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Out Of The Shadows


Guest WYN100

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Another great chapter. Brax come to save the day. Hope he's not knocked out. Laughed at the part - “Huh ! Don’t know about the flamin’ Terminator – be more like Laurel and Hardy go to Yabbie Creek with you flamin’ well in it as far as I can see !” I'm really liking this fic, so would really like to see more.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Superintendent Forrester shuffled the papers on his desk, re-distributing some into his ‘out’ tray, then turning to his secretary and saying “I think that’s all for now Officer Finch – Constable Austin should still be outside, could you him in ?” . Nodding with a smile she exited and seconds later Xavier took her place.

Having to stand for the requisite few minutes in such situations while Forrester finally turned around, he was finally met by a motion of the hand from Forrester and “Ah, Constable Austin, I suppose you don’t know why I’ve asked you here today ?”

Nervous already, Xavier breathed a little heavier through his nose and wondered ‘Why DO people ask stupid questions like that ! It’s a bit like the people you meet in the street or at a party with an irritating grin on their face who say ‘Hel-lo…you don’t recognize me, do you !!’ – like why in the freak don’t they just SAY who they are instead of all that….’

He was forcibly dragged back to the moment by the voice of Forrester - - “Well - - let me ask you, do you have any recent knowledge of or input into any Council planning applications ?” Coming as it did so fast and so unexpectedly from out of left field, the question temporarily paralysed Xavier’s powers of response “Um, - ah, no sir, certainly not – why do you ask ?”

With a thoughtful sigh, Forrester picked up a document sheet before continuing “Well I’ve got here an application to which the council have given draft improvement for a luxury dwelling project – to which it seems you’ve given your approval….” - an involuntary gasp from Xavier “ – it requires the compulsory purchase of many Summer Bay businesses ..” he paused again – “…and it seemed all the MORE surprising to me as one of them is the care and rehabilitation home at which I believe your brother Brendan is a resident….”

Having manfully fought the urge to interrupt for several seconds, before being able to avoid that and dive in which he did with a blend of determination and outraged innocence,

“Sir, this is the FIRST I’ve heard of this development – it sounds horrendous and while there’s a breath left in me I’d NEVER support anything that trashes Brendan’s centre like that !!”

Forrester waited, raised his eyebrows and came back slowly “Well I’m certainly delighted to hear that Constable Austin and I think that kind of passion certainly more than answers my question –because as I’m sure you know, we don’t give our approval to planning applications of any kind unless there have been detailed prior consultations and then usually only in exceptional circumstances, - so our next question is, do you have any idea at all how this could have come about ?”

With a decisive shake of the head as his brain churned rapidly for an answer , he repeated firmly “No sir, I DON’T – none at all…..he tailed off a little as the frantic dredging for answers in his mind ran into some rocks….remembering Ruby’s comments after he’d had to stand outside signing forms the other evening, he looked squarely at Forrester and replied “..wait a minute sir, do you know after all I think I just MIGHT !!!”

His lips set firm and straight as he thought of just WHO would now be facing some very searching questions….

Roo placed her handbag on the Caravan Park living room table, flopped down on the sofa, emitted a satisfied sigh and said “Well sir, I REALLY enjoyed that !” The comment was directed at her lunch partner Anthony. Having got the all-clear news from her father about Liam’s safe return she’d finally succumbed to the latest of many lunch requests from work colleague Anthony Stokes. She’d met the 26 year old short dark haired bachelor while doing promotions work on some council projects and while feeling a dash of the instant ambient warmth one experiences on such initially positive encounters, a combination of factors had initially seen her adopt an ‘arms length’ approach – coming as it did off the back of the Harvey and Sid situations and the fact that Councillor Ryan still continued to drift across the radar of her daily life via work for the council.

But today she and Anthony had eventually shared a highly enjoyable meal at a popular Thai establishment in Yabbie Creek ‘The Crescent Moon’.

“Weren’t those Tom Yom…” she waved her hand windmill-style searching for her words..

“Tom Yom KAI ..” Anthony helpfully filled in the gap, smiling as he did

“Mmm yes, that’s them – weren’t they AWESOME !!”

“Certainly were – now can I get you a coffee MS Stewart ?”

“Well I would offer, kind sir but I honestly don’t think getting back up on these legs at the moment is any kind of an option !”

Saluting, he turned towards the kitchen but as he did, their repose was temporarily interrupted by the door swinging open as Marilyn, engaged on quite a heated mobile phone call emerged , scuttling across the floor towards the stairs.

