The recruit, p.19
The Recruit, page 19
Jaz didn’t bother texting her name, he had her number after all.
The siren went and Jaz sent the text and packed up. She met up with Anna just outside the main doors.
‘Hey, how did the lunch go? What can you report?’
Jaz put on a smile and tried to hide her anxiousness at wanting to hear from Ryan. ‘Yeah it was good. Had a chat and he told me much the same as Pax did. Just a few family problems at the moment but we are still friends. So what are you doing now?’
‘Whoa up, just friends?’ Anna queried as she studied Jaz through slit eyes. ‘You’re changing the subject, are you trying to hide some juicy goss? Did you kiss again?’
‘Of course we didn’t do anything like that. Actually I get the impression he doesn’t want to kiss me ever again. In fact I think he wants to pretend the first one didn’t happen.’ Jaz found the words hard to admit.
‘Oh, no. Really? That sucks,’ said Anna with a frown. ‘But I do think you like him more than Taylor, am I right?’ she said pointing her finger.
Jaz opened her mouth but no reply came. Anna was right, she did like Ryan. It was different to how she felt about Taylor. She would always love Taylor, they’d been best friends for ages, but did she want to date him? Not anymore. But Ryan, well he was a whole different ball game.
‘I mean, what’s not to like about Ryan, hunky saviour and all,’ Anna added.
‘Yeah, he is pretty cool.’ If only Anna really knew what Ryan was capable of.
‘That’s an understatement. So are you off to The Ring? Mum’s picking me up to take me to dance lessons! Dance lessons. Can you believe it? I mean how hard can it be? Don’t you just wrap your arms around a guy and shuffle from side-to-side?’
Jaz laughed as Anna did this dorkie side step move, her hair flicking about around her shoulders. ‘Maybe your mum is right; dance lessons might be good for you.’
Anna hit Jaz in the arm. ‘Bugger off.’ A horn sounded from the parking area. ‘Oh that’s Mum. Better go, don’t wanna be late as I might find some hunky dance teacher.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Jaz laughed as she waved goodbye.
When she turned onto the main road, Jaz started towards Ryan’s house. She had a vague memory of which area to go and was sure she’d find it when she got to the familiar streets. She pulled her hoodie out of her bag and put it on as the clouds had come over, threatening with rain.
Her legs were covered in goose pimples but she began to jog and knew she’d warm up soon enough. She just hoped Ryan was at home. She needed to see him.
An hour later she’d found his place, the only one in the street with a large fence hiding the whole yard and house. Jaz could remember waiting for the big roller door to open the night of the attack.
A few showers had passed overhead and Jaz was feeling a little cold and damp. What was worse was another dark cloud bearing rain was headed her way. After a quick glance up the street, Jaz scaled the Colorbond fence and fell into the garden on the other side. Lucky there were no rose bushes, instead she landed on a daisy bush and was now pulling yellow petals from her hair. Crap.
With quiet steps, she went to his side door and knocked on it. No answer. She turned and looked into his empty garage. No car. Bummer, she’d have to wait. Jaz sat down on the cement, circled her arms around her cold knees and rested her head against them. Her hair was wet around her face from where her hoodie didn’t cover. Jaz tucked a strand back behind her ear as her mind began firing off questions.
What was she going to ask him? Did you not like the kiss? No, she wanted to ask him about the agency, not the kiss. Would she meet this James guy? The sound of a car and the roller door screeching relieved her from her inner torment as she stood up and waited.
A few minutes later Ryan walked up to the door with a big paper bag in his hands.
‘Jaz!’ he said, spotting her over the top of his bag full of groceries.
Jaz felt like laughing, for some reason she’d never pictured Ryan shopping for groceries. He seemed too macho for such a menial job.
‘Hi.’
‘Don’t tell me you still remembered how to get here, after being here only once, in the dark, after an assault?’ He shook his head in disbelief.
Jaz shrugged it off. ‘I like to know where I’m going. I hope you don’t mind, I just needed to talk…you know.’
His eyes melted with warmth as he smiled. ‘I know…I got your coded text. Nice one, by the way.’ Ryan struggled to get his keys from his pocket without spilling his groceries.
‘You need a hand?’ asked Jaz.
