Chapter Twenty Eight
Monday 8th December
21:18
Home
I guess I have to write about everything that's happened at some point and it may as well be now, although I am still having a pretty hard time getting my head around it. Everyone is. What a horrific night. There are people in hospital, Belle's injuries are so serious that she's been transferred to the city and Jack... poor Jack. He's in the morgue. I just can't bear thinking about it. I can't write. I can't put it down on paper. It's too much.
Monday 8th December
22:11
Home
I had a bath and gave Ruby an excess of cuddles and told her I loved her a million times. Just in case she didn't know. She didn't shake me off like a normal teenager. I guess everyone is taking time out right now to let people know how much they love them. You know, just in case. I can't even begin to think about how poor Martha is doing right now. And Tony. Poor Tony.
Monday 8th December
23:39
Home
Okay, I swear I am going to get at least something written down now. I'll start with the formal disaster. It's all a bit of a blur and we're still trying to figure out what happened but we'll get there. It's hard in the current situation but we're all doing our best to get on with the job.
It was the school formal on Saturday. Ruby was annoyed because she was too young to go and now I am so glad she's only fifteen. If she'd been even Nicole and Geoff's age, she would have been there. I might have lost her. I worked most of the day and it was easy to see all the kids were getting excited. It was something I kind of missed out on. I mean, I went to my own formal but I was so broken by that point, after everything that had happened, that I couldn't really enjoy myself. I was just grateful to have made friends with a closeted gay guy. We went to the formal together with no expectations.
Anyway, everything was going to plan. Leah was rushed off her feet doing the catering with Irene and Roman and then, from what I gather, Roman headed off to the city to go and see Dad and Morag.
Angelo finished his shift and then I finished mine. We hadn't arranged to do anything and to be honest, I was really looking forward to a nice, restful night. VJ was spending the night at Stella's so Ruby and I had the place to ourselves. I left Watson and Jack doing overtime but there was nothing unusual there. Jack has been pretty hot on the development site case, for obvious reasons and I know he was waiting for Tim's phone records. I'm still not entirely sure what happened with any of it. It's all a mystery. And an extremely tragic one at that.
But anyway, I still don't know what happened there. I don't know how Jack ended up dying alone at the development site. And I still don't really know what happened at the formal. Everyone is too shell shocked and nobody, as yet, is coming forward. What I can deduce so far is that Kane, Annie and Jai were in a car. From the road markings, they swerved, presumably to avoid hitting someone or something. They crashed into the side of the building the formal was being held it and everything pretty much blew up. A fire started, panic spread and somehow, all the staff and students got locked in.
The car crashed into the kitchen and burst into flames. I'd only been at home for half an hour, about to tuck into some junk food with Rubes when I got the call. I hated leaving her, especially all alone and looking so frightened but I had to do my job. Watson hadn't managed to leave her first shift yet so she worked right through. We all suited up at the station. I left Watson fielding calls because she was so tired and for the rest of us, it was all hands on deck. At that point, nobody knew what had happened to Jack. I feel so guilty to have been pissed off that he wasn't around. I should have thought. If someone had realised he was missing and not attending such an important scene, perhaps we could have saved him. I called Angelo as we charged out but it wasn't easy to get in touch with him. I left a message and he showed up eventually.
The scene itself was chaos. It was sheer panic. Awful. The car had crashed into the kitchen and was engulfed in flames. There was debris everywhere and people were still trapped inside the building. Everything is still pretty sketchy but it sounds like people were really pulling together. They were heroes.
Martin Bartlett was trying to push the crowd back while Aden tried to get the doors open. But people were running scared. Bartlett got trampled. Nicole tried to save him and he fortunately got away with minor injuries. Annie, Jai and Kane were in the car. Geoff, Kirsty and Miles were trying to save them. In the end, Miles managed to smash the windscreen while Geoff helped Annie and Jai escape through the back of the car and into the open air.
Angelo finally arrived and I barked orders at him but my focus was the car. By the time I got to them, Miles and Kirsty had finally been rescued by the fire service. Geoff tried to save Kane but in the end he had to save himself. What else could he do?
He told me the situation and I went in to try and help. I climbed into the car and after a lot of difficulty, I managed to pull him out. It was literally a matter of seconds. The place exploded all over again and we barely got out alive.
As people were being stretchered off to hospital, Martha arrived looking for Jack. He wasn't there. At that point, we didn't know where he was. We were to find out in a few hours that he was dead. But at that point, Martha was sure he was around somewhere, saving people's lives. So she went on into the building and ended up nearly dying herself. I don't know what came over him but the next thing I knew, Angelo was going in after her. He saved her life. I mean, I know I took a risk in rescuing Kane but... No, it's the same thing really. We're both dedicated enough to risk ourselves for the sake of our responsibilities. We take serving our community extremely seriously.
