by Neven Carr
“They stared directly at Jenna and me and grinned, then began hightailing out of there.”
“And you followed them.”
“Course. I had just seen Claudia enter the exit. Thought she’d be safe with Tallow, wanted to make sure these giant dudes didn’t follow. By the time we got your message about Tallow, well… we were some distance from any fire escape.” Scotty hesitated. “This was a failsafe assignment, Saul. How did these guys even know Claudia would use the fire escape and at that particular time? How’d they know who Jenna and I were, especially in our get-up? Either these guys were fricking lucky or you have a squealer in the ranks.”
Saul pressed the bridge of his nose. “The thought’s already crossed my mind.”
“Don’t make things easy,” Scotty said, shaking his head. “Anyway, want me to deal with Weatherly when he gets here?”
Saul’s shoulders rose and fell. “Yeah. And keep me up to date with Tallow.”
Scotty nodded, then disappeared back up the stairs.
Saul strode towards us and dropped to his haunches. His smile was warm, yet a little unsteady. “Are you two all right?”
I wasn’t sure what all right covered. If it meant, were we still alive, then I guess we were. “Yeah,” I said.
He stroked my face and winced. “I thought I lost you.” I could hear his fear, this man that seemingly feared very little.
“Sorry… still here.”
That skin-crawling noise of a crunching car snapped us apart. About two hundred yards away a black 4WD had smashed into one of the industrial bins. Intermittent sparks crackled from the vehicle. The driver’s door flew open. A man stumbled out. He swayed for a bit, then landed butt on the ground and head in hands.
I heard Saul’s name. Ethan was sprinting towards us. “There’s another one, nine o’clock,” he yelled.
Tires screamed, rubber burnt and smoke filled the air. Headlights spun around the other side of the hospital. We ran, past the creepy industrial bins, the concertina car and its half-dazed driver and around another bricked corner. Ahead, tucked amongst innocent bushland, was Saul’s Jeep. Saul chucked the keys to Ethan, almost pushed Mel into the front seat. I jumped into the back with Saul.
Ethan fired the ignition “So where was that little sucker hiding?”
“Always has to be one more,” Saul said, pulling out his gun. For the first time, I noticed it was a Walther PPK. And how did I know that exactly?
The unexpected sound of the rear window whirring caused my thinking to change directions. When it was fully down, Saul straddled it as easily as if he were brushing his teeth. He grasped the roof with one hand; held his gun with the other.
“All seatbelts on,” Ethan announced, as one piloting a Boeing 767.
My heart sped up. What was with Saul hanging out of the car?
“Ready?” Ethan.
“Ready.” Saul.
I closed my eyes and prayed for salvation. The car lurched and propelled forward.
Shit.
I had to open my eyes. And immediately wished I hadn’t. Ahead, nothing but massive tree trunks closing in fast. I flicked to Mel. She was gripping the dashboard with both hands, her knuckles an unusual shade of pale. I called out to her.
No answer.
I wanted to yell something… anything.
Ethan slammed the brakes and instantly swiveled into a forty-five degree turn. My seatbelt grabbed my chest as I snapped forward. I sucked in air; snapped back again. I shot a wary glance from my window, didn’t like what I saw. Those bright, menacing headlights, heading straight towards us. My now runaway heartbeat tortured my ears. A shot fired. Another instantly followed. Brakes shrieked, thankfully not ours.
“Now!” Saul yelled.
Ethan again burst forward, then slammed still. Another shivery, crunching noise, another concertina car bonnet, this time, hugging one of the old, thick tree trunks. I fell back into the leather seat and blew out mouthfuls of air.
“Think you only got one of those tires,” Ethan said.
Saul climbed back in, slid the safety catch on his gun and returned it to the back of his jeans. “No, Ethan, got two.”
“Nope, mate. Got two with mine, you only one.”
“You’re wrong; besides I’m the one with the clipped wing, remember?”
“Always the excuse,” Ethan revved up the engine. It sounded like a beast waiting for his master to set him free. “I presume we now get the shit out of here.”
