Ridge Creek Reunited (Ridge Creek Duology)

by C L Green

  “Lightweight,” Jake announces with a cheeky grin as he takes his helmet off and puts his hand out to take mine. “Grab the DNA kits off Emma, plus anything else you want to take to Sydney and meet me back in the communal room. We won’t be hanging around. We’ll have lunch with Ma and then head to my place.”

  Handing him my helmet and happy to be home, I grin at him before I turn and beeline for the front door of the shop. Pushing through the glass door, I rock to a stop as I do a double take.

  First because the shop is busy. Not just a little bit busy, it’s a whole lot busy. It’s crawling with customers. Standing in the doorway, I quickly do a head count. I count at least ten customers poking about among the shelves and looking at items hanging on the walls.

  I also notice Reggie. Reggie looks different and it takes me a few seconds to realize why. It’s because he’s looking dapper in a new pair of jeans with a crisp, new white Harley Shirt. He looks groomed and he’s mingling among the shoppers with a smile on his face as he offers assistance to explain products. He looks happy, helpful and in his element.

  Holy crap. Jake and Zane’s Harley Shop is seemingly the new Mecca of Ridge Creek and Reggie’s morphed into a salesperson.

  But they’re not the only reason I do a double take. I also stop to pause and look at something else that’s out of place. That is, there’s a woman standing behind the front counter bagging and wrapping purchases. A strange woman. A woman who at the same time as she’s wrapping purchases is also running up sales on the cash register, taking money and handing out change.

  All of this she’s doing with ease and it is magnificent to watch.

  Grinning as I take in the view of a business that is now booming, I feel Jake’s hand land softly on my lower back. “We going in or what?”

  “The shops booming and there’s a woman behind the counter,” I murmur giving to his pressure and stepping through the door.

  “Yeah, Emma said sales were up and she’d found someone. Supposed to be a gun. She’s been on a week’s trial since Monday and Emma’s hoping she decides to stay.” Jake explains as he flicks the door shut behind us.

  “Nice,” I murmur as I keep moving towards the front counter and the exit to the communal room.

  As I approach I keep my eyes locked on the woman as she works. She looks to be average height, slim and attractive with long, wavy chocolate brown hair. Watching her as she looks up to acknowledge my approach, my eyes lock on a stunning pair of honey brown eyes. She grins at me for a moment before lifting her eyes to acknowledge Jake. My grin turns to a smirk as her eyes instantly flare and a slight flush warms her face. Transforming her own grin to a full on smile, two dimples appear as she announces softly, “I’ll be with you shortly.”

  Amused at her inability to contain her lust for my boyfriend, I watch as she shifts her eyes back to mine. Seeing my smirk, a look of confusion crosses her face and she returns her attention to the small box she’s wrapping with a gorgeous, shiny black and silver gift paper. Watching her long, slender fingers and faultlessly presented French manicure nails deftly working, I realize that some of our patrons may not be here just to shop for Harley products. There may also be a reason Reggie has morphed.

  Deciding I need to talk to Emma first and foremost to find out more about Jake’s newest employee, I continue to move forward and around the counter with Jake close on my heels. The look of confusion slides from new girl’s face and she straightens quickly to turn and face us. With a scathing look her eyes narrow, her lips purse and her body stiffens. Turning and spreading her legs wide in one movement, she blocks our way. Sliding my eyes from her face and down her body, I notice she’s dressed sensibly in jeans and a black tunic. I also notice she’s wearing a pair of kickass biker boots covered in chains. They have steel caps and low-slung heels and they look tough.

  Great boots.

  “Only staff are allowed behind the counter,” she snarls as I rock to a halt in front of Jake. “Move back around the front of the counter and wait your turn.”

  With her honey brown eyes narrowed on me, a picture of an angry she-wolf leaps to my mind.

  This one’s a fighter, I like her.

  Shifting my eyes to the customers she was serving (a middle-aged woman and her teenage son) I notice the woman looking amused. Grinning at the woman and her son, I have to agree. The she-wolf sure can fire up in an instant. Looking across the room, I notice a few customers have stopped to watch the scene alongside Reggie who is standing in an aisle, a huge shit eating grin on his face.

