“Hopefully, we'll be long gone. After we rescue the girls, I'm going to withdraw all my money from my bank account."
"This all makes me nervous," I admitted.
"Me too, but the worst that will happen is we won't get to rescue the girls. I'm still setting fire to the warehouse and burning that shit to the ground."
"But I want to save my friends," I argued. "They've helped raise me, and I love them."
"I know you do, and I want to do that too, but we need to think about ourselves first."
"Then why do this at all?"
"Because I want to try. I know what's right and what's wrong, and what my father does is wrong. He needs to be stopped."
I thought for a moment and then finally replied, "Okay." I trusted Frankie, and I had no clue if what we were going to do would work. I hoped that it would, and everyone would be set free of Mr. Russo and Madam.
Frankie continued to drive as I looked at the snow-covered trees and mountains I'd never seen before. It was so different from what I could see out the one window in my room at the house.
I yawned, and Frankie said, "You can get some sleep if you want. I'll wake you when we get within the city limits."
"Then I'll miss all this." I waved my hand.
"I'll make sure you see this and more one day."
"Promise?"
He stuck out his pinky. "Promise."
Chapter Twenty-One
An hour after Frankie and Zell left the cabin, Jackie had another visitor. This one came in the light of day, but it was still unexpected and proved that it wasn't only Frank Russo and some of his men who knew about the cabin.
Quinn Russo had known about the cabin since she’d started dating Frank in high school. One weekend during their senior year, Frank and Dominic took their girlfriends to the cabin. After that trip, Frank never spoke about the cabin to Quinn again. She didn't understand why, but it wasn't as though she ever wanted to go back. Being stuck in a cabin with nothing except books and a wood stove to keep warm wasn't fun for her. Quinn had grown up in luxury and had married into it as well.
Little did she know, living the life of luxury would come at a price.
She had married a criminal. And life became even worse after Dominic was murdered. Frank feared his family might be in trouble too, and ordered Quinn to not go outside without Frank or one of his men to protect her. She felt like one of Dominic's girls in the penthouse.
Yes, Quinn knew all about the penthouse. She also knew about the baby Frank gave to Saffron.
Quinn was taking care of her newborn son one night when Frank received a call from Saffron. He’d stepped out of the room, but Quinn had overheard his side of the conversation.
"Yeah? … She is? … Are you sure? … How long has she been in labor? … Did you call Dr. Spalding? … Okay, I'll be right there." Frank came back into the room. "I have to go."
"At this hour?" Quinn asked.
"You know how my business works."
"Your business is babies now?" Quinn knew not to question her husband, but the question was out of her mouth before she could stop it.
"It's a baby for Saffron."
"A baby for Saffron?"
"You know she has wanted one for years, and since Dominic … I'm doing this for her."
"It's an adoption?"
Frank looked away from Quinn's eyes, and she knew his next words would be a lie. "Yes. I found a young mother who didn't want her baby. I need to go."
A few days later, Quinn made a last-minute decision. After a doctor's appointment for her son, she instructed her driver/guard to take her to the penthouse. It wasn't unusual for Quinn to go to the penthouse. Saffron had been her best friend at one time, but since Dominic's death and the birth of Quinn's son, the two spent less and less time together. So much less that Quinn didn't know anything about Saffron adopting a baby.
As Quinn's car stopped at a light a block from the penthouse, she happened to see Frank getting into his own car. He wasn't alone. A young blonde got into the car first, but it looked forced because Frank grasped the poor girl's upper arm and all but pushed her into the car.
Was that the mother of the baby? Quinn thought to herself. Did she give birth in the penthouse? There was only one way for Quinn to find out.
The light turned green as Frank's car pulled away from the curb, and Quinn's driver pulled into the spot.
"I won't be long. I want Saffron to meet Frankie."
"Yes, ma'am," the driver had said.
After Quinn got herself and little Frankie out of the car, she went to the buzzer for the penthouse. Quinn pressed the button, and a moment later, the man Quinn knew as Scott answered.
"Membership number?"
Quinn knew what really went on in the penthouse, but that wasn't her problem. If a woman wanted to sell her body for money, that was her choice. Quinn didn't know at the time that the women weren't selling their bodies of their own free will, but she would learn one day.
"This is Quinn Russo. I'm here to see Saffron."
"Yes, ma'am," Scott had said, and then she heard the elevator descend.
With Frankie in his carrier, Quinn took the lift up to the thirty-third floor. The door opened, and Scott motioned for her to enter.
"Mrs. Russo is in her room." Since Dominic's death, Saffron had moved into the penthouse and out of the house she owned, but she didn't sell it.
"Thank you, Scott."
"Do you need me to help you carry the baby up?"
Quinn had smiled warmly. "No, I've got him."
Scott gave a tip of his head, and then Quinn took the stairs up two levels to where Saffron had her quarters. Quinn found Saffron in her sitting room, a newborn baby in a bassinet next to her chair.
"Can you believe we have babies at the same time?" Saffron had asked.
"I really can't," Quinn replied and set the carrier on the floor, taking a seat on the small loveseat next to Saffron. "I didn't even know Frank was working on this for you."
"It was a surprise for sure, but isn't she beautiful?"
Quinn stood and moved to the bassinet, peering inside and rubbing the baby's soft cheek. "She is. What did you name her?"
"Zell."
"Zell?" Quinn had arched a brow. "Why Zell?"
"Her birth mother had long blonde hair like that fairytale, and the name just came to me.”
Zell Dominique Devereaux.
Other than the falsified birth certificate, there was obviously no other legal documentation to show that Zell was Saffron's. But nothing the Russos did was legal.
"I think I just saw her leave with Frank."
"Yeah, he's taking her up to the cabin."
Quinn had drawn her head back slightly in surprise. "The cabin in the Catskills?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Saffron had shrugged. "It's better than working here. Plus, I didn't want her to try and take—I mean, change her mind about giving me the baby."
For the next month, Frank was going out of town on business each week, but Quinn's gut was telling her that Frank was at the cabin. So, she picked up her cell phone and dialed her husband's number.