Ethan Justice: Origins (Ethan Justice #1) (22 page)

*

The Earthguard agents had relocated John and Savannah to a small safe house in Hammersmith, close to the tube line. They were to stay there until Monday morning, at which time they would take up their new identities at Justice Investigations. Every five minutes or so the two up two down, cramped residence would shake on its very foundations as a train rattled by. Savannah thought all the terraced houses on the run-down street must have been built with rubber bricks.

In the lounge the agents were preparing to leave. Johnson threw an envelope onto the green two-seater sofa which, other than a small rectangular dining table with two chairs and an old portable television set on a wooden stool, was the only furniture in the room.

“If you want to paw each other I suggest you do it silently or press the top button twice, and twice again when you’ve finished. We’ll be busy and so won’t be listening most of the time. If there’s an emergency unscrew and hold down the bottom button for five seconds.”

“Where will you be?” Savannah asked. She did not want to lose their protection and more importantly she did not want to be left alone with Smith. It was easy to ignore him with the agents around, but once they departed, she did not relish the stilted conversations to come. Why hadn’t she been given a new identity? It was like all the focus was on Smith.

With Christos out of the picture, it was no longer her battle. The way things were with Smith had scratched the lustre from her involvement. She wanted to help and part of her relished the anticipation of tomorrow and the danger it would bring, but right now she wished she could take a bath and sleep until the morning light.

“I got a call from SAS headquarters. We’re going over there to question the commanding officer of Fisher’s squadron and any other soldiers who might be able to help. In the morning I have arranged to meet with experts who will destroy the gun as I watch.” Johnson turned to face the front door and was about to take a step.

“You won’t be nearby when we act as bait in Twickenham?”

“No, but Wilson will be taking good care of you from the second office.”

She noticed that Wilson, who was standing close to her right side, had remained rooted to the spot. Clearly he was not so eager to leave. She also observed for the first time that the beefy agent was a few inches shorter than her.

“Where do you go to destroy something like that?”

This time Johnson swivelled to face Savannah. The words were monotone and carried no aggression. “What is it with you two and questions? If I don’t tell you, then you can’t tell anybody else. No matter how small a risk
that
might be, it’s a risk we can’t afford to take.”

Despite the emotionless delivery, the words themselves suggested annoyance and Savannah reeled like she had been pushed in the chest. Wilson placed his hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry yourself, nobody will find you here. Just remember no phone calls, no going out and you’ll be back to your own life before you know it. There won’t be a weapon to fight over once it’s destroyed and if Fisher’s as desperate as his actions so far indicate, then we’ll pick him up by the end of tomorrow.”

“So how will you lure him in?”

Johnson looked at Wilson. “We really should go now.”

“Just a second,” Wilson said, his arm now around Savannah’s shoulders. She didn’t mind, it seemed kind of sweet, but John was giving her the strangest of looks. “As far as we know he is trying to get to us through you.”

“And John?”

“Well there’s no reason for us to suspect that he even knows who John is. He’s never met him and to our knowledge has only seen him from a distance in dark conditions. You, he knows by name.”

Of course, even though John and Fisher had locked horns twice they had never had a good look at each other. On the other hand, Fisher had become fully acquainted with her ex-pimp.

“Christos,” she said.

“Exactly. We’ll put the word out that you have been seen frequenting Justice Investigations in Twickenham. From what we can tell, Fisher has spent the last few weeks building up a network of contacts throughout the city who feed him information for sizeable cash pay-outs. If we play it right, it won’t take long before he sniffs you out.”

“Ugghhhh, that sounds disgusting.”

“I’ll be waiting in the back office so don’t you worry. I promise that nothing will happen to you.”

“Or John?” she asked, looking at John who was attempting to catch Johnson’s attention and failing. The tall man’s eyes were regarding Wilson thoughtfully, presumably willing him to shut up, hurry up or both.

Wilson shrugged. “Or John.”

“Come on, Wilson. Let’s move it,” Johnson said, opening the front door.

