‹ Prequel: Going Bush
Going Bush 2: Suburbia
20
Isaac sighed as he stepped out of the butcher store again. Rick looked up when he heard him return to the car.
“No Nikolai, I take it?”
“Apparently his shift doesn’t start for another hour,” Isaac rolled his eyes.
Rick tapped his fingers on the car roof.
“Maybe we should go back to the river. See if they missed anything when they pulled Tay’s car up this morning?”
“We do need something to do for an hour,” Isaac’s eyebrows rose.
They got back into the car and set off. As they made it to the boat ramp, Isaac chewed his lip nervously when he saw the water everywhere and tyre marks indicating where the police had been and gone.
“They’d take it to impound, right?” he asked.
“Right,” Rick replied as he shut the car off, “they’ll give it a thorough search, and probably keep it for the duration of the case.”
“You mean until Tay comes home,” Isaac gave him a glance.
“Yeah,” Rick sighed.
They got out of the car and walked down to the bank, keeping an eye out for anything that might have fallen out of the car as it was pulled from the water.
“Did they send divers down?” Isaac asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Pretty sure they would have, though. It’s how I found it after all.”
Isaac nodded, looking out at the water thoughtfully.
“This doesn’t make sense,” he said finally.
“What?” Rick looked across at him.
“Any of it,” Isaac shrugged, “I mean if it were one of the other two guys, Nate or… Trent? If they were behind this, why would they go to so much trouble? Why wouldn’t they just kill them outright and…”
“Leave the bodies with the car?” Rick finished for him, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t begin to know how their minds work.”
Isaac shook his head.
“I know they’re not dead,” he admitted, “call it a gut feeling. But I know something’s seriously wrong. And I just don’t get why on Earth either of those guys would need hostages any more. At least last time it made sense – they had an endgame. We knew what it was.”
“So maybe we just need to figure out the endgame this time,” Rick looked out at the water before stepping around Isaac to the nearby grassed area to check the ground.
“We still don’t know the circumstances,” Isaac began thoughtfully, “like… there could be a possibility that Tay and Zac were watched for some time before this happened. Maybe they were being stalked without us knowing and they just found the time to pounce. Another option is that they stumbled onto one or both of those two in a completely innocent, random occurrence, and were taken advantage of. Maybe one or both of them still see Tay or Zac as threats to their freedom?”
“All good points,” Rick nodded.
“Still doesn’t answer why they weren’t with the car.”
“Hopefully the car itself will turn up more clues,” Rick suggested, “but I don’t see us finding out until they’ve had time to go through it, which could be days away.”
“No Nikolai, I take it?”
“Apparently his shift doesn’t start for another hour,” Isaac rolled his eyes.
Rick tapped his fingers on the car roof.
“Maybe we should go back to the river. See if they missed anything when they pulled Tay’s car up this morning?”
“We do need something to do for an hour,” Isaac’s eyebrows rose.
They got back into the car and set off. As they made it to the boat ramp, Isaac chewed his lip nervously when he saw the water everywhere and tyre marks indicating where the police had been and gone.
“They’d take it to impound, right?” he asked.
“Right,” Rick replied as he shut the car off, “they’ll give it a thorough search, and probably keep it for the duration of the case.”
“You mean until Tay comes home,” Isaac gave him a glance.
“Yeah,” Rick sighed.
They got out of the car and walked down to the bank, keeping an eye out for anything that might have fallen out of the car as it was pulled from the water.
“Did they send divers down?” Isaac asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine. Pretty sure they would have, though. It’s how I found it after all.”
Isaac nodded, looking out at the water thoughtfully.
“This doesn’t make sense,” he said finally.
“What?” Rick looked across at him.
“Any of it,” Isaac shrugged, “I mean if it were one of the other two guys, Nate or… Trent? If they were behind this, why would they go to so much trouble? Why wouldn’t they just kill them outright and…”
“Leave the bodies with the car?” Rick finished for him, “I don’t know. I wouldn’t begin to know how their minds work.”
Isaac shook his head.
“I know they’re not dead,” he admitted, “call it a gut feeling. But I know something’s seriously wrong. And I just don’t get why on Earth either of those guys would need hostages any more. At least last time it made sense – they had an endgame. We knew what it was.”
“So maybe we just need to figure out the endgame this time,” Rick looked out at the water before stepping around Isaac to the nearby grassed area to check the ground.
“We still don’t know the circumstances,” Isaac began thoughtfully, “like… there could be a possibility that Tay and Zac were watched for some time before this happened. Maybe they were being stalked without us knowing and they just found the time to pounce. Another option is that they stumbled onto one or both of those two in a completely innocent, random occurrence, and were taken advantage of. Maybe one or both of them still see Tay or Zac as threats to their freedom?”
“All good points,” Rick nodded.
“Still doesn’t answer why they weren’t with the car.”
“Hopefully the car itself will turn up more clues,” Rick suggested, “but I don’t see us finding out until they’ve had time to go through it, which could be days away.”