Don’t panic yet, Josh told himself as he dialled Dani Wallace’s mobile phone number for the third time. He could feel his body beginning to react to a danger he couldn’t quite put his finger on and he was desperately trying to rein it in, to stay in control.
He’d gone through the contact list in Lexie’s mobile phone and got Dani’s number but it just kept ringing out. He vaguely remembered her saying something about her friend working at Kings Cross, so he quickly called the police switchboard and asked to be put through. His heart hammered wildly as he waited for someone to answer.
Finally a breathless male voice picked up.
‘Kings Cross Detectives, Sergeant Brooks speaking. Can I help you?’
Josh felt like shouting that he could help by answering the fucking phone faster but he knew abuse would get him nowhere. It was just his mounting panic making him so intolerant and testy. Lexie was not the only person who had gut instincts and right now his told him that something was definitely not right. He took a deep breath and concentrated on keeping the alarm out of his voice.
‘Detective Harrison from Bondi Junction Ds here.’
The voice sighed, seemingly relieved he wasn’t someone else.
‘Sorry, mate. We were all in a meeting down the hallway. I thought someone was here to answer the phones but − ’
Josh interrupted him. ‘Don’t worry. It doesn’t matter. I just need to know if you have a female detective there by the name of Dani Wallace.’
‘We certainly do,’ he replied. ‘Alhough she’s away on a job at the moment.’
‘You obviously haven’t heard. Her mother has died. I’ve been trying to get her on her mobile but − ’
Detective Brooks interrupted, hammering him with questions.
‘When did this happen? That’s terrible. Are you a relative? How did you find out? I’ll need to get in touch with her supervisor. She’s actually on an undercover job and not allowed to use her personal phone.’
Josh was confused. Wasn’t she supposed to be at her apartment?
‘Hang on a minute. Can you tell me where she is right now?’
Now it was Detective Brooks’s turn to sound perplexed.
‘I’m acting boss here this week and I’ve only just spoken to her undercover supervisor to check how she’s going. She’s in Port Macquarie. If you give me the details of her mother’s . . . death, I’ll inform her now.’
This was all wrong. Lexie had gone to Dani’s place to comfort her, but Dani wasn’t there. A slab of cement felt like it had settled at the bottom of his stomach. Fuck. His thoughts came flooding together in a tide of comprehension. The medical examiner’s words: ‘The shooter is a perfect shot’. Lurch: ‘Slip Burgh a fifty dollar note, I’m sure he’ll fire a few shots onto your target. He’s a perfect shot.’ Lexie’s threatening text messages. The boss: ‘The murder weapon is police issue, stolen from an ex-cop from Balmain two and a half years ago. Weren’t you stationed there then?’
Yes I was. And so was Burgh.
‘Are you there? Detective?’
Josh was snapped back to the present by the voice on the other end of the line.
‘Look, I must have got it wrong. Please don’t contact Dani at this point. I need to find out what’s going on.’
He hung up abruptly. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he was finding it hard to breathe.
Just then Casey yelled out from her office. ‘Josh, get in here.’
What now?
‘There’s been a bit of confusion at the hospital. The guard on Rex’s door thought he was with his daughter in ICU and the other uniforms thought he was back in his room. Bloody idiots! How do you lose a six foot six bikie, for God’s sake?’
‘What are you saying? Donaldson’s gone?’
Casey nodded miserably. ‘I don’t know why it’s taken them so long to tell me but apparently Rex Donaldson’s given us the slip. He’s done a runner from the hospital.’
Shit, shit, shit.
Josh wasn’t sure what this all meant but he knew it couldn’t be good.
‘Where’s Burgh?’
Casey looked confused for a moment. ‘Sleeman just asked me the same thing. He was looking for him too. I don’t know.’
Josh felt terror shoot through his system. This was getting worse. He thought of Lincoln. Lexie had gone to see her friend but her friend was still in Port Macquarie, at least four hours away – instead Lexie had been deliberately lured to Dani’s flat. Burgh was nowhere to be found. Rex Donaldson had escaped their police guard and was missing in action.
‘I heard Lexie call off on the radio,’ he said to his boss urgently. ‘Call a signal one to that address right now.’
A signal one was only ever called in the most serious of situations – when a police officer was in life-threatening trouble. It would have every car crew on channel drop what they were doing and proceed, code red, to that location.
Casey Blair stared at him as though he’d gone mad.
‘What are you talking about?’
‘Just do it,’ he yelled as he ran out of the office.