Outback Blaze (6 page)

‘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.

‘Come on, love,' said her mother, grabbing a jumper and tugging it on over her clothing. ‘It beats sitting around drinking coffee. And Sarge is right, we do need to get onto the insurance company.'

‘Ah…dammit. All our files were in the office. They'll have gone up in smoke too,' Robert said, rubbing his jawline in frustration.

‘I've got back-ups here, darling, don't worry so much.' Lyn went over to Ruby's dad and they embraced for a few long moments. ‘We'll get through this.'

Ruby watched her parents, knowing that whatever disaster they faced, they always did it together. A lump formed in her throat as she wondered if she'd ever find someone to share such a relationship with.

O'Leary cleared his throat. ‘Hate to break up the party, but we should be getting a move on. Mike is going to start interviewing witnesses this morning and then I'll have to interview you three. Standard procedure. Don't look so horrified.'

His phone rang and he swept it out of his pocket. He offered no greeting to the person on the other end of the line. ‘Please tell me you've got them,' he practically shouted. A pause, then, ‘Well, hallelujah. I'm just taking the Joneses to have a look through the rubble and then I'll be there. Don't interview the louts without me.'

He screwed up his face and pulled the phone away from his ear as a voice started shouting back.

Ruby couldn't decipher the exact words but her nerve endings stood to attention.
Drew!
He sounded furious but relief flooded through her that he hadn't simply disappeared and was still somewhere working on the case. She found herself hoping their paths would cross at the station.

‘I think you're forgetting your place,
Constable
,' cut in O'Leary. ‘I've been on the job for forty years. I think I know what I'm doing.' With that, he disconnected before Drew could get in another word.

Feeling uneasy about the way this was all playing out, Ruby grabbed her denim jacket and handbag but declined a lift in the patrol car, choosing instead to drive herself to what was left of The Ag Store. She didn't know what she'd been expecting but they weren't the first people on the scene this morning.

Ryan Forrester, head of the local volunteer fire brigade was already there, talking to three official-looking people in suits. Looking his usual handsome self, dressed in cargo pants, boots and a hoodie, he didn't look like he'd been out all night fighting fires. She didn't know Ryan that well, but he was Faith's brother and it was nice to see a familiar face. As she got out of the car, he glanced over at her and waved.

Sergeant O'Leary and her parents climbed out of the police car. O'Leary ducked under the barrier tape, then visibly puffed up his chest as he strode towards the little gathering. Ruby went to stand beside her folks. ‘My guess is we won't be going in right away,' she said, nodding to the suits.

Her mother bit her lip. ‘They look like they mean business, don't they?'

‘The sooner they do it, the sooner we can get to work fixing all this mess,' replied her dad, a typical hands-on guy who hated standing around when there were things that needed to be done.

‘We want them to do a thorough job,' Ruby said. ‘You know what insurance companies are like. They'll do whatever they can to try to get out of paying.'

‘Oh, don't say that, love.' Lyn's hand rushed to her chest and Ruby felt guilty for worrying her mother. The last few hours had already taken their toll, showing up in the form of dark circles under her eyes.

While O'Leary spoke to the arson squad Ryan made his way over. ‘Really sorry about your loss, Mr and Mrs Jones,' he gestured behind him, ‘but these guys know what they're doing.'

‘Did they give you any idea how long they'll take to investigate?' Ruby asked.

Ryan shook his head. ‘They're going to ask a few questions and then suit up in safety gear and head in. As the building has lots of asbestos no one can go in without full protection and breathing apparatus. I'm going in with them.'

Ruby tried but failed to swallow a snort. ‘I didn't even think about the asbestos. Sergeant O'Leary just gave us all permission to take a look, thank God you were already here when we arrived.'

Ryan didn't look surprised. ‘Good thing the big wigs are here now.' He glanced over his shoulder again. ‘I'd better join them. You lot hang in there, okay?'

