‘I ordered pizza,’ Martine announced as I let her in.
‘You better not have done that vegetarian thing again.’
‘Don’t worry, Rocket Man,’ Martine grinned, ‘I ordered you your own Meat Lover’s. Chanel and I can share the Vegetarian.’ She laughed at the look on my face. ‘Just kidding, I got two Meat Lover’s this time.’
‘With barbecue sauce?’ I asked.
‘Of course. I might not eat it, but everybody knows a Meat Lover’s pizza is not complete without barbecue sauce.’
She pulled a bottle of bubbly out of her handbag and placed it in the freezer. ‘This one needs chilling.’ She reached back into her bag and pulled out a second bottle. ‘This one does not.’
‘Perfect.’ I grabbed the glasses. ‘After the week I’ve had, I need some bubbles in my life.’
I popped the cork, poured out two glasses and handed her one. Nick was set up on the couch with his beer and the television remote. Cocoa was wedged up against his leg with his head on Nick’s knee.
‘Look, Cocoa,’ Nick said. ‘The Miss Muddy is on tomorrow. Your Mum won’t let us go in it, but I bet we’d have some fun.’
‘That’s new.’ Martine nodded at the pair.
‘I suspect he’s been feeding him illicit substances.’
‘What? Like, drugs?’
‘No.’ I took a seat on the couch. ‘Hot dog, pizza, chips.’
‘Oh.’ Martine laughed. ‘Speaking of drugs, any luck?’ She took the seat next to me.
I shook my head. The drop off was going down tomorrow and I had no idea when or where. All I knew was that I had to be there. I just had to or Billy was going to get hurt. Or worse.
I was trying not to think about it, but there was a pounding in the back of my head and a gnawing knot in my belly. It was making it hard to think straight.
‘I’ve got something that will cheer you up,’ Martine said. She reached down into her bag and pulled out a nappy.
‘Ummmmm.’ I stared at the nappy. ‘Exactly how is that going to cheer me up?’
She placed it on the coffee table. ‘It’s one of the new prototype nappies.’
Nick burst out laughing. ‘A nappy prototype?’
‘Yes.’ Martine picked up the nappy and held it out to him. ‘It’s got the new humectant beads in it. They hold one hundred times their weight in liquid. I thought we could wet it and see what happens.’
‘Where did you get it from?’ I reached out and took the nappy from her. I hadn’t had that much to do with nappies, but it looked like every other nappy I’d ever seen.
‘Well,’ she shifted uncomfortably, ‘I didn’t get it. Martyn did.’ She took a big sip of her drink.
‘What? Christina is handing out nappies for people to try?’
‘No.’ She bit at her bottom lip. ‘Martyn overheard her telling Sally about them. It was just the one pallet. But the rest of them are arriving tomorrow and well, Martyn was interested in the humectant beads as well, and no one was looking so….’ She flushed pink as she took a swig of her champagne.
‘Oh my.’ I couldn’t believe it. ‘Martyn stole it?’ I let out a laugh. ‘I mean really?’ I couldn’t imagine Martyn doing anything wrong at all, let alone stealing a prototype nappy.
‘He does have a bit of a naughty streak occasionally,’ Martine said. ‘You’ve just never seen it.’ She sounded offended.
‘I’m sorry.’ I patted her arm. ‘I’m sure he does. I only ever see the….’ Uptight? Boring? Monotone? ‘Proper side of him.’
She relaxed a little. ‘Yes, well, we can’t all be sunshine and flowers all the time.’
‘So, where is Martyn?’ Nick asked. ‘Is he coming down to see us wet the nappy?’
Martine stiffened again as I burst out laughing. ‘I’m sorry,’ I gasped, holding a hand up to her. ‘I just thought he’d worked it out.’
‘Worked what out?’ Nick put the remote on the coffee table and turned fully towards us.
‘That Martyn and I are….’ Martine sniffed and looked at me.
‘What? It’s not my fault.’ I threw my hands in the air.
She turned back to Nick. ‘Martyn and I are….’
‘Not living together anymore?’ Nick guessed. ‘Twins?’
I picked up my champagne and took a sip.
‘Getting married? Come on. A little help here.’
I choked out a laugh and some of my champagne made it into my lungs. I leaned forward, still laughing as I coughed.
‘Oh for goodness sake,’ Martine said as she thumped me on the back. ‘Martyn and I are one and the same.’
‘You mean,’ Nick’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, ‘that you and he are? Oooooh.’ His eyes became huge saucers on his face.
Martine crossed her arms across her chest.
‘I do apologise,’ he finally said. ‘It was rude of me to make you point that out. Please forgive my ignorance.’ He picked up the remote and turned back to the television.
