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**PART 10**

"Yeah right - you could just see it in Summer Bay, couldn't you ! Your grandad standing there screaming up 'Gimme back my flaming hat ya great hairy yahoo ape - that straw hat's been in the Stewart family fo three flamin' centuries !' - - - while all around people are stampeding to the hills !!"

Jack and Martha had spent an enjoyable late afternoon in the ABC Cinema at Yabbie Creek watching "King Kong" , and after the ritual exchange of insults about who most resembled the title star - Jack had begun to speculate about if Kong had somehow taken a cross-continent detour and arrived in their town.

While Martha would probably secretly and grudgingly have accepted the odd dramatic realism in Jack's scenario, family honour had to be defended !

As they milled out with the crowd into the foyer, she jokingly pushed him up against a cut-out display stand of the simian title-hero and said "Oh YES ? And how about YOU ? " Now look Mr Monkey, you climbed that building way way too fast and I'm going to give you a ticket - come down and get it RIGHT NOW, you hear ??"

She leant forward into a mutually-welcomed truce cuddle and wave of affectionate giggling. It was just so COMFORTABLE between them, thought Martha happily - almost as if they'd always somehow been together - and she was fully determined they always would be.

"Hey, fancy a burger ?" said Jack suddenly - Kong had been a fairly long film and that shared popcorn bucket seemed a long while back now.

"Sounds like a plan , speed man.." she grinned as they tagged onto the end of one of two long queues. The lines were moving fairly quickly though, and just as Jack was fumbling for his wallet in readiness, he spun half round in clear shock at a greeting from a young man returning back down the queue with his food in hand. "Well, well WELL - Jackie Boy - it's been for EVER = what's going ON ??"

"Nothing I'd be saying anything to YOU about anyway. " snapped back Jack - his face had darkened, and turning to Martha, attempted to propel her arm in the direction he was headed. "Come on - we're going .."

"JACK !!.." she responded in outraged amazement but brushing the hand indignantly away - "What the.....??"

She glanced at the guy who was in his mid 20's, reasonable enough looking but with a rough, rather marked complexion. He shrugged his shoulders up towards his grinning face as called to the figure striding towards the exit door , "Maybe give you a call, Jackie BOY...??" Martha hesitated further - reluctant indeed to leave it at that - but as the space by the door now showed, she needed to follow Jack who had gone, with a very large question mark trailing after him...

Claire had so often heard the phrase about ones life flashing in front of one in the few seconds before such events as a fall, a bungee jump or anything similar . Any doubts she may have had about such claims were wrenched unceremoniously away from her as she heard the voice and felt at the same time as if her legs had been flame-welded to the floor. Put coldly, she'd been considering killing a man lying defenceless in a hospital bed - the man she blamed fiercely for what would seem to have happened to Peter... Peter....

The voice again cut through the life show reel spinning on repeat loop inside her head...

"Sergeant Brodie...?"

As she dug inside her deepest reserves to make her body do the neccessary turn, that one word kept striking her mind in a deep, persistent rhythm "Peter...Peter....Peter..."

The explosion of scintillating relief and emotion was as profound as the sheer despair that had shackled her over the last hour - it was HIM - it really WAS HIM ..!!"

Sitting in a wheelchair looking up at her with his characteristically warm smile - he emitted the briefest possible

"Hi"

"HI - HI ???? - Oh you come HERE !!!" - the tidal wave of delight exploding over her took her into a slight bend and joyous hug with her other half, paused only as his chair threatened to hurtle back into the bed opposite the patient.

As tears streamed down her face he explained he'd been knocked out and suffered a severe concussion in the melee after officers had ended the building society siege . He explained that the fatality she'd heard news of coming through on the squad car radio had sadly been the late middle-aged security guard who'd suffered a heart attack and died during the trip after being taken on board with Peter and the gunman.

Peter's face hardened as he pointed at the patient's bed and said with controlled anger "That's HIS fault - but Claire - even so, what I think I maybe possibly saw you contemplating a few minutes ago was NOT the answer...do we understand each other..??"

