Rhino Ash (Saturday Barbies Book 2)

by Lindsey Black

‘Your mood, numbskull!’ Keller rolled his eyes at him and went to grab a fresh cup of coffee while Ashley settled on the couch.

  ‘I’m not in a mood.’

  ‘Said everyone who was ever in a mood,’ Keller agreed.

  They were quiet awhile, Ashley brooding and Keller sipping his coffee.

  ‘Do you know much about Africa and the kidnap and ransom that goes on over there?’

  ‘Outside of what you see in movies or read in books or see on the news every now and then? Nope. I imagine it sucks big time, I don’t think many of those guys make it home. It’s gotta be hell for their families.’

  ‘Yeah …’ That was what Ashley knew too. Nothing. He’d spoken to Finn a few times on the phone, but their shifts simply didn’t match at the moment and it would be another day or two before they were off at the same time. Finn seemed distracted, but so did Taylor and Clay and Ashley suspected something big was going on at their workplace, most likely to do with the illegal immigrants thing. He hadn’t wanted to ask, only to be told he couldn’t be told anything, so he’d held his tongue.

  ‘You see something in the paper or something?’ Keller was curious about where his mind was.

  ‘Yeah, in the paper.’ An old paper, but still the paper.

  ‘You shouldn’t believe what you read in the papers. Too biased, and never the whole picture, you know?’

  ‘Yeah,’ Ashley managed a smile, because Keller sounded like Hayley. She was always ranting about the media and who was paying for it and why they were biased and how they could not be trusted.

  ‘Hey,’ Bell entered the room and paused. ‘You’re back.’ He looked between them, guilt clear on his face. ‘Sorry I broke your kid.’

  ‘Not broken,’ Ashley grumbled. ‘It was just a house.’

  They were staring at him in that way lots of people did, like he wasn’t all there and for once he let it get to him. He scowled, gave them the finger and left them to talk, going upstairs to the beds and crashing onto one. The ceiling had mould on it and was watermarked from cold winters and rain, but he tried to make pictures from the stains and it lulled him into a restless sleep.

  He woke to silence. It was eerie and not at all what he expected. Through the window the sky was dark, and the lights from the station filtered in under the door, but no voices came with it. Frowning, Ashley rolled out of the bed and wandered out to the living space but it was empty, as was the kitchen. The truck was gone and the garage was abandoned, an empty shell with only him left inside.

  ‘Fuck me.’ He’d slept through an alarm. How was that even possible? He’d been sleeping badly lately, plagued by strange dreams, but he hadn’t had any problems waking up, usually in a cold sweat wondering where the hell he was.

  Disgruntled, he went and sat heavily in an armchair and waited for the truck to come back.

  It took a while, and when it pulled in the guys who stepped off looked worn, covered in black soot, reeking of smoke, voices dull.

  ‘Hey.’

  ‘Hey, it’s Sleeping Beauty,’ Bell joked, fatigue still clear in his voice. He peeled his overalls off and stepped out of his boots. ‘Feeling better?’

  Ashley had felt fine, before, but didn’t say so. He should have been on the truck with them but he was on house duties until he could convince a doctor to give him a medical certificate that said he was fit for work, and that wasn’t going to happen until the bruising faded. He still should have been on truck.

  ‘Bad fire?’

  ‘Not a good fire,’ Bell admitted. ‘Kid got burned pretty bad. A little boy. He’ll live but the screams …’

  Those were the worst. The screams haunted you for weeks, sometimes months, and no matter how many times you went and visited at the hospital there was nothing you could do and the pain was horrendous, etched in memories that would never be scrubbed from your dreams. He was glad he hadn’t been there, but felt guilty about it at the same time.

  ‘You shouldn’t even be here,’ Bell said softly. ‘Everyone’s real tired. We’re gonna clean up and crash until the alarm goes again. Why don’t you go home early and get some rest? You’re not cleared to go out on a fire yet anyway and the station’s as clean as it’s ever going to be.’

  ‘Nah, I’ll resupply the truck. You guys go clean up, I can do this,’ Ashley pushed each man toward the showers and then turned to stare at the red engine.

