Kaely couldn't quite comprehend what happened in the seconds that followed. Something flashed, hands struck out and suddenly Kaely was standing with her back up against a body. There was something cold pressed against the side of her head. She knew immediately that the body she was pressed against was that of Richard Campbell, and the cold thing on the side of her head was a gun. She froze up, her eyes wide.
"You brought the police?" Campbell hissed, his warm breath tickling her neck. She shivered and managed to look in front of her to see the last image she expected to see. There was McMillan and O'Connor, standing on either side of another figure; the last person that Kaely expected to be in Darwin trying to save her life.
"You promised you wouldn't tell him," Kaely hissed with a glare, her statement directed at McMillan, but the gun against her head pressed harder against her skull, forcing her mouth closed tightly. One of Campbell's arms was on Kaely, and the other was on the gun that was pressed against her head. She breathed carefully, suddenly very aware that the gun was loaded.
"I will shoot you," Jared warned, his gun pointed right at Campbell's head. Campbell only laughed.
"You'll shoot her too," he sneered, his voice loud in her ear. "I'd enjoy it if you tried."
"No one is going to die today," O'Connor growled. "No one except you. Let the girl go or I will empty this gun into your head."
"I don't think you'll want to do that," Campbell chuckled, letting go of Kaely's left arm to dig something out of his jacket pocket. The gun was still pointing into her head. She made no move to escape from it, as she flickered her eyes sideways to see what Campbell had retrieved. When she realised what it was, she felt the breath leave her lungs in an instant.
"Oh god," she breathed, feeling the air hitch in her throat. "Oh god, no."
He was holding a device, small enough to fit snugly in his hand, and his finger hovered over the top. There was a small green light flashing on the side of it in a continuous pattern that made her eyes hurt. She averted her gaze and suddenly caught onto Jared's, a look of fear taking over.
You'll be okay, he mouthed to her, nodding his head encouragingly. I promise.
And Kaely nodded quickly; she believed him. She wanted to believe so badly that she was going to be okay, so she believed him.
"You pull that trigger and I pull this one," Campbell murmured, his smile coming through his voice loud and clear. "And this wretch will die with me." He tucked the gun back into its holster at his waist and grabbed Kaely's arm, jolting her violently. She whimpered.
"You wouldn't," Jared hissed, narrowing his eyes at Campbell to find a bluff. Campbell grinned.
"You have no idea what I would do to survive," he shot back menacingly. "This? This is a minor setback. Now, here's how it's going to work: you are going to drop your guns, slide them over to me, and you're going to let me take the girl. Alive. Or I blow her head to pieces and leave you to clean up her mess."
"I don't think so," Kaely snapped, and did the first thing that came to her mind; she didn't know exactly how she was doing it, but it felt right. Her instincts took over and she wrenched her head backwards, smashing it into Campbell's face. He howled in pain, leaving Kaely time to wrench the gun from his holster amidst his confusion. She then whirled it up and pointed it right between Campbell's eyes. The clearing settled into silence and tension as the gun shook violently in her hands. She hadn't used one before.
"Stupid girl," Campbell hissed. "You won't shoot me."
Kaely then took the biggest risk of her life; she pointed the gun at the detonator in his hand she fired three times, missing the first two. The third shot struck the side of the detonator and it bursted outwards in sparks and aluminium. She braced herself.
Nothing happened. Well, except for the loud cries coming from Campbell as he clutched his hand, which had been blown to shreds from the bullet. Kaely blinked heavily; her sight was fading quickly. The gun slipped from her hand and fell to the floor, thudding in the sand as it landed.
Suddenly, there was someone at her side, standing with a gun pointed at the wailing man before them. But Kaely used the last ounce of energy she had left to place a hand on the gun, pointing it downward. She watched as Richard Campbell, her captor, ran away into the protection of the trees, disappearing from Kaely's sight.
It wasn't long until everything fell into darkness.
When Kaely woke, she was lying against someone. She remembered everything, right up until after she shot Richard Campbell's hand. Now, she was sleeping somewhere with someone holding her protectively into them. She didn't mind, really. She was more confused as to where she was than anything.
She opened her eyes, blinked a few times and yawned before she looked up to see who was holding her. When she recognised the face as Jared's, she sighed and dropped her head back down again.
"You shouldn't have come," she mumbled.
"You're welcome," he sighed, taking the arm that had been holding Kaely to bring it behind his head, where it joined the other. "It's not like I saved your life or anything."
