Notes & Disclaimers: Anything you recognize as familiar belongs to Janet Evanovich. All characters are hers, and unfortunately, not mine. Dang it!
Previously:
Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I looked out the peep hole, and then opened it, and Silvio stood there in his uniform, holding a pillow and a blanket.
"Sir, I trust that you will find this suitable. Please call the desk if you should need anything else at all."
I handed Silvio the bills that I had removed from my pocket earlier for a tip. He took them, and shook my hand, squeezing it a little harder than necessary.
"Thank you sir. Enjoy your stay."
As he left the room I glanced down to my hand. In it, was a small piece of paper with one word on it.
Babe.
My mind was racing a million miles a minute. Even after being up all night, I no longer had the brain fog from lack of sleep in my head. This one word I held in my hand sent adrenaline coursing through my veins. More adrenaline than I've ever encountered before. I've been in third world countries with grenades exploding around me. I've seen death, and been too close to it myself more times than I care to remember. But all of that pales in comparison to the fear I am feeling now. Dios, I can't lose her. Not now. Not after we've waited so long to be together. All those stupid years that I spent sending her back to Morelli, because I thought he was what was good for her, and now that I was ready, dare I hope that she was ready….could it all fall apart now?
No, I wouldn't let it. I'll be damned if I'm gonna let it slip out of my hands that easily. I need a plan. Somehow I have to get out of here without blowing my cover. And I need to talk to Silvio. And I need to get home to Babe.
I showered quickly, getting dressed for the day. I was sure that Alagaro would be out for hours after being up all night. Especially considering the amount of liquor he'd consumed last night. But I knew him and his type well enough to know that he had someone watching me. And probably watching Lester too. He wouldn't hand over the cash until he felt certain that we were what we said we were.
I stepped across the hall and knocked on Lester's door. After several moments, he opened the door and looked like he'd been asleep.
"Why are you up man? Get some sleep!"
He went to shut the door, but I stepped into his room. He fell back onto the bed and pulled the covers over him. "Why are you here? You're supposed to be sleeping."
I was sure that Lester knew that we were being watched. In fact, I'd seen him glance up to the mirrored lights when he entered the room. No doubt, he knew that was the perfect place to hide a camera. Hell, that's where we often hid cameras when we needed to monitor something covertly. So playing the part, I tried my best to think of a reason to get us out of the rooms.
"Jason, man, you've gone soft. I figured you'd be ready to shower and head out for breakfast. Maybe even take in one of those strip clubs like we did last time. You remember last time, right? I'm sure you remember that bombshell you hooked up with last time? Wasn't her stage name Babe?
I hoped that Lester took my cue. I prayed that he would realize what I was trying to say. I hated using her name…my name for her…in that context. But it was all I could think of. A moment passed and he got up getting his clothes ready and finally looking towards me.
"Why didn't you say so man? I'm all up for that. Give me just a minute to shower, and we'll head out. I could use some loving right now after losing big last night in that game. I think a strip club might be just what the doctor ordered!"
I sat on the bed waiting on Lester. I hoped that the casual exchange between us was enough to ward off Alagaro. I was sure we'd be followed, and I was still trying to come up with a plan. Somehow I had to figure out how to get close to Silvio . I could only hope that he'd follow us as well. I needed to know what was going on.
Lester emerged from the shower after a few minutes. He grabbed his room key and his wallet, stuffing both into his back pocket. In true Lester fashion, he turned to me, grinned big, and said "Let's go find some ladies!"
We headed out to the lobby and I spotted Silvio in front of the hotel. This time he was dressed as a driver, and was standing beside a cab in front of the casino. His wig was gone, as was the moustache. He wore a cab company uniform and sunglasses. There were several other cabs available to hotel guests, but thankfully there were no other people walking up to him.
"Where to gentlemen?"
"The Elite Club", Lester responded. I was glad he picked that club. It was the fartherest one away on the strip. It would give us the most time in the car with Silvio. We both got in back of the cab, and Silvio slid into the driver's seat.
As we pulled away from the curb, I could see Alagaro's men get in a cab behind us. They were three car lengths behind us, but following none the less.