  He loved that damn truck. Had wanted to be a fireman since the first time he laid eyes on one. But some days the job was plain hard, and today was one of them. So he did what he could, checking the gear and hanging it where it needed to go, checking the hoses and ladders and making sure everything was ready to go out again if they got another call.

  When he finished, the house was quiet again, punctuated with the occasional snore from the men upstairs and Ashley went back to the couch, curling up with a fresh cup of coffee. Thoughts uneasy, he pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up his messages but there were none new. It was the middle of the night, after all.

  I miss you. The guys had a bad fire and I couldn’t help. I wish you were here.

  He was dozing in the chair when a reply came through.

  I miss you, too. Sorry about the fire. There was nothing you could do. See you soon.

  Somehow, it made him feel better. A little.

  ‘Well, at least you don’t look like cabbage anymore,’ Brayden observed, taking the bag of groceries from him and leading the way back into his house. He’d wanted Ashley to come in for a check-up at the hospital and when Ashley refused he’d demanded he come to the house instead. For dinner, supposedly. Ashley knew better. As soon as he’d agreed he’d somehow been given a shopping list and asked to drop by the supermarket on the way.

  His brother was already looking him up and down suspiciously.

  ‘I’m fine, not even that tired anymore,’ Ashley assured him, putting the groceries on the kitchen bench and sitting down at the table. Brayden moved to quickly put things away, but his gaze kept straying back to his brother.

  ‘I’m allowed to worry.’

  ‘You don’t worry about Clay and Tay.’

  ‘I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.’ Brayden glared, and it gave Ashley pause. He was right, it had been a shitty thing to say. Of course Brayden worried, they all did. You couldn’t not worry when loved ones joined the police force.

  ‘Do you know what they’re working on at the moment? They’ve been pretty busy.’

  ‘You know I don’t,’ Brayden shook his head, finishing with the groceries and sitting across from him, frowning a little. ‘But obviously it’s got something to do with this guy, Dao. I’ve heard them mention him a few times now. And immigrants, obviously. Of the illegal variety. They’ve mentioned Triad a few times, I figure that’s a bad sign.’

  ‘Yeah, but …’

  ‘I’m not a cop, Ash. You want those answers, ask Clay and Taylor, but I doubt they can tell you anything. Best I can tell? Someone is bringing in illegals and forcing them to run drugs to pay back the money spent getting them here. When they refuse to work they’re killed as a message to the rest.’

  Ashley was wide-eyed, that not having been the conclusion he had come to. But then, he hadn’t come to a conclusion and he hadn’t put enough thought into it outside of hoping Finn didn’t get hurt.

  ‘I’m not a cop, but that’s what the puzzle pieces seem to say, okay? Worse, I’m pretty sure Taylor’s found some connection to the Salisbury’s, so he’s been freaking out about it more than usual, while at the same time trying not to let Sietta know anything about it. Taylor’s not so great at hiding things.’

  ‘Yeah, not so much.’ Yet somehow he’d hidden that from Ashley entirely.

  ‘Oh, don’t look at me like that.’ Brayden shoved the barbeque chicken in the oven to keep it warm. ‘I’m sure you would’ve noticed something was going on, had you not decided to jump under a fucking house while it was falling down.’

  ‘I didn’t jump under it!’

&n
bsp; ‘My point is you’ve been distracted, so don’t get your panties in a twist about not noticing something that, as I said, Taylor’s actually been pretty good about keeping under wraps.’

  ‘Yeah, okay’ Ashley sighed, wanting to know more but also aware they weren’t allowed to tell him anything. But they seemed tired on the phone and he hadn’t seen them since the last barbeque. He hadn’t seen Finn in even longer.

  ‘You’ve got that look on your face Tay always gets when he’s thinking about Sietta.’ Brayden slumped in his chair, shoulders dropping, making it look like he was sinking.

  He was a handsome guy, with their trademark blonde hair, but longer on top with a soft curl to it, not as light as his brothers’. His eyes were paler, more grey like their mother’s, and while he had their height, he wasn’t as broad. But right then he looked tired, and more than a little frustrated with his family. Not surprising since he’d had to ask Ashley to grab some groceries because Kelly was in the emergency department with Jay after he drank a whole jug of her Metamucil drink, leaving him at home to clean up the small lake of diarrhoea. Emma had slipped in it and was currently sitting half naked on the couch after a hurried shower, watching Frozen and screaming the songs at the unsuspecting television.

