Chapter 15
Tommy was shaking me.
“Baby, c’mon and move! We gotta bounce!”
I sat upright in bed, feeling groggy. “Huh?”
“Move!” He pulled me by the hand and was throwing a bundle of clothing at me. “Pack a couple changes of clothes for both of us and bathroom shit, whatever you can fit in that bag. And your laptop and phone and charger. Hurry.”
“What’s going on?” I felt so groggy.
“I’ll explain on the way. We gotta hurry, Tia. Hurry!”
I sprang into action, trying to shake off the grogginess and grabbed underwear, socks, jeans, t-shirts, shorts, bras for me then jeans, socks, underwear, t-shirts, and long- sleeve shirts for Tommy. Then I grabbed my train case in the bathroom and threw our toothbrushes and toothpaste and Tommy’s razor and shaving cream into it. In three minutes flat I was ready, wearing sweats and flip flops. I threw a pair of sneakers into the bag. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and he grabbed the bag, my train case and purse, and then he ushered us to the Jeep.
“Something’s fucked up,” he said, as we pulled out onto the street. He hit a button on a small remote and the gate closed.
“What do you mean?”
“My guards disappeared. Jimmy is AWOL. We’re going to the safe house.”
“Jimmy disappeared?”
“He took off. Or got taken. Don’t know yet.”
“What?”
“He didn’t show up tonight for a dinner thing with Tess. She hasn’t heard from him. He was supposed to be here at midnight to pull night duty and relieve Dex. Dex had to split, so I got someone in to cover when Jimmy didn’t answer his phone but he’s been acting weird. It’s possible he’s flipped. Or someone has him. It could have something to do with the cops picking you up today. That he didn’t tell me about the weapons you gave him isn’t cool, doesn’t look good. He didn’t know I was armed under the bed. No one but you knew that. Did you tell him where you got them?”
“No, I just carried them out to him in a plastic grocery bag and said, can you please put these somewhere? Tommy left them. He just took them from me and said okay.”
“He has all the codes to get in the house and I’ve changed everything, but I won’t have us be sitting ducks. I don’t know where the guards are all gone. I woke up out of nowhere, feeling like something wasn’t right and no one’s here. Shoulda been two guys. Phones all go to voicemail.”
“And you think it’s James?”
“I dunno.”
“But he’s your brother-in-law, he’s…”
“Dare’s moving Tess and the boys to his place while we figure it out. He’s either been taken or gone rogue. My guards are gone, Tia. Gone. Two guys just vanished and the gate was closed but unlocked. Something is fucking very wrong and we’re not sitting around to wait to find out what that something is.”
We pulled into the driveway of an industrial plaza and then behind to a gated mini storage place. Tommy’s cell blooped and he looked at it.
“Fuck. Luciana’s in labor.”
“Should we go to the hospital?” I asked.
He shook his head. “No. Ed’ll text me with news.”
Tommy stopped at the storage place, a big, long alleyway of orange garage doors. He replied to his text then got out, leaving the car running, opened one of the orange doors and shut the door behind him. Then he came back out with a black backpack slung over one shoulder.
He drove us the rest of the way to the farm and when we got there we headed up the stairs in the barn and dropped our bags and I flopped into bed. It was 4:20 AM. I wasn’t sure I could sleep, though. He wasn’t sleeping. He sat at the table thumbing away on his phone, drinking a beer, the backpack on the floor beside him. I didn’t wanna know what was in it, though I could guess.
I lay there for a long time watching him and eventually he got in beside me and pulled me to him.
* * *
He woke me up. “Baby, let’s go get coffee.”
I groaned, then asked, “Is the baby here yet?”
“No. Get up; I have to talk to you.”
I sat up, “What time is it?”
“8:15.”
“Argh, didn’t we just fall asleep?”
“Tia.”
The seriousness of his tone snapped me out of my sleepy, grumpy haze. I got to my feet and reached for a pair of yoga pants in the bag I’d packed, which was lying open on the floor beside the bed.
He continued. “Luc isn’t in labor. That was a fake text. Someone was trying to coax me to the hospital.”
“What?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s going on?”
He shook his head. “I need coffee. Let’s go please, I’ll explain. This place needs a fucking coffee pot. We’ll get coffee and then you get supplies in for us to do us a week or so here.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration and picked up his keys.
I grabbed an elastic from my purse, threw a hoodie on, and tied my hair up in a ponytail as I ran into the bathroom, quickly peed, washed my hands, quickly brushed my teeth, swished some mouthwash, and splashed water on my face, then met him down at the jeep.
“What took you?” he snarled.
