"What does that mean?" I demanded.
"You'll figure it out," he infuriatingly replied.
"I don't want to figure it out," I complained, uncrossing my arms and slinking into a seat at the table. "I've got more important crap to deal with than a cop spitting his dummy out."
"I am so gonna tell him you said that," Ben teased.
"Traitor," I half heartedly snapped.
He walked to the fridge and started hauling out ingredients for a salad, plopping them down on the table in front of me, adding bowls, chopping board and a knife.
"You're on salad, I'll marinate the steaks," Ben explained.
I gratefully accepted the task, something to take my mind off infuriating and demanding police detectives, and give me a moment to calm myself down. I wondered if that was Ben's intention, because for a good ten minutes he didn't utter a word.
Then after returning the steaks to the fridge to marinate, he unscrewed a couple of beers, sliding one towards me, leaned against the bench and said, "I'm not gonna defend Pierce's behaviour."
"Good," I replied instantly, tossing the last salad in its bowl. "Because its indefensible."
"Nah," he argued, took a swig from his bottle and returned to studying me. "I'm just not the one to defend it."
"And your point is?" I asked with raised eyebrows, getting up to place the covered salads in the fridge too.
"My point, Marie, is Pierce knows what he's doin'. Whether that's chasin' down a criminal, settin' up a sting, or corrallin' a witness into doin' the right thing, he's good at it. There is never a time when he doesn't do somethin' for a reason."
"Who? Pierce?" Abi said sauntering into the room and going straight for Ben to nab his beer bottle, swiftly downing a large gulp.
"Get your own, Red," he said with an amused smile.
"Nah, she's good," Abi replied. "I like this one, thanks." She slipped into a seat beside me and added, while Ben grumbled good naturedly as he fetched a new beer for himself, "I checked on Daisy, she's still napping."
"Thanks, Abi," I replied, taking a swig of my own beer.
"So, we were talking about the complicated and mysterious Ryan Pierce, weren't we?" she announced.
Ben rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "If this gets all girlie, I'm outta here."
"By girlie he means we start cataloguing Ryan's fine physical attributes," Abi explained, and I choked on a swallow of beer.
She patted my back while I coughed up a lung and Ben said with a growl, "Woman! There will be no cataloguin' of any man's physical attributes unless they are mine."
"No harm in looking, Ben," she pointed out.
"Oh, Abigail, there will be harm if you look, believe me," he threatened with a white toothed smile.
"He's bluffing," Abi whispered to me out of the side of her mouth, as though Ben couldn't hear her from across the room if she said it quietly enough.
"That's it. I'm outta here!" he announced and walked straight up to Abi, reached down and lifted her chin with a finger underneath, and then kissed the living daylights out of her. "Now see whose physical attributes you catalogue after that, Red."
Then he was gone.
"Oh, my," she said, fanning herself. "Yum," she added, and we both burst out laughing.
It was exactly what I needed. One of those spontaneous hilarious moments right from the belly. A real tension reliever, making your cheeks ache and your chest heave and the muscles in your stomach quiver. If we'd been on the floor we would have been rolling.
As it is, I had to wipe tears from my eyes with the back of my hands as I struggled with the last few wayward giggles.
"I so needed that," I declared, when Abi handed me a paper towel from the bench to dry my hands.
"I thought you might have," she said with a smile.
I sucked in a breath and took a good look at her. I think she knew what was coming.
"How did you know him?" I asked, and because she didn't flinch I was sure she'd been preparing for this moment since the penguin painting room incident.
"I grew up in his Compound," she said, holding my gaze. "My mother died when I was young, but my Dad was too far into that world to escape with his only child."
Too far into that world. Just like Rick.
She took another large swig of her beer and then launched into her tale.
"When I was fifteen years old Roan McLaren took an unhealthy interest in me. I won't go into details, but I was OK, my Dad protected me. But we knew, once Roan had shown his hand, that I couldn't stay. My Dad saved hard, taught me everything I needed to know about running and hiding, and then when I turned eighteen I did just that. And I didn't stop running until I met Ben." She sucked in a breath of air and added, "And Detective Pierce."
