Outback Blaze, page 4
‘Let me help.’
Frankie nodded. ‘I’ve got containers of sandwiches and flasks of tea and coffee. But we need somewhere to set up.’
‘Already sorted.’ Mike pointed a little way over to where two trestles tables stood. The girls smiled; no one handled an emergency better than a bunch of country folks.
Together, the women carried the supplies over to the table. Within five minutes the first group of firies was upon them. They gobbled down sandwiches but bypassed the hot drinks for more water, before uttering a quick thanks and rushing back to the blaze to give others a chance to replenish their energies. Frankie returned to the café where Harriet and the other ladies who’d been at the photoshoot were making more snacks.
‘Those men are amazing,’ Simone said to Ruby as she bent down to dig more bottles of water out of an esky. ‘To think none of them get paid to risk their lives like that.’
Ruby nodded, watching as Ryan and Adam took their turn to wolf down some grub. She could never thank them enough. Even if they didn’t manage to save The Ag Store, the fact they’d tried so hard meant everything. Ryan lifted a bottle of water to his mouth and as he guzzled down the liquid, escaped droplets flowed down his neck, evaporating immediately against the heat of his skin. He ran a hand through his hair and then emptied the rest of the bottle over his head.
‘Whoa!’ Simone hissed as Ryan and Adam rushed back to duty. ‘Pity things have to burn for us to get a show like that.’ She picked up a bottle of ice-cold water and pressed it against her forehead. ‘Man, he was good-looking in high school, but time has been more than kind to that man. I cannot wait to check out my photos.’
‘You knew Ryan in high school?’
‘Sure. We both did year eight to year ten in Gero before being sent to boarding school in year eleven and twelve. I used to spend the entire bus trip staring at the back of his head and drooling as I imagined what it would feel like to kiss him.’
Ruby laughed. It felt weird but strangely comforting to be discussing something so trivial at this moment. The sexiness of Ryan Forrester was far more appealing than dwelling on why they were here. She had to admit Bunyip Bay had its fair share of good lookers and tonight had proved they weren’t only gorgeous but also the kind of guys you could rely on. Something no one would ever say about Jonas Vanderbrek. She couldn’t imagine her ex-fiancé ever volunteering for anything that wouldn’t result in direct gain for himself. Pity it had taken her so long to see the real him but thank God he’d shown his true colours before they’d tied the knot.
Not wanting to spend one more minute thinking about Jonas, she looked at Simone. ‘So did you ever get that kiss?’
Simone snorted. ‘Ryan was a star footy player. I was the geek girl who chose drawing over sport every time. He had a bevy of beautiful cheerleader types at his beck and call so, no, I never found out. Then I met Jason and forgot all about Ryan.’
Ruby had never met Jason, Simone’s husband. He’d died when her girls were only little and long before she returned to Bunyip Bay.
But Simone’s memories of Ryan had clearly only been buried as the gleam in her eyes and the rawness of her voice when she spoke about him made Ruby wonder if maybe something could happen between them now after all these years. The thought made her heart feel light – as if despite all the devastation of the fire and her own ghastly experience with relationships, there was still hope in the world. Before Ruby could press Simone any further on the issue, Frankie returned with another load of food and they rushed over to help unload.
After that Ruby went to check in with her parents. They were talking to Sergeant O’Leary who seemed to think Jaxon and Brad were the culprits.
‘But I don’t understand why they’d target us?’ Lyn said, wiping her eyes with a ratty-looking tissue.
Ruby dug into her pocket and pulled out a cleaner one. ‘Here, Mum.’
She took it and attempted a smile. ‘Thanks, sweetheart.’
In response, Ruby took her mum’s free hand and squeezed. She didn’t let go as they listened to the sergeant’s theory.
‘Who knows why teenagers do anything, but Constable Noble has been pandering to them with easy community service.’ O’Leary huffed. ‘That ends today. Those larrikins have done their last prank on my turf.’
