Despite Richard trying to get her to go to the ER or a walk in clinic, all Jenna wanted was a shower, an ice pack and maybe to sleep for a few hours before seeing her mother again for the first time this year. The fates had other plans. Her mother had taken a cab right to the house from the airport and was now cleaning up some of the mess the CSI team had left behind.
"Honestly this was uncalled for. Did they have to go through the crawlspace and track dust everywhere," protested Gia after hugging Jenna tightly, making her lie down on the sofa and getting a cold compress for her eye.
"I could have been hiding something in there other than Christmas directions and old photos. I could have been hiding the body Mr. Nelson. Remember he gave me and Ofilia detention once for passing notes in health class. I know they said he quit and moved to South America with his boyfriend, but we all know what a petty bitch I am," said Jenna. Richard sighed and shook his head.
"Are you sure you don't wanna go to the ER?" asked Richard.
"I swear it's not brain damage, I'm always like this," said Jenna. Gia handed her the compress and Jenna sighed in relief when it touched her skin.
"Are you sure you don't wanna press charges against the woman who assaulted you?" asked Richard.
"It looks bad for business if I'm admitting to getting my ass kicked in lock up. Who's going to believe I'm a boss bitch if I get taken down by one hooker in jail," said Jenna. She closed her good eye and wanted to relax when she heard Richard sigh.
"Are you sure you don't want to go forward with any civil case against…" Jenna cut him off.
"Richard. I'm tired, I'm dirty and I just wanna move on from this alright. They let me go and they finally have proof I didn't do it. I'm gonna take a very hot shower, have some of my mother's amazing cooking, drink a whole bottle of white wine and get back to work tomorrow. Thank you for all the help. If I change my mind about anything I'll let you know," said Jenna. She got up and made her way to the bathroom and turned the water on to the hottest setting she could stand and started to violently scrub her skin.
God did that guy recognize me? Shit shit shit. I'm so fucked if he did. God damn it why did I listen to Maggie? Because your own stupid curiousity got the better of you that's why. You just had to know if it was him.
….
May 2003
Las Vegas
"Ok and now we crack the egg into the bowl, like this…but without getting the shell in there Now how do we say egg Spanish?" asked Jenna holding Anya on her hip.
"Huevo," said the almost four year old proudly. Frankie had been trying to teach her Spanish and so far she seemed to be catching on quickly. Frankie, Maggie and Anya were here visiting for the next week or so. School let out early in Chicago and being teachers, Frankie and Maggie were even more excited than their students to get summer vacation on.
Frankie had headed out early that day to go see some of the guys he knew from high school and hang out on Lake Mead. Gia had offered to take Jenna's shift at the bakery. That left Jenna, Maggie and Anya the house to themselves all day. Jenna was trying to teach Anya how to make cupcakes and Maggie was watching the pair with amusement.
"Now we add the flour, that's two cups," said Jenna.
"Dos cups!" cried Anya sending Maggie into a giggling fit.
"That's right, dos cups. Ignore mommy she's being a meanie," said Jenna looking at Maggie who grinned at her.
"It's just so damn cute, I swear I just need to leave a video camera on you two and use it as blackmail when she becomes a terrible teenager," said Maggie. Jenna stuck her tongue out and discreetly flipped Maggie off.
"We're making cupcakes and if mommy doesn't behave there won't be any for her. Isn't that right puff-a-lump?" asked Jenna. Anya nodded gravely as she took a wooden spoon and stirred the batter
"You know she's going to grow up someday and hate that nickname," said Maggie.
"It's not my fault that when she was born she looked like a puffy lump. But, she's my puff-a-lump now," said Jenna, tickling Anya, causing the little girl to giggle like her mother.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with her when we go home," said Maggie, sighing dramatically.
"It's my job as her Tia, to spoil her rotten, hyper her up on sugar, buy her needlessly loud toys and then send her home with you and Frankie. Isn't that right?" asked Jenna, giving Anya a kiss on her cheek.
"Sí," said Anya, grinning. The pair finished the cupcakes and put them in the stove. Anya went off to go play with the swings outside and left Jenna and Maggie enjoying the quiet.
"So what do you want to do when those are done?" asked Jenna.
"We could see about getting a pool pass somewhere. After lunch and her nap though. She'll be a terror without her nap," said Maggie.
"Pretty sure she got that from Frankie. Grandma Sophia could have told you some stories," said Jenna flipping on the mini TV in the kitchen to an afternoon news show while she made lunch and cleaned up the kitchen.
"Jury selection is slated to start in the Laci Peterson case, an explosion at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, may hurt several pending cases and what you can do to avoid the dreaded 'Summer cold' all of this plus your local weather coming up," said a very perky female announcer.
"Don't you love how chipper they sound when telling you about all the doom and gloom in the world? God I hope they hang him out to dry, what kind of son of a bitch kills his pregnant wife?" asked Maggie, handing her a dirty mixing bowl to put in the dishwasher.
"A son of bitch that's who," said Jenna. The pair finished cleaning the kitchen and sat down with their own sandwiches. Jenna poured herself a large glass of lemonade and sat down with Maggie to watch the news.
