I inhaled a long breath and blew it out slowly in an attempt to calm myself before speaking to him. Otherwise, it would not have been friendly Bridget that was driving. I bent to pick my clipboard up and he wolf-whistled.
“That’s a good angle for you. Shows off one of your best assets.”
“You mean my disinterest?” I mumbled as I dusted the sand from my clipboard.
“What was that?” he asked, moving closer.
“I said it was nice to see you.”
“You say that but you didn’t call,” he said.
“You gave me your number this morning!” I couldn’t quite keep the surprise, or annoyance, out of my voice.
“Ohhh, are you one of those girls?” he asked with knowing smile.
“What girls?”
“The kind who like to play hard to get?”
“Yep,” I said with a nod because it was the easiest way out of that conversation. “Are you here to talk about Lily?”
“I told you, we can talk about that over dinner. I’m actually here on business but seeing you is always a pleasure.” He gave me what I assumed he thought was a winning smile and handed me a letter.
“Thanks.” I flipped the envelope over in my hands, looking for anything to identify the sender and waiting for him to leave before I opened it. “I’ll call you later,” I said when it looked like he wasn’t going to leave.
“I’ll keep my phone close.”
“You do that,” I said, giving him my most professional smile and then returning my focus to my assignment sheet. It was the politest way I could dismiss him without outright telling him to leave.
“Actually,” he said and stepped even closer, and it was all I could do not to lean back, “I’m about to take a break. If you’re so desperate to hear about Katie and Lily, why don’t you keep me company?”
I hesitated. I really did want to find out what Katie had said about Lily. But if Oz was paying extra attention to my emotions and Gary got handsy during this break, which was pretty much a given, it would get awkward. I didn’t really want Oz to turn up while I was trying to beat some respect for women into Gary and information out of him.
“All my assignments are time specific. Sorry.”
“I’ll wait for your call then. Have a great day,” he said and then tunnelled away.
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” I said to the place where he’d been standing.
“What are you doing?” Oz asked from behind me. “Who are you talking to? And why are you freaking out?”
“I’m freaking out because people keep popping up behind me!” I snapped. “What are you doing?”
“Popping up behind you because I can feel you freaking out.” Oz shrugged and took the letter from me, turning it over in his hands. “Who’s the letter from?”
“Is it open and in my hands?” I asked.
Oz looked down at the letter. “No.”
“Then how would I know?”
Oz flipped the envelope over and began to open it.
“Whoa! What are you doing?” I snatched it back and pressed it to my chest. “It’s addressed to me. You can’t just go around opening other people’s post.”
He held his hand out. “I’m your parole officer. I get to see all your post. You know this.”
“Fine,” I said and ripped the envelope open. “I’ll allow you to see it after I’ve read it.”
“Why does everything have to be the hard way with you?”
“It’s not the hard way, it’s just a way you don’t like.”
Oz placed a hand on my wrist to pull my attention from the letter. “For today can we do it in a way I like?”
I squinted at him from the corner of my eyes. “Just today?”
“How about we start today and see how we go?”
“Because that sounds like a slippery slope into dictatorial oppression to me.”
Oz sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t have bags under his eyes and he wasn’t slouching but the vibe he gave off was “tired”. I sighed. One day wouldn’t kill me. I offered him the letter. He eyed it like I was about to snatch it back if he reached for it. I waggled it at him. Oz took it and turned it over in his hands twice before looking back up at me.
“Why are you giving this to me?”
“You’re not happy when I don’t do what you say, you’re not happy when I do do what you say. How’s a girl supposed to win?” I asked. Oz said nothing and I shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious under his gaze. “Because you look like you could use an easy victory today. So this is it,” I said, gesturing to the envelope in his hands.
“Thank you,” he said as he looked me square in the eyes. My stomach did that flip that sometimes happens when he catches me off guard. If he felt anything through the bond it didn’t show on his face.
“So, where did you disappear off to?”
“You all seem a little jumpy today,” Oz said, opening the envelope.
“Wonder why,” I mumbled. “Everyone’s okay, though?”
“Petal just had a bit of an upset,” Oz said and pulled several sheets of paper out of the envelope.
“Is she okay?” I asked when he stopped speaking to scan the letter.
“She’s fine. Unhappy that one of her colleagues made fun of her hair but in one piece.”
“Whoa. Who made fun of her hair? You hit them, right?” I grabbed his hand that was holding the letter and shook it to get his attention. “Damaged them in some way? That is just not an acceptable thing to do.”
Oz glanced up at me from the letter. “Do you remember the conversation we had about how you were going to try to keep your head down and fly under the radar? Violent outbursts aren’t going to help with that.”
“Someone insulted her hair! And it was you who was going to be doing the violence. As her parole officer it’s your duty.”
“Doing the violence?”
“You know what I mean,” I said, but I’d already decided to help Petal plan her revenge on this hair insulter later. Without Oz’s disapproving scowl.
Oz returned his attention to the letter. He flipped a couple of pages over, cursed under his breath and covered his eyes with one hand. That just did not look like a response to a good news letter. I was guessing it wasn’t a notification that I’d won the afterlife version of the lottery.