We were both quiet for a while, drinking our beers, lost in our thoughts.
"I was on the roof that night," she said softly. "Looking at the stars and wishing I was as far away from that place as they were." Her sad eyes tipped up to look at mine. "I saw them drag you both out there. I heard everything that was said. I watched as Roan McLaren pulled the trigger, because I was too frightened to move."
I was shaking my head, gripping the bottle neck so tightly my knuckles had gone white.
"You couldn't have stopped it," I said on a breath of air.
"I know," she agreed, quietly. "But I..." She broke off and reached out with a shaky hand to lift her own bottle up off the table's surface to take another large drink. She didn't stop until the bottle was empty.
"You know what," she said, after slamming the bottle back down and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "As my good friend Kelly Quayle would say, let's get shitfaced."
I huffed out a laugh and swallowed the last of my beer.
"I have a five year old to set an example for," I pointed out, not dismissing her idea completely though. It sounded like a bloody good one, right now.
"All right," Abi announced. "We'll hold off on the tequila until Daisy has gone to bed, but you and I need to let loose a little. Hell, after the brush up you just had with the sexy detective, I think I might get Ben to go out and grab us a case."
I groaned. "Did you hear all of that?"
She offered an apologetic smile. "You both weren't keeping your voices down." She stood up and swiped the empties off the table and threw them in the recycling bin by the door, then added, "He has so got the hots for you."
"Excuse me?" I said, spluttering slightly. What the hell?
She smirked. "Man was muttering to himself as he stormed out to his car. I heard that too." She winked.
Oh. Could I ask?
Fuck it!
"And what did he say?"
She chortled, as she started dragging the steaks out of the fridge.
"Oh, something about a frustratingly beautiful woman who need a good spanking and how his hand was itching to deliver her one."
"What?" I exclaimed.
"Honey," Abi said, cocking her hip and giving me a purposeful stare. "Ryan Pierce is from the school of see 'em, like 'em, want 'em, take 'em."
"The what school?" I asked on a laugh. This woman was hilarious.
"It's the same school my Ben went to. The same school Genevieve's Dominic went to. The same school Eva's Nick went to. And the same school Katie's Jason went to," she said counting them all off on her fingers.
I guessed Genevieve was the blonde at Sweet Seduction, but I didn't know either Eva or Katie. But I think I was getting the picture.
"Would that be the chest thumping, me Tarzan you Jane school, by any chance?"
She burst out laughing. "Oh, I see you've met some of the alumni already? Then you should be well prepared for what Detective Ryan Pierce has in store for you."
"Oh, girlfriend," I said in my best impersonation of sass, "he doesn't stand a chance."
She guffawed as she led the way out onto the deck and placed the steaks next to the barbecue, which had been turned on at some stage, I was guessing by Ben. Who to my utter surprise was pus
hing a now awake Daisy on the swing under the Cherry Tree.
The image stopped me in my tracks. Daisy had never had a father figure to push her on a swing before. I hadn't dated much in the nearly six years since Rick died, and certainly not enough to bring a man into her life, so she could establish a relationship with him. It was too hard to see her get attached and then have to say good-bye.
It had been hard enough for me and I was an adult and married.
"How're you holding up there, drinking buddy?" Abi said, offering me a second beer.
"He'll make a great dad," I said, nodding towards her man.
"Yeah, he will," Abi replied wistfully.
"Any plans for kids?" I asked, thinking we were well past social boundaries by this stage.
"Not yet. Gen's pregnant, she's the first of our group to bring a new life into the mix. Everyone's cock-a-hoop about that. Ben and I need a little longer enjoying each other before we have to share with anyone else." She must have realised what she'd said, because she quickly added, "Sorry, that was thoughtless of me."
I offered a genuine smile. "No need to apologise. And don't get me wrong, I can't imagine a life without Daisy in it. She is my life. But Rick never knew I was pregnant, neither did I at the time. And sometimes I wonder whether things would have been different if we knew. Or if she wasn't there for me afterwards how things would have gone, you know?"
