Outback Blaze (25 page)

After a few moments silence a phone started ringing in the other end of the house. Jabbing her finger against the button, she disconnected and shook her head. What was it with people of her parents' generation always forgetting to take their phones with them? Hopeless. But the normality of this situation calmed her slightly until she tried her mum's number and it also rang within the house. Lyn was much better about taking her mobile with her when she went out. She said mobiles were invented for mothers so that they could always be available for their children and always check up on them if need be.

‘Well, where are you now, Mum?'

Of course no one answered. And although Ruby told herself she was being paranoid, something felt wrong in her chest. That wrong feeling had her legs carrying her towards the kitchen, where a door led off into the garage they barely used. Sometimes her mum's car sat there for months because her parents generally went to and from work together. Without another thought she pushed open the door and switched on the light.

Fuck!
Lyn's little green Honda hatchback was gone. She placed a hand against her stomach as the contents of her lunch curdled. It dawned on her that her parents had gone to the effort of moving The Ag Store van, driving out her parents' car and then putting the van back in its usual place.
Why?

The only reason that came to mind simply didn't compute, so she turned and rushed through the house to their bedroom.

Her heart turned over in her chest as she spied a white envelope with her name on it lying next to her parents' mobile phones on her mother's old-fashioned dressing table. She closed her eyes and forced herself to take a breath. Maybe when she opened them again the envelope would be gone and she'd hear her parents clattering through the front door.

And maybe she was an imbecile.

Opening her eyes she took a step closer to the dresser, eyeing the envelope like it was a bomb waiting to explode.

Tick tock. Tick tock
.

Of course she didn't have to open it. She could retrace her steps out of the room and pretend she'd never stumbled upon it. But there were so many unanswered questions whirling around her head that it she didn't open it, she'd be the one exploding.

Without another thought she snatched up the envelope and tore it open. The floral paper was the one her mother wrote notes on to go with Christmas cards but the familiar paper didn't ease the discomfort in her heart. Her legs wobbling, she walked backwards, slumped onto the bed and began to read.

We're so sorry
, stated the last line,
please know that we love you more than anything but we had to do this. In the end we felt we had no choice
.

Holy hell!
Discarding the two sheets of explanation on the mattress beside her, Ruby let her head fall into her hands. If it weren't written in her mum's very unique handwriting she wouldn't have believed any of it. But the strange behaviour that began the week or so before the fire began to make awful, awful sense.

How could they have done it? She would never have believed it possible. She'd been so adamant about them being incapable of setting fire to their business, of framing two mischievous teenage boys, and it was so incredibly gut-wrenching and heartbreaking to discover she'd been wrong. Thinking herself a doting daughter, thinking she knew her parents better than anyone, she'd been made to look a fool.

How could they do this to her? And how could she ever forgive them for leaving her alone to face the wrath of a town wronged?

As Drew slowed his bike near the ‘Welcome to Bunyip Bay – population 2374' sign he was surprised to find himself happy to be back. He'd only been gone one night and for someone who was biding time until he could return to England, the feeling was odd. He turned into the main street and tried to analyse this fact. Although work interest had picked up in the last couple of weeks due to the fire, it still had nothing on the kind of cases he wrapped his mind around on a daily basis back home. It certainly wasn't the choice of takeaway food or his little house.

A few passers-by waved as he parked the bike outside the supermarket. Maybe it was the people – so friendly and welcoming. Then again, he'd had little more than five-minute conversations with most of them.

‘You been away?' asked a local farmer as Drew climbed off his bike and yanked off his helmet. ‘Someplace nice?'

Drew nodded and ran a hand through his helmet hair. ‘Yeah, had a night in Perth. Saw some sights. How are you, Mr Brady?'

‘Ah, you know, can't complain too much,' he chuckled. ‘Well, I could but no one would listen. What did you see down in the big smoke?'

‘I went to Freo, had some fish and chips, checked out Kings Park and last night I had dinner at Hillarys Boat Harbour.' Of course he'd been the only person in the restaurant eating alone, which had put a dampener on things but that was just something he needed to get used to.

