Coby righted his chair and sat back down, seemingly unsure on what to say for once.
“You…he…” He cleared his throat and tried again. “I see you two together. I see you look at him and him look at you, and it’s like...that’s how it’s supposed to be. You both share a joy of simply being in the same room as the other. Two people who can be loved just for being who they are is a special thing, honey, and I see that potential in the two of you.”
My mouth opened and closed like a fish as his words sank in, and I frowned in confusion. “You see all that? Why, if you see all that, would you not choose that for me?”
“His job, the work we do, it’s not safe. I know he wouldn’t ever deliberately hurt you, but if one day he was to never come home...”
My heart pounded at his words. It was not something I hadn’t thought of, but pushing it to the back of your mind and hearing it vocalised from someone else were two different things.
“You’ll have to trust me to make the decisions that are right for me. I know it’s not an easy task, considering my past decisions have been downright woeful,” I conceded, thinking of Wild Renny and Asshole Kellar, “but in this...you don’t get a say.” I held up a hand as he started to interrupt me. “I don’t say that to piss you off or shut you out. I believe that no one chooses who they love, so if you don’t get a say, I don’t get a say. The only thing I can control is what I choose to do with those feelings, and I’m tired of being too afraid to trust them.”
I sat back in my chair feeling completely wrung out. I needed chocolate and I needed this chat over with because I didn’t deal well with emotion. Lying to myself, pushing things down into the dark recesses where I couldn’t think on them, flippant remarks, I wasn’t above any of it.
“It’s not just you I’m worried about.”
He was worried about Jared? Did he think I was going to stomp all over him?
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Coby sighed and waved his hand. “Nothing.” He had a look that told me he was keeping something from me.
“You’re keeping something from me.”
“It’s not my place to tell you, Evie.”
Coby eyeballed my phone as it buzzed and vibrated across the table.
J: Okay then. Did you take your pill?
Shit.
I wasn’t popping it in front of Coby, no way.
“Evie.” Coby cleared his throat as though embarrassed. “I know I don’t need to discuss the birds and the bees, but promise me you’ll be safe.”
I gave him a suspicious look. Did he read my message somehow?
“We’re not going there,” I announced with as much authority as I could muster.
E: No. Remind me later?
J: You can’t take it now?
E:Negative.
I stood up and walked into the kitchen to get the second bottle of wine out of the fridge. “Jared and I are just taking things slow anyway.”
Carrying it back to the table, Coby gave me a look of disbelief as I added more to his glass. “Right,” he stated dryly. “Do you think that Jared is on your page?”
Absolutely not. After what had gone down the past few days, it appeared that Jared was heading towards Relationship Hyperdrive.
“Let’s go sit on the couch and watch a movie,” I suggested instead of answering the question.
“Okay,” he agreed.
This, obviously, signified the end of the chat, and I felt so pathetically grateful I staggered to the couch and collapsed on it like a starfish.
Sound blasted from the surround speakers as Coby shoved me over to make room on the couch, wine in one hand, remote in the other.
“What are we watching?” I asked tiredly as I felt my eyelids droop.
I heard my phone buzz from somewhere but the couch and I had already become one.
“I thought we could watch The Notebook.”
I sat up excitedly, all tiredness immediately forgotten. “Really?”
He snorted. “No. We’re not watching that rubbish.”
I relaxed back into the couch, wondering why it appeared all men had it in for that movie. My last thought before my eyes drifted closed was that perhaps it was because Ryan Gosling set the bar too high.
* * *
Coby kept frowning into the rear view mirror as he drove.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
My head thumped as I asked the question because I was suffering the Barnacle Hangover. It was like someone bashing my head with a hammer, and no matter how many painkillers I took and no matter how big my sunglasses were―and they almost covered my entire face―the hangover latched on and refused to let go.
We were cruising down Mount Street in my Hilux to the duplex so I could get changed and pack a beach bag, though at the moment crawling under my doona and staying there until the end of time sounded like an excellent idea.