Abi nodded, throwing a couple of steaks onto the grill. The sound and smell of sizzling beef permeated the air. I moved and sat on the raised edge of the deck.
"Ben usually does this," Abi said, flipping a steak. "But I think he's having too much fun entertaining young Daisy there."
I smiled. "Maybe kids are closer on the horizon than you imagine," I suggested, thinking she'd been pretty much a natural with Daisy from the moment we arrived.
"You never know," she declared, keeping her attention on the meat.
A car engine sounded out as it drifted down the drive, and before it came into view I watched Ben still, casually place a hand to his waistband at the back of his trousers, and step in front of Daisy on the swing.
My heart leapt into my throat at the reminder that our lives were not normal, were not safe. That drinking beers in the waning sunshine on a big deck as our dinner grilled on the barbecue, were probably luxuries we shouldn't be entertaining right now. I slowly lowered my beer bottle, shifting my hold on the neck, so I could throw it if need be, as Abi turned around with just the spatula and tongs in her hand.
This was ridiculous, as far as safety went. We could hardly be called an alert and well armed guard.
The car came into view for Ben first, who removed his hand instantly and offered up a wave instead. Then when Abi saw the Ford Focus come to a stop and simply returned to the grill, singing happily, "Let's get this party started," I finally allowed myself to relax as well.
Blonde number two from Sweet Seduction bounced out of the car, curls bobbing, smile in full force, and shrieked at the top of her lungs, "I heard this was party central tonight. At least it is now I'm here!"
"Kelly," Ben growled, gently pushing Daisy on the swing again. "I hope you brought more beer."
Kelly let out a mock gasp and said, "For shame, Ben Tamati. You don't know me at all, do you?" Then reached into the rear seat of her car and grabbed a crate full of clinking bottles of booze.
Spinning around to face us, she asked, "Drink anyone?" Just as Daisy leapt off the swing and ran straight towards her shouting excitedly, "Kelly! I painted a room full of penguins!"
And for a single moment in time I forgot. I forgot we were in trouble and hiding for our lives. I forgot all the mistakes I have made and the tragic consequences they brought. I forgot a sexy, mysterious police detective wanted more from me than I could possible afford to give.
I just forgot.
And it was, perhaps, the single most wonderful moment of my life.
Chapter 9
Let's Have A Heart To Heart, Shall We?
Stars began to twinkle into sight across an indigo fading sky, as crickets announced the onset of twilight. Dinner had been delicious and relaxed, and filled with laughter and a surprising - for me - amount of comfort. Abi, Ben and Kelly had included us in their circle of friends as though we belonged there, even if it was just for a few days.
The first few notes of Guns N' Roses' Paradise City started to play on the stereo from inside the house where Ben had disappeared to. Gently wafting out the windows and open door, adding to the atmosphere, and relaxing me further into my seat. Abi started to chuckle as soon as she recognised the song.
"Guns N' Roses, Ben? Really?" she called out over her shoulder and then swigged from her beer bottle with a small knowing grin on her face.
"Guns N' Roses, Red. And lots of 'em," came Ben's muffled reply from inside the house.
"What's wrong with Guns N' Roses?" Kelly asked, from her position on a lounger, Daisy sitting between her legs as she carefully brushed her pigtails out. Despite having had an afternoon nap, the gentle, rhythmic stroking of the brush through her hair, was making Daisy's lids droop.
"Nothing," Abi replied. "Nothing at all. Especially late at night when we're lying in bed and Ben sings Sweet Child O' Mine in my ear."
A smile curved my lips at the cute image, which was soon wiped away by shock at Kelly's words.
"Oh yeah, I bet you were just lying there doing nothing listening to his sexy, rumbling voice when he was crooning, 'Sweet lover o' mine.'"
"It's "'Sweet love o' mine,'" Abi corrected, just as Daisy said in a sleepy voice, "What's a lover?"
"Yeah, Kels?" Abi asked, innocently. "What's a lover?"
"OK, sleepyhead," I interrupted. "Time for bed."
"Awww," Daisy grumbled, but clambered off Kelly's lounger and slipped her hand into mine without further complaint.
