on time. It was a fair drive to their property out of town.
    Matt shook his head slowly. ‘It’s not a great place to be waiting at night.’
    Jodie checked her watch. ‘Look, you said yourself the cab’s only five minutes away. It’s probably just around the corner. And a couple of minutes might be the difference between getting our key and finding some place else that can put up four people at short notice.’
    Matt scanned the road again. He could ring the pub and get someone to drop around to Smith’s. He took his phone out of his pocket. No bars. Reliable reception was a figment of the imagination out here. He looked at Jodie. He didn’t like the idea but he could see her point. He could spend ten minutes trying to hunt down reception or he could hit the road and save them a lot of stuffing around.
    *
    Jodie watched the tow truck driver think it through. He seemed like a nice guy, despite the breathalyser crack. Not bad looking, either. Tall, muscled without being beefy. Excellent smile. But he wasn’t smiling about leaving them.
    She wasn’t too happy about the idea either. It was damn dark out here. There was no question she’d stay behind. It was her car. Her fault, really. It was the risk she always took as the self-appointed designated driver wherever she went. Her life was in her own hands that way, with her own overblown sense of caution. But the flip side was that if anything went wrong, it was her responsibility. Staying behind wasn’t the problem, though. If they didn’t get the key, she’d be guilty of another ‘houseboat’ weekend and in a year’s time they’d be discussing leaking loos versus no roof over their heads.
    She smiled encouragingly at the driver, watched him juggle the phone in his palm for a moment. He closed his hand around it, dropped it back in his pocket and looked down at her.
    ‘Okay, let’s get rolling,’ he said.
    Jodie chaired a brief meeting over who was going in the truck.
    ‘We could all stay,’ Hannah suggested.
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Jodie said. ‘A cab won’t fit all of us and the luggage. Look, I’m staying. Lou needs to pee so unless she wants to duck behind a dark, creepy bush to relieve herself, she should go into town.’
    Lou made a face, a mixture of apology and relief. Jodie turned to Corrine and Hannah. No one was volunteering now – to stay or go. ‘Hannah is freezing in that thin jacket so Corrine either gives Hannah her coat or stays with me.’
    Corrine bordered on skinny while Hannah was carrying a couple of extra kilos. It was unlikely Corrine’s figure-hugging coat would meet around Hannah’s middle.
    Hannah looked Corrine up and down, tugged the hem of her sweater over her belly and tucked her short, brown bob behind her ears. ‘Well, I wouldn’t mind but . . .’
    Corrine shrugged and sighed, then stood with her hands in her pockets, looking unimpressed,