I could feel my eyebrows riding high on my forehead.
‘What’s with him?’ Martine asked me.
‘He and Bianca shagged last night.’
‘Oh, well, yes.’ Martine nodded her head. ‘An experience like that will change a man.’ She picked up her glass and took a sip.
‘So, about this nappy,’ I said. ‘Shall we?’
‘I thought you’d never ask.’ She picked up the nappy and followed me over to the kitchen.
‘How much fluid shall we put into it?’
She pursed her lips as she thought. ‘How much does a baby wee out?’
I laughed. ‘I don’t know.’
Nick put down the remote and pushed himself off the couch. ‘I want to see this too. I say we just flood it and see how big those hectic beads get.’
‘Humectant beads,’ Martine said.
‘How about we start with a cup and go from there?’ I asked.
‘Okay.’ Martine rubbed her hands together as I got a measuring cup out and filled it with water.
She opened up the nappy and held it as I poured the water into the crutch area. Some water went in, but most rolled off the sides.
‘Maybe you need to hold it cupped, like it would be on a baby?’ Nick suggested.
‘Good idea.’ Martine held the sides of the crotch up as I poured some more water on.
I was sure some went in, but most of it formed a small swimming pool in the crutch area.
‘Let me try pouring it further back.’ I poured water onto the back of the nappy and it immediately soaked into the soft fabric.
‘Huh.’ Martine poked at the crutch. ‘Why aren’t they expanding?’
‘Maybe the prototype batch were duds,’ Nick said.
‘No. Martyn heard Christina tell Sally that the next shipment would be exactly like this batch.’ She poked some more. ‘It’s really very disappointing.’
There was a knock at the door.
‘Pizza,’ Nick shouted as he raced to open it.
I opened the cupboard and pulled out three plates. I was starving.
Nick reached up and undid the deadlock, and started to pull the door open. Before he could swing it back there was a roar from the other side and Big Bad Ben burst into the apartment
Nick flew backwards, landing with a thump as he rolled towards the coffee table.
I screamed as Bad Ben, a tower of terror, raced towards me. I grabbed a plate and frisbee’d it at him. It bounced off his chest and crashed to the floor. I ducked under his outstretched hands and ran for the other side of the room.
Cocoa bounced up and down on the couch, barking as Nick launched himself at Bad Ben. He landed on Ben’s back, clinging on like a kid on a piggyback ride. He wrapped both arms around the huge man’s neck and leaned back.
Ben reached behind his head, both hands scrabbling to get a hold of Nick. Nick stuck a knee in Ben’s back and pulled back harder. The big man let out a guttural sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. A wild animal in a frenzy, he began to spin on the spot.
Nick lost his grip on the third spin, flying off to land on the couch. He bounced straight up, but Big Bad Ben was already coming after me.
I had thought his facial tattoos were scary when I’d seen him the other night, but now, when his face was a snarling mass of rage, they were pee-worthy.
I raced back towards the kitchen where Martine stood frozen, a stunned look on her face as she clutched the nappy to her chest.
I dodged to the right, but Ben slammed into me, his body crushing me against the pantry as his hands fastened around my throat.
‘I told them to stop you,’ he roared. ‘But they wouldn’t listen. Now I’m going to stop you for good.’
Little black dots started to dance in front of my eyes as I scratched at his hands.
Martine jolted into action like a wind-up doll being released. ‘No,’ she screamed as she swung the nappy at the back of Ben’s head.
Water sprayed out around his face as the nappy exploded on impact. Little bags full of light-blue crystals flew up into the air.
I felt my eyes widen as I watched them, the pieces of the puzzle all clicking into place in my head. It was a shame I was going to be dead before I got to tell anyone.
Nick raced into the kitchen, picked up a plate and flung it at Bad Ben’s head. The impact rocked him backwards and his grip on my throat loosened.
I broke free, staggering away as I sucked in lungfuls of air.
It took Big Bad Ben only a few seconds to shake off the blow. His eyes lasered back in on me, his lips pulling back to reveal his teeth. Before he could move, Nick leaped onto his back again.
The big man started to buck and spin, but Nick clung on, a rodeo star having the ride of his life. ‘Cocoa,’ he yelled, ‘attack, buddy. Attack.’
Cocoa’s ears dropped back and his hysterical bark turned to a deep throaty growl.
‘Attack,’ Nick screamed as he lost his grip.
He flew off and Big Bad Ben stopped spinning. He ended up facing the couch just as Cocoa launched his attack.
I screamed in terror as Cocoa flew through the air. I’m not sure what body part he was aiming for, but it was Ben’s turn to scream as Cocoa’s teeth latched onto his groin.
