Ridge Creek Reunited (Ridge Creek Duology) (26 page)

“You were?”

“I was,” he replies with a squeeze.

Anton

Meanwhile, Towball…

Looking at the scrawny, middle-aged woman sitting on the couch in front me, I sigh. The bitch is nearly ready to piss herself and I still can’t work out if Arianna looks anything like this woman or not. Every now and then I think I see a shadow of Arianna in her, but then I decide it
’s just a mannerism and not a physical look. I’m gunna vote they’re not related.

Which is good for Arianna because if this is what she’s gunna look like in a few years, it’s all downhill from here.

Turning to look towards the kitchen, I see the new guy Anton come wandering in. Everything is going to plan and he’s been busy. In his gloved hands he holds an old, well-thumbed Manilla folder. Moving towards the woman on the couch, he tosses the folder on the coffee table in front of her.

“I couldn’t find anything, we’re never gunna know
the full story. They’re in it together, but I still can’t work out why,” Anton announces. “I’ve grabbed some photographs from her albums and put them in the folder. With all the other bits and pieces I had on the abduction, we’ll just have to let the police put two and two together. It’s clear it’s the same kid when you look at the photographs.”

Nodding, I lean back to peer through the crack in the curtains again. I’ve already received word the Bradford woman is on her way and she should be here shortly.

“Please don’t kill me,” Patricia whispers from her seat on the couch as she continues to stare at the gun in my hand.

“Already explained the deal sweetheart. You answer the door and let the Bradford woman in, your free to go.”

Anton glances up at me and smirks. I know he knows differently but no need to upset the bitch any more than she already is.

Catching a glimpse of headlights in the crack in the curtains, I lean back and confirm a car has arrived. A new black Volvo pulls up to the kerb. It idles for a short while and then the engine shuts off.

Glancing back to Anton, I nod and watch as he moves quickly to vanish back out into the kitchen.

Shifting my eyes back to the crack in the curtain I watch. This could be the point where the whole play goes south. If she brings one of her companions inside, there could be trouble.

The interior light of the car comes on and I curse internally as I watch a tall, dark guy climb out the passenger seat. He’s carrying a gun.

Fuck.

I’m about to signal Anton that there’s a problem when our luck changes and I watch as the guy shuts his car door and heads straight to the side of the house. He’s not coming to the front door; he’s heading around the back.

Bad move buddy. You’ll find some company round there.

As I watch him disappear around the corner of the house, the car light comes on again and a short woman with short, spiky blonde hair steps from the backseat of the car. Seemingly satisfied she’s safe now that she’s sent one of her soldiers to the back of the house, she closes her car door and walks straight up to the front door.

I’m surprised at her mature age and that her movements are so bold. I can tell she’s
a woman used to getting her own way. “You’re up,” I murmur to the woman on the couch.

She nods and licks her lips nervously but does as she’s been told to do. When there is a loud tap on the front door, she lifts from her seat to walk over and answer the door. She moves hesitantly but at least she’s moving. She could have done the dumb thing and either not moved or even worse, screamed.

We’re nearly there.

The door swings inwards and towards me which works to my advantage by keeping me hidden while the two women greet each other. Patricia’s voice is shaky but the Bradford woman seems happy to ignore her wobbly greeting and barges through, pushing Patricia out of the way.

Smirking at her stupidity, I flick a toe out and watch as the door swings shut behind her.

The look of surprise on her face as she turns to see me pointing a gun straight between her eyeballs is gold. I watch as her mouth drops open and I can see she’s about to yell a warning to her man out the back when Anton steps into the room and she closes her mouth.

“You,” the Bradford woman murmurs and I can hear the venom in her voice. Anton smiles at her and points with his own gun towards the couch. “Five fucking years it’s taken. It wasn’t easy but as I warned you it would happen, the moment you made a dumb move, you were mine.”

“You sure about that?” She murmurs again as she moves and takes a seat on the couch. He
r movements still bold and confident.

“I’m sure,” Anton replies without hesitation as he crosses the room to stand in front of her. “You only brought two men with you. The first fell asleep on his way to the back door and the second fell asleep in the car out-front. They’re both already in the back of a van and headed far, faraway from here.”

The woman’s eyes flare before moving to Patricia who is still standing at the door looking like she’s going to piss herself. Patricia sees the Bradford woman’s eyes on her and looks to me. “Can I go now?”

Shaking my head slowly, I give her a sad look. She seems to get the message and a sob escapes her mouth.

She’s not as stupid as I thought.

