“When we learned how to take care of her needs, she had already been pretty much set in her routine. We were home schooling her by then. We did try going the regular route, but with her not talking, there always seemed to be an issue. So Paulie and I thought it best to keep her home. She was your normal pre-teen I guess, except she liked to sit for hours doing the same things over and over again.”
“Then one day Paulie brought home a computer, some friend of his had told him it was good for Jenna, that maybe she could use some of the programs online. Within the first couple weeks she had mastered the darn thing. She stayed on that thing forever, and since I’m not too swift on them myself, I had no idea what she was doing.”
“Paulie was the first to notice; apparently she was able to get in and out of places that she wasn’t supposed to. Hacking he called it. We tried to get her to stop, but it was no going. Eventually we were able to interest her in other things on it and the hacking thing came to a halt, or at least we thought it had.”
“At this time like I mentioned, Alec was pretty much left to himself, not that we neglected him, but he kinda got lost in the shuffle. We gave him everything he needed, but the truth is, Jenna got most of our time. He was always messing with Bonata’s boys, always wanted to be a part of them. And no matter what I said I couldn’t dissuade him.”
“Then one day he went bragging to them about his little sister and the computer, which was a shock to me, because he never mentioned her outside the family. I’m not sure anymore how the topic even came up, probably bragging rights or some such nonsense. But whatever set it off, Bonata sent his men to the house not long after that for Jenna.”
“Imagine our surprise when this man, whom we’d heard so much about, and knew very well to steer clear of was on our doorstep. Of course we couldn’t say no. There wasn’t even a choice given. Anyway, we put on our coats and got Jenna ready and off we went. He asked us all these questions that we didn’t have the answers to, and then they put her in front of a computer. It was something to see. These grown men were in awe of my girl. Anything they asked her to do, she did it, and in less time than it takes to sneeze.”
“Bonata said he wanted to hire her for his business, she could work from home sometimes, but other times she’d have to come to him. I was still a bit weary about the hacking thing, and knowing his reputation, I was afraid that he would use her for these purposes, but he assured me that he wouldn’t. When I told him that it might be a problem getting her to come to him, since she never really went anywhere without me or her dad, he suggested that Alec could bring her.”
“Now I know what you think of my boy, but I’ll never believe that he knowingly led his sister into trouble.”
“I think it might be best for all concerned if you don’t mention your fuck of a son to me again. Carry on.”
“Um, okay, so they started out going there for a few hours everyday. I didn’t see anything wrong, or any real changes in her behavior, and Alec assured me that she was safe and that she loved what she was doing. In my mind it was like she’d gone out and found a job. Then the days started getting longer; sometimes she’d be gone ten, twelve hours. I started to worry, and Paulie tried to figure out what was going on, but you know, unless you ask her something directly, she sometimes have a hard time explaining herself.”
“Where did the gambling come in?”
“Oh that, that was an accident I think. Paulie was watching one of those stupid marathon poker games on TV, Jenna was sitting there with her dad just watching. I think he jokingly asked her if she liked it or something, for me it’s like watching paint dry.
But he was happy enough to have someone to watch with him. He got out some cards and started teaching her the game. I can’t remember how long it took her, but wasn’t long before Paulie was yelling for me to come see this. I watched her for a good ten minutes, because I thought it was a fluke you know. Then I joined in because Paulie’s never been the best at cards.”
“Anyway, this went on for a while, she loved it. We’d play with her for hours sometimes when she wasn’t over at Bonata’s place, trying to figure out how she did it. In over a hundred games that first weekend, she lost only one. Paulie found a card under the table later that he’d dropped when he was shuffling. To this day I think that’s the only reason she lost that one.”
“We stupidly told Alec about it, we were so proud of her; you gotta understand, until all this, our girl just sat and watched TV or did something quiet around the house. There was never any indication that she was capable of anything more, or that her life would ever be anything but those four walls. As a mother and father, it was very heart warming for us. I know it pissed you off about the chocolate, but it’s the one thing she loves, that means something to her. I would’ve given her truck loads of the stuff if I had to to make her happy.”
He could understand that now, looking at it from that perspective, though it still burned a hole in his gut. He didn’t say anything either way, as his mind sifted through all that she was saying. If she were to be believed, he’d jumped to the wrong conclusion and that’s something he hated. The wrong people could die if that happened. Like he’d almost taken her life when, according to her, all she’d been trying to do was help her kid. She went about it in a fucked up way yes, but if what she said is true, then she hadn’t set out to exploit her own kid.
“I’m guessing Alec told Bonata about the gambling?”
“Yes he did; I was so angry at him back then. He would do anything to be a part of them, of that world. Until then I think they barely paid him any attention at all. But after the computer thing, he started acting like a different person. Then suddenly he was Jenna’s best buddy; I should’ve known there was something fishy going on there. He never really had much to do with her before this all started. Paulie and I let him have his way in a lot of things, because we felt guilty. We’d given Jenna our all, and poor Alec had been left out in the cold.”
