Jealous Storm

by Jack Stroke

  Megan and Joan were there too. It was as though they had simply swapped out Ben for Ellis.

  “See?” Megan said to Ellis. “She doesn’t even bother to knock.”

  “Hey, Amber,” Ellis said. “Are you okay?” He sounded sincere, so he was obviously lying. “What happened last night? We were worried about you.”

  “Why?” Joan asked. “What happened last night?”

  “She just pulled an Amber,” Megan said. “Her usual. Had a tantrum and ran away.”

  Exactly what Amber wanted to do right now. Simply walk back out the door. It took all her effort to stay and even more to sit.

  Megan smirked, aware just how challenging this must be for her. Amber had to face this. She couldn’t run every time.

  “Join us for some breakfast, Amber?” Joan asked coolly. As usual there was plenty of food, so she wasn’t imposing.

  “I’d love to. Thank you, Joan.”

  A thick tension coated everything, an explosion seemingly inevitable.

  “Great food, Joan. You’re still a terrific cook.”

  “Thank you, Ellis.”

  “Beetroot clearly thinks so,” Megan said. “Never bothers to make stuff for herself. Just gets Mum to.”

  “Just like old times, ’eh?” Ellis said with a wink.

  “I don’t mind, Megan. You know that. It’s lovely having you, Amber.”

  Amber did her best to eat, the food not interested in being swallowed.

  “Seriously, were you all right last night, Amber?” Ellis asked. “We were worried about you.”

  “I’m sure you were, Ellis.”

  “Didn’t even tell poor Vaughan what you were doing,” Megan chipped in. “Just drove off without him.”

  “Oh, Amber,” Joan said with a shake of her head.

  “He seems like a good guy,” Ellis said, making all kinds of effort. “Vaughan. You’ve done well there.”

  “Yes, Vaughan is a lovely young man,” Joan said.

  “Yes, Vaughan is a lovely young man,” Megan repeated, extra emphasis on the word ‘young’.

  “Megan,” Joan scolded.

  Ellis’ phone beeped. He picked it up off the table, punching in the code. It was a beaten-up old iPhone that looked as though it had been through the wars. He messaged someone. From what Amber had seen, Megan had stopped using her phone nearly as much now Ellis was here, today at breakfast and last night at the Half.

  Was it still worth talking to Megan? She could ask for a word, except knowing Megan she would say they could talk here and now, in front of Joan and Ellis. Putting Amber on the spot. No, there wasn’t a lot she could do at this stage other than grin and bear things.

  “Well, this is nice, isn’t it?”

  “It’s lovely,” Amber said.

  “We’ve got some good news for you then, Amber. Isn’t that right, Ellis?”

  “Hmm?” Distracted by the phone, he missed his cue. He put the phone down.

  “Tell Amber the good news.”

  “Good news?”

  Ellis’ phone beeped again. Megan still hadn’t gone near hers. The old phone had no facial recognition, meaning every time Ellis had to punch in the code.

  Megan huffed. “You know? The good news? You and Amber are going to be neighbours, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Still disinterested. “Megan said I could stay in one of the cabins, like you.”

  “One big happy family,” Megan said, far too pleased with herself.

  Neighbours? That clearly wasn’t going to work. Luckily Ellis had already exposed his weak point. Amber wasn’t going to have to talk to Megan at all.

  24

  Sun filled the car as it powered along. Shake and Ben had been driving for several hours in silence, heading God knows where.

  The private jet had finally landed at a similarly remote location to the one they’d taken off from. More a field than runway or anything even close to an airport. They could have been the exact same place they took off from and just been flying in a circle for all Ben knew, except the car waiting for them here was a black Tesla in place of the white one.

  Eventually they came across a roadhouse. Shake piloted the vehicle into a space out front.

  “Coming?” he said to Ben.

  The roadhouse was divided in two, a restaurant at one end and a service station at the other.

  “Got any money?” Shake asked as they approached the counter.

  “No.”

  “Too bad.” He flashed a bright grin at the waitress, who was working the gum in her mouth pretty hard. “One coffee to go, please. Lots of cream, lots of sugar.”

