The Mission (22 page)

She decided she couldn’t risk the camera, and had her phone ready to take photos while she would try and memorise the plate.

He pulled out onto the road, heading back towards Jaz. She started taking photos with her phone while pretending to look at it, when in fact her eyes were reading the plates. 1BAO576. Just a typical number plate. Jaz entered it into her phone with trembling hands.

She’d seen him. She knew him. And it was worse than she could ever possibly think.

Jaz had hardly slept a wink last night. Tossing and turning over what to do. Should she tell Ryan what she’d seen? Should she send word to MTG first? It was awful because all she could think about was Marcus. Surely he knew nothing of his dad’s dodgy dealings. What would this do to him eventually? Break his family up, hurting him in the process. None of it was his fault. It sucked.

It had taken all her effort to get to school on time. Even Simon had asked if she was okay.

‘You look like crap, sis,’ he’d said as she drove him to school.

‘I feel like it too,’ she’d replied. Wondering if the smoking hadn’t helped her case.

Since getting her jeep she’d been taking them both to school, and it was nice spending time with Simon. And not having their mum drop them off. Apparently Simon’s school credit had gone up.

‘You ready to do this?’ asked Taylor, as he found her after their last class before recess.

‘Yep, you?’

Taylor nodded and grabbed her arm. Together they went outside to find a quiet spot where they couldn’t be overheard or interrupted.

‘Wait for me,’ shouted Anna who was racing along the corridor behind them. She was waving frantically like a two-armed octopus. ‘Sorry I’m late. I just had to tell Ricky I couldn’t catch up at all today.’

Taylor had rung Anna last night to update her with all the details and she insisted she would be here for them. Jaz had offered to tell Anna but Taylor thought he should. Besides, who was Jaz to spoil his fun?

‘Okay, got the number plate ready?’ he asked as they lay down beside a tree, heads together in a close circle.

Jaz pulled out her phone and brought up both number plates. Taylor frowned when he saw two numbers there. ‘The other one was another car that seemed a bit suss,’ she said. ‘Thought it wouldn’t hurt to see if both were connected maybe.’

‘Good idea,’ said Taylor as he dialled the number. ‘Hi, can you put me through to Megan Stiller, please. It’s Taylor Stewart. Cheers.’ He shot them a nervous smile as he put it on loudspeaker, placing the phone on the ground in front of him.

‘Taylor?’

‘Hi Meg, how are you?’ said Taylor.

‘I’m fine. How come I haven’t seen you around the office lately? We miss you around here,’ she said. Her voice was young and peppy, but also carried a hint of importance.

‘I know. I will one day soon. But hey, I need to ask you a huge favour.’

‘Go ahead,’ she said curiously.

‘I took down some number plates of some cars I think have been following me, and since the assault I’ve been worried they might come back. Any chance you can bring up the owners for me? I don’t want to worry Dad with this just yet.’

Meg inhaled sharply. ‘Mmm. I’m sorry about that. Your dad’s been a bit out of sorts lately. I can’t believe that happened to you, Tay. I know he’s got a task force trying to catch the bugger.’

‘Until then I’m taking my own precautions. So will you help me and check these plates? Please,’ he begged.

‘I can put you through to the task force, if you want?’

‘No, they will only tell Dad and I want to double-check they are still following me first before I pass on the info. Can you help?’

The line went silent as Meg thought over his request. ‘Okay, but I never said anything, alright?’

Jaz could hear in her voice that she was fond of Taylor.

‘Promise. I’ll owe ya, Meg,’ said Taylor. They heard some tapping on a computer.

‘First number?’ she asked.

Jaz gave Taylor her phone so he could read the first plate.

‘That belongs to a Mallinya Party Limited,’ she said. ‘I don’t know if I should give the address in case you do something silly,’ she added.

‘No, I swear I won’t do anything, Meg. Here’s the other one,’ said Taylor.

‘That one belongs to a De Luca Industries. Now, is that all?’ said Meg worriedly.

‘Yep, that’s it. Thanks,’ he said, before saying goodbye.

Anna put her hand on Taylor. ‘Did any of that mean anything to you two?’

Taylor shook his head. Jaz got on the internet and Googled Mallinya Party Limited to see if it brought up anything else. ‘Let me see what I can find. Okay, it’s a Perth company run by…’ Jaz tapped through a few links trying to find who owned the company. ‘A Mr Nicko Serv…’ Her voice trailed away. ‘Nicko Serveyous,’ she said again as her own mind registered the name.

