Where they fall, p.7
WHERE THEY FALL, page 7
“Of course you can. We do the best kebabs in Melbourne.”
Cole knew it was going to be a long night. He needed to get back to his office and review the footage. He didn’t want to wait until morning when his tech team was in. Lachlan Harvey may not have until morning. The problem was that Cole had never been that competent with the software. He needed Rachael Blake. She was a jack-of-all-trades. She was a tech-wiz.
He thought about the gritty footage. He had an unsettling feeling. That was unusual for him. He had never been a superstitious man. Nor was he religious. Cole made assessments based on facts. The facts had eliminated Helen Campbell from the equation. The facts eliminated Harvey being holed up in hospital from a hit and run. Cole needed more facts.
With his kebab wrapped in foil, he hurried back to his Ford Ranger in Flinders Lane. The rain was heavier. His brisk walk turned into a jog.
Next stop, headquarters.
NINE
Jake sat perched on a small sandstone boulder with Annabelle nestled between his legs.
They sat in silence as they watched the last weakening apex of the sun sink behind the western horizon. The flies had disappeared for the day, going wherever they went at night to regroup and prepare for the following day’s attacks. The sky glowed with a purple tint as evening twilight took hold of time. That tranquil silence that accompanied the scene surrounding them was what Jake and Annabelle travelled for. Neither of them said anything. They didn’t need to. They shared the sunset experience for what it was. Solace in solitude was the ongoing motto of their adventures. They sat on that boulder and soaked up that solitude.
Together with Larry and Jules, they’d spent the afternoon exploring the border of the dry salt lake. Annabelle and Jules had first set up the camper trailer and the tent while Jake and Larry attempted to find firewood. With the only nearby vegetation being withering saltbush, the boys returned with a meagre supply of dying stalks. There was barely enough there to sustain a fire for more than a few minutes.
“To hell with a fire,” Larry had said. “We can drink rum instead. Warm us up from the inside.”
They had walked north around the edge of the lake looking for evidence of fossils with no success. Instead of fossils, they found a plaque installed by the Australian Geographic Society in 1992. Engraved text covered the rusted brass. Lichen grew on the hardwood post that housed the plaque. If it hadn’t been there, one got the feeling that humans had never set foot on the eerie borders of Lake Callabonna.
“I wonder how many people have stood right here since 1992,” Jules queried.
“Not many,” Larry had replied. “It’s a weird feeling, isn’t it? It’s like you don’t think about that when you’re standing at the crossing on King William Street, waiting with the rest of the herd to force your way across. Tens of thousands of people stand on the same patch of claimed land every day. But out here, what we’re looking at right now, this view, this pile of rocks right here, might not have had someone look at for years.”
“That’s what makes it so magic,” Annabelle replied.
“You’re damn right!”
After returning to their campsite, Jake and Annabelle had set off for their evening walk alone. Once the sun disappeared from view and the carnival colours had settled for the night, Jake stood up and lifted Annabelle off the small boulder. He grabbed her at the hips and spun her on the spot. Jake placed the palm of his hand on Annabelle’s cheek and kissed her with passion and longing. She reciprocated the passion and kissed him back, playful and full of rousing love.
They had been together for three years. Despite that, they still showed each other the same infectious affection they had in their first month together. They built their relationship on trust and honesty, and these traits presented themselves throughout their day-to-day lives. They rarely disagreed. They never argued. Both their libidos still raged with adolescent desire and the spirit of adventure that fuelled both their passions.
Once the twilight kiss ended, they looked back toward their campsite. In the dusky sunset, they could just make out the Landcruiser parked half a kilometre away.
“Should we go see what Laz and Jules are up to?”
“We could,” Annabelle replied, her tone rich with mischief. “Or we could stay out here and, well, you know…”
Annabelle kissed Jake again. She wrapped one arm around his waist. With her free hand, she unbuttoned his pants.