“I had to pee, honey, holy shit; relax.” I put my seatbelt on.
He made a growly sound and backed out of the barn.
* * *
Twenty minutes later he had coffee in him and he sat in the Jeep in the local country department store while I went in, his credit card in hand, and bought a coffee maker, a toaster oven that had two hot plate burners on top, plus a broom and a mop and bucket.
He was talking on his phone, well mostly listening and “Yeah, yeah” ‘ing as he drove me across the street to the grocery store. I went in and per his directions bought enough food to feed us for a week.
When I got back out, he got off the phone and we loaded the groceries into the back and then he drove us back to the farm. He blasted Metallica all the way back. It was loud, and he drove too fast, bordering on reckless. By the time we got back, I was feeling kind of grumpy, too.
He helped me get the groceries up the stairs and then he mumbled he’d be “back in a few” as he left, dialing while going down the stairs.
I lit a few scented candles, put the groceries away, and then swept the floors in preparation for mopping. If we were staying here for a week, it certainly was a little dusty and dead buggy, so I was going to give it a thorough cleaning. I saw him out by the pond on his phone and he looked like he was reading someone the riot act. I couldn’t hear him and didn’t really want to, anyway. If he’d wanted me to hear the conversation, he’d have made the call from here.
When he came back in, I had the single serve coffee maker set up, I had the place smelling better, looking cleaner, and then I offered to cook breakfast for him. He nodded and sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands. He looked exhausted and stressed.
I cooked him an omelet and some toast. He ate and then he passed out on the couch, his phone lying on his chest.
* * *
Almost two hours passed before phone rang. He bolted awake and grabbed it.
“Dare!” His expression dropped and he was silent for a few minutes, listening, but his eyes were intense and his jaw was tight. “Seriously? Okay, yep. Right. Call me later, Bye.”
He put the phone down.
“Sit,” he said, patting his knee. I hesitantly walked over and he pulled me into his lap and kissed my head.
“This is further blowback from Mexico. There was a relative of Castillo that’s local. We thought we got him but that was a decoy. He’s the one who arranged the shootout in the house the day we came home from here last time. Jimmy was shot last night; he’s in the hospital in intensive care.”
“No.” My heart sank.
“We had the security footage checked and some chick at the gate coaxed our guys to open the gate and then two other guys showed up and abducted them. I got us out of there just in time. Another few minutes and we’d have been shot up in our sleep. Someone cloned Eddy’s phone after he left it on the bar at the restaurant, and so they texted me like Luc was in labor. They were just trying to get us all to the hospital, planning a shoot out there, since they didn’t get me at home and couldn’t get into Pop’s. They got into Dare’s apartment but he shot their guy. He, Tessa, and the boys are fine. But…” Tommy took a deep breath, “Pop and Lisa, they were asleep when the text came through but Lisa’s phone was dead and Pop never checked his voicemail or texts. She got the texts this morning and they drove to the hospital before talking to anyone. Pop got shot twice in the hospital parking lot. Once in the shoulder; once in the gut.”
I gasped.
“He’s in surgery.”
I put my arms around him and squeezed. He hugged me back.
“My two guys watching our house last night, found dead. Jim in ICU, Pop in surgery right now, my sister and her kids in hiding. Pop’s wife beside herself. We got her with Tessa and the kids.”
“Luc and Eddy?” I asked.
“Eddy got them out of town at his folks’ cabin. He’s trying to keep my sister calm. He’s bringing her to Tess and Lisa today.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah, it has hit the fucking fan. I’ve got a few of our guys dealing with things. Dare and I have cleanup in progress.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means we’re safe here and that I won’t bring you home until it’s safe.”
“Okay.”
“Tia?”
“Yeah?”
“Your father was moving drugs for someone affiliated with these guys, owed them a lot of money.”
My hand came up and covered my mouth.
“Your father has hours, days at most. He might already be gone.”
I pulled away from him, ran to the bathroom, and promptly hurled my omelet into the toilet. After I finished brushing my teeth I heard Tommy’s phone ringing.
When I came out, he wasn’t here. I looked out the screened-in doorway and he was outside by the pond again, talking on the phone, pacing. He looked up at me and jerked his chin in a “You all right?” kind of way. I wiggled my fingers in a wave and blew him a kiss.
He walked toward the barn, so I sat on the sofa. He was with me a minute later.
“How’s everything?” I asked.
“Same,” he answered. “I feel fucking helpless right now. Sitting around waiting is not something I do well.”
“Tommy.”
“What?”
“Can you please hold me?”
