Episode 7394

Extended Summary

Colby and Dean come down from the Diner flat. They run into Willow and Dean fills her in on Bella running away whilst Colby leaves a message for Bella telling her to call him. It is decided that Colby will smooth things over at the station while Dean checks with Ryder and Nikau, and Willow looks around town. Near the surf club, a somewhat flustered Mackenzie comes across Tane showering and tries to talk to him about the roster while he is being somewhat flirtatious. Willow appears and asks if they’ve seen Bella, also wondering about Nikau. Tane says he’ll ask him when he sees him. Mackenzie senses this is trouble.

Angelo greets Colby at the station, wondering if Bella’s with him. Colby says Bella’s still anxious about the interview. Angelo says she’s not a suspect but he does need to speak to her. Colby says she has another counselling session and Angelo tells him to get the counsellor to prepare her for the interview. Meanwhile, Dean turns up at the Parata house firing off questions about Bella and Nikau. Ari is somewhat nonplussed but goes to check Nikau’s room. Tane is suspicious and wonders if Bella’s in trouble with the police. Reappearing, Ari says it looks like Nikau’s gone with her and Tane notes he took a family photo. Dean admits they should be worried.

At the Diner, Leah checks on Justin, who is staring into space somewhat while Roo looks after Grace. Alf enters and comments on Nikau not turning up. Roo says she can look after the shop while he goes to Merimbula but Alf thinks she’s got enough on her plate and he wants to stick to see if Nik appears. Meanwhile, John and Amber exit the Palmer house and she insists they walk to the gym. John notices Dean’s car outside the Paratas’ and thinks something dodgy is going on, despite Amber insisting Dean and Tane are cool. She turns down his request to do a couple of laps of the street to keep an eye on things.

Ari complains that Nikau has got involved with the wrong girl. Dean tries to defend Bella: He thinks Nikau should have talked her out of it while Ari thinks she didn’t give him a choice. Tane interrupts, saying there’s no use playing the blame game and neither Bella nor Nikau is answering calls. Dean says Bella has no-one she could go to. He wonders if Nikau could have gone to Gemma in New Zealand and Ari acidly points out that Colby froze their passports. He and Dean conclude they can’t have money and Dean goes to check in with Colby. Ari realises Tane has thought of something. Tane leads him out to the shed and finds the empty tin, admitting there was $5,000 in there. Ari concludes the pair could be anywhere in the country.

At the Diner flat, Willow suggests Colby tell Angelo the truth about Bella but Colby points out he can’t explain why she ran away. Dean arrives and tells them Nikau’s gone as well. Willow tries to put a positive spin on it: Colby isn’t happy she’s with someone who can steal cash and cars, but Willow points out that describes him and Dean. Dean wants to team up with the Paratas but Colby doesn’t trust them. Dean gets a call from Ari. He and Colby go round there; Ari says Colby isn’t welcome but Dean convinces him to let him in. Colby wonders where Tane got the money from and Ari points out none of them should be asking questions. They establish no-one has seen the pair since the morning. Colby recalls Bella and Nikau ran off to the city before and insists Tane check they’re not there. Dean tries to calm Colby without success.

At the gym, Willow fills in Ziggy, who thinks Dean is hiding something. Willow tries to put her mind at rest. Nearby, Amber is giving John exercises. Willow asks if he saw anything at the Patatas’. In a faux official report manner, John says Bella arrived at 8.45 looking upset and Nikau left with a bag around 11.30. Meanwhile, Colby has found no record of stolen cars and Tane has confirmed they’re not in the city. Ari suggests they could be on foot, bus or hitch-hiking. Tane points out they’ve enough money to fly but Dean points out they’d have to pay cash. Colby calls the travel agent as a police officer asking about cash transactions.

Colby goes to the police station to print out the flight details. Angelo comes across him and Colby says Bella still isn’t up to the interview. Angelo isn’t happy that they don’t seem to want to co-operate and says if Bella doesn’t attend he’ll issue a warrant for her arrest, and if Colby obstructs him he’ll issue one for him too. He gives him 72 hours. After Angelo’s gone, Colby retrieves the printout. At Salt, he fills Dean, Willow, Ari and Tane in on the fact they’ve gone to Currawong. Colby, Ari, Tane and Dean all want to fly out there but Willow points out Angelo will be suspicious if Colby disappears, forcing him to leave it to the others. Willow goes to get drinks and fills in Mackenzie and Amber on Bella and Nikau running away to Currawong. Amber looks worried that Dean is going after them.

Amber follows Dean downstairs and tries to talk him out of going, worried something will happen. Dean dismisses her and gives Ziggy an update. Ziggy is annoyed he didn’t tell her Bella and Nikau were missing and is concerned no-one is telling her anything. Dean tells her to stay out of it. At the Diner, Alf and Roo discuss the fact Ryder’s gone to a gig and seems to be more into music since he met Evan. Justin comes in with Grace, who he has to keep in constant motion to keep her asleep. He asks Leah if there’s any spag bol left. Leah says he called an hour ago and told her to put some aside, which he doesn’t remember.

Mackenzie, Ari and Tane arrive back at the Paratas’. Tane is unhappy about Nikau’s behaviour but Ari thinks he couldn’t have let Bella go on her own. Mackenzie suggests finding them might not be that easy: Currawong is three times the size of New Zealand and Bella has experience of laying low. At the Diner flat, Ziggy wonders why Dean is going instead of Colby and why Colby isn’t involving the police. Dean says he’s told her all he can. Ziggy isn’t happy about him keeping secrets and ends up kicking him out of the bedroom and telling him to sleep on the couch.

Next morning, Mackenzie says goodbye to Ari outside the Parata house, telling him to keep in touch, although he warns her there might not be much phone coverage. Tane is uncomfortable with their goodbye kiss and says they need to go but Ari points out Dean isn’t there yet. Near the Diner, Colby and Dean discuss keeping things from Ziggy. After Colby’s gone, Amber appears and frantically tells Dean he can’t go, since every time he does something for Colby it goes wrong. She even throws his car keys away but Dean retrieves them. Amber blurts out that she has a son. Dean is nonplussed, then the penny drops. Amber confirms he’s his.