Chapter 21

They made Tess and the children stay for a little while longer. Her father had gone to Albuquerque to take care of business for her. The lawyer they were using for the divorce was in the firm her father’s company employed, and Ed Hardy did not want to wait to get proceedings underway. His little girl was finally free, and he did not want to give her a chance at reconciliation.

“I should really go. It’s late. The kids and I will be fine until my dad gets back.” Tess and her father had spent the early evening moving their belongings into his house.

There was a knock at the front door, and Maria smiled. “That’s probably him looking for you! I’ll get it.” She rushed off, swinging her new cast as easily as the last. It was heavier, but it had an added advantage of being raspberry in color.

The color inordinately pleased her.

“Hi!” Maria was not prepared. Her voice rose in a high squeak. “Billy!”

“Hi, precious.” Maria made a face and refrained from gagging. Off balance, Billy took advantage and moved her aside entering the house. He paused to kiss her, but Maria, regaining some of her wits, moved her face to the side so the kiss landed on her cheek.

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re here, where else would I be?”

Maria crossed her arms. “Perhaps getting blown by some new talent? I don’t know, and I no longer care! I fired you.”

“You were just upset.” Billy smiled a charming grin, calculated to break her resolve. His hair was slightly long, a little shorter on the top. He sported a well-clipped and groomed beard, and he was dressed in a nice casual suit he used for business.

Maria frowned. Well hell, were his eyes always hazel? She had forgotten that. His voice was low and nasal, with a hint of a twang. Billy thought it inspired confidence and trust to have a touch of the south in his voice. Personally, Maria thought it made him sound like a bad Elvis impersonator.

“You have to leave. Now.” Maria opened the door.

“I’m not leaving. I just got here.”

“Wasted trip. I’m not buying whatever you’re selling. Go away!” Billy smiled his big cheesy grin, and Maria sighed. “Do not make me get some bug spray. I will coat you in it.”

“Honey, what’s going on?” Maria lifted a brow at the ‘honey’ endearment. Oh, Michael, to the rescue again, he was getting good at it.

“Nothing. Door to door salesman, he was just leaving.”

“Siding?”

Maria laughed under her breath. “Yes, of the aluminum type.”

Michael rocked on his feet, and molded his body to Maria’s, holding her close. “Sorry, we’re not interested. We only use natural products on our house. Artificial or cheap ones have no place here.”

Billy’s face infused with color as he noted Michael’s arm around Maria’s waist, but before he could comment, a hand grabbed his shoulder. It took that split second between seeing the fist coming for his eye, and actually feeling it for Billy to realize he was in trouble.

“Sean!” Maria stood over her one-time fiancée. Gesturing at the man at her feet, she looked at Michael. “See! I told you he has uncurbed violent tendencies.”

Michael scratched his eyebrow. “I take it this is Billy?” Maria nodded. Michael turned to Sean. “You might have let me hit him.”

“Forget it. It’s my job.”

Maria pushed her cousin away. “Oh, stop it!” She stooped down to look at Billy. Peering up at Michael, she shook her head. “Don’t encourage him. It’s official. He now has punched every one of my boyfriends but you, so I’m warning you, you’re next.”

“Noted. Thanks.” Michael reached down to haul up the bewildered Billy.


“What are you doing?”

Michael shrugged. “I thought I’d take out the garbage.”

Sean laughed and took Billy’s other arm. “Let me help you with that.”

“Good, I can respect a man who picks up after himself.”

Sean made a laughing noise and shook his head. “And you’re getting involved with Maria? She’s a pig.”

“Hey! Am not!”

“I already know that.” Maria huffed and turned away. She would seek better company in the kitchen, and without sparing Billy a second thought, she went to search for Michael’s hidden cheese doodles.

Sean and Michael had barely dragged the woozy Billy out of the veranda and down the stairs when they noticed Sheriff Valenti striding towards them. The two men looked at each other and dropped the Elvis-wannabe.

“Sheriff,” Michael greeted him pleasantly.

“Are you boys having some trouble?”

Sean and Michael shared a look and then both shrugged, answering, “Naw,” at the same time.

Jim shook his head. He was too busy to care about this now. “I need to locate Tess Evans.”

“She’s in the house, so you’d better come in.” Michael walked away, already forgetting Billy on the front lawn.

The group was shocked as Jim explained he needed Tess for questioning. She stood up, pale and wan. Sean started to help support her, but Maria beat him to it, waving him off. This was trouble Tess did not need.

“Dead? Liz Parker is dead?” Tess could not wrap her mind around the words. They were like gibberish, senseless and dumb to her ears.

“I’m sorry, Tess. I have to ask you some questions. I understand that you slapped Liz this afternoon, and…”

“She’s fucking my husband.” Tess said in a quiet tortured voice. She was a main suspect. Of course she was. Who could hate Liz Parker more?

Maria bit her lip, and she noticed the children listening, seeing everything. Michael was right. People forgot sometimes that children were in the room and noticed everything. “Michael...” She nodded to the children.

Michael swore. “Sheriff, does Tess need to make a statement tonight? She’s hardly in a good condition and this has to be stressful for her baby.”

“Sorry, Michael. It has to be now.”

“I’m going with her.” Maria said she went to get her bag and jacket. Michael followed. If Maria went, he sure as hell was going too.

“Sean, I have to go with Maria. Can you watch the children?” Michael asked.

Sean smiled at Tess and quickly squeezed her hand. “I’ll watch them, I promise. If your father comes, I’ll tell him where you are.”

“Thank you, Sean.” Tess looked at her children, kneeling between their chairs she smiled. “I want you to behave and listen to Mr. DeLuca. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Tess hugged Chloe close, but her eyes remained on Zan. “Zan?” The little boy quickly hugged his mother too. “It’ll be alright, I promise. This will be over really quick.”

“Tess.”

She kissed them quickly and stood. Nodding to the Sheriff, she looked at Sean. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Then don’t. You go take care of this Ms. Tess, and the kids will be fine. I’ll order them some pizza; we’ll build a tent city in the living room. They’ll be okay.”

Tess nodded and she let the Sheriff lead her out with Michael and Maria, looking back at her children one last time.

~~~

“Are they going to arrest my mom?”

Sean squatted down to the boy’s level while holding Chloe. “No. Your mother was with your grandfather this evening. He’s in Albuquerque, and once he gets back, he’ll tell them. They need to ask her some questions, that’s all.”

“I hate my dad.”

Sean closed his eyes, hearing the stark anger in the small child’s voice. His father had let this into their lives, made it part of their living history, and now memories. He had heard that voice too many times himself. He used to say the same thing, but it wasn’t true. He did not hate his father.

“Zan, you’re angry. You only think you hate him right now, but inside, you don’t. You’re disappointed because he’s not who you want him to be. It will get better. Believe me. Your mother doesn’t want you to lose your father or hate him.”

“He hurts her,” Zan sniffed, holding back tears. Chloe didn’t even try. She was crying on Sean’s shirt.

Sean looked at the two devastated children. It had been a tough day, and their little world had exploded into a larger, scarier one full of confusion and the unknown. They were worried and afraid about what tomorrow would be. Making a decision, he stood up.

“Okay, forget the pizza, we need some real food - cheeseburgers and fries. Let’s go.” Sean hesitated about taking them back to the Crashdown, but they needed to replace that scene from this morning with something normal. He did not want that one moment to be the only thing they ever remembered about the café.

Sean set the kids up at the counter, and both were thrilled with the chairs as they spun around. Jeff Parker spotted him immediately and he came to serve them. Sean’s smile faltered. Obviously, the police had not gotten as far as informing Jeff Parker about his daughter. Oh damn, frickin’ bad choice of restaurants, Sean, you idiot! Sean mentally castigated himself.

“Sean, it’s good to see you again.”

“Mr. Parker.” Sean tried to appear casual, but he was struggling. “Can you get my friends here something special?”

Jeff looked at the two Evans children, and his smile struggled. Rubbing his chest, he could feel the heaviness in it. The pain these small children would experience in their lives was a direct result of his daughter’s actions, and that guilt pulled at him.

“I got something special. How about a special ice cream swirl, some cheeseburgers, and a huge plate of Saturn Rings?” Zan and Chloe both nodded enthusiastically. Jeff looked at Sean. “It’s my treat.”

“That’s not necessary, Mr. Parker.”

“No, I insist.” He wrote up the ticket and put a no charge order on it adding Sean’s order as well. “It’s good to see you Sean. You look healthy. I hear your business is growing. How is your father?”

“He’s fine. I called him, and he should be down here soon.”

“Really?” Jeff nodded and excused himself to go see to another customer. Sean watched him swearing under his breath. He should say something, but the children were there. They had heard too much already.

“Jeff, is that Sean DeLuca?”

Jeff finished putting in another order and went into the back room to check on stock for the kitchen and the soda fountain area. “You know it is.”

“He looks so much older. God lord, it must have been a good seven years since I saw that young man. He was such a rascal.”

“Eight years, Mom. He stopped coming to Roswell the same time Maria did.” Jeff paused for a moment. “He says that Peter’s coming home.”

Claudia was quiet for a moment. “It would be good to see Peter.”

“I bet.” Jeff could not hold his tongue. All these years and all the lies were weighing him down. Maybe his daughter had inherited this deceit from them. “I know.”

Claudia went still, her eyes quickly searched her son’s face. “Know what, Jeff?”

“About Peter.” Jeff stopped working. “He was my best friend! I recognized the birthmark.” Jeff lifted his sleeve to show a small discoloration on his arm. “Liz has one too. All us Parkers have it. My father, my daughter, myself, and…my brother.”

Claudia closed her eyes. “You think you know, but you don’t. It’s not what you think.”

“Then tell me it’s not true! Tell me that Peter DeLuca isn’t my brother. I know he’s not Samuel Parker’s son, because Uncle Sam was dead before Amy was born. Peter was born the year after her.”

“Son…”

“Do not lie to me! I’m hardly a child. I deserve the truth.” Jeff paled. “Did Amy know? Is that the secret you’re hiding? She found out, and during her fight with you over the site, you killed her.”

“No! I did not!” Claudia closed her eyes wringing her hands. “Jeff, you have to understand…”

“No, I don’t.” Jeff stopped working. He had nervously moved things about. “That young man out there is my nephew. He doesn’t even know that. Does Peter know?”

“No. None of you children were ever to know. We made a pact, Lila, your father, and me. We raised you close so you could be together, but this was never to come out.”

“My father had an affair with Lila DeLuca, and you think I shouldn’t know? How could you stay her friend? She and Dad betrayed you!”

“Son,” Claudia quickly grabbed her son, “I told you, it’s not as it seems. They didn’t have an affair, not really. You know that your father and Sam were twins. When Lila lost Samuel, she was devastated. He was sterile, so he couldn’t give her children. After he died, she moved on, and that’s how she got Amy. That marriage was doomed. The man she married wasn’t Samuel and Lila couldn’t give her heart to him, so she had the marriage annulled.”

“What does that have to do with Dad or you?”

Claudia bit her lip nervously. Oh lord, she never thought to have to tell this story, especially with her husband, Geoff, and Lila both gone!

“Lila and Sam were more than your father’s twin and his wife; they were our best friends. Lila loved Amy so much, and she was old. She was getting too old to have more children so her time was short. She wanted another child. She wanted Sam’s baby. Your father was the closest to Sam she would ever find. He was Sam’s twin. There isn’t much difference genetically between twins.”

“What are you saying, Mom? You knew, and it didn’t bother you?”

Claudia did not want to talk about this. “Artificial insemination wasn’t possible back then, and yes, I knew. I never knew when or how many times, and I never asked. All I knew was Lila was pregnant, and they never saw each other that way again.”

“God!”

“It wasn’t a bad thing, Jeff. We loved Lila, and wanted her to have something of Samuel.” Claudia smiled slightly. “We were Peter’s godparents, and it meant a lot to your father to watch him grow up, but he would never claim Lila’s son as his own.”

“What the hell is wrong with this damn town? God, no wonder my daughter ended up the way she did.”

“Excuse me...” Sean stood in the doorway, his brow drawn in a frown. He had not wanted to interfere or interrupt a family discussion. The Parkers were having a bad day, and after sitting outside, he could not be part of the silence. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”

Claudia smiled seeing her husband in Sean DeLuca. He was her grandson too. “Sean! It’s lovely to see you.”

“Mrs. Parker.” Sean shifted on his feet and his face was deathly pale. For a moment, both Claudia and Jeff thought he heard their discussion. “I’m sorry, I wish I could…” Sean licked his lips and took a deep breath. “I’m really sorry. I think you need to go down to the police station and see Sheriff Valenti. It’s about Liz.”

Whatever they were expecting, that was not it. Sean stood in the doorway between the back breakroom and the café. Jeff could see beyond him two young Deputies entering the restaurant.

“Liz? What’s wrong with Liz?”

Sean followed Jeff’s glance and he grimaced. “Please, Sir. Go. I can’t…” Sean could not tell him. He didn’t know Liz Parker, except from earlier that day, and what he knew, he didn’t like. However, her family loved her. “I’m so sorry.” Sean quickly went to the children.

“Mr. Parker,” said the young Deputy, his eyes worried and sympathetic. Claudia quickly grabbed her son’s hand.

