by Polly Carter
She answered. “Okay,” she heard Jessamy’s voice say. “They arrived. I called Cat and she put her phone on speaker so our poster boy could hear. I told her her mother was seriously ill in hospital and to get there as soon as possible. I could see Gary getting pretty angry when she got out and put the bag of groceries on the pavement saying she couldn’t do the drop. For a minute I thought I’d have to go over there and rescue her, but he let her go. She’s just driven off. He stormed off down the street carrying the bag and is hopping into an old white Pulsar parked further up. I saw that earlier and figured it was his. This is it, kiddo. We’ll be with you shortly, I reckon. Get the camera ready. We only have one chance. I’ll be a little bit behind him so he has a chance to get out of the car. Good luck. See you on the flip side.”
She rang off before a dry-throated Harley could get any words out. This was it then. In around thirty minutes she’d know whether she was going to wind up a corpse–either shot by angry drug dealers or spanked to death by Arian–or if Jessamy and she were to be hailed as heroes for busting open a drug syndicate. Waiting for the white Pulsar to appear was the longest twenty minutes of Harley’s life; she was hot, she was scared and she wasn’t sure if she actually had a full bladder or if it was just nerves.
And then she saw it, and every hair on her body stood on end. Her nemesis had arrived. The man who had so heartlessly taken advantage of a kind stranger trying to help him. A man who had no concern at all for others, neither her nor all the people whose lives he was also wrecking plying his trade. Her anger and bitterness turned her fear into steely resolve as she watched the Pulsar turn into the drive and park out front of the house, catching it all on video. She could see the black Beast approaching but it was still far enough away not to have caught Gary’s attention. He got out of the car and looked around and started to walk to the front door. Quickly, Harley stopped filming, grabbed the rope and jumped out, distracting him as the Beast roared in.
“What the…?” he said in confusion as Jessamy came to a screeching halt right next to him and flung her door open, knocking him off balance. She leapt out and onto him, flinging him down to the ground on his front and pulling his arms behind him. He was wriggling and cursing, but Jessamy had him pinned as Harley rushed up and began tying his kicking legs together.
“Keep still,” she shrilled, adrenalin pumping through her veins, but he kicked out again, catching her arm.
“You filthy piece of shit,” she swore, stomping as hard as she could on the back of his calf making him yowl. In his momentary distraction, Harley wrapped the rope around his ankles. Meanwhile, Jessamy had caught his hands in her handcuffs, and he was trussed on the ground like a chicken ready for roasting.
Jessamy stood up, giving him a disdainful push with her foot and holding her hand out to Harley. “Nice work, partner. Now we’ll just call Zain and get him to come and pick up this human stain.”
“You’ve got his number?” Harley asked with a grin.
“I have. I made sure I had it for this very moment.”
“Yeah, hey,” she was saying into the phone. “How about you guys do your job and come and arrest Gary Mellors, or whoever he really is. He was doing another drug drop off, so we nabbed him and trussed him up.” She paused, holding the phone a little away from her ear and grinning at Harley as an angry male voice exploded down the phone. “Really? Too bad. Just get here so we can go home. I’ve got to work later this afternoon.” She gave Zain the address and hung up. “Someone will be here shortly,” she reported back to Harley. “We shouldn’t have long to wait, but I brought some snacks to keep us going.” She went to the car and came back with a greasy bag. “Fancy a cold spring roll?” she asked with a grin. “They were hot when I got them.”
“Nothing for me, thanks,” Harley said with a grin and a grimace. “My stomach is churning as it is.”
“What about you, manure-for-brains?” Jess asked Gary. “Too bad, you aren’t getting anything anyway,” she added before he had time to answer.
Harley’s phone rang. “It’s Arian!” she said. “Should I answer? What if Zain rang him? I suppose I’d better.” She swiped. “Hi, Arian… Oh, Zain called, did he?” She looked at Jessamy. “Uh, yeah,” she said hesitantly, nodding. “Yeah, he’s tied up… I know, but… yes, but…” She took her phone from her ear and looked at Jessamy. “He hung up. He’s really angry. I’m in for it this time. He’s on his way, too.”
