Page 28 of Cold Stock

‘Hey, Stone?’Craig stood, dusting off his hands.‘What do you say we take your chopper out for a spin, and say g’day to some locals?’

Amara chewed on her lower lip.‘In the chopper?Interviewing potential suspects?’

‘Just some locals.’Craig headed towards them with that hip-swaying swagger.

It wasn’t nearly as nice as Stone’s sexy saunter.

‘But you won’t know what to ask,’ said Amara.

‘I’m not shy in having a conversation,’ replied Stone.‘And Craig’s been getting coaching.’

‘Izzy gave me a list of questions she uses for her investigations.’Craig nodded, with his cowboy hat, the smile was as dazzling as his blue eyes.Seriously, the Stock Squad’s job requirements must include being stupidly good-looking—with Stone firmly at the top of theyes pleaselist.

This is why Romy didn’t do videography for movies.She’d be too busy watching the stars of the show and not the scenery.

‘Sorry, Duchess, you can’t come for a ride today.The boss wants you to do the fingerprints and staff interviews.Don’t worry, Craig and I will do a show-and-tell at the playpen in the morning.’

Amara’s sigh was filled with disappointment.

‘Where is the chopper?’Craig asked.‘At the pub?’

Stone nodded as they headed back to the ute, with Doug locking the gate behind them.‘I’ll pick you up from here, then we’ll follow that trail and do some house calls along the way.Come along, shortcake, I’ll drop you off first.’

Romy’s thumbs hovered over the drone’s controls as her eyes widened at the cheeky but charming chopper pilot.‘Where are you taking me now?’

Ten

‘You don’t need to do this, Stone.’Romy reiterated, as he drove his rattly ute down a dusty road and parked under a shady carport.

‘I’m just dropping you off, then I’m going to get the chopper so Craig can keep tracking.I want to find those stolen crocs as soon as we can.The longer they’re out there, the greater the risk to their survival.Don’t worry, you’ll be comfortable, with plenty of privacy to do your thing.’

She couldn’t get any more private a space than being dumped in the middle of nowhere.How did she get talked into this?

Stone hoisted her bags from the back seat, where soon the rollers from her drone case rumbled down the smooth concrete pathway, then up a few wooden steps to the large smoky glass door.

The surrounding native landscape had her itching to use her phone’s plant app to learn their names, while a few towering ant mounds peeked through the foliage.Okay, this might not be such a bad idea after all.

‘Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay here?’When she should be asking where they were, but she trusted Stone.Strange, when they’d only just met this morning, and now he was letting her stay in his house.

It was a house, right?Arching her neck, she tried to see the place that was mostly hidden by a wall of trees.

She’d trusted plenty of people she’d just met as part of the film crew, while whisking her away to some remote location.But this was different.She was on her own, with no itinerary or script to follow.

Stone pushed open the front door.‘I do this all the time.’

‘Do what?Pick up strays?’

He carted her bags inside.‘I get backpackers in to feed the house pets when I’m away.’

‘How often is that?’And how many were there, if everyone else seemed to understand whatbackpackermeant to Stone.

‘Don’t sweat it, you’ll have your own room.’He kicked the door shut behind her.‘The place has wi-fi and a wide screen near the pond, where you can swim and work on your tan, like most backpackers do.’

‘I’d rather work on my edits.’She had stacks to trawl through, especially the bonus footage from the crocodile farm, and the unexpected bird’s-eye view of their investigation.If she were a journalist, she’d be all over this story.

‘Do you want a boarding fee?’She followed Stone down the short corridor.

‘If you haven’t realised it yet, shortcake, we’re now in a barter situation.Just keep the house pets company, and don’t burn the house down, and we’ll call it even.’

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