"Our top story this afternoon, the lab explosion that happened at the Las Vegas Crime Lab, earlier this morning could have very serious consequences for several cases pending in Clark County," said the female anchor looking serious before the camera went to her male counterpart on the scene.
"The explosion happened this morning around seven in the DNA portion of the building. A lab tech that has been identified as Greg Sanders was injured in the blast, but is in stable condition at this moment at Desert Palms…" Jenna had just picked up her glass to take a sip when she felt it slip through her fingers. She heard it shatter on the floor, but couldn't hear a word that the reporter said after that. Jenna felt like the world was closing in on her.
"Hey, Jen…Jen, you ok…" Maggie was talking to her, but it felt like she was miles away.
Greg Sanders…no it can't be…he's in California. She didn't want to leave was why they first broke up…but…how many Greg Sanders work DNA in a crime lab?
Hey, Jesus you're whiter than a sheet! Jenna…
He always said that he didn't want to be in California forever, better lab equals better pay…it can't be him though…god is he ok?
"For Christ's sake, snap out of it," snapped Maggie and she grabbed Jenna by the shoulders and gave her a good shake. Jenna felt the world coming back and she could hear the reporter droning on about summer colds and what meds to take.
"Shit, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to scare you like that," said Jenna. She noticed that her sister in law's face was just as white as hers and her eyes were filled with worry.
"What the hell brought that on?" asked Maggie and she started cleaning up the mess . "Do you know that guy from the lab or something?"
"Yeah, it's nothing though,"said Jenna. Greg's name echoed in her mind. Explosion. Stable Condition. That could mean a lot of things.
"Nothing? Nothing doesn't make you freak out like that. You look like you just got over the flu, your all cold and clammy feeling too. Now spill, what the hell brought that on?" asked Maggie.
She handed Jenna a cup of water and sat down with her. Jenna took a sip, her mouth felt dry. She had for the most part, had kept her relationship all those years ago with Greg a secret from those here in Vegas. The only people who really knew were mother and Ofilia. Andy had asked if she had been seeing someone while she had been in school, but she hadn't told him the story. Frankie doesn't even know. Jonathan and Connie don't know. Hell I didn't even tell Omar and we 'dated' for three months.
Jenna just felt that he was a different chapter in her life and that there was no need to bring up something that painful. She had been young and stupid. She had fallen blindly in love, thought it was going to be forever only to have him break her heart. Her mother hadn't told anyone about Jenna moving in with Greg, because she was old fashioned and the neighbors would talk and god knows what they would think. What the hell it's Maggie.
Jenna took another sip and spilled everything to Maggie. How they met, how crazy she had been for him, how he dumped her long distance, she didn't leave anything out. It took a good two hours, with a break to feed Anya, decorate the cupcakes and put Anya down for a nap.
"Damn you got a story that could be a couple seasons of a soap opera. You could have sold the rights. So what are you sitting around here for? Go see if it's him," said Maggie.
"What, no…I can't do that," countered Jenna.
"Why not?" asked Maggie
"Um, well…I think his wife would have something to say," said Jenna. I wonder if she became a stay at home mom. She probably does yoga and is in amazing shape. Did they have more kids?
"Do you even know if he's married to her? Maybe he's doing the single parent thing and that's why he moved to Vegas. From the way you describe that bitch I don't think Vegas was far enough, I think he should have moved to the East coast," said Maggie.
"And what am I going to say. 'Hi remember me, I'm the girl who you were supposedly in love with and who you broke up with in by far one of the shittiest break up tactics I've ever seen. Why did you do that?" asked Jenna. You said you would be my friend.
"Yeah, just like that. Come on, it's pretty clear that you still care at least a little about his dumb ass or else you wouldn't have freaked out the way you did. I think it's time you got yourself some answers from him. Hell, you're friends with half the nursing staff there, tell them to cut off his pain meds until he gives you answers. Or at least take him a get better gift…show his dumb ass what's he's missing out on a good person and a very attractive one," said Maggie wiggling her eyebrows. Well if I did get anything out of being on a pole nightly for two years was a great nightly workout. Jenna sighed and looked at the cupcakes. She made red velvet ones. Anya thought adding the coloring was fun.
"How do I explain who I am to the other people who might be there?" asked Jenna. His new friends. His new coworkers. God are his parents here?
"Just say you're me, use my maiden name. I don't think Vegas has a lot of Cavanaugh's running around. We were stupid and stayed in the cold weather areas," said Maggie with a small grin.
It was a stupid idea. So many things could go wrong. She was over him. Yeah she wasn't dating anyone, but why in the hell did she need to date anyone? She was alone, but wasn't lonely. You miss him...a little bit.
"I don't know what to say to him…it's been so long," said Jenna. You fell asleep next to him and he was gone in the morning.
"Well you could start off with a hello," suggested Maggie
…
Jenna walked into Desert Palms later that afternoon, with a bakery box of the cupcakes. Jenna walked over to the check in desk and called over to Vanessa, one of the older nurses on staff. Vanessa spotted Jenna and smiled, she walked around the front desk and gave her a hug.
