by Skye, M.
Matt felt his head spinning as he looked from the papers to the bathroom door. He stood up with the papers in his hand and walked closer to the door. He felt his anxiety mounting as he reached for the knob. Just as he placed his hand on it, she swung the door open. Her eyes were watery, and she drew in a deep breath when she saw him standing before her. He placed his hand on her shoulder and she closed her eyes feeling his closeness. The sound of his voice caused her eyes to fly open.
“’Mel, is there something you want to tell me?” He held the papers up for her to see. “I wasn’t snooping, but we have things to discuss.”
“I was going to tell you, I just couldn’t find the words. I wasn’t going to keep you from either of our children.”
“That’s not the problem. Why did you feel like you couldn’t come to me? I’m here for you, I’ll be here.”
“I know,” she sighed.
“Look, you don’t have to worry. I’m not abandoning you. I wanted to ask you if you wanted me to stay here tonight. With everything going on, I would feel better being with the two of you. I’ll sleep in the guest room, and we can discuss what this all means later if you would like.”
“I would like that,” she smiled.
“I’ll be back. I have to go out to Alex and Meg’s and gather some of my things, but I’ll be back. Do you need anything?”
Her heart was screaming yes, I need you, her brain was telling her to grab him, but her mouth said “no, I’ll be fine until you get back.”
Matt ran his hand down her cheek and looked into her eyes before walking away. She could still see the man she married, the loving, caring, and protective side of him. Although it wasn’t her ideal solution of having him back in the house, at least he would be there for the night. After that they could work on whatever it was going to take to restore them to the family they once were. She hoped once he knew what she was feeling, he accepted her true intent.
While Melia pondered her life, she stared straight ahead until the ringing of her phone broke her thoughts. When she realized it was Meg calling to ask her out to their house, she threw on some clothes calling for Matt the entire time. “Matt, don’t leave me. They need me out there too, Meg says it’s important.”
When Matt heard her, he rushed up the stairs excitedly. “What happened, did they find Alli?”
“No,” she sighed. “I think she just wants us there for support.”
“Do you feel up to that? How’s the baby?”
She smiled at his tenderness and smoothed her hand down his neck. “I feel fine. I need to do this for my sister. She’s always there for me, and she is in terrible distress. I need to think of her right now.”
Matt grinned at her genuine offer and grabbed her hand. “Well, it’s settled, I’ll drive you there. Let me get Cici and you meet us downstairs.”
Matt disappeared down the hall and into Cienna’s room, while Melia got herself together. She was a mess, her hands trembled at each button. When she felt something behind her, she jumped gasping loudly until she turned and saw it was only Matt. He took her hands in his and pulled her to him swallowing her in a strong embrace. “It’s okay, I promise you, it will all be okay.” She closed her eyes believing in his words and after a few minutes, she slid her hand down and linked her fingers with his. For that moment in time she forgot their problems and focused on how good it felt to feel his support, his love.
***
Alex sat down in front of the glass and sighed. He couldn’t believe it had come to this. He swore that he would never have to see or talk to this man ever again, that his children would never have to know him, but here he was. When he looked up and saw Ben sitting in front of him, he huffed and placed his hand on the receiver to begin their visit. “Well, well, well, to what do I owe this visit? The prodigal son has finally graced the heartless bastard with his presence. What is it now? Do you want to blame me for world hunger?”
“Shut up! Just shut up, I don’t even know why I came here.” Alex stood to leave. Ben looked at him and didn’t see one shred of the confidence he usually saw in Alex and straightened his expression. He knew then, it had to be serious.
“Son, what’s going on? Has something happened?”
Alex reclaimed his seat and exhaled deeply. “Amanda has Allison. She grabbed her from school today.”
Ben looked as if his world had been shattered. “How could they let this happen? That school is supposed to be one of the best! I would have never let her get in there if I knew it wasn’t safe! I want the whole staff fired!”
