Jealous Storm

by Jack Stroke

  “Megan, please…”

  “I don’t want to hear it, Amber.”

  “But he’s lying. The guy’s bad news.”

  “What is he lying about? You weren’t following him?”

  “No, I mean… It wasn’t his sister.”

  “That you saw when you were following him. For no reason.”

  Ellis sat on the bed next to Megan, flashing Amber a sad smile. “Listen, Amber. I’m sorry. I know you like me. I know you wanted me to choose you, not Megan.”

  “Oh, shut up, Ellis.”

  “Sooner or later you have to face facts. I’m with Megan. You have to accept that.”

  It wasn’t clear which cut more, Megan not believing Amber or Ellis’ false niceties.

  “Megan, please…”

  “Amber, I’m sick of your crazy. Take it somewhere else, okay?”

  She grabbed Ellis’ hand, clasping them together in her lap. Very much a couple. Very much together. And just for a second Ellis’ eyes gave him away. An arrogant flicker, telling Amber he had won.

  He had won and she had lost.

  28

  The Tesla pulled up outside a mansion. If anything, the vehicle looked cheap in comparison to the rest of the surrounding cars.

  Ben gulped. “What do I do again?”

  “You realise you have well and truly used up your three questions by now, yeah? Meet Baumer’s daughter. That’s all. She just has to know you exist.”

  About a dozen people stood around the home’s grand entrance, including security.

  “How do I get in?”

  “What you’re wearing will be more than enough. It’s a powerful weapon. Use it carefully.”

  “What is? My tux?”

  “You look like a million bucks, Benny. It’ll easily get you through the front door. Once you’re in, it’s up to you.”

  “But what if someone wants to know who I am?”

  “What if you’re just stalling because you’re too chicken go inside? Look, Benny, it might not seem like it, but this is the easy part, okay?”

  Ben attempted to walk as naturally as possible, which for some reason had become difficult. Thank God he had the tuxedo. It helped. Jazz floated out from somewhere inside the house.

  The front door was wide open, which was good. He didn’t have to knock. A mix of men and women surrounding the door. A few glanced Ben’s direction as he approached and yet no one gave him a second thought. Just like that he was inside.

  The doors led to a grand entrance, the likes of which Ben had never seen before. At least not outside of films and TV. Two staircases twirled up to a second level, circling the enormous chandelier that dominated the space. More people here. Everyone done up, ball gowns on the women, tuxedos on the men. Not many young people though. A lot of grey hair. Didn’t that make Ben stand out?

  An overwhelming sense of being out of his depth swept over Ben. What was he doing here? How had he thought he could do this? How had they? Shake and Mother and very probably Amber. He was just a kid from Port Simmons.

  Following the flow of people, he found himself in a ballroom. What kind of house had its own ballroom? These people had serious money. He would have to pay attention to make sure he didn’t get lost.

  A bar sat at the far end of the ballroom. Why not? A drink might help settle his nerves. As he made his way he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He had to do a double-take. It was jarring. If he didn’t know he was dressed up, he may not have recognised himself. He looked that different.

  A charge ran through the young man. Look at him. He wasn’t Ben anymore. He could be anyone now. Anyone he wanted to be. A new persona washed over him. He walked differently. He would talk differently. He was different. New Ben. Secret agent Ben. It occurred to him this was who he had always wanted to be since he was too small to remember.

  He strode to the bar, wringing every drop from this new sense of confidence. “One champagne, please.”

  The barman nodded. A woman watching from a few seats away smiled. Without a second thought, Ben approached.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello, yourself.”

  “May I?” the youngster asked, indicating to the seat beside her.

  “Help yourself.”

  The barman handed Ben his drink.

  “So,” Ben said to the woman.” Come here often?”

  She laughed. “Yes, all the time. And other houses with their own ballrooms.”

  The woman was pretty. Older. Not his Mum’s age or anything, but certainly older than him.

  “Right,” Ben joined in. “I just came from a house that has three ballrooms, but one is better than none, I suppose.”

  The woman laughed again. “You’re a riot.” She held out a hand for Ben to shake. “Miriam.”

  “Dash.”

  “Dash? How dashing,” she said, grazing his arm with her fingertips.

  Holy crap. Maybe Shake was right. The tux was some kind of powerful weapon. I mean, here he was flirting with this attractive older woman. At least, Ben assumed they were flirting. Flirting was different with people his own age.

  “Yes, it is a little excessive,” he said, looking around and keen to keep the conversation going. “The cleaning costs alone must be astronomical.”

  “Jakob has bigger concerns than the cleaning costs, I can assure you,” Miriam said. “Oh, speak of the devil.”

  Ben followed her eyes to where Jakob Baumer was making his way through the crowd. His heart jumped into his throat.

  Showtime.

  29

  In another reality Ben would have happily stayed chatting to Miriam. He couldn’t though. He had a job to do. He stood.

  “Pleasure meeting you, Miriam. Would you excuse me?”

  She made a sad face. “Nice to meet you, Dash. Come find me again if you get bored.”

