by Jennie Jones
Jax was behind the counter, next to Jimmy, hands clasped together tightly.
He’d love to take her in his arms and tell her it was going to be all right, but he didn’t know for sure that it would be. Head bowed, she looked as though she was keeping herself under control when she wanted to break free and search for her daughter herself. Jack didn’t blame her, but he couldn’t have her out there. The police were handling this one now, and that’s the way it was going to stay.
‘Anything else, Jimmy?’
Jax looked up with a hopeful expression at the sound of his voice, but he shook his head and gave her a small smile, indicating he knew nothing new about Frances’s whereabouts. She looked back down at her hands.
‘Nothing else has been called in,’ Jimmy said. ‘Thank God.’
A call had come in for police assistance and he’d had to take officers off the search for Frances to assist. A crash involving two cars south of town—no-one hurt, just a prang to a front fender, but the two young women drivers had a bit of a slap and punch over whose fault it had been and an onlooker called it in.
Jax’s mobile trilled, startling the subdued quiet of the room with a loud bird warble.
She stood, staring at the phone and visibly shaking. ‘It’s Billy …’
Twenty-Two
Jack leaned over the counter and took the phone off her.
‘Billy, it’s Senior Sergeant Maxwell. Where are you?’
‘I’ve got Billy!’
Frances’s voice rang in his ears. ‘It’s Frances,’ he said, and put the phone on speaker so Jax and his officers could also hear what was going on. ‘Where are you?’
‘Billy’s hurt,’ Frances said. ‘I don’t know what to do!’
Jax dashed around the front of the counter.
‘Frances,’ Jack said again, ‘where are you?’
‘I don’t know. I’m driving Billy’s car … I don’t know how to drive!’
Jack’s heart rate momentarily went through the roof. He put out a restraining arm as Jax reached over to take the mobile.
‘Have you got the phone in your hand?’ he asked Frances. ‘Or is it on speaker?’
‘It’s on Billy’s Bluetooth.’
Okay. She’d have her hands on the steering wheel, as he’d taught her.
‘I want you to slow down, Frances. Foot off the accelerator, left foot, clutch foot. Remember?’
‘They might be chasing us. What do I do?’
‘Oh my God!’ Jax cried, her hands flying to her face.
‘Foot off the lead, lady, just until the car slows a little. But don’t put your foot on the brake.’ He didn’t want her to lose control and crash the vehicle. Neither did he want the car to stall. They didn’t know where she was, or who was after her. ‘What can you see?’ he asked as he moved to the window, his concentration completely on Frances as he evaluated the situation. ‘Tell me what you see and we’ll know where you are and we’ll come get you. Keep your cool. I know you can do this.’
‘Oh, sweet Jesus,’ Jax said, following him to the window.
‘I’ve just passed the school.’
She was about four clicks out of town, northern end.
Will moved to the station radio and issued an alert to all officers out on patrol. Donna responded immediately, saying she and Davidson weren’t far from town and were onto it.
‘He was shot!’ Frances said. ‘Billy’s been shot!’
Everybody in the station moved fast.
Jimmy picked up the phone and called the hospital for a paramedic to stand by. Then he put in the same standby request to the local fire brigade.
The Baxter parents were on their feet. The Agatha Girls were open-mouthed but still seated.
‘Get Eddie back from the hospital!’ Will called out to Edwards. ‘Cordon off either end of High Street. Stop all traffic and get everyone off the street.’
‘I’m only in third gear,’ Frances said. ‘Is that all right? Because I’m doing seventy.’
‘It’s okay,’ Jack said. ‘You’re doing good. I’m proud of you. Now take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow down. Don’t touch the clutch yet. Do you understand? Frances! Have you taken your foot off the accelerator?’
‘Yes. I’m doing fifty now.’
‘Good girl.’ She was about to hit High Street and he had to slow her down even more. ‘Now check your rear-view mirror quickly then put your eyes back on the road. Are there any cars behind you?’ What he didn’t want to hear was that she was being followed before Donna and Davidson got to her.
