Finding Thyme

by TJ Hamilton

  I attempt to speak without sounding like I’m in too much pain. “Thanks, murse,” I manage to get out.

  Nick leaves the room and I focus on not passing out from the pain. I don’t want to be here anymore. I want to be in the comfort of Nick’s home. He re-enters the room moments later with a wheelchair.

  “Let’s go home, beautiful,” he says.

  I fight every urge not to pass out as Nick helps me into the wheelchair. I want to stay strong so that I can just get out of here. Once I’m seated, Nick leans down and kisses my lips softly. My pain subsides for a moment. It’s as if Nick himself is a drug to me. I need his lips against me to take the pain away. I slowly open my eyes and see him leaning over the chair.

  “I like it when you call me beautiful,” I say.

  I like it better than when he tells me I’m gorgeous, because I can’t stand him calling me anything that reminds me of Tench. Nick kisses me again on the lips, his tongue softly brushing mine. I feel a tingle running up my spine. The realisation that I can’t act on any sexual urges annoys me and I’m quickly snapped back out of the moment by the stabbing pain in my ribs. I draw in a breath from the pain.

  Nick’s eyes narrow and he frowns. He knows how much pain I’m in, despite how I’m trying to hide it.

  * * *

  In the darkness of night, we leave the agency and arrive at Nick’s harbour-side apartment. I frown when he opens the car door and looks down at me. I don’t think he thought through the whole “not bringing the wheelchair” idea. He smiles his usual heart melting smile and leans down and gently scoops my invalid body into his arms. His strength holds me with ease. It hurts to be held but I love it at the same time. A moan escapes me as he stands up straight with me in his arms.

  “Sorry,” he whispers.

  The combination of pain from my broken body and the secure feeling of Nick’s arms delivers me into unconsciousness. A final shudder rolls over me as I slip away from the pain.

  “Mia … Mia. Joe Tench is on if you want to listen?” Nick’s voice pulls me from the darkness of my absent mind.

  I look around the unfamiliar room. “Where am I?” I ask groggily.

  “You’re at my place, Mia. Remember?” Nick says.

  I feel the best I have all day. I must be in Nick’s bed. This is surreal. It isn’t exactly how I imagined being in his bed for the first time. The room has a sexy glow about it. The glow accentuates the mocha brown feature wall on the opposite side to the bed. An enormous mirror with a brass-gilded frame hangs from the wall and the bright lights of the magical Luna Park glow in its reflection. Through the dark sheerness of the curtains, I see the park’s ferris wheel spin underneath the Harbour Bridge on the opposite side of the harbour. I look back over at Nick and finally comprehend what he initially asked me.

  “What do you mean, Tench is on?” I question.

  “I’ve been listening to him for the past ten minutes. He’s been away again, but now he’s back at his house. Your old iPhone is still in his desk drawer. I can bring the listening equipment in here so you can stay comfortable in my bed.”

  A knot forms in my stomach at the thought of hearing Tench’s voice for the first time since I fled the QT hotel, let alone while I’m lying in bed. But I just can’t summon the strength to get up. I bite my lip and pull myself upwards. My ribs ache, but not as bad as earlier. Nick attentively moves the pillows behind me and I drop back onto them. He leaves the bedroom momentarily before he returns carrying a laptop and another black box of the same size. He turns the dial on the front of the box to the number nine and presses the play button before opening a program on the laptop. A fluorescent green line on the black screen begins to contort and bounce as I hear the muffled sound of a man’s voice. The recognition of the voice sets in and I find myself holding my breath. It’s really him. The voice I hear belongs to Joe Tench.

  THIRTEEN

  “When’s the soonest we can get them in? I’ll come over to you and make sure they’re right this time. I don’t want any more complaints from this end.” Tench’s voice cuts through to my soul. I feel sick at the very sound of him. I hear the evil in every word that’s uttered. “Toni, is she here yet?” I hear some loud thumping sounds, like something being placed on top of the desk, then moments later I hear Toni Toho, his ever-faithful bodyguard.

  “Yeah boss. She’s been waiting down in the bar for you like you asked.”

