The Deception (15 page)

Jaz turned to see Taylor with his dad’s gun pointed at a man with a full beard and dark colouring. Her best friend had come to her aid again. She smiled, not that he could see it through the balaclava.

Tay was standing in the kitchen area, his stance strong but his brow knitted together, sweat breaking out and his hand was shaking. She knew in that moment that Taylor would struggle to pull the trigger if worst came to worst. He looked like he was reliving a nightmare, one she was all too familiar with.

The bearded man started to move slightly.

‘Don’t move,’ Tay warned, using his other hand to hold his gun level. Maybe the bearded man could hear the shaky uncertainty in Tay’s voice or he figured he could take him, either way he began to chuckle.

‘You won’t fire that, boy.’ The bearded man began to raise his gun as he turned towards Taylor. He still had hold of her borrowed Starfire 9mm. There was only a second to do something. But what? This could end one of two ways. Jaz hoped she had some luck on their side.

Chapter 13

Jaz braced herself and hoped she was about to make the right choice.

Out of nowhere, a large frying pan appeared, along with a war cry.

‘Yaaaaah!’

Dong! Crack. The bearded man fell to the ground like a bag of flour right in front of Jaz. What the hell?

‘Take that, ya mongrel bastard,’ said Anna, leaning over the man with a solid frying pan held above her head as if it was an axe.

‘Anna!’ Jaz couldn’t believe it. Taylor had brought Anna! Quickly she reached down and took her gun back. Taylor grabbed the other one out of his hand.

‘Remind me not to get on your bad side,’ said Tay. He glanced to Jaz. ‘What now?’ he asked.

Jaz had no clue. She still couldn’t get over the fact that Anna had whacked this guy hard enough to knock him out. With a frypan, no less. She smiled at Anna, who was still coiled up like a lion ready to pounce in case the man moved. ‘My hero,’ said Jaz. ‘Brilliant work, I say.’

Anna beamed at her praise.

‘What’s going on?’ yelled Ryan.

No one could think up a reply. Moments later Ryan’s head appeared through the door, his gun still trained on Joseph. He took in the scene before him. Jaz, Tay, Anna with her frying pan and a guy on the floor. Jaz could see the WTF expression in his dark eyes.

He eventually shook his head, threw them the duct tape from his back pocket. ‘Tape him up and then come and do this one,’ he said, before ducking back into the room with Joseph.

They secured the Pakistani man and while her friends stayed to watch over him, Jaz left to tape up Joseph’s hands and feet.

‘Right. Let’s get the hell out of here,’ said Ryan, pushing Jaz towards the door.

‘Time to go,’ he told Anna and Taylor. They all headed for the exit.

‘Anna? The frying pan?’ Taylor whispered.

‘Oh, right.’ She used the sleeve of her jumper to wipe the handle down and left it on the ground by the door.

Jaz was biting her lip so as not to laugh while they jogged towards their cars. Tay had parked behind Ryan’s SUV.

‘Bloody hell, sometimes I feel like Dumbledore, running around with you three,’ said Ryan in exasperation as he yanked open his door.

‘I hope I’m Harry,’ said Jaz with a little chuckle.

‘I must be Hermione,’ said Anna.

‘You’re also Ron,’ said Tay. ‘The whole frying pan thing proves it.’ He laughed.

‘I’m glad you lot find this all so amusing. Now get in your bloody car and meet back at the gym. Take different routes,’ barked Ryan.

Anna and Tay sobered immediately and ran to the Mustang without glancing back.

Jaz jumped into Ryan’s SUV, pulled off her balaclava and put the gun back into the glove box, while hoping she wasn’t about to get a blasting from Ryan too. She turned to Ryan, his shoulders began to shake and laughter burst from his mouth.

‘Funniest shit I’ve seen in a while. Anna and that frying pan,’ he said between chuckles.

She couldn’t help but join him as the image appeared in her mind. ‘So you’re not mad?’ she asked when she could manage it.

‘How can I when they saved our arses? I didn’t hear the other car arrive over the TV.’ Ryan shot her a look. ‘Don’t you dare tell them I laughed! They’re lucky it didn’t turn out worse.’

It easily could have, with Taylor struggling with his gun and demons.

‘So how come Anna used the pan when Tay had the gun?’ asked Ryan, as if reading her mind yet again.

‘Yeah, well …’ Jaz didn’t really know what to say. It didn’t feel right to say he’d choked.

