I sucked back a sob, the images playing through my head giving me an extra burst of speed I hadn’t been capable of a moment ago.
Ahead, I could see the hot-pink, fluorescent Dazzle sign. Four men stood beneath it. Three wore long, black, leather coats. I was still too far away to make out detail, but the silhouette fitted that from the bar the other night.
The stockier one reached into his pocket and I let out a yelp of fear. I mean I knew Billy was trained. I knew he was probably capable of disarming someone before they even realised it had happened. But he was unarmed and my protective instincts were taking over.
I was still too far away to shoot. I snorted in frustration. I was always too far away to shoot. I had just as much chance of hitting the Dazzle sign swinging above their heads as I did one of them.
He pulled his hand back out of his jacket and held it out to Billy. Billy reached out, took whatever was being offered, and stuffed it into his pocket.
I slowed to a walk, my breathing coming in ragged gasps. It didn’t seem to be the confrontation Bruce had indicated.
The taller man nodded, then held out his hand. Billy shook it, then the three men walked to a Jaguar parked in a tow-away zone and hopped into it. Billy watched as the car pulled out and drove away.
‘Hey you.’ I had managed to get my breathing back under control.
‘Chanel.’ His face lit up as he swung towards me.
‘Who were they?’ I nodded my head in the direction of the departing car.
‘No one of importance,’ he said.
I must had had my I-don’t-believe-you-do-you-really-think-I-am-that-stupid look on my face, cause he laughed and added, ‘Three guys who thought they could muscle in on some of the profit at Dazzle. I managed to convince them we didn’t need any extra security.’ He made air quotes around the word security.
‘They were trying to blackmail Bruce?’
‘They didn’t come right out and say it, but it sounded like that’s where they were heading when I arrived.’
‘And they’re gone? No need to worry about them?’
‘They’re gone.’ He reached out, picked up my hand and tugged me towards him.
I glanced over my shoulder. It wouldn’t do to be caught smooching in uniform. I’m sure even Trent would give me a warning if I did something stupid like that.
‘Chanel.’ Bob waved his arms at me from further up the road.
I dropped Billy’s hand and backed up a little. Nothing to see here.
‘Chanel.’ Bob leant over and put his hands on his knees.
‘Is he okay?’ Billy took a few steps in Bob’s direction.
‘Possibly having a heart attack.’
‘Should we do something?’
‘Bob,’ I yelled. ‘Bruce just offered us free burgers for dinner.’
Bob straightened like a badly-handled puppet. ‘What about fries?’
‘Of course,’ I yelled. Bruce owed me a couple of burgers and fries for the number of years he’d just taken off my life. ‘If you’re extra good I’ll see if I can get him to make you a milkshake.’
A smile spread across Bob’s chubby cheeks and he started to trot in our direction.
‘Nah,’ I said to Billy. ‘He’s going to be fine.’
***
‘Hello, Pumpkin.’ Harry pulled me to him and kissed me on the top of my head.
I leaned into him, relaxing against his solid frame. ‘Hey Dad.’ I was still getting used to having a father.
‘Dad.’ Billy gave Harry a hug that encompassed me as well.
Mum appeared in the hallway. She looked stunning in a crème jumpsuit, a single pearl on a silver chain, and a pair of crème pumps. ‘Chanel. Billy. Oh, and Cocoa.’
She knelt down and held her arms out and Cocoa tugged on his lead. I released him and he sprinted towards her, leaping into her arms with a ruff.
‘Who’s my good boy?’ She picked him up and carried him inside. ‘Grandma’s got a special treat for you.’
‘Come through,’ Harry said. ‘The drinks are cold and waiting.’
Billy and I followed them through to the lounge. I paused to admire the amazing view out over the city. It seemed that everybody in my life except me had an amazing view. My little apartment had a couple of windows that looked out at the building next door. Maybe this was the difference having a life plan made?
‘Champagne?’ Harry plucked a bottle from a silver bowl full of ice.
Veuve. My favourite. Not that I ever bought it for myself. I had to rely on Mum and Dad to keep me in supply.
‘What’s the celebration?’ I asked as Harry handed out the glasses.
