Outback Blaze by Rachael Johns Read Free Book Online Page A

and the others deserve medals.’
    â€˜We didn’t save it, Ruby.’ Ryan pulled back, yanking off his helmet and running a blackened hand through his hair. ‘We tried our damndest but it was too far gone by the time we got here.’
    â€˜Enough,’ she said, still clutching Adam and his smoky warmth to her side. ‘No more apologies. It’s been a terrible night, but nothing ever seems as bad in the light of day. You guys go on to Frankie’s and debrief. I’ll see you tomorrow.’
    Letting go of Adam, Ruby slipped out of his grip and headed back to her parents. When she’d returned to Bunyip Bay at the beginning of the year, she’d thought it might only be a stop-gap to get her life back on track, but the longer she spent in this small town, the more she got to know the true nature of the people. She began to wonder if there was any place she’d rather be.

Chapter Four
    Drew might have believed in Jaxon and Brad’s innocence but by the time he’d spent half the night out searching for them, he was ready to rip out their tonsils and feed them to the sharks that were always hogging the Western Australian news. That’s if he ever found them. Was it only yesterday he was thinking just how dull Bunyip Bay was?
    Jaxon’s dad was the shire president – a respected man in the town, who seemed to be at the end of his tether, not knowing how to handle his rebellious teen. Drew had spoken to him at the scene last night and he’d thought Jaxon was tucked up in bed, at home with his wife and the rest of his kids. Brad’s dad was one of the volunteer firefighters and his mum, a nurse who was on duty at the hospital when everything was going down. They’d both thought Brad was asleep as well, but when Drew had visited the houses to pull the boys out of bed, there’d been nothing but dirty sheets to ball up in frustration.
    These teenagers certainly knew how to pull the wool over their parents’ eyes. Maybe Drew was wired differently but it amazed him how these people thought their teenage kids would actually sleep through all that smoke and siren noise. He didn’t even have kids and he knew that was total bollocks. Both families lived within walking distance from the fire and a town census could have been done in front of The Ag Store last night, there were that many people lingering. It didn’t look good but he still couldn’t believe the boys were responsible.
    Slamming his fist into the middle of the steering wheel – he’d swapped his bike for the police cruiser late last night when he’d set off to search – Drew sighed. He hadn’t felt this frustrated in a long time. Time to call it a morning and admit to O’Leary that the boys were AWOL. The sarge had been on his back every couple of hours, demanding to know why he hadn’t brought the delinquents in yet, and having to admit he still hadn’t found them would only enhance O’Leary’s belief that they were guilty. Not to mention make Drew look incompetent. He’d hunted down far more significant criminals, yet he couldn’t find two kids in a country town. Deciding on one final swing past the boys’ houses, he almost swerved the patrol car when he saw them strolling up the street as if they had not a care in the world. Screeching to a halt, he shoved open the door and landed right in their path, right in their faces.
    â€˜Where the hell have you two been?’
    â€˜And a good morning to you, too,’ Brad chuckled as both boys stepped back slightly.
    â€˜Yeah, Drew, what can we do for you today? That’s after school, of course.’
    It was six o’clock in the bloody morning and they were still dressed in the clothes they’d been wearing yesterday afternoon. ‘I said, where the hell have you been?’
    â€˜We just went for an early run,’ Jaxon said, lifting his chin and grinning sweetly.
    â€˜Cut