by Polly Carter
“Where are you going, Grandma?”
“Toby and I are going to walk to the playground. I don’t suppose any of you want to come?”
“I do. I do,” Lyddia cried, jumping off Harley’s knee and rushing to the door.
“Oh? Do you?” Harriet said, winking at Harley and Jessamy. “I didn’t think you’d want to. I’m glad I asked. Come on, then. Let’s get your shoes and hat and put on some sunscreen.”
“Are you coming too, Mummy?”
“No, sweetheart. Jessamy and I have to go see some people, but we’ll be back soon. You go with Grandma and Toby and have a lovely time.”
“We’ll see you two later, then,” Harriet said once Lyddia was ready and Toby had his leash on and his ball in his mouth. “Have a nice afternoon.”
“We will. Bye, Mum,” Harley said, rising to kiss Lyddia. “See you in a little while, sweetheart.”
“Bye, Mrs. B. Bye, prettiest of princesses,” Jess called, waving her fingers and blowing kisses.
“Okay, let’s go,” Harley said, collecting her bag and keys.
Jessamy drove them to her place where they left the car and booked a ride to the bar at which they were meeting Arian and Zain.
“Prettying yourself for Zain, eh?” Harley laughed as Jessamy reapplied the black around her eyes and on her lips.
“Pfft,” Jessamy snorted. “No. But I need to be ready. Who else might be there? Mr. Worthy himself might be waiting for me without even knowing it.”
“But not Zain?” Harley teased her.
Jessamy fluffed her now green hair with fingernails painted a matching shade of green with a tiny black flower painted on each one and gave Harley a look.
Harley squeezed her arm and chuckled. “Okay. Okay. Anyway, you look utterly fabulous, Jess. And, what’s more, you are utterly fabulous.” She giggled. “I still can’t believe we actually did that, eh? Trussed up a drug dealer, just about got murdered. I should probably have PTSD or something, but it just seems so unreal and I feel like this is the happiest I have ever been in my entire life.”
“Yep, we did it, okay. Those evil excuses for humans didn’t know what they were dealing with when they tried to mess with us.” Jessamy punched a fist into the palm of her other hand. “What a team! I wonder what our next assignment will be.”
“Oh, no,” Harley shook her head. “Uh huh. That will have to be my first and last foray into the world of private detectiving, other than lying in bed with a book, that is. Arian was less than impressed, you might remember.” She laughed. “He definitely impressed that on me.”
“Ha,” Jessamy snorted. “Let’s just wait and see, huh? I wonder if you’ll be able to resist.”
Arian and Zain were already waiting in the small, trendy bar when they arrived. Being Saturday afternoon, the men were casually dressed in jeans and both had jackets hanging over the backs of their chairs. Arian had on his trademark white T-shirt and Zain his black one. They stood up as the two women joined them at the table, Harley going straight into Arian’s arms for a hello kiss.
Zain nodded hello to Jessamy who dipped her head in return. “Hey, Arian,” she said with a big smile as Arian finished kissing Harley and greeted her, giving her a warm hug.
Once the greetings were over, Arian went to the bar and returned with a bottle of champagne and four glasses.
“Well let’s toast justice and freedom,” he said, opening the bottle and pouring them each a glass. They chinked glasses and took a sip.
“Justice and freedom were just about toast there,” Jessamy observed wryly. “If we hadn’t taken matters into our own hands…”
“Indeed!” Harley said with a laugh. “Thank goodness for you, Jess. Oh, and you two as well,” she added hastily looking at Arian and Zain who exchanged raised-eyebrow glances at each other. Seeing Zain squint his eyes at Jessamy and open his mouth, Harley went on quickly, “Seriously. It was a team effort, and I want to thank you all, each of you,” she said with a tremor in her voice. “I can’t thank you enough. Without you, I shudder to think what would have happened to me.”
“It was a real pleasure,” Jessamy replied. “Taking that punk down was a real highlight of my life.”
“Nearly the end of your life, too!” Zain growled. “And mine.”
“Anyway,” Harley interrupted. “I want to hear everything. Arian filled me in a bit with what he found out. Tell Jess, honey. I kind of did, but it’s better coming from you.”