Ryan nodded anyway, as if he understood perfectly. ‘Get him to the firing range soon. You should go too.’ Then the car grew silent as they drove home. Only Ryan didn’t go home.

‘Where are we going?’

‘Just doing a sweep past Jameson’s place.’

‘Oh. Did Joseph say much else?’ she asked as she peered out the window, trying to see what Ryan was searching for.

‘Bits and pieces. Jameson is running more than just drugs, Jaz. He has a massive operation going on using illegal immigrants. He has free labour and keeps them doing what he wants by threatening to kill them or ship them home. I need to dig a little deeper and see where we go from here. I might need to contact the commander, and also James. See what plan of attack would work best.’

‘Is there anything I can do?’ Jaz shifted in her seat.

‘No. I don’t want you near this one just yet. We are going to have to tread carefully. It won’t be fixed overnight, that’s for sure.’

How long would it take? How long would he have to be dating Jameson’s daughter?

‘Once we take Carl out of the picture, it will be interesting to see what both Jameson and Salvatore do,’ said Ryan, more to himself.

Jaz ended up lost in her own thoughts. Thinking about Ryan and that girl and trying not to picture her hands on his body or her lips on his skin. Instead she tried to remember how he’d touched her, held her and whispered her name.
Jasmine
. Even the memory of it still made her shiver.

They were at The Ring before Jaz realised. She was a little sad at having to leave Ryan’s side and share him with the others.

Tay’s Mustang was already parked around the back, out of sight. The two of them leant against the car in the dark as they waited.

‘Let’s go inside,’ said Ryan gruffly.

Jaz knocked on Pax’s back door. He opened it up slowly, peering around the door with his glasses.

‘It’s just us. Can we come in for a cuppa?’ she said sweetly.

Pax opened the door wider so he could see all of them. But they could also see him, standing there in his patterned pyjamas and bear claw fur slippers. Jaz smiled.

‘I was watching
Better Homes and Gardens
,’ said Pax. ‘I didn’t think I’d have company tonight.’

‘So I see,’ Jaz said with a chuckle.

‘Come on, kettle’s hot.’ Pax waited until they’d all trooped in and then shut the door and the many locks. ‘So do I dare ask why you lot are all together slinking around in the night?’

‘What makes you think we are slinking?’ asked Anna as she got out four cups.

Pax just shook his head. He picked up his half-full cup off the side bench and sat down next to Taylor and Jaz. Ryan leant against the cupboard in the corner, looking all long and lean.

‘Jaz and I went to follow the guy watching Taylor. Then these two decided to join us.’ He frowned but Jaz had a hard time believing it was for real after she’d seen him laughing about it.

‘Is everyone alright?’ asked Pax, as his eyes checked over Anna. No doubt looking for broken bones or bullet holes.

‘We are, just not the man Anna cracked over the head with a frying pan,’ said Ryan. He was fighting the smile, which tugged on his lips. ‘Jaz no doubt told them where we were,’ he added. ‘Just as well, because another guy turned up and could have blown the situation out of hand if these two hadn’t come in.’ Ryan waved towards Taylor and Anna.

Anna handed out the cups, smiling sweetly at Ryan as she gave him his. He just shook his head.

‘Is that as close to a “thank you” as we’ll get?’ she whispered to Jaz as she sat down.

‘Probably.’

Jaz glanced up to see Ryan watching her, his brown eyes unbelievably sexy and unreadable. What was he thinking? He sighed as he pushed away from the bench, moving to the table and taking the seat next to Jaz. The table was small, putting him close, his thigh coming to rest against hers. She thought he’d move it, but he didn’t. Maybe he was enjoying the warmth as much as she was.

Ryan put his cup down, licked his lips and began to tell Pax what he’d found out from Joseph. Jaz tried not to stare. But his lips were perfect and she’d tasted them and right now was visualising them brushing against the skin on her neck.

His words were only half registering but the others were hooked on every sentence, especially Taylor, as he wanted to know everything about Joseph.

‘They didn’t make you?’ asked Pax.

Ryan shook his head. ‘No, we were careful. They wouldn’t have any clue why we were there. Might have them watching their backs for a while though.’

‘So how do we get this Jameson guy?’ Taylor asked seriously. His hair was cocked up on an angle and that uncertainty she’d seen in his eyes as he held the gun had completely gone. ‘How do we stop the hold he has over my dad?’

‘Right now, I’m not sure,’ said Ryan truthfully. ‘Anyone have any great ideas?’ he said, looking directly to Jaz and then Anna.