"Oh it's so good to see you pumpkin. We've missed you and all the goodies you brought in. How's your mother, still healthy?" asked Vanessa.
"She's talking about retiring if you can believe it. I need a favor from you…a big one," said Jenna. Vanessa raised an eyebrow.
"How big?" asked Vanessa.
"I need to know the room number of Greg Sanders, the lab tech who got injured in that blast," said Jenna. Clearly there was something in her voice and Vanessa gave her a look.
"Why?" asked Vanessa.
"He's an old friend…I just wanted to pay him a visit." Jenna held up the bakery box. "You can have one if you tell me."
"I'm actually his call nurse and was heading up there to see if he was still out. Care to join me?" asked Vanessa.
"You are the best," said Jenna. She took out a cupcake and handed it to her. Vanessa finished it in two bites.
"Still got the magic touch. This way," said Vanessa and Jenna started following her down a hallway.
"So how bad was he hurt?" asked Jenna. Vanessa sighed.
"Poor baby, almost got hit head on with the blast. If he hadn't turned around when he did, we would be looking at face and chest burns not neck and back burns. He also went through a window so he'll have some scarring from that too. The doctors hope to start him on skin grafts soon, but he'll always have the scars," said Vanessa and she stopped outside a door.
"I need to check his stats first, but after that you can see him," said Vanessa and she went into the room. Jenna watched Vanessa through the window, she didn't see anyone but a male form lying in the bed. Vanessa was quick and quiet, a fact Jenna had appreciated when her mother was her care. She went back out to Jenna.
"He's still out like a light and on some really good drugs, so don't expect much in the way of conversation," said Vanessa. Jenna nodded and Vanessa gave her another hug and went to finish her rounds. Jenna took a deep breath and walked into the room.
You never know, this could be some other guy named Greg Sanders who works in a crime lab.
Jenna walked over to the bed and almost gasped. It was Greg, no denying that. She felt a smile coming on; he always did look cute when he was sleeping. He had given up on trying to make his hair stay flat and it was sticking up in spikes all over the place and he had gone blond with little brown patches here and there. He looked a little thinner in the face and in his arms, but it was him and she felt her temper rise slightly. She wanted to shake his ass wake and demand answers.
Why! Tell me why you ended things with me, you stupid son of bitch. How long have you been living in Vegas? Just tell me why. Jenna couldn't find the heart to do it though, she looked at the IV with morphine drip and noticed the bandages on his neck and shoulder and felt the anger fade away. Poor guy. He could have had face and chest burns. Jenna had burnt herself numerous times over the years and hated it. What if it had been a stronger blast? What if this had been way worse?
Jenna sat the box down on the table next to the bedside and looked at Greg. She felt horribly nervous being here, god what was she thinking? Dana could walk in; his parents could stroll in and want to know why she was here.
I wonder who's taking care of your kid…god they would be five. A little older than Anya. I wonder if they take after you.
Jenna went to touch him and found she just couldn't do it. She went to run a hand through his hair, something she had done countless times when they were together. She got an inch away from his head and jerked her hand back.
What the hell are you doing, you'll wake him up!
"Excuse me," whispered a man's voice. Jenna jumped and turned to look at him. It was a tall African American man with a modest afro. Jenna had no clue who he was, but she had a feeling she should get going. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. This whole thing was a stupid idea.
"I'm sorry, I was just getting ready to go," said Jenna softly. She held up a white bakery box. "I just wanted to drop these off, I know hospital food sucks and yeah…" she had a feeling that this dude wasn't buying this and she really needed to get out of here before Greg woke up.
"Can I have one? I haven't eaten anything all day," said the man and she opened the box and handed him a cupcake; hoping it would buy her a way out of here.
"I didn't catch your name," he said.
"I'm Maggie Cavanaugh," She shook his hand; she hoped she sounded more convincing than she was.
"You know Sanders? I work with him; I don't recall him ever mentioning anyone named Maggie," he said. Did he ever mention a Jenna? He told her she was his best friend and then he just disappeared out of her life.
"We knew each other…a long time ago, back in college. I just heard about it on the news and wanted to make sure he's ok. And now that I know he is, I should be going," said Jenna. She went to leave the room and the man followed her.
"Do you want to leave him a message or anything for when he wakes up?" he asked. I don't think I should drag you into our drama random guy.
"Nah, in fact it's best he didn't even know I was here, like I said…we knew each other a long time ago. I really don't even know why I came," muttered Jenna.
Why did she care anyway? It's not like he told her he was coming to Vegas. She told him she had grown up here. She had joked about taking him gambling and to see real showgirls. Had he just forgotten that she was here. Was she that forgettable?
"Just enjoy the cupcakes," said Jenna and she walked out.
Well he's here and there is nothing you can do about it. You've just been surviving the last few years. You haven't been thriving. There are a lot of reasons you've been just going through the motions of your life and you don't have to anymore. You shouldn't have to anymore...he's not coming back for you. You need to get your shit together and start doing what you need to do. What you want to do.