Wilson removed his arm from Savannah’s shoulders and gave her a comforting nod. She felt a little better as he joined Johnson, but, as the door closed behind them, the thought of being alone with John loomed ominously and she felt her stomach drop.

*

After two hours of silence, sitting side by side on the well-worn sofa, John could take no more. It was clear to him that Savannah had pressed up against the armrest to maximise the distance between them. He felt like a kid on his very first date, and it was driving him crazy. He pressed the top button of the Rolex Daytona twice in rapid succession. This conversation was not for anyone else’s consumption.

“I thought I’d be rubbish in bed,” he announced.

She turned and looked at John, suspicion etched on her face. “What are you talking about?” she snapped.

John shuffled up to her until their legs were almost touching and leaned towards her, looking into her beautiful eyes. “That’s what this is all about, isn’t it? The cold shoulder treatment?”

Savannah pressed further against the armrest and into the corner of the sofa. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Liar,” John said. Savannah looked straight ahead and wouldn’t meet his gaze. “Listen, Savannah, I’ve only been with two women in my life and I’m thirty-two years old. I didn’t want to disappoint you.”

Her eyes moved to meet John’s but her head barely turned. “And that’s a good reason to treat me like a whore?”

“It was the only thing I could think of to make you stop in time.”

Her head turned and she sat forward. They were face to face. “In time for what?”

“In time to stop me from making a complete fool of myself.”

Savannah wasn’t getting it, her movements were agitated like she couldn’t fathom his words and it was infuriating her. “You were with these two women sexually?”

John shivered and cringed. This was getting pretty personal now and he knew he could not retreat or insult his way out of it again. They had a whole night to get through and he wanted closure on his mammoth faux pas - one way or another.

Keep the answers short and don’t offer more information than asked for,
he told himself. “Yes.”

“And you put it in the right place?”

Jesus Christ.
His heart hammered in his chest and he couldn’t swallow despite the feeling that he desperately needed to. “Yes, as far as I know. With one girl...” God this was so difficult. Mark had been the only person he had ever talked to about this stuff.

“Yes? With one girl...?”

Spit it out, man,
he chastised himself. “It was only once and with the second, who was over a year ago, it was a few times but always in the dark.”

“And these were prostitutes?”

Good God no,
he thought.
Mustn’t say that though - anything to do with prostitutes is a no-go area. Back to short answers.
“No.” Damn his heart, it would not settle down, would not give him a break.

“Okay, so we’ve established that you’re not a virgin and that you know where to put it,” she said, her gaze intensifying.

John wanted to get up but felt physically restrained, as if bound by invisible ligatures. To not face the music would be a step backwards, and he had back peddled enough lately to last a lifetime. He placed both his hands, palms down, on his legs and they immediately began to sweat. He had no idea where to move them or what to say next. He kept them on his legs and said nothing. Savannah was toying with him, teaching him a lesson he knew he deserved. It was uncomfortable for him. She undoubtedly sensed his unease and was not going to let him off lightly.

She twisted the knife a little further. “But you have a phobia of prostitutes?”

“No. I couldn’t care less what you did before. I really like you and I screwed up. I’m really sorry. Please can we wipe the slate clean?”

“I still don’t understand why you wanted to stop.”

“It seemed like you thought I was some kind of hero or something and I didn’t think I would match those expectations if I had allowed it to go any further.”

“So you wanted me?”

“Oh God, yes.” John hadn’t meant for that to come out quite so honestly.

“And you know that I wanted you?”

Where is she going with this?
“I thought so,” he said cautiously.

“So why didn’t you just take a chance?”

“Because I thought I’d lose you. That you’d laugh at me, that the hero would be a let-down. All of those things. You’d already got my interest when you offered yourself to me in exchange for getting Johnson and Wilson to sort out your Christos problem. I was sorely tempted then but did the right thing because it would have been taking advantage of you. When we were finally about to actually ... get together, I could tell in my bones ...” John felt the warmth from his cheeks as he approached his confession, “... and other parts, that it would be a short-lived experience.”