‘This seems like more than a little prank,’ Ruby said, uncomfortable with the way O’Leary appeared to have closed the case without a scrap of evidence. ‘Shouldn’t we wait and see what the arson investigators dig up?’
‘And give the little shits time to come up with fake alibis or even leave town? No siree. Strike while the iron’s hot is my motto.’
Ruby raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t see Jaxon or Brad making a getaway considering neither of them even had either a car or licence.
Zoning out of the conversation, she looked away, switching her gaze between the fire and the crowd, all the while on the lookout for Drew. He didn’t seem to be anywhere, but she wished he was heading up this investigation – at least till the arson squad took over – because something about O’Leary’s style rubbed her up the wrong way. She didn’t know how much experience Drew had, but he came across as the confident, sensible and fair type. Granted she wanted the arsonist caught as much as anyone, but she believed strongly in the right to a fair trial; the right to innocence until proven otherwise.
Although it was hard to tell for sure, it looked like the blaze was dying down and the firefighters might be finally winning. With Drew absent, Mike scoffing sandwiches at the trestle tables and O’Leary chewing off her parents’ ears, a few people had slipped past the barricade. Customers from the shop approached and offered their commiserations.
‘Terrible, terrible thing,’ was the gist. Apologies and offers to help in the clean-up or by making casseroles were rife.
‘Thank you,’ Ruby said, over and over again. A little like a funeral line-up once the people had uttered their sympathies, the crowd started to thin. Having watched the building burning for the best part of three hours and with the warmth from the flames finally diminishing, the hordes were tiring. Unlike her family, most of them still had to get up to work in the morning. Pretty soon there were only a few stragglers left, aside from the police, her parents, The Ag Store’s employees, the volunteer firies and Frankie and her crew of kitchen helpers.
Ruby didn’t feel tired, adrenalin seemed to be keeping her awake, but she stood in a trance watching as the last of the flames were extinguished. When the firefighters were done, all that was left of The Ag Store was a sorry sight of soggy construction material, ash and broken glass. Ruby closed her eyes and tried to remember what the building once looked like and more importantly picture what it would look like again. Hard as it was, she knew the importance of remaining positive. Her parents were savvy business people and their insurance would be up to date. It would take time but they could rebuild.
And the wonderful thing about a country town was that people were loyal. They might have to shop for their farm supplies elsewhere for a short time, but they would come back.
‘Hey, how’re you doing?’ Speaking in unison, Frankie and Simone closed in on either side of her.
She tore her gaze away from the desolation. ‘I’m okay,’ she said, feeling anything but. ‘This is bad but it’s not the end of the world. No lives were lost and that’s what matters. Thank God for the volunteers who contained it just to us.’
Simone rubbed her back. ‘It’s okay to cry you know.’
‘I know. And I probably will, but right now, I need to look after my folks. Thanks for all you both have done tonight.’ She pressed her lips together, sensing that those tears Simone had given permission for were not at all that far away.
‘I’ve asked the firies to come to the café for a proper feed,’ Frankie said, gesturing to the men who were now coiling up hoses and doing whatever other stuff they did after putting out a blaze. ‘You and your parents are welcome too.’
‘Thanks. I’ll ask them. I think the police might want to talk to us first.’
Frankie grinned. ‘With any luck you’ll get Constable Spunky to interview you rather than Sergeant Grump.’
Ruby had to smile. And she couldn’t help hoping the same.
The women stood there in silence watching a little longer, Ruby wishing she could do more to help but knowing she’d probably get in the way. When the fire engines were all packed up, O’Leary called to her.
‘Ruby. You and your parents can go home. We’ll be round first thing in the morning for a chat and then you’ll be able to have a walk through and assess the damage.’
She frowned, thinking that if this was arson, shouldn’t they leave the building as untouched as possible until the investigators got there? That’s what Drew had indicated.
As if reading her mind, O’Leary said, ‘Ryan’s found the culprit. Looks like another one of those boys’ stupid attempts at a Molotov cocktail. They broke the side window and threw it in.’
