Page 10 of Jinn

“I’m sorry again.”

“I kept up the habit after I finally ran away from a place at fifteen. Traveled and didn’t really settle until I moved here and took this job—” A sound outside grabbed his attention. He closed his eyes, and sure enough, his senses sent him a warning. He jumped to his feet. “Something’s up. Stay here, and I’ll be back.”

Ajax sat up and nodded, his expression concerned.

Finn strode to the front door. He wasn’t particularly worried about some crazy fan, so he didn’t turn to vapor once out of Ajax’s sight. He headed in the direction where he felt something happening, and soon the sound of crunching leaves met his ears. He jogged that way, spotting a couple of teenaged girls helping a third over the fence. He stopped behind them, crossed his arms, and cleared his throat.

One of them shrieked and spun around, leaving the third dangling on the fence.

Finn lifted an eyebrow.

“We heard Ajax Craig is here,” the shrieker said in a rush. “We just wanted to see him.”

“You don’t think whoever lives here deserves their privacy?”

“We weren’t going to bother him,” the third said as she dropped and landed on her ass with a grunt. She brushed off the seat of her jeans as she stood.

“So you planned to what? Peek in the windows?”

“Told you this was a bad idea,” the last one murmured.

“Come with me,” Finn ordered. “You should be ashamed of yourselves. If he were here, he’d deserve his privacy.”

“You’re saying he’s not here?”

“I’m saying that the people who live here don’t need you climbing their fence. It’s time to leave.”

He led the dejected teens to the gate and made sure they weren’t watching as he keyed in the code, then watched them leave. He knew fame came with a price, but he still couldn’t understand why people believed they had a right to just barge into someone’s life like this.

He’d seen it before, of course. Ajax wasn’t his first famous client. There’d been that last job with the diva who’d never been without his phone. He’d welcomed the invasion of his privacy.

Ajax was so very different. In so many ways.

When he got back inside, Ajax was moving around in the kitchen, the scent of sautéing onions in the air, so Finn walked down the hall that led to the kitchen. Ajax appeared in the doorway and leaned slowly against the jamb.

“Was someone out there?”

“Yeah, some teenagers. One actually seemed properly ashamed so there’s hope for her.”

“So, my whereabouts are out,” he said softly, then sighed as he walked back to the onions. “It always happens, but I thought I’d have more time. How did you know someone was inside the fence?”

Finn walked into the kitchen. He couldn’t very well tell him he could sense them climbing the fence. “Just a gut feeling. Comes in handy with my job.”

“I bet.” Ajax grinned as he used a wooden spoon to stir. “Dinner won’t take long. Hopefully it’s better than last night’s. Your friend, Ivor, was polite, but it was seriously bad. This one smells better already.”

Turned out it smelled way better than it tasted. Bland was the only description Finn could come up with as he tried a third bite of the chicken.

“This sauce actually tastes like nothing. How can something with all those ingredients taste like nothing?” Ajax scowled and shoved his plate away. “Okay, that’s the third recipe I tried off one site. And the chef is popular. I can’t understand why. I followed the recipe exactly.” He shook his head. “This is what I get for doing recipes witheasyin the title. I’m sorry, Finn.”

Finn picked up the salt and sprinkled a liberal amount over the food. “It’s still nice that you’re trying. Still a hot, filling meal.”

“That tastes like paper. How about I order us something else?” Ajax pushed away from the table and carried his plate into the kitchen. “You’d have to meet them at the gate.”

“Ajax, I don’t mind eating this.” He put a little more salt on it. Then grabbed the pepper.

“I’m going to have a sandwich. Flavorless food gives me texture issues. And tomorrow night, I’ll use a recipe from a different chef. Something that doesn’t have easy in the title.”

“You really don’t have to cook for me. Most clients don’t.”

---