Saul curled his arm around my shoulders and semi-smiled. “Absolutely.”
Ethan shifted the gears and with his head half way out of the window, roared a primeval, Wahoo before speeding off.
Adrenaline was running rife. I smelt it, sensed it stimulate my own stressed body.
I laughed. We were alive and it felt remarkable. Saul pulled my head towards him and kissed the top of it. From the open window, fresh, flowing air spoilt us.
That was until Mel.
“What is the fricking matter with all of you,” she shrieked from her small dark corner of the world. “I’ve been shot at, pulled, pushed, slapped, almost smashed into, and all you lot can do is cheer and laugh. You’re all bloody mad!”
Ethan flinched. “Ooo… I’m guessing you’re Mel.”
Mel scrutinized him with an expression I couldn’t fully interpret. “You?” she said. “Aren’t you the one…?”
“The one. Mmmm, I like it. What do you think, Angel? An apt title for me… ‘The One.’”
I laughed. “Definitely you, Ethan.”
Mel turned to me. “Angel? Claudia what is all this? Who is this absurd man? And why are you openly encouraging these cowboys?”
Cowboys? Had shock dulled her memory that much? “You mean, you don’t remember the guy at The Local, the one who, in your words, was ‘soooo cute’ and ‘could keep me entertained these holidays?’”
Mel studied Ethan some more. A serious shade of red colored her cheeks. “You weren’t interested in him,” she hissed.
“No, I wasn’t,” I hissed back. “As I wasn’t with the other ‘cowboy’ you practically guilt-tripped me into an appointment with, the one you also thought was very cute.”
Ethan took a sharp swerve in the road and groaned. “Ouch, mate. Don’t know about you but I’m feeling a tad crushed.”
“Totally obliterated,” Saul said.
“Far prefer devilishly good looking than… arrgh… ‘cute.’”
“I can live with ‘cute.’”
I glanced at them. Ethan focused on the road; Saul focused on me, both wearing mischievous, boyish grins.
Ethan stopped at a red light. A group of jovial, mixed-aged teens hung off each other and swaggered across the road. As he watched them, his expression changed to something strangely more solemn, like worry lines I’d never seen before, a fierce fire in his eyes.
Everyone has a story, I heard Papa say as he had so many times before. Some good, some not so good. They may want to tell you, they may not. You need to be patient, non-judgmental.
I was suddenly curious what Ethan’s story was.
The light turned green. Ethan soared off. “Don’t you girls stop because of us,” he said, sounding like his old self. “It was just getting interesting. Was even thinking of throwing in a bit of mud in case it got physical.”
He laughed. Mel crossed her arms and grunted. Surprisingly, she said no more.
Saul breathed in heavily, a semi-calm oozed from him. Ethan continued driving. And as the well-lit road darkened, I melted into Saul’s warm body and unraveled.
“Everything go well with your father?” His voice was soft, misty, smooth as the road ahead.
There was so much to tell Saul but I knew this wasn’t the time. I thanked him instead, snuggled closer to him, enjoying the special scent that was only his.
I noticed scores of insects magnetically drawn to the car. They shifted like weightless clouds worshiping the light, perhaps even the warmth; some forever trapped by its charm.
Saul’s charm had already trapped me.
Chapter 38
Saul
December 28, 2010
10:25 pm
REARDON LEANED AGAINST his car, his thumbs hooked lazily in his front pockets. He watched Claudia and Mel chat beneath a bright patio light. Small, fluttering creatures haloed their heads. From the other side of the meshed security screen, a sprightly, red-haired girl bounced and screeched “Mummy’s home.”
Claudia had freed her hair from the many pins. It spilt in soft, natural waves down her slender back and over her straight, bare shoulders. Hospital scrubs removed, she now wore a tight, pale tank shirt and cut off denims.
Reardon loved those shorts, the way they consistently showcased her tanned, lithe legs. He conjured up wayward images of those same legs wrapped around his hips, of Claudia and him moving slowly and rhythmically together. A certain part of his anatomy began reacting and he swore. Bugger if this woman didn’t do all the right things to him at all the wrong times. He shifted, whistled out a chest full of frustrated air.