He grabbed me and held me tight, then took me to the bed and we got under the covers and cuddled close for a long time. His phone rang after a while and I saw it had Dario’s name on the screen as he lifted it to his ear, swiping the screen with his thumb.
I got up and filled the kettle and turned it on to make tea.
“Fuck. Okay,” I heard him say, “Fuck! Yep.”
He got to his feet, “Do you drive?”
“Drive?”
“Do you know how to drive a car?”
“I only have my learner’s permit, but I can drive, yeah.”
“Okay, I’m taking the Harley. I’m leaving you the Jeep keys and I’m leaving you a gun.”
“No.”
“Yes. Here.”
He showed me how to take the safety off and lifted the screen on the back wall of the loft and then pointed the gun out the back doors and taught me how to shoot.
Afterwards, he put the gun down on the table and took me by the shoulders.
“Jimmy didn’t make it,” he said.
My hand covered my mouth.
“I have to go deal. I want you to stay here. Here’s a phone, it’s a burner. Don’t turn your iPhone on.” He reached into the knapsack from the storage garage, “I’ll program burner numbers for me, my brother, and Nino.” He looked at the flip phone in his hand and started hitting buttons on the new flip phone. If you need them ‘cuz you can’t get me, call one of them. I should be back tonight. If I’m not back by tomorrow morning I want you to call my brother for instructions and he’ll get you with the other girls. Don’t turn on your regular phone until I tell you it’s okay. It’s over there with the card pulled.” He motioned to the counter, “And don’t use your computer online with either phone as a hot spot or anything. I don’t know if anyone is tracking your social media accounts to try to figure out where you’re logging in from.”
I started to cry. Poor Tessa. Those poor baby boys.
“Athena, don’t, don’t fall apart. My girl is tough enough to handle this, okay?”
I nodded solemnly. “I’m just thinking about your poor sister, your nephews. Your whole family. You. Don’t get hurt, Tommy. Please.”
“Baby. I’ll be fine,” he said, with conviction. “You’re safe here. No one knows where this place is; not even my family. I’ll be back as soon as possible, okay? Sleep with the gun under your pillow. Do not hesitate to use it. It’s not scary.”
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. He took my face into his hands. “It’s not. Look at me. It’s not scary; it’ll protect you.”
I nodded. “I won’t sleep until you’re back. Don’t get hurt.”
“Don’t be afraid to sleep. This is a safe house, baby. I’ll hurry back to you. I’ll call when I’m on my way back.” He kissed me hard and I sank against his body and wanted to memorize the feel of it. He gave me two keys. One to the Jeep and the other to the padlocks downstairs. He backed away, grabbed the backpack, and went down the stairs. I followed and watched as he pulled the motorcycle out. He kissed me again, and told me to lock the door. After I locked up I watched him drive away from a stall window and then went back upstairs. I wanted him to be okay with every fiber of my being.
Jimmy was shot three times and didn’t survive. But the thing was, I still didn’t know what side he was on when he died. He acted like he’d forgotten she’d given the guns to him and he’d been sketchy when I’d asked him. He’d put them in the gun safe in my office, he’d said. They were there when I’d looked, but I’d still thought it was strange that he’d acted that way and that he hadn’t mentioned them. Now, knowing I was supposed to be taken out in my sleep, I wondered if he’d neglected to tell me about it on purpose. Was he in on it? He was a friend of mine and Dare’s, had been good to my sister, was dad to my two nephews, for fuck sakes, but he was ambitious. Was he so ambitious that he wanted to take me out? I didn’t wanna believe it.
Pop was just out of surgery; he had serious injuries and the prognosis wasn’t great. We were getting news from Sarah because if a Ferrano stepped foot on hospital property they’d likely get shot. We were worried they’d target her because of her association with us, but she insisted on being at the hospital. Pop’s room was under guard by a security company we hired through Zack, my PI. I was meeting my brother and we were going to end this.
Tia’s father was just a pawn. He was probably approached and likely offered some deal or something if he double crossed us. Or maybe he was just selling the drugs for them as a coincidence. I didn’t know yet what the deal was, and obviously it backfired. Pop had something to do with O’Connor getting busted, for sure. I didn’t know how it all factored in with Jimmy, Pop, and the two guards at my house getting shot and I didn’t know how Tia’s cell phone number had gotten out, but I knew it had to all be connected.
It took a lot to leave Tia by herself. If I hadn’t been 100% confident that no one knew about the farm’s existence I wouldn’t have done it. If I hadn’t been 100% confident that she’d listen to me and stay put, I wouldn’t have done it.
I was wrong. On both accounts. She wasn’t safe and she didn’t listen. Thank God she didn’t listen.
