Ridge Creek (6 page)

I baulk because the room also has three strange men standing
at the pool table. 

Biker men.

One is a tall, scrawny guy with long, curly red hair and a
long red goatee hanging down his chest.  One is short and fat with messy
shoulder length brown hair and a long scruffy beard.  The third has shoulder
length blonde hair that looks style cut and he is clean shaven.  Even though he
has no facial hair like the other two, I can tell he is still a biker because
he is wearing jeans, a Harley t-shirt and a pair of kick ass old biker boots. 
Lean and fit looking with great hair, he wears his biker outfit well.

Tugging me gently to encourage me to keep following him, I
gawk at the three bikers and watch as all eyes flick to me.  Wordlessly, I
watch as their eyes scan my entire body and lift back to my face.

All of their faces harden.

I suddenly feel self-conscious. 

Good god, what do I look like?

I’m not too worried about what I am wearing because,
contrary to his own statement, Zane is a good shopper.  I am wearing a stretchy
pair of yoga pants that don’t irritate my ass cheek or back.  Above this I have
a hot pink, soft cotton t-shirt with a huge black scull on the front.  The
shirt is cool.  I like it.  The only regret I have is that I am barefoot and I
haven’t had a chance to paint any of my nails.

The issue must be my face.

My hair is brushed out long because I find it too hard to
get a hair tie in with my sore shoulder and I have been brushing my teeth but
apart from that, I have no idea. 

Shit.

Shooting them a small wave, I follow along just behind Jake
as he exits a door to the side of the room and we find ourselves in the garage
that we entered through the night I arrived.

Things are a bit busier out here and there are four more
bikers, plus Pops, crowded around a motorcycle on a stand.  I smile and wave to
Pops.  He smiles and nods back.  The three new bikers all look at me and their
faces harden too. 

Fuck I must be hideous.  They won’t even smile at me.

I’m used to men smiling at me.  I’ve often wondered why they
do.  But the truth of the matter is that  usually, whether I am meeting a guy
for the first time or even if I’m just passing a random in the street, he
smiles at me.  Only Pops is smiling at me today.  Am I so hideous that only an
old man will smile at me?

Jake tows me over to a workbench and drops my hand.  I watch
as he picks up a cordless drill.  He then does one of those ‘man moves’ on the
drill.  The one where they grab the nose of the drill, power it up, pull
something out its nose, put something back in and then power it up again for a
brief spurt.  He looks like he knows what he is doing.

Taking my hand again, we do a reverse trip through the
garage, through the open room and down the hallway to the bathroom.  I of
course wave to the bikers on my reverse trip.  I am even pleased to notice that
the nice looking blonde biker raises an eyebrow at me and the corners of his
lips hint at a smile as we pass.

I decide my hideousness must become more bearable with each
viewing.

In the bathroom, with body pressure only and no words, Jake
makes me stand in the doorway.  Before I have time to register what he is
doing, he powers up his drill and pulls the two screws holding the board over
the mirror away.  Dropping the board to the floor next the sink, he turns to me
and gives me a chin lift.

With my eyes now pinned on the mirror and what I am sure is
his permission, I walk straight up and look.

I gasp as my hands fly to my face.

Holy shit.

One entire side of my face is a patchy combination of green
and yellow bruises.  There are smatterings of small left over scabs from my
facial gravel rash as well as one long thicker scab on my right cheekbone. 
There is however, no swelling.

Taking a few minutes to examine my face I run my fingers
over each bruise and marvel that my face still looks normal – ish.  It may have
scabs and it may be green and yellow but it’s not distorted out of shape or
anything.  I breathe a sigh of relief and turn to see Jake watching me
intently.

“This is going to take a truckload of make-up to paint
over.  Can I use your phone?”

I watch as his eyes crinkle and the green sparkles a little
brighter.  Grinning, he nods.  Reaching into his back pocket he pulls out his
mobile phone and hands it to me.  Quickly dialing my hacker friend’s number,
the phone nearly rings out before she picks up.

“Yo,” I hear her familiar voice on the end of the phone and
nearly cry in relief.

“Ems, it’s me,” I almost choke the words out.

