The Recruit (7 page)

In a daze, she staggered back to her team, trying to take off her mask as they all congratulate her.

Taylor gave her a hug and said something but everyone was cheering so loud she missed it. The crowd milled around as they announced Jaz as the winner and team Aramis the overall winners.

Jaz had her mask tucked under her arm and Taylor was holding her sabre as she went to collect her medal and Taylor picked up one for third. She felt overwhelmed at all the commotion, almost a little uneasy. Her eyes started seeking out the green exit signs.

After the presentations, Jaz saw Anna and Ryan make a beeline straight for her.

‘Yay, you big star!’ said Anna, proudly giving her a hug and looking at her medal. ‘Jaz that was amazing, and to think you weren’t even interested in fencing.’

‘Why not?’ asked Ryan who had just congratulated Jaz. ‘You’re a natural.’

‘Well she only joined last year to spend more time with…’ As Anna spoke, Jaz felt like her guts had been spilt all over the floor. She punched Anna in the arm to shush her up. ‘I mean she’s really good considering she hasn’t been doing it for long.’ Anna corrected and turned a pretty shade of pink.

Jaz blushed, even possible with her olive skin, and lowered her eyes. Thank God Taylor didn’t hear what Anna said.

Ryan reached out to touch the ‘Team Aramis’ red stitch on her jacket with a sabre under it, but just stopped short when he realised where it was positioned. ‘So…Team Aramis…as in
The Three Musketeers
?’ he asked.

Jaz looked up, her eyes twinkling like sapphires. ‘Yeah, you got it in one. I had to ask Anna what it meant,’ she laughed.

‘Nice work-out there. Very impressive,’ he added.

Jaz tried to shrug off his compliment and tried to hide behind her hair.

‘So what are you doing now?’ asked Anna.

‘She’s coming to celebrate at my place,’ said Taylor as he wrapped his arms around Jaz and kissed her on her cheek. ‘I knew you could do it, Jazzy.’

Ryan took a step back and Taylor glanced across at him, seeing him for the first time. He let go of Jaz and held out his hand. ‘Hi, I’m Taylor. Are you a friend of Anna’s?’

Taylor was sizing him up and trying to find the connection.

‘Name’s Ryan,’ he said shaking Taylor’s hand and added, ‘I’m actually Jaz’s stalker.’

Jaz and Anna spluttered out laughter while Taylor raised his eyebrows in confusion. ‘Well you’re all welcome to come back to my place. I think we should go out tonight. It’s Friday so we should celebrate in style.’

‘Cool, I’m in,’ said Anna.

‘Thanks but I better head off, things to do,’ said Ryan.

‘You feeling too old for us now?’ Jaz asked, straight out.

‘More like I’d hate to cramp your style. I’ll see you later,’ he paused, about to leave but glanced at Jaz, his eyes holding hers meaningfully. ‘Congrats on your win, you deserved it. You have great footwork.’ He stood staring at her as if he couldn’t believe it himself. Then he turned and walked out of the gymnasium, taking all the female eyes with him. Jaz wondered if she’d see him at The Ring tomorrow.

Now that he knew her age, would he still flirt with her like he had when she was doing her yoga? Would he treat her differently? Taylor took her hand and dragged her towards the team and that was the last she thought about Ryan as she was swept away in the celebrations.

‘Okay, here’s our new fake IDs,’ said Anna, handing them out to Taylor and Jaz as they stood in his bedroom. They were staying the night at Taylor’s because his dad was always busy with work and didn’t ask too many questions. Which Taylor thought was hilarious for a cop.

‘These look real,’ said Jaz. ‘I better not let Mum find it.’

Taylor shook his head. ‘My God, you could go into business selling these. Dad would freak. Anna, you have a scary talent,’ he said grinning at her. ‘Where do you get this stuff?’

Anna shrugged. ‘You’d be amazed, Tay. Pax has so much stuff, I kinda just borrowed the bits I needed. I don’t think he will notice, at least I hope not.’ Anna bit her lip. ‘I’m sure I can persuade him it was for the greater good of our youth.’

‘Well I don’t know about you lot, but I’m going to get changed and then we’re off dancing.’ Jaz grabbed her bag and headed into the spare room where they were sleeping. Anna followed excitedly.

Twenty minutes later, Taylor began banging on their door. ‘Come on you two. Surely you’re ready by
now
.’