“You shoulda poisoned the fuck at birth.”
She looked at him askance; he really was a hard one; why her Jenna thought he was an angel was left to be seen. All she’d seen so far was a cold, unbending young man who didn’t seem to have much use for people, except maybe her Jenna. She picked up the story where she left off.
“When he started showing a real interest in his sister, we were so pleased. We thought he’d started seeing her as more than the simpleton he sometimes called her.” Andros moved in his chair and she didn’t need to look at him to know that he was pissed off by her words. It was very liberating to know that this man was the one looking after her girl. As cold as he was, it was a comfort to her to know that she could finally take a breath, after all these years of worrying. Jenna had been right after all; he really was her angel.
“Okay, then what happened?”
“Well then, that’s when the trips out of town started, and the being gone for days. Suddenly Alec was flushed with cash. I guess he was using her on his own at first, then to get what he wanted, he brought it to Bonata’s attention. We had no control over anything anymore, Paulie and I. They just took over. Paulie tried to say something once or twice; she was still his little girl after all. But Bonata said, or did something to him to scare him, and we had no choice but to drop it. By then, mom was making waves and no matter how we tried to deflect her she wouldn’t quit.”
“Then Jenna started, I don’t know what you’d call it, communicating better. We still couldn’t get anything out of her unless we asked her the right questions, but she could tell us what she wanted. That’s where your name came up again after all those years. She’d mentioned you the first time when she was about sixteen or seventeen, and other than the cutout from the magazine that she had on her wall, we never heard a peep out of her about it again.”
“Things went on as usual, and we started to learn to live with it. I had no idea that mom was doing anything, or that she’d found out so much, but the Bonatas did. I don’t know if Alec warned them or not, I
guess now we’ll never know.” Her voice trialed off as she felt a moment’s sorrow for the son she’d lost. She knew she was partly to blame for what had become of him, that maybe if she’d given him more of her time…
“I don’t have time for you to daydream lady, where is Jenna?”
“I’m getting to that. Okay, so after mom got involved, some other things started happening. We found out that Bonata was using Jenna, he was hiring her out I guess you can say, to other men in his position and even some that you wouldn’t think would have anything to do with the likes of Alphonso. Jenna started acting really strange, she still couldn’t quite put her words in order, but she was learning how to communicate better. She would do that texting thing, have you seen her? The girl is amazing.”
“Then she started showing an interest in all these things that she’d never done before. We couldn’t tell anyone what was going on, not even mom. Bonata had made some threats after Paulie and I tried to keep Jenna from going over there any more. We’d socked away most of the money he’d paid us in a special account for our girl, it wasn’t enough for the rest of her life, but it was a nice little nest egg. Bonata wouldn’t have it. Things started getting out of hand quick, then a few days ago, they took my husband so that Jenna would have to do the job she’d been hired for.” She became agitated at this point and couldn’t sit still. It had all come down to this…
“What job?” He sat forward in his seat as his heart gave a sickening thud in his chest. All this time he wasn’t sure where the fuck Paulie Petridis had been. He’d been sure that like his son, the older man was one of Bonata’s lackeys; but if she was to be believed, the whole family seems to have been held hostage by one man’s sick greed.
“You think they would tell me? All I know is that it was for some very important people. Jenna, for the first time, was really adamant about not wanting to do it. She had stopped confiding in me at this point, so I didn’t know all the details, but I knew it was big. Then she came up with a plan, it was all hers by the way. She told me in her own way that she was going to find her angel; that her angel would help. That night at the casino, when you met, that was no accident. She knew you would be there, I don’t know how, maybe that was your usual night to be there, I don’t know. Anyhow, I had to convince Alec to take her with him; she never played there for whatever reason and we never asked. Anyway, she believed that if she could just get close to you, that she could do the rest…”
“I’m sure she didn’t plan for your asshole son to knock her around.”
“I have no idea what she’d planned to do once she’d found you.”
“Okay so she found me, why didn’t she tell me about her father, why did she leave me in the middle of the fucking night?”
“Oh she’d never do that.”
“What?”
“She needed you to save her grandmother, but she’d never put you in danger by sending you after her father, you’re her angel.” She looked at him like he was supposed to understand that shit.
“What the fuck are you talking about lady? If she didn’t come after me to save her father then what? Where did she go?”
“To kill them.”
He sat back hard, his mouth hanging open. He thought, for the first time in a long, long time, something had finally shocked the shit out of him.
“Come again.”
“She’s very proficient at fighting, she taught herself. She’d just watch hours and hours of those fighting exercises on the computer. She studies their movements she said, and in ten minutes, she can copy it. She tried teaching me but I’m no good at it, but our girl...” She shook her head in wonder.
Andros meanwhile was wondering what the fuck was going on around him? Everything he thought he knew was shit compared to what had been revealed. Had it only been a few days? And now his woman might be in danger. “Where is she?”
