The Mission (28 page)

‘I was going to ask if you know what you’re doing, but it looks like you’re familiar with this kind of stuff,’ said Taylor, looking at the scars along Ryan’s back.

Jaz pulled up her sleeve and stuck her arm out at Taylor. ‘He stitched me up here, see,’ she said proudly. Taylor’s eyebrows shot up but he didn’t say anything. Instead, he watched Ryan work.

‘Have you got anything for the pain?’ Taylor asked when Jaz sucked in a breath.

‘No, but Jaz won’t need it. She’s tougher than she looks.’ He looked her right in the eye as if challenging her. ‘But I have some painkillers in the kitchen, last drawer. Not the aspirin.’

Taylor opened his mouth to protest, but Jaz waved him off. ‘I’ll be fine, Tay. A bullet wound, some gravel rash and a swollen face won’t stop me. See, wasn’t this more fun than sleeping?’ she said with a forced chuckle.

‘Yeah, totally.’ Taylor pulled a face, before retrieving the pills for her. Jaz swallowed them back with the water he brought.

Ryan lifted her leg gently so he could see the back. ‘Clean through and through, no major arteries, just a flesh wound. You’ll live.’

Ryan begun to clean the area on her leg. ‘So, which one wants to tell me what happened tonight?’ His voice remained calm but Jaz could see the fire in his eyes. He was boiling mad.

‘We killed someone. Actually, quite possibly two.’ She hadn’t meant for it to sound so blasé and cold. It didn’t even sound like her. Feeling fatigued, she let her shoulders slump, her body was trembling. Shock? Her vision became blurry with tears as she began to remember the night. Seeing Ryan had momentarily made her forget the dramas. But the gun going off in her hand was real. The recoil. The thud as the bullet hit Tommy’s back. Poor Tommy. What would Marcus think? What would the police think when they found them? What would Carl think? Did Tommy have a family? Jaz felt a wave of sickness and begun to lean to one side. Ryan caught her, holding her shoulders.

‘Are you okay? Just a little bit longer,’ he promised.

Jaz nodded as a tear fell down her cheek. She put her head down and clung to the benchtop.

Ryan squeezed her arm before he continued fixed her up. ‘Is she right, Taylor?’ he asked. ‘Did she kill someone?’

Taylor sat on the closed toilet with his head in his hands. He was looking less than peachy.

‘Are you alright?’ asked Ryan.

Taylor ran his hands over his face, causing it to go whiter. ‘Not really.’ His Adam’s apple bounced. ‘I never thought I’d actually have to fire a gun to kill someone. But he was dead. We both shot him before he shot us.’

Jaz counted maybe three seconds before Ryan exploded. ‘What the fuck kind of mess did you two get yourselves into!’

Jaz almost welcomed Ryan’s anger. She needed to feel something and his anger was better than the horror.

‘What’s the address?’

Jaz gave it to him before he stormed out. She could hear him on the phone to someone, giving a short sharp message.

‘I’ve got someone to drive by and see if the cops have turned up. Should I be worried?’ he asked

Reaching out, Jaz put her hand on his arm to calm him. ‘No, it should look like a break and enter gone wrong. We left no prints, no one saw us except for the dead guy. And the other man, if he recovers, didn’t see my face.’

Ryan’s dark eyes were scary dark, like a dangerous hurricane. ‘I really want to throttle you both, but I can’t when you’re bleeding in my bathroom. Again, I might add. You’re making a habit of this,’ he said.

So many feelings surged through her, but they all disappeared when she realised how much she needed him and how close she came to dying tonight and never seeing him again. The anger she had for him earlier vanished. How could she stay angry with him? She loved him.

‘Want me to start from the beginning?’ she said softly. Ryan glanced back to Taylor, uncertain about letting him listen. ‘He may as well hear it. He already knows about you, sort of.’

Ryan rolled his eyes. ‘Any of your other friends you want to tell? You do realise that this is all meant to be secret?’