~~~

“Tess, it shouldn’t be much longer. Your father already left Albuquerque. He must be in transit.” Jim put his hands on the table. Michael and Maria were outside in the main squad room waiting for Tess. “Normally, I wouldn’t have called you in, but given the circumstances we can’t neglect any possible scenario.”

“Is Max here? Does he know?”

Jim looked at Hanson. “He knows. He found her.”

Tess breathed out deeply. “He was at the DeLuca Manor about an hour ago. We had words and he left. I believe he had been there earlier, around two hours previously trying to find me and see the children.” Tess moved her hair from her face. It was surprisingly damp, and her skin felt clammy. “I think he waited in his car for me to arrive to pick up the children.”

“That would alibi him.” Jim made a mark on his notebook. “Hanson, send a few units to canvass the DeLuca neighborhood. See if anyone noticed Max Evans’s car parked there.” Hanson was out the door, as Tess frowned at Jim.

“You really don’t think Max had anything to do with this?”

“It’s hard to say.” Jim did not like mixing this young woman’s life into this mess, but there was no way not to do so. “I’m sorry that this will be a subject of discussion, but it can’t be helped. Your husband’s ongoing affair with Liz Parker was well known.”

“By everyone but me, apparently.” Tess said, with a touch of bitterness.

“Today your husband was discovered, and his family life was in jeopardy. It’s hard to say how desperate he could become. We don’t have a boot print to connect Liz to the other murders, and we can’t immediately assume it was the same killer.”

“But you think it is.”

Jim sighed, but nodded. “It feels the same to me. Evidence is what we need. Whoever it is, he’s smart. He left no blood prints, no fingerprints on the door, and no latent prints on Liz’s skin. It appears to be fast, clean and then he was gone. It probably took no more than ten minutes.”

That offended Tess more than anything else could. “It should take longer to take a person’s life.”

“It should.”

Tess looked at her hands. There was still evidence of the ink from fingerprinting, and they checked her clothing for blood splatter. This must have been how Jesse Ramirez felt when Isabel was murdered, a victim and a suspect at the same time.

“I hated her, that’s true.” Tess would not cry for Liz Parker, she could not be that much of a hypocrite. “But I can’t imagine this. It’s beyond me.”

Jim understood. How could he not? Standing, he looked at Tess. “I’ll send Michael and Maria in to wait with you. Your father should be back soon, and once he is, we’ll release you. Would you like something to drink?”

Tess swallowed hard. “Some crackers if possible, and water. I’m strangely sick to my stomach.”

“I’ll send it in with Maria.” Jim worried about Tess’s condition. She was almost eight months pregnant, and the stress could not be good for her unborn child. Jim shut the door to the interrogation room, looking across the room, he saw the Parkers enter the PD. Breathing deeply, he went to join them, to take them to the morgue at the hospital to ID their daughter. He stopped to send Michael and Maria into the room with Tess. He needed to give the Parkers some privacy.

Tess looked up when Maria and Michael entered the room. They quietly shut the door behind them. Maria kindly set a small cup of chicken broth in front of Tess, some saltines, and bottled water.

“What’s happening?”

Michael’s jaw clenched as he gritted his teeth. “The Parkers just showed up.” Tess pushed her hair off her face, but she couldn’t stand it any longer. She sank her head in her hands and cried.

“Tess, it’s going to be okay.”

Tess shook her head. “No, it’s not. It’ll never be okay again.” She looked bleakly at the two of them. “My children..., I have to know that they’re okay.”

“Sean is with them,” said Maria, but even she could tell it was not enough. “What if Michael went to get them? He could bring them here so they’re near.” Tess nodded. Yes. She needed to be able to see them.

“Please?”

Michael started to protest, but Maria’s pleading eyes stopped him. “You’ll stay here. Do not leave, and do not go out with anyone until I return.”

“I promise.” Maria followed Michael to the door. “I’ll stay with Tess, and if her father comes I’ll call you on your cell.”

Michael nodded. “Do not leave. Promise.”

“I promise.”

“Absolutely promise.”

Maria smiled and kissed him quickly. “I absolutely promise.” Michael shook his head. He reluctantly left to return to the Manor.

~~~

“May I see my wife?” Max asked.

Hanson shook his head. “We contacted your father. I’m sure you’ll want representation.”

“God!” Max sunk his head into his hands. His whole frickin’ life was shit. In one day, it went completely to hell. “I…I found her. I didn’t kill her! I wouldn’t. I loved her.”

“Mr. Evans. I am advising you to wait for counsel. It’s in your best interest.”

“Do you think I care? God! I should have told you. I should have told.” Max covered his face with his hands. “If my silence killed Liz…I’ll never forgive myself.”

Hanson moved closer. “What should you have told us?”

“My father killed Amy DeLuca!”

~~~

Shadows moved in the dark house. There was a hush in the wood with the sounds of the kitchen door opening and the clinking of keys. A hand reached out to turn on the light, and the clicking of the light switch flipping up and down was loud in the house.

“Dammit! Where the hell are the lights?” The lock was bad enough. He had struggled to unlock the door for a few moments. “The damn lock needs replacing too.” Going inside, he shut the door, and went to the utility drawer for the flashlight they kept in the kitchen.

It was not a sound that alerted him that he was not alone, but rather a stiffening of his neck as the hairs stirred and stood on end. Turning, a burning sensation burst in his side as his eyes met those of the killer’s. It took a few seconds to register the removal of the kitchen knife, and he stared at his bloody hand as it came away from the wound in his side.

Collapsing where he stood, he looked up at the killer, and knew that he was dead. He saw what Maria saw all those years ago. He was looking upon the face of Amy’s killer. Astonishment moved over his face, as the killer advanced once again.

~~~

“No, you got it wrong, pal. Baseball is a regal sport, full of so much more than just running around bases! I’ll show you how to catch a ball, and you’ll see. It’s like a fire in your blood.” Sean handed Zan the bag as he shifted Chloe in his arms trying to open the door. “Here, hold this.”

The house was dark, and they entered through the front door. “Zan, there’s a light switch beside you. Be a pal and turn on a light.”

“Chloe’s afraid of the dark.”

Sean gave the little girl a kiss on the cheek. “That’s okay. She doesn’t have to be afraid. I have her. Don’t I, Ms. Chloe?”

Zan hit the switch, but the lights didn’t come on. Sean frowned, putting little Chloe down but retaining her hand. “Fuse must have blown. They’re in the basement. Let’s go get the flashlight from the kitchen.”

Sean cautiously led the way to the kitchen, but his feet faltered, slowing along the way. It was the house. It felt wrong, violated. Entering the kitchen, he was shocked to hear his name in a weak voice that came from the floor.

“Sean…run.”

Sean turned to Zan, pushing Chloe at him. “Zan, take Chloe! Hide!” He heard the small boy’s footsteps running as he turned back to the room.

He felt the swishing of air before he felt it, a stabbing pain in his arm, followed by a slash along the top of his shoulder. He feinted to the side, otherwise the slashing motion would have slit his throat.

Running into a shadowed figure, he pushed hard, ramming them both into a wall. They struggled, and Sean heard the knife clatter on the floor. Struggling to keep his feet, he could feel the blood running down his arm, dripping from his hand.

The kitchen door opened, and a figure ran out. Sean tried to pursue, but he couldn’t, his body was losing too much blood. The cut in his shoulder had to be severe, a large vein or artery. Dropping on his knees, he tried to locate the other person, scrambling. He found him on the floor behind the table.

Succumbing to the loss of blood, Sean hit the floor, and for a moment or two, he lost consciousness. Black spots swirled behind his eyes. He woke staring into eyes that were fighting to stay open, as pain and blood loss threatened to close them forever. There were tears running down his face as he struggled to stay alive, mixed with horror that he had not saved Sean.

“Don’t die. Stay with me. Stay...” Sean’s voice was hoarse and dry. He could barely find enough moisture to lick his lips. He watched as the eyes of his father closed. Damn. Peter DeLuca was silent now, but it was his weak call to his son that had saved Sean and the children.

“Zan! Zan, help…” Sean could see the kitchen phone, but he could not see a way of reaching it. His body felt numb and heavy.

Zan was in a small crawlspace beneath the stairs, holding his hand over Chloe’s mouth to keep her from screaming. She was softly crying, holding onto him tight. He heard Sean after the noise of the brawl ended. The little boy’s heart was pounding in his chest at a breakneck speed. It hurt. His throat was dry with fear.

“Zan…”

Gathering his courage, he looked at his little sister. “Chloe,” he whispered. “Stay here. You stay here, and don’t make a sound. I’ll come back for you. Okay?” Chloe nodded as Zan pushed her further in the corner and tried to cover her up with whatever was available.

Zan slowly emerged from the crawlspace, his eyes adjusting to the dark. Slowly, he crawled soundlessly on the floor towards the kitchen. Getting to the door, he peered into the room. The kitchen door was open, and he could see a bloody knife on the floor, then a heap.

Moving cautiously, he edged his way towards the knife. Picking it up, he continued to the heap. Sean. He saw Sean.

“Zan…” Sean gasped, his breathing labored as he tried to stay conscious. “Zan…911. Call for help.”

Dropping the knife, Zan scrambled to the phone. It was too high on the wall for him. He took a chair from the kitchen table and put it up against the wall. Climbing up, he dialed the emergency number his mother taught him.

“911 Emergency. Can you….”

“He killed them! Help….he’s dying. Help…”

The 911 operator paused, the voice of a frantic child stopping her from answering another call. “Where are you? Can you give me your name?”

“Zan. I’m Zan. He’s bleeding.”

“Zan, I need you to stay on the line. I have the address. Help is on the way. Zan! Don’t hang up, honey! Stay on the line...”

“Hurry,” the little boy whispered. He put the phone down and went to pick up the knife. Going back to the chair, he huddled against the wall beside the chair holding the phone and knife. “Hurry...,” he whispered in the dark.

Chapter 22

Michael walked out of the Roswell PD heading for his truck. He paused as he saw his partner walking towards him. Alex. Oh, damn. Michael groaned. Payday, it had been payday, and he never went to work!

“Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” Alex asked in irritation. “Did you forget to recharge your cell again or do you have it turned off?”

Michael quickly checked his cell phone. He had used it earlier that day to call Alex. Frowning, he registered the low battery light. He forgot to recharge it last night because he stayed at the trailer.

“Low battery.”

“Fucking great! I’ve been calling you all day.”

“Sorry about payday, Alex.”

“Forget that! I had the accountant co-sign the checks.” Alex fell into step beside Michael as they walked to the parking lot. “I chased down the black funeral lilies sent to Maria. You’re not even going to believe this!”

Michael stopped. “Tell me.”

Alex stretched in tiredness. He needed a bloody vacation. “Six shops. I had to go outside of Roswell. The bitch ordered the suckers from Las Cruces.”

“Alex, I’m not very patient today.”

“When are you ever?” Alex gestured for Michael to shut up. “Courtney. She ordered the flowers for Maria.”

“Courtney?” Michael’s face darkened. “I should’ve killed that bitch!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, heard it all before. Keep your shorts on, Kemo-sabi.” Alex waved a piece of paper at Michael. “Do you want to go confront the wacko?”

“Let’s go!” Michael and Alex took Michael’s truck pulling out the Roswell PD parking lot at an illegal speed.

Courtney’s place was in a bad part of town. It was a set of housing built for low-income singles, with no lawns, and small units. They knocked on the door, and when there was no answer, Michael raised his eyebrow at Alex.

Alex sighed. “Yeah, move aside!” Alex looked around and pulled a knife, jamming it between the wall and the doorjamb, he used a credit card to snap the lock. “You know, with your reputation as a bad boy, you’d think you could bother to learn to pop a lock.”

“Why should I? That’s why I’ve got you.”

Alex put away his knife. “I’m telling Maria the truth! I’m the real bad boy, and you’re a fake.”

“Too late, she already believes the worst about me. That’s why she was attracted to me in the first place.”

Alex snorted. Shit, you snooze, you lose. “Did I mention I saw her first?”

“Don’t make me hurt you. Shut up and start searching.”

Alex turned on the light. Hell, they were already inside. If they were caught, it was breaking and entering whether they used the lights or not. They might as well toss the place in comfort.

“What are we looking for?”

Michael looked through the girl’s music. Damn. Top 40 love songs and Brittany Spears. There was no way in hell he would have ever dated her. “Someone’s been watching me. I could feel it. I think someone was in the house the other night, as well. Look for evidence of that. Maybe notes about my routine, and crap like that. I’m telling you, she somehow knew I was at the trailer.” Michael looked at his partner. “You know what I say about coincidences?”

“There are none.” Alex moved through the room. It was depressing. Single main room with bedroom, kitchen and living all together, and a bathroom. “Shit, we need to give our secretaries raises.”

Alex wandered to a cupboard in the wall. Opening it, he whistled and stood back. “Yo, ho. Mike-man, check it out.”

Michael joined Alex and stood there in shock. There were pictures of him, lots of them, a few of his personal items, including a shirt he lost over six months ago. There was a pair of boots.

“Holy crap.”

“Wow, Shrine-O-Guerin. This chick has a major jones for you.”

“You think?” Michael said sarcastically frowning at the display. “Why the hell do I attract certifiables?”

“Oh, I am so telling Maria.”

“Too late, she already knows I think she’s a loon. She forgave me.”

“Stomped on again!” Alex shut the cupboard because it was too creepy for words. “What do you want to do, partner?”

“Call the Sheriff. Kyle can back me up on Stalker Girl, but this is bordering on majorly freakish. With a killer on the hunt, it looks like Courtney has some ’splaining to do.”

“I told you we should have fired her sooner.”

“No, you didn’t. I did.”

“Nope. I remember saying so a few months ago.”

“You’re the one who hired her,” Michael reminded him on their way back to the truck.

“Oh, throw that in my face.”

That’s why I’m the senior partner.”

“We’re equal partners!”

“So then why does Guerin come first?”

“I was going to talk to you about that…”

Michael stopped in his tracks. “Dammit, I forgot Tess’s kids. You got me all distracted. She’s probably ready to drop her latest from worry. I have to swing by home. You call the Sheriff since my cell is dead.”

