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Wiri grunted at Jet the next morning as they passed in the kitchen. The police officer’s uniform put him on his guard and he shook his head at the misnomer which turned a friend into a foe by dint of his clothing.
“You sleep okay?” Jet fixed his epaulettes over the shoulder bars of his shirt. He gazed through the front window and fastened the top button. “Gonna be a hot one today. Heavy rain later though, or so the weather forecast said.”
Wiri nodded and stuffed his sandwiches into a reusable bag. He shoved the package into a fabric cooler with corners tattered from age. He missed the lunches Hana made and the ease of feeling hungry and finding food in the fridge. “Yeah,” he replied, though he hadn’t given the weather a thought before that moment.
“I finish at six today.” Jet straightened his waistband and smiled at Wiri. “Wanna go to the bar in town?” He frowned and shuttered his eyelids in a mental calculation. “Yeah, you’re old enough, aren’t you?”
“Yep.” Wiri pushed his drink bottle into the cooler and closed the zip with a whizzing rasp around its worn corners. “Depends if all you want is a sober driver.”
Jet snorted and shook his head. “Na, mate. Just some company.”
“What about your brother?” Wiri’s fingers stopped on the handle of the front door as Jet followed him into the hall. Through the glass on either side of the door, dawn broke behind the mountain range to cast an eerie tangerine haze across the land and pick out the chrome detailing on his truck.
Jet shrugged. “They’re busy tonight. His kid has a thing at school.”
“Right.” Wiri pulled the door open. A yawn gripped his face as the frosty morning air stroked his skin. He finished fighting the spasm which overtook him, then glanced back at Jet. His jaw ached with the force threatened by the next one. “Can I decide later? I won’t be good company if I’m knackered.”
“Fair enough.” Jet spoke from the cavity of the fridge, his voice muffled.
Wiri rubbed his eyes before pulling the door wide enough to slip through the gap. He closed it behind him and sighed at his boots sitting beneath his hat on the shelf. The night’s fitful sleep hadn’t refreshed him. Waking at every creak and groan of the house left him feeling ragged and unprepared for the day. He sat on the bench to lace his boots and clamped the hat over his hair. Alfie’s scent surrounded him and provided a modicum of comfort.
A glance at his watch told him to hurry as the digital hands moved past the hour. He sped up, the cooler strap digging into his shoulder and the bag bumping against his hip. It didn’t just contain his sandwiches. His wallet nestled next to the bracelet inside a zip-lock bag. Unable to trust the sanctity of his bedroom, he’d carried with him everything that mattered. A closer inspection of his duffel bag in the light of the overhead bulb had shown his clothing in disarray. Even the book he’d brought had lost the bookmark from the last page he’d read. Someone had done a thorough search of his belongings and it worried him. The intruder possessed a key because they’d done no damage on entry. Wiri had prowled the house after midnight when he couldn’t sleep, searching for signs of a break in and found none. Jet mentioned nothing about his gear being disturbed, which meant the visitor had targeted only Wiri.
He trudged across the paddock towards the lights of Vaughan’s house, the mystery playing out in various scenarios in his mind. The cows tumbled away from his footsteps just as they had the day before, their limited brains forgetting they’d seen him make the same journey yesterday.
Wiri hopped the perimeter fence with limbs as heavy as lead. He didn’t make it as far as the porch before a voice hailed him from the shed on the other side of the house. At least, he thought it hailed him.
“Hey, boy, come here!” The female tones held a petulant quality. Wiri looked around him, half expecting a child to appear. “Hey, whatever-your-name-is, come and help me.”
A security light flickered on and Wiri spotted the woman who’d greeted Vaughan the day before with such disdain on the driveway. His steps ground to a halt and he stared at her.
Auburn hair tumbled over shoulders covered by a tee shirt made for a child. Neat breasts pushed through the fabric, and even in the dim light, Wiri noticed the outline of protruding nipples. Her bare stomach displayed a glittering jewel in her navel. His lips parted in surprise at her revealing attire. Her eyes glittered in victory as she walked towards him, marking every step with an exaggerated sway of her hips. “I need your help,” she said, her tone becoming silky now she had his attention.
Wiri swallowed and glanced towards the house. “Vaughan’s expecting me.” He forced himself to concentrate all his focus on her glittering eyes, not letting them drop below her cheek bones. The sunrise gained traction behind her and its rays set her hair on fire.