Roo raised her eyebrows in mild interest but any detached observer may have noticed his eyes lingered on the speedily arriving and departing one just a little longer than might have seemed normal under the circumstances.

Within minutes though he was at Roo’s side, flourishing two coffees, declaring “Madam’s wish is my command !”

Accepting them with a contented smile, she said “ Mr Stokes sir, you’re quite a gentleman !”

As they started to sip their drinks, what Roo didn’t realize was that his interest in events at the Caravan Park ran far deeper than she could ever have imagined…

Sasha clasped her arms tightly round Sid’s neck as she continued to torrent out her explanation-cum apology

“I’m SO sorry Dad – he said he was a friend of Mum’s on Facebook and after Stu and everything I just wanted….” With tears streaming down her face, Sid eased her gently away, , put a hand firmly on either of her shoulders and, looking direct in her eyes urged coaxingly “Sash, it’s OK – I PROMISE – now just take a deep bre ath and tell me-slowly – just EXACTLY what happened !”

Stopping to dab her eyes with a tissue proffered by her father, she took several slow deep breaths and explained as best she could, sniffing intermittently as she did – “Well…he..he started to try it on with me and I didn’t know WHAT to do- then suddenly the door came in, it was all kicking off, Brax hit this cupboard thing and went down, and then, and then…..” a big squeeze of her .father’s hand, a renewed stream of tears…”Then what, Sash ?” enquired Sid patiently – “You won’t be in trouble..”

“Well, I grabbed this bar thing off the wall and smacked that Dwayne – or Skinner or whatever his name is on the back of the head, I just didn’t think, I did it…” She paused again

for some deep, semi-controlled breaths “Casey and me dragged Brax out, we phoned the ambulance and here we are now !”

“Good girl, good girl “ Sid encouraged – “ but tell me – what happened to the other guy when you left ?” A distant alarm returned to her eyes at the mention of her nemesis as she slowly replied “ I don’t know Dad, honestly! – we waited for the ambulance, Casey rang you though I know it was rubbish reception, then Casey drove me here, he’s up where they took Brax…”

On that theme, Dr West then arrived, holding an earlier requested cup of sweet coffee for Sasha who took it gratefully and sat down, still shaking more than a little. After a brief low-toned discussion with West, Sid again took her by the habd, and again adopting the measured tone of earlier told her “ Brax is doing fine Sash – he’s got a mild concussion and some stitches in a head cut – you and Casey can be very relieved…”

But - - - if any of them HAD known the present whereabouts and intentions of Kurt Skinner, relief would surely NOT have been the primary emotion of any of the four currently at the hospital……….

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  • 2 weeks later...

CHAPTER FIVE

“And so Brax ended up in here ?”

Bianca was bringing Liam up to date with the chaotic events Sasha had related to Sid while continuing to keenly monitor her own husband’s own progress.

“But Sasha’s ok, right ?’ enquired Liam ‘Yep,’ from Bianca , robotically chewing at one of those grimly anodyne hospital plain biscuits that both looks and tastes as if its been chiselled from the side of a cardboard box

“And though I’m tempted to say Brax is never far away from trouble, at least this time he was trying to do some good, I have to admit …..”

Liam smiled “Quick, get the film crews, Channel 7, Fox News –Mrs Murphy in ‘good word for Daryl Braxton shocker !! – get it recorded !!”

“Hey you !!” she pouted, feigning indignation – “Anymore of that and you’ll get fed nothing but these biscuits morning noon and night when I get you home !”

Leaning over to hug him he winced and drew back with an intake of breath “Oops sorry babe, forgot about the old war wounds there for a moment !! – taking a while to heal, though….” She lapsed off momentarily into silent thought , until the door opened and Dr West entered, clipboard in hand,

“Hey there Doc, my husband’s obviously had a sense of humour bypass at some point, no idra when it happened, have you ?”

West though continued to wear a distracted, if not puzzled air.

“What’s the matter doc, is there a problem ?” queried Liam

“Well, yes and no..” came the reply “ I’ve spent a lot of time looking over your post-op x-rays and scans, and , well….”

“Go on doctor, don’t hold back, for goodness’ sake !” chimed in a concerned Bianca

“Well, odd as it MAY well sound, to the very best of my judgement, a fair many of Liam’s injuries didn’t, and indeed couldn’t have come from the crash itself – but..” -another pause – “they seem like they were inflicted AFTERWARDS !”

As the words left his mouth, glances of complete bewilderment laced with a touch of understandable trepidation were shot between the room’s other two occupants….