“I’m not getting assessed again, right?” I asked.
Oz waved the letter at me. “I thought you were getting better at communicating with me.”
“Okay, well, aside from the fact I don’t like your tone or that you’re implying our communication problem is completely one-sided, specifically my side, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“If you wanted to go and see Alex why wouldn’t you have just come and spoken to me about it?”
“Alex?” I asked. “As in the crazy person who pointed a gun at me who’s not really crazy anymore? The one who painted a not so nice picture of me, that you still haven’t given me back yet, by the way. That Alex? Why would I want to go and see him?”
Oz’s voice had dropped to growl mode. “Don’t answer a question with another question. Answer me with an answer.”
“Okay, well, technically a question is an answer—”
“No, it’s a response. Not an answer. Just for today, Bridget, help me out today.”
“Okay. Fine. I haven’t spoken to you about it because I have no intention of going to see him.”
“No?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then why are you applying for a visitor’s pass to see him?” Oz waved the letter at me.
“What?” I snatched it from his hands to read it. The letter was dated today. Somewhere in the back of my mind I had thought it was weird that Gary was delivering letters, but then I’d gotten sidetracked about how to pump him for information. “Maybe he applied to see me.” I scanned further down the letter. “Except this says I applied to see him. Huh.”
“Huh. That’s all you’ve got t
o say about this?” Oz asked.
“What else do you want me to say? I didn’t apply for the pass. I don’t know why they’ve sent me the pass. I have no intention of using the pass.” Oz tilted his head to the side as though he were listening to his internal lie detector. I arched an eyebrow at him and folded my arms. “Really? You need to check if I’m being truthful about this?”
“I have an urge to check if you’re being truthful when you tell me you want a cup of tea.”
“Wow, thanks. I appreciate the support.” I handed him back the letter.
Oz held up the letter. “So, you don’t want this?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really have anything to say to him.”
“Anna said he approached you yesterday.”
“He came over to say hi.”
“A man who tried to kill you only weeks ago, who had painted a less than flattering picture of you and stuck it to a door in the common room of a mental asylum for everyone to see, who is still under rehabilitation, came over just to say ‘hi’.”
I nodded. “Yep. Can I get back to doing my job now?”
Oz waved the letter at me. “You’re not using this.”
I nodded again. “Okay.”
His eyes searched my face. “Come straight home after work.”
“I have my GA meeting.”
“I know, but I’ll take you so I know you’re there.”
“Nooooo, that’s not overbearing at all. Are you going to be taking everyone to their GA meetings?”
Oz shook his head. “Just you.”
“Why just me?”
Oz lifted the letter. “Because of things like this. Because your room was ransacked. Because I said so.” Oz scanned our surroundings. “Did you mention that to Leonard?”
“What? About my room?” I shook my head. “I don’t really want the police or GBs swarming all over our home. And I definitely don’t want Johnson anywhere near Petal. I don’t want him upsetting her.”
“Me either,” Oz agreed. “I’d also rather not draw any more attention to you. I’ve already taken precautions to make sure everyone will be safe at home.”
“What type of precautions?” I had visions of steel inner doors, panic rooms, bars on windows, CCTV.
“Adequate ones. Come straight home after work,” he reminded me, then disappeared.
“That’s really annoying when you do that!” I yelled into the busy street.
I turned to the arcade and took a step toward the entrance when Oz appeared in front of me again. I may have made yet another startled sound that was definitely not a shriek as I jumped back. I stared at the floor as I took a few deep breaths and regained my composure.
I looked up at Oz and spoke through gritted teeth. “I would very much appreciate it if you would all stop doing that to me.”
“Where’s Anna?” Oz asked, scanning the surroundings.
“Oh.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder to where we’d been standing moments earlier. “Officer Leonard took her.”
“When?” Oz’s eyes darted around as though he thought I was lying or he expected Officer Leonard to still be around. “He left before me.”
I shrugged. “He came back.”
Oz pinned me with an unhappy glare. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Gee, I don’t know. Maybe because I can’t think straight with people popping up behind me every two seconds.”
“What did he say?” Oz asked.
“Nothing.”
“He didn’t say anything? Not one word? Pure silence?” Oz pressed.
“Look. I’ve had a very stressful morning and you’re not helping me right now. I can’t remember word for word what he said. Just something along the lines of he’d forgotten something on his first visit and then he disappeared with Anna.”
“That was it? He’d forgotten something?”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
Oz scowled at me. “Do you have your pepper spray?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. Was this a trick question? How did he know about that? I briefly considered feigning ignorance but the intensity of his expression told me absolute honesty was necessary, consequences be what they may. So I nodded.
Oz held out his hand. “Let me see it.”
With no argument I pulled the pepper spray from my pocket and showed it to him. Oz took it from me and turned it over. He twisted the top until something clicked.
“Use this with the slightest provocation,” he said, handing it back.
