Straight Up Interfererence

by Rose von Barnsley

  The last trip, I stayed behind to shower and make dinner. I was already in my PJ's, when he came in a wet sweaty mess.

  He nodded at me and then went to his room. I knew he would shower and change, before he settled down at the table with me.

  He looked a little nervous, when I served him his plate, but I couldn't imagine why. After a few bites, he finally spoke. "Show me your papers."

  "Papers?"

  He took a deep breath. "One of us is right, maybe the papers will tell us who."

  "I'm telling you, I'm here of my own accord, Daniel. I could leave if I wanted. I could call up Ann Marie, and I'm sure she'd help me find a place, or I could go away by myself. They gave me the means to do so, when they settled with the FBI."

  "In the spring, you're gonna leave me." He looked at me sadly.

  I shook my head at him. "You're ridiculous." I left the table, trying to think of how to fix things. I didn’t know what to say to him. The truth was I had to leave him in the spring. I wasn't a dropout. I wasn't a loser. "I have to go back to school, Daniel!" I snapped at him, and his eyes widened, shocked that I had shouted at him. "Do you think I want to leave you, leave here? I didn't graduate. I don't have a damn high school diploma, and even with that fat trust fund, I can't live off it forever."

  His brow furrowed.

  "I wouldn't leave if I didn't have to. If I could stay here forever, I would. It's nice, quiet and peaceful. The silence is nice, and it’s really rewarding to work beside you around here. Best of all, there's this really hot guy who takes his shirt off to shake birdseed out of it, and then he hoses himself down. All of nature's beauty has nothing on him." My eyes were tearing up, and once he pulled me into his arms, I lost it.

  "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he whispered into my hair.

  "It's high school, you have to go to it, even if you don't want to. It's the only way to get decent grades and graduate. And believe me, I really don't want to go." I squeezed him hard. I was tired of hiding from him. He had to know how I felt about him. It had to be obvious to him.

  "Jesus, you're just a kid who wants to go back to school." He crushed me in his arms. "You stepped into the wrong crowd. You may not have meant to, but you did. I'll do my best to fix it, but I can't make any guarantees."

  I pulled back, confused and upset. He had called me a kid. I was a month from my nineteenth birthday, and he had just barely turned twenty-two. I shoved him away from me. "I'm not a kid! What in hell gave you the idea that I was just a kid? Christ, Daniel, are you dense? Maybe you want to get rid of me. I was stupid for thinking you liked having me around."

  "Gabby, stop it."

  "No, it's fine. Look over my papers. Make sure everything is in order, so you can kick me out. I'm sure you're tired of babysitting. I'm taking a shower." I stormed out of there like a child throwing a tantrum.

  I did my best to keep quiet. I knew better than anyone how thin the shower wall was, so I held back my tears of humiliation. I had already showered before, so there was nothing to do besides sit on the shower floor and let my mind run crazy.

  I questioned everything we had done together, everything I thought was him showing interest in me. I’d had it all wrong. It was obvious, now that I thought about it. He never kissed me. Hell, he never even held my hand. I felt like a stupid teeny bopper with a crush. I had read so much into everything, and I meant nothing to him. I was just a silly little girl to him.

  When I finally gained enough courage to face him, I went out and asked him about my papers. "So, is everything in order like I told you it was?"

  He grimaced. "It's not as bad as I thought. I'll call someone tomorrow to make sure they'll let you go to school."

  "I was one of their best students. I was the principal's pet. I know I'll be accepted."

  He tugged on his hair and pulled at his shirt collar. "I'm heading to bed. We'll talk some more in the morning."

  I left my papers on the table, not wanting to look at them and question myself or Ann Marie. She had done nothing but look out for me. I trusted her. Even Daniel seemed more at ease, once he had looked things over. I was sure he was just paranoid after living his life on high alert all the time. I knew he would have good news for me in the morning.

  The next day, Daniel was pacing the cabin, highly irritated. I wanted to ask him why, but I knew better. He looked out the window and patted his coat, looking for something. "Stay in my room and don't come out. I need to handle this on my own."