As soon as he left, I was pacing the hayloft and felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin, so I decided to take a walk. I went for a wander of the property and kept the flip phone in my pocket. I walked for a while, until I found what appeared to be the property line, a small wooden fence that bordered a thick and dense forest. Up until that point, it’d been woodsy but not dense. I decided to walk back.
As the barn and house came into view, ice pierced my veins because I saw two men approaching the house on foot.
Oh no!
I dropped into the tallish grass, I was still hundreds of feet away, and I stayed put.
Damn. The gun Tommy had left me was under a pillow, inside the pillowcase. Not that I felt like I wanted to use it, but at that moment it’d make me feel better to know I could at least point it at someone and get them to leave. The keys to the jeep were in my pocket right now because as I’d come out, I unlocked the door and stuffed the keys in my pocket with the flip phone. I hadn’t re-locked the door.
I thought about the upstairs. Anyone going inside would know we were there. Beyond the Jeep being parked there and the refrigerator full of groceries, was a bag with mine and Tommy’s clothes lying on the floor beside the bed. Damn. Tommy had a complete false sense of security about this place.
I dialed his number. He didn’t answer. I dialed Dario’s number; it went straight to voicemail. I called Nino.
“Yeah?”
“Nino, it’s Tia.”
“Hey, Doll. You okay?”
“No. I’m crouched in a field at Tommy’s safe house and there are men approaching it.” They had scoped out the house and obviously determined it wasn’t inhabited so approached the barn.
“Shit,” he answered. “Where’s Tommy?”
“I don’t know. On his way down there, I guess. He left me here.”
“Stay hidden, I’ll call you back. Turn your phone to silent.”
“Okay.” I hung up and turned the ringer off. The men had gone inside the barn.
Time ticked by slowly until I saw them come back out and talk for a minute by the door. Then one man headed toward the road and the other went back into the barn. Fuck. One was leaving and the other was waiting, presumably, for Tommy to get back.
My phone lit up. Nino calling. I answered it with a whisper.
“What’s happening?” he asked.
I told him, in a low whisper, about the fact that two had come but one had left and that the other was inside. I told him the guy had a gun and that there was also a gun up in the loft in the pillow.
“I can’t reach T or Dare. I should come get you. Where, exactly, are you?”
Damn. Tommy said no one knew where it was. I mean, obviously he was wrong, but should I tell Nino? Nino was practically family to me and obviously Tommy trusted him, but Tommy already suspected James had defected and there was what Earl did. Was Nino loyal to the Ferrano family? Tommy obviously believed in him enough to put his number on my phone. What should I do?
“It’s okay, Tia. You can tell me. I promise you, you can,” he said softly, breaking the long silence on the line.
So, I made a judgment call and told him what I knew of where we were, which I only really knew from remembering that map with the old lady and old man that day Tommy had tested me. It was actually a good thing he did do that, or I’d have no idea where I even was. I knew the nearest intersection and I described the barn and the house. He told me he was coming, he had guns, and that I should stay hidden until he’d eliminated the threat. He said that if I thought I could get to the Jeep I should run for it and drive out of there, but if someone continued to stay inside, I should try to stay hidden.
An hour later, I was still in the tall grass and I hadn’t heard back from Tommy or Dario. That had me more than a bit stressed out. No one had come and the guy inside hadn’t come out. He was obviously waiting for us.
Finally, I saw a black hatchback car drive by. It didn’t slow, just kept going. It was the first car that had gone by so I wondered if it was either more bad guys or maybe Nino scoping the place out. A few minutes later I got a text from Nino asking me where the door was on the barn and asking me if any downstairs windows were open. I wrote back describing it as best I could in quick order.
Fifteen minutes later, I saw Nino and Dex coming from the pond side toward the barn. They were on foot, sneakily making their way to the barn, guns drawn. Thirty seconds after they were inside the barn, there was gunfire. Then thirty seconds after that, Nino was calling my phone.
“Come quick and careful. I’ll cover you from the stall window in case anyone approaches.”
When I finally got to the barn, heart hammering in my chest, Nino was in the doorway.
“Get into the Jeep.” Nino handed me a small handgun and my purse, which had been upstairs. “Listen. We found a tracker on it. I got it off. We’re putting it on my ride so we can see if we can lure whoever it is. I’m taking that, Dex is staying here to see what comes, and we got more guys on their way. Put this under your seat and drive to the city. Drive to my wife’s shop and she’ll meet you and take you to her mother’s place until we get shit sorted. You remember where Bianca’s shop is?”
I nodded and thanked him profusely and got into the Jeep and drove out like a bat outta hell.