We all ended up at the hospital. Aden and Irene were beside themselves waiting for news on Belle. She's been transferred to the city hospital and is making slow progress but hopefully she will be alright. I know she hasn't been my favourite person of late but she has been through a hell of a lot recently. I don't know how she copes. But she has a good support network and that must be very special for her. Bartlett was treated for minor injuries and things are still touch and go with Kane.
I found Angelo in the corridor looking as shocked as everyone else floating around the place. I sent him home on the basis that he had been heroic enough for one night. He risked his life to save Martha and that can only be a good thing in my book. I think he was very brave.
The Doctor forced me to get checked out and I've inhaled a lot of smoke and had a few burns but nothing serious. Mostly I just wanted to get back to work and find out what the hell happened. I interviewed Bartlett but he has no idea why the doors were locked either. And apparently Annie and Jai were out looking for Melody who was meant to be grounded, and convinced Kane to drive them round to look for her. I need to talk to Melody too. We need to talk to everyone involved really. It's going to be a long time before Summer Bay comes to terms with all of this.
When I finally had the space to catch my breath, I called Ruby, knowing that she would be worried. She was in a state but I was at least able to reassure her that Annie and Jai's injuries weren't fatal. Kane was still in surgery at that time but I was happy to tell her that at least none of her friends were in danger. She was pretty shaken and eager for me to come home. And I was about to. Then we found out about Jack.
With Martha panicking about her husband not being involved in such a crucial crisis, the kind of situation where he would have been doing anything to save the people of this community, he was missing. Tony offered to go and find him. The next thing we knew, an ambulance had pulled up with Tony. And Jack's body.
He's dead. He's gone. Just like that. I still can't believe it. Watson told me that he'd been working pretty obsessively on the development site and I guess it led him down there. And someone shot him. Someone shot him and they left him for dead.
It was well into Sunday morning when I managed to come home. Ruby was wide awake and frightened. I held her and broke the news. She cried. I held her for longer. Eventually, I showered and sent both of us to bed. A few minutes later, my door opened and she crept in, asking if she could sleep with me to make sure we were both safe. My heart broke a little bit more.
Tuesday 9th December
22:10
Home
It's been yet another long day of chasing our tails. Every day just feels so long right now, like everything is moving in slow motion.
Sunday was pretty awful. Tony took Martha home and nobody has seen her since. She's been hiding away. Grieving. Roman came back from the city to be there for her. I can only hope he'll be appropriate and his compassion is borne out of friendship rather than lust for a widow.
Colleen gently fussed around people, providing food and comfort for anyone who needed it. She showed a very sweet side to her. Ken went round to Tony, Rachel and Martha to express condolences on behalf of the station. I'm glad it wasn't me.
In better news, Kane regained consciousness.
Wednesday 10th December
23:59
Home
I am so tired. I feel like I'm not getting anywhere with this diary but I do want to try and write things down and get them clear in my head. Maybe that will help with the investigation.
We're all grieving for our colleague and we're being pulled in different directions. We've got two seriously heavy cases and there just aren't enough of us to be split into proper teams. And now that I am acting chief, I have to head up pretty much everything.
My first task on Monday was to talk to Melody and get her to fill in an accident report. I'm concerned that there is more to the story she gave me but I'm not entirely sure how to push forward with that. She is a very vulnerable girl and I need to tread carefully. I know more than a lot of people just how rape can destroy your life. I don't want to charge in and upset her. But Ruby has already told me she's been acting strangely; she made a scene at the formal and then she went missing. There is definitely something up with that.
Bridget came back from treatment in the city to support Alf and his family. I wonder if Rachel was right or wrong about her. I hope she was wrong. She seems like a nice person and it's good to see Alf looking so happy. And she's providing a lot of comfort for him during these dark days.
According to Leah, Kirsty is spending all her time at the hospital, playing the doting wife to Kane and it's breaking Miles's heart. It's a shame. He deserves someone lovely. I hope he finds someone, even if it is Kirsty. But there are worse things going on right now.
There is already talk of funeral arrangements. It looks like it might be a little awkward getting a quick funeral. Between the investigation into Jack's murder and the fact that Christmas is around the corner, who knows when it will be? Waiting around is the hardest thing. We had to do that with Mum because the funeral directors were all booked up for a couple of weeks. Living in limbo is so empty. It hurts.