“Sure,” Arian smiled at her. “Although I’m not sure if I’ll tell her anything she doesn’t already know. I think you just like hearing it again, hey?”
“Maybe,” Harley admitted with a chuckle.
“Okay,” Arian said looking at Jessamy. “I don’t know how much Harley has told you but after our meeting at Harriet’s place, Zain and I went back over the police records and discovered that the two cops who arrested Harley didn’t have a search warrant. They were at the house because someone had rung Crime Stoppers about the house, but they didn’t have any actual information about any crime that had been committed so were just having a look about. They didn’t have sufficient reason to believe Harley was committing a crime to legally search her, and basically just got lucky when they did and found the drugs. So, if the charges hadn’t been dropped, I would have requested the drugs be removed as evidence as it was evidence obtained illegally and therefore not admissible in court. The prosecutors had nothing else on Harley so that would have been the end of their case anyway even if Zain and his mates hadn’t busted the real criminals.”
“And Jess,” Harley said hotly.
“Indeed,” Arian conceded. “And Jess. I’m not saying the police wouldn’t have found those guys anyway but, credit where credit is due, they hadn’t done when you did, Jess. It might have been better, though, if you had just handed that information to Zain and let him deal with it. You could have got everyone killed.”
“Oh, I could, could I?” Jessamy said, her eyes flashing. “Well, as we had Mellors tied-up on the ground, the only danger we were in was in the cops not getting there quickly enough. You guys stop for doughnuts and coffee on the way?” she said to Zain. “And what about the other cars you called? How come they took so long?”
“Hey, now,” he replied angrily. “Resources are very limited, you know. That’s hardly our fault. Everyone got there as quickly as they could, and if you’d let us know beforehand, instead of endangering everyone for your own glory, we could have caught those guys without me getting shot in the process.”
“How is your arm, Zain?” Harley asked quickly, afraid Zain and Jessamy were going to get into a full-on barney at the table. She saw Zain take a deep breath as he turned to her and when he spoke his voice was calm again.
“It’s fine, thanks,” he said, flexing it to demonstrate there were no lingering effects. “Fortunately, it was only a graze. First time I’ve been shot as a matter of fact. I’d like to think it’s the last but that might depend on who I hang around with.” He didn’t look at Jessamy as he said it, but it was obviously aimed at her. She tossed her head and drank her champagne.
“So, tell us about Gary Mellors,” Harley prompted Zain. “We’ve heard nothing really. Did you find out who he is really and where he was getting the drugs from and all that?”
“Okay,” Zain folded his arms and leant back. “Turns out his real name is Alan Jones. He’s only been in the West for about twelve months, but he’s wanted over East. Once we’ve finished with him, he’ll be going back there to face charges, so it could be quite a while before he sees the light of day again. The other guy was a nasty boy we’ve had our eyes on for a while, so nabbing him red-handed was a real joy. We can’t get him on the drugs but having an illegal firearm, threatening you and shooting a cop is a nice load to lay on him.”
“Where was the ice coming from?” Harley asked.
“Looks like when things got too hot in Melbourne, Alan, aka Gary, came over here to get away, and his contacts over there were sending it to
him over the Nullabor hidden in cars. The sad part is putting his operation out of business won’t make much of a dent in the overall trade, but it’s better than nothing.” He shrugged.
“And what about the bent copper, Jimson?” Jessamy asked.
“He’s gone,” Zain said simply. “He was too sly to ever get pinged for anything, but it was common knowledge he couldn’t lie straight in bed. The complaint from Harley and the wrongful arrest and charging the wrong person was the final straw. He was quietly counselled to take early retirement. He knew they couldn’t pin anything on him for certain, but he also knew that everyone was going to make his life a misery if he hung around. He’s not on the force anymore but it wouldn’t surprise me if he turned up like a bad penny and on the wrong side of the law down the track.”
Jessamy turned to Harley and held up her hand. “High five, girlfriend,” she said adding, as a bemused Harley slapped her palm, “Three with one blow. Not a bad take down score, eh? Mellors, fat boy and the cop. Quite an impressive clean-out of toxic male trash.”