“You okay there, mate?” Ethan was next to him, also pressed against the car. His arms folded squarely across his chest.
“What’d you mean?”
“You look like you’re wide-awake dreaming.”
Reardon grimaced. “You mean day-dreaming.”
“Na. Look around you. It’s night-time. No day here.” Ethan shrugged. “Wide-awake dreaming.”
“You know you’re an idiot.”
“Been called worse.”
Any lustful thoughts Reardon had quickly faded. “Who’s in the white Honda across the road?”
“Manning. She and Jonesy will take watch just for tonight; make sure no one bothers Mel or her family.”
“Trust them?”
Ethan glared at Reardon as if he had just said multiple f words at a local parish meeting. “Of course. Why?”
“Not entirely sure. It’s just the whole debacle at the hospital. I’m thinking someone tipped our doers off.”
“A mole? Amongst our guys?”
“I don’t want to believe it. But, who else knew of tonight’s plan.”
Claudia glanced at him and smiled. Reardon smiled back and tapped his watch. “It’s just that we’ve never had problems before this case.” It hurt him to say it. But there it was, the black and white truth. “Anyway, we have a killer to catch.”
Ethan stepped onto the sandy-loamed footpath; his abundant keys rattled noisily in his large hand. “Think the plan will work?”
“It has to. I need this person out of the picture before we reach Araneya.”
Reardon turned back to Claudia. She and Mel were hugging. A few words later, Claudia made her way down the broad, paved steps and along the driveway.
“See you around, cowboys,” Mel yelled, before her eager family swallowed her.
“She’s one intense chick,” Ethan said, as Claudia pulled up.
She laughed in that beautiful singsong laugh that was only hers. Reardon felt his heart melt.
“Yep,” she said. “But she’s a good friend.”
Ethan grinned, then spread out his arms. “Come here and give me a hug before you go.”
She did, nestling comfortably into Ethan’s chest.
“Glad you’re okay,” he whispered.
Something pinched Reardon, nothing major but just enough, like a small, simple ‘watch out’ sign. Reardon noted Ethan’s expression. He knew that look. He thought of Ethan’s name for Claudia.
Angel.
And he wondered.
He hoped he was bloody wrong. Complications, the three of them didn’t need.
Headlights appeared from further up the road, grew larger until they screeched to a stop across from Reardon’s car.
A black Porsche.
The door swooshed open. A willowy blonde, wearing a tightly fitted, sequined mini dress smoothed out of the car. She leaned against the opened door, pouted her lips and stared directly at Ethan.
“Annabella,” Ethan said and followed it with a heavy sigh. “Hot with a capital H.”
“You gave her a key to your car?” Reardon played the stunned guy well.
“My chauffeur for the night.” He winked at Reardon. “Got to love a woman who likes control.”
Within seconds, Ethan slid into the passenger seat of his Porsche and they sped away.
Reardon chuckled as he strode to the driver’s side of the car. Claudia was beside him in an instant. Her hand curled out towards him.
“I’m driving,” she said. “You have an arm to rest and I’m perfectly capable.”
She jutted her small, rounded chin and whipped her thick, dark eyelashes several times. If it weren’t so important for him to control the wheel, he would’ve handed her the keys in an instant.
He stroked her soft cheek; it was unusually warm, a little flushed. He grinned. “I know how capable you are. But it’s only for a short time. Once we hit the highway and put some distance behind us you can take over.”
She squinted, bit her bottom lip and watched him. She then pressed her fingers into both of his dimples. “I hate these.”
“Really? My mother loved them.”
“That’s because your mother didn’t know how dangerous they were. Either that or she didn’t mind being sucked in by them.”
Her large, dark eyes glimmered with mischief. He decided he probably loved them more than her glorious laugh and her incredibly sexy legs.
“Okay, until the highway, it is,” she said.
