The Recruit (13 page)

‘In these things called drawers.’ As if to prove he had some, he pulled one open. Jaz saw his toothbrush, deodorant and shaving gear in there. It was neat and clean, not jumbled up like everything in her drawers.

‘Hmm, you’re very tidy. Don’t come to my house unannounced, will you?’

Ryan grabbed the bottom of her jumper and began to lift it up. At this point Jaz was too shaken up to care and lifted her arms like an obedient toddler. He managed to get it off without moving his makeshift bandage. It was when her jumper was a bloody heap on the floor that she realised what she had on underneath. Her hair was still dripping from the rain and it was seeping further into her white singlet. Oh, dear, now she wished her singlet wasn’t so tight.

Ryan flicked on the heater light switch…she didn’t want to know how he could tell she was cold…and noticed a small tattoo under his right arm. It was just one word.
Forever
.

‘Stay there while I get some stuff to clean you up with.’ He’d cleared his throat before he spoke and when he did, the pitch was all over the place.

Ryan came back with a small towel and a got out a first-aid kit.

Ryan began to remove his bloody singlet from her wound.

‘Ouch.’

Fresh blood appeared as he threw away his temporary bandage. With a knowing speed he cleaned up the area. Then Jaz nearly fainted when he produced a needle and a thread of some sort.

‘What the Hell!’

‘You need a few stitches, Jaz. Now I’m sure that if you can take on five guys, then you can handle a little pinprick.’

Jaz gritted her teeth as she waited for the needle to pierce her skin. ‘Damn you Ryan. Where did you learn to sew people up anyway?’ she asked, half curious and the other half just as a distraction of some sort as she felt the first pull of thread. She sucked in a shaky breath.

‘With my job they teach you how to be self-sufficient. It comes in handy.’

‘Really? You gotta sew people up? What are you, a Rambo medic?’

He laughed but he kept stitching her wound together with precision while she tried not to pass out.

‘Mainly it’s for sewing myself up.’

‘Say what? You stitch yourself. Sounds scary and awful.’ Slow breath in and out. She was not going to faint on him now. Instead she willed her body to relax and not think about it.

‘You see that mark on my left arm near the top?’

Jaz let her eyes gaze past his chest over to his arm and found a thin long scar. With her free hand, she traced it, causing Ryan to flinch under her touch. ‘You stitched this up?’

He nodded and she heard him snip at the thread.

‘You did a good job.’ Hell, an amazing job if he did that one-handed. ‘How long ago did you do that?’

Ryan finished putting the needle away and straightened up. ‘Two years ago, give or take. So what do you think?’ He held her arm up so she could see his workmanship.

Jaz rolled her arm around for closer inspection. Eight neat little stitches closed up the cut. ‘Wow, I’m impressed. Mum will never notice.’ She glanced at Ryan, whose eyes were trying to politely avoid her chest. ‘Thanks, Ryan. Not only did you save my arse but you fixed me up real good. Thanks. I owe you one, no actually, that’s two now.’

‘It was my pleasure, but let’s just call it even. The info you got at the club puts us at even,’ he replied as he finished putting a bandage over it to keep it clean. Then he leant past her to wet a flannel so he could gently dab at her split lip.

Jaz got another good look at his tattoo as his hand held her head gently.

‘Forever. Does that have some sort of special meaning?’

Ryan tensed a little before nodding.

‘Well, are you going to share?’ He paused and looked Jaz in the eyes. She felt her heart pick up the pace as his dark eyes clouded over in mystery. ‘Come on, did I not endure you sticking me with a needle without complaint? Share a little, it won’t kill you.’ But the pain she saw in his eyes made her think otherwise. Damn, he had a tormented soul and it was melting her heart. ‘I’m sorry, you don’t have to.’ Now she felt like a jerk, making him all gloomy. She didn’t like seeing him this way.

‘There is more to this tattoo, you just can’t see it,’ he said it so quietly.

‘Huh? What do you mean?’ Jaz instinctively looked to his lower torso and then wished she hadn’t.

Ryan turned and left the bathroom, his damp trackpants hanging divinely low on his hips. Had she just upset him?

She was just about to go find Ryan when he returned with a hand-held light. He flicked off the bathroom light, covering them in darkness. She felt Ryan move closer, his waist nudging her legs. Hairs on the back of her neck twitched in suspense.

Then a purple glow filled the bathroom.

‘What is that?’

‘It’s called a black light.’ Without further explanation, he waved it over his ‘forever’ tattoo and suddenly, as if by magic, more appeared.

