Jealous Storm by Jack Stroke (book recommendations .txt) 📕

bother to look at his watch. No point. He simply had to hurry as fast as he could. Thankfully there was no one else in the restroom. Still, the space was pokey and awkward.

Slipping off his shoes and jeans, he stepped into the pants. Ben had never worn a tux before. He had worn a suit and tie to a school dance and that was it. To his surprise the pants fitted perfectly. He swapped his T-shirt for the shirt and jacket. Wow, if the others could see him now. His Mum and Joan. Amber. As it was, Ben barely had time to see himself.

All was going okay until he got to the tie. Joan had done up his tie for the school dance and that was a regular one. The two ends of the bowtie hung limply around his neck. How long had he taken? What if Shake had gone already? Nah, he was good. He’d been fast.

Ben dashed out of the restroom, his clothes and the suit bag bundled under his arm.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been. Quick. Except…

Crap. Shake was no longer at the counter.

25

The chewing waitress gave Ben an apologetic shrug. Had he really been too long? He must have. Shake was gone. Unless… was this his first mission? Get dumped in the middle of nowhere, just to see how he would cope?

He dashed out the front entrance even though he knew it was futile. Except… The Tesla was sitting there, exactly where they had left it. Ben approached. Shake wasn’t inside.

“Shake!” No response. “Hey, Shake!”

No sign of the white-haired guy anywhere. Muttering, Ben retraced his steps. Back inside the roadhouse he found Shake sitting casually at a table.

“Fail,” Shake said.

Ben must’ve bolted straight by him. “Fail?”

Shake pointed to the undone bowtie.

“I don’t know how to tie a bowtie.”

“What’s that matter? You’ve got a job, you have to figure out a way to do it. Complaining and saying you don’t know how doesn’t cut it. Find a way.”

Ben wasn’t sure. He nodded anyway.

“Want something to eat?”

“I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t be stupid. You don’t have to pay.”

“Oh, okay. Ummm…”

“It’s a pretty simple question.”

“I honestly have no idea if I’m hungry or not. I should be, I guess.”

“You are,” Shake informed him. “We’ve been travelling for a long time. Nerves can hide hunger. It’s important to eat.”

“Okay. I’m not sure what I feel like.”

A new waitress solved the issue, putting a bowl of spaghetti in front of Ben and a cheeseburger and fries in front of Shake.

“What’s this?”

“I get you’re a country hick, but please tell me you know what spaghetti is.”

“Yes, but —“

“Don’t drop any of it on your shirt. That would be embarrassing for you.”

Ben watched Shake dip his fries in a small bowl of sauce.

“Come on, Benny. You need to eat. There won’t be any proper food at the party.”

“I’m going to a party?”

“It’d be stupid to dress up like that just so you could hang around a roadhouse, don’t you think?”

“Whose party? The guy whose photo you showed me?”

“Jakob Baumer.”

“Yeah. Is it his party?”

“It’s at his house. I say house. Castle would be more appropriate.”

Butterflies escaped into Ben’s stomach. “And is this where I…”

“What?”

“Where I… You know. Where I… Where it happens?”

“God, if you can’t even say it, how are you going to do it?”

Ben kept his voice low. “Is this the party where I’m supposed to kill him?”

Shake chuckled. “Cool your jets, hotshot. This is nothing like that.”

“Oh, okay. I thought you said…”

“Don’t think. Listen. This is just a party.”

“Okay. What do I do?”

“Pretty simple. All you have to is meet his daughter. His pride and joy.”

“Okay. Do you have a photo of her or anything?”

Who?”

“This daughter I’m supposed to meet.”

“No. It’s not rocket surgery. You’ll figure it out. Look, this part of the job is pretty simple. Figure out who the daughter is and meet her.”

“Meet her how?”

“That isn’t the part that should be difficult to understand. This is just a setup. There will be more contact after the party.When that happens her response should be, ‘Oh, I know him. It’s that guy I met at the party.’ Capeesh?”

“Kind of.”

“Look, no one is asking you to be James Bond here or anything. At this stage all we need is for Baumer’s daughter to know you exist. Well, a little more than that. She has to think you’re an okay guy and not a complete fool. You can do that, can’t you?”

Ben nodded. He could, couldn’t he?

26

As pets, cats tend to have a heightened sense of self-importance. They like to believe every action taken by their loved ones is for their benefit and their benefit alone, even if they can’t figure why. As such, Lion seemed perplexed to find Amber spending her day sitting on her cabin’s front porch. He sat on her knee for a few minutes but couldn’t settle and wandered away to find some adventure.

In fact, Amber’s reasoning had zero to do with Lion. She was merely sitting outside the cabin, doing very little and feeling infinitely better for it. Not the sitting around so much as the knowledge this was the first step in taking action. That she had a plan. This meant sitting for a while. That was fine. She could wait.

Finally Ellis exited the owner’s cottage and made his way to cabin three. He waved and Amber waved back.

“Beautiful day.”

“Always is.”

“Thinking I might go for a swim.”

Perfect. “Good idea.”

“Wanna come?”

“No.”

Ellis disappeared into his cabin. Around twenty minutes later he reappeared, towel draped around his shoulders. He waved and Amber waved again. She was happy to play now, the game close to over, even if Ellis didn’t realise they were playing.

She watched him wander all the way across the road, dump his towel and stroll out into the water. Now was the time. Even if he went for the world’s quickest swim, she would still be in and out before he had got back.

Keeping one eye on the beach and the other on