Janine - Wednesday

Knowing her mother was harboring little Tom and that her plan to draw her father to the residence was going to be successful in two short days, Janine drove to school with a slight smile on the side of her pretty face. While she was enjoying the chess match she and her mother were surreptitiously playing with one another, she was frustrated her mother was the one in possession of Tom at the moment, she would much rather be the one indulging her appetites with him. Soon, she consoled herself, allowing her mind drift as she fantasized about the things she intended to do with and to him once he was back in her possession. And this time, she would be much more careful with her little plaything, he would never escape from her again. Ever.

Pulling her Porsche into the school lot, she moved with purpose to her first class. The day seemed to begin no differently than any other, though friends offered her support over her ‘sickness’ and absence the day previous. She smiled politely and accepted their well wishes graciously. She knew there was no way her mother could possibly hide Tom in the house from her father by herself, she would enlist the aid of someone else, but who? Janine’s initial suspicions of who her mother might solicit for assistance included only two possible candidates, Tess and her mother’s closest friend Kandace Torgulson.  As the day unfolded, several things struck her and help confirm some of her inclinations. First, neither Tess nor Sam seemed particularly concerned about whether or not she had found Tom. Given the events of the day before, where the pair had come to her home seeking the tiny boy seemingly quite determined, but now they seemed rather ambivalent. Tess never inquired nor did Sam. Next, Tess was suspiciously absent during second class. She was in the first class of the day, then absent for the second, only to reappear for the third class prior to lunch.

At lunch, Janine decided to call home to the house phone out of curiosity.

“Lindholm residence,” came the voice of Marta over the phone.

“Hi Marta,” Janine greeted politely, tone pleasant.

“Oh Miss Janine, you wish to speak with your mother?” asked the maid.

“No, no, just wondering if in all the hurry to prepare for my father whether or not my mother partook in her daily jog this morning?” queried the girl.

“No missus, your mother went out earlier, but she is home now,” Marta replied.

“But not for a run?”

“No, you wish to speak with her?”

“No, it’s okay. When was she out?” asked Janine.

“Maybe two hours ago,” Marta replied, a trace of uncertainty in her voice.

A slow smile pulled at Janine’s lips, right around the time Tess was absent. “Okay, thank you Marta, you’ve been a dear,” she said.

“Okay missus,” answered the maid before Janine disconnected the call.

Definitively odd. As the day continued, Sam was mysteriously absent for the last class of the day, but elsewise present for other classes. Were the absences simply coincidental, or was there something more to the suspicious comings and goings of the two girls? Curious. Not inclined to put stock in seeming random occurrences, Janine grinned slyly. Given the way the day had progressed at school, it was clear her mother had selected to return Tom to his sister, not just the obvious choice, but really the only logical choice. Tess was blood and after all more than likely held Tom’s best interests in heart as opposed to how Kandace might react to him. Knowing Tom, he would undoubted complicate matters all on his own should he be delivered into Kandace’s care. Nodding slowly, she silently congratulated her mother on the move. She had anticipated Thursday to be the day when the move was to be and her mother’s preemptive strategy was clever, but for naught. Unraveling her mother’s attempt to secretly relocate Tom, she knew of only one possible place where Tess could potentially be hiding her Tom, in her dorm room. No other place made plausible or rational sense, there were too many avenues for misadventure. The location of the hiding spot being in the room also explained the necessity for enlisting Sam‘s aid and cooperation into situation. Tom had proven himself to be quite mischievous and clever and undoubtedly Tess needed an extra pair of eyes or hands to help keep him reined in and the decision to include Sam for this reason also seemed pragmatic.

How would Sam respond to little Tom? Would she find herself entranced by his natural charm? Those considerations aside, as far as Janine was concerned, there were only two real variables that needed to be addressed. One, ensuring neither Tess nor Sam was carrying Tom around on their persons and two, finding a means of gaining surreptitious access into Tess’s room, a room connected via a bathroom connected to the room of her good friend Tatiana. Turning her head, she looked over to the raven haired beauty, absently twirling a loose strand of her luxurious dark hair around her left index finger as she read the text book on top of the desk.

She knew Tatiana and Tess were also fairly close and doubted she could get the Russian to willingly betray the interests of Tom’s sister, but there had to be a way to convince her to permit access. But how? Should she attempt to enlist Tatiana? She knew the girl fancied Tom. No, there were too many people already in the know about the tiny boy and she didn’t want to have to share. She contemplated visiting Tess and leaving something in the room that she could use as an excuse to require entry, but she didn’t want to prematurely alert Tess or Sam and cause them to panic or try to make alternate arrangements

She smiled to herself, too simple. She would Tess’s own excuse. Tomorrow, when Tess and Sam were in class. She would approach Tatiana and explain she had lost an earring in Tess’s room the other day and just wanted to take a quick peek around without bothering Tess. Nothing too suspicious, though she did like the touch of sweet irony.

Turning her head, “Check and mate,” she murmured under her breathe as she glanced up at the white-faced clock on the wall near the head of the class. As the school day was scant minutes from completion, she knew tomorrow, Thursday, would be a most entertaining and rewarding day, a day when she retrieved her toy and had him back in her hands.

The thought filled her with a delicious warmth and the hunger of anticipation.