They didn’t find Max that night. They didn’t find him the next day either. Nor did the state emergency service, or police search and rescue, or the hundreds of volunteers who combed the Billabong wetlands. It was as if he’d vanished from the face of the earth. Nina wearily washed her hands at the outside tap and followed Ric inside. Another fruitless trip down the river. They were wearing their frayed nerves on the outside of their skin. The slightest thing provoked an argument.
Nina slumped into a chair. Two full days had now passed since Max went missing. Two days of torment, of not knowing. The little town of Drover’s Flat talked of little else, and was alive with speculation, some of it hateful.
‘I won’t be able to help search tomorrow,’ Nina said. ‘It’s Eva’s funeral.’
‘Want me to come?’
‘No, you stay here. Keep looking for Max.’
Ric nodded. ‘I’ll grab a coffee.’ He put his hat on the table. ‘Then it’ll be time to pick Sophie up from the bus.’ He gestured towards her with the kettle, brows raised. Nina nodded, studying him while he filled it, wondering what was going on in his head. How would it feel to have your father lost on the river, maybe hurt, maybe dead? She couldn’t imagine. They sat without speaking until the water boiled. What had happened between them that night at the river felt very far away.
‘The days are hot,’ he said as he made the coffee. ‘But these nights get chilly.’
‘Did Max have a coat?’
‘I guess. It’s not hanging by the door.’
‘It might be hard to spot a man,’ said Nina. ‘But we can’t even find the tinny. It doesn’t make any sense.’ Ric pursed his lips together in a hard-edged frown. ‘What?’ asked Nina.
‘It does if someone hid it. That boat’s just a little thing. Fit easy into a tangle, or under a cooba thicket.’
‘But why would Max hide the boat?’
‘Max wouldn’t.’
Nina wrestled with the implication. ‘What are you saying?’
‘Just what half the town’s thinking.’ Ric lowered his eyes. ‘That maybe your dad knows more than he’s letting on.’
It took a while for the full impact of his words to hit home. Her muscles coiled into knots. ‘Get out.’
‘Nina —’
‘Get out!’ She leaped from the chair, her heart racing, her breath coming in little pants.
He pushed his chair back and got slowly to his feet. ‘I didn’t mean —’
‘How could you say that?’ Her voice rose to a frantic cry. ‘How could you think it? Dad told us what happened. You were there.’
He couldn’t even meet her eyes. ‘I’d better go.’ He put on his hat and pushed out the flywire door.
‘Yes, go!’ She worked the promise ring free and hurled it at him. He stopped to pick it up. ‘Go and think your horrible thoughts somewhere else. Go, and don’t come back.’
As the sound of Ric’s engine faded, she subsided slowly into her chair. Jinx curled up next to her. So Ric thought Dad was hiding something and, according to him, half the town thought so too. Poor Dad. Poor Mum. Tears were threatening but she wouldn’t let them fall. ‘Come on, Jinx,’ she said. ‘We’re going to town.’
‘The police?’ asked Nina. ‘Oh, Dad.’ She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. ‘What happened?’
‘They interviewed him.’ Mum’s face was drawn. ‘They drove out all the way from Moree this morning. Two detectives.’
‘Smart bastards, they were,’ said Dad. ‘Asked me about Max going missing. Reckoned I had something to do with it.’
‘Oh no,’ said Nina. ‘They didn’t – they couldn’t.’
‘Too right they did.’ Nina looked at her mother and received a confirming nod. ‘Tried to put words in my mouth,’ he said.
‘But you didn’t do anything,’ said Nina.
‘The way they see it, I did plenty,’ said Dad. ‘Followed Max down the river, threw around accusations, started a punch-up.’ He pointed to his battered face. ‘This didn’t help any. And since bloody Max has gone and disappeared, there’s no way to prove that I copped the worst of the fight.’ His face cracked into a sardonic smile. ‘First time in my life I’m keen to see that man’s face and he goes and disappears on me. How do you like that?’ Nina sank down on the couch, stomach churning. The long-standing hatred between Max and her father was common knowledge. People were bound to talk.
There was no getting around it. Until Max was found and Dad was cleared she’d have to stay well away from Ric Bonelli. Tears welled behind her eyes and she knuckled them fiercely away. She needed to be strong, for Dad, for Mum. Maybe she and Ric could put all this behind them down the road. But a nagging little voice whined in her ear, and wouldn’t let her be. Some things, it whispered, there’s just no getting past.