  “What’s so fuckin’ funny,” she-wolf snarls again and swings her eyes to Reggie.

  Reggie, unable to contain himself, bursts into laughter. Shaking his head, he turns away and starts talking to a customer again.

  “I’m Jake,” I hear rumbled from behind me and watch in fascination as she-wolf swings her eyes back to a point above and behind me.

  “Fuck,” she murmurs as her eyes travel his face. Instantly I wonder whether she’s more upset to find out she just tried to stop her boss entering his own shop or that he’s so good-looking.

  Moving her eyes back to mine, she licks her lips and nods. “Sorry about that.” Moving her leg to allow us to pass, she turns back to the middle-aged woman and her son. “Apologies for the delay,” she murmurs before continuing to wrap the gift in front of her.

  Turning my head to grin up at Jake, we continue on our way.

  Parting ways in the middle of the communal room, Jake heads to the bar to chat to some men while I head straight for the exit on the opposite side of the room. My plan is to find Emma and then grab a couple of things from my room. Passing the new camera room, I notice the door is shut. Deciding I should duck my head in to check for Emma, I grab for the handle only to find it locked.

  What the?

  Confused, I try the handle again and then hear a muffled, “Hang on!” Called out from behind the door. A second later I hear a click and when I try the handle again, it turns.

  Pushing the door open, I soon realize Emma’s not here.

  Dregs however is and upon hearing the door open, he spins his chair as he gives me a quick chin lift. “Hey,” he calls before he spins back again to focus his attention back on the screens in front of him.

  “Hey,” I reply. “Why’s the door locked?”

  Looking back over his shoulder, Dregs lifts his eyebrows as if to say, “Really?” He then points his hand towards a series of new monitors that now show images of both the inside and outside of the four Green Houses we’ve just finished visiting. Complete with pictures of plants, lots of plants.

  I mouth the word, “Oh,” with my mouth before muttering, “That’d do it.”

  “It’s some fan dangled remote lock Emma had installed. I check this camera here,” Dregs says pointing at a camera that shows the hallway outside, “then I open the door with this,” he points to a button on his desk.

  Well security sure is increasing around here.

  Deciding it best that I keep moving, I ask Dregs another question, “What’s the new woman’s name?”

  “Kara,” Dregs replies without turning his attention from the screens again. “I see you’ve met.”

  “You could say that,” I mumble as I call a quick “Chat later,” before I head back out the door and close it gently behind me.

  Deciding the only other place Emma is likely to be is in her bedroom, I arrive at her door to find it closed and locked as well.

  She’s put a lock on her door too?

  Probably a good idea with all the miscreants that wander around this place. I hope someone has put a lock on my door too.

  Tapping softly on the door, I call out her name. Waiting patiently, I look back down the hallway towards my room and wonder if I should go there first and come back here later.

  Maybe she’s not even in there.

  Upping my efforts I give a couple of hard raps on the door and call out louder, “Emma! You in there?”

  Hearing a soft thud and then
a groan, I realize she’s definitely in there. “Are you okay?” I call.

  “I’m fine!” She calls back. “Give me a minute, Goddamit.”

  A few seconds later I hear another bump and then suddenly the door opens, just a crack. Emma, looking dishevelled, grins through the gap at me. “Sorry, got my hands full.”

  Sliding my eyes downwards, I see she’s wearing only a t-shirt and my guess, nothing else underneath. “Shit, sorry.” I mumble as my eyes move back to hers.

  “All good,” she smirks, didn’t expect you till later this afternoon.

  “Right,” I nod my understanding and lift my eyebrows at her. “Did Zane tell you we were a bit slower off the mark?”

  “Nope,” she says as a confused look crosses her face. “What makes you say that?”

  Flicking my eyes over her shoulder I start to state what I think is the obvious, “Um, well…”

  “Haven’t seen him,” Emma cuts me off. “Haven’t heard from him for over a week either. Last time I spoke to him he was acting weird so I haven’t bothered calling him since. The man’s a pain in the ass.”