“He’ll be fine once he knows you’re safe,” Jessamy said.
“Lemme go or you’re never gonna be safe,” Gary Mellors demanded angrily, reminding them both of his presence. “I’m gonna get you, tie you up and stick my dick…” He didn’t get any further as Jessamy pushed his face into the ground.
“Say one more word and I’ll fill your mouth so full of gravel you’ll find it hard to breathe,” she warned. “Just shut up and let me eat my spring roll in peace.”
Gary Mellors mumbled something against the dirt, then stopped. Jessamy rolled him over. He was trying to spit bits of dirt, gravel and grass from his mouth. “You’re going to get yours,” he muttered less assuredly, watching Jessamy and flinching when she bent down towards him.
“What I got, was you,” she told him. “Now I’ve heard all I want from you, so shut up until I ask you to speak.”
The minutes ticked by; the longest, slowest minutes to ever tick.
“How long now since you called Zain?” Harley asked for the umpteenth time.
“Getting on for twenty minutes,” Jessamy said. “I can’t believe it’s taking so long. He said he’d call in other cops from closer too. Someone must be here soon.”
“They will be,” their prisoner said nastily.
“What do you mean?” Jessamy barked at him, prodding him in the ribs with her boot. She looked up at Harley. “The pick-up guy, I’m guessing. What time will he get here?” she asked Gary.
“Soon enough to sort you bitches out.” The man on the ground tried to spit on her foot but missed. “The only thing the cops will find is two slags full of lead, and…”
But tired of listening to his diatribe, Jessamy shoved two cold spring rolls into his mouth to shut him up. He tried to spit them out but they were too far in. He made choking noises, but neither of his captors were remotely interested.
“Crikey, Jess. What are we going to do? Why don’t we just go and leave him here? Zain will be here soon. I don’t want to get shot. We can get out of here before Arian arrives…”
“No way!” Jessamy shook her head determinedly. “I’m not risking this festering hobgoblin getting away and putting you right back to square one. I’m guarding him until I’m sure he’s safely in police custody. Him and his bag of goodies.”
“Maybe we should find somewhere safer to wait then,” Harley pressed the point.
“Okay, if you’re worried. Perhaps we can drag him around the back.
“No, it’s okay. Here’s a car,” Harley said, but two hearts plummeted in unison as the women looked at what was clearly not a police car turning into the drive and roaring towards them.
“Uh oh,” Jessamy said. “I don’t know who this is, but I don’t think they’re on our side. Quick run into the house.”
“Don’t move.”
Ping! A bullet hitting the ground near their feet made the command shouted through the window of the car irresistible. Harley and Jessamy stopped. The car now stopped; a man jumped out. An ugly man. A horribly ugly man. Harley had never before seen such an ugly man. It wasn’t so much his bald head, low brow, thick neck, or paunchy body; it was more the way he was standing with his feet aggressively apart pointing a gun at them. Making him look like a giant fat fly, his eyes were covered by big, black sunglasses, but Harley imagined they held the same cruel sneer that was on his mouth. Without taking his eyes off them, he walked to where Gary was bobbling around on the ground. Bending down, the newcomer pulled the spring rolls from his mouth.
“Shit, Jacko. I’m glad you’re here. Undo me.”
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“Yeah, sure, mate,” the newcomer said as though about to comply, then paused in pretend thought. “Nah. And what did you have to go and use my name for, drongo? Now I’m going to have to kill you all. Oh wait. I was going to do that anyway. I tell you what, Gaz, old mate, you wait here while I see to these ladies and then I’ll come back for you. Okay? Now don’t go anywhere.” He shoved the spring rolls back into Gary’s gaping mouth and rolled him over so he was face down again and ground his face into the dirt with his foot. “Come along then, ladies,” he said to Harley and Jessamy, waving his gun toward the house. “Inside. I make it a rule never to hurt women, so I’ll make it quick and painless. Now you can’t say fairer than that, can you?”
Harley and Jessamy looked at each other. Jessamy held out her hand and Harley took it and squeezed it. “Thanks anyway, Jess.”
