All That You Can't Leave Behind

[I love music]

That was very powerfully written, Adia, I was totally immersed in the story. The dialogue was very, very realistic. I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for Jake even tho I haven't liked him much for a while now but you made him easier to understand when you descirbed the effect of the drugs and his realisation that they'd taken him over and made him pretty useless.

Loved that Nina wasn't in the least disturbed by the gun! (Well, you have put bros in their place, don't you? )

“I think that Johnny has a dysfunctional idea of love and hate, and sometimes they are the same thing to him.”

Fantastic line.

As she got out and locked the door, she could hear the thunderous roar of the ocean as the waves hit the shore and she wondered if it was some kind of sign.

Again the picture is painted very vividly. Love the dramatic ending, I'm dying to know more...

[Adia]

Thanks for your comments! A short update...

ChapterOneHundredTwentyEight

Sally carefully poured the boiling water into the mug. “I’m just worried about him,” she said looking fretfully at Brad who was delicately stirring his tea. “I thought we were finally making some progress, then he just… he just … shut himself off I guess.”

“Kids from those kinds of backgrounds are generally hard to get through to Sal,” he said gently rubbing her arm. “I wouldn’t take it personally, you’ve gone the extra mile and taken him in, at some point he needs to realise that he has to put some effort in too…”

“It can’t help that Nina is involved with Johnny either,” she said distastefully. “As Rocco’s friend… You know, I really don’t believe it… she’s such a smart girl and he’s such an animal. What would she see in someone like him?”

“Well they say that opposites attract,” Brad grinned but Sally frowned instantly at him.

“No but seriously,” he said realising his joke didn’t go down as he intended. “For all we know Johnny has some kind of control over her too. Like you said the guy is an animal, and the both of them are probably too scared to try and get away from him…”

“I just wish there was something more we could do…” Sally sipped her tea gently trying to ignore the scalding hot water gliding over her mouth. “Could we file and AVO maybe?”

“Sal, your heart is in the right place,” Brad said taking her cup from her hands. “The best we can do right now is keep an eye on them and look out for them…” He reached over and poured some milk into her cup. “You won’t be any use to either of them if you keep torturing yourself like this. In any case, Johnny will stuff up soon enough and then he’ll be out of all our lives – for good hopefully!”

There was a loud knock on the door. Sally smiled at him and brushed her knuckles along his cheek. “I hope you’re right…” she sighed.

She walked over the door and Brad tailed behind her with their drinks and placed them on the dining table. When she opened the door, she was met with a very well groomed and suave looking man. His suit was well tailored and fit him to perfection, and it was just as dark as his short spiky hair which looked naturally neat but playful. He had his hands in his pockets, but that only added to how much he looked like a model at Louis Vuitton photoshoot.

“Hi,” he said taking his hands out of his pockets. “I’m looking for Rocco Cooper, I was told that he was staying here.”

Sally took a minute to catch her breath and process the words that were coming out of his mouth. Brad quickly moved in behind Sally and placed his hands on her shoulders in a defensive position.

“You okay?” he asked smiling. "For some reason women have trouble answering my questions. Perhaps that's why I'm still single... I must not be very approachable..."

“Umm, no...Yes, no fine…” she said clutching her chest. There was something authoritive and yet inviting about the man and Sally was intrigued, not just by his good looks, but also by how familiar he seemed to her. “Yes, Rocco is staying here. Can I ask who you might be?”

“Sorry, how unprofessional of me,” He pulled his hands out of his pockets and gently shook her hand. “Detective Senior Sergeant Richard Callan. You must be Sally Fletcher I take it?”

“Has Rocco done something wrong Detective?” Brad piped up from behind Sally. “You don’t look familiar, I take it you’re not from Yabbie Creek.”

“Ahhh, no.” he smiled. “Please, call me Richie. I’m from CID actually. Rocco’s not in any trouble; there are just some procedural matters that I need to follow up on with Mr Cooper. And you are…?”

“Sorry Brad Armstrong,” he said staunchly trying to shake the policeman’s hand. “I’m the Principal at Summer Bay High.”

“Right,” he said nodding his head. “Nice to meet you. So is Rocco around?”

“Actually no he’s not,” Brad said defensively. “He missed school today, so it’s likely he’s out somewhere with his brother…”

“Brad…” Sally said trying to ease Brad’s obvious impression of the man.