  “Really?” I ask now totally confused. Jake must have had it all wrong. “My bad. I’m here for the DNA kits.”

  Emma shrugs at me as a dark shadow fleets across her face and I swear I see her soul wince. I know she can be a tough cookie but her acting calm about Zane’s absence just doesn’t sit right with me for some reason.

  “They’re on your bed in your room. Don’t forget you need to watch the swab being taken. Oh and I checked like you asked. Hair won’t do. Hair dyes, shampoos, conditioners and any other products affect the DNA and render it useless. Have you thought about how you’re gunna get a swab out of Patricia without asking her?”

  “Um, no. I haven’t,” I respond slowly as I realize I have yet another problem to solve.

  Why is nothing ever easy?

  “You’ll work it out,” Emma announces quickly as she starts to shift back from the crack in the door ever so slightly. I can see she’s ready to get back to whoever, or whatever she was up to before I interrupted her.

  “Who’s the new girl?” I add quickly before she decides it’s time to shut the door in my face.

  “Kara,” Emma grins and flashes me a conspiratorial look. “She’s a gun,” she adds lifting her eyebrows and nodding. Emma looks very pleased with herself.

  “She looks like she can handle herself,” I announce hoping Emma will elaborate a bit more than just giving me her name.

  “Oh yeah, she can handle herself,” Emma agrees still grinning. “Watched her get fired from the Pub across the road from Holders for kicking a big guy in the nuts and then stomping on his hand so hard she broke three of his fingers. He hadn’t even laid a finger on her. All he did was gesture lewdly at her with his fingers and his tongue after she handed him his drink.”

  “Okay,” I roll the word slowly off my tongue. “And her sales skills?” I ask with a hint of sarcasm in my voice. Trust Emma to employ someone on their capacity to take out a fat guy for being rude.

  “Second to none,” Emma announces shifting her eyes to her left and nodding to someone in the room. “Gotta go,” she announces at the same time as she slams the door shut and I hear the click of the lock sliding into place.

  Right then.

  Briefly wondering where Zane went if he didn’t come here earlier today, I turn and head back to my room. As promised, the two DNA kits are sitting on my bed alongside a black t-shirt with the words, Also comes in sober written across the front in hot pink lettering.

  Emma’s been shopping online again.

  Grabbing the DNA kits but leaving the t-shirt, I move to the tallboy to grab some fresh clothes. Stuffing the clothes and the kits inside an old shopping bag, I head straight for the door again. I’ll grab the evening dress Emma sent to Jake’s house when I get there and I should be set for my weekend in Sydney.

  Heading back to the communal room, I find Jake in deep conversation with a couple of men at the bar. He has a beer in his hand and looks to have settled in. Wondering what I should do to fill in time while I wait for him to finish, I scan the room until my eyes settle on Towball and Bill at the pool table.

  Familiar faces.

  Moving over to join them, I sit on a couch near the pool table as I greet them with a, “Hi guys.”

  “Hey there,” Bill greets me with a friendly smile. Towball moves his piercing blue eyes to mine, winks and then continues to make a play on the pool table without saying a single word.

  “No dramas on the roads on your way back from the last house?” I ask Bill conversationally. I haven’t seen him for a few days since he delivered the last of the cameras and wiring to Luke at the fourth house.

  “Nope,” Bill replies as he eyes the pool table to assess his next play. “You guys finished what you were up there to do I take it?”

  “Yep,” I reply sinking into the couch and crossing my legs. Making conversation with these guys is going to be hard work. Something I’m starting to lament when Emma suddenly appears at the doorway to the communal room. She’s looking slightly better than the last time I saw her. This time she’s dressed and her hair’s in a ponytail.

  Scanning the room, she lays her eyes on me and starts moving towards me with purpose. At this point Jake notices her and instantly loses interest in his conversation at the bar. Watching her move across the room, I notice him nod to the two men he’s talking to before he lifts from his seat at the bar to follow Emma. We both sense that she’s a woman on a mission and she has something to say.

