Page 107 of Ordinary Girl

“Hey,” he says, and there’s no hint of a smile on his face, and I feel that knot in my stomach tighten.

“Hey.”

“Are you okay?”

I nod, and when he looks at Freja her expression makes me all kinds of nervous.

“Can I have a word with Freja, alone?” Joel looks at me again, and I nod, again, and head out into the hall. But I don’t go far. Something’s wrong, and I want to know what. So I move quietly toward the closed kitchen door and press my ear against it in the hope that I can hear what they’re saying, anything that might give me a clue as to what’s going on, because something is. And now I’m wondering if Cady knows…

“I’m sorry, Joel, I think I said too much…”

I can hear Freja quite clearly, she must be standing closer to the door, but Joel’s voice is more muffled. Distant. Or maybe he’s just keeping his voice down because he knows I might be trying to listen in. I don’t know. I’m paranoid as hell now. And then the door swings open, and I jump back.

“We need to talk,” Joel says, grabbing my hand, and I glance back over my shoulder at Freja who nods and smiles but her eyes are telling me a different story.

Once outside, Joel leans back against the wall and drags a hand through his slightly unruly hair. It’s grown a little since the last time I saw him, hanging down over his eyes, his jaw covered with a thick stubble, and I’m surprised by how dishevelled he looks.

“We knew where you were, Ana. It wasn’t hard to find you.”

I lean back against the porch railings, so I’m facing him. “So why didn’t you come get me?”

“Because I was doing what I thought was best. I was letting you go. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”

His eyes have a hard edge to them, and I cross my arms in an almost defensive stance. I’m protecting myself, I just don’t know from what, yet. “I thought it was.”

“And now?” He turns his head away, staring down this non-descript, ordinary street. “Doesn’t matter. I’ve already spoken to Cady.” He flips his gaze back to me. “Your timing was spot on.”

“Timing?” I frown. I don’t know what he means by that.

“Shit happened, and we needed to get to you beforehedid.”

“What’s going on, Joel? You needed to get me beforewhodid?”

He takes a breath and turns his head away again. “Your father isn’t dead.”

“I… What?”

This time, when he looks at me, his eyes are cold; serious, and I feel my stomach turn over, and then crash to the floor.

“He isn’t dead. I was so shocked at what I’d done to you that I just assumed Skip had taken him out. He wasn’t moving: Skip said he couldn’t find a pulse, and maybe we should’ve took another second to make sure, but in my head we didn’t have that second. We needed to get you out.”

I don’t understand any of this. It’s crazy! “But – don’t you have people who clean everything up? Make sure there are no loose ends? Didn’t they realize he wasn’t dead?” I’m still appalled at how blasé I am, talking about shit like this as though it’s an everyday occurrence, but I guess I picked up more than I thought during my time with this club.

“Your father paid them off. The fucker was lying there with a bullet in his gut, and he managed to manipulate people we thought we could trust into turning their backs on us. Fuck knows where they are now, somewhere far away with the money he paid them, I’m guessing.”

“I – I don’t get it. I don’t understand… What does this mean? What’s going on?”

“He didn’t try to contact you when you were with Lars and Lea?”

I shake my head and bite down on my lip. “When did you find out? That he was alive, I mean?”

“A few days ago. We had word from our brothers in Oslo that he’d been seen in a bar there. And from what we can gather, he’s now got the Balke family back up and running with him still at the helm. And he wants to move in on our territory here in Denmark. He wants our blood. And he wantsyounowhere near us.” Joel sinks to his haunches, pulls a cigarette from the packet in his top pocket and lights up, dragging deep, blowing smoke up into the air. “That wasn’t a problem, when he thought you were settled with Lars and Lea. His work was done on that score, you’d walked away from us just like he’d wanted you to. He thought he could come for us safe in the knowledge that you wouldn’t be harmed, but now you’re back…” He rakes a hand through his hair again, sighing quietly. “We got word that he’s going to do his utmost to take you away from us, Ana. But this time he isn’t going to talk you round with promises of a safer life, he’s just going to take you.”

“Take me?”

His eyes burn into mine. “Kidnap you. Abduct you. You want me to put it in plainer terms?”

My head’s spinning. I thought all of this was over, and now I’m being told it isn’t, and this time it’s worse?

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