"If I can recall correctly," Kaely shot back, "I shot him and saved myself."
"Then you let him go."
Kaely sat up and turned around, facing Jared with an eyebrow raised.
"No I didn't," she told him as if it were obvious. "I shot him in the hand, remember? Then- well, then I... I didn't let him go..." Kaely frowned, and so did Jared, who leaned forward.
"Are you okay?" he asked, and Kaely looked up at him.
"I just... did I really let him go?" Jared creased his eyebrows together.
"Don't you remember?" he asked curiously, and as Kaely shook her head, he sighed and leaned back slightly. "Well, it took you a few shots but you got the detonator; we searched for the actual 'bomb' but we couldn't find anything. I went to shoot him; the man that framed us all, Kaely. And you didn't let me."
"No, I didn't," Kaely told Jared, her memory replenishing itself. "I didn't, because he slipped up about something. He said that Wade Smith killed his family and got out of court as not guilty. I told him that starting a war wasn't going to avenge his family – if the governor-general even killed his family – and he said something to me... something strange."
Jared frowned. "What, what did he say?" he asked, and Kaely bit her lip.
"He mentioned something about me not knowing my own name," she admitted, and met Jared's eyes curiously. He was quiet. "What does that mean, like? He said he had everything on me; everything about my parents, my schools... what if he dug up something about my past that I don't even know of? That my parents never got to tell me before they died?" She sighed. "I'm sorry I didn't let you end it, Jared," she added, and it was sincere. "But I just- I feel like I need to know what he knows."
"He said he had everything on you?"
"Everything," Kaely agreed. "Why? Is that bad?"
"Yes, that's bad," Jared shot back. "Whatever information he has, it was meant to be buried. You aren't meant to know."
"But I need to!" she exclaimed. "It's about me! Wouldn't you want to know if it were about you?"
"Not if it would cause me more harm than good," he admitted, and Kaely frowned.
"You think it will be upsetting?" she asked, surprised, and he shrugged.
"Why wouldn't your parents have told you?" he replied. Kaely bit her lip.
"So I should just let you kill him next time?"
"Yeah. Please." Kaely gave him a look, and he laughed aloud, eyes sparkling.
"Why are you laughing?" she demanded, surprised at the nicety. Not even she could hold off from smiling.
"Because!" he exclaimed. "Well, for starters, you just shot a guy twice your age, and you aren't angry at me anymore."
Kaely narrowed her eyes. "Yes I am," she shot back immediately. "I'm very mad. I cannot believe you did that."
Jared sighed. "Well, at least now I know what I've been doing wrong my whole life."
Kaely frowned curiously. "Oh?" she pressed. "And what might that be?"
"I've been listening to the wrong women," he admitted. "Eliot thinks Lexus is in love with me, and ultimately sent you away because she was afraid I'd start loving you instead of her. I don't know if it's true, but that's what Eliot reckons."
Kaely's breath caught in her throat. "What?" she said, surprised. "She was afraid that you would fall in love with me? That's ridiculous."
Her heart was pounding, however, no matter how crazy it sounded. Because some part of her – some small, insane part of her – liked the idea.
"Well, it's not completely ridiculous," he admitted slyly, and she looked at him. "I mean, it can't be that hard: you're pretty, you're sarcastic, and you shoot Americans in the hand when they kidnap you. What's not to love?"
Kaely burst out laughing and Jared grinned as she smoothed out into a wide smile herself.
"So, I'm pretty, am I?" she asked, an eyebrow raised, and Jared smirked.
"Maybe," he replied. "Depends on what mood you're in." She grinned.
When McMillan and O'Connor got back from covering up what happened at Buffalo Creek, they left for Olympic Dam again, where Jared said Leo and Dex had taken Eliot while they were in Darwin. Kaely couldn't have stopped them; not when she was distracted by people aiming guns everywhere. Now that they were most likely aware of Oliver's existence, that made Kaely more apprehensive about returning with Jared.
"Um, are you sure we really need to go back to Roxby?" Kaely asked for the hundredth time. "I mean, it's just that I don't really see the point; only Lexus is there, so..."
"Only Lexus," Jared agreed while they sat on the plane from Adelaide to Olympic Dam. "And Dex. And Leo. And Eliot. Who is wheelchair-bound."
"But why did they have to go down?" Kaely asked, and Jared turned his head sideways to look at her.