“Ari!” She shrieks into the phone and I have to hold it away
from ear.  “You’re fucking
alive!
”

Bringing the phone back to my ear I look up to see Jake
leaning against the doorframe as he blankly watches me on the phone.

“I am.  Long story.  I have to vanish babe.  Like big time
vanish.
 
New I.D. and I need my money.”

“You’re fucking
alive
!” She shrieks again and I wince
at the high-pitched noise.  Shaking my head I’m about to remind her of my
request when her voice softens and she asks, “Did he hurt you?”

Not wanting to go into it right now I answer softly, “Yeah
he did.”

“
Mother. Fucker.”

“I need to vanish,” I remind her.

Pausing for a few beats, I hear her breathing steadily down
the phone.  “Okay,” she announces.  “We can do this.  We already had half a
plan when the dumb fuck started whinging about your money so we can do this. 
Where are you?”

“Somewhere called Ridge Creek.  Apart from that I have no
idea.”

“Right,” I hear her fingers tapping on a keyboard.  “This is
good.  You realize you are over four hours away don’t you?  You’re not even in
State.  He’s not likely to find you there.” 

“Where am I?”

“You’re in lower-central New South Wales.”  I hear her doing
some more tapping.  “You got any money in your normal accounts you want?”

“No.  There was only a couple of grand there and if he see’s
movements on my accounts he’ll track it.  I just need the money I left with
you.  You keep fifty, and I’ll make-do with the other two hundred.  Thank
fuck
you talked me into hiding it.”

“There’s more than that…” She says almost warily.

“More?” I ask her confused as hell.  “It hasn’t been that
long since I shut my business down, how is there more?”

“Investments baby.  I couldn’t help it.  It was just doing
nothing sitting there.  The interest was
okay
, but I knew it could do
better.”

“How much is there now?”

“Five hundred and sixty thousand dollars.”

Fuck.

“You’re shitting me?” I whisper reverently into the phone. 
“You should be a banker, not a hacker.”

I watch Jake’s eyebrows lift in question and a small smirk creases
his mouth.  Obviously he’s finding this conversation amusing.

“I don’t need
that
much.  I’ve got nothing to spend
it on.”
“You do now girl.  You’ve got a whole new life to build.  It probably won’t
even be enough.  On that thought, leave some with me.  I’ll triple it this
time.  I was being conservative before.”

Shaking my head at her through the phone, I find myself
smiling.   “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Believe it baby.  Now,” I hear more clicking on the
keyboard, “I can get you a N.S.W. drivers license and a new birth certificate,
what name?”

“I want to keep Arianna,” I announce firmly.  And I do.  I
love
my name and I don’t think that it’s fair that I have to give
everything
up just because my ex-boyfriend is an asshole.

“That should be okay but you are going to have to lose the
Lovett.  Pick a new surname.”

My mind blanking at the idea of a new surname, I slide my
eyes around the room for inspiration.  Faucet? 

No. 

Bath? 

No.

Swinging my eyes back to Jake I look at the t-shirt he is
wearing.  Looking at the logo staring me in the face I say, “Davidson.”

“Davidson.  Gotcha.  I need two days, three days tops to get
the I.D.  Then you need to start a bank account in your new name.  What are we
going to do about money in the meantime?  Is there somewhere I can send a cash
check to or someone’s account you can use?”

“Um…  Good question,” I respond as my mind scrabbles for
more ideas.  “I suppose a check in the mail might work, a bank transfer to an
account would be quicker though.”

“Use mine,” Jake’s gravelly voice cuts into our
conversation.  “I’ll go get the numbers.”  I watch as he turns and leaves the
doorway.

“I’ve got some account details on their way.”

“Cool.  One more thing Ari.”
“What?”

“I’m coming.  Wherever you are, I’m coming.  I don’t have
any reason to be where I am and there is no way my best friend is starting a
new life somewhere without me.  I don’t have any ties here.  I can hack and
code from anywhere.  I’m coming.  Get me an address.”

“You can’t!” I let out a small shriek as panic sets in. 
“He’ll follow you straight to me.”