Wiping away the continuing tears she began to give a humble nod of understanding and agreement - but a note of jagged discord suddenly invaded the small ward and their heads swivelled violently to a small side door neither had noticed linking the ward with another recovery room. There stood a short but grim-faced nursing sister who called across "No Sergeant Brodie - NOT the answer at all - but from what I've seen since standing here this last 10 minutes - I'd say there ARE a lot of QUESTIONS you'll need to answer...."

Kirsty's mind had been a whirl with questions as she sat on board the bus she'd caught back towards Summer Bay after the three of them - herself, Jade and Dylan had shared the pizza in a slightly surreal atmosphere at her sister's flat.

Surreal because despite the fact her new so-called boyfriend clearly had some deeper agenda than he was letting on to her, Jade spent the meal-time bubbling happily and flashing coy, love-struck glances in Dylan's direction.

Surreal because Dylan was unashamedly "working" the situation, taking advantage of the romantic ivory tower her sister was currently floating around inside to give Kirsty a whole succession of "knowing" winka, even pointing very directly to his cellphone on more than one occasion and mouthing "Call me" when Jade's back was turned, in very definite follow-up to the note he 'd scribbled and slipped her earlier.

And surreal too because throughout the entire time of eating, no-one had mentioned Kane even once . Jade of course had always found that her best way of coping with her hostility towards him following the whole Danni situation, and she wasn't 100 per cent certain whether he even KNEW about her and Kane - whether Jade would even have brought it up for the same Danni-related reasons.

But most oddly of all, why hadn't SHE even once so much as mentioned her own husband of over three years during an hour-long dinner and chat ? Could it have been to spare her sister's feelings ? Or could it more worryingly have been because of Dylan's being there and some deeper desire of hers still to seem in some way "available" in his eyes ? She attempted to drive that thought directly from her head, but as she tried to her text alert sounded, and there - from Dylan -was a message - in capitals - saying " YOU STILL DIDN'T CALL !! ;-)"

She breathed in deep - what WAS the guy up to ?? She'd been on the bus less than 30 minutes and he must somehow have sent that message while still at Jade's flat !

Something needed doing - and fast. Suddenly she made a decision. Danni had earlier in the day texted her giving a few bare details of her plans and location, and Kirsty resolved to there and then to head to the Sands' Resort and run the whole mystifying thing past her elder sister.

There was a Customer Request stop outside, and it was the work of moments to swarm up the main steps, smile and chat with Tanya on reception and then head straight up in the elevator. She smiled as she thought of how one of the cars outside had looked from a certain light like Kane's- no possibility of HIM of all people being in this vicinity she thought with an internal smile - and she was looking forward to seeing her sister too !

Events the proceeded to unfold in something of a manic blur. She tapped on and began to open the ajar door bearing the room number she'd been given for her sister - was made quickly aware of her sister's troubled face appearing directly in front of her with some garbled greeting or other and looking for all the world as if she was attempting to drive her a little firmly back to where she'd come from. "Hey Dan !" quickly became "What the ...??" and then feelings far more intensely profound as over her sister's shoulder she spotted the bathroom door being opened and a figure she knew extremely well emerging....

Leah had never liked Amanda - it was as simple as that. Ever since the moment her bleached blonde hair, gaudy blouses and sincerity bypass character had re-landed in the Bay, Leah had a very clear vision about where she was coming from - she wanted Dan back - there was the top and bottom of it. Of course she was also prepared to weave her tacky, nasty little tricks on anyone who got in her way - indeed, on people in general if the malicious mood took her .

But this was now personal - and serious. It was appearing by the minute that Amanda had seriously crossed the line that separates baiting from biting by involving VJ in any way, and while Harper embarked as policemen tend to do on a complicated but wholly unnecessary series of signals telling Leah to keep her talking so they had a better chance of tracing the call, Leah spoke with a darkly determined and switchblade-sharp edge to her tongue.