It’d been a while since I’d driven and I can’t say I was all that great at it, but I got out of there, quickly. I drove the opposite way that we usually came in, figuring I’d figure the rest out later and also figuring if the other guy wasn’t far, he’d come from the other way.
Ten minutes later I was kind of lost, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t been followed. Fifteen minutes after that, the flip phone was ringing and it was Dario.
“Dario!” I answered.
“Tia! What’s your status?”
I spoke fast, “I got Nino to the safe house because these two guys were there with guns and Nino got one, I don’t know where the other is, he left before Nino got here and I got into Tommy’s Jeep and I’m maybe about thirty minutes away from Bianca’s salon where Nino said to meet her. There was a tracker on the Jeep so whoever put it there knows where the safe house is!”
“Okay, yeah, I just got off the phone with him. Change of plans,” Dario said. “Are you being followed?”
“I don’t think so. I’m on a dirt road alone. Haven’t seen a car for the whole time I’ve been driving. Where’s Tommy?”
“I’ll explain after. Get to 15 Sweet Avenue as fast as you can. Don’t put 15 Sweet into in the GPS in the Jeep in case there’s a hack on the GPS. I will give you directions.”
He gave me directions and let me go.
I got a text and it said Tommy.
Where r u?
I pulled over and dialed his number. No answer. I answered back.
Trying to call!?! Urgent
Him: Can’t talk live. Text me where u r.
Me: I’m driving to meet Dario. Someone came to the farm!
Him: Were ru meeting Dario?
Something wasn’t right.
Me: Where are you? Is everything ok?
It dinged with,
Im ok. Were r u goign?”
I suddenly had this sinking feeling, remembering the text that came through that was a fake about Luciana’s labor. How did I know whether or not this was Tommy? I wrote,
I need to talk to you. I need to hear your voice.
Him: I cant talk 2 u. Need u 2 tell me were u r so I cna meet u. its urgent.
My gut told me it wasn’t him.
I wrote:
What’s OUR favorite ice cream flavor?
The answer:
Strawbery. Were r u honey plz
The answer came after a long time. Strawberry? Honey? All those typos? Not Tommy.
I called Dario back and told him someone was texting me from Tommy’s phone or that Tommy’s phone was cloned and he told me to just hurry to meet him. I ignored the next three texts that came from whoever was pretending to be Tommy.
It was nighttime when I pulled up to 15 Sweet Avenue. It was a small run-down looking house on a small and quiet street . All the lights were off. I parked and put the gun into my waistband under my shirt at the back. I knocked on the front door. I saw a figure move behind the curtains on the window adjacent to the door.
Finally, the door opened a little and Dario pulled me in by the wrist.
“We gotta move!” He said, looking angry and tweaked. He walked me through the house, holding my elbow. It was a sparse run-down place with no furniture and everything was in rough shape. He went down the stairs to the basement and now I knew it was Dario’s safe house. The basement apartment was totally redone, high tech, every modern convenience. No one appeared to be here but him. I used his bathroom and then he grabbed a duffle bag and we went back upstairs.
“Stay here!” he said and I waited by the top of the stairs as he headed toward the front of the house. He was gone only about 30 seconds, then he rushed me through the back door where there was an alley with a separate garage. Inside was a black SUV. He ushered me into it. This looked like the same SUV I’d been picked up from my grad in.
“Gimme the phone?”
“Where’s Tommy?” I asked, handing it to him.
He did something on the phone while shaking his head. “I don’t know.”
“He said someone faked a text from Eddy so I was wary.”
“Good.” He pulled out and was driving crazy-fast.
“Where are we going?” I had no idea what that place even was.
“Bianca’s ma’s house, where I’ve got the girls and the kids.”
“Luciana?”
“She’s there, too.”
“How’s your dad?”
“Pop’s hanging in, last I heard.”
“When did you last see Tommy?”
“I haven’t seen him. He was supposed to meet me this morning. He never showed.”
I felt sick to my stomach.
My phone, sitting on the seat between us, rang. It said Tommy on it.
“Tommy!” I looked to Dario.
He jerked his chin at the phone. “Answer it. Careful. Gimme the phone if it’s not him.”
I answered it. “Tommy?”
“Not Tommy,” said a male voice, “But we have him. Get to where Tommy’s brother is and call this number back.”
“What do you want?” I looked at Dario with panic. He took the phone from me and pulled over to the side of the road.
“Who is this? This is him; what do you want?” Dario held the phone for a minute. Then after a minute of listening, he said, “Put him on the phone.” A minute later he said, “Hey. You alright? Yeah, man. Yep, she’s with me. Right. Right.” Then he hung up.