  Feeling invincible, secret agent Ben followed Baumer discreetly. Keeping him in his eye line, yet being subtle. It was difficult. The guy knew everybody, meaning his progress through this crowd was stilted. Lots of handshakes and kisses and backslapping.

  Eventually Baumer made his way to a young woman. Young by comparison to the average age of the party guests. Wearing a sheer gold gown that sparkled in the light, the woman was standing with a couple of friends, the only people around Ben’s age in the place. Conceivably any of them could have been Baumer’s daughter, but they weren’t. It was clear from the way Baumer interacted with the woman in the gold dress that this was his daughter. Perfect.

  Shuffling closer, Ben overheard Baumer call her Nicole. Now he had her name. Even better.

  Downing the remains of his champagne for additional courage, Ben waited for the young woman to step away from her friends. Making contact alone would be easier. Except she didn’t move and neither did they. Oh well. Usually this type of thing would have been challenging to the point of overwhelming. Not that Ben had difficulty talking to girls. Except that was at school and stuff. He simply wouldn’t approach anyone like this, coming up cold at a party, with no introduction. Except this wasn’t him. Right now he was somebody else. Buoyed by his success with Miriam, he stepped forward.

  “Hey, there, Nicole,” secret agent Ben said, flashing his most confident smile.

  The young woman in the gold dress looked up and down.

  “I’m Dash.”

  “Dash?”

  “Sure. What’s a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?”

  She screwed up her face. “Trying to talk to my friends without being interrupted by some creep.”

  Uh oh.

  “What did you do? Watch a YouTube video on how to talk to girls at a party? Am I supposed to be impressed because you know my name and spout some awful pick-up line?”

  “No, I…” His mind span. “I… I like your dress. Sparkly.”

  A moment or two of horrible silence followed.

  “Are you kidding me? I don’t know who you think you are, Dash, but please stop talking to me.”

&nbs
p; She and her friends purposefully moved on. Crap. A waiter approached. Ben reached for another champagne.

  “No,” the waiter said, moving the tray out of reach.

  “No?”

  It wasn’t just a waiter. It was Shake. How had Ben not recognised him? Shake appeared completely different somehow, completely blending in despite his white hair. Hadn’t he driven away in the Tesla?

  “That was terrible,” Shake said.

  “Sorry, I…”

  “Never apologise. No one is interested. No one cares.”

  “Okay.”

  “Fix it.”

  “What? Speak to her again?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve… I can’t.”

  “You have to. That’s the job. The next step won’t work if she despises you. Understand? We need neutral or better.”

  “Yeah, but —”

  “No buts. No excuses, remember? Get it done, Benny. Failure is not an option.”

  It took several minutes for Ben to locate Nicole again. When he did, Ben watched her from across the room, trying to be as subtle as possible. Talk to her again? Shake couldn’t be serious. Finally she split from her friends. Ben hoped this might help slightly. He certainly needed help.

  He moved and attempted to intercept her. In his head the move was subtle, a kind of gliding alongside her, in her flow. In reality it was more like he stood in front of her and blocked her path, big and awkward and clumsy.

  “Umm, hello, again.”

  She nodded.

  “Look, I’m sorry about before. I was just… I didn’t mean to sound like a creep.”

  Nicole moving. Ben tailed her.

  “That’s not me. I was just… I don’t know. I was trying…”

  It wasn’t clear she was listening.

  “Anyway, I just wanted to…”

  Nicole stopped alongside the biggest guy Ben had ever seen. Ben was reasonably tall himself and yet looking up at this guy was like staring up a mountain. He was dressed all in black with a number on his left breast.

  “You’re all right, Miss Baumer?”

  “I’m fine, Francis.” She turned to Ben. “Sorry, what was your name again?”

  “Umm, Dash.”

  “Right, Francis. This is Dash.”

  Francis nodded, looking Ben up and down.

  “If you see him talk to me again at all or even if he comes within ten feet of me, I want you to throw him out.”

  “No problem. Throw him out gently?”

  “Well, that’s up to you.”

  Nicole disappeared into the crowd without so much as even a look back. Francis smirked at Ben, daring him to take even a single step in her direction.

  Secret agent Ben hurried the other way before Francis decided to save them all some trouble and simply toss him out right now.

  30

  The sun had well and truly disappeared as Amber waited outside the Park Inn. Countless beautiful hotels to stay at in Port Simmons and of course Ellis chose to meet in the rattiest place available. She watched the room doors from across the road. No chance of being spotted this time. No bright yellow crappy Corolla for a start. Years of training and experience helped too. Thoughts of her old car made Amber smile. It had been a truly awful vehicle. In for repairs more than on the road. Yet she loved it.

  According to the message she’d seen Ellis was supposed to arrive here at ten. It was no surprise he was late.

  Staking out the Park Inn hadn’t been her original plan. Early that afternoon, after returning the phone back to Ellis’ pants pocket, Amber had snuck out of cabin three at Paradise by the Bay. The cabin had only a single entry and exit point, making it tricky if anyone was watching. There wasn’t anybody about though.