Ryan held out his keys. ‘Sure, it’s the square key. Thanks, Jaz.’
She opened the door and let Ryan through before following him to the kitchen. He quickly put away his shopping under her watchful gaze then folded up the paper bag and stored it in his pantry, before touching Jaz’s arm lightly. ‘Come and sit, we’ll talk.’
He led her to the couch before heading off to the direction of his room.
‘Here you look cold. Put this on, at least it’s dry,’ he said throwing her a black jacket.
Jaz pulled off her wet hoodie, struggling with her numb fingers, then wrapped herself in Ryan’s jacket. Her shivering stopped at once. ‘Thanks.’ She put her wet hoodie on the table.
‘You didn’t bring my other jumper back by any chance?’
‘Sorry, I haven’t washed it yet,’ she said with a sly grin.
‘I bet,’ he said sarcastically, picking her bluff.
Ryan picked up a brown folder from a table and sat down a bit closer to Jaz, their legs just about touching.
‘What’s in that?’ she asked, the curiosity getting the better of her.
‘This is something I talked about with James. If you decide to join us, this would be something we would like you to be involved with.’
Jaz looked into her lap, her hands clasped together tightly. ‘Can I see it or do I have to pledge my loyalty first?’
He looked like he was going to touch her hand but changed his mind. ‘I can tell you about it.’
‘Well I’m listening, so lay it all on,’ she said to hide the growing heat in her cheeks. Did he realise just how much she wanted him to reach out and touch her, even to hold her and whisper everything will be alright? But their relationship wasn’t like that. With a sigh she added, ‘What have you got?’
Ryan fiddled with the folder. ‘We are after information about a certain guy who we think is involved with a company which we believe is a front for drug running. This guy has a son who is around your age. We’d need you to strike up a friendship with him and learn as much as possible about his father.’
‘What kind of friendship?’ she asked.
Ryan looked at the floor. ‘Whatever one gets you the most information.’
‘Oh.’
‘Jaz, you wouldn’t have to do anything you weren’t comfortable with. You don’t have to endanger yourself. We wouldn’t expect you to…’ Ryan trailed away.
Jaz laughed. ‘I’ve never seen you so lost for words, Ryan.’ She wanted to touch his face where the red blush crawled up his cheeks.
‘You know what I mean, Jaz.’ His eyes caught hers.
Ryan reached over towards her hair. Jaz waited to feel the pressure of his hand against her head and was disappointed when he pulled it away with a yellow petal between his fingers. He raised his eyebrow curiously.
‘Your fence is high.’
He smiled and this time reached for her hand and held it tightly as the warmth spread through her fingers. ‘I know it’s a lot to take in Jaz. But we’d still love to have you at MTG. I can see you’ll make one of our best agents, but I can’t force you either. It has to be your choice. James said to bring you into the agency. He’s keen to meet this young firecracker I found.’ He winked.
‘Will I still see much of you if I don’t join?’ she asked quietly.
She felt his thumb rub against her hand and it sent tiny shivers all over her skin, and it wasn’t from being cold.
‘I’d try and drop into The Ring and say ‘hi’ when I’m around. Maybe even to try to convince you to join still. I’d like to keep sparring with you, and besides you’re still one up, as I seem to recall,’ he said. He pulled his hand away and cleared his throat. ‘You do remember that everything we say is not to be repeated.’
‘Yeah I know,’ she sighed. ‘But what about Pax? Can I talk to him about this stuff? Will he talk me out of joining?’
Ryan scratched his head. ‘I don’t know, Jaz. You can talk with Pax, but right now I’m not his favourite person. He loves you and doesn’t want you in harm’s way. Maybe you shouldn’t join us. It’s all a bit of a worry and I don’t really know what’s best for you, Jaz. I think only you can decide that.’
Damn, why was nothing ever easy. Jaz bit her bottom lip as the thoughts ran through her head.
‘I have a work case on the weekend, so we’d like your answer before then if that’s possible. The board are chasing an answer, as they don’t like people running around with too much detail…if you know what I mean. And they want to find someone for this job,’ he said lifting the folder. ‘We have some young guys who could do the job.’
Jaz had the feeling that they thought she would be better for it. Maybe a girl was less of a caution and she could get into his house faster and be trusted if she was his girlfriend.