  “Send her up, please. Don’t let this one go anywhere near my room or the back bedroom this time. Tell her to have a shower and wait for me. What’s she look like?”

  “She looks nice, boss. Long legs like you wanted.”

  I know he’s talking about a working girl. I wonder if she’s from Miss Stephanie’s agency—my old agency? There’s a pause for a moment and then I hear Toni speak again.

  “She doesn’t look like Miranda, boss.”

  “None of them fucking do. They’re all just a bunch of slutty whores at that place now.” There’s anger in Tench’s voice. “This whole city is just full of them. All of them wanting to get their dirty slut hands on me.”

  Silence again and I gather Toni has left the office. There’s the rustle of papers and a scratching sound, like Tench is writing on something. Then drawers opening and closing muffle the speakers and finally I hear his office door shut. I look at Nick. He looks back at me, gauging my reaction. I don’t know what to say. Hearing my old working name feels strange. I don’t know how to react to what Tench said about me. I know that he would’ve spoken about me once in the same way he did about this new girl he has booked. Ordering for her to be ready for him. His paid-for whore. That was me once. I remember when he used to act like that with me. I would just do as I was told with him. Except I was never at his house, it was always at a hotel. I’m surprised he lets girls go back to his mansion. Then I guess he has little choice now, and he probably feels safest in his own place. Little does he realise it’s quite the opposite. I hear the distant sound of yelling before the voices on the laptop speakers burst back into Tench’s office again.

  “If that bitch sends me another fucking blonde I am going to fucking do them all in!”

  “But boss, you’ve seen all the new girls there now. Remember she said that.”

  “I don’t give a fuck! She needs to find one like her. Not some fucking dumb blonde! Do you understand, Toni? She’s lucky I don’t fuck her up and throw her slut into the harbour like I did that other whore.”

  My heart skips a beat and I look back over at Nick. Tench is talking about Sally. It was him! He did that to my friend!

  “I’ve heard enough, Nick,” I say quietly as if Tench might hear me, forgetting he can’t.

  “Sorry, Mia. I need to continue to listen to this. You can do it. I know it’s hard, but we need to do this.” Nick puts his hand on mine.

  Tench begins talking before I can retort.

  “You listen to me, you bitch! Are you trying to get on my bad side? You know I hate blondes … I don’t give a fuck! It’s your fucking fault Miranda is gone. Now you fucking well fix it … What do you mean? How the fuck does someone just fall off the face of the earth? If you’ve done something to her and you’re lying to me, so help me god, you will wish you were dead! Do you hear me?” I hear something being slammed down and there’s the rumble of crashing in the room.

  I move my hand from Nick’s and want to slide back under the covers of his bed. How can he just listen to me being spoken about like that? The reality of Tench’s sick obsession with me is more than I can bear right now. I finally find words as Nick turns the sound down on the laptop.

  “What could he be doing that’s worse than murder? How long have you known he killed Sally?” I catch Nick’s blue eyes and they shine back at me.

  “He didn’t do the job himself. But he ordered her dead. I’ve known that since it happened. You have too! You just had confirmation of what you’ve thought all along that’s all. We need to stop him, but not until we know what it is he’s doing with t
he Russians.” Nick pulls his phone out of his pocket and starts writing a text message.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Sending a message to our guy in the field. We need to get that girl out of there.”

  My chest feels tight. I watch Nick as he waits for a reply. He looks back up at me after the phone buzzes with a new message.

  “Okay. Done. Don’t worry, Mia, nothing will happen to any more girls.”

  “That still didn’t help Sally,” I snap back.

  “We were blindsided with what happened to Sally,” Nick says, his voice low.

  I feel like there may be more to Sally’s death than Nick is telling me, but I think I have had about enough revelations for one day so I avoid questioning him further.

  “Is there anything I can get you before I have a quick shower?” Nick asks as he starts to pack away the laptop and black box.