‘Bet the food wasn't as good as at The Palace though, hey?' Tuck Brady winked and nodded towards the pub across the road.

‘You know what, Mr Brady, it wasn't.' Drew had been planning on turning over a new leaf, spending less on takeaway and cooking for himself, but at the thought of one of the pub's burgers his mouth watered and his stomach groaned. He hadn't eaten anything since sampling the wares at the chocolate factory in the Swan Valley this afternoon. There was plenty of time to start eating right tomorrow.

‘Well, I'll see ya round.' Tuck waved, heaved the bag of dog food he was carrying a bit higher under his arm and went on his way.

Drew glanced at his watch. Dammit, at ten minutes past five the kitchen across the road wouldn't be open just yet. He'd stock up on milk and bread for tomorrow's breakfast, take his purchases home, have a quick shower and return to the pub later. On the way to his place he found his bike heading past the Joneses' property – it was a detour but something made him instinctively take it. At this time of the day he expected (hoped if he were honest) to see Ruby outside teaching lessons on that old softie of a horse Riley. He'd been past a few times in the cop car under the guise of patrolling the town and he always got a buzz watching her with the kids and the horses. Today Roxie and Riley looked to be frolicking or fighting up in the paddock near the house but from his vantage spot there was no sign of Ruby.

His stupid heart sank in his chest. He was a fool to be lusting after a local girl, even without the arson case hanging over them. Sighing, he headed towards his house, wondering if maybe Ruby would be at the pub with friends that evening.

‘You'll get a reputation if you're seen in here too much.'

Drew turned from his position at the bar to the sound of a female voice and immediately recognised Frankie from the café. He smiled. ‘I don't see you complaining about my frequent stops at the café.'

She cocked her head to one side and grinned.

‘Yeah, don't harass my customers,' said Liam, arriving in front of them. ‘Another Bunyip Burger with the works tonight, Constable Noble?'

‘Yes, please. And can I get a pint of Carlton Draught, too.' He turned to Frankie. ‘What are you having?'

She placed her empty wine glass on the bar. ‘If you're paying I'm having a cocktail. Sex on the Beach please, Liam.'

Drew raised his eyebrows but couldn't help smiling. He was curious to see how the country publican handled the creation of a cocktail. Grumbling, Liam turned away.

‘You're dining in tonight?' Frankie asked.

‘Depends how long it takes to cook and whether I've finished my drink or not.'

Frankie sighed and bit her bottom lip. ‘I should go home and get an early night but I've been so damn bored lately I came down here to see if I could find any action. I don't suppose you fancy making a sweet lady happy and playing a game of pool.'

He made a show of looking around. ‘Where's this sweet lady, then?'

She scowled. ‘Is that a no, then?'

‘Sorry, Frankie, pool's not really my thing.'

She sighed and planted an elbow on the bar. ‘What is your thing, Constable Noble?'

Before he could answer a heated exchanged kicked off across the other side of the room. His cop-radar immediately on high alert, he turned, surprised to see the culprits were two elderly ladies.

Tuck's wife Eileen stood on one side of a table and Mrs O'Neil, her fists planted on her hefty hips and a look on her face that could turn water to ice, on the other.

‘You are nothing but a stupid old gossip,' Mrs O'Neil spat. ‘I pray to God I'm never in a spot of bother but if I am I won't come to you for sympathy and support.'

‘And you're a gullible old fool,' Eileen returned. ‘The Joneses have made us all look like fools. I for one hope the police throw away the key.'

‘They were questioned, not arrested, you old biddy.'

When Eileen picked up the salt-shaker and looked as if she were about to hurl it in the vicinity of Mrs O'Neil's head, Drew leapt to action. He strode across the room, rushing between the tables and arriving just in time to catch the salt-shaker in mid air.

‘Enough,' he shouted. ‘What the hell is going on?'

Eileen folded her arms and looked away.

Mrs O'Neil placed a hand against her heaving bosom. ‘This town has gone mad, that's what. If I hear one more word against those poor people, I…I…I won't be responsible for my actions, Constable Noble.'

