A Home for Christmas (15 page)

"What's going on?" he asked when they
walked in. 

Unable to control herself, Jenna lunged at him,
beating on his chest, screaming at him.

"Who do you owe money to, you
son-of-a-bitch!" she screamed.  "They took Cam!  They took
my baby!!"

"What?  What are you talking
about?" he asked, trying to dodge her fists.

Riley allowed her to get a few good shots in
before wrapping his arms around her from behind and pulling her away from Wade.

"What the hell is she talking about?"
Wade asked him.

"Someone broke into Jenna's house
tonight.  She sent Cam off with her parents and someone followed
them.  They rear-ended Ramsay at an intersection, pulled a gun on them and
took Cam, then sent a picture of him to Jenna.  They say you owe them over
two hundred thousand dollars.  We need to know who it is, Blackwell. 
NOW!"

Wade went pale, taking a step back then sitting
hard in the chair he'd abandoned when they walked in, covering his face with
his hands.

"Wade?" the director asked, "Are
you all right?"

"I didn't...I don't..."

"WHO DO YOU OWE MONEY TO?" Jenna yelled
at him.  "Who has Cam?  Answer me, damn you, Wade!  For
once in your life, stop being selfish and do the right thing."

He looked up at her then, pure horror on his
face.  "It's, um Manny.  Manny Lanzillo."

Jenna glanced over to Riley and Mike and saw a
cold, chilling smile spread across Mike's face.  She felt her blood run
cold at seeing that smile.  In that moment, she saw a bit of the
ruthlessness that had propelled him to team leader so quickly.

"I know Manny Lanzillo," Mike told
Riley.  He hit a contact on his phone and held it to his ear. 
"Colt.  Find me a number for Manny Lanzillo in Vegas."

"On it, Boss," Colt said. 
"Just texted it to you."

"Thanks."

Riley turned Jenna in his arms and held her tight
while they watched Mike dial the number that Colt sent him.

"Manny...Mike Casiano."

"Damn, Casiano, long time no see.  How
the hell are you?"

"Cut the crap, Manny.  You sent some of
your guys after Wade Blackwell's family.  His ex is with my friend
Riley.  Your guys picked up her son tonight."

"They may have," Manny hedged.

"They did.  He's a ten-year old kid,
Manny.  He hasn't been a part of Wade's life for a while.  I'm
assuming Richie Ponticello is one of them.  You call Richie and you tell
him to meet me at Jenna Blackwell's home with the kid in forty-five
minutes."

"Wade Blackwell owes me money."

"Take it up with Wade, but you release that
kid now."

"Two hundred thousand dollars, Mike.  I
can't just ignore that."

"Tell you what, Manny.  You keep the
kid," Jenna gasped in the background but Mike ignored it, "I'll call
my uncle.  I think you know which one I'm talking about.  He will
move in on you and make your life a living hell.  He'll undercut you and
take all your guys and you know he will.  So, what's it going to be? 
Let the kid go and forget all about Wade Blackwell?  Or deal with Giovanni
Casiono?  Completely up to you."

"That's fighting dirty, Casiano," Manny
spat out.

"Taking a ten-year old kid is fighting
dirty.  What's it going to be?"

"Forty-five minutes.  Jenna Blackwell's
house.  Richie will have him there."

"And you will forget all about Wade
Blackwell, correct?"

"Two hundred thousand dollars, Mike!"

"Giovanni Casiano, Manny," Mike shot
back.

A string of curses came through in both English
and Italian.  Mike merely listened patiently, waiting for the tantrum to
end.

"Fine.  I will forget all about Wade
Blackwell."

"
Mille grazie,
Manny
.  Caio
."

Jenna watched, wide-eyed while Mike ended his
phone call.

"Well?"

"He will have Cam brought to your house in
forty-five minutes. And he will not come after Wade again."

Wade slumped over in his chair, burying his face
in his hands.  Jenna launched herself from Riley's arms straight into
Mike's, hugging him tight.

"Thank you!  Thank you, Mike," she
sobbed.

He stiffly returned her embrace, then stepped
back from her.  Jenna took a deep breath to compose herself, then turned
to face Wade and leaned over him, putting her hands on the armrests of the
chair he sat in,

"We.  Are.  Done, Wade.  You
stay in here and you get clean and sober and you go through whatever steps you
have to take to help with your gambling problem, but then you stay the hell
away from me.  Do you hear me?  You stay away from me and you stay
away from my son.  We are dead to you, do you understand me?"

