Chapter 16

Irushed the end of lunch once Jessica left because I wanted to be home for the end of the show. It came to me that if these two are preoccupied with other things, they won't have time to mess with other people's lives, namely my husband's, and I also want to keep them off kilter so they can give themselves away.

It"s asinine and juvenile, but I'm not trained in espionage. I had at least reminded Trudy of Jack's presence just in case she had forgotten, and knowing her, she'd be hounding him soon. I'd put a bug in Jessica's ear that people were noticing the relationship between her and Jack, which should make them both panic, and best of all, I had witnesses to the fact that my husband didn't even know she was at that restaurant on that particular day.

Of course, I paid with a credit card and would be asking for printouts of everything pertaining to my husband's business lunches offsite, just for my records, of course. In case they were thinking of forging or photoshopping anything in the future, I was keeping records going forward.

But the best was yet to come, and that is why I rushed home to my office to enjoy the show. Of course, she had beaten me home and had been in her apartment for a few minutes by the time I switched on the camera.

I sat through her ranting and raving about me screwing up her day and destroying her suit, among other things. She was walking in and out of the bathroom as she got undressed until the moment I was waiting for came.

Now, see, Jessica has a habit of sitting on the edge of the bed to remove her heels, then dropping back with her arms spread. I guess that was her way of decompressing. Then she lays on her side to scroll through her phone and answer emails or whatever she's doing.

Her routine hardly ever varies, and that's what I was hoping for this time as well. True to form, she threw her shoes across the room, flung her arms out wide, and fell back across the mattress with a sigh.

I smirked when she yelped and flung the covers of the unmade bed aside, then almost broke her ass, falling on the floor to get away from the wakening snake that had been disturbed. I had to cover my ears from her screams. They were so loud.

Now, who can she call? Seeing as she was not supposed to be there. She wouldn't want to leave a paper trail after all, and dear old Jack wouldn't allow her to call anyone to take care of the problem. I waited for her to calm down enough to make the call before heading back out again.

* * *

When Jack showedup at the apartment building, I just so happened to be speaking to the building's concierge about the things I'd found earlier that day that needed taking care of before the new tenants arrived. "Jack? What are you doing here? I didn't know you lived in the area."

He almost fell over his feet and stuttered for the first few seconds before coming up with a plausible excuse for being in the area. He dared not claim to be visiting a friend in the building because then I'd ask questions. I then introduced him to the doorman and made a point of letting it be known in a roundabout way that he had no affiliation with the building.

However he had weaseled his way into getting her into the building was about to come crumbling down around his ears. I know he's used the business and my husband's name to get her into the apartment, so just before he left, I made a point of asking for a revised tenant list going back at least two years.

He left in haste, which meant Miss. Hot to Trot was still upstairs with the pissed-off reptile that she had awakened before its time. And the fun had only just begun.

* * *

Jessica:Where the fuck are you?

Jack: There's a problem; Mrs. Wilson was in the lobby; I can't come up there right now.

Jessica: What's she doing here? She was at the restaurant earlier as well."

Jack: I'm not sure, something about new tenants.

Jessica: Don't you find it strange that she was in both places today of all days?

Jack: It's just a weird coincidence. She's in charge of the interior designs for all their luxury apartments.

Jessica: So, what am I supposed to do now?

Jack: Just go into the bathroom and lock the door. I'll be there as soon as I can.

Jessica: I'm already in the bathroom, but I can hear it hissing out there. I'm afraid it's going to come under the door.

Jack: Don't be stupid; it can't fit under that tiny space.

Jessica: How do you know? I think I should call someone.

Jack: No, you can't do that. Just stay put for a while.

Jessica: How long is a while?

Jack: I'm not sure. When I left, she was talking to the front desk about changes that needed to be taken care of.

Jessica: This is bullshit. Get me out of here.

Jack: I'm trying, okay, just hang on for a little bit longer.

I put the phone away and carried on my conversation with the concierge and the building manager, sure that Jack was hanging out somewhere close by waiting for me to leave.

I stretched the conversation for another half an hour before leaving, making sure to look up at the building and make notes on my phone before pretending to make a call, seeming as unaffected as possible.

No one watching would guess that I was on a mission as I walked to my car without a care in the world. I even threw in a few laughs on the phone call to make it seem that I had no worries and gave Jack, if he was looking the impression that I knew nothing about his little setup.

I didn't think that he would put it together even when she mentioned our run-in at the restaurant because I'm known for having lunches almost weekly with my charities and volunteer work as to me being here at the building; that was easily explained, and no one would suspect that I would go anywhere near a snake. That's because they didn't know about my son, the terror, and the many critters he brought in and out of my house throughout the years.

This was turning out to be more fun than I expected and my mind was already moving ahead to what more I could do to make her life a living hell. Jack, I would leave to Mark and the others, for now, but her, the one who had her eyes on my husband, she was all mine.

* * *

MARK

* * *

"Wow,when did she become like this? Did the women tell her to do this?"

"No, this was all her; I didn't know she had it in her myself." Hank, Marcus, and I sat around the TV room in one of the homes we have here for the squad as we are now known.

Marcus had just made it into town, and Hank had been here for a few hours, although neither man needed to be here for this. I didn't know if to be impressed or scared; my delicate flower had claws.

"Seriously speaking, this is child's play compared to what the other women would teach her. Be on the lookout; we might end up having to save this fool before this is all over."

"What do you mean, Hank?"

"He's talking about the kid. I heard about her latest antics. She and her Dad are going to level the known world with their competition bullshit."

"How did you know they were competing against each other?"

"The only ones who can't see that are you island dwellers. He instigates her behind the scenes to see what she's got and then bitches to everyone within hearing distance about what a terror she is. I've heard it all."

"I see you've been keeping up with the local gossip, Blair. Look, here's the go-between." On the screen, we watched as someone appeared on the balcony outside my bedroom at home. "Where did he come from?"

"The roof, most likely."

"Who is he?"

"Gabriel Russo?"

"One of ours?"

"He works solely with the kid. Gives Lyon fits." Hank explained as Marcus, and I looked on as my wife opened the door and stepped out. The… I'm not sure what he was since his back was turned, and he never looked up at any of the hidden cameras, which meant he knew where they were. Anyway, he passed something off to my wife before disappearing.

"Oh, he's good."

"Yeah, that's why Lyon has left him alone to do Catalina's bidding."

"So, he's grooming her for her takeover already. I guess that makes sense; he would've been much younger than she is if he'd been brought in when he was supposed to be."

"Everything is working out the way it's supposed to. Lyon is more suited to being out in the field; at the rate she's going, she'd be able to take over operations by the time she's eighteen or thereabouts."

"I wonder what he just gave her."