The next month Jenna walked into every chapel she could find with photos of her work and cake samples. She left with contracts signed and deposit checks most of the time. It was ballsy and not how it was done normally in the wedding business. She didn't care. Let them talk about how bitchy she was and that she was cutting in where she didn't belong. We're a little business. We don't belong with the big players. It's too much, too fast.
It was the busiest wedding season they had ever had. They had made a good deal of money and Jenna made sure everyone got a raise and the kitchen got serious upgrades. She put the rest into savings. She had some ideas of how to bring in more business and another location was at the top of her list. Some of the older women retired complaining that Jenna was a slave driver. Jenna put up flyers outside of baking classes and snagged younger women with the same hunger and drive she had.
"Bitch you are either fucking crazy or fucking brillant," said Ofilia one night as they finished up and Jenna was taking pictures of a cake to submit to a wedding blog. She also had a meeting set up to talk with Sam Bruan about providing speciality cakes for his high rollers. Her mother didn't like it one bit, but the business now belonged to her.
"Just because we didn't leave doesn't mean we aren't getting out. So what do you say? You wanna get out while we're young?" asked Jenna, singing the last line. Ofilia grinned and went to get another cake out of the freezer for pictures.
"Baby...we were born to run," sang Ofilia.
…
Jenna finished her shower and pulled out sweat pants and an old tee-shirt. She grabbed a brush and some hair ties. She decided to ask her mother to do something she hadn't done in years. She always liked brushing my hair.
Jenna came downstairs planning on asking her mother to do her hair. Gia was sitting on the sofa and Jenna's heart froze when she saw her mother was reading the letter from Thomas. Jenna kicked herself. She hadn't been thinking clearly and hiding that letter should have been the first thing she should have done. Her mother looked pale and Jenna saw her eyes go back and forth over the checks. Gia must have felt her because she looked up and looked so sad.
"Mimmo...what does this letter mean? Former fiancee...does he mean Anthony?" asked Gia. Jenna was tempted to lie to her mother. To try and cover this up. No mami...Andy didn't steal from us. We broke up because of the other thing we don't like to talk about.
"Mami…" started Jenna and she sighed. She was so damn tired of not being able to be honest with the people in her life. She carried so many secrets for herself and for other people it was exhausting. You tried to keep a secret for Lissa and it almost got you charged with murder She's your mother. Just tell her what happened.
"Can you brush my hair and I'll tell you everything," said Jenna.
….
"Ok we have our vic's credit card and engagement ring at your drug bust, the question was how did our evidence get from our scene to your scene?" asked Grissom. The whole team was gathered in one of the layout rooms trying to piece their cases together. So far, they were all drawing a blank.
"One crazy dealer comes in looking for cash, gets spooked by the victim, kills her then robs her and leaves?" suggested Nick.
"But if he already killed her, why not go upstairs and look for cash?" asked Sara.
"Maybe he was freaked and thought an alarm was already going off because the door was already kicked in," said Catherine.
"That doesn't make sense though, if you're worried about an alarm than why kill someone?" asked Greg.
"You're a moron, that's why," said Warrick.
"No arguing with that," said Nick.
"Well for a moron they sure have us chasing our tails. I'm hoping that Wendy's DNA report will give us something," said Catherine leaning back in a chair.
"Oh did someone say my name?" asked Wendy, coming in with a report. "I got lots of results, should I start with good results, bad results, or weird results?"
"Start bad, end weird," said Warrick. Wendy opened her report.
"Ok Bad-Lots of the stuff just wasn't helpful, either too many contributors to get anything usable or they are not in the system. Good news- I was able to get one name in the system- Mikey Wolf, he has some priors for trafficking, possession, all your regular drug related charges. I have his last current address here." She handed that info to Catherine.
"Ok your weird news, female DNA, unknown, matches the crystals found at the bakery and it also matches DNA we found on a couple of bottles, bags and was on the ring found at the drug bust," said Wendy and she handed that report to Grissom and left the room.
"Ok, so we know our killer is female, everyone we spoke to was female, but we got everyone's DNA from the bakery so that rules out anyone from there," said Sara. Greg felt something click in the back of his mind, something that Sara said. Something wasn't right and he couldn't put his finger on it.
"Well, I'm going to pay a little visit to Mikey and see if he knows who the mystery lady is," said Warrick.
"I'll follow," said Catherine grabbing her jacket. Grissom left the room to talk to Brass about the recent developments. Nick looked at Greg.
"How are you doing?" asked Nick.
"Well she wrote me a check for over seven thousand dollars. Apparently she feels that is my going rate for leaving her alone," said Greg.
"Is it?" asked Nick.
"I'm not going to cash it...which will drive her nuts since her checking account won't balance," said Greg trying to joke. Maybe she'll sue me for the mental distress of having an unbalanced checkbook
"Look I don't think she killed that lady, but she knew you were in Vegas. She lied to check on you man. You don't make up fake names and sneak into hospital rooms to see people you don't care about," said Nick.
"Look it was probably morbid curiosity. If anything she was probably pissed the explosion didn't take me out and was debating how to finish the job when Warrick saved me," said Greg.
"You two are idiots who deserve each other," said Nick. No. I don't deserve her.
"The best thing I can do for both of us is close this case and get out of her life like she asked me too," said Greg.
