Blood Sport (Little Town)

by JD Nixon

“Fucking nowhere, if you ask me,” threw in the Super uninvited, her phone call finished. “From what I saw, that fiancee of yours is nothing but a spoilt princess, Maguire. You need to sort her out now or you’re in for a fucking lifetime of pain.”

  “Thanks for your relationship advice, ma’am. I’ll treasure it, I promise. Particularly coming from someone so skilled in personal interactions.” He strode from the room with undeniable attitude, not saying another word to us as he left.

  “Fiona,” I reproached, after he’d gone.

  “He fucking pushes my buttons, Tessie. There’s something about him that’s so arrogant and assured. I’m going to find out what it is.”

  “Forget about him,” I said, trying to save the Sarge from any more of her attention. “Tonight it’s just Ronnie, you and me. I hope Ronnie’s cooked something nice. I’m starving.”

  “Stop thinking about your stomach for a minute. We have to fit you out with some new gear.”

  That took an hour all up, getting an entire new utility belt, including gun, with all the paperwork. It reminded me that I also needed to buy myself a new knife, having lost both of mine in the explosion at the bikie retreat. There went another couple of hundred bucks down the drain, I thought gloomily.

  Eventually we were ready to leave the station and I shared a lovely evening with Fiona and Ronnie. They were such a perfect match – Ronnie’s courteous, calm easiness contrasting nicely with her foul, frantic energy. Yin and Yang.

  I loved Ronnie. He was tall and gangly with a shaved head, cute goatee and mo, earrings piercing both ears all the way from the lobe to the gristly bit up the top. He was well-tattooed and had ‘Fiona’ inked on his body in six places, he’d told me once. I’d seen four of them, but the other two were for her eyes only. He looked like the kind of guy you’d cross the road to avoid, but he was possibly the sweetest man I’d ever met. He was absurdly domestic and loved doing all the housework and cooking, which worked well because Fiona’s job kept her away from home all hours of the day and night. And let’s face it – she was no homemaker.

  To their disappointment, they’d never had any children. As a poor substitute, I’d been in both their lives ever since Fiona had taken up a place as a young fresh detective constable in Wattling Bay over twenty years ago, little realising that she’d meet her future husband there. As a sharp detective, she’d come into contact with the Fuller-Bycraft situation early in her career. In fact her career had almost been built on capturing Bycrafts for their heinous crimes, investigating my mother’s murder, Nana Fuller’s hit and run, and Marcelle’s murder. During that time, I’d become their surrogate child.

  Fiona had been a big influence on my own decision to become a cop. I’d admired her strength, her discipline, her unwillingness to be patronised or discounted because of her gender. Her determination, her feistiness, her skills and her results impressed me deeply, even as a small child. When I told them at my graduation from university that I was going to apply to the police academy, Fiona hugged me tightly and shed one genuine tear.

  Ronnie had been much less happy about the decision, recommending teaching, as did Dad and Nana Fuller. I’d realised then that they’d all spoken together about it previously. But unfortunately for all of them, I’d had my heart set on becoming a cop and I’d excelled at the police academy, graduating with honours. And on the day of my graduation, there were none prouder than Fiona and Ronnie, except perhaps Dad and Nana Fuller.

  The Sarge rang Fiona’s landline before I went to bed wanting to speak to me. My busted mobile had also been blown to bits in the explosion at the bikie retreat. Something else I’d have to replace. Fiona handed over the phone with a roll of her eyes.

  “It’s your work boyfriend,” she said sarcastically. “He’s worried that something’s happened to you in the three hours since he saw you last, even though he knows you’ve been with me the whole fucking time.”

  The Sarge and I chatted for a little while, but Fiona was ultimately right – he was merely checking on me.

  “You’re not going to ring me up during the night to check too, are you?”

  “I might,” he teased. “Just to make sure that you haven’t sneaked out again. Maybe the Super might let me use web cam to keep an eye on you?”

  “Not going to happen!” I laughed and changed the subject. “Have you rung Melissa yet?”

  “I told you, I’m not ringing her.”

