"Okay, Mr Hawkins," Roy said as he settled in his chair. "Can we call you Beau?"

"Yes."

"Let's start with the local issue and move on to the missing person report, shall we?" Roy tapped his fingers on the desk and released a heavy breath. The man looked like shit. He was dirty, and unshaven and sat with his hands clasped jerking one leg up and down. "You've had a lot of people looking for you, son, people who love you, very worried but like I said we'll get to that later."

Roy turned in his chair. "Ben! How about some coffee?" He looked back at his prisoner. "Do you want some coffee, Beau? You look like you could use it."

"Yeah... thanks."

"Okay let's get this ball rolling. Fin Hamilton. Do you want to start there? Tell us how she came to be with you."

"I abducted her."

"I'd like to know why. Snake says you're a decent bloke and the Petersons wouldn't say a bad word about you," Roy said as he tried to work the guy out. He hadn't made eye contact and looked like a feral cat caught in a cage. Roy continued, "Doesn't seem right you'd just abduct someone for no reason."

Ben put the coffee down, took out his notebook and pulled up a chair. He leaned forward on his elbows to see Beau Hawkins' face and said, "Beau. Roy and I know a lot about the people in this town. We know about Fin Hamilton, her father and what's been happening. We're not blind to the Gallos. Believe me. So please be frank."

"I'm in love with her," Beau murmured. He ran a hand through his hair and lifted his head with a smile. "I reckon I fell in love with her the first time I saw Findlay hit her. I hadn't even seen what she looked like." Beau glanced at one officer, and then the other. "Is that even possible?"

He sighed and said, "I couldn't stop thinking about her. I'm not crazy. I know some people think I am. Shit there are times when I think I am but, Fin's freed me and I fucking hurt her for doing it." Tears ran down his face as he pleaded, "You need to charge me. No matter what she says you need to charge me."

"We'll get to that soon enough," Roy said. "Why'd you take her?"

"I didn't like the way her father treated her or the fact that he pissed all their money up the wall. Christ... she had to beg for every bit of credit she could get. Snake told me what the Gallos had done to her. I watched them watching her and knew there'd come a day when they'd do it again. I was afraid I wouldn't be around to help. She had no one and was so scared. Findlay's just a waste of space. What could he do?"

Beau sneered and studied each man's face. "She was in the supermarket and Rees Gallo had her against the shelves telling her, he and Jonno were going to take turns of her that night. I went to Snakes Bar and waited. When they grabbed her again, I stepped in. They had her in the back of their Ute. Jonno. Fuck...!" Beau covered his face with his hands and took a breath. "The bastard had his cock out. They'd ripped her shirt and stripped her pants off. Rees held her down with his hand over her mouth so I laid them out. I put her in her car and followed her home. It wasn't my intention to take her but the rain started and I knew I'd be flooded in, so on the spur of the moment I took her to keep her safe." Beau shook his head, and then whispered, "She was. For a while."

He lifted his head, raised his voice and said, "Then like a fucking animal I lost it. She opened some private papers and I just went insane. I'm as bad as the Gallos. I fucking raped her this morning. I know I did. Like I said take swabs and you'll find me all over her."

"She won't let us." Roy looked at Beau. "She's adamant you didn't and can't understand why you're saying you did?" Roy leaned back on his chair and asked, "Were you and Fin having consensual sex before this? Was everything good between you until she looked at the papers?"

Beau nodded. He couldn't find words to describe how he felt so he took a mouthful of his coffee and hung his head again. "I know I raped her," he murmured. "I was there. She was on the bed. I hurt her. You need to lock me up."

"On what charge, Beau? She says it wasn't you. That you didn't rape her."

"She's saying that because she doesn't know the real me." Beau looked up. "Fuck! She thinks I'm someone I'm not. I killed my fucking brother. I'm a shit-stinking drug addict. Jesus, I'm so fucked up that they committed me because I'd attempted to kill myself."

Beau gasped and held out his wrists. "Twice now I've destroyed people I love. Fin's the best thing to happen to me in a long while and I hurt her. You need to lock me up."

Roy leaned forward. "We know about your brother, we read the file, but that's over now." He pushed Beau's wrists down. "I can't arrest you for abduction or rape of Fin Hamilton. Not unless Fin says you did those things to her. She says she went willingly and that she wanted to have sex with you."

"She's covered in bruises!" Beau growled, "Does that look like she was willing?"

"I'll be honest. No." Roy shrugged. "However, Fin says she slid in the wet mud and hurt herself."

The room fell silent. All three men looked at the floor. Roy took another mouthful of his coffee and then focused on Beau. "I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna keep you overnight. We need to get your face looked at. The doc will be here soon. He's delivering a baby." Roy fanned his words away. "Anyway. We'll get you cleaned up. Afterwards, you can tell us the reason you got yourself lost. Then you get to have a sleepover. That way everyone gets a chance to think about things. We'll question Fin again tomorrow. If her story stays the same, we have no choice but to let you go, though you will need to answer questions relating to you being a missing person."

Hadley sighed and shook his head. "If I were you, I'd count my blessings and make it up to her. Whatever happened between you needs to be sorted between you. She deserves an explanation. If you love her, you'll do that, Beau. Then you sort your shit with your family and move forward. The past needs to stay in the past, Beau. Take it from an old man."

Roy stood and patted Beau Hawkins' shoulder. "I need a piss. Then we'll talk some more."

Do you think Beau raped Fin?

And what is that about him killing his brother?

Thanks again for continuing to read. If you haven't voted yet, maybe you'd like to now and reward a writer with a little love. ♥

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