Chapter 29 When Duty Calls
Rhys knew he missed her. Not having her round the office – it was strange. Not having her there, always being so serious, always running rampant with her passionate pursuits, always challenging everything anyone ever said, even Wolfey. He remembered when he'd first met her he'd thought it was a bit much. She never seemed to relax. She was wound up so tight, so dogged in all her lines of inquiries, even with the tone of her voice when she pressed a suspect for information in the interview room, to the point where after a tough day she'd need to go out for a run otherwise she'd 'punch someone's lights out.' No one needed to be that intense, he thought.
When they'd got together it had happened unexpectedly, although he knew he had flirted with her, tried hard to gain her attention, and the night he took her to the concert he'd won, and she'd given in to his pressure. And after that she had become a more relaxed Allie Kingston – more than happy to sit on the couch and drink wine with him, or throw the rules out the window and stay up all night long. He'd liked that he'd been able to turn her into this much more easy going person. He knew she needed a bit of that.
But then it had ventured into territory he'd not seen coming. He'd never wanted, nor intended for Bernice to see them that night of the fundraiser. He'd been more than a little mortified. And then she'd voiced her dislike of Allie so strongly he felt himself being influenced by her opinions. And then he'd further felt forced to lie about their relationship, and the further it got the easier it seemed to just break it off with her for real, not just in front of their superiors when they'd asked.
But he'd endured her wrath immediately. Even just the look in Allie's eyes gave away how hurt she was, and how furious she was all at the same time. He knew he'd been insensitive – but it was only because of his own insecurities.
The day Homicide was saved, he felt like she forgave him, and it filled him with hope again that maybe she could one day forget what a bastard he'd been to her previously.
"You coming for a drink Oxford?" He turned back to face her, surprised to hear her call him that. It was a step in the right direction and he smiled back at her, and they went for a drink.
A few months later they were still on as friendly terms as they had been that night, but nothing more. He knew he'd hurt her and she was still dark on him, at least a little bit, for that. It would take time.
Their conversation was interrupted momentarily by a shudder and a boom in the distance. The sound wasn't loud enough to alarm, but it was definitely noticeable, at least to Rhys. And the shudder was not normal. He frowned and looked at his friends.
"What was that?" one of them asked. They looked around them at the other patrons in the pub, several of them having noticed the out of the ordinary feeling as well. Rhys frowned but nothing propelled him to go and find out what it was, so they went back to their conversation.
Fifteen minutes later Ariel, one of Rhys' Oxford friends, took everyone's drinks orders and went up to the bar to buy the next round. Rhys watched her leave their table, keen for her to come back. He was enjoying himself, and wanted another drink. He knew they would while away their afternoon in exactly the way they always had when they'd been students and it had been far too long since he'd done that.
But just a minute later Ariel returned, her hands empty. "What happened to the beers?" one of them asked her as she stood at their table. She ignored the question and focussed her eyes on Rhys with such fear that he started getting up before she even spoke. "You better come and see this," was all she said. Rhys looked at the others and then got up without a word and followed Ariel back to the bar, leaving behind his confused friends.
They reached the bar and Ariel pointed up to the tv mounted above one of the liquor cabinets. It was on and had been turned up, a newsflash running along the bottom of the screen as images of flames and a crumbling disfigured building played out. "It's the State Police Centre," Ariel whispered, looking again at him fearfully, waiting for his reaction.
Rhys just stared, his hands flat on the bar, his eyes unable to be torn away from what he was seeing. Was this real? He turned to Ariel. "Is this for real?" he asked her dazedly.
She nodded and he left her at the bar then, ran back to their table out in the courtyard, grabbed his belongings, and bolted.
The first person he found was Bernice. She had escaped with only cuts and large dark bruises. She embraced him, thankful she hadn't lost another member of her family. She hadn't been able to remember if he was on shift that day or not, and for a few terrified minutes after she'd got her head together, she wondered if he was inside somewhere, trapped.
They stood underneath a first aid tent that had been set up at the edge of the crater, its white canvas a fringe dwelling beacon of safety and healing. He asked her questions in quick succession, eager for information. But she only shook her head sadly at him, knowing little more than he did. "I'm sorry Rhys," she apologised, her frown not going away. "We still don't know where everyone is. They're still searching. It could be hours…days."
"Days?" Rhys almost screeched, filled with dread at the thought. These people, his colleagues, his friends, they were cops. They weren't Stuart Diver. He wondered how many friends he might lose today, and he suddenly felt the need to be by himself, just to gain some perspective as well as his composure. He walked away from his aunt and then out of the way of the people in charge.
He had to walk for quite a distance – there was a huge exclusion zone in place, marked out with police tape and road works barriers, and so many SES workers, paramedics, uniformed police, even army personnel, were milling around, controlling the situation and working hard at the rescue effort. He didn't want to get in their way, but he didn't want to be far from his friends either, should they be found. If they were found. He shuddered again.
He sat himself down on a kerb outside a little café and stared ahead of him at nothing. He already felt incredibly grateful he'd been spared his life.
"Here, take this," a voice said as a body stood beside him. Rhys looked up and saw a man holding out a paper cup to him. He accepted it but didn't drink the tea inside. The man sat down beside him. "What's your name mate?"
"Rhys."
"Hope you don't know anyone in there Rhys," the man stated forlornly as they both looked into the distance at the dilapidated building Rhys had once spent more than twelve hours a day in most days.
"I do actually."
They were both adults, and he rarely referred to her as he had when he was a child anymore. But he was at his wits end. He'd just heard of Nick's passing and he could barely put two words together because an even greater fear had started eating away at him – and had been for more than a day now. "Aunty Bernie c'mon! I need to know where she is!" he pleaded as he followed hot on her heals towards the hospital's side entrance.
She finally stopped and looked at him. She was rattled, and it overshadowed any sympathy she seemed to have. "Look I'm sorry Rhys," she explained quickly. "Duncan and Jen are fine, Stanley is too, Matt was with me…but that's all I know."
"But what about Allie?" he pressed her, not letting her leave. "Haven't you even been told where she is?" His face pleaded with her.
"I'm sorry," she said again. "I honestly haven't. They've been trying to track her down, but this city is in chaos right now Rhys. She could be anywhere." She stepped around him, her assistants following like ducklings behind her and out the door.
Rhys made one final attempt. "Bernie…!"
She put a hand to his shoulder and squeezed it. "I've got to go and do this press conference Rhys. I've got to go tell them that we lost Nick. I'm sorry. I'll see you later."
He sighed and watched her climb into a waiting marked car. Duty called, he thought sombrely.