~~~

Jim slipped into the room quietly. Nodding at Hanson, he listened next to the door. He had been listening behind the one-way mirror. He ordered Philip Evans picked up.

“Why do you think your father killed Amy DeLuca?”

Max rubbed his face. “I saw them together. The night that Amy DeLuca disappeared, she came to our house. My father and Amy had a fight, and that’s when I thought he killed her.”

Max had been only a little older than Maria at the time. Hanson frowned. “What did they argue about?”

“I don’t know! I was a kid.” Max ran an agitated hand through his hair. “God, I just want my life back!”

“Tell me what you do remember, the sequence of events.”

Max took a deep breath. “My mother was gone that week. She had taken Isabel and they were visiting my grandparents. I had just recovered from the chicken pox, so she couldn’t take me. I had to spend the day with a sitter. My dad was late getting home that night, so I was supposed to spend the night over at Joey Michelson’s house, but he ate some dirt during play session and got sick, so I had to stay home. The sitter put me to bed early.”

“You didn’t stay in bed.”

Max shook his head. “I heard my dad come home, and watched as the sitter left. It was quiet so I went to see my dad when the doorbell rang. It was Amy DeLuca. Usually she was so nice and I remember her smiling, but not that night. She was in a hurry, and she followed my father into his office.”

“Did you go to the office?”

Max’s mouth was suddenly dry. “They were fighting. I heard my dad yelling, and he never yells. I was afraid. I heard my mother mentioned. I remember looking into the room and seeing Ms. DeLuca. She had a red mark on her face. I think my father slapped her.”

“What happened then?”

“I…I ran back to my room. I’ve never seen my dad so angry, and I didn’t want him to be angry with me.”

“Did you hear Amy DeLuca leave?”

Max shook his head no. “No. I never heard her leave, and she was never heard from again.”

~~~

Sam and Jim stood outside beside the coffee pot refilling their cups. It was going to be a long night. Philip Evans was in an interrogation room, and they were ready to go talk to him. Jim was stalling to increase Philip’s anger. He was more likely to lose control and slip up that way.

“What do you think about Max’s statement?” Sam asked.

Jim shrugged. “I believe he thought his father had something to do with Amy’s disappearance. The mark on her cheek was from Hank, but a small boy wouldn’t know that.” Jim dumped a ton of sugar in his coffee followed by creamer. Stirring, he looked at Sam. “Thing is, I don’t trust Max Evans. The man is so self-involved and self-centered he’s very questionable. His sister died brutally just over a day ago, and this morning he was slutting around with Liz Parker. He barely even acknowledges that his sister is dead, and yet, he’s all weepy over Liz. He gave up his father because he’s afraid that his father is the serial that killed Liz.”

“He’d rather let his father take the fall than him.”

“Exactly. He found her. She wrecked his life, ruined his marriage, and his own son doesn’t want to talk to him. Liz Parker was a big problem, and there is no evidence linking her to the other killings. Max Evans has more reasons than anyone to want Liz Parker dead, and though Tess is a contender, I’m positive her alibi will stick.”

Sam sucked in his bottom lip. “I know the M.O. changed, and there are no shallow graves, but I swear, Jim, it feels the same. To me, I get the same feeling. This killer knows how to hide. He’s been doing it a long time.”

“Granted, that’s true.” Jim sipped his coffee. “What bothers me are the bodies. First bodies, he dragged them, almost as if he couldn’t carry them, and the burial sites were at the scene of the murder. Later he got better. He killed in one place, and buried them in another.” Jim’s eyes narrowed. “Now he’s not even bothering to cover them up. He’s getting cocky and he doesn’t think he’s going to get caught.”

“Jeff Parker and Philip Evans were at the top of our suspect list, but both of them lost a daughter…in a terrible way. I can’t…no, I don’t want to think a father could do that to his own child.”

It was perplexing. Jim sighed. He had to agree. He did not want it to be either Jeff or Philip, because if it was either of them, it made it so much sicker.

“Jim, I think we have to examine what made him change. In the first murders it was like he was unsure, weaker, and covering it up was a thrill and a challenge. He got better and better at it, then he stopped when Maria DeLuca stopped coming home to Roswell.”

“Now he started again, and he’s changed.” Jim offered. “He started doing his old M.O., but then he shifted with Isabel. It was almost as if he realized something. He realized that he didn’t need to hide the bodies. So what happened in the last eight years to give him so much more confidence?”

Hanson noticed a wave from the clerk. “I don’t know. Our profiler is in on Monday; maybe they can work out the kinks. Are you going to question Philip?”

“Yeah, I’m sure he’s real steamed by now.”

“I’ll join you, but I need to check with the shift manager. She’s trying to get our attention.”

“Go.” Jim rubbed his face. Time to work. Going into the room, he was not surprised to find Philip Evans pacing the room.

“What the hell, Jim! I’m going to…”

“Sit down.”

Philip continued to pace. “I want an explanation immediately or I’ll have your badge!”

“I said, ‘Sit down’!” Philip gulped and sat down. No one used that tone of voice with him, but Jim Valenti’s eyes were stony and Philip realized that there was no pushing this man.

“I want to know…”

“What’s going on? How about the possibility of arresting you for Amy DeLuca’s murder?” Philip paled and he stopped boisterous protests. “I have an eyewitness that places Amy at your house, who claims you were arguing with her, and who claims you probably killed her.”

“That’s a lie! I did not kill Amy! Whoever said so is a liar.”

“That would be your son, Max. He saw you fighting with Amy at your house that night, and he never saw her leave.”

Philip went quiet. His hand fidgeted like a new non-smoker searching for cigarette that was no longer there. “I didn’t kill her. We argued, but she left the house very much alive.”

“What did you argue about?”

“It was private.”

Jim sat back. “We’re talking murder, nothing is private.”

“You have no proof she was murdered. None. For all any of know, she ran away.”

Jim nodded. That was true. “Do you really believe Amy DeLuca would leave Maria?”

Philip shut his eyes. He rubbed them tiredly. “No. No, she wouldn’t.” Philip looked at Jim and winced. “You have to understand, I was running for Town Council at the time. I couldn’t have any scandal attached to my name whatsoever, and what Amy wanted to do would…could have destroyed my political career if I agreed to let her.”

“What did she want, Philip? Help with the archaeological site? Did she want you to get an injunction to shut it down, maybe use your influence?” Maybe she wanted you to get Michael Guerin away from Hank?”

“No.” Philip swore under his breath. “She wanted me to let her tell you that I’m Maria’s father.”

~~~

Sam made his way down the hall to the emergency response center and found the operator.

“Vera said you had something important.”

The operator handed over the information. Scanning the sheet, he ripped it off the and rushed down the hall. Not bothering to knock, he entered interrogation.

“Sheriff, we’ve got an emergency response call from the DeLuca house. Jim, two adult men were transported to the hospital in critical condition, and the two Evans children were taken in as well. Crime scene and forensics are onsite. Walt thinks it’s our guy.”

Philip stood up. “My grandchildren?” Sam nodded.

Jim took the call sheet. “Go get Tess and the others. Did paramedics already move?”

“They’re enroute.”

Jim looked at Philip. “This isn’t over, but you better come with me.”

Tess and Maria left the other interrogation room with Hanson. Maria was not shy. “Jim, what’s going on?”

“We need to go to the hospital. Where’s Michael?”

Maria frowned. “Tess asked him to go home and get the children.” She looked at the expression on Jim’s face. “Jim, what’s going on?”

“Two adult males were transported to the hospital in critical condition from your house, and…” He looked at Tess. “Your two children were taken in as well.”

Maria quickly grabbed Tess with Jim, as Tess seemed to crumble. Maria could not talk. Michael! She had sent him home.

“I have to go to the hospital,” said Tess. “My children...”

Jim helped Maria with Tess. “I’ll drive you.” He looked at Philip. “Help me with your daughter-in-law.”

“Sheriff, what about Max?” Sam asked.