  Ben stretched the kinks out of his body.

  “Here,” Shake said, passing Ben a bag he had retrieved from the trunk of the Tesla when they’d stopped. A suit bag. “How long do you think it will take them to do a coffee?”

  “I don’t know,” Ben said. “Five minutes?”

  “No. Far too long. Excuse me…”

  The chewing waitress turned.

  “How long will that coffee be?”

  “Two minutes. Maybe three.”

  “See? You’d better hurry then.”

  “Hurry?” Ben asked.

  “You’ve got precisely until my coffee comes to get that suit on.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Not sure why you’re still standing here, Benny. I would be running if I were you. Once the coffee is in my hand, I’m leaving. With or without you. Without, if you don’t have that suit on.”

  Ben glanced at the waitress who shrugged, still gnawing away on her gum. He took a second more then bolted for the restrooms.

  He didn’t bother to look at his watch. No point. He simply had to hurry as fast as he could. Thankfully there was no one else in the restroom. Still, the space was pokey and awkward.

  Slipping off his shoes and jeans, he stepped into the pants. Ben had never worn a tux before. He had worn a suit and tie to a school dance and that was it. To his surprise the pants fitted perfectly. He swapped his T-shirt for the shirt and jacket. Wow, if the others could see him now. His Mum and Joan. Amber. As it was, Ben barely had time to see himself.

  All was going okay until he got to the tie. Joan had done up his tie for the school dance and that was a regular one. The two ends of the bowtie hung limply around his neck. How long had he taken? What if Shake had gone already? Nah, he was good. He’d been fast.

  Ben dashed out of the restroom, his clothes and the suit bag bundled under his arm.

  He wasn’t sure how long he had been. Quick. Except…

  Crap. Shake was no longer at the counter.

  25

  The chewing waitress gave Ben an apologetic shrug. Had he really been too long? He must have. Shake was gone. Unless… was this his first mission? Get dumped in the middle of nowhere, just to see how he would cope?

  He dashed out the front entrance even though he knew it was futile. Except… The Tesla was sitting there, exactly where they had left it. Ben approached. Shake wasn’t inside.

  “Shake!” No response. “Hey, Shake!”

  No sign of the white-haired guy anywhere. Muttering, Ben retraced his steps. Back inside the roadhouse he found Shake sitting casually at a table.

  “Fail,” Shake said.

  Ben must’ve bolted straight by him. “Fail?”

  Shake pointed to the undone bowtie.

  “I don’t know how to tie a bowtie.”

  “What’s that matter? You’ve got a job, you have to figure out a way to do it. Complaining and saying you don’t know how doesn’t cut it. Find a way.”

  Ben wasn’t sure. He nodded anyway.

  “Want something to eat?”

  “I don’t have any money.”

  “Don’t be stupid. You don’t have to pay.”

  “Oh, okay. Ummm…”

  “It’s a pretty simple question.”

  “I honestly have no idea if I’m hungry or not. I should be, I guess.”

  “You are,” Shake informed
him. “We’ve been travelling for a long time. Nerves can hide hunger. It’s important to eat.”

  “Okay. I’m not sure what I feel like.”

  A new waitress solved the issue, putting a bowl of spaghetti in front of Ben and a cheeseburger and fries in front of Shake.

  “What’s this?”

  “I get you’re a country hick, but please tell me you know what spaghetti is.”

  “Yes, but —“

  “Don’t drop any of it on your shirt. That would be embarrassing for you.”

  Ben watched Shake dip his fries in a small bowl of sauce.

  “Come on, Benny. You need to eat. There won’t be any proper food at the party.”

  “I’m going to a party?”

  “It’d be stupid to dress up like that just so you could hang around a roadhouse, don’t you think?”

  “Whose party? The guy whose photo you showed me?”

  “Jakob Baumer.”

  “Yeah. Is it his party?”

  “It’s at his house. I say house. Castle would be more appropriate.”

  Butterflies escaped into Ben’s stomach. “And is this where I…”

  “What?”

