The Deception (3 page)

Anna shot her a huge grin, which screamed ‘look who I’m next to’. Taylor grunted behind her.

‘Jaz.’ Pax got up and gave her a hug. He wore a white t-shirt with a blue patterned button-up shirt over the top, which hung open either side of his belly. He teamed this up with worn denim shorts and brown sandals.

It was like being wrapped up by a loving grandfather. His squishy belly and the smell of coffee and icing sugar was what she expected with each hug. ‘How are you, love?’ he asked gently, but the question was loaded with much more meaning. Jaz had only just found out that Pax was involved with the same secret agency as Ryan. He’d kept that secret her whole life, only now did she know he made all the documents the agents needed. Here she thought Pax had been all about his gym, when in fact he’d been in the Agency for most of his life. It made her wonder if she really knew anyone anymore.

She gazed into his warm, lined face, his glasses perched on his head, as his eyes narrowed.

‘I’ll live,’ she said.

Pax groaned and shook his head. ‘You’re not a cat, Jaz. Don’t think you’ve got nine lives to use up.’

‘I know.’ She could see the worry in his eyes and hated being the one who put that there.

‘Well, seeing as you lot have arrived, shall we go pick up some afternoon tea?’ said Pax, rubbing his hands together.

Anna laughed. ‘Why not. I’m starved. Seeing as Jaz can’t carry much, I’ll come and help you. Coming, Tay?’

Taylor glanced at Ryan, who only just now moved his chair so he could see the both of them. Her breath caught in her throat. Ryan was sexy. Short clipped hair, tanned muscles and dark eyes that held many secrets. But it wasn’t just that, it was the way he carried himself. His shoulders were never slouched, but erect and straight as if he were always on alert. Which was understandable in his job, where he couldn’t really trust anyone and was constantly aware of his surroundings. Even here, with them, he seemed on edge.

Ryan gave Taylor a nod.

‘Sure, I’ll come,’ said Taylor, reading Ryan’s message loud and clear. ‘Cappuccinos all round then?’ he added.

While Anna was writing down everyone’s order, Jaz reached across and squeezed Tay’s hand. She knew he was dying to talk to Ryan about that night and about his dad, but now wasn’t the time. He understood that, even if it was killing him to wait.

‘Alright, are you driving?’ said Pax as they headed out of the office.

‘Depends,’ said Tay. ‘Are you paying?’

After they left, Ryan got up and closed the door. ‘Let’s go into the house. We won’t be interrupted there.’

Jaz gulped. Since everyone had gone and left them alone, her heart rate had increased. Some of it was slight panic of being alone with this gorgeous man and some of it was fear of what he had to say. Would she be getting a lecture about her thoughtless escapade? Would he be disappointed in her? Did he have news about the men they’d fought? Was she in trouble? Well, the last one was probably a given. Trouble seemed to just find Jaz whether she liked it or not.

Ryan still hadn’t even glanced in her direction, as if pretending she wasn’t in the room with him. Had she disappointed him? Had he expected more from her? Jaz wished she’d thought it through when she went to the warehouse, but it did seem harmless at the time. How could a ‘quick look’ turn into murder? She was still trying to figure that one out.

Ryan opened the door to Pax’s house, which was joined onto the gym by a solid wood door. He wore a snug army green t-shirt and relaxed fit stone-washed jeans, along with his black commando boots. Ready for action. Jaz pulled her eyes away from the tight fit of his shirt and limped past.

Pax’s house wasn’t anything special; from the outside it looked like it was falling down, much like the gym, and on the inside it was old and outdated. Pax still had the original beige lino, which had worn through to brown on the heavy traffic areas. They sat in the kitchen with its yellow tiles and old table with mismatched chairs. Anyone would think Pax was poor, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He had shares in Anna’s grandad’s huge computer business, which her father now ran, and Pax had plenty of money in his own bank account. Jaz probably got her distaste for materialistic things from Pax. She felt more at home in his comfy small abode then she did in her own massive million dollar home.

‘So,’ said Ryan after he sat down.

Jaz took a seat, dropping her crutches to the floor. ‘So,’ she replied. Not sure where to start. Funny, considering she’d had a heap of questions just moments ago.

‘How’s the wound? Keeping an eye on it?’ He lifted his head, his strong jaw set firm, as his eyes finally met with hers.