  ‘Are you okay?’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Brayden laughed at him. ‘Maybe Jay will learn his lesson, though really I doubt it. I mean … it’s Jay.’

  It was, and there was no way the kid would learn anything. He was impossible to control, much as they’d been as kids. Besides, he wasn’t a bad kid, merely curious and with no concept of self-preservation.

  ‘You just seem tired.’

  ‘I cleaned a lake of shit off my kitchen floor, and then washed it off my daughter as well. I am beyond tired, and disgusted. Now what’s with the weird expression on your face and the questions about Taylor and Clay’s work? I’m guessing it has something to do with the man I stitched up and threatened?’

  ‘Good guess.’ He picked at a loose thread that didn’t exist on his knee.

  ‘Taylor nearly took my head off for that by the way. Can you believe that? He calls me in a panic because he found our baby boy in bed with a man, then screams at me for threatening the man not to hurt you. He makes no sense!’

  ‘Yeah, I think Taylor really likes Finn, as a mate or whatever. He’s actually weirdly protective of him. I’m still trying to figure out why, but I think I’m getting there. I need our shifts to match up so I can ask Finn about it instead of making weird guesses.’

  ‘What do you mean weird guesses?’ Dubious should have been Brayden’s middle name.

  ‘Well …’

  ‘Taylor doesn’t like anyone. There’s no way he is okay with this guy sleeping with you.’ He sounded so certain, Ashley wondered if it was really what Brayden thought Taylor thought, or whether it was really Brayden’s feelings on the matter. That hurt.

  ‘He’s really okay with this,’ Ashley told him quietly, forcing himself to remain calm, because nothing good ever came out of yelling at his brothers. ‘He actually told me off and told me I had to take it seriously and not hurt Finn.’

  Brayden froze, fingers mid-tap on the kitchen table, words swallowed before they could be spoken, his frown lines deep and brow furrowed.

  ‘Excuse me?’

  ‘That’s what he said.’

  ‘Taylor.’

  ‘Yes, Taylor. You know, arsehole, bossy, complete dick?’

  ‘Yes, that Taylor,’ Brayden agreed, nodding slowly but apparently still not comprehending.

  ‘Yes, that Taylor.’

  ‘Taylor warned you not to hurt the guy he found you in bed with.’

  Ashley was sure he’d explained it correctly, so he kept nodding and hoped Brayden would catch up eventually.

  ‘No.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ashley assured him.

  ‘No!’

  ‘Yes!’ Emma bellowed at them from the doorway and then she ran in, launched herself into Ashley’s lap, rolled over and screamed in his face. ‘Do you wanna build a snowman?’

  ‘No?’ Ashley was worried she would have a tantrum but she only sighed, going completely boneless as she flopped like a dead fish in his lap with a heavy sigh before rolling off him completely and going to her father’s side. Her mouth opened, ready to scream but Brayden was faster, clapping his hand over her mouth and hauling her in against his side.

  ‘No snowmen. This is Sydney. There’s no snow here.’ He let her go and she stood frozen for a minute before turning back to Ashley.

  ‘Do you wanna build a sandman?’ She bellowed at him. He wondered where she got the idea that yelling equated to singing. Taylor was going to have to teach her to sing, because the yelling was horrid.

  ‘Emma!’ Brayden bellowed right back at her and she stomped her foot and huffed loudly.

  ‘You coulda just said no!’ She pointed out angrily before storming back into the lounge and throwing herself on the couch in front of the television.

  Brayden sighed and then glared at Ashley as if his daughter was somehow his fault. There was no point trying to say otherwise.

  ‘Taylor warned you off Finn Hale.’

  ‘Not off him, just to be good to him,’ Ashley shrugged. ‘Taylor likes the guy, I’m telling the truth!’

  ‘Bloody hell.’ Brayden’s head fell in his hands and he ruffled his own hair before settling his jaw in his palm and staring at Ashley for an uncomfortably long time.

  ‘You like the guy.’

  ‘Obviously.’

  ‘And Taylor approves.’

