Sweet Heat, page 20
One of the paramedics went to the ambulance and got the bed out of the back. She wheeled it back over to Wade and Carter helped them lift Wade on. Wade still hadn’t moved.
By now two police cars had arrived and four officers were taking in the surroundings. Two of them were Detective Brown and his partner. Detective Brown walked straight over to Louis, his expression grim. I watched as the two of them talked, their expressions not showing any emotion.
Hitch’s Porsche slid to a stop beside the Aston Martin and he flew out of the driver’s seat. He grabbed hold of the passenger door and yanked on the door handle, however, Louis had locked me in. Hitch turned to Louis and shouted out his name. Louis turned and looked at him, then pressed the button on his key. The Aston Martin unlocked with a quiet beep. Hitch grabbed hold of the handle and all but ripped the door off its hinges. He dragged me out of the car and wrapped his big, strong, protective arms around me. I felt my legs turn to jelly at his touch and I knew that the only reason I was standing upright was because Hitch was holding me so tight.
“Jen,” Hitch breathed into my ear. “Fuck, what were you thinking? I told you to stay at the Estate.”
I didn’t have the energy to argue with him. I was so relieved he was here. Everything would be ok as long as he was here.
“I’m sorry, Hitch,” I said with a sob. I tucked my head into his chest so I didn’t have to see the carnage around me. Wade’s unmoving body on the stretcher, the black sedan smashed into a crumpled heap. The look of pure nothingness on Louis’ face. It was all too much.
“Rita,” I heard Hitch say. “Can you drive Louis home? I don’t think he should be driving. He might want to go to the hospital first to see how Wade is doing. I’ll take Jen home.”
“Yep,” Rita said. “I’ll follow the ambulance.” I could hear the worry in Rita’s voice. I knew she was pretty fond of Wade and while she’d never show it, I knew she was worried about him.
Hitch led me over to his Porsche and bundled me into the front seat. He nodded in the direction of Louis and Detective Brown. Louis gave a barely there nod of his head and said something to the detective. Louis must have taken his listening device off because I couldn’t hear a word.
“Am I allowed to leave the scene of a crime like this?” I asked as Hitch pulled the Porsche away from the curb.
“Louis will give the detective’s everything they need. If they have any questions for you, they know where to find you.” His voice was calm, even, but I could hear the tenseness there under the surface.
“Where are we going?” Now that we were away from the crash scene, I could feel some feeling coming back to my legs and my stomach was only churning at half speed.
“Back to the Estate. It’s the safest place to be.”
I watched the road as we drove. Every car that drove towards us I couldn’t help but hold my breath. What if the next car, or the next one, was aimed at us?
“Who do you think did this to Wade?” I asked, my voice coming out quiet. “Do you think this is something Ivy would be capable of?”
Hitch slid me a sideways glance and shrugged. “I don’t know, Sweetheart. I didn’t think Ivy was capable of any of the things she’s done recently. I don’t know if it’s her that’s changed or if the person that’s working with her is encouraging her.”
“I don’t think the person who got out of the four-wheel drive and shot at me was Ivy. They were bigger, more solid.”
Hitch slid me another glance. “Do you remember anything else?”
I could feel my heartrate slowing down. Now that I was out of immediate danger, my fear was starting to turn into anger. Someone shot at me! Point blank shot at me. Did they know that the Aston Martin had bulletproof glass?
“There was a person following us, that’s why we were driving down that road. Do you think they were like, herding us out onto that road? And I feel like the person that shot at me knew that the car had bulletproof glass, because when I opened my eyes, I could tell that they weren’t bothered by the fact that they hadn’t done any damage. I know they were wearing a helmet, but it was like they knew. Plus, why did they hit Wade’s car and not Louis’?”
“I don’t know what is happening right now, Sweetheart,” sighed Hitch. “But I think you might be right. This was a warning.”