“I’m not sure,” he murmured as he continued to frown at the rear view mirror. “I think someone might be following us.”
“Pffft.” I snorted. “You James Bond types are a suspicious lot. How close is our tail? Can you see if he has a mouthful of metal teeth?”
I laughed at my own joke, and then hissed when my head pounded painfully.
Coby rolled his eyes at my lameness before continuing to eye the rear view mirror. I ignored his daft antics and flipped my seat back so I could recline in all my hungover glory. I felt the car pull to the curb and peeked one eye open.
Coby picked up his phone from the centre console and began dialling. As it rang, he put it on speaker and pulled back out into traffic.
“Coby,” I heard someone answer. “Aren’t you supposed to be lying on a beach right about now?”
“Frank. We were on our way to Evie’s, but I think we might have had a tail.”
Who would be tailing us in my car?
“Make, model, rego number?” Frank asked, sounding very capable.
“Toyota Camry, silver,” Coby replied before rattling off the registration number. “Can’t see it now but I don’t want to take any chances driving to Evie’s place if we’re followed there.”
“I’ll run it. Call you back.” Frank hung up.
Coby drove down to the end of the street, turning left again and heading in the totally opposite direction of both my house and the beach.
I sighed. So much for our day out together, and I owed Mac shoes for this. “Who’s Frank?”
“Frank’s the operations manager, heads up the office control room,” he answered as we sped down Coogee Bay Road.
I raised my eyebrows. “You have a control room? Do you have a watchtower? And a moat?” I snickered.
Coby ignored my inane questions and pressed a button when his phone rang. “Yeah?”
“You know a Sarah Jenkins?” Frank asked.
Coby was silent for a moment. “Nope.”
He gave me a quick glance. “Do you?”
I shook my head.
“That’s who the car is registered to. I’ll keep digging. You coming in?”
“Yep. See you in twenty,” Coby replied.
“Righto.” Frank hung up.
Wow, did this mean I finally got to visit the Batcave? Not even Mac had visited the Batcave yet. I could dine on this for weeks.
Coby looked at my gleeful expression as we stopped at the lights. “What?”
I shrugged and tried to look blank. “Nothing,” I replied and grabbed my phone to message Mac.
E: Guess what, Macface?
M: You’re pregnant and eloping with Jared?
Oh shit. I didn’t take my pill last night. I told Jared I was unreliable. I checked my messages and saw that he both messaged and rang me last night, and I’d missed both. How did that happen?
E: No, I’m on my way to the Batcave!
When we pulled into the underground car park of a two storey nondescript building in Darlinghurst, just outside the city centre near Hyde Park and the Sydney Police Centre, I felt like I litera
lly deflated. I was hardly expecting a real life version of Get Smart’s control headquarters, but this was, well, not exciting.
M: Holy shit. How did you manage that?
Coby parked and turned the engine off, starting to get out of the car as I madly messaged Mac back.
E: Gotta go. Can’t talk now.
Coby eyeballed me impatiently. “Coming?”
I hit send and winced when I lifted the sunglasses to my head. I promptly lowered them back on my face as I staggered out of the car. Doing a scan of the car park, my heart skipped a beat seeing Jared’s black Porsche parked two cars down. I had a thing for hot cars, and this one was definitely a car that suited the man.
I followed Coby up the inside stairs and into a plush carpeted reception area via a side door. A young looking guy that I could only describe as pretty with his short black hair, blue eyes, and long black lashes, was manning the sleek dark desk and looked up as we came through.
“Hey, Coby.” He gave a small wave. “Oh, this must be Genevieve,” he squealed and came running out from behind the desk to wrap me in hug. “The two of you look so much alike,” he gushed.
“Uh,” I managed as he hugged me in a vice grip while my arms were trapped at my sides. If he wasn’t so little, I would have expected him to actually lift me up and start swinging me from side to side with his enthusiasm.
Coby grinned at me. “This is Tim. Tim, this is my little sister Evie.”