"Amanda, tell me where both you and my son are RIGHT now, or I promise you this - regret will be FAR too minor a word to express how you'll end up feeling."

Amanda though was already wrapping herself in the drama she'd created. Speaking with an unconvincingly hesitant air she began to falter

"Oh - - well, Leah, I'd SO assumed Dan would have told you...."

"Told me WHAT, Amanda ?"

The ex-Mrs Baker would have been foolish indeed not to read and register the depth of simmering anger ready to burst within the current holder of that title - but clearly she didn't, ploughing on..

"Weeel...I hardly like to say...but..well Dan said if it would be best if I picked the boys up from school, while he went into town to tie up some loose arrangements.."

Leah's cheeks flushed hot and burning, but she managed to rasp "Go on..."

The voice at the other end of the phone was in full flow.

"I just feel SO uncomfortable about all this - I just assumed Dan would have said something..."

The pounding, staccato notes of Leah's heart found crumbs of consolation in the fact that with Dan somehow and for some wholly inexplicable reason operating ALONGSIDE Amanda amidst this whirlpool of scarcely credible chaos, at least SOME restraining hand could be placed on her erratic actions.

And then, as Leah gazed out of the window by the phone, even THAT slim safety net of hope was hauled unceremoniously away - here came Dan, strolling through the yard and beginning to slowly climb the stairs - his face lit up in a warm smile as he caught a glimpse of her through the glass on his way up, The cheery wave he followed up with struck a pang of terror into Leah's heart - her husband clearly had no idea about the deepening concern and all-round fear Amanda's latest volatile excesses were striking into his new wife's heart.........no idea whatsoever....

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**PART ELEVEN**

The extravagant web of intrigue spreading rapidly through Jesse McGregor's mind as he accelerated away from the small suburb was the perfect example of eyes and mind computing only 2 elements of a 3 part equation and arriving at a hazardously inaccurate conclusion.

The elaborate hug bestowed upon Flynn as Jess had sped past pursued by the impatient taxi had lasted little more than a couple of seconds before being angrily thrust aside and rejected by Flynn, while the dual entry to the house he'd seen following the u-turn had been nothing more than the prelude to the showdown Flynn had arrived in the area intent on having.

Lynsey Benson was a year younger than Flynn and the pair had known each other since going to the same area school together some years previously. There'd never been anything romantic between them, although her interpretation of that fact had always been a little more creative than his. She'd placed him on a pedestal , calling him "her top guy", and never moving all that far from his side - even when he was involved in brief and medium-term relationships himself. While that did give him some insight into the rather edgy nature of her character , he was then at an age which generally doesn't feature too much deep personality analysis, and he still kept in touch with her when he moved nearer to the city in his counsellor role.

Indeed, during Sally's cancer scare when she's temporarily rejected him over her inability to carry a child , he'd seen her as someone ideal to share with and vent his concerns to. At first it had been welcome - very welcome in fact, providing him with some of the closeness and bonding he'd been crying out for since Sally's withdrawal into herself at the hospital. It did however become steadily clear to him during this period that her grip on the reality of their friendship had dissolved considerably . She talked from a position as if she was a wife re-welcoming a husband after a separation or extended time away . She talked about "their" house, "their" future and more , and while he did attempt gently on more than one occasion to lightheartedly re-assert reality , he was in truth too deeply affected by his own situation to bother greatly, instead opting for less and less visits to Lynsey's house. He instead used it as part of his motivation to gear up, head back to the Bay and, of course ultimately re-unite with Sally.

And then it had all started again. Some weeks back the letters began arriving - all needing to be kept from Sally of course - and then more disturbingly the phone calls - the latest of which Colleen had witnessed his side of earlier that day.

Their general theme could be condensed into the one theme that he should leave Sally immediately and come and live with her. In addition that last call had hinted at some major piece of news she intended to deliver on a visit she was planning to the Bay. Clearly that had to be stopped if at all possible, hence his trip there to try and put a lid on the matter as soon as possible.

"Lynsey, what the hell's going on ?"