‘Nobody!’
‘Good. That’s good, Frances, so you can take a deep breath and slow down again. Just keep your foot off the accelerator. Don’t use the brake.’ He didn’t want her pumping the brake and skidding the car. He’d rather she stalled it. ‘What speed are you doing now?’
‘Thirty-something.’
Jack envisioned the scene, the speed she was doing, and where she’d be about now. ‘You’re about to drive down High Street,’ he told her. ‘Can you see the hardware store?’ It was the first business anyone came across when they drove into Mt Maria from the northern end.
‘I’ve got to turn,’ Frances said. ‘I’ve got to turn!’
It wasn’t a steep curve from the highway off-road into town, but it was a bend with a traffic sign advising a twenty-kilometre speed limit. You could easily do it at thirty, even forty if need be, but not if you’d only driven a car twice in your life. ‘You need to slow down a bit more. You’ve got this. You’re in control of that vehicle. Your foot is not on the accelerator. Your foot is not on the brake. Let her cruise, Frances. The vehicle will slow down on its own. You’re safe now. We’re with you.’
She wasn’t anywhere near safe and Jack’s heart was pumping. He moved from the station to the street, mobile still in his hand, looking north, looking for little Frances with the funny haircut and wary blue eyes.
He held out a restraining arm when Jax barrelled into him. ‘It’s okay,’ he told her. ‘She can do this.’
‘Jack,’ she said on a breathy whisper.
‘We’re right behind her,’ Donna said over the radio. ‘We’ve got her.’
Jack peered down High Street, ignoring the cars being pulled to the kerb and the people who were being ushered brusquely out of the way by his officers.
‘Okay, Frances,’ Jack said into the phone. ‘Donna and David are right behind you. We’ve got you covered. Take a breath and watch where you’re going.’
Suddenly, Billy’s old vehicle screeched around the bend by the hardware store.
‘Foot off the accelerator, Frances.’
‘I don’t know what I’m doing!’ Frances said.
The vehicle careened off course as Frances turned it onto High Street. It skidded momentarily then straightened.
‘I’m scared!’ she cried out.
‘Jack,’ Donna said on the radio. ‘I’m going to pull alongside her. We’ll steer her.’
‘Do it,’ Jack said. If they could steer her to the side of the road, and slow her down, Donna could get ahead and cut her off. Either that or she’d stall the vehicle and come to a crashing halt against a parked vehicle or one of the shops or buildings. But he doubted Billy’s old car had working airbags and if Frances depressed the accelerator by accident, she’d get hurt.
Jax was now gripping his arm, her fingers pinching his skin.
‘Come on, Jax,’ Jimmy said, suddenly at their side. He prised her off Jack. ‘This is almost done. It’s going to be okay.’
‘Don’t let her go,’ Jack told him.
‘I’ve got her.’
‘Frances!’ she called.
Jack only had time to see from the corner of his eye that Jimmy had Jax in a hug-hold, back on the pavement, arms around her, holding her against him, her back to his chest.
Jack stepped into the street, the phone in his hand. ‘I see you, Frances. Can you see me?’ He walked backwards in the middle of the road.
&nbs
p; ‘I’m going to hit you!’
‘No, you’re not. Donna’s driving beside you now, on the passenger side. You’re going to steer the car towards me.’ She was at the far end of High Street, and like in a lot of small towns in the outback, it was a long street, the businesses built up gradually over the early decades, with plenty of space between each.
‘Get out of the way, Jack!’ she said, her voice raised in pitch.
‘I want you to turn the ignition off, Frances. Turn the key. Switch the car off.’
She was still doing something like thirty kilometres an hour and was obviously panicking now that she was enclosed on High Street.
The engine on Billy’s car screeched. ‘It’s not switching off!’
‘Turn the key towards you.’ She was obviously turning it away from her. Stall, you bastard car, stall. It didn’t.
Frances’s face was etched with worry. He could see her clearly through the windscreen. ‘You’re doing good,’ he told her.
