Jenalyn: Disconnected (#5) [Complete]

Chapter 97: Hayden

Wed. 3/18/09 • 2:39 A.M. PST

"Everything was pretty simple, really..." Dane says with a smirk on his face, pacing the room as he dramatically recounts the beginning of his apparent master plan. 

I wish I could tune him out; I don't want to hear about how blind I'd been these past few months... 

About how Evelyn has betrayed me once again, putting mine and my daughter's life in danger... 

About how the man I've fallen in love with was a fraud...

About how stupid I am even when I think I'm doing my best...

I don't want to hear it, but it's the only option I have. There isn't a single voice in my head willing to step forward for me so I can fade off into the back.

And I don't know how to save my baby... I don't even know how to save myself...

"Evelyn made it pretty easy, honestly," Dane shrugs with a scoff. "I found out she was trying to be sneaky, running off with little miss Hayden when she thought no one was watching!"

So she really didn't specifically seek me out in New York as a part of Dane's plan? She really went into this innocent? It's a weight off my shoulders, but it's not enough to stop the aching that the rest of all the weight causes. 

Dane pauses in his tracks to turn toward Ev, his eyes narrowed before he rolls them. "Don't you know I'm always watching, Ev?" he asks. "Don't you know anything?"

Evelyn doesn't respond, but Dane leaves her the opportunity to for shits and giggles more than anything. He resumes pacing, a small laugh escaping his lips before he continues. 

"Anyway! I scooped her up the first shot I had, let her know her options, and sent her back on her way! Simple as that!" he exclaims. "Well, almost as simple as that. You see, there's actually a lot of work that goes into the simplistic nature of my sister here, you know? I'm completely aware that she's about as trustworthy as a good lawyer; Jena knows that too, of course! I had to think outside the box! Why tell Evelyn who the father of your bastard child is? I sent her in having her think it was her job to find out, but I knew nothing would come of it. She served a much better purpose for me; A mole! A distraction! A pawn in my massive game of chess! All I had to do was let her fuck up like she always does! She played a great part too, with her perfectly timed overdose, don't you think? Well, almost perfect. That bubblegum twatstar showed up though."

Dane sighs dramatically before quickly picking up where he left off. "We can't give Ev all the credit though, can we? That's where Russell here comes in!" 

Evelyn cries behind me. I can't help a tinge of sympathy from making it's way to my chest as I piece his words together. You see, Evelyn already knows who 'the father' to my baby is... She may have betrayed my trust by keeping me in the dark as far as Dane contacting her went, but she hasn't told him about Rob either...

Russell though...? He betrayed me on every level. My chest painfully aches at the thought; I fell for him so hard...

"Russell here was my insurance," Dane continues after a few moments of tense silence flooding the room. He turns to Russ, still folded up on the floor, and pulls him to his feet to point the gun at him and direct him back to the couch. "I planted a few bugs on Ev to make sure she didn't out me, sure! But I recruited this guy straight from the streets of New York, offering him thousands of dollars after burning his home, solely to gather Intel. Funny, right? You fell for a guy I hired, Lil Bit! A guy who, right under your nose, gave Ev the means to overdose! You dumb... fucking... whore! You fell for him! Told him you loved him!" 

I feel my face grow hot in embarrasment. So many things make sense now; His presence at the Rooftop Lounge, the constant feeling of being watched at that hotel, Russ slipping up and calling me Jena when I introduced myself to him as Hayden...

Dane was behind it all... 

"I didn't know, Hayden, I swear!" Russ suddenly calls out from across the room, his voice strained under the weight of emotion. Dane turns around to face him, an entertained look clear on his face. "I- It wasnt like that! I- I needed the money! I didn't know who he was, or what he was capable of! I just thought- I thought he was a weirdly obsessed reporter or something! And I had no idea I'd actually fall for you! I'm- I'm so sorry!" 

Dane purses his lips out and cocks his head to the side as he crosses his arms over his chest. He looks back and forth between me and Russ as if he were looking at puppies. "Aww, so cute! Right?" he asks, a sarcastic tone underlying his voice. He directs his attention back to me, his face growing serious. "He's not lying, you know. I had to play it real smart, Lil Bit! And I did! I didn't tell him who I was, how I knew little miss Hayden, what I do or why I do it! Do you think I'm stupid? Everything was going right along with my plan until we had a hiccup!" 

He pauses to momentarily turn back to Russ. "We had a hiccup, didn't we Russell?" he asks him before continuing with me. "You see, Russell was getting a little too comfortable, right? He was falling for you harder than our plans entailed! Making secret visits to you, having secret conversations! Secret fucking sex! I let it slide for the most part, breaking my character with him to beat a little sense into him when he wanted to try to get more serious with you... but Russell thinks he's smart, huh? He thinks he's genius!" 

Once again, Dane's attention falls back on Russ. He turns around to face him, closing in on the space between them to hold the pistol directly at Russ' forehead now. I don't know what to feel inside other than panic; I don't know how to feel anything else anymore! 

"Did you really think you could get away with leaving your phone in the car to fuck her some more?" he growls. "Did you really think you could leave it at a gas station to try to swerve me off the trail while you tried to runaway with her?!" 

Dane laughs almost maniacally before continuing. "Was it worth it, Russell? Did you save her from the big bad wolf?!" He pauses, almost as if waiting for a response. 

Russ stares up at Dane with a clenched jaw and a look that says he wants to kill him. I'm sure he knows better than to try at this point. Dane doesn't budge for a few moments, his finger threatening to pull the trigger. He let's out a deep breath though, plastering a smile on his face as he lowers the gun and turns back to me. 

"Anyway," he says with an eyeroll. "Evy didn't answer her phone tonight, so I decided I'd just make a home visit instead of depending on these two fools any longer! Get it? Because the thing is-" 

He makes his way across the room to where I still sit shaking on the edge of my bed. He raises his pistol to my temple, gently using it to brush my hair from my face. 

"I can get the answers I want from you a lot fucking quicker," he says. "Wouldn't you agree?"