"Never thought you were a quitter," said Nick
"She wants me gone, I'm giving what she wants. I couldn't give her what she wanted eight years ago, the least I can do is give her what she wants now," said Greg.
"She doesn't want you gone and you don't want to go. The Greg I know never gives up or does what anyone tells him. If you start now, you're going to let her slip by again. She was pissed off and you were something to take it out on," said Nick.
"Well she took it out good, I don't know man. You didn't see the look she gave me," said Greg.
It was a look of absolute hurt and bitterness. If she had punched him in the groin it might have hurt less than that look. Well you tore her heart out, what did you expect? He still owed her an apology. A real one, not one he hadn't really thought out in the middle of PD.
"Look, it's really simple. Do you still have feelings for her or not?" asked Nick.
"Yes," said Greg. There are a lot of feelings there and well I'm sure all her feelings for me are not good ones. Hell, until two days ago a lot of my feelings for her were not good feelings.
"Trust me there are some people who you just never get over. There are just some people who for unknown reasons stay with us. This girl has been living in your head for years and clearly you've been living in her's. You two can't let each other go and you shouldn't let each other go," said Nick. He headed out and Greg started looking through the files of their case to see if he could think of anything he missed.
Nick was right about Jenna living in his head after all these years and it would be the dumbest things that would bring her right to the front of his thoughts. When he first came to the lab and heard Grissom explaining to Catherine that he was freezing some cockroaches for an experiment, he couldn't help but wonder why he and Jenna had never thought about freezing bugs and placing them in Barb's desk. When he started hiding porn around the lab, he could almost hear her voice from the time she dared him to hide porn in the office just to see what would happen when someone found it. When he flunked his first final proficiency, he had wanted someone to buy him a thing of peanut butter cups, a root beer and sit on a stair with him and listen to him bitch about how unfair it was. When he had passed he could almost see the smile on her face. Jenna had always been proud of him when he succeeded. He wanted her, but he kept pushing that want away. You could stop doing that you know. Pushing her away. You know the truth now...she didn't stop loving us. If we're being honest we never stopped loving her. Not really. That's why it hurt so damn much.
Greg sighed and looked at the files. He could understand Jenna wanting to protect Lissa. If she thought she was protecting Lissa from a bad boyfriend it would make sense. Jenna's had her fair share of them and no one protected her from them, she wouldn't want anyone to make the same mistake and get hurt in a trash relationship.
"She wasn't there...Jen gave her the day off," muttered Greg. He grabbed the file and went to find Nick or Sara. They hadn't printed Lissa or taken her DNA on the first visit since she was off and Jenna said she had let her leave early the day before. They hadn't collected her DNA or prints on their follow up visit either. It was a sloppy and stupid mistake. You were distracted and not fully into the case. Well now was the time to fix that.
….
They decided to see if Lissa was at the bakery before going to the address listed on the driver's licence. There was a closed sign on the door, but Greg saw Ofilia and her daughter through the window. Sara knocked on it and Ofilia looked up, flipped Greg off and went back to working. Sara knocked again and Greg watched Ofilia gesture at the door and say something to Milia. The young girl opened the door and looked ill at ease.
"My mom told me to tell you unless you have a warrant you can piss off," said Milia.
"Fuck off. I told you tell them to fuck off. The one free pass I give you to drop the F bomb," called Ofilia. Milia shrugged and went to close the door when Greg noticed a very shiny pink bracelet on Milia's bracelet. Some of the crystals were missing. He put his foot in the door and the young girl looked scared.
"Where did you get that bracelet?' asked Greg. Sara caught what Greg was looking at and her eyes narrowed.
"Lissa gave it to me. I fixed the clasp for her and she said I could keep it," said Milia quickly. Ofilia came over to the door and glared at Greg.
"What the hell do you want now?" asked Ofilia.
"When did Lissa give you the bracelet?" asked Sara.
"You are not talking to my child without a lawyer," said Ofilia.
"Please...we know Jenna didn't do it. We think Lissa might have had something to do with it," said Greg and Ofilia rolled her eyes.
"That mousy little girl? Next thing you'll be trying to pin this on my kid. Go fuck yourself and get a warrent," said Ofilia and she went to shut the door again and Greg winced has the door really got his foot.
"I didn't send Jenna's letters back. I wrote to her and she never got mine. Clearly we both had really shitty taste in significant others," said Greg. Ofilia looked at him stunned and gave him a long hard look.
"Jenna does have a thing for guys that are stupid and cute. Although the resident she had a thing with after Andy had way more going on than you do. I will admit you are cuter than the photographer. You know she could have avoid your stupid ass and all this nonsense if she had gone to Maimi with him last year," said Ofilia.
Greg sighed. If he wanted any sort of chance of closing this case and getting back in Jenna's good graces he had to get Ofilia on his side.
"I didn't mean to hurt Jenna. I was stupid and I'm not proud of what I did. I wasted a lot of what could have been very good years with her because I'm a moron. If she forgives me or not is up to her. However, I'm trying to solve a murder right now We know Jenna didn't do it, but we need to prove who did it," said Greg.
