Chapter 39

Melissa took a deep breath and tried to calm herself as she had seen Jake do before in any tense situation. It worked and she was able to focus enough to get her seatbelt unbuckled. Water was up to her lap now. She reasoned she had about a minute to extricate Marisa from her seatbelt and get them both out of the submerged car. She looked over her shoulder towards the back window. To her amazement, the back of the car appeared to be above the water. She redoubled her efforts to get Marisa out of her seatbelt as the water rose above her waist. She was not letting them drown in water shallow enough to stand up in. Melissa took another deep breath to fight down the helpless panic feeling. Then a face appeared in her side window. It was a man making a circling motion then pointing to the window. He wanted her to crank down her window, she realized. She shook her head ‘no’ and pointed in short jabs to Marisa’s seatbelt. He nodded and disappeared.

He was back in under fifteen seconds, tapped on the window again, and showed her a knife. She nodded, took a deep breath, and rolled down the window. Water poured through the opening. She wriggled herself quickly through the window as he was tugging fruitlessly on the door handle. The door was jammed shut. Melissa broke the surface of the water coughing and sputtering. Hands reached for her from the bank but she dove back towards the car. By now, two more men were tugging open the passenger door as the man with the knife sawed at the seatbelt imprisoning Marisa. Retreating back into the shallow water, Melissa watched helplessly during the long minute it took the three men to free her cousin. By then, someone had come into the canal and led her to a place from which she could climb the embankment.

A crowd had gathered at the edge of the canal, while in the distance, a siren wailed. Melissa slumped to the ground. She was shivering from the cold and shock. Some kind stranger wrapped a picnic blanket around her shoulders. She watched in horror as the three men brought Marisa’s unconscious body to the edge of the canal and started CPR. By the time the police arrived with an ambulance in tow, Marisa was thankfully breathing on her own. She was still unconscious but the paramedic said that she had a strong pulse and regular although shallow breathing. Melissa asked one of the men to retrieve their purses from her car then she climbed into the back of the ambulance with her cousin. Melissa had told the first officer on the scene what had happened and asked him to notify Barry Miller. The officer was instantly alert when the States Attorney’s name was mentioned. Melissa also made sure the officer got names and addresses of the Good Samaritans who had saved her and Marisa. How, she wondered, had they gotten to them so quickly.

Melissa walked into the emergency room alongside Marisa’s gurney. A nurse pointed Melissa towards a wheel chair and made her sit in it. Melissa told the nurse that she needed to notify her aunt about Marisa. The nurse compromised and wheeled Melissa to the reception counter. The nurse dialed the number for her and told her she had two minutes then she had to be processed and have her vitals taken. Melissa nodded absently as the phone brrringed in her ear. It only rang twice before a breathless Beth Owens answered. Beth told Melissa that Barry Miller had already called Maria and informed her of the wreck. Maria was on her way to the hospital as they were speaking. Beth said that she had also called Jake and he was on his way. Melissa relinquished the telephone and was wheeled into an examining cubicle. She was there only a minute or two before Dr. Malone, Jake’s neurosurgeon, arrived.

Dr. Malone spoke to her using her name. Malone knew where the money for his new state of the art, EEG machine came from. He gave her the standard series of tests and sent her for x-rays. What he did not do was answer her questions about the other Miss Thornton. Just as Malone was signing the order for head and torso x-rays, Jake Turner burst into the room, a vehemently protesting ER nurse on his heels. Malone shushed the nurse, said hello to Jake, and told him he could wheel Melissa up to Radiology. Melissa was almost dry by now but still shivered every once in a while. Jake snagged a couple of blankets from a linen cart in the hallway and bundled her up. Melissa told him what had happened and asked if he had any news about Marisa. Jake admitted that he did not. He had asked at the desk but was told the information was available to immediate family only.

Forty-five minutes later, Dr. Malone met them in a consulting suite in Radiology. Melissa wanted Jake with her when she talked to Malone. She knew she was okay, but she wanted to know about Marisa. When Malone told her that her cousin was awake and responsive, Melissa let out a whoop and hugged Jake tightly. Marisa was going to be in the hospital a few days as she was badly banged up. Tigger’s right shoulder was dislocated, her right knee had been hyper-extended, and she had three cracked ribs from the seatbelt tensioner. She also suffered a mild concussion and needed a dozen stitches to close her scalp wounds. Dr. Malone told Melissa she could go home after she picked up the prescriptions he had written for her at the ER reception desk.

