Page 41 of The Gambler
He tried one last time to reason with her, even if it meant releasing her mother from that room he’d rather do that than take her along. “Baby you can’t go with me, not this time. Why don’t you watch your show until I get back?” He had no idea when that might be but she should be asleep soon anyway. She seemed to accept his orders because she pouted and sat quietly while he finished getting dressed. He breathed a sigh of relief when there was no more forthcoming from her end. That was easy.
In the end he had a hard time saying goodbye, but he figured the sooner he got this shit over with the sooner he could get back to her. He kissed her goodbye after she followed him down the stairs. He had to have a meet with his boys to get their shit together before they head out. The plane was on standby and all was in readiness, all that was needed was an in to the place. He didn’t know what kind of security the senator had on the place, or what they might be walking into.
He hadn’t had time to get someone out to the area in time to do recon, so now he was going in blind. “This is gonna be a quick in and out. We just go warn her and convince her somehow that we’re not talking out our asses and leave it up to her what she wants to do.”
The only reason he was even going through this shit is because it seemed to mean something to Jenna. She’d never said why she’d brought it to his attention and he hadn’t even thought to ask. Now it was too late for second-guessing, if this woman was who she appeared to be on paper, then he couldn’t sit back and watch her be eliminated.
He missed her all the way to the tarmac. Twice he started to text her but both times changed his mind. He’d just go do what he had to do and get back to her. They boarded and started working out the last of the details. He’d already been assured by the pilot that there were places to land in the woods around the senator’s place, some sort of clearing that was far enough away from the house that its occupants wouldn’t be alerted, but not too far that they couldn’t walk in. He wasn’t really looking forward to trekking through the fucking woods in the dark but you had to do what you had to do. He hoped she was worth it. They lifted off and he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to think.
He heard the door to the cockpit open and was ready to chew his pilot’s ass out when he got the shock of his life. “Jenna?”
Chapter 25
She grinned and walked over and sat down next to him. He looked around at his men who all seemed just as surprised as he. What the fuck? “Jenna how did you get here?” Was he in the fucking Twilight Zone? Hadn’t he just kissed her goodbye at the door? She just buckled her seatbelt and acted like nothing happened.
“Jenna…” He started to snap at her but checked himself in time, she didn’t understand the danger and there was no time to explain. He almost told the pilot to turn around, but what the fuck was the point? What would she do next, go by herself? He was still trying to figure out how to let her know he was pissed the fuck off without hurting her too much when she started texting. He pulled his phone from his pocket none too gently and read. ‘I had to Angel don’t be mad.’ Huh, how’d she know he was pissed? He hadn’t changed his facial expression and he hadn’t said a word since he couldn’t think of anything to say.
“I am mad Jenna, very. I told you to stay put, you deliberately disobeyed me and put yourself in danger. You were just shot remember?” She just gave him the doe eyes and put her arm through his with her head on his shoulder. “Jenna go Angel.” He’s such an ass he found himself kissing her hair before he could stop himself.
How the hell was he supposed to teach her to listen if she just blatantly did what the fuck she wanted anyway? And what the fuck kinda guards did he have that she got here before them and they didn’t know she left the house? Somebody was gonna get their ass handed to them when they got back. Now he had to figure out what to do with her once they landed, and chances are there wasn’t much open to him, short of drugging her or tying her little ass to the seat.
She had him in a tight fucking spot. There was nothing to be done about it now; there was no use in leaving her behind on the plane as he was sure she would find her way off of it. He could leave someone behind to watch over her, but he didn’t trust anyone, not when they were this close to danger.
So in the end he had to take her along. “Baby, listen to me.” He waited until she picked her head up off his shoulder. “I need you to stay close to me okay and do whatever I say. Can you do that?” She smiled and nodded, then put her head back down again. He had no idea if she understood what he was saying, if she even had any concept of the danger they might be walking into.
No one said anything as they headed off the plane. The clearing where they had landed was at the bottom of a hill, with a steep incline. There was nothing but trees and grass around, the sound of night owls and who knows what else ringing through the air.