He started to spin again, but Cocoa held on. Ben’s howls moved up a couple of octaves, as Cocoa growled and shook his head.
Martine opened the freezer and grabbed the bottle she’d been chilling. She raced towards Big Bad Ben with it raised above her head like a baton. It made a thwack as she brought it down on top of his head. The bottle shattered and a large lump of ice fell out onto the floor. Ben’s eyes rolled up into his head.
‘Release,’ I shouted as Ben’s knees went out from under him.
Cocoa danced out of the way, his tail wagging as he watched the big man go down.
There was an almighty crash as Ben fell, the impact making the floor shake beneath our feet. And then he was still and all I could hear was our combined, ragged breathing.
I bent down and placed two fingers on his jugular. ‘He’s alive,’ I announced as I felt his pulse.
Martine nudged the frozen champagne with her foot. ‘Must have been colder than I thought,’ she said.
I picked up a very different type of ice. ‘Well, I guess we know why the nappy wasn’t working,’ I said.
‘Yes. They left the beads wrapped in plastic.’ Martine shook her head as she tutted. ‘That’s going to cost Christina a bomb to fix. All those nappies.’
Nick picked up another packet. ‘Is this what I think it is?’
I nodded.
‘What?’ Martine looked at us. ‘I’m missing something aren’t I?’
‘Martine.’ I shook the little bag. ‘These aren’t humectant beads. These are drugs.’
‘Drugs?’ Her mouth opened and closed a couple of times. ‘Oh no. This is terrible. I need to let Christina know. Somebody’s using her as a mule.’
‘Christina,’ Nick said. ‘The Crystal. Clever.’
‘What?’ Martine was doing her stunned fish impression again. ‘You think Christina is the Drug Lord?’
‘I’m sorry.’ I walked into the kitchen and opened my drawers one by one. There was duct tape in one of them, I just couldn’t remember which. ‘I know Christina is the drug lord.’
She sank onto the couch. ‘I have to warn Sally.’ She dug around in her handbag.
‘Stop.’ Nick gently prised her fingers from around her phone. ‘We don’t know who else is in on this.’
‘Not Sally.’ Martine shook her head.
‘Well, you can warn her after we stop them. Another day isn’t going to make any difference.’
Martine nodded.
I found the duct tape in the third drawer and pulled it out, my mind racing as I worked my way through a different sequence of events. I tossed the tape to Nick as I finished connecting the dots.
‘Gloria,’ I said.
‘You’re right.’ Martine clicked her fingers and pointed at me. ‘She’ll know what to do.’
‘No.’ I shook my head, fear making my heart pound. ‘I overheard Trent telling her the Super thought we had a rat.’
‘She is the rat.’ Nick picked at the end of the tape.
‘Oh no.’ I sank down onto a couch. It made too much sense. ‘That’s why she never arrested Big Bad Ben.’
‘That’s how he knew where you lived.’
‘Yes,’ I breathed. ‘But that’s not the worst of it. Trent told her. He told her about Billy. Today. Asked her to meet with Billy and get the location of the drop off.’
‘So she knows where it’s going to be.’ Nick managed to get the end of the duct tape free. He pulled out a length and started to tape Bad Ben’s ankles together. ‘And she’s told Trent a furphy.’
Nick wasn’t getting it. It felt like fingers were around my heart, slowly crushing it. I could hardly breathe from the pain.
‘Chanel?’ Martine rubbed my back as I leaned over.
‘They know,’ I wheezed. ‘They know Billy is under cover.’ He could already be dead.
‘Whoa, Chanel. Don’t go there.’ Nick straightened up from taping up Bad Ben. ‘Billy needs you rational. Not all churned up about something that hasn’t happened.’
Yet, was the unspoken word. But he was right. I needed to remain calm. I needed to have hope that they wouldn’t finish him till after the job was done. And now we held the pieces of the puzzle that would allow us to save him.
I took a couple of deep breaths while I struggled with my panic. I couldn’t get rid of it so I pushed it to the side in my brain and ignored it. If the worst came to worst, I would give it free reign.
‘Martine.’ I sat back up. ‘Tell us what you know about this nappy shipment tomorrow.’
‘It arrived from China two days ago. It was clearing customs today.’
There was a knock on the door.
‘Shit,’ I said.
‘Pizza,’ Nick said.
We looked at the room. Drugs lay scattered everywhere around an unconscious Big Bad Ben. It did not look good.
The next knock was louder.
‘I’ll get it,’ Martine said.
I watched as she opened the door a crack. ‘Oh hello, big boy.’ She blocked the pizza boy’s view through the door with her body. ‘We’re having a special party in here and we could use a man like you. Would you like to come and join me and my friends?’
