The Past Catches Up
By Natasha

Disclaimer- I don not own any of these characters that are affiliated with
the Southern Star, Channel 7, Australia, TV show- Blue Heelers. Anything
else belongs to me.

Setting- (Present Day) Jo and Jack are alone on night shift and it has been
a quiet night, until now…

"Rummy!" yelled Jack as he placed his hand of cards and used his hand to
sweep the pile of smarties to his fastly accumulating stash.
"How is it that you always manage to win? Do you have some great cards
shoved up your sleeves or something?" asked Jo as she tried to sneak some of
his lollies away.
"Hey!" he yelled slapping her hand away, "Oh and I win because I have
skill!" he gloated as he got up to answer the first phone that had rung
since their shift started. "Hello? Mt. Thomas Police Station, Constable Jack
Lawson speaking." but there was no answer, just the sound of a click as the
caller hung up. Weird, he thought to himself as he sat back down ready to
endure another few hours of cards.
"Who was that?" asked Jo as she began dealing.
"No idea, some kid doing pranks" he replied
"Or maybe they were just threatened by your skill!" Jo teased as the phone
rang again. "Don’t get up ‘Mr. Holier Than Thou’, I shall answer the phone.
Mt Thomas Police Station, Constable Joanna Parish how can I help you?" but
she met the same fate, a click in her ear. "Hey, that was weird, I just had
the same thing happen to me. Geez, kids these days must be really bored!"
she suggested.
"Yeah well, we can’t all have grown up in or around Melbourne can we" he
teased.
"No, but I wouldn’t exactly call Frankston, Melbourne, would you?" she
rebutted.
"Oh shut up and deal the cards." Jack mumbled in defeat
* * * *
"Jack! Wake up!" Jo yelled as she heard a crashing sound outside.
"Wha?..What is it?" he grumbled as he awoke from his "nap".
"Jack, I think something’s happening outside" she said grabbing her gun and
walking towards the door.
It was pitch black outside and it was icy cold, however it was surprisingly
still and eerie. By this stage Jack had joined Jo outside and was waiting
for another sign. "What did you say was happening?" he asked after they had
searched the yard of the station.
"I don’t know I just heard this crashing sound, I mean it wasn’t very loud,
and I don’t know if it came from the yard, as I couldn’t here too well over
your snoring, but I know I heard something."
"Hey I do not snore! And can we go inside now? It’s really creepy out here"
"So, Jack Lawson isn’t so great after all? A little dark night can scare the
Great Cop, huh!"
"I didn’t say that, but come on admit it, it is a bit creepy" Jack said as
he and Jo turned around to enter the station.
"So, what should we do next? I’m sick of cards and there’s not too much else
to…" but, before Jack could finish his sentence, a gun was pointed at his
face and he heard Jo scream. He turned to look around at what had happened,
but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw, it was an old copper
friend of his from his last posting, but now he didn’t look so friendly, and
he had Jo hostage.
"Let her go, Bill!" he yelled, but before he knew it his arms were caught
behind his back and Bill’s friend was leading him out of the station and
into a car, he was closely followed by Jo and as they speed away into the
night Jack was heard to say "I told you it was creepy outside".
* * * *
As Jo and Jack were being taken away to a secret destination, PJ was ringing
the station to check in on the young pair, but of course there was no
answer.
"That was weird, no answer" PJ said to Maggie as he sat back down on the
couch to resume what they had been up to.
"Maybe they’re to busy doing what we used to do, when we were on night shift
by ourselves" Maggie laughed as PJ lent in and kissed her.
"Maybe" he said

As Jack and Jo sped away into the cold Mt. Thomas night, the rest of the
sleepy town, including the inquisitive PJ and Maggie, lay oblivious to what
was happening to the town’s youngest law enforcers.
* * * * *
" So, Constable Lawson" said a snide voice from the front seat. "Do you
remember who I am yet?"
"How could I forget you Bill? We used to work together not so long ago" Jack
replied hiding his nervousness.
"Correct Jacky-Boy, but I bet you haven’t quite worked out why I’ve taken
you and your pretty friend as my prisoner, have you?" Jack shook his head.
"Thought not, you never were that smart! I always knew I was the brains
behind our partnership!" Bill said with a hearty laugh. "Maybe if you
behave, I may just tell you why you’re here, but if you’re not, who knows
what will happen!" he chuckled again, but it was muffled by the sound of
Jo’s scream.
"Shut up girly! Or you may be the first to find out what happens if you
don’t behave!!!"
* * * * *
As morning broke, Snr. Sgt. Tom Croyden walked into work, closely followed
by Acting Sgt. Ben Stewart. "Must have been a quiet night huh Boos" Ben said
as he noticed the cards and smarties that Jo and Jack had been playing with
that night.
"Yeah, looks like they must be sleeping in the cells or knowing Parish, she
conned Lawson into knocking off early. Stewart, you check the cells and I’ll
check the rest of the station"
"Right Boss" and this saw Ben saunter off towards the holding cells.
"Jesus, can never trust the young ones to keep their minds on the job" Tom
mumbled to himself as he cleaned up the mess that Jo and Jack had left
behind and sneaked a few smarties into his mouth.
"No luck Boss, looks like they knocked off early"
"Well, it looks like they are going to get a nice wake up call. Go over to
the pub and drag them back here, I’ve got a few words the lazy twins, might
like to hear" Tom ordered as he walked into his office munching on a few
more left over smarties.
"Morning Boss!!" rang through the air as PJ and Maggie walked through the
door, ready for another day’s work at the Cop Shop.
"PJ, Maggie? You don’t happen to know if Jack and Jo left early last night
do you? Because they weren’t here when Stewart and I got here this morning"
"No idea Boss, but I did happen to ring in last night, you know just to see
if anything interesting had happened and no one answered the phone, so I
assumed something had happened". This didn’t impress "The Boss" and he was
even less impressed when Ben returned without "the lazy twins".
"Chris said she hadn’t seen them this morning and she didn’t hear anyone
come in at an odd hour last night either. So, it looks like they’ve
disappeared" Ben said, joking about the last part.
* * * * *
Jack and Jo woke up with their heads resting against each other’s in Bill’s
car. The car was locked and Bill and his friend had gone. They were out
woopwoop, with no signs of civilisation in sight.
"I hope someone figures out that we’re gone soon" wished Jo, "’Coz I don’t
think I like the look or sound of your "friend" Bill". As soon as his name
was out of her mouth, Bill and his friend had returned and dragged her and
Jack out of the car and towards a shabby looking shack.

