The Mafia's Daughter

Disclaimer: I don't own Good Luck Charlie or that Dog with a Blog

A/N: Sorry it took so long, I wanted to get my two other stories done uploading due to their already being completed. Now that they are out of the way, I give to you, Chapter 9!


Chapter 9 (Racing of the Heart)

Jo opened her eyes and quickly sat up, astonished when a soft wet rag fell from her forehead. She looked around a dim lit room and tapped her fingers on a soft and leathery couch. The room looked like a shrine devoted to eighties music, with posters on the yellow walls of famous big haired musicians with oddly shaped guitars. Her stomach churned with disgust, as she loathed eighties music.

One of the first things she noticed were her wrists were unbound, something she was immensely grateful for. She lifted her hands up and looked from the palm to the back, she had scrapes and bruises all along her hands and forearms. Her head was still throbbing, and when she moved her fingers to her forehead, she felt a soft white gauze taped to her head. Her eyes drifted towards a small doorway with a wide crack in between the door and its frame, wide enough she could see a cash register outside.

There was a chubby woman in her upper forties or fifties. She had a round face and blonde hair falling in wavy curls over her shoulders. She had high cheekbones, a kindred smile, and soft looking eyes. No matter how nice this woman was, though, Jo wasn't one to trust just anyone. The woman glanced over at the room, her eyes sparkling when she saw Jo. Jo smiled weakly and waved her hand, wincing as the woman called out to her husband.

"Paul, she's awake!" An older man rounded the corner of the register, he was bald and scrawny like a small tree. Glasses rested on the edge of his nose and a moustache covered the edges of his upper lip. The couple made their way into the room. "Good afternoon." She raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the window on the far wall. It sure didn't feel like a good afternoon. "Our son, and Paul were outside cleaning the lot when they saw you rolling out on the grass. They brought you in and we medicated your wounds." So why hadn't they called the police? She smiled graciously at the two and nodded her head.

"Thanks. Have either of you seen my dog, by any chance? White with black spots, looks like a border collie."

"No dear, we haven't." She closed her eyes and winced. If she couldn't find her dog, then her next step would be to figure out how to find Gabe's house from wherever she was. She also needed to make sure wherever she stopped at was guarded by the Bosca family mafia. She couldn't risk a run in with the Colorado mafia at this point. "We thought about calling the police, but we wanted to make sure you were okay first."

"Great. Don't call the police, trust me on that." The two frowned as Jo started to sit up, groaning as pain shot through her body. "If you do, you'll probably only be putting yourself at risk."

"What's your name dear?"

"Rachel." She hated to lie to such a nice and helpful couple, but she wasn't going to dare to use either her real name or her alias name that the mafia likely knew by now. "And the drivers of that truck were of the Colorado Mafia. Which means I need to get moving." The woman rested a gentle hand on her forearm and Jo quickly glared down at it.

"But dearie you're hurt, it would be bad for you to try and move."

"I can handle it. I appreciate your help, I really do, but I need to move. It's for your own safety ma'am. I'd recommend you close shop for a while and get out as well…" She tapped her chin and glanced at the door. "Is this in the territory of the Italian Mafia?"

"We're the only ones around here not giving our money to a mafia," Paul remarked. He jerked his thumb towards the right and groaned. "Even our neighbors are paying to give their money to the Italian mafia."

"They'll give you protection, much needed protection. Trust me, you're going to need it." She put her hand to her back and started trying to get up. The woman looked hurt as she tried to help Jo out. She turned her eyes to them and smiled sadly. "Listen. I am the daughter of the Colorado Mafia's Don." The couple gasped and she quickly lifted her eyes towards the sky. "My mother and I tried to get away from them, and we did. They found us, and now we're in danger. Almost anyone we come to is in danger. That's why I suggest you either close down shop and get out of town while you can, or enlist the help of the Italian mafia. My father's mafia wouldn't dare screw around with them."

The woman folded her hands in front of her waist and tilted her head slightly. Worry filled her eyes and her forehead creased beneath her blonde bangs. "But if you can't move-"

"I'll be fine, really. I studied martial arts for a while, so I know how to endure the pain." It wasn't just that, but she didn't really want to tell them that she'd been shot at and knifed throughout her life. The CPS was not someone she wanted to deal with right now. "Again, thank you so much for your hospitality. Please heed my advice, you're a really nice couple and I don't want anything to happen to you." The woman smiled at her and slowly nodded her head.

"Okay sweetie, we'll think of something."

"Great." Within minutes she made her way out of the back and was limping from building to building. She was constantly looking over her shoulder and trying to remember what places were owned by the Italians. "I need to find a map…it's been too long."

Gabe never returned home after dealing with the disposal of the mafia woman. He talked to PJ and his family on the phone, said he'd be gone for the remainder of the day and not to worry about him. Somehow he wanted to suspect PJ might come looking for him eventually, but he didn't want to risk that.