‘Wow, that is cool.’ Jaz couldn’t stop her hand from reaching out to his arm and with a finger she traced the two angel wings. Ryan’s breath faltered.

Two beautiful layered wings glowed around the words etched in ink on his arm. Under the word ‘forever’ were the recently invisible initials
C.C
and the year
2013
.

‘C.C? Who’s that?’ Jaz was thinking an old girlfriend or family.

‘My mate Chris, he died this year.’ Ryan’s voice was scratchy and deep. ‘Forever means I will never forget him or the way he died.’

Jaz let the rest of her fingers circle Ryan’s arm and held him. ‘I’m so sorry.’ This explained a lot about his troubled expressions. ‘I can tell it’s been hard on you.’

He breathed heavily. ‘Having you around has been helping,’ he said with a smile.

Wow, really?

‘Hey, what’s this one?’ Jaz had caught the edge of another tattoo and moved the black light closer to Ryan’s chest.

‘You don’t recognise the Southern Cross?’

‘Oh, yeah.’ Jaz touched each star, and then felt like scolding herself for constantly touching him. But she couldn’t help it, she was fascinated. It made her want a tattoo, because they were so damn sexy on Ryan. She could feel faint hairs under her fingers and they itched to follow their path down to the top of his track pants.

‘It’s to remind me of home, of where I’m from.’

Ryan turned off the black light and switched back on the bathroom light. Jaz blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the brightness. She preferred the dark. There was no way she could touch Ryan like she had in this light.

She studied him, looking back over his even skin to where she knew the tattoo was. ‘So why have it invisible?’

‘It’s just easier this way. It’s not traceable like the guy with the snake tattoo.’

‘Ah, got it. Because you are a secret agent guy.’ She smiled. ‘Ouch.’ Her sore lip didn’t like smiling.

‘Let me finish.’ Ryan went back to cleaning her lip. When he was done, he washed the blood off his hands. Jaz watched the redness swirl down the drain. Her blood.

‘Come on,’ he said with a flick of his head. ‘I’ll find you another jumper to wear.’ His eyes grazed past her chest and she felt her nipples push against her singlet. She had a feeling the jumper was more for his benefit. He led her into his bedroom and opened a drawer next to his immaculately made bed. It was a plain black doona cover with a few matching pillows. It looked so inviting, Jaz felt like she could sleep for a week. Ryan’s matching pine bedside tables were bare except for a photo of who she guessed were his parents and an alarm clock.

‘These your folks?’

Ryan didn’t need to look to know what she was talking about. ‘Yep.’

‘Do they live nearby?’

‘They are north of the city. My little sister lives close by too.’

‘Cool.’ Jaz turned to face Ryan. ‘Man, you should see my room. It’s nothing like this.’

He threw her a dark grey jumper. ‘Here, I know how much you like hoodies.’

‘Thanks.’ Jaz chucked it on and smiled at its warmth. She loved the bigger size, it was loose and warm and smelt like him.

Ryan also got himself a blue long-sleeved shirt and put on. She felt a little disappointed.

‘Hmm, I hope you’re not expecting this back,’ she said wrapping her arms around the soft jumper.

He raised one eyebrow in that funny little way. ‘I guess not. So you want a cuppa?’

Jaz sighed heavily as she followed him to the kitchen. ‘How about a stiff scotch? I’m feeling a tad bit frayed and a little weak, which I don’t like admitting.’

‘I’m not surprised. Blood loss does that.’ He went to the kitchen and made two strong coffee’s. The smell alone seemed to perk her up.

‘Cheers.’

They went and sat in his lounge chair, a big deep brown suede couch and he flicked on the heater.

Jaz used Ryan’s long sleeves as a holder around her hot drink and took a sip.

They sat in silence.

Every now and then, their eyes would meet.

Eventually Ryan spoke. ‘You did great out there tonight. How are you feeling? You seem like you’re handling it okay?’ His eyes drilled her for signs of weakness. Did he expect her to flop on the floor and cry? Jaz didn’t cry for anyone.

‘I’m fine, Ryan. Honestly. I’ll admit I’m a little shaky. I’ve never had to fight that was for my life before. And I wouldn’t call fights with guys at The Ring real ones either, as they don’t fight dirty. So all things considering I think I’m coping okay.’

‘You’re doing more than okay. You let me stitch your arm up without a flinch.’ His pupils were huge, making his eyes more black than brown as he studied her openly. It wasn’t like he was checking her out in an admiring way, more like an amazed way.

