Despite Jet’s initial reservations about returning to her old life in Sydney, the following two weeks flew past. After her run-in with Andrew, her situation suddenly became a lot clearer. Now she’d let the cat out of the bag about her name and business, she knew she needed to follow through. Perhaps it was immature of her, but nothing would be worse than being on the receiving end of Andrew’s derision if she backed down from her announcement.
Jet set about making the changes happen straight away. She filled in the paperwork to change her surname the very next day and sent it off to Births, Deaths and Marriages. While it had been tempting to legally change her first name as well, Jet chose to leave her Christian name as Juliet, and go by the nickname of Jet. Although she barely remembered her parents, that was the name they had chosen for her.
The next thing Jet did was to get her team of staff on board with the changes. She held a two-hour meeting briefing them about her decision to change the name of the company—leaving out the part about her ex-husband being a domineering, control freak. Instead, she pitched it as an opportunity for growth and a sign of the company’s success.
Jet was grateful more than ever that she’d withstood Andrew’s ongoing pressure to form a company board for the business. For years he’d been saying it was an essential step to take her success to the next level. A big reason she’d resisted was because she didn’t want him on the board. Now it meant she could make these changes without needing to gain anyone else’s approval. If she one day chose to have a board, it would be when she was well and truly free of her ex-husband’s reach.
The meeting wasn’t without the expected questions and concerns. However, by the end of the session the young women that worked for her were excited about the changes. Cleverly, Jet had created a rebranding team, to make her team feel part of the process. They would be overseeing aspects like the logo update, website changes and communicating the refresh to their existing clients.
No matter how busy Jet was, she found time to talk to Dan. It hadn’t been a conscious decision to talk to him every day, but somehow that’s always what ended up happening. Either she’d think of a question to ask him or he’d message her with a thought about something, and by the end of each day there would be an excuse for a phone conversation.
As Jet locked up for the night, she smiled to herself, already anticipating reading the message Dan had sent her an hour earlier when she’d been in a meeting. For whatever reason, she liked to read his messages when she was alone. She’d been saving this one for when she was heading home, like holding out for a piece of delicious chocolate.
Jet punched the security code into the keypad to arm the alarm for the night and enjoyed listening to the click-clack of her heels on the pavement as she walked to her car. Dan had been right. She had settled back into her old life—with a few changes. While she’d found herself opting for heels at the office again, Jet rarely wore as much make-up as she used to and didn’t always wear a suit depending on what the day held. It was funny how some minor changes to her day-to-day life made her feel more herself.
Jet felt around in her handbag for her phone as she walked. The sun was setting, the summer evening sky an artist’s palette of warm oranges, light blues and purples. It was past seven in the evening. It had been another busy, but satisfying day. Thoughts of the rebranding and Dan filled her head. And how stupid her designer bag was. It really was much too big.
Absently, she registered a young man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap approaching from the opposite direction. Her office was located in the well-heeled eastern Sydney suburb of Double Bay and like everyone in the area, the guy’s outfit was fashionable. Smart jeans, a casual black shirt and trendy leather jacket. It was pretty warm for a leather jacket, so chances were he was strolling home after Friday night after-work drinks. Maybe Jet would encourage her team to stay for Friday night drinks next week.
Jet pulled the phone out of her bag and glanced down at it. She broke into a big smile when she read over the message.
My turn to Je T’appelle tonight? When you get home, there should be a case of wine waiting by your front door. My treat.
Only the night before Dan had sounded slightly mortified when she’d admitted to not having any good wine in the house. She secretly hoped he’d delivered her a case of Rhodes wine, because she’d developed a taste for it during her time there.
Not just a taste for the wine, she thought, her smile growing bigger.
They hadn’t openly discussed it of course, but Jet’s concerns over Dan wanting to be part of her life were fading with every day that passed. She was still too scared to ask him how involved he wanted to be. The memory of their one night together had grown more intense during their separation. Jet wasn’t going to ruin things though. She really enjoyed Dan’s friendship and she didn’t want to risk losing it. While Edie was certainly a loyal and close friend, Dan was the only one who understood what she’d been through these last few months.
‘Excuse me.’
Jet looked up as the guy in the cap and sunglasses stepped in front of her.
‘Yes?’
Before she had time to react, he slipped an arm around her waist and guided her away from the footpath towards a waiting sedan she hadn’t registered earlier.
Jet stiffened, then fear took hold. She pushed away from him as hard as she could, once, twice, then three times—to no avail. Panic choked her windpipe and the sickly sweet scent of the man’s aftershave made her feel dizzy.
She brought her left heel up with the intention of stepping on his polished black shoe, but the man wrenched her sideways and shook her fiercely. She felt a sudden, sharp pain in her side.
He gave her a dark look. ‘I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Got it?’
Jet swallowed and looked down between them. He held a knife to her side, down low underneath his leather jacket where it couldn’t easily be seen. The tip of the knife was sharp enough to apply an uncomfortable pressure through both their layers of clothing.
Jet nodded slowly, too terrified to make any more sudden moves.
‘Smart woman.’
He started moving again. Jet didn’t struggle this time. The shock was making her feel numb and somehow it didn’t even feel like it was her body he was manhandling.
When they reached the rear door of the sedan, the man cast a look in both directions up and down the street. Jet followed his gaze and with a sinking feeling deep in the pit of her stomach, saw nobody was nearby. The closest person was over a block away, separated by traffic lights.
For a brief second Jet considered screaming out, but the knife was still pressed so firmly into her side she didn’t dare.
‘After you.’
Jet stumbled as she was pushed into the back seat of the car and sent sprawling onto the leather.
‘Hurry up.’
She felt the man shove at her from behind, trying to make room for him to get in beside her. She lay awkwardly across the back seat, face down. Jet shifted herself up onto her elbow, which was when she realised she was still clinging onto her mobile phone. It was pressed between her stomach and wedged at the back of the seat.
Jet looked up and recoiled when she saw two other men watching her from the passenger and driver’s seats. They were wearing caps and sunglasses too, so she was unable to get a clear look at their faces.
The one in the passenger seat saluted her in greeting. ‘Ms Temple.’
‘I said move.’
‘Ow!’ Jet cried out as he pushed her from behind again. As she was forced toward the other side of the car, she hit the call button on her phone, blocking it from view with her body. It brought up the recents list. She pressed Dan’s name and quickly slipped the phone into her suit jacket pocket.
She had no way of knowing if he would be able to hear anything that was said. Or if he would think she’d called him by accident and just hang up.
She just hoped and prayed that if he did stay on the line, he’d remain quiet.