‘I’ve had my charges dropped.’ Mum looked up from giving Cocoa a pig’s ear. He grabbed it from her hand and raced over to the plush, furry bed she had bought him.
‘Did you get caught speeding again?’ I watched as he settled into his bed and began chewing his treat.
‘No silly.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘The manslaughter charges.’
‘Well, in all fairness, I don’t think any charges were ever laid.’
She let out a laugh. ‘Darling. When are you going to learn that you shouldn’t let minor technicalities get in the way of a great story?’ She leaned over to clink her glass against Billy’s and then mine. When she got to Harry, she added a kiss to the clink.
I took a sip of my champagne while I waited for her to finish. Their overt displays of affection didn’t faze me anymore. I was pretty sure that had something to do with me finally being happy, but I wasn’t sure what that said about my personality. Petty? Selfish?
‘Anyway,’ she said when she broke away from their lip lock, ‘to celebrate we’re going to Spain.’
‘Spain?’
‘Well, we’ll start in Spain. That’s where Liss and Thor are. And then we’ll just see where the summer takes us.’
‘So you’re not leaving till the end of the year?’ Billy asked.
‘Oh sorry, my bad,’ she said. ‘No, the European summer. I’m thinking Greece and Italy.’
‘And I want to take Tess to Paris,’ Harry said.
‘The most romantic city in the world.’ Mum batted her eyelids at Harry and leaned in for another kiss.
Paris. I let out a sigh and shuffled back on the couch. I would love to go to Paris. Suddenly a long, cold winter in Sydney seemed very unappealing.
‘Hey.’ Billy pushed a strand of hair which had escaped my ear, back into position. ‘We’ll get there someday.’
I turned to look at him.
‘Paris,’ he said. ‘We’ll go. We’ll go anywhere you want.’
‘Oh, goodie.’ Mum clapped her hands together. ‘We were hoping you’d feel like that.’ She turned to Harry. ‘Do you want to do it or shall I?’
‘You do it, Love.’
She jumped off the couch and practically ran to the office. When she came back she held an envelope in her hands. ‘Happy Birthdays,’ she said.
‘My birthday was in January,’ I said. Billy’s was coming up, but it was a few months away yet.
‘Oh fine. Merry Christmas.’
‘It’s July.’
She let out a long suffering sigh and turned to Harry. ‘See what I had to put up with all those years?’
He laughed. ‘She must have been a trying teenager.’
‘That’s a very kind way of phrasing it.’ She turned back to me. ‘Chanel. Just take the envelope.’
I reached out and plucked the envelope from her. ‘I wish you had told us we were doing Christmas in July,’ I said as I tugged at the edge of the envelope flap.
Billy picked a knife off the table and handed it to me. I slipped it under the edge and down the length of the envelope. When I had it open, I pulled out the pieces of paper inside and held them so Billy could also read them.
‘Plane tickets?’ I looked up at her.
Billy let out a low whistle. ‘First class plane tickets.’
‘What?’ I looked back down at the tickets. He was right. �
��Mum. Dad. This is too much.’
‘Please.’ Mum shooshed a hand at me. ‘It’s just money.’
‘And we can’t put a price on having you both in our lives,’ Harry said. ‘It would mean the world to us if you met us in Europe.’
I looked back at the tickets.
‘They’re open ended,’ Mum said. You can fly to any destination whenever you want.’
‘I’m not sure if I’ll be able to take time off work.’
‘Nonsense. I checked with Werner and he said you’ve got three weeks owing to you.’
‘Who’s Werner?’
‘Superintendent Scottsdale.’
I let out a gasp. ‘Mother. You asked the Superintendent to see if I had leave owing?’ I sat back and put my hands over my face.
Oh the shame. My mother was treating the head of the Police Force like an admin clerk.
‘What?’ she said. ‘He was happy to help. What with me getting a Bravery Award and all that. He said it was the least he could do.’ She smirked.
‘Back up. You’re getting a Bravery Award?’
‘Your mother is officially a hero.’ Harry reached out and took her hand. ‘Not that she needs an award for me to know that,’ he said. ‘That’s the second time she’s saved my life.’
