Chapter Twenty Eight

Casey and Ruby watched as Charlie sped off out of the driveway, heading to the National Park. Ruby considered on following Charlie in her car, but Casey told her not to. He didn't want his girlfriend wrapped up in all this. Casey was grateful that Charlie took her everyday car instead of patrol car as it seemed more personal and less work related. He was hoping Charlie would be able to stop things before they were too serious which will lead them to being on the record. Even though Brax and Charlie had broken up awhile ago, there was that little bit in Casey who hoped that Charlie still had a soft spot for his brother and would let the boys off easy.

It wasn't until when Charlie was in sight of the National Park where it had hit her that the River Boys were back to doing what they previously did. She thought that Brax out of all people would've been able to change the rest of the boys' idea, but obviously he was the leader of it all again. When we were going out, I swore he had changed for the better, but I guess that didn't last long, did it... Charlie thought in her head. Tears started to swell up in her eyes. They started to drip down her face. Thankfully, a packet of tissues were lying in the compartment of her car. She couldn't believe she was dumb enough to think that Brax would have changed forever. As people do say, "you can never change a bad boy". Reminding herself that she was here to help out Casey, she took a tissue out of the packet and carefully wiped her tears away. She then pulled up the hand brake and parked her car far away from where the boys were so that they couldn't see her. She didn't want to alert them in case they would run away. Fortunately, her car was quite small so the engine couldn't be heard. The boys were too involved with what they were doing so they hadn't seen her yet either.

As Charlie got out of the car and walked closer and closer to the River Boys, the scene became clearer to her. Brax's black ute and another white ute were parked next to each other, just behind the metal fence next to the entrance. Three dirt bikes were parked not too far away from the utes. Two white vans had entered the park and the back doors were left wide open. A few full black bags were sitting against the van doors. Charlie assumed there were drugs in the bags. The River Boys were surrounding the vans. A few were holding machetes, while others had shovels tightly gripped by their hands. Then there was Brax, who was pacing to and from the boys, probably supervising them, Charlie thought. She could sense the smell of newly harvested crops. So could anyone who walked past if the boys weren't careful.

Brax heard footsteps coming from the entrance. He thought it was one of the boys who had perhaps gone to get something from the cars, but saw that all the boys were present in front of him. It can't be the cops, they would've arrested us by now, or shouted at us at the very least, he thought. Oh no, not Casey. He was the only other person who knew we were here. He can't be involved with this stuff. Brax turned around, thinking it would be his brother behind him, but no; he ended up being face to face with Charlie.

Brax's P.O.V.
My mouth was wide open and I was too shocked for words. "What are you doing here?" I asked. She didn't answer me, but started crying right in front of me instead. As soon as this happened, I regretted coming here straight away. I hadn't wanted her to know about this. I knew she would be extremely disappointed in me, that is exactly why I didn't want Casey telling anyone about this. "I'm sorry Charlie," I said. My apology didn't seem to make things better; she remained in tears on the spot. At least she didn't run away, I thought slowly... She accepted the tissue I handed her and began to wipe the tears off her face. "Why Brax, why?" was all she said. I looked at her, and was incredibly ashamed of myself. I had let her believe that I had changed, and that I wouldn't go back to this.
"Holy crap, Brax, what's Buckton doing here?" Pee Wee shouted to me.
"Boys, give us a minute," I told them all.
I led Charlie towards the shaded trees. I tried to explain myself, but she wouldn't listen. She kept telling me that there was no explanation. "You're fine with doing this aren't you? You just didn't want me to find out about it!" she shouted.
"I didn't want anyone to find out," I told her. "This was the only way I could get money."
"What about Angelo's?" she demanded. "From what I can see, the restaurant seems to be going perfectly fine."
"I need money for the stock. We keep having to go and buy stock."
"Oh yeah, and who's fault would that be?" she retorted.
"What's that suppose to mean?"
"Don't lie Brax. I've seen you and the boys constantly drinking on the beach."
"Do you know why that is?" I asked her.
"Because you lied to me? You told me you had changed, and here I was, stupid enough to believe you. I wouldn't be surprised if you did this behind my back when we were going out," she shouted.
"Keep your voice down," I whispered, but it was too late.
"So that's where Brax was before! No wonder you were never with us. Sleeping with a copper huh?" Heath said, coming towards us.
"Shut up mate," I told him.
"Think you're better than us, do ya bro?" he continued. I gave him a death stare, clear enough to tell him to piss off.
"See, I wasn't doing this behind your back," I told Charlie.
"I just want you to stop Brax. Please? If the cops find you-"
"Well one already has, hasn't she?" I joked.
"I'm not going to arrest you. Casey wanted me to come here to stop you guys. He didn't want you involved with this. He literally sprinted to my house. You should've seen how freaked out he looked. Sometimes I ask myself how Casey's not the oldest Braxton. He's looking out for you, Heath and the other boys," she said. "Can you please tell me why you're at this again though? The real reason?" she added.
"I miss you Charlie. You kept me grounded," I replied.
There was a long awkward silence. I was waiting for her to say something, but she didn't. Instead, she wrapped her arms tightly around me.