“What do they want?”
“Money,” Dario said, pulling back onto the road.
“Money?”
“Yeah; they want a million cash. That’s it. These guys are small time, guys hired by Castillo’s nephew. They were hired to take out a hit on Tommy but decided to sell him back. They want you delivering the money. Pop has enough money in his vault. I’ll get it and we’ll make the drop.”
I was speechless. Dario pulled around in a U-turn and drove in the opposite direction. Ten minutes later we were at their pop’s place and Dario pulled in and made me follow him inside.
“Why do they want me delivering the money?”
We were in Tom’s office and Dario was opening a safe in the wall behind a family photo of Tom and the four grandkids.
“They probably figure you won’t shoot them; you’ll give them the money and they can get outta there clean. They’ll figure if I’m in there it’s a big chance that I’ll be carrying and it’ll go south.”
Dario pulled out ten stacks of bills and then put them into a duffle bag that he’d fetched from a closet.
“But what if they just take the money and shoot me? What if Tommy’s already... already...” I was panicking, big time.
“I’ll have you covered. We’ll have the place crawling with men. Let’s go. They’re calling in fifteen minutes with the drop location.
“You sure they’ve got Tommy?”
“They put him on the phone.”
The idea of Tommy being taken seemed all but impossible to me. He was so strong, had such a presence, it was hard to imagine him being overpowered. The idea that they’d found his safe house and could’ve shot him…
Dario interrupted my thoughts, “This crew is small time. We give them the money, get Tommy, Tommy and I eliminate the bigger threat, and we send some of our guys to get our money back and take these guys out. It’ll all work out. Don’t stress.”
Don’t stress? Easy for him to say! There was so much going on here. Tom Ferrano in a hospital bed, my father in jail and a sitting duck (or maybe by now a dead duck), Tommy kidnapped for ransom and not from the bigger threat but some other new threat, the rest of the family in hiding. Tessa’s husband dead. And me: expected to do a money drop to get Tommy back?
All while wondering if my own dad was alive or dead.
Dario pulled into a coffee shop drive thru and ordered a coffee and looked to me. “Just water,” I muttered and he ordered for us and then parked in front and stared at the phone.
They’d tracked me somehow to the farm and waited. They ran my bike off the road just down the road and I’d gotten knocked out cold. When I came to, they had disarmed me and had me cuffed in the back of their covered pickup. Now we were in a motel room. I knew this motel. It was two minutes from my condo, where my brother now lived. I knew the décor because I’d fucked a girl here a few months ago and then one of the guys had come in from outside and I recognized the neon diner sign across the road.
These guys were trying to be up and comers, subbing work for Jesse Romero, Juan Carlos Castillo’s nephew. They were stupid. They were careless. And I didn’t like that I’d heard them demand my girl make the drop for the money. I was relieved that my brother had Tia with him, but Dare had better find another way. There was no way he’d send Tia in here. Would he?
I didn’t know how she’d wound up with him, but that was a relief. I didn’t want to think about what they’d have done to her if they’d caught her back at the farm and the minute I woke and knew they’d found my safe house I’d been sick with worry about her being there, vulnerable. There were two of them, one had junkie written all over him. The other guy, a jock type, started chirping at me, asking me what my girl looked like, why there were no pics of her on my phone, talking about how maybe he’d get a taste before they let me go. I sat, not giving them anything, no words, no looks, just dead eyes.
All that was wrong right now with me was a bit of road rash, a kick to the ribs, and I’d been hit in the face when they asked me her ice cream question and asked what my pet name was for her. When she stopped answering their texts after my face made them think they knew what the right answer was based on the answers they were running through, they knew they were skunked. I was proud of my girl for suspecting it wasn’t me texting her.
These guys weren’t smart or sober enough to win at this game. They were out-of-towners who had no idea how connected my family was, but they would soon find out. Dare would deal with this shit and get me outta here so we could finish dealing with Romero.
There was a digital alarm clock on the nightstand beside me. I was sitting on the floor against the wall. I watched time tick by and about an hour passed and then my burner phone rang. The junkie answered it,
“You got the money? Have the bitch bring it. Room 302, Knight’s Inn on Lakeshore. She comes alone or we put a bullet in your brother and then in her.”
Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Jock opened it with a gun behind his back and Junkie stood with the gun pointing at me.
After the door swung open, I saw a female figure step into the room carrying a backpack. I was fuming. How could Dare send her in here? Then I realized something wasn’t right. She was taller than Tia. The light caught her face and I saw that it wasn’t Tia. Who was it? It was Bianca. Good thinkin’, Dare. I hid my smile.
