Salon Pierre

"Yes, what do you know about it?"

"More than you do, that's why I'm not letting you in on the whole story."

"Okay, we aren't mushrooms to be kept in the dark and fed bullshit. What connection do you have with the police that they dance to your beck and call?"

"That I can't divulge."

"And you mates, those hairy Neanderthals, where do they fit in? And don't tell us that you're just friends."

Again, I can't divulge, at least not now, but Tiffany, I want you to think about joining us."

"Doing what exactly? What is it that you do, apart from hairdressing?"

"We gather information. Because of our situation, we get to hear a lot of things that are never spoken of in public. Sometimes I think of our position as being like a church confessional. The wives and girlfriends of some very important and influential people hear stuff that they really shouldn't hear, and sometimes they just have to unburden themselves and, because they feel comfortable talking to us, we get to hear it."

"Who do you tell about what you hear?"

"Later, I can't tell you yet."

"And what is it that you want me to do?"

"Exactly what you did this morning. If you hear something, or see something that is not quite right, you bring it to my attention, just as you did this morning. Ranalph has been accused of beating up on his partners in the past, but Daddy's money and influence have got him off. The fact that you saw the damage and reported it to me means that the police now have enough evidence to charge him. They do not have to rely on the lady in question caving under the influence of Ranalph and his Daddy."

"That's all you want me to do?"

"For the moment, but we might call upon you to do more in the future and with appropriate training."

As he left he kissed me again. "What are you doing? I don't want to hurt Libby, so I don't think that you should be kissing me."

"That's another part of the secret.' He buttoned his lips and left.

What is this all about? Okay, I fancy the guy like mad but it isn't going anywhere, I can't compete with Libby, she's smarter than I am, she's prettier than I am and let's face it she has bigger tits than me.

"Are you and Pierre . . . you know, and item?" Sylvie asked.

"No way, why would you even ask that?"

"I see the way you look at him, and then he's kissed you, twice."

"That has me confused let me tell you. I could never compete with his live-in girlfriend, and I wouldn't want to try."

"You're not gay, are you?"

"No, strictly hetero believe me."

"I had a friend at school, had being the operative word, she tried it on and it did nothing for me and I told her as much just before she left me in search of greener pastures."

"Do you have a boyfriend now?"

"No, That's not to say that if one were to show interest I wouldn't jump at the chance. The opportunities just aren't presenting themselves."

"Or is it that you've just stopped looking?"

"Enough about my sex life. What about you, we need to discuss how we're going to get you to work safely on Monday."

"I can't go to work."

"Why not?"

"Because I work for Jamesons in their head office. If I still have a job to go to, do you think that they're going to welcome me with open arms after what happened today?"

"Probably not. What do you actually do, what is your position in the company?"

"I work in Accounts, in the section that takes care of all their banking. This scares me because I know a lot about what goes on in the organisation and they're not going to take the chance on me keeping quiet."

"That puts a whole new light on proceedings." I picked up my phone. "Hey Pete, get your sorry arse back here. No, I have no intentions of jumping your bones and neither does Sylvie. I'll tell you when you get here."

"Who's this Pete? Oh, you were talking to Pierre."

"Yeah, his real name is Peter, the Pierre is a part of the marketing strategy, Salon Pete just doesn't cut it in the posh Eastern Suburbs."

It only took ten of the longest minutes for Pierre to get to my place. He would have got here quicker if he didn't have to shake off a tail.

"What's the problem that I had to rush over here?"

"It would seem that Sylvie is in extreme danger."

"Why?"

"Because she works in Jameson's accounts department where she has access to all of their dodgy accounting practices. It's my thinking that the main reason that Ranalph had planned to marry here had less to do with love and affection and more to do with keeping their accounting practices 'in house'."

"It now appears as if the wall of secrets is about to come crashing down. Okay, Sylvie, I am asking you to come with me to the police, they would very much like to have a word with you."

"I don't know. If I talk to the police I will spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder."

"That will; happen whether you talk to the police or not."

"Then it looks as if I don't have a choice, doesn't it?

