Episode 7360

Extended Summary

At Salt, Bella shows Mackenzie the bracelet Colby got her for her birthday. She tries to get a job but Mackenzie tells her to come back when she gets her RSA. Bella asks Gemma about Nikau. Gemma gets a text from Marilyn saying there’s a police car at the house. She tries to call Tane while Mackenzie tries to call Ari and Bella tries to call Nikau, all without response. Mackenzie tells another staffmember to take charge while she gives Gemma a lift there. At the house, Ari, Tane and Nikau are sitting while a group of police officers search the place. Tane warns them that they’ll pay for anything they break. Gemma and Mackenzie arrive but Colby tries to get Mackenzie to leave. Gemma accuses him of orchestrating a set-up. Mackenzie says Ari was in bed with her at the time of the robbery.

Tori is playing with Grace near the beach while a bemused Leah looks on. Justin arrives and greets his three favourite girls. Tori has to leave and Leah has work. Tori reminds Justin he needs to cook tonight but he says he’ll just get takeaway. Justin walks with Leah and they wonder how Colby’s getting on with the investigation. At the Parata house, Colby tries to get Mackenzie to change what she’s saying without success. Tane asks how long it’s going to take and Colby tries to get Ari to confess. Tane calls it police harassment. Colby asks where the money for the house came from.

John is watching from the window and giving a blow by blow account, while Marilyn tries to get him to have lunch or do his exercises. He says he’s not hungry. Marilyn closes the blinds and suggests someone could have been hurt but John is unconvinced, thinking the family’s in trouble. Tori turns up with Grace and asks what’s going on outside. John notes he’s not allowed to look. Meanwhile, Colby reluctantly takes Mackenzie to give her statement after once more failing to get a confession. Gemma blames Ari for dating Colby’s ex and Tane blames him for letting the police in. Upset, Nikau asks what happened to looking out for each other and leaves.

Tori asks John how he’s getting on. Marilyn says he’s not an easy patient and John says he didn’t sleep much last night. Tori says that’s normal but would affect his energy levels and appetite. John tells Marilyn he’s not going to get better overnight. Tori leaves with Grace, turning down a dinner invite. At the Diner, Alf tells Leah and Justin that Roo and Evan dropped Martha off at the train station then headed on to Brisbane. He adds that Ryder’s shut away in his room watching the video of Evan’s gig. Tori arrives with Grace and they wonder what’s happening with the Paratas.

Ari and Tane try to reassure Gemma but she thinks Colby has it in for Ari and will do everything he can to pin it on him. She also worries about him finding out where Tane got the rent money from and thinks they’ll have to leave town again because everyone will be suspicious of them. Ari thinks leaving would look suspicious and Gemma says it shouldn’t be this hard. Tane agrees and says he’s going to fix it. At the police station, Colby has taken Mackenzie into the interview room and wonders why she’s sticking her neck out for the Paratas. He warns her that making a false statement to the police could get her in serious trouble. Tane comes into the main reception area and accuses Colby of going after Ari because he got his girl, telling him to get over it and stay away from his family. Mackenzie says she’s ready to make the statement.

Gemma arrives home and Ari tells her Nikau’s in his room. She asks him to leave them and goes in to see him. Nikau admits he isn’t doing well. He recalls how the police dragged Ari out of the house before and he didn’t see him for nearly ten years. Gemma says this isn’t like that but Nikau says it feels the same. At Salt, Ari is drinking when Mackenzie turns up and says she gave the statement. Ari thanks her. She asks him if he did the robbery and he says no. He asks her why she lied for him and she says that she’ll tell him when she works it out.

At the Diner, Colby shows Leah the photo of the hoodie. Leah isn’t sure but says it could be what the robber was wearing. Colby reveals they searched a local residence but it threw up more questions than answers. Leah and Justin realise he means the Paratas and Colby says Mackenzie said Ari was with her. Justin says that can’t be true: He and Mackenzie were both at Ryder’s gig at Salt and Ari only turned up just before he went to find Leah. Back at the Parata house, Ari, Gemma, Nikau and Tane are all comparing notes. Tane assures them that if Colby does any digging he’ll find the money he got was legit and says there must be a thousand hoodies like that one. Nikau worries that everyone will believe Colby anyway but Ari says he’ll look like an idiot when the real thief is found.

At the Palmer house, Marilyn has a phone conversation with Gemma, who assures her everything’s sorted. She tells John she’ll make dinner but he isn’t keen on the idea of her doing all the work, suggesting they either get takeaway or he helps her. Alf solves the matter by arriving with food from the Diner. Later, the three of them are eating together and discussing Ryder. John spills his drink but isn’t keen on Marilyn helping him and decides to go to bed, shrugging off her attempts to help. Marilyn admits to Alf that things have been difficult. He wonders if it might help for him to take John out for a meal tomorrow.

Colby and Bella arrive at Salt. Bella wonders why Colby’s going after Ari when he doesn’t have a motive but Colby refuses to discuss it and sits her at a table. He tells Mackenzie that other witnesses have proved her alibi is wrong, then gives her the statement back, saying he didn’t get around to filing it. He takes a phone call about putting the Parata men in a line-up for Leah. Bella is exasperated but Colby still refuses to discuss it. Later, Bella meets up with Nikau at his house and tells him about Ari’s alibi failing and the line-up. She recalls him asking questions about the break-in earlier and wonders if he’s covering for Ari. Nikau says if she doesn’t believe them then they’ve got no hope.

Next morning, Gemma finds Nikau’s room empty. She isn’t even sure he was there last night and tells Ari and Tane that he’d have let them know if he’d just gone to work or down the beach. Ari goes to look for him. Nikau arrives at the bus stop with his bag packed but finds a notice about a bus strike. He hides in the trees as John and Marilyn approach, Marilyn wheeling John in his chair. John isn’t keen on the meal with Alf, seeing it as charity. He tries to get onto the bus stop bench but ends up falling out of his chair. Tori is driving past and stops, going to help him. Nikau runs to the car and drives off, unaware Grace is in the back seat. Tori shouts after him frantically…