The Swell by Allie Reynolds

Author:Allie Reynolds [Reynolds, Allie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2022-07-19T00:00:00+00:00

39. KENNA

Back in the clearing, Ryan is cleaning the barbecue. I grab a sponge from the bucket. My arms ache from my surfs, but there’s nothing like some good hard scrubbing to work off my anger. I’m not even sure who I’m more angry with: Mikki, Kasim or myself.

Ryan looks up with a rare smile. “How good were the waves today?”

My anger melts a little. “Yeah, I know. I still can’t believe no one else ever comes here.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not totally true.”

“What do you mean?”

He looks like he regrets telling me. “Jack brought some girls here.”

Warning bells ring in my head. “Did he?”

Ryan sees my face and tries to backtrack. “Before he met Mikki. Just for the weekend. But we kicked up a big fuss after the first one, so after that he made sure they didn’t know exactly where it was.”

I try to keep my tone casual. “They’d know roughly, though, right? Like they’d know how many hours north of Sydney and where it was near?”

Ryan’s getting flustered now. “Well, no, because he gave them something.”

“What do you mean?”

He shifts his feet. “He stuck something in their drink before they left Sydney.”

The sponge slips from my fingers. The temperature feels like it has dropped ten degrees. “You mean he drugged them?”

Ryan’s eyes flit from my face to the trees. “He just gave them a sleeping pill.”

I stare at him. He clearly doesn’t see how wrong that is.

Ryan shifts his shoulders. “They were foreign backpackers, first time in Australia. He made them think he was driving south, not north, and they never knew any different. When they’d had enough, he dropped them back in Sydney.”

“Did he drug them on the way back as well?”

“Yup.” Ryan folds his arms across his chest. “We have to preserve this place.”

“He could have given them anything! The date-rape drug. And who knows what he did to them while they were drugged?”

“Aw, come on. I know Jack. Date rape isn’t his style. The guy’s a chick magnet. Those girls were all over him.”

Doesn’t he read the news? I guess not, if he never leaves this place. He’s so out of touch. So many people have been caught out by the exact same misconception.

“How many of them were there?” I ask.

“Two or three?”

Fury explodes inside me. Jack is washing his feet under the tap. I march over to him. “Ryan just told me you drugged the women you brought here.”

Jack opens his mouth, looking from me to Ryan, who stands awkwardly behind me. I’m not a bad person, he told me. The bastard. I’m pleased to see him looking suitably embarrassed.

Does Mikki know her fiancé drugs people? Here she is now, walking up the trail. I’ll go and try to smooth things over, once I’ve dealt with Jack. “What did you give them?”

Jack seems bemused by my anger. “Calm down. It was only a sleeping tablet.”

“Gather round!” Sky calls.

I haven’t finished with Jack, but he goes over to join Sky around the fire. Reluctantly I follow, still turning over his casual confession in my mind.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.