‘I take it you're referring to Mr and Mrs Jones?' he asked, placing the salt-shaker back on the table and hoping he wasn't being hasty in this decision.

‘Common criminals,' tsked Eileen.

‘Actually they haven't been charged,' Drew told her. ‘We are still investigating the fire so it might pay to save your judgment.'

‘See.' Mrs O'Neil glared at her old friend, snatched her handbag from off the floor and started towards the exit. ‘This very minute I'm ashamed of Bunyip Bay.'

Drew addressed Eileen. ‘Don't let me see you raise a…' He glanced at the object in question. ‘A salt-shaker to another person again or you'll be the one under arrest.'

Her eyes widened at his words. He thought she might apologise for her behavior, instead she turned on her old-lady shoes and marched over to where Tuck appeared to be playing cards with some other men, oblivious to the commotion caused by his wife.

By the time Drew returned to the bar, his burger was waiting and Frankie sucked on a bright pink straw, cradling a glass that looked out of place in The Palace. Drew was suitably impressed by Liam's hidden talent.

‘Bet you don't do that every day,' Frankie said with a grin.

‘What?'

‘Stop a couple of old biddies from tearing each other's purple-rinsed hair out.'

He laughed. Mrs Brady's hair wasn't purple-rinsed but neither was it far off. He guessed both women held a regular appointment at the local salon to get their curls set. ‘All part of the job.' He took a swig of his beer. ‘Have you heard anything else said about the Joneses?'

‘They are the number one topic of conversation,' Frankie told him flatly. ‘Since you took them into the station for questioning that second time, almost everyone is convinced they did it.'

He closed his eyes a moment. This was why he didn't like small towns. Everyone thought they knew everything about everyone and everything, which made it hard for a cop to do his job inconspicuously.

‘I feel for poor Ruby.'

Drew's ears pricked up at Frankie's mention of the Jones's daughter. ‘Why?' he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

‘She was in the café yesterday on the receiving end of a number of cold stares. Sometimes people can be so cruel.'

Drew's grip tightened on his icy beer bottle. After meeting Ruby's awful ex he had an inkling as to what she might have gone through late last year and he hated to think of her being hurt again by the town she thought of as her safe haven. ‘Anyone seen her today?'

She shook her head and sucked again on the straw.

Lifting his beer, he downed the last few mouthfuls and then picked up the wrapped burger. ‘See you later, Frankie.'

‘Aw,' she pouted her lips. ‘What happened to our game of pool?'

Too lost in thought to reply, he stormed out the pub, unwrapping the burger as he went. He scoffed it so fast he didn't have time to savour it, tossed the wrapper into a nearby garbage bin and climbed onto his bike. Every logical bone in his body told him going to see Ruby wasn't a wise move. If Frankie was right about everyone snubbing her, then she'd likely blame him and he'd be the last person she wanted to see, but he couldn't fight the need to check that she was okay.

The last sound Ruby wanted to hear right now was a motorbike purring up her driveway. Sitting bolt upright from where she'd been slumped at the kitchen table, she eyed the bottle of wine she'd downed. Lord, she must look a nightmare. She stood and shoved the bottle into the bin under the sink, peeking out the kitchen window and cursing when what she saw confirmed her fears.

Drew Noble had parked not far from the front of the house and was disembarking from his beast. If she weren't in such a flap, she'd be able to appreciate the beauty of such an action – his jeans tightening over muscular thighs as he lifted his leg to the ground – but as he strode towards the door she wondered why he'd come. Did he somehow know what her parents had done? Had they sent a note to the cops as well? And, if he was still unaware, should she say something? If she was honest with herself, she felt conflicted. Instinct made her want to protect her parents but her anger over the position they'd left her in made her unsure.

His heavy-handed rap sounded on the front door. She closed her eyes for a second wishing for an alien invasion that very moment, but as usual, luck was not on her side. The knock grew louder, more persistent. Taking a deep breath, she marched through the house, switching on lights as she went. Somehow it had gotten late and she'd been sitting in the dark without realising it.