  “Don’t be so obstinate! This is the most important relationship in your life. There has to be some give and take.”

  “Exactly, and that’s her whole problem. She doesn’t know that.”

  “Sarge,” I sighed. “Give her a ring now. Life’s too short to be angry with people that you love.”

  “Nope.”

  “Sarge!”

  “Nope.”

  “You’re as stubborn as a mule!”

  “And just as handsome.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  “You sure are,” I said, smiling too.

  He laughed. “Have a great weekend with Jake. See you Monday.”

  “Thanks, Sarge, and . . . thanks again for everything.”

  “Anything for you, Tess,” he said quietly, before hanging up.

  That night, in Fiona and Ronnie’s lovely house, I fell asleep happily in the bed I’d slept in a hundred times before. Probably because I’d spoken to him just before going to sleep, I dreamt of the Sarge.

  I was trudging along the Coastal Range Highway, drenched and freezing, with Kylie over one shoulder and Lucy over the other. I was exhausted and footsore with another twenty kilometres to walk until I reached safety, crying in frustration.

  A car approached me from behind and I turned and waited optimistically by the side of the road as it drew nearer to me. It slowed down but didn’t stop, continuing on its path, leaving me behind. As it passed me, I could see that it was Melissa at the steering wheel driving. The Sarge was in the passenger seat, frantically gesturing to me, banging on the window and yelling at Melissa to stop. She turned to me and smiled triumphantly as she drove on past. My last view of them was the Sarge’s anguished face as he twisted in his seat to look back at me.

  Chapter 29

  Jake turned up mid-morning and I flew to the verandah to greet him. He picked me up in his arms and spun me around. When he let me down again, he kissed me lingeringly and I moulded myself to his body, all my senses tingling. I couldn’t wait to be in that hotel room alone with him.

  “Tessie, you had me worried to death,” he scolded tenderly, his beautiful amber eyes filled with emotion. He kissed me again.

  “I’m sorry, honey-boy. I didn’t mean to,” I said contritely and reached up to kiss him back. It was a while before either of us spoke again. “Happy birthday, Jakey.”

  “I’m looking forward to unwrapping this present,” he said with a crooked smile, his hands clutching my butt.

  I told him about the surprise I’d organised for us, thrilled at his genuine happiness at hearing that we were spending the weekend together in a flash hotel. And going out to dinner as well.

  “What a wonderful surprise, babe! I had no idea you’d planned that. Thank you so much.”

  “I’ll give you your present when we get there,” I promised.

  “I’ll give you your present when we get there too,” he growled and pulled my hips against his. “In fact, I think I’m going to need to give you several presents to make up for the last month.”

  I giggled and kissed him and it wasn’t long before our tongues were entwined, our bodies pressed as closely together as possible with our clothes on, hands greedily roaming each other.

  The rain was so loud on the unlined tin roof of the verandah that we didn’t hear Fiona approaching. “Well, fuck me speechless!” She turned to yell inside the house. “Ronnie! Get the hose. There’s a couple of horny critters on the verandah. What will the neighbours think, you two? This is a decent neighbourhood around here, you know. It’s not the fucking red light district. Ge
t your tongues off each other.”

  We reluctantly moved apart, keeping our arms around each other’s waists. I smiled at her guiltily. “Sorry Fiona, but Jakey and I haven’t been together for a long time.”

  “Hello, Fiona,” Jake said, his cheeks reddening.

  “Jake,” she nodded. “Happy birthday.”

  “Thanks,” he said and she herded us inside into the living room where Jake and Ronnie shook hands and Jake received some more birthday wishes. Fiona re-entered the room and handed Jake a nicely wrapped present.

  “From Ronnie and me.”

  “Oh gee . . . thanks so much, Fiona, Ronnie. I wasn’t expecting this.” He was taken aback by the nice surprise. He’d grown up never expecting anything from anybody, so was always delighted when someone did something kind for him.

  “Go on, open it,” Fiona urged. I threw her a grateful glance. Buying Jake a present was her way of showing that she accepted him as my boyfriend, despite the fact that she didn’t much like him because he was a Bycraft.