“I see where this is going,” Jake said, half muffled by kissing. With the swift impatience of an overzealous teenager, Jake slid Annabelle’s t-shirt up and over her head. He flung it on the sand beside them. He kissed her neck. As he did, he unhitched her bra with one hand with little more than a click of the fingers—a trick he had mastered in middle school.
Jake lifted her up off the sand and laid her on the warm sandstone beside them. His muscles flexed as he manhandled her with ease. He kissed her erect nipples as she giggled playfully.
Jake dragged Annabelle’s shorts off and dropped them beside her crumpled shirt in the sand. Annabelle now wore nothing other than her lace navy blue panties. Jake nestled himself between Annabelle’s legs and kissed her breasts. She moaned with excitement as he slid his free hand into her panties.
“Take your pants off,” Annabelle demanded.
“Yes, boss.”
Jake removed his shorts and underwear, his excitement no longer concealed. Letting the heated passion of the moment take control, Annabelle explored Jake’s neck with her tongue as she took his manhood in her hand. Pulling Annabelle’s blue panties to the side, Jake wasted no time entering her. She gripped his biceps, squeezing his arms hard as a moan escaped her lips.
Under the milky blue and purple hues of twilight night, just as the first few stars became visible, Jake and Annabelle made love like nothing else in the world mattered.
They repositioned themselves on the smooth sandstone, their libidos surging together in a wave of animalistic desire. Annabelle turned over, getting herself onto all fours. She spread her legs and arched her back. She had always liked it like that. Jake knelt behind her and entered her again. With the vast blanket of desert surrounding, discretion didn’t concern them. Between heavy breathing, Annabelle vocalised her enjoyment. She reached forward to grab the edge of a rocky ledge beside them to give her some purchase as Jake thrust from behind.
Annabelle looked down for somewhere to grab. Her moans of enjoyment ceased, replaced with a far less erotic noise. It wasn’t quite a scream. More of a breathless gasp.
“What the fuck?” was all she said as she pushed Jake off her.
“What?”
“Stop… babe, down there. Is that a human skull?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not kidding you. Look!”
The heated passion evaporated in an instant, replaced with rising concern. The erotic desire deflated and shrunk like a punctured party balloon. Jake’s manhood quickly did the same. Annabelle lifted something from the sand. There, in the balmy evening night, she held up the weathered remains of a human skull.
“Holy shit!” Jake said, pulling his shorts back on. “That is a human skull! What a way to kill the vibe.”
“Stop thinking with your dick for one minute, babe. This is creepy.”
“No shit, this is creepy. Is there more? Like a skeleton?”
The hairs on the back of Annabelle’s neck stiffened. She dropped the skull on the rock beside her and looked beyond the rocks, scanning their surroundings. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but suddenly she didn’t like the fact that she was naked. They were alone. She knew they were alone. Despite the isolated location, she had the unnerving and unshakable feeling they were being watched.
Once satisfied that she fabricated those feelings, Annabelle slid her shorts and shirt on and continued to inspect the small crevice between the rocks. There were more bones. Bones of all shapes and sizes. They couldn’t determine which bone belonged to what part of the body. Human anatomy had never been their strength at school. They recognised vertebrae. They recognised ribs.
“Shit, babe,” Annabelle said, her tone sour with concern. “I think this is a whole fucking human. What should we do? How on earth did they get here? Let’s get back to camp. I don’t like this at all.”
Jake didn’t respond. Dissatisfied that her frantic questions went ignored, Annabelle turned to Jake. “Hey, I said what should we—”
Annabelle paused. Intrigued, she watched Jake as he sat beside her with the skull in hand. Holding it up close to his face, he inspected it with the precise attention of a jeweller studying a diamond. He rotated it in his hands, like a geography teacher’s model globe spinning on its brass axis.
Shivers ran down Jake’s spine. His eyes widened with fear.
“See here,” he said, pointing to the back of the skull.