  Back in her own cabin, Amber dialled the number she had lifted from Ellis’ phone. She had no plan for what she would say or do if the individual answered. It didn’t matter. The call went directly to an automated message bank. She was prompted to leave a message by a robotic recording rather than a real person. Immediately she hung up and tried again. She would have liked to have heard the woman’s voice at least, as though that may have told her what to do. She fell back on the bed.

  A knock roused her from her stupor.

  “Hey, kid,” Vaughan said as she opened the door. “Was wondering where you had disappeared to.”

  “No disappearing, just here.”

  “Want to come for a swim? Thought you might want to do something physical since your exercise buddy has gone away… Amber? Hello?”

  She did her best to snap out of it. “Sorry, just distracted. Something I need to sort out.”

  “Anything I can help with?”

  “No. Thanks.”

  Vaughan rolled his eyes. “Well, if you ever decide you want to open up and let me help you, you know where I am.”

  “Vaughan…” But he was gone. What was Amber supposed to do? He would tell her she was being silly or whatever. Or try and talk sense into her. That was the last thing she needed at that moment.

  It was about a quarter past ten when Amber spotted Stavros’ taxi pull up outside the Park Inn. Ellis jumped out. He even moved like a guilty man, head twisting every which way. He didn’t spot Amber.

  Ellis knocked at room eleven and waited. When the door opened, he was smiling and laughing immediately. A pair of hands grabbed him and dragged him in. All the blood rushed to Amber’s head. She gave them five minutes before marching up to the door.

  No one answered her knock. She knocked again, happy to keep knocking all night if that’s what it took. Finally the door opened.

  “Amber…” Ellis said. He had his shirt off already. Up close it was clear he had gotten older. Ellis had always been big and strong. He was still big, but definitely more doughy around the belly. She focused on his face. It was awash with concern.

  “What… What are you doing here?”

  “Just how stupid are you, Ellis?”

  She pushed away past him. “You have only just got back together with Megan, and you’re pulling this crap?”

  “Amber… It’s not what it looks like.”

  It was surprisingly pleasurable watching him squirm.

  “What? Is it your sister again?” She glanced about. The room was empty. “Where is she?”

  “My sister?”

  The toilet flushed. Showtime. The bathroom door opened. A woman strode out in just mismatched underwear. Except it wasn’t who Amber was expecting. Not at all.

  “Amber?” Megan said. “What the hell?”

  Amber tried as hard as she could, but no matter how much she willed it, the floor stubbornly refused to swallow her up.

  “Amber… I asked you a question.” Megan stood there, her hands on her hips, making no effort to put any clothes back on.

  “What are you doing here?” Amber managed eventually.

  “What am I doing here? Trying to have a night away from all you crazy people. The question is, what are you doing here?”

  Of this, Amber had no answer. She glanced at Ellis. The look of concern gone, replaced by that same expression from all those years ago. Sympathy and compassion and confusion, except it was all a front. Underneath his eyes screamed ‘Gotcha’.

  Amber had been had.

  “Umm… umm…Sorry. Mistake.” Amber mumbled as she turned tail and bolted from the room.

  “You’re crazy, Storm,” she heard Megan yell after her. Amber took off, trying to figure out what had happened and how.

  That hadn’t been Megan’s number on Ellis’ phone. So who had the messages been from? It made no sense. Amber ran away from the Park Inn as quickly as she could, but no matter how fast she went, she couldn’t outrun her humiliation.

  31

  An icy hand held Ben’s heart. He made his way through the crowd, looking for… He had no idea what. Somewhere to compose himself. The cold grip on his insides squeezed tighter. What was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t speak to Nicole again. No way. Trouble was he couldn’t not speak
to her either.

  Everything was different. Faces stared straight through him, contorted and ugly. He just needed… What? Somewhere safe. He was a long way from anywhere like that.

  Ben climbed the stairs seeking out some sort of solitude. This place was enormous. He’d never thought the owner’s cottage to be big, but compared to this? He’d have to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to stop himself from getting lost if he ever lived here.

  Finally, down a long series of corridors, he happened upon a bathroom. Even better, it wasn’t occupied. Ben shut himself in. A short-term solution at best. How had he got himself into such a mess? Why hadn’t he just spoken normally to Nicole? Shake was right. It should have been so simple. Why was he overtaken by the ridiculous performance? He was warned not to try and be James Bond, and what had he done?

  So what was he meant to do now? Find Shake and tell him he failed? That this was all for nothing? Ben couldn’t face the long journey home. But what was the alternative? Risk life and limb trying to talk to a woman who clearly would rather stick chopsticks in her eyes?

  This wasn’t his fault. They should have given him more training. Or any training at all. Or was he simply not cut out for this? Not cut out for Diamond Logistics? How was that possible? This was all he had ever wanted his entire life, but not like this… different.

  Self-pity wasn’t getting Ben anywhere. It was probably good he was so far from home, otherwise he might have run, tail firmly between his legs. He circled the bathroom, mind swirling. The tiles and mirror held no solutions to his woes.

  Okay, decision time. The way Ben saw it he had three options:

  One - try to speak to Nicole again and at best be tossed out of the party. Not all that appealing and potentially hazardous to his health.

  Two - find Shake and admit failure and leave. Except find Shake where? Was there some sort of plan B they could execute?