Like a warning beacon.
She shrugged in dismissal and her top lip snagged upward to create an ugly sneer. “I’m sure he’ll cope for a few minutes.”
Wiri inhaled and released the breath as a sigh. He’d been here many times before and extracted himself, keeping the best of him for Phoenix even before she knew he loved her. He jerked his head towards the house. “Even so, I’ll check with the guy who pays my wages.”
She snorted. “Have you seen any of that yet?”
There it was again. Her inference sneaked past Wiri’s defences and doubt crept into his thoughts. The plan only worked if he earned enough money to sustain two people in hiding for a prolonged period. The cooler bag bumped against his hip as a reminder of yesterday’s naivety. He’d removed the credit card from behind his phone, placing it in his wallet and pushing it below the bottom panel of the cooler. He wouldn’t take it out again, his emergency fund well and truly gone once the bill arrived.
Removing his gaze from the woman proved unwise. During his momentary lapse, she stepped close enough to invade his personal space. She leaned forward and her breasts brushed his left arm as she breathed his air. “I need your help with my horse.” Her hand rose, and she cupped his cheek in her palm. Her pupils dilated as last night’s stubble scraped against her skin. She dragged her hand lower until her fingers gripped his chin. “I heard you’re good with horses,” she whispered.
The boulder in his chest toppled to press against his heart hard enough to cause him pain. Wiri skittered back out of range, his cheek and chin burning as though she’d poured lighted gasoline over his face. “I have a girlfriend,” he growled, the words dragged from a secret, covetous place in his chest. He’d always imagined saying the sentence, playing it over and over in his mind like a fantasy across the years. Grey swirls streaked across the sunrise as a warning of rain, reminding him of the storms which drifted across Phoenix’s irises when he made her angry.
Confidence infused him as he rejected Leilah’s daughter. He recognised the moment of impact as her chin lifted and her jaw tightened with hatred. The flash of spite in her face revealed a woman not familiar with the word ‘no’ or its connotations.
“Seline?” Leilah’s gentle call issued from the house at the same time as the ranch slider hissed on its tracks. The woman tossed her hair and dropped her chin to glare at Wiri from beneath her brows.
Wiri answered when she didn’t. “Hey, miss. It’s just me.” He turned away from the bile spewing like a black cloud from her psyche, his boots scraping against the baked earth. “Is Vaughan ready?”
“Hi Wiremu.” Leilah’s brightness tinkled in the dawn. The yellow glow from the cheap bulbs behind her threw her into silhouette, emphasising her gentle lines and angles. Slight and elfin, she contained a beauty which she projected from the heart. Wiri forced himself not to glance back at her daughter, marvelling at how certain qualities seemed able to miss a generation. He stepped up onto the porch and readied his smile to greet her. When he looked back, Seline had gone. Leilah wrinkled her nose and blinked out into the darkness. “I don’t suppose you saw a young woman?” she said, a furrow appearing in her porcelain brow. “She went out ages ago to check on her gelding.”
Wiri lifted his chin in an easy action, hiding his discomfort of her daughter’s ambush. “Security lights are on,” he replied. “Someone’s moving around in the shed.”
“Thanks.” Leilah hauled the ranch slider open one handed to allow him entry. Her eyelashes fluttered, and Wiri’s heart ached for the vulnerability he recognised in her eyes. It called to him like a familiar nemesis, threatening to burst through the cage of her heart and meet his in mid-air. He doubted regular cleaning products could ever expunge the mess it made. Leilah blinked, and the perception in her smile rendered Wiri speechless. “Take a seat.” She pressed her fingers against his spine and guided him in the general direction of the dining table. “Vaughan’s just coming.”
Wiri sank into the same chair as yesterday, conscious of his work boots inside her home. He placed his cooler on the table and watched the strap slither over the side like liquid. Battered and innocuous, it contained his worldly possessions. The wallet betrayed his identity as a Du Rose and the bracelet formed the totem for his existence. Absorbed in his musing, he jumped to find Leilah dumping a mug of strong coffee onto the table in front of him. “You came prepared,” she said, jerking her head at his bag. “You can leave it here, if you like?”
Wiri thanked her for the fortifying caffeine, but avoided her offer to safeguard his bag. He had no intention of letting it out of his sight.
And not because he was a fan of rubbery cheese and inferior pickle sandwiches.
Not unless Hana made them.