“Well, not all on our own…” Harley began diplomatically as Arian and Zain protested. She also didn’t want to keep reminding Arian of her part in it in case he decided she hadn’t fully learned her lesson yet.
“No. Fair call,” Jessamy said, waving her hands and smiling at Arian and squinting at Zain. “With help from our own private contingent of… what’s the opposite of toxic male trash?”
“Good guys?” Harley suggested.
“Yep,” Jessamy agreed. “Good guys.” She nodded and smiled at Arian, raising her glass to him and turned to Zain, also raising her glass to him, this time with less of a squint. Zain gave his head a small shake with a look of ‘You’ll keep’ then turned to Harley.
“So, what’s next now it’s all over?”
Harley blushed. “Well, we’re getting married next week. You’re coming, aren’t you? It’s on a Tuesday so I don’t know if you can get the time off.”
Zain smiled. “Yep. Arian already asked. I’ve put in for a day’s leave. I’ll be there. You?” he added abruptly, looking at Jessamy.
“Well, naturally,” she replied with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m the bridesmaid and witness and best friend, so of course I’m going to be there.”
“Oh, Jess, I forgot to tell you,” Harley piped up. “Turns out one of the guys in Arian’s firm is a marriage celebrant and he offered to marry us. His name’s Steve. I met him. We had to go through some stuff with him, legal stuff. Anyway, he’s lovely, so it will be really nice having someone who’s not a stranger, and I think he’s going to stay for the small reception afterwards. And we changed the venue from the Registry Office to the park in Guildford.”
“Cool,” Jessamy replied. “Well, I can’t wait. I want to test drive my new outfit and see you in yours.” She winked at Harley who smiled happily back at her.
Chapter 16
“Mummy and Daddy are married. Mummy and Daddy are married,” Lyddia sang, skipping around Arian and Harley who were standing on the lawn in front of flower beds posing for Zain who was taking wedding photographs and videos. Lyddia was throwing rose petals over them from the little cane basket she carried, and Jessamy, in her Goth skull skirt and top, was skipping in the opposite direction, also tossing rose petals at them from an identical basket. Harriet, the glowing mother-of-the-bride was sitting on a bench deep in conversation with the marriage celebrant, Steve Hirst. Looking at her mother, Harley wondered if it was only the dusty pink colour of the mesh fabric dress with floral embroidery and matching chiffon jacket she was wearing which was making her cheeks look a little pinker than usual, or if it was something else.
“I want to play on the playground now,” Lyddia said, plonking her basket down and putting her hand on her hips.
“Okay, sweetheart,” Zain replied, “but first Mummy and Daddy need a couple of photographs with their flower girl.”
“Do I have to?” Lyddia pouted.
“Yes, you do. Then you can have a play and then we’ll go to your new house and have something delicious for dinner. Okay? The wedding photos will be terrible if the guest of honour, that’s you, isn’t in any of them. Come on. Let’s get some photographs here and then we’ll all go back and stand in the rotunda.”
“All right,” Lyddia said with a deep sigh, dramatically bending forward and dragging herself along as though a dozen horses were trying to prevent her moving. “Why ith it called a rotunda? That’th a funny name.”
“It is a funny name. It means round, so it’s really just a fancy way of saying round thing,” Zain explained
“Ha ha ha,” Lyddia laughed, running to join Arian and Harley who were waiting by the flowers.
“You look like a printheth, Mummy,” Lyddia said for the umpteenth time that day, gently touching the pearls and sequins on Harley’s short, champagne and lace wedding dress.
“I feel like a princess,” Harley smiled happily at Lyddia as she picked her up and kissed her not even aware that Zain was snapping some of the best and most natural photos he’d got thus far.
“And thith ith tho pretty, too, Mummy,” Lyddia said in a hushed tone of reverence as she gently touched Harley’s bridal headpiece. An exquisite lace and pearl Juliette cap with beaded fascinator, her mother had worn it when she married Harley’s father, and Harley had decided many, many years ago she would wear it at her own wedding. She had also borrowed a pair of her mother’s earrings, so together the veil and earrings were her ‘something old’ and ‘something borrowed’. For her ‘something blue’, Jessamy had made her a simple but charming bridal posy out of blue flowers from a lavender bush and pink flowers from a chain-of-love creeper backed by fern fronds. Her ‘something new’ was a gold necklace and charm she was wearing around her neck. Arian had given it to her just before the wedding ceremony started, grinning as she opened the tiny box that held a gold chain and on it a gold charm in the shape of a hand making the sign language for ‘I love you’.