Romeo emitted a heavy, heartfelt sigh and jammed his hand to his forehead. He’d just put down the phone to Indi with the latest and relatively reassuring news on Sasha and despite the way things could have turned out there he was almost ashamed to admit the call had been something of a welcome diversion from the task he was currently engaged in. The dinner table alongside him looked as if it had been submerged by a blizzard of bills, invoices and final demands, all of which had accumulated since the most recent husband-wife dispute over finances which had led to him laying down the law over finances and renouncing any further financial assistance from Sid.

A seasonal job in the Leisure Club at the Sands resort had given some welcome breathing space in that regard, but when he’d fallen victim to the ‘last in –first out’ system employed there, the problems again began to stack up.

Placing the final demands in one pile and the red. reminders in another his thoughts drifted away to life before such things had been an element – the beach, the diner, various girlfriends… -another deep sigh, then he extracted one of the less aggressively worded invoices from another pile- one for Indi’s college books which he’d already more or less told her he’d taken care of.

As the bottom line total bulged out towards his eyes, he blinked, breathed in and reached for the phone. Suddenly though, as if struck by a thought, placed the receiver down again. With a thoughtful gleam in his eye, he’d suddenly noticed Sid’s debit card lying loose on the side unit close to the phone’s charger base station…….

“Are you sure Brax is going to be ok ?” Sasha was in the car being driven on the way back to the farm after her trauma with Skinner.

“I’ve told you Sash ! – Brax is as tough as a pitbull with a knuckleduster – he’ll be fine !!, and anyway….” Turning his head to give a sardonic smile and slight wink, he went on – “but why should we worry – he’s got Nurse Heath with him –all bases covered !”

Even in the context of this deeply gruelling day, she managed a smile and nodded as Casey motioned to the flat he shared with Brax and said “ OK thanks I’ll just go in –to pick up a few things for later…”

He parked and she followed him in as he filled a small bag with toiletries some t-shirts and also essential chocolate –the only surprise being that the bar had escaped the depredations of Locust Heath ! He switched the main light off as they walked to the front door before he turned back instinctively on hearing what he thought was a slight noise it indeed was, and as they turned came a voice fro=m thr half – light “ Not rushing off are you , pretty boy ! And the bimbo too – just perfect !” Suddenly the light dawned on them like the New Years Eve celebrations at the Sydney Opera House - - THIS is what Skinner had been up to since they’d escaped the –contretemps at his home…..

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  • 2 weeks later...

CHAPTER SIX

“NO Rubes, you are NOT coming down there – I’ve called him down there just for a chat as far as he’s concerned and if you go flying at him like a wild cat, it will NOT be the best look, now WILL IT !!” He emphasized the conclusion of that sentence with two capital letter kisses on her lips .

“Well it’s what he deserves !!” – she adopted an aggressive pout , fists planted firmly on her hips.

“ You may well be right babe !” he responded with a patient sigh “£But as I’m learning in my job there has to be a lot of slowly slowly, not shoutee shoutee I’m afraid !”

Seeing her poke her tongue out in response, he returned the compliment and also blew her a kiss as he left for work. Her face though still bore a trace of unfinished business…

Later at the police station, Xavier

and Forrester were comparing notes.

“So Constable Austin – you pull him in on that technicality of his car’s tyre tread and then we bring up the issue of the countersigned planning document I’ll be sitting in the ante-room , so it’s important we synchronize our timings, ok ?”

“Absolutely sir, - from what I’ve known about this guy he’s so slippery you could post him through a keyhole, and I’d REALLY like to see him squirm !! “

“Well, I understand your enthusiasm Constable, but remember-FOCUS is what it’s all about when you’ve got him in there, ok !”

And so it was that Xavier was clock-watching in an unusually quiet reception area until the outer door swung back, and with his usual jaunty step, in came Harvey – one of those people who inexplicably wear sunglasses indoors, as he was today. His casual “Hey Xave, what’s it all about !” went under Xavier’s professional radar, met instead with a crisply worded ”Good morning Councillor Ryan, could you come through for a moment, I just want to talk to you about your car tyre tread…”

Holding his hand up to repel the inevitable flippant response forming itself on Harvey’s lips he said “ Yes one of our duty constables conducted a random spot-check in the Civic Centre car park and yours were found to be significantly below the safety standards laid down, so I’m obliged to issue you with a technical caution…”

“Xave, mate…!”

Hand raised again, and tearing the document from the pad he interjected “Councillor Ryan –there’s the technical caution, please get those tyres fixed as soon as possible !”

