her grimace.
“Tasha is an ex-cop and a very good thief. Lois carries a knife and is not afraid to use it to save someone. And Frances Beaton? She is an enigma.” There was less in her files than in the others and at the time it had made Sirius wonder.
“Interesting, but as much as I’d I love to stand and chat, I have to get to far north Queensland.”
“The rainforest.” Sirius was well aware of where those women had gone. Everyone in the OC
knew and it was a smart move. The Jacobson Committee had not yet infiltrated that part of the world to the degree it had down south. “I’ll take you.” He didn’t have to. Sirius knew Denby was more than capable of getting there under her own steam but he wanted to. There was the difference.
He needed to be with her once more. Maybe he could make her understand why had had done what he had. Maybe. It would be a hard task. He knew he had wounded her badly by his association with her father. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
She snorted. “Said the spider to the fly. You know I’m not some dumb-assed, innocent girl anymore, Sirius.”
“I liked the girl a lot.” He also liked the woman she was now. Tougher. Stronger. Yet he knew under all of that she would be still sweet and caring.
“Yeah well, she had to be kicked to the curb.”
“Because of all the pain?” He saw her flinch. “I won’t hurt you again, Denby.”
“Damn right ‘cause I won’t let you.” She started to walk away.
“I have a car and petrol. Have you?” Sirius saw her stop. “Better the devil you know.” He doubted she had much money and he didn’t want her hitchhiking.
She turned, biting her lip. “Why do you want to help me?”
“I owe you.” It was the plain and honest truth.
Chapter Six
The Daintree, Far North Queensland
Lois Cantwell staggered inside the wooden house and collapsed on the first chair she saw. She was tired right down to her bones and wasn’t about to pretend otherwise. She had leaned heavily against Tuck Morris as they climbed the stairs to the house secreted high up in the trees of the Daintree rainforest. “I swear I wouldn’t have guessed a house was hidden here.”
Tuck smiled. “That’s the beauty of it. Unless you know it’s here, you’d never find it. And, we can see people coming long before they come close to the house.”
“Smart.” If she was less tired she would have acknowledged the beauty of the world heritage listed area with its magnificent mountains, lush, green foliage and crystal clear creeks that wound through the dense undergrowth. But after a long, twenty-odd hour, ass numbing drive from Brisbane to Far North Queensland, she wasn’t into anything remotely awe inspiring from nature, nor was she going to pretend she was anything else but tried. The old Lois would have kept going until she dropped dead, defying anyone to stop her. The six months pregnant Lois wanted to curl into a ball and sleep.
“Okay?” Tuck’s hand came down gently on her shoulders, rubbing the tired muscles.
As much as she wanted to hate him, because he had colluded with the Jacobson Committee, she couldn’t. They wanted her pregnant to shut her up and to be less of a role model to the women out there still fighting for their rights. Tuck had got her pregnant without explaining his part in their plan. And, he could tell her as much as he liked that he did what he did to get money to save her, by taking her away from the clutches of the Committee who had targeted her as a troublemaker, but the thing was, he hadn’t told her the truth. That still hurt. A lot. The child she carried was his. Lois wasn’t about to deny it. But damn it. He should have told me . She had lived a long time under her own control, doing what she liked and believed in. To be manipulated by others annoyed the hell out of her.
“I can see the wheels turning. Do you still hate me?”
“Yes—no—crap, ah, I don’t know. At this moment I want to eat my weight in
“Tasha is an ex-cop and a very good thief. Lois carries a knife and is not afraid to use it to save someone. And Frances Beaton? She is an enigma.” There was less in her files than in the others and at the time it had made Sirius wonder.
“Interesting, but as much as I’d I love to stand and chat, I have to get to far north Queensland.”
“The rainforest.” Sirius was well aware of where those women had gone. Everyone in the OC
knew and it was a smart move. The Jacobson Committee had not yet infiltrated that part of the world to the degree it had down south. “I’ll take you.” He didn’t have to. Sirius knew Denby was more than capable of getting there under her own steam but he wanted to. There was the difference.
He needed to be with her once more. Maybe he could make her understand why had had done what he had. Maybe. It would be a hard task. He knew he had wounded her badly by his association with her father. “I’ve been waiting for you.”
She snorted. “Said the spider to the fly. You know I’m not some dumb-assed, innocent girl anymore, Sirius.”
“I liked the girl a lot.” He also liked the woman she was now. Tougher. Stronger. Yet he knew under all of that she would be still sweet and caring.
“Yeah well, she had to be kicked to the curb.”
“Because of all the pain?” He saw her flinch. “I won’t hurt you again, Denby.”
“Damn right ‘cause I won’t let you.” She started to walk away.
“I have a car and petrol. Have you?” Sirius saw her stop. “Better the devil you know.” He doubted she had much money and he didn’t want her hitchhiking.
She turned, biting her lip. “Why do you want to help me?”
“I owe you.” It was the plain and honest truth.
Chapter Six
The Daintree, Far North Queensland
Lois Cantwell staggered inside the wooden house and collapsed on the first chair she saw. She was tired right down to her bones and wasn’t about to pretend otherwise. She had leaned heavily against Tuck Morris as they climbed the stairs to the house secreted high up in the trees of the Daintree rainforest. “I swear I wouldn’t have guessed a house was hidden here.”
Tuck smiled. “That’s the beauty of it. Unless you know it’s here, you’d never find it. And, we can see people coming long before they come close to the house.”
“Smart.” If she was less tired she would have acknowledged the beauty of the world heritage listed area with its magnificent mountains, lush, green foliage and crystal clear creeks that wound through the dense undergrowth. But after a long, twenty-odd hour, ass numbing drive from Brisbane to Far North Queensland, she wasn’t into anything remotely awe inspiring from nature, nor was she going to pretend she was anything else but tried. The old Lois would have kept going until she dropped dead, defying anyone to stop her. The six months pregnant Lois wanted to curl into a ball and sleep.
“Okay?” Tuck’s hand came down gently on her shoulders, rubbing the tired muscles.
As much as she wanted to hate him, because he had colluded with the Jacobson Committee, she couldn’t. They wanted her pregnant to shut her up and to be less of a role model to the women out there still fighting for their rights. Tuck had got her pregnant without explaining his part in their plan. And, he could tell her as much as he liked that he did what he did to get money to save her, by taking her away from the clutches of the Committee who had targeted her as a troublemaker, but the thing was, he hadn’t told her the truth. That still hurt. A lot. The child she carried was his. Lois wasn’t about to deny it. But damn it. He should have told me . She had lived a long time under her own control, doing what she liked and believed in. To be manipulated by others annoyed the hell out of her.
“I can see the wheels turning. Do you still hate me?”
“Yes—no—crap, ah, I don’t know. At this moment I want to eat my weight in
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