“You’re giving me permission to pepper spray people?” I asked, taking it back and sniffing the nozzle. I don’t know what I expected but it just smelled like plastic.
“Not people. Katie. Or anyone who you feel threatens your well-being. Then you tunnel home and blow the whistle,” he said and I nodded, eyes wide and innocent. He pointed his finger directly in my face. “Not. People.”
“Okay, jeez. Not people. I get it.”
“Behave,” Oz said and raised his eyebrows in warning before disappearing.
I lifted the pepper spray to my face and examined at the depressor. I should probably test it so I’d know how far the spray would range. That way I would know how close I’d have to let the homicidal escapee mental patient get before I could spritz her. I checked around. The coast was clear so I sprayed a stream out of the pepper spray. The breeze helped with the range but it was roughly a metre or so in front of me.
“Huh.” I nodded to myself, happy with that. And then a small group of teenagers walked out of the arcade and directly into my pepper spray cloud.
They started coughing, choking and wiping at their eyes. I quickly checked over my shoulder for Officer Leonard and then dived inside the arcade to complete my assignment and get out of the way before anyone could pop up behind me and arrest me for illegal pepper-spraying.
Chapter Ten
“Have you been left unsupervised again?” Sabrina asked in a scandalised tone as I sat next to her at lunch.
“Oh, that’s not even the half of it!” I said and quickly filled her in on the morning’s events before Pete and Charlie joined us and we couldn’t gossip properly. Or before Anna showed up. Or before some other disaster struck.
“That is quite the morning you’ve had.”
“I know,” I said, salting my corn beef hash. “Did you manage to find anything good in your files?”
“Well, first off, there’s no record of Jason’s relationship with Anna and, if it was official, there should’ve been. There are all sorts of forms you have to fill out.”
“There was definitely something going on between them,” I said, loading my fork and checking over my shoulder for eavesdroppers.
“I believe you but there were several reprimands on his record regarding romantic entanglements, so maybe it wasn’t necessarily Anna’s lipstick. Was anyone else wearing red lipstick at the asylum?” Sabrina asked, eyeing my lunch.
“I can’t remember. Do you want to try some?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I’m just trying to work out what it is.”
“It’s delicious is what it is,” Pete said, joining us at the table with a plate of corn beef hash heaped super high. He’d added a puddle of gravy in the concave summit making it look like a food volcano.
“You two look like you’re deep in mischief-making mode,” Charlie said as he joined us and then scanned the room. “No Anna?”
I shook my head. “Not right now.”
Charlie heaved a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank goodness for that. I can’t take all the ‘hon’ing. I find it so irritating.”
“You should be around it all day,” I said.
Charlie shook his head. “No thanks!”
“Where is she?” Pete spoke around his mouthful as though there was no food in there at all. I still hadn’t worked out how he did it.
“Officer Leonard borrowed her earlier,” I said, loading my fork up.
Charlie and Pete paused in their eating.
“What do
you mean ‘borrowed her’?” Pete asked.
“Officer Leonard, three times in one day!” I greeted him as he walked up behind Pete. I couldn’t help feeling a little smug when Pete nearly choked on his food.
“Ms Sway.” He inclined his head and smiled. “I trust the rest of your morning was uneventful?”
“It was, y’know. Are you joining us for lunch?”
“Alas, Ms Sway, I’m working.”
“You really need to start taking some time for yourself, Officer Leonard,” I said. “You’ll burn yourself out if you carry on like this.”
“I appreciate your concern, Ms Sway.” He dipped his head at me.
“So what can we help you with?” I asked.
“Miss Rivers asked me to pass on a message to you. There’s a GA meeting that you were scheduled to attend over lunch and I said I would escort you, as she’s otherwise engaged.”
“Did she cop to it?” Sabrina asked.
Officer Leonard raised an eyebrow. “Cop to it?”
“Yeah, the nurse’s murder,” Sabrina said, ignoring the evil eye Pete was aiming at her as a covert ‘be quiet’ sign.
“And why would you think she murdered him?” Officer Leonard asked.
Sabrina feigned surprise. “Oh, do you have a better suspect?”
“Do you?” Officer Leonard asked.
Sabrina shook her head. “No, I’m well-adjusted and well-adjusted people don’t make those sorts of assumptions.”
“Is that right?” Officer Leonard asked and Sabrina nodded. Officer Leonard gestured between Sabrina and me. “So you won’t be accompanying Ms Sway to her lunchtime GA meeting?”
Sabrina looked at each of us in turn. Charlie’s face didn’t give much away but Pete’s eyes were practically popping out of his head as he tried his best to silently communicate that she should decline. Sabrina turned back to Officer Leonard.
“Of course I’ll be accompanying her, Officer Leonard. That’s what friends do. They support each other through difficult times.”
“You’re of the opinion Ms Sway is having a difficult time?” Officer Leonard asked and Pete covered his face with his hands.
Sabrina leaned forward and lowered her voice as though she were about to share a secret. “A dead body fell out at her yesterday. That’s hardly a day made up of sunshine and unicorns now, is it?”
A Little More Dead Page 14