“I honestly don’t know, I have no idea where they’re keeping him; but I do know that whatever it is they want her to do, she won’t do it; so she’s gonna try to eliminate them.
Whatever they’re up to, they were willing to murder a US senator to shut her up. If she’d done the expose` it would’ve shone the spotlight on certain people. Not to mention Jenna would’ve been caught up in the whole thing. I think their aim was to kill mom to shut her up once and for all, but I don’t think even she knows about this deal, whatever it is. I did get out of Jenna that it has something to do with a code though.”
He was up and moving before she was finished; she didn’t know where Jenna had gone to, but maybe there was something in Bonata’s files. He hoped so, because he had no other alternative.
He refused to panic, or to give up hope that he’d figure this shit out. He called in Garret and Jameson to help him go through the files once again, and hoped like fuck he found what he was looking for. The thought of her out there, one little girl trying to save her dad, made him proud and scared as fuck at the same time.
“I’m going to tan her little ass as soon as I find her.” He mumbled the words to himself as he walked into his office.
Chapter 28
He and his men combed through everything they could find, looking for a clue. When her grandparents woke up he didn’t tell them what was going on, he just let them believe that Jenna was tired from her long night, and was still in bed. That wouldn’t last too long though, so he’d have to come up with something fast.
He was losing patience, when three hours went by and they still had nothing. They found out a lot more about Bonata and his dealings than he wanted to know, but nothing on this job Jenna was supposed to be doing. His phone rang and he answered it distractedly while he scanned the screen in front of him.
“Hey boyo who’s in Cuba?”
“Gramps I can’t talk right now I’ve got a situation.”
“In Cuba?”
“What the fuck are you talking about gramps?”
“Well I have a tracker on your jet as you know, in case you go down or some fuck, and the incompetent fools can’t find you. It alarms or some shit when it goes into international airspace, I didn’t know that. Fucking pentagon. Anyway it says that you’re heading to Havana, what gives?”
“Gramps I need your plane.” He was running and motioning the boys to follow him as he went. He asked gramps a million fucking questions but the old man didn’t have anything more for him. “How the fuck can she fly into Cuba, isn’t that restricted airspace?”
“Not if you go through Canada. Who’s she?” Well fuck.
He gave the old man the rundown and then hung up the phone. There was a mad scramble as they headed out to the hangar where gramps kept his fleet of planes. Andros was making calls, trying to find any and everything he could about the situation.
Her mother hadn’t been of any help when he’d given her the location, so he was basically going in blind. He didn’t even blink when she told him that yes of course Jenna knew how to fly a plane. That answered the question of how the fuck she’d been able to take his plane. Seems his little flower was just full of surprises; he was in turns proud of her and pissed the fuck off.
He knew where she was landing but then what? How the fuck was he supposed to find her after that?
In the end he’d left one of his men behind to comb through the files again, in the off chance that they’d overlooked something. She had a huge fucking head start and he was afraid they’d get there too late. Gramps was waiting at the hangar when they arrived. “What’re you doing here old man?”
“I’m coming along for the ride boy, now instead of wasting time arguing let’s go. You’re gonna need my contacts once we land, it’s not the same over there as it is here. We don’t have jurisdiction of any kind, if you know what I mean; we’re gonna need all the help we can get.”
He had a point but Andros wasn’t too sure about having them both in danger. When had his life been taken over by these two anyway? He had a woman who doesn’t listen for shit apparently, and a meddling old man. In the end gramps
got his way, which was no big surprise.
He didn’t let himself think about her, or what danger she might’ve put herself in. All the way on the flight, he kept trying to figure out who and where. He’d never heard of Bonata having any connections in Cuba, but then again he’d never been too interested in the other man’s dealings.
He felt stifled, caged and on the brink of losing his mind, as he paced back and forth on the jet. No one was saying anything; each man understood the severity of the situation. He hadn’t shared any of what her mother had told him, not quite sure that he wanted the word to go any farther than him.
He’d sent a man after the hit man just before leaving, since the guys had found him in a hole in DC. Hopefully he’d get word of that little issue being taken care of by the time they landed.
There was too much shit going on at once. Apparently Jenna had done enough on the computer, so that all the senator needed to do was follow the crumbs she’d left to retrieve the missing files and carry on with her expose`. The older woman had tried telling him this news as he was going out the door. He really didn’t care about any of that shit at this point; all he cared about was finding her and bringing her home.
It was the longest fucking flight in creation. First, because there was such short notice, they ran into a snag. After that was taken care of it was the bureaucratic bullshit the Canadian government wanted in order to give them the go ahead. Gramps did come in handy there, because Andros had no patience left at this point to deal with anything. He was about ready to take off with or without their okay, which gramps assured him would just get his ass shot down out the sky. That only added another layer to his fear for her. She was headed into enemy territory in more ways than one.
The Gambler Page 17