She opened the door as three pizza boxes were shoved into her hands. ‘Come back if you change your mind,’ she called after the fleeing pizza boy. She shut the door and turned to face us. ‘Of course we’ll never be able to use that Pizzeria again, but small price to pay.’ She shrugged and placed the pizzas on the kitchen bench top.
Nick licked his lips and looked from Big Bad Ben to the boxes.
‘He could wake at any time.’ I knelt down next to him. ‘I think we should put him in the recovery position so he can breathe.
‘He’s going to find it difficult breathing around your knickers,’ Nick said.
‘Why my knickers? Why can’t we use a tea towel?’
‘Knickers are more fun, but fine, if you want to be all prudish about it we’ll use a tea towel.’
I grabbed a tea towel from the drawers and handed it to Nick. He shoved some into Bad Ben’s mouth and taped it into place.
I helped him roll the man onto his side. We bent his knees and pulled his hands behind his back so we could tape them together.
‘I can’t eat with him there,’ Martine said. ‘His face is freaky enough, but any minute now he’s going to open his eyes.’
‘Let’s put him over under the stairs.’ Nick grabbed his feet and started to pull. ‘Geez, he’s heavy.’
‘Here.’ I grabbed his arms and hauled as hard as I could. Between us we managed to move him an inch.
‘Oh for goodness sake, put some back into it,’ Martine said as she grabbed his legs.
With her help we dragged him over to the staircase. We positioned him so his back was to us, and then, as an afterthought, I hung a sheet from the handrail to block our view of him.
‘That’s better.’ Martine nodded in approval.
I grabbed the broom from the pantry and swept the entire mess of drugs and shards of plate and bottle over to the bin. I left a slushy champagne mess in my wake which Martine dried up with a towel.
We grabbed a pizza each and took up our conversation where we had left off.
‘How are they getting the drugs past customs?’ Martine took a bite of her Vegetarian pizza.
‘It’s the chemical that gives it the blue colouring,’ I said. ‘It neutralises the scent so the dogs can’t smell it.’
‘Give me the details of the drop off.’ I nipped at a strand of mozzarella with my teeth. It was good pizza.
‘The trucks are picking up the nappies at the wharf in Botany Bay at 9.30 A.M. They are expecting the trucks to arrive about an hour and a half later.’
‘Where exactly is the warehouse?’
‘It’s in Randwick. It backs onto the racecourse there.’
I grabbed my phone and opened Google Maps. ‘Where is it?’ I held my phone out to Martine.
‘It sits on this street here.’
I stared at it. ‘Much cover up that street?’
Martine took another bite while she considered my question. Finally, she shook her head. ‘It’s all warehouses with six foot wire fences. They’ll see us coming a mile off.’
‘So we’re going to have to come over the back,’ I said. ‘The question is, how are we going to get onto the racecourse undetected. I’m pretty sure there will be security cameras everywhere.’
Nick looked up from his pizza. ‘Are we are talking about The Randwick Racecourse?’
‘Yeah. Do you know that area?’ Martine asked.
‘Nope.’ Nick bit into his pizza. ‘But I know how we can get access to the racecourse.’ He looked up and said, ‘Thank you, Lord.’
‘What are you talking about?’ I asked.
Nick’s smile was triumphant. ‘Tomorrow, at half past ten at the Randwick Racecourse, the first Miss Muddy contestants will cross the start line.’
***
‘Just ring him already,’ Nick said.
I grimaced. ‘I’m trying to work out what to say.’
‘How about, “Hey Trent, your girlfriend is the rat and tomorrow’s drop off is not where she told you.”’
‘Oh yeah.’ I rolled my eyes. ‘That’s going to go down like a tonne of bricks.’
He looked at his watch. ‘It’s getting late.’
I let out a huff of air. He was right. There was no other way. We needed the Tactical Group to be there. I was going to have to tell Trent about Gloria. An ache set up in my chest. Like the poor guy hadn’t been hurt enough in the last six months.
I rang Trent’s number and held the phone to my ear, trying to ignore the fact that my hand was trembling.
‘Hello.’ It was a woman’s voice. Gloria’s voice.
I let out a screech and hung up.
‘What?’ Both Martine and Nick said together.
‘It was her,’ I hissed. ‘What should I do?’
‘Ring back and ask for Trent.’ Nick rolled his eyes like it was the obvious answer.
‘What if she’s suspicious?’
‘She’s going to be suspicious if you don’t ring back,’ Martine said. ‘I’m guessing he has your number in his phone.’
Shit. She was right.
‘Besides,’ Nick said. ‘This is life and death, and I’m not talking about our lives when I say that.’