"Lissa gave it to me when she came back to work the other day. She said the clasp was broken and she didn't know how to fix it. I took metalsmithing this year and I knew how to fix it. Lissa told me I could have it since she really didn't like it anyway," said Milia. Ofilia sighed and opened the door to let them in.
"Can you show us how you fixed it?" asked Sara. Greg could tell she was clearly happy the personal drama part was over and they could get back to work. Milia took off the bracelet and showed them the clasp.
"It's a lobster claw. The hook was broken and wouldn't shut anymore. I put a new hook on. I was gonna get some new crystals this weekend to see if I could replace the missing ones," said Milia.
"What did you do with the old claw?," asked Greg.
"Tossed it in my bedroom trash," said Milia. Sara excused herself to go get a kit so they could test the bracelet for any blood transfer.
"You spend a lot of time with Lissa?' asked Greg and Milia shrugged.
"She's ok. She's been kind of stressed out about getting into a different college. If she's not here she's studying. She…' Milia cut herself off and both Greg and Ofilia caught it.
"What is it?" asked Greg and Milia shrugged again. Ofilia looked at her daughter.
"Look I don't like this gringo cerdo either, but if you know something else you need to come clean," said Ofilia.
"I'm pretty sure she's taking something to help her study and it's not from her doctor," said Milia.
"Adderall?" asked Greg. He was pretty sure he might have popped a few during his freshman year in high school during a really boring AP British Lit class. It really wasn't his thing though. However, he could see the appeal of it and understand why someone like Lissa would use it. She wanted to get ahead, popping a study drug would be one way, thought Greg.
"I don't know. She told me I could have a mint out of her backpack and I grabbed the new Altoid tin out of her bag and she snapped that the mints were in the old one. I saw they were like yellow pills in the new one though," said Milia. Ofilia sighed.
"She has been a bit off the last week or so. Then again we've all been kind of stressed about the opening so I didn't think anything of it," admitted Ofilia. Sara came in with a kit. She got Ofilia to agree that Milia should give them a DNA sample.
"Would you be willing to let us come to your house and collect the old clasp?" asked Greg and Ofilia shrugged.
"Why not. Might as well make this week even more nuts," said Ofilia. Sara swabbed the bracelet and when she sprayed the swab it was bright pink.
"Milia did cut yourself when you were doing the repairs?" asked Greg and the girl shook her head no and held out her hands to show them she didn't have any cuts..
"No. I...does that mean...how didn't I know there was blood on it?" asked Milia.
"She cleaned off the visible parts, but murder is messy," said Sara.
"Are you sure?" asked Ofilia.
"We'll take it back to be tested, but we did find crystals like this one near the victim," said Greg while Sara bagged the bracelet.
"I'm gonna be sick," said Milia and she ran to the bathroom. Ofilia looked horror stricken and then enraged.
"Why did she give that to my daughter?" asked Ofilia.
"She needed to hide the evidence. What better way to hide it than to hide it in plain sight," said Greg.
"You might have to lock her up so I don't kill her," said Ofilia, going to check on her daughter. Greg's cell phone went off and he saw it was Archie calling him.
"Hey you wanted Lissa's phone records from the night of the murder. Her cell is pinging off a tower three blocks from the bakery. It doesn't leave the area until a little after 1," said Archie.
"Can you tell me where her cell is now?" asked Greg. There was a pause and Greg could hear keys clicking.
"Henderson," said Archie and Greg felt something unpleasant settle in his mind.
"Can you tell me where Jenna's cell phone is?" asked Greg and Sara heard the shift in his tone and looked up worried.
"Look if you wanna stalk your ex…" started Archie and Greg snapped. She knows were on to her and Jenna, her only alibi is gone now.
"Is Jenna's cell phone in the same area as Lissa?" asked Greg. Ofilia came out of the bathroom with a very shaken Milia and took in what Greg was saying. She quickly pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and started dialing. She paced back and forth and muttered under her breath.
"Jenna...Jenna. Are you home? When you get this I need you to call me," said Ofilia.
"They're on top of each other," said Archie. Greg hung up and looked at Ofilia.
"Give me Jenna's cell number," said Greg. For once she didn't have a smart remark and she quickly gave Greg the cell phone. Sara watched as Greg's hand shook as he dialed the number and put it on speaker. Sara got on her phone and started calling Nick. It was about to go to voicemail when Jenna picked up.
"Hey Maggie. What's up?" asked Jenna. She sounded so cheerful, but it felt off. Greg felt a tightness in his chest and knew he had to stay calm for Jenna.
"Jenna...I know I'm the last person you wanna hear from right now, but we know it was Lissa. Is she there with you right now?" asked Greg.
"Yeah Maggie I had a really rough night, but it's fine now. Mom is here and threatening to move back in," said Jenna. Yes she's here and so is my mom.
"Is there anyone else with Lissa right now?" asked Greg. It was amazing to him that even after years apart they could quickly just fall into each other's thoughts. She was trying to get help without giving it away and right now he was the only one who could figure out what she was saying.
"No, but you know how she is. I'm too skinny and blah blah blah," said Jenna. Good. Maybe that means they got Mickey and it's just Lissa there.
