by Diane Blake
"I feel like such a fool. You were so convincing."
"Hey, it's not like I actually kissed dudes or anything. I read a few websites, followed a few blogs, etc."
"What about your crappy dates you told me about?"
"I queued up a few appropriate movies on Netflix and took notes."
Jasinda still couldn't wrap her head around the details. "How could you register at school under a different name? Your exams and term papers... None of this makes any sense."
Tommy laughed. "Register? It's a lecture hall. There must be at least a hundred and seventy-five students in there every session. I just walked in and sat down. It's not like the professor takes attendance. As for the exams and papers, I never turn anything in obviously."
"You have books, I've seen them...for other classes too."
"Anybody can walk into the student bookstore and buy some textbooks. I just made up all that crap about my other classes and living in the dorm."
Kandi interrupted before Jasinda could make another statement or ask another question. "Gay, straight, student, criminal, whatever. This is all really fascinating. Not! Why don't you guys let me go and you can recount all the details of your little undercover charade and your shared past on your own time?"
Tommy ignored Kandi. He watched Jasinda's face as his hands unwound the scarf around his neck. "Here's the best part." He tossed the scarf on the floor. Turned his head to give her the best angle. Pulled his collar away.
Jasinda gasped. A dragon tattoo! Just like the one Jim had on his bicep all those years ago. Just like the one on the back of the hand of the man who tried to rob the ice cream shop!
"The thief at the mall...it wasn't a coincidence...he was there to..." Jasinda let the sentence trail off.
Tommy helpfully picked up right where she left off. "Kill you. Yes. It was supposed to look like an ordinary robbery that got out of hand. It would have worked perfectly if that stupid football player hadn't shown up and interfered."
"You've got to be kidding me," Kandi piped up. "This really was all about her?"
"Really? That's what shocks you out of everything Gus, I mean Tommy, just explained?"
Kandi ignored Jasinda. She focused on Tommy. "So then what am I doing here?"
A distinctive voice answered, "You, my dear, are a loose end."
Tommy, Jasinda, and Kandi all turned toward the door to see who had spoken.
Chapter 38
The bearded man who had kidnapped Jasinda pushed a wheelchair into the room. The man with the scar under his eye followed right behind them.
Even though the wheelchair was motorized, its occupant preferred to disengage the propulsion mechanism in favor of the precise pace only a human pushing it could achieve.
The distinguished older man sitting in the wheelchair motioned with his index finger for his henchman to wheel him over to Kandi. He caressed Kandi's exposed leg beneath her cheerleader mini-skirt. The older man finished his thought, "You're an attractive and alluring one, to be sure, but still a loose end. And I hate loose ends almost as much as I hate complications."
Kandi gulped as she recognized...the disembodied voice from the backseat of the black sedan and the burner phone!
Jasinda gasped as she recognized...the man who stared daggers at her from the spectator portion of the courtroom during her entire testimony seven years earlier!
Tommy grimaced as he recognized...the fact that his father was checking up on him in person!
"Father! What are you doing here?" Tommy asked even though he knew exactly what his father was doing there.
Sal Dagostino smoothed his dark tie. His otherwise impeccable suit had a small stain from the red sauce (or gravy, as he called it) in his last meal.
Sal looked and acted every bit the part of the mobster. In fact, in the city of Jefferson, Sal wasn't just a member of the mob. He was the mob! As the head of the Dagostino crime family, every organized seedy activity in the city connected back to him and enriched him in some way.
Sal surveyed the room and the two tied up captives. He turned towards his son. "Well, Tommy, the last time we talked on the phone you promised me you would take care of everything. I said the next time I talked to you it better be to congratulate you on a job well done."
Tommy heard and comprehended the exact words his father used. He also knew what his father really meant: My son, Tommy, the disappointment who will never be ready to take over the family businesses.
Tommy responded aloud, "Yes, Father, I remember our last phone conversation."
Sal continued, "It hardly seems that way." He pointed at Kandi. "Since that one called me..." Sal pointed at Jasinda. "And that one is still breathing, I don't see a job well done. In fact, I don't see a job done at all. I see a freakin' screwed up mess."
"Father, I have everything under-"
"Don't finish that sentence," Sal warned in his low octave voice. "First, you assured me Jasinda would be eliminated the night of the robbery at the mall. Then, your phony health inspector killed the wrong woman. And now you've got Jasinda right here tied up like an animal ready for slaughter and yet she's still alive."
Tommy tried to say something, but his father held up a hand to silence him. The older man eyed Tommy's flamboyant outfit. "I don't know how anyone can take you seriously dressed like a pouf."
"It's my character!" Tommy defended. "Besides, Father, nobody has used that word in like forty years."
