As I promised, I have another chapter for you all tonight. The aftermath of the ordeal that Jess and Nina went through is just beginning, and House is determined to find out what was behind the kidnapping.

Thank you all for you comments. You know how much I appreciate them.

Chapter 91.

Wilson dropped us off at our place before he took Nina home. We were all drained, especially the two sisters. Jess went immediately to the couch, plopped down and put her head in her hands.

I didn't know what to do for her. "Is there anything I can get you?"

She looked up. "What? Oh. You know, I am kinda hungry. I haven't eaten anything since lunch."

I nodded and limped into the kitchen to see what we had. There were usually some leftovers in the fridge. "There's some General Tso's and a slice of the pepperoni pizza," I called out around the open refrigerator door.

"OK."

"Which?"

"Both."

I chuckled and brought them out to her with a fork and a napkin, glad that she liked her leftovers cold.

She scarfed down the Chinese food first. "Yum. I didn't realize how hungry I was!"

"Nothing like being kidnapped to improve the appetite. How about a beer to wash that down?" Watching her was making me hungry again.

She took a break from munching the pizza to reply. "Iced tea, if we have any."

I returned to the refrigerator and got her a Snapple and a beer for myself. I also found some cold spaghetti, sniffed it, and grabbed a fork for myself, then joined Jess on the couch. "So are we going to talk about it, or are you going to ignore the fact that you've just been through a traumatic event?"

Slowly chewing the pizza, she studied my face, then swallowed. A gulp of her drink followed before she finally shrugged. "There's nothing to talk about. Like you said. I'm home safe and sound."

"I didn't say that, but alright. You're not injured except for a few bumps and bruises. That's just physical. Jess, you have to admit that being grabbed, blindfolded and held even for a few hours had to affect you."

She sighed. "You won't let up, will you? OK, yes, it was frightening. I didn't know where I was, why I was there, or what was going to happen to me." She shook her head. "I can't tell you yet how I feel about it now, only that I'm glad to be home, here, with you. And I won't let it affect me. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, worried that someone will snatch me again."

I stared at her. She had more steel in her than I'd known, and that was a good thing. Maybe she could move on without resolving her emotions about what had happened. If so, she was a better man than I, because I knew I'd be worried about her every time she was out of my sight. I'd never admit it to anyone, not even Jess, though. I nodded once. "OK, if you say so. We move on."

"Right. You're still intrigued by the puzzle, though, aren't you?"

That was something I could admit. "Aren't you?"

"Sure. I do have a vested interest in finding out what's going on. And I agree with you. There's something fishy about the entire thing." She took another sip of her iced tea and tilted her head. "I believe Julio's story, but there has to be more."

"So, what do we know?"

"That he was sent here to avenge the death of his cousin." She started to tick things off on her fingers.

"Well, he didn't actually say 'avenge', but, alright, we can assume that."

"That he believes she was killed by the Locarno family."

"Ever hear of them?"

She shook her head. "Maybe Uncle Johnny has. We'll have to ask what he knows about them."

I nodded. Johnny could be a good source of information for us.

She tapped a third finger. "Whoever took us did know about his cousin. Oh, and they spoke Italian, which probably doesn't prove much."

"Au contraire. How do you say that in Italian? Oh, yeah, anzi."

Her eyebrows went way up. "What do you mean?"

"It's true that there are many people of Italian descent in New Jersey, but not many actually speak it. And they knew that he did."

"True." She scratched her ear. "OK, about the place we were taken. I smelled bleach."

"It could have been a laundry or near one."

"Or maybe somewhere that had been scrubbed down after an accident..."

"...or a murder."

"Oh, no!"

Her startled eyes forced me to amend my statement. "We are talking about the people who grabbed you and blindfolded you before throwing you into a car. Who knows what they may be capable of."

She blew out a breath and shook her head. "They didn't kill us, or even beat us up."

"True, and that in itself is curious. Maybe not you, but I would have thought they would have roughed up Julio just a little."