They sat looking at each other in silence. The truth was out, and while John felt better about that, he couldn’t tell what was going through Savannah’s mind as she continued to stare at him. John’s heart had slowed down, but his stomach still acted like he was falling down a chasm and was forever trying to catch up with the rest of him. Was he imagining it or were Savannah’s eyes wider and a little brighter?

“I guess I did come on a bit strong,” she said, tapping her fingers on her thighs and looking around the room. “You really wanted me, huh?”

“Of course I did. Have you not seen yourself? You’re beautiful.”

“So you just like my body?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” John took one of her hands in both of his, “You just want me to suffer a bit more for what I did, and I guess I deserve that and everything you called me in the hotel.”

“I’ve never sworn like that before.”

“Forget about it. I earned it.”

John wasn’t sure what he was doing but it felt right to him, and he wanted to share his feelings with another woman for the first time in his life. “I’m amazed at what you’ve been through and that you still managed to stay a sane person. What you went through with your mum dying, your dad drinking and gambling away your inheritance and that arsehole boyfriend cleaning you out would be enough to make anyone give up.”

“I nearly did give up yesterday.”

“I’m not finished.”

“Sorry.”

“The truth is that you never gave up.” John kissed her hand, hoping the gesture wasn’t too pathetic. “You’re intelligent, resourceful and I could stare at your eyes forever. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I feel about you and I have no idea if we could be good together or not but if we live through tomorrow and they catch this bastard, then I think we should give it a try.”

Savannah’s face beamed and John swore he saw a little flush in her cheeks. “Does that mean we have to wait before we kiss?” she said.

John’s heart picked up pace again and his stomach somersaulted several times. “No,” he said, leaning forward and meeting her lips as they approached his. Their lips parted and tongues urgently searched each other’s mouths. Breathing became rapid and John’s mouth seemed to suddenly go dry. No other girl had ever affected him this way. There was no time for water. There were no brakes this time, he was freefalling out of control to a place he had never been, and he was loving every wonderful second.

*

The first time had lasted ... well not very long, but the second and the third and the fourth times had been out of this world. Even now certain intimate muscles twitched with the residual memory of heightened pleasure. His moves, which began tentatively, grew with confidence after the enjoyable, but short lived and frantic, first sexual encounter. After that, John was unbelievably keen to explore every part of her body, leaving virtually no part untouched.

She had figured that he might take a little persuasion to let loose his inhibitions, and she wondered exactly what had kept him from neglecting his sexual wellbeing for so long. A part of her was glad and a little smug at the fact that she had brought out the animal in him that no other woman had yet experienced. If it hadn’t been for the duration of their first time she might have suspected that the whole inexperience story was a ploy of some sort, but, given that she had thrown herself at him three times already, she couldn’t think, for the life of her, what that ploy could be.

Men and their insecurities,
Savannah mused. Although she had to admit, only to herself, that a tiny seed of doubt had considered what she would do and say if the experience had turned out to be a disaster. John could have always said ‘I told you so’ and she would have been forced to face bitter disappointment with words of solace and encouragement. It didn’t matter. It had been everything she had hoped and more. She had a hero for a man and if they lived through the week it might turn into ... who knew?

In the small bedroom upstairs, Savannah lay with her head on John’s chest.

“Yes,” she said, blowing on his chest as her finger circled his nipple. She liked that what little chest hair he had was soft, not thick and wiry.

“Yes to what?” John asked, stroking Savannah’s hair.

“I’ll go out with you.”

John laughed. “I thought that was implied, or is it inferred? I can never remember.”

Savannah giggled, catching herself unawares. Was that her?
Of course it is, silly.
When was the last time she had giggled? She couldn’t honestly remember if she ever had, not like that. Even to her own ears, the sound had been girly, playful and most of all just plain happy. She didn’t know what would become of them, whether they would make it through the dangers that lay ahead. If they died tomorrow it would be on a high, and given that she couldn’t recall another feeling even close to the utter contentment that hummed inside her now, somehow that wasn’t so bad.