Page 77 of Four Daddies & I

“They were already in the car when the gun was fired. No one was hurt,” I explain. “Miss King has been on the phone every day demanding to know what was happening. She has been giving Layton a hard time.” A small smile appears on Jasmines face.

“Yeah, he has my sympathy. Is he okay? He said he was in the van but there was so much blood.”

“Layton is fine Jazzy. The bullet was removed easily, and he’s had stitches. The blood wasn’t all his,” Jason explains. Jasmine nods again before looking at Maximus who is leaning against the bedpost.

“I heard you found the bouncer. Taylor was furious.”

“Didn’t do us any good, he couldn’t tell us anything,” Maximus shrugs. Jasmine shakes her head.

“It gave me a giggle. As I said, Taylor was furious at Hudson,” she adds before the smile slips from her face and she looks at the floor. “Do you know whose phone I used to get the message to you?” she asks.

“Tommys,” Sean replies. She lets out a sigh and looks at us all. “He had been working with Taylor. They planned on getting Tommy back in with you somehow and then he was going to use your money to fund some venture Taylor had coming up. But Taylor had other plans and Tommy swore to stop him, so Hudson shoot him.”

My heart stops and a heavy feeling in my chest takes hold.

“Tommy’s dead?” Jason asks quietly. Jasmine nods as she holds the pillow tighter to her chest as if she is feeling the pain, I am in. I never expected to feel anything if he was killed, but I’m surprised to find I do. It hurts almost as much as when Mum died.

“He was shot when Taylor announced he planned on killing you all. Tommy wasn’t going to allow him to physically hurt you. He might not have shown it like a normal father but there was no way on this earth he was going to let anyone kill his sons.”

“He gave you his phone?” Maximus asks. Jasmine looks back to the window before she answers.

“I don’t know if he meant for me to find it or not.” I watch as she takes a deep breath but doesn’t look away from the garden. “Tommy was killed in the room they were keeping me in. Taylor had just hung up from hearing about the bouncer being found, and Hudson had held a gag in my mouth so I couldn’t shout out. Once the call ended Tommy told Taylor he wouldn’t let him kill you and Hudson shot him. Taylor and my mu…” for a second, I can hear her throat contract with the thought of Carol, but she swallows and continues. “Mum left, leaving me with Hudson and Tommys body. Hudson called in one of the guards and as they were carrying Tommy’s body out wrapped in a plastic sheet demanded that I cleaned up the mess.” Her body becomes tighter as she pulls her knees to her chest and I know what she’s going to say before the words leave her mouth. “I refused, so he gave me a taster of what he would do from then onwards when I didn’t do as I was told.”

“He sexually assaulted you?” Sean asks quietly. Jasmine nods and wipes her face.

“After that, I had no choice but to do what I was told. I was hurting and scared. So, I started cleaning the blood from the floor. But as I did, I noticed Tommys phone behind the chest of drawers he had been standing by. Then I remember him messing about with the cuffs on his trousers when Taylor had been on the phone with you. He must have dropped it behind there on purpose,” she explains.

“Knowing that you might find it and contact us,” Jason adds. Jasmine looks at him then and nods.

“He was a lousy father, but he was determined to protect you in the end,” Jasmine says as she looks around at us all. “He cared, I saw it in his eyes before he died,” she whispers before looking back out of the window.

The room is silent for a few minutes whilst we all try and process our feelings. Tommy’s dead, it doesn’t hit the way I thought it would. I’m not a fool, Jasmine’s right, he was a lousy father. But if she’s correct then he died trying to protect us, and finally acting like the father he should have always been.

I look around at my brothers and see the pain on all their faces. This is going to take time to process, it’s something we need time to deal with together.

“How did you get the message out to us?” Jason asks. Jasmine turns back to face him, and the hold of the pillow softens slightly.

“I had to be careful as there were cameras in the room. I hid the phone deeper behind the chest of drawers hoping that if they realised it wasn’t with Tommy, they wouldn’t find it. Later that night I made a show of my hair getting on my nerves. I used an elastic band I was given and put it up and down before throwing it at the chest of drawers in a mood. I made sure it went behind it so I had an excuse to pull the furniture away from the wall and when I got back in view, they would see me tying my hair back up in a top knot. What they didn’t see was the phone that was hidden in my hair.”

“Genius,” Maximus chuckles and I must agree, that took some quick thinking.

“I was quite proud of that one,” she replies a small smile playing on her lips. “Once the phone was safely in my hair, I made a fuss about my stomach hurting and needing the toilet. One of the guards took me and when he tried to come in with me like they usually did but I made a point of saying I thought it was my period. He near enough ran from the room and slammed the door closed. Tommy didn’t have a lock on his phone thankfully, so I was able to send the message in seconds thanks to the number Terry made me memorise.”

“I’m so proud of you baby. You thought on your feet and did amazing.” I don’t think I could be prouder of her right now. To be that creative when under so much pressure.

“I just wanted to come home and get away from that evil bitch.” I see the hatred in her eyes, and I have to bite my tongue from asking about Carol. Maximus however doesn’t even try to stop himself.

“Why was Carol there, shorty? Was she taken too?” he asks. We all stare at him, but he isn’t looking at us, his eyes are trained on Jasmine. Who looks back out of the window.

“She was with Taylor, they were dating. But I think it was more about what he could do to help her get what she wanted which was to see you all lose everything.” Jasmine takes a deep breath and looks back at us.

“Taylor told me and Tommy about you all leaving everything to me in your wills. Tommy wasn’t impressed but I also don’t think he was that surprised. I think my mother figured once you were dead and I had your money she could kill me and take everything.”

“She would kill you for the money? Her own daughter?” Sean asks amazed. I expect Jasmine to struggle to answer but instead, she laughs.

“She already tried once when I was younger. She admitted the gas leak at my grandparents was her fault. She thought I was there the night she did it, but she didn’t know I had snuck out last minute to stay at Ambers. She thought she had killed the three of us. When she realised I was alive and I had all the money, she couldn’t kill me without raising suspicion. She settled for taking as much of my money as possible.”

“Fuck, Jazzy that’s messed up.” I look at Jason and nod.

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