As tends to be the case in such situations she was infuriatingly hard to pin down for a proper conversation. She flitted from room to room, picking things up as she went, easing curtains a little more closed and heading for the kitchen to boil the kettle.

"It's just so good to have you back..." came the call through the clinking of tea mugs and growing whirr of the kettle steam. Flynn breathed deep , raised his eyes to the heavens, and , once again heading in her direction spelt out as firmly and clearly as his rapidly diminishing reserves of patience would allow ,

"Lynsey, I'm not BACK , this is NOT a reunion of any sort, and this has GOT to stop - do you understand.? The unsettling added element was that she clearly wasn't amid some kind of medically treatable crisis, as everything else about her tallied perfectly well with how an average suburban housewife might behave. She had simply become focused in on him to the exclusion of most other things. Flynn became aware of a noise on the staircase which was clearly adjacent to the room where they now were, but pressed on, trying something of a change of tack.

As the noises off grew, he forced a smile, saying ! "Sounds busy.." before having to move smartly to one side as a boy of around five or six ran cheerfully in, leant upwards to kiss a stooping Lynsey on the cheek then retiring to a small side table with an activity book and a set of pens. Flynn delayed just slightly saying his piece, smiled briefly at the boy then returned to her, albeit his voice at a lower pitch.

"Lynsey - this so-called big announcement or whatever it is -let's get real now - you're just trying to get me wound up, aren't you ? ..come on...?"

She paused from pouring some orange juice into a Bart Simpson glass , turned her face to him and said "Well I guess this'll be even better done here " she remarked casually as if delivering the latest weather forecast - "I thought it was about time you met Mitch - he's your son."

While she may have delivered that remark in throwaway mode, its fallout had left a mask of stunned horror adorning the face of her visitor...

"Where.......?" - Todd Allison spread his arms wide in a querying gesture as he entered Danni's suite at the Sands holding an elegantly-cut deep blue silk t-shirt he'd extracted from his wardrobe. Though his job frequently involved long hours and some far-flung travelling, it did pay well for a guy of his age, and he felt he was entitled to translate that into buying clothes from the upper end of the quality range. He was also a generous person though and having torn Kane's garment, he didn't hesitate when Danni had requested the replacement - which he now tossed across to the bare-chested Kane. He'd been sitting rather diffidently in a chair near the door awaiting Operation Wardrobe Rescue, and answered Todd's enquiry with the little information he had available.

"I don't know mate - I came out of the bathroom, heard a bit of noise and when I looked, there was Dan steaming out of the door...!"

Todd looked briefly concerned - "You think someone was trying to thieve or something ? I'd better......."

"No, you can chill mate, I'm sure it was nothing like that, I'd have been able to tell, you know...? Nah, I guess something urgent must have cropped up or something....."

Kane could scarcely have imagined in any kind of dream that Danni was in fact at that moment pursuing his wife and her sister down the resort's back staff staircase, hailing urgently after her to stop.

It was a battle she looked like losing until Kirsty's cellphone slithered out of her pocket two landings below and as she hesitated over whether to stop and grasp it up, Danni was able to pounce. She laid a restraining arm on her sister's and said "Kirst, Kirst - what's going on ??"

"I might well ask YOU that, mightn't I ?? " responded Kirsty with a catch in her voice , "forgive me if I arrived at the wrong time, now won't you ? I've been really looking forward to seeing you, I open the door and see my husband coming half-naked out of your bathroom- what am I meant to think ?"

Danni looked genuinely shocked "I'll allow you that one as you're upset - but THINK about what you're saying ! Me -- and KANE ??"

Kirsty paused a little, slowly coming back with "Hm - I GUESS.. but what's he DOING here anyway ?"

Danni hesitated , a ghost of a smile flickering over her lips.

"Now THAT is something of a long story... but before I tell you ..."

"Yes...?"

"We friends again ?.."

Kirsty gave a semi-grave look before gratefully hugging her sister with great relief and affection. The breakup of the close and protective her-Jade-Danni triangle had been something that had affected her deeply, and sharing that kind of bond again, however briefly, was beginning to feel and taste very welcome and very special.