"Ok, Silvio. What's going on? " I asked nervously, praying for Babe's safety.
"Steph passed out after you left. Bobby found her in the apartment bleeding."
My mind was trying to wrap around this. Had someone gotten in to the building? No, there was no way. How was she hurt? Why was she bleeding? I must have looked stunned, because Lester spoke first and quickly turned my thoughts back to reality.
"Silvio, what happened? Why was she bleeding? Is she ok?"
Silvio merged into traffic, checking his rear view mirrors. "She's been airlifted to Newark. She's 23 weeks pregnant and may lose the baby. She has something called placental abruption. Basically the placenta is tearing away from the uterine wall. The baby is alive, and so is she. She's lost a lot of blood. And it's pretty touch and go for the baby. They say 23 weeks is early. Boss, there's only a 15% chance of the baby surviving. Bobby had a helicopter dispatched to take her. The weather was horrible. They took her to Newark because it has a NICU. Bobby is staying with her, and Tank checked her in under an assumed name. We thought you needed to know. She's asking for you. Her blood pressure is really high too. She's contracting, and they don't know how long they can hold labor off. Bobby said the baby could be born as anytime."
I can only describe my reaction as shock. I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know what questions to ask. I had never been this unprepared for something in my life. We were going to have a baby. Steph and I had made a baby. I didn't understand since she was on the pill. She had been on it for four months. I was sure of that because I went with her to the doctor. But wait! Silvio said she was 23 weeks pregnant. She was already pregnant when she started them.
I finally found my voice, although it was almost a whisper. "She had to have been pregnant when…" I drifted off. My mind was racing.
Silvio started talking again. "The doctors say she was pregnant when she started the pill. They think that's why she didn't know. I don't know about all that female stuff. But I hear that she was in shock when they told her. Something about how she had been irregular…whatever that means. Tank tried to explain it to me. He said she's been so sick, and been exercising so much, that they assumed that is why she didn't gain any weight. The doctor estimated that the baby weighs about a pound and a half."
I was trying desperately to wrap my mind around this. A pound and a half. That's only 24 ounces. I can't imagine a baby that small. She hasn't gained any weight. In fact, she's lost weight. My thoughts immediately went to our daily workouts. We had ran miles daily, and I pushed her. I felt a weight come crashing down on me as I realized that I had probably pushed her too hard. We had just had a sparring match the day before I left. I took her down and pinned her to the mats. And then there were all of the distractions we had done. Hell, she'd even fallen from a balcony trying to capture a FTA. She was only bruised at the time. What if all of that was what caused this? Was this my fault? I should have known…I should have realized. Dios! What if she loses the baby? What if I lose her?
Lester must have seen the turmoil raging in my eyes. He spoke softly, patting me on the back. "Come on man. You can't blame yourself. Steph didn't even know, and it's her body we're talking about. We don't know what caused it. But you can't dwell on that now. We've got to find a way to get you out of her and back to her.
Silvio said he was here to help in whatever way he could. On the way to the club he and Lester came up with a plan to get Silvio introduced to Alagaro. My mind was still in shock. I sat there in disbelief, not hearing the plan that Lester and Silvio came up with.
I couldn't believe I was going to be a father…again. I had done what I thought was best at the time for Julie, but if I could go back, I would certainly have done things different. I never thought I'd have a chance to do it again. A chance to make right all the wrongs I'd done the first time. I wanted a chance to see the miracle of life from the beginning. And I wanted it all with Stephanie. I wanted to be there for her and for our child. Then my mind seized on the thought that it was our child. I had to stop planning for what I wanted. I needed to take her wants and needs into account as well. What did she want? I interrupted Lester and Silvio….
"What about Stephanie. How is she? Did she say anything about…" I stopped for a minute. "About the baby?"
Silvio nodded. "Like I said, she's ok for now. Bobby said he was staying with her. I hear he was a little uncomfortable being in there with her for the exam. But Steph didn't want to be left alone. Tank said the doctors asked her if she wanted the child. And she said she did. She's holding her own for now."
