Four Dogs Missing by Rhys Gard

Author:Rhys Gard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, Australian, rural, thriller, crime, wine, vineyard, art, Mudgee, suspense, murder, small town, secrets, Jane Harper, The Dry, Val McDermid, Michael Robotham, James Patterson, Ian Rankin, Candice Fox, Christian White, Emma Viskic, J. P. Pomare, Chris Hammer, Shelley Burr, Hayley Scrivenor, The Nowhere Child, Wild Place, Dirt Town, Scrublands, The Tilt, Wake, outback
ISBN: 9781760687731
Publisher: Bonnier Books UK
Published: 2023-06-06T01:10:23+00:00

11.

Dawn.

The dreams were getting worse. Occurring more often. Some of the images were more akin to a memory, while others were peppered with fantasy. They all took place in the heated mood of adolescence Oliver could only conjure in his subconscious.

He crept to the toilet, pissed and washed his hands. Gabe’s door was closed, but he could hear percussive snores coming from the room. Kicking on his boots, Oliver lurched back to his cottage. A vehement breeze was throwing leaves and broken branches along the driveway, dancing together near his feet.

The cottage felt the same as he’d last left it. No one had ransacked it while searching for paintings, drugs or God knows what. Oliver showered fleetingly and dressed, shivering in the cold. Then he brushed away wine from his teeth and lips and considered making a coffee, but in the end decided to grab his keys and jog to his car parked at Gabe’s so he could drive into town.

Once on the road, he gazed across to the hills, flecked with gums and pines, and realised how peaceful the countryside was. How starkly different to the world inside his head.

‘You know you can’t do this to me,’ Rocky said, sounding legitimately concerned when Oliver turned up at the café.

‘What?’

‘Come in this early when it isn’t vintage. I’m going to be off-kilter all day now.’

‘I need a favour,’ Oliver said.

Rocky raised his eyebrows. ‘You mean something more than a cup of joe?’

‘Yeah,’ Oliver said. His phone vibrated in his pocket: Penny. ‘Hold that thought,’ he told Rocky. ‘I’ll be back.’

Walking out of the café onto the street, he answered the call. The town was quiet, people still snoozing alarms. Miners in their Land Cruisers were hooning to work.

‘Hey.’

‘Are you all right?’

‘I just wanted to apologise …’

‘Oli, your texts last night were worrying.’

‘Texts?’

‘As in plural.’

Oliver pulled the phone from his ear, but couldn’t navigate his device well enough to read what he’d written without hanging up on Penny.

He breathed out heavily. ‘Yeah, it’s not good.’

‘Did something happen yesterday?’

‘Someone shot Clare.’

Penny was silent. Then, sharply: ‘What?’

‘As in, shot dead. I’d just driven up to her place. I heard them do it.’

‘Jesus Christ. Where are you now? Why didn’t you call me?’

Oliver couldn’t recall Penny ever sounding so disturbed. ‘I’m back in Mudgee,’ he said, ‘but I’m driving to the Central Coast.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m going to pay Harold Keller a visit.’

There was a pause, then Penny said, ‘Is that a good idea? What did that detective say?’

‘I haven’t spoken to her about it,’ Oliver said. He was going to keep it at that. He knew Penny wouldn’t approve of him withholding information from the police. He just needed time to get Harold to confess, before they linked Clare’s death to him, to Theo, to Orson across the ocean. He’d have it all worked out for Everson. Present it on a platter.

Penny’s voice had a rare frisson of fear about it. ‘Oli, don’t go all crazy vigilante on me. Let the police handle this. They’ll lock him up if he’s guilty.

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