Pierre's phone prevented any answer. It was his security camera letting him know that someone had broken into the salon and was going through the filing cabinet, photographing pages from what appeared to be the personnel records. "It looks as if Jameson has hired someone to copy our personnel records. They probably checked your Drivers license record and discovered that you have never lived at the listed address. Your real address is on file and they will have it very shortly. You are going to have to move somewhere safe and take Sylvie with you. Do you have anywhere that will be safe?"

"I've got an uncle that lives in a remote valley in the hinterland up near Newcastle. The beauty of the place is that the locals are a pretty tight bunch and if they work as a very effective early warning system"

"Great, how quickly can you get mobile?"

"If you give us a hand, in less than five minutes."

"Let's get to it then."

We had a couple of bags packed with clothes and a small carry all with toiletries in four minutes. "When you get out of town call your uncle from a payphone and let him know that you're coming and he's not to tell anyone. When you get there, call this number from a landline, it's the Waverly Police station, you are to ask for this man and tell him that you want to pass the information on to me. Tell me where you are and the landline number so that I can reach you. I stress the use of landlines, they are less traceable than mobile phones. Have you got all of that?"

"Got it," I picked up one of the bags and Sylvie the other. Pierre walked to my car with us and, as I stood up from placing my bag into the boot, he kissed me again.

"You take care, I don't want anything happening to you." Another kiss, this is getting to be a habit.

"So, there's nothing going on between you two. Pull the other one."

"I'm as much in the dark as you are. Ours has been a strictly working relationship until today. I have to say that I'm not unhappy about this, but I can't see it going anywhere. Can you change the subject away from my supposed love life?"

I pulled into a Servo (gas station) that had a sign telling me that it had a public phone. "Come with me. I told Sylvie. Once inside, "We have a tail."

"What are we going to do?"

"Shake it." I dragged the phone card from my purse and dialled Uncle Ted's number. "Hi, Uncle Ted?" I put my hand over the mouthpiece, "He's going to get him", "Hi Uncle Ted, it's Tiffany, look I can't tell you much just yet, it's just that I'm in a spot of bother and need to get out of town for a bit. Now, I don't want you to over-react, but I might have someone following me when I turn off the main road, if so I'll slip your details and you can give him a warm welcome. I'll explain it all when I get there, oh, I have a friend with me, no not a boyfriend just someone who's mixed up in this mess with me." I hung up the phone and we walked back out to my car. The car that appeared to be following us was parked a couple of hundred metres up the road.

I turned back the way we had come as soon as we left the Servo and then turned right beside it. There was a lane on the right leading to a truck parking bay behind the servo, I took that and then swung back out onto the main road again. The driver of the other car was concentrating on getting around onto the side street and didn't see us drive back onto the road north.

I kept checking my mirrors but, just when I thought we were home free, there it was again.

"In the glove box, you'll find a note pad and pen. Write this down, Silver BMW, looks like a 5 series. Now wrap the page around the pen and slide it under the clip. When we see Uncle Ted or one of my cousins, wind the window down and hand it to him."

"What will they do to him?"

"Not a lot, but he won't be able to get far with four flat tires. It's about ten kilometres to the farm and a dozen or so farms along the road. The word will be spread and no-one will tell them anything."

"You seem confident about this. Are you sure that they can be trusted?"

"With my life."

Cousins Ben and Jill were waiting beside the road for us. It was difficult to tell them apart, apart from a couple of fine points pushing out the front of Jill's shirt. They were twins identical in most ways apart from gender. Sylvie handed Ben the note and we sped off down the road."So that's all we have to do?" She asked.

"For now, yes." Having driven this road on a regular basis, I knew just how far I could push the car. It was just on ten minutes when I pulled into Uncle Ted's lot and parked in front of the workshop.

"I suppose you want me to store your car in the shed?" Uncle Ted asked as he pushed the big sliding door open. "Do you want me to give it a grease and oil change while it's here?"

"Nah, it's cool. Uncle Ted, this is Sylvie and vice versa, she finds herself in a spot of bother and needs to keep out of sight for the time being."

"How did you get involved in all of this, I thought you were a hairdresser?"

"I am. She came to the salon to get tarted up for her wedding. The groom to be had been beating her up so the police got involved. His father, a man of some influence got involved and now we have to keep them apart."

