he’d been buried up to the balls in Dani on that counter. He wouldn’t let it.
Stopping at the fridge, he read the note.
Charlie.
Sorry. Really, I’m sorry. I would have roofied you, but I couldn’t find any in your house before you came home. Had to go for the next less-painful option, and I didn’t think you’d appreciate me smashing the blender I saw on the counter against your head. It looked expensive.
Don’t come after me, hatiku . I’ve contacted the director. He won’t be coming after you. Promise.
Love you, Senior Constable Charlie Baynard
Sweet cheeks.
Charlie swallowed, his stare lingering on the words I’ve contacted the director .
Damn it. He was going to have to go after her now.
“Hope the bloody chopper’s tanks are full,” he muttered, pivoting on his heel and striding from the kitchen.
Yeah, he was going to make her pay for this.
Big time.
Chapter Eight
If it were anyone but Dani, Charlie would be confused.
An hour of searching the empty, arid area of the Outback that surrounded Wallaby Ridge from the air, of sweeping the landscape in the police chopper, and there wasn’t a hint of her.
In the four years Charlie had been the Ridge’s senior constable, he’d needed to rescue more than one tourist foolish—nay, idiotic enough—to think they could traverse the vast expanse of nothingness between the Ridge and its closest town without preparation.
Travelling through the Outback wasn’t like going on a leisure country drive. With no water, no fuel and no protection from the elements for hundreds of kilometres in any direction, one miscalculation of petrol levels or one overheated radiator could end in death.
Dying in the Outback because you left a town ill-prepared was not only easy to do, but horrific.
Charlie had finding such people—normally tourists, but sometimes the occasional local with too much grog under their belt for their brain to be working correctly—down to a fine art.
It didn’t take long radiating out from the town in widening circles in the chopper before whoever was lost/broken down/stupid was spotted. Once spotted, Charlie would radio Matt back in the Ridge, let him know the condition and fly them directly to the Ridge’s small hospital. Unless they were unconscious or near death, he’d given them a bloody good lecture the whole way back.
If someone was leaving the Ridge in any state Charlie found dubious, it was a given they’d need to be rescued or found before the day was finished.
Dani De Vries however…
There was no way she could have driven as far away from the Ridge as he’d now flown, but be buggered if he could find her.
Which meant she hadn’t driven out of town.
That left three options.
One—he’d flown, an option already cancelled out by the Ridge’s tiny airport flight-control tower. No craft of any kind had taken off—or touched down, for that matter—in the last twenty-four hours. Of course, there was always the probability if she had flown in she hadn’t landed or taken off at the airport. A high probability.
Two—she was on foot. Dani was tough, but she wasn’t dumb. Only dumb people attempted to walk across the Outback in the middle of summer. Hell, only dumb people attempted to walk across the Outback period. Walking through the Outback was dangerous. If the snakes didn’t kill you, the extreme weather would. Even he wouldn’t attempt it. So that wasn’t really an option at all.
And three—she was still in the Ridge.
Still in town.
Charlie gritted his teeth.
That seemed like the likely option.
Fuck.
Checking the horizon and then the chopper’s flight readouts, he bit back a growl. If she was still in town, where—
“ You there, Senior Constable ?”
Charlie flinched at the voice of his deputy scratching his ear through his headphones.
“No, I’m in the pub on my forth beer, Timothy,” he said, keeping his frustration in check. He’d told his team he was checking on the progress of a tourist bus
Stopping at the fridge, he read the note.
Charlie.
Sorry. Really, I’m sorry. I would have roofied you, but I couldn’t find any in your house before you came home. Had to go for the next less-painful option, and I didn’t think you’d appreciate me smashing the blender I saw on the counter against your head. It looked expensive.
Don’t come after me, hatiku . I’ve contacted the director. He won’t be coming after you. Promise.
Love you, Senior Constable Charlie Baynard
Sweet cheeks.
Charlie swallowed, his stare lingering on the words I’ve contacted the director .
Damn it. He was going to have to go after her now.
“Hope the bloody chopper’s tanks are full,” he muttered, pivoting on his heel and striding from the kitchen.
Yeah, he was going to make her pay for this.
Big time.
Chapter Eight
If it were anyone but Dani, Charlie would be confused.
An hour of searching the empty, arid area of the Outback that surrounded Wallaby Ridge from the air, of sweeping the landscape in the police chopper, and there wasn’t a hint of her.
In the four years Charlie had been the Ridge’s senior constable, he’d needed to rescue more than one tourist foolish—nay, idiotic enough—to think they could traverse the vast expanse of nothingness between the Ridge and its closest town without preparation.
Travelling through the Outback wasn’t like going on a leisure country drive. With no water, no fuel and no protection from the elements for hundreds of kilometres in any direction, one miscalculation of petrol levels or one overheated radiator could end in death.
Dying in the Outback because you left a town ill-prepared was not only easy to do, but horrific.
Charlie had finding such people—normally tourists, but sometimes the occasional local with too much grog under their belt for their brain to be working correctly—down to a fine art.
It didn’t take long radiating out from the town in widening circles in the chopper before whoever was lost/broken down/stupid was spotted. Once spotted, Charlie would radio Matt back in the Ridge, let him know the condition and fly them directly to the Ridge’s small hospital. Unless they were unconscious or near death, he’d given them a bloody good lecture the whole way back.
If someone was leaving the Ridge in any state Charlie found dubious, it was a given they’d need to be rescued or found before the day was finished.
Dani De Vries however…
There was no way she could have driven as far away from the Ridge as he’d now flown, but be buggered if he could find her.
Which meant she hadn’t driven out of town.
That left three options.
One—he’d flown, an option already cancelled out by the Ridge’s tiny airport flight-control tower. No craft of any kind had taken off—or touched down, for that matter—in the last twenty-four hours. Of course, there was always the probability if she had flown in she hadn’t landed or taken off at the airport. A high probability.
Two—she was on foot. Dani was tough, but she wasn’t dumb. Only dumb people attempted to walk across the Outback in the middle of summer. Hell, only dumb people attempted to walk across the Outback period. Walking through the Outback was dangerous. If the snakes didn’t kill you, the extreme weather would. Even he wouldn’t attempt it. So that wasn’t really an option at all.
And three—she was still in the Ridge.
Still in town.
Charlie gritted his teeth.
That seemed like the likely option.
Fuck.
Checking the horizon and then the chopper’s flight readouts, he bit back a growl. If she was still in town, where—
“ You there, Senior Constable ?”
Charlie flinched at the voice of his deputy scratching his ear through his headphones.
“No, I’m in the pub on my forth beer, Timothy,” he said, keeping his frustration in check. He’d told his team he was checking on the progress of a tourist bus
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