Ridge Creek Reunited (Ridge Creek Duology)

by C L Green

Retracting my hand slowly, I decide that perhaps now is not the time to ask who the beautiful woman is sitting in her car staring at us. “She’s beautiful,” Emma announces as I return my attention to the woman in the car as well.

  “In a box jellyfish kind of way, sure.” Zane mumbles as he flicks Emma a warning glance to keep quiet. We both see his look and grimace.

  Okay then.

  “She might just glare and move on,” Luke says hopefully a millisecond before the driver’s door flies open and the woman lifts herself gracefully from the car. Wearing a knee length black skirt with a white button down shirt and matching jacket, she exudes a look of style and elegance. Ignoring the traffic honking and roaring around her, she storms across the street and stops in front of the window. Her brown eyes lock on Jakes.

  Oh dear.

  “The wife?” I mumble quietly as I roll my eyes to Emma.

  “The wife,” Jake grunts angrily and I’m surprised to realize he heard me. “Luke, you fuckin’ mozzed us.”

  “I heard that mother fucker!” The woman at the window snarls as her eyes narrow on Jake. Which shocks me. Really shocks me. She looks a whole lot classier than that. It just goes to show that you should never judge a book by its cover.

  Jake shakes his head slowly. “I forgot about the superhuman hearing abilities.”

  “Let’s just ignore her,” Zane announces turning his chair and looking away from the window. “Perhaps she’ll go back to her lair.”

  I send Zane a wide-eyed look and then watch as a smile starts forming on his face. The strange thing is, it’s not directed at me. It’s somewhere behind and to the left of me. His eyes start to sparkle in amusement.

  Wondering what could possibly be so amusing when Jake is sitting there ready to explode, I look over my shoulder. “Okay then…” I murmur as I see what he is smiling at.

  Ellen.

  Ellen who is calmly closing the front doors to the restaurant and sliding the draw bolts firmly into place. Oh my God, she’s pulled up the drawbridge and closed the castle gates. Some patrons are watching her with interest wondering what’s going on. Straightening from locking the last draw bolt in, she announces to the room, “A free drink to all our patrons while we wait for a dangerous storm to pass.”

  Several patrons murmur their appreciation of a free drink and Ellen calls the wait staff to start taking orders quickly. With most patrons now preoccupied with ordering their free drinks, Ellen moves to our table and lays her hand on Jakes shoulder.

  The woman in the window, having witnessed the front doors closing looks volcanic. I swear to God I think her shiny red hair is about to burst into flames and if looks could burn, the entire restaurant would erupt in flame.

  “You fucking bitch!” She screams as she jabs the window and points at Ellen furiously.

  “That’s not a box jellyfish, that’s a fire-breathing dragon,” Emma announces almost nonchalantly.

  “Nah, it’s a box jellyfish,” Luke responds turning his chair to face away from the erupting volcano in the window. “She’s got enough venom in her to kill everyone in this room. It would be a shockingly painful death too.”

  “Crikey,” I mutter as I watch the woman continue to fume in the window. I can see her mind plotting as she assesses her situation. Clearly livid that she’s locked out, she looks to me like she’s considering getting back in her car and ramming the building.

  “What should we do?” I ask now doing my best to keep my eyes averted from the window.

  “Ignore her,” Ellen replies softly. “It cuts her deeper when Jake pays her no attention at all. She can’t stand that she no longer affects him.”

  “She affects me,” Jake murmurs quietly settling back into his chair but still staring at the window. “Just not in the way she wants to affect me.”

  “I can hear you you know,” the woman in the window snarls again. “Open the fucking doors Ellen. I need to speak to your son.”

  Ellen shakes her head sadly and gives Jake’s shoulder another squeeze. “Just sign the paperwork Victoria and let it go.”

  “Over my dead body,” the woman who I now know as Victoria spits. Moving closer to the window she directs her venomous words at Ellen. “I know you’re covering for them. I know you know there’s more money and I will find it. If he thinks he can get me to go away with a pissy two-hundred thousand, he’s wrong.”