"There's more to it than that."

"Yes but how much more I don't know, just that she's in danger."

"Not anymore." Uncle Ted said.

"Not anymore," Ben said as he and Jill parked the ute and walked over. "He wasn't a happy chap when he found that he had, not one but four punctures. Those new road spikes you made work a treat. We were saved by the arrival of Wayne and his tow truck who offered to take him to where he could get four new tyres, that'll keep him occupied for at least an hour. He was madly trying to get a signal on his phone, we wished him good luck with that. Tiff, aren't you going to introduce us to this gorgeous creature."

"Down boy, she's a city girl and way out of reach of you country blokes."

"I'm Sylvie, I'm pleased to meet you". She proffered her hand, it was ignored and Ben hugged her to him.

"Pleased to meet you Sylvie Dad and Tiff have a lot to discuss, would you like the grand tour of the farm while they're at it?"

"I'd like that very much." She took his hand and he led her towards the barn.

"I wouldn't like to be in her shoes, Ben's been on short rations since Julie dumped him."

"Aunty Mary came out to announce that coffee was served. "Where's Ben taking your friend?" She asked.

"To her doom," Jill said.

"Okay Tiffany, what's this all about?"

"In a minute, I need to use your phone."

"Sure, go ahead."

I dialed the number Pierre had given me and asked for Sergeant Brown. "Hi, this is Tiffany, I was asked to call this number to get a message to my boss Pierre."

"So you're the Tiffany he's been telling us all about. What's the message?"

"Oh," He surprised me with that. "I'm, we're staying at a farm on Gap Creek Rd at Brownesville, It's the last farm on the road and the road in will be monitored by the locals. If any bad guys get in they might not be able to get out. The guy that followed us ended up with four flat tyres. How are things going at your end?"

"Ranalph has been remanded in custody until Friday next week. Daddy's not happy about that and his lawyer was so unhappy about his reaction that he told Jameson to shove his job as far up his arse as he could manage. Jameson is looking for a new lawyer. It would appear as if there has been a big black mark placed against his name. I don't like Ranalph's chances of finding freedom until next week. How's my favourite makeup artist going?"

"Oh no, now I suppose that you're going to tell me that you are Sergeant Brown. This is too much for the human unit to get her head around. If you must know, your only makeup artist is doing fine. Listen, where are you going with this?"

"With what?"

"Your sudden interest in me? And don't tell me that you and Libby have had a falling out, that would be impossible."

"No, nothing has changed with the dynamics of our relationship. Okay, if you really must know, Libby is my sister and she's a cop and it was she that got me involved in this other life that I'm leading and drawing you into."

"I need more information, much more, and I want it now."

"Tiff darling, I can't tell you more just yet, once we're clear of this you will know it all, I promise."

"That 'darling' just then, was that a personal darling or a professional one."

"Strictly personal Darling."

"I need time to get my head around this. I'll call you again tomorrow unless something happens that means you need to call sooner. The number here is," I read the number from the tag on the phone.

"That sounds interesting." Aunty Mary said.

"Yeah, I just found out that my boss has been leading a double life and the girl that I thought was his live-in partner is his sister and that he is hitting on me as well as getting me involved in this other life of his. Don't get me wrong, he's a great guy, but up until now, I have thought of him as being way out of reach. But now, it's all happening much too fast."

Ben and Sylvie arrived back just in time for lunch and it was obvious that something had happened between them, they couldn't take their eyes off each other. "Sylvie, a word." We went outside. "Please don't tell me that you've succumbed to the boyish charms of Cousin Ben?"

"Okay, I won't. You're right, I don't know what happened, one minute we were walking around patting animals and then we were making love, and I'm glad we did because it showed me that Ranalph was a lousy lover. It was all about him. I have never experienced an orgasm until just now. We've touched on what's going to happen next. He wants me to stay here when this is over and I think that this might be too good an opportunity to miss. I know that I'll never be able to work for Jameson again, so, what the heck, I could like it up here, love it up here. Have you spoken to Pierre?"

"Yes. It would appear that Ranalph could spend more time on remand than at first thought. Daddy chucked a hissy fit and sacked his lawyer and is having problems finding a replacement, leaving your ex in the slammer."

