Calamity Jena (Invertary 4)

“I did put a lot of money into our relationship. I kept us afloat for years while Frank tried to make it big.”

“Well, there you go, then. Can you come out of the toilet now?”

“I can’t leave here, Matt. Frank must be here for revenge. He’ll want his money back. Along with his car. And I don’t have either.”

“Come out of the toilet, Jena. I’ll deal with Frank.”

She cracked the door open and peered up at him. Instead of the usual disapproval, his eyes were sparkling with amusement. It wasn’t an improvement.

“Let’s get you home,” he said.

She shook her head. “He has to know where I live. I can’t go back there.”

“Are you afraid he’ll hurt you?” His features turned to stone. “Has he ever hurt you?”

“No.” He didn’t look convinced. “No, he’s never lifted his hand to me.”

“Then why are you afraid? Why not just talk to the man?”

“Didn’t you hear me in there?” She gestured to the toilet stall where she’d spilled her guts to him. “He’s here with Vince Rizzoni’s boys.”

Matt held up his hands in exasperation. “So?”

“They’re the mob. Frank got into bed with the guy about a year ago—along with every other skanky woman in stilettos on the East Coast.”

His huge hands clasped her shoulders. “Focus, Jena.”

For a few seconds she was too mesmerised by his perfectly squared jaw and deep-set eyes to focus on anything other than the man in front of her.

“You were telling me about Frank and the mob,” he prompted.

Jena felt herself blush. “Yeah, he started hanging with Vince’s men. He changed. Became harder, more cagey. He kept secrets, other than the women. I didn’t like the men who started to visit. Some of them scared me.”

“Those guys here today, were they the ones visiting?”

She shook her head. “Other guys. Rougher. I felt like I didn’t know Frank anymore. I was worried and he wouldn’t listen to me. He’d get angry. Real angry. I would like to think he isn’t capable of harming me, but he changed, and I don’t know for sure what he’s capable of now.”

Matt let out a heavy sigh. “Okay. There’s no need to worry. You aren’t in America anymore. The mob doesn’t have a lot of pull here. I’ll deal with Frank and find out what he wants.”

“I think it’s best if I stay here until you have a chat with him.”

“You can’t hide in here.”

Jena disagreed. She wasn’t proud. She could definitely hide. Hiding was exactly what she needed to do. She took a step back into the toilet stall and slammed the door shut.

“Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it, and I hate being rude like this, but I think it’s best if I stay here until you sort out Frank.”

“Jena.” Matt’s tone was a threat.

Jena swallowed hard as she put her earbuds back in place. She’d do something nice for the cop later as a thank you. Something that didn’t involve money, as she had none. She’d bake him cookies but she couldn’t cook. Maybe she’d teach him to dance? Everybody could use some dancing skills. Yeah, that was a great idea.

She sat on the toilet lid, tuned out Matt’s shouting and let Taylor Swift’s voice calm her racing heart.

2

After informing a disgruntled vicar that he had a temporary resident in the ladies’ loo, Matt headed down the high street towards the town’s only pub and hotel. If the wannabe Sopranos weren’t staying there, he’d eat his hat.

“Hey,” Josh McInnes called as Matt entered the restaurant area. “We thought you weren’t going to make it. We already ordered.”