Blood Trail by Tony Park

Author:Tony Park [Park, Tony]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2021-07-26T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Mia returned, dirty and bloodied, to her quarters. It was after ten pm and Captain van Rensburg had told her she was no longer needed in Killarney, which had become a crime scene thronged with police.

Julianne was with Sue Barker, and despite Mia’s offer to stay with the traumatised woman, Julianne told Mia to get some rest. Her protest had been half-hearted – she was shattered, emotionally and physically, by the day’s events. She and Bongani had been on the move for longer than any of the others now involved in the search and investigation, starting with chasing the poachers just after dawn. Graham and Oscar were helping the police with a door-to-door night-time search of homes in Killarney.

As she reached for the doorhandle a man appeared from the room next to hers, which had been vacant for some time.

‘Hi.’

It was the Canadian, the researcher.

‘Jeff,’ he reminded her.

She tried a smile but had no idea if it showed on her face. ‘Hello.’

‘You look beat.’

She managed a small, unexpected laugh. ‘You know how to flatter a girl.’

‘Tough day?’

‘And night.’ All she had wanted was to crawl into bed and, like a child, pull the covers over her head to hide from the horrors she had witnessed. Now, however, she found herself on edge, almost scared to go inside, in case there was something, or someone, lurking there. I killed a man.

Jeff reached into the pocket of his khaki shorts and pulled out a joint. ‘I hope you don’t mind.’

She shrugged. Drugs were banned – Julianne sometimes employed one of Sean’s dogs, cross-trained in narcotics detection, to sweep the staff and back-of-house areas of the lodge, although marijuana was technically legal for personal use in South Africa.

‘No problem with me,’ Mia said. ‘Just don’t let Julianne catch you.’

‘She was kind enough to let me stay here a few days while I carry out my interviews.’ He started to put the cigarette back in his shorts.

‘Be a shame to waste it,’ she said. ‘I’m, like, so exhausted, but I don’t think I could sleep.’

Jeff smiled. He was a good-looking guy. He took out a lighter and lit it, took a hit to get it going, then passed it to her. ‘You don’t mind breaking social distancing protocols?’

She inhaled deeply, held the smoke in and passed the zol back to him, then exhaled. Jeff pulled up two plastic chairs, one from outside each of their rooms. He took a drag and passed it back to her. A scops owl chirped nearby; normally the shrill call calmed her, but now it set her nerves further on edge.

Mia settled into the chair, hoping the drug would soon take effect. She passed it back to Jeff.

He took another toke. ‘Pretty shitty day and night, from what I’ve heard around camp.’

She nodded.

‘Want to talk about it?’

Mia closed her eyes.

‘That bad?’

She nodded, exhaling a stream of smoke towards the starry sky. Mia rubbed her eyes.

‘Want a beer?’ Jeff asked.

Mia looked at her watch. ‘Why not?’

He got up, returning a minute later with two green bottles of Windhoek Lager.

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