Alex knew his rantings were all just a desperate attempt to keep from displaying his real feelings. He knew that Ben loved Alli and Cici more than he ever loved anyone, including his own children. The news had to be tearing him apart. Alex looked to Ben and saw a vulnerability he had never seen before, he actually felt for him for just a split second. Alex allowed him a few moments to react, and then he grew tired of the ramblings. “I’ve heard enough! Do you know anything about this woman? Anything at all that could lead me to my daughter?”
Ben looked him in the eyes as if he came to a realization and stiffened. “Son, I don’t know anything right now, but I will.” When Ben stood and vacated his seat, he left Alex tapping on the glass, trying to get him to come back. He ignored his son and kept walking towards the back with new determination flowing through his veins. No, he didn’t have the answers, but he knew exactly where to find them. On the way to his cell, he spread the word to his personal gang of thugs that it was time to strike. He had been planning something all along, and now it was time to put it in motion.
Ben laid down in his cell for less than an hour before the guards came to open it up. “Come on sunshine, it’s time for yard time,” the guard laughed and tapped the bars. Ben stood and strutted out of his cell with a sadistic smile on his face. He was walking right behind the guard and in an instant, he was gone. The guard turned, looking around in amazement and then shrugged his shoulders. He knew Ben couldn’t have gotten far, and there was no way he was getting out. The place was like Fort Knox, no one had ever successfully broken out.
Ben ducked behind the wall waiting for the coast to be clear, when it was, he slipped out and walked towards his personal hiding spot. Before walking all the way in, he sighed and clasped his hands together. Walking around the corner, an ice pick was placed in his hand, and he laughed sinisterly. When the lights flickered on, there stood five of his men with Sean tied to a chair. Ben eased up on Sean close enough to feel him breathe on his cheek. Sean shivered when he felt his closeness and Ben snarled.
“Don’t cry now,” he smacked him hard. “I haven’t begun all I’ll do to you. You are going to start telling me what I want to hear, or you’re going to start losing things.” Sean whimpered and Ben grabbed the back of his head lacing his fingers through a huge amount of his hair. “Start talking or the next step will be to shove this pick through your nostrils.”
“I don’t know anything! I swear I don’t know where she is.”
“Wrong answer,” Ben snapped and plunged the pick into his forearm. Sean screamed in angst, and Ben laughed. “I never thought this would feel so good. Now, shall we try again? Where is your mother and where has she taken Allison?”
“She has Alli?” Sean uttered through his pain-laden voice. “When did she take her? You have to get her away from that woman.”
Ben took the pick and poked him in the thigh. When Sean screamed out once again he slapped him. “Don’t you think I know that? You know something and you’re going to tell me. I have all day to sit here and make you talk.” When Ben drew back to stick him again Sean closed his eyes and shuddered.
“I swear! They don’t tell me anything. They never did, they don’t trust me.”
“Why not? Wasn’t it you who killed my Maria? Didn’t you rape that girl? You’re just as rotten as they are.” Sean screamed as he felt the pick traveling down and opened his eyes when he saw Ben stop hovering just above his knee cap. “Now, one last c
hance, tell me what you know or you’ll never walk again.”
“I swear I don’t know anything. This is a mistake!”
“Wrong answer,” he stabbed his knee and smiled as the blood trailed down his leg. As the blood gushed on his hands, Ben began to shake. He had done what he had been dying to do for quite a while now, but he was still no closer to finding Allison or Amanda. When he turned and saw Sean near unconsciousness, he grabbed him around the collar and held him up. “If you have any decency, you’ll tell me where that child is. If anything happens to her, you will never see another sunrise.”
“I don’t know,” he hissed. “I only know about a warehouse I used to meet them at, but she left there after killing Maria.”
“Damn!” Ben screamed and released him. “This tells me nothing! I should have had surveillance set up at that school, at their house! I was careless! I should have...” he paused, thinking about the gifts he sent over. “The tablet, the tablet!” he screamed and ran out of the space.
