Episode 7996

Extended Summary

Kirby and Rose finish a swim on the beach. Kirby thanks Rose for letting her crash on her couch, saying she couldn’t deal with Ava vandalising the house. Rose suggests she could have Ava charged but Kirby doesn’t want to cause more trouble for Theo’s family. Rose’s attention is quickly drawn by Mali turning up. He tells her about spending the previous night at Mackenzie’s and how she’s taken off for a bit, suggesting they get a juice.

Justin leaves an anxious phone message for Ava. Theo has difficulty giving him details but eventually manages the guy was about his age, had brown hair and a beard, and was driving a blue combi van, although he doesn’t know the license plate. Justin says he’ll check the streets and tells Theo to check the beach.

At the surf club, Mali has filled Rose in on why Mackenzie left and that she told him not to call Dean. John turns up, newly returned, and immediately starts complaining about Mali leaving board displays in the route to the gym, calling them a trip hazard and a health and safety violation. Rose makes herself scarce as John threatens to go to Dean. Mali explains that Dean’s gone and he owns the board shop now. Later, John expresses shock at Dean going. Mali tells him about Jai moving away. John thinks he should have contacted him about the lease. Somewhat subdued, he tells Mali to put any requests for changes in writing so he can put them to the committee.

Theo pulls up next to Kirby in his car, explaining about looking for Ava. Justin also pulls up and is annoyed that Theo has stopped looking. This is the first Kirby has heard about her getting in a stranger’s car. They tell Justin about her trashing Kirby’s house and music book but Justin is more annoyed about Theo confronting her instead of telling him. He says he’s going to the police. Theo offers to go with him and Justin retorts that he’s done enough. He heads to the police station and tells Rose that Ava’s missing, repeating what Theo told him about the guy and the van. Rose doesn’t exactly share his anxiety, saying Ava might just have got a lift, but says she’ll let patrols know to look out for them.

Near the beach, Conor gets out of his parked van. He puts a bag in the bin and washes his hands. When he gets back into the van, we see Ava’s mobile phone on the passenger seat, with her nowhere in sight. Meanwhile, Theo and Kirby meet up on the beach, having been separately looking for Ava. Theo is worried about where she’s got to and tells Kirby about how extreme her behaviour had become. Kirby suggests she might have just gone home again and they should check there.

At the Diner, Irene is puzzled to get a text from John sarcastically thanking her for the heads up. Just as she and Marilyn are discussing it, Justin turns up and asks them if they’ve seen Ava and explains what’s happened: He’s spoken to Leah but not told her the full story since she’s in the city with Roo. He tries calling out to the Diner patrons, asking if any of them have seen a blue combi van, and Irene tries to calm him down. Rose comes in with another officer and Justin complains about them getting coffee while Ava’s still missing, storming out.

Ava joins Conor by the van, having apparently been to a public bathroom. Conor asks about Theo and Ava says he was her boyfriend. She asks if she can hang about there for a bit. Conor agrees, saying he’s going for a surf, and notes her phone kept going off. Ava checks in and sees two texts and a missed call from Justin and a text from Theo, all asking where she is.

Irene turns up at the surf club and asks John about the text message and whether there’s anything wrong with Jett. John says Jett’s fine and asks why she didn’t tell him about Dean going. Irene snaps that Ziggy and Dean did what was right for their family and walks out, passing Mali. John then pointedly moves Mali’s board displays.

Theo and Kirby check the Morgan house but there’s no sign of Ava in the house or outside. Kirby suggests they unblock the I<3Theo account just in case Ava posts something there. Justin comes home and blames Theo for driving Ava away, saying he’s got more important things to worry about than making Theo feel better.

Theo and Kirby go back to the Lyrik house. Theo suggests sending Ava a message on the I<3Theo account so she knows they’ve unblocked her. He initially assumes Kirby will do it but Kirby says it has to be Theo: Ava hates her and Justin but there’s no greater feeling than your crush reaching out to you. If she’s all right, she’ll reply. If she doesn’t, she could be in trouble.

Conor returns to the van and tells Ava she can’t stay there forever: He has to head up the coast for work. He offers to take her to her dad’s or to a friend’s and leaves her to think about it while he goes for a shower. Ava gets Theo’s message and smiles. She sends a reply saying she’s scared and can’t get away.

Mali is joined by Rose at the Diner for lunch. He admits that John’s been giving him a hard time. Rose says John’s all bluster in her experience. She gets a call from Justin and has to leave to take it. Irene and Marilyn chat to Mali about John’s behaviour. Irene suggests Mali’s overthinking it and John will get over it soon, but Marilyn insists he has to set John boundaries.

Mali heads back to the surf club and finds John in the office in a morose mood. John says he worked with Dean for years, he was there when his baby was born and when his mother met his son for the first time…and all he’s got is a scribbled note on the white board from Dean and Ziggy saying “Catch you later, John.”

At the Morgan house, Justin has an irate phone conversation with Rose about the police not finding anything. Theo and Kirby arrive and show Justin Ava’s message. Moments later, Ava sends a pin in Maps with her location. Justin rushes out and tells Theo to send it to him. At the surf club, Mali tries to give John a coffee and chat to him about Dean’s reasons for leaving. John says he’s learned a lesson about being friends with “underlings” and that he and Mali will have a business relationship, nothing more.

Justin pulls up to find Conor getting dressed by the van. He tells Ava to get out of the van, then hits Conor. He keeps hitting him repeatedly despite Ava screaming at him to stop.