Billy. He was talking about Billy.
I clenched my teeth as I dialled back. It was going to take every bit of acting skill I had to be nice to that bitch.
‘Hello? Chanel?’
‘Oh hey, Gloria. You wouldn’t believe it, a huge spider just ran up my leg as I rang. Urghhhhhh.’ I shuddered. ‘One of those huge, hairy ones.’
‘Huntsmen?’
‘Yeah. One of those.’
‘Oh, yuck. I hate those things.’
‘I’ll have nightmares tonight. Hey, is Trent there?’
‘Sure. What shall I say you are calling about?’
I let out a screech and hung up again.
I turned to Nick and Martine. ‘She wants to know what to tell him I’m calling about.’
‘What is she?’ Martine said. ‘His secretary?’
‘Tell her you’re apologising for your Mum’s behaviour today,’ Nick said.
I nodded as I dialled back. ‘Stupid spider,’ I said when she picked up. ‘Thought it was dead. You know they can still crawl with only five legs.’
‘I’m sure they can crawl with only one,’ she said.
There was silence for a few seconds. ‘Ummmm. Trent?’ I said.
‘Oh yes, sorry what was it about?’
‘Oh, I wanted to apologise to him for today. At the ceremony. It’s my Mum. She can be a little insensitive sometimes.’
‘Oh.’ Her tone was frosty. ‘Sure. I’ll get him.’
I could hear murmuring and then Trent said, ‘Yellow.’
‘Trent,’ I said. ‘I need you to listen to what I have to say and only answer me with yes and no. Do you understand?’
‘Urrr. Yes,’ he said.
‘Gloria thinks I am apologising for Mum’s behaviour today. That’s not why I rang. Did Gloria tell you where the drop off is going to be tomorrow?’
‘Yes but….’ He stopped.
‘Is it in Randwick?’
‘No.’
‘She’s lying. Ring me when she can’t hear you talk. Now say, “That’s okay. It didn’t worry me.”’
‘That’s okay.’ His voice was stilted. ‘It didn’t worry me.’
‘That’s great,’ I said. ‘Have a good weekend.’ I hung up. If I stayed on too long she might get suspicious.
‘Urghmmmmmthmm.’ The noise was accompanied by thumping.
Martine let out a squeal and we all turned to the staircase.
Big Bad Ben was awake and had managed to flip over. The sheet was tangled around his legs so we could see his eyes. They promised a long and painful death.
‘Thwraaghhhh.’ He thrashed so that his legs smacked on the ground.
‘Do you think they’ll be able to hear him next door?’ Martine asked.
‘It’s more downstairs we need to worry about,’ Nick said. ‘Who lives underneath?’
‘Bert Samson,’ I said. ‘He put in a noise complaint with the owner when I had the girls round one night.’
‘Gwaaaarrrrghhhhhh.’ Bad Ben flopped up and down like a dying fish.
‘Maybe we should move him up to my apartment?’ At least we know the tenant below won’t complain.’ Martine let out a little laugh.
I stared at Ben. ‘We could hardly shift him when he was unconscious,’ I said. ‘Imagine if he was fighting us.’
‘There’s only one option,’ Nick picked the duct tape up. ‘We need to turn him into the Michelin Man.’
‘Huh,’ Martine said.
‘You know the ad? For Michelin Tyres?’
Martine shook her head.
‘Geez. What rock in what universe have you been living under?’
‘No need to be rude about it. Just tell me what this Michelin Man is.’
Nick looked up to the roof and sighed. ‘Fine. Michelin Man is the mascot for the Michelin Tyre Company. He is puffy and looks like a whole heap of tyres stacked on top of each other.’
‘Now who’s being silly?’ Martine rolled her eyes. ‘Where are we going to get tyres from?’
Nick picked up one of the cushions off the couch. ‘I’m not planning on using tyres.’
‘Not the pretty sequinned ones,’ I said.
‘Toots, you got other cushions stashed away somewhere?’
‘No.’ I stuck out my bottom lip.
‘Cause we’re going to need them all if we are going to muffle this noise.’
Bad Ben had been screaming into the gag and flopping around the whole time we’d been talking.
‘You really want that little turd Bert calling the cops?’
The drugs were sitting in a bowl on my coffee table like aperitifs.
‘No.’ I picked up the cushions and stalked over to Ben. ‘Shut up,’ I said as I whacked him with one. ‘This is your own stupid fault.’
He growled and lunged at me and I scooted out of the way.
‘Feisty,’ Martine said. ‘Just how I like my men. Oh please, Chanel.’ She turned to me and clasped her hands to her chest. ‘Let me play with him first.’
