Jealous Storm, Jack Stroke [best sci fi novels of all time .txt] 📗

brunch. I’m off to enjoy this beautiful day.”

She left them standing there, staring at one another.

58

Amber found herself wandering towards the pier, a magnetic attraction drawing her to Vaughan. What should she tell him? She had the urge to tell him everything. Everything. Explain it all, from Ellis’ attack right up to the here and now. About how being attacked scared her so much she vowed never to be powerless again. How she joined Diamond Logistics, learned how to fight. How to kill. How she became…

Maybe that was a bit much. She should at least tell him about her talk with Joan and her new attitude with Ellis. Thank him, because, as usual, he helped so much.

That seemed like a lot of talking. Maybe they could just have sex instead. Really good sex.

Except wandering down the pier to his berth, his boat wasn’t there. Fear rocketed through her chest. Had Vaughan gone? Just up and left her? She wasn’t sure what was worse - the concern he had or the realisation how attached she was getting to him. She assured herself any fear was irrational. He had just taken the boat out. Gone fishing somewhere. It was a boat. That’s what it’s for. It didn’t help.

Maybe Grubby knew. She made her way back to the bait shop. The odour wasn’t getting any better.

“Hey, Grubs. Do you know where Vaughan is?” she asked, doing her utmost to keep her voice casual.

“Fishing, I reckon.”

“Yeah, that’s what I would have thought too.”

Grubby moved around the counter.

“Hey, listen. While I’m here. I wanted to say thanks for our talk the other day and your offer to help me with…”

Her voice trailed away, distracted. What was he doing?

Grubby shut the bait shop door, locking them in. Was he about to try something with her? She hoped not, for his sake. Amber tried to get her head together. Ignoring his actions.

“Anyway, thanks for the offer of help. I wasn’t at my best or thinking clearly.”

“You’re always at your best, aren’t ’cha?”

“Nice of you to say but I wasn’t the other day. Whatever, I appreciate you being there to help out.”

His face fell. “Wait, does this mean you don’t want me help anymore? What about the drugs?”

“Didn’t Vaughan speak to you?”

“Yeah, but…” He scoffed. “You don’t think I’d take any notice of what Mr Bloody Goody-two-shoes says, do you?”

“Yeah, I do. Or did.”

“Whatever. Suit yourself.”

“It was a bad idea, Grubby. Like I said, I wasn’t myself.”

“You sure?”

“I am.”

“I would have thought more of you,” he said, clicking his tongue.

“Sorry to disappoint.”

He pulled open the drawer under the counter. “What am I gonna do with this then?”

Grubby tossed Amber a bag. The clear plastic fitted snugly in her palm. The tightly packed powder had a distinct pink hue. Pink heroin. Amber had seen this before. The colour was slightly duller than she’d encountered previously, having been cut with something else. Definitely the same though. The same heroin Amber had destroyed when she killed Ava. The same as she and Ben had found in the Cards ’n Care warehouse.

“Grubby. Where did you get this?”

“I got me sources. I’m… What did you call me? Man in town? Did the Grubster come through or what?”

“Yes, you definitely came through.”

Pink heroin. Not good. There were only a couple of possibilities as to where this could have come from.

Amber managed to convince Grubby to let her hold on to it, even though she didn’t have any money on her, reasoning he knew where she lived. He wasn’t happy but finally acquiesced (not that Grubby would have had the first clue what acquiesced meant). Grubby having that much heroin was like a two-year-old having a loaded gun.

“And there’s more where that came from.”

“Good. Because we will have to have a serious conversation about that later.”

“About what?”

“About where this came from.”

“You know I can’t reveal me sources.”

That was fair enough. She couldn’t reveal too much either. But he would. Grubby just didn’t know it yet.

Amber hurried back to Paradise by the Bay faster than people generally did anything in Paradise Cove.

59

It took a while to get Mother on the phone. When she did, Amber first apologised about the whole business with Ellis and the background check, assuring Mother she was thinking clearly once more. Mother accepted her apology, and Amber got to the point of the call.

“Bad news. I’ve come across some heroin down here.”

“Not entirely surprising. Port Simmons is —”

“It’s pink.”

Mother paused, processing. “Same as the heroin you destroyed.”

“Exactly. Too quick for them to be back in business.”

“We agree. A rogue batch maybe?”

“Leftover, you mean? Maybe. There are more likely possibilities though.”

“Such as?”

“There were drugs in the warehouse that I raided when Ben almost got shot. Drugs the police should have taken care of.”

In the silence that followed, Amber became aware there was someone there. Outside cabin six. It wasn’t clear if she heard them or sensed their presence.

“Call you back,” she said to Mother.

Could it be Ralph again? She took a moment to ensure she was actually awake. She was reasonably sure she was. Occasionally she encountered the dead when she was awake, although it was rare.

Should she grab her Sig? Just in case? It was Paradise Cove, so most likely nothing to be concerned about. The heroin had her on edge. Plus instinct told her pure evil was on the other side of the door. Amber opened it to find a familiar figure slinking about.

“What do you want, Ellis?”

“Wow, that didn’t last long, even for you. What happened to the happy ‘everything is fine’ Amber? ‘We’re all best buddies around here’ Amber?”

It took a moment to twig what Ellis was on about.

“I enjoyed your little speech earlier. Nice touch, apologising to me.”

“I meant it.”

“Sure you did. It won’t work, you know. Whatever this new game is.”

“No game, Ellis. I’m not playing anymore.”

“You can’t not play. All you do is play. You’re just not very good.”

She said nothing.

“So, what? You’re going to pretend to like me from now? That’s the big