“You’re quite welcome to wait for him here Detective,” she said inviting him in. “We were just about to sit down and have a coffee. Rocco shouldn’t be too far away.”

“That would be great,” he said stepping into the house and quickly observing his surroundings. “I didn’t realise the drive from the city would be so long.”

“Coffee or tea?” Sally called from the kitchen.

“Coffee thanks,” he grinned at her as he sat down at the table. “Straight black, no sugar.”

“So are you able to tell us what these ‘procedural matters’ are?” Brad inquired.

“Nothing special…” Richie shrugged. Sally placed a cup of dark boiling coffee in front of him and sat down at the other end of the table next to Brad. It was much better view of him and his perfectness.

“Actually,’ he sighed. ‘Command has been keeping an eye on the criminal activity here in the Bay of late, and in all honesty they’re not happy with the investigations being carried put by the personnel at Yabbie Creek. So they sent me down here. I guess you could say I’m the clean up crew type… I tend to get things done…”

“Well it has taken them a long time to find the guys who robbed the Diner,” Sally said worryingly. “Not to mention the attack on Martha at the Surf Club…”

“Oh come on Sal,” Brad interrupted. “Everyone knows it was Johnny and his gang…”

“Ah the precocious Johnny Cooper,” Richie said leaning back in his chair. “A bit rough around the edges, but I have to admit, Johnny has certainly proved to be elusive to us...”

Sally looked despondently at her cup before looking up at the Armani model detective. He could draw a gaze from across the room with his stunning smile and his stunning looks, but Sally found herself drawn to the seriousness in his eyes. There was a dark and protruding sombreness that she could sense there.

“Do you know Rocco?” she asked him.

“Ahh we’ve met on occasion,” he answered, puzzled by her question. “Actually I was the one who arrested Rocco and sent him to juvie. He’s a troubled kid. In all honesty - I figured I was doing him a favour locking him up once I met his brother...”

“So you see it too?” Sally frowned. “How powerless Rocco is against Johnny and the gang…”

Richie stared at his cup. He remembered back to the day he arrested Rocco and the fearful look Rocco had given him at the slightest mention of Johnny. “Kids like that come through the system all the time. Unfortunately we don’t have the resources to try and help them properly. I mean the system is meant to rehabilitate and all, but in the end, kids get locked up, they meet other criminals and they share tips. I admit though, Rocco seems like a good kid deep down. Which is partly why I wanted to talk to him today…”

“That’ll be a hard task,” Brad said starting to feel warmly towards the guy. “Johnny has his clutches in pretty deep…”

“Yeah,” Richie nodded seriously. “It’s sad, but… I’m hoping I can help.”

Rocco had thought about sneaking in through the back, but he knew at some point he would have to face Sally. He felt like he had betrayed the kindness and warmness she had shown towards him by going back to Johnny. He felt so deceptive. He stood outside the door, and took at long deep breath.

“Rocco,” Sally said looking up from the table as he entered. “Rocco there’s someone here who would like to talk to you…”

Rocco looked at the dark suit who turned around slowly before standing up and adjusting his jacket to exhibit the weapon attached to his belt.

As Rocco stepped slowly back to the door, Richie shook his head and darted his eyes subtly to the gun.

“Hello Rocco,” he frowned. “Remember me?”

[Adia]

I seriously should be STUDYING! But I was on a roll from my other update...

ChapterOneHundredTwentyNine:

Rocco looked glumly at the table as Richie fixed his analysing eyes on him.

“I didn’t do anything,” Rocco said angrily. “I haven’t done anything wrong…”

“Yeah, I know,” Richie said seeing the anxiousness in his face. “I just came here to talk. That’s all…”

“Rocco is everything alright?’ Sally interjected. “We were worried about you and Matilda today when you didn’t turn up to school…”

Rocco didn’t answer. He was trying his hardest not to look at Sally and Brad and kept his gaze focused on the floor. Richie knew that something was eating Rocco up inside.

“How about we talk outside Rocco,” Richie said motioning to the back of the kitchen.

Rocco nodded nervously and lead Richie into the kitchen and out to the back patio.

“So what’s up?” Richie said tentatively. “You’re looking a bit anxious….”