  I shake my head as much as I can manage while Nick closes down the laptop. I watch the green line on the black screen move around like a worm to the sounds of Tench crashing in his office … and then I hear it. The music piece is unmistakeable. I grab Nick’s hand and stop him from shutting the laptop completely. I stare at Nick for what feels like an eternity, paralysed by the haunting classical piece of Tchaikovsky. A cold surge saturates my body as the blood drains from my face.

  “What?” Nick looks alarmed.

  “He’s playing Swan Lake,” I whisper back.

  Nick frowns. “So?”

  “He’s playing that for me.”

  I find it hard to look at Nick. I can see Tench’s ballet room in my mind. My thoughts are so vivid that I can almost smell it. Scenes of what happened in that room flash before me. Then I see his eyes. Tench’s wicked eyes in the mirror when he held his arm around my neck. How can I ever forget that? He looked at me like I was his possession. My breathing becomes shallow and I close my eyes, trying to shut out the visions in my head. Nick reaches up to touch the side of my face that’s not bruised. I jolt at the faintest touch and my eyes spring to his. Nick focuses on me with a look that makes me wonder if he can read my thoughts.

  He softly cups my face. “What did he do to you, Mia?” he asks as his thumb strokes my cheek.

  I no longer feel sad for what happened to me. I just feel anger. Joe Tench had me falling for an illusion, but the real him revealed itself before my feelings grew to love. I want to see him rot in hell for everything that he is and everything that he made me believe he was. He is nothing but pure evil.

  “What he did to me doesn’t matter anymore. It’s what we’re going to do to him that should be the concern,” I say with absolute certainty.

  I see a hint of a smile cross Nick’s face. “That’s my girl,” he says as he softly presses his lips to my forehead.

  Nick closes the laptop and the lingering trumpets of Swan Lake disappear, as do the traumatic memories of Tench’s ballet room. I watch as Nick shuts the door to his en suite and sink back down into the comfort of his bed. Through the sheer curtains, I watch the double-storey trains pull in and out of the sandstone train station of Circular Quay. The long, tall trains sound their horns as they depart. The busy scenery outside is a short-lived distraction from everything I’ve just heard. The reality of my situation makes me realise that I need to prepare every bit of strength within me to face Tench soon. It scares me how desperate he is to find me. Despite my body being bruised and battered, I am finally content with my decision to join the OCT-U and put Tench away for good. Every inch of pain I now feel is for my friend Sally. I will not let him get away with what he did to her and it’ll be over my dead body that he does that to anyone else. I can do this. I am strong enough to face him again. Next time Tench sees me I am going to be stronger and smarter than before. But how am I going to get him to trust me after being away for so long? Where will I say I was?

  Nick opens the door after his shower just in time for me to ask. A cloud of steam escapes the bathroom as he steps out with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. My eyes stare at his broad shoulders and follow their way down his rounded chest and rippling set of abs. A hint of his pubic hair pokes out from where his towel tucks into itself and I can’t help but linger there. He is everything I’ve ever wanted and now I have him. He catches my eye and sees where I’m looking and smiles.

  “That’s out of the question while you’re out of action, beautiful,” Nick says as he rips the towel from his body and starts to dry his hair with it.

  My eyes light up at Nick’s dripping sex appeal. The torture of watching Nick stand naked in front of me is intense. He knows what he’s doing to me too, and I love it. He turns away from me to get some cotton boxer shorts from his closet. I sigh as I watch him pull them up and over his bulging manhood.

  “As soon as I can breathe without pain, you are in so much trouble, Nick Davis,” I say as he climbs into the bed beside me.

  “Promise?” he replies with one eyebrow raised.

  My swollen cheek produces a crooked smile, but even that hurts. Nick’s skin smells intoxicating. He has a scent that makes me think of nothing but wild times in his arms. His arms feel like home, and his heart is now my shelter. Nothing can hurt me as long as I have Nick. He leans on his elbow and nudges his nose against mine. His hand smooths back my hair and runs delicately down my face to rest upon my chest. I never thought love would feel this powerful, this consuming. It fights off all the evil looming in our lives and makes the struggles ahead all worth it.

  “Where am I going to tell Tench I’ve been?”

