Jonah stares around the bunker while he follows Beth. Everything about Bear makes sense now. His discipline, his drive, his protectiveness of Beth. Jonah checks out the shipping containers and equipment. To think that all this time, everyone in the town has been trained in karate, firearms and survival skills by a secret agent. It’s like he’s trained his own army.
Jonah stands in the middle of the lounge area and watches Beth pick up the phone.
‘Um …’ she stammers. ‘I’m calling on behalf of Lucy Miller. She called this number earlier. We’re in witness protection. Can I speak to someone about that?’
Beth stands even though there is a chair right next to her. ‘I don’t know. It was seventeen years ago … But Mum was shot, just now, by the men after us,’ she says. Her voice wavers. Jonah wonders how she’ll be when all this sinks in.
‘I don’t know if the program still covers us. I’ve only just found out. No, he’s missing. I think they have him too, but I’m not sure … I saw three, but there could be more … I don’t know. No, we haven’t called the police. My witness protection name is Elizabeth Miller, but my birth name is Kennedy Jane. Yes, I’ll hold.’
Beth sits down and turns away from Jonah to face the wall. She leans her head back and looks at the ceiling, the phone held close to her ear.
As he watches her, Jonah’s thoughts slow down. How can this be happening? They were so happy this afternoon. Beth’s not Jonah’s first girlfriend, but she’s the first girl he’s fallen completely head over heels for. No one has ever set his heart racing or occupied his thoughts like Beth does. He’d give anything to wind back a few hours, to relive that moment they had together, that last kiss before all this began.
That kiss. Jonah knows in his heart it was their last true moment. Once she finds out what he did, or what he didn’t do, his role in all of this, she won’t want to kiss him like that ever again. The knot in Jonah’s stomach tightens. He can’t bear the thought of losing Beth. She’s everything. She brings out his best. When Jonah is with her he likes who he is, which hasn’t always been the case.
The first few years of high school were difficult for Jonah. He lacked confidence and never stood up for himself, making him an easy target. One of the older kids, Paul Silk, had it in for him. Paul was almost twice his size and known to pick a fight. Jonah didn’t stand a chance, so he spent most of his time avoiding being anywhere Paul might show up. Jonah was especially scared to walk from school to his mum’s work. He’d hang back and make sure he was last to leave, but he hated himself for it. He hated himself for being weak.
One day, Jonah waited and waited until he was sure Paul had gone home before heading off across the oval. Jonah heard the library door open behind him and his heart skipped a beat. But, instead of his tormentor, Beth ran out to catch up with him. She’d been kept back for talking too much in class. She chatted to Jonah all the way across the oval. No wonder she was in trouble for talking, she literally didn’t stop.
When they reached the other side of the oval Beth stood in front of him and smiled. ‘I’m off to karate now. You should come along sometime, you’d be good at it.’
Beth’s invitation took Jonah by surprise. He didn’t feel very good at anything. Besides, her old man scared him even more than Paul, but he figured other kids went along to karate and survived, so why not? That night he asked his mum if he could try it.
The next week, Jonah found himself following Beth through the park to the gym after school. She was thrilled to see him and stayed close by during his first session. She was comfortable and familiar with the lesson and that gave him confidence too. It was obvious that Beth had grown up with it. Her movements were fluid, controlled and strong. It was like she was dancing. Beth kept encouraging Jonah and he tried hard because any improvement seemed to please her. It didn’t take Jonah long to realise he liked pleasing Beth.
After a few weeks, he realised something else too. He went for hours during the day without thinking about Paul Silk. It was like Beth had opened the secret door to Jonah’s confidence, his self-esteem. That combined with a growth spurt was finally enough for Jonah to stand up for himself. The next time Paul shoved him hard in the chest and went to throw a punch, Jonah deflected his fist and grabbed him by the front of the shirt. He walked Paul backwards into the school sports shed and told him to leave him alone. And for whatever reason, it worked. Paul never gave him any trouble again. No one else dared to either. Beth is more than just the girl of his dreams. When Jonah is with her, he is a better version of himself.
Movement on the TV screen catches Jonah’s attention. It’s Beth’s driveway. The van is moving.
‘No,’ Beth says. ‘Mum said not to. I can’t disclose that until you’re here. What time will they –’
Beth senses something and spins around to see what Jonah’s looking at.
‘One sec. Can you hold? I’ll be back.’ Beth drops the phone onto the desk and runs past Jonah to the door. ‘Keep watching. Tell me which way they go,’ she calls over her shoulder.
The van is in no hurry. It pauses at the cattle grid at the end of the drive and turns left.
‘Left,’ Jonah yells. ‘Beth, they’ve gone left!’
He hears Beth jump out of the other container and climb up the ladder to the trapdoor. Jonah watches until the van is out of sight, then goes after her.
Beth is standing in the empty dam, a drone beside her. It whirs into action and launches straight up as fast as it can go. Jonah follows the altitude reading on Beth’s screen until it reaches 120 metres.
‘Maximum flight altitude reached,’ the robotic voice announces.
Beth uses the controls to find the van. It’s getting dark now but the white van should show up on the screen easily enough.
‘How far can it go?’ Jonah asks.
‘Eight kay,’ Beth says.
The van comes into view on Caldwell Lane. Beth breathes in through her nose and out slowly through her mouth, like she does just before a fight. The van slows and turns just before the Youngs’ driveway. It follows a track along the fence line and then veers right at a channel junction and crosses at a culvert. It meanders though some trees, passes a large shiny roof, possibly a machinery shed, then parks alongside a much smaller building.
‘That’s Clive and Gwen’s old stable. They’re away on holiday,’ Beth says.
She zooms in to see the van more clearly on the screen. The side door opens. Two men step down and drag out a body. It’s Lucy, Jonah’s sure of it. She’s dressed in brown camo gear and a black hood covers her head. It’s probably the same hood that was on his head. Jonah swallows. He can’t watch any longer. Lucy is dead and it’s all his fault. He glances at Beth and his heart squeezes in his chest. Because of him, Beth has no mum. How is he going to live with that?
‘See that?’ Beth says. ‘There!’
Jonah doesn’t want to see it. He can’t live with it. Not now, not ever.
‘See that?’ Beth is excited.
Jonah brings his eyes down to look at the screen, but he’s too late. Lucy is gone.
‘Did you see that, Jonah?’ Beth says. ‘She moved! She moved, Jonah.’ Beth grabs his face and kisses him. ‘She’s alive.’
Jonah doesn’t know what to say. He saw how lifeless Lucy’s body was with his own eyes. Beth is only seeing what she wants to see. Lucy got shot three times at close range. There’s no way she could survive that, surely. Jonah studies Beth’s face. He wants to hold her, to tell her what he’s done, but he can’t. Now’s not the right time. He has to hold it together, for her.