"Does she have a weapon?" asked Greg trying to stay calm.
"Well she's only threatened to set me up with Frank Rossiti Jr twice since I've been home," laughed Jenna. She's armed and is threatening them.
"Listen I need you to keep me on the line ok. Just keep talking to me ok," said Greg. There was a whispering in the background and none of them could make it out.
"I'm sorry to be a downer, but I'm really tired and mom is fighting jet lag. Can you give Frankie and Anya all my love?" asked Jenna. Her voice shook a little bit and Greg had to fight his own panic.
"Jenna I need you to stay on the phone. Just keep babbling ok," said Greg.
"I love you too Maggie," said Jenna and she hung up the phone.
"Nick...we got a problem," said Sara and the last words rang in Greg's head. I love you too...It was more than her just trying to keep up an act. Greg hoped it wasn't Jenna's way of letting him know she had forgiven him. Because she thinks she's going to die.
….
"Mami...I'm sorry," said Jenna softly. She laid everything out for mother, what Andy had done and what she had done to fix it. Welcome home mom. Gia wiped her eyes and shook her head.
"Like Father, like son," spat Gia and Jenna winced a little bit even though the insult wasn't directed at her.
After his father's death it had gone to light that Andy's dad had driven his business into the ground with bad investments and a bad habit of betting on anything he could. They didn't own anything. Andy's dad had mortgaged their home twice, the cars had liens on them and the creditors wanted the business liquidated to pay the debts. Andy's mother had never worked a day in life and now she had to find a job and the tailor made one that was supposed to be waiting for Andy was gone in the blink of an eye. They had managed to get Andy's mother a job at The Rampart cleaning rooms and Gia had taken pity on Andy and hired him as a delivery boy. Jenna could only imagine what a slap in the face that had been for him.
"Well at least Andy hid his drinking better than the old man," said Jenna. Or maybe she hadn't wanted to see it or admit it was a problem when it came to Andy and drinking. I had way too many other problems to deal with.
"Why didn't you tell me any of this?" demanded Gia, sounding beyond disappointed and Jenna sighed, she didn't feel like she was thirty. She felt like she was seventeen and Gia had found out she was secretly on birth control.
"Because you were sick and you didn't need that type of stress. You put me in charge of the business and it was my mess to fix and I fixed it. No one was fired, we didn't end up on the street, and we didn't have to sell out to strangers," said Jenna.
"No you just took off your clothes for them," said Gia and Jenna felt her face flush and Gia sighed.
"I didn't mean it to come out like that….you...you didn't have to do that. We could have sold the business. We could have sold the house and gotten something smaller. It wouldn't have been the worst thing," said Gia.
"It would have been the worst thing for me," countered Jenna. "I...I couldn't lose one more thing. I thought I was going to lose you. I…." Jenna cut herself off. I gave up school, my internship….the person I loved...
"So that's why you two really broke up...not because…" Gia cut herself off and Jenna shook her head. Even now they were dancing around it. Hell she danced around it in her own head.
"Well it was half of the big reason. You know the other half," said Jenna and her mother hugged her.
"You didn't have to carry this around all by yourself. I'm sorry if you felt you had too. I'm not happy about it...but you...you don't always have to be the strong one," said Gia.
"I just got used to it," said Jenna and she swallowed hard.
"What's going on up there?" asked Gia.
"I think I'm still in love with Greg and it's so pathetic," said Jenna. She sat down and her mother rubbed her back.
"Your father has been dead for a very long time and I still love him. Does that make me pathetic?" asked Gia.
"It's different. Dad loved you. He didn't just walk out on you one day for someone else. He didn't send you money and then passively break up with you. He didn't pop back into your life and treat you like trash," said Jenna. He didn't try to half heartily apologize for his shitty behavior.
"If you could have a second chance with him would you want it?" asked Gia. Before Jenna could answer there was a knock at the door. Jenna sighed and went to get the door. She hoped it wasn't a reporter or someone else from the neighborhood. She wasn't in the mood to explain the shinner. She opened the door to see Lissa standing on the other side.
"I'm really sorry to just stop by like this, but I need to talk to you," said Lissa. Jenna sighed, but she opened the door to let Lissa in.
"Mom could you give us a minute?" asked Jenna.
'I'll make us lunch," said Gia. She went into the kitchen and Jenna sat back down. Lissa paced for a few minutes.
"I'm really sorry that this happened," said Lissa and Jenna nodded.
"I know and this really isn't your fault. You did something stupid for a guy. Trust me we've all done that," said Jenna.
Have "I really didn't think they would keep you overnight and I was going to go in and tell them, but...you know," said Lissa and Jenna nodded.
"Look, Julia came in and told the police enough to get me out and well I had to back up her story," said Jenna and Lissa got pale. "I didn't tell them your boyfriend's name and they promised they would leave you alone," said Jenna.
"They cops were at Mikey's house this morning," said Lissa darkly and Jenna sighed.
"I didn't tell them his name. I didn't even have a last name so I don't think they found him because of me. I didn't even tell Julia his name so you can't be mad at her," said Jenna.