Annabelle looked.
“I think it’s a bullet hole. There’s a small hole under the eye socket and this is an exit hole here in the back.” He spoke with a whisper, as if afraid that someone might hear him. As he did, he ran his finger around the edges of the hole in the skull's backside, almost the size of a fifty-cent coin.
“They were shot in the face. Then left out here to die. Annie… This was no accident.”
“What the hell should we do? Should we go to the cops? Fuck, Jake, this is heavy.”
With each word, Annabelle got a little louder, a little more hysterical.
“Calm down, Annie. Let’s just get back to the others. See what they think.”
“Okay, fine. I wanna get the hell out of here.”
Annabelle felt dirty. Only minutes before, she had been sprawled naked across what was possibly the scene of a murder. Her libido cowered in the deepest corner of her mind.
The unnerving feeling lingered. They continued to cast their eyes over their shoulders, an involuntary reaction to fear. It’s not as if they expected to see a gun-wielding villain chasing them across the open desert. It was instinct. A primal reaction. Fight or flight messages were coursing through their nervous systems.
They picked up their pace.
Larry and Jules leaned back in their chairs, watching the stars come to life in a captivating display of nature’s beauty. Uninterrupted by the light pollution of the city, the blanket of stars draped over the desert terrain offered a magical sight. Both Larry and Jules nursed cans of beer in their hands as they watched the interstellar canvas above. Their body language mirrored their relaxation. The calming solitude of the desert was doing what it did best.
Annabelle’s presence shattered that calming solitude as she stormed into the campsite, flicking up sand with her fast, agitated strides.
“Guys,” she yelled. “We just found a human fucking skeleton!”
Larry sat upright and looked at Annabelle. “Bullshit,” he said with a grin. “I’m not gonna fall for that.”
“It’s not bullshit, Laz,” Jake interjected. “We dead-set found human remains.”
Larry looked from Jake to Annabelle. In the dim light of the lantern, he could see fear. The colour had drained from Annabelle’s tanned complexion. Their eyes were wide. Their pupils dilated.
“Okay,” Jules said. “It’s okay. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation.”
“No, Jules. There’s a damn bullet hole in the back of the skull. Whoever it was, someone shot them dead and left them out here to rot. The logical explanation is murder…”
Larry remained sitting in his canvas camping chair. He didn’t appear convinced. He was stubborn. He was the guy always playing pranks on his mates. He didn’t want to look the fool. Grinning slyly, he massaged his beard and shook his head. “Nah, you two are fucking with us. You’re trying to spook us. You gotta try harder than that.”
Jake thundered towards Larry and lifted the skull, almost shoving it in Larry’s still-smirking face. “Does this look like I’m fucking with you?”
Larry flinched, almost falling out of his chair. He dropped his beer in shock and bounced up out of his seat.
“Jesus!”
“Now do you believe us?” Annabelle asked.
“Let me have a look at that.”
Jake tossed the weathered skull to Larry. He caught it in both hands with a textbook cricket fielder’s catch. He examined it, inspecting the entry and exit holes before dropping the skull in the sand. He shivered and wiped his hands on his shorts. His eyes widened with stark realisation.
“Sorry guys. I should’ve believed you.”
“No shit.”
“So what now? Should we get the hell out of here?”
“You shouldn't have touched it,” Jules said. “You’ve completely contaminated a crime scene.”
“Everyone just calm down, okay?”
The calm voice of reason came from Larry. He seemed to be the only one able to maintain composure. “Think about it,” he continued. “This skeleton looks like it’s been here for ages. It could have been here for years. Maybe even more. There’s no one around. There’s no reason to get all freaked out. It’s not like they murdered this person yesterday. We don’t know the circumstances. Yes, it’s a bullet hole, but for all we know, it could have been from like a hundred years ago. It could have been from when the explorers came up this way and got into trouble with the natives? It doesn’t mean we’re in danger.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Jake said, sighing. “I still have a strange feeling about this place. It’s eerie. At first light I wanna get the hell out of here. In the meantime, I need a bloody beer.”