Jaz could tell the name meant nothing to Taylor and Anna but it meant a lot to her. Nicko was the one she and Ryan had followed from the casino. Did that mean he was the one involved with the tattooed guy? Was he the one controlling the Shesha Serpents or were they controlling him?

‘Jaz, do you know something? Are you thinking Ryan could help with this?’ said Anna leaning in close, causing her long plait to fall over her shoulder.

But Jaz was too caught up in her thoughts to answer Anna.

‘Why would Ryan be able to help?’ Taylor glanced between the both of them, and Jaz just about cursed at Anna for letting the cat out of the bag.

‘We’ve just found out that Ryan works for the government doing stuff,’ said Jaz, keeping the details loose. ‘I heard him mention a Nicko Serveyous once. Seemed like a bad dude.’

‘You’re just telling me this now.’ His eyes grew wide and he looked hurt.

‘None of us are meant to know, so you must keep it a secret. You can’t tell anyone about Ryan.’ She waited until they both nodded. ‘What I will do is tell Ryan about Nicko’s guys following us and he will do something about it. He is separate from the police so he might be able to get to them without compromising your dad or you.’ Jaz reached out and took Taylor’s other hand, the one Anna wasn’t gripping to death. ‘You can’t tell your dad. If he is feeding information to this Nicko guy to save your life then we can’t trust him. Ryan can help. Trust me on this. Ryan’s a good guy.’

Taylor was thinking hard, she could see the vein lines protruding in his neck. ‘So that’s why he’s great with a gun and can fight? He’s like a secret SAS soldier or something? Does he work for ASIO?’

‘No, not ASIO. He doesn’t work with national security. He’s more focused on keeping the drug dealers and terrorists to a minimum.’ Jaz probably shouldn’t be telling them anything but she trusted these two and Anna knew most of this anyway. None of this would leave the two of them, she trusted her friends more than she trusted Ryan.

‘Look, I’m going to get word to him about this, okay. I’m also seeing him on the weekend.’ Jaz chose to ignore the pointed look Anna gave her. ‘Just keep watching your back, Tay.’ She couldn’t believe it was one of Nicko’s cars that had been following them. Was it him or someone else in the car? So many questions and not enough answers. And De Luca Industries, was that company related to the guy she saw meeting Carl? Jaz shivered as she remembered the eyes of the man. She didn’t really see them that well last night but she remembered them as clear as a bell from when she ran into him at the casino. If Ryan hadn’t have told her that Sal was the biggest bad guy out, then she wouldn’t have thought him anything but a nice guy. She’d thought the same about Carl. Was he also capable of murder, like Sal? So many questions and not enough answers. That was beginning to be her new motto.

‘I trust you, Jaz,’ said Taylor, bringing her back to the present.

‘And so do I. Ryan will know what to do,’ said Anna. ‘And we will never speak a word of this outside this circle.’

‘Thanks. We really need to be careful.’

The siren went, so they headed back to class but met up again at lunchtime. They had serious stuff to discuss and when they had exhausted all possibilities, they sat around wondering what would happen next. It was a horrible feeling not being able to take action. Being stuck in school made it even worse.

On Wednesday after school Marcus asked her to meet at his place, so after dropping Simon at home she headed straight over to Cottesloe. She also had a note written, hidden inside another flower, ready for the cemetery. This time she would take Marcus with her to meet Becky. The last two days had been hell, waiting until she could see Ryan and hopefully get some answers. Anna had been spending more time with them and even made a roster so one of them was with Taylor at all times. Her theory was they wouldn’t get to Taylor if he was never alone. And quite frankly, Jaz agreed. Now the three of them were more inseparable than ever.

‘Hey, you.’ Marcus met her at the car, eager to hug her. His hair was out and blowing in the offshore breeze.

Jaz put her hand up, letting it sift through the strands as they moved. ‘Hey, yourself,’ she said, giving him a kiss.

‘Wanna come inside for a bit, or walk along the beach?’ he asked.

‘Inside for a bit. Are your folks home?’ she asked.

‘No, not at the moment. Can you stay for a while? You’re not meeting up with Anna or Taylor?’

‘No, those two have got plans.’ The range was their destination but Taylor looked as if it may have been an exciting trip to the moon. He was loving every minute of his time with Anna. ‘I did want to go to the cemetery and visit my sister. Did you want to come with me?’ she asked hopefully.