Danni squeezed her hand - hey, hadn't you better be letting that husband of yours know you're here ? As long as you don't think I've got him trapped as my own scandalous slave of course !!?"

Kirsty poked her tongue out in response before turning to start the climb back up the stairs. Her head though almost immediately bobbed dis-concertedly back as her mobile phone suddenly chirped a text alert.

She began to turn quickly, but Danni halted her,

"No worries - I got it !"

As she bent down to lift it though , her thumb jerked the new message button by accident, revealing in highly emphasized capitals ,

"CALL ME ! - U KNOW U WILL !! DYLZ :-D "

With an air of penetrating inquiry on her face and phone in the palm of her hand, Danni craned her face slowly round towards her sister's - emphasizing as she went " Oh YES ?? And is there anything YOU'D like to be telling ME by any chance , dear sister ?"

Kim had been part-confused and strangely part very content with the attention he'd been paid by Cassie throughout a long and relaxing afternoon at beach side.

Confused because he couldn't ENTIRELY rid himself of the though that he may just be an element in some kind of game or display - perhaps sending Ric some kind of gesture, who could know ?

But - the contentment seemed to have ambushed him on a number of fronts . Firstly because it was never a chore to spend time with a good-looking girl, and Cassie was undeniably very attractive. Secondly it had been some while since he'd had an actual girlfriend, and it crossed his mind that Cassie's open, uncomplicated kind of personality COULD be just what he needed .

He reflected ruefully on the messy, unsatisfactory encounters that had dogged him since coming to the Bay - Kit Hunter, the whole Hayley episode... yes, perhaps a healthy, happy, uncomplicated dose of "here and now" would be just the thing...

He stirred himself hurriedly from the pink-coloured glow into which he'd descended, as he heard Cassie's voice probing gently "Kim...Kim !?.."

"I'm SORRY, Cass .." he said, emerging more fully from the trance-like state and rediscovering his surroundings. They included an eager -looking Cassie , hand extended to offer him the final apple from within the meticulously organized picnic basket with which she'd descended earlier in the day, and the various elements of which were placed on the sand where she'd based herself, close to his lifeguard central lookout area.

He laughed and extended the palm of his hand with a shake "Nah - wont fight you for it, but..." - training his eyes once again out to sea he went on " but that guy over there's not staying between the flags - I'll just go give him a yell." He dropped down from the half-dozen or so step high platform on which he was perched, but as he attempted to move round it, his foot caught on the picnic basket and he lurched momentarily towards the sands - only to be caught by the timely outstretched arms of Cassie.

Their heads just a few inches apart, she launched into an apology

"Oh Kim I'm SO sorry - it was MY stupid basket, I KNEW I should have moved it, I ..."

Still close enough to feel the breath of her words on his face, he smiled placatingly ..

"Not at all, my fault, my clumsy fault...!"

The subsequent seconds were genuinely crackling with the question of whether the moment may blend into the kiss to which neither would have objected - three or four seconds that seemed like ten minutes before Kim eventually eased himself up to his full height and murmured "Ah, that guy..I'll just...ah.." and he jogged down towards the shoreline.

"Ok" nodded Cassie, clear traces of a blush glowing through even her permanent and distinctive suntan.."see you in a mo..?"

A raised thumb from the running Kim indicated that would be no problem. Her smile indicated the afternoon had begun to develop JUST exactly as she'd hoped..

What neither of them saw was the woman who'd earlier been observing them from the side of the beach access road. She had now been leaning on a car in the parking area set just back from the lifeguard position, but at the very moment of the near-fall "close encounter" between Kim and Cassie had entered the vehicle, sat down, and was talking into a cellphone in low, curt tones.

"Yes - me, Yes I am - and he is ! He's doing it - again !! No, can't happen - not again. Exactly - sooner the better.."

One departure - she gunned the car into life and steered out of the parking area, face set and stern.

