The HUSH Series: (HUSH, HUSHED and JANE.)

by Sandra Raine

  I had had enough. So I stomped over to the table, picked up whoever's gun and fired a shot into the ceiling. Lucky for me the motel was a single story. And lucky for me I got them to stop fighting.

  "Are you guys done? I mean, do you feel any better 'cause I can tell you that I don't. I have a fucking baby growing inside of me that I don't fucking want! We need money! We rest tonight. Tomorrow we find a "big city". Then a clinic. Then we continue our plan to Canada. And maybe, just maybe, we can come up with some fucking plan to rid Parker once and for all!" I hit the safety on the gun, put the gun back down on the table and walked out of the room without so much as a glance back.

  That night I couldn't sleep. The room felt hot. I kept tossing and turning, and turning and tossing until I gave up and got out of bed. The room was semi-dark so I was able to see a little. Jonah was lying on the adjacent bed. He was asleep, fully clothed and holding his gun. Now that was an occupational hazard if I ever saw one.

  I stepped outside and found Marx with his arms folded, leaning up against the Suburban while Josh kept a few feet's distance, dragging on a cigarette. Marx had slight bruising around the left temple of his eye. And Josh had a piece of cloth wrapped around his right hand while sporting a bruise on his cheek along with a scuffed lip. It was fair to say that Jonah had worked him over. But then again, they were all worked over to one extreme or another.

  "What time is it?" I asked Marx falling in beside him.

  "'Bout two."

  "How long you been keeping guard?" I continued to pry, leaning my head against his shoulder.

  "'Bout an hour."

  "Hmm," I droned taking in the still of the night's surrounding air which clung to a slight chill.

  "I'm heading back inside," Josh said to Marx. Marx nodded. "How you feeling, Jane?"

  "Bummed out." I said giving Josh his fair share of my undivided attention.

  "Hmm," Josh said gazing at me through the semi-darkness. "I really am sorry, Jane." Josh then said unexpectedly as his hands ran up and down both my arms. I guess he saw that I was cold. I nodded. Josh pulled me into him and embraced me in such a manner that had me forgiving all the wretched things he had done to me in the past; things I would not tell Jonah or anyone as I believed that was strictly between me and Josh and God. And I know that he was going to have to answer for the things he had done in his life so I thought why hold it against him? Against Dominic and Justin? Doug was strictly unforgivable only 'cause he took immense pleasure in what he did. If not, he would have been here embracing me the way Josh was embracing me.

  "Get some rest," Josh said kissing me on the top of my head before heading back to his room.

  "You should rest," Marx stated in agreement to Josh.

  "I wish the baby was yours," I said from the bottom of my heart. Marx smirked.

  "Would it be wrong for me to say that there would be plenty of time for that?"

  "You make it sound like you're proposing?"

  "I am."

  "Hmm," I grunted in thought. I mean, it was a beautiful thought. Being married, that was.

  "So what's your answer going to be?"

  "I would have to say. . .yes."

  "You think big bro will approve?"

  "No. But that's only expected."

  "It's the age thing that throws him off, doesn't it?"

  "Exactly how old are you, Marx?"

  "A month shy from being twenty-seven."

  "Well you're not that old."

  "Well thanks a lot!" Marx laughed. Damn! He had a beautiful laugh. It made my heart sing.

  "So, how did you come about. . .In Parker's business, I mean."

  "I had always been around, Jane. Mainly working the east coast until Parker summoned me to watch after you."

  "So you were one of the men shuffling me around?"

  "Yeah." Marx said lowering his gaze from mine. "I'm the one who kept you bounded and blinded and fed you your music."

  "And the drug, too, right?"

  "I'm not good with doping up girls, Jane. That was Royce's job."

  "Royce?"

  "He was one of us three taking care of you."

  "Well keeping me in small dark and in confined places wasn't exactly "taking care" of me. I mean, wouldn't you agree?"

  "I had orders, Jane."

  "So that's your argument?"