Sal rolled his eyes at both the thought of Tommy's acting degree as well as the idea that his son would talk back to him in front of others. If Sal had talked back to his own father when he was Tommy's age, he'd have received a broken jaw – and that's if his father was in a good mood that day.
Sal gestured towards the guy with the scar under his eye. "Go find my son something appropriate to wear." The guy disappeared immediately. "Now, let's get down to business."
"Finally, someone's talking my language," Kandi said. "The way I see it, you don't need to hold me hostage anymore. I won't tell anyone about you or this place. I promise. You already know I can keep my mouth shut and do exactly what I'm told."
"I'm afraid you're in no position to negotiate," Sal said with a tip of his head in Kandi's direction.
Jasinda spoke up. "She's right, Mr. Dagostino. I'm the one that you want to hurt. Apparently, I've been living on borrowed time for days."
Tommy practically choked on his own saliva. "Days? Oh, Jasinda, you've been living on borrowed time for seven years!"
Sal nodded. "That's right. I wanted you dead the very day you walked out of the courtroom after testifying against my Jim. But Jim begged me to wait all this time. He wanted to do it himself. He wanted to personally watch the light fade out of your eyes by his own hand."
Jasinda's eyes darted around the room. Jim must have gotten out of jail somehow. Maybe they helped him escape. Where is he? He's just listening, watching, lurking...waiting to make his dramatic entrance and finish me off..."
Sal knew from the fear on Jasinda's face exactly what she was thinking. "That would be poetic justice, wouldn't it Jasinda? Since you took my son's life away by sending him to prison, now he could come and take yours away by sending you to hell. I can see it in your eyes. You're waiting for Jim to come barreling in here and slice your throat open."
For the first time since he'd entered the room, the mobster's cool demeanor faded away. The anger and emotion welled in his voice as he spoke. "That's not going to happen. Do you know why? Because one of my enemies got to Jim last week, the day before his parole hearing. Jim was stabbed thirteen times and bled to death on the prison kitchen floor."
"Oh, my God," Jasinda mumbled.
"The fix was already in. I'd bribed and/or blackmailed the entire parole board. Jim was one day away from being a free man."
The thought sent a chill up Jasinda's spine.
Sal wheeled closer to Jasinda. He got right in her face as he laid out the original plan. "Everything else was already in place on the outside. Tommy
's intricate plan to get close to you worked perfectly. Your good friend 'Gus' was going to say he found the perfect man for you and set you up on a blind date. And guess who that was going to be?"
"Jim..." she said with no satisfaction at being correct.
Sal continued, "That's right. And Jim was going to get to see the look in your eyes when he told you how you'd been fooled and betrayed by someone you trusted. Just like you did to him when you agreed to testify against him."
Her emotions simmered to a boiling point inside Jasinda as well. "You're making it sound like your son was some kind of innocent saint. Jim used me. He was a criminal and a murderer. He got what he deserved."
Sal smacked Jasinda across the face! With her body held in place against the chair by the restraints, her head whipped around until she faced away from Sal. The red impression of his hand blazed on her cheek. She swirled her tongue around as she tasted a droop of blood from the cut on the inside of her lip.
Sal stared daggers at her while he held his stinging hand in his other palm.
Tommy took over the discussion. "My brother's untimely death caused a few adjustments to the plan. When that do-gooder football hero showed up and screwed up the first attempt at your murder, I found a way to make that work to our advantage."
Tommy walked behind Kandi. He put one hand on her shoulder. He caressed her face with his other hand. "Enter Kandi Chambers. Her obvious charms plus a well-planned lie...and poor, woe-is-me, I'm-not-good-enough Jasinda felt betrayed anyway."
Tommy projected a funny voice to mock Jasinda's thought process. "Boo-hoo. The football player really likes the skinny girl better." Returning to his normal voice, he added, "Bonus, that was supposed to get Craig out of the way so he would stop protecting you. Who knew the jock would be so persistent?"
"He really cares about me," Jasinda said with true conviction.
"I agree," Tommy told her. "You know what? That actually works too. Now you get to die knowing that you really did have a chance at true love and it's been ripped away from you forever."
The glee in his voice chilled Jasinda to the bone. He wanted her to feel betrayed and he'd succeeded beyond even his own wildest imagination. She realized she'd been friends with and confiding in a madman for months.
Although Jasinda knew she was in no position to bargain, she also figured she had nothing to lose at this point. "Do whatever you're going to do to me, but leave Craig alone. He has nothing to do with this and he doesn't even ever have to know about it. You should let Kandi go too. Yes, she's a cold-hearted bitch, but both of you probably respect that in a woman. Even though what she did to me at your behest was rotten, she doesn't deserve to die."
"Yeah, listen to her," Kandi advocated.