  “Where I… You know. Where I… Where it happens?”

  “God, if you can’t even say it, how are you going to do it?”

  Ben kept his voice low. “Is this the party where I’m supposed to kill him?”

  Shake chuckled. “Cool your jets, hotshot. This is nothing like that.”

  “Oh, okay. I thought you said…”

  “Don’t think. Listen. This is just a party.”

  “Okay. What do I do?”

  “Pretty simple. All you have to is meet his daughter. His pride and joy.”

  “Okay. Do you have a photo of her or anything?”

  Who?”

  “This daughter I’m supposed to meet.”

  “No. It’s not rocket surgery. You’ll figure it out. Look, this part of the job is pretty simple. Figure out who the daughter is and meet her.”

  “Meet her how?”

  “That isn’t the part that should be difficult to understand. This is just a setup. There will be more contact after the party.When that happens her response should be, ‘Oh, I know him. It’s that guy I met at the party.’ Capeesh?”

  “Kind of.”

  “Look, no one is asking you to be James Bond here or anything. At this stage all we need is for Baumer’s daughter to know you exist. Well, a little more than that. She has to think you’re an okay guy and not a complete fool. You can do that, can’t you?”

  Ben nodded. He could, couldn’t he?

  26

  As pets, cats tend to have a heightened sense of self-importance. They like to believe every action taken by their loved ones is for their benefit and their benefit alone, even if they can’t figure why. As such, Lion seemed perplexed to find Amber spending her day sitting on her cabin’s front porch. He sat on her knee for a few minutes but couldn’t settle and wandered away to find some adventure.

  In fact, Amber’s reasoning had zero to do with Lion. She was merely sitting outside the cabin, doing very little and feeling infinitely better for it. Not the sitting around so much as the knowledge this was the first step in taking action. That she had a plan. This meant sitting for a while. That was fine. She could wait.

  Finally Ellis exited the owner’s cottage and made his way to cabin three. He waved and Amber waved back.

  “Beautiful day.”

  “Always is.”

  “Thinking I might go for a swim.”

  Perfect. “Good idea.”

  “Wanna come?”

  “No.”

  Ellis disappeared into his cabin. Around twenty minutes later he reappeared, towel draped around his shoulders. He waved and Amber waved again. She was happy to play now, the game close to over, even if Ellis didn’t realise they were playing.

  She watched him wander all the way across the road, dump his towel and stroll out into the water. Now was the time. Even if he went for the world’s quickest swim, she would still be in and out before he had got back.

  Keeping one eye on the beach and the other on the owner’s cottage, Amber let herself into cabin three. Top-notch security was not one of the cabin’s strong points. Ellis had only just moved in and yet somehow he had managed to create a considerable mess. Clothes and possessions were spread everywhere.

  Amber needed his phone. She checked the table and beside the bed. No luck. He had it just before. Where could it be? Amber moved clothes about, careful to put things back where they were. No way he would notice, but no point taking that chance. Where was this stupid thing? He wouldn’t have taken it to the beach with him, would he? Then again, it was Ellis. So there was little point in assuming rational thought went into his actions. Finally she found it, shoved in the pocket of his pants. Amber was about to leave when:

  “Ellis?”

  Dammit. Megan knocked. “Hey, Ellis. You in there?”

  This was a disaster. Amber had absolutely no reason to be in here. Getting caught would cause no end of trouble.

  “Ellis?”

  Could she squeeze under the bed? Did she have time to even make it to the bed? Fortunately, Megan realised he wasn’t home and kept moving.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Amber waited a minute and let herself out. Of course it was possible Megan was still outside the door. Unlikely though, patience not one of her strong suits.

  Amber hurried back to her cabin with the phone. Checking in the privacy of her own space seemed far more sensible than hanging about cabin three. Much easier to simply return the phone at a later point.

  She fired up the old device and entered the pin she had observed Ellis entering half a dozen times at breakfast. She went directly to messages. Heaps of messages to and from Megan. Amber didn’t bother to read any of those.