Thursday 11th December
21:10
Home
I've been keeping really late hours this week. I guess this is how it's going to go for a while, while we're trying to figure out what the hell happened at the weekend. I've literally walked through the door and gobbled down some dinner that Leah was kind enough to make for me.
We had a chat. She said that Rachel is convinced that that Bridget woman is dirty and lying about having cancer. Leah isn't sure what to make of it and nor am I. I mean, who would lie about that kind of thing? Why? But it's not like Rachel to make accusations like that if they were unfounded. But then, after discovering her history with Tony, she didn't exactly warm to her in the first place, did she?
We talked about it a little and then both felt a little guilty to be talking about something other than Jack or the formal, but I guess life has to move on for those of us who are still living it. It was almost a relief to talk about something other than the horrible disaster that has befallen us this week. Does that sound heartless?
Well, this is my first early-ish night and I really want to spend some time with Ruby. She's been affected pretty badly by this whole thing. Two of her closest friends were hurt, not to mention Nicole and Geoff. And she admitted last night that she tries to stay up when I'm on a night shift because she gets afraid that I won't come home. Especially now. I tried to reassure her but I get scared too. I didn't admit that to her though. She doesn't need it. But when I was in that car, trying to save Kane, all I could really think about was Ruby. I knew I had to save Kane but I also knew I had to save myself. I had to go home to my girl.
Friday 12th December
18:03
Home
Wow, I am actually home in time for a hot dinner! Who'd have thought that was possible? Ruby had cooked and we ate together. We're going to try and spend some proper time together when some of the Jack/Formal debris has cleared.
Today, I had the horrible job of interviewing Tony. He found Jack's car when he was driving around, looking for him. He ventured onto the development site and found him on the ground with a bullet wound. He clutched his body, willing him to be alive – but he already knew he was dead. He called an ambulance and Jack was taken to the hospital. Rachel couldn't do the pronouncement. It was too hard. We've been working the scene but we can't find anything yet. If we can identify the bullet, we might manage to trace the shooter but that all takes time.
Belle arrived back from the city today but she's gone to stay with Aden instead of going home. According to Annie (via Ruby), she's in a real state about the whole thing. She's paranoid and frightened and thinks Tim shot Jack and that it's her fault.
It's definitely a possibility that Tim did it. We haven't been able to find him since that night. But it's not Belle's fault. The only person responsible for this is whoever pulled the trigger. And I am determined to bring that person down.
Saturday 13th December
19:47
Home
This is the weirdest situation I've ever been in. The town is in mourning. Everything is so silent, so eerie. I actually appreciate Colleen's inane chatter to break up the silence. Nobody speaks at work unless they have to. We're working hard on trying to find out what happened to Jack and what happened at the formal.
We've been completing interviews, although there are a few people missing off our list. Belle is in no state to talk and Miles has said that the teenagers in his care are pretty broken but has promised he'll bring them in on Monday. We're still no closer to achieving anything.
Tim has disappeared and the development site has shut down. We can only assume that it was him or one of his employees who shot Jack but we can't find anyone. Nobby didn't make his court appearance. Maybe it was him. I don't know.
And as far as the formal is concerned, we now know that Kane swerved to avoid hitting Melody with his car and crashed into the building. But how on earth the doors got locked, is beyond me. Nobody is owning up.
Ruby is being very clingy (but in a good way). She keeps telling me she loves me and wants to know where I am at all times.
I found Watson crying in the toilets. I didn't speak to her but I held her for a bit and I think we both took a lot of comfort from it.
Angelo is more or less unreachable. He comes to work, he does his job, he speaks even less than anyone else does and even if we were to have anything resembling spare time, I don't think he would be spending it with me. He's lost somewhere in his own head. I hope he is okay.
But that's a dumb thing to say. Of course he's not okay. Nobody is.
Sunday 14th December
13:41
The Beach
I'm taking an extended lunch break. Work is so hard right now and I'm probably being terrible for needing a rest but I feel like I haven't slept in days. I haven't slept in days.
Ruby is sad, people are walking wounded, Martha hasn't left the house, Tony keeps crying, Miles is mourning Kirsty as she spends every waking moment with Kane, Belle is paranoid, Aden is struggling, Angelo is lost in his own head, Watson is tearful and Jack is dead.
Oh, and I saw that beautiful girl on the beach a few minutes ago. It looks like it's all affected her too. I don't know her but we're pretty much all connected in this place so she must have inevitably been affected by it all. This whole thing is making me feel so sad.
Next time… Melody confesses to locking the doors at the formal, Charlie notices Joey again and Belle struggles to keep herself together…
