Page 129 of The Storm Boys Series Collection

Fuck all those arseholes.

Christ.

When Jeremiah had said he has to relive his mother dying every time that footage was played, I never really understood...

Until now.

How dare they.

How fucking dare they.

I sped the whole way to his work. I was way past caring. And of course there were news vans parked at the gate, which was, thankfully, locked.

At least they weren’t banging on his door.

I skidded the Rover to a stop, maybe a little too close to them, gaining the attention of every reporter and camera there. I got out and slammed my door, getting madder by the damn second.

They weren’t here for emergency news updates. They were here for nothin’ but gossip.

“You wanna be careful,” one cameraman said, nodding his chin to my car.

I spun and pointed my finger at him. “And you might wanna watch your fuckin’ mouth.”

No,nowI had their complete and undivided attention.

“You all come here for what?” I asked. “This office is trying to do a job, obtaining information that will save lives, and you’re all here for fuckin’ what? You wanna broadcast footage of a mother dying in front of her kid, for ratings, then expect him to, what? Come out for an interview? Every single one of you can fuck right off. You want news? Go back to your offices and wait for official bulletin releases. Or do what they suggested yesterday and leave Darwin—and just keep fucking drivin’.”

I noticed a few of them look behind me, into the yard, their eyes widening. And when I glanced back, I saw why.

Doreen was coming across the yard, whistling a cheerful tune, and swingin’ her baseball bat, just as two police cruisers arrived. “Right on time,” Doreen said as she walked up, still swingin’ her bat. “If any of you leeches had a fuckin’ brain cell between ya’s, you’d know blocking access to a government building is abigno-no.”

The cops got out, and while they began to speak to the reporters, asking them to move along, Doreen opened the gate for me.

The reporters and cameramen slowly dispersed, but not before giving me a lengthy glare and getting in their vehicles.

“Thanks, Hewy,” Doreeen said.

One of the cops, the oldest of them, gave her a nod. “No worries, Dori. You weren’t actually gonna use that bat, were ya?”

“Nah.” She winked. “Nice day for a home run, doncha reckon?”

He grinned and went back to the remaining reporters, and I looked up at Doreen. “How is he?”

She shrugged her reply, meaning not great.

So I ran across the yard and up the stairs. I pulled open the door and found him at the control panel. He’d surely been watching the security screen and seen it all. And all the anger I’d felt, that rage that had fuelled me, melted away.

“Hey,” I said gently.

His eyes met mine.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

No, he wasn’t.

I went over and spun his chair so I could kneel in front of him. “Jeremiah, baby, it’s okay to not be okay.”

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