I figured it was more of a welfare check than snooping, but what I found made my blood run cold. The girl wasn’t plotting to put cling film over the toilet seats or set off any fire alarms. Instead, she had pages of notes on aplace called Thompson Farms, the place owned by that sleazy Thrasher dickhead who came in here and tried to take her home before Jake swooped her away.
The KingpinAda labelled him before scribbling:Come up with a worse name. Cunt doesn’t deserve Kingpin.
If Ada’s right about this Thrasher guy, heissome kind of small-town kingpin. His farm seems to fund most of Pukekohe, and the way he runs things is rotten. Illegal labour, wage theft, and things I couldn’t quite understand, but sounded even worse. There was a section calledPush-Out Partieswhere Ada wrote unanswered questions that made my guts churn.
Are the migrant workers pressured to attend?
Are they coerced into sex?
Have they tried to report it?
Are they underage?
I told myself she was going overboard. Fixated on something more fantasy than fact. I was also counting on Jake being glued to her side at the reunion, broken up or not. I also thought Davis would be there. If not for Cece then to watch Ada’s back. She labelled him as her ‘body man’ on the first page of her notebook, something I thought was sweet at the time but seems bloody terrifying now.
“Fucking hell,” I mutter. “How do none of you blokes see how crazy it is that the girls are in Pukekohe by themselves?”
“Wait,” Davis says. “Is this about Ada’s… revenge stuff?”
I exhale with relief. “You know about that? The Thompson Farms thing?”
“No, she just told me …” He casts a sheepish look at Jake.
“... That she was gonna cocktease every bloke in our year into having a massive brawl at the reunion?” Jake says drily. “Yeah, I knew about that. She told me she packed it in, but I s’pose there’s no reason not for her to try it again now.”
Davis winces. “Sorry, man.”
“S’all right.” Jake drains his whiskey. “All the more reason not to be there.”
I gape at Golden Boots. “That’s what you’re worried about? Ada screwing some other bloke?”
“What else would I have to be worried about?”
“How about her being involved in things that have a lot less to do with rooting your mates and a lot more to do with actual bloody crimes?”
“Like?”
“What about that prick who came in here pulling for her? Thrasher something? The one who owns the farm. He’ll be there, won’t he? What if he goes after Ada?”
“He won’t.” Jake grimaces. “I mean, I don’t think he will.”
“Oh, well, I won’t worry then,” I snarl. “I mean, if Jake Graves-Holland thinks that prick’s gonna play nice, that’s more than good enough for me.”
Jake closes his eyes, the light picking up the gold at the end of his dark lashes. “Ada doesn’t want me around, and I have to respect that.”
“Bullshit.”
His eyes fly open. “Sorry?”
“Only looking out for women when they’ve got their legs open for youisn’trespecting women.”
His pretty boy face darkens. “That’s not fair.”
I round on Davis. “What about you? You were helping Ada, weren’t you? Making sure no one hassled her?”
He shifts uncomfortably in his seat. “Only in the bar.”
“Oh, only in thebar.” I throw up my hands. “I can’t believe the pair of you. You both deserve to be alone if that’s the attitude you’re bringing to the table.”