Moving to take a seat on the couch, her ass is barely on the cushion before Anton’s hand goes to the back of his jeans. Quickly pulling out a gun with a suppressor already attached, he shoots her straight in the heart. Stunned, Patricia looks around the room for a moment or two, hiccups a couple of times and then falls back onto the couch.

One down.

Gotta say, the man does
not
fuck about.

Interestingly the Bradford woman doesn’t even blink. Her eyes simply move from the body of the dead woman next to her to settle on the gun in Anton’s hand. My guess, it’s not the first person she’s seen shot dead.

“I take it negotiation is out of the question,” she says slowly shifting her eyes to look directly into Anton’s.

“You know Stephen doesn’t pay me to negotiate,” Anton explains as he moves and walks around to the back of the couch.

The Bradford woman then shifts her eyes to mine. “Do you know who I am?”

Nodding, I shrug my shoulders. This isn’t my fight. I’m just here to make sure Anton gets done what he needs to get done. Jake asked me to help Anton, I’m helping Anton. No questions asked.

Slowly unscrewing the suppressor from the gun, Anton looks up at me and I can see he still doesn’t plan to fuck about. Without saying another word, he holds the gun to the side of the Bradford woman’s head and pulls the trigger. A loud bang echo’s through the room.

Leaning forward over the back of the couch to catch her as she slumps forward, he lifts her off her ass and turns her body to face Patricia. Knowing what I have to do next, I walk over and with my own gloved hand, take the gun from Anton’s hand
where it is currently holding up her armpit. “Left or right,” I ask.

“Right,” Anton grunts as he continues to hold the woman in position. Rounding the couch as well, I lean across and press the gun into the Bradford woman’s right hand. I then place her finger on the trigger. Aiming the gun straight at Patricia’s heart, I pull the trigger.

Another loud bang rings out and across the room.

Both of us letting the body go at the same time, the Bradford woman slumps back into the couch.
Anton nods to me as he reaches his hand inside the front of his jacket. Pulling a second gun from a holster, he points it towards the front door and pulls the trigger. Another loud bang echoes through the room.

“
A blank,” Anton explains as he puts his gun away and then picks up the expended shell. “Time to move. That should be just enough noise to rouse the neighbors.”

“Just a second,” I mumble as I reach into my jacket and pull out the DNA kit handed to me back in Ridge Creek. Tearing the package open, I grab the swab and lean over and shove it in Patricia’s mouth. Scrubbing it around a couple of times, I put it back in its holster and shove the kit back in my pocket.

Looking up to find Anton already gone, I make my move as well.

Time to get the fuck out of here.

You Belong With Me

The next morning, Arianna…

Waking up after yet another late and energetic night where Jake showed me just how much he appreciated my impromptu confession in the lift, I instantaneously sense something is
not right.

I don’t know how I know this, I just do.

The hairs suddenly prickle on my arms and along the back of my neck and everything in my whole being is screaming at me that something is amiss.

Rolling over, the first thing I discover is that Jake is already gone. This in itself does not ring alarm bells because I can hear him on his phone in the other room. Interestingly the bedroom door is shut.

Jumping out of bed, I head straight to the bathroom. After a quick pit stop to take care of morning business, I grab one of the complimentary, soft, fluffy robes to put on. Wrapping the belt tightly around my waist, I wonder if Jake will care if I steal this robe and we have to pay for it. Considering we’re here under false names, probably not.

Still unable to shake the strange feeling that something is amiss, I head straight for the bedroom door. Placing my hand on the handle, I can still hear Jake’s voice rumbling on the phone but it
’s slightly muffled by the television which is on as well.

Opening the door, my eyes instantly find Jake sitting on the brown leather couch. He looks delicious in just a pair of cargo shorts as he sits talking on his mobile and watching the morning news.

Sensing movement, he turns to look at me. Quickly muttering, “Gotta go,” into his phone, he hits end on the call and tosses the phone on the couch next to him. He then grabs the television remote and switches the television off.

“Morning,” he rumbles in his deep sexy tone as watches my approach.

Keeping my eyes trained on his, I close the gap between us. With each step closer, I study his face and become even more certain something is going on. “What’s going on?”

Nodding as if he’s agreeing with me, he waits until I’m close enough that he can reach out and grab me. “Lots to talk about. Not sure where to start,” he explains as he twists me and bends me to fall in to his lap and lean back against his chest.

Stiffening at his words, I feel the prickle of my hairs again. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, we just need to talk,” he says twisting me even further and settling me sideways so I’m looking up at him. “You want me to grab you a coffee first?”