WE ARRIVED BACK AT the Estate and one of Louis’ security guys pulled Hitch aside to update him on what was going on. I made my way straight into the kitchen. I needed food. It was late in the afternoon and Vincent had gone home. I opened the fridge and spotted the cake Wade had made the other night. I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I really hoped Wade was ok. He’d grown on me over the last couple of months and I won’t be able to cope if something bad happened to him.
I left the cake and pulled out a plate of vanilla slices instead. I was halfway through my second one when Hitch walked into the kitchen.
“Any word on Wade?” I asked, putting the slice back down on my plate. My stomach was still feeling like a washing machine and I couldn’t stomach anymore.
Hitch sat down beside me and picked up the half-eaten slice. He took a large bite and I raised an eyebrow at him. I’d never seen Hitch eat sugar.
“He’s in surgery,” Hitch sighed. “He has some internal bleeding, but Louis will make sure he has the best doctors in the world looking after him.”
“Have you heard from Kane today? Is Leela safe?”
Hitch nodded. “I just spoke to him. Leela finished work early and Kane is going to take her up to Brisbane for the night. It’s better if she’s up there anyway, safer, out of the way. He said Leela texted you.”
I hadn’t even looked at my phone for hours. “Well, things are moving fast with them two,” I sighed. “I guess you’re right though, it’s better if Leela’s far away from all of this.”
“Kane will keep her safe. He’s young but he’s good at what he does. Louis wouldn’t have him working for him otherwise.”
A silence came over us. I was done. My body wanted to sleep, but my mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour. The whole scene from this afternoon playing over and over in my mind. The way the gun discharged right in my direction. I couldn’t get it out of my head.
“This needs to end, Hitch,” I whispered as a tear rolled down my cheek.
Hitch stood up and pulled me to my feet. He wrapped his big arms around me and held me tight. “I know, Sweetheart, I know.”
“I don’t think I can handle anymore.”
“Neither can I. My heart is constantly in my throat.” He pulled away from me and kissed my forehead. “This was the last straw for Louis. Things are about to get real dangerous. Louis has played things so far, as much as he can within the law, but after today there will be no holding back. He will be out for blood.” Hitch frowned. “I don’t care what hair-brained idea anyone comes up with, you do not leave the Estate, understand?”
A small part of me wanted to defy him, even though I knew he was right. I bit back the urge to tell him off for telling me what to do, and I nodded. “I understand. I won’t leave the Estate.”
A slow grin spread across Hitch’s face. “I can see how much you want to argue with me right now, Sweetheart, but please, promise me you’ll listen this time? I just wouldn’t be able to deal with things if it’s you lying in that hospital bed next time.”
Hitch and I decided to go and watch a movie. Neither of us had any interest in actually watching a movie, but it was one of the few things we could sit and do, that required no concentration. I chose a rom-com, simply because I couldn’t handle anything sad or violent, and Hitch and I curled up on together on Louis’ white fabric lounge. Hitch had his phone on the side table beside him, waiting for updates on Wade’s condition and we sat and watched, not talking.
The first movie ended, and still no word on Wade. I could feel my worry increasing with every passing minute. I knew Rita was sending Hitch regular updates, but there was no news on Wade’s condition. I put on a second movie as the sun went down and at some point during the movie I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew Hitch was lightly shaking me awake.
“Sweetheart, wake up,” Hitch said softly. “Louis just rang, it was about Wade.”
Chapter twenty-seven
“Wade?” I said, struggling to sit up. “Is he ok?”
Hitch nodded. “Yeah, he is. He needed surgery to repair a severed artery in his leg, and he has two broken fingers and a broken rib, but he’s ok. He’ll live.”
I blew out a sigh. “Geez, that’s good news. I couldn’t even bring myself to eat his cake in the fridge in case it was the last thing he ever made.” I turned to look at Hitch, realising my mistake.
Hitch raised an eyebrow. “You know about Wade’s baking skills?” Hitch’s face broke out into a grin. “Why doesn’t that surprise me, Sweetheart? You could sniff out a baker a mile away.”
I smiled. “I heard noises the other night. I came downstairs and Wade was baking up a storm.”
“You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.”
“He threatened to, but then who would he bake for?”