***
Reardon cruised along the major routes until the lights of the Sunshine Coast were mere flickers in his rear view mirror. Ahead, nothing but a serviceable bypass, and at that time of night a very dark and empty one. Just as he wanted.
“You’re up to something,” Claudia said.
“What makes you think that?”
She tilted her head to one side and sighed heavily. “I wish you could be more honest with me.”
The words struck him with some force. He had always been honest, extended it to every single individual that he helped. In fact, he took bloody pride in it. Fear, he fast learnt, was an ugly, crippling emotion. Worsened further by the unexpected, the unknown.
By keeping his clients informed with the best and the worst, not only helped reduce some of that unknown, but also prepared them mentally for whatever lay ahead.
He hadn’t prepared Claudia for tonight. He ground his teeth, something he hadn’t done in a long time, felt his eyebrows crumple. “I tried to tell you earlier.” He cringed at how weak that sounded. “You know, just before Annie came in with news of your father.”
“Tell me what?”
His chest constricted a muscle or two, made him draw breath. His gut felt as tightly wound as Claudia’s fingers appeared. “About tonight’s plan.”
“Tonight, as in now?”
“Tonight, as in soon.”
She crossed her legs and spoke without looking at him. “You could’ve told me before the hospital.” Her voice was unreadable.
“You’re right. But you already had enough to deal with. I guess it’s just my way of protecting you.”
“Something you don’t do with the others.”
“Seems that way.”
She went quiet.
“I’m sorry, Baby. It was wrong, completely reckless.” He swept his hand between the pair of them. “All this is new for me. Be patient till I work it out.”
She turned to the window, stared at the blackened shadows blurring past. When she turned back, it was with a warming smile. “I can do that.”
He returned the smile, stretched his dangerous dimples just for her.
“So tell me about tonight.”
Reardon sighed, almost wished tonight now wouldn’t happen. “I think I know who’s put the hit on you.”
Claudia’s smile collapsed. “Who?”
“Someone whom I suspect will turn up at any moment.” Reardon glanced at his r
ear vision mirror. Nothing yet.
Claudia threw a swift peek through the back window. “You mean someone will be following us?”
“Maybe.”
“And you’re okay with this?”
“Yes. Until they make a move.”
“A move? Like to kill me?”
He winced.
“Shit, Saul. Have you at least got someone following the someone following us?”
“Sort of.”
“Sort of? Fuck.”
Had Claudia ever used the word fuck before? Reardon couldn’t recall. “Ethan and I have this well-planned. And there’s still the off-chance that this person may not even show.”
“But you hope he will.”
“Naturally. I want the bastard caught. One less reason to be looking over our shoulders.” Again, he checked the mirror.
“Who is he?”
He imagined several names crossing her head about now. “I’m thinking it’s….”
Light bounced off the mirror, struck Reardon’s eyes. A set of bright headlights flashed from the bend behind them and began approaching fast. Could mean something, could mean nothing. Reardon favored the something.
“Is that him?”
“Not sure, yet.” The vehicle closed in until Reardon could barely make out the headlights. That’s when he felt the first nudge against the bumper. “Obviously this is their game.”
“To shove us off the road?” Claudia snapped both hands on the seat’s edge. “Don’t think I like this game.”
“I’m thinking more he wants us to pull over.”
“And are we?”
“Not until I’m ready.” Reardon slammed the accelerator. The tires gripped the solid, coarse bitumen and they blasted forward. Excitement rippled his skin, adrenalized his blood. How he loved the chase. One glance at the wide-eyed, transfixed Claudia, and the excitement quickly waned.
Another jolt to the bumper, this time with more impact.
Reardon’s body lurched forward.
Claudia called his name.
Something flew off the dashboard and fell to the floor.
“Baby, listen to me.” Reardon said.
Claudia appeared half-dazed. No, worse… she appeared bloody unprepared. Hell, if he didn’t keep messing up with her. “Claudia,” he snapped. “I’m depending on you.” So much for super calm and control. His emotions were more like bloody yoyos.