  Arriving just before Jake, Emma throws herself down on the couch next to me. “God, you have no idea the sacrifices I make for you,” she mutters before she sighs and leans back into the couch.

  She then shifts her attention to the pool table where she smirks at Towball, nods at Bill and then turns her eyes to Jake as he arrives in front of us both. “Boss man,” she greets him cheekily.

  “Emma,” Jake replies softly before his eyes turn serious. “What’s up?”

  “Patricia’s up, that’s what,” Emma announces looking annoyed. Moving her attention to me she continues. “I forgot to say before, but she’s moved into your old house.”

  “What!” I let out a small screech. “That bitch is in my house?”

  “I know,” Emma continues looking livid. “She moved pretty fucking quickly didn’t she?”

  “I’ll say,” I hear Jake murmur from above us.

  “She’s a squatter at this point though. She can’t apply to VCAT to administrate the affairs of a missing person on your behalf for another sixty days. From what I hear however, she’s already filled out the paperwork. Because she’s your only known next of kin, they’ll likely grant it to her. Which means they’ll then give her access to your accounts and she’ll have full responsibility for your affairs, including your house and your car for the next seven years. She can’t sell them, but she can use them and spend the cash you left in your accounts. After seven years she can then make another application and they’ll likely sign everything over to her. That is, unless you resurface to reclaim what’s yours.”

  “That’s so wrong,” I announce unhappily. “That bitch doesn’t deserve a cent from me and now she’s taken over my house?”

  “Didn’t think you’d like it,” Emma announces. “The way I see it, you need to decide what’s going on with her and Stephen and then you can decide how to deal with this. Let it slide for the minute, get your DNA results and go from there. It might not be worth the energy. You might want to just let it go.”

  “Let it go my ass,” Jake rumbles from above us. “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

  “Agreed,” Emma nods as she looks up towards Jake. “But right now, we should hold.”

  Drawing in a huge breath I consider Emma’s news. “I agree,” I announce before letting all the air go again. There’s just too many unknowns at this point for me to do anything. Which sadly means I have to think about my other prob
lem. The DNA test for Patricia.”

  “What’s the problem?” Jake asks. “I’ll send someone to sort it out. At least we know where she is.”

  “That’s a small bonus,” I agree halfheartedly. “We still have the problem that we need to stick a swab in her mouth and it’s not likely she’ll do it for no reason.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Towball suddenly announces from the pool table where I now realise both Bill and he have stopped playing their game to listen. “I don’t suppose she needs to be conscious does she?”

  “Um…” I widen my eyes as I look at Towball who looks sincere.

  Is he serious?

  “No she doesn’t,” both Jake and Emma agree at the same time.

  Oh my God, they’re all serious.

  “Thank you brother,” Jake nods to Towball before returning his attention to me. “Let’s roll, Ma’s waiting.”

  Still reeling from the thought that Towball plans to visit my mother, knock her out and take a DNA sample, I stand up in a slight daze.

  “Excellent!” Emma chirps from beside me as she too jumps up. “Knew you’d sort everything out boss man. I’ve got shit to do. See you both next week. Have a great time.”

  And with that, she heads straight back to the doorway and hurries through. As I watch her disappear, I once again wonder what’s going on with Zane. If he didn’t come back here, where did he go?

  “Let’s roll,” Jakes voice cuts through my thoughts.

  Banishing Zane from my thoughts, I nod and grab for my shopping bag. Reaching in, I grab a DNA kit and move to the pool table where I place it in front of Towball. Silently, he picks it up and slides it into his jacket pocket.

  Whispering a quiet, “Thank you,” I turn and head for the door to the shopfront with Jake not far behind me.

  *****

  Arriving at Holders a short while later, Ellen is waiting for us at the front doors. I assume it’s hard to sneak up on her when you’re riding a Harley. Even at an idle, Jake’s bike makes the restaurant windows rattle.

  Greeting us with her usual warm cuddle she shuffles us straight to a table near the counter and cash register towards the back of the room. Wondering why she’s forgone the usual window seat option, I soon realize why. Asleep in a doggie basket near the base of the counter is Pierre.