Exhaling dramatically and shaping to leave, Harvey was stopped in his tracks by more from Xavier “One minute Councillor…”

As he did, two things happened. In the ante-room, Forrester assumed a thin smile and mouthed to himself “Good work, Constable !’

The other, which would have brought Xavier far less bonhomie saw a still-indignant –and therefore very volatile - Ruby move furtively into the still unmanned reception area, prick up her ears and move into full listening mode at the door

of the interview room…..

“So kids, I think we should all go for a little ride, you reckon ? “ There was vitriol in his voice as he advanced towards them. Casey though was ready to tough it out with a defiant “We’re going nowhere with you, you mongrel, so why don’t you just…” – he tailed off, feeling Sasha squeezing his hand and nervously indicating Skinner producing a sharp wood-planing knife from his pocket that he’d lifted from the toolbox in the kitchen.

“I see the eye-candy’s more switched on than you are, tool !” growled Skinner “OH yes –“ struck by a thought.. ”I think I’d better be having both your mobile phones while I think about it – don’t want any chit-chat or texting in the back seat, now do we !” Sasha’s was handed over quickly and timorously, and while Casey struck a token pose of reluctance , Skinner was soon ostensibly and inevitably in possession of all physical and external modes of communication.

“I don’t know what you think you’re going to do with us, slime-ball, but you won’t get away with it, whatever you’re hoping to do..!!”

Skinner paused for a few seconds while running a forefinger along the blade of the paring knife “Oh I won’t, will I ! – and just exactly who’s going to stop me eh …now walk to that car – and no funny business if the young lady doesn’t want to lose her good looks a bit early !!”

Sat in the back of Skinner’s rusty vehicle minutes later, Casey was keeping up a flow of defiant dialogue at the figure holding the steering wheel “You’re such a loser , Skinner – if you didn’t have that knife, you think we’d be in here with a sook like you….” And such other taunts. Sasha nervously tugged his arm as if to persuade him to stop, but he motioned to her as if to indicate he knew what he was doing and launched into another tirade “You know Skinner, it was in your dreams thinking you’d ever be a River Boy, we don’t go round bullying girls, and…”

“Shut the hell UP !! you boofhead !!” yelled Skinner, turning round to try and grab the younger Braxton. As he did though, his hand slipped from the steering wheel, and , accompanied by a scream from Sasha there was a sickening crunch as another vehicle ploughed into the wing of Skinner’s car.

As the three occupants reeled with the shock of the impact, knowledge of the identity of the other vehicle’s driver would have released very deep and different emotions in all of them….

“Liam, you’ve only been out of hospital a few days, you should be resting !! And you’ve been in and out of the house more times than a pizza delivery man ! Why don’t you just get your head down for a while !” “Babe my head was down MORE than enough in that hospital – and you try chilling knowing that some skanky hoon gave you a beating AFTER you’d had a plane crash !!”

With a sigh she put her arms round his neck and said gently “Liam we have NO idea as to who may have done that, so TRY and get your mind off it !!”

Heading for the stairs he momentarily set down his bag and retorted “On the contrary my love we DO have some idea, do we not !!”

Sighing again, she said wearily “Sergeant Watson only said the place you were thrown MAY have been the place where Jake Pirovitch’s gang had moved their cannabis patch to in that region – NOT for definite !!”

Finger pointing as if in confirmation he hit back “ Ah, there you are seems a good place to start to ME ! – and you too if you’d admit it – I’ll be back down in a mo !”

Shaking her head in a little frustration, she shaped to head for the washing machine before moving back to pick up Liam’s bag and check if any garments of his needed cleaning.

Extracting some sheets of musical lyrics, she wrinkled her nose at a t-shirt that was clearly a victim of male over-use, then her blood chilled and heart began over-pumping in ominous discord as the last and lowest occupant of the bag became visible – initially concealed by a blue patterned towel – was a small but shiny handgun……..

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  • 2 weeks later...

CHAPTER SEVEN

“Oh yes, it’s definitely her – yes, the same town same place..” Anthony Stokes paused chuckled and continued “I feel like I should burst into song somewhere !”

Then, moving into mock-scolded schoolboy mode, he continued “ Oops, yes, sorry – focused, we are extremely focused, trust me !” He jotted down a few lines on the pad alongside him then, again called to respond, went on “No that seems to be the great part – no man on the scene at all ! No, she is quite a looker, but seems, well – rather daffy if you know what I mean. How ? – well, you know, into Tofu and Tarot cards and that kind of thing – yes – a little ‘out there’ , you might say ! I only got an ‘in’ there by hitting on the friend Roo , if you’d believe that for a name !-But am I sure we can pull it off – heck yes, I think it’ll need one of two routes – and I’ll figure out which, I promise you ! – yep, yep, couple of days, I’ll be back to you ! yep, cheers, bye !”