Billy cleared his throat. ‘Second time?’
‘Oh.’ Harry’s face flushed a faint shade of pink. ‘Well, she saved me from a broken heart you know.’
‘Oh,’ Billy said. ‘And I thought you were talking about the time you were kidnapped by the Italian Mafia.’
‘You know about that?’ Harry sat up straight and glanced at Tess.
‘Mum told me.’ Billy shrugged. ‘I wanted to know what had happened to my biological Dad. She told me all about the money that went missing and how the Mafia had come and started killing people.’
‘That’s not totally correct,’ Harry scratched at the side of his head. ‘It turned out it wasn’t just the Mafia doing the killing.’ He drummed his fingernails on the table. ‘How did she know about the warehouse? We all swore an oath.’
‘Riley told her.’ Billy shrugged. ‘They had a thing for a while.’
‘Hmmmph.’ Harry placed both of his hands flat on the table and stared at the back of them. ‘I didn’t know that.’
‘Anyway,’ Mum took a sip of her champagne, ‘there’s an Award Ceremony in a couple of weeks and we’re leaving for Spain after that. You shouldn’t leave it too much longer or it will be cold again.’
I looked down at the pieces of paper I had placed on the coffee table and a thrill of excitement ran through me. Europe. I was going to go to Europe. And even more thrilling, I was going to go with Billy.
A scene of us strolling hand-in-hand through Paris, wearing matching berets, started to roll in my head. Lazy mornings spent over coffee and croissants. Nights at intimate restaurants.
‘We could go to Rome too,’ Billy said.
I added in pizza, pasta and Roman ruins to my day dream.
‘Darling, will you help me with dinner.’ Mum stood and Harry followed her into the kitchen.
‘We should sort out some dates,’ I said to Billy. ‘I can put my leave application in tomorrow.
Billy shifted on the couch. ‘Would you mind if we leave it for a few more weeks?’
‘Why?’ I could feel a pout forming.
‘I just started a new job. I’d like to be there for a few weeks before I ask for time off.’
‘But, it’s Bruce.’
‘Who has made me Head of Security,’ he said. ‘Even a few weeks is not a lot of time to be in a new job before you ask for time off.’
‘We are going to go, right?’
‘Of course.’ He reached out and squeezed my hand. ‘Of course we’ll go. Just give me a few weeks to do some training with the rest of the team. Then we’ll ask for time off.’
‘Okay,’ I grumbled. ‘But it’d better only be a few weeks.’
‘You’re so cute when you’re grumpy.’ He reached out and slung an arm around me.
‘I’m not grumpy,’ I said.
‘You are,’ he replied. ‘But I know a way to remedy that.’
‘You do? Ohh.’ My pout fled as he pulled me to him and whispered a kiss against my lips.
‘We will go Chanel,’ he murmured, his lips nibbling along my jawline. ‘You just need to trust me on this one.’
‘’Kay,’ I sighed. I was pretty much putty in the man’s hands when he kissed me like this. And although I thought I knew Bruce well enough to know he wouldn’t mind, if waiting made Billy happy, I’d comply.
***
‘Babe.’ Billy had his business voice on.
‘Good news,’ I said. ‘I just checked with the admin clerk and if I do wait another month to submit leave I’ll actually be able to get four weeks off.’
There was a pause at the other end that had me wondering if Billy was still there, but finally he said, ‘That’s great. See, I told you it would be better if we waited.’
‘You were right,’ I conceded.
‘I gotta go,’ he said. ‘Love you, oh and hey, I’ll be home a little later tonight. Got to sort out some stuff.’
‘Training the guys?’
‘Something like that.’
‘Bye.’
‘Bye, gorgeous.’
I glanced around for Bob as I stuffed my phone back into the vest pocket. It was a tight fit now I had upgraded my phone to a plus size. Bob was chatting to a couple of women. One of them was pushing a pram.