“Coming your way,” Larry said as he reached into the cooler and passed an ice-cold can to his best friend.
“Shit, I need one too,” said Annabelle, her voice shaky. “I’m spooked. I can’t wait to get out of this damn place now.”
“Well,” said Larry, cackling. “Who’s bloody idea was it to come out here to this middle-of-nowhere lake in the first place?”
“Oh, shut up, Laz. How was I supposed to know it was going to be the scene of a murder?”
“We don’t know if it was a murder.”
“Jules. There is a bullet hole in the skull. There’s no two ways about it. That’s murder!”
Jules took a swig of her beer.
“God, this is almost too much to believe,” Annabelle continued. “This place is so remote that dead bodies are just left to rot where they fall.”
“Yep, there’s no one to clean up the mess out here.”
Larry winked in the dim lantern light. He opened a beer and took a long swig. “Well,” he said between sips. “You wanted to come out here to find some fossils… I suppose, in a way, you kind of did…”
TEN
The Victoria Police Crime Squad had teams in all regions of the state.
They had offices littered across the many police stations of the greater Melbourne area. Cole and Blake shared an office at the Melbourne East police station on Bourke Street. Along with two other members of the Crime Squad, they had been residents of the Melbourne East station for over five years. They both found their office modest, comfortable and, compared to other departments, quiet. Located on the second floor of the building, at the back of the hall, it allowed them to be separated from the endless drama at the busy precinct’s front counter.
They shared the facility with twelve other members of staff from various branches of the Department. Like everywhere in the Melbourne CBD, parking was problematic. The station had sixteen reserved parking spots in an aboveground parking garage next door. Six of those parks were for squad cars, leaving ten car parks for sixteen staff members. It wasn’t difficult to work out the mathematical dilemma.
Rachael Blake rode her pushbike to work most days to avoid the problem. She had a strict and disciplined routine. She would wake up at 5:00 most mornings and start her day with yoga at home before a blueberry, banana and almond milk smoothie. After the smoothie, she would put on her Lycra and ride to her local gym, about halfway between her inner city apartment and the Melbourne East Station. She would spend an hour at the gym before getting back on her bike and arriving to work before 8:00, giving her enough time to shower and change before starting the day.
Those were normal circumstances.
Given the unpredictable nature of working major crimes, more often than not, Cole and Blake’s hours did not fit within the conventional realm of normal circumstances.
It was 10:41pm.
Cole messaged Blake as he pulled into the parking garage on Bourke Street. His message was short, succinct. They always were. I’m heading to headquarters, he wrote. I have a lead.
She responded almost immediately. I’ll be there soon. It better be worthwhile.
Cole secured his Ford Ranger in one of the few free parking spaces on the same level as their office. That was rare. He carried his now-cold kebab inside and while logging onto his computer he scoffed it down, garlic sauce dripping onto his cluttered desk. Far from the best kebab in Melbourne, Cole found the pita bread soggy and the pungent garlic sauce overpowering. He inhaled it anyway.
Only minutes later, the intercom from the downstairs parking lot buzzed. The office was so silent, so eerily still and dark that the unexpected buzz made Cole flinch. For the briefest second, out of pure reactionary instinct, he reached for his firearm.
He laughed to himself in the silence, ran his hand through his shaved head and stood up to go welcome his partner. She arrived at the top of the stairs just as he unlocked the double glazed, tinted glass door that separated their small office from the rest of the department.
“Hey,” Cole said wearily, as he closed the door behind Blake. As she entered, a fruity aroma followed her. Her hair was still damp. Blake wore a grey Adidas hoodie and a pair of tight, faded jeans.
“Hey, yourself,” she said, giving Cole a platonic hug. “You look exhausted.”