  “I’m guessing you’ll tell him you’ve been overseas. We’ll have a script developed for you by the time you are ready to face him. Don’t worry, we have everything covered. All the details will be planned meticulously. Get some sleep now, I have a surprise for you tomorrow,” Nick says as he kisses me lightly.

  “A good surprise?” I look in Nick’s eyes for any clues.

  “I think you’ll like it,” he says with a cheeky grin.

  Nick lies back beside me and I feel his toes reach for mine under the covers. My heart swells with love for this beautiful man lying next to me. I turn and watch out the window as the odd seagull flies across the night sky and I drift with ease into a comfortable sleep. My broken body healing itself with every breath I draw.

  FOURTEEN

  A large harbour ferry bound for Manly, in Sydney’s north, sounds its horn three times. The unfamiliar noise rips me from my sleep and I try to sit upright.

  Forgetting about my broken body for a moment, I get halfway up before I’m slammed back into the bed with force from the pain. Shit, that hurts! Judging by the sunlight penetrating through the sheer curtains, I could swear it’s midmorning already. Nick isn’t beside me and I can hear faint sounds of voices coming from the lounge room. I close my good eye and tilt my head to focus on the other voice. It takes all but half a second before I recognise whose voice it is.

  “Simon!” I puff and try to get up again.

  Every inch of pain in my body is telling me to lie back down but I can’t. It’s the other half of me out there! He’s here, at his friend’s house. My boyfriend’s house! This is the best thing ever! I find a set of crutches beside the bed and smile at Nick’s ever-present attention to detail. I try desperately to lift myself off the bed. Shit! Shit! Shit! The pain is severe but I just focus on getting to those crutches. I fall towards them and quickly snatch them into position under my arms, just in time before I fall over. I’m glad no one is watching right now because I’m sure I look quite comical. I steady myself and reposition them so that my ribs don’t hurt too much, and make my way slowly out of Nick’s bedroom. I spot Nick in the kitchen as I walk into the huge living area from the rear of the apartment. He immediately looks up from whatever it is he’s doing and races over to me with a frustrated smile.

  “I knew you’d try and get up the second you heard Simo.” He shakes his head as he tries to help me.

  “I’m fine,” I attempt to reply without sounding in p
ain.

  Simon gets off the couch as soon as he hears me. He smiles then glares at Nick when he sees my swollen face.

  “I must look terrible,” I say sheepishly.

  “Well I wouldn’t go entering any beauty pageants, sis.” Simon laughs as he gives me a light squeeze.

  I hold my breath the second Simon stretches his arms out and continue holding it when he puts his arms around me so that it doesn’t hurt too much. A tiny whimper escapes me so I do my best to shake it off. I hobble over to the couch supported by Nick and Simon on either side. I fall painfully onto the couch and look up at the two most important men in my life, minus Charlie, standing in front of me. I beam with joy and smile wildly, regardless of how much it hurts to do so.

  “This can’t be real?” I think out loud.

  Simon smiles and sits on the couch next to me. Nick walks back to the kitchen, looking impressed with himself.

  “I got in last night just before you got here but I wanted …” Simon looks up at Nick and clears his throat just like our father used to. “Well Davo and I wanted you to get a good night’s rest, so I made myself scarce until this morning.”

  I can’t help but shake my head and laugh at how all of my brother’s friends in the army have nicknames and are rarely known by their real names. I guess that’s why Nick never realised Simon was my brother. They only ever knew each other as Davo and Simo.

  “Did you want some breakfast, beautiful?” Nick calls out from the kitchen.

  I grin embarrassedly and look straight at my brother when Nick calls me beautiful. With a chuckle, Simon raises his brow and points his head back towards Nick in a playful manner. Simon and I always had an agreement from when we were in our late teens: I was never to date any of his army mates and he would never go near my dancer friends. I guess now that we’re older and due to the fact that I didn’t know they were friends in the first place, those rules are now null and void. Well, there’s not really much Simon can do now anyway. Nick and I are crazy for each other. I look Simon up and down. I swear he looks bigger and older every time I see him.