  "Daniel…"

  I wanted to insist he let me stay with him, but he wouldn't budge. We heard the telltale crunch of tires on the driveway. When I went toward the window, Daniel grabbed me roughly. "I said bedroom, and you don't come out."

  "What's going on? Are you going to be alright?"

  "I'll be fine. I just have to speak to the man who holds the keys to your freedom. Don't you dare come out, do you understand me?"

  I was really starting to worry. I didn't know who this guy was, but I didn't like him already.

  Chapter 27 – Daddy Dearest

  As soon as Daniel shut the bedroom door, with one last warning to stay hidden, I hurried into the bathroom. I had figured out that all the walls were made of heavy logs, except for the interior bathroom and kitchen walls, which were hollow for the plumbing. The kitchen wall was lined with cabinets and muffled the sound too much, but the bathroom wall was bare, and sound was undeterred by anything.

  I heard the heavy steps of a man, but it sounded like he had come out alone. "Junior, how's my little boy?"

  "Alright."

  "No problems out here? I heard Luke and Santino were out here to take care of something, a couple of guys?"

  "It wasn't what you think."

  "That's what they tell me. How about you enlighten me?"

  "There was this girl…"

  "Oh!" He let out a laugh. "They knocked off a broad? That's what she gets for threatening my boy."

  "No, it wasn't that. Those guys were out here to take her. They got bumped off for trying."

  "And she was out here?"

  Daniel started laughing. "I'm so screwed."

  "What's going on? Where's this chick who's causing you trouble? She needs to be taken care of."

  "That's the thing. I don't want her taken care of. I called you out here, because I thought you knew she was here."

  "Ain't nobody supposed to ever come out here. You're number one on the hit list. Because of you…"

  Daniel cut him off. "Don't, I don't want to hear about it."

  "You need to remember there's a mark on your head. I'm not letting them take you from me. They killed your mother, but they ain't getting you!" the guy nearly shouted.

  "And I'm supposed to just rot out here alone? Luke said he took care of all those guys."

  "He did, but they have family and close friends who want revenge for what you caused to happen."

  "What I caused? They were the ones who took me. I did nothing!"

  "They don't see it that way. The only way you wouldn't have a mark out on you was if you were dead or I'd complied, and even if I'd complied, you'd still most likely be dead. It was the only way, and you know it!" the stranger shouted.

  "I don't want to be alone."

  "I can't send some whore out here for you to bump with. They work for cash and would squeal after the first hit if they didn't take the roll. Tony wouldn't put his girls up to it, anyways. He's protective of his whores."

  "What if I told you I found someone I could trust, that you could trust?"

  "No such woman exists. I'm sorry, Junior."

  "NO, she does exist. She's proven she could be trusted, but you ordered her death to keep things from getting messy."

  "I keep things clean for our family, for your family!"

  "When will I ever have a life?"

  "You're safe out here."

  "I'm trapped out here!"

  "You want to be back in their hands? You like being tortured? Because that's exactly where you'll end up, if you don
't keep your mouth shut and your head down!"

  "I love her." I almost didn't hear Daniel's words.

  "That's the worst kind of woman to have around. I loved your mother, and look what happened to her."

  "Don't, she's not…"

  "She was in hiding, Daniel, do you remember that? She was in hiding, and then some rat bastard broke, and she ended up dead. I did what they asked, and she still ended up dead! You want that? You want that for you and some broad just asking to die?"

  "I don't want to be alone out here anymore."

  "I know Ann Marie has snuck out here. She's lucky she's your brother's wife, or I'd have taken her out. No one is allowed out here, Daniel. I'm sorry."

  "Dad, please."

  "If you brought someone out here, they'd have to live like you. They'd never be able to go back. You want that for them?"

  "I don't want you to track her down and kill her!"

  "Loose ends need to be tied."

  "Damn it, Dad, she's not a loose end!"

  "Then what the hell is she?"

  "Mine, she's mine."

  "Does she know this?"

  "Yes."

  "You don't sound so sure of it. Did you just knock her up or what?"

