Page 38 of A Simple Mistake
The nip to his ear and the swat to his backside didn’t surprise him.He’d become accustomed to Gareth’s way of stopping him from disappearing into his own head.It worked, too.
“And since you keep telling me you can’t sleep on planes, you have hours to construct your shopping list.Here’s your first item: I want recipes.Proper ones.Traditional dishes, the older the better.And ingredients so I can try cooking them.”
On his past trips, Jack had gone shopping for music, manga, electronics, tabi socks, and kendo gear.Knowing Gareth, he had expected requests for knives or Japanese whisky, but he could deal with those himself.Recipes and ingredients, though… He wondered which of his Japanese contacts might know the most about traditional food, and—in no time at all—he found himself showered and dressed for travel, with a carry-on packed, and ready to leave.
Taking that last step was hard.Jack hugged Nico and Daniel, who’d appeared as though he’d summoned them despite the early hour.He dropped a kiss on Gareth’s cheek, the situation too reminiscent of him leaving Gareth to go undercover to hunt a drug dealer.“I have my laptop,” he said, voice hurried.“My phone works in Japan.If you need anything…”
“Do you really think we’ll forget about you while you’re out of sight?”Nico sounded affronted.“And after you’ve given me a job?”
“I don’t think that.No.I just—”
“Your taxi is here,” Gareth interrupted the brewing argument.“Go and come back.And don’t worry, we’ll keep you looped into the local mayhem.”
Jack swallowed, took comfort from Gareth’s tight hug, and left.
Jack recovered his equilibrium on the drive to the airport.This early traffic was negligible, and the taxi deposited him at the entrance to Heathrow’s Terminal 5 in record time.The departure area was without the usual crush, most check-in counters still closed.And only a couple of restaurants had opened to early travellers in search of breakfast.Aidan had chosen the one on the mezzanine floor and a table that gave them a view of the departure hall below.
“I’m still hoping this is some idiotic joke,” Jack groused as he slid into the free seat opposite Aidan.“Since when do you take on rock star clients?In Japan, of all places?”
“Since Skylar’s dangling out there like bait on a string.We look after our own.I thought you understood that.”
“I do.Believe me, I do.”Jack drained his first cup of coffee and topped it up with more.Smart of Conrad to order a whole pot.“Full English, please,” Jack said, when the waiter appeared beside him, “with extra sausages.Toast and jam.And more coffee, please.”
“Trying to put yourself in a food coma?”
“Since you woke me before I’d properly fallen asleep, you get to feed me.”
“As if I wouldn’t do that anyway.”
They drank their coffee in silence until the waiter brought their breakfast.People trickled into the restaurant in ones and twos, yawning and dragging carry-ons.The announcements for check-ins began, and Jack enjoyed seeing the place on the cusp of waking.It turned his mad dash here into almost an adventure.
“Now.You say you need a hacker as if we’re a rare commodity.There are a bunch of exceptional hackers in Japan.I can give you a friggin’ list.”
“That’s not the point.”Aidan dragged fingers through his hair, pulling out the tie that secured the long strands at his nape.“Skylar was walking me through the mess he’s landed in and… I just had this feeling.”
Jack set his cutlery down, the sudden lump of ice in his gut distracting him from his breakfast.“You had a feeling.”
“Yeah.Alex said you’ve been out there on assignment, made useful contacts in the right places.”
“You think it’s that sort of trouble?The service kind?”
“I don’t know.Skylar says it’s messy and when he says that…” Aidan ticked points off on his fingers.“Tempest, that’s the star, was sent to have a private dinner with a sponsor, patron, media someone, and the guy tried to… you know…”
“Have sex with him?”Jack suggested, amused by Aidan’s reluctance to discuss bedroom activities in plain language when he had no such scruples while questioning witnesses in court.
“If you want to call it that when the guy drugged Tempest and tried to use force.”
“Rape, then,” Jack said.“Tempest had bodyguards, I assume?”
“Yes.They got him to a hospital, and the whole kaboosh was hushed up.”
“Then what does Skylar need help with?He can handle a sick bastard if the Japanese don’t want to do it themselves.”
Aidan shook his head.“There’s more to it than a sick bastard.Someone’s trying to extort Tempest’s record company by threatening to kidnap fans.”
Jack didn’t drop his cup.Neither did he throw it.He set it down with the utmost care and shot his fiercest glare at the man sitting opposite.“Who told you?”
Had Aidan tried even a hint of deflection, Jack would have stood and walked away.But, of course, Conrad was better than that.“Told me what?Alex said you’ve been to Japan on assignment for your previous employer.I don’t know why, or what you did with whom.But when Skylar mentioned the blackmail threat, Alex told me to call you.”