  ‘How many times have I gotta …’

  Brayden held his hands up and leaned back in his chair again, taking a deep breath and then placing his hands on the table, running them along the edge as if smoothing a table cloth that wasn’t there.

  ‘Why are you against this?’ He had to ask, because it was becoming increasingly obvious Brayden had a problem with it. ‘You don’t care that Taylor and Clay are gay, so why me?’

  ‘I don’t care that you’re bisexual, Ash!’ Brayden emphasised the word deliberately, making it clear he already knew Ashley liked all kinds. ‘I care that my baby brother is dating a police officer who by all accounts is akin to a deadly assassin! The way Clay talks about him, the man is practically a Ninja. You already have a dangerous job, you don’t need to date someone whose is worse! It’s not a competition. Why can’t you meet a nice school teacher, or something?’

  Dead. Silence.

  ‘A … Ninja,’ Ashley clarified.

  ‘Oh shut up. There’s something about that man, Ash. I’ve seen men like him. I’ve lived with them in the desert, fought beside them, patched them up and I’ve watched them die. I don’t know what his deal is, but he’s fought a war, Ashley. Do you really know how to live with that?’

  ‘Kelly seems to do fine.’ Ashley frowned, wondering if that were the case. He’d never heard of Finn serving, but Brayden had served and he never talked about it. That he was talking now was a sign of how serious he was.

  ‘I don’t have that look in my eyes,’ Brayden corrected. ‘Kelly doesn’t have to deal with those things. I saved people over there, I didn’t kill them.’ And that was a very big difference in service, Ashley could understand, but as far as he knew Finn hadn’t served.

  ‘What if he didn’t serve? What if it’s something else?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I just … I don’t know the facts, I want to ask him. Taylor said he’ll tell me the truth, but …’

  ‘Ash?’ How did big brothers master that tone of voice that was somehow worse than a mother’s?

  He sighed and fished the article Taylor had given him out of his pocket. He’d carried it for days now, pulling it out and staring at the young version of Finn looking back at him and trying to figure out what had happened. He’d Googled it, but there were a surprising number of kidnappings in Africa, and he didn’t know all the details. In the end, he hadn’t wanted to read them on a computer. He wanted to he
ar them from Finn.

  But he placed the snippet on the table and watched Brayden lean forward. His eyes skimmed the article quickly. He sat back heavily, looked at the ceiling and shook his head a few times before he started laughing.

  ‘It’s not funny!’ Ashley was horrified.

  ‘No, it’s not,’ Brayden was still laughing though. ‘Fuck, Ash. That’s so much worse than service.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘So, Taylor’s right. Find out the truth and make sure you can live with it before you hurt the poor bastard any more.’

  ‘Any more?’

  ‘More, Ash. Much more.’

  10

  Tag, you’re it

  The apartment was creepy when it was quiet. Freya and Dave had gone out to the western suburbs for a party and were staying there so they could both drink, leaving Ashley alone for the night. Which was usually great, but he didn’t feel like vegging on the couch alone watching Netflix, and he’d already been to the gym for the day. Twice seemed like overkill. He couldn’t even be bothered cooking, as that would require a trip to the shops. That was more effort than he was willing to expend for something as simple as food. He’d order a pizza if he got that hungry.

  He soaked himself in a bath full of the salts Brayden had brought him, surprised at how they eased the aches he still felt after a shift. His bruises were fading. He no longer looked like a green alien and had moved into phase yellow-belly, meaning he had a strange grey and gold tint to most of his skin and with any luck you wouldn’t even know he’d been in an accident in a week.

  He’d towelled off and pulled on his favourite black cotton pyjama pants when there was a knock on the door. The only possible explanation was his mother. He’d avoided her since the barbeque, and he hadn’t answered her last two calls so clearly she had come to collect his balls. Sighing heavily, he moved deliberately snailesque to answer the door. Then he froze, stunned.

  Finn stood there, a bag of groceries in one hand, and Anubis’ leash in the other. Anubis leaned forward and licked Ashley’s fingertips but otherwise remained perfectly controlled sitting at Finn’s side.

  ‘Can we come in?’ Finn eventually asked when it became clear Ashley’s brain hadn’t caught up with the situation.