  "No, I didn't knock her up, but that doesn't change the way I feel about her."

  "How did you even meet this shorty? You're not supposed to do anything but blend in up in that big ass city down the road. Who the hell have you been talking to?"

  There was a long stretch of silence.

  "Damn it, boy, speak up!"

  "I can't tell you."

  "Who the hell are you protecting? Does she know where you live?" I heard the big man moving around, and I knew then I was in trouble when I heard him swear. "Are you stupid?" he shouted, and then I heard the bedroom door being slammed open.

  "You can't kill her, don't kill her!" Daniel screamed, as the bathroom door was knocked open. I was huddled in a ball on the floor. I finally understood everything. I finally knew why Daniel was so upset.

  A familiar pair of copper eyes glared at me, but they weren't Daniel's. Daniel jumped in front of the gun the man had pointed at me, and I quickly wrapped myself around Daniel, terrified.

  "Are you fucking stupid?" the man shouted. "A broad is exactly the way they'd go about getting to you."

  "They didn't send her out here."

  "And how do you know that?"

  Daniel was silent, I knew from overhearing everything that Ann Marie would be in deep shit if this guy knew it was her who had sent me out here.

  "Give me the girl, Junior, and I won't kill who you're protecting."

  "Yes, you will."

  The man glared at Daniel. "You're trusting the wrong people here. I'm looking out for you. Why can't you see that?"

  "She's mine."

  "Does she know that?"

  "Yes!" I shouted firmly.

  The man laughed blackly. "People tend to say anything when a gun is pointed at their head. Give me the girl, Junior. You know I have no choice. You don't know who set her up with you. You don't know who she's affiliated with."

  "She's not affiliated with anyone!"

  "She's not gonna come out and say, 'I'm here to set you up,' you idiot. She's a fucking cooze, out here to fuck you and give up your position."

  "She's been out here for months! Since February, and nothing's happened."

  "Luke and Santino came out here to pick their noses, then?"

  "That wasn't what you think?"

  "Then enlighten me, what makes you think this girl is anything more than a flare giving up your position?"

  "Because she hasn't. She's content to just sit around and read, clean and play chess. She helps me with the birdfeeders, she hangs out with me and swears she's happy and having fun. She's been here for months! You couldn't even stand it here a day without crawling out of your skin."

  "That only means they're paying her well."

  "They're not paying her."

  "Let me get a look at this girl you want to keep so badly."

  "Don't hurt her."

  "She better give me the right answers if she wants to live."

  "She's not with anybody."

  "Then this should be easy for her. Step out of the bathroom, little girl, and show me what you got."

  Daniel was holding me back, but I pushed around him. "Don't, you can't trust him."

  He pulled on my arm, but I yanked it away from him. "I have nothing to hide."

  The man laughed darkly with an evil grin. "This one's brave. Now tell me how the hell you got out here. Because I know that pussy wouldn't bring you out here. He knows better."

  I realized my mistake too late. What I had heard led me to believe that Ann Marie and Sergio would be in deep shit if I opened my mouth.

  I must've taken too long, because he raised his gun again. "Who the hell brought you out here?"

  I looked down at the ground.

  "Answer me!" He backhanded me, knocking me to the floor, rattling my brain in my head. If he was going to kill me, I wasn't going to give up anybody else, and I was pretty damn sure he was going to kill me. Apparently, that was the plan he'd had all along, way before I had even come out here. I realized now that Ann Marie had put me here to hide me from more than just the Feds.

  I heard the gun cock and felt a body over mine. "I won't let you kill her."

  "She's protecting someone. You want she should kill you? Because that's what's gonna happen. She already set you up. Now you gotta move again. You're not safe here anymore."

  My body jolted, and Daniel was gone. "Ann Marie!" he shouted from across the room. "She's protecting your affiliates. It was Ann Marie who sent her out!"

  "She can't stay. You think Ann can just yank some cooze off the street for you and call it good, because her little boy is lonely?"

  Daniel moved back over me. "She's already proven herself. She wasn't gonna give Ann Marie up. She proved she could be trusted, and this isn't even the first time!"