Jo and Jack had been taken to a small shed that was about the same size as
your average bathroom, (so let’s just say it is rather "cosy") and had been
there since that morning without food, or water. Jack had fallen asleep, but
the sound of Jo’s empty stomach caused him to awaken. An "Ugh!" was heard
from Jack as he realised that what had happened wasn’t a dream and that he
too was hungry. "Hey Jo? You don’t happen to have any of those smarties do
you?" he asked as his stomach took its turn to growl. "Sorry, Stretch, how
could I? You won them all remember. And even if I did I wouldn’t share them
with you" she said, sounding like a two year old. "Fine, I wouldn’t want any
anyway." He said meanly. As Jack lay down, or tried to lie down as best as
his tall structure would let him, Bill’s mate entered the shed with a glass
of water each and a slice of bread. "We couldn’t have you starve now could
we? We’d be up for murder, just like Bobby was" he said and then left them
alone again in the shed. "Thank God!" Jo exclaimed as she dug in. "I was
getting ready to start eating you" she said light- heartedly. Jack just
ignored her as she ate; he was too busy thinking about what "Mate" had said.
"…just like Bobby was". That name sounded familiar to jack, but for the life
of him he couldn’t remember why.
* * * * *
Maggie was starting to worry about what had happened to Jo and Jack. She
knew that it wasn’t like Jack or Jo for that matter, to disappear without
telling someone and for such a long period of time. "Hey Ben!" she yelled
across to him, "You didn’t hear anything strange last night did you?" she
asked, thinking that seeing as he lived in the watch-house he would have
noticed. "Sorry Mags, I didn’t get in till late last night, around 2am. I
went down to St. David’s."
"Oh well, it was worth a try." "Hey don’t worry Maggie, I’m sure they’ll
turn up soon, I mean they do have to work this afternoon" Ben reassured her.
"I hope you’re right, otherwise we may actually have to do some proper work
today," she said hoping he was right.
Later on that day, it was getting closer to Jack and Jo’s shifts and there
was still no sign of them. Maggie, as always, was worrying and she had a
strange feeling that something was wrong. She looked around the station;
everyone else appeared to be fine, getting on with their jobs. Ben was
pushing paper, PJ had disappeared into his office and The Boss was busy on
the phone yelling at some one. She got up and walked into PJ’s office, "Hey
Doyle! Any news from the missing couple?" he asked as he looked up from
whatever it was he was reading.
"No, and I’m starting to get kind of worried. I mean it’s not like Jack or
Jo to leave without telling someone" he gives her a look. "Ok..maybe it’s
like Jo, but I know Jack wouldn’t do something like that. And why would they
leave all that mess around, especially knowing that the Boss would find it?
I just doesn’t seem right," Maggie said starting to get nervous. "Look
they’re scheduled to start work in like ten minutes, if they don’t show up
then, I’ll come with you and we’ll check the pub again, ok?" he suggested,
noticing the nervousness in her eyes, hoping to reassure her. "I suppose it
will have to be." She said walking out the door.
* * * *
"Jack?" Jo said as she licked every last crumb from her plate that had once
contained a small slice of bread.
"Yeah" he said absentmindedly, still thinking about what Bill’s mate had
said. "Jack, you know something don’t you?" she said sounding a bit scared.
"I might" he said, "I think I remember who Bobby is, and the mystery guy".
Jo turned around to face him, looking scared and anxious.
"Yeah….",
"Well, I think Bobby was this guy I arrested before coming to Mt Thomas. He
was this major suspect in a murder, as Frank, that’s the other guy, said. He
was thought to have done that triple murder about four years back now in
Indented Head (it’s a real place in Victoria) remember?" he asked, making Jo
look even more frightened.
"Yeah…..".
"So, anyway he went to jail and I thought that was the end of it, anyway
about two years ago, there was another murder and it was done in exactly the
same manner as "Bobby’s" murders. It ended up that this other guy had done
all four murders and Bobby was innocent. I mean he was released, but it
looks like Bill, Frank and maybe even Bobby never forgave me for his time in
jail." Jack concluded.
"So…you think this is some sort of revenge?" Jo asked not really wanting to
hear the answer.
Jack hesitated for a moment pondering what Jo had just said; "It looks that
way".