Page 123 of Outback Secrets

Logan paused and Liam wasn’t sure whether it was dramatically for effect or because he was waiting for a confession. He certainly wasn’t going to give the game away until he was completely certain the journalist was barking up the right tree.

‘Well, are you going to enlighten me?’ Liam asked, shrugging one shoulder as if he were only mildly interested.

‘I think you already know that the common factor is that every single person or organisation who has been blessed by our mysterious benefactor has, in the days or weeks leading up to the event, had a drink or a meal or come in for a meeting, right here. In The Palace. Your pub.’

Liam’s insides turned to ice. He had to steady himself on the bar as Logan’s smile grew so wide you could see the tiny gaps between his teeth.

‘I guess the game’s up.’

Both Liam and Logan turned to look at Rex who had just uttered those five words.

Logan blinked and shook his head slightly as if seeing the other man for the first time. ‘Where’d you come from?’

‘So, what are you going to do now?’ Rex asked, ignoring Logan’s question. ‘Interview me on the radio? Write an article about me? Do you need a head shot?’ He palmed his hands against his face and turned it slowly from side to side. ‘Which is my best angle, do you reckon?’

‘Why would I need a photo of you?’ Logan said.

‘Because I’m the mysterious benefactor,’ Rex replied, jabbing his thumb into his chest and speaking in a tone that suggested Logan wasn’t altogether right in the head. ‘Isn’t that what we’re talking about?’

‘You!?’ Liam and Logan exclaimed in unison.

‘You’re the mysterious benefactor?’ Logan added as Liam struggled to contain the laughter bubbling inside him.

Rex sighed. ‘That’s what I said, isn’t it? For a journalist, you’re pretty slow to catch on. Who the hell did you think it was?’

‘I …’ Logan looked at Liam, then back at Rex; he appeared to be stumped for words.

Lara came up beside Liam. ‘What’s all the excitement over here?’

‘You know the mysterious benefactor?’ he said.

‘No. I thought that was the whole thing about a mystery—no one does know.’

‘Well, it’s a mystery no more.’

Lara’s eyes widened. ‘Who is it?’

Still grinning, Liam pointed to Rex, who beamed at the bartender.

‘No way! Where’d you get all your cash?’ Lara asked the question that Logan still seemed too shocked to ask.

Rex shrugged, nursed his beer in his grubby hands and told them exactly where.

By the time he’d finished his story, a crowd had gathered around the bar and Logan had recovered enough to interrupt with specific questions and take copious notes. For a man who usually disappeared into the furniture, being the centre of attention made Rex sit taller and hold his head higher.

Later, when Logan had finally gone off to type up his article and the crowd had dispersed, Rex pulled out a scruffy wallet that was barely holding itself together with a few loose threads to pay his tab.

Liam held up his hand and shook his head. ‘Your drinks are on me,’ he said with a wink. ‘Tonight, and always.’