A tingle ran down her spine. Being the object of his attention was now unnerving her. Jaz picked at her fingers, unable to hold his gaze. For a moment she wished things could go back to when they’d first met and would spar together and joke. Now that she’d stepped into his world, his job, things had become more serious. She felt like she’d grown up, that the things she’d seen had aged her by at least five years. Which would put her at Ryan’s age.

‘It’s heaps better. I can put some weight on my leg now.’

He nodded as if all was as it should be. ‘I’ve been and informed the Agency about what you found at the warehouse. They are pleased, not about the casualties or that you put yourself at such risk, but they want you to see this through and continue at the Sinclair house,’ said Ryan.

Jaz sat back as if he’d shouted. His sudden jump right into information overload took her a moment to catch up. But when she did, Marcus’s face came to mind. ‘They want me to go back? After I … did that?’ She couldn’t bring herself to say ‘killed Tommy’. It made it all too real; it made Tommy a person, a life. Jaz felt light-headed and hoped it was from lack of food.

Ryan leant closer, his hands reaching out, but then stopped just short of her fingers. His familiar scent washed over her like a bucket of water, snapping her from her thoughts on Tommy.

‘Jaz, I know it seems like you’d be walking into a lion’s cage, but trust me. They don’t know anything. To them you are still just Marcus’s girlfriend.’

‘But what about my leg and face? What if they put it together?’ How could she face Carl again, or Marcus? How would she react if they talked about the murder?

‘They are not going to. Why would they think a seventeen-year-old girl would be involved in a shooting at their warehouse? You have to keep up appearances, Jaz. This is the best time to be at their place, after what’s happened. This would have rattled their cage, they could be reaching out to suppliers or this might cause them to make mistakes while they’re scared. We really need you on the inside.’

Even when Ryan was serious he was handsome. ‘Did you find out if both the … um guys died?’ Jaz swallowed. Sweat was gathering on the back of her neck.

‘Only one did. The other is in hospital with serious injuries to his face. They are calling it a robbery.’

‘Did the cops search their warehouse? Find the drugs they had shipped out that night? Have they any leads? ’

Ryan shook his head. ‘No, nothing. But we need to keep you in place until we can get this next shipment and find out where it’s coming from.’ His chest rose as he breathed in deeply. ‘Can you do it?’

Could she do it? It seemed like a stupid thing to do, like walking into belly of the beast. It would be her biggest test yet. But she didn’t want to let anyone down and she didn’t want to walk away just because it was getting hard. No matter how terrified she felt, she found herself nodding her head. ‘Yes, I can do it.’

‘Good. Great.’ He almost smiled. ‘Are you still in contact with Marcus?’

‘Yep.’ Jaz pulled out her phone and sent Marcus a message saying she’d just found her phone again and could they catch up. ‘I’ve told everyone I stacked it off the skateboard, if you’re wondering,’ she said, glancing at Ryan.

Ryan cocked an eyebrow. ‘Skateboarding?’

‘Marcus is teaching me a few tricks so it fits.’ Jaz shrugged. She put her phone down on the table and wondered how long until she’d hear from Marcus. Was his household in chaos after Tommy’s death? Would they go to his funeral? Would he want Jaz to go? What if he’d had a family? Kids? She needed to think of something else and right now! ‘Have you heard anything about Taylor’s dad? Anything we can do there?’

‘No, just keep ignoring this guy for now. I have other work to do but when I get a moment, we’ll try and follow this guy home. See where he goes and who he meets.’

‘Okay.’

‘How is Taylor handling all this?’

‘About the same as me, I think. A little freaked out. How do you get past this?’ she whispered. Jaz felt weak and soft. And she hated it.

Ryan dragged his lip through his teeth before he spoke. ‘It’s not easy, Jaz. There’s no miracle cure to nightmares or jumping at every sound.’ His dark eyes were full of compassion.

Jaz felt herself relax. It was as if he could read her thoughts and knew what she was going through.

‘I was in your position too, remember. I’ve been through what you are dealing with and I wish I could help.’ He cleared his throat. ‘You don’t know how much I wanted to save you from all this, Jaz, and even Pakistan. Once you’ve seen and done things like that, you can’t take it back, or erase it. I’m angry that I brought you into this mess, especially so soon. I feel like I’ve stolen your youth.’

Jaz’s mouth fell open. Ryan’s jaw was clenched so tight it was almost pulsing along with the grinding of his teeth. That’s when she noticed the darkness around his eyes and the shadow of stubble. He wasn’t travelling so well either.