‘I can’t switch it off!’
Jack turned and sprinted down the broken white line along the centre of High Street, towards the car park by the town hall. When he was halfway there, he turned, jogged backwards and looked directly at Frances. ‘Hold on to that steering wheel, hands ten-to-two, and steer the car so you’re following me. Keep me dead centre. Donna?’ he said, angling his face to the mic on his shoulder. ‘Concrete barriers. Wedge the vehicle between the arrest van and the barriers.’
The best place for a soft crash would be the temporary concrete barriers erected along the side of the car park.
He kept moving, jogging backwards, eyes on Frances. ‘Keep me in the middle of the bonnet,’ he told her, and edged slightly to his left and towards the barriers that cordoned off the dug-up car park.
Billy’s car curved, following him to the wrong side of the road. Frances’s eyes were wide, her mouth open and Jack had no doubt her hands would be knuckle-white on the wheel.
Donna pulled the arrest van closer to the passenger side of Billy’s old car. She was driving alongside, keeping the same speed.
‘Frances—take your feet off all pedals and put them on the floor. Don’t put your foot on the brake. Don’t do anything. We’re going to stop your car now. Keep the steering wheel just as it is. Don’t turn it.’
He leapt over the concrete barrier, getting out of the way of the oncoming vehicles, but kept running backwards so he remained ahead of them.
The arrest van brushed Billy’s car, nudging it until it skimmed the barriers on the driver’s side with a piercing scrape of metal on concrete.
The vehicle wasn’t slowing down enough for his liking. They’d only have a certain time to stop the car before it careened straight through the lush flowerbeds of the town-hall garden and right through the plate glass windows of the front reception.
He checked over his shoulder. About thirty metres to the end of the barriers.
‘Donna, come ahead and cut her off.’
‘Hang on, Jack,’ Donna said.
Suddenly Davidson was halfway out of the arrest van passenger seat window. He grabbed hold of the open passenger window on Billy’s vehicle and pulled himself out of one vehicle and down into the other.
Jack held his breath.
Donna kept the arrest van alongside Billy’s car, which was still scraping concrete, white sparks flying against dull grey.
Davidson, on his knees on the passenger seat of Billy’s car, prised Frances’s hands off the wheel, reached over her and cut the engine. The car slowed immediately. Davidson was now so close to Frances he had to be sitting on the gear stick. He bent his leg at the knee and shoved it beneath the wheel, hitting the brake, his hands on the steering wheel.
Jack jumped over the barrier and ran towards the now fast-slowing vehicles.
The whir of a siren told him the paramedic was entering town from the northern end in the ambulance. Will was running from the cop shop, Jax and Jimmy right behind him.
Once the vehicles were stationary, Donna reversed the arrest wagon so there was access to the passenger door on Billy’s car.
Jack opened the door and checked the back seat. Billy was passed out, chin on his chest, blood drenching his T-shirt.
And Winston was next to him, with a panting smile, like he’d been on an ordinary, everyday adventure.
Jack moved aside to let Davidson out, eyes now on Frances. ‘Come on, kid,’ he said, holding his arms out to her.
She was shaking and looked shocked, her chest rising with panicky breaths. But she scrambled out of the driver’s seat and onto the passenger seat, on her knees.
Jack took hold of her and lifted her out, holding her tight because he was sure her knees would buckle if he released her.
He pushed her face into his shoulder and kissed the top of her head. ‘Gave us all a fright there, Frances.’
‘I’m so sorry …’
‘You’re okay now. Here’s your mum.’
Jax grabbed her and hugged her against her. ‘I’ve got you, darling.’
‘Davidson, help me with Billy.’
Jack flung the passenger seat forward and put a restraining hand on Winston while he did a quick assessment on Billy. ‘He’s been shot, upper left arm,’ he told the paramedic when she got to him. ‘Bullet’s gone right through the muscle. Pulse is a bit weak.’
The paramedic evaluated quickly. ‘He’s good. Let’s get him in the ambulance. I’ll grab the gurney.’