Jim swore. “You bring him. After you drop him off, you better check the crime scene.”

~~~

Peter DeLuca, not Michael. They were stunned with the news. Maria was too worried to speak, as she tried to imagine where Michael was and why her uncle was in the house. Jim was pacing the room when his phone rang. Answering it, he walked a few feet from the group waiting in the surgical waiting room.

“Valenti.” Jim listened. “Thanks, patch it through dispatch.” Jim listened to the clicks as the call was connected. “Michael?”

“Alex.”

“Alex, where’s Michael?”

“He’s sitting next to me. We’re on our way to his house.”

“Bypass the house. I need him to come to the hospital immediately. The surgical waiting room.”

“Sheriff…”

“Just get here!” Jim disconnected. He was not surprised to see Maria standing next to him.

“Michael?”

“He’s on his way.” Jim took her arm and led her to a seat. Tess was up in pediatrics with her children. The ER admitted them to the hospital for psychiatric evaluation. Philip, Max and an officer went with her.

Maria sat down heavily, hugging her broken wrist next to her body. “I thought it was him. That it was Sean and Michael.”

“I know.” Jim went silent. There was little to say. It wasn’t Michael, but it was her uncle. Peter DeLuca had walked into a house with a waiting serial killer.

“Was he waiting for Michael?”

“I’m not sure.” Michael, Sean, or Maria, it was hard to say who the intended victim had been. Jim rubbed his face. He was sick of it, all the lies, all the deceit, and all the years of silence. “Maria, about Philip Evans…”

“He’s my father.”

Well, there was much he expected her to say, but that was not on the list. For a moment, he understood how bemused she made Michael. She was so much her mother’s daughter, never in the least bit predictable.

“How…?” Jim cleared his throat. That was irrelevant. She knew. “When did you find out?”

“I read my mother’s journals. She wrote it all down. Everything.”

“I didn’t know.” Jim looked at Maria. “Did she say why she went to talk to him that last day?”

Maria shook her head no. “I didn’t find her last journal covering the last three months of her life. I did read how she had an affair with Philip Evans. He was separated from his wife at the time, and they worked together on the restoration project. By the time she knew she was pregnant, he had already gone home to his wife. I guess Mrs. Evans found out she was pregnant with Max, and she told him, so they reconciled.”

“Amy never told anyone.”

“My grandmother knew, and so did my uncle. They agreed that it was unnecessary to make me Philip Evans’ bastard. So they kept the secret.” Maria pulled at the material of her skirt. Her day had started early that morning, and in a short time, she would have been awake for twenty-four hours. “My mother promised Philip after she told him the news that she would not name him as the father. Originally, he wanted her to abort me, but my mom refused. That made it so much easier for her to cut him out of my life. She wanted me, and he didn’t.”

Jim groaned. “I changed that. Three weeks before she died, she was distant. I knew she was keeping something from me. Knowing your mother, she probably felt uncomfortable marrying me with this huge secret between us, and Philip refused to let her tell me because of his political aspirations. So when she showed up at my house with a bruise on her face, I was so sure she was seeing someone else.” Jim rubbed his forehead. “I thought she was going to leave me. I made things worse.”

Maria squeezed his arm. “It’s okay, Jim. She loved you. Someday, I’ll let you read her journals around the time she met you. They are…interesting.” Her eyes twinkled. That was a huge understatement. Her mother was very literal on the subject of Jim Valenti.

“Thank you.” Jim smiled, thinking of the day he first met Amy DeLuca. He arrested her, and she was spitting fire. “That should be enlightening. Are you going to tell Michael?” He almost added Sean to that, but refrained. Sean was in surgery in critical condition, he might not be around to tell.

“Yes, I think so. My mother might have promised to not tell, but I didn’t. I don’t plan to make it public knowledge because truthfully, Philip Evans weirds me out. But, I refuse to make this a secret I hold. I think this town has had too many secrets for too long.”

“Are you going to tell Philip that you know?”

Maria shook her head. “Why should I? He never wanted me, and I refuse to replace the daughter he lost. There’s only one man I ever thought of as my father, and that’s you. My Uncle Peter clearly comes in second.”

Jim kissed her cheek and stood up when he saw Alex and Michael.

“What the hell is going on?” Michael said as he charged into the room going straight to Maria.

Jim rolled his eyes. That one question was becoming a standard, and in truth, he hated it.

~~~

Tess stood outside the children’s room. She had been sitting with them for a while, but both were now asleep. Chloe held tightly onto her hand, and Zan kept asking for Sean.

“Tess…”

“I can’t talk to you right now, Max. Go away.”

“Let me take you home. You should rest. The stress isn’t good for the baby.”

Tess turned on him in anger while Philip Evans watched with distressed eyes. “Stress? Who put the stress in my life? And do not talk to me about my baby! The only part you have in it is the conception, but the children are mine. I raise them. I care for them. I lie to them when they ask why Daddy isn’t home.”

“I’ve made some mistakes.” Max shut his eyes for a second when Tess made an angry sound of disbelief. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear. To you, Zan and Chloe.”

“Easy promise to make, huh, now that Liz Parker is dead. What if she were still alive? What then, Max? Do you even know? I do. I would lose, and the children would lose. Well, today, I finally figured out that when you lose, you win. Losing you is like winning. You know what they say, ‘Once a cheater, always a cheater.’ Tell me why I should ever believe a word you say!”

Tess looked beyond Max and saw her father coming towards them. Giving a small cry of relief, she ran into his arms. Ed Hardy looked over his daughter’s head at Max Evans, and the feeling of hatred was enough to make Philip reach over to his son in defense.

“Let’s go home, son. You can visit the children when Tess says it’s okay.”

Max walked away, but every few steps he looked back. His father kept him walking. “Dad, I can’t…”

“Yes, you can.” Philip pushed his son into the elevator. “Let’s go check with Jim to see if it’s alright for us to go home. I’ll take you home to your mother. She could really could use your company with Isabel gone.”

Max hung his head remembering Liz. If Isabel was as bad as Liz…

“I’m sorry about Isabel.”

“Just remembering her now?” Philip felt the pain of his own double standard. He had been preoccupied with his secret, enough that he asked Jim to back off his daughter’s murder investigation. It was not one of his better moments. “I think when we get home, it’s important that we talk, not only about Liz, Tess and the children, but what it was you heard all those years ago.” Philip looked at his son. “I did not kill Amy DeLuca.”

Max nodded. His eyes were moist from pent up moisture. He had lost everything today, even his own self-respect, such as it was. “What am I going to do, Dad?”

“You’re going to grow up and take responsibility. Then you’re going to work like a demon to make amends. I doubt you can do anything to get Tess back, but you still have your children, and you have years to make it up to them.” Philip sighed. “You were once a quiet intelligent boy with a burning desire to prove yourself. Let’s work on finding that boy and helping him to become a man. Then we’ll see.”

“I’d like that.” Max looked at his father and went into his arms. He couldn’t remember the last time he sought comfort from his father. He had knocked around for so long on his own, making thoughtless errors and mistake. He had stopped believing in anything that one day when he was fifteen. It would be nice to finally have guidance.

~~~

Michael tried to tell Jim everything about Courtney while removing half the junk food Maria was trying to devour, but he gave up and let Alex do it. Alex was a man who liked to tell a story.

“It was totally freaky! It was Guerin-scape - everything Michael. The girl is not only lacking in taste, but seriously mental.”

Maria chuckled at that, and Michael shot her a dark look.

“Sorry.”

Michael made a face. “Should I mention Billy?”

“You are positively the meanest man I’ve ever met.”

Michael sat back smugly. Good. Best she have no illusions. He liked her, but chances of him becoming Ward Cleaver were slim.

“You didn’t touch anything?” Alex and Michael shook their heads.

“We saw the shrine, and it was mentally unbalanced enough to send us packing. We were out of there, this quick!” Alex snapped his fingers.

Michael glanced at Maria, “She had pictures of me. Lots of them. Some at work, some at home, and there were pictures of Maria. Courtney sent her the black flowers.” Michael didn’t want to say this, but there was no getting around it. “She had a pair of boots in the closet, and Jim, there were pictures of the inside of the house.”

It was impossible. Courtney was at most twenty-eight. She could not be their killer. They were looking for someone in their late forties to fifties. Jim rubbed his head trying to alleviate the headache.

She could be a copycat, or say a parent was the original and she took over for him, using the same boots. It could explain the eight-year hiatus and the change in M.O., especially the hate crimes towards the women. Isabel had a vendetta against Michael, and perhaps Courtney was taking care of anyone that harmed or bothered Michael. Jim stopped at that thought. Damn! That could be most of the known world, definitely a good portion of Roswell. Michael Guerin was easily irritated. Maria, oh shit, he could imagine the jealousy of seeing Michael and Maria together in more than a sexual relationship. Maria was the first woman Michael had had a real relationship with…he talked to her.



Jim took his phone and called it in. He put out an All Points Bulletin on a Courtney Banks. The shift manager took his request to have someone do a search and find out everything they could on her. His station house was busy of late, and for some reason, a very unflattering one, they appeared to be chasing their own tails. He watched Kyle and Sam walking towards him.

“Kyle, I told you to stay out of the investigation.”

“I am! I’m only doing superficial stuff, nothing to do with evidence.” Kyle was irritated. This started out as his case. “We’re a little shorthanded. I’ve answered calls at the station house for the last three hours. Seems word is spreading. I figure by morning the newspapers will have serial killer stories gracing their front pages.”

Jim should have known. It was a small town. Gossip ran like wildfire. He looked at Maria. “These memory flashes, how much can you recall?”

Maria bit her lip. “Only bits and pieces, but more and more are staying…nothing about what you want to know, mostly about Lila. I really can’t help you, Jim. I wish I could.”

“Start with the most recent one, Maria. You were fifteen, so your memories were better established.”

Maria shook her head, gesturing in disgust. There was a blank. Nothing. “I’m sorry.” She frowned looking down at the floor. “Wait!” The others looked at her hopefully. “I can’t recall events or details, but I can tell you that I had a sense that the girl I saw killed…I knew her. Somehow she was familiar to me.”

Jim looked at his deputies. That was something. “Maria, maybe if you looked at the girls missing that year, saw their pictures, it’ll spark a better memory.” Jim looked at Hanson. “How many were in the summer of 1995?”

“Three, Anne Pruitt, Gloria Ziegler, and Beth Carlson. Gloria Ziegler was the only one recovered.”

“Maria, can you go to the station and look at pictures?”

Maria sniffed and then nodded. They could not know how horrible this was. They were asking her to remember her own mother’s death along with these girls. She had buried all of this so deep, she didn’t know if she could do it. “I will after I see Sean and my uncle, but I have to know they’re okay.”

“I understand.” Jim looked at Hanson and lifted a brow. Sam nodded.

“Ms. Maria, perhaps I can find the time to bring the pictures to you?” Maria smiled at the man. He was so polite.

“Whatever is most convenient for you.” Maria rubbed her eyes. She was tired, and her head was a mess of confusion. She could barely think straight. Sleep, perchance to dream…Maria giggled to herself. Looking at Kyle, the dimple in her cheek deepened. “If only they were asking me to remember fun times, huh Kyle?” Kyle nodded, smiling he kissed her cheek. Her hand stroked his face.

“Fun times are always easier.”

“I could remind them of the time my mom and your dad took us fishing! I hated it because it smelled and you tried to convince me to put a clothes pin on my nose, like on cartoons.”

“You did it too.”

“It hurt! My nose was pink for the rest of the day.”

“It matched your lips.” Kyle laughed at the look on her face as indignation of past sins made her mouth open. He waited for the tirade, but Maria pinched him instead.

“How about you? You were wearing your father’s boots, stomping around in the shallow water, while Jim yelled at you to stop because  you were scaring away all the fish.” Mirth filled Maria’s eyes. “The boots were too big for a ten year old, but Kyle didn’t care. He kept wearing them as the water filled them.” Maria laughed. “He was the only person to catch anything that day! He caught guppies in the boots!”

Jim smiled, and Kyle covered his face. God, why didn’t she just pull out a baby picture of him nude on a bearskin rug?

Maria was doing well. She hugged Michael’s arm. “My mother was wearing yellow that day, and I remember her laughing as Jim tried to teach her to fish. She kept tangling the line and snagging it on something, forcing Jim to go in the water. One time, Jim realized she was doing it on purpose, and he pulled her in the water with him.”

Jim was remembering too, and suddenly his face became serious. “That happened a month before Amy disappeared.” Jim sat forward. “Maria, you just remembered your mother!”

“A month…but her journals I read were shy the last three months.” Maria put a hand to her forehead. “I didn’t read that! I remembered! I remember Amy!”

Chapter 23

Maria’s eyes fluttered open to the increased light. Her neck hurt. She was sleeping on Michael, and the chair they were sharing folded down into a makeshift bed. It was a tight fit since Michael was so much bigger and taller. He took up most of the room, so she was only on part of the bed and the rest on him.

Untangling herself from him, she stiffly stood up and stretched. Looking down at Sean in the bed, his entire shoulder in a white bandage and his chest bare, she sat down in a chair next to his bed, letting Michael sleep. It had been a long night. Sean came out of recovery in the early morning, but her Uncle Peter had remained. It was only two hours ago that they finally brought Peter DeLuca into the ICU in a room next to Sean.

Michael and Maria slept in Sean’s room. He would wake first. Peter DeLuca would remain unconscious for a while.

“Oh, you’re here, so I can’t be dead.”

“Sean.” Maria took his hand and smiled, but it was hard. Stupid tears kept flooding her eyes. “Didn’t think you could get rid of me that easy did you?”

“Dad?”

“Next door. He was in surgery for a long time. They had to remove part of his small intestines.” Maria shuddered at the thought. “You were in surgery almost six hours yourself. I think you should avoid having your subclavian vein severed again. It was really messy.”

“Thanks, I’ll add that to my list of  Don’ts.” Sean swallowed, his voice was low and scratchy. “Can you remember you love me and give me a sip of water?”

“It’s a stretch, but sure.” Maria held a cup while he sucked on the straw. The effort seemed to tire him. “Are you in pain? Should I call the nurse?”

“No. My head feels like it’s full of cotton wool. I think drugs are the last thing I need.” Sean was afraid to ask. “The kids? Zan and Chloe, are they…?”

“Upstairs. It traumatized them. The hospital admitted them for observation and psychological evaluation. Zan keeps asking for you.”

“Zan,” Sean smiled slightly. “That boy saved my life, and the life of my father. I don’t care what it takes or how much money, I’ll pay for every violin lesson he wants in his life. You bill me.”

“Sean DeLuca, did you really think I would ever charge that sweet child a red cent for lessons?” Maria admonished her cousin as a hand came to rest on her shoulder. Michael. Her hand went up to cover his.

“You’ll never make a living like that,” Michael teased her softly.

Maria made a phishing noise. “Guess I’ll have to find myself a wealthy man to keep me in a style I’ve never been accustomed to, or else go back on tour. I think I’ll let the future take care of itself.”

Michael looked at Sean. “Do you know who was in the house?”

Sean shook his head. “It was too dark. The lights were out. Dad came through the kitchen door. The attacker was waiting.” Sean closed his eyes for a moment. “Sorry, Guerin, looks like two more DeLucas made a mess of your kitchen.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s your kitchen too. I was planning on brazing the entire surface and starting over once Maria finished her cooking lessons.”

“You’ll never get a new kitchen then. I’m afraid cooking lessons and Maria don’t mix very well.”

Maria snorted, but refrained from commenting when she noticed Sean’s eyes closing. They watched him fall asleep, and Maria looked up at Michael. He reached down and pulled her out of the chair, hugging her tight. Neither said it, but they both were thinking it. It could have been one of them.

