Authors: Fiona Palmer
‘Yep.’
‘Get her to help you find a sexy outfit for your birthday bash next week.’
‘Can’t I just wear my jeans?’
Anna looked appalled. ‘No, it’s a fancy affair,’ she said with a grin.
Tay shot Anna a wink and Jaz wondered what that was all about. Was she missing something? What were they planning? ‘Just remember, yours is only a month away.’
‘And I can’t wait,’ said Anna, unaffected.
It was after six when they left Molly’s and collected their stuff from The Ring.
‘Hey Pax,’ said Anna as she grabbed Jaz’s schoolbag from the office.
Pax was sitting there doing a crossword puzzle. Since his stay in hospital, Pax had lost some weight. His face seemed leaner and his button-up coloured shirt didn’t pull across his middle.
‘Hi Jaz,’ said Pax.
She smiled and greeted him. But for some reason she couldn’t make herself go up and hug him like normal. It was still too raw. Not that long ago she’d had a moment with Pax where she felt closer to him than ever. They could share the MTG Agency secret and confide in each other. Only now he was hiding something again, this time it was huge and it was about her life. Pax had been there when she was born, he’d known her longer than her own dad, Paul, and yet he’d kept this secret about her mum and her life. Sure, she knew it was to protect her but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
Pax’s eyes narrowed, he sensed something.
With a huge smile, she slung her bag on her shoulder. ‘Well, we gotta go. Mum’s making her famous shepherd’s pie.’
He leant back in his chair, while rolling a pen through his fingers. Did she have him fooled?
‘Righto, catch you all tomorrow. You did good today, Tay,’ he said, causing Taylor to grin like a kid at a race wearing a blue ribbon.
‘Cheers. Later, Pax.’
After Tay dropped them home, she ran upstairs to her room and flicked on her computer. Simon was home playing ‘Final Fantasy’, Mum wouldn’t be far away either. So time was short. Jaz typed in Natasha Montenegro and pressed search.
She didn’t know what she would find, but it was worth a shot. She wanted to know more. Did her family put out ‘missing’ posters when she didn’t come home? Did it ever make the news, or because of her being an agent did they not do anything?
Nothing came up except the name belonging to people on Facebook and LinkedIn. Jaz knew none of them would be her mum, she’d disappeared long before all that was in. Maybe she’d find out more if she knew what school she’d gone to and whereabouts in Victoria they’d lived. The only person she could ask about that was James. Maybe she’d find out when he was next in WA and see if she could have a meeting with him and then slyly ask about his sister.
‘What ya doing, darling?’
Tasha’s voice made her jolt. ‘Jesus, Mum. You scared me half to death.’ That and the fact she had Natasha Montenegro on her search bar. Quickly she shut the laptop and got up. ‘What are you doing sneaking around the house?’
Tasha laughed. ‘I wasn’t sneaking, you were just deep in thought. I actually called out before but you didn’t hear me. Everything alright?’
No, I just found out you were an agent who’s probably killed more people than a bus full of tourists crashed over a mountain side.
Tasha stood against the doorframe. She’d changed out of her work clothes and into her worn jeans and a cream cashmere sweater. Her hair was out of its normal harsh bun and fell loose around her face. Her eyes grew dark and for a moment, Jaz saw a hidden strength and the ability to see signs of lies. No wonder she’d never been able to get anything past her mum over the years. She wasn’t as clueless as she made out.
‘Just a few boy troubles,’ she said with a shrug, hoping the topic would throw her off.
‘Marcus?’
‘Yeah. I think we’re through.’ Jaz didn’t have to pretend to feel sadness or confusion. Not hearing from him made her feel like she was missing something, like a clock without a tick.
‘Oh, Jaz. He seemed so nice.’ Tasha came in and gave her a hug.
Jaz was surprised at how much she needed one, with everything that had happened over the last few days. ‘I know. It might be alright, we’ll see.’
Tasha leant back and brushed a strand of her hair back. Then she held Jaz’s face in her hands as she studied her face. ‘My beautiful girl.’ She kissed her forehead before letting her go.
Jaz felt the motherly love and understood, to a degree, why her mum must have done what she did. Imagine leaving everything you knew to start fresh. She’d done that for Jaz. ‘I love you, Mum.’
‘Aw.’ Tasha’s eyes got glassy and she blinked them clear. ‘I’m just about to start dinner. Feel like helping me? I could use a veggie chopper.’
‘Sure, why not.’ It had been a while since they’d spent some quality time together. ‘I’ll be down in two seconds.’