‘I have gone over more with you than I probably should,’ he added as he glanced away. ‘But I want you to know what you could be getting yourself into.’
‘Yeah, that’s cool. I understand. So this case, are you leaving?’ Would she see him again?
‘Yes, Saturday will be my last day.’ His eyes watched her and for a moment, he looked sad. ‘Don’t you have your ball on?’
‘That we do. Gonna swing by?’ she asked almost hopeful. Going to the ball didn’t seem as exciting if she couldn’t see Ryan.
‘I can do that, my flight leaves around midnight.’
‘Flight? To where?’ Ryan gave her a funny look. ‘Yeah I know, you could tell me but then you’d have to kill me.’ Jaz glanced at the folder again. ‘When can I meet James?’
‘I could set that up for you tomorrow if you like?’
Ryan’s eyes were so deep with warmth she felt like she would get lost in them. ‘Thanks, I’d like that a lot. At the moment it just doesn’t seem real.’
‘I get that. You only have me to go off, and Pax, I guess, but it is hard to believe. How about I swing by and pick you up after school?’
‘Cheers, I’d like that.’ Jaz smiled weakly at him. He would make sure she was okay. ‘Ryan, I…’ She reached for his hand, wanting to tell him just how much he’d come to mean to her. She didn’t quite understand it much yet herself but just being near him caused her heart to pound. He made her feel safe and adored at the same time. Her fingers slid over his wrist, causing a tingling sensation throughout her body. ‘I am so glad you came to The Ring that day. I…’
Someone knocked at the door.
‘You expecting company?’ Jaz asked curiously, drawing her hand back quickly. A woman perhaps? Oh, why did that thought make her stomach turn?
Ryan frowned. ‘No.’ He went to his door and opened it.
‘Steph, what are you doing here?’ Jaz heard him say excitedly. She leaned back on the couch to see who he was talking to. Ryan was hugging a tall, blonde girl who looked amazing in skinny jeans, high heels and a fancy short leather jacket. Wow, she was beautiful and she was hugging Ryan with gusto. How could Jaz ever compete with that, and the girl was closer to his age. She felt dizzy.
Jaz stood up quickly, suddenly she felt like she shouldn’t be here. She slipped off Ryan’s jacket, folded it neatly over the chair, and picked up her wet hoodie. They were coming into the lounge. Happy laughter and mocking tones filled the air and she got the feeling they knew each other well.
Jaz stood and waited like a wet sock, wanting to be any place but here as Ryan entered with his arm around the girl. Jaz wondered if maybe she should have hidden. She felt like a twit, standing half wet in her school clothes.
‘Sorry, Ryan. I didn’t know you had company,’ said the girl.
It wasn’t said in a nasty way that Minka might have, instead the girl sounded interested and apologetic.
‘It’s okay, Steph, this is Jaz. She’s from The Ring where I’ve been working out.’
‘Hi.’ Jaz smiled and waved, but she really wanted to run off like a frightened rabbit.
Steph ran her deep brown eyes over her uniform then raised an eyebrow to Ryan, which he didn’t see.
Jaz glanced to Ryan, hoping he’d tell her who this lady was. He must have caught her questioning look as he cleared his throat and added, ‘Jaz, this is my little sister I was telling you about,’ he said nodding to Steph.
Oh, thank God.
His little sister was still a few years older than Jaz. ‘I can see the similarities now.’ Now that she’d stopped her overactive mind and took the time to look at Steph and not think of her as the competition. ‘You both have the same smiles and eyes.’ Well, they came from great breeding stock, what a gorgeous family. ‘Nice to meet you, Steph.’
‘You too, Jasmine. I don’t get to meet many of Ryan’s friends.’ She said nudging Ryan in the ribs. ‘He keeps to himself a lot,’ she said. ‘So you work at this gym place?’
‘Yeah, I keep it going when the boss is away. It’s a second home for me and I like to train.’
‘And kick my butt. Seriously Sis, you do not want to meet Jaz in a dark alley. Don’t let her innocent face trick you, she can hold her own with the best of them.’ Steph raised her eyebrows at Ryan’s praising words. She glanced between them as Jaz felt heat rising in her cheeks.