Ben’s murderous eyes changed to that of alarm. ‘Mffhmmmhhmmh,’ he said as he wriggled backwards.
‘I’ll think about it,’ I said to her. ‘If he doesn’t start behaving you can have him.’
‘Oh goody.’ She clapped her hands together. ‘I have this wonderful gimp outfit he would look amazing in.’
I turned away so Bad Ben couldn’t see the look on my face. I was having a hard time not laughing at the look on his.
‘Chanel. You got much more of this tape?’ Nick asked.
‘I bought a six pack.’ I tilted my head to the side and tapped my lower lip thoughtfully. ‘Do you think that would be enough?’
‘Oh yes.’ Martine laughed. ‘I used to be able to control my last gimp with only two rolls.’
‘You going to behave, Boy?’ Nick knelt down in front of Ben and snapped the piece of duct tape a couple of times. ‘Cause this here tape could hold you steady in some pretty awkward positions.’
Big Bad Ben’s face was a mask of terror as he nodded up and down.
‘Still going to Michelin him?’ I asked.
‘Nah. I think he’ll behave himself.’
‘Oh, pity.’ Martine walked over and bent down to place a cushion under his head. His eyes bulged as she ran a finger down his cheek. ‘He’s such a pretty one.’
I jumped as the disco beat of my phone ringing broke out. Shit. It was Trent.
‘Are you alone?’ I asked.
‘Yes,’ he whispered. ‘You have two minutes to explain yourself.’ The vast echo told me he was in the bathroom.
‘Big Bad Ben paid me a visit tonight.’
‘Who is that?’
‘The Crystal’s right hand man. I told Gloria about him. She didn’t arrest him. She told him where I lived.’
‘He told you this?’
‘No.’
There was silence. I could feel myself losing him.
‘While he was trying to kill me, Martine hit him with a nappy. It burst. It was full of drugs. Blue drugs.’
‘What has this got to do with Gloria?’ he whispered her name so I almost couldn’t hear it.
‘The nappy was part of Christina Wong’s prototype.’
‘The nappy queen?’
‘Martyn is doing her accounts now.’
‘The nappy queen gave Martyn a nappy full of drugs?’
‘No.’ I cleared my throat. ‘He stole it. We wanted to see how much fluid it could hold.’
I could almost hear Trent gritting his teeth. ‘You know you are making no sense at all?’
‘Look. Martyn saw Gloria at Christina’s. We know there is a drug shipment coming in tomorrow. There is also a nappy shipment coming in tomorrow. There are drugs in the nappies. You do the math, Trent.’
‘I still don’t see how….’ His hiss turned to a loving tone. ‘Coming love.’ He was silent for a second. ‘I have to go.’ It sounded like he was squeezing the bridge of his nose.
‘Trent,’ I said. ‘Billy’s life is in danger. We need the Tactical Group at Christina’s warehouse.’
‘I have to go.’ His voice was like ice as he hung up.
‘Shit.’ I turned to Nick and Martine. ‘He doesn’t believe me.’
‘I don’t know if I would have believed you either,’ Nick said. ‘I mean when you hear the story like that, it’s all circumstantial evidence.’
I put the phone down and rubbed at my temples with my hands. A headache was blooming. ‘He confirmed that the location she gave him is false.’ I looked at Martine. ‘Do you have any ice cream? I could really use some ice cream.’
‘Oh, what a good idea. We can have an ice cream planning party.’ She looked over at Bad Ben. ‘Would you like some ice cream? I could spoon feed you.’
He shook his head frantically and then closed his eyes.
‘Too bad.’ She grinned at me as she shrugged. ‘More for us I suppose.’
***
I tapped my foot on the floor. The night had been a long one with hardly any sleep. We had taken shifts watching Bad Ben, but even when it was my turn to sleep I couldn’t.
As soon as my head touched the pillow the panic had taken control of my imagination. Billy had died a thousand times and each time, there had been nothing I could do about it.
I wrapped my hands around my coffee mug and took another sip. The Nurofen was controlling my headache, but not doing anything for the ragged pain in my chest.
‘Here you go,’ Martine put a plate of reheated pizza in front of me.
I stared at it.
‘You have to eat,’ she said. ‘Can’t have you passing out with fatigue during The Muddy.’ We had managed to get last minute tickets online.
‘What time does it start again?’ I picked up the pizza and sniffed at it.
’Ten-thirty.’ Nick rubbed his hands together. ‘Only three hours to go.’
‘Shit.’ I put the pizza down and scrabbled for my phone. ‘I’m meant to be picking Mum and Harry up to take them to the airport at ten-thirty.’
