Chapter Two

Nessa Sims

~•~

“Vito Giancana?” I repeated. “Who are you?” I wanted to act like I didn’t know who was talking, maybe he would give up on me.

“You’re really going to do this? Don’t make it hard for the both of us.” He chuckled. “I’m coming to pick you up by 12 tomorrow.” He ended the call. How did he even know where I lived? I was beginning to get scared.

“Why are you acting like you’ve seen a ghost?” My mum interrupted my thoughts.

I hesitated, unsure of what to say. I didn’t want to tell her the truth. “Oh, it was just my friend telling me they sent my share of the prize money.” I lied.

“Okay.”

I went out back to tell Liam I was ready to leave. He hugged his granny goodbye.

“Bye, Mum.” I waved her goodbye and we walked into the car.

“I don’t feel too good Mum.” Liam always had these phases once in a while and it was hard to deal with. I didn’t want him to go through it again so I hoped it was just a mild discomfort.

“What’s wrong baby?” I placed my hand on his forehead trying to feel his temperature.

“My tummy isn’t working again.” I held my laughter. It was funny but my baby was serious. That was his way of saying his tummy hurt.

“Sorry baby, we’ll get you checked up in the morning.” I already knew what it was going to be. It always started with stomach pain.

When we got home, we showered and I tucked him into bed. When I knew he was asleep, I left our room and went straight to my best friend’s room.

“It’s back again. His tummy hurts again.” I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want Ellie to see me crying. “I already have so many bills, how do I get over $5000 for his medical bills?” Ellie pulled me into her arms.

“It’s okay, we’re going to figure it out. Go to bed for now.” After comforting me, she walked me back to my room.

The next morning we all got dressed up because we were taking Liam to the clinic.

“Hurry up with your breakfast.” Ellie and I skipped breakfast but Liam would never let me breathe if I told him to skip. Even if I promised to get takeouts. He was in love with his cereals.

“I’m done, Mum.”

We got to the hospital and took Liam to the children's section so the doctor could examine him.

“His Crohn’s disease is back again.” Those weren’t the words I wanted to hear. I wanted it to be something else but I guess it was something we had to deal with again.

“Okay.” I didn’t want to see my son in pain. “So when does the treatment start?”

“We can start right away, just make a deposit.” I knew I was going to be dead broke after this but I didn’t have any choice. Thankfully, I had gotten money from the competition the previous day.

We left Liam with the doctor to go make the deposit.

“Thanks for always being there for me.” Ellie had always been with me through the good and the ugly.

We both dropped out of college together in our second year. I dropped out because I got pregnant and I couldn’t handle the pressure of school anymore. Ellie dropped out because she had always hated school and was failing all her classes on purpose.

Maybe if I didn’t leave school I would have had a high-paying job in a prominent tech industry. I had always loved computers and was even one of the best students in software engineering but I got depressed and lost focus. Ellie on the other hand was studying medicine which she didn’t love but her parents forced her to study it.

“You know you’re stuck with me for life.” She squeezed my hands trying to assure me that she got me.

As usual, we made an initial deposit of $3000. I just hoped he was going to respond to the treatment fast and be okay. On our way back to the doctor’s office, my phone rang. It was the same number as the other day.

I checked the time, it was exactly noon. That was when Vito said he was coming to pick me up, which I never agreed to.

“This isn’t the right time.”

“I know, I’m outside the hospital. Come out and meet me.” I wondered how he knew my location. Was this man watching my every move?

“What are you doing? How did you know I was here?”

“I have eyes everywhere, Now come out and let your friend take care of your son.” He commanded.

The phone was on speaker so Ellie heard the whole conversation.

“You should go and hear what he wants to say, I’ll look after Liam.” She signaled for me to start going.

“But I want to be here for - “

“I would be here for him.” She cut me short before I could even finish my sentence.

I went out and saw three black cars. I didn’t know which one he was in. The same guy that stopped me the other day came down from one of the cars and started walking in my direction.

“The middle car.” He pointed to the middle car like I didn’t know what middle meant.

I walked to the car and he opened it and asked me to sit inside. What if they wanted to kidnap me? I just wanted it to be over with, so I sat.

“Have you thought of my offer?” Vito stared directly into my eyes.

“I have.”

“So are you doing it or not?”

“Would you take no for an answer?”

“You know damn well I wouldn’t take know as an answer.”

“Well, no.” I didn’t know where that confidence came from. I was in a stranger's car. A powerful mafia boss who could kill me at that instant and I wasn’t meant to make him angry so he wouldn’t harm me. But I knew he wouldn’t because he needed me. “I’m not interested, I already have so much going on.”

“You're brave, aren’t you?” He smirked.

I didn’t know if I was meant to answer the question or if it was a rhetorical question. “Why do you even want me? There are many other hackers out there with twice as many skills than me.”

“You’re special.” I didn’t know how to feel. The only thing I was thinking about at the moment was my son.

“Special?” I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Working for me comes with a lot of benefits. You get my protection and if you prove yourself worthy, you get $10,000 every week.”

“$10,000?” Was he fucking insane? I wondered if he meant it or if he just said it to make me agree. But he was Vito Giancana, he could give out that money without a sweat.

“Yeah, think about it.” I didn’t need to think further, I needed the money for my son’s medical bills. It could change our lives forever.

“But on one condition.” I knew I was risking my life but I had to do what I had to do to get the bag.

“I don’t negotiate.”

“Then we can’t work together.”

“What’s the condition?”

“I’ll be anonymous, I don’t want anybody to know I’m working for you. My identity should be hidden.”

“Deal.” He stretched his hands towards mine to shake hands as a symbol of finalizing our deal.

“Okay, can I leave now?” I tried opening the door.

“No, you can’t.” He signaled his driver to start the car.

“What’s going on? I thought we already agreed to the deal?” I was really scared this time. I had no idea where he was taking me or if I was even being kidnapped.

“Just shut up.” He was being rude to me which even made it more scary. “You’ll see.”

I tried sharing my location with Ellie in case anything happened to me but one of his men dragged the phone from me.

“What do you think you’re trying to do?” One of his men barked at me.

I didn’t answer, I decided to keep quiet and wait for whatever they wanted to do to me even though I was panicking.

The car finally stopped and Vito came down alongside me. “Do you recognize this place?”

How did he know about it? How much did he know? My jaw dropped and it felt like the world stopped for a second.