  He opened the wrapping and inside was a designer t-shirt. He was so excited that without another thought, he pulled off his jacket and t-shirt in front of us, flashing us a tantalising view of his buff body as he slipped on his gift.

  “It’s perfect. You have wonderful taste,” he said, daring to kiss Fiona on the cheek. If she was trying to hide her smile at his charm, she did an outstanding job of it. She really didn’t like Bycrafts. Jake only faltered for a micro-second at her stoniness, before saying brightly, “I’m going to wear it for the rest of the day.”

  “Speaking of which, let’s make the most of the rest of the day, birthday boy,” I said, squeezing his hand and giving him a meaningful glance.

  We bid hasty farewells to Fiona and Ronnie and scampered to his ute. But on the way to the hotel, I was struck by an attack of the guilts and asked Jake if he’d mind detouring to the hospital. I wanted to visit Kylie one last time as it was highly likely that she’d be released into her mother’s care some time today. Being the generous person that he was, Jake didn’t mind at all and we spent the next hour at the hospital.

  Kylie looked even better than when I’d last seen her and her face lit up again when she saw me. She eyed Jake hesitantly, reluctant to talk to him. I hadn’t told him anything about her history, but I guess he sensed she was someone who’d be very wary around men for a long time. He kept a respectful distance, but exchanged a few friendly words with her and even coaxed a shy smile from her once.

  “Officer Tess is the bravest person I ever met,” she told him, glancing over to me with undisguised hero-worship in her eyes.

  “She sure is,” he said, his arm around me. He kissed the top of my head.

  “She rescued me and carried me to safety all that way. And she doesn’t even know me.”

  Kylie’s mother, who’d arrived earlier, returned from a cigarette break. I was subjected to some overdramatic tight squeezes and a multitude of gushing ‘thank-yous’ from her for saving ‘her precious baby’ from harm.

  I didn’t take to her at all. She seemed very self-absorbed and spoke more about how the whole incident had affected her than she did talking about her poor daughter. Then in between indiscreetly ogling Jake, she mentioned approaching one of the country’s nightly current affairs shows to sell Kylie’s story. Appalled at that, I told her bluntly I thought that was a terrible idea, reminding her that her daughter had suffered an intensely traumatic experience and should be given space, time and privacy to recover from it. She cooled on me instantly after that, but Kylie smiled at me in gratitude.

  As we were leaving, Kylie grabbed my good hand and asked me timidly if I’d mind if she kept in contact with me. Of course I agreed, touched that she thought so highly of me. We left her looking after us wistfully, ignoring whatever it was her mother was saying to her.

  Back in the car again, we sped to the hotel, impatiently checked in, and hurried to our room. Five minutes after we shut the door behind us, we were naked on the bed kissing, engrossed in each other’s bodies and our own pleasure. When I was with Jake I never thought about anyone else. He was like the sun to me – his dazzling light made everyone and everything dim to darkness in comparison. After a long time, finally satiated, we laid back on the king-sized bed, holding hands, legs entwined, catching our breath.

  “That was a great present, babe,” he smiled, playing with my hair, twisting it around his fingers and brushing the ends of the strands across my breasts teasingly.

  “That wasn’t your present, you silly boy,” I scolded, leaning over to kiss him on the tip of his nose. I climbed out of bed and padded naked over to my bag, bringing a small square gift-wrapped box back with me and handing it to him. “Happy birthday, honey-boy.”

  He sat up excitedly, unwrapped the paper and opened the box, gasping with delight when he saw the gold watch inside.

  “Baby doll, it’s so beautiful! I love it.” He slid it around his wrist and laid back down, holding his arm up above him to study it. “You spent way too much money, you wonderful girl.”

  “You’re . . . worth . . . every . . . single . . . cent,” I said, puncturing each word with a kiss. I leaned on his chest and kissed him again, staring into his eyes. “I love you, Jakey.”