  "I gave you the means to escape, didn't I? I mean, at least I didn't risk having my hands bashed in."

  "Ouch, Marx. You know that hurt, right?"

  "So you do still have feelings for Dominic."

  "Maybe?"

  "Well, if you and I are to be married, then I suggest you start putting those feelings aside."

  I changed the subject. "What made you decide to change your mind about following orders?"

  "When I found out exactly who you were."

  "Mm. . .I don't think I quite understand?"

  "Viktor Kasa is a very influential man, Jane. And also one to have feared."

  "I don't know exactly what I have to do with him being an influential man?" I contended.

  "The majority of the businesses knew about Andrew Parker abducting you, Jane." Jonah intervened from behind me, startling me 'cause I quickly spun around in my stance, almost losing my balance but Marx was there to catch my fall, preventing an accident. "He put out an APB - sort-a-speak- when you went missing. He had plenty of people searching for you. He even put up a ten million dollar reward for anyone finding you. Dad loved you, Jane. Sometimes even more than me."

  "I wouldn't say that," I said sniffling back some tears.

  "To answer your previous question, Jane, anyone who goes against Viktor Kasa is risking some heavy consequences. That's why I chose to quit Parker. I mean. . .your father didn't have a problem chopping up people, and neither are the men who are still loyal to him. So in a nutshell I stood to loose a lot. And know this, Jane, I did not intend to have those feelings that I'm having for you now. You're father had nothing to do with that."

  "Well if our father is such a bad ass, then why are we running? Why can't we summon those men our father has connections with and let them deal with him."

  "Because it's not their war, Jane," Dominic said suddenly, casually walking our way, lighting a cigarette against the chilled air. He then stopped walking, took a drag of his cigarette, exhaled, then passed it to Jonah. "This is a personal war between Parker and Kasa. And with all due respect, none of the other Organizations will get involved if it doesn't involve them directly. The only reason we feel like we're fighting against other people not related directly to us is because those people are connected in one way or another to our Organization and no one else's. So to speak figuratively, this is an intermediate war, now meaning against us. We have to fight them off, or we risk getting killed. Do you understand now? Understand why we can't count on other Organizations to get involved? I mean, it's no different than the mafia. War only comes upon when one family insults another, and in this case, Viktor insulted Andy and now Andy is retaliating, and unfortunately he's retaliating by using you. By making you suffer, making you pay for the fucking insult and his fucking pain. And I know, Jonah," Dominic then said shifting his attention to Jonah, "that all this could have been easily avoided if your father would have stuck to the plan regarding Sissy Young. Meaning, he should have never tampered with the potential of Andy's investment. I mean, you do know the full story behind that little bout of deception, right, Jonah? I'm sure Viktor had plenty of time to tell you."

  "He never disclosed much about it to me, Dominic," Jonah said handing back his cigarette to him. "So I'm sorry to disappoint you. What I basically know is what you basically know. Viktor was supposed to have approached Sissy, seduce her a bit, make her gain some sort of trust in him, then coach her into a job promising more money, a better life. Viktor wasn't supposed to have fallen for Sissy. That wasn't part of the plan but it happened likewise. Then he ended up getting her pregnant thus killing Parker's chances of making a massive killing off her ass. And so the b
est way for him to get even was by stealing Jane here, turning her into the whore that Sissy was supposed to have been for him, make a killing off her ass, and then, dispose of her when she is no longer viable. Kind of like the way he does with the majority of his girls. So now, here we are, in the midst of a pride war because this is exactly what it is: Parker's pride."

  "Okay," Dominic mused, finishing off his cigarette and stomping the butt on the ground. "So how are we going to end my brother's pride? Do you have any ideas 'cause I can tell you now, he won't stop until Jane here is in proper hands, that's only if she has been sold; if not, in his hands, permanently."

