So Steady: Silver Daughters Ink, Book Two (Silver Daughters Ink Book Two) Page 23

  He thought it’d be a disaster, but it wasn’t. With the machine in his hand, easing ink under skin, he felt like he’d come home. He met Sam and they got along. When she looked at him, she didn’t see a criminal, just a guy with tattoos who didn’t like talking. That was Edgar’s magic, his protection. He’d built something in Melbourne these last five years and now it was crumbling around him.

  “Fuck,” he muttered, patting his pockets for cigarettes that weren’t there. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

  When he reached his street, he could see his front door was wide open. Paula and Shredder. Question was, were they still there? The answer was no. What was there was a complete annihilation. The inside of his house made the mess Nicole’s ex had left look like a couple of chocolate wrappers. The dining table was broken. The couches turned over and the cushions slashed. The legs of every chair he owned were splintered and every glass, jar, cup and plate had been smashed. But none of that mattered, what mattered were that his paintings, every last one, had been stacked into the fireplace and set on fire.

  Chapter 18

  Nicole woke with a dry mouth and a bad feeling. She blinked, trying to get her thoughts in order. Her dreams had been strange; Noah in black robes urging her onto her knees to confess her sins. Weird sex stuff had ensued. She held up her wrist to check the time and at the sight of her bare wrist, it all came flooding back—Noah, the van, their round trip from Adelaide, coming home so tired, she could barely walk. She sat bolt upright, listening hard. She could hear people talking. Sam and a guy. Noah? She pulled her pink Adidas shorts over her still damp underwear and headed for the kitchen. She was near the doorway when her heart dropped. The man talking wasn’t Noah, it was Gil. “You need to go to the cops. I’ll call them if you want. He can’t get away with this.”

  Nicole stepped into the morning sunshine. “Who can’t get away with what?”

  Sam and Gil exchanged glances.

  “Does she know?” Gil asked.

  “Know what?” Nicole said. “What’s going on? Where’s Tabby? Where’s Noah?”

  “I…just…come here.” Sam stood and steered her toward the dining table. “Do you want a cup of tea?”

  “I want to know what’s going on. Why do we need to call the cops?”

  There was a loaded silence.

  “What?” Nicole snapped. “Is this about Noah’s housemate? Because I think we should give him a chance to deal with the situation before we go running to the cops.”

  It felt weird to be arguing against going to the police. All her life, she was the one who wanted to call the law when things went wrong, while Sam shouted about police corruption and Tabby hid whatever drugs she had on hand. Sam rubbed her lower lip. “Nix, I know you and Noah have a thing going, but there’s something you don’t—”

  “What?” Gil laughed. “You’ve been fucking Noah?”

  Both she and Sam glared at him. Gil mock-shivered. “Twin chills.”

  Nicole didn’t have time for this. “Is this about Noah being an ex-bikie? Because I know you must be upset that he didn’t tell you, but that’s no reason—”

  “It’s not that,” Sam interrupted. “He’s been stealing money. That’s how we got so deep in the hole before you showed up.”

  Nicole felt like she had a paper jam in her brain. “What? How do you know that?”

  She hated Sam’s look of sympathy, as though she was about to say something that would break her heart. “Noah’s been reducing his hours on the computer and stealing cash out of the till.”

  “No, he hasn’t!” She wasn’t defending Noah out of loyalty. The idea of him grifting from the till was as ridiculous as if Sam said he’d killed someone with a candlestick.

  Her twin’s moo-cow look of compassion didn’t budge. “Tabby’s got a better read on the facts than I do, but his login’s been used almost every night around closing time to change his hours. And Gil was saying he’s always telling clients to pay cash if they can.”

  Gil nodded vigorously. “I swear I’ve seen him lurking by the till after hours. Sam needs to sack him. Call him up and tell him to stay away before he rallies his bikie mates and breaks in or something.”

  Nicole scowled at him. “Is there a gas leak in here? Noah wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t do anything like what you’re saying.”

  “Don’t blame yourself for not spotting it,” Sam said, missing the point. “It was easy for Tabby to find proof because she had an idea of what to look for.”

  “Because Noah’s a criminal,” Gil added. “He’s been to jail. Plus, that Paula bird told Sam he owed her money.”