Sal wheeled closer to Jasinda. He didn't wait for the bearded guy to move him. "You don't learn, do you? Jasinda do-the-right-thing Reed, huh? That's what got you into this mess seven years ago. You couldn't keep your mouth shut. You had to go blabbing to the authorities about everything. Well, it's going to be your final lesson. Sometimes, doing the 'right thing' will get you killed. Speaking of that, now, seems like a good time."
Sal turned towards his bearded henchman. "Give me your gun."
Chapter 39
It all happened so fast. Jasinda watched in horror as the henchman reached into his belt and produced the weapon. He passed it to Sal. The mobster raised the gun.
Jasinda held her breath. She closed her eyes and turned her head away as much as possible.
Tommy yelled, "No, wait!"
What happened? Did Tommy have a last minute attack of conscious? One eyelid moved ever so slightly as Jasinda dared to peek.
Anger blazed in Sal's eyes. His voice sounded cold and detached, yet full of pent up fury. "If you weren't my son, you'd already have a bullet in your chest. First, you talk back to me in front of others. Now, you openly contradict and question my decision of when to kill the woman who's responsible for taking your brother away from us?"
"I'm sorry, Father. I got carried away. I apologize for my outburst and earlier inconsiderate behavior."
Sal nodded a slight acknowledgment. Since he hadn't turned the weapon on his son, Tommy took that as a sign to continue talking. "I got so excited because I didn't want you to kill her before I got a chance to tell you about my new plan."
"A new plan?" Sal repeated. The mafioso sat back in a more relaxed position in the wheelchair. He folded his arms.
As usual, Tommy could deduce more from his father's tone, mannerisms, and other non-verbal communication than he could from the actual words. This time, Sal's simple three words meant so much more: You'll never be as smart as your brother. As my oldest child, he was supposed to take my place as the head of the family. Now I'm stuck with you. The second rate version of Jim.
Tommy ignored all the subtext floating around in his head. He bent down so he could whisper directly into his father's ear. For added fun, he put his hand up to block their view so Jasinda and Kandi couldn't attempt to read his lips.
The scowl on Sal's face slowly melted away. A surge of interest, then excitement flickered through his eyes. The older man's lips threatened to form a smile.
Tommy continued to confide his idea to his father. Finally, the most evil grin that either Kandi or Jasinda had ever seen overtook Sal's entire face as he fixated his gaze on the ladies.
Tommy stopped talking and stood up straight. He held his breath apprehensively while he waited for his father to make a pronouncement.
Sal's gaze shifted from the women to Tommy. "Perhaps I have underestimated you all these years. Maybe you just needed the right circumstances to nurture and bring out your creativity. Now that, my son, that is a plan worthy of a man who calls himself a Dagostino."
Chapter 40
Half draped over the arm of Jasinda's couch, Craig awoke with a start. He looked at the time on his phone. It had only been an hour since he nodded off. That's how it had been all night as well as the night before. He got short periods of fitful sleep interspersed with nightmares about what might have happened to Jasinda.
He'd stayed at her apartment each night hoping she'd miraculously come home in the middle of the night. Of course, he'd awakened to disappointment the last two mornings.
Craig scrolled through the phone messages and texts. They all came from various Tigers numbers. Nothing from the police, his brother, or from an unknown number.
What had happened to Craig's life? One week ago, he was a rich, single, care-free star football player a few days away from his first time playing in the Big Game. As a first-string quarterback, he'd received (and deserved) a lot of the credit for the Tigers making it to their first Big Game in fifteen years.
Craig enjoyed being a media darling, popular with the fans, team management, and the other players. He really did have it all – except the right woman by his side.
Then he met her. Jasinda! He pictured her sitting next to his brother and an old military buddy in the special player friends and family VIP seats. She'd cheer him on as he scored the winning touchdown, wrapping it up for the Tigers. Everything seemed perfect – until it wasn't.
Then fate had torn Jasinda away from him. He looked at the time on his phone again. Despite the glimmer of hope in his heart, Craig knew that every minute that passed without hearing from Jasinda made it increasingly more likely that he'd never see her again.
Craig dragged himself to the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror provided a harsh dose of reality. Apparently, staying up all night worrying about never seeing the woman you thought could turn out to be the love of your life took as much of a toll on one's body as did partying all night long.
If Coach Benson saw him like this..."Coach Benson," Craig said aloud. "The Big Game. Today!" Kickoff time remained several hours away. Unlike a normal game day during which players would arrive two or three hours ahead of kickoff, the coach had wanted all the players there first thing in the morning to start the day with a team breakfast. Then he planned all kinds
of last minute prep and team rituals with them.
Craig had already missed the breakfast. Coach Benson would be mad, but Craig could probably sweet-talk his way out of trouble as long as he arrived at the stadium soon. Coach Benson would have to cut him a little slack under the circumstances.
What about the Big Game? How could Craig keep his mind on what was supposed to be the most important day of his career when Jasinda was missing?