Bounce Down: 1st Quarter: Start of Play (19 page)

Later in the day, as Steve was
passing I quizzed him about the after-hours meeting. He confirmed
it had been arranged by the Superintendent, for everyone who worked
on the Jacobs case. I mentioned I did have other plans and it
probably did not include support staff. Steve appeared puzzled.
“Did you work on the case?”

“
In a small
way.”

“
Well, then
you’re required in a small way.”

I informed him of Peter’s
overbearing manner in seizing my keys. He again appeared
nonplussed. “That was a bit over the top, even for him, but I don’t
see why you’re complaining – you know there’s a Sundowner following
the meeting?”

Why did everyone think it was
all I was interested in?

“
Yes I know
about the Sundowner but, as I said, I have plans.”

“
It must be
someone special this time and not a copper, otherwise he would be
there tonight.”

He had me
there, my last couple of boyfriends
had
been on the force. I was still
close with them, especially the last one, Jason Atwell from the
Bureau of Criminal Intelligence (BCI), or more specifically,
The Dogs
. The Dog Squad
was a small group whose primary role was to
dog
suspects’ vehicles and/or
perform surveillance on residences, as requested by other squads,
most commonly Drug Squad. This was how I first came in contact with
Jason.

So at four o’clock I found
myself upstairs, with a drink in my hand, at our meeting. Not that
we would be discussing much, it was really just a pat-on-the-back
for a job well done.

“
To the
Regiment!”

It was tradition that the first
drink of the day was a toast to the Regiment, and the liquor of
choice had to be port; in this instance it was an expensive one,
none other than Grandfather’s Port. It was also the custom to scull
the port, but today I refrained and took a sip instead. I saw Peter
and a couple of the others noticed my out-of-character act, but
they refrained from commenting on it.

After Superintendent Jones, who
I always addressed as Darryl, had passed on congratulatory words
from both himself and the Commissioner, everyone got straight down
to business; the business of knocking back the free drinks. Once
again, I was hesitant of drinking too much, knowing I had to drive
and would be leaving soon.

Nevertheless, courtesy of none
other than my good pal Peter, I still seemed to get through a
couple of scotch and cokes prior to the Sundowner officially
starting. This heralded the arrival of the other sections,
including Mel, Bec and Jo from the Drug Squad Support Unit and, of
course, Mandy. While catching up with the ladies, I kept an eye on
the time, planning to leave at 5.30 and going straight to
Brendon’s.

After saying goodbye to my
friends, I approached Peter and held out my hand. “Can I have my
keys now, please?”

He shook his head. “No sorry
Suze, you’ve had too much to drive.”

Irritated, I tried to reason
with him without making a scene. “I’m fine. I’ve only had two.”

“
Uh, uh, I’ve
been watching you. You just had another one with your mates; that
makes three, plus the port.”

“
Give them
back now or everyone will know about this.”

Having issued the ultimatum, I
assumed he would relent. Instead, he came up with an alternative.
“Call Brendon to come and pick you up.”

I gathered this had been his
plan all along, including feeding me the offending drinks.

I was initially so stunned, I
couldn’t speak. How could he have been so devious and calculating?
I knew the answer but, as I shook my head, I still had to ask. “So
you can meet him – this is why you took my keys and made sure I
drank too much?”

He smiled, not a trace of guilt
on his face. “You didn’t have to drink them.”

I pushed him away with both
hands and headed for the door. He soon caught up and grabbed my
arm. “Where are you going?”

Furious, I turned to him. “I’m
going downstairs to order a taxi. Now let go!”

“
Suzie wait,
I’m sorry okay? But surely it won’t hurt for him to come to you for
once?”

Startled, I looked him directly
in the eye. “What do you mean?”

“
Nothing.” He
released his hold on me and glanced away.

“
Oh no you
don’t, you started this, now tell me what you meant by him coming
to me for once?”

“
If I tell
you, promise you won’t get mad, or at least wait until I
explain?”

“
I already am
mad.”

He indicated to the doorway
leading to the now deserted cafeteria.

Once we were alone, he
confessed, “I know you go to his house every weekend. I also know
he never goes to your place, except that one time. But worse, you
never go out anywhere together!”

“
I can’t
believe you’ve been following me.”

He didn’t
respond and a dreadful thought occurred. “It
was
you, wasn’t it?”

“
No, it was
Jason.”

God, could the situation get
any worse, and Jason of all people? I lashed out, punching him in
the stomach. From his non-reaction it appeared as though he barely
felt the blow.

“
Why did you
pick Jason, knowing our history? So what, does he sit outside the
house every weekend?”

Disgusted with him I turned my
back, hugging myself to stop from shaking. He touched my shoulder
and I flinched, causing him to withdraw his hand. But his next
words had me turning to face him, not wanting to believe them.

“
He
volunteered his services and no, he mostly does
drive-bys.”

“
What? And
how did he know about Brendon in the first place?”

He cleared
his throat. “From me, but it wasn’t my fault. You told me about
Brendon, how was I to know you hadn’t told him,
knowing your history
?”

“
Damn it
Pete, I told you because you were hassling me on a daily basis. I
had hoped you would back off, but I see things have escalated to
getting Jason involved.”

“
I’m sorry, I
needed to know this guy was treating you right. I bumped into Jase
and we got talking. He agrees with me by the way.”

“
Agrees with
what, exactly?”

“
This
relationship has changed you....”

“
Is this guy
bothering you?”

Peter glanced over his
shoulder. “Hey Diane.”

“
Hey
yourself. Can’t you give the girl a break? You men are all the
same.”