Jake had not spoken more than twenty words since he arrived. He stayed close to his Muffy to make sure she was comfortable but his mind was elsewhere. His mind was in Orlando to be exact. In his mind’s eye his fingers were wrapped around Randal’s throat, choking the life out of him. Melissa was not about to go home without checking on Marisa, and neither was Jake. Jake finessed Tigger’s room number from the ER nurse. He pushed Muffy to the elevators. She saw herself in the polished stainless steel door and ‘eeked’ at her appearance. Jake had to push her back to a restroom so she could organize herself a little. They made it to Marisa’s room about fifteen minutes later. Maria and Barry were standing by the bed. Maria looked drawn and had clearly been crying. Jake and Melissa moved to the bed. Tigger was swaddled in bandages and looked like a small frightened child lying there.

Jake bent down, kissed Tigger gently on the lips, and was rewarded with a small smile.

“Not tonight, dear, I have a headache,” she said.

Jake laughed and knew she was going to be all right. Barry took Jake aside as the women fussed over Tigger. He filled Jake in on what had been learned so far. It definitely had not been an accident. Two young boys fishing at the canal had seen the whole thing. Barry went on to recount the boys’ story. Their version jibed with what Melissa had told the police. The boys had run out on the road and flagged down cars to get help. The second car had three firemen returning home from their shift. Those trained men had immediately gone to work. The girls were extremely lucky to be alive. Jake thanked Barry and asked him if he would keep him up to date on the investigation. Barry did not see the point of telling a teenager about a police investigation but nodded yes to appease Jake.

Jake was seething with anger, especially after seeing poor Tigger. He kept his anger to himself though. When he paid Randal back for this, no one but Randal and him would know about it. Helen arrived about then. She hugged Maria, then checked to make sure Melissa was fit to be discharged regardless of Dr. Malone’s opinion. Helen finally blessed Jake’s taking Melissa home but gave him a barrage of instructions to take with him. Helen said she would be home in a couple of hours to check on her.

Jake got Melissa home without incident. A tearful Erika was waiting on them. Jake had Erika run a hot bath for Melissa and they both helped her into the tub. Melissa was starting to get stiff and sore from her ordeal. The bath made her feel better but the best medicine was Jake and Erika caring for her. She soaked up the heat from the bath as Jake and Erika bathed and shampooed her. Jake got her into a nightie and into bed. She was asleep in under a minute. Erika climbed in the bed with her, holding Melissa’s hand as she nodded off.

Melissa was hurting Sunday morning. She was discovering new aches and pains every time she moved a different part of her body. Erika took her into the shower and again let the hot water beat on her for a while. That helped. Erika went home to get some fresh clothes. She was going to stay with her lovers as long as she was needed. Jake and Melissa skipped Mass, opting to visit Tigger instead. They arrived at the hospital at noon. Maria was there, of course, looking drawn and slightly haggard from a night spent caring for and worrying about her baby. They were standing by the bed when the next visitors arrived. It was Randal Thornton and a very attractive young woman in a colorful print dress and white heels. Randal gave Maria a curt greeting and received a snort of derision for his effort. Maria could not believe the sorry bastard had showed up with his tarty concubine. Maria excused herself and left the room, saying she was going home to shower and change clothes.

Randal, asshole that he was, gave his daughter a cursory greeting then tuned his attention to Melissa. ‘God, was he smarmy, ‘ thought Jake, as Randal was putting on the concerned parent and uncle act. He was surprised that Melissa seemed to be eating it up! What the hell was she up to? Randal quickly got around to offering his services while Melissa recuperated. Melissa said great -- damn, this was strange. Randal told his companion, whom he had not bothered to introduce, to go get something to drink while he and his niece talked business. Jake offered to walk her to the cafeteria and she gave him a nice smile. Once in the hall, Jake held out his hand.