He pulled her in close under his arm as his men surrounded them and headed in single file formation up the hillside. The maps they’d studied before leaving showed the mansion at the very top. In front of the place there was a regular road that actually led to a gated community of, which the home was part of. But this particular dwelling was slightly separated from the rest, and at the end of the line backing the forestry.
It was the perfect place for a hit, but he was sure the senator hadn’t given much thought to that when she bought it three years earlier. Jenna pulled away long enough to do that shit with her hair again, only this time she pulled a skull cap from her jeans and pulled it down over her head. He had the sneaky suspicion, that maybe he should be checking her for weapons or some shit. She took his hand this time and concentrated on her footing.
It took less than ten minutes to reach the back of the place, which was all open space. No place to hide if someone was in the tree line waiting to cap your ass. The place was in darkness, but the little heat-seeking gadget showed warm bodies inside. They were both horizontal, indicating the senator and her husband were asleep. The plan was to rush the place and try to dismantle the security system that he was sure was in place. But once again his flower had other ideas.
With her fingers to her lips she called for silence and he reached out to stop her as she shifted away again. She ignored him of course, as she made her way to the door. He couldn’t see what she was doing in the dark, but he was pretty sure she was jimmying the damn lock. The door opened with barely a sound and she stepped in cautiously before turning and inputting numbers in the little pad next to the door. Looks like she knew the code.
He didn’t let her go any farther, but followed behind and held her back as he sent his men after the woman and man asleep upstairs. The sound of muffled voices reached him and he braced himself for whatever the hell was coming next. This woman could either be very grateful to them for coming to her rescue, or she could make a stink; either way when he left here tonight, he meant to have this shit behind him.
The elderly couple entered the room first, followed by Garrett and Jameson. He had men surrounding the exits just in case, with another in the trees with a scope. It was coming down to zero hour and he still hadn’t been able to determine what time the hit was supposed to be carried out. Senator Winthrop was a medium build woman with a full head of salt and pepper hair. She looked more like someone’s grandmother, in her chenille robe, than a member of the senate.
She came into the room a bit scared, which was to be expected, followed by a short balding man, who was struggling to put on his glasses. The only real light came from a window, and since he’d kept himself and Jenna in the shadows, it was hard for the couple to make them out. “Who are you people, what’s this about?” Before he could say anything Jenna moved out from behind him and approached. He had no worries that they would harm her, not with his gun at the ready. Still he wasn’t about to let her get between him and danger.
“Nana.”
“Jenna?”
“What the fuck?”
Chapter 26
He moved in closer to her as the other woman approached. “No lights.” He sent out that warning as the man made as if to hit the switch. “What’s going on, Jenna how did you get here child?” The two women embraced under Andros’ watchful eye. He had no idea what was going on, and was even more confused now than before. Hadn’t the mother claimed ignorance about this woman? So why was Jenna calling her nana?
“Somebody wanna tell me what’s going on here? How do you know Jenna?” He pulled her back to his side, his body still in a protective stance.
“She’s my granddaughter of course and who are you? Are you one of those ruffians?” He was pretty sure of whom she spoke, but he wasn’t giving anything away. Not yet.
“I’ll ask the questions lady. Now, you say you’re her grandmother, how come I never heard about you?” That was a stupid fuck question, he’d never heard about Jenna either, until a few short days ago; but nothing here was adding up, and he was fast running out of patience. He hated being in the dark about shit; that was the quickest way to get fucked.
“Because we’d been separated for a while when she was younger, but we’ve found each other again. Haven’t we Jenna?” She reached her hand out and touched the young girl’s cheek. It was dark in the room, and he couldn’t see the expressions on their faces very well, but there was no tension in his flower’s body, so he guessed she wasn’t feeling threatened. Now all he had to do was get to the bottom of what was going on and he could get her out of there as quickly as possible. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this turn of events, but time will tell. A fucking senator in the family, gramps will be pleased. The old fuck would have one more politician to hoodwink into doing his shit.