‘Oh.’
His phone started to ring and he turned away to answer it but she wasn’t alone for long. Ryan and Adam, still decked out in bright yellow protective uniforms, trekked over to her, their faces expressions of solemnity.
‘Hey Rubes.’ Adam shook his head as if he couldn’t think of any words. She understood.
‘It’s a mess, Ruby, I’m really sorry,’ Ryan added.
‘You two are the last people who should be sorry,’ she said, a tear trickling down her cheek. Adam reached out and wiped it off, then cursed.
‘Ah, dammit, sorry, now I’ve gone and made you all grubby.’
‘Stop apologising, would you.’ She laughed when she felt like crying and launched herself at both of them, wrapping one arm around each. Their heads came to rest on her shoulders and it didn’t feel wrong to be this close. Pity it had taken disaster for her to be able to reach out to men again. ‘Thank you both. You and the others deserve medals.’
‘We didn’t save it, Ruby.’ Ryan pulled back, yanking off his helmet and running a blackened hand through his hair. ‘We tried our damndest but it was too far gone by the time we got here.’
‘Enough,’ she said, still clutching Adam and his smoky warmth to her side. ‘No more apologies. It’s been a terrible night, but nothing ever seems as bad in the light of day. You guys go on to Frankie’s and debrief. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
Letting go of Adam, Ruby slipped out of his grip and headed back to her parents. When she’d returned to Bunyip Bay at the beginning of the year, she’d thought it might only be a stop-gap to get her life back on track, but the longer she spent in this small town, the more she got to know the true nature of the people. She began to wonder if there was any place she’d rather be.
Chapter Four
Drew might have believed in Jaxon and Brad’s innocence but by the time he’d spent half the night out searching for them, he was ready to rip out their tonsils and feed them to the sharks that were always hogging the Western Australian news. That’s if he ever found them. Was it only yesterday he was thinking just how dull Bunyip Bay was?
Jaxon’s dad was the shire president – a respected man in the town, who seemed to be at the end of his tether, not knowing how to handle his rebellious teen. Drew had spoken to him at the scene last night and he’d thought Jaxon was tucked up in bed, at home with his wife and the rest of his kids. Brad’s dad was one of the volunteer firefighters and his mum, a nurse who was on duty at the hospital when everything was going down. They’d both thought Brad was asleep as well, but when Drew had visited the houses to pull the boys out of bed, there’d been nothing but dirty sheets to ball up in frustration.
These teenagers certainly knew how to pull the wool over their parents’ eyes. Maybe Drew was wired differently but it amazed him how these people thought their teenage kids would actually sleep through all that smoke and siren noise. He didn’t even have kids and he knew that was total bollocks. Both families lived within walking distance from the fire and a town census could have been done in front of The Ag Store last night, there were that many people lingering. It didn’t look good but he still couldn’t believe the boys were responsible.
Slamming his fist into the middle of the steering wheel – he’d swapped his bike for the police cruiser late last night when he’d set off to search – Drew sighed. He hadn’t felt this frustrated in a long time. Time to call it a morning and admit to O’Leary that the boys were AWOL. The sarge had been on his back every couple of hours, demanding to know why he hadn’t brought the delinquents in yet, and having to admit he still hadn’t found them would only enhance O’Leary’s belief that they were guilty. Not to mention make Drew look incompetent. He’d hunted down far more significant criminals, yet he couldn’t find two kids in a country town. Deciding on one final swing past the boys’ houses, he almost swerved the patrol car when he saw them strolling up the street as if they had not a care in the world. Screeching to a halt, he shoved open the door and landed right in their path, right in their faces.
‘Where the hell have you two been?’
‘And a good morning to you, too,’ Brad chuckled as both boys stepped back slightly.
‘Yeah, Drew, what can we do for you today? That’s after school, of course.’
It was six o’clock in the bloody morning and they were still dressed in the clothes they’d been wearing yesterday afternoon. ‘I said, where the hell have you been?’