“No,” I reply instantly. “I’m edgy, something’s up. What is it? Hit me with it.”

Nodding he gets straight to it. “You’ve made the news, again.”

“I have?” I ask confused. “How’d that happen?”

“Your so called mother, Patricia and her alleged accomplice in the alleged abduction of Penelope Bradford twenty-eight years ago were found dead in your house in East Melbourne late last night.”

“They were?” I ask feeling a strange knot in my stomach as I realize Patricia is dead.

“They
were,” Jake reaffirms slowly.

“Who was her
alleged
accomplice?” I ask as I start to register what he’s telling me. “And how do they know about the abduction?”

“
Elizabeth Bradford. The bodies were found with two files of incriminating evidence. One was in your house and one was handed into a police station in Sydney a few hours earlier. It appears that Elizabeth shot Patricia for giving her up and then, not wanting to go to jail for her part in the abduction, shot herself.”

“Really?” I ask wondering if he’s telling me the full truth and there’s not more too it. This seems to be way too big of a coincidence after our conversation with Stephen yesterday.

“That’s what the news report says,” Jake says lifting his eyebrows and making his eyebrow piercing rise.

“That’s what the news report says,” I say slowly as I nod and chew at my bottom lip. “What does Jake Holder say?”

“Jake Holder says that it would be in your best interests to believe the news story and understand that Arianna Lovett can now walk back into her old life if she wants to. Arianna Lovett can also take up her rightful position as the daughter of Stephen Bradford if she wants to too.”

Searching his face for more answers, the enormity of what he’s saying hits me. “I can go back,” I whisper.

“You can go back,” he agrees softly.

Feeling suddenly emotional I feel the tears springing to my eyes. “I can go back.” I whisper again as hot tears start to burn my eyes. Feeling the salty burn, I find that there
are only four words that keep repeating in my head.

I don’t want to.

“I don’t want to,” I blurt as the tears start to roll down my cheeks. “I
love
being Arianna Davidson and I
love
you. Please don’t make me go back.”

Looking suddenly confused, Jake blinks and I watch as his jaw ticks and his nostrils flare. Reaching out suddenly he grabs my chin and tips it towards him. “I’m not fucking telling you you
have
to go back. I’m saying you
can.
Two very different things Arianna. I don’t want you to go back, I want you to stay. You belong with me. The only reason we did all this was to keep you safe and give you a real choice to take your old life back.”

“I can stay?”

“Of course you can fuckin’ stay. Stay as Arianna Davidson. Stay as Arianna Lovett. Stay as Penelope Bradford if you must. Although if you do decide to become Penelope, I’ll still be calling your Arianna or Ari. Pene is a shit name and it doesn’t suit you.”

Letting a huge breath of air go, I relax and start to wipe the tears from my eyes. He
wants
me to stay. I’m okay. It’s all okay. I honestly don’t care about Patricia. I also presume that Stephen Bradford is doing cartwheels right now because in one foul swoop, he’s gotten his payback on Patricia for stealing his daughter and he’s also solved his Elizabeth problem.

I realize something else he said. “Who
is we?”

Smirking at me, Jake’s eyes narrow as he studies my face again. “Don’t miss much do you?”

“Just tell me who makes up the Royal we and it’ll be the last you hear of it from me.”

“It’s a big we,” Jake mumbles as his eyes drift to his phone. “I don’t want to go into the nuts and bolts and I don’t want you knowing who shot which arrows, but I can give you names. Your father is the main one.”

“My father? Really. After what happened yesterday…”

“That was a setup sweetheart. Your father knew
Elizabeth had a staff member in his house and that they’d installed cameras. The plan was only ever gunna be that we put you in front of the camera and then got you the hell out of there. We needed Elizabeth confused. Confused enough to warrant her flying down to find out direct from Patricia why you were sitting on your father’s patio. It worked.”

“But Patricia didn’t even know I was there,” I muse as I digest this new information.

“Didn’t matter,” Jake continues. “All that mattered was that Elizabeth
thought
Patricia knew you were there and she went to get the facts herself.”

“It still doesn’t make sense,” I add, “How did you
know
Elizabeth would race to Melbourne?”

“It was never a definite but we had to take someone who knew
Elizabeth
very
well’s word for it. Someone who used to work for her and she was stupid enough to cross.”

“Who was that?”

“Anton Angel,” Jake chuckles. “He’s a good man.”

“Anton? Anton, Anton? The man you had a
conversation
with?”