Bianca grew up with us. Her pop was as bad a bad ass as they come. Bee was badass herself. We used to practice together on the gun range. Her, me, and Earl. She could shoot better than most men I knew. If she’d been a boy she would’ve been right in there with Dare and I running things. If her pop hadn’t been taken out by mine and she’d been a boy, she’d be running the show; we’d all be working for her. Knowing her like I did, she could run the show, female or not. She was happy to be a mother and run her salon, but the chick was smart, cunning, and she was good with not just a gun but her fists and her feet. She’d taken martial arts as a kid and she once beat the shit out of Dario for dumping her best friend’s little sister for another girl. Gave him two black eyes and then cracked a rib with one of her roundhouse kicks.
“Here’s the money. Please let him go,” she said softly.
Junkie took the bag and opened it. Jock started circling her.
“Damn, girl. You got a fine ass on you,” he said.
Bee rolled her eyes at me.
He leaned over and touched her face. “Maybe you need to pay just a little more, a tax, to get your boyfriend outta here.”
She gave me a scared look, a fake scared look; I could see the devil in a twinkle in her eye. I held my gaze steady and said, “Don’t you fucking dare,” to the guy.
He snickered, looking over his shoulder at me and the second he did, Bee’s high heeled boot came up and kicked him square in the mouth. As she did this, she also pulled a gun and pointed it at the junkie.
Atta girl, Bee; always loved Charlie’s Angels. The junkie dropped the bag of money and his gun and put his hands up.
His eyes were fucked up and I knew the guy’d been dreamin’ of his fix as he’d eyeballed all the money in the bag, so he’d be extra dangerous.
“Take him out, sweetheart,” I told her and she immediately shot him in the leg and then kept the gun pointed at him. The guy screamed his head off. “You fucking cunt!”
“Uncuff him,” she said to the jock, who was rousing, pointing the gun back and forth between the two of them. Jock groggily got to his knees and cautiously pulled a key from the junkie’s jacket pocket, worried we’d shoot him. He shakily undid my cuffs. The second he did my elbow came up backwards and hit him square under the jaw hard enough that he was on the floor on his back and out again.
I cold clocked the junkie and kicked the jock in the head and then grabbed the bag of money and Bianca passed me an extra gun from under her jacket at her back. I put two bullets in one and then two in the other.
She and I got out of there, hopping into a waiting car where Nino and Dex waited. Nino was looking at Bee with pride as we got in. I heard him call JC, head of a clean-up crew we used, and give a few key but cryptic details.
I was sitting in the back office of a coffee shop; one that Tommy’s family owned. Dario was out front talking to a few burly-looking guys that had to be enforcements for the family. I was freaking right out, wondering if everything was okay. Bianca had insisted on doing this and they’d pulled me out at the last second. She hugged me hard before going in, saying, “We’re family. I’m here for ya, babes! And your man is familia, too, so there’s no way I’m not helping. I can do this.”
Dario had assured me that Bianca would be fine. Said she could double as a paid assassin if she wanted to, she was that tough. I laughed, like it was a joke, but neither of them laughed. She gave me a serious look, as if to agree. I prayed she’d be okay. She had a son to think of. And she might be or could soon be my only living relative, unless I counted Aunt Carol – which I did not.
The door swung open and there was Tommy. I jumped to my feet and threw myself at him. He looked fine, totally fine, except for a bruise on his cheekbone.
“Hey, baby,” he breathed into my hair.
“You okay? Thank God!” I wrapped my arms around his neck and he lifted me and held me tight. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he sat on the desk and kissed me roughly, deeply, possessively.
I heard a throat clearing noise and looked over my shoulder and Dario was in the doorway. He jerked his chin up at Tommy. Tommy returned the chin jerk, then turned and set me down on the desk. “Okay, baby. Gotta go end this. Bee’s driving you to where the girls are. Be back soon.”
I winced. “I so want this over.”
“It ends tonight,” he said firmly and kissed me quickly on the mouth and then turned and he was gone.
Bianca popped her head into the office. “Ready?”
Trembling, I nodded and followed her out.
* * *
That night was like an eternity: the night that wouldn’t end. When I got to Bianca’s mother’s house it was about 10:00 and it was like a locked down fortress. It was a gated place just at the outskirts of town and there were half a dozen men guarding the place.
