Authors: S. W. Frank
CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN
The voice was a frightened whisper, “Emilio?”
Emilio rolled on his side, blinking awake. He hadn’t spoken to Jessica in days and didn’t expect to hear from her
,
especially after the way things ended. It wa
s four o’clock on
a
Sunday morning. He experienced a negative vibe, something was wrong. Sliding up with the cell
, sleep clinging to his vocal chords,
he
asked,
“Jess, what’s
the matter
?”
Her
words trembled
, “
Did you mean it when you said you’ll be there if I ever needed you?”
Was this a trick question?
Of course he did, “Yes, now what’s wrong?”
“I’m at the hospital,” she sniffled. Her words were muffled
, she must’ve
had her mouth pressed against the
mouthpiece
, “
it’s
Vicky
–and
Beth
. They passed out in the club
last
night,
accidental overdose is what the doctors said
.
Beth’s
still breathing
but
Vicky
…
the doctors said she
…
Emilio
…
V
icky’s
dead.
”
“What?”
“
I’m freaking
out,
I don’t know what to do
.
I called their parents and they’re on the way but I don’t want to stick around for the police to get here
and ask me a million questions
.”
“Did you give anybody at the hospital your name?”
“No.”
“What about the parents?”
“Emilio, of course I did. They know who I am, they’ve met me.”
“What did you tell them?”
“There was an emergency and they need to get here.”
“That’s all.”
“They asked, what happened and I said I wasn’t sure, only they
were
rushed to the hospital after fainting at a party.”
“Okay, what hospital were they taken to?”
“
JMH.
”
“Jesus,
“ he
struggled to absorb what she said. He knew Beth was trouble from the onset, but Vicky…she was the sweetest girl he ever met.
Vibrant and funny.
A young girl perched to do great things.
Poor Vicky.
He shook his head
.
Vicky’s mother was Senator Jillian
Liebowitz
, and once the
story broke, the press w
ould
uncover
Jessica’s
relation to Alfonzo.
It was certain to look bad for h
is boss
and the Senator. A mobster’s cousin present when a Senator’s daughter overdoses, makes a great story but also brings more heat on his boss, which
Alfonzo
didn’t need
considering his pending legal troubles
.
Emilio
got out of bed, “
Okay, Jess.
If the cops
get there and
question you,
tell ‘
em
you were on the dance floor
.
Don’t breathe a word about
drugs
or alcohol
, understand?
Your brother’s got a
criminal
record
for marijuana possession
and your cousin…well…I don’t need to spell it out for you…we need to make sure you don’t become part of the police investigation,
u
nderstand?”
“
Of course, I’m not stupid. I know how th
e
system works
.
They’ll accuse me of giving the drugs to my friends.
I’m Latina, a convenient
scapegoat
for these
rich
gringos w
hen it comes time to assigning blame
.
”
“
Save the
racial
social commentary. Those girls were your friends,
and I’m trying to keep this mess from
becoming
complicated. It’s be
st to remove yourself
from
the situation
. S
ince you’ve spoken to the parents
it
might
get s
ticky
.”
“That’s why I called you. I
need money to
get out of Miami.
”
“You’re
kidding,
you spent
all
the cash I gave you?”
“Duh, shopping, eating
and
en
tertainment
aren’t
free.”
“
Jessica,
I gave you
three
thousand dollars
,
from my bank account in goddamn cash and you blew through it in what, like three days?
”
“It’s expensive down here, what can I say?”
“C
all your
mom
,
ask her to wire you money
, then
.”
“
Oh hell no, u
nh-unh, she’s on vacation with
t
ia
and the boys, nope…she’ll go fucking crazy.”
“Jess, she’s going to hear about this. She’s in Cali, not Timbuktu.”
“She’s also going to lecture me and
drag me
to New York. That’s
okay,
I’d rather avoid the drama.”
“Then call your brother.”
“If I wanted
him to
know
my business
I would’ve
called
him
. Are you going to help or not?”
“Only if you promise to get in touch with your mom.”
Jes
s
was textua
lly active,
constantly
texting friends, why
couldn’t she
send a
message u
pdate
to her mo
m
in case
the
media
got hold of the story?
He frowned,
t
he
press w
as
certain to
be
on top of
this one
.
Sad as it was,
Jess was right. She’d become the scapegoat
.
“At least text
her and let her know you’re
okay in case
the
shit
hits the fan.”
“Okay
…okay… I will
once I’m on neutral turf.”
He gave up on the topic,
“
You should’ve ch
eck
ed
out
on
Saturday
.
D
ammit Jess,
you’re hardheaded. Did you extend your stay…oh…scrap that…
you move
d
into
your
friend’s
hotel
room
, am I right
?”
She deflected, which confirmed his suspicion.
I don’t need this
,
“she sighed
,
“
I’
m exhausted
.
I
want
to get
out of
here,
I’m going to get my stuff out the hotel. I’ll find a way to PR, forget it!
”
Emilio frowned, “
Look, I’m still in New York
at Alfonzo’s…”
“Please don’t breathe a word of this to him!”
“I’m
working, so I have to tell him something…
hold
on a
sec
.
”
He touched his finger to
the screen and went
on-line
to
find a flight out of LGA or JFK
. He lucked out
. There was
one
leaving
in ninety minutes from LGA to MIA. He
booked it and two return flights
to Puerto Rico. He’d take her there,
if it’s really where she wanted to go. At least they could
avoid
any
media frenzy.
He
paid with
his
personal
credit card then r
eturned to Jess, “
Still there?”
“Um-hum.”
“
I’ll be there before noon
,
I’
ll
let you know when I
land.”