‘Well I guess when you have the guys at the gym beating you up, you tend to get a thick skin.’

Ryan chuckled. ‘Somehow I think that’s just how you like it. But that makes you who you are, Jaz.’ He brushed his hand over his head. ‘So what you gonna do after you finish school? Have you thought about it?’

‘Nup. Don’t have a clue. Wouldn’t know where to start. Maybe I’ll just stay working at The Ring and throw in some travel.’ Jaz pointed to a painted egg that sat on a little stand next to his TV. ‘I see you have. Africa?’

‘Yep, I get to travel around a fair bit.’

Jaz waited for him to continue…but he didn’t. ‘So are you going to tell me some of your travelling stories?’

‘Nup. We don’t have all night. I’d best be getting you back home before you’re in trouble.’

Jaz checked her leather band watch. ‘Crap, you’re right. Maybe I better get home before Mum starts ringing Anna asking to talk to me!’ Jaz downed the last of her drink and found the caffeine tingled nicely in her belly. Her nerves had settled satisfactorily.

They put their cups on the jarrah coffee table and set off for the car. Fifteen minutes later Ryan parked a few houses down. Jaz sat in the car, not ready to leave its warmth, or the company of Ryan. They had shared a lot tonight. He wasn’t a stranger who visited The Ring anymore. He’d saved her life and had taken her home. She knew a little more about him; and yet there were still big blanks too, things about him that didn’t add up or things that maybe she should be afraid of. But there was something honest in his eyes, even when they could take on that steel-like appearance that sent fear into your soul. Just like when he was fighting those guys. But beyond all that uncertainty, Jaz couldn’t help feeling at ease with him, protected and safe. Of course it was strange, but Jaz was a strange one herself. Maybe that’s why she liked him so much.

‘Thanks for everything, Ryan. I’d hate to think…if you weren’t…you know.’ She felt Ryan’s hand on her shoulder giving her a gentle squeeze. She lifted her eyes from her lap and met his. Understanding passed between them before he drew his hand back.

‘Go on, you better get.’

‘See you tomorrow at The Ring?’

‘Sure will.’

His answer perked up her mood and she reached for the door handle. Jaz made her way home. The night still smelt of the rain that had passed and for a minute, she remembered the attack. She shivered in fear. But as Ryan’s SUV drove by, the terror of it left her. Ryan Fletcher filled her with warmth. As his name circled around her head as she looked up into the lit windows of her house. Home safe and sound.

The cold morning chill was seeping through the car window as Jaz’s forehead pressed against it.

‘If we are late because of you…’ Simon’s threat hung open. Jaz didn’t even bother to reply. She was far too tired.

Last night she should have slept like the dead with all the action she’d had. But when it came time to sleep she’d laid awake, her mind a frenzy of thoughts. Jaz tried to blame the caffeine but she was deluding herself. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think she’d be attacked and fighting for her life. Most of her waking hours last night had been spent reliving every moment, trying to think of better ways to fight them. Ryan’s words had come back to her. ‘You have to maim them.’ She knew he was right, as the guys had kept bouncing back like yoyos, no matter how hard she’d hit them. Then Ryan shows up…another reason why she didn’t sleep so well. Who was he? Mr Secret G.I. Joe?

‘Okay, kids, have a great day at school.’ Tasha glanced across at Jaz as she stopped at the school gates. ‘Oh, Jaz, couldn’t you have tried to fix that up with some make-up? You look like you’ve been in a fight.’

‘Well I was, Mum. I can’t help it if Tick got a bit excited. I should have fought him better too, I guess.’ That had been her excuse for all the bruises and her swollen lip, a scratch match with Tick. Her mum had believed her, luckily, because it wasn’t unusual. ‘It’s okay anyway Mum, the school understands. It’s not like years ago when they thought you and Paul were abusing me,’ said Jaz with a quick laugh.

Her mum sighed but smiled. ‘Yes, those were fun times,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Please can you tell the guys to take it easy on you? They should know better. Maybe I should come down to the gym and have a talk to them.’

‘NO, Mum,’ groaned Jaz. ‘Totally embarrassing. I’ll do it, I promise. Okay? I’ll sort it out. No need to do the overprotective mother routine. I’m nearly eighteen.’

‘I just worry.’ Tasha reached over and tucked Jaz’s hair behind her ear tenderly. ‘You remind me so much of your father.’ Tasha smiled sadly. It was the same one she got whenever she mentioned her father.