Taylor sat up. ‘I would never tell anyone. Jaz, Anna and I would never do that. I’ve got shit happening to me too, with my dad, and Jaz said you would be able to help. I wanna know and you have my word, it stays here.’

Jaz had never seen Taylor look more dead serious about anything before.

‘Righto.’ Ryan was pressing the sterile gauze to her wound and she felt herself fading. She had to stay strong, so she focused on the night’s events.

‘Not long after I got your text, I went to see what Carl does late at night in his warehouse. I got in through the toilet window and then his workers left. I had a look around and worked out they were bringing the drugs in by using the sea containers. In the walls with a fake lining.’ He looked up; she could tell he was a little impressed with her news.

‘Nice one, Jaz.’ He lifted her leg so he could clean the exit wound and then pressed more gauze to that one.

She smiled but looked away quickly as he continued his work. ‘Anyway, I went to leave and they’d let Cujo, the dog, off his chain so I couldn’t get out the window without help. I rang you, no answer so I called Taylor. I knew he could help and he had access to a gun, just in case. But the guys came back, probably forgot something, and I think they saw Cujo had been eating the steak I’d brought because one guy came around the warehouse for a look and grabbed me as I was getting out. We fought, he pulled a gun, I hit him with a brick.’ Jaz shivered as she heard the crunching sound replay in her mind. But she forced herself to continue. ‘Then the next guy comes and shoots me, I go down and just as I think I’m a goner, Taylor turns up. Both of them faced off. He didn’t think Tay would pull the trigger, but we both did.’

There were so many more details Ryan would want but they were the main bits.

‘Why did you go there alone, Jaz? I thought we’d had this talk before? No risking your neck. Remember?’

Jaz yawned, and pretended not to hear him. ‘How’re you holding up, Taylor?’ He was staring at the floor and Jaz almost thought he’d fallen asleep.

His voice was weary. ‘Alright. I s’pose I should go home in case Dad wakes up and notices I’m gone. I don’t want him to panic. What’re we going to do about this?’

‘Tell no one. Get some sleep and come back here tomorrow and we’ll talk. Jaz can stay here for the night. You can cover for her?’ Ryan asked.

‘Yep.’

Ryan finished wrapping the bandage around her leg to keep both wounds clean and then washed his hands. When Taylor got up, Ryan gripped his shoulder and shook his hand. ‘Thanks for saving Jaz. I’m glad you didn’t get shot in the process. Will you be alright to get home?’

‘Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for looking after her.’ Taylor stepped around Ryan and wrapped his arms around Jaz, and they gripped each other like there was no tomorrow.

‘I love you, Tay. Thanks for coming to my rescue.’

He kissed her head. ‘What are friends for, hey?’ He looked as if he’d aged ten years in one night and Jaz felt horribly responsible for it.

She brushed the hair back off his face. ‘Try and get some rest and I’ll see you tomorrow. Text me if you need.’

He squeezed her hand and then left the bathroom. Seconds later, she heard the door shut. Now it was just her and a half naked Ryan left in the tiny bathroom.

‘You two care a lot for each other,’ said Ryan.

‘That we do. Been friends for a long time.’ Jaz was staring at the bandage over her leg, only because she was avoiding the big elephant in the room that was Ryan.

‘Let’s get you cleaned up.’ Ryan washed the blood off the rest of her leg and helped her to stand up.

Before she could take a step, he’d lifted her up and carried her to his bed. The doona was already thrown back from when he’d got out to answer the door. Jaz felt a tingle spread through her at the thought of being in his bed. He pulled the cover back over her and then sat down beside her on the floor, his dark eyes watching.

‘What will I tell everyone about my leg?’ she said, turning her face on his pillow so she could see him. Everything smelt like Ryan, better than any painkillers. Her eyes felt heavy as she strained to keep them open and focused on him.