“
I’m worried
about her, that’s all.”

“
Worry about
your own life, namely your wife and son.”

Well said,
Diane.
That should stop and make him pause
about what he was doing. He wouldn’t like it if someone was
interfering in
his
private life.

“
Look....”
Diane cut him off, before he could say another word.

“
Look
nothing. Can I be of help to you Suzie?”

I smiled at her offer to help.
“As a matter of fact, you can. Did you drive in?”

“
Are you
serious? It’s a Sundowner!”

“
Well, would
you be able to drive my car to Brendon’s?”

“
Ah sorry
mate I can’t, for the same reason I didn’t bring my
car.”

“
The
Sundowner.”

“
Precisely.
I’ve already had too much alcohol and I’m just getting
started.”

At Peter’s
snicker we both turned to him. “Why don’t
you
take her, since you’re such a
good friend?” Diane’s suggestion seemed like the perfect
solution.

“
Yes, why
don’t you? You wanted to meet him, here’s your chance.”

“
I don’t have
the car and before you ask, Rick has the keys and his job is to get
me and the others home tonight. And yes, he could give you a lift
as well, but you won’t be getting there by six.”

“
Damn
it!”

I sat on the nearest chair,
leaning forward with my head in my hands. I heard him explaining
the situation to Diane. “Her problem is she needs to be at his
place by six and, for some reason, is reluctant for him to pick her
up.”

After a pause he continued,
this time to address me. “You’re running out of time, its twenty to
six, what are you gonna do?”

I sat back and released a long
breath. “I guess I’m going to call him.”

At his smug
grin I added, “But I’m going to ring and then meet him
downstairs
,” emphasising
downstairs for his benefit, quashing his well-laid plan.

“
No,” they
both chimed in unison.

I stared up at Diane with
surprise; I clearly knew his motives, but not Diane’s.

I gave her a questioning look.
“Why don’t you invite him up for a drink, to loosen him up a
little?”

“
Loosen him
up?”

“
From the way
you’re acting, I get the impression he likes getting his own way.
This is why you’re not ringing him, am I right? You’re worried
about how he’ll react to the change in plans.”

She ignored my warning stare.
“Normally you would jump at the chance to show off your latest
guy.”

Great, his grin was now even
wider at Diane’s spot-on assessment of Brendon and her correct
guess at why I was stalling.

“
Can you both
give me some privacy while I phone him?”

As neither of them moved, I
stood and walked further into the cafeteria, turning my back on
them as I made the call.

Needless to say, Brendon was
indeed not happy. However, he did concur with Peter that I
shouldn’t drive and agreed to pick me up.

It took some convincing and
perhaps the overriding factor was I was under the influence of
alcohol, but Peter and Diane persuaded me to wait upstairs and get
Security to call the bar, to let me know when Brendon arrived.

Since I now was not driving and
had some time to kill, I grabbed another drink and did what I did
best, mingled. When talking with Mandy and a couple of guys from
her squad, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned and saw Jason’s somber
expression. He bent towards me and spoke in a quiet voice. “Can we
talk?”

“
Yes, I think
we need to.”

After excusing myself, I
followed him to a table near the far wall. There was one vacant
stool, which he offered to me. It was better that he was standing
with me sitting due to our height difference, as our faces were now
closer; making it easier to have a conversation.

“
I hope you
got paid to spy on me or was it a
love
job
?”

He tried to hold my hand, but I
snatched it away. “You could have asked me about it, instead of
listening to Pete’s version of my life. What gives either of you
the right to judge me?”

Although I was angry with him,
I did contemplate questioning if he had seen any other vehicles at
Brendon’s. While I was working up the courage to ask, his next
words surprised me.

“
He’s worried
about you and frankly, so am I.”

“
Why can’t
you both keep out of it?”

“
I know why
you’re with this guy.”

I shook my head at this
statement. “No, you don’t.”

He gave me a wink. “Remember, I
know you better than you know yourself.”

“
What’s that
supposed to mean?”

“
I’m telling
you to watch yourself. I don’t want him hurting you.”

“
You mean you
don’t want him to be like you.” I turned around and moved to get
down off the stool, but he stopped me with a hand on my
shoulder.

“
I know I’ve
got no right to judge who you see. I’m just concerned at the
control he has over you. You always run to him every weekend and he
never takes you out. I was, and am proud to be seen with
you.”

This was an opening I couldn’t
pass up. “Have you done drive-bys during the week?”

“
No, and I
promise to stop checking up on you.”

At my stony look, he changed
tacts. “Besides, I thought we were still friends. Hell, when was
the last time we spoke, let alone saw each other? We used to catch
up on a regular basis.”

True, we had kept in touch
despite not dating any longer whether it be for lunch, a movie or a
drink after work. Granted, we had not caught up since I’d met
Brendon, but surely it was acceptable given I was in a new
relationship? In thinking about why Jason and I had broken up, I
could see how things must have appeared from his perspective.

“
I’m sorry
sweetie, can you forgive me?” As he spoke, he leaned over further
with his hands on the table, either side of my body. His expression
was so sincere I almost forgave him then and there.

I smiled and looked up into his
soft blue-grey eyes. “If I resume our get togethers, will you
promise not to continue interrogating me about this?”

He laughed and picked up his
beer, then clinked our glasses together, as he toasted. “It’s a
deal.”

I was about to have a drink
when the glass was roughly removed from my hand. This same hand,
which I now realised was Brendon’s, grasped mine and pulling me off
the stool, drew me through the crowd.