“See,” he whispered as she removed the necklace and he fastened it around her neck, “this little sign language hand says so much: it says ‘I love you’ which of course I do which is why I am ‘giving you my hand’ in marriage; it says I will always be ‘on hand’ to ‘give you a hand’ whenever you need one; and it says I will ‘take you in hand’ and ‘give you a hand’ in an entirely different way if you get ‘out of hand’.” He patted her bottom in case there was any possibility she hadn’t understood his meaning and kissed her gently on the lips.
Zain organised them all for photos, including calling over Harriet and Steve. At first Steve was reluctant, but as he was a work colleague of Arian’s and had now joined Arian and Harley in holy matrimony they convinced him he was practically part of the family now. They even managed to sweet-talk a passer-by into taking a few photographs so Zain could join in and they could get the whole group.
Once the photographs were done and Lyddia had had her promised play in the playground, Arian hired a maxi taxi to take the wedding party back to his and Harley’s new home. He’d organised caterers, music and champagne, and had offered to pay for taxis to take people home afterwards so everyone could just relax and celebrate.
“Okay,” Arian said when everyone had eaten their fill and the toasts had been made. “I think it’s time I had my first dance with my new wife. Hey Google, play “Wedding Song” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Come, my darling.”
As the music started, he pulled Harley to him. Her eyes were shining with tears of joy as she slipped into her husband’s arms to the words “With every breath I breathe I’m making history”.
“We said this would be our wedding song,” she whispered, her heart full of love that he’d remembered.
“I don’t like thith thong,” a small voice piped up over the slow, emotional ballad. “Can we play “Baby Thark”. I want to dance too.”
Arian laughed. “Hey Google, play “Baby Shark”,” he ordered. “Come on, Princess.”
“I’m not Printheth,” Lyddia
told him seriously. “I’m baby thark, and Mummy is mummy thark and you’re daddy thark, and Grandma is grandma thark and that man is grampa thark, and we’ll all chathe Jethamy and him,” she finished, pointing at Zain.
“Okay,” Arian laughed, “but if they don’t want to be sharks, they don’t have to, okay?”
But everyone did want to be sharks and get chased and run away, and by the third time through they all knew their parts and were chasing Jessamy and Zain around the room but, each time, the sharks were outwitted and their quarry was ‘safe at last’.
“Again, Daddy,” Lyddia cried as the song came to an end.
“I think that had better be it for now, sweetheart,” Arian said, picking her up. “Look, poor, Grandma and Grandpa,” he winked at Steve, “are exhausted. I know! Let’s get some cake.”
“Yay,” Lyddia said eagerly, happy to be carried into the kitchen to fetch the wedding cake.
“I’ll give you a hand,” Harley offered, joining them in the kitchen and hugging and kissing them both. Arian put Lyddia down and turned to the cake.
“Would you like this?” he asked, taking a pink flower off the side of the cake. Lyddia took it from him and nibbled a tiny bit.
“Say ‘thank you’,” Harley reminded her.
“Thank you, Daddy,” Lyddia obliged and then skipped out of the room taking her flower with her, nibbling microscopic bits as she went.
“Do you want to take the cake and I’ll take some plates and cutlery?” Harley asked.
“Sure, but first I’m going to kiss you, Mrs. Fletcher, while no-one’s watching,” Arian said with a grin, scooping her into his arms.
“Looks like Mum and Steve have hit it off, doesn’t it?” Harley said when Arian had finished kissing her. “And what do you think is going on between Jessamy and Zain. I’m never sure if they are going to fall in love, fall into bed or fall on each other with swords drawn.”
Arian laughed. “Well, he certainly hasn’t said anything to me. If Jess hasn’t confided in you, I have no idea. As for Steve and Harriet, I’d be all for that. He’s a really decent guy, and you know I love your mum.”
