Vanished by James Delargy (free novel 24 TXT) 📕

been found yet, the sand being swept carefully, layer after layer.

What had been noted was a faint pair of parallel grooves in the sand leading over the hill of the crest that the wind had not quite obscured. There was no chance of determining a tread pattern in the soft sand but the width of the tyres had been estimated. Belonging to a Utility Vehicle or a 4x4. Emmaline had sent Oily, Barker and Anand back to hunt for the origin of the tracks. If the vehicle had driven over dirt or even some gibber plains, there was a chance they might find a tyre imprint that could be sampled and matched.

What was determined was that the grooves didn’t proceed any further onwards after Lorcan’s body. This seemed to disavow the theory that Lorcan had been moved after the incident. The offending vehicle had therefore turned and veered back onto the track leading towards the main highway. Entirely through sand. Either a lucky decision or an expert driver. The tracks didn’t return to Kallayee, as if it had no business there. Whoever was in the truck had killed Lorcan Maguire and left. Job done. They were also key suspects in the disappearance of Dylan and Naiyana Maguire.

Emmaline’s focus was now on finding them.

40

Emmaline

Emmaline gathered her team together back in Kallayee. The hunt for viable origin tracks before the dunes had been a washout and any chance of finding them on the tarmac out of town or nearer Hurton had been wiped out by the sheer volume of traffic over the last few days, polluting the scene without even knowing.

It was time to consider their options. The Forensics team had erected a temporary phone signal booster so mobile phone technology reached Kallayee for the first time. To celebrate this momentous occasion, she got ZZ on the line for a conference.

Oily though was up first. Emmaline knew he would have studied the case thoroughly. He was a fastidious character, his mind tasked with challenges his body could no longer cope with, middle age making him ever more rotund by the day, his athletic youth long behind him. The only endurance events he undertook now were with the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffets in the cafe across the street from HQ.

‘Are we thinking that someone from INK Tech – namely Nikos Iannis – got his revenge for the stolen data?’

Emmaline watched Barker glance at Rispoli and Anand, confusion etched on his face. She had already picked him out as a clocker. Nine to five, family before profession. Not that she held it against him. But she expected him to stay up to speed.

‘So a professional hit?’ asked Zhao, over the phone. He had been in the same academy class as Emmaline, a First Gen Aussie, his family proud of him becoming an officer. They had spent time and hard-earned money educating him, a new life for the family. In many ways similar to her. The motorcycle accident had hit them hard. Even more than for Zhao himself.

‘I would read it that way,’ said Oily. ‘Maybe they found out that he was selling the information.’

‘Or desperate to stop him before he had the chance.’

‘But what about Naiyana and Dylan Maguire?’ asked Emmaline.

‘Use them to try and get the location of the information?’ offered Oily. The lack of conviction in his voice betrayed a lack of conviction in his own theory.

‘Why not take Lorcan then? What would lead them to believe that she had the info?’

Her questions were met with blank stares. It was time to slide down another path.

‘We do know that Naiyana had her own problems. With the companies she was protesting against.’

‘So are you thinking that someone in…’ started Rispoli, before tailing off.

‘Brightside Foods,’ said Anand, the most junior member of the team and itching to get involved.

‘Brightside Foods… did the same thing? Tried to get revenge on Naiyana for almost collapsing the company? But we’re still left with the same questions.’

‘Yes,’ said Emmaline. ‘When, where and why.’

‘Plus, it would be a major risk exacting revenge in such a high profile way.’

They all agreed on that. But it couldn’t be ruled out. Yet.

‘We also have the MP, Chester Grant,’ said Emmaline.

‘That populist SOB,’ said Barker, ‘would flog his granny for a few cents.’

‘He was closely tied to Brightside Foods,’ said Emmaline.

‘He was shilling for them,’ added Barker, forthright.

‘He’s lobbied on their behalf on a number of occasions,’ said Zhao, clarifying Barker’s slur.

‘So the discovery of Lorcan’s body and disappearance of Naiyana and Dylan might be troubling for him,’ said Oily.

‘They were possible votes after all,’ said Rispoli.

‘Not likely after what had happened though,’ said Emmaline.

‘Then there would be no harm in seeking revenge, would there?’ noted Rispoli.

Another avenue that couldn’t be ruled out. The investigation was turning into something much like the desert out here. Heated, faceless and containing any number of tracks and paths to get lost down.

41

Naiyana

She met Leona in Wisbech. It was the next sizeable town along from Hurton, heading south towards Kalgoorlie. She had always been close to Leona, their children around the same age, inviting constant comparison of progress that leads to knowing each other, that leads to friendship. A kind of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon friendship. But Leona hadn’t brought Giulia along with her today given the distance and given that this was in the books as a ‘client’ visit in Kalgoorlie.

Wisbech had been chosen for safety. A sort of halfway house concession between not meeting former colleagues as Lorcan had wanted, and revealing their actual location. She had even called Leona from a payphone to be certain.

It was a mutually beneficial meeting. She intended to pump Leona for information on the latest situation. Leona would do the same. But Naiyana was confident she was smarter.

Sitting in a quiet corner of the almost empty café, she waited for Leona to arrive and watched Dylan in the play park across the street. He was sprinting around the rubberized surface, scrambling