‘It’s not your fault, Ryan. You weren’t to know.’ The killing in Pakistan wasn’t supposed to happen, just bad luck on both counts. A simple retrieval mission gone wrong. ‘We both knew this was going to happen eventually.’ She wished there was a way to make him feel better. She could see the burden weighing heavily on his mind.

He remained silent and broody.

‘How did you get through it?’ she asked. ‘The first time?’

He relaxed his jaw as he sighed. ‘Badly. I lost sleep, got to the point I didn’t want to sleep, but that just set me back. But I realised the nightmares wouldn’t kill me and I’d get past that stage. So I jumped back into work. I wouldn’t let it defeat me. There were people who needed me, I focused on that. I focused on stopping these bastards.’

Jaz was drawing shapes on the table with her finger but Ryan’s words sunk in. She knew that there were paramedics and police officers who witnessed gruesome things every day yet they continued on because they were needed. Jaz had to think about the bigger picture. The people she was saving in the long run.

‘Are you regretting your choice, Jaz?’ said Ryan. He slid his finger along the table until it met with hers. ‘You can get out now if you want. Many a man has and no one would hold it against you if you did.’

He was giving her an out. But did Jaz want it? Sure, it would be nice to go back to the oblivious nice life she had before, but could you go back to normal after that? Jaz didn’t think she could get that back, and the truth was she didn’t want to go back. She’d come so far. Nothing had given her as much purpose in life as working for the Agency and helping Ryan.

Jaz sat up in her chair, drew her hand away from his and set her steely gaze on him.

‘I don’t regret anything.’

Chapter 3

Marcus got back to Jaz just as Anna, Pax and Taylor returned with the coffee and pastries.

‘Here you are, except we’re down one as Pax couldn’t wait,’ said Anna with a grin. She handed out the cups and they all sat around the table. ‘Is that Marcus?’ she asked while Jaz was reading his message.

‘Yep, he’s just saying sorry he hasn’t been in contact much as stuff happening at home. He wants to catch up.’ A flutter of nerves bounced around her chest. She resisted the urge to glance at Ryan. Beside her Taylor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘Thanks for this,’ she said, drinking her coffee in hot gulps, hoping Anna was done with questions on Marcus.

The table fell quiet. Not surprising with all the secrets everyone was trying to hide. Anna didn’t know about the attack or Taylor’s involvement and Pax didn’t know that Anna had been in his secret room and made up their new passports. Oh, what a world.

‘So are you going to see him this arvo?’ Anna. Persistent as ever.

‘Yep.’

‘How are you going to get there?’ Anna gestured to her crutches.

‘I can drop you off on my way home, if you like,’ said Ryan softly.

All this did was spike Anna’s curiosity. Her eyes widened and Jaz knew her mind would be trying to process this scenario. Ryan, the guy she had feelings for, taking her to Marcus, the guy she was actually dating. Anna’s nose twitched, moving her cute freckles. She must be ready to burst and no doubt this would warrant a call later to discuss.

‘Sure, thanks.’ Jaz gave Ryan half a smile before replying to Marcus that she’d drop by his house shortly.

‘Everyone seems so glum lately. I think we need to do something exciting. Maybe we should plan your eighteenth, Jaz! It’s only two weeks away. You in, Tay?’ asked Anna.

Taylor, who’d been rather quiet, nodded. ‘Sure, maybe you’re right. Let’s have a party. I’ll help you, Anna.’ He smiled at Jaz. ‘Don’t worry, we’ll throw you something you’ll love.’

Jaz wasn’t so sure about that, but she was just happy to see Taylor smile. They talked about what Jaz would like for her birthday, random gifts like dice for her car or a neon bike helmet for her skateboard. But when she tried to think of something she really wanted, nothing came to mind besides Ryan and maybe having her own gun. Then she wouldn’t need to rely on other people. If she’d had her own gun she wouldn’t have needed to call Taylor and he wouldn’t be suffering right now. Her guilt weighed heavy. At least she understood how Ryan felt.

Ryan glanced at his watch. ‘I need to head off. Jaz, you ready for that ride?’

‘Okay.’ Jaz grabbed a pastry from the box on the table. ‘Tay, I’ll call you later and check up.’ Since he’d been attacked in his own house, as a warning to his dad, both girls were keeping a close watch on him.

Jaz shoved the apricot-filled treat into her mouth and then reached for her crutches. Pax was staring at her leg, causing Jaz to panic and check her wound hadn’t bled through. She was still wearing her school uniform and her black leggings hid the bandage well. She shot him a reassuring smile. ‘I’m fine, Pax. It will be better when my bruises fade. Looks worse than it is.’