Jaz realised she was wringing her hoodie in her nervous hands; soon she’d end up leaving a pile of water on Ryan’s carpet. ‘Um, well you’ll wanna catch up and I better get back to The Ring before Pax thinks I was run over. Catch ya later.’
Steph raised her hand, ‘Bye, Jaz.’ Then started to take her jacket off.
Ryan moved to walk her to the door, but Jaz stopped him by holding up her hand. It nearly met his chest. She was glad she hadn’t touched him, she was scared of how her body would react and that Steph would notice. Girls noticed things like that better than the guys.
‘I know my way out, Ryan.’
She’d taken a few steps when Ryan grabbed her hand. ‘Hey Jaz? We’ll talk later,’ he said, shooting her a look that said he hadn’t forgotten she was trying to tell him something before Steph arrived. ‘Okay?’
Jaz shrugged and pulled away. She was at the door when he called out her name again.
‘Jaz.’
Pausing, she glanced back to see him smiling.
‘Maybe take the gate this time,’ he laughed. ‘There’s a release button on the side of it.’
Jaz felt her cheeks glow. ‘Sure.’
She opened the door just as she heard Steph’s quiet voice. ‘Ryan, why do you have a schoolgirl in your house? I mean she’s gorgeous and I’ve been waiting for you to introduce me to someone special…but did you not notice the uniform?’
‘She’s a friend Steph, and she’s nearly eighteen.’
‘Friends, really?’
Jaz was itching to hear his reply but she figured he’d be listening for the door, so Jaz shut it then placed her ear against it in the mere hope of still hearing. Nup, just the sound of solid wood. Damn.
She picked up her school bag, which she’d left by his door, and made her way to the front gate. She thought about Steph’s words. She’d actually thought Ryan and her were…well maybe…together. She couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. Jaz was walking on air as her mind ran with thoughts. Steph had thought she was pretty, that was weird considering how she’d never match up to Steph in a million years. If anything, she resembled a drowned rat. Oh, how she wished she could have heard Ryan’s reply. Could they ever be more?
Jaz was a few blocks away when she realised it was spitting. Her mind was still racing with thoughts of Ryan, how he’d held her hand, how amazing it felt; and then there was the meeting with James at the agency. Life certainly was interesting now. The wetting drops didn’t worry her. Instead she started running to warm up, with her mouth open to taste the rain.
Chapter 27
Anna threw her bag down on the spare chair at their lunch table.
‘Hey, Taylor might want to sit there.’ Jaz asked. ‘Bad morning?’
‘Oh, yeah,’ said Anna shifting her bag to under the table. She sat opposite Jaz and plonked her head on the table. ‘You won’t believe it; I’ve been stuck with Angelica as a class partner!’ She started banging her head repetitively.
‘Bahhaha, that’s hilarious…I mean that’s terrible. Can’t you swap?’
Anna lifted her head and frowned at Jaz. ‘Yes, it is terrible and no I’m not allowed to swap. Stupid cow of a teacher.’
‘I thought Miss Swanson was your favourite?’
‘Yeah, well she’s just burnt all her bridges, no more nice Anna! Anyway, how was your morning?’ asked Anna with a dramatic sigh.
‘The usual, total bore. Hey, how were your lessons? Did you have a cute partner?’ Jaz asked. ‘You did, didn’t you?’
Anna smiled sheepishly. ‘I wish! I had some little old lady…but on the plus side she knew how to move.’
Jaz burst out laughing and just about spat her egg sandwich over the table. She was still brushing the crumbs around her mouth away when Taylor sat down.
‘Did I miss a good joke?’ he asked, adjusting his sunnies on his head. No one else got away with wearing sunnies at school. Taylor was one of the gifted few who had the teachers on side. Suck hole.
Jaz was about to explain when Anna kicked her under the table. ‘Um…yeah, funny joke about a little old lady but I think you’ve already heard it,’ Jaz said under Anna’s glaring gaze.
‘So tomorrow night’s the big one! I hope you dust off your dancing shoes, Jaz, you’ll have to keep up with me,’ said Taylor moving his arms and shoulders in a smooth roll from one side to the other.
‘Oh, please, no boy band moves,’ she laughed.