  "Not the first time?"

  "No, she protected little Marky from the Feds, even after Marky hurt her and knocked up their maid. Gabriella didn't say a damn thing, and you still planned to clean her up."

  "She could change her mind."

  "But she didn't, she went against the Feds and her own parents, and she had nothing with her when she came out here. She had nothing and was given nothing to keep her mouth shut. She didn't squeal, and she had no idea she had a mark on her head, or that she was trapped out here with me. She thought she could leave, but she didn't even try. She wants to be here with me. Being knocked around and threatened with death wasn't gonna make her talk. Losing her family and being thrown in prison wasn't gonna make her talk. She's not gonna turn on me. She's not gonna turn on anyone."

  The monster lowered his gun. "I just want you safe."

  "I'm safe with her."

  "You know I can't let her live."

  "You have to, she's my wife."

  "What?" we both said shocked.

  "When Victor drew up the papers for her to disappear, he put her down as my wife. If you kill a man's wife, you'll lose loyalty. If people think their families are in danger, there'll be an uprising. You can't kill her, or I'll be the one you have to worry about. I'll be the one squealing. She's mine," Daniel said more firmly.

  "Your fucking wife? What the hell, you couldn't say that before?"

  "She didn't know."

  "Fuck, I can tell by the look on her face she didn't have a clue. That still don't explain why you didn't say that first."

  "I didn't think it’d matter. You didn't trust her, and wife or not, I doubted that would've stopped you."

  "You're right, it wouldn't have. She's still a stranger, and it's just a fucked up fake paper with forged signatures."

  "Forged or not, it's a real marriage license. It's enough of a paper to ruin you."

  "You watch your mouth, little boy. Don't let those britches get too big. You show some respect for your father."
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br />   "She's mine, she's my wife. You can't take her from me. She's proven she can be trusted. Ann Marie knew this. She knew Gabby was a good Italian Catholic girl who could keep her mouth shut. She's exactly what you would've wanted if I wasn't trapped here. Even so, she's happy here, content, as she always says. Please, just let her stay with me."

  "Fuck, you know what kind of trouble this could cause? What if you knock her up? Who's gonna deliver that baby? Where are you gonna put the kid? You've got too many variables…"

  "Joey," I answered. "Joey can catch the baby, and we can put it in the study. That's all the room we need. Daniel built this house, and if need be, we can work together and add on more."

  "How the hell do you know Joey?" the man growled at me.

  I held up my arms to show my scars. "Let's just say the Feds were getting pissed that I wasn't talking. I know they can't be trusted. I'm not giving anyone up," I growled back.

  The guy smirked and chuckled. "She's got some fire in her." He rubbed his face like he was thinking about something. "What about when kids need to go to school?"

  "They have online courses. They can get them that way," Daniel answered.

  "Daniel, any kids you have will be at risk. They'll be trapped out here with you," he pointed out sadly, and he was right.

  We were all quiet for a while, and then Daniel finally broke the silence. "Then let me go. Erase everything, like I never existed. Make me someone completely different and let me go."

  "You'll have no one, you won't be able to contact anyone, ever, and I don't even think that's possible with the way Ann Marie and Silvia go after you."

  "They'll understand."

  "I've already killed you twice!"

  "No one's found me yet. Kill me off before they do, and rewrite me as a man with a wife. No one will be looking for that. Just send me away a married man, and I'll be safe."

  "I don't…let me think on it, alright." He headed for the front door. "I'll let you know what's up as soon as I figure it out." He let out a deep breath and looked at Daniel sadly. "I don't want to give you up. You're all I've got left of your mother. You're my baby boy." The man patted Daniel's cheek and then pulled him into a hug. "If you do this…" He squeezed Daniel and then stepped back, taking a deep breath. "Let me look into it. I'll get in touch with you when I make my decision." He patted Daniel's shoulder and looked over at me. "You’d better be right about this, Daniel. You fuck this up, it'll start a war. Both of your families will be caught in the fight. They could die. Are you sure about this? Is she worth the risk?"