Chapter 26: Loose Ends

People always underestimated the power and influence he wielded. No one ever suspected his role in the escape of Gina Santori from prison. The authorities assumed she acted alone and he was content to let them continue to believe they knew the whole story.

The Santori girl's freedom was merely the repayment of a debt owed to the girl's father who had loved her dearly. The old man had died before he could repay the debt he owed him so he waited for the right time. When Gina had reached out to him for help, he saw his chance to rid himself of the burden of debt.

So he arranged for her to escape her confinement and even arranged her trip to America. It was easy enough to fake a passport and a tourist visa for the girl under a different name. He handed her some money and the papers and sent her off to America, content in the knowledge that his debt to his old friend was paid in full.

When Gina had gotten herself arrested in America, he knew it would only be a matter of time before she opened her mouth and implicated him in her escape, if only to save her own skin. He decided that simply was unacceptable. Luckily, he had contacts in America that were more than happy to tie up this loose end.

All it took was one phone call and his worries were erased. As he sat in his study overlooking the Italian vineyards of Tuscany, he smiled to himself as he calculated the time difference and checked his watch. It was happening soon and soon…well soon he would no longer be troubled by Gina Santori.

Gina Santori sat in the small jail cell and tried not to get depressed about her situation. Her plan to take Emily away where they could start over-and where she could exact her own brand of justice for the years she spent in prison—had failed and now she had to regroup and formulate a new plan.

With a sigh, Gina laid down on the small cot and contemplated her future. She knew that she was going to be sent back to Italy and she was more or less okay with that since in Italy her father's friend could help her out again. She just really wished that she hadn't been caught. She slowly turned to look at the guard that was sitting at a nearby desk reading a newspaper. He was cute in an older man way.

Gina remembered the sheriff calling him Curtis. She liked that name, she could work with that, and she was about to get up and start flirting with him when his cell phone rang. Gina watched as he answered it, talked for a few minutes then hung up. The expression on his face never changed but Gina could tell something was up.

She watched as he went back to his newspaper as though nothing had happened and after another half hour of him reading the paper and then a magazine, Gina relaxed and turned away from him.

Gina was drifting in the ephemeral space between awake and asleep and so she never heard the cell door open or the footsteps approaching her. In the end, Gina Santori never even saw the needle that slid cleanly into her carotid artery, never felt the sting as the air bubble that was injected into her bloodstream traveled up to her brain and caused the massive stroke leaving her dead in her sleep. Gina never even opened her eyes as she slipped from this world.

The next morning, JJ picked Emily up at the B&B and drove her to Olivia's so she could change her clothes real quick before they all headed to Alex's for their movie marathon. As JJ sat in her car waiting for Emily and Olivia she leaned her head back and thought back on the events of the night before. It was a little surreal at this point but she knew it would become all too real once they got to Alex's and she and Emily were pressured to explain what had happened. She could only hope that their friends gave them some time to settle in first before they began their interrogation but she knew the likelihood of that happening was slim.

Before too long, JJ heard the faint sounds of footsteps on cement and she turned towards the sound to see Olivia and Emily walking towards the car. She smiled at the sight of her friend and her girlfriend, forgetting for a moment the gravity of what was to come later.

Olivia and Emily got into the car, with Emily in the front seat and Olivia claiming the back seat for herself as she stretched out to lay down for the ride to Alex's.

JJ noticed this and turned around with a grin on her face as she asked, "rough night Liv?"

Olivia just groaned as she threw her hand over her eyes to block out the sunshine, "Bite me JJ."

JJ just raised her eyebrows and took on a sarcastic tone, "well aren't you a regular Mary Sunshine? What crawled up your butt?"

Emily tried not to laugh since she knew that Olivia wasn't feeling well because of last night but she didn't jump in to defend her either, she preferred to see where this conversation went first.

"I didn't get a lot of sleep." Olivia didn't elaborate, instead she said, "can we just get to Alex's?"

JJ looked at Emily who just shrugged then she said, "yeah, sure." JJ then put the car in gear and pulled into traffic, heading towards Alex's house. There was something going on with Olivia today but JJ knew she wasn't going to get any answers from her dark haired friend until Liv was good and ready.