Anna cracked open the door and whispered out. ‘Do you know how hard it is being a girl? The pressure to look good isn’t easy. Statistically speaking a — ’

‘Anna,’ said Taylor cutting her off before she began her tirade. He pushed the door open so he could see them. He hooked his finger into his trendy jeans nervously. ‘You look amazing,’ he said, blushing slightly.

‘That’s what I’ve been telling her,’ said Jaz as she pushed Anna out. ‘Little black dresses always work, especially teamed up with heels.’

Taylor glanced at Anna’s elegant shoes, then to Jaz’s feet, covered with knee-high boots that hardly had a heel. He raised his eyebrows.

‘What? I might need to run or something,’ said Jaz.

‘You are always prepared for everything, Jaz. But they’re still sexy boots,’ he added. She smiled.

Jaz had left her hair out, wore an off-the-shoulder top and she’d added big hoop earrings at Anna’s insistence.

‘I think we are ready to go. So where to, Tay?’ Anna looped her arm around his, while Jaz went to his other side. The three headed down the passage.

‘Well, I was thinking, seeing as Anna’s done such a fab job on our IDs, that we should see if we can get into Ramblers.’

Anna squealed. ‘Really?’

‘That joint is all anyone talks about.’ All Jaz could think was, wait until Minka hears they went to Ramblers with Taylor. Oh, she’d just be green with envy. ‘Let’s do it.’

Ramblers was the ‘it’ nightclub in the city at the moment. They’d only ever gone to smaller clubs or bars where they had a chance of sneaking into without an ID check, so tonight would be a treat.

‘Let’s go, girls.’

As they climbed into the waiting taxi, Jaz couldn’t help but feel totally excited. The three of them off for a night of fun. They laughed and joked all the way into Northbridge. They probably gave their Indian taxi driver a headache but nothing was going to spoil their fun.

‘Hey, I told Mum we were watching the latest
Vampire Diaries
season. Everyone cool with that?’ said Anna as they got out of the taxi onto the lit street.

Taylor paid the taxi man before he added, ‘Yep, righto. But I doubt your folks will call to check. They trust us.’

‘Huh, I don’t think my mum trusts me. I have to tell her everything and she always knows when I’ve been up to something. It’s like she has a sixth sense.’ Jaz pulled out her phone. ‘See, she’s already texted to see if I’m okay!’ With a groan she handed her phone to Taylor to keep in his jeans pocket. She had no room for it in her sexy black skirt.

‘No, your mum just has a great bullshit detector, Jaz. Always has,’ said Anna. ‘I’ve never been able to lie to her face. Oh my God, we’re here,’ she said nervously, flapping her hands.

‘Okay, Anna. We’re trying to pretend we are over eighteen,’ Taylor said with a smirk.

Anna ran her hand past her face, turning cool and collected. ‘Right, got it.’

They walked towards the dark building. If the big sparkly RAMBLERS sign wasn’t blinking above the door, you wouldn’t have even noticed the building in the street. It gave off a sleek, important vibe, something the owners had no doubt wanted. The queue of sexy women and good-looking guys out the front also gave it away.

The three of them barely spoke as the line crept forward. They were trying to keep cool and seem older. Seriously, they weren’t far off being eighteen so they should be able to do it with ease.

‘ID please,’ said the large bouncer in his black t-shirt with a white R on the front.

Obediently they showed him their cards as his sharp eyes sized them up. His neck was as thick as a tree trunk and Jaz found herself wondering if she could ever beat him in a one-on-one fight? Would her skills be any good over someone so strong and big? With a bit of luck she’d never need to find out the answer to that.

Without a word, he nodded them through the door. They headed inside and up some narrow stairs while sneaking victory glances at each other, surprised they’d made it in.

The music was pumping and shaking through their bodies as they merged into the crowded dance floor. Huddling together, they headed for a space near a wall.

Anna kept her face calm but her voice was excited as she half yelled, ‘We’re here, we’re here. Now what?’

‘This is so awesome,’ said Jaz taking in the room. There was a bar in the far corner along with some tables and sitting booths, and the rest of the floor was filled with people dancing while the DJ played music from up on a mezzanine floor amongst the flashing lights.

Her hand was tugged along as Taylor dragged them into the centre of the room. ‘Let’s dance.’

And dance they did. Four songs later, a cute guy had turned around and begun dancing with Jaz. She didn’t know him from a bar of soap, but he was older and could move so she had fun dancing alongside him.

‘I need a drink,’ mouthed Anna after a while.