Tim pulled back, grabbing both my hands in his. “I can’t believe I get to meet the big bad rock star!” he gushed again, pumping my hands about in excitement before letting them go.
I waved my hand about in mock weariness. “No autographs please.”
He pouted. “A photo then?”
Coby rolled his eyes at us. “Maybe later. We need to get upstairs.”
Tim shooed him away. “Go then. I’ll show Evie about and bring her up in a minute.”
Coby looked at me and I nodded to say I was fine.
“Okay,” he muttered and disappeared through a door behind the reception desk.
“Oh, I like your jeans. Are they Sass and Bide?”
I was still wearing last nights outfit of jeans and a loose satin dark blue top with little silver chains that dangled from one side to the other all the way down the front. “Yeah, they’re my favourites.”
He nodded approvingly at my outfit. “You have good taste. We should go shopping together.”
I agreed. The more numbers you had, the more terrain that could be covered. Shopping was like preparing for battle, you needed to strategise, plan targets, assign buddy’s, spread out, coordinate food stops, and finish on the high of spending money you hadn’t yet earned.
We exchanged phone numbers and Tim took my hand. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
The phone rang.
“Blasted phone,” he muttered. “Hang on. Jamieson and Valentine Consulting, Tim speaking. One moment please.” Pushing a set of buttons he said, “Geoff on line two,” then hung up.
He put a little phone headset on, hit a button, and turned to me. “Kitchen, coffee, biscuits. Let’s go.”
I followed because the pretty boy spoke my language. He led me through the door Coby had disappeared behind and past a row of five large open style offices.
Tim pointed at each as he led me past them. “That’s Coby’s desk, Travis, Jared, Casey, and Carol.”
They were all empty. “Where is everyone? Who’s Carol?”
He led me into a large kitchenette out back that housed a couple of lounges, a casual dining table, a fridge, and a kitchen bench that ran along one wall with a coffee machine, microwave, and sink.
“Travis, Coby, and Jared are upstairs. Casey's overseas on assignment. Carol is our office manager. She’s out running errands. Coffee?”
“Tea, please,” I asked as I took a sticky beak in the fridge to find nothing but milk. I waved my hand at the vast emptiness. “This is woeful. What do you eat?”
Tim rolled his eyes. “We never know who is going to be here at any given time, so we order in lunch each day once we do a head count. We do have fruit.” He indicated to a large bowlful with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.
I raised a brow. “Jared’s doing?”
I got the milk out and handed it over as Tim gave me a speculative look. “You and Jared are dating, aren’t you?”
“Is this a trick question? What if I say yes?”
He finished making the tea and opened a cupboard, giving a furtive look left and right. “Because I have these...” he half pulled out a packet of Tim Tams “...or you can have an apple,” he said in disgust, “if that’s what you want.”
The phone rang and Tim pressed a button on his headset. “Jamieson and Valentine Consulting, Tim speaking.” I absconded the packet of Tim Tams from his hands and made a mad dash for the couch. It wasn't really a mad dash, but if I wasn’t under the effects of the Barnacle Hangover it would have been.
“Casey is out of the country at the moment. Is the matter urgent or can I take a message?” He moved to a notepad and pen by the fridge. “Of course. I’ll be sure to let him know.” He hung up, grabbed the tea and coffee, and came to settle on the couch next to me.
I had half a Tim Tam packed away already, and he gave me an approving look. “Well you pass the test, but I don’t foresee fun times ahead for you and Jared.”
“Tell me about it,” I agreed around a mouthful of chocolate biscuit. “The whole idea of it makes me break out in a clammy sweat.”
He took in my mournful expression and patted my hand in sympathy, confiding that it was always a good lunch day when Jared wasn’t in the office.
“So what’s upstairs?” I asked as I took a cautious sip of hot tea.
“The control room, an overnight room, and a gym.” He dunked his biscuit in his coffee and took a bite, swallowing before he explained, “The control room is where they plan and run their operations from. Frank works up there along with five others who assist in just about everything. The overnight room has a few bunk beds and a small en suite for when they pull overnighters, and the gym is here because they’re always working, so it’s convenient.”
