The Recruit (11 page)

His face went the slightest shade of pink. ‘Oops, sorry. I lost my balance.’

‘Yeah, no shit Sherlock.’ Jaz gave him a smile. ‘Don’t worry about it, that one’s really hard, especially for a beginner.’

‘Only you could be so condescending and nice at the same time,’ he laughed before trying the position again.

‘Your breathing needs to be more controlled but I won’t worry you with that much as you’re still trying to learn the positions.’ Jaz wasn’t going to let him know how far she’d brought the positions back to basic, she didn’t want him to feel too bad at his lack of flexibility. Ryan struck her as someone who liked to be well prepared and if he didn’t know something he was going to do it until he could do it a hundred percent right. He was taking the yoga very seriously and she liked the way he’d followed her every move and direction. She’d half expected him to pull the piss out of her the whole way through. But when she gazed at his own sculpted body, she realised he’d never do that. His body was his temple. A damn nice temple too.

Jaz noticed that she had held the same position for much longer than necessary…hey, she was a little distracted! She moved him through the final routine.

‘Now just lay here for a bit, relax and breathe in and out and draw energy back into your muscles.’

‘Hmm, I like this part the best,’ Ryan, mumbled in his relaxed, almost half-asleep voice.

After a few minutes, Jaz sat up and crossed her legs. ‘Well, how was that?’

Ryan rolled onto his side and rested his head in his hand. ‘Much harder than I thought it would be. I could feel all my muscles working.’

Jaz nodded her head. ‘Yeah, it doesn’t just stretch your muscles. You did well for a first timer. More flexibility than I would give your body credit for.’

Ryan shot an eyebrow up. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

‘Um…well, you know. Someone with your muscled physique can sometimes find it hard to stretch.’ Sheesh, Jaz, blush much, she thought as she felt the heat burn in her cheeks.

‘Well thank you for the lesson, you were great.’ There was a moment of silence. ‘Um, this is where you say “anytime”?’ Ryan laughed.

‘Really, you want me to put you through that again? I didn’t take you as a sucker for punishment,’ she chuckled back.

‘I liked it. It was something new and I would like to get better at it.’

Why did that not surprise Jaz. Ryan was just as competitive as she was. Funny that in such a short time she seemed to know a lot about Ryan, or maybe he was just easy to read.

‘Well if you’re here this time each day, I’ll take you through it,’ she offered.

‘Cheers, Jaz. You’re a gem.’ Ryan cleared his throat as he stretched his large fingers out on the blue mat. ‘So where were you yesterday? Get detention?’

Jaz laughed. ‘As if. I don’t get caught.’

His eyebrow shot up again, it was a cute look on him. ‘Oh really! What do you get up to?’

Jaz smiled and shook her head. ‘I’m not spilling my secrets unless you’re going to spill yours!’

The stare of steel on Ryan’s face said she was never going to get his secrets any time soon. Jaz sighed. ‘If you must know I was at the firing range with my friends.’

Now Ryan’s ears perked up. ‘True? What kind of friends do you have? Are they the offspring of the mafia?’

Jaz laughed so hard she almost snorted. ‘You come out with some funny shit.’ Jaz’s plait from her braid hung over her shoulder and she played with the end of it. ‘I was with Anna and Taylor, who you’ve already met.’

‘Ah, yes. I can’t imagine sweet-looking Anna at a firing range. What were you kids doing there?’

Jaz’s skin prickled at the word ‘kids’; yes, she was taking offence to it. She’d be eighteen soon!

‘Well ain’t you just a Mr Know-It-All! Do interrogations much?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, a few,’ he replied, and she had the feeling he was telling the truth.

‘We’ve been going for years, since we were twelve. Taylor’s dad is a cop and Taylor loves anything that is deadly. He’d join the Army just so he could use a grenade launcher, I reckon.’

‘Really? So what were you shooting with?’

‘A Browning 9mm.’

‘Good choice, the Browning has strong recoil so it’s great for training, and being just that bit heavier makes using a lighter gun like the Starfire 9mm a breeze to use.’

‘Yeah, I noticed that,’ said Jaz dryly.

‘Did you?’ asked Ryan, his interest levels going through the roof.

‘No you dumb arse, why would I know shit like that? I just go there and fire the weapon Tay gives me.’ Jaz flashed him a look which she hoped said ‘who the Hell do you think I am, Vin Diesel?’. ‘But you, on the other hand, you seem to know a lot about guns. Do tell!’ she asked curiously.