Jaz nodded, her own throat parched. She followed them to the booths and grabbed a seat while Taylor and Anna got them some drinks.

‘One drink won’t kill us,’ he said putting them on the table along with a water bottle. They didn’t argue. Jaz loved sitting back, watching everyone, from the bartenders to the DJ and everyone on the floor having a great time. She didn’t know if it was the alcohol or the music, or maybe a combination of both, but she felt a warm buzz through her body and couldn’t keep the smile from her face.

‘It won’t be long and we can do this whenever we want,’ said Jaz leaning over to Anna.

‘Ah, the life of an adult.’ Anna smiled. ‘Come on, time’s a’wasting, more dancing needed,’ she said, finishing her drink, getting up and dragging Taylor with her.

Jaz got up to follow them, noticing a few eyes watching her. So many cute guys and to have them looking at her was kinda cool. She never got this reaction at school. Most of the guys there were scared of her; well, that’s what Taylor had told her once. So maybe she knew how to take care of herself, and if that meant they were scared of her then none of them were man enough for her. At least that’s what she tried to tell herself.

Trying not to lose Anna in the crowd, she bumped her way through. ‘Scuse me. Sorry,’ she called as she pushed in.

Being this close to people, hemmed in tightly, put her on edge all of a sudden. It was just a crowded dance floor so she tried to relax. Suddenly her arm was grabbed tightly. The pressure didn’t let go as she tried to plunge forward through the congested crowd, towards her friends. The grip on her arm felt like a threat, it sent her heart racing as she fought against it. She was being pulled backwards away from her friends. Had she been caught by the police or a bouncer? Or was it some creep?

Drawing a breath she tensed, planted her feet firmly and turned to face her possible attacker.

‘Jaz, what the bloody hell are you doing here?’ The strong voice growled.

She would have breathed a sigh of relief if Ryan wasn’t looking like was ready to kill her. And for some strange reason she felt like if he wanted to he could. His eyes were menacing and scary. But she wouldn’t let that put her off.

‘Ryan! Man, you scared me. Will you quit following me?’ she said shaking his hand from her arm.

He was studying her carefully. She could tell he was trying to calm himself, as he took a deep breath before saying slowly and gently. ‘I’m not. You must be following me.’ The tone in his voice was more controlled, not like the abrupt harshness before.

‘What? What makes you think that?’ she asked while watching his eyes as they flicked around the room. He was alert all the time and she wondered if it wore him out.

‘I’m working here tonight.’ And as if to prove it, he pointed to his black shirt with the white R on it.

‘Oh.’ She admired the fitted black t-shirt over his lean body. Anna was so right about him being ‘hot’.

He bent down, speaking near her ear, his breath caressing her skin. ‘And if I was doing my job, I would be kicking you out right now. How did you even get in?’

Ryan smelt good. A clean mixture of soap and deodorant as if he’d just stepped out of the shower and came straight on duty.

Jaz glanced up and smiled, and tried to bat her eyelids. Hey, it always worked in the movies. ‘I have my secrets.’ She could see Ryan was trying hard not to smile. His jaw was tense as he fought it off.

Raising a strong arm, he held out his hand, palm up, waiting. ‘ID?’

With a sigh, she pulled out her ID from its hiding place in her bra. She found it cute that he averted his eyes. Jaz placed the warm card into his hand.

Ryan studied it carefully. Glanced at her and then studied the card again. ‘Where did you get this?’ he queried.

‘I can’t give away my sources,’ she said to him frankly. ‘It’s good, right?’ With a quick movement, she swiped the card back and hid it back down her top.

‘Hey!’ Ryan ran his hand over his head when he realised he wasn’t getting the card back. ‘Jaz, please. Where did you get it? Who’s selling them to you?’

Jaz was wondering what it was to him. He looked concerned and she hoped he wasn’t a cop or something.

‘Are you going to dob us in to the cops? Are you a cop? If you are, I can’t tell you anything.’

‘No Jaz, I’m not.’ He sighed while still surveying the room, yet he was still focused on their conversation. ‘I just want to know. You’ll be fine, I promise.’

Jaz thought about it for a minute, then pulled Ryan closer and whispered in his ear. ‘It was a home job, we did it ourselves.’ Jaz figured if she implied they all had done it then Anna couldn’t get into trouble.

‘Really?’ Ryan looked shocked. He opened his mouth again, but no words came out.

‘We just did it for us, we’re not selling them or anything like that.’ Had she done something wrong by telling him this? Her heart raced.