  There was plenty from another number, no name. Amber flicked through them. Exactly what she suspected. Messages to and from another woman. The most recent message was only from a few minutes earlier. Disappointing, although not remotely surprising.

  “Gotcha,” Amber said.

  The question was what to do with this information. The texts were explicit - a mix of dirty photos and a whole bunch of really bad sexting. Painful to read. The most recent one was from just before Ellis hit the beach.

  ‘Can’t wait. CU tonight, at 10’ it read, followed by an address. Amber fed the location into her own phone. A cheap motel appeared on screen. The Park Inn, not too far away.

  Typical Ellis.

  27

  Twenty years earlier

  Amber practised her speech, sitting in her crappy little Corolla.

  “I know, I know.” She nodded sympathetically. “It is bad, isn’t it? Megan, I’m so sorry.” She paused, the other part of the conversation playing out in her head. “I know. It’s not you, it’s him. Totally. None of us could have known. Come here. No, don’t cry, Megan. Give me a hug.”

  Amber’s butt had fallen asleep. She had been sitting on her cracked vinyl seat for too long today. Everything was cracked in her canary yellow Corolla - the seats, the dashboard, the side mirror. It was a continuing miracle the car made it anywhere.

  She had spent her day on a mission. Staking out Megan’s boyfriend, Ellis. The guy was a total sleaze bag. They had been together since Phillip’s twenty-first. That was fine. Amber didn’t care. Megan could see whoever she wanted. Except the other night he had been super sleazy. The three of them, Amber, Megan and Ellis, had got drunk at Megan’s place when Joan and Pablo were out. Whenever Megan left the room, Ellis had been, like, all over her. It was yuck.

  Of course, he acted completely different when Megan was around. There was no telling Megan stuff like this. She would blame Amber meaning she was stuck. Until it occurred to Amber if Ellis was like that with her, there was no way he wouldn’t be with other girls as well. A sleaze is a sleaze. Plus, he was always coming up with those dodgy excuses for not being able to see Megan.
So after some blatant lie, Amber decided to follow him. And she was glad she had.

  Sitting in her car, she went over her speech once more. She hated having to say it. No way Megan would want to hear it. But she had to tell Megan what she had seen, no matter how tough. That’s what friends do.

  Megan flicked through her Cleo magazine, half-listening at best.

  “Megan?”

  “What?”

  This wasn’t the reaction Amber had expected on any level. Where were the tears? She could at least be upset. All she seemed was bored. It was getting on Amber’s nerves.

  “Did you hear me?”

  “Yeah. Some rubbish about Ellis.”

  “It’s not rubbish. He’s cheating on you.”

  “And you know this how exactly?”

  “Because I saw it. I saw him.”

  She’d explained all this. She’d spotted Ellis leaving his house with some girl. They were all over each other.

  “What, you are just walking down Ellis’ street and you happen to see him? And you thought, ‘Oh, there’s Ellis…’”

  “No, not exactly.”

  “How did it happen? Exactly?”

  Amber hadn’t practised this part. Right about now she wished she had. Whatever she’d been doing, it was for Megan. To help her.

  Except Amber never got the chance to respond.

  “You were right,” Megan said.

  A surge of hope rose in Amber… until she realised Megan wasn’t talking to her. The cupboard opened and Ellis stepped out. Amber couldn’t breathe. He’d been hiding in there? Listening?

  “Just like you said,” Megan went on, shaking her head.

  Amber did her best to speak, but it came out as noise, not actual words.

  “I told you, Meegs. She’s obsessed with me. It’s not healthy.”

  “I’m not…” Amber tried.

  “You weren’t following him?” Megan asked. “Hiding outside his house? The girl you saw? That was his sister, you stupid cow.”

  What? Was he? A flicker of doubt rumbled Amber. But… No. This wasn’t any sister Amber had seen. If it was, they had a very messed up relationship. Dammit. Ellis must’ve spotted her. The Corolla. That was probably it. The thing was too noticeable. Bright yellow. Stupid. He’d seen Amber and realised what she was up to and rushed to get here first.