"Jenna, come on, don't..."

She slapped him then.  Hard.  He jerked
back from her when she raised her hand again.  Riley grabbed her in a bear
hug and forced her to walk out of the room.  Mike followed and soon they
were on the road back to her house.

When they got there, a black SUV was parked on
the curb in front.  They parked, the door opened and Cam came scrambling
out of the vehicle and straight into Jenna's arms.  Mike and Riley crossed
over to the SUV, guns drawn.

"Stand down, Mike," Richie called
out.  "We didn't hurt the kid."

"You need to go into a new line of work,
Richie," Mike said, gun still drawn.

"I'm considering it.  Manny said the
debt Wade owes has been taken care of.  I'm assuming you held Giovanni
over his head."

"
Natualmente,
" Mike replied.

"
Mi pare di capire
," Richie
said.

"I suggest you get out of here before the
police arrive," Mike told him. "And I mean completely out of
here.  As in leave town."

"No reason to stay."

"
Addio
," Mike told him, stepping
back to allow them to drive off.

"You're letting him go?" Jenna cried.

"Charges wouldn't stick.  Manny has
some of the best attorney's around.  It would be a hassle your police
force doesn't need."

"Thanks, Mike.  I owe you one,"
Riley told him.

"You owe me nothing, you know that,"
Mike told him, turning toward his car.

"Mike?" Jenna called, stopping him. 
"Thank you."

"You're welcome.  Try to get some
rest."

"Are you OK?" Jenna asked Cam, holding
his face between her hands and meeting his gaze.

He nodded, his eyes huge.  He was shaken up
but she could tell he was trying to be brave with Riley there.

"I'm fine, Mom.  They didn't hurt
me.  Scared me some, but they were actually really nice to me. Kept
promising they wouldn't hurt me, just wanted to send a message to Dad. 
So, yeah, I was really scared right at first, but they untied me as soon as
they took that picture.  The main guy, Richie, was pretty cool.  He
had some awesome stories to tell."

Jenna closed her eyes and pulled him close to
her, hugging him so tight she knew it had to be uncomfortable but she couldn't
help it.  She hadn't been so scared in all her life.

On the other side of the room, Riley stopped in
his sweeping up of broken Christmas decorations and pulled his phone out. 
He'd forgotten about the break-in when they were questioning Richie and wanted
to make sure they were the ones behind it.

"Mike?  We didn't ask Richie about the
break-in.  Can you contact him?  Verify it was him, and if it was,
find out what the heck they were looking for?"

"Will do.  I'll get back to you as soon
as I know."

"Thanks, man."

Riley ended his call to Mike, then stepped out of
the room to make another call. 

"Riley?" a soft, sleepy female voice
sounded on the other end of the line. "Is everything all right?"

"Sorry to wake you up, baby girl.  I
need your help.  Do you have plans for the morning?"

"Um, not that I can think of just now. 
What's happened?"

"Remember I told you about the woman I'm
seeing and her son?"

"Jenna Blackwell?"

"Yeah.  They had some drama tonight and
I have a feeling they're going to need to talk with someone to help them
through it."

"I can be there in about thirty minutes if
you think they need to talk to someone tonight."

He glanced into the living room where Jenna sat
with her arms around Cam, cradling his head against her and subtly rocking him.

"I think they'll be OK for tonight, but I'd
like you to be here in the morning."

"OK, how's ten o'clock sound?"

"Perfect.  Thanks, Lainey.  I'm
sorry I woke you."

"Anytime, Riley, you know that.  I'll
see you in the morning.  Just text me the address."

"Will do, thanks."

He ended the call and texted Jenna's address to
his cousin, then went back into the living room to finish sweeping up the
glass.  Jenna watched him, refusing to let Cam go.  She knew she was
pushing her luck with babying him the way she was, but she couldn't bring
herself to let him go just now.  She placed kisses to the top of his head
every now and then as she watched Riley clean up the mess that was her
Christmas tree.  Her heart was heavy at seeing some of her favorite
ornaments destroyed, but was extremely thankful it was only ornaments and not
Cam or Riley who was hurt.

Riley crossed to her when he finished sweeping up
all the glass, squatting down so he was eye level with her.  Cam was
asleep now, but Jenna continued rocking him.

"Want me to put him in your bed?" he
asked her softly.

