Episode 6861

Extended Summary

Justin and Brody are driving back to town. Brody tries to look on the bright side, saying Ava must still be in Summer Bay, but Justin is despondent that they didn’t find her. Brody gets a call from Mason and tells Justin to pull over. He puts it on speaker phone and Mason reads out the ransom note. Despite Brody offering to drive, Justin speeds off. At the same time, Tori arrives home and asks Mason and Raffy what’s going on. Meanwhile, Ben, Maggie and Coco are at the Diner; Ziggy has posted a photo of the stem cell harvesting. Ben ignores a call from Baz, saying it’s probably just about the start date. Ryder comes over and gets told to keep an eye on Coco while Ben takes Maggie to the hospital.

Roo arrives at the Diner, having just arrived back in town, and is greeted by Alf and Marilyn. Marilyn asks her if she found out anymore about Martha and Alf tries to ask why she stayed on longer than planned, but Roo evades the questions, asking about Ava and then hurrying off to work. At the hospital, Ziggy is hooked up to machines and tubes, with a nurse doing her best to reassure her. Ben comes in and explains that Maggie’s having the chemotherapy and then will be in isolation: Visitors will have to wash and gown before seeing her.

Justin and Brody join the other Morgans at home. They wonder if it’s to do with their witness protection days or Brody’s drug use but discount both possibilities. Tori and Raffy both think they should call the police but Justin insists they pay the ransom and Brody agrees. Tori suggests calling Colby, prompting an angry refusal from Justin that has even Buddy startled. Brody and Mason head to Salt; Mason is leaning towards agreeing with Tori, saying the ransom note would give the police a clue, but Brody says involving the police hasn’t gone well in the past. They empty the safe and till and get $2700. Mason thinks he can get another couple of hundred by asking John for an advance.

Justin admits that there’s not much in the garage accounts. Raffy offers her savings of $127 but he tells her to keep it and head off to school. Tori is going to check her accounts and suggests they get in touch with Nina’s parents but Justin says they’d involve the police and is adamant that they’re not doing that, hoping they can get the cash together before the kidnappers ask for it. Meanwhile, Raffy has met up with Coco and Ryder on the beach but her mind is still full of Ava and Coco’s is full of Ziggy and Maggie. Coco says school doesn’t seem important and Raffy agrees, walking off. Ryder tries to get Coco to go to school with him but she tells him to give her some space.

Ben visits Maggie in her isolation room and tells her Ziggy’s doing fine. He thinks things will soon be back to normal. Maggie is feeling queasy and asks Ben to get her some water melon, even if it means going to the Diner. She also tells him to call Baz. Ben looks unhappy as he leaves, looking back at her. Soon after, Ben is on the phone to Baz near the Diner, saying there’s a family emergency and he’ll start next week as promised. He sees Coco nearby and wonders why she isn’t at school. Coco says she can’t concentrate, which she suspects is why Ben is delaying starting work. She walks away.

In the bait shop, Alf complains to John about Roo not telling him anything despite him asking her, and wonders why she was away for days with Martha. He says he’s told Roo he doesn’t want her to feel uncomfortable talking about Martha. John suggests he tells her again. In the Diner, Roo tells Marilyn that Martha showed her her art and shows her a picture Martha did of her as a child, part of a series. Alf watches them through the window but Roo hides the painting when he approaches and turns down his offer of lunch, saying she’s already eaten and needs to get back to work.

Justin, Brody and Mason have managed to pull together $6300 between them. Tori turns up with another $5100; she asked the bank about a loan but the manager’s away. Justin gets a text from the kidnappers arranging a meeting for 3pm. Raffy arrives home as Justin plans to take the money they’ve got and bluff it out. Raffy says he’s going to get himself killed like Decker did and runs out. Shortly after, Tori finds her in the bathroom. She says she’s not going to promise it’s going to be OK since they don’t know but they need to pull together as a family and stick with the decision they’ve made.

Roo greets Alf outside the bait shop but is keen to move on, even saying she’s going to do work in the Diner rather than go home. Alf tells her not to avoid him and asks to see the painting: He is impressed and admits he didn’t know Martha was an artist, noting that there were a lot of things he didn’t know about her. He says he’ll only be upset if Roo doesn’t talk to him, but after she’s gone he looks torn. Meanwhile, a gowned and masked Ziggy visits Maggie, who is feeling nauseous. Maggie says she’s grateful to Ziggy even if it doesn’t work. Ziggy insists it will.

Roo and Ryder sit near the Diner; Ryder is worried about his English assignment but Roo gives him a peak at his mark and he sees he’s got 70%. Coco turns up, saying she missed the bus to the hospital. Roo asks to speak to her in private and says she didn’t do very well, not even attempting half the questions. Coco isn’t bothered. Meanwhile, Justin is preparing to leave for the rendezvous. Tori tells him they can still call the police but Justin is convinced he’s going to bring Ava home.

Marilyn finds Raffy near the Diner. Raffy asks what you do if someone you care about is doing something wrong that will get them hurt. She refuses to give details so Marilyn says you try and help them. Meanwhile, Justin stops his car at the rendezvous point and checks his watch. Raffy loiters outside the police station before finally going in and saying she needs to speak to Colby and has information about Ava’s kidnapping. Justin continues to wait.