A new Home and Away promo has revealed that Cash and Jo will track down Brax and Ricky next week as they search for Tane.
Last week, Tane (Ethan Browne) left his life in Summer Bay behind, having smashed his phone, assumed a new identity and jumped on a flight to Western Australia.
Facing a stint in jail after being set up by Kerrie (Sara Wiseman), Tane was encouraged to flee by Mackenzie (Emily Weir), who used her brother and former River Boy Dean (Patrick O’Connor) to organise his disappearing act.
Meanwhile, in WA, we saw Brax (Stephen Peacocke) and Ricky (Bonnie Sveen) for the first time in a decade as they lived in hiding in a remote ranch near the town of Exmouth.
When Brax got the call from Dean, he knew he needed to help, despite Ricky’s protestations that it could be putting their lives in danger.
While Brax was cleared of the death of Dean Sanderson (Kevin Kiernan-Molloy) and in theory left Summer Bay a free man back in 2016, it seems he never officially cleared his name after escaping prison
So, he and Ricky are now living in hiding in beautiful Western Australia with 10-year-old Casey (Austin Cutliffe).
Brax and Tane met up in the Perth CBD, and while Tane initially failed to convince Brax that he was worthy of his help, Brax eventually relented and took Tane to his sprawling cattle ranch, where he lives with Ricky and Casey.
Meanwhile, back in the bay, Cash (Nicholas Cartwright) soon realised that Tane had skipped town after he missed his bail check-in.
Heading to the Parata house, Cash was furious when he discovered that Tane’s clothes had gone, his phone was smashed on the floor, and his ankle monitor had been detached and was plugged in in the corner.
Cash almost immediately realised that Mackenzie (Emily Weir) would’ve been involved in his disappearance, knowing of Dean’s River Boy links, and warned her that she was just making Tane’s situation worse by encouraging him to hide.
Meanwhile, David (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) discovered that Tane had skipped bail, and ordered Cash to put out a nationwide warrant for his arrest.
Mackenzie refused to admit to Cash that she’d had any involvement in Tane’s disappearence, but when Jo got word that Mac had likely helped her boyfriend escape, she pleaded with her to let her know where Tane was.
When Jo explained that she was prepared to leave her life in Summer Bay behind and join Tane in hiding, Mac eventually relented and told Jo that all she knew was that Tane was in Western Australia, somewhere near the town of Exmouth.
As Cash later turned up at the beach house to find Jo with her bag packed, he knew exactly what she was up to.
He managed to talk her into telling him what she knew, assuring her that the best outcome for Tane was for Cash to be the first police officer to find him, so he could convince him to return to Summer Bay and turn himself in.
Cash then set about investigating, telling Jo that they could check the CCTV in the local airports and get the local police to help them out.
Jo insisted that he couldn’t, reminding him that she only told him what she knew because Cash said that he needed to be the first cop to find Tane.
“Maybe stop thinking like a cop and acting like the friend you said you are,” she told him.
Cash soon agreed not to involve the WA police, and revealed that he’d be heading to the state himself.
He turned Jo down when she demanded to go with him, but he eventually relented when she turned up at Cash and Eden’s (Stephanie Panozzo) place with her bags packed and flight booked.
Now, a new promo has shown that Cash and Jo will soon manage to track down Ricky, Brax and Tane, potentially putting all three of them at risk of time behind bars.
“They’ve been in hiding… until now” is how the dramatic promo begins.
The promo shows Cash and Jo walking around the local towns, showing a picture of Tane to the locals in the hope that someone recognises him.
By coincidence, they soon bump into Ricky in Coral Bay, oblivious to her identity and history in Summer Bay.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to startle ya,” Cash says as he approaches Ricky from behind. “I was wondering if you had seen this man around.”
Ricky feigns innocence, telling Cash that “he doesn’t look familiar”, but the brief encounter sends her spiralling.
She rushes back to the ranch, where she rips into Tane.
“How the hell do they know you’re here?” she asks after Tane explains that Cash is just a friend…
But everything changes as he adds the final important detail – “He’s a cop!”
“Do you have any idea what’s at stake?” Ricky asks, furious that Tane has led the police right to them after a decade of being on the run.
As we see a blue SUV driving along a beachside road – with Cash and Jo inside as they continue to scour the region – Ricky starts preparing to escape once again.
“Start packing your things” she tells Tane as she gets on the phone to Brax and orders him to “get back here now. The cops are sniffing around.”
Back at the beach, Cash is still asking locals for help when he spots Brax.
While he doesn’t recognise the former River Boy leader by his face, the striking ‘Blood and Sand’ tattoo emblazoned across his chest immediately jumps out at him, and he knows he’s found the man hiding Tane.
“Are you sure he’s a River Boy?” Jo asks after Cash fills her in.
“Yes, I’m sure, he’s got the tattoo,” Cash explains. “This is the break we’ve been waiting for.”
We then see Cash and Jo’s blue SUV following Brax’s white pickup from a distance as he returns to his ranch.
Armed with the knowledge that they’re at risk of being caught, Brax presumably comes up with a plan to move Tane and his family elsewhere.
“Stay out of trouble,” Ricky tells Brax as he and Tane leave in the pickup.
“You know me!” Brax replies.
However, as the pair drive up the dirt path away from the ranch, Cash steers the ute out of the scrubland where they’ve been lying in wait, and drives straight into their path.
Brax brakes hard, as he and Tane look up to see Cash and Jo staring at them from the other car.
They’ve been caught!
Can Cash convince Tane to do the right thing and return to Summer Bay?
And what will happen to Brax, Ricky and Casey now that they’ve finally been caught after a decade on the run?
We already know that Brax and Ricky will make a return to Summer Bay for the first time since 2016, as actors Stephen Peacocke and Bonnie Sveen were spotted at Sydney’s Palm Beach last year, filming scenes alongside Austin Cutliffe.
Next Wednesday, teaser spoilers reveal that “Brax dreams of a better life.”
With Tane set to return to Summer Bay after his brief stint in WA, will Brax take the opportunity to return to New South Wales and clear his name once and for all?
We also know that if Tane does face time behind bars, it won’t be for long. Actor Ethan Browne has been spotted filming at Palm Beach in recent weeks, suggesting that he’ll soon return to his previous life in Summer Bay.
The synopsis for next Thursday’s episode reveals that “David’s gifted an important clue” – has someone finally thought to check the baby monitor for proof that Kerrie was the one to plant the packet of white powder under Archie’s cot?
