Page 80 of Bay of Plenty

“Yeah, you’d be bloody useless anyway, woman. I cooked for you, got your shower ready, loaned you clothes, lit the fire, and made up your bed. And you can’t ride a horse to save yourself.”

“That’s what I wanted you to think.” I grinned.

He rolled his eyes.

“Ma te wa,” I said. See you soon.

He shook his head. “Nah, you won’t.”

“This isn’t goodbye,” I insisted.

“Always have to have the last word.”

“Not always,” I said.

He turned away, then waved over his head.

“Kia kaha,” he called. Stay strong. And the forest folded him into itself.

Chapter Fifty-Two

For the nexttwo hours, I scrambled along that stream, my legs and arms scratched and bleeding from the barrage of tea trees. I recorded a voice memo to Declan to send when I got cell service, summarizing what I’d learned on the trip. I also set up both of the recorded confrontations with Bell and Sarge, ready to send…in case I don’t make it. The truth has to come out.

The spiky bush slashed at me like a harsh rebuke. I’d had all the information I needed—why hadn’t this clicked into place before? Was there somethingelseI already knew, deep in my mind, something that needed jolting, smoothing, or sharpening? Or the opposite? Maybe I needed to squint so everything was equally blurred to enable me to see the big picture.

Was that one of my faults—I didn’t see the bigger picture? Really? I didn’t like to think of myself like that. That was the eager rookie journalist who came back to the office after an interview, her notebook bursting with quotes and facts, which she shoved indiscriminately into an article. Still. My skill was to notice small things that led to bigger truths. Had I focused too much on those small things?

A yellow Morris Minor trundled around the corner. Was I dreaming? I rubbed my eyes—no. Frenetic, I waved andyelled and ran as fast as I could. This was it. My chest raw and heaving from the mad dash, but I was nearly home, with time to spare.

The car stopped. A pretty woman with blonde-tipped hair, dressed in blue medical scrubs, poked her head out, a teenaged girl slumped beside her, and thumbed me to get in.

She introduced herself as Aroha, which means love. Her name badge said she was a doctor. Her daughter was Mahana. “Her name means warmth, and you’ll find out fairly soon that it’s perfect for her.”

Mahana grunted and held her nose.

I apologized for my sweaty stench and asked if she was going anywhere near Ohope Beach.

Aroha glanced in the rearview mirror to catch my eye. “Shoot, you don’t know. The beach’s been roped off. Everyone’s evacuated to the rugby club in Taneatua.”

“God, why?” Jabs of panic attacked my rib cage. Mum and Dad—were they okay? And Declan? “What happened?”

“The big one’s coming,” she said. “For real this time. But like everyone else, I’ll believe it when I see it. Civil Defense is saying it’s going to hit around seven o’clock tomorrow morning. Eruption on Motu. Then the tidal wave. A biggie, yeah.” She chuckled, because we’d heard this for years.

“Wait. What time this morning did everyone evacuate?” I asked.

“Around six. Sirens, police cars, evacuation team, the lot.”

The auction wasn’t happening. Maybe Janey’s bones might still be buried there, undisturbed. My pulse raced as I made a new plan. Could I skirt around this evacuation, get to the campground, dig up the bones, and bring them back to the police? I didn’t know where in the campground they were buried, and I wasn’t strong enough to dig.Shit.

“Aroha, I have to get back to Ohope Beach to save some documents. Could you please drop me as close as you can? I’ll walk the rest of the way.”

“No way, love. The road’s cordoned off a mile from the beach, cops stationed there. Helicopters are using heat detectors to ferret out the stragglers. The only responsible thing I can do now is take you to the clubrooms.”

Aroha was a good Samaritan, picking me up. But now I was way worse off. The distance from the clubrooms to Ohope was about ten miles.

My heart plummeted. I’d have to walk it.

*

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