‘We just went for an early run,’ Jaxon said, lifting his chin and grinning sweetly.
‘Cut the crap,’ he told them. ‘I checked your beds and they haven’t been slept in. Why didn’t you answer your phones? Your parents are beside themselves with worry.’
‘Ah shit.’ Jaxon kicked the cracked pavement.
Brad sighed. ‘We decided to camp the night in the bush. We were out of network range. That’s all. We wanted to get back to nature.’
Jaxon nodded enthusiastically.
Drew pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead and swallowed a string of curse words. He decided to ignore the fact these boys had a law-imposed curfew and weren’t supposed to see each other except at school or under his supervision until they’d served out all their community service. ‘And you didn’t smell the smoke in town?’ he asked instead.
‘What smoke?’ they both asked.
Drew had interviewed thousands of people in the course of his career and had learnt to recognise true shock. These boys had no idea what he was talking about.
He shook his head. ‘Never mind the smoke. How’d you get so far out that you didn’t smell it?’
The boys looked at each other as if trying to subliminally make sure their stories matched.
‘I said cut the crap, guys. I’ve been awake for twenty-four hours and I’m not in the mood. And you need to trust that I’m on your side. Whatever you did last night it sure as hell can’t be as bad as what you’re being framed for.’
‘What the hell are you talking about?’ Jaxon asked, the flicker in the muscles of his neck telling Drew he was starting to freak.
‘Just tell me the truth.’
‘We kinda borrowed Jaxon’s sister’s car and went for a drive to this ghost town a little while away. Lisa’s away on a cruise with her new man and she never needs to know,’ Brad admitted.
Drew clenched his fists. He could feel his blood pressure rising. ‘Yeah, she does. And you’ll have to tell me exactly where you drove, what time, anyone else you were with, everything.’
‘Why?’ Jaxon folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin.
‘Because The Ag Store burned down last night and you two are our prime suspects.’
The boys were speechless for the first time since Drew had met them. They weren’t stupid and it was clear they understood the enormity of the crime. It felt wrong to be reading them the riot act but he had to follow the sergeant’s directive.
He took a deep breath. ‘Jaxon Bird and Brad McDonald, I’m arresting you on suspicion of arson. You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so but whatever you do say will be recorded and may be used in evidence.’
‘No way! This is fucked.’ Jaxon held up his hands, but Drew saw real fear in his eyes. Beside him Brad was starting to shake.
Drew had never felt so wrong about an arrest in his life.
A knock sounded on the front door earlier than Ruby had expected. Although she and her parents had returned home at about two a.m., none of them had been able to sleep. Now they sat at the kitchen table together staring into half-finished mugs of coffee. She felt neither awake nor asleep as she got up to answer the door.
‘Good morning, Ruby.’ Sergeant O’Leary stormed through the door before she had it fully open. ‘Are your parents up yet?’
‘None of us have slept at all. We just want to get the questioning over and done with.’
‘Good, good.’ O’Leary saw himself through to the kitchen where her mother was already making him a coffee on autopilot. ‘The folks from Perth will be up to do their investigations very soon. I thought you might like to have a quick look through before they arrive. Sometimes the arson squad can take a while.’
‘Great, excellent.’ Her father leapt to his feet. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Hang on a minute.’ Ruby frowned at O’Leary. ‘Shouldn’t we wait until after the investigators have been through, in case we disturb any vital evidence?’ That much seemed obvious to her. ‘Constable Noble said so last night.’
O’Leary glared at her. ‘Constable Noble isn’t the one in charge around here. Do you want to hold up being able to contact the insurance company?’ When she didn’t say anything, he continued. ‘I didn’t think so. Besides, your dad will be able to tell us if anything was stolen first. The kids broke the window well and good, and could have lifted a few things before landing the cocktail.’
Last night he’d said it looked as if the arsonist had thrown something in through the window. It seemed to Ruby that Sergeant O’Leary didn’t know much about anything.