‘Davidson, help me lift Billy.’
Jack let Winston out. The big dog shook himself, checked his surroundings, then went for Jax who was leading Frances to the police station.
Five minutes later, Billy was on his way to hospital, the firefighter lady and her brother were preparing to tow Billy’s vehicle off High Street—the civilian tow truck guy was on holiday—and the paramedic had arranged for a video cam hook-up for Billy with a doctor from Kalgirri.
They didn’t have a doctor of their own. The hospital had twelve beds and was staffed by nurses and paramedics. Jack shook his head, appreciating how easy people in the cities or bigger towns had it. No tow truck was one thing, but no doctor … It was almost unbelievable, but that was life in remote areas, especially small towns like Mt Maria.
He turned to his probationary constable.
Davidson looked a bit disconcerted, but he was handling it well. ‘All in a day’s work, eh, Sarge? I reckon I hit a nine with that one.’
Jack slapped him on his shoulder. ‘That was a twelve, David. Well done.’ He shook the young man’s hand. ‘You just became a bona fide experienced police officer. And thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.’
Jax had an arm around Frances’s shoulders, was holding her hand, and couldn’t stop squeezing her. Frances was bright-eyed in a disoriented way, her gaze darting around the OIC office, taking in the lamb, the rooster and the puppy.
‘I’m so sorry,’ she said for the hundredth time.
Jax thanked God and all the forces out there, wherever or whatever they were, that her child hadn’t been hurt. ‘Billy’s going to be fine,’ she said. ‘They’re taking good care of him.’ His parents had gone to the hospital to be with him.
‘Can she talk to us?’ Jack asked, striding into his office.
‘I’m sorry,’ Frances said to him, looking like she knew she was going to get the biggest telling off in her life.
Her grip on Jax’s hand tightened. She’d held Jax’s hand for the last few minutes, while Billy was taken to hospital and while Jack sorted out his officers and had the High Street cleared and functioning again.
‘Can you tell me everything that happened?’ Jack asked her.
‘We went for Winston. He was at Billy’s older brother’s place. Damon’s house. They’d locked him up in a shed out the back.’
‘Who else was there?’
‘We didn’t think anyone was there. Billy knew his brothers had stolen our dogs, and he went to get them earlier, but he had a fight with his brother w
hen they told him they had lots of animals and they were going to kill them all. His brother punched him!’
Frances swallowed hard. ‘When I called Billy, he told me what had happened. He was driving back to town and I told him to pick me up behind the café.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Jax asked, unable to hold back the question.
Frances blinked through the tears welling in her eyes. ‘I didn’t want Billy to get hurt again, so I thought I could persuade him to tell the police. But he didn’t want to. He said his brothers would kill him. He’s not a badass,’ she said to Jack. ‘He’s a very scared boy and I don’t blame him.’
‘It’s okay, Frances. I know that. Billy’s not in trouble. But why did you both go out to Damon’s place after everything that had already happened to him?’
‘Because of Winston! Billy said his brothers wouldn’t be there. He said they’d gone to some place where they keep all the other animals, and that we could go right in and steal Winston back.’
Her face scrunched up in worry, her hand squeezing Jax’s even harder.
‘Tell us, darling,’ Jax said.
‘A really bad man was there. Billy wouldn’t let me get out of the car. He parked it behind a lot of trees and told me to stay. After ages, at least ten minutes, he came running back through the trees and I could see he was bleeding. But he had Winston.’
Her eyes were totally focused on Jack as she relayed this part of the story.
‘I got out of the car because Billy couldn’t even open the driver’s door. Then he went white so I got him into the back seat, so he could lie down, and Winston jumped in too. Billy told me to drive quickly, because the man was fighting his brothers. He said the man would chase us when he was finished with Damon and Robert.’ She paused, the fear obviously still raw. ‘Billy told me what to do. He helped me. I was shaking but I got the car started. Then he wasn’t talking anymore. I think he fainted.’