Page 25 of Special Agent Jennie

Chapter Nineteen

Once Jennie had finished her emails, she left her office area, went to the bedroom to have a chat with Lisa, and found it empty. Returning to the living room where her baba sat slumped in her favorite chair, snoring sounds coming from her open lips, she made a noise knowing the old woman would wake instantly.

“Baba, where is Lisa? I thought she was in her room?”

Baba, pretending to be awake all along, tried to keep her brown eyes open wide and clear her sleepy tone. “I not know for sure, Jennie.” Suddenly, right in the middle of her words, her eyes closed again, and more snores were heard. Jennie waited, knowing Baba would most likely stir within a few seconds and finish her thought. Yep, she struggled awake and continued as if nothing had interrupted her. “She say she go out with friends. I say have good time, and she make same joke. Says she’s the “good-time” girl.” Baba chuckled as she always did at that phrase without realizing it could be taken two ways. Both Lisa and Jennie got a kick out of their old baba praising Lisa when other parents might be horrified by that expression.

“Okay. I’ll wait for her.” She sat on the side of the couch nearest Baba. “Maybe you should go to bed if you’re tired?”

“No, no, no. I be wide awake now. I sit with you.”

Jennie sat on the couch nearest Baba’s chair, reached for the old, wrinkled hand, and laid a soft kiss there. Her baba loved the CNN channel, refusing to admit it put her to sleep. So rather than changing the channel, Jennie tuned into the latest breaking news. Within seconds she heard the distinct snores again and smiled lovingly.

Focusing on the recent violence in the black neighborhood shown on the screen, Jennie lost herself in the program. The aggression had ramped up lately, including more guns and killings. Feeling ashamed for her generation, she wondered what had happened to the people who valued their true right to own guns above the right to safety for all families… without violence lurking around every corner. Was there ever going to be an answer to please everyone?

How had they allowed the world to become such a scary place? Kids were never allowed out to play on the street with friends anymore. Darkness had become a time to worry rather than to enjoy the night sky and cool air. Folks meeting for the first time were filled with distrust instead of instant acceptance. She’d seen the difference from the basic freedoms around her own upbringing to those taken away from Lisa’s.

She and her friends hadn’t needed to be driven everywhere or forbidden to do normal activities that parents nowadays refused to contemplate. Like allowing kids the freedom to play outside together, games of baseball at the local school grounds, riding their bikes and building forts… or just hanging out. When had fear replaced fun?

Shaking her head and rubbing her stomach, Jennie pulled out her phone and sent a text to her child. Whether it was right or not, the world they lived in today demanded a parent keep watch and that’s exactly what she’d always done.

Waiting for Lisa to respond, carrying her cell with her, she went into the kitchen and peered out the window to see if Lisa’s car was there. And it was. Which meant she’d taken the bus, something they’d fought over, and Lisa had been adamant about. “I can look after myself, Mom. You know I can. And it’s not always a good idea to have a vehicle one needs to find a parking spot for. This city is ridiculous that way. Plus, I always have my phone with the fifty you stuck in the carry case and can call an Uber… right?”

Jennie headed for the fridge, reaching for the tub of refrozen ice cream. Baba always kept two or three choices in the freezer but she preferred the heavenly hash. She grabbed a spoon, sat on the counter, legs swinging back and forth, and checked her messenger app.

No answer. Looking at her watch and seeing the late hour, she decided to call. Even though they’d made a deal that texting was better than phoning, her heart told her she needed to talk with her daughter. Watching all that scary shit on TV hadn’t helped. For some reason, it became imperative she reach out.

Problem was the male voice that answered didn’t calm her nerves at all. Just the opposite. Terrified, she jumped from her perch and snarled. “What the hell are you doing with Lisa’s phone?”

***

Furious, the minute Kane found the cellphone lying on the bedroom floor by the window, his frustration grew to where he could have crushed the blasted thing with his bare hands.

He’d had suspicions that Lisa had entered his house through that window he’d left unlocked as an exit if needed, but when he followed Ham earlier to stop him from going in there and found it empty, he’d breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the sight of the phone on the floor that revived the anger. Recognizing it from when he’d taken it from her to delete her videos, he stuck it in his pocket and tried to forget it being there while the party became more noxious, and the boys were fast losing control.

Curbing them from shooting up the place, and each other, over a stupid argument, he hid the booze and drugs, pretending there was none left. That spurred the idiots to move along to the bar. He’d just pushed the last one into the car that Gordie – the only slightly sober one there – was chauffeuring and pretended to be high and unable to stand never mind drive himself.

Normally, he wouldn’t have let them out on the road, but at this hour the streets were empty and the bar real close. Clearly, he had another problem on his hands to deal with. A stubborn daughter who needed her father to lay down the law.

“You gotta come with us, Kane.” Hamster stuck his head out the open back window, wavering like an intoxicated fool.

Slurring his words, Kane grinned stupidly. “Not gonna happen. Want my bed. Need to piss like a racehorse. You guys go. I’ll catch up tomorrow at the clubhouse. Keep the idiots from killing someone tonight, Gord.”

Gordie, half-drunk himself, nodded. “Okay. Tomorrow we get the IEDs. Exciting.”

He peeled away from the curb, screeching his tires unnecessarily and swerving from side to side. In a few seconds, the car disappeared around the corner. Kane straightened and was just about to head back into the house when the phone in his pocket rang.

He figured it would be Lisa and was shocked to get his head chewed off by the one voice that could tighten his stomach in knots and leave him choking for the right words.

After he heard what Jennie said, fear tightened his muscles and all the worries about Lisa flooded into his brain. It must have been nearly an hour since she’d left his place. Where the hell would she be now?

He looked for Bosko, figuring he’d have something to add about her being there and found an empty car and no sign of the younger man.

“Hold on. Quit yelling at me. I found the phone by… ahh, my house but no Lisa.” At least, part of it was the truth.

He listened and held the phone away from his ear. “Okay, wait. Stop swearing. I’ll be right there.” He hung up knowing Jennie was spitting nails already and his cutting her off wouldn’t bode well for when he arrived. But somehow the idea of seeing her again overrode all the insanity rushing through his veins.

Thinking over the scenario, he suspected that Lance had probably seen Lisa escaping from the house and was with her right then. Full of hope, he raced inside and retrieved his personal phone. Tense, fiercely angry, he texted Lance and waited… and waited.

Nothing.

Jesus… now what?

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