The ride to Alex's was quiet as Liv rested in the back seat and Emily just held JJ's hand, thinking about just how much to tell their friends about what happened the night before with Gina. She wasn't eager to tell the whole truth about her past with the older girl but she knew she would have to give them something to satisfy their curiosity.

Sheriff Brooks walked into the small police station still humming one of the songs from last night's play, not letting herself think yet about the paperwork that awaited her over the arrest she made last night. That was going to be a headache.

When she walked in, she nodded to Curtis who was leaving as she went right to her desk to set down her coffee and her morning pastry before she took off her jacket and hung it up on the coat rack in the corner of her office. She stretched a little before she sighed and walked over to the holding cells where the girl from last night was no doubt still sleeping.

When she reached the cells she saw that the girl was indeed asleep, her back to the cell door. The sheriff sighed as she called out, "Wake up call Miss Santori. Time to rise and shine girl!"

When no movement or acknowledgement came from the still form, she tried again, "Hey! I said it's time to wake up! Don't make me come in there with a bucket of water!" This was so not what she needed today, a moody little girl who wanted to make her day harder.

After another few moments, she took out her keys and opened the cell, on alert in case the girl tried anything funny. She slowly approached the small cot and, with one hand on her baton, she reached her other hand out and shook the girl's shoulder.

When the girl's body rolled onto its back lifelessly, Sheriff Brooks knew the girl was dead. She panicked for just a second before her training kicked in and she felt for a pulse. Not finding one, she was about to try CPR when she noticed how cold the girl's skin was and she realized it was already too late.

The sheriff took a few steps back as she thought about what to do next. She thought back and remembered that Curtis was on shift last night watching the girl so she radioed him to come back into the station. After that she called the coronor's office to get the body after her small forensic team processed the scene. There was something suspicious about all of this and she was going to get to the bottom of whatever had happened here last night.

Three hours later, the body was at the morgue awaiting autopsy, Officer Rey Curtis had given his statement asserting that he was at the station all night and nothing had happened. The girl had been strangely silent and then had laid down to sleep. After that, he just sat at his desk reading the paper, looking over at the girl every now and then to make sure she was still sleeping. At the end of his shift, he left the station when the sheriff arrived.

The two-man forensic unit had taken photographs and collected samples of everything from the linens on the cot to everything and anything the girl had touched or come in contact with before they authorized the release of the body to the coronor.

Now, all that was left was the autopsy and to tell Ambassador Prentiss the news. She wasn't worried about telling the girls, she was confident the Ambassador would handle that part, she just had to deal with the slightly intimidating woman who had accompanied her to the station last night and then back to the school for the play. It wasn't often that Sheriff Brooks was intimidated by anyone but this was a special case and she wasn't too proud to admit, if only to herself, that the older woman scared her a little bit.

JJ, Emily and Olivia were the last to arrive at Alex's and after the customary greetings of hugs, high fives and congratulations about the play, the gang settled down in the media room for their marathon.

Before the first movie was popped in, however, Derek stopped Alex and then turned to JJ, "Before we get down to the movies, I believe someone owes us an explanation for last night. Time to talk JJ."

JJ turned to look at Emily who nodded letting her know it was okay to tell them the truth. JJ smiled then turned back to Derek and cleared her throat. "Okay. Well the short version is that Emily's ex-girlfriend came into town and tried to kidnap her from the school. Luckily, I was able to stop her and Sheriff Brooks arrested her. Emily's mom, knowing the girl was looking for Emily, got a restraining order in place and gave me a copy of it in case I needed it as proof if the girl tried anything. She's in jail now and hopefully won't be a problem anymore. Are you satisfied?"

The whole gang was in various stages of surprise. Derek and Garcia had known something had gone down because Derek saw it happen and told her about it. He told the others a vague explanation saying something had happened backstage before the play and that JJ promised to explain it the next day.

Olivia shook her head a moment then turned to Emily, "wait…is this about Gina?" Olivia knew about Gina and Emily's past with her because the cousins were so close but Emily had never told her Gina was out and looking for her.

Emily nodded sadly, "Yep."

Alex leaned forward, a frown on her face, "Who's Gina?"