"Because they didn't know where I was," he explained with a sigh. "I left without telling them anything. I got a message saying they made it to Roxby and met with Lexus. They expected me to be there and I wasn't."
"What, so they said they met with Lexus?" Kaely pressed. "That's it? Just Lexus? They didn't say anything else?"
Jared frowned. "No," he replied. "Why?"
"Nothing at all?"
"No, Kaely. What's going on?"
Kaely blinked. "Nothing," she said quietly, then nestled pressed into her seat further with her arms holding herself. She had lost her jumper somewhere in Darwin; Jared hadn't retrieved it and she was left shivering in her singlet. "What's the time?" she asked eventually, her eyes closed.
"Four o'clock," Jared replied quietly. "Are you cold?"
"I'm okay," she mumbled, but moments later his jacket was over her arms. She pulled it closer and sighed. She made it out of Darwin alive.
She tilted her head sideways so that it was rested on Jared's shoulder and nuzzled into his warmth. He replied by resting his head on hers. And, with that, Kaely smiled and fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the plane around her.
They got to Roxby Downs in one piece and got off the plane, heading out of the airport. They took a taxi into town; McMillan and O'Connor stayed back at the airport to make sure they weren't being followed. In the meantime, Jared and Kaely headed back to Oliver's house. Truthfully, Jared thought it was Lexus' house, but he was in for a shock when they got there.
Some way down the road, Jared's phone rang. He picked it up, answered it and held it to his ear. "Are you okay?" was the first thing he asked, then he frowned. "Oh," he said. "Uh, yeah, she's right next to me."
Kaely took the phone from Jared, who shrugged, so she held it to her own ear and spoke.
"Eliot?"
"Oh God, you're alive," Eliot breathed out in relief, and Kaely laughed at the sound of his voice. "Oh, wow; I can't even believe it. I have not seen or spoken to you in a week and Jared hasn't called since yesterday, before the meeting. You're breathing fine? No fractures? No fatal wounds to the head?"
"I don't know why you're worrying about me," Kaely replied. "You're the one who's been shot."
"Well," Eliot murmured, "actually, so have you."
Kaely grinned. "But you're still recovering," she sang. "I'm worried about you. So, what's going on? Why are you in Roxby? Shouldn't you be resting? Or did they let you out early?"
"We kind of had to leave," Eliot admitted. "They recognised us after McMillan and O'Connor left. They were too busy saving your life."
"Yeah, thanks for that, by the way," Kaely added. "Appreciated. So, are you going to tell me why you're in Roxby?"
"We thought Jared would be here and assumed Lexus as well," Eliot admitted. "Instead, we found the other one. You're not on loudspeaker, are you?"
"No, no," Kaely assured him. "No, you're safe. Yell all you want."
Eliot's voice turned quiet and serious. "Why didn't you tell us that Oliver was in Australia? Jared is going to freak when he finds him here. You haven't told him?"
"No, and I'm not going to," she sighed, careful of the words that came out of her mouth. "I don't want him getting angry before we make it back." Jared glanced sideways at her and she shook her head as Eliot spoke again.
"Okay, well, hurry up, will you? I'll need someone to talk to while Lexus is here and I'm sick of Dex and Leo already."
"We'll be there in five minutes," Kaely replied with a light laugh. "Hold tight." They hung up and Kaely chucked the phone back to Jared, who caught it and slid it into his pocket.
"He missed you a lot," Jared announced finally, and Kaely glanced at him, smirking.
"Jealous?" she purred. Jared scowled.
"No," he retorted. "I just thought you ought to know."
Kaely smiled and glanced back out the window of the taxi. They were in the car for a few more minutes before it pulled up outside Oliver's house, which was on a quiet street that was considered busy when more than one car drove down it. It was secluded.
"Now, if you need to punch anything, please make it the wall and not... him."
"Him?" Jared picked up as they approached the door, and Kaely nodded, her throat now dry.
"Yes," she replied. "Him. Promise?"
"What are you talking about?" Jared asked as they stepped up to the door.
"Promise," Kaely hissed, and he looked at her.
"I promise," he said with a frown as he knocked twice. "Why? Who's in there that I should feel the need to punch?"
"Me, perhaps?" a voice from the doorway spoke, and Kaely stepped back awkwardly as Jared looked into the eyes of his older sibling. "Hello, brother," he added.