"It couldn't happen to a nicer bloke. Did you discuss anything else, like you and him?"

"Yes. My head is still spinning. The girl that I have been led to believe is his partner is really his sister and he seems to be working for the cops as well as running the salon."

"Forget about that, what about you and him?"

"It seems as if he fancies me, I don't know."

"Didn't I tell you?"

"All right yes, you did tell me but I didn't believe it until now."

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"My brain tells me to weigh up all of my options before making any decision while my gut is telling me to go for it. What should I do?"

"You're asking someone who has just jumped into bed, well a pile of hay in the barn, with the first bloke I've met since the demise of my life with Ranalph and you're expecting a logical answer. I say go for it. By all accounts, he's a great bloke, definitely easy on the eye and possibly easy inside the pussy."

"And here I was thinking that you're such a conservative young lady and you're talking like a whore. I don't know what to think."

"Yes you do. I think that you've been dreaming of this moment for a long time. You just can't believe that your dream is coming true."

"That's it no more of this talk, let's go inside and eat."

After lunch, Ben, Jill, Sophie and I sat on the back veranda chatting about all sorts of things. Eventually, the conversation seemed to arrive, with a little nudging from Sylvie, at me and my life at Salon Pierre. "I owe my life to Tiffany, if she hadn't noticed the bruises that my ex-fiance inflicted on me, and brought it to the attention of her boss, the fabulous Pierre, I would now be on my honeymoon and probably be getting beaten by my new husband simply because that's what he did. You should have seen him trying to throw his weight around at two of the biggest and meanest bikeys that you've ever seen, who just happened to be Pierre's mates. Then the cops arrived and carted him off. It was great to watch."

"This Pierre sounds like some cool bloke, tell us more."

"You'd be better asking Tiffany here, she's got the hots for him and, it seems he has the hots for her."

"Have you and Pierre been doing the wild thing?" Ben asked.

"No! I've only just discovered how he feels about me."

"Are you going to?" Jill chimed in.

"I'm saying no more on this subject."

"That means yes," Sylvie said.

"Why are you all ganging up on me? Just leave it alone."

Talk about timing. Aunty Mary came out. "Tiffany, you're wanted on the phone, he says his name is Pierre, he doesn't sound like a Pierre."

"His real name is Peter, it just doesn't sound right Salon Peter, so he calls himself Pierre."

I returned minutes later, deep in thought. "My life can't get any worse."

"What's the matter?" Sylvie asked.

"Salon Pierre is no more. It has been firebombed. There is nothing left of it. Blue and the other staff are in protective custody and Pierre is on his way up here. He had some time convincing Libby, who is his police boss, that it's a good idea. He has had to tell her about me and his feelings for me to convince her to let him come here, to protect me, us, Sylvie and me. I've spoken to Uncle Ted and he's told the guys down the road to let Pierre through."

"So, we get to meet this Pierre guy. How soon will it be, how long will it take for him to get here?" Jill asked.

"You don't stand a chance, he has eyes only for Tiffany."

"We don't know that for certain, Tiff isn't even sure."

It took all of thirty seconds for me to dispel any doubts. Pierre had only just stood up after getting out of his car when I ran into his arms and kissed him. We held each other for long enough to confirm the rumours before, arm in arm walking over to the veranda where I introduced him to Ben and Jill. Aunty Mary and Uncle Ted came out and were introduced.

"Okay Pierre, or would you prefer me to call you Peter? What has happened?"

"Darling would be fine. As for what has happened. It has hit the fan big time. It took the boys no more than half an hour to track down those responsible for the firebombing. A little not so subtle pressure and they coughed up Jameson as being the guy who hired them. They rode in force to his house, threatened to take his wife and pass her around among the gangs. When that didn't work, she has now volunteered to give evidence against him, they produced a box containing enough C4 to remodel the entire Eastern Suburbs and told him that if he did not accompany them to the police station the fire department would find his body in the wreckage of what, until then, had been a luxurious mansion. They threw him on the back of Mongrels hog and he hung on that tight that he almost broke every one of Mongrel's ribs on the trip to the police. When he was shown the amount of evidence that the police had against him, he collapsed in front of them."