Inside the big, warm, welcoming house was Lisa, Tess, Luciana, the kids, Bianca’s mother Marie and Bianca’s Aunt Joanne. The five kids (Luc’s, Tessa’s, and Bianca’s) were in their pjs, getting put to bed by Bianca’s mom who waved at me as I came in, but ascended the stairs with the four tots and one older child. Luciana looked tired and ready to pop any second. Tessa’s eyes were red and puffy. Lisa looked pale and sickly. I hugged each of them and when I got to Tessa I whispered in her ear. “I’m so, so sorry.”
She nodded, her chin trembled, and she put her arms around herself and just curled into a ball on the sofa and closed her eyes.
Bianca’s mom had come back from putting the kids all in her bed with a Disney movie on, and then pulled me into an embrace and told me it was nice to meet me and that she had thought very highly of my mother. Then Bianca’s aunt put a big plate of pasta in front of me and told me to eat. Food was the last thing on my brain at that moment.
“How’s Tom?” I asked Lisa, who’d sat beside me at a breakfast bar in the big open kitchen that had a big island surrounded by stools. To the right was a sitting area, where Luc and Tessa were curled up on opposite ends of a big sectional sofa.
She shrugged. “It’s breath by breath. Tommy okay?”
I nodded. “Just a bit banged up. He’s okay.”
She nodded and sipped from a big glass of wine.
“I’m going to bed,” Luc announced and left the room.
I tried to eat a few bites but really wasn’t hungry. I didn’t want to insult them, so I sat at the plate for a long time, moving food around with my fork, while Bianca talked with her mother and her aunt in Italian.
Bianca sat beside Tessa and put her arms around her. Tessa cried softly into Bianca’s shoulder and I felt her sorrow, the whole room would’ve felt it.
“Athena, you wanna get a bath or something? I’ll get you some towels.”
I nodded at Marie. She took me upstairs and showed me to a guest room and pointed out the bathroom next to it and said she’d get my bag, that Nino had brought the bag with my and Tommy’s clothes from the barn as well as my make-up case.
I took a long shower and then got dressed in yoga pants and a hoodie, tied my hair into a braid, and went downstairs. Tessa had gone to bed. Bianca, Lisa, Bianca’s mom, and Aunt Joanne were watching TV. Sarah was sitting there, too, having just arrived. She pulled me into a hug and then she told me that Tom was hanging in there and then in hushed whispers they all sat and talked about the fact that the boys were ending things tonight and that everyone would be back here afterwards. Marie told me to go to bed and sleep in the room she’d put my stuff in whenever I was ready, that Tommy would find me when he arrived.
I didn’t think I could sleep and being there in that group felt comforting, so I curled up on the sofa with them and we watched the rerun channel with all the old comedy shows on it until well past 4:00am when I noticed that Lisa had fallen asleep. Bianca’s mom and aunt were sitting at the table talking softly over mugs of tea, and Sarah had fallen asleep sitting up beside me.
I just kept staring at the TV, not really paying attention, just mulling everything over. It was nice to be part of this group, to have these other women to lean on. And Bianca was family. Her mother was my aunt by marriage. And now Lisa, Tessa, Luciana…they were family too because they were Tommy’s family. It felt good to belong. Amid the stress, the worry, the tragedy, it really felt like I belonged here with these people, despite what I knew of Tommy’s father.
As I pondered the group around me, I heard noise and then Nino, Eddy, Dario, and Tommy were here. I’d been holding my breath watching the guys enter in single file and when I finally saw him, I bolted to my feet and ran to him. He gripped me tight.
“Is it over?” I asked into his ear.
“Yeah,” he answered.
Dario spoke to the others and then Tommy looked to Bianca’s mother and spoke to her in Italian. She motioned toward the fridge and was talking with her hands gesturing. He shook his head and said some more in Italian. And then she motioned toward the stairs. Tommy took me by the hand.
“Goodnight everyone,” I said. “Thank you so much for everything.” I looked to Bianca, her mom, and her aunt and they all smiled at me.
In the bedroom, Tommy shed his clothes and took off mine and then just held me tight, my naked body against his. I could see in the dimness of the room that his lower back and thigh were badly scraped.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Road rash,” he said. “It’s fine.”
“I should put some ointment on it, bandage it.”
“Leave it. It’s fine.”
“What about the other stuff?”
“Can we just go to sleep? Talk later,” he spoke softly into my throat as he nuzzled closer. “I just needed to feel you against me. So fucking tired.”
“Kay,” I answered and closed my eyes.
“Love you, baby girl,” he whispered.
“Love you, too, baby,” I said as my eyes drooped and I fell asleep feeling warm, feeling safe, feeling immensely relieved. Everything wasn’t totally over, there were a lot of unanswered questions, but I was relieved that progress had been made and that he was here beside me.