And one arrival - as Cassie happily brushed and smoothed the mat draping the lifeguard platform - ready for Kim's return.

Sally's collection of carrier bags had mushroomed steadily since she'd set out that morning. She breathed in , massed them around her- gave Pippa the little routine check that was never more than a minute away, then began the mini-trek back to the car.

She'd enjoyed her day - something she'd had on her "must-do" list for some little while.. That had been when she'd started receiving them - "them" being an intriguing series of little love-notes popping up wherever she went - some at home, on her desk at work, even on the table at the diner on one occasion when she'd popped in mid-morning.

Flynn really was excelling himself here, she smiled to herself- and it was all made even more of a challenge by the fact he'd never actually admitted that he was leaving them - preferring instead to maintain a rather "knowing" hint of a smile across the edges of his face - at least as she saw it !

She'd therefore put on hold thoughts of quizzing the unexpectedly renewed Romeo about it all, instead preferring to construct a little response of her own ! So, she'd devised a strategy of shopping for a selection of his favourite items -Madonna CD, new running shorts, Cologne miniatures - "Wickedly Indulgent" finger bars of imported Swiss chocolate - and various others. She was still working on the fine print of where and when her own trail would be laid and what form it would take - but Mr Sack of Surprises could just look out !

Having somehow loaded Pippa and the bags into a car that seemed to have become considerably smaller during the day, she began the journey back up the hill, noting with a little surprise from the car clock that she'd been out far longer than she'd imagined or certainly intended -- but it was all in a good cause after all !

She noticed traffic was heavier than usual on the hill and also there seemed to be a rather more prominent police presence than one might have expected for the time of day - two squad cars on opposite sides of the street, and three or four uniformed officers on foot along the length she'd slowly traveled along the backlog.

She gave it little real thought though, but tutted in exasperation as her hopes of getting straight through the traffic lights were thwarted by the predictable last-second red light. The road she was on was considered minor to the intersection ahead, so another long wait was in store.

Looking over at Pippa, her eye was somehow also drawn to the front downstairs window of a small guest house one away from the corner of the block where she was idling . The view inside had been obscured by a heavy drape curtain, but her eye had noticed the movement of it being pulled back by a young boy, who proceeded to look straight out of the window and who she recognized with astonishment as.."VJ !! Well, what would he and Leah be doing...." She broke off as her eyes became accustomed to the dimmer light inside, and sitting at a table just beside VJ was Ryan....and Amanda - who was talking into her cellphone, and from the by-now clearly visible melodramatic look her face was moulded into, it looked very much as if she was again snatching back at her failed career by being part of some drama.

But why VJ ?? This far from home - no Leah or Dan ??

She was suddenly jolted from her thoughts by the sharp blast of a car horn behind her that announced the lights had changed.

But Sally's mind was made up ...just as soon as the car could be turned round, she was going back to investigate .....

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**PART TWELVE**

Scott was by now genuinely baffled as to just how much more complicated this day could actually become.

Danni arriving as unannounced and unexpected as she had been had certainly served him up some major food for thought..After all, the record was there for all to see that he hadn't wanted to break up with her in the first place. He'd been settled and happy in their relationship, but once the dual advance of Stafford McRae and The Guv had headed into their lives, it was almost as if his grip on their relationship was being eased away with him having no say in the matter.

Long before the split he'd always been able to tap into a subconscious mental picture of he and Danni - married, and living in a better-than-average country cottage - with children-- He shook himself firmly - this WASN'T helping.

And even IF getting back with Danni HAD been on his agenda - which it WASN'T - was it.. ??- there was one particularly sound and persuasive reason why that couldn't happen.... wasn't there !!

He'd called in to see his mother not QUITE expecting the extremely bizzare behaviour he'd witnessed from her. The air of self-insular angst, the fidgeting, plus then the sudden explosion of curt anger when he'd mentioned people returning suddenly to others' lives.

And now - most startling of all - her response of frantic desparation to the possibility of the door being currently knocked by this most ordinary and unremarkable of guys he'd just happened to see outside.