Before he could get all the way out of the room, Sean called out behind him. “She will be alone. She trusts no one.”
Ben raced down to his cell and searched the place flipping everything in sight until he located what he needed. He had people sneaking things in for him during his entire stretch, and they had brought in a cell phone. Only his lawyer Broderick knew about it, and he was the only he ever contacted on it. He was sure to always keep it concealed just in case someone ever tried to roll over on him. If discovered, it would add more time to his sentence, and he couldn’t afford that.
Ben looked at the phone with trembling hands. He had never been so nervous in all his life. He dialed Broderick’s number nervously awaiting his response. When he answered, Ben almost dropped the phone on the floor dripping with anticipation. Once he explained his theory, Broderick rushed off the phone to alert Melissa. After ending the, Ben flopped down on the bed with his head in his hands. How the situation got this bad was beyond him. If he hadn’t jump-started this whole thing by trying to meddle with Alex, they wouldn’t be in this situation.
All the years of ruthless business deals and intimidation of others for his own personal gain was coming back to bite him. Now his innocent and sweet granddaughter was paying the price for all of his past misdeeds. If only he had let go of Maria when she left none of this would have happened. Now he felt completely to blame and if anything happened to Allison, he would never forgive himself.
Now that he had possibly started a rescue attempt for his darling Allison, all he could do now was sit back and wait. He knew receiving news was going to take a while, but he would wait up all night if he had to. His family needed him, and whatever he could do to help he would.
***
Meg sat numbly rocking herself back and forth on Allison’s bed, staring out the window. She blamed herself for not getting there sooner. If she had only insisted that they keep her out of school until the drama was averted, then her little girl would be safe in her arms. She scanned the room filled with all of her things and collapsed onto the bed.
Her loud sobs filled the room as her tears soaked the pink comforter. Marisol heard her cries and rushed inside the room, kneeling down in front of her. Marisol brushed the hair from her face and rubbed her back soothingly humming an old Spanish tune in her ear trying to soothe her pain.
They carried on in this position for over thirty minutes and Meg cried out her frustrations. Marisol tried her best to help, but her calming voice did nothing to stop the flow of tears streaming down Meg’s face. It wasn’t until Alex appeared in the doorway that she moved from the position she was in.
When Meg looked up and saw Alex, she stopped crying just for a second, and then started right back up. He sent Marisol away, and took her position beside Meg wrapping his arms around her. She allowed herself to mold into his embrace and he kissed her forehead. He held her close and held his tears in as he ran his hand up and down her back.
Her body shivered in his arms, and he felt horrible. He had made her a promise to always be there and protect them, but he had let their little girl get abducted from a place where she was supposed to be safe. He felt like a complete failure, and he had no words to express his regret to her.
When she felt his arms close tighter around her, she sat up to look into his eyes. She saw the sadness and the guilt and ran her hand down his cheek. “Alex,” she straightened her posture. “What are we going to do? Crying isn’t going to bring our baby home. We have to get ourselves together, for Alli.”
Alex stood and pulled her up from the bed with a renewed spirit. “Sweetheart, we are going to find her. I won’t leave one stone unturned. We are going to find our daughter today, I won’t sleep until she is back in this house.”
Meg looked at him and smiled at the determination in his eyes. She placed her hand in his and started to walk out of the room feeling hopeful for the first time today. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found Maddie and Nathan both on phones, placing calls and Gio, Marco and Lexie were all on the computers looking for any clue they could find about Amanda Leon. As she scanned further, she found Emily and Aiden also on their computers.
Meg was overwhelmed by the support and help they were receiving. When everyone noticed her and Alex at the bottom of the stairs, they stopped and looked. Maddie offered her a beautiful smile and went back to her call. Meg was so happy to see them all, but something was puzzling her. When they went upstairs, there were a battalion of police in their living room, and now there was none. Just as Meg was about to ask what happened to them, the front door flew open.
