Mob Princess - Tess DiRosa's Story
Copyright© 2025 by Argon
Chapter 15: Burned
Waking up just after eleven in the next morning, Tess felt like shit. She’d been on her feet for too long during the night, and she had not slept very well. A hot shower helped at least a little bit, but sure enough, the whole family including Maureen and Numi was assembled around the table when Tess came to grab a bit to eat.
If possible, Numi looked worse than Tess. Even in her ebony face, dark rings showed around her eyes, and she moved stiffly.
“Look, who’s showing,” she grumped, but gave Tess a wink. “You slept through a lot of excitement, lazy bones.”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing,” Tess gave back. “What’s up then?”
“The mutt you shot survived. You hit him with a glancing bullet, and it rattled his brain. I guess there was a lot of room to rattle. Anyway, Homeland Security identified a few friends and associates already, and collected them in early morning raids. The night shift Federal Judge worked overtime to issue arrest and search warrants.”
“A conspiracy?”
“We’ll find out. Anyway, you’ll get free drinks for life at the Tulips. Lola saw what happened.”
“I know. She did everything right, evacuating the place as fast as possible.”
“Eileen was just as fast herding everybody out from our side of the room. She and Lola also observed what happened. They’ll both testify for you.”
Tess sighed. “I’m still busted. They’ll have to transfer me, now that I’m burned.”
“So what? After yesterday, the Feds want you, DiRosa or no DiRosa,” Maureen threw in. “You’ll also be the guest of honor at CSD next year.”
“Stop it! My head hurts!”
“You should see the other guy,” Eileen giggled. “Seriously, Tess, I want to bear your children.”
“Argh!”
“Hey, Tess?”
“Yes, Joey?” she returned tiredly.
“You saved the day. We’re all so proud of you, it hurts.”
“When I think what would have happened to my mom without you ... Thank you, Tess!” Deirdre spoke up for the first time, clearly fighting tears.
“Hey, we’re family, right? Anybody trying to hurt one of us is toast!”
“Amen, sister!” Numi said reverently.
SAC Hogget was all smiles when Tess gave her deposition before an inter-agency panel comprising Philly PD, Homeland Security, FBI and Secret Service. Tess reiterated that sitting with her face to the door, she was naturally one of the first to spot the intruder. She explained how the full camo dress triggered her response and how she had dodged along the wall to reach a flanking position. Then she related how she had ordered the man to drop the weapon he had just produced, and how he had raised the MAC10 in her direction. She also explained why she had aimed for a head shot, fearing that the man was wearing a ballistic vest given how bulky his appearance was.
Predictably, one of the Feds wanted to know whether she had identified the assailant because of gender profiling, i.e. a man in a lesbian club. Tess replied that the camo outfit had been the trigger and that she’d seen other men in the Tulips. They were not welcomed, but served drinks for pay, and only thrown out if they made asses of themselves. Another question was if she had been looking for a hook up. To that, Tess truthfully answered that she was spending an evening with friends who happened to be lesbians.
Next, Tess related how she and Numi had secured the attacker and how she found the explosives vest under his camo jacket. She then explained how she had, again with Numi’s help, evacuated the remaining employees and patrons, and how she had briefed the responding PPD officers.
There were a few more questions regarding specific time points, but soon, the questioning finished and Tess was assured of a speedy review of her actions.
Hogget took her aside afterwards, telling her that Denham would allow her to finish the semester and collect the credits, but that her cover was blown. Some reporter had overheard her name and made the connection to the DiRosa family. The story was about to come out in the Sunday edition. There was nothing anybody could do about it, and Tess shrugged it off. She would catch some flak, but she would let it roll off her back. Come the spring break, she would learn about her next assignment.
Once released, Tess reactivated her phone and found four messages from Lisa and one phone call from her great uncle. Once inside her car, she called back.
“It’s me, Tess, Uncle Vincent.”
“I read in the papers that a Secret Service agent saved many lives yesterday. You make us very proud, Teresa.”
“I haven’t really had the time to reflect on it all, but everybody is treating me like a hero. I’m not, you know. I was armed and I am far better trained than that man. I did for what I was trained to do. Joey is still our hero. He took those bullets for me without ever getting any training.”
“You are both heroes, Teresa. You fighting to get well again, to overcome the damage done to you, that was heroic. By the way: Felice asks when you’ll quit working for the government and take over the security firm.”
Tess laughed. “Tell him I want to get experience with the protective detail side of the Secret Service before I’ll do that, but maybe, I’ll go career, at least until I have to turn into a politician. Then, we’ll talk.”
“Will you come to my birthday in January? It’s my 85th, and Felice insists on a big party.”
“Sure, I wouldn’t miss it for anything. We’ll all come. We’ll also come on Christmas Day.”
“You young people give me so much joy. When I see you, I am proud of how I led our family away from the old ways.”
“As you should, Uncle Vincent. So, I’ll see you in ten days, right?”
“Everything will be prepared. Now go and call all the other people!”