Hitch laughed. “You have a point.”
We went back to watching the movie, and just as it ended, I heard the front door open and Louis, Rita and Carter walked into the lounge room. Louis and Carter were still covered in Wade’s blood.
“I’m going to clean up and then we’ll talk,” said Louis, using that brisk business tone of his. I could see the tiredness around his eyes and I knew that he was done with this whole thing. He disappeared upstairs without making eye contact with any of us.
Carter took off in the direction of his room and Rita came and sat in the lounge room with Hitch and I. There was a grim expression on her face that was very un-Rita like.
“How bad was it?” Hitch asked as Rita sat down.
Rita let out a long, tired sigh. “Bad. They took him straight in for surgery, but he’d done a fair bit of damage to the artery. They were talking about leg amputation for a while there. Luckily, they could replace it with a bypass. He’ll be out of action for a while but they saved his leg.”
“And Louis?” asked Hitch.
“I was too scared to look at him,” Rita said. “His face was emotionless but I could feel the anger radiating off him in waves. People were going out of their way to avoid him in the waiting room at the hospital. The fact that him and Carter were covered in blood probably didn’t help.” She sighed. “Shits about to get crazy.”
Louis and Carter walked back into the lounge room ten minutes later. Carter sat down in one of the lounge chairs, but Louis remained standing. His normally calm body had a tenseness to it like I’d never seen before, and he started to pace. Pacing was also something I’d never seen him do before. He was starting to scare me a little.
“This ends now,” Louis said, his voice like ice.
“Do we know if this is Ivy related?” asked Hitch. “Could it be related to Hunter Keller? I’ve been asking some questions about him around town, maybe this is a warning for you to back off? This seems like a pretty big operation for Ivy to pull off, even if she is working with someone.”
Louis turned to look at Hitch and I wondered if Hunter had even crossed his mind. Judging by the look on his face, I don’t think it had. “Why would Hunter Keller want to inflict this kind of damage on me? I haven’t had any dealings with Hunter for nearly ten years.”
Hitch shrugged. “I’ve been speaking to some other money lenders today and nobody else has any clients who are being ripped off by Hunter. It’s only yours. Why is Hunter ripping off your clients? Is it so they can’t pay you back? Why now?”
Louis turned to look out the window and I could tell he was processing this new information. “Organise a meeting with Hunter for tonight. Fenix, eight o’clock. Let’s see what he has to say about this.” He turned back around and looked at Carter. “I still want Ivy found. I don’t care what methods you have to use to find her, I want her found tonight.”
A chill ran down my spine as Carter nodded and stood up. He walked out of the room and I tried not to think about where he was going. The less I knew about Carter’s ‘methods’, the better.
“I’ll go ring Keller,” said Hitch. “I’m tired of this shit.” He got up and walked out of the room behind Carter.
Rita looked from Louis to me. “I haven’t eaten since lunch time. I’m gonna go make myself something to eat.” She stood up and took off in the direction of the kitchen, leaving Louis and I alone.
“What did Detective Brown say about this?” I asked quietly. Louis was still staring out the window and he turned to look at me like he’d forgotten I was there. “Do I have to go down to the station?”
Louis’ face softened ever so slightly and he came and sat down on one of the lounge chairs. He sighed and I watched as his body relaxed into the chair. He was exhausted. “He doesn’t need your statement, darling. While Detective Brown knows better, the police are going to treat it as just a hit and run. I didn’t tell the police about someone firing a gun at us, so they think it was a case of someone crashing a stolen car and then running off. They’re assuming it was random.”
I felt a small wave of relief go through me. I didn’t want to go down to the station. That sounded scary. There were criminals at police stations and it was no secret that I didn’t do well under pressure. Mmm, I’m pretty sure there are criminals here as well, but at least I know these ones.
“Are you ok?” I asked quietly. I could see the stress round his eyes and I was worried about him. I knew that while Wade worked for Louis, they were like brothers. Louis may not be great at showing it, but he cared about all of those around him.
