Hard Truth

Vinnie and his crew were planning another robbery and Tommy is hoping to be a part of it. He knows he should lay low for a while, but figures he needs to gather as much money as he can before he gets caught. It'll be worth going to jail for, knowing my family will be alright, he thinks, walking across the overgrown yard. Vinnie opens his door as he starts to knock.

"Hey, Tommy, whatcha doing man?"

"I came to see if you guys are still doing your heist."

Vinnie looks back at his crew, chuckles and says,. "Told you he'd show up." 

Confused Tommy asks, "So is it on or not?"

 "That's where we're headed now."

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

Vinnie drapes his arm around Tommy's shoulders, and says, "It's good to have you back. bro." 

"Nice to be back." 

"Who needs Hernandez anyway, right?" Always breathing down our necks, taking half of our cut."

"Not us," the men say. 

Vinnie smiles and says, "Exactly."

"Where is this place anyway?" Tommy questions, crossing the yard.

"It's the big mansion on Douglas Street."

"The Goodman place?"

"That's the one, I even have a key and the code."

Tommy turns towards him, a puzzled look on his face. "How'd you manage that?"

Vinnie smirks. "My sister gave it to me."

"Your sister?" Winnie was always the goody goody in school.

"She's wanting to get revenge."

 "Revenge for what?" 

"The Goodman's canned her for no reason. After twenty years of working for them too. I figure she deserves a little extra for all the hell she had to go through, don't you?"

Tommy thinks back to when he was a child. Mr. Goodman found him cold and hungry, hunkered down in a cardboard box. Knowing about the child's home life, he offered to take him in. Tommy first thought the man was a saint until he revealed his true plan. The pervert deserves to lose everything for what he's done. "I say we go get her a hell of a pension." 

The crew finds the streets dark and deserted when they pull up to the house. Hopping out of his car, Vinnie takes a quick look around. 

"Ok, guys, let's go." The crew nervously heads toward the back.

"Remember to wait for my cue." Opening the door, Vinnie disables the alarm. "Ok guys, start looking. Remember, to only take what we can sell." 

The gang excitedly scatters through the house.

Tommy is searching the living room when he sees something out of the corner of his eye. He turns and sees several cruisers zipping down the block. "Cops," he yells, running toward the back.

***

Jerry and his crew trudge into the station, aggravated Tommy managed to escape again. 

Seeing the sergeant at her desk, Jerry shuffles towards her. "I have some bad news."

Rachel glances up from her report. "Where's Tommy?" she asks, quickly glancing around.

"That's the bad news. He'd already left by the time we arrived. I have an undercover watching the house in case he comes back."

"We still have a trace on Jen and Jimmy's home phone and all three of their cells, right?"

"Yes, we've been trying to track Tommy cell to pinpoint his location. He hasn't made a call in the last six hours and every time we call the number it goes straight to voicemail."

"So it's either off, or the battery is dead."

Kirk walks up to the desk. "Patrol just called, they said Tommy's friend, Jimmy is visiting Jen at the hospital."

"I wish we could get ears in her room, find out what's going on."

"You don't think Judge Barkly will give you a warrant?"

"And violate HIPPA laws? I seriously doubt it."

"What if we sneak a bug in."

"Everything we discover would be fruit of the poisonous tree, so it won't do us any good."

"Not if what we use can be classified as an inevitable discovery."

"Now you're splitting hairs."

"What if we use a roving bug and only use the information we gather when they're in areas, where there's no expectation of privacy?"

"We're still splitting hairs, but go on, explain what this roving bug thing is."

"It's where we use their cell phone as a listening device. All we need to do is get a warrant and contact their carrier."

"Talk to their providers, see what you can do, and I'll work on a warrant. Oh, and Kirk, have an undercover tail Jimmy."

"Will do, Sergeant."

Jerry hangs up the phone. "Sergeant, dispatch just called, said there's been another robbery over on Douglas Street. They said they're in pursuit of the suspects now."

"I want you to get everyone you can in on this chase."

"Yes, sergeant."

***

Jimmy watches the horrifying expressions on Jen's face as he explains what he's been told.

"Tommy tried to rob a house and now he's wanted for murder?" she gasps.

"That's what he said."

"What was he thinking, robbing houses in the first place? I oughta..." She pounds her hands against the bed.

"Jen, Jen, calm down."

"I don't want to calm down, I want to beat the crap out of my husband for being so stupid. I bet he's working for Hernandez too, isn't he? Isn't he?"

"Well, I..."

"Just wait until I see him again, just you wait." She punches her mattress again.

She starts to punch her mattress for the third time Jimmy grabs her arms to stop her. "He did it for you, to pay for your aftercare."

"He put his life on the line for me?"

Jimmy nods. "He said he wants to make sure you're taken care of."

She starts tearing up. "This is all my fault, Jimmy. It's all my fault. Me and my damned heart," she sobs. Dozens of thoughts are racing through her head when a horrid childhood trauma suddenly comes to mind.

The year is 2010 a group of young teens had been arrested for underage drinking and were waiting to be released to their parents.

Jen notices the fury in her dad's eyes when she steps into the lobby. "Just wait until we get home," Frank hisses, his nightly liquor lingering on his breath. He grabs his daughter's arm and drags her across the station.

Jen glances back, hoping someone would save her from this violent man, but no one seemed to care.

"I said come on," Frank says, dragging her through the door.

"Get in," Frank orders. Jen sees her mother weeping in the front seat, bruises along her pale, bloodied face. He beat her because of me. What did I do, what did I do? she thinks as tears continue to stream down her cheeks.

Frank notices her staring at her mother. "That's just half of what you're going to get." Shoving her in the vehicle, he closes the door behind her. 

Starting the car, Frank begins. "What were you thinking, huh, what? Out drinking with a bunch of hoodlums in the middle of the night."

"They aren't hoodlums, Daddy, they're my friends."

"Some friends they are, getting you thrown in jail. I bet Tommy had something to do with this, didn't he, didn't he?" he screams, slamming his fist against the wheel.

"He wasn't even there."

"Don't lie to me, Jenifer Ann."

"He wasn't daddy." 

"I'm ashamed of you, Jenifer, appalled by your behavior. I don't even want to claim you as my daughter anymore."

"Please don't say that, Daddy, please." She bawls.

"It's the truth. "I want you to pack up your shit and get the moment we get home."

"No, Daddy, no. Please don't kick me out, please. I won't do this anymore, I promise." She sobs.

"Look out, Frank." Margaret warns.

Spotting a wreck up ahead, Frank swerves to the right. The front tires hit a patch of black ice. They slide across the road, nose-diving off a cliff. Her parents were pronounced dead at the scene. She was in the ICU for months.

"I cause catastrophes wherever I go. First my parent's and now this. When will it end, Jimmy? When will it end?" She sobs. Jen grabs for her chest, her face turns ghostly white. 

"What is it Jen?"

"I... I can't..." she stutters, collapsing against the bed.