She wanted to shout, to swear, to scream out loud. Why hadn’t she seen this coming? It was her fault – her pitiful failure to stand on her own two feet. If she could just go back in time . . . There were so many points where this disaster could have been averted. When Mum had offered to come over, she should have said no, I’m fine. When Lockie went to check the river pumps, she should have insisted on doing it herself. When Dad wanted the keys, she should have fought harder to stop him. She should have done something, anything. But instead she’d waited around like a stunned mullet, while somewhere down the river Dad was tearing all their worlds apart.
It was time to take back control of her life. She scrolled through her phone until she found the bank manager’s number. ‘Trevor? It’s Nina Moore. The auction for Eva’s place is coming up soon. Tell me about this dummy bidder business.’
‘Not a dummy bidder,’ said Trevor. ‘A buyer’s agent. They’re used when a purchaser doesn’t want to be physically present at the auction.’
‘Why would that happen?’
‘Lots of reasons,’ said Trevor. ‘The buyer might be a celebrity, wanting to protect his privacy. Or he may have previously negotiated to buy the property, for example, and the deal fell through. If he shows up himself, the vendor knows exactly how much he was prepared to pay last time. So he sends an agent.’
‘Or the seller might have a totally unjustified grudge against the buyer.’
Trevor chuckled. ‘That too. These types of personal conflicts are surprisingly common, Nina. Ex-husbands and wives, family disputes – buyers often give an agent power of attorney to bid on their behalf.’
‘So if my agent winds up being the highest bidder?’ asked Nina. ‘What then?’
‘When it comes to signing the contract, all secrecy is lost,’ said Trevor. ‘Your agent must inform the auctioneer that he acts on behalf of a client, and name you.’
‘But you said James won’t sell to me?’
‘At that point he’ll have no choice. Legally, once the hammer falls, the highest bidder is the purchaser. The auctioneer can’t ignore your power of attorney simply because the vendor doesn’t like you. James might scream blue murder, but he couldn’t lawfully renege on the deal.’
‘That’s settled, then. I’ll send an agent. The auction’s in two weeks. Are you sure you’ll have my deposit back by then?’
‘It’ll be ready and waiting, along with that ten per cent loan increase we talked about. You never know, Nina. Property prices are way down with this drought and Billabong’s pretty run-down. I reckon you’re in with a good chance.’
Next she rang Lockie. ‘You miss me terribly and want me back, right, Nine?’ She recognised the pain behind his attempt at humour. It made it hard to ask for the favour. Maybe she had a nerve, but she was also pretty desperate. Nina steered their conversation away from the personal. It wasn’t hard. Max’s disappearance was on the tip of everyone’s tongue.
‘I hear Jim’s been interviewed,’ said Lockie. ‘That stinks. You’ve had a rough trot, what with your dad and Eva, and losing out on that contract.’
‘Were you really sorry that I lost Billabong?’
‘Damn straight I was,’ he said. ‘The place goes up for sale soon. Maybe you should throw your hat in the ring.’
‘It was a stretch buying Billabong from Eva in the first place, and that’s when she was giving me a special deal. I’ve probably got Buckley’s at open auction.’
‘You never know,’ said Lockie. ‘That old house is derelict. Fences need replacing. The whole place is neglected. Add in the drought and the weeds, I don’t reckon there’ll be many takers. Not everybody loves a run-down swamp as much as you do.’ He paused. ‘I’d help if I could.’
‘Maybe you can,’ said Nina. ‘Could you go to the auction in my place? You know, bid for me, so James doesn’t cotton on. I know it’s a lot to ask, after all that’s happened . . .’
‘Reckon I could,’ he said. ‘So you got the loan extension?’
‘Yep.’ She was unable to conceal the pride in her voice.
‘That’s bloody beautiful news,’ he said. ‘Bloody beautiful. You deserve that place, Nina. The way you’ve cared for it all your life. Seems only fitting you should have it now Eva’s gone.’
His words were so sincere, so heartfelt, and she felt a great rush of gratitude. Friends like Lockie were few and far between, and she loved him, she truly did. Maybe not the way she loved Ric, but could she base her whole future on one night and a bunch of memories from when she was just a kid? She pushed the images of her and Ric at the river from her mind. Perhaps it was time to get over Ric Bonelli, once and for all.
‘I wish . . .’ he said.
‘I know,’ she said. ‘You don’t have to say it. Sometimes I wish it too.’