Jaz wasn’t sure either. How did you get the head of a major business corporation like that? ‘We grab him, put a gun to his head and tell him to leave Tay’s dad alone? Or do you just make him disappear?’

‘Making him disappear is the easy option but not the solution. There will be a way, we just need to think it through.’ He nudged her with his knee, making her turn to him. ‘Are you set for Carl?’ he asked.

‘Actually, I think I am.’ Jaz leant forward and told Ryan her plans. She’d been assessing it over and over, trying to think out each scenario if things went wrong, until she got to a plan that worked best and was the least risky.

‘Can I help you guys with that?’ asked Taylor. ‘If you need an extra set of eyes, I’m here.’

Ryan thought about it for a moment. ‘Maybe. I’ll let you know.’

A few minutes later Ryan got up to leave.

‘Leaving already?’ said Anna, who was only halfway through her cup.

Ryan glanced at his watch and then ran his hand through his short cropped hair. ‘Yeah, I have … um, a few things to do.’

Jaz raised her brow, already guessing exactly what ‘things’ he meant. A date with a lady?

‘Jaz, can you see me out?’

‘Sure.’

She got up from the table and followed his firm backside down the passage to the back door. He stopped as he opened the door and Jaz, who was so preoccupied with his butt, face planted into his back. Automatically her hands held onto his back as she collected herself.

‘You okay?’ he asked with a chuckle.

‘Yeah, just tripped. Sorry.’ But as she slowly drew her hands away she knew she’d never be sorry. Touching him was a blessing. Made her totally frustrated, but still, it was better than nothing.

Outside in the dark she followed him to his car. The lights blinked orange as he unlocked it. But instead of getting inside he turned to Jaz.

‘So, what’s up?’ she asked, knowing he had something he needed to say.

‘I wouldn’t mind using Taylor but I’d rather know he was doing okay.’ He got straight to the point. ‘Can you make sure you get him to the firing range and see if he’s coping? If he can’t get past it like you have then—’ Ryan stopped mid-sentence.

‘Then you won’t recruit him? Is that what you were going to say?’ Jaz had half a feeling that Ryan was keen on recruiting Taylor. He’d been looking at him first, before Jaz. ‘I thought now you had me you wouldn’t need him?’

Ryan shifted his weight to his other foot. ‘Jaz, we are always looking for great operatives. I can’t help it that the both of you are best friends. In the end it’s up to Taylor. But I won’t be asking him unless I’m sure he’s right for the job. That’s why I need to know he can still fire a gun and be in control. If he can’t get past Tommy, then it’s not even an issue.’

‘What makes you think I’m over the shooting?’

Jaz felt the pressure of his hand against her shoulder. He squeezed her gently.

‘Jaz, you may not be fully over it but you push through all that and you have had no issues holding a gun and doing what is necessary. One of the reasons I picked you is the strength you have, not only in your body but also in your mind. Sometimes I think you thrive on a fight and the pain you endure just feeds your determination to push on and be stronger, better. I’ve never met anyone quite like you, Jaz. You’re remarkable. All that in such an exquisite and delicate exterior.’ His hand moved up to caress the side of her face. ‘But don’t let all that go to your head, hey?’ He let her go and turned to open his car door. ‘Take Tay tomorrow morning if you can. The sooner the better.’

Ryan drove away and Jaz began walking back to the house.

‘Everything alright?’ said Anna, who was waiting by the door, her hair slightly glowing from the light behind her.

‘I guess so.’ Jaz sighed. ‘Sometimes I think Ryan knows more about me than I do myself.’ Was he always that intuitive with everyone? But he had one bit wrong. Her exterior wasn’t exquisite or delicate, it was strong, scary and many would say ‘butch’. ‘He thinks I have an exquisite and delicate exterior. Strange, hey?’

Anna shook her head and smiled. ‘No honey. That’s not strange at all. Ryan just sees what the rest of us do.’

***

The next morning Jaz did as Ryan asked and got Tay to go to the firing range. Anna tagged along too. To quote Anna: ‘A gun would be more effective than a frying pan, right?’

Neither of them had disagreed.

Her phone buzzed as they got out of the car and headed to the brick building. Jaz sighed heavily.

‘What’s up?’ asked Anna.

‘Just Marcus. He’s been asking to come to my place and meet my family for a while now as I’m always at his. I’ve been putting him off and was hoping that soon I wouldn’t have to, once we’ve dealt with Carl. But now I’m thinking that Sunday might be our last day together and I’d like to say goodbye, in a way, if that makes sense.’