“It’s nothing,” Rocco said still staring at the ground. “I just didn’t expect to see you around here that’s all.”

“Well you must have some idea of why I’m here?”

“I told you I haven’t done anything…”

Richie frowned. “So you didn’t just come from The Rocket Club with your brother?”

Rocco looked up instantly and sighed deeply. “I didn’t do anything wrong…”

Richie looked away from him in frustration and sadness. “Rocco, I just want to help. Now… You know that one of the conditions of your release was to give us the information on Johnny’s business interests…”

“Look I’ve got nothing to say…”

“Really? Well. the information you gave the Constable who organised your release was a crock and you’ve had us chasing ghosts for the last few months. That’s a lot of wasted time mate…”

“Yeah well that Constable also promised me that I’d be safe and as far away from Johnny as possible, but that didn’t happen either did it…”

“Rocco, you can trust me,” Richie said sincerely. “I know it’s hard, but if you help me, I’ll make sure Johnny goes away for a long time… and I happen to have a lot of connections in the department. I can honestly help you.”

Rocco sat down at the picnic table and buried his face in his hands. “It’s not that simple. I can’t just rat on my own brother. Why do you think I lied in the first place?”

Richie sat down next to him and offered a comforting hand on Rocco’s shoulder. “You know, a long time ago I was in the same position you’re in now…” he said despondently. “My brother was in pretty bad shape and I was the one who had to arrest him. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do – he was my own brother for god’s sake. But I had to do the right thing. He could’ve hurt a lot of people and I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t be responsible for another person getting hurt because of him. You really want to be responsible if Johnny does more damage in this town? If Johnny hurts the people you care about?”

“I already feel responsible for everything he’s done…” Rocco yelled at him. “Johnny only got into all this because he had to do something to take of me… if it weren’t for me… Johnny probably wouldn’t be like this! If we had a proper family we both might’ve been normal.”

“Listen to me Rocco,’ Richie said sternly. “Everybody has choices in life. Your brother chose a path that was not only illegal, but violent and dangerous. And I know you want to do the right thing here… you’re not like him.”

Rocco shook his head. “I can’t. I don’t know anything… Johnny even catches a whiff of me talking to you guys, he’ll wreck me for sure…”

“Rocco, I can’t make this offer again…’Richie warned. “You don’t comply and the next time you’re in trouble you’re not going to juvie, you’ll be in with the big boys… and nobody can protect you in there…”

“Sorry… sorry I just can’t. You guys need to leave me alone…”

“You know that won’t happen mate,” Richie sighed. “Trouble always seems to find you, doesn’t matter where you are…”

She could feel the sharpness of the pain ringing through her whole head as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was still blurred, but she could hear the deep but whispery intonations of her attackers close by. She sat up slowly and felt the side of her neck saturated with a thick coat of blood.

‘Gidday gorgeous,” Chopper glared at her. “You are one hard chicky to find…”

[I love music]

Adia, have just read and enjoyed reading but feeling awful, had to ring in sick today. All I'm doing is shivering and constantly falling asleep. This is the only thing I've been able to concentrate on reading, can't be bothered reading a magazine or even the teletext on TV. But well done on holding my interest when I feel so bad. Will review properly when I'm feeling a bit better.

[Adia]

Okay last one for today... now - STUDY!

ChapterOneHundredTwentyNine: Part II

Nathan yawned and clicked through his inbox again. He missed his desk at CID. He missed his family. He was beginning to feel the pressure mounting on him and the danger he was putting himself in. There was no doubt he was in the firing line now and for the first time in his career he was scared of what might happen to him. He had dabbled in secret dealings before, but not to this extent.

“Working late Detective?”

“Constable Holden,” Nathan said clicking the screen off and swivelling around on his chair to greet Jack. “What brings you back to the station? Double shift?”

“Ah no,” Jack grinned. “I’m officially off duty. I just came back to grab some files…”

“Right,” Nathan yawned again as Jack rummaged through the files in the cabinet.

“You look tired Nato,” a voice called from the doorway. “Getting soft are we?”

“You might be, but not me mate,” Nathan beamed. He stood up and grabbed Richie’s outstretched hand and shook it solidly. “How was East Timor?”

“Yeah you know… same old,” Richie flashed him his famous grin. “It was worse this time, remind me never to take a post there again…”

“Missed the comforts of CID did you?”

