Page 53 of Trip Through Your Wires

“What!” Cruz and I reply in unison.

“Well who was it?” I jump up from where I’m sitting at the counter and Cruz does the same.

“Apparently, it was some mob informant.” She looks up at Cruz as he comes up next to her. “That was Jenica. She said CCPD thinks he was tossed off the pier in Jersey and caught The Gulf Stream straight down to the Georgia coast.”

“And the bullet?” I ask, ignoring the flutter in my chest at the mention of Jenica. Damn my body for betraying my hard-won calm.

“Get this,” she looks from Cruz to me. “It belonged to a gun registered to a guy with ties to the Petrov Syndicate.”

“Shit, really?” He shakes his head.

“Yeah,” she nods. “Ironic, right?”

“It is,” he does the same.

What’s not ironic, however, is why Jenica didn’t call me to tell me the news. Considering it was me she called when that same body sent her racing up here a day early, I’d think this update would at least warrant a call.

Ellery fills us in on the rest of the details and when done, Cruz wraps his arm around her and squeezes. It was a long shot that it could be Royce, but there’s no denying it was in the back of all of our minds. Her relief is apparent, as is his and mine.

“Alright,” I rap my knuckle on the counter. “I’m going to take a long, hot shower. I’ll be up later.”

Cruz pats me on the back as I turn and head for the stairs, and when I make it to my room and don’t check the answering machine, I give myself one as well. Jenica isn’t going to call, so there’s no need to disappoint myself. Whatever happened between us the night of the frat party clearly didn’t mean anything to her. Come to think of it, whatever I thought we were, was just an illusion. It was time to move on and forget the past and focus on the future.

Chapter 11

Jenica

I hang up the phone and stare out my bedroom window, the pit in my stomach that had been there since yesterday, growing tenfold. If the past twenty-four hours were any indication as to how the next four years were going to be, then my time under Richardson’s thumb was going to be filled with anxiety and lies. But if working nights at his sleazy club would keep the truth from coming out, I’d do it. Any penance was worth my friends not paying for what I’d done.

Reaching for the necklace around my neck, I close my eyes, willing it to give me strength. How was I going to pull this off? Classes, the store, and working at the club…something was going to break. But it could not be me. I could not let this change my plans for the future. Not when the reason I’d agreed to this ridiculous deal in the first place was so that I could have one.

But what if that was Richardson’s plan? Run me ragged to the point of exhaustion so I had no choice but to give up every part of my life just to serve him. Well, if that’s what he thought was going to happen, he could fuck himself. I’d drink as many Jolt Colas as it took to get through each day to make sure that didn’t happen.

All of this would be easier to swallow if I could just talk to Jake. His calm assurance always made me feel better and I could really use it right now. Tonight was going to be my first night at the club and I wanted to go in confident.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option. Hearing his voice in the background just now when I called Ellery, made my heart race and my palms sweat. I needed to keep our chapter closed and despite the fact he was hundreds of miles away, just hearing his voice had me questioning that closure. He had his life, and I had mine, and that’s the way it had to be. From here on out, I was on my own.

“Jenica Dawn,” Nana calls from the hallway. “Do you want something to eat before going to class?”

I turn away from the window and make my way to the door, opening it and finding eyes that mirror my own looking back at me with fondness.

“No ma’am,” I smile warmly. “I grabbed a sandwich earlier.”

Where Momma and I had inherited Nana’s eyes, we were fortunate to have taken after Pappa in height. He’d been gone for so long now, that I’d nearly forgotten his voice. But I did remember that Nana always looked tiny next to him.

“Will you be headed to the store after class?” she asks, making her way into my room and sitting down on the bed. This was once Momma’s room, which Nana then turned into her sewing room. But when I moved in, Nana made it up for me.

“Yes, ma’am,” I confirm and sit down next to her.

I tape my schedule to the fridge at the beginning of each week so Nana always knows where I am, but sometimes she forgets to check. At least, that’s what she says. I think she just misses having someone to look after.

“But I won’t be home for dinner,” I add. “I’m working tonight. In fact, I’m going to be working nights for a while.”

She turns to look at me, thinning brows furrowing. “Does your father have you doing inventory?”

“No…” I chew the inside of my cheek, wishing for the first time ever that my nights were going to be about counting cans and stocking aisles. “I got a second job.”

“Oh sugar.” She places a hand on my cheek. “A second one? You already work too hard.”

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