The Crescendo

by Fiona Palmer

  Ryan’s chest expanded as he breathed. ‘I knew you were here even before you spoke. I could smell you,’ his lips curled into a smile, ‘and besides, who else would risk coming here to save me.’

  Jaz laughed and his smile grew wider. ‘You know me too well, Ryan. Come on, let’s get you home.’

  Jaz and Tilly put Ryan’s arms around their shoulders and helped walk him to the door. Ian was going to stay behind to talk to the DEA.

  ‘Oh my God, Ryan look at you,’ said Anna, who was just inside the door. She had a strip of her shirt in her hands.

  ‘I would Anna, if I could see,’ said Ryan.

  He was in good spirits. He wasn’t the only one. Jaz couldn’t keep the smile off her face, even with her friend out of the car she wasn’t supposed to leave.

  ‘Anna, what the heck are you doing in here?’ she tried to say gruffly, but it didn’t work. She was just too damn pleased to be holding Ryan.

  ‘She was saving me,’ said Tay.

  Jaz followed the sound of his voice to the floor. He was holding his waist, blood seeping past his hand. Anna knelt down and pressed her shirt strip to his wound.

  ‘There, that should help. It’s not too deep,’ she said, before kissing Tay’s forehead.

  Jaz’s eyebrow shot up at this open display of affection.

  ‘Do tell?’

  Tay smiled. ‘I was fighting with him,’ Tay gestured to a body on the other side of the door, he was lying face down, arms at funny angles. Further up was Bud, face down. Jaz had to look away.

  Tay continued, ‘We’d run out of bullets, didn’t have time to reload so we went fist to fist, only he had a knife. I was doing alright until he cut me. I lost it for a moment.’

  Jaz could understand that. Tay’s first major fight, and a knife one at that.

  ‘I was off balance and unprepared. I knew I was gonna get cut again and just before he went to strike he fell down like a tonne of bricks. Anna smacked him across the head with a tyre leaver.’

  ‘You did what?’ said Jaz, in awe.

  ‘Did I hear that right?’ said Cody as he staggered towards them, his hand was pressed against his bullet wound in his shoulder and he wore a grimace. ‘A tyre lever?’

  Ryan and Tilly chuckled.

  ‘That is gold,’ said Ryan. ‘Anna has a knack for knocking people out with unconventional things.’

  They were all thinking about the frying pan incident and all started to laugh.

  ‘We might make a field agent out of you yet, Anna,’ said Tilly with a smirk.

  ‘No,’ said Tay. ‘Not this one.’ He reached out and pulled her to him, kissing her lips. ‘This one is too special.’

  Anna traced her thumb across his lips, it was so sensual and heartfelt. A tear rolled down Anna’s check and Jaz felt her own eyes water.

  Somehow this crazy mob of friends had survived. Jaz couldn’t be happier.

  ‘Well, this is all lovely, but I’m bleeding,’ said Cody. ‘Where’s my love?’

  Tilly reached over and kissed Cody’s cheek. ‘Feel better?’ he asked.

  ‘Not really.’ Cody shook his head, his lips giving away his amusement.

  ‘What say we head back to the gym and get everyone cleaned up?’ said Jaz. ‘I think Pax has some aged Scotch hidden in the kitchen for these kind of moments.’

  Ryan squeezed her shoulder. ‘You are speaking my language. Let’s go home.’

  Chapter 31

  Back at the gym, Tilly and Anna set about fixing Cody and Tay while Jaz jumped in the shower with Ryan. The water stung his cuts but it was the only way to clean him up. Watching the red bloodstained water drain away was awful, but at least Ryan could now open his eyes.

  ‘There you are. You’ll never know just how much I missed you,’ he said touching her wet hair.

  ‘I think I have a fair idea.’

  It looked like a massacre scene in the small bathroom. Blood still ran from his fresh wounds and old ones that had opened up again. Towels were stained with red splotches and everything Ryan seemed to touch or stand on got smeared red.

  The sight and smell of the blood didn’t offend Jaz. She was too busy basking in the excitement of having Ryan back and taking care of him.

  After he was patted dry, Jaz started patching up all his injuries. ‘What about your ribs?’ she asked worriedly.

  ‘They’ll be okay. James knows someone who I can see to get them X-rayed.’

  Ryan took her hands after she’d finished half mummifying him and brought them to his lips. ‘I love you. Thanks for coming to get me.’

  Jaz looked at her beaten-up man, he was still so gorgeous even with the bruises and cuts. He’d just added to his collection of scars. Jaz wanted to hold him, touch him all over, make love to him, but now was not the time.

  ‘You keep looking at me like that and I might tear off my bandages,’ he said teasingly.

  Not all of Ryan was injured but his ribs weren’t up to anything too physical.

  ‘We have plenty of time,’ she said, threading her fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck. ‘But I won’t be leaving your side anytime soon. I think you need to stay with me until you’re a hundred per cent.’

  His lips curled. ‘I very much like the sound of that.’

  He pulled her towards him and kissed her again. Soft and gentle.

  ‘Come on, let’s get you dressed before we get sidetracked.’ Her gazed dropped to his lower half. ‘I’m going to find some of Pax’s nice shirts for you to wear,’ she teased.

  ‘Oh no, surely not?’ he pleaded. ‘I’d rather walk around with a towel.’