Her mum left and Jaz opened up her laptop and deleted her browser history. If her mum had been an agent then she’d have to be more careful with what she left in her room. Snooping was something that probably came naturally to her. Before she went downstairs, she checked her phone again. Still nothing from Marcus, not even a goodbye. That made her sad. She touched the drawing of them he’d done and then tugged it from her wall. That was in the past, time to move forward.
The rest of the week went on as normal. Get up, go to school then head back to the gym so Taylor could practise. The fact that Taylor was fit and strong, combined with his fencing practice, meant he was at least halfway there. They just had to teach him how to kick, punch, evade and harm. It would all take time; Jaz had nearly sixteen years of learning karate, and then boxing and street fighting when Bags and Tick came to The Ring. Only now was she finally doing something with it.
Jaz was at The Ring early Saturday morning to do some training with Taylor.
‘Show me something cool,’ he asked as they stopped for a rest. Tay was wearing a white singlet and shorts, his hair spiked with sweat.
In a fluid motion, Jaz spun around, pushing her good leg out and up. Her foot stopped just short of Taylor’s nose. She held this position, her abs contracted as she stood firm.
‘Nice one. Will I be able to do that one day?’ he asked.
Jaz retracted her foot and smiled. She wore black shorts and a fitted racer-back tank top, her hair up in a high ponytail. ‘Sure. You can start doing yoga with me.’
Tay pulled a face. ‘Sounds a bit girly.’
‘I do it,’ said Ryan as he walked in the door. ‘You calling me a girl?’ He stopped before them and flexed his muscles, causing his white t-shirt to strain tight against his biceps. He wore comfortable jeans and his favourite commando boots. His hair had recently been trimmed short again, causing Jaz’s lips to curl into an appreciative grin.
Taylor coughed and took a step back. ‘Of course not.’ He smiled.
‘I liked that move,’ he said to Jaz. ‘I take it the leg’s fine?’
‘Good enough to take you out,’ she said cheekily.
‘Oh, right. You want some of this?’ said Ryan, pointing to himself. ‘Let’s go then.’ He pulled off his white shirt and took off his boots before joining her on the mat in his jeans.
‘Ha, this will be fun,’ said Tay, clapping them on. ‘Should you have gloves?’
‘No bad dude’s gonna wait for you to put gloves on,’ said Jaz with a chuckle.
‘Exactly,’ said Ryan. ‘You need to learn what it’s like to punch knuckles to skin.’
Jaz and Ryan circled each other. He glanced at her leg, her wound visible but nothing more than a raw scar.
‘Don’t go easy on me cos you think I’m still hurt,’ she said.
‘I won’t.’ Ryan shuffled forward and threw out his right fist but she deflected it with her arm. He attempted a few more jabs, which she ducked or covered.
‘Come on, Fletcher,’ she teased. ‘You’re just playing with your food, afraid to get a little dirty?’ Jaz launched an attack. Jab, jab cross and finished with an elbow.
He deflected the first two but was a little slow and her elbow caught his lip, splitting it. He touched it with his finger, looking at the blood, then at Jaz.
She smiled while jumping on the spot.
‘You little bugger, Thomas.’ His eyes danced with playfulness.
‘Bring it.’ She waved him forward and she noticed the switch as he focused on the fight.
Jaz didn’t have time to tease after that, it was game on. Deflected punches, kicks that were caught and jabs that were ducked. Jaz copped a hit on her chin, making her blink a few times. An even-up, maybe? She tried to get him in a headlock but the waft of rich perfume caused her to recoil.
‘What?’ he asked, seeing her face as she stepped back.
‘You reek of women’s perfume.’ It was like a dog marking its territory, he was covered in the stuff. She wiped the end of her nose, hoping to rid herself from it. Jaz didn’t even want to know if that was from rolling around in the sheets last night.
‘I had to meet Annaliese this morning for breakfast,’ he said quickly.
Jaz was relieved, but still fire raged inside her gut. Bending over so her hand brushed the floor, she kicked her foot out and got Ryan in the chest. Her connection was good. He doubled over, winded.
‘Alright, you two. I think that’s enough before you kill each other,’ said Tay, who had Ryan’s white shirt and was waving it in front of them. ‘We still have a game of paintball to get through.’
‘I’m going to have a quick shower,’ she told them and left before her hurt gave her away. Hopefully a shower would wash that perfume from her memory. As she walked to the change rooms, Jaz questioned the raging jealousy that had spiked. It made her angry and territorial. If she saw Annaliese now she was likely to rip her head clean off her pretty neck. It didn’t matter that their relationship wasn’t real, Annaliese got to be close to Ryan. Intimate. That really jerked her chain.