“Oh, a little pussy on pussy, eh? Now that’s a tempting idea and normally I’d happily take you up on it. I mean who wouldn’t rather a last fuck than a last meal? But unfortunately, we just don’t got the time for it.” He shoved Harley and waved his gun again. “Now get inside. If you be nice and do as you’re told, like I said, quick and painless. If you stuff around out here, I’ll shoot you in the pussy first. Not so quick, not so painless. Now get moving.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Jessamy saw a car approaching. Thank God! They’d really taken their time, she thought crossly. She pretended to trip, and then fiddled with her shoe to gain some time. “Oof!” Her would-be-assassin kicked her hard in the side. “Get up, bitch. Last warning.”
Jessamy stood up as the car turned in and Zain and his partner jumped out. Hearing the car, the man wielding the gun swung around and Jessamy kicked him as hard as she could behind the knee. His leg buckled and he half went down. As he lost his balance, his gun went off, the bullet hitting Zain.
“Arrrgh,” Jessamy, seeing Zain reel back, roared with rage, raised her arm and chopped the man in the neck with the side of her hand. He collapsed in a sprawl and she quickly kicked his gun away and stood on his neck as a wounded and bleeding Zain and his female partner ran up, their own guns drawn.
“Stand back. Mac’s got it,” Zain ordered Jessamy, keeping his gun trained on the man on the ground as the female police officer leapt on their prisoner, wrenching his arms back behind him and fixing them there with her handcuffs.
Jessamy stood back, not taking her eyes off Zain, as Mac stood up and turned to him.
“You need an ambulance?” she asked.
“Nah. Thanks, Mac. It’s pretty much only a graze, I think. I’ll be okay till we get back. I might let you drive, though,” he added with a wry smile.
“Okay. I’ll call in then and let them know what’s happened and to send out forensics. Then we can load this garbage into the car and get them locked up.” She walked back to the police car as Jessamy held up a scarf she’d got from her bag.
“Here,” she said to Zain. “Let me tie your arm up.”
They looked up as a motorcycle came roaring in and Arian jumped off, kicked his bike onto its stand and ran over pulling his helmet off.
“What the hell is going on here?” he yelled looking at bodies lying on the ground, Zain’s bleeding arm and Harley’s ashen face.
“It’s okay, mate,” Zain reassured him. “The fun and games are over, I think. I haven’t had a chance to talk to the girls yet, but I reckon we’ve nabbed Gary Mellors red-handed and looks like we got two for the price of one,” he added gesturing at the other man on the ground.
“Are you hurt?” Arian asked, looking anxiously at Harley, his concern turning to anger when she assured him she wasn’t. “Did you two set this up? After I told you to stay away? Zain’s been shot. You could’ve been killed.” Picking Harley up under his arm, he carried her around to the back of the house. A few muffled noises were quickly followed by the loud, sharp cracks and cries of a bottom being spanked hard and fast.
Still standing close to Zain as she set about staunching the bleeding, Jessamy squeezed her upper thighs together as the sound of Harley being spanked set off a delicious and inexplicable ache in her nether regions. In the instant the first sounds of Harley’s punishment reached them, it was as though a bolt of electricity fired between Jessamy and Zain as Zain slipped the hand of his injured arm which she was tending to onto her bottom and whispered, “You’re lucky it was my spanking arm he got or you’d be round the back with your friend now getting what she’s getting. But you’ll keep, little lady. You’ll get yours soon enough.”
“I did get mine,” Jessamy replied sarcastically, ignoring the wetness soaking her jeans. “I got the crooks. Or didn’t you notice?”
“Well, you were just lucky, I reckon. And very lucky we turned up when we did, or you’d be dead meat.”
“Lucky? Arrogant, meat-headed, sack of gormless muscle. Luck had nothing to do with it. And if anything had happened to us it would have been because you were so slow getting here,” Jessamy retorted angrily, tying the scarf tight and deliberately accidentally stomping on his foot as she pulled away from him.
“Ow!” Zain hopped up and down on his foot. “Jeez, lady, you could have broken my toe. Nice thanks I get for saving your life.”