  Jaz came back with some clothes for him and he sighed with relief when it was a pair of baggy jeans and t-shirt from Taylor, who had half his wardrobe at Pax’s just like the girls. This place was fast becoming their home.

  Together they walked back to the kitchen where snacks had been put on the table, along with glasses of Pax’s finest Scotch.

  ‘Here, sit,’ said Tilly, jumping up from his chair and offering it to Ryan.

  ‘Thanks mate.’

  Cody and Tay were all bandaged up and kicking back in their chairs, the Scotch already working wonders. Cody had a sedated smile on his face but he wasn’t the only one. Anna gave up her chair for Jaz and Tay pulled her onto his lap.

  ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’ Anna only just got the words out before Tay cut her off.

  ‘You won’t. You’re my medicine.’ He tucked his arms around Anna and held her against him.

  ‘About time, you two,’ said Jaz.

  Tay and Anna looked at each other and smiled. ‘I know,’ said Anna as she dropped a kiss on his lips.

  ‘Is anyone allowed to join this party?’

  All heads turned to the voice. Ian and James stood there watching. James was dressed casually in jeans and a black t-shirt. Jaz had never seen him out of a suit before, it made him look like one of the team.

  No one had heard them come in. Ian had been shown where the hidden key was, so had Tilly and Cody. All were welcome here.

  But no one was expecting James. You could have heard a pin drop.

  Jaz cleared her throat. ‘Of course, grab a stool, it’s all we have left sorry. Cody, more Scotch please.’

  The two newcomers joined them around the old table with its mismatched chairs.

  ‘Are we in trouble?’ asked Tay.

  Jaz was thinking the same thing. Why was James here?

  ‘I have a few questions. I’m not angry over this, Ian had kept me filled in from the beginning,’ said James.

  Good to know, thought Jaz. Then why was he here if not to bust them for a secret rescue mission?

  ‘What I want to know, well, what I don’t get is why Salvatore shot Jamison? Was it over his business? Was it about claiming more power? But if it was, then why did you let him go? I also hear it was Salvatore who gave us information to do this mission. Jaz, I’m drawing a lot of blanks and I can’t connect any dots.’

  She guessed it might
come to this.

  Jaz turned to her friends, who nodded, then she turned to Ryan, who smiled and reached for her hand. ‘It’s okay, baby,’ he said.

  Jaz took a breath and turned to James. ‘I trust everyone here, and I guess it’s better if you all know the truth.’ Sal had saved Ryan for her, shooting someone for the first time just for her. It’s not what many daughters would want from their fathers, but for Jaz, he’d given her the best gift. Ryan. And because he’d done that, she wanted him unharmed by the agency. Maybe he’d spoke the truth about going straight just so he could get to know Jaz. Only time would tell. Until then she didn’t want him killed.

  Which led her to telling the agency. ‘Salvatore is my father.’

  ‘What the hell?’

  ‘No way?’

  ‘You’re shitting, me.’

  The last comment came from Cody.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said James. ‘How is that possible?’

  ‘Many years ago Sal fell in love with an agency girl called Julie. What he didn’t know is that she fell pregnant and ran away to WA under the protection of her friend Pax. She did it to save her child. Me.’

  Jaz watched James as he tried to make sense of her words.

  ‘Julie? But that would mean?’ James stuttered as he stood up.

  ‘That I’m your niece? Yes, it does. And your sister is very much alive and well and has no clue that I ended up with the agency.’

  James staggered and Ian helped him back onto his stool.

  ‘Cody, I think we are going to need more Scotch,’ said Ian with a chuckle.

  ‘I agree,’ said Tilly, shaking his head.

  ‘I’m totally lost, but I’ll get the Scotch.’ Cody’s chair scraped against the floor. He stepped to the special cupboard and retrieved another bottle.

  ‘Lucky we have lots of Scotch,’ said Anna with a smirk.

  Cody paused by Jaz’s side, his shaggy hair looking like a he’d rubbed a balloon against it. ‘You might have to start this story from the beginning, Jaz.’

  ‘I second that,’ said Ian.

  ‘Me three,’ said Tilly.

  James was just openly staring at Jaz. She saw the moment he realised something.

  ‘My God,’ he said.

  ‘I know, I have her eyes.’ Her grin was ear to ear.

  Then, in the comfort of Pax’s kitchen, with her old and new friends around the table, Ryan lovingly by her side, and her uncle, Jaz started her story from the beginning. And she started it at The Ring, where she first met Ryan.

  Thanks for reading The Crescendo. I hope you enjoyed it.

  If you’d like to know more about me, my books, or to connect with me online, you can visit my webpage fionapalmer.com, follow me on twitter @fiona_palmer, or like my Facebook page Fiona Palmer Rural Author.

  You can also follow me through my publisher’s page here www.escapepublishing.com.au

  Reviews can help readers find books, and I am grateful for all honest reviews. Thank you for taking the time to let others know what you’ve read, and what you thought.

  You’ve just read a book in my MTG Agency series. The other books in this series are The Recruit, The Mission and The Deception.

  This book was published by Escape Publishing. If you’d like to sample some more great books from my fellow Escape Artists, please turn the page.

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  ISBN: 9781760370428

  Title: The Crescendo

  Copyright © 2016 by Fiona Palmer

  All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises (Australia) Limited, Level 13/201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2000.

  All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.

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