“Jake Turner,” he introduced himself.

She reached out and took his hand, “Mitzi Walters, pleased ta meetcha’.”

Jake and Mitzi sat down at a table in the deserted cafeteria with a soda from the vending machine. Jake looked at her closely. She was not hard on the eye, that was for sure. She was about five-six and well-built. Her breasts were not that big but they rode high, round, and proud on her chest. Her ass was nice and trim, and her legs were surprisingly muscular and well formed. She had dark brown hair and liquid brown eyes. Even with a name like Walters, her southern Italian heritage was evident. Jake figured it would not hurt to have a friend in the enemy camp so he wicked up the charm, intensified his eye contact, and got her talking about herself.

“So, how did you get tied up with Randal?” he asked.

“My cousin Vinnie told me Randal was looking for a secretary. I had a diploma from secretarial school, I could still type ninety words a minute, seemed like a good job, so here I am.”

Jake was incredulous! ‘ninety words a minute?’ He couldn’t even talk that fast.

“Boy, I have two term papers that would love to meet your fingers,” he said.

She laughed and said she would be glad to type them for him if he was around. Jake told her she would earn his eternal gratitude if she did. He would do anything to repay her. She laughed again.

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Cutie,” she said.

They strolled back to Marisa’s room laughing and joking about Jake’s misfortune with anything that required typing. Melissa and Randal were sitting in the little waiting room by the nurses’ station talking about business. Randal stood up as Jake and Mitzi entered the room. He hugged Melissa goodbye and said he would see her tomorrow. Mitzi asked if she could come also. Randal magnanimously said, “Sure, Sweetcheeks.” Mitzi winked at Jake when no one was looking.

As soon as Randal and Mitzi were on the elevator headed down, Jake asked what was going on. Melissa said she was going to let Randal think she still needed him - actually only to keep him occupied. She wanted him near her so she could keep an eye on him. Jake told her about his chat with Mitzi and his idea of making her an ally. Melissa laughed at that one.

“I don’t suppose that her being pretty had anything to do with your decision. You better remember that you already have your full quota of Italian girlfriends,” she said.

Jake tried his best to look injured by her pithy remarks as they went in to see Tigger again. Poor Tigger, she was in pain today, plus she was seemingly covered in bruises. She must have bounced off everything on the inside the Corvette. It was a good thing the seatbelt had minimized the impacts. She still had her sense of humor though, as she made a few caustic remarks about Randal and Mitzi. Every time she laughed, she flinched as her cracked ribs sent spasms of pain through her side. It broke Jake’s heart to see her like this. Someone was going to pay for hurting her, he vowed.

Jake and Melissa skipped school again Monday, it was becoming a habit. The two of them figured they could get away with it though, since they were starting the day at the hospital. They sat with a much-improved Tigger from nine until Randal showed up at ten-fifteen. Maria arrived at nine-thirty. She looked spectacular and sophisticated. Jake guessed she was showing Randal what he had given up. Jake volunteered to show Mitzi the sights in Palmdale while Randal and Melissa went to Thornton Development. The four of them rode down in the elevator together and split up in the parking lot. Mitzi went gaga over Jake’s Chevelle. It turned out that she knew more about cars than he did. She asked him if it was stock. He said ‘no’ and popped the hood for her. She made the appropriate appreciative noises. Jake slammed down the hood and tossed her the keys.

Mitzi drove his car carefully and competently. She said he would get more horsepower to the rear wheels if he had a manual transmission instead of an automatic. Jake conceded that, but pointed out that over five hundred horses were getting to the posi-track rear end already. How many did he need to drive to school? Jake took Mitzi for an early lunch, and then headed for Liz’s. Mitzi was dressed young today: miniskirt, tight sweater, and low heels. He loved the way her hips swayed as she walked in front of him. Jake let them into the bungalow, gave Mitzi a glass of wine, and then went out to his car. He returned with an electric typewriter, typing paper, and the hand-written version of the term papers he had put in the trunk that morning.

“I thought you were kidding about the typing,” she laughed.