  Jonah took a deep, deep breath against his thought before he presented the following which totally blew my mind:

  "First we need to get in contact with Guillermo and find out if there was a sale made for a girl here in the U.S.. Secondly, we need to track Parker down and make a deal: Jane in exchange for the three point five mil via bank transfer with the exception that we deliver Jane to Guillermo to avoid Parker hurting her. Third, we arrange a meeting on this soil between Parker and Guillermo. And last, we hand Jane to Guillermo, letting him know that she's pregnant with Parker's child. Two things will happen at that point: Either Guillermo will request his three point five million back or kill Parker on the spot for fraud and insult or he'll do both, hence us having the money on hand."

  "What if he decides he wants to keep Jane?" Dominic observed thus piquing mine and Marx's interest 'cause Marx quickly maneuvered himself in front of me, shielding me from that very thought.

  "I don't see why Guillermo would want to keep a pregnant girl on hand. She would be useless." Jonah remarked in thought.

  "But there's a possibility it could happen, Jonah. I mean, Jane is still a profit. And she's not going to be pregnant forever - "

  "Or we can show proof that Jane never existed by her not showing up at the meeting," Justin interjected coolly from behind us.

  "And making it appear as if Parker had intentionally defrauded Guillermo," Josh added casually. "By then Guillermo will probably request the money back from Parker as a courtesy due to their previous business ventures which will leave Parker incapable 'cause we'll have the money. A good enough reason for Guillermo to feel insulted thus taking out Parker and his accompanying men once and for all."

  And it must've been settled 'cause Jonah made no further argument. In fact, he just stood there gazing toward the sky with this disquieted look across his face. There was an event on the horizon and Jonah didn't appear to content about it although the plan sounded awfully possible. But I guess he was leaving room for the impossibilities through the weight of his silence. And I assumed that that is what he was preparing himself for: the impossibility and it's back-up plan.

  "You still want that abortion?" Jonah then asked me from beneath the big starry sky. I nodded. "Then go back in the room and get some rest. We head out early tomorrow."

  Chapter 17

  The plan had been set. And as promised, we headed out of Soda Springs at six in the morning, and headed towards Boise, a relatively big city. And instead of setting myself up for prostitution, Jonah instead took the Suburban's artillery and pawned them off, piece by piece, to various pawn shops and gun brokers around the city under a false identity so he wouldn't be tracked. In the end we managed to scrape up a little over seven grand; I got the abortion after the first thousand.

  Dominic ended up taking me to a clinic predominantly for Latinos. I guess he figured they wouldn't ask much questions about getting an abortion. As Dominic and I sat there in the lobby gazing at the various women housing secrets of their own, my eyes couldn't help but to falter to Dominic's hand; my eyes settling on his disfigured fingers, thinking about the incident that caused him to literally loose his fingers, and the regret I harbored for allowing it to happen in the first place.

  "They don't hurt as bad as they look, Jane," Dominic retorted comically.

  "I wish you wouldn't joke," I scolded sullenly. After a minute, I summoned up enough courage to pick up Dominic's hand and hold it to my cheek. There was a fire in his flesh that continued to comfort me despite the fact that he was no longer my pimp.

  "I am truly sorry for what happened to you, Dominic," I said holding his hand intimately in mine. "I mean, I had no choice but to come back despite you having helped me to escape."

  "I understand," Dominic said sincerely.

  "Do you?" I pressed.

  "Well, I mean, I understand your actions now when back then I didn't. I will admit, Jane, that I was incredibly pissed at you for jeopardizing my place in Parker's business. I mean, you made me look like a fool, incompetent, and incapable that for the longest time I actually hated you for it. That when Parker made it a point to hunt you down after you escaped Abel's, I was the first to vie in finding you 'cause in my own personal way I wanted to hurt you the way Parker and Bob Ray had hurt me. But I managed to find forgiveness instead. No longer hating you but loving you. Because I do love you, Jane - Justin, Josh and myself - we all love you in our own way." Then Dominic did the unthinkable; something I had been wanting him to do for the better part of our unconventional relationship; something I hounded him for; something I wanted him to accept from me to show proof how I adored him in spite the monster he was. . .he kissed me full on the mouth. And he only did it 'cause I allowed him to 'cause my emotions called him and he seized it knowing fully that this would be our last chance at togetherness, and that soon he would disappear from my life, forever.

