Free Pay Dirt by Garry Disher

no
equipment that might identify them or tie them to the Steelgard hit.

    They also bought four radios. Snyder
was supplying a powerful unit to monitor the Steelgard van, but Wyatt wanted hand-held
VHF/FM transceivers for communication in the field. He bought marine-band
transceivers, assuming that no one in the bush would be listening in on that
band.

    The next few days would be a waiting
gamewaiting for Thursday, when they would show Tobin the layout, waiting for
next Monday to meet Snyder, waiting for the Steelgard hit itself. It didnt
matter that Snyder would miss the trial run. What mattered was feedback from
Tobin. Would Tobin think it feasible that the Steelgard van could be carted
away? Would he be able to find them a truck that would do the job? Would the
narrow roads pose a problem? Were the sheds at the farm too small?

    Wyatt lived with these questions in
the early part of that week, not because he wanted to but because Leah was
there. She was keyed up, anxious to do the job, looking at it from all the
angles. Wyatt was calmer about it. He knew what the problems were, but they
couldnt be answered until Tobin saw the layout, so there was no point in
worrying until then. When he was working, Wyatt was concentrated and deliberate
in all he did. He knew how to wait. He became remote and self-contained, which
people often interpreted as arrogance. It was as if a small, chilling draft
came off him. But he knew he had this effect on people, and because it was Leah
there with him, he made an effort. He looked thoughtful when she raised
objections about the job. He discussed the ins and outs with her. It kept them
going. It kept up the harmony.

    Not that they didnt have plenty to
do. Leah made shopping runs into neighbouring townsnever the same town
twiceto buy daily essentials like milk, eggs, bread, butter, fruit, meat and
vegetables. While she was shopping Wyatt explored the possible exits from the
farm. If something went wrong with this job, if they had to get out in a hurry,
it would not be by the road leading to the property. Thats where the trouble
would be coming from.

    First he checked the track leading
back into the hills. He followed it all the way. At times it seemed to peter
out, but he always picked it up again. It wound along the valley, around the
edge of the hills, and eventually came out onto a secondary road on the other
side of the range. He confirmed his earlier impression that it was passable to
most vehicles.

    But it wasnt the only exit. If both
roads were ever cut off there were the hills themselves. An agile person could
make good progress on the smooth slopes. The grass wasnt too high or dense.
The main danger would come from hidden quartz reefs, rabbit holes and tussocks,
all of them ankle-sprainers. There was also a reasonable degree of coverthe
grass itself, creeks and erosion channels, rocky outcrops, solitary trees,
their trunks rubbed smooth by forgotten sheep and cattle. From time to time he
climbed to high ground. He was making a mental map of the area, marking
topographical features, roads, neighbouring farms and the tin-hut corner, but
being high up also gave him a sensation of unconquerability. He put it down to
the clean, perfumed air, the blue and olive hills, the wind in the tossing
grasses. At other times Leah made him lie with her in the sun. When he was
working he tended to forget about sex for long periods, so when she drew him by
the hand and began to undress him, he would blink, surprised and gratified.

    They also made two survey trips of
the district. They had the maps, but maps are never sufficient. Wyatt couldnt
work without pictures in his head. He liked to know about culverts, road signs,
bends hidden by trees or farm buildings, overhanging branches, road edges
churned and eroded by heavy vehicles, stretches rendered slow or impassable by
potholes, sharp stones or washaways.

    On Thursday morning they drove to
Burra, a town that had grown prosperous on Merino wool