Jenna bit her lip, touched that he understood her
need to have Cam close to her.

"Please," she whispered.  She held
her arms away so that Riley could scoop Cam up in his arms and she followed him
down the hall to her room.  She pulled back the covers and Riley gently
laid Cam down on the bed.  He helped her remove Cam's shoes then started
to turn to go.

"Riley," she called, stopping
him.  "Don't go.  Please.  I need you here with me."

He nodded and removed his shoes, then got in bed
beside her, so that she was in the middle between him and Cam.  He pressed
his front to her back and held her tight in his arms, kissing the back of her
head.  Cam lay on his back, out for the count.  Jenna had one arm
wrapped around Riley's that held her, and one hand on Cam's chest.  He
could feel the slight tremble of her body and knew that she was crying.

"Everything's all right now,
sweetheart," he told her, his lips against her head.  "It's all
over now."

She nodded and hugged his arms closer to
her.  "Until the next time Wade screws up."

"Let's hope he gets the help he needs and
there won't be a next time."

She nodded again and was quiet, but he could feel
her silent sobs.  He hated that he could do nothing more than hold her,
but knew that she needed to get her tears out, that she needed that release.

"Jenna?"

"Yes?"

He kissed her head and tightened his hold on
her.  "I love you."

Her arm tightened reflexively on his. 
"I love you, too, Riley.  So much.  Thank you for being here for
us."

Beside his mother, Cam felt absolute joy fill him
at hearing Riley say that he loved his mom.  Getting kidnapped had sucked,
no doubt about it, but if it brought his mom and Riley one step closer to being
together forever, then Cam considered it all to be totally worth it.  He
wanted to turn to Riley and tell him he loved him, too.  He wanted to hear
Riley say it back to him.  He knew it was dopey and sappy to want that,
and if pressed by his buddies he would deny it from now until doomsday, but he
wanted that...badly.  He wanted Riley to want his mom and he wanted Riley
to want him.  Taking a deep breath, he prayed to God that Riley would stay
with them and they could be a real family.

It seemed to Riley that he'd just drifted off to
sleep when a terrified cry brought him jolting to awareness.  He and Jenna
both jolted up, Jenna gathering Cam into her arms, trying to soothe him.

"Cam!  Cameron!" she said, trying
to calm him.  "It's OK, honey.  You're home.  You're
safe.  It's OK."

Cam was still pushing and fighting against
her.  Riley got up and went to the other side of the bed, laying his hand
on Cam's shoulder.  At his touch, Cam stiffened and stopped fighting
Jenna, but scrambled to get closer to her.

"Hey, bud, it's just me.  Just
Riley," he said, keeping his voice calm and even.

Cam's eyes flew open then.  He looked up at
Jenna first, then turned toward Riley, eyes wide with fear.  He had tears
running down his cheeks and then ducked his head.

"Hey, kid, look at me," Riley said,
seeing the shame that had flooded the boys face.  He was embarrassed to
have been caught in a moment of weakness by Riley.  "It's OK to be
scared.  You went through a pretty bad ordeal.  There's nothing to be
ashamed of.  I get nightmares sometimes.  Had one just the other
night.  Sometimes that's the only way our minds can deal with some of the
scary stuff we've seen and done.  Nothing to be ashamed of.  Doesn't
mean you're a baby."

"You have nightmares about your
missions?" Cam asked, wiping his forearm over his eyes.

"Yeah, I do.  They used to be bad, but
I have a cousin who is a counselor.  Her name is Lainey.  She's
helped me a lot.  I asked her to come over in the morning and talk to
you.  Would that be OK with you?"

Cam glanced at Jenna and then back to
Riley.  "You talked to her about your nightmares?"

"I did.  You can tell her anything,
Cam, and your mom and I don't have to be in there when you talk to her if you
don't want us to be.  Lainey is a really good listener.  She's my
cousin but she's more like my little sister.  And I do mean little. 
She is tiny.  My brothers and I call her Tinkerbell.  She's short,
only about five feet tall.  She has blonde hair, a few shades lighter than
mine.  She looks like a little pixie." Cam offered him a weak smile
at that.  "Bottom line, though, bud, I still have nightmares, but
they aren't as bad or as often as they were because I talked to her."

Cam took a deep, shaky breath and nodded.

"OK.  I'll talk to her when she comes
over."

Riley winked at him.  "Good
man."  He stood but stopped when Cam reached out for his hand.