  “No, he doesn’t,” Nicole said, feeling like a broken record. “He gave Paula a place to stay while she was trying to leave The Rangers. Now she’s back with her ex, who’s the Sergeant at Arms. Are you going to believe her over Noah? The guy you’ve worked with for years?”

  Gil leaned on the back of a chair. He had sweat circles under his arms. “That’s what he told you. Face it, none of us knows what he’s like, Nikki.”

  “I did! And don’t call me Nikki!”

  Gil took a panicky step backward. “Sorry. Jesus.”

  Sam walked over, rubbed a circle on her back. “Hey, calm down, okay? I know this is hard—”

  “It’s not hard! You’re not listening!”

  She remembered the words spray painted on Noah’s door. Dog cunt. He’d said she wouldn’t understand, and she hadn’t. She hadn’t understood that in telling Sam and Gil and the rest of them that he was an ex-bikie, he’d have friends—people who’d known him for years—so ready to believe he was scum.

  She shrugged off her sister’s hand, stepped back so she could look at her and Gil. “Noah became a Ranger because his dad ran the club, but he left on his own, way before he met any of us. Why would he throw in a life of crime just to steal out of our cash register?”

  Sam’s face tightened. “Why don’t you ask him? He’s the one who lied to us.”

  “He didn’t lie! He just didn’t tell the truth, and with the way you lot are all carrying on, can you blame him?”

  She knew she sounded shrill and accusing, and doing so was undermining her credibility, but she didn’t care. Noah wasn’t a dog c-word and he wasn’t a thief, and she was going to yell at her sister until she believed it.

  “Okay, Nix.” Sam’s cheeks were red, a dangerous sign. “So, he shouldn’t have told me he’s an ex-bikie with a record? Even when I became his boss?”

  “If you’ll remember, I told you I thought he’d been to jail the moment I met him. He’s got a spider web tattoo.”

  “So?”

  “So, you’re not an idiot. You knew he looked dodgy and he wouldn’t tell you where he lived or talk about his past, and you just rolled with it. Now you’re acting all…butthurt because, wow, shocking news, he’s got a history and he used to be dodgy. Like geez, what a twist? Who could have known?”

  Her twin’s jaw jutted, and Nicole balled her hands into fists. She and Sam rarely fought, but when they did, it was always a knockdown, drag ‘em out. If Sam went for her hair, she was going to knee her right in the groin.

  “I might go!” Gil said, backing away from the dining table as though it might burst into flame.

  As though on cue, Tabby burst into the room, her blue eyes shining. “Are we having a fight about Noah?”

  “No,” Sam hissed.

  “Yes, but you don’t need to be so excited about it,” Nicole snapped.

  “Woot!” Tabby pulled off her olive-green army jacket. “Let’s air some emotional wounds! Springer style!”

  Gil practically ran to the door. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me!”

  Tabby raised her fists, posing like a 1920s boxer. “So where are we at, accusation-wise?”

  “Go away,” Nicole said.

  “Don’t tell her to go away, she can stay if she wants,” Sam snarled. “I can’t believe you fucked Noah. You fucked him and now you’re trying to defend him even though he’s been stealing fr
om us. You don’t even know him!”

  Nicole forced a laugh because she knew it would drive her twin batshit. “So, this is about who knows Noah better, is it?”

  “That’s not my point!”

  “You’re getting angry like that’s your point,” Tabby piped in.

  “Shut up,” Sam snarled.

  “Don’t tell her to shut up.” Nicole turned to Tabby. “You’re such a shit-stirrer, why can’t you just butt out?”

  Tabby raised her hands. “I’m just trying to help! Money stuff aside, I don’t care that you fucked Noah.”

  “Of course you don’t! According to him, you took him aside and told him to seduce me.”

  Tabby scowled. “I have never used the word ‘seduce’ in my life and you know it. Anyway, what’s your point? You saying you didn’t like it?”

  A hot ringing in her ears. She ran toward Tabby, intending to push her, punch her; make her take it back, but her sister ran away, cackling.

  “What the hell?” Sam screamed. “Who are you fuckin’ people?”

