Page 22 of Lost In Kakadu

Mackenzie raised an eyebrow. “He might not have a choice. We shouldn’t wait much longer.”

“They’ll be here tomorrow.” She nodded with conviction, although her confidence was waning.

“I’ve been thinking about that. Don’t you think it’s strange we haven’t heard even one plane?”

“No. This forest is so dense we can’t hear anything.”

Mackenzie remained quiet for a moment. “I think we might be here a bit longer than we thought.”

She glared at him. “What? How much longer?”

“A long time.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Spencer’s family will never stop looking for us. Ever.”

“It’s not that. We were turning around when we crashed. God knows how far we went off course.”

“The plane tried to turn twice. But surely we didn’t go that far of course?”

Mackenzie shrugged. “Out here, finding two people lost amongst these trees would be like finding a chilli flake in bolognaise sauce.”

Abigail blinked. “You have no idea how to cheer people up.”

“Just being practical.”

A question that had been playing on her mind bubbled to the surface. “Something else has been bothering me.”

“What’s that?” He scratched his stubble again.

“What if our pilot had other plans?”

“You’re talking cryptic.”

“Well, if he was using tourists as a cover for a drug business?—”

Mackenzie rolled his eyes. “I think we’ve already established that!”

“Yes, but what if his documented tourist route is different to hisdrug running route? There’s a chance we were heading to a completely different place to what was detailed on the flight plan.”

“I don’t think they can do that. There would’ve been checks.”

“Yes, but he might have found a way around it.” The more she thought about it the more she convinced herself this was why they hadn’t been discovered yet. The pilot told authorities he was going one way, when he was actually going another.

“What about tracking devices? How did he get around that?”

Although this was another important point, she believed she already knew the answer. “Maybe that’s what those men were arguing about under the plane.”

A frown creased his forehead. “You think they removed the tracking device on purpose.”

Abigail shrugged. “Maybe.”

His eyes widened and fear rippled his features. “Bloody hell! We’re going to die out here!” He scrambled to his feet and stomped away.

Long after he left her side, his words haunted her.

Are we going to die out here?

All her life she’d played the safe option. . . avoiding risks. . . following rules.

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