Page 33 of The Gambler

He didn’t say anything about the shadows hanging over his shoulder, since he figured they were as curious as he was about what the fuck was going on. It wasn’t a small thing to put a hit out on a United States senator. She must’ve pissed the wrong people off.

He soon found a thread to tug on when he learned that this senator was leading a committee to investigate DHS. She’d also spearheaded a campaign against unfair and unjust dealings in the organization.

The thing that caught his attention, was the fact that in six days she was supposed to release an expose` on her findings on the corruption and mismanagement of not only funds, but also human life.

Her specialty was children of autism and the shit that was being done to them in the name of science. He was surprised that he’d never heard of her, since she was such a staunch advocate of the very thing he represented in his life. He guessed that was because of his attitude of going it alone.

He spent the next two hours sifting through the quagmire, until he came upon the crux of the matter. There were some big names involved, names that she was about to reveal to the public. She had information that could topple dynasties here and abroad.

And somehow Jenna had been in the middle of it. He couldn’t find her name mentioned anywhere, but he knew there was more to come. He was trying to find Bonata’s part in it, why had he had all this information on the senator, and which of the men on that list had hired him to do her?

It wasn’t long before he found the connection, but his blood ran cold when he found pictures of Jenna and the senator at some type of award function. The caption said Jenna had won an award for outstanding service.

He kept digging but there was nothing to tell him who, when, or where, this assassination was supposed to take place. He had a pretty good idea about the where since she’d given him the coordinates to the location of a house, but other than that he was in the dark.

What was he supposed to do now? Was he supposed to warn this person or what? He sat there pondering that thought and making himself nuts, until gramps interrupted him.

“Jenna wants to play the slots.”

“What, how would you know that?”

“She told me.”

He doubted very much that she had, and besides, he’d been in the room with them the whole time, and except for the tap-tap tapping of the game, he hadn’t heard a peep out of either of them except for a laugh here and there. “Oh really! Exactly how and when did she tell you this?”

The old man held up his phone. “She texted it.”

“She what?”

“Yeah, her little toy has messenger on it and since she has trouble putting her words together, I thought it would be a good idea.” He seemed pleased with himself.

“Why the fu…why didn’t I think of that? Let me see that.” He read the screen where she told gramps she wanted to play the machines that go ding. How the old man knew what the fuck that meant was anybody’s guess.

“We can’t go tonight though.”

“Angel play.” She gave him the pouty face and sad eyes, which meant all hell was about to break loose if she didn’t get her way.

“Well shit.” How the fuck was he supposed to go to The City when he’d just offed a couple motherfuckers there just the night before?

This was a bad-fucking idea; but what could he do? She and her new partner in crime were acting like kids in a candy store. He never saw gramps so damn animated in his life. It was a shock to realize that she was good for the old man as well.

He never gave much thought to gramps’ daily life. The old man was still running his business, still had his connections and a million friends. But now, watching how alive he was with flower, he realized that he might’ve been a bit remiss in his care of the old man.

He’d just always seen his grandfather as bigger than life, not someone who needed anyone. Now he felt like because of his shutting himself away from life, he’d maybe done the other man a disservice. He knew if it wasn’t for the new addition in his life his mind wouldn’t be running to such thoughts.

In three days she’d opened his eyes and his heart, she’d given him the will to live again, not just exist. He had no fear of losing her, not as he once had; no one will ever take from him again, of that he was sure. He would protect her with everything in him for as long as he lived. There was no need to hide himself away any longer.

They got dressed in between her stealing kisses and playing with her butterflies. She’d gone so long without asking for a kiss he’d thought she’d forgotten.

The doc had come by to check the bandages on her shoulder and make sure she hadn’t opened her stitches or anything like that.

Andros still wasn’t sure, even after the other man reassured him that she was perfectly safe to fly. But she was so excited about going, that in the end he gave into her.

They flew in same as the night before, only this time their destination was another casino. He wasn’t sure how things were on the ground, he had no fear of retaliation since no one knew of his involvement, and his men that had stayed behind hadn’t heard any rumblings.

But he knew there would bean underlying danger in The City with the shakeup of a boss being eliminated. Every gumbah and their mother will be swarming like sharks, fighting for whatever scraps were left after the major heads had taken their cut. The place would probably be unsettled for a while to come.

He wasn’t worried about anyone thinking that either he or gramps wanted a piece of the pie; their interest lay elsewhere, and those who were in the know, knew that. Plus it wasn’t unusual for him to visit The City twice in one week, rare, but not unusual.

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