I didn’t want to call her. It would lead to far too many questions. So I sent her a text.
I can’t give you any details other than to say that a work thing has come up. Billy needs me. I won’t be able to take you to the airport. Sorry for the late notice. Love you both. Xxxx
Martine was right. I needed to eat. And then we needed to get ready.
I picked up the pizza and bit into it. It was just as good as the night before.
‘Hey, Big Boy.’ Martine nudged Bad Ben with her foot. ‘You want some food?’
The only movement Bad Ben made was to squeeze his eyes even more tightly shut.
‘Right.’ I put my plate in the sink and turned to my partners in crime. ‘I’m going to work. You get ready.’
‘We know what to do.’ Nick picked up the duct tape and moved over to Ben. He secured the man’s feet to the bottom post supporting the stairs.
Martine picked up the bowl of drugs and the note we had prepared last night and put them on the floor in front of Ben.
This is Big Bad Ben, the drug dealer. He tried to kill me last night. Please take him into custody and I will come in to make a statement when I have finished dealing with the rest of the gang.
Probationary Constable Chanel Smith.
I nodded. It had been Nick’s idea. There was only so long Martine’s threat of a sponge bath was going to keep Big Bad Ben silent for once we were gone. ‘That ought to do it. See you soon.’ I picked up the large bag I had placed by the front door and left.
It was eight in the morning when I arrived at work. The night and day shift were swapping over and the usual chaos ensued. I waved at the clerk on the front desk and slipped out the back.
‘Chanel,’ Riley called. ‘How the heck are ya?’
‘Good thanks, Riley.’ I pasted a smile on my face. I liked Riley but he was a real have-a-chat, which is not what I needed right now. I needed to be in and out with the minimum number of people marking me.
‘Riley, you done with your report?’ His partner, Wayne, waved at me.
I took advantage of the diversion and darted off to the women’s change rooms. It didn’t take me long to put three bullet-proof vests into my bag. I grabbed a couple of extra sets of hand cuffs and some cans of pepper spray, before heading to the gun locker room.
It only took me a minute to load my gun and some ammunition into my bag, but it was the longest minute of my life. If somebody saw me it would be game over before we had even begun.
I eyed off the Tasers. I hadn’t been accredited in their use yet. Ramy hadn’t thought it necessary. I took a deep breath and shoved one into my bag. Taking a Taser was small change compared to taking my gun.
Most of the day shift were hanging around the coffee machine swapping stories as they prepared their first caffeine hit.
Wayne looked up as I passed but there was no suspicion in his eyes as I returned his previous wave.
I breezed out of The Station, up the stairs, around to the car park, into my car and home within five minutes. It wasn’t till I was sheltered by the darkness of the underground car park that I let my nerves have their moment.
I leaned my head against the steering wheel as my palms sweated and my body shook.
What I was doing was illegal. I had already acknowledged to myself that I wasn’t going to get away with it like the last time I’d taken my gun from work.
Trent wasn’t going to be there to save my arse this time, which meant that that was probably the last time I was going to enter The Station as an employee. The next time I would likely be in cuffs.
I had acknowledged and accepted it. It was a small price to pay for Billy’s life. And, well, if that didn’t pan out the way I was hoping it would, I didn’t really care what happened to me.
I wasn’t happy about dragging Nick and Martine with me, but they weren’t going to be the one with the illegally-used firearm, so they would both walk away. If we lived through it.
My body shook some more. This was craziness. What we were planning was totally nuts. But I couldn’t see any other option. I had tried and failed with Trent. There was going to be no police back up. No knight on a white horse to save us. But if we didn’t at least try, Billy would die for sure.
Tears trembled on my lashes and then cascaded down my face. If I knew one thing, it was that sitting back and allowing that to happen was something I could not live with. He was too important to me.
I stayed in the car for the ten minutes it took me to regain control, then I walked up the stairs to Martine’s apartment.
Cocoa was there with Nick and Martine. I was glad Bruce hadn’t come to pick up Cocoa yet, I wanted to have a proper goodbye with my little fur ball.
I picked him up and hugged him to my chest. He nestled into me, curling into a ball so he could tuck his head in under mine. I breathed in his doggy scent and kissed him on the head. I didn’t know when I would get to see him again.
‘Why do you look so melancholy?’ Nick still looked like himself.
‘Oh, you know.’ I shrugged. ‘Just preparing for the worst.’
‘Don’t even think that way.’ He swung back around in the chair so Martine could keep working. ‘You don’t want to be putting that sort of energy out there.’
‘He’s right.’ Martine bent and peered at Nick’s face. She picked up a smaller brush and tickled the end of it into some makeup. ‘We need to be thinking positive thoughts.’