"Thanks, Riley."

"You bet."

"You'll stay here, in bed with us?" Cam
asked in a small voice, and Riley knew he was again embarrassed to admit he
needed him there.

"Absolutely.  Just need to hit the
head."

Cam nodded and watched Riley walk off, then eased
back down to lay curled on his side, his back to his mom.  Jenna leaned
down and kissed his cheek, then settled back down beside him, holding him tight
in her arms.

"I love you, boy," she told him.

"Love you, too, Mom.  Sorry I woke you
up."

"Don't apologize to me, baby. 
Everything is going to be OK."

She looked up when Riley came back in and sighed
in relief when he got back in bed and pulled her close to him, his big arm
enveloping her and Cam.  She turned her head to kiss him briefly.

"Thank you, Riley," she whispered.

He kissed her once more, a bit deeper than she'd
kissed him, then laid his head back down...and held his family the rest of the
night.

In the morning, Riley woke before both Jenna and
Cam.  He got up and went into the kitchen to make breakfast for
them.  Comfort food seemed to be the order of the day, and in her fridge
he found biscuits and sausage so he set about making his mother's biscuits and
gravy, bacon, eggs and french toast.  Cam and Jenna came into the kitchen
together, wide-eyed at seeing him cooking.

"This looks awesome!" Cam said, and
Riley was pleased to see he seemed to be in much better spirits than last
night.  Riley smiled but before he could speak, Jenna came up to him and
stood on her toes to pull him down for a good morning kiss that had him
groaning and very aware that Cam was sitting at the breakfast bar watching them
with a huge grin on his face.

"Good morning," she purred at him.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said,
smiling down at her.

"What have we got here?" she asked,
looking down at the food he'd prepared.

"Mom's Southern Comfort breakfast.  All
we're missing are grits...but you don't have any and I draw the line at making
them from scratch."

"Grits?" Cam asked, and his tone
indicated he was not upset in the least that grits were absent from the menu.

"Boy, you haven't lived until you've had my
mom's grits.  I'll get her to make them for you sometime. She makes them
from scratch."

"I think I'll pass," Cam said,
shuddering.

"My mom had four hungry boys to feed, plus
my dad.  She perfected the art of manly foods, bud.  You'll love 'em,
trust me."

Cam wrinkled his nose.  "If you say
so."

Jenna crossed to the fridge to fix Cam a glass of
milk, adding chocolate to it, then got plates out for Riley to begin scooping
food out onto them.  He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then nodded
to the bar where Cam sat.

"Thanks for getting the plates.  Now go
sit down.  I got this."

She smiled at him and decided not to argue, going
to sit beside Cam, leaning over to kiss his cheek when she did.  Cam shook
his head, though there was a smile on his face, but then he suddenly stiffened
on the stool.

"What is it, honey?" she asked,
alarmed.

"It's Monday.  I've got school!"

"Oh, that," Jenna said, waving a hand in
dismissal.  "You aren't going back to school until after Christmas
break.  Just three days this week and it's not like you will be missing
anything.  I want you home with me.  You don't mind, do you?"

"Uh, no!" Cam laughed.

She winked at him, "I didn't think so."

Riley sat plates of food in front of them,
"Eat up.  Lainey will be here at ten," he told them.

Cam's smile disappeared, but he took a deep
breath and began eating, so Jenna and Riley took that as a good sign.

"This is really good!" Cam exclaimed
after taking his first bite of biscuits and gravy.

Riley chuckled.  "Don't act so
surprised there, bud.  I can cook."

"Well, I know, you cooked the other night,
but..." his voice trailed off and he shrugged.  "My dad can't
cook anything."

"He could cook.  He just didn't like
to," Jenna said, not wanting Cam to completely down his father.

"Where is Dad?" Cam asked. 
"Did you tell him about what happened?  Did he even care?"

"Honey...your dad is in rehab trying to get
cleaned up. He was extremely scared but he couldn't leave."

"Rehab?" Cam asked, his tone
flat.  "All this was his damn fault and he's in rehab?"

"Cameron," she warned, "no
cussing."

Cam slammed his fork down and hopped off the
stool, starting to storm out of the room.

"Cameron Blackwell, you come right back here
and sit down," Jenna admonished.  Cam shot her such a dark, hateful
scowl that Jenna had a flash of Wade giving her that same look over the
years.  "I mean right now, Cam."