His stomach still curdled and the stench of blood never left him. The frightened expression of the woman haunted him, but he could do nothing about it now. There was no sense in crying over it. He didn't want to go back to his family, not now. He was in no mood to deal with them. His emotions were shot and his mind was screaming at him.

PJ's words over the phone also haunted him, he hadn't the slightest clue why he would suggest what he had. If you run into any trouble, go down to Sable's Diner and give me a call. There was no way he could go to Sable's Diner even if he ran into some kind of trouble. Then again, he probably could, considering he wasn't that afraid of the Italian mafia members guarding the place. For some reason, the guards always treated him well, but would they if they knew he was a part of the CO Mafia? This wasn't something he was sure of, and it sure wasn't something he wanted to test.

Now he stood before a small time jewel shop, Mai's Jewelry. He folded his arms across his chest and turned his gaze towards the sunset. At least he could handle taking over small businesses, the bigger stuff almost sickened him.

"I still can't believe I'm doing this…I just have to get them to trust me, that's all. Then they'll tell me about Jo." Rodney seemed to trust him so far, but he still wasn't sure if that guy trusted him one bit. He felt around his back pocket and sighed as he gripped the edge of the snub nose gun Rodney gave him for this job. He was also instructed that if he had to smash the place in order to get the owner to side with them, to do so. "Fuck it, I'm going in…"

Stan moved around the corner of a foreign street, his paws raw and his body burned like a wildfire. Fleas had attached themselves to him somewhere along the way, but it was worth it. The street he was on now riddled with the scent of Gabe, so he knew he had to be close.

The thought hadn't crossed his mind yet as to what he would do when he found Gabe. At this point, he didn't really feel like playing charades with the human boy. The question still remained, how would they find Jo or the family?

To his right he saw a large honey colored dog walking the streets, he had a plain collar around his neck and drool dripping from the flaps around his snout. Stan chuckled at the sight and looked up towards the clouds. "Gabe Duncan, where the hell are you? Been running all day, I need a break…" The dog stopped beside him and Stan quickly glanced over, trembling nervously as he met the large eyes.

"Did you say Gabe Duncan?"

"Er…yes." His heart leapt up and he turned fully towards the animal, gleeful that the dog might actually know Gabe. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I stayed at his house a while back. Real nice family he's got!" The dog barked once and Stan practically did a celebratory cartwheel. "My owners let me out all the time, so I like to follow people home on occasion, it's real fun." The dog's grin was more like a snarl, but this friendly pup was someone he had no trouble with. "Anyway I just saw him a little bit ago!"

"Really? Where! I have to find him! My human girl's been missing him."

"He was heading to Mai's Jewelry a couple blocks south. You should find him there. I can give you the directions."

Finally! Stan prepped himself for one final run, his mission was almost complete. Although, it would likely begin a new mission for him. "Thanks, that's perfect!"

"Please don't make this harder than it has to be," Gabe stated as he hovered over the owner's jewelry display. The owner crossed her arms and shook her head, vowing not to give in to the Colorado mafia. Gabe had hoped it would be easier than this, but he was spending too much time here and he honestly didn't want to pull out the gun or destroy the place. "Look, we can offer you protection-"

"I'd sooner give my store to the Italian mafia than to give it to your shoddy little gang," The woman barked. "Plus if I need protection, I got a double barrel shotgun in the back, and if you don't get out of my store, I'm going to grab it." He used to have the stomach for these kind of negotiations, he used to be able to trick someone into doing what he wanted them to do. Why was he so out of his game now?

He wasn't losing faith that he'd see Jo, was he? The thought terrified him. He wouldn't be surprised if he heard she was gone for good, it would kill him probably, but he could take it. Just not now, he didn't need anymore surprises now.

"Listen, it's not like you're losing all your money."

"I very well may be! I'm giving you to the count of three to get the hell out of my shop before I go in the back and pull out my shotgun. You wouldn't want that would you?" He lifted his hands and sighed, defeated. What was the point anymore? He was losing his motive for this crap.

Suddenly a bell rang out among the shop, it was the entrance bell at the door. He turned his head over his shoulder and lifted his eyebrows, a small white and black dog casually walked into the shop. He was panting and gazing up at him with what appeared to be a smile.

"A dog?" To his shock, he saw a familiar old ball cap of his, but that was impossible. The particular cap he was wearing had been given to Jo. He lifted his head and looked to the owner, she'd already left the area. "Oh no. I need to get out of here…"

"Gabe! Gabe Duncan!" He froze and raised an eyebrow, who had just spoken out? There were no customers in the shop, no one else besides the dog. He chuckled nervously and slowly glanced over his shoulder. It couldn't be, dogs don't talk. "Down here! The dog!" The dog jumped and Gabe's eyes widened as his pale skin grew even paler.

"Talking…do-" His eyes rolled to the back of his head as the shock made him fall towards the ground.

"Oh great," Stan muttered, "Jo didn't faint."


So what did you think? Think the owners should take Jo's advice? Or perhaps, how do you feel about Gabe's reaction? Another thing, has anyone given any thoughts to who the Underboss for the Italian Mafia may be?