Chapter Five #2
The line moves fast. Before long, we’re stepping into one of the swinging cars, the metal seat creaking under our weight as the safety bar drops across our laps with a solid click.
The wheel begins to turn, lifting us off the platform, and her hand closes around mine, her short nails pressing little half-moons into my skin.
I turn my hand beneath hers and hold on.
“It’s fine,” I murmur. “I’ve got you.”
We climb higher, the fairgrounds spreading out beneath us—strings of lights, moving crowds, the dark line of the harbour beyond. The noise below starts to thin, and then, near the top, the wheel slows... then stops.
Alannah’s grip loosens as she leans forward, taking in the fair spread out beneath us. “Oh.” She lets out a quiet laugh. “You can see everything.”
I’m not looking at the view. I’m looking at her. The wind lifts a few strands of her hair across her cheek, catching the glow from the lights beneath us. “Yeah,” I say. “Best view in the place.”
I ease my hand free from hers and slide my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer as I kiss her.
It starts gentle, but when she lets out a little gasp against my mouth and opens for me, I press closer and deepen the kiss, my tongue brushing against hers.
She tastes like peppermint taffy, sugar and mint on my tongue.
She’s shy at first, but she follows my lead, leaning into me, her body soft and warm against mine.
I slide my hand up into her hair, fingers slipping under the silky scarf that’s holding it in place.
God, she feels good. Right here with me.
The car sways gently with the breeze and voices drift up from below, pulling me back to where we are. I reluctantly break the kiss.
She opens her eyes and looks at me, a little dazed. “Ronin,” she whispers.
“I’ve got you, doll,” I say, and press a kiss to her forehead.
The wheel starts moving again, carrying us down toward the platform.
The noise of the crowd rises as we descend.
By the time our feet touch solid ground, she’s smoothing her hair, smiling to herself, and I’m still trying to pull myself together.
That kiss has me worked up, blood still pounding.
I force myself to think about the stack of invoices waiting on my desk and the leaky kitchen faucet I keep forgetting to fix. Anything to calm the hell down.
We step off the platform together, and that’s when I see him.
Mick.
He’s standing near the exit to the ride, arms crossed, watching me. His expression is flat, unreadable to anyone else, but I can see the tension in his shoulders and the way his jaw is clenched. He’s found something. He wouldn’t be here otherwise, and from the look of him, it’s bad.
Time to go.
I look at Alannah. She’s still smiling, still caught up in the fun we’ve been having, and I hate that I’m the one who has to ruin it. I force a smile anyway and reach for her hand as we step away from the ride. “I need to drop you off,” I say quietly. “Something’s come up.”
Her expression falters for a second, but she covers it fast, nodding like she always does. “Okay.”
We walk back through the fair together, Alannah quiet beside me and Mick a few paces behind us.
I can feel him there the whole way, and it takes the shine off everything.
The lights are still bright, the music is still playing, people are still laughing around us, but it doesn’t feel the same anymore.
Alannah holds the pink bear against her side, her fingers moving absently over the fur.
“We’ll come back,” I tell her, giving her hand a squeeze. “Stay longer next time. Do the rest of the rides.”
She looks up at me and gives me a small smile. “I’d like that.”
It’s one of the things I like best about her. She grew up in this life too, so she knows plans get cut short sometimes. She just understands.
When I stop outside her house, she turns to me. “Thank you,” she says quietly. “For tonight. It was perfect.”
“Yeah,” I say. “It was.”
She kisses my cheek, then slips out of the car before I can think of something more to say.
I watch her walk up the path, the pink bear tucked under her arm, her ponytail swinging against her back.
She pauses at the door, looks over her shoulder, and gives me a small wave.
I lift a hand in return. Then the door closes behind her.
I sit at the curb with the engine idling, staring at the front door. I want to stay there a little longer. I can’t.
Mick’s waiting.
Work’s always waiting.
I put the car in gear and drive away.
***
The warehouse sits low against the edge of the docks, just another brick box in a row of them. Nothing special to look at, and that’s the point. Places that blend in don’t get remembered. It’s the sorta place that’s good for business and even better for cleanup.
I pull around back and kill the engine. Mick’s already there, leaning against the loading door, cigarette burning down between his fingers. He doesn’t bother with small talk when I step out.
“It was Jackie,” he says. “He’s been skimming shipments. Jameson. Lucky Strikes. Thought nobody’d notice.”
Of course he did. Jackie Higgins has been running the docks almost as long as I’ve been alive. Trusted enough that nobody questioned him when the numbers first didn’t add up. Not until they came up short too many times to blame on bad counts.
“Inside?” I ask.
Mick nods, flicks his cigarette to the ground, and grinds it out beneath his heel before pushing the door open.