Page 91 of Subbing For Santa

“Yep. Just some extra protection given recent events.”

I frown, turning to glance back at Griffin. “I don’t want anyone else knowing about this, Griff. Can they please go somewhere else?”

Griffin shoots me a concerned look. “That depends on where we are going.”

I sigh. “Conondale National Park. We need to make a stop first at a hardware store.”

His eyes shoot to me. “For?”

“A shovel.”

Griffin is quiet for a beat, so I risk a glance at him to see his brows tugging down as he watches the road.

“Ok. So, no backup is required at the National Park then?”

“Not unless you want to fend off some birds,” I say playfully.

Griffin chuckles before pressing ‘call’ on his phone and a moment later, loud road noise comes through the speakers.

“Yeah?” the gruff voice answers.

“Jump ahead of us and lead us to a hardware store.”

“No worries, mate.” Eddy or Freddie, I don’t know which one it was, disconnects the call before the motorbike comes racing past us to take the lead.

We follow behind as Griffin accepts a call from Devon, so I relax back in the seat, watching the beautiful countryside pass by. Devon doesn’t have much to report other than confirming there was definitely someone working with the guy Griffin killed, and Griff barks a few more orders before hanging up.

Driving through a small town, we pull in next to Freddie and Eddy out the front of a hardware store before we get out of the car for a stretch.

“I’ll be right back.” I call before leaving Griffin with his biker friends.

He frowns as I ditch him, but I need a minute to myself. This is all a lot. Griffin can be intense, which I do love, but I’m exhausted from pretending that I’m ok.

I’m not ok. None of this is ok. And I don’t know if it will turn out ok, but all I can do is hope.

I locate the shovels, finding one that will cut through earth the easiest, and I pay with cash, keeping my head turned away from the security camera above the counter.

When I return out to the street, Griffin, Freddie and Eddy all fall quiet as they watch me approach. I don’t miss the look one of the bikers gives the other at seeing the shovel in my hand, but I ignore it and move to the back of the car, stashing the shovel inside.

“Ok. You guys know the drill. Hang back on the main road and we will return to you when we are done.”

“No worries.” The long-bearded biker nods before turning to the bike.

We get back into the car and buckle up before following Freddie and Eddy out of town, heading west towards Conondale National Park. The closer we get, the more my stomach rolls as memories of a past I tried to forget assault me.

“Talk to me, Aggie. Tell me about where you grew up.” Griffin insists, and for the first time ever, I actually feel like sharing this information.

“The town I grew up in is a couple of hours east, towards the coast. We lived in a run-down Queenslander home. My parents rented it. My dad could never afford a mortgage. Probably because he could never hold down a job. Growing up, things were… rough.”

My eyes dart to Griffin, who shifts his eyes from the road to me and back again.

“How so?”

“You know the age-old tale. Things were tough, so my parents turned to drugs and alcohol, not caring that it made things harder. Especially for me and Lizzy. Mum was a lazy drunk, and dad was an abusive drunk. Not a good mix.”

“Shit, Aggie. I’m sorry.”

I shrug. “It is what it is.”

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