“That very man,” Jake chuckles. “You can imagine his relief when I offered to take you Green Housing. It freed him up a bit. Gave him some free time to pursue other endeavors. Endeavors we’d discussed during our
conversation.
Poor guy had a lot on his plate. Especially considering he was the only man that knew enough about Elizabeth Bradford for Stephen to trust to keep you safe from her. Big job.”

“And Zane, I assume Zane is in all this somewhere, especially since he’s ‘walkabout’.”

Jake suddenly looks confused. “Well actually… no.” Lifting his hand to scratch at his chin, he considers my words. “He’s got nothing to do with it. Emma, yes. She’s been sourcing information for
everyone.
But Zane, no. He’s just walkabout.”

“So what next? What should I do?”

“That,” Jake says as he leans forward to press his lips to mine for a brief second, “Is up to you. You can sit for a few days, watch the news. Get the lie of the land and then walk into a police station somewhere if you want. Emma reckons she can make something up that will cover you. Suddenly left the country to go to a Tibetan retreat or some such crap. Didn’t know what had happened. Get back to find everyone dead and your life upside down. You could then claim your house and do whatever you like with it.”

“Is she serious? That’d be a funny story.”

“Don’t ask me, you need to talk to her about that one. One thing I do suggest however, don’t bring me or Ridge Creek into it. We don’t need any unwanted exposure to police scrutiny, news vans or any other nosy bastards for that matter.”

I nod my understanding instantly. Of course I would
never
do anything to put Jake at risk.

Ever.

“Stephen also believes he can gag the press to a certain extent. Keep your picture off the television as much as possible, help things blow over faster.”

“That all sounds great except for the fact that I don’t think I
want
to go back. Going back means dealing with my old life and means I might suddenly become a person of interest as a Bradford. I don’t want that. I just want to live the quiet life with you,” I announce firmly as I realize I’ve decided this once and for all. Seriously, what is the
point
of going back. Nothing really. There’s a house that’s stuck in limbo with no owner but perhaps Emma can come up with something. A will perhaps?

Realizing I don’t need to decide right now, I lean my head against Jake’s shoulder. “I’ve been having a bad month,” I mumble. “Surely this is the last of it.”

“I fuckin’ hope so,” Jake agrees a little too quickly as I once again realize the poor guy has had to put his own life at risk for me once again. I also realize that I’ve changed so much in the past month that I barely even recognize myself. Which as far as I can see, means I am
winning.

“Did you like the way I barely even flinched when you told me two more people were dead?” I grin up at him. “And I only got upset when I thought I had to
leave?
Now I’m gunna have to practice my game face in case I ever come under police interrogation. Check this one out. It’s the grieving daughter…” I put on what I think is my most solemn face ever and watch as the edge of his lips twitch with amusement.

“Oh and this can be my, ‘Did you know your boyfriend was growing drugs’ face,” I add quickly as I change my expression to a look of surprise.

“Arianna,” Jake growls a warning and gives me a dangerous look. “Don’t even think shit like that, you might make it happen.”

“Sorry, couldn’t help it.” I become contrite. “But perhaps you need to think about working on your game faces too?”

“I don’t need to work on my fuckin’ game faces Arianna. I’ve been doing it for years.”

“I know that…” I giggle as I wonder if he’s getting offended now or he’s just putting a game face. With Jake it’s hard to tell.

“In fact, I have a game face on right now,” he says as he leans in close to my face and I feel his hot breath whispering against my face. His eyes are shiny and the brightest green I’ve seen them yet. He looks hard and lethal. Like he’s about lean forward and snap my neck.

It’s so sexy.

“You do,” I smirk back at him.

“I do,” he agrees slowly staring at me with an intensity that makes my whole body start to ping and my blood temperature rise instantly. I even start to pant.

“Huh,” Jake grunts suddenly and moves back away from my face looking surprised.

Instantly disappointed that he didn’t keep coming at me, I sigh and knit my brows. “Huh, what?”

“Huh, you didn’t even flinch,” Jake says looking impressed. “Once upon a time if I’d have looked at you like that, you’d have just about pissed yourself.”

“I would
not
have just about pissed myself!” I screech and swat at his bare
chest.

“You so would have,” he continues looking dead serious. “You would have done that frozen rabbit thing you normally do and then your eyes would have gone all glassy and dull looking. This time you didn’t even flinch. In fact you looked more like you wanted to eat
me.
”

“I do!” I smirk at him as I start shifting in his lap and sliding one of my hands down his chest towards his crutch.