The Gambler(34)

"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.