The Sunday papers used the attack on the Tulips bar as their top story, making much noise over the fact that off-duty Secret Service agent Teresa DiRosa had prevented a massacre. They had no photograph to go with the name, since Tess had skipped the class photographs at her prep school and in college, then expecting to enter the dirty side of the family business. The reporters had dug out the murder of her parents, that she was severely wounded by the assassins and that she graduated from Penn. At least the law school had not leaked information about her attendance, but Tess doubted that her fellow students would keep the lid on that.
The attacker, John ‘Bubba’ Burns, was portrayed less favorably. He was 41 years old, convicted three times for domestic violence, twice for illegal firearms possession, and once — no surprise — for attempted rape. A native of Georgia, he knew the state penitentiaries of three states from personal experience and had been associated with white supremacist prison gangs. Now, he would likely get experience with the federal prison system, too. The US Attorney was preparing a domestic terrorism charge against him, and in Tess’s opinion it would stick.
The Tulips would have to change. The previous ‘open door’ policy would be abandoned in favor of strict entrance controls complete with metal detectors. Tess thought that this was sensible, given the risk of copy cat attacks by other homophobes, but it would take away from the free atmosphere.
Tess spent the Sunday at home, playing with the children and relaxing. She also had a long telephone call with Lisa, talking about their Christmas plans. Lisa would arrive on the 24th, but spend the Christmas morning with her parents. Tess understood that, but she still had an odd feeling after the call ended. There had been no levity in their conversation, and no exuberance in their planning. Perhaps, Lisa had been shocked by the events and needed to get over it.
Returning to Penn on Monday was like running a gauntlet. Everybody had questions and Tess sensed the underlying implications: that she had snooped on the class. She responded to all questions with ‘no comment’, as instructed by Denham, which did not elevate her popularity. Only Stella made a point to speak to her normally.
When one of the professors accused her of infiltrating her class to spy on her, it made her laugh, however.
“Not much left of your innocent until proven guilty mantra, is there? You’re such a hypocrite!” she challenged the sputtering woman.
Stella Pershing stood up, too.
“She’s right. You people are despicable. She’s a damn hero. She prevented a mass murder just three days ago, and under extreme personal risk. Well, you can crucify me, too. I’ve known since the start that she was doing undercover work. Not because she told me, but because I’m trained to spot anomalies. I kept my mouth shut, too. You know why? Because I figured that she was given an assignment. By people who know their damn business. She was ordered here. Do any of you understand that concept?”
“Of course you sympathize with her, one killer to another!” Janis Bender shot back angrily.
“Now that constitutes slander,” Tess gave back easily. “I haven’t taken a single life so far, and chances are good that I won’t, either. Why don’t you go home and count money with your daddy, you privileged, bigoted bitch!”
“Janis, that was absolutely unacceptable!” shy, petite June Conway spoke up. “Haven’t you learned a single thing here?”
“June is right. That diatribe makes you look ugly,” her brother chimed in.
Tess appreciated the people siding with her, but the discussion was leading nowhere fast.
“Well, I’m off to file a complaint. I am a student in good standing, and I was slandered and vilified by a professor.”
“I’ll endorse the complaint,” Stella nodded, collecting her things, followed by the Conway twins. After a moment, John Adams also stood, followed — to everyone’s surprise — by Kenneth Wilder.
“She’s here to look after my safety,” he said in a low voice. “I didn’t know of it until Saturday. I know that I’ll probably wash out, but I’ll not see somebody falsely accused who was here under orders to protect me.”
“I didn’t know about all this,” Professor Quinlan protested weakly.
“Didn’t keep you from running your mouth about me, did it?” Tess shrugged. “Have a good day!”
Tess had enlisted one of the student representatives, and Dean Alvarez was unhappy.
“Professor Quinlan is a respected faculty member, and I find it hard to believe that she is capable of such a behavior.”
“Sir, are you insinuating that six students are lying to you?” Tess asked, her voice laced with the incredulity she felt.
“No, of course not,” Alvarez hastened to reply. “I’m simply thinking that there must be a misunderstanding.”
“Sir, she accused Special Agent DiRosa of using her student status to spy on her in her classes, which is complete nonsense,” Stella said firmly. “There is nothing worth reporting about Professor Quinlan and her classes. They are dull and uninspiring at best.”
“Sir, I am willing to accept her public apology in front of the class. My assignment here is effectively over, and I will only stay long enough to collect the credits I earned; then you’ll be shot of me. However, I will not allow a faculty member to level false accusations against me. Perhaps you can talk sense into her, Sir?”
“I should hear her side of the affair first,” Alvarez said gravely.
“Of course, Sir. Due process. I expect a decision from you by the end of the week, and I reserve the right to make the affair public if no apology comes forth or is unsatisfactory.”
“You had better talk to your superiors about that, don’t you think?”
“And you better think about the fallout, Sir. I’m kinda popular in this city right now.”
“I understand quite well, Ms. Di...
