Page 25 of Vinny

“Boss, I’m sorry. But we’ve got a situation,” came the preface.

“I don’t have situations,” he reminded Jawan. “I only have successes. Those under me might have situations and then they fix them. Still leaving me with only successes.”

Closing his eyes, Jawan knew this was going to prove to be more difficult than he had hoped for. “I understand, Boss. I’m working on it now. We’ve lost a shipment but know who has it and where it is. It appears that who I sent bungled it the first time and the police were involved. So I sent in two more to intercept and they’ve bungled the job as well.”

“This is not boding well for your continued placement in my organization, cousin. Your job is to find the shipment, retrieve the shipment, and eliminate the parties involved. All of the parties involved. That includes the incompetents you sent the first time and the witnesses.”

“I understand. I won’t fail you, Boss.”

“I know. Failure is not acceptable, therefore there will be no failure.”

The phone disconnected, leaving Jawan to ponder his fate. Refusing to give up, he placed another call.Time to show Don that I can handle this situation on my own.

9

The sounds of birds crept through the hazy fog of Annalissa’s sleep. The early morning sun’s rays were filtering through the leaves above, giving the woods an enchanted feel. Shifting stiffly to the side, she felt Vinny’s hard body next to hers. Smiling, she looked up at his face, his eyes on hers.

“I’ve never slept in a tree before,” she said with a smile. Wincing as she moved, she sat up adding, “But then there’s something to be said for having a mattress.”

“Babe, when we get out of this, I promise you the softest mattress we can find.”

Hearing the innuendo in his voice, she smiled, wondering if he planned on sharing that soft mattress with her.

Seeing her shy smile, he grinned back as he rose to a seated position alongside her. “You think there would be any room in that bed for me, darlin’?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, her gaze lifting to his. “I hope so.”

Leaning down to kiss her gently, he added, “Then that’s all the motivation I need, babe.”

He assisted her down and discreetly turned his back as she wandered a little way through the trees to take care of her morning business. As she returned, he handed her a protein bar. “I know it’s not scrambled eggs but it’ll do you good for now.”

Nodding her acquiescence, she dutifully ate the whole bar greedily and drank from the canteen.

Soon they were on their way after a quick call to Tony. The group was assembled again and she was beginning to feel as though she knew all of Vinny’s friends.

Lily and BJ gave them the coordinates for a small country store off the beaten path, mostly serving the farming community in the area.

The pace was slightly slower this morning and she found that she was better able to keep up. The sleep and power bar definitely helped. Hiking in the daylight was easier for her to see not only where she was stepping, but gave her the opportunity to look around as well.

“The woods are kind of pretty, aren’t they?” she said.

He glanced over his shoulder, glad for the smile on her face. “Yeah, I guess they are.”

“You guess? Vinny, it’s beautiful out here. Like a fairy forest,” she exclaimed, looking at the thick copse of trees around, ferns and moss on the forest floor.

Chuckling out loud, Vinny thought,Out here, running for her life and she sees beauty.His eyes, used to scanning for Intel and danger, actually began to look around. She was right. The sunlight filtered down through the thickfoliage and now that they could see where they were going, the ground was covered in lush green. Once again, he reached back and gave her hand a squeeze as he handed her the canteen.

Walking for about another hour through the woods, they came to a small river. Vinny assessed the shallowest place for them to cross and hoisted his backpack high on his back. “Follow right behind me and stay close, okay?” he ordered.

Annalissa stared into the slow moving waters. Knowing that it was not deep, she was still terrified.

He saw her stop behind him and he looked up in question. “What’s wrong, babe?

“I’m…um…well…it looks…”

Walking back over, he put his hands on her shoulders and bent down to peer into her eyes. “Annalissa, look at me.” Holding her green-eyed gaze, he continued, “This is just me. What’s wrong?”

Lifting her chin, she stood to her full height, her gaze snapping. “Nothing. I can do this. Just walk right in front of me so I’ll know where to go.”

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