  “Enough,” Jake growls angrily as he starts to lift from his chair. Luke and Zane both jump up at the same time, their hands flying out to try to stop his ascent.

  “Jake, no.” Luke says. “Don’t let her get to you brother. She’s not worth it.”

  Shaking everyone off, Jake lifts angrily from the table. Surprising me, he leans down and whispers in my ear. “Stay put. I’ll be back.”

  Something that I immediately wish he hadn’t done.

  This is because suddenly I hear a loud bang followed by the noise of smashing glass and we both turn to see a large hole in the restaurant window. Shards of glass have flown everywhere, hitting the pavement and landing on our table and the carpet around us.

  What the fuck?

  Everyone is suddenly moving.

  In a lightning response to the window exploding, Jake grabs both me and his mother, one of us in each of his arms and pulls us both towards the center of the restaurant. No mean feat considering I was sitting when he managed to haul me into the air.

  Depositing us both on our feet, he turns and without a second of hesitation storms straight back across the room towards the front door.

  Shocked at the speed at which I am now standing in the middle of room I look to see Emma moving towards us, her face shocked. “That’s one crazy bitch,” she announces as she moves to stand by my side and watch the action.

  Luke and Zane are already at the front door with Jake as he rips the draw bolts open and slams his way out the front door. As soon as he’s on the move so are they. That’s when I decide to flick my eyes back to the window and look for the crazy red head and that’s when I get a shock.

  She’s not moving.

  Not at all.

  She’s frozen like rock. A statue in the restaurant window. Standing with her hand held out in front of her, blood pouring from multiple cuts where she punched the window in her anger. But that’s not the shocking part. The shocking part is that she’s not even looking at Jake anymore. She’s looking at me.

  Looking like she wants me dead.

  Squinting my eyes, I pin mine on hers.

  Is she serious?

  What the hell did I do?

  “Uh oh,” Emma mumbles as she flicks her eyes between mine and the crazy woman standing in the window. “Dragon woman is looking like she wants to scorch you now.”

  “I see that,” I mumble as I turn to Ellen. “Shouldn’t we be calling 000 or something.”

  “No Police,” Ellen announces quietly as she suddenly fires to life and swings her attention to the room full of customers now all talking rapidly and staring at the front window. Some are even taking photographs on their phones. I don’t blame them. It’s not often you see such a stunning looking woman punch her fist through a glass window.

  “My apologies for the disturbance,” Ellen’s voice cuts through the room, quietening the many voices as she makes her announcement. “It would appear the storm has caused significant damage to our front window. If patrons could please remain seated until we have cleaned up the broken glass that would be most appreciated. All meals will be complimentary this evening and I trust that you will continue to support our establishment into the future.”

  The conversations in the room restart but I see several patrons nodding their appreciation at receiving a free meal. Ellen is a good businesswoman.

  Turning my attention back to the front window I see Jake dragging Victoria back across the street towards her car. Luke and Zane are standing on the pavement watching him go.

  Victoria is not happy. She’s fighting him every step of the way and pointing back at me with h
er bloodied hand screeching, “Who the fuck is she?”

  The woman is all class.

  Not.

  And clearly she doesn’t feel pain.

  Ignoring her struggles, Jake makes it to her car and pulls her around to the passenger side. Opening the door with an angry yank, he pushes her into the passenger side of the car and slams the door shut. This shuts the woman up. She falls quiet and watches him round the bonnet of the car. Yanking the driver’s door open, Jake stops for a moment to stare angrily at a small crowd of people spectating from the pavement not far from Victoria’s car. With an angry shake of his head, he throws himself into the driver’s seat, starts the car and takes off down the street. Watching him disappear around the corner, I shift my eyes back to the small crowd. It’s then that I see what Jake was staring at.

  Anton.

  “Okay then,” I murmur as I watch Anton melt back into the group of spectators and seemingly vanish.