Louis gave me the half smile. “I’m ok, my sweet. It’s just time for this to end.”
“Do times like this ever make you rethink your life choices?”
He looked at me and this time I got a real smile. “No. Do you?”
I sighed. “All the time.” I stood up and gave Louis a light kiss on the top of his head. “I’m done for tonight. I’m going upstairs to have a shower, then go to bed and watch a movie. Be careful with Hunter.” I went to walk out of the room but turned back to look at Louis. “Good thinking with the bulletproof glass.”
Louis smiled again. Another real one. “Considering my life choices, a necessity I’m afraid.”
“Well, it sure paid off today.”
I MUST HAVE FALLEN asleep at some point during my second rom-com movie marathon because the next thing I knew, it was pitch black and Hitch was climbing into bed bedside me.
“Hey,” I said sleepily. “What time is it?”
“Just after eleven.”
“How did things go with Hunter?”
Hitch sighed and settled back on his pillow. “He never showed.”
“Seriously? Why?”
“I have no idea, because he agreed to it over the phone. Maybe he heard about Wade. Maybe he’s just messing with us. I have this gut feeling that he was there, but he just didn’t come out of hiding.”
“This is getting weird,” I said as I snuggled into Hitch’s firm body.
“Tell me about it, Sweetheart.”
“Any word on Wade?”
Hitch wrapped his big arms around me and pulled me close. I could feel his body relax against mine and I knew he was exhausted. “Yeah, he’s stable. He’s still a little out of it, but he’s awake. I heard he was flirting with all the nurses, so I’m sure he’s on the road to recovery. Rita is with him now.”
“I knew Rita cared about him. She acts tough, but she cares.”
I could feel Hitch’s breath on my cheek start to slow down and regulate and I knew he was asleep. I don’t think he’ll ever admit it, but I know he was worried about Wade as well. There was a friendship between all three men before the ‘Eden incident’ and over the last couple of months I could see more and more glimpses of their friendship repairing. Their history ran too deep for it not to.
Chapter twenty-eight
I woke this morning safe in Hitch’s arms, the solar-powered air-conditioner keeping the room cool, and for a moment I forgot everything that had happened over the past few days. It didn’t take more than a few seconds for it all to come rushing back.
“Are you ok, Sweetheart?” Hitch said, his voice thick with sleep.
“I’m ok, Why?”
“You just sighed, loudly.”
I couldn’t help but sigh again. “I’m just over everything. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I want some normality.”
“I know what you mean. Louis has reached his limit too. This will be over soon, I guarantee you.”
“How is he suddenly going to find Ivy? He hasn’t been able to find her this whole time.”
“Louis was playing nice, doing this without breaking too many rules. Now he’s going to do whatever it takes.”
“I can’t believe she’s lasted this long.”
“Neither can I, Sweetheart. That’s why she must be getting help from someone. But I’ve got no idea from who. The possibilities are endless. An old enemy of Louis’ looking for revenge, someone she met in one of her facility stay’s, it could be just a man she met at a bar and she seduced him into helping her. It could be anyone.”
“What’s her sister like? Could she be helping her? Maybe she has a grudge against Louis for what’s become of her sister?”
“I went and saw Celia yesterday. She told me what she’s been hiding from us. A month ago, Ivy gave Celia a designer handbag, a Louis Vuitton. Celia knew it was stolen, but she didn’t want to say anything and get Ivy in trouble. Plus, she wanted the bag. She’s a hardworking mum. It’s not something she could afford and it was her dream to own one. So she kept it a secret.” Hitch tightened his grip around me and sighed. “At this point I wouldn’t discount anything, but her sister has always worked with Louis to help Ivy. There have never been any ill feelings there. Louis pays for all of Ivy’s treatment and medication, he makes sure anything Ivy needs happens instantly and I know he pays for Celia and her family to go on a holiday once a year so she can have a break and relax. I would be surprised if Celia would risk giving all that up by doing something like this. Plus, I’m sure Louis has someone watching the family around the clock. But like I said, I wouldn’t discount anything at this point.”