  “Your sisters,” Tabby said cheerfully. “Why are you so cut about Nix banging Noah? It was always going to happen. They have more chemistry than…somewhere with a lot of microscopes.”

  Sam bared her teeth.

  “A high school science wing! Anyway, if I’d known Noah had that much bad boy cred, I wouldn’t have made it happen. Fucking a bikie is taking it a bit far.”

  “He’s not a bikie,” Nicole snapped, lunging for her. “And you didn’t make it happen.”

  “I sort of did,” Tabby said, dancing away. “And you have to admit, Paula showing up here with a Sergeant at Arms, asking for money means Noah’s probably still tapped into the dodgy bikie scene.”

  “‘Probably’ isn’t evidence,” Nicole snapped. “He’s known Paula for a long time. He was trying to give her a second chance outside The Rangers, like the one Dad gave him.”

  Tabby’s brow wrinkled. “Dad?”

  “Yes. Dad knew about Noah being in The Rangers.”

  “I know,” Tabby said. “He told us last night.”

  Nicole gaped at her. “And you didn’t stop to think that maybe that’s more evidence that he’s not a petty criminal, and using his computer login isn’t the smoking gun you think it is? Unless you’ve found more compelling evidence to back up your stupid accusation?”

  Tabby looked up at the ceiling. “Well…”

  Sam pounded her fist into her palm. “Can we shut the fuck up about the money for a few seconds and discuss why Noah didn’t tell me he’s been to jail?”

  Nicole rounded on her, theatrically rolling her eyes. “Why didn’t you ask? He would have told you if you did. Except you didn’t ask, because you were happy living in ignorance.”

  “I wasn’t!”

  “You were. You’ve got this thing where you don’t want to dig up anyone else’s dirty little past because then they might go digging up yours.”

  Tabby gave a loud fake gasp. “Ooh savage call! Absolute savage!”

  Sam’s face contorted in rage. “You’re so fucking perfect, aren’t you, Miss Clenched Asshole?”

  “My butthole is perfectly relaxed, thanks.”

  “Like fuck it is. Where do you get off judging me when your life is a museum?”

  “What’s that suppo—”

  “Aaron. The house. The watch. The way you mince around panicking about what everyone thinks about you all the time. You’re a conservative think-tanks idea of a sex robot.”

  Nicole faked a laugh. “Oh, nice! Did you steal that one from John Oliver?”

  Sam’s upper lip curled—she hated being accused of inauthenticity. That was the thing about sisters, about family; you knew the make and model of all their buttons.

  “Okay, how’s this for a call. I know about your tattoo.”

  Nicole was genuinely nonplussed. “What?”

  “Your tattoo. I know you want it lasered off. I saw your search history.”

  Tabby’s gasp was real as the rising sun. “Nix, you’re not! You can’t. What would Dad say?”

  Buttons, Nicole thought. Family know where all the buttons are. “I’m not getting the daisy chain off.”

  “So, someone else went to your laser consultation, did they?” Sam snarled. “I called, you know, pretended to be you. You went in this week.”

  “But I haven’t booked in for the laser!”

  “You will,” Sam said. “You don’t want it. You never wanted it.”

  “Yes, I did!” Nicole looked at her sister, her eyes filling with tears. “It’s just a lot, sometimes. Tabby, please don’t cry.”

  She stood, planning to hug her, but Sam stepped into her path. “You might as well get rid of it. Not like it means anything to you, Little Miss Perfect.”

  “Of course, it means something! And I’m not perfect.”

  Sam laughed. Even Tabby smiled through her tears.

  “You are perfect,” Sam said, and she didn’t even sound that angry anymore. Just amused. Just smug. “You’re a Barbie gone wrong. Banging Noah’s the spiciest thing you’ve ever done.”

  Anger popped in Nicole’s ears like firecrackers. She rushed forward and pushed her twin in the chest. “Fuck you.”

  As always, saying the f-word felt strange, slippery and exhilarating. Sam gaped at her.

  “That’s right! Fuck you. Fuck both of you. You have no idea what I’m like. I let you talk in my head, and you don’t even have the slightest idea. Noah has a better idea than you. Noah treats me like I’m a real person, and my own fucking twin doesn’t!”