  Well that confirms that Anton’s still hanging around and my father will soon hear of my latest drama. I wonder what Stephen Bradford’s thoughts will be on Jake driving off with his wife? I feel a strong wrenching in my gut as my still undigested meal curdles. “Not feeling the love right now. Let’s clean this glass up and I could do with a shot of whiskey if I do say so myself.”

  Emma looks at me sympathetically and Ellen places a hand softly on my arm as she shakes her head before walking off. Luke and Zane reappear in the doorway and make their way over to us.

  “He’s taking her to the hospital. He’ll be back,” Zane announces.

  Oh.

  Of course he is.

  “Ma, you need to ring Dobe. The numbers on the screen.” Zane says as he hands her his mobile phone. “He’ll replace the window tonight. Tell him the work is for Jake and he needs to drop into the shop on Monday so we can fix him up.”

  Ellen nods and takes the phone before walking over to a quiet corner to make the call.

  “Arianna,” Zane continues swinging concerned eyes to me. “It looks like we have a problem. Well specifically, you might have a problem. She’s never seen Jake anywhere near another woman and as you saw, that shit made her volatile. She’s a fuckin’ psycho at the best of times but this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. I can’t say I’ve ever seen her be violent. She usually just screams and carries on, then storms off in a huff. I’ve also never seen her bleeding and not caring that’s she injured like that. The woman’s been known to stay in bed for two days over a paper cut. You and Jake need to talk. Work out how to deal with her. He was having trouble getting her to sign the divorce before. Now for some reason, I reckon he’s got Buckley’s.”

  “Seriously?” I ask him widening my eyes in shock.

  “Seriously,” Zane confirms as he starts to survey the damage caused around our table. “You need to take care, she could hurt you.”

  “Seriously?” I say it louder this time and Zane swings his eyes to mine. Seeing the questioning look in his eyes I elaborate. “After what I’ve been through over the past few weeks, you think I’m gunna worry about some fiery red head in high heels who’s got a bent on me? I think you might find she can manipulate men with that face that would launch a thousand ships, but me, ah ah. No fucking way. If she wants a fight, she’ll get one. She’d better back the fuck off from Jake or I’ll bury…”

  Zane’s hand flies out to cover my mouth. “Christ woman. Calm down.” He shakes his head at me before he looks around and then gifts the room with a huge smile.

  Snapping my mouth shut, I mouth “Woops,” into his hand and look around the room to see several women with their eyes locked on Zane. His smile works wonders. I doubt they’ll remember my little outburst with Zane’s smile now burned into their brains. “Sorry,” I mumble as he drops his hand back to his side.

  “Glad to see you’re not gunna be passive on this one and that you’ve got his back. He needs someone to help him fight that battle. She’s fucked with his head for years and I think he’s about out of tactics to shift her on.”

  I nod as Ellen reappears at our side. “Dobe is on his way.”

  “Now that’s service,” Emma announces as she watches a waiter appear with a brush and shovel to start sweeping up glass. “I’ve never heard of glaziers that come out immediately.”

  “Business associate,” Zane mumbles and the penny drops for both Emma and I at the same time.

  “Gotcha,” Emma mouths up at him as we swing our attention back to the damaged window.

  “I’ll get more brooms and dustpans,” Ellen announces. “Luke, can you please come with me and grab a green bin for the broken glass.”

  “Sure,” Luke agrees and heads off towards the back of the restaurant with her.

  “Well you can’t say the day’s been boring,” I murmur softly as Zane, Emma and I wait for Ellen and Luke to return with cleaning gear.

  Chapter Eight

  The Camera Room

  Three hours later, Arianna…

  Lying on my back in bed, I scratch Pierre gently behind his ears and sigh. “Looks like he’s not coming back tonight little buddy. The upside? You get to sleep in Mummy’s bed tonight.”

  Jake’s continued absence is affecting me. And not in a good way. I know I shouldn’t be concerned, Jake often leaves me to my own devices. It’s only because I watched him get in a car with his not yet ex-wife that I’m feeling this way.

  There’s nothing to worry about.

  Right?

  He’s trying to scrape her off. They were his words. Clearly his own mother and his brothers dislike her so it’s not likely he’d get back with her. Is it?