My heart ached. She wanted this child with me. I had been such a fool to let her go back all those times. I could only imagine how nervous Bobby probably was. I didn't let my mind linger on the fact that he'd probably saw Stephanie naked. He was probably fearful that I'd have him in the gym pinned with my foot on his neck! But on the contrary, I was thankful that he'd been there for Steph. I was thankful for his friendship, and ashamed that it wasn't me that was there now with her.
Lester broke into my thoughts as he told me of their plan. We were going to the Elite Club and we were going to happen to "meet up" with an old friend. Silvio would go by the name of Jimmy Santos. We'd leave the club later and then take him back to the hotel. We would then introduce him to Alagaro, explain that he's an old friend that is also looking to "purchase" some bills, and see if he'd invite him into the game later tonight. I would then suddenly come up with severe abdominal pain and an ambulance would be called. Lester had a friend at the local hospital that he dated a time or two. And she worked in the emergency room. He would call her while we were in the Elite Club, and when I was admitted, she would take care of making it look like I was in surgery for appendicitis. Silvio was going to call Tank and have a chopper at the hospital, and I'd fly out to be with Stephanie. Lester and Silvio would then try to make the money swap with Alagaro, and he'd assume I was in the hospital recovering. The only problem would be if he decided to visit me there, to see for himself. But somehow I didn't think he was that caring or concerned. It sounded like it might just work. If we could get everything and everyone involved in position.
We finalized the plans, and Lester and I got out at the Elite Club. Silvio drove off, to ditch the cab and come back to the club a little later on. As we walked in, I noticed Alagaro's goons pulling into the upper parking lot.
Lester and I went in to the dimly lit club and let our eyes adjust to the darkness. We took a table in the back, as far away from the stage as possible. We knew we'd have to find an opportune time to make the necessary phone calls. I wasn't sure how Lester was going to do it. I just knew that I had to get home. A waitress came by, and Lester ordered us two beers. She was back shortly with our order, and I nodded towards her. Lester made eye contact with one of the ladies on stage, and before I knew it, one of the strippers came down to do a lap dance for Lester. He stood up and followed her to one of the back rooms. I glanced towards the guys following us, and they were watching Lester as well. I figured he'd probably make the call to his contact at the ER while he was back there. I didn't want to think about what else he might do while he was in the "private" room.
After about fifteen minutes, Lester emerged from the room along with the stripper. He kissed her hand and helped her back to the stage. He sauntered over to the table, and sat down and took a drag from his beer.
"Any luck?" I asked?
"Yeah. My friend's name is Lori. She is working tonight, so it worked out perfectly. She will be waiting on you when you get there. A doctor owed her a favor, so he's in on it too. And the stripper was all too ready to let me use her phone, once I paid her to stay back there with me. She said it's the easiest $100 she's ever made."
"Ok. Well, I guess we're done here then. Was Silvio gonna meet up with us here?"
Lester nodded and we decided to wait it out on him. Lester turned to watch the stage, but I could only stare at the beer in front of me. This type of place wasn't somewhere that I would frequent…anymore. Sure I had traveled the world, and seen more than my share of the sexual, erotic, and downright perverse things of this world. But once I met Steph all that changed. I no longer needed any of that. I only needed her.
Silvio walked in, and we all shook hands and did the complicated hand thing…as Babe calls it. We played the part as if we hadn't seen each other in forever. After another round of beers, we left cash on the table and got up to leave. We'd have enough time to go back to the hotel, take a nap, shower and change before being due in the private room for this evening's game. We'd then introduce Alagaro to Silvio. And pray he took the bait.
We arrived back at the hotel around 1pm, with Alagaro's men still following us. We went up to our rooms, and Silvio went into Lester's suite. I went to mine alone. I needed to think and I knew if Silvio was there with me I'd struggle not to ask him more questions. I was sure that he had told me all he knew. But I kept replaying the words Silvio said in my mind. "Stephanie's pregnant…..23 weeks…very early…..a pound and a half…bleeding….Bobby found her…airlifted….15% chance of surviving."
It was all too much. I laid across the bed thinking of her and our unborn child. I was trying to will myself to doze into sleep so that my thoughts would be silent. But sleep wouldn't come. There was no way I could sleep again until I knew that Stephanie and our child were ok. And I couldn't escape the heavy feeling that this was somehow my fault.