Rogelio made his way in with a small guard of six and Melissa and Emilio were with him holding Jordan. Meg looked the group over and decided that Melissa must have had the officers replaced with different ones Rogelio trusted more. Watching them walk in, she dismissed her questions and soon Matt and Melia trailed in with Cienna, drawing her attention away from them.
As Meg greeted the couple and hugged Cienna, she saw a hooded person walk in behind the guards and went blank. Melia studied her expression and waved her hand in front of her face. “Meg, what are you looking at? What’s going on?”
“Who is that?” Meg whispered, pointing at the hooded figure.
Melia adjusted her attention towards the unnamed person and studied them as well. “I don’t know, but something seems familiar.”
“Yeah,” Meg sighed. When Emilio walked over and placed a hand on both their shoulders and motioned for Maddie and Gio to join them, Meg put her hand on her head. “Oh god! It can’t be! I thought... but how... Mom?”
Maria dropped the hood and the whole room went silent. Meg reached out to touch her face to be sure she wasn’t imagining things and drew back when she realized it was really happening. Maddie gasped and burst into tears, but Melia just stood staring blankly.
When Maria walked forward, Melia stepped back, bumping into the small end table behind her. Maria smiled to her other two girls and Gio, but advanced on Melia with determination in her eyes. Without speaking a word, she stood before her and without hesitation, she drew her hand back and slapped Melia across the face.
Melia was in a state of delirium and everyone watching gasped loudly. Maria had never hit either of the girls and they were shocked beyond measure. Maria placed her hands on both of Melia’s shoulders and pulled her closer.
“My darling girl, papa and I always shielded you. I’m afraid we didn’t give you a reason to fight for anything, and that’s our fault. When I slapped you just then, what did it make you feel? It would make me angry and when I get angry I fight. I fight for what I want, what I need, and I want you to do the same. Don’t let my mistakes hinder you for the rest of your life.”
Melia was still in her delirious episode. This was crazy, her dead mother had just slapped her and given her relationship advice. This had to be some crazy dream. Melia reached out and slapped herself and everyone started laughing hysterically.
“The women in this family are craz
y,” Gio huffed. “First ghosts are slapping people now they’re slapping themselves.”
“I’m no ghost, son, I can assure you,” Maria smiled and touched his cheek.
After the sudden shock wore off, they all crowded Maria, covering her in hugs and kisses. Matt watched with a huge grin, but Aiden crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat. “I’m so glad you’re alive, but how? I think we all have that question on our mind. I identified your body, and when I told them I thought I was wrong, they proved it was you.”
“That would be my fault,” Melissa interjected. “I couldn’t let you find the truth before we were ready. I thought that if Amanda knew she had killed the wrong sister, she would come after all of you. It was a hard choice but I stand beside it.”
“How did you find out?”
Melissa inhaled and cringed. “Your father alerted me.”
“What? I’m confused,” Alex chimed in. “How would he know?”
“Your father was in love with Maria, he is one of the only people who knew she was a twin. When he saw the autopsy photos, he realized the dead woman couldn’t possibly be Maria.”
“The tattoo,” Aiden smiled. “It’s what tipped Matt off.”
While they all talked and figured the mystery out, Meg wandered off by herself. As happy as she was to see her mother, she was still thinking about her daughter being with that crazy woman. The chances of her hurting Allison were slim, but she just didn’t like her being away from them. She could be crying and upset, but there was nothing she could do about it. When Maria saw her, she followed closely holding up her hand to stop Alex, who was in pursuit.
“Meg,” she called out around the dark corner.
“Mom, I’m here,” she replied tearfully. “Flip on the light if you want.”
Maria turned on the light in the room and sat down on the couch. She motioned for Meg to join her and wrapped her in a protective embrace. Meg melted into her and sighed in relief. “Sweetie, I know it feels hopeless, but we will find your daughter. I’m just glad I could be here for you.”