The guys were still in the gym after her shower. She walked out wearing a stone-washed denim skirt, a soft white top with lace detail and tan strappy sandals with a small heel. ‘You still here?’ she asked.
‘Just waiting for Anna. Cody will meet us there,’ said Ryan, who glanced away when she looked at him. ‘I was just about to tell Tay that James will be in next week, so I’ve set up a meeting.’
‘Brilliant,’ said Tay, punching his fist into his palm.
‘I can take him,’ she said quickly, shooting up her hand as if she was in school. Why was she such an idiot, couldn’t she just be naturally cool like Taylor? She dropped her hand quickly, resisting the urge to slap her forehead.
Ryan licked his lips, his eyes narrowed. After mulling it over, he said, ‘Sure, why not. I am busy next week.’ He knew why she wanted to go. ‘I trust you.’
‘You can.’ Jaz smiled reassuringly. She wasn’t about to tell James everything, she just wanted a chance to see him now she knew he was her uncle, to get another look at him and see if there was a family resemblance. ‘You lot take it easy on Anna,’ she said as she walked to the office to grab her tan bag.
‘Sure you don’t want to join us?’ said Tay.
‘I’d love too,’ she groaned. ‘But I can’t pull out on Steph now, her maid of honour is at home sick with the flu and her other bridesmaid can’t make it until later.’
‘Where are you meeting her?’ asked Ryan.
‘She’s picking me up here,’ she replied.
‘What!’
‘It can’t hurt to let her see a part of you, Ryan. If seeing this gym makes her connect you to something then she’ll feel closer to you. Trust me, it won’t hurt.’
Ryan rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. He probably did; it was called Jaz.
‘She’s here.’ Jaz pointed to the car outside on the curb. Steph climbed out, looking gorgeous in a soft blue baby-doll dress and matching sandals.
‘She’s hot,’ said Tay.
‘She’s taken,’ added Ryan.
Steph glanced up at the sign on the building before entering through the open door. Her nose wiggled as she entered and Jaz smiled at her reaction. She never got sick of seeing people’s reaction on their first visit to the gym.
‘Hi Steph,’ said Jaz, waving her over to the mat.
‘Hi Jaz. Oh Ryan, you’re here,’ she said almost running to him and giving him a hug. ‘Oh my God, what happened to your lip?’
‘Jaz did it.’
‘Only cos you’re too slow,’ Jaz retorted.
Steph leant over to look at Jaz’s face and the red swelling on her chin. ‘And I guess he did that?’
Ryan laughed. ‘Yeah, cos she was too slow.’
Steph rolled her eyes. She turned and looked around. ‘So this is the place you talk about. It’s got a rustic charm,’ she said as she glanced up at the photo of Mohammad Ali on the exposed old red brick wall.
Ryan’s eyes were on Jaz as he replied. ‘Yeah, it’s pretty cool.’
‘Steph, this is my best mate Taylor,’ said Jaz, doing the introductions. ‘Tay, meet Ryan’s sister Steph.’
‘Aren’t you cute,’ she said shaking Tay’s hand, causing him to blush.
‘I’m here, I’m here, sorry I’m late. Mum was having a pink fit cos she couldn’t find the car keys, but I’m here now,’ said Anna, charging into the gym with her usual gusto. ‘Oh, hello,’ she said, finally spotting Steph.
‘And this is my other best friend, Anna.’ Jaz put her arm around Anna and whispered, ‘This is Ryan’s sister, Steph.’
‘Oh, hi.’ Anna leapt into her arms and gave her a warm hug. ‘I’ve heard lots about you. Gosh, I can tell you two are related,’ she said, glancing at them both.
‘What are you wearing?’ said Tay, glancing at Anna.
She looked down at her army pants, black boots and grey singlet. ‘What? I thought I’d dress for the occasion. You don’t like?’ She had her hair in a braid. ‘I was going for a Lara Croft look.’
Tay’s face lit up. ‘I totally love it. But I don’t think it’s going to help your aim.’
‘Maybe distraction was her aim,’ said Jaz with a smirk. Tay was not going to concentrate with Anna’s tight top showing off her chest. Different from the more conservative clothes she usually wore.
‘I love your friends, Jaz. We’ll have to catch up again,’ said Steph, who’d been watching their banter with interest. ‘I can see why you like it here,’ she said to Ryan.
‘Eh, they’re alright,’ he said crossing his arms.
‘We’ve grown on him,’ said Anna.