‘Positive, schmositive.’ I put Cocoa on the lounge and walked over to examine the contents of Martine’s freezer. Bingo. Another tub of Ben and Jerry was nestled in the back.
I pulled it out and grabbed a spoon from the drawer. I doubted very much there would be Ben and Jerry’s in jail. I would be lucky to get plain vanilla. And that was if the other inmates didn’t steal my ice cream. Being a cop was going to severely limit my friend options. They’d probably have to stick me into solitary confinement.
There was a knock on the front door. I carried the tub of ice cream with me as I went to answer it.
‘Hello,’ I called out. I didn’t want a repeat of last night’s performance.
‘It’s Bruce.’
Was it really Bruce, or was it someone pretending to be Bruce?
Cocoa let out a woof and jumped off the lounge. That was good enough for me.
I pulled open the door. ‘Want some?’ I held the tub out towards him.
‘Ahhhh.’ He looked at his watch. ‘I normally save my ice cream eating till after twelve.’
‘Suit yourself.’ I shrugged and stood back to let him in. It would have been nice to be able to be picky about when I was going to get to eat ice cream.
Bruce eyed me up and down before heading over to Martine. ‘What’s with her?’ Bruce pointed in my direction.
‘She’s gone all defeatist on us. The sugar should kick in soon,’ Martine said.
I ladled more ice cream into my mouth and slumped onto the couch next to Cocoa. He snuggled against me, looking up at the ice-cream tub hopefully.
To be honest, I was starting to feel better as the sugar surged into my system. It just went to show what I’d always believed – Ice cream could solve anything.
As I made my way through the tub, Nick morphed into a short, ugly woman.
‘What do you think?’ He spun on the spot with his arms held out.
‘You’re still short.’ I smiled. ‘But you’ll do. Here.’ I reached into my bag and pulled out the vests. ‘This is the smallest one I could get.’ I held it out to ‘Nicole’. ‘And this was the largest.’ That one was for Martine.
‘I do say,’ Bruce said, ‘you’re taking being turned into a woman far better than I had expected.’
‘You wouldn’t get it.’
‘Try me.’
‘There are going to be hundreds of women, running through mud and getting their T-shirts all wet and dirty. What male would not do whatever it took to get amongst that?’
‘You’re right.’ Bruce let out a melodramatic sigh. ‘I don’t get it.’
I looked at my watch. It was a quarter-past nine. It would take us a good half hour to get to the Randwick Racecourse. We needed to be out of there in the next fifteen minutes.
I helped Martine into her vest then dug around in the kitchen drawers till I found a Ziploc bag big enough for my gun.
‘What?’ Bruce eyed off my wrapped gun.
‘There’s going to be mud. Don’t want that getting into my Glock.’
‘I didn’t think you could shoot.’
‘I can’t.’ I said. ‘The gun’s for Billy.’
‘What do you have?’
I pulled a face. ‘Handcuffs.’
‘That’s it?’
‘Pepper spray.’
‘A little better. But surely you don’t think you’re going to take down a crime gang with a little pepper spray.’
‘Okay, so I might have taken a Taser.’
‘You got a Taser?’ Nick looked up from tightening the straps on his vest. ‘You know how to use that bad boy?’
‘I haven’t done the accreditation,’ I said.
‘Excellent.’ He held out his hand. ‘I have. Oh come on.’ He wiggled his fingers. ‘You know you’d miss anyway.’
I sighed. He was right. It was the reason I hadn’t pressed my right to do the accreditation. The one weakness in the system was that you had to be able to hit your target for it to be effective.
‘Here.’ I handed him the Taser and a can of pepper spray.
He copied my plastic bag trick and secured them onto his vest.
‘See how you open these.’ I showed Martine how the cuffs worked and then fitted them onto the back of her vest. ‘And make sure you fire this nozzle facing out.’ I handed her the spray.
‘Please.’ She sniffed. ‘Like I haven’t been using hairspray my whole life.’
‘You’d be surprised how many people get it wrong.’
We put t-shirts over our vests and looked at each other. The shit was about to get real.
‘Bruce.’ I clipped on Cocoa’s lead and handed the end to him. ‘If something happens.’
‘Stop,’ he said. ‘It won’t. You’re all going to be home tonight to tell me about your crazy adventure.’
Bruce.’ I put a hand on his arm. ‘I need to know….’
‘Yes. Yes.’ His eyes showed his concern. ‘I’ll look after him till your Mum gets back, and then I’ll fight her for custody.’
I choked out a laugh. ‘Thanks.’
‘Now,’ Bruce said, ‘enough of the mushy stuff. Go get those bad guys and bring Billy home.’