~~~

Max watched through the window. He was up early that morning, unable to sleep. His parents insisted on coming to the hospital to the see their grandchildren. It was difficult, but he couldn’t stay away, so he stood just outside the door and listened as Zan told his grandparents what happened.

Zan had been told that Sean was alive and out of surgery. Once new of the events spread, Zan was suddenly the focus of a lot of attention. Presents and gifts showed up in an alarming amount as the young boy was a hero.

Max closed his eyes trying to quell the nausea. So close. It had been so close. His children had been in the house with the killer who slaughtered his sister and lover. Maybe this was not about Maria DeLuca. Maybe it was about him?

Max pushed down his egotistical self-centered view that the world revolved around him, and listened to his son’s young voice. God! His son was more a man at six then he was at twenty-four, and that thought shamed him. It hurt to hear his son asking for Sean. Somehow, in a space of two days, Sean DeLuca had become Zan’s hero.

“Max, I thought I told you to stay away.” Tess had come up behind him unaware. She had gone to check on Sean for Zan.

Max looked at her. She looked beautiful, delicate and alive. The pregnancy made her look so healthy and radiant. Strange as it now seemed, but in all this time he forgot to look.

“Did you rest last night?”

“Yes. I slept here with the children.” Tess could not leave them. She never let them out of her sight, and the one time she did…

“They look better.”

Tess nodded. “The psychologist said that now it’s over and no one died, it’s slowly becoming more of an adventure. Chloe will forget it first, but she might have an increased fear of the dark and need more attention at night. Zan is recovering well. I think being treated as a hero has moved the entire event to a different place in his mind.”

Max nodded. “May I see them?”

“We agreed that you would let me decide when. I told you…”

“Tess.” Max held up a hand. “I’m not trying to manipulate them or you. They almost…” Max gulped hard. “They could have died. Do you think I don’t know that? They should have been in their beds safe and snug, but because of my actions, they weren’t. I realize that. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, but never once have I not loved them.”

“I’m surprised. You rarely find reason to blame yourself for anything.”

“Let’s agree I’m a dick, and go on from there.” Max smiled slightly when Tess wholeheartedly agreed. “I don’t want to hurt them or you. I did that already. I need to see them. I…,” Max struggled for a moment. He needed to touch them, to touch Tess’s stomach and feel his unborn child moving. After seeing Liz murdered, he needed to know that his family was safe from that horror.

Tess sighed, and took a deep breath. She took Max’s hand, and smiled. “Let’s go see our kids.”

The grandparents were with the children, and Ed Hardy was trying to put together a toy that Zan received in a present. They looked up when Tess walked in holding Max’s hand. Ed’s eyes narrowed taking in the gesture, but his daughter shook her head telling him that this was not a reconciliation. Relieved, Ed went back to his grandson and the toy.

“Daddy!” Chloe nearly bounced off the bed as Max caught her up in his arms.

“Little Bear!” Max hugged his daughter with all the strength he could muster. Sitting on the bedside, he looked over at Zan, but the young boy turned his back on his father and stared at his grandfather. Tess met Max’s eyes, she shook her head. Zan needed time, and Max would have to respect that.

~~~

Somerset Heights. Jim drove the long drive to the rest home with a sense of completeness, a sense of being finished. They had called first thing that morning. Ephrem Valenti had died in his sleep. Perhaps having his son tell him he had not killed Amy was enough to allow the old man to finally let go, but Jim suspected it was more that Ephrem knew that Jim would not stop until he solved the case. Somehow, there was a release knowing it was finally going to be over, the truth known.

“Sheriff Valenti.” Mr. Percy met him when he drove up. “Let me extend my heartfelt condolences.”

“Thank you.”

“I made all arrangements for the transport to the funeral home. The coroner’s office already signed the death certificate and released the body.”

“Thank you for taking care of everything.” Mr. Percy showed Jim into the office. They had a few final forms to sign, and then it would be complete. When Jim was ready to leave, Mr. Percy handed him a cardboard box.

“These are your father’s effects. I knew you would want the photos, and he had a few other things besides his posters and clothing.”

Jim smiled and thanked the administrator again, but walking back to his car, he felt the lightness of the cardboard box. A man’s life should be heavier.

~~~

It was already after lunch before Jim made it back to the hospital. Sean was awake, but Peter DeLuca was in critical condition. Maria refused to leave until her uncle was out of the woods. They finally took him back to surgery, suspecting they missed something as his pressure kept dropping.

“Any word?”

Maria shook her head, and paced. Michael watched her, worried that she was going to push a hole in her stomach along with the floor.

“Sean is sleeping. The narcotics keep knocking him out. Zan insisted coming to check on him, and it helped Sean a lot to see the boy healthy.”

“Michael, this entire business is a big mystery. I think I have pieces, and then they fall apart.” Jim sighed. “According to Zan’s story of the events, and what we pieced together, it appears that Peter came through the kitchen door, and the lights were out. He dropped his bags and went for the flashlight in a drawer.”

“The utility drawer. Lila always kept the flashlight, matches, and candles there.”

“Peter knew that. It used to be his home too.” Jim rubbed his tired neck. “I believe that the killer was on the verge of finishing Peter off in his signature gruesome way when Sean and the children came in the front door. I’m sure they made enough noise to draw the killer’s attention.”

“It should’ve been me.” Michael said. Jim frowned so Michael explained. “I was on my way home to collect the children. Tess is rarely separated from them, so she asked me to go get them.” More like begged, but Michael was not that uncharitable. He was, but just not today. “I never got there. Alex intercepted me in the parking lot, and we took off to find Courtney.”

“He may have saved your life.”

Michael swore under his breath. Great. Just great. If that annoying Alex Whitman discovered that, he would be wanting to change the company’s name and make himself senior partner.

“Don’t tell Alex. He’s already got a big head.”

“Only where it counts, partner! Don’t tell me what?”

“Nothing.” Michael ignored the amused Jim. “What are you doing here?”

Alex shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. It’s Saturday. I don’t have to work. Add in that I got a massive paycheck yesterday, a ton of everyone I know is in the hospital, and what do you know…here I am.” Alex smiled charmingly at Jim. “Do tell me..., what aren’t you supposed to tell me?”

Michael interrupted. “Why aren’t you out there spending your loot?”

“Already did.”

Michael’s face went blank in disbelief. “All of it? That’s impossible, even you can’t run through that pile in less than twenty-four hours.”

“Says you, but no. I invested most of it for a rainy day, or the event I should suffer a head trauma and decide to get married. Bought my new car, and so, here I am, all yours.”

“God,” Michael rubbed his face. “I lost a whole day of my life. Yesterday was like a week in twenty-four hours, and the payday I was waiting for came and went without me noticing. Surreal.”

“No worries. The accountant replenished your accounts with the money you loaned the company, and he deposited your paycheck. If it didn’t hurt so much, I think I’d defer paychecks for another six months in the future just for that big payout.”

“You always were such a masochistic little thing.”

“Who are you calling little?” Alex caught sight of Maria. “Maria, help me out here. Tell the dunderhead that I’m not little.”

Maria shrugged. “Drop them. I can barely remember, being you were such a tiny boy.” Michael laughed, and Alex hugged Maria hard. Michael ignored Alex and Maria’s antics and looked at Jim.

“Any word on Courtney?”

“Actually, yes. That was what I came to talk to you about, before I was distracted.” Maria and Alex stopped horsing around at the mention of Courtney’s name.

“You found her?” Alex asked.

“No. Not yet, but we searched her apartment. The physical evidence was…strange.” Jim inclined his head at Michael. “I’m starting to worry about you, Michael. You seem to have this ability to create obsession. First, Isabel with her ongoing vendetta, and now Courtney.”

“Who’d have thunk it?” said Maria, not bothering to mention her obsession with the big man. No one wanted to be part of a disturbing trend. Michael made eye contact with Maria and her breath hushed in her lungs. Damn him, he already knew she was obsessed. Her only redeeming thought was the knowledge that it was not a one-way street.

“The boots in the closet that we found, did they check out?” Alex asked.

“No. They surprisingly matched some of Michael’s and are the same size. I think you might be missing an old pair of work boots, Michael.”

Maria opened her mouth. “She was obsessed!”

Michael grimaced. “Yeah, whatever. So no sign of my stalker?”

