Outback Love

On The Road

Kiwi was banging on the door dead on 8am. Luke raced down the stairs to open the door, not wanting to leave Kiwi standing out the front if he didn’t feel safe.

Kiwi walked in, locking the door behind him. “Everybody ready?” He asked as they all came down the stairs.

He opened the door again and they all filed out into the van.

“Kiwi, is there somewhere to get some breakfast?” Scott grumbled as they pulled out into the traffic.

“Let me see what I can find for you bro.” Kiwi replied as he drove down the main road towards the car yard.

Kiwi looked up to see a Bunnings Hardware Store. He quickly indicated and made his way into the car park. “Got just the thing for you there bro.” He announced as he pulled up.

“I smell meat.” Scott said, smiling. “That smells amazing!”

“The old mystery bags.” Kiwi smiled.

“That sounds alarming.” Emily murmured to Luke.

“Snags my sister. The old Bunnings Sausage sizzle. It’s an Australian institution.” Kiwi smiled.

They all got out of the van and walked towards a green tent, following the smell of barbeque.

“It’s a good cause too. These fullas are from the RSL. Our returned soldiers.” Kiwi said, handing over $20.

“How many, mate?” The man asked.

“Just two my Bro and you keep the change,” Kiwi said.

“Well thankyou my friend.” The man serving them smiled.

“What is this?” Luke said, gesturing to the tent. The man picked up his American accent straight away.

“We do this to raise money for local RSLs. Our funding gets cut bit by bit each year, but our government keeps churning out returned soldiers. We are doing what we can to raise money.” The man shrugged. “These young ones coming through now, they need support.”

Luke nodded as he looked at the men he was travelling with. Each reached into their pockets and pulled out their wallets.

“I’ll take five.” Scott said, handing over $1000.

“Me too.” Said Anton, also handing over $1000.

The men all lined up and ordered their sausages.

“Kiwi, you still hungry?” Luke asked as he started pulling notes out of his wallet.

“I wouldn’t say no bro.” Kiwi said with a smile.

Luke handed over $10,000. “I’ll take 10 thank you.” he said, smiling.

“I don’t know what to say.” The man said, his eyes becoming moist.

“I have mad respect for you fullas and my brothers back home.” Kiwi smiled. “I’m glad it was you fullas here today.”

“So am I.” The man said quietly.

They collected their sausages and hopped back into the van.

“That’s a good thing you did back there.” Kiwi said as he pulled back onto the main road.

He made his way toward the car yard, parking out the front. They had about 15 minutes to kill before the car yard opened, so they had a look at some of the cars on the lot.

“Your trucks sure are small,” Scott commented.

“Here we call them utes, my friend, short for utility vehicles.”

A man approached them, extending his hand to Kiwi.

“Hello, hello. You are here to pick up the 4WDs?” The man said, smiling.

Luke nodded his head.

“Well, let's get started, shall we?” He said, ushering Luke into a small office.

Kiwi followed them as the others stayed outside.

“So that’s the 3 cars then?” The man asked.

“Yes, it is.” Luke smiled.

“And how might you be paying for those?” The man asked.

“Bank transfer.” Luke smiled.

“Bank transfer.” The man smiled in return.

Kiwis phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and his face paled.

“Yeah bro.” He said as he answered the phone.

“It’s Derek, they’re here. Call for help.”

“Stay on the line bro. Put your phone behind the bar so they don’t see it.” Kiwi whispered.

He walked outside to Scott. “Bro, give me your phone.” He hissed.

Scott had never seen Kiwi talk to anyone this way and immediately handed over his phone.

Kiwi dialled a number. “It’s Kiwi. Bad news at the Saint. Need you there now, my bro.”

“On our way.” The man answered before hanging up.

Kiwi went back to his phone. He could hear Derek trying to talk to someone and then a lot of yelling. He knew if he said anything they would cut the call, so he needed to stay silent.

“I told you, I don’t know where they went! They paid their money; I had no reason to question them.” Derek’s voice was shaky.

All of the men stood around the phone listening.

“Bro, I swear!” Derek pleaded before a blood-curdling scream could be heard.

“Next time I might just remove those fingers. I’m going to ask you again Derek. Where are they?” An ominous voice roared.

“I don’t know, please don’t hurt me!” Derek pleaded.

They heard a sound that could only be breaking bones.

“You didn’t need that arm, did you bro?” A voice asked.

They could hear Derek sobbing in pain.

“Last chance Derek. If you give me nothing, I have no reason to keep you alive.” The voice barked.