‘That you pulled a muscle at the gym during a fight with me? I don’t know, I’m sure you’ll come up with something convincing,’ he said, brushing her swollen cheek. ‘I should get you some ice for that.’

Jaz reached for his hand, hardly able to cope with him touching her. She still had things to say. ‘I have the number of a sea container coming up in a sale. I think it has more drugs in it. Carl had it written down on his desk.’

‘Jaz, Jaz. It’s not important now. You need rest. We’ll sort all that out later.’ He went to move but then paused, his brow creasing. ‘Jaz, you didn’t answer my question before. Why did you go off without telling me?’

Oh that, thought Jaz, turning her head to the other side. But Ryan reached for her chin and guided her back.

He leaned against the edge of the bed, his bare chest taunting her with muscles. She wanted to reach out and touch him. Touch his scars. Feel his heartbeat. ‘I was angry at you.’ She may as well spit it out, it didn’t look like he was going to move until he had an answer. ‘I was with Marcus…we were having a great time and then you texted
that
.’

His face creased with tension at the mention of Marcus. ‘You didn’t…’

Jaz sighed as the truth fell from her lips. ‘No. How could I? Even if what you said was a lie.’ Her eyes closed tightly. She didn’t want to read the truth on his face.

‘Jaz.’ His hand found hers, holding it tightly. ‘I do care. Don’t ever doubt that.’ It was his deep voice, but the words surely didn’t come from him.

‘Yeah, right. You have a funny way of showing it,’ she mumbled.

‘I care for you more than I should.’ Then he moved her hand, bringing it to his lips.

Jaz was floating and any minute she’d hit the ceiling, she was sure of it. His lips were better than any drug, and for the moment she forgot the horrors of the night and the painful throb in her leg. She opened her eyes and caressed his face with her other hand. Stubble was already shading his face. This time his eyes were closed as he pressed into her hand, as if her touch was magical. While his eyes were still closed, Jaz lifted her head and kissed his lips. He instantly let her in, deepening the kiss as if this was the last time they’d ever see each other. Moving her hand, she dropped it to his heart where it pounded beneath his warm skin. He covered her hand with his and she could sense his relief. But his release was only fleeting. He pulled back, but instead of walking away like he did in Pakistan, he brushed her lips with his thumb. ‘You need rest. I’ll get you some water.’

Getting up off his knees, he lent over and kissed her temple and left.

Jaz fell back into his bed, into his warm sheets. Even after everything she’d been through tonight, she still lay there with a smile on her face. Tomorrow would be another day and another mission. But for now, as she tried to fight off sleep, her memories were firmly locked on Ryan’s kiss.

Thanks for reading
The Mission
. I hope you enjoyed it.

If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage
www.fionapalmer.com
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https://www.facebook.com/#!/FionaPalmerRuralAuthor

You can also follow me through my publisher’s page here
www.escapepublishing.com.au

Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.

You’ve just read a book in my MTG Agency series. The other book in this series is
The Recruit
– for more information please turn the page.

This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page

The Recruit
Fiona Palmer

From one of Australia’s Queens of Romance comes the debut in a brand new YA series about secrets, strengths, and what lies beneath the surface.

Jasmine Thomas may not be completely normal, but she’s a pretty typical seventeen-year-old girl. She hates the rich mean kids, loves her best friends, and can’t wait to get out of school each day. Her spare time is spent at The Ring — a boxing gym where she practically grew up — learning karate, boxing and street fighting. So, yeah, Jaz can kick some major butt.

Life seems pretty normal until the day Ryan Fletcher enters her gym…mysterious and hot with heaps of bad boy charm. Sure, she checks him out. Who wouldn’t? But what doesn’t show on his gorgeous abs are secrets and lies that dominate his very grown-up world. Now Jaz has to figure out just how far she is willing to go to know more. Could Ryan really be offering the life-fulfilling life path she’s always dreamed of?

The first in the MTG Agencies series.