As he hit the ‘Hang up’ button on his mobile, he picked up a file with a white sticker on the front, and nodded thoughtfully at it. The sticker read “Donald Fisher book legacy – URGENT, for immediate attention “

Skinner’s vertebrae would have howled in pain had they had a voice. He’d been dragged forcibly from his ca r and smashed angrily into the side of the damaged 4 by 4 at a shambolic angle alongside. The attacker had just minutes previously been its driver. That was because Skinner’s moment of preoccupation with Casey and Sasha . had seen him plough hi-s car into that of a homeward- bound….Heath Braxton !! Now accidentally bumping shoulders with Heath at a crowded pub or bar was never an advisable course of action at the best of times, - and this certainly couldn’t be described as one of those. The noise of Skinner’s head bouncing on the metalwork was still reverberating as Heath’s stubbled chin was thrust an inch or so away from his, hissing a warning – “You’re a mongrel Skinner –have been since Day One – and while I should drag your sorry butt through the Bay letting them know how you slime around for young girls, but instead I’m going to cut you a deal – drive that heap of yours back to that septic tank one-eyed hole you come from and where they know what you’re like ANYWAY. – AND never, I repeat NEVER ..” – the second negative emphasized with a finger jabbed to the Skinner Adam’s Apple “…..come back to the Bay – you got it !!” And to ensure he HAD , he grabbed the other roughly by the scruff of the neck, threw him into the driving seat of his dented motor, and with the engine still idling uneasily after the earlier ‘Fender-bender’ , the shaken Skinner needed no second bidding

And soon, with an ear-crashing gear change, he was gone, smoke billowing in chaotic fashion from an exhaust pipe hanging at a drunken angle after the smash.

Mobbed by by the gratitude and explanatory narrative of Casey and Sasha he led the way back inside the house as the younger two split open celebratory drinks and began pumping out music to suit the occasion of their narrow escape. A neutral observer though would have noticed that Heath seemed strangely detached from the smiles and expressions of mutual relief. Normally he’d have been high-fiving his way round the room and looking forward to obtaining wider kudos at Angelo’s that evening. Instead, he’d be deflecting praise with comments like “Yep, cool…no problem babe…and, you got it …anytime..” – while inside, the two of them being there had seriously magnified some distinctly family matters at the front of his mind.as he mulled over some out of left field news he’d received earlier while at the hospital, and for which the Skinner incident had provided a welcome pressure release….

.

Like a hunter circling its prey, Xavier had skilfully teased the conversation away from the baldness of Harvey’s tyres to the area where he really wanted to strike.

“Councillor Ryan, while you’re here under caution, can I ask you if you know anything about the new proposed housing development for the Bay ?”

Wrinkling his brow in surprise, Harvey shifted in his seat and came back slowly “The – uh, development ? No Xave – I mean Constable Austin- I don’t know anything, its rather passed me by, um – why do you ask ?

Mouth forming into a thin smile of satisfaction, Xavier responded “ Mmm, nothing, that’s interesting –but”, with a neat swivel of emphasis, “ …can’

I remind you of that night you stopped round outside mine on your way home from work last week,,..”

The suspicion displayed in the earlier wrinkling of his brow was beginning to travel in rash-like fashion across Harvey’s face however and as he propped himself up on both arms of his chair, the well-rehearsed drift into evasive mode became almost perceptible “Um – ah – which evening WAS that exactly Constable Austin.., you’ll have to remind me….”

But Xavier’s training time at the Academy meant that he was no way daunted by Harvey’s verbal sparring, in fact he was rather relishing it.

“Councillor Ryan, we’re surely not disputing you stopped outside my house one night with a batch of forms to sign…..”

In the ante-room, Forrester mouthed “Go on, bring it home…!”

In the next room though, Harvey’s defences were now well up “Mmm Constable, couldn’t be sure, I visit so many people and places in my line of work, you know…”

That reply saw Forrester narrow his eyes and shake his head, but it was the other door that was to deny Xavier to work a coup de grace as it burst open and a furious Ruby flew in the direction of Harvey, and fists again squarely planted on her hips growled, “You lying mongrel Harvey, you KNOW you were there, AND with those forms, so why don’t you just man up….!!”

While Harvey’s face was a mask of bemused amazement, behind her Xavier’s head was in his hands, firmly planted downward on his desk

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