“ OK, I don’t know the details but I heard they were heading up to the Blue Mountains. Something about picking up a body and taking it home. The girl's brother, I think.” Derek sobbed.

“Blue Mountains, huh? I don’t remember hearing about someone dying there.” The man sneered.

“It was kept out of the media because he was rich and there were drugs involved,” Derek said quietly.

“You know what happens if I find out your lying to me Derek?” The man asked.

“Yes,” Derek whimpered.

The sound of crashing came through the phone, followed by shouting. They could hear what sounded like a bar room brawl. Derek was able to get to the phone.

“Kiwi.” He whispered. “RUN!”

Kiwi stayed on the line while Luke concluded the deal. The salesperson handed him the keys to 3 brand new Toyota Landcruisers and walked him out to where they were waiting.

Luke looked at Kiwi to hand him his keys and froze.

“Kiwi, what is it?” he asked.

“Derek was attacked bro. It’s bad,” Kiwi replied.

“We have to go back.” Luke said, handing keys to Kiwi and Anton.

“No bro, I sent help. I’m not the only Maero here. Derek will have to disappear though,” Kiwi said.

“Get bank details, we’ll make it happen.” Luke said.

“We need to get our kit and get out of here. Derek told them we were heading to the Blue Mountains, which is in the opposite direction, but they aint dumb.” Kiwi said, walking towards the car.

"Hey Bro." He called out to the salesman. "That's my van. Big full like me gonna pick it up in the next coupla days. Hang on to the keys for me." He said as he threw the keys to the man.

They all made their way into a car and Kiwi pulled out first, the other two cars falling in behind.

The BCF store where Kiwi had ordered what he referred to as ‘Kit’ was not far from the car yard. They were able to pull up in front of the store and Kiwi went inside with Luke. He spoke to the salesman who called over two staff members. They began to pull boxes out from a store room and load them onto trolleys. Luke handed over his credit card to the excited salesman.

They spent the next half hour fitting everything in and onto the cars. One last stop on the way out for fuel and they were on the road.

Emily had chosen to travel with Luke and the others had chosen to leave them alone. They all knew Emily’s birthday was tomorrow and she was feeling tense about finding out if Luke was indeed her mate. Given that Luke was not out right refusing her advances they all knew he must be. There was to much love between Luke and Blane for him to ever do the wrong thing by Emily.

The car was silent as they followed Kiwi out of the city. Emily had been busy pointing out the roadside art on show all through Melbourne but as they travelled over the Westgate Bridge, it disappeared.

Emily took out her phone and plugged it in, pairing it to the car. She began to scroll through her play list and found the Waifs. Luke smiled, he loved how she had been so carefree at their show.

“I think I may need some clothes once we get to Radelaide.” Emily said. “I have the feeling most of what I packed isn’t going to cut it out here.”

Luke laughed. “I think we’ll all need to invest in some shorts and singlet tops and flip flops.”

Emily looked briefly at her phone and then back at Luke. “You mean shorts, tank tops and thongs?”

“Thongs?” Luke laughed. “You want to see me in a thong?”

“No, they call flip flops thongs here!” Emily laughed. “Although…”

“No Em.” Luke frowned.

“The language here is so colourful.” Emily said, looking back at her phone. “They have a bird called an Ibis that they call a Bin Chicken or a Tip Turkey.”

Luke burst out laughing. “Are you serious?”

“I sure am.” Emily smiled. “I love it here Luke, I feel so free.”

“I’ve noticed and I want you to enjoy yourself, Em but you know we have to go home in a week.” Luke said.

“Luke, you do know you wont be given the Alphas position and my father wont let you run the pack as Beta, right?” Emily asked, watching Luke’s face for a reaction.

Luke sighed. “He never even let Blane run the pack. He constantly overrode Blanes' decisions both in the office and with the pack. He didn’t want Blane to fly out to Australia, he just wanted contracts signed and bulldozers sent in.”

“You know about the arranged marriages?” Emily asked.

“What arranged marriages?” Luke asked.

“My parents have arranged marriages for both Blane and I. My mother and father are not fated mates, they came together out of a hunger for wealth and power.” Emily replied.

“You’re not marrying some rich asshole that ignores the very foundation our packs are built on.” Luke growled.

“Not a virgin, I’m not.” She smiled as she ran her hand over Luke’s thigh.

“Not at all.” Luke corrected her. “I’ll live on the damn beach before I put your father's money before you.”

“I love you.” Emily blurted out, immediately regretting it. She watched Luke, terrified of what he might say next.

“I love you too.” He smiled, reaching out to hold her hand. “But we’re still not having s*x before your birthday.”