Marcus’s face softened and she touched his cheek, fascinated by how smooth it was. Nothing like Ryan’s stubble.

‘Of course, I’ll go. I’ll introduce you to my sister while we’re there,’ he said.

They had talked about their sisters before and found they were at the same cemetery. Jaz felt a little sad that Marcus was sharing his life with her and caring for her so much. Especially when she knew, at some stage, she’d have to let him go. It would be hard. He’d become a wonderful friend.

‘Let’s go inside and I’ll get you a drink. What do you feel like?’

‘I feel like a coffee, actually,’ said Jaz as she headed to his kitchen. ‘Want me to whip us up one? Anna has the same coffee machine at her house,’ she said pointing to the fancy silver box.

‘Cool, thanks. Everything is in that top drawer.’

Jaz turned on the machine and waited for it to warm up.

‘I’ve um, drawn another picture, do you want to see it?’ asked Marcus. He’d let his hair drop across his face like a curtain. Jaz went over and tucked it back.

‘I’d love to see it. You should know that. I’m your biggest fan, other than your mum,’ she said with a smile.

‘I’ll go get it,’ he said and headed to his room.

Jaz knew this was a chance to snoop and followed him to the stairs but went into Carl’s office instead. She went straight for his desk. Just the usual bits and pieces, plus a notice for a shipping container sale in South Fremantle. At the bottom of the page he’d written SCWA6519924 in red pen. Quickly she took a photo of it, and the desk in case she’d missed something. Heavy footsteps clucked back down the steps and Jaz knew she was going to be caught.

Oh hell. How did she get out of this one.

‘Jaz?’

She nearly didn’t hear him, her heart was pounding in her ears so hard.

Jaz stepped to the wall and looked at a photo. She could feel sweat starting to gather at the back of her neck. She’d realised it would look worse if she was caught sprinting from the room with a guilty look on her face. ‘In here, look what I found,’ she said, turning. ‘I like this photo of you. Very cute.’ She turned back to it.

‘Um, well, let’s get back to the kitchen. Dad hates anyone in his office, even me,’ said Marcus, steering her out and shutting the door.

Now this was juicy news. Carl was protective of his office.
Didn’t sound like a normal art dealer to me
, thought Jaz. Especially the way Marcus herded her out, afraid of being caught himself.

‘Here is the drawing,’ he said, handing it over when they reached the kitchen.

‘Oh wow. I love it. You and me,’ she said smiling at him. ‘Is this the first time you’ve drawn yourself?’

He nodded. Jaz compared the likeness of how he’d drawn himself. She could see the passion in his eyes, even on paper. Marcus was someone who would love deeply and Jaz just hoped she wouldn’t break his heart.

‘How come the only photo I can find of you is in your dad’s office?’ she asked, trying to sound normal while she still vibrated with adrenaline.

‘Mum took most of them down when Rachael died. She couldn’t stand seeing Rach, but she also hated the photos of us without her. She replaced them all with art pieces. Dad still has ones of us in his office, out of Mum’s way.’

‘Yeah, it’s hard. My mum was a bit the same to start with.’ Jaz moved to the drawers. ‘Okay, how do you like it, Mr Sinclair?’ she said, pulling open the drawer and getting the cups.

Marcus came up behind her, pushing her against the bench with his body after she’d shut the drawer. ‘You really want to know?’ he asked huskily.

She could feel the outline of his body pressed into her back; one part in particular caused her to stumble on her words. ‘Well…um…now?’ No. She hadn’t prepared herself for anything like this today.

Marcus laughed. ‘No, not when my parents could arrive home at any minute. They sometimes do. But I was thinking that Sunday night, my mum is away and Dad works late. Wanna stay for a while?’

His words were heavily laced with innuendo. Jaz could easily read between the lines and what she read scared her.

‘Sounds like a plan,’ she said, trying to keep the fear from her voice. She hoped to come up with a good excuse by then. Or would she go through with it? As far as first times went, at least she knew Marcus cared and he would be gentle. She couldn’t imagine him any other way.

‘So,’ she asked, getting back to the coffees, ‘do both your parents work at the gallery?’

‘No, Mum runs it most days, unless Dad takes over to give her a break. But Dad does most of the shipping and delivery stuff. He’s usually at the warehouse.’