“Working hard, Tim?” a loud voice came from the doorway.
Tim shrieked from being startled, and the Tim Tam packet went flying up in the air. All eyes swivelled to watch it fall face up on the floor.
“Crap,” Tim muttered.
Jared was standing just inside the door with his arms folded, casually leaning up against the doorway, amusement flickering in his eyes. He was wearing a pair of dark denim jeans, a fitted white t-shirt, navy jacket, and brown boots, but he’d trimmed his hair.
My face fell in disappointment.
“Hey, baby.” He grinned at me and stalked across the room. “I was waiting for you to come up but...” he gave a pointed glance at the biscuit packet “...I see you had other priorities.”
I put my tea down on the side table, and Jared yanked me up off the couch and planted his lips hard on mine. I whimpered and I wasn’t sure if it was because my head was going to wobble off or because the feel of Jared pressed up against me was more delicious than my feeble body could stand.
He moaned as I wound my arms around his neck and opened my mouth to let his tongue slip inside.
“I’ll...ah...just get back to the front desk,” Tim muttered from somewhere far away.
Lips still locked, Jared turned me around and sank down on the couch, pulling me with him. I shifted so I straddled his lap and met his tongue with my own. The kiss swiftly turned from tender to hot, and he broke away and sucked in a breath.
“Christ, you’re fucking hot,” he muttered as he stared at my swollen red lips.
“What?” I asked in a daze.
He looked into my eyes. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too but…” I ran my hands through the shorter silky strands.
He chuckled. “It will grow back you know.”
“Um, hi, Evie.”
/>
I twisted from my straddled position to see Travis standing in the doorway with an amused expression.
“Hi, Travis.” I flushed and tried to struggle to my feet.
Jared, sensing my efforts to take flight, wrapped his arms around me and held firm.
I gave up with a huff. Jared, happy with my lack of mobility, turned to Travis. “What do you know?”
Travis folded his arms, looking just like Jared had a few moments ago, but his expression was worried. “Frank says Sarah Jenkins is the sister-in-law of Joseph Farrell who is the recently deceased brother...” he glanced pointedly at Jared “...of Jimmy Farrell.”
Oh my God, was he that Joe? I didn’t know he’d died. Jared hadn’t mentioned anything. My hands gripped tight on his shoulders. “He died?”
“Yeah,” Jared murmured. “Shit!” His voice grew louder. “Do you think he was following Coby in Evie’s car or following Evie?”
“Fuck. I don’t know. It could be either,” Travis said unhappily.
“Why would he be following me?” I asked in confusion. I didn’t even know the man.
“Coby and I were both on scene at the time Joe was shot. He may think Coby shot Joe and is tailing him, or I did, and he’s after you because you’re my girl,” Jared explained. He stood up and set me on my feet. “If he was smart enough, he’d just go underground, but it’s possible that he’s looking for payback.”
Travis nodded his agreement as Jared paced the room in full business mode.
“I’ll get Evie home soon and stay with her. We need a schedule to have someone on Evie at all times until Jimmy is located. Tell Frank to call Mitch. The police will need to be notified. I want everyone to drop everything that’s not urgent and get on to finding this bastard.” He swiped a hand down his face. “Shit.”
“Shit is fucking right,” Travis muttered.
“I’ll be right back, babe. Wait here and don’t worry. We’ll have this bastard locked up by days end.” Jared bent his head and with a brief touch of his lips to mine, disappeared through the door behind Travis.
Chapter Eleven
It was early, the sun just rising, and it was not a time of day I was overly familiar with or fond of. I won’t deny I enjoyed the quiet, but I was tired and the ability to get back to sleep had died a slow and painful death as I lay staring at the ceiling. Jared had been working around the clock for a week, and Jimmy was still at large. Not wishing to wake him, I sat on the front balcony of our duplex sipping a cup of tea and reflecting on the past week.
Give Me Love Page 14