I wandered over and peered into the pram. Eyes, set like sapphires in a pudgy face, regarded my sombrely. ‘Hello little fellow.’ I extended my hand towards him and he reached out and grabbed it, his tiny fist curling around my finger. He tugged me towards him and stuck my finger in his mouth.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ His mother reached down and detangled my hand from her offspring. ‘He’s teething. Everything he touches goes straight into his mouth.’
She tutted as she searched through the edges of his blanket, finally emerging with a teething ring. She handed it to her son, who gurgled and promptly stuck it into his mouth.
‘He’s adorable,’ I said, squeezing his foot through the blanket.
‘Yes, he is.’ She leaned down and tickled his belly and the teething ring fell out as he flapped his hands and let out a bubbling chuckle. ‘Yes, you’re adorable aren’t you?’ she coo-ed.
‘So if you see anything suspicious, ‘Bob was saying to the other lady, ‘just make sure you ring us. That’s what we’re here for. In fact, perhaps I should give you my personal number just in case you have trouble.’
I snorted and turned back to the baby. Watching Bob trying to pick up was always amusing, but this time he was punching far above his weight range. The blonde was wearing work-out gear, so I knew she had a rocking body. The majority of her face was covered in designer sunglasses, but her lips were full, and her cheekbones high. I was guessing her face was as perfect as the rest of her.
‘I don’t live in King’s Cross,’ she said. ‘I’ve just come to visit my sister and nephew. However….’ She paused and shifted from one foot to the other. ‘Perhaps we could grab a coffee sometime?’
I’m not sure who was more stunned, Bob or I.
‘Or if you’d prefer not to,’ she mumbled, mistaking Bob’s slack-face, open-jawed expression for one of disinterest, ‘it doesn’t really matter.’
‘He’d love to.’ I kicked him in the back of the leg. ‘Wouldn’t you Bob?’
‘Yyyyesss,’ he stammered. ‘I’d love to. Have a coffee that is. With you.’
‘Oh.’ Her perfect lips pulled apart in a smile revealing an even more perfect set of teeth. ‘Ummm. I don’t have a pen. Shall I put my number into your phone?’
‘Sure.’ Bob’s hands trembled as he fumbled for his phone.
‘I’m Sasha,’ she said, as she took the phone from him.
I leaned down to admire the little boy and his Mum stuck her head next to mine.
‘But,’ I whispered back, ‘she’s beautiful.’
‘Confidence doesn’t always come with looks.’ She shrugged. ‘He’s a good guy, right?’
‘One of the best.’
She reached out and tucked the blanket more firmly around her child. He was kicking his legs while he sucked on his teething ring and had almost got them free. ‘Good.’ She nodded and stood back up.
‘Do you mind if I ring you tonight, when I get off work?’ Bob clutched his phone with both hands.
‘That would be lovely.’ Sasha’s brilliant smile was back.
‘Come on,’ Sasha’s sister said, ‘want to get this one home and into bed. It’s nap time.’
‘Bye Bob.’
‘Bye Sasha.’
They stared over their shoulders at each other as we walked apart. I grabbed Bob’s arm to guide him around a post. I mean, it would have been hysterical if he had tripped, but I didn’t want him making a dick of himself in front of Sasha. I know I liked to laugh at him, but he was like a goofy big brother and I also wanted to see him happy.
‘Come on, Romeo,’ I said. ‘Let’s get a six pack and take you back to the station.’
He was going to be totally useless for the rest of our shift, I could tell. And I feared if I didn’t get some sugar into him fast, he might just go into shock.
The corner store that sold the Krispy Kreme donuts required a slight deviation in our path, but it still only took us five minutes to get back.
I led Bob into the back offices and sat him down with the donut box. He just stared at it.
‘Come on, Big Boy.’ I opened the box.
‘She said yes,’ he mumbled.
‘She certainly did.’ I trotted into the little kitchenette and turned on the jug. Bob liked coffee first thing in the morning and when we were trying to stay awake on a night shift, but when he was about to consume a large quantity of sugar, he preferred tea.
I found a clean mug and dropped a tea bag into it, then pulled the milk out of the fridge.
‘Who said yes?’ Dave hooked his thumb over his shoulder, pointing towards where Bob sat, still staring without seeing at the open donut box.
Billy Page 5