“No he won’t Ari.  He doesn’t even know I exist remember? 
I’ve never worked for you, he’s never met me.  Fuck, I even had a code name on
your mobile remember?  The chances he’s going to link the name Dick Magnet off
your mobile contacts to me are remote.  I’ll ditch this number today and get a
new phone.  Don’t worry about it.  This phone’s not even in
my
real
name.  I bought it on a whim to see if one of my fake I.D.s would work to buy a
prepaid mobile phone.  It did.”

She sounds pleased with herself and I can feel the pressure
of my newest panic attack receding.

“Okay.  I’m currently sleeping behind some sort of Bikers
shop just off the main street.  He turned at a set of lights and it was just
past the corner.”

“I’ll get this I.D. sorted and be there in three, four days
tops.”

Feeling a rush of ‘almost’ hope course through my body, I
lean back on the bathroom sink and smile.  Jake returns and thrusts a piece of
paper with numbers under my nose.  The words Jake Holder stare back at me.

Smiling up at him, I recite his details over the phone and
finish my conversation with Emma.  Through this process Jake returns to his
impassive stance leaning in the doorway.

Finally hanging up with Emma and handing the phone back to
him he speaks softly.  “Better?”

“Better.” I agree.  “Apart from the fact that you should be
ten grand richer by this afternoon, I have one other small favor to ask.”

Lifting his eyebrows in question, I go for it.

“Any chance there’s another spare bedroom around here?”

Electronic Visibility

Flicking a door open in front of me, Jake announces, “That’s
all I can spare.”

Walking in, I cast my eyes around a medium sized room
currently furnished with nothing but boxes and motorbike spare parts.

“There’s another storeroom next door.  I’ll get one of the
boys to move this shit in with that shit.”

Nodding, I am suddenly overwhelmed with his generosity. 
Tears spiking my eyes, I turn and flee from the room heading back to the safety
of my bedroom.

I have barely set a knee on the bed when an arm snakes
around my stomach and I’m suspended midair.

“You’re not hiding in here anymore.  Ma’s been waiting for
you talk and you haven’t.  She tells me you shut up like a fucking clam while I
was gone.  You’re gunna talk to me and you’re gunna get out of this room and
start living.”

Wincing in pain at my suspension, I grunt out an, “Ouch.”

He retracts his arm instantly.

“Shit, sorry.”  Turning to face him I tip my head back to
see his brows knitted in concern.  “Ribs or skin.”

“Both,” I reply.  “It’s okay, you forgot.  Where did you
go?”

A look of caution flashes across his face.  Just as quickly
it is replaced by what looks like remorse.  He steps back to give me room.  His
movement away from me affects me in some way and I tense up.  I think I
preferred it when he was close.

He doesn’t answer my question.

Stepping towards him to close the gap again, I tip my head
back and decide to let it go. “Thanks for the second room… and the use of your
bank account.”

Staring blankly at my face, I watch as his eyes soften and
he replies, “You’re welcome.”

“You’ll like Emma.  She’s a hoot.  You can't help laugh when
Emma’s is in the room, she’s
that
funny.”

I watch as he grins at my statement but then suddenly
stiffens and looks alarmed.

“Does Tony mother fucking Giotti know she’s your friend?”

My heart stops.  I swear it actually misses four beats. 
Blinking rapidly, I feel it kick back in again I instantly grab for my chest
from the pain. 

How on Earth does he know Tony?

Knuckling forward, I start to hyperventilate.  Rasping short
agonized breaths into my chest, I wildly try to run through all the scenarios
of why Jake knows Tony.

“Fuck!”  I hear Jake growl above me as a hand snakes behind
my neck and I am dragged forward so that my face hits his hard stomach. 
Holding my face to him, he murmurs, “Breathe sweetheart.  I’m sorry, I didn’t
mean to shock you.”

Finding my face pushed up hard against his stomach, I am
suddenly aware of the scent of ‘Jake’ hitting me.  Soap, cologne and musky male
mix in a delicious aroma and I find my breathing slows as I draw it all in.

Sensing the change in me, Jake uses his other hand to slowly
rub circles along the back of my shoulders and I relax even more.  Not knowing
why I do it, I lift my arms and circle his huge girth.  It feels strange to
wrap my arms around another man.  Strange for two reasons.