His plaintive but very direct "What's going on, mum ?" fell on the deafest of ears. Beth was pinballing around the room like an irritably dazed wasp in summer smarting from a newspaper jab.

"Scott, ah - I've ..er.. um, Alf needs...the " (grabs coat from chair-back), "...er, STUFF...and I'll only....." (swoops on car-keys) .."I'll see you...." - the last phrase echoed back through the hollow of the hall as Beth was clearly bearing down on the back door . Shaking his head slowly Scott rose to finally stem the repeated and increasingly urgent knocking that had punctuated the last part of their rather surreal conversation. He pulled the door back, letting in....Ric Daulby,,,who burst past him saying without ceremony "Is she here ?? Cassie - is she here ?? Ive been looking for her all over - I thought I'd be seeing her today -I've got a darn good idea who she's with...."

But the latest twists in Summer Bay's Romeo and Juliet remake had already lost Scott's attention - it rated low indeed on today's ever-growing list of volatile happenings. His mind had strayed instead to the rear of the house where Beth, looking to complete her hasty and ragged exit, thrust open the back door and stepped.....straight into the path of the very man she'd been trying to avoid....

"Look mate, it's fine by me like I said - I need the loot - you want to buy- that'll suit me ! No - - no you WON'T flamin' well be gazumped - like I've told you you're the only cab on the rank, though you start that kind of carry-on, and I'll....yes, well, right..you know where I'm coming from...!"

Alf's sigh travelled half-way towards adult life as a groan, and he wiped a slowly-maturing bead of perspiration from a glistening brow.

He didn't WANT to sell the diner building, far from it , but if the jackals at the tax department weren't going to rip his liver out and feed it to the flamin' crows, then it had to be done. But it DIDN'T mean he had to enjoy all this "higher-lower -less-more" money-gabbling stuff - though he had to ADMIT this seemed a very tempting solution all round - despite the issues it UNDOUBTEDLY involved......

"Look mate, that's YOUR problem entirely - leave me WELL out of it. No no, I'd be PERFECTLY happy for you to explain it to her yourself. Laughing ?? Oh no mate, I'm FAR from laughing-- FAR from it. Look - we'll tie this up later in the week - it's going to be... INTERESTING ... I'll say that much .....yes yes you have a flamin' nice day too !"

The way in which he jammed the phone receiver back down with no little vitriol somehow didn't radiate the inherent warmth of that wish .

"Good to see that charm-school training never deserts you, Alfred .."

Alf spun and lurched unsteadily as the dryly-imparted observation from behind jolted him into life...

"Hogan's ghost Morag, how long have you been there ?"

"Why, does it matter ? And who were you talking to , anyway..?"

"What - um - ah - no-one...that is....oh just someone about - the - well - what's up Morag - what's that look you're wearing for...?"

Alf's reluctance for specifics over his recently-ended call seemed to have received a very timely intervention. Morag had been slitting open and reading a letter while they'd been talking - a letter which seemed to have exerted a major gravitational pull on her face.

"Whoever it was Alfred, I think there's something you may need to hear that's a LOT more important ....about your granddaughter......!"

As they'd been talking, that very same granddaughter had been pounding the pavement between the ABC Cinema in Yabbie Creek and the large multi-storey car park just over 10 minutes further down the block - all the while her mind in a volatile whirl of confusion, apprehension, and sour, stabbing disappointment at the way such a lovely afternoon had just disintegrated into rancour - as yet with no reasonable explanation - or indeed any explanation at all !

Jack had certainly set a scorching pace back to the car, and fit as she was , her body was beginning to rebel at the demands being placed on it. It was just as well they'd never got as far as having the burger she thought as she heaved herself raggedly into the entry area , stabbing the elevator button gratefully as means of brief respite.