“No. This might interest you though. Courtney Banks is Hank’s daughter.”

~~~

“How are you holding up?” Alex asked. Maria stared into her chicken broth and grimaced.

“Better if the Boob of Roswell would let me have a cheeseburger and fries. He said the grease is bad for my ulcer. This chicken broth tastes like hot water with a rancid old chicken dipped in it twice for flavoring.”

Alex laughed and took Maria’s hand. “I missed you Ms. Maria of the Manor. You were always like sunshine. It was a given. The sun would shine, and with it came Maria DeLuca.”

“Those summers were so long ago. Somehow, they defined my life. It was always so nice to be home.” Maria looked at Alex and put her tongue in her cheek. “Do you remember that year, I think we were maybe eleven, and we went skinnydipping at the quarry? It was the three of us, Liz, you and me.”

“Liz was wearing those huge white bloomers with the cute lace and ribbon and a training bra that kept falling all over the place because she had nothing to train.”

Maria laughed. “I shimmied down to skin, posed and jumped in.”

Alex laughed. “You were such a exhibitionist. Too bad the water was only two feet deep there.”

“You could have warned me, Alex Whitman! I broke my ankle!” Maria huffed at the past indignation. There she stood nursing an ankle that had hit a rock, bucknaked, and old Alex was standing there calmly checking out her body. Bastard.

“I think that was my first erection.”

“Eww! Don’t tell me that! You were a little boy perv!” Alex laughed. Maria sniffed. “You were also too skinny. You couldn’t carry me home so some other guy had to.”

Alex frowned. “Maria, that wasn’t some other guy. That was Michael. We were all trying to decide what to do, and Liz was desperately trying to tuck her bloomers back into her jeans when Michael showed up. He took off his shirt and shoved you in it, then he picked you up and carried you home.”

Maria’s brow creased in confusion. “That was Michael? I don’t remember the face, only that the body was large and strong, and he carried me the whole way without pausing. I remember watching over his shoulder as you struggled to get your shoes on. You were following, carrying our clothes in nothing but your jockey’s and Converse All-Stars  unlaced hightops. Liz was trying to button an inside out blouse.”

“That was Michael. He had such a horrible reputation for being a punk, and I was afraid of him. I didn’t know how to tell him to put you down.” Alex remembered that day. It began his own fascination with the confusing sides of Michael Guerin. “He was tall for his age. Tall and gangly, His hands and arms seemed longer and larger than his body.”

“Why was he there?”

Alex’s eyes held a speculating glint. “Maybe you should ask him. He always was there, Maria. You should ask why you forgot him. And,” Alex added, “you should ask him why he worked so hard to make Whitman-Guerin into a success.”

“Do I want to know?”

Alex looked at her flushed face, and the clear greenness of her eyes. “I think you do.”

Maria moved uncomfortable in her seat. Alex Whitman was a sorcerer. He saw too damn much. “Hey, I thought it was Guerin-Whitman.”

“Yeah, well things can change!” Alex said smugly.

Maria chuckled, but her face lost it humor. “I can’t believe Liz is dead.”

Alex swallowed hard. He remembered the hate he felt for Liz. Betrayed by her, he never got over that, and it was hard not to criticize her very life when she settled for so much less.

“She wasn’t the little girl we knew, Maria. She changed.”

“I’m sorry,” said Maria. Her eyes were kind and gentle. “She hurt you.”

Alex smiled, but there was no humor in his eyes. “Maybe I hurt myself. I used to think Liz was like a fairytale princess, so gentle, delicate and pretty. She was smart, and always seemed to have a good grasp on what was right, and where she was going.” Alex rubbed his face. “God, she had dreams. Good dreams! Ones about leaving Roswell and being someone.”

“What happened?”

Alex shrugged. “Third grade, basically. Third grade and Max Evans. It wasn’t until our second year of high school that Liz noticed Max watching her. When she did, it was as if a light went on, and she decided to be in love with him.”

“Were you dating?”

Alex laughed. “Oh no! Not that! We were friends, and I’m willing admit to having a crush on her. She was dating Kyle Valenti if you can believe it. It was as if her entire body suddenly saw Max Evans, and nothing and no one was ever good enough for her, except him.”

“She didn’t dump you, Alex. It sounds like Kyle was the loser.”

“We both were. I lost a friend who lied to me and avoided me because I was a geek, and Kyle’s girlfriend dumped him. I could forgive a lot, but not the lies, and definitely not the blow off. I was no longer good enough to be seen with the Liz Parker.”

Maria squeezed his hand. Liz lost a lot when she gave up Alex. She lost even more along the way, her self-respect, her dreams, and ultimately, her life. Maria reserved the right to mourn the little girl she once knew who had nothing but a brilliant future ahead of her.

~~~

A slip in time, saves nine. Time, the ever-flowing passage, moving back and forth. The past moves forward into the future, defining the path. The ghosts of yesterday were speaking, telling a story laid down, a story that was still evolving. It had spun the string for over fifteen years, and the circle had come full to finally close.

Michael sat in the chair bent over with his head in his hands. He listened to Jim. Courtney was Hank’s daughter.

“If Hank was the original killer, it is possible that when he died over three years ago, his property came into Courtney’s possession.”

Michael shook his head. “I lived with Hank for almost nine years. He didn’t have a daughter. He never mentioned her or went to visit her.”

“Her mother was a stripper in Las Cruces. Hank denied parentage, but DNA testing proved conclusive. They added his name to her birth certificate when she was ten, but he still refused to acknowledge her. The courts removed child support from Hank’s paycheck. That was the year he applied to be a foster parent. The same year you came to live with him. I think he saw the money coming from the state as being a repayment of his child support.”

Michael looked at Jim. “You think that Hank was the original killer, and Courtney took over?”

Jim shrugged. “It’s a working theory. Hank died a few years back. Maybe it was a coincidence that he stopped the last year Maria was here. From the reports, it appears he had cancer. He fought it for almost four years, until three years ago, he succumbed to it.”

“Courtney found, what? His journals telling of his killings?” Michael couldn’t believe that. He doubted Hank could even read.

“We don’t know. Maybe after you left, he finally saw Courtney. She is four years older than you are, so that made her about nineteen at the time.” Jim didn’t mention it, but there were eyewitness accounts of Hank and his new mistress. The mistress’s description fit Courtney to a T. Jim suspected that the father and daughter had taken their new relationship to a different level, but claims of incest were unsubstantiated.

“So she obsessed over me because I was what? Her sort of brother?”

Jim shrugged. If Courtney was involved in an incestuous relationship with her father, perhaps she saw Michael as the replacement.

“It’s possible.”

Michael snorted. “Excuse me, Jim, but I can assure you, whatever Courtney wanted from me, it wasn’t in any way brotherly.”

Jim cleared his throat. “I don’t think her relationship with Hank was all that daughterly either.”

Michael grimaced and shook his head. He needed a damn bath. He was right. He had brought the DeLucas into this mess starting with Amy. Hank? Hell, he could see Hank as a killer, a sadistic brutalizer of women. It made too much sense, and in a sick way, it was too clean and possible to dispute.

“I can understand her killing Isabel, because my fight with her was well known. But I didn’t even know this girl from the University. And Liz Parker?”

“Carol Ann Baker worked in your offices as a secretary for two weeks earlier in the summer, but she quit. She said her class schedule was too heavy for the summer session, but maybe it was because of Courtney.”

“I don’t remember her.” Jim wasn’t surprised. Michael was not a man who spent his time noticing people. “And Liz?”

“Did you like her?”

“Hardly. I couldn’t stand her. She was irritating.”

“Did you ever vocalize your dislike of her in front of Courtney or at the office where she might have overheard?”

Michael tried to think it through. He shook his head. “I can’t remember. I don’t know, Jim. I don’t usually care enough to even complain about people. It really is a waste of time.”

“Courtney worked at the Crashdown as a server for a short period of time. Liz got her fired, so that might have been the motivator there.”

“Great. So she cruelly and viciously murders, not bothering to cover her tracks.” Michael stared at his hands hanging loosely between his legs. “This has to stop, Jim. You have to find her.” There was a psycho out there obsessing over him and she had a belly full of hate not only for him, but also for Maria.

“We will, Michael. We will.”

~~~

Maria handed him the new lock. “I think I should go back to the hospital.”

Michael grunted. He quickly removed the old lock and inserted the new one. It was a top of the line lock, hard to pick. “I think you need to get some rest.”

He studied her. She looked better. Her uncle had awakened for a moment, and both she and Sean were there. Peter DeLuca smiled seeing them, and then went back to sleep. The doctors informed the police that they could question Peter once he regained full consciousness, but until then, they would have to wait.

Michael finally gave up on trying to talk Maria into going home, so instead he strong-armed her out of the ICU, down to the car and home in no time, then into the shower, and soon bed.

They did not sleep, but she was definitely much more relaxed and covered in sweat a few hours later. Michael quickly added sex to the top of his list of ways to remove Maria’s stress. It was on his plan for keeping her ulcer from exploding. Some men were so giving, and Michael congratulated himself on his newfound public service.

“Why are we changing the locks now? Seems a tad bit late. You know, the proverbial horse out of the barn thingy.”

“Courtney’s still out there. She was in the house. I do not want to wake up with that sick bitch standing over us with a knife.”

“Us? You sound like you plan to move into my bed.”

Michael shrugged. “Your bed is larger than mine, and surprisingly comfortable despite all the froufrou lace and crap.”

Maria snuck a peanut out of her pocket from the bag she had found. Munching thoughtfully, she jiggled the bag of locks, enjoying the annoying noise. “You are so classy. Is it any wonder I’m taking my time to tie you to my bed?”

Michael raised a brow. “That was once. Next time is my turn. If we’re going to do this cohabitation thing, we have to keep everything equitable.”

Maria stopped chewing. “Okay, I wore sexy underwear for you…”

“For which I thanked you nicely,” Michael reminded her.

“You did. So in the spirit of being equitable, I think you need to wear sexy underwear for me. How about a thong?”

Michael snorted. “Don’t push it! I broke up with a girl once who tried to change my hair. I’m not going to walk around with something shoved up my ass.”

Maria lifted a brow. “Says you, but we can work on that inhibition.”

Michael laughed as he mentally counted the locks. “That’s the front door. Let’s do the kitchen.”

Maria paused. “I…Michael, there’s still blood on the floor.”

They had been avoiding the scene of the crime. Michael scratched his brow. “I know. I’ll clean it up. You want to go upstairs and nap?”

Maria shook her head. This was her house. She refused to let someone terrorize her in it. “I’m okay. I’ll help you.”

Michael stopped her, his hands framing her face. “You don’t have to be strong, Maria. Not for me.”

Maria laughed softly. “I know that. You’ve seen me at my weakest.” Michael didn’t agree. Maria DeLuca was many things, but weak was the least of it.

“C’mon. I have to get this done. It’s getting dark. I don’t want to be changing locks all night.”

“Who knew there were so many external locks?” Maria never noticed. All the major rooms exited out onto the veranda both upstairs and on the main floor. They still had the basement to do as well. Michael started on the second floor, and except for a few distractions by a few bedrooms, they worked their way downstairs.

“I should’ve changed them the other day.” Michael groaned. “When you were over in the gatehouse with Sean that night, I thought there was someone in the house with me, watching me. I couldn’t shake the feeling so I bought the new locks.”

“You brought them home the other day.”

Michael lifted a brow. “I did, but you distracted me.” Maria giggled. She remembered that distraction very well. The living room floor had left a bruise on her hip. “If I had changed the locks your uncle would’ve never entered the house, and Courtney couldn’t have gotten in.”

“How did she? I don’t understand where she got a key.”

Michael sighed. That was his fault as well. “I leave my keys in my desk at the trailer when I’m on the job site. I hate having them in my pocket. She could’ve gotten them anytime, made copies and returned them without me knowing. It would’ve been the house keys, office keys, and the trailer.”

“That suggests premeditation, Michael.”

“I never said she wasn’t sick.”

Maria had to agree as she stared at the bloodstain on the kitchen tile. Her cousin and uncle had laid there, their life’s blood draining out of them. It would have destroyed her to have to bury another family member.

“You still seeing dead people?” Michael asked curiously, as he filled a bucket of water with cleaning liquid.

“Nope. You were probably right. It was all memory flashes, and now that I know what they are, they don’t bother me.”

“God, the thought of Lila watching us getting it on in your bed sort of wigs me out.”

Maria laughed. “So many inhibitions! Who’d have thunk that a bad boy such as you’re reputed to be would be so…conventional!”

Michael tossed the mop aside and trapped her between his arms where she sat on the kitchen table. “Take that back!”

Giggling, Maria put her arms around his neck. “Make me!”

~~~

Michael moaned. The damn ringing was practically in his ears. Moving Maria off of him, he reached for the phone. The face of the clock showed it to be ten at night. They had finished the locks, and made food. The lack of sleep over the last few days made it easy to find the bed too tempting at an early hour.

“Yeah,” he barked into the phone, which brought a sound from Maria as she pulled a pillow over her head to block the sound.

“Michael…sorry to call so late.” Michael sat up a little at Jim’s voice.

“That’s okay. What’s up, Jim?”

That got Maria’s attention. She tossed the pillow off the bed, and Michael noted that it was his pillow, not hers. Sitting up, she listened to his conversation.

“We found Courtney. I need you to come to the station.”

Michael held the phone against his body. “They found Courtney.” Michael looked at the time. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Maria was already out of the bed putting a slip on in an interesting wiggle motion. Michael’s eyes followed the silky material down, and swore when it covered bared essentials. “Stop being a man. I’m going too.”

Michael reached over and toppled her back into the bed. “Uh uh. You stay here. Sleep. Catch up on your rest. I’m taking you back to the hospital in the morning, I’d like this all to be over.”

“I think I should come too.”

Michael sighed. “Maria, I don’t want you anywhere near Courtney. Do you understand? Let me deal with this. She’s my problem.”

“She attacked my family!”

Michael held her face. “She attacked our family, but I’m the one who made them a target, not you. I need to clean this up, and it’ll be easier if I know you’re safe. All the locks are changed, and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Maria frowned, but she nodded. Sometimes a person had to do what they had to do. “Fine.”

Michael kissed her quickly and reached for his pants.