“Nope, you made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Still laughing, she put a blank sheet of paper in the typewriter and typed a few lines to loosen her fingers and get a feel for the key board. Then she took a clean sheet of paper and started typing his history report. She was the Van Clyburn of QWERTY! Her fingers were a blur on the keyboard as she zipped out neatly double spaced pages of error-free text. She stopped twice to point out grammatical errors she had corrected then started on his civics paper. Same results: garbage in, diamonds out. Jake was going to make sure she got offered a job somewhere close! He had a feeling she was going to be an indispensable asset to him for more than just one day. She released the platen, pulled the last page up through the paper bail and off the roller, neatly collated the pages, and handed them to him.

“Wow!” he exclaimed, as he perused the perfect pages, “I could kiss you for this.”

“You had better. I don’t work for free,” she said. Her slangy vocabulary had evaporated.

He looked at her and their eyes locked. They exchanged that look where your insides seem to melt. He lowered his lips to hers. There was no doubt in either of their minds where this was leading. She was a good kisser, her little tongue active in his mouth. She did not protest as he cupped her breast through her sweater. After a long sexy kiss, Jake stood up and pulled her to her feet. Wordlessly they walked together to the bedroom. Mitzi excused herself and went to the bathroom. Jake stripped and laid on the big bed waiting for her. She came back to the bedroom in her sexy pink underwear. She had definitely dressed for success, today. She put her hand on the bedpost at the end of the bed leaning her body to the side. She shook her head causing her hair to spill partly across her face.

“Did you know I was a dancer before I got a job with Randal?”

Jake shook his head no, so she showed him. Using the bedpost as a pole, she danced and stripped for him. She was limber and had good rhythm to accompany her great body. Jake was as hard as trigonometry when she finally hopped up on the bed. She made a beeline for his dick but Jake had other ideas. He wrestled her onto her back and started playing homage to her body. It seemed like familiar territory because she could have body-doubled for his precious little Muffy.

This was new territory for Mitzi though, this having a man work so hard to please her. The culture she was raised in dictated she focus on pleasing the man. If she got off it was a bonus on the side. Now, this big beautiful young man was licking her woo-woo and driving her crazy. Her first orgasm snuck up on her. The next one she actively participated in. Jake liked the way her tasty little pussy clenched and expelled air with a little farting sound. Mitzi was quietly vocal, little strings of ‘oh gods’ and chants of ‘yes, yes, yes’ made Jake redouble his efforts. Mitzi’s hands grabbed the back of his head and pulled him tighter to her.

“Oh, Jake, this is going to be a big one,” she gasped as she ground her split against his face. “Are you ready, are you ready for me to cum in your mouth?”

Jake nodded his head up and down never losing contact with her clit. Mitzi stiffened and expelled her breath in a long ooohhh. Then her pussy clenched and she shot a long squirt of her juice right into his face and mouth. Damn that was hot, Jake thought as he eagerly licked and swallowed her tangy essence. When he had her cleaned up, he moved up beside her and took her into his arms. He held her as she recovered, gentle aftershocks making her tremble.

“I’m so embarrassed, you made me cum so hard I think I peed myself,” she said into his neck where her face was hidden.

Jake laughed and said, “You didn’t pee, you came. You squirted pussy juice -- and I loved it.”

She was dubious so Jake coaxed her into licking some of her own sauce off his face.

“Wow, I taste pretty darn good,” she said in wonderment.

They spent the day doing everything Jake could think of that would give her pleasure. In between sessions, she opened up to his probing questions. She was aware of Randal’s obsession with taking over Thornton. He talked about it all the time. Her cousin Vinnie Scarpizio was helping somehow but she did not know any details. In an unguarded moment, she even told Jake that she kept cousin Vinnie up to date on Randal’s dealings. Randal’s affinity for cocaine came up. She would not say who his supplier was, but it was not hard to figure out it was Scarpizio. Mitzi said that she wondered about Vinnie’s seemingly up and up partnership with Randal. They made strange bedfellows, but Jake saw immediately that Vinnie was using Randal and his associates to launder his drug money. That was why he was willing to help Randal with his little problems. Scarpizio was a criminal ahead of his time. He was turning cocaine profits into multi-story office buildings.