The Gambler (18 page)

He went to find her and stood in the doorway, just watching her as she sat singing to the butterflies. She never ceased to amaze him. She sung like an angel, was a card shark and he was pretty sure a thief and who knows what else; and she made love like she was born to it. Perfect.

She must’ve sensed his presence because she reached out her hand for him without even looking in his direction. She was too busy staring up at the butterflies as they swarmed around the cocoons the men had hung in the room. He couldn’t wait to take her down to visit his place. She would be good for the others, and maybe they her, he was sure she’d love that. Having her, finding her, made him want to do so much more than he had been in the past. Some might say he’d done enough, but there was always more. He’d just been going through the motions; he knew that now.

It had become an obligation when he’d never intended it to be; it was meant to be a joy. Seeing her, her potential, he was reminded once more of just how amazing she and others like her really were. He’d gained much over the years from his association. He could probably credit them for keeping him from going completely insane; or for saving the world from a vigilante, because for a time there, he thought he’d spend the rest of his life shedding blood.

Now in just the blink of an eye she’d changed all that. And she called him Angel.

He sat next to her silently, content just to sit and hold her hand as she sang her lullabies, her voice lulling him into a state of peace. “Jenna?” She turned to look at him.

“Alice, how did she…was she happy?” He felt the burn in his gut that was always there whenever he thought of his sister. She got a look of sadness and he was sorry he brought it up. She’d been sitting here so peacefully in her little paradise and he’d fucked it up.

She took his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. “Alice fine Angel.” He kissed her hand and took it back in his holding it against his thigh. He gazed off at nothing in particular; there were so many things he wanted to ask her about the dream, or vision, or whatever it was that she’d had, but he didn’t know where to begin. She didn’t seem any worse for wear because of the experience, but he didn’t want to push her too hard. She took out her phone and started that speed shit again and he wondered how the hell she could get her fingers to move that fast.

He picked up his phone when it chimed. “She does does she?” She told him that his sister loves him and worries about him. Weirdest fucking conversation he’d ever had, and with the fuckwits he sometimes had to deal with, he’d had some doozies.

She nodded her head and went back to typing. This time it was to inform him that he had to be happy because it’s what Alice wanted and she Jenna was going to take care of him. “You’ve got that wrong little flower, I’m going to take care of you.”

“Jenna do it, Alice said.” He decided not to argue with her since she had her mutinous face on.

“Okay we’ll do it together okay?” They went back to sitting in silence for another few minutes, but he couldn’t seem to leave it alone. After shutting it away for so long he suddenly wanted to know everything there was.

“Jenna, how did you know me?” He wasn’t sure that she would understand the question and when she took too long to answer he was about to tell her not to worry about it, but she went back to typing again.

‘Alice told me, a long time ago in a dream. She said one day my Angel would come for me.”

“You’re pretty smart aren’t you pumpkin?” He rubbed her head playfully.

“Jenna very smart.” He bet; he was pretty sure she was smarter than him. It’s something he’d learned from spending time with his other treasures, how smart they were. It was only dimwitted assholes who never took the time to be with them that missed that. The little cons were smart as fuck though he’d learned over the years, some of them exceptionally so. Maybe it was a good thing that the world didn’t know that.

“But how did you recognize me?” Her mother had said she’d seen his picture and called him her angel. She couldn’t have known what he looked like, he was pretty sure Alice didn’t take a picture of him wherever she went, and she’d told him of Jenna with her dying breath, so the whole thing was confusing. She shrugged her shoulders.

‘I knew.’ That’s all she wrote and he decided to drop it for now, because he was never going to make sense of it. He let her sit and enjoy her new hiding place until it was lunchtime. “Come on baby time to eat.”

For all of the next day he spent his time formulating a plan to get to the senator. He had no idea if these people had guards on them twenty-four seven, had never had any need to get that close to politics. Gramps assured him that unless she hired her own shadow there wouldn’t be any at her home. That was good enough; he didn’t need the added headache.

Jenna was still pouting because he refused to fuck her the night before, he hated that she felt rejected, but there was no way he was going to hurt her and he knew it would if he took her again. In the end she was satisfied with the hour or so he’d spent with his head between her thighs; that’s the only way he could get her to go to sleep.

Gramps had left to go back to his place but promised her, after she made such a fuss, that he’d be back later. She finally asked for her momma and he let her call the other woman who was in a room one floor down, monitoring the conversation the whole time. He’d already decided what was to be done with her, he just needed more time and space between them to be sure that it wouldn’t affect Jenna too much in the future.

By nightfall it was time to go and he wasn’t sure what to do with Jenna. They had about a five-hour flight to the senator’s place in the mountains. She’d watched him get dressed while she sat on the bed chattering away at him. He made the mistake of telling her where he was going and she decided she was getting dressed too.

“No Jenna you stay here.” She shook her head and continued rummaging through the closet for something to wear. Shit, he knew he would have a fight on his hands, but there was no way he was taking her into unknown territory.

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.

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?”

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?”