“It’s Special Agent DiRosa, Sir.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll make you know of my decision in a timely manner.”
“You do that. I am sorry that our parting will be on such a note, because I thoroughly enjoyed attending this school. It is a great school, Sir, and I have no beef with anybody save for Ms Quinlan, and that’s only because she judged me without bothering to learn the facts.”
Linda Quinlan indeed apologized to Tess in front of the class and in the dean’s presence during the last day before break. She made no bones about being coerced to do it, and Tess felt her anger and humiliation. When Quinlan was done, Tess shrugged.
“Well, here’s one for insincerity. Let’s end this. Dean Alvarez, I thank you for your efforts. I invoke my right to have my final paper for this class graded by a different faculty member.”
“I’ll make a note of it, Special Agent. On behalf of the faculty, I apologize, and I mean it.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Tess answered brightly. “I appreciate your efforts on my behalf, but there is clearly no quick cure for small minds. I wish you quiet holidays.”
Tess left the lecture hall then, followed by her study group, minus Janis Bender, who did not talk to them anymore, but with Ken Wilder as new addition. He and Stella would hit the books over the holidays for both of them to catch up. She gave each of her friends a hug and then left the campus for the Powelton house.
As it turned out, she saw Lisa before Christmas. She showed up in the afternoon of the 24th, and from her red eyes and guilty looks, Tess already deduced that their relationship was foundering.
“I must talk to you, Tess. It’s tearing me apart.”
“Let’s go for a walk. The house is full,” Tess answered, feeling the hurt starting. She grabbed her coat, and soon they walked along the Powelton streets in near-freezing weather. “I guess it’s not good news?”
“No. F-first things first: I’m not with another woman. I didn’t cheat,” Lisa said with defiance.
“I hadn’t pegged you for a cheat.”
“Tess, we can’t be a couple.”
“How so?”
“I miss you, Tess, and I truly love you, but I cannot be your partner. I ... I feel dwarfed around you. I feel like a little girl. I know I’d always be your girlfriend. Our relationship is completely unbalanced.”
“How do you figure that? I mean, I’ve never tried to dominate you, right?”
“Tess, you don’t have to try. You enter a room and everybody sees you as the alpha animal. You can’t help it, but I’m not cut out for being a sidekick, your sidekick, but that’s all I can be when I’m with you.”
“I don’t get it, Lisa. What is it that I do?”
“Seriously? You’re the golden girl of the service. You’re fast-tracked already, given a PP detail. Then you just coast along in an Ivy League law school while babysitting some entitled trust fund baby. And if that’s not enough, you singlehandedly spot and neutralize a gun-toting terrorist carrying four kilos of C4 around his waist, saving God knows how many lives, and now the SACs have a bidding war for you going on. You have an assistant secretary eating out of your hand, you meet and advise the freaking VPOTUS. Tess, I love you, but I can’t handle you. You’re too much for a mortal girl.”
“Shit, Lisa, you would’ve done the same. I know how good you are.”
“Tess, darling, I know it too. I can become somebody in the Service, but paired up with you, I’ll always be the Robin to your Batman.”
“So it’s professional jealousy?” Tess asked incredulously.
“Call it as you will, but don’t think I’m not hurting over this.”
“Shit! This is not what I want. I thought I had finally found my missing half.”
“I can’t be your missing half, Tess, At most, I can be your missing quarter, maybe a third on my good days.”
“So this is not about a break?”
“No, it’s a break-up, Tess. I feel like shit doing this to you, but I must if I want to stay true to myself. Please, understand!”
“I believe you, Lisa.”
“Do you think we can still be friends?”
“I don’t know. I have to think. Jesus, Lisa, you just pulled the fucking rug from under my feet. Give me some time. I think I’ll always love you, but right now, I’m disappointed and I feel rejected.”
“I understand. I’ll give you time. I’ll keep you posted about my life; please, do the same. If you need something, anything from me, I’m only a phone call away.”
“Same here. I ... I need to go home now. Take care, Lisa, and ... give ... give my regards to Lydia,” Tess got away before the tears welled up and the first sobs rose in her throat. She turned abruptly and literally fled from Lisa, not wanting her to see the tears and hear the bawling. Behind her, she heard Lisa’s sobs and she steeled herself against the impulse to turn around, find her lover and hug her one last time.
It was the crappiest Christmas for Tess in years, and in spite of her efforts to put up a brave front, she dragged the whole family down as well. It got so bad that during the following night, Joey dragged her sobbing carcass out of her bed and forced her to lie between him and Deirdre, with both of them hugging her. In the middle of the night, Deirdre had to get up to feed little Gianni, and when the boy was sated and in fresh diapers, Deirdre placed him on Tess’s stomach.
“You are a darling, Darling,” Tess jokingly whispered in spite of her blues. As a matter of fact, having the little sleeping boy lying on top of her soothed her chagrin, and she fell asleep, never noticing when Joey retrieved his son and put him in the crib.
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