Ryan’s face was guarded. She’d give fifty bucks to know what he was thinking. A minute later, after she’d just about died with anticipation, he finally replied.

‘In my line of work we have contact with weapons.’

‘“
In my line of work we have contact with weapons!
” Where did you get that from, your job outline description? Dude, that is weird.’

Ryan’s intense gaze crumbled as he laughed. ‘Sorry. Yes, I have played with a few guns. But I’m interested…does Anna shoot also?’

‘Oh yeah, all three of us try. Taylor is like the weapon expert, his dad has a collection of guns and Tay knows everything about them. He also can shoot the pants off us. Yesterday he landed all eight shots in the target’s head. He’s brilliant.’

‘Is that so? Hmm.’

‘Anna and I were a bit rusty, but it had been six months since we’d been.’

Ryan sat up; he was wearing an expression of awe.

‘What,’ Jaz asked. ‘What’s that look for?’

Ryan ran his hand over his short cropped hair. ‘I just can’t believe it. You’re like the perfect package, the ideal woman.’

Jaz’s eyebrows met as she screwed up her face. What did Ryan mean by that! She might have thought he was hitting on her but his expression was completely different. It was as if he’d found a missing notebook or something, nothing like attraction. Which was funny as she was sure she’d seen him gaze at her with desire, once or twice. Maybe her romantic sonar was just off kilter.

‘Thanks…I think. Hey, I’ve been dying to know if that tattoo drawing helped?’

That pulled Ryan away from his thoughts.

‘Yeah, it was a huge help, Jaz.’

‘Soooo, can I ask what it was about?’

Ryan chewed his lip for a second as if he was raging an internal war. He sighed, glanced around the room to check they were alone and then sat up cross-legged. ‘I guess it can’t hurt to tell you we were trying to track a certain drug cartel. We had information about the guy in the white suit but no hard evidence he was in league with this other group. Until you spotted that tattoo. It is their so-called “mark”. So now we know he’s involved, we just have to get some hard proof.’

‘How will you find proof?’ she asked.

‘That is something you don’t need to know. And this conversation goes no further, right?’

Jaz crossed her heart. ‘Yep, figured that. Are you an undercover cop? Is that what your title is?’ She just wanted to put Ryan into a job description, to understand what the hell it was he actually did.

‘In a way I am, but I don’t work for the police force.’ Ryan stood up. ‘Well I’m gonna go hit the speedball for a bit.’ And then he walked off.

‘Conversation over, got it,’ Jaz mumbled. While he pounded the ball, Jaz set about cleaning.

Fifteen minutes later she stopped to watch the fluid motion of his muscles at the speedball. The way the sweat rolled over his skin, making it shine. Jaz cleared her throat. ‘Um, Ryan, I’m going to have a shower and then close up. Sorry to kick you out.’

He paused. ‘No, that’s fine. I’m nearly done here anyway.’ Sweat dripped from his chin and soaked into his singlet. Jaz was going to need a cold shower.

She walked off, leaving him to finish.

Jaz went to the shower and a few minutes later heard another set of taps turn on a few cubicles down. Pax had an all-in-one change room so he’d put curtains on all the showers, except on her shower he’d put a lockable door. He was so sweet.

But that didn’t stop Jaz’s mind from realising there was a naked bloke a few metres away, a nice yummy bloke at that too. With a shiver, she quickly reached for the soap and buried her head under the water to drown out her thoughts.

It was dark outside the gym as Jaz stood near the light switch waiting for Ryan to come out of the change room. Drops of water seeped through her hoodie from her damp hair. Why is it no matter how much you squeeze the water from your hair, and rub it with a towel, it still seems to seep moisture? Jaz flicked it back over her shoulder just as Ryan entered the room.

‘Waiting for me?’ he asked.

‘No, I just like standing here all night.’

Ryan cracked a smile as he walked towards her. His short hair glistening with wet. As for the rest of him, his tantalising scent reached her first. He wasn’t drowning in aftershave like most of the boys at school. They layered it on that thick you’d think they were trying to attract girls from schools three hours away. Ryan was refreshing without being overpowering.

‘Will you be back tomorrow?’ he asked.

Jaz cocked an eyebrow. ‘Why, you gonna miss me again?’ she laughed.

Ryan ignored her taunts. ‘I was hoping you and I could spar together, like you did with Tick that day?’

