Andy,” she said. “When the two of you arrived I thought he was the same man, but the other man was younger and his skin was a darker color.”
Andy and Blake traded looks. “Eddy Gilgai?” Andy said.
Blake nodded. “If it’s Eddy, that means Max Horvath is involved in this.”
“They’re employees of your father’s, I suppose,” Nigel said.
Blake gave him a withering look. “Max Horvath is a neighbor who has designs on Diamond Downs. Max hired Eddy after Des sacked him for misconduct.”
She didn’t try to hide her confusion. “How would feeding a crocodile help your neighbor get his hands on your father’s land?”
“Crocs don’t have much in the way of brains but they’re creatures of habit. You can train them to expect food at the same place and time. If Eddy taught this one to come in close to the landing, he could have had only one motive. He hoped to send you packing.”
“Fine with me,” Nigel said. “For you, too, if you have any sense, Jo.”
He was probably right, but instinct wouldn’t let her turn her back on what was shaping up to be quite a story. She couldn’t wait to learn more about the neighborhood feud from Blake and his family.
“Don’t power up your laptop yet,” Blake said, as if sensing her interest. “This doesn’t concern you.”
“If it’s meant to scare me away from Diamond Downs, it does.”
“We’re only guessing that was the explanation for the attack. Wylie could simply have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“But your theory fits the facts as you know them,” she said. “It also explains some of the disturbances I’ve heard around the river since we set up camp here.”
Blake’s interest sharpened. “You didn’t mention any disturbances.”
“I don’t know what’s normal for the outback. For all I know, the sounds in the bushes could have been dingoes or one of those wild pigs.”
“Or someone setting me up to be eaten by a crocodile,” Nigel added. “Why the devil didn’t you say something sooner, Jo?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t, but it doesn’t help now. It’s more important to find out if your Max Horvath is behind this, and stop him before somebody gets hurt.”
Blake shook his head. “Don’t you get it? That someone could be you. I’m putting both of you on the next plane back to Perth.”
She and Nigel spoke at the same moment.
“Good idea.”
“The hell you are.”
“You can throw me off Diamond Downs, but you can’t make me leave the Kimberley until I’m ready,” she asserted.
Blake’s expression conceded reluctant defeat. “Then you’re better off where I can keep an eye on you. If you carry on with your assignment as if we don’t suspect anything, Horvath might get cocky and give himself away.”
“And both of you could wind up dead.”
“We won’t. Blake knows what he’s doing.” At least she hoped he did.
Blake picked up Nigel’s pack. “We’ll take your car back to town. Andy, you take the jeep and see if you can find any more signs. We’ll meet back at the homestead later.”
The other man grinned. “Tom will be dying of curiosity by then.”
“Tom’s my brother and Andy’s honorary clan brother,” Blake elaborated. “His engagement party’s tonight.”
He must be the ranger who was marrying the princess, she assumed. Quite a family. “Do I get to meet him?”
Blake pushed his Akubra hat back on his head. “According to Des, under your editor’s rules, you’re only supposed to come to the homestead in a life-and-death emergency. I guess a crocodile attack qualifies. If you happen to be there for the party, it can’t be helped. Until we know more, I don’t want you staying out here on your own.”
Nigel shifted impatiently and she nodded, feeling the familiar surge of excitement that told her she was on to a big story. Far bigger than Karen, her editor, had guessed when she dreamed up this assignment. “You’re on.”
Chapter 2
Are you crazy? Blake asked himself as he drove to Halls Creek. Nigel sat stony-faced in the back seat clutching his pack. Jo was in front beside Blake, staring thoughtfully out the window. Blake couldn’t force Jo to leave, but what could she do if he dumped her in town and refused to return her to Diamond Downs? Once he knew the facts, Des would back Blake’s position. So why didn’t he?
Because from the moment she’d turned up at his croc farm expecting him to teach her how to survive in the bush, she’d caught his attention. What red-blooded man wouldn’t be attracted to someone who moved as enticingly as she did? Neither athlete nor vamp. More like a woman with a mission. She had a compact, curvy shape that raised Blake’s temperature on sight, and her unusual blue-green eyes reminded him of the semiprecious gem New Zealanders called greenstone. The last few days in the open air had kissed her milky skin with roses. His fingers itched to release her streaky blond hair from its ponytail for the pleasure of watching the breeze catch the strands.
Her refusal to be scared away by the crocodile had earned his grudging admiration, although he believed her confidence was misplaced. She didn’t belong in the outback. The whole idea of a survival-type scenario was bull. But he couldn’t deny that his foster father needed the fee her magazine was paying. Some money was coming in from visitor interest in the recently discovered rock art on the land, but there was a long way to go before tourism replaced the dwindling income from raising cattle.
Blake, his foster brothers and Des’s daughter Judy helped as much as they could, but she was a bush pilot with people depending on her. Tom had responsibilities as the shire ranger. And Blake had the croc farm to run. None of them could give Diamond Downs as much money, time and attention as it needed. Yet Des wouldn’t consider selling up. The land was in his blood and he wanted to leave it for Judy and her kids, and theirs after that.
The other fly in the ointment was Max Horvath’s greed.
What a piece of work he was. He’d been an unpleasant child, taunting Blake and his brothers about their lack of pedigree. Max had been thirteen when his parents’ marriage ended and his mother took him to live in the city. He’d come back for vacations and had developed a huge crush on Judy. Too soft-hearted to reject him out of hand, Judy had gone on occasional dates with Max, only breaking off the relationship when Max became serious. Now Blake wondered if her rejection of Max’s marriage proposal had sown the seeds for this dangerous feud.
Unbeknownst to the boys, Des Logan had borrowed heavily from Clive Horvath, Max’s father and Des’s best friend, to keep the station going. After Clive was killed suddenly in a riding accident, Max had inherited their place and the mortgage Clive had intended to tear up. His son wasn’t so forgiving. Since taking over, Max had been pressuring Des to repay