  She tried to shove Sam again, but her twin grabbed her arms. “What are you talking about?”

  Nicole struggled to get free. “I’m not Little Miss Perfect. I had chlamydia. I had an STD. I had a dirty vagina, and I’m not. Fucking. Perfect!”

  Silence. Outside a bird chirruped and traffic roared. Nicole pressed her hands to her cheeks, feeling a near religious sense of relief. It wasn’t enjoyable, but it was something. She felt like she might keel over from how something it was.

  “When…when was this?” Sam whispered.

  “When I was nineteen.”

  “And who…?”

  “Greyson. He gave it to me.”

  Her twin’s mouth fell open. “That long ago? When you were still at home? Oh, Nix…”

  Sam took a step toward her, but it was her turn to back away. “Don’t you fucking ‘Nix’ me after what you just said.”

  She’d wanted Sam to look hurt or contrite, but her face crumbled like a sandcastle. Big tears welled in her eyes. To her left, Tabby was white as a ghost. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I don’t know.” Nicole took a steadying breath. “Actually, it was because you both act like I’m boring and perfect. You always have. And whenever I do anything that isn’t boring and perfect, you make fun of me. Like I’m not allowed to exist outside the idea you have of me.”

  She looked from Tabby to her twin. “You always call me when things are wrong, expecting me to fix your problems, but you want to make fun of me, too. You want to tease me because you’re so bad and I’m so good and it wasn’t until I met Noah—”

  Just saying his name made her heart convulse. She shook her head, unable to finish the thought. “I’m not who you think I am. I wish I was, but I’m not. Sorry. But also, fuck you.”

  “Nix…” Sam extended a hand, but Nicole took a step back.

  “I’m going downstairs to find out what happened to the money. If anyone comes near Dad’s office in the next ten hours, I’ll freak the fuck out.”

  And she turned on her heel and left.

  ***

  Sam had a point. Not about her being Little Miss Perfect, but that it was easier to track the loss of income when you knew what to look for. She scanned the cash deposits Silver Daughters Ink had made at the bank for the past three years. Eighteen months ago, there was a noticeable decline. About six hundred less per week. When she checked BackBooks, their staff register,
this was indeed the time Noah’s login was used to shave hours off his weekly work roster. And this had indeed thrown off the studio’s totals, concealing the wads of cash that were vanishing from the till.

  Neat. Not particularly clever, but neat.

  So who in the f-word had done it?

  Sam and Gil thought she was being naïve, no doubt the cops would feel the same way if they were brought in to assess the situation. Bikie works in tattoo parlour. Bikie’s login is used to conceal theft in tattoo parlour. Bikie committed the theft in tattoo parlour.

  Neat. Not particularly clever, but neat.

  Only it f-wording wasn’t. This wasn’t about her attraction, or crush, or whatever you wanted to call her bone-deep longing to hold Noah’s hand once more. This was about the fact that Noah skimming thousands from their till made no gosh-darn sense. He was an ex-bikie, which meant that if he wanted fast and easy money, he could sell drugs, or hire himself out as muscle, or tattoo patches onto bikies in his beautiful, highly sought-after style. He could do real crimes. Blood in the Gears crimes. This sneaky shoplifting just…wasn’t his f-wording style!

  But the money had gone missing at Silver Daughters Ink. That was undeniable. She’d come to Melbourne because it was undeniable. And the cash skimming was the most convincing reason as to where it had gone that she’d been able to find in months. But what no one else had considered was that a thief using Noah’s client login to change their hours was way more logical than Noah incriminating himself in such a boneheaded way. As she read and re-read bank statements and daily rosters, Nicole became convinced it wasn’t an accident. Someone was framing Noah, or at least exploiting the fact that he was the dodgiest-looking person at SDI.

  But how to prove it wasn’t him? Cash was hard to trace, and shuffling the hours had kept the thief out of sight for almost two years, even when the losses crippled the business.

  Who’d done it? Who’d taken the money?

  Not Sam. She was the worst actress in the world, and she’d been devastated when Silver Daughters nudged bankruptcy. Not Tabby. She’d been in Bondi until a couple of months ago. Not her dad. The karmic implications of stealing money and blaming it on someone else would have killed him before he’d taken a single note.