‘Now that sounds like a plan. Tomorrow it is! Prepare for an arse-whooping,’ she said nudging him. The contact sent a zap through her, causing her skin to bristle.

‘What makes you so sure you’ll win?’

‘Nothing…just trying to psyche out my opponent,’ Jaz said with a wink.

Ryan shook his head and smiled. It reached up into his eyes as the deep chocolate swirled with gold. It made him irresistible.

‘Can I give you a ride home?’

‘Nah. Thanks, but I like the walk back. Gives me time to unwind with my tunes. I keep telling Mum if she wants me safe she should get me a car. But I think the idea of me behind the wheel scares her more.’

‘Okay, if you’re sure. Just be careful out there. Not a nice hood to be in at night.’ Ryan gave her a wave and headed to the back door towards the small car park behind the gym.

‘Yep, I’m sure.’ Jaz flicked off the lights as Ryan left and locked the door he went out. She didn’t need light, she knew her way around this gym blindfolded. There was something calming about being in the gym after hours, the darkness, the linger of sweat, even though no bodies were inside, no sounds except for her breathing. She flipped the closed sign on the door and locked it before pocketing the keys. Outside was dark, considering it was only seven o’clock and the streetlights were in full bloom. Jaz took a quick look up both sides of the street as she put her music on and lifted her hood over her wet hair. It was cold and her breath was leaving an impression in the night air.

She waited until the Evanescence song came on before moving her commando boots down the uneven cement sidewalk. It was on her second step that she felt the first raindrop. Damn. Hopefully it didn’t get any heavier. Maybe she should have taken up Ryan’s offer. Jaz wasn’t going to jog home tonight, mainly because she was too slack to get dressed properly and had only put on her white singlet under her hoodie, without her bra. Too much bounce was bad, so she’d just have to endure the rain. It wasn’t much at the moment anyway.

A block down the street she could see a group of guys turn onto the path from a dark alleyway. There were five of them and they smelled like trouble and her belly flipped, warning her to be careful. It was the way they walked, the tattoos, the clothes; they way they pushed each other as they talked. She kept her head down and her eyes in front. She walked close to an old factory shed, making herself insignificant and giving them plenty of room to pass. Through the music playing in her ears she could just hear them whistling and trying to talk to her but she ignored them and moved on with her hands stuffed deep into her pockets. A few steps and she was past them, breathing a sigh of relief as she went on her way uninterrupted. The wayward spots became more regular as the rain got a bit more serious.

And that’s when she felt a hand upon her shoulder, right when she thought she was safe.

She was spun around to face the men who circled back around her. One of them tugged at her clothes and pulled down her hoodie, ripping out one of her earphones. Another one whistled when he saw her face.

‘Look at what we got here fellas. Hey beautiful,’ said the largest one. He had muscles and Jaz didn’t fancy picking a fight with him. Not when his eyes flicked about skittishly. Was he on something? Possibly. If he was, that made a dangerous combination.

Was she scared? Hell yes. Did she think she could take them? Maybe.

It depended on whether they were just guys or whether they were guys like Tick who knew how to fight. What were her chances, and against five? A tall skinny guy with a ring through his lip and one in his eyebrow pulled out her other earphone.

‘Hey, we’re talking to you. Wanna help us celebrate?’

She could hear their breathing as they waited for her reply. She felt like a deer sitting in front of a lion as it waited for her to make a run for it. Let the chase begin. This was just a game for them.

‘No thanks, my parents are waiting for me to get home.’ Maybe they would let her go? Maybe they wouldn’t. Jaz needed to keep her cool. She couldn’t panic. She needed a clear head.

‘I’m sure we have plenty of time,’ asked another who was wearing a black beanie and puffer jacket. She instantly disliked his slanted smile.

Jaz took this moment to run, trying to leave suddenly without warning. But there were too many of them and one managed to hook her hoodie and yanked her back. The material pulled tight against her neck, cutting off her air momentarily. While she gasped for air when the material was released, she felt hands all over her.

One had the nerve to go for her chest. Jaz didn’t have time to think about her situation, instead she just launched into a kicking and fist-flying frenzy. She wouldn’t go down without a fight. She connected with the guy in front. Her fist found his nose. He stumbled back as blood begun to pour down his face. The guy with the beanie was next as she aimed a kick to his groin and he fell down swearing, hands cupping his family jewels.