Calamity Jena (Invertary 4)

“Have a heart, man. That’s plain evil.” Josh paled, and the men laughed.

Matt pulled out his phone and dialled his computer genius cousin, Harry. “Can you run a background check for me?”

“Sure thing. Let me get a pen. Who’s the lucky victim whose privacy gets invaded this time?”

“Three guys, new in town. Joe something. Grunt, that’s a nickname, I don’t have a real name for him. And Frank Di Marco.”

There was a pause. “Tell me you mean ‘something’ is Joe’s last name, otherwise this is a needle in a haystack scenario. I mean, seriously, Joe? It’s right up there with John Smith. And you want me to run a search on somebody called Grunt? Are you running a fever? Do I need to call your mum and get her to check on you?”

“I thought you were the genius? You have computer superpowers. Nothing is too hard for you. Isn’t that what you keep telling me? That you’re king of the cyber world?”

Josh and Mitch laughed, while Lake’s top lip twitched.

“You’re an annoying pain in my backside, you know that, right?” Harry said in resignation. “Do you know anything else? Or is this all I’m getting?”

“They all come from Atlantic City. They have mob connections. And Frank was Jena Morgan’s boyfriend. Emphasis on was. He owns a club called Legs.”

Harry let out a heavy sigh. “You owe me for this.”

“I’ll offer my services to check under your bed for rats. I know you still have nightmares about them. Don’t worry. Your big cousin will protect you and we’ll call it even.” Matt grinned as he hung up on Harry’s blustering threats. He sobered as he turned to Lake. “I know your security business is busy right now, but we need to keep an eye on Jena. Can you spare anyone?” He winced. “There’s no money in it.”

“I’ll cover the costs,” Mitch and Josh said at the same time. They laughed and high-fived each other.

Josh saw Matt’s querying look. “Caroline would kill me if I didn’t help out.”

“Damsel in distress,” Mitch said by way of an explanation.

Matt looked at Lake. “So we’re good?”

Lake nodded. “We’ll work out a rota. I’ve got a couple of guys I can spare until we know what’s going on, but they won’t be free before the weekend. You okay to pitch in?”

“Aye,” Matt said. “I probably should, seeing as this is my idea.”

Lake’s lip twitched in an approximation of a smile, and he cocked an eyebrow at Matt. “Still planning on leaving town for a more exciting job in the city?”

Matt made his thoughts on that comment clear with a gesture.

The men laughed and Mitch signalled for more coffee.

Jena was bored. For some reason she thought claiming sanctuary would be more exciting than the reality. Since she was no longer sitting in the main restroom area, but locked in one of the toilet cubicles, the Weight Watchers group were able to use the toilets. For a while she was kept busy answering questions as to why she’d moved into the ladies’ loo, then the meeting started and she was alone again. Alone and hungry. Yet the thought of snacking while sitting in a toilet cubicle was less than appealing.

“Aunty Jena? Are you doing a poopy?”

Jena grinned widely at the sound of her young neighbour. “No, honey.”

“Good, they’re stinky and I don’t want to come in if it’s stinky.”

The next thing Jena knew, a blonde head appeared under the door and a little body shimmied in. The four-year-old was dressed head to toe in pink, with a headband that looked like Minnie Mouse ears. Without blinking, she climbed up on Jena’s lap and kissed her cheek. Jena’s heart melted, as it usually did any time she was around Katy.

“Muma says you’re stuck in here. Why don’t you go under the door?”

Jena hugged her close. “I’m a little bigger than you, honey. I can’t fit under the door. But I’m not stuck. I’m hiding.”

The little girl frowned. “This isn’t a very good spot, Aunty Jena, I found you really fast.”

“Good point.” Jena snuggled her. “Where’s your mum?”

“Right here, you dingbat. What crazy mess are you mixed up in now?”