“Can you bring me home some chocolate?”

Chapter 24

“What’s going on?” Michael asked the officer. He had been in the interrogation room for over half an hour. Michael had expected to be home again before that.

“The Sheriff will be here shortly.”

Kyle entered the room; he waved off the other officer. “Michael, I need to collect your personal effects. The usual things you carry in your pocket.”

“What is this about, Kyle?” Michael asked as he tossed his keys on the table, his wallet, and a pocketknife. “Did they find Courtney?”

“Yeah, they found her.” Kyle put the items in the envelope, wrote the items on a list on the front tearing off a receipt, he had Michael sign it. “I’ll get these back to you as soon as possible.”

Kyle left the room quickly.

Michael made a face and sat back, trying to practice a patience he did not have.

Jim stopped Kyle outside the interrogation room. “Have them concentrate on the knife, but check all the items for blood.” Kyle headed toward forensics.

Hanson watched Michael from behind the glass. He looked over when Jim entered the room. “He’s losing his patience.”

“I know. It can’t be helped, they’re still testing the latent fingerprints. Kyle will have Michael’s things checked for blood.” Jim rubbed his face hard. It was late, and it had been a long emotional day. It was going to be longer. “You know, my gut instinct says no to Guerin. I’m tired of this NYPD Blue crap. Bring him into my office.”

Sam smiled. He was coming to hate the interrogation room as well.

Standing in his office as he waited for Sam and Michael, he noticed his father’s things in the middle of his desk, where he had set them earlier. He never told Kyle about his grandfather. Some days, he really needed to make long ‘to do’ lists.

Picking through the items, he smiled at a picture of him, his father and Kyle during a fishing trip. There were others of his father and mother, and his father with old friends. Frowning, Jim saw a manila folder at the bottom of the crate. Pulling it out, he opened it and read.

Sitting hard in his chair, he read quickly. It was the missing report on Amy’s disappearance, both copies. His father had kept them. They were different. The official was a standard missing person’s, but it was the second report that drew Jim’s attention. It was a crime scene report, his father’s personal file.

“Sheriff…”

Jim waved them in as he continued to read. “Sonnabitch.” He motioned to the chairs across from his desk. “Come in and sit down.”

Michael was at his limit. “Sheriff, I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me what’s going on.”

Jim held up a hand. “In a minute. Sam, listen to this.”

“What is it?”

“The crime report from Amy’s murder. My father had it the entire time.” Jim quickly scanned the relevant information. “It was definitely a murder, he found her body.”

“What?” Both Hanson and Michael moved forward. “Where?”

“My backyard. Supposedly after I left, Kyle went downstairs. He saw Amy’s body and tried to wake her. He thought I killed her. Afraid, he went to my father’s house crying hysterically.” Jim dropped the file for a moment on his desk, his face bleak. “Sonnabitch. Kyle…he knew all this time.” Picking up the phone, Jim placed a call to his secretary. “Find my son and tell him I need to see him immediately! He should be at the crime lab.”

Sam could not fathom it. “Why would Kyle never tell you? Tell us?”

“He thought I killed her, and more than likely, my father told him he must never tell.”

Hanging up the phone, Jim looked at the two of them. “Amy had brought Maria with her, and Maria was sleeping in our room. She must have awakened when Amy and I were fighting…”

“She saw everything. If the killer came after you left, Maria was there.” Sam sat on the edge of the desk and picked up part of the file. “Jesus, Jim. He took photos of the boot prints and everything.” Sam breathed hard. There were crime scenes of Amy’s dead body. He could see the strictures of the neck.

“Strangulation. There was also a head wound consistent with hitting a rock when she went down. He recorded evidence of struggle at the scene.”

Michael moved forward. “Then why wasn’t the murder reported if your father did all the work?”

“He was covering up for me,” Jim told Michael. “He thought I killed her in a jealous rage, and unable to bring in his own son, he buried the evidence.”

Sam shook his head. It was too confusing. “Why did he keep the file?”

Jim stood up. “Because he was a lawman. He couldn’t destroy evidence, so he suppressed it. He broke the law, and it weighed on him. Damn, Sam, my own father thought I was guilty.”

Sam felt for Jim. Ephrem Valenti would have never held his silence if he had connected the other missing girls and murders to Amy’s. It was only a few years later that he left the force.

“Jim, he states that the boots were yours.”

“What? Give me that!” Jim read over the report. “The tool mark in the boot. He recognized it. I was working a down power line about six months before that. I stepped on a taunt line still juiced, it burned a wire mark in my sole, and gave me a nice electrical shock.”

Jim sat back in his chair. The evidence was overwhelming. His boot marks. It could’ve have been earlier from his fight with Amy, but that didn’t explain the same boots at numerous other scenes, especially fifteen years later.

“I wasn’t wearing boots that night. I had been late getting off work, and before I left, I worked out at the gym. I was in running shoes.”

Hanson nodded. “I can see the prints from some type of sneaker.” He pointed to the crime photos.

Jim pointed. “Those were my prints, and the smaller ones were Amy’s. She always favored sandals.” The damming boot prints were hard to refute.

“Jim, where are your boots?”

Jim stared at Michael. It was a good question. “I honestly don’t know. It’s been years. I can’t even remember the last time I saw them. The leather was ruined from water damage.” Jim frowned. He almost could see them in his mind.

Sam kept reading. “Amy had been strangled, but it appears that wasn’t the cause of death. Her head wound was. She must have struggled and got away, falling and hitting her head on the rock in the garden.” Sam paused in his reading. “Jesus, Jim, your father buried her in your backyard beside the oak tree.”

Michael scratched his brow. It made no sense. “How the heck did Hank get your boots? I don’t get it. He used them, and Courtney is using them now.”

Jim looked at Hanson, who shook his head. Nobody had told Michael.

“Michael, when was the last time you saw Courtney?”

“The morning I fired her and kicked her out of my trailer.” Michael went still. “Why? Is she claiming something?” Michael thought of Kyle taking his things. “Shit! Is she suggesting I’m an accomplice? That is pure bullshit!” He stood up in anger.

“Michael, she’s not claiming anything. We dug her out of a shallow grave in Fraser’s Woods. She was hacked to pieces.”

Michael sat down heavily. “Then she’s not the killer.”

“No. Hank wasn’t either.” Jim sighed. “It had to be someone there at the time. Maria should’ve been sleeping, but she wasn’t. Knowing her, she was hiding in the bushes ready to jump out at her mother, probably with her hand over her mouth trying not to giggle. The boots are the key. I can barely remember them. I tossed them in my truck after the wire incident, and I don’t remember wearing them again. I think the next time I went to put them on they were damaged by water.”

Michael looked at Jim. “Because Kyle wore them in the water and caught guppies in them.”

Jim nodded. “That’s right! Kyle always used to wear my boots…” Sam made a sound of distress in his throat. Jim looked at Sam in dawning horror and shook his head. “It’s impossible! He was ten!”

“First rule…the person who finds the body is usually the killer,” said Sam. He grabbed the phone. “Vera, inform the front personnel to find and hold Kyle Valenti! No! That is an order!” Sam paused and listened. Holding the phone against his body, he looked at Jim. “Kyle isn’t in the building.”

Michael stood up. “Jim, Kyle took my keys.”

