Free Spike by Jennifer Ryder

with him. He doesn’t care what’s happened to him. Aidan doesn’t need this, and he certainly doesn’t need you ringing and stirring up his past.”
    A chip of paint drives under my fingernail, as I claw at it once more.
    “Aidan’s father blackmailed me,” she says.
    Huh? I pause for a moment as I absorb her words. I was not expecting that. “What was he blackmailing you for?”
    “He wanted information. He said it’d be in my best interest to give him what he asked, or he’d become a more permanent part of my life until I did. He also said he knew I had a younger sister, and she should be careful on her walk home from school.”
    God, this is serious.
    My heart thumps hard in my chest as if it’s desperately trying to escape. “What did you tell him?”
    “He wanted to know where Aidan worked, his phone number and address. I told him what he wanted. Aidan and I broke up after that. Things between us hadn’t been working out with the long distance, and he was so obsessed with his riding that he never spent any time doing stuff that I wanted. It was all just too hard, anyway, and I didn’t need the drama.”
    Obsessed with his riding? He’s talented, trying to make a career and she resented him for it. Because he wasn’t doing the stuff she wanted. But I guess it must have been tough living hours away from each other, and adding the fact that Aidan travels so much, they would’ve hardly ever had the chance to be together.
    “He rang Aidan the other day and Aidan told him he wanted nothing to do with him.” I don’t know whether I should have told her that, but if she’s worried about Aidan, she needs to know he can handle himself.
    “Really? Was Aidan okay?”
    Can this conversation just be over already? “Aidan’s fine,” I say, grinding my teeth in my jaw.
    “I don’t know what he wants with Aidan, but if he’s okay, then … that’s good.”
    “So that’s it?” No other surprises?
    “Yeah. I just felt I needed to say something, but it seems Aidan’s got a handle on things.”
    “Bye, Tara,” I say, ending the conversation.
    “Oh, okay,” she says, as if I’d offended her. “Bye.”
    “Thanks,” I say and disconnect the call.
    How the hell am I gonna get my head around what she’s told me?
     
    ****
     
    The rest of the day at work, I really drop the ball. I receipt rent to the wrong property, spill coffee all over my desk, and forget to pass on an urgent message to Cassie.
    “What’s up with you?” Cassie asks, hands on hips and her forehead creased with tiny lines.
    “Sorry, I’m just a bit distracted.”
    “No shit. With what?”
    “Just stuff to do with uni,” I lie, and immediately regret it. I hate lying, I hate liars—my cheating father a prime example—but I seem to be doing it more these days. How can I tell her the truth? I’m distracted after speaking to Aidan’s ex-girlfriend, who was blackmailed by Aidan’s father for information, and if she didn’t give him what he wanted, her little sister …
    “Well, snap out of it, girl, before Danuta picks up on it. She’s not in a good mood, especially after she had to fix up the accounts.”
    “Sorry, I’m good.”
    “Take it easy on yourself, Eevie. I’m sure you’re stressing over nothing.”
    If only she were right.
     
    ****
     
    I don’t think I can face Aidan tonight. I’m so afraid he’s gonna see right through me. See that I’m lying to him. He wouldn’t like that I went behind his back and rang Tara, especially after the way he spoke to her yesterday. He wasn’t the least bit impressed to hear from her.
    When I get home, the house is empty. I turn on the ducted heating and head straight to the study. I shut the door and switch on my laptop. Distraction. I need to be distracted from my distraction.
    I open my assignment, which is due next week. After at least ten minutes of watching a blinking cursor, my word count has barely moved. When I glare at the keyboard, four letters stand out: L I A