"You could have kept her out of it," said Lissa.
"I didn't know how to find you and you weren't answering your phone. You called me to help you and I was trying to do that. Now if the cops have Mickey that's his own fault and not mine and not yours," said Jenna. Lissa started to pace and Jenna got up and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Everything is going to be fine. If the cops have arrested Mickey that saves you the headache of breaking up with him. Just finished out your upcoming term and you can get gone. Or you can stay and work for me. Whatever makes you happy," said Jenna. Lissa looked up at her wided eye and shook her head.
"He's going to tell them everything...I need….I can't go to jail Jenna...can't you...just call the police and say it was an accident. That she attacked you," pleaded Lissa and Jenna felt her heart sink into the pit of stomach.
"Why do I need to do that?" asked Jenna. Oh god...oh god please no.
"You know that cop guy? He can talk to someone so it won't be too bad for you right. It was self defense. People get away with that all the time," pleaded Lissa.
"Lissa...did...did you….what happened?" asked Jenna and Lissa shook her head.
"I just...I knew where you kept the petty cash and I just needed you to leave the shop. I was gonna make it look like a robbery and…" Jenna cut her off and she felt sick to her stomach.
"Don't say another word. Just let me call my lawyer," said Jenna.
Jenna turned around to get her cell phone out of her purse when it started ringing. The caller id flashed that it was Ofilia. There was a very loud click behind her and Jenna turned around to find Lissa pointing a gun at her.
"Lissa...what are you doing?" asked Jenna calmly even though she felt the need to wet her pants.
"I need you to tell them that you killed her. Please," pleaded Lissa.
"Is everything ok," called Gia and Lissa jumped. She had clearly forgotten that her mother was here in her panic.
"Mom...just stay in the kitchen we need a few more minutes," called Jenna. She gripped the cell phone tightly in her hand and moved to put herself between the doorway that connected the living room to the dining room and kitchen,
"Just put that down and we'll talk about this," said Jenna.
"I'll shoot her...you tell them you did it and I won't hurt your mom," whispered Lissa in a panic. Jenna believed her and considering her state Jenna was stunned she hadn't been shot yet. The phone rang again in her hand and Lissa jumped. Jenna looked and saw the caller id read LVPDCL Las Vegas Police Department Crime Lab and Jenna's heart gave a leap. It was stupid and risky, but she had to try. Oh please let it be Greg...please let it be someone who will get this.
"It's my sister in law. Let me take the call or she'll call the landline and my mom will come out here. Just give me a minute," said Jenna slowly and held up one hand while carefully answering the phone.
"Hey Maggie. What's up?" asked Jenna in the most cheerful tone she could muster. Please...please
"Jenna...I know I'm the last person you wanna hear from right now, but we know it was Lissa. Is she there with you right now?" asked Greg.
Jenna wanted to cry with relief. The hot dummy had finally figured it out and somehow knew she was up shit's creek sans paddle. Maybe that 6th sense finally kicked in. If there was a god he was probably laughing his ass at her situation. The guy you tore a new asshole is the only one who can help you right now.
"Yeah Maggie I had a really rough night, but it's fine now. Mom is here and threatening to move back in," said Jenna.
"Is there anyone else with Lissa right now?" asked Greg. Even after all these years he knows you too god damn well.
"No, but you know how she is. I'm too skinny and blah blah blah," said Jenna. Lissa was looking wided eye at Jenna and she didn't know how much longer she could keep up this coded call.
"Does she have a weapon?" asked Greg. Jenna heard a crack in his voice and she wanted to cry. Maybe...just maybe if something did happen to me it would hurt him too.
"Well she's only threatened to set me up with Frank Rossiti Jr twice since I've been home," laughed Jenna. Lissa looked beyond pissed off and she pointed the gun towards the kitchen area.
"Get off the phone before I start shooting. I could hit her," said Lissa and Jenna swallowed hard.
"Listen I need you to keep me on the line ok. Just keep talking to me ok," said Greg. Oh you have no idea how much I wanna do that. How much I wanna talk to you. We talked until sunrise the first time I stayed over at your apartment and maybe that's when I completely lost myself to you.
"I'm sorry to be a downer, but I'm really tired and mom is fighting jet lag. Can you give Frankie and Anya all my love?" asked Jenna. I wish you could have met Frankie. I think you two would have gotten along.
"Jenna I need you to stay on the phone. Just keep babbling ok," said Greg. Would I take a second chance with you...yes...I would in a second. Because….god I hope you understand this.
"I love you too Maggie," said Jenna and she hung up the phone and Lissa quickly grabbed it out of her hand.
"Jenna would your friend like something to eat?" asked Gia coming out to the living room. She took in the scene and without thinking Jenna lunged at Lissa.
"RUN!" screamed Jenna. Lissa was taller than her, but Jenna had a lot of upper body strength and the element of surprise. There was a flat bang and Jenna felt a sharp, yet dull pain in her side. She looked down to see blood coming out of her side. Jenna heard her mother scream and the world went a little fuzzy and Jenna had to sit down.
"I'm sorry…" muttered Jenna and the world went gray and then dark.
Thoughts are always welcome