Monkey Business by Kathryn Ledson Read Free Book Online

‘Look, he’s qualified and he respects you.’ More silence. ‘Come on, Jack. Just talk to him about your concerns.’
    I heard shuffling and quickly dashed across the hallway, turned and pretended to be approaching as they came out. Jack saw me and frowned. JD smiled and held his arms wide.
    â€˜Ah, Erica!’ he said as though seeing me for the first time. ‘So nice you could make it tonight.’ He shook my hand.
    â€˜Thanks for the invitation, Mr Degraves.’
    â€˜Come, come. Let’s all have a drink!’
    JD tried to herd us back to the terrace, but Jack took my arm gently, holding me back, and said to JD, ‘We’ll be there in a minute.’
    JD’s smile faded – his plan to force everyone to have fun foiled – and he nodded, then headed across the ballroom.
    I turned to Jack. ‘I need to tell you something.’
    He looked into my face, concerned. I might have been a bit pale.
    â€˜What’s wrong?’ he said.
    â€˜Can we go in there?’ I pointed at the library door.
    â€˜All right . . .’ He looked past me. ‘Hold on just one minute . . . G’day, Mick.’
    For some reason, before I even looked, I knew I’d be meeting the violent guy, whose hand Jack was shaking in a friendly way. Internally I shrank away from him, even though I knew he probably wouldn’t recognise me. I looked at the floor.
    â€˜No surprise you’d be with a gorgeous woman, Jack.’
    â€˜Erica, this is Mick Jansen.’
    I glanced at Mick Jansen, who was smiling at me, so innocent, warm and friendly that I wondered for a moment if I was wrong. That somehow this wasn’t the same man who assaulted Lucy, me and that young guy at the club. But it
was
him.
    I found I was holding my hand out for him to shake, but I couldn’t look at him for long. Eventually he moved on and when I glanced up at Jack, he was watching me carefully.
    â€˜Come in here,’ he said, and I followed him into JD’s library. He shut the door. ‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost.’
    â€˜More like an abusive bastard.’
    â€˜What do you mean?’
    â€˜That man, the one you just introduced me to?’
    â€˜Mick Jansen.’
    â€˜He’s the one who assaulted us at the nightclub.’
    Jack’s jaw dropped and he stared at me for a long time. ‘You’re sure about that?’
    â€˜Yes. No. I don’t know.’
    â€˜You need to know.’
    â€˜I
was
sure, but then he was so . . . so
nice
just then. I first noticed him at the club because he was talking to the redhead guy.’
    Jack stepped closer, gripped my arms, and I looked into his serious face.
    I said, ‘I’m sure.’
    He nodded once; that’s all he needed. He left the room and I stood there, shaking.

    It was about fifteen minutes before Jack came looking for me. I stayed in the library, sitting on the edge of a chair, biting my nails, my foot jiggling up and down. I felt so jittery that when Jack walked in I nearly hit the roof.
    â€˜Let’s go,’ he said. ‘I’m taking you home.’
    He took my arm and led me to his car. As we drove away I noticed a smudge of dried blood on his knuckle. When I looked closely at his face, I saw a small graze on his cheek.
    â€˜Jack, you need to tell me what happened. I can’t stand it.’
    â€˜Mick Jansen’s no longer on my team.’
    I gasped, shocked. ‘He was on your team for this mission?’
    He nodded.
    â€˜What will you do?’
    Jack ignored that but said, ‘He might think twice about who he picks on in nightclubs.’
    â€˜Did he admit it?’
    â€˜Not in so many words.’
    â€˜What did he say? Like, she was asking for it or something?’
    Pause. ‘Something like that.’
    â€˜Bloody hell. Why do men think like that?’
    He shook his head. ‘Not all