He rattles off the address to me and adds, “They’ve been receiving deliveries all week. Looks to be electrical goods and cigarettes.” The same shit they were moving years ago when we burned their warehouse to the ground.
“Thanks, Zane. I owe you for this.”
“Fuck, I owe you for a fuckload more. This doesn’t even come close.”
“I don’t keep score. You know that.”
“I know, but I won’t ever forget what you did for me.”
We end the call and I pull up Cole’s number and dial it.
“It’s after midnight, so I’m guessing something significant has come up,” he says.
“Yeah, we have an address. I’m gonna stake it out tonight. Can you send someone to watch it with me?”
“Yeah, shoot it through and I’ll get J over there.”
“Thanks, brother.”
I text him the address and get dressed again. Five minutes later, I’m out the door and on my bike, heading towards Zenith’s address.
Recalling what Striker told us about Zenith having two operations, I know we’ll need to watch this one and track where everyone goes in an effort to locate their other location. That’s the fucking location I want; it’s the one where we’ll find Bourne.
“How’d you go?” Scott asks early the next morning when he drops by to check in on J and me.
J hands him the binoculars. “Take a look. There’s nothing much to see here yet.”
Scott surveys the property. From what we can ascertain, there’re four men there. One manning the front gate, one walking the perimeter, and two inside. As Scott passes the binoculars back to J, he says to me, “So are you thinking we set up a roster with two of our guys watching around the clock, and others following whoever comes and goes?”
“Yeah. I’ve organised for some of my members to come up today to help. And King will send more if we need them.”
We’d all prefer just to force the guys we’re watching to give us information, but that hasn’t proved successful with this gang. We need to be patient and wait for them to take us to Bourne.
“Okay, I’ll get over to the clubhouse and get this roster sorted. I’ve got Nash and Griff ready to take over from you two in an hour.”
After he leaves, J says, “You think we’re in for the long haul with these assholes?”
“Yeah. Their system is sophisticated. We’ve never been able to track the workers back to the leader. Fuck knows how they do it, but they’re evasive. And their workers are loyal; they’d rather die than give up what they know.”
“Fuck, it sounds like a cult.”
He’s right; that’s exactly what I’m beginning to think this group is. A fucking cult that we need to infiltrate somehow.
36
Birdie
* * *
“King came home today,” Lily says over the phone early one morning while I’m getting ready for work. “Guess what he told me?”
I laugh. God only knows what came out of King’s mouth that has her all worked up. “That he thinks he should build you a second bedroom for your extended closet?”
She rolls her eyes. “Funny, B. No, he told me that he probably won’t get home for Christmas until Christmas Eve.” She widens her eyes now. “Doesn’t the man know I need him here before Christmas Eve? I’m going to lose my shit with all these kids of his. They’re already fighting and the school holidays have only just begun.”
One of the things I love the absolute most about Lily is that whereas other friends shy away from talking to me about their children, because they worry it’ll dredge up pain for me, Lily doesn’t. She never has. I hear about all her worries, her stress, and her joy. She doesn’t hide any of it from me, and I’m so grateful for that.
“The good news is I’ll be there on Christmas Day and we can drink all the wine while he chases after the kids.”
“Oh, thank God. When are you coming to Sydney?”
“Winter and I still need to finalise the date. He hasn’t told me yet when he’ll be free, but I’m not hopeful it’ll be before Christmas Eve if King doesn’t think he’ll be home till then.”
“Winter’s home today, right?”
“No. He got delayed. I’m not sure when he’ll be home now.” I was disappointed when he broke the news to me last night. Four weeks of him being mostly in Brisbane, with just a few super short visits home, has been too long. Especially since we’ve still not talked about the things we need to. When he does come home, we’re all about sex, and while I love that, it’s not helping us get to the root cause of our problems.
She glances at something to her side before looking back at me, frazzled. “I gotta go, babe. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” She slows down for a moment to add, “I’m sorry Winter’s not coming home today. Hang in there. Hopefully all this shit will be over soon.”
“I love you, Lil. Don’t kill those kids!”
With one last widening of her eyes, she ends the call and I finish applying my make-up. I’ve got a meeting with our Instagram influencer this morning to go over our next three month’s worth of promotion, and then a meeting with the accountant. After that, I’m taking the day off and going to the movies by myself; something I’ve started doing while Winter’s been away. It’s become one of my favourite weekly activities. I’m surprised to have discovered how much I enjoy doing some things on my own.
A text comes through.
* * *
Maddox: You got any spare time this afternoon?
Me: Maybe.
Maddox: Like, at 3pm?
Me: You want me to pick you up from school?
Maddox: I want you to tell me what to buy to wear on this date.
Me: It’s finally happening????!!!!
Maddox: Let’s not make this more than what it is.
Me: Right. As you were. I’m free.
Maddox: Sweet.
* * *
And now I’m not going to the movies, but I’m even more excited about what I will be doing.
My morning drags on. Mostly because I’m keen to get to the part of the day where I spend time with Maddox. As I leave the accountant’s building, I turn my face to the sky and soak in the sunshine. Summer is my favourite time of year. The last seven summers have gone by in a blur of IVF treatments, IVF stress, financial stress, and all-round heaviness. It’s funny how while I was trying so desperately to make something happen that I really wanted, I let go of so many other good things.
Last night, while I spent time in the nursery, I realised how much resentment I’ve been carrying inside. Not just resentment that our fertility treatments didn’t work, but also bitterness about what I’ve missed out on over the years. The kicker realisation was that I was the only one to blame for that. A hard truth, for sure, but today I decided not to spend time stewing over that, too. Life can so easily become a playground for beating ourselves up over every little thing if we let it. I know I’ve spent far too many hours in that playground. No more, though. Now, I choose the fun park to play in, the park that’s filled with joy, and acceptance, and curiosity. I want to get curious about life again; I want to explore all my options and see where they take me.