“Well, at least it took your mind off your arm,” Jessamy replied ungraciously, wishing something would take her mind off the sound of her friend’s squealing and crying and sobbing as her bottom had the daylights spanked out of it just as Arian had promised it would.
“You know, maybe I don’t care enough to spank you,” Zain growled angrily. “You can get yourself killed for all I care.”
“Fine,” Jessamy replied hotly. “And I don’t care that you don’t care.”
Their mutual lack of caring was interrupted by Mac, who had locked both criminals in the back seat of the police car, finished her phone call and come to see how Zain was doing. She half-gestured towards the sounds coming from the back of the house and raised a questioning eyebrow.
Zain grinned and winked at her. “Nope, I can’t hear a thing. Except maybe those lovebirds showing how happy they are to see each other. Look, here they come now, all lovey-dovey.”
Arian and Harley had indeed just come around the side of the house. Arian’s arm was firmly around Harley’s waist, and Harley, her cheeks smudged with a little wet dirt and a happy, if somewhat rueful smile on her lips, was clinging to him with both arms wrapped around him and her body pressed against his.
“You want to get going, Zain? There’s back-up on the way for forensics and clean up. Do you need to get to a doctor? I can stay here if the others want to give you a lift?”
“Nah, I’ll be right till the others arrive. I’ll take a statement from these two while we wait.”
Chapter 15
“So, what are you going to do with it?” Jessamy asked, holding up the document Harley had just produced to show her.
“I was thinking of getting it framed,” Harley said with a laugh, sitting back down at her mother’s dining room table and helping Lyddia climb back onto her knee.
“What doeth it thay, Mummy?” Lyddia asked, taking the paper from Jessamy and studying it. “I can read it. It thayth, Dear Mummy, How are you? I hope you are well. And Daddy too. And Grandma. And Jethamy. And Toby and Toody. And everybody. That’th all. Goodbye.”
“Goodness!” Jessamy opened her eyes wide. “Did you learn to read like that at kindy? That’s awesome!”
“Yeth,” Lyddia said, holding the document back up to her face again. “And then it thayth, I hope everyone in the world ith well. I am well. And I like watching Paw Patrol, and Thkye and Katie are my favouriteth.” She held the page down and looked at Jessamy. “I like Paw Patrol too, and Thkye and Katie are my favouriteth ath well.” She laughed. Jessamy reached across and poked her gently, making her giggle more.
“Well, now isn’t that an amazing coincidence? But they’re my favourite characters, too, so maybe they are just the best.”
“Ith that what it really thayth, Mummy?” L
yddia asked.
Harley held the Notice of Discontinuance up in front of her. “That’s exactly what it says,” she said. “But down here it also says, We are very very sorry that we thought you were naughty and were going to keep you in after school. We now realise you didn’t do anything wrong after all. We are very sorry.”
Lyddia put her hand up to her mouth and giggled. “You’re thilly, Mummy. It doethn’t really thay that.”
Harley nodded seriously, putting the paper on the table in front of them. “Yes, it does. That’s exactly what it says. Well,” she rolled her eyes, “except maybe for the part about being sorry. It doesn’t really say they are sorry.”
Lyddia pushed the piece of paper away dismissively. It shot off the table and on to the floor. Jessamy bent down and retrieved it.
“When did you get it?” she asked.
“Yesterday. I know Arian said the prosecutors had agreed to a discontinuance, but I didn’t dare believe it until I held this in my hand. Now, the nightmare really is all over. All charges against me have been dropped. And that scumbag will go to prison instead of me. That makes me very happy.”
“Me too,” Jessamy agreed. “You going to go see him in court?”
“Nah. I did think about it, but I decided to just forget about him. What I want is to never see him or hear his name ever again.”
Lyddia turned around and poked her finger in Harley’s mouth.
“You bored?” Harley asked.
“Yeth. I don’t want to talk anymore. I want to play.”
“So, do I!” Harriet said, coming in from her bedroom. “Look I’ve changed into my playing clothes and everything.” She put one hand on her lycra-covered hip, thrust it out and turned around mimicking a catwalk model.