As she stepped out of the doors onto the level where they'd left the car, she was still breathing hard, her face glowing pink and moist with the effort of the chase, she made a few steps forward , but was then forced to check back as a car slewed out of a bay and drilled towards her at a speed far higher than the usual crawl limit laid down for such areas - and a second dart of shock landed with rapid follow-up as she realized - it was Jack's car ! One gulp of shock and she recovered sufficient poise to raise her hand and scream "JAACK !!!...."

Her voice hit a strange discord in the library-style atmosphere of the otherwise unpopulated floor, and it somehow pierced the mental defences of a driver who was clearly wrestling some majorly significant demons. He drew the car up short and she navigated carefully around the bonnet before sliding into the passengers' seat - her heart pumping and indignation starting to rise to explosive proportions.

"Jack - what the HELL IS GOING ON ??"

Quick answers were not to be forthcoming. He guided the car down through the pay-booth and out in thick, taut silence, and it wasn't until they were heading back towards the general area of the cinema that he said stiffly and unbendingly "I don';t want you going ANYWHERE NEAR that guy - do you hear me ?"

She bridled again at the tone of the order, but counting internally to ten, collected her calm enough to say "who IS he Jack - and what's your ISSUE with him ? Surely you can at least tell me that ??"

More silence followed, and with her eyes trained intently on his face waiting for an answer, she failed to notice they'd turned down a quiet side street onto which backed a number of warehouse plots and small garages, all empty and quiet as the twilight drew on ,

What she hadn't however noticed, but Jack most certainly had was the guy from the cinema snack area , ambling alone towards the point where it joined the pedestrian intersection around 200 metres or so distant.

As he finished the packet of fries he'd been carefully consuming, and carelessly flicked the wrapper to one side, Jack's jaw hardened, the engine revs increased ominously and as the fizzing tyres jammed hard and rough against the pavement cement, Martha's attention was finally wrenched to where Jack's had been concentrated for quite some minutes, and as the vehicle lurched forward, for the second time that day, though far more frenetically than the first, she screamed aloud "JAAAACK.....!!!"

Danni's eyes had widened as Kirsty - first cautiously - then increasingly gratefully expanded on the Dylan situation which had so randomly come to light via the text message from this new man of mystery to her cellphone.

The explanation was now pouring out of Kirsty "And I'm just so scared that you or she would think I'd encouraged him or something as there's no way...."A catch entered her voice and she realized with some surprise that tears had smuggled their way to the corners of both eyes It had meant the world to her, seeing both sisters like this again on the same day. Yes, life with Kane was happy and never dull, but she couldn't deny that with random aim, moments would hit her where she yearned long and hard just to be back on the couch at the caravan park - Jade next to her, Shelley and Rhys sharing drying-up duties in the kitchen -him shouting across to Danni to get off the phone- warm, comfortable days - and today had had just such a fragrance -

"Oh Dan what I mean is after all that with Kane and such there's just NO WAY I would do anything like that - ever !!"

Dabbing her eyes with a tissue almost telepathically offered by her sister, she linked arms with her for the last part of the climb back up the hotel staircase -and said "Look, enough about me for now, come on, fess up - I've been honest - you tell ME why YOU'RE back in town !"

As they stopped on the top back landing, Danni smiled dryly and conceded, "Ok, no getting past you, I can see that ! I'm back because I want Scott back. For all I saw, heard and did while I've been away - one thing has kept on and on and on returning to me - I love Scott, and I will have him back." Kirsty hadn't had time to react when

"That's very interesting, Danni" -got in before her.

Hayley had driven to the Sands on a hunch - a vague suspicion relating to Kane and Danni's stage-managed discussion at the Beach House earlier in the day - what was the sub-plot...?

And now - how foolish she felt that her suspicions had reeled in a false target. Narrowing down his likely location by a process of query and elimination, she paused on hearing voices behind a side door just ahead to the right and froze - as she heard a voice she knew chillingly well announcing full confidence in getting back with Scott - HER Scott --ex-friends faced each other down in grim defiance - I believe I heard you say you WILL get back with Scott, Danni..? Check the Weather guy out would be my advice - because he says NO cold days in hell this side of EVER..." The battle appeared joined.....

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