Emily was the one who answered this time, knowing she was going to have to be clearer than JJ had been, "Gina Santori was my girlfriend a few years ago in Italy. She was older and I was…well a bit stupid then. I was dazzled by her and so I would do whatever she asked. Some stuff went down and Gina ended up going to prison and I was banned from Italy until I turned 21. She's never forgiven me for not going to prison with her I guess, but my mom used her political power to have me banned instead. A few weeks ago, Gina escaped from prison and managed to make it to the US. She came here because she has family here and I guess she was going to get some money from them before she set off to try to find me. But when she somehow found out I was here in town already she changed her plan and came after me at the play. My mom explained it all to me last night, she enlisted JJ to help her keep me safe from Gina until her people could find her but no one knew who her family here was so it was hard to track her. Now that she's been arrested, my mom will use her considerable contacts in government to make sure Gina serves the rest of her Italy sentence plus time for her crime here in an American federal prison."

Emily looked at the faces of the people she had come to think of as her family and waited for their reactions. She felt JJ reach over and take her hand in a show of love and support, and she squeezed it.

"So this Gina, she's in jail?" Reid asked, the first to recover their voice after Emily's explanation.

"Yes."

"And she can't come near you again, right?" Elliot this time, trying to work it out in his head.

"Right."

"So…this mean we can't kick her ass for what she tried to do?" This time it was Elle who spoke up, her voice light but her eyes were serious. Some of the other girls, mostly Casey, Kim and Kathy, nodded in agreement, showing their support of Elle's idea.

Emily just shook her head, "Sorry but no. The law will deal with her. I just want to put this whole thing behind me at last."

"Just one more question," Garcia asked, her curiosity finally winning over her common sense, "who was Gina staying with, I mean who is she related to here in town?"

Considering the nature of small towns and how everyone knows everyone else, Emily knew that once she answered Garcia's question, it would be hard to keep the peace between them and the Pack. This might just be the catalyst for some kind of West Side Story feud. "That's not important."

"Like hell it's not!" Alex spoke up this time, not willing to let this piece of information be glossed over. "whoever it is harbored a fugitive and, whether they knew it or not, put your life in danger. So who was it?" The look on Alex's face made it clear she wanted a name and wasn't going to give up until she got one.

Emily looked at JJ, silently asking her if she should tell them. JJ knew Emily didn't want to start trouble between the groups, so she turned to Alex and said, "Jo Marlowe."

Kathy shot a glance at Elliot then who just nodded before he turned to JJ, "Seriously?"

JJ nodded, "Yep. But I am only going to say this one time and then this topic is closed. Regardless of everything else, from what I've learned about Gina, and Emily correct me if I'm wrong here, Jo is most likely as much a victim of Gina as Emily was." Emily silently nodded, confirming JJ's conclusion. "So there will be no retaliation or action of any kind taken against Jo for this, am I clear?" JJ looked each of her friends in the eyes as they each agreed to not take any action against Jo for her part in the Gina situation.

"Good. Now, can we please just watch the movies and forget about this?"

Everyone agreed with that so they all settled back into their seats on the sofas, cuddled up to their girlfriends and Alex pressed play on the first movie.

Once everyone was absorbed in the movie Emily turned to JJ who was leaned back in her arms and kissed her forehead. She whispered "thanks."

JJ just hummed in acknowledgement o the words before she squeezed the hand resting on her belly.

Halfway through the third movie, Emily's cell phone rang with her mom's custom ringtone. She quickly stepped out of the room to answer the call and not disturb her friends who were enjoying the movie.

Ten minutes later, Emily returned to the room, her face paler than normal and she sat down next to JJ.

Alex, noticing Emily's face, pressed pause on the movie and turned to Emily, "Emily what's wrong? Who was on the phone?"

Emily, still in shock, spoke mechanically, her voice hollow as she said, "That was my mom. Gina's dead."

AN: So there's the update. Let me know what you think about how I handled the Gina situation. There may be a little more in the next chapter about Gina but then it is back to the High school drama. I wasn't too sure about where I went with Gina, but I was told it worked so if it didn't let me know why. Hope you all liked it.