  Then why do I feel so… off?

  Hearing a light knock on the door, both Pierre and I swing our eyes to the source of the noise. Sitting up in bed, I call out a soft, “Yes?”

  The door opens a crack and Emma pokes her head through the gap. “I’ve armed the security system. They got most of it installed today. We’re just waiting on the outside cameras. You should also know that there are now two guys sitting in the camera room watching the monitors. Which means they’re watching the cameras already operational internally here, plus the cameras at Jakes house. They’re going to be watching them all-night. Hats off to them for taking on the most boring job in the universe.”

  “Ah, okay. Thanks. I think. Why do I need to know about the two guys in the camera room?”

  Pushing the door open a little further, Emma leans on the doorjamb and smiles at me. “I can think of a couple of reasons,” she says with a shrug of her shoulders. “The main one is there are now two sets of eyes watching cameras on all the hallways, storage rooms, the garage and the communal room.”

  “Okay.”

  “Which means no wandering around outside your bedroom in your underwear unless you’re looking for some visual attention and that’s the way you want to roll.”

  “Oh!” I suddenly realize what she’s saying. “Crap. Glad you mentioned that.”

  “Another reason is they are your get out of jail free card for taking Pierre outside. They’ve been told to cover toilet trips for Pierre. You are not to go outside alone. Ever. Although none of us think you’re in any immediate danger, until we work out Bradford and confirm Altieri is lying low, we’d rather be safe than sorry. Knock on the door to the camera room and one of the guys will take him out. Okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Nodding her satisfaction at my response, she straightens from the door and gives me a sympathetic look. “Oh, and you’ll probably want to know that I was just in there with the two guys and saw Luke dropping Jake off at his house.”

  “Oh.” Well that confirms he’s not coming back here tonight. His bike is still here. Realizing it would have been much easier and quicker for Luke to have dropped him here, I’m not sure what message he’s sending by going home.

  Is he avoiding me?

  “Luke was driving her car but she was not in it so that’s a good thing yeah?” She continues already guessing at my i
nner turmoil. “Which means he went home to be alone.”

  “Sure,” I mumble as I lean across to turn out my bedside lamp before sliding back down into my bed and settling my head on the pillow. “Goodnight.”

  Emma stands in the doorway for another moment or two before she sighs and backs out of the doorway. Closing the door softly, the room is thrown into darkness. I close my eyes and hear Pierre sigh. “I agree buddy,” I whisper into the darkness as I close my eyes hoping to fall asleep.

  It’s a long time before my mind stops thinking about Stephen Bradford, Vincent Altieri, Jake and his wife. It’s an even longer time before I finally fall asleep.

  *****

  I wake up to see the bright light of day peeking its way in through the sides of the curtains. Simultaneously I hear the loud rumble of Harleys on the street outside. Grabbing the spare phone Emma lent me off the bedside table I check the time and realize it’s almost lunchtime.

  Holy Cow.

  Clearly I was tired.

  Shaking off the thought that Jake still hasn’t shown, my next thought is of Pierre. He’s not on my bed so where is he? Scanning the room frantically for him, I call out his name. Hearing only the sound of my own breathing, I conclude he’s not here. Someone has snuck him out while I was sleeping. At least I don’t need to worry about puppy puddles or other unsavoury items on my bedroom floor.

  Kicking back the covers, I swing my feet to the floor and start moving. After the many hours spent worrying over matters out of my control last night, I don’t plan to spend any more time thinking about them. I plan to keep busy and let things run their course.

  Grabbing fresh clothes from the tallboy, I drag on a pair of tracksuit pants and t-shirt and make the trek to the bathroom. I don’t know if there are people sitting watching the camera’s during the day or not but I don’t plan to take any risks.

  Making a quick stop at the toilet, I double back to the bathroom. Locking the bathroom door behind me I undress, set the water temperature in the shower and slide in. I’ve barely wet my hair when a loud, rhythmic banging begins on the bathroom door.

  “Arianna.” A familiar deep rumble calls out to me.