“You know it pal…”

“You look good. How long have you been back?”

“Ohhh, a couple of days…you know…”

Jack looked up at Richie coyly, uncomfortable with the friendly banter between the two Detectives.

“Hey,” Richie said noticing Jack’s discontentment. “Sorry I'm so rude. You are?”

“Jack Holden – ahhh, Constable…”

“DSS Richie Callan…” he smiled shaking Jack’s hand. “Good to meet you Holden…:”

“Callan?” Jack said curiously. “Like the Commissioner?”

Richie laughed and shot a quick look at Nathan. “Yeah, he’s my old man… I hope you won’t hold that against me though?”

“No, of course not…” Jack smiled nervously back. “Good to meet you…”

“So can I ask what you’re doing down this way?” Nathan asked. “They stock the coffee and donuts at CID, not out here in the Wap-Waps.”

“I could ask you the same thing Nato,” Richie said leaning against the door. “This is a bit out of your jurisdiction. Or did they send you here to keep you out of trouble?”

Jack closed the drawer and slid carefully past Richie. “Look, I better get back home,” he said hesitantly. ‘My wife is probably wondering where I am. Sorry to interrupt, I’ll leave you guys to it.”

Richie shut the door as Jack left and sat down opposite Nathan. He leaned back in the chair and stretched out his arms before glaring at Nathan.

“You still with Internal?” Nathan glared back at him.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m here actually…” he said seriously. “Murphy thinks there’s some crooked cops in the district. Especially with the slow progress on these cases here, and all the evidence that mysteriously disappears…”

“So you’re here investigating cops?”

“I’m here to hurry things along, that’s it.”

“We go back a long way Rich,” Nathan said curiously. “You can tell me…”

“I’ve got a lot of respect for you Nate and you know that,” Richie sighed. “You were Logan’s best mate, I wouldn’t doubt your integrity for a second.”

“Who made the complaint?”

“They didn’t say. Murph called me in Timor and wanted this sorted quick smart. I filled in the blanks after I talked to Dad. He’s not happy…”

“No he didn’t look it when he gave me my disciplinary…” Nathan scowled. “I’m glad you’re here Richie,” he said looking at him across the desk. “I wasn’t sure I could take the heat on this much longer. Sooner or later someone is going to put two and two together… and then we’re all down the pie hole.”

“I wouldn’t worry – I can hold off Internal for now, but we need to move quickly. Can I ask why you didn’t take on any of the cases though? You would’ve had them in the bag by now…”

“It was out of my hands, the Constables took control of those cases; besides you know why I’m here. You were the one who sent me…”

“Yeah it sucks being the evil mastermind…” he laughed. “Being in Timor took the heat off a bit, and I’m back now, so you don’t have to worry. So where do I start? You have the case files for me to have a look?”

“It’s late mate, you sure you want to start this now?”

“Crime never sleeps Nato,” Richie winked. “You know that…”

Nathan nodded and picked up the stack of files sitting on the side of the desk. He dropped them in front of Richie and grinned slyly. “There you go Sherlock. Work your magic…”

[I love music]

(Yes, stll off work but feeling a bit better so might go in tomorrow.)

Fantastic updates, Adia. Yet again I found myself very quickly involved in the story and concerned about the characters - even Rocco, and I never liked Rocco. (I just thought he was such a selfish coward on the show for first of all stabbing Sally and then being more bothered about Sally looking after him than about how Sally actually was. ) But he's coming across much better in your show - oops, I mean fic!

She could feel the sharpness of the pain ringing through her whole head as she slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was still blurred, but she could hear the deep but whispery intonations of her attackers close by. She sat up slowly and felt the side of her neck saturated with a thick coat of blood.

‘Gidday gorgeous,” Chopper glared at her. “You are one hard chicky to find…”

It was only very short but the description of Nina after the attack was particularly realistic.

The dialogue was very believable. I can easily imagine cops using many of the expressions that Nathan, Jack and Richie did, especially the reference to "coffee and donuts". But overall the dialogue was excellent, not just the police scenes; Sally, Brad and Rocco's conversation was in keeping with their characters too.

ps Did Richie exist in the series? He sounds quite fanciable!

[I love music]

The Vault?!!! Adia, where are you? This needs continuing...