She mumbled a goodnight to both women and as we headed indoors I heard Kelly say, "Are all kids that well behaved or is Daisy an exception to the rule?"
"You keen to find out?" Abi asked.
"Fuck off!" Kelly shot back, which segued into a yelp as Abi threw something at her.
I didn't hear the rest of Abi's reprimand, which thankfully meant Daisy didn't either. Ten minutes later, having completed a round of Daisy Bell and a made up bedtime story, I left Daisy gently snoring and returned to the deck. Ben was back, sipping a bottle of beer, which I thought might just have been the same one he'd been nursing for the past hour.
And the girls had opened a bottle of tequila.
"Tequila time!" Kelly declared, passing a shot over to me as Abi lined up cut wedges of limes and a salt shaker.
Ben made a grunting sound and placed his beer bottle down, accepting a shot from Kelly when she handed it to him.
"Should we be getting tipsy right now?" I asked, feeling a little unsettled that McLaren's tattooed goon could take advantage of us when we were under the influence of alcohol.
"Tipsy," Kelly snorted, but Abi interrupted her next words.
"Ben's hardly had a thing to drink, Marie and besides, ASI are keeping an eye on things."
"ASI?" I prompted.
"Anscombe Securities and Investigations," Ben offered, downing his tequila with a grimace. He didn't bother with the lime or salt. "We work for them. Didn't Pierce mention this place is under electronic surveillance?"
I frowned, staring at my shot glass. "He mentioned Anscombe Securities and Investigations, but nothing else."
Kelly chortled. "That'd be Pierce. Ever the silent type."
"And so we segue into the 'cataloguing physical attributes' part of the evening," Abi slurred slightly.
"Jesus, Red. How many shots have you had already?"
"Not nearly enough, lover o' mine," she threw back, spilling tequila over the side of her shot glass as she attempted to refill it.
"Fuck me," muttered Ben in return and took a swig of his beer to hide his amusement. "You better hurry up, Marie. The terrible twins are out drinking you by a mile."
/> Kelly slammed her shot glass down on the table and let out a very unladylike burp. "'Scuse me!" she exclaimed.
"And you wonder why you can't keep a man?" Abi offered with a smothered hiccup.
"I can keep 'em," Kelly replied. "But then I'd be stuck with 'em. No fun in that."
"How many you got on the trot now, Kels?" Ben asked, no longer drinking anything, just sitting back and enjoying the show.
"Five!" Kelly announced proudly.
"Five men?" I spluttered, and in the surprise of her announcement downed my shot of tequila without registering. The burn felt good, so when Kelly automatically handed me an already filled shot glass, I just accepted it. What the hell. Ben said this place was under surveillance and he'd stopped drinking, for once in my life I'd get a little tipsy.
Just a little.
"Spike, Matt, Dan," Kelly started listing names as she ticked them off her outstretched fingers, "Kane and, um, one other," she finished lamely.
"One other?" Abi queried. "What, you forget his name?"
Kelly snorted. "Not likely. He makes sure I remember it every time."
"Then what's his name?" Abi pressed.
"Um, Fred," Kelly offered, clearly picking a name off the cuff.
"Ah-oh," Abi said, wiping her lips after downing another shot. "Me thinks you got a secret."
"You thinks too much," Kelly shot back.
"Oh!" Abi gasped. "We know him, don't we?"
Kelly stared at her with a look that clearly threatened death if she continued this line of thought.
"Leave her be, Abs," Ben chastised softly.
"Thank you, Ben. A girl should never kiss and tell," Kelly said in an exaggerated posh voice, making Abi snort her mouthful of tequila out over the table.
"Abi!" Ben groaned. "Get a grip, woman."
"Sorry," she replied meekly. "It was the kiss and tell comment. I could have sworn Kelly said it, but that can't be right."
"Oh, har har," Kelly said, suddenly spinning to face me. "So, what do you think of our good detective? Not that I believe for a moment he's all good."
"Um," I muttered.
"Nooo!" Abi added. "That sinful body and bad boy goatee beard. Imagine the stubble rash you'd get..."
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