  "Lisa Smith?" a petite Latina woman called out thus interrupting mine and Dominic's trance. I slowly rose from my seat with Dominic's hand slowly slipping from mine.

  After the abortion and for the next couple of weeks we hid out in Idaho, traversing from one city or town and into another; slumming it in and out of motel rooms, dining on fast food, and making calls for Parker's whereabouts and to Columbia.

  It turned out that Anna Jane Parker a.k.a. "Diamond" had been sold for the steep price of 3.5 million to Pablo Soma-Guillermo. It turned out that Guillermo was still waiting for the arrival of his merchandise via cargo shipment which was now past due. And Guillermo was not happy about it. In fact, Guillermo threatened to put a contract on Parker's head if nothing was produced by the fifteenth of March. He also went on to say that he was only extending Parker's life out of respect for the past businesses they had conducted together.

  So you've been doing a little spying on me, have you, little Brother? Andrew Parker grunted over the speaker's cell phone. You're a fucking prick, you know that, Dom? Never thought I'd have a betraying prick for a kid brother!

  "I really am not in the mood, Andy," Dominic said.

  Then why are you fucking calling me then?

  "To let you know that Guillermo is not pleased with his merchandise."

  What merchandise? Parker scoffed. You have it.

  "Exactly. But does Guillermo know that?"

  What's your point, Dom?

  "There's going to be a contract put out on your head in a few days if you don't produce his merchandise."

  Does he know you're holding his merchandise hostage?

  "You would still have your merchandise, Andy, if you would have informed us about the deal you made with Guillermo prior to the course Justin, Josh and myself had taken."

  So I'm to assume that Jane tuned you in?

  "I won't lie. But, yes."

  Well. She must've been really wearing her heart on her sleeve to divulge such information to you, Dom. So tell me. . .what sparked your interest to call me? Was it the money?

  "Maybe. . .Yes. But since you tapped on the subject of money, where is it?"

  Why? So you can steal it. Run off with your prized whore with it?

  "C'mon, Andy, you're reaching. And if anyone here is stealing, that would be you! Doing a business deal like that without informing any of us. Now wonder Guillermo plans on taking you down. You're a fucking snake!"

  Don't think I'm going to go down on this one alone, Dom! You'r
e the one who's holding out with Jane! You. Justin. Josh, you're all conflicted in this business deal with Guillermo as much as I am!

  "Then where's the fucking money?"

  What money?

  "So Guillermo's been spreading lies in my ears, then?"

  What exactly did Guillermo tell you, Dom?

  "Said he paid three point five for an invisible fuck."

  He's a rather peculiar man, isn't he? Parker chuckled.

  "You think you'd still find Guillermo peculiar when he's standing over you with a machete? I hear he wields a pretty wise one. Never misses. Very precise. Hits his mark every time."

  I get you're fucking point!

  "Good. 'Cause that's exactly where we're going to end up if we don't give him what he wants."

  'We'?

  "Did I stutter."

  Apparently not.

  "Look, Andy, despite what has happened you're still my brother. And we're still family. We need to protect each other."

  Go on, I'm listening.

  "Instead of shipping out the merchandise I suggest Guillermo come here to pick it up. That way we have control on friendly soil."

  That way he doesn't put a bullet in my head.

  "If that's the way you want to look at it. . .then yeah."

  Why the sudden change?

  "Like I said. . .we're family. And we can all benefit from the money."

  Where's the merchandise?

  "Here."

  And Jonah?

  "He's gone rouge."

  On his own?

  "We gave him a slight nudge, sort-of-speak."

  What about Marx?

  "He tried to intervene with the merchandise. He failed."

  Good. I never trusted that little prick!

  "Is pops holding the money?"