Page 28 of Natural-Born Cullers

“But,” added Ash, “we’ve been offered a thirty percent discount from Grant’s outside of London, and I’m making a call to see if Jessen’s, our supplier, will match it if we give them parts exclusive to the Corsa line from Bishops Car Sales that we’ve just been contracted to run MOTs on.”

Jack grinned. “Spot on. See what they say about the deal, and if it sounds as if they’re messing you around, tell Arthur over there I’ll throw him a free service.”

No. Ash couldn’t spot a petrol can from an oil retriever, but his memory recall over part article numbers and pricing was bloody fantastic. Jack had deliberately stripped both boxes of most of the seller details, leaving the LPG size visible, but stripping the detail of the article number which would classify the different timing chains for the Corsas. But they’d been timing parts Ash had ordered last week, and true to form, going by the LPG alone, he’d recalled the article numbers and pricing differences. Not only that, but the discounts being offered around.

Ash started to pack away the chains, and he smiled a little as he did. “You know, I could just take Raif with me, scare the shit out of Arthur into agreeing?”

Jack winced as he took a seat and tugged over his hand cleaner. “Raif scares the shit out of me, forget terrorising my suppliers.”

Ash flicked him a look, more a brief frown. He wasn’t exactly awkward with it, but those rather stunning traffic-light green eyes of his held a private knowledge of another time, another place where only Gray and Martin resided, and yeah, it was there in his quiet: Jack… scared Ash too, more the offer of running into Martin. But then from what Gray had told him, Ash had been targeted by the Holly Blue Butterfly killer, one who’d left a five-year-old girl locked away in Halliday’s psych unit with Ash and Raif. Holly Blue had murdered Lucy’s mother after raping her and stuffing a butterfly into her hip, then coming over it, and Ash… Ash had seen exactly what Gray and Martin had done to Holly Blue for it back at the manor.

Jack shivered, always a few steps behind Martin, yet only a blurred dream away from the memories turning head over heel and threatening to tumble freefall over him.

“How’s Chase?” he said gently as he picked up his coffee. Because little Lucy hadn’t been the only one to witness Holly Blue’s rape and love for butterflies in the body. Ash’s best friend Chase had lived it first-hand, with Ash forced to watch. Jack hated the echoes of him and Jan in that mix. Yeah, some memories really sucked ass.

“I keep getting glimpses that he’s coming out of his deep sleep,” Ash said as he sealed the boxes. “But then Halliday reminds me it’s one game I can’t play with him, not when it comes to wishing Chase out of a coma rather than letting him stay out of it and heal.”

“Everything takes time.” Jack knew that more than most. “But he’s in the best place to get there at the MC.”

Ash’s eyes hardened. “Thanks to Gray… you.” Ash was damn gorgeous to look at, great for out in public with their female suppliers with such an exotic mix of long red hair, pale skin, and those damn green eyes and slim-fit suit. Hell, he’d stopped Raif in his tracks, and getting that big troll from looking like he’d happily stay under the darkened bridge to crack a few skulls in order to make pen and pencil was something on its own. MI5 got Gray; Cal’s dad, MI6 got… Raif. Raif who usually lived house to house on darkened streets when homeowners played away from home. But with Ash, there came this sadness, that same frustrated anger of Jan’s with being working class and having no financial backing to look after their own when they were hurting.

“I only pay you for working for me, which, surprisingly, you’re fucking brilliant at when it comes to parts extraction and using your mouth to work the best deal, so I’m not being a damn charity case here,” said Jack. “Despite this rather… loveable exterior, I’m a bastard at heart when it comes to bringing money back into my own pocket and having the best underneath me to take over when I can’t be here. That and you actually distract Sam away from annoying the fuck out of me, which I’d goddamn well pay the Pope to strip naked for,” he added. “So where you spend your wage packet after that really isn’t my business.”

Ash went to say something, maybe to bite back. He had a history of playing bad Dom with Chase in order to wind people up, so Jack gave him a hard look, a smirk, at how he’d never win, not when it came to Dom and bastard role-playing. Ash gave a heavy sigh and dropped it in the same moment, maybe seeing it. He liked to push his luck sometimes, but then who didn’t?

“Beats working in a factory,” he said instead, and the look in his eyes said he meant that, more than. “Even moved up from biking it to driving a company car to work.”

“Yeah, well.” Jack coughed awkwardly and plucked his phone from his pocket when he got a text through. He really hated having his own licence revoked. “You’re working between two units in London, you need to look the part. Right?” Although the car had come from Gray on the quiet, more at Raif’s request that Ash be given security with Raif now working under Gray. Gray would have given Ash that protection easily enough, but he had a habit of making Raif work for it. However as Raif had been the one to go in and pull Gray and Light from the café bombing, Andrews in the mix too, Gray settled a little less aggressively around Raif, and didn’t Raif know it. There was trust there between them, and that usually took years with Gray.

So, yeah. Jack would more than look after Raif’s family, which included little Lucy when he finally got to meet her, but he’d never push for the latter. Kids he couldn’t really stomach, not the small, nut-nutting height ones anyway.

Finishing his coffee, Jack flicked a look at the text that came through.

Free up a few hours.

Jack frowned. Okay, a little direct, but that was Gray in general. He thumbed a reply.

Why? Where?

As Ash sniffed, Jack looked at him. “Use my office to handle the suppliers. And can you let Aid know I need to be somewhere? Tell him I’m sorry, but I’ll handle his bonus at the end of the month, knowing he went above and beyond again as manager.”

“Will do,” said Ash, picking the boxes up then slipping them under his arm. “I’ll get these booked back into my supply room.”

Jack smiled at themytag when it came to the supply room. Ash had owned it after just a few months of being here. Although he hated how easily Ash had taken his ownneed to be somewhere elserequest. They’d gotten used to him disappearing, and it showed. But he couldn’t blame them for doing what he paid them to do, which was keep the garages workingwithouthim being here in mind.

A reply came through from Gray a moment later.

Home. 45 minutes. Al will pick you up.

No why given, and Jack gave a frown. And Al again? Fucking seriously?

As Ash left, Jack got up and headed for the door, coffee mug in hand to make sure it found its natural place in the sink for Sam to wash up. As he started downstairs to finish up on the Fiat he’d been servicing, he let Gray know he’d leave once Al got here.

Damn unusual for Gray to call Home during working hours, though. Concern niggled at his insides, maybe more so with how Gray had taken dinner with Cal at the Ritz on Monday. Bad blood only usually followed them meeting up, he’d just never admit that to Gray, not without running away and putting a county’s distance between them before turning back and using hand signals to suggest it.

An hour later, Jack glanced at his watch, the manor’s empty courtyard below stealing his thoughts for a moment as he stood at the bathroom window. A call to Jan on the way back home had seen Jan was stuck at work with no way out, even though Jan had said he’d gotten no call off Gray to come home. Jan hadn’t minded. He sounded swamped and cut the call, cryinghell noto getting his hands dirty if one of Gray’s motors were having Bob the Builder fix-it issues, to which Jack had saidBob works with bricks as, you know, soft lad: he’s a builder. Jan had given him afuck you, assholereply.

Jack snorted a smile as he glanced back at the shower.Bloody soft lad.

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