"As if they'd been ordered to avoid harming him."

"Exactly." I nodded and smiled. It always pleased me that she caught on so fast.

"But why would that be?" She seemed to be thinking out loud. "Unless it wasn't the Locarnos. But who else would it be?"

I shrugged. No one else made sense at that point. Time to move on to something else. "Any other info that can help us?"

"I've been wondering about the ransom amount, and the fact that they wanted it delivered to the bus station."

"Go on."

"Well, suppose they got cold feet. We've been speculating that abducting us along with Julio wasn't in their original plan. Maybe the kidnappers decided they didn't want anything to do with it any more. With a hundred grand they could leave town, disappear."

"On a bus. Yeah. I like the way you think. So maybe there wasn't supposed to be a ransom. But that would mean whoever ordered the snatch will now be after their own guys, the ones who nabbed you."

She nodded.

"But how does that help us?"

"They'll be too busy tracking those people down to try again."

"Would they, now that the cops are involved? They'd have to know that Julio is being watched. You and Nina, too, I suspect."

"I hadn't thought of that."

"What, you think you gave a statement and now you're home free?" I shook my head. "It doesn't work that way. One, they're sworn to protect you, and two, if they have any suspicions at all that one or all of you are involved in any way, they'll be on you like jelly on peanut butter."

She shivered. "Why doesn't that reassure me of my safety?"

"We'll deal with it. Just go about your business and ignore them."

"Is that what you'd do under the circumstances? Or would you play with them, and really give them something to be suspicious about?"

I smirked. That was exactly what I'd do.

"Nina and I have finished with our meetings. We'd planned on spending tomorrow mapping out our next steps, possibly coming up with ways to advertise our company. If the cops want to watch that, that's their business."

"Maybe they'll want you to cater a party for them."

She grinned. "That's an idea." She nuzzled against me again. "You will call and let me know if you find out anything. About the Locarno family, I mean."

I couldn't deny that I'd intended to check them out. "Did you want to talk to Uncle Johnny or should I?"

"Why don't we each do that separately? Who knows whether he'd tell us the same things."

"Good point."

She looked at the empty food containers. "But now, I think I need some sleep. And I do mean sleep." She cleaned up the mess from our impromptu meal and I followed her down the hall to the bedroom. She let me undress her, but once she put on her sleep pants and top and stretched out on the bed, she was out like a light.

"Sleep well, Jess," I whispered as I got in next to her and kissed her forehead.

The next thing I knew it was morning. It wasn't a bright light coming through the window that woke me, but some sounds coming from the bathroom. I padded to the door. "Jess, are you alright?"

"I will be. I think it's just a delayed reaction to yesterday." When she opened the door, her face was pale and her eyes duller than usual. "Either that or I'm coming down with the flu."

"It's not flu season." I reached out to feel her forehead. "You're not hot." I grinned. "Well, you're hot, but you're not feverish." I used my fingers to open her right eye. "Focused and clear. I think you were right the first time."

"Or maybe it was the leftovers."

"Always a possibility." I dropped my hands to my sides. "A shower and some breakfast might help. C'mon."

She was scrambling some eggs for both of us when her phone rang. She continued to stir the eggs with one hand while she reached for the phone with the other. "Hello?"

I watched her face, eyes narrowing and mouth frowning as she listened. "Yeah, I didn't feel too great myself this morning. Did you want me to bring you anything?"

The cloud never left her face. "OK, I'll be there as soon as I can. Just sit tight." She closed the connection and turned to me. "Nina's feeling miserable. I'm going to go over and see what I can do for her." She poured the eggs into the hot skillet, stirred them a few times while they set, then filled a plate with eggs and some rashers of bacon and handed it to me. "Enjoy. I'll let you know how she's doing."

"Give me a minute to eat this and I'll go with you."

She shook her head. "You don't have to."

"Yes I do. I think you were both exposed to something while you were being held yesterday, and I'd like to know what it was."