  “I love you too, Tessie. Come here,” he demanded, pulling me down next to him and crushing me against his body. His lips were hungry as they sought out mine, then kissed a burning trail down my body, until he was kissing my thighs. I held my breath in anticipation. His eyes were fixed on mine as his lips moved up my thighs, closer and closer. I stopped breathing altogether when he reached the centre. He caressed my thighs and looked up at me, smiling wickedly, flicking out his tongue. I gasped. “I’m going to use this lovely new watch to time just how long it takes me to make you the happiest woman in Big Town.” And he lowered his head, his tongue busy.

  It really didn’t take very long at all.

  *****

  We enjoyed a wonderful weekend together, including a romantic dinner on Saturday night during which we played footsies under the table, our eyes locked together. The Prime Minister, the Pope and the Queen could have come into the restaurant to eat together and neither of us would have noticed. That entire night was spectacular and we slept heavily after an excess of good loving. Reluctantly, after a tasty buffet breakfast, we checked out of the hotel late Sunday morning to head back to Little Town. I smiled all the way there, not having felt so relaxed for ages.

  Jake didn’t have to be back at work until Monday lunchtime and planned to stay with me on Sunday night as well. Dad and I were finally able to return to our house and Jake and I spent some time on Sunday afternoon settling Dad comfortably back home. As if in approval, the rain clouds parted and the sun shone for the first time in over a week.

  The only negative for me in the whole weekend was the four figure bill for the windows that Freddie had left for me on the kitchen table. I suppressed a shocked intake of breath when I saw the amount and promptly hid the bill from Dad. God help me if that was half-price, I thought, immediately shuffling funds around in my mind. I wasn’t able to see any way that I could possibly manage all my responsibilities with my current bank balance. I determinedly pushed such troublesome thoughts from my mind, telling myself that I’d worry about it on Monday. For now though, I wanted to solely concentrate on Jake, giving him every skerrick of my attention.

  Sunday afternoon, leaving Dad cheerfully watching football on a borrowed TV, Jake and I drove out to Lake Big. We watched the sun glistening over the water, turning every raindrop suspended on a leaf into a diamond. A dazzling double rainbow sprouted from behind Mount Big and I took it as a portent that life would become more joyful in the future. As the only vehicle in the carpark, Jake persuaded me, with much laughing, to climb into the back seat of his ute where we made out like teenagers. But one thing led to another and we were soon at an uninterruptable part of proceedings, doing something that could have us arrested. We simultaneously reached a happy e
nding just as another vehicle crunched across the gravel to pull up near us.

  Quietly laughing, we laid on the back seat, bodies throbbing with pleasure, messy body fluids everywhere, trying to slide our jeans back over our hips without making any movement that would attract attention. Luckily Jake’s ute had tinted windows, but if the newcomers were nosy and came closer, they would surely see us in the back. I hoped the newcomers weren’t anyone who recognised his gold ute and individual licence plate. It would be embarrassing, to say the least, for one of the town’s cops to be caught pants down in public.

  Fortunately for my modesty and my career, we both managed to dress ourselves respectably before sitting up, clutching hands. But it took a long time for me to stop giggling afterwards. Three men and a woman stepped out of a hired car. Being the brilliant cop that I am, I deduced that they were the Hungarian tourists who were staying at Abe’s pub. They were obviously taking advantage of the first decent weather they’d had since they arrived to do some local exploring.

  We waited patiently while they faffed about, organising themselves before finally moving off. They spent an inordinate amount of time perusing the national park’s information board, finally to take the track that led around the lake back to the carpark. It was a lovely long easy walk, but it had been raining a lot and they’d find the path muddy and slippery. I hoped they had plenty of clean clothes to change into when they returned to the pub.

  When they’d disappeared from view, Jake and I climbed back into the front seats and drove off laughing about our narrow escape. I made him drive down Beach Road so I could see the remnants of the bikie retreat. Where the large sprawling house had once sat was now only a blackened heap of jagged ruins. When I’d seen enough he sped up again and drove to the beach. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the sand chasing each other and trying to push each other into the freezing surf. The few brave souls out for exercise in the weather-break who walked past us smiled at our high-jinks with amused indulgence.