It was the longest conversation Ruby had ever had with Ryan without their other friends being around and it was easy to see what Simone found appealing about him. He was tall, had a muscular body honed from hard manual labour rather than long hours at the gym and was good-looking in a different kind of way than most of the other farmers. He wasn't so rough around the edges.

‘Such a nice boy,' said her mother, before yawning loudly. ‘Oh, I'm sorry.'

‘Are you all right, love?' Her father turned his attention away from the burnt building and put a hand on his wife's shoulder. ‘It's been a long night. Do you need to go home and rest? I'll clear it with the cops. Ruby and I can talk to them.'

‘I'm fine, Rob.' Her mum half-smiled, half-glared at him. ‘Let's just wait and see what they want us to do.'

Semi-distracted by trying to hear any snippets of conversation from Ryan, O'Leary and the investigators, Ruby also scrutinised her mother closely. She guessed she was probably reading too much into a stressful situation but her dad seemed overly protective. He had always doted on his wife, but there was there something more than stress in his voice? And when Ruby thought about it her mum looked like she'd missed a week of sleep, not merely one night. She shook that thought away as another patrol car parked behind them. The urge to turn around and look was overwhelming, but the erratic beating of her heart at the thought that it might be Drew made her force herself not to do so. There was just something about him that sent her pulse racing and due to tiredness, she didn't trust herself.

After a few moments he came up behind them. ‘Good morning, everyone.'

Ruby's whole body trembled at the sound of his deep and sexy accent. She waited until he was beside them before smiling. ‘Morning, Drew.'

‘I'm guessing you all didn't manage much sleep?'

‘You're guessing right,' she said.

Her dad stood beside them, one arm wrapped around his wife and his foot tapping furiously against the ground. ‘Can't sleep when I feel so damn helpless. Every time I closed my eyes I saw those flames.'

Drew nodded, his lush lips pressed together grimly. ‘That's normal. You've not been inside yet, then?' There was an edge to his voice and he visibly relaxed when Robert answered, ‘No.'

‘Sergeant O'Leary was keen to let them,' Ruby said in a hushed voice as she stepped away from her parents. ‘And quite aside from what you said about the investigation, there's asbestos in there. Will he be in charge of the investigation?'

‘He'll work together with the arson squad, but yes, he'll head the case locally.' Drew's tone told her he didn't have much faith in the sergeant either. ‘I'd better join them and see what I need to do next.' He turned to go but paused at the last moment, reaching out his arm and touching her on the side of hers. Her heart jolted and her whole body reacted to his touch. She swallowed.

‘If you need anything, give me a call, all right?'

Their gazes met and she felt something shift inside. She nodded. ‘Thank you.' He had no idea she wasn't only thanking him for his offer of support but also for the feelings he awakened by simply being around. It might not be the time to be rejoicing over such sensations, but she couldn't help giving in to a small smile. Maybe there really was light at the end of the tunnel.

Returning her smile with a brief but irresistible one of his own, Drew walked away to join his peers. He exchanged heated words with O'Leary and then strode to the cop car. His expression had turned from grim to simmering. Ruby watched as he yanked open the driver's door and slid into the vehicle. It was then she noticed the teenage boys sitting in the back. Both of them looking down. It didn't take a genius to know it was Jaxon Bird and Brad McDonald.

If they had started this fire then they deserved whatever punishment the courts threw at them, but she couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the boys. She'd served Jaxon a couple of times when he'd come into The Ag Store on an errand for his father and he didn't seem a bad kid. Sure, he and Brad had admitted to a couple of misdemeanors recently but this…this seemed like a mammoth jump.

‘Morning folks,' a loud voice, very Aussie compared to Drew's, landed beside them. Ruby snapped her head up to look at Mike. She hadn't even seen him arrive.

‘Hi Mike,' she and her parents replied.

‘I need to take you down to the station.' His direct statement startled Ruby a little. He was the first person not to offer commiserations about the fire. ‘The investigators are going to conduct preliminary interviews.' He gestured behind them to another patrol car. ‘Let's go. They'll want to get started straightaway.'