Jim paled. “Maria...”

~~~

Wallowing into the bedding, Maria sighed at the comfort. Rolling over, she woke for a moment to see the time. After midnight, and Michael wasn’t back yet. She could still smell him in the sheets. Hugging the pillow closer, she drifted back off to sleep.

“Maria! Wake up honey.”

“Huh?”

“Maria! Baby, you’ve got to hide! Oh, baby…run!”

Maria opened her eyes confused. “Mom?”

Amy brushed a hand over Maria’s face. “Hide. Quickly. He’s coming.”

Maria practically fell out of bed. When she looked up, she was alone, but the house was not. A creaking noise in the hall moved slowly towards her bedroom. Michael knew the house. He knew where the loose boards were.

Looking around the room, she considered under the bed, but that was too obvious, as was the closet and the bathroom. Opening the veranda door, she slipped through onto the plywood boards covering the upper veranda joist where the missing floor was. They swayed under her weight and she could feel a few of them slip. Michael had warned her not to walk on them.

Keeping close to the wall of the house, she tried to move quietly, but the plywood groaned with the pressure of her weight.

“I know where you are, Maria.”

She turned at his voice. “Kyle?” Breathing easily, “God! You scared me!”

Hide. He’s coming.

Maria frowned. She saw the light reflect off something in Kyle’s hand. “Kyle? What are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry about this Mare-bear. Really, I am, but you’re remembering. Once Hanson shows you the photos of those girls, you’ll remember Anne.”

“Anne?”

“Sure, you already remember her. The college girl I was dating that last year. You already asked me whatever happened to her.”

Maria’s heart bumped hard in her chest. No. It wasn’t possible! “Kyle, not you! You were just a child!”

“It was hard at first. I wasn’t very strong, but I got better. I got stronger as I grew up, so that always helped.” Kyle eyes had a gleam to them, and Maria could see what was so obvious. Insanity.

“No! I refuse to believe it! You’re like a brother to me!”

“I am your brother. You belong to me. Not Michael and not Sean! I would’ve killed Michael that morning for making you cry, but you and Courtney were there. I saw his truck, but I couldn’t imagine what a distraction Courtney could be. She hurt you.”

“Courtney wasn’t the killer.”

“No, but she was convenient. Guerin was happy to suspect her.” Kyle laughed. “You know, I think that bottle blonde bimbo wasn’t quite sane.”

“It takes one to know one, huh, Kyle.”

“I’m not crazy!” Maria made a high-pitched cry as he moved towards her.

“Stop! The flooring, it’s not nailed in place. It’s only temporary! You’ll fall through.” Maria held up her hand to stall him. “It can’t hold our combined weights.” She was trying to buy time. Michael would come. He always came. He was always there when she needed him.

“Why did you kill my mother? Why did you take her away? She loved you!”

“She was leaving us. I couldn’t let her leave too.” Kyle said, his voice no longer that of an adult, but a young wounded child. Maria stared at him, her eye widening as her pupils dilated.

Shadows ran the length of the garden. It was dark, too dark. Darker than anything she could remember. Crouching and too tired to stand, she hid under the hedge, unseen and unheard. It was a surprise. It had to be. Maria giggled when she saw her mom. Jim had been there, but he was gone. No matter, he would be back. She saw them from the window. She hid, and she would wait until they sat in the swing under the tree and she would jump on them begging to let her sleep with them.

Amy paced the area in the garden, wiping a tear from her face. He was angry. It was her fault. Fuck Philip Evans! She was telling him. Immediately. As soon as she found him, she would tell him the truth.

“Don’t leave us.”

“Kyle? Honey, why are you out of bed? Is Maria awake?”

Kyle sniffed. “I heard you. I heard him tell you to leave.” Kyle wiped a sleeve across his eyes. “Don’t. He doesn’t mean it. I swear.”

Amy knelt down held the young boy’s eyes. He had come so far in the last year. He used to be sickly and pale, but now he was strong and healthy. He was stronger than she was.

“It’ll be alright, honey boy. I promise. You go back to sleep. I have to leave, but…”

“No! You can’t leave! I won’t let you!” Kyle grabbed her by her neck. Applying pressure, Amy struggled.

“Kyle! Stop it!” She tried to remove his hands. “You’re choking me! Kyle…”

Amy barely pulled herself free, but she was at a disadvantage from her position. She had been crouching down, so her footing was unsure. Stumbling, she fell backwards with Kyle on her. The last thing she saw as her head hit the rock was Maria hiding in the bushes, her hand over her mouth, once trying to contain giggles, and now screams. Oh, baby…run....!

Maria’s mouth opened, she could not hold the scream inside, but something kept it there. She didn’t feel her teeth as they bit into her hand. It was confusing, her mother was staring at her, but she wasn’t moving. Kyle? Kyle was bad. Jim was going to punish him for being bad. He turned looking at her hiding place. He saw her. Did he see her?

The shadows lengthened and elongated into a monster…stark and forbidding. Bad. Very Bad. Very bad things...

Her heart galloped in her chest, and fear tasted rusty in her mouth. No! She was sorry, so sorry. No. Hand to mouth, she stood on shaking legs; too young to really understand anything except it was bad. Very, very bad. She was supposed to stay in bed. She was supposed to wait for Mommy to come for her.

Walking backwards, she struggled to stay upright, tripping on her own feet. In a partial crawl, like a lobster, she scrambled backwards.

No! Kyle…won’t tell. Won’t.

She didn’t mean it! She didn’t mean that he was bad. Swear! Mommy will tell Jim that it’s okay. Mommy?

Swallowing the cry, she moved fast, scrambling to run.

She wouldn’t be bad, cry, or beg. Won’t…

To her knees, then her feet, she took flight. If no one saw her, didn’t hear her, didn’t know, then it would be just a dream, a bad dream...a nightmare...

She ran, through the connecting trees to the neighbors yard. Oh, bad, forbidden, no going into the neighbor’s yard. It came for her. In her hair. Waving her hands in fright, running, running…she couldn’t stop it. The screams echoed in the night as she ran…screaming and screaming.

Don’t stop. Stopping would be bad. Stop would be bad. She should’ve stayed asleep.

Maria screamed when her feet seemed to find no ground. She was falling. It hurt. Her knees hit dirt and slid down, down, down…was that where bad girls went.

Crying, she huddled her knees to her chest. Sorry. Sorry. Rocking herself, she was asleep. It was a bad dream. Dreams go away in the morning. They go away, and you don’t remember. You never remember. Never remember.

“Give me your hand!” Huddling into a tighter ball, she couldn’t breathe.

“Little girl, give me your hand! I won’t hurt you. I’ll take you home.” Michael reached a hand to her, and Maria peeked at it. “It’s okay. You can trust me. Take my hand.”

Reaching up, she put her small hand into his. He killed her! He killed her! Why wouldn’t the words come out of her mouth?

Maria stepped back without thought, her mouth round and open. It hit her in a flash. Falling to her knees, she felt the board give under her, but then hold. It had swayed enough that Kyle put out his hands for balance. In the dark to her right, she heard the crashing sound of a piece of plywood falling to the ground.

“You killed her!” Maria put a hand to her mouth to quell the rising nausea. Oh, God! She loved him, and he killed her mother!

“It was an accident. She was trying to leave, and…,” Kyle licked his lips, “she hit her head.”

“What about the others?” Maria slowly moved away from him as he moved closer. They both paused as the boards groaned.

“What others?” Kyle looked confused. He touched his head. “She kept coming back. I kept burying her, and she kept coming back. Every summer, like the sunshine, you would come home, and she would climb out of the grave.” Kyle smiled his grin twisted and grotesque. “I watched my grandpa bury her first. It was so easy! So easy.” His voiced trailed off in a whisper. “I couldn’t carry her at first. I had to drag her, but I got stronger. No one expects an innocent little boy lost in the woods…” Kyle seemed to be off somewhere.

“Oh god!” Maria shook her head in disbelief. She could talk about feeling insane, but seeing it firsthand…

“You stopped coming home, and she stayed buried. It was good. Good that she couldn’t leave.” Kyle smiled in relief. “I used to sit outside in the backyard and talk to her. She’s always so pretty.” Kyle’s smile altered. “I think she misses you. I’m sorry, Maria. I love you. I love you too much to lose you! But I knew you would remember. I knew it. Once Hanson showed you those pictures of the missing girls from that summer, you would remember.”

Maria looked around in the dark. Needing time, she gentled her voice. “Know what, Kyle? What would I know?”

“The girl from the University. Anne Pruitt, you remembered me dating her. You remembered her.” He smiled charmingly. “Remember that time that Mom and Dad took us to the reserve for hiking and you got blisters? Dad had to carry you and Mom and I walked ahead. She told me all the names of the trees and plants. She loved me. She couldn’t leave. She couldn’t. I knew the secret. She told me when we were walking.”

Oh God. Maria bent over a little. Her stomach hurt. It really hurt. Breathing through the stress, she looked at Kyle. He was there, and then he was not. One moment he was her Kyle, and the next he was an insane stranger, a child.

“What secret?”

“We were getting a new brother, and later maybe even another, a baby.” Kyle smiled, his face lightening up. “We won’t be alone anymore, Ria. We’ll be a big happy family with Dad and Mom. We can wake them up on Christmas, and you can wear those big fluffy slippers that are bigger than your whole body.” Kyle’s eye filled with tears. “She couldn’t leave. We needed her to make the family.” Kyle gulped hard and looked at Maria pleadingly. “You don’t know, Ria. You don’t know how hard it is when Mommy leaves. You’re alone. Alone, all alone, and when it’s dark she doesn’t come. I couldn’t lose another mother.”

Maria shook her head trying to hold in the gasping tears. “You’re wrong, Kyle. I do know. You took her away from me. I was alone.”

“No! That’s not true! She didn’t leave. She’s home, sitting in the swing in the backyard, where she belongs. She’s home, where she belongs.” Kyle’s eyes seemed to gleam as he slowly and cautiously inched towards her. “Don’t cry, Ria. Don’t cry. I’ll put you with her, so you won’t be alone. We’ll all be at the house again, like a big happy family.”

Maria moved back, away from him, away from that knife. The plywood board under her foot moved, it was one of the temporary boards not nailed. Trying to stay on the areas where the floor joists were, Maria moved along the wall of the house. She came to a door. If she could get inside, she could lock him out, maybe long enough to go downstairs and hide or get away. Pulling down on the handle to open the door, she tried to enter the house, but the door wouldn’t open. Locked! It was locked…Maria moaned…the new locks!

“No! Dammit!” She hit the door with her hand. “No.”

“I’ve got keys.” Kyle held up a set of keys dangling them in the moonlight.

Maria looked at him, and smiled sweetly. What the hell? He was clearly insane. “Kyle, be a good brother and throw me the keys.”

Kyle shook his head no. He slowly approached. “No, your hand is hurt. I had better open it for you. Don’t move.”

Maria stood frozen. She had two options. Slowly make it around the veranda, hoping he followed until she made it around the house and back to her open door…and that was assuming she didn’t fall through the floor. Alternately, she could cross the unstable decking to the outer post and climb over the railing to the bottom veranda on the first floor. Maria looked at the veranda’s expanse. On the second floor, it was six feet wide. It might as well be a mile. Michael told her it wouldn’t hold. Stay off it. Stay off it.

Maria looked both ways, biting her lip hard to keep from crying. The other parts of the veranda were darker the further around the house she got, and she wouldn’t be able to see where Michael had put nails into the plywood decking. Crossing the unstable floor and climbing over the upper railing was her only option. Trying to see the nails, she gave a small cry of fright as Kyle inched closer, cautiously.

Maria hugged her broken wrist to her chest, praying under her breath. She could see lights further down the street. They would be there soon. Someone would. If she could get down off the second floor, she could run into the street.

“Kyle…” Maria almost screamed when the board under her foot slipped to the left leaving a gap. “Kyle, why did you kill that girl?” Maria tried to recall the name. “Carol Ann Baker, the college girl. That was days before I came home.”

“Lila died. Grandma died, and they buried her deep. I knew that you would come home for that, and with you would come Amy.” Kyle looked at Maria confused. “But you didn’t come. Why didn’t you come?”

“I didn’t know. Uncle Peter didn’t tell me about Lila.”

“That’s mean. I’m glad I killed him. It was supposed to be Michael, but now I’m glad it was him.”

Maria bit back her retort. The instinct to yell at him, to call him a sick fuck was too great, but she couldn’t afford to anger him. The railing..., she was almost there. She reached out with her hand, slowly moving towards it.

“You didn’t come,” Kyle mused, “but Amy did. I saw her, glimpses at first. Once a week or maybe three or four times. We didn’t bury her deep enough. She always found ways to climb out of the grave.” Kyle laughed. “I took a call, and there she was pretending to be a young girl. But, I knew it was Amy. How could I not know my own mother? That girl, she was crying. She was trying to kill herself by jumping off the quarry cliff. Some tramp stole her boyfriend, she came back to the new school year with them laughing at her. I talked her off the ledge, told her that she could do better.” Kyle smiled charmingly. “They trust the uniform. I was there to protect and serve. I made sure she never had to be left again, never hurt again.”

Maria could not move. Could barely breathe. All those women dead because his crazy mind kept seeing her mother, seeing her walk out of her grave.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god!” Maria swallowed hard as the nausea settled in her throat.

“I went and found her boyfriend and that slut…a whore who wrecks good families, good homes…that hurts innocent people. Filthy cheating, lying bitch! It’s women like her who make decent women lose their families, makes them have to leave!”

“How did you find them?”

Kyle pointed at his uniform. “I was the investigating officer for her disappearance. I had to question the boyfriend for foul play.” His eyes darkened in anger, and red infused his face. “She was there! That fucking whore! She was hanging onto him as if he was her property, making remarks about the pathetic Carol Ann trying to gain sympathy. Bitch! They were packed, ready to leave town and move to a larger place. No one ever missed them. Why should they?”

More? There were more bodies?  Maria held her stomach. She was sick…very, very sick. “What did you do, Kyle? What did you do with the boyfriend and his girlfriend?”

Kyle smiled. “They were garbage. I cut them up for fish bait. There’s no reason to bury garbage. I fed them to the lake.”

Maria could not hold it together any longer. The moonlight was catching the metal of the knife, and Kyle was beyond certifiable. Lunging for the railing, Maria tried to make it. If she had to, she would jump off the second floor to get away from him.

“What are you doing?” Kyle noticed how close she was to the railing. He was two feet away from her. “Don’t! Get away from there!”

“Fuck you!” Maria closed her eyes and rushed the last two steps. Seeing her intentions, Kyle ignored the decking and rushed after her. That was a mistake. Michael was right.

“No! It won’t hold our weight!”

The crashing noise was loud in the night as the plywood boards broke, the one restraining nail snapped under the strain, and it collapsed. Kyle dove to the side and held on, pulling himself up out of the dark hole left by the collapsing veranda.

Maria was not so lucky. She went with the decking, falling through to the lower floor. It was over a twelve-foot drop. Maria felt the fall in a surrealistic slow motion. Her hand, frantic to find something to hold onto, found the floor joist.

Screaming in pain, she could not hold on with her broken right hand. She was barely dangling by her left, and that hand was bleeding from splinters. Kyle slowly got to his feet searching for his knife.

Maria could hear the sirens. Lights. Lots of them were coming closer. I can’t hold. I can’t hold. I can’t hold. The mantra in her head increased in volume as her fingers went numb. Looking up, she saw Kyle standing over her. He had found the knife.

“Maria!”

Kyle looked around, confused. His hand went back to his head, as if a headache was killing him. Maria’s feet were dangling in the dark and she could not control the swing in her body as it tore at her strength.

Kyle knelt closer. Holding out his one hand, he reached down to her. “Maria, give me your hand! Give it to me. I’ll help you back up.”

Maria squeezed her eyes closed tightly.

~~~

“Sheriff!” Michael warned as they closed on the house.

“I see them!” Jim barely stopped the SUV before both he and Michael burst out of it. Jim looked up as he ran up the stairs. Maria’s feet were dangling just beyond reach. “Kyle!” Jim looked at Michael. “The door! Open the door so I can go up there.”

“He has my keys.” Michael climbed up on the railing trying to reach Maria’s feet. “Maria! Don’t swing! Hold on. Hold on!” Michael swore. His ladder, he needed a ladder! “Kyle! I swear to God, if you touch her!”

Jim pushed on the door. It was strong. Too strong to force, that damn Ryan DeLuca used oak. Taking out his gun, he aimed at the stained glass in the door. The cracking noise followed by the rush of falling glass woke him from the stupor of unreality. This could not be happening.

Reaching inside, he unlocked the door. Sam ran up from behind him. “Sam, call in for more reinforcements, and see if you can get a good line of sight on Kyle.”

“Sheriff…Jim, you can’t want me to…”

Jim looked at his deputy. “If I can’t get to him, and he goes after Maria, take him out.”

Sam shook his head. Kyle, oh God, Kyle! This was Kyle, not some unknown monster, but his friend, Jim’s son!

“Do you understand? Take him out!”

“Yessir!” Sam rushed out to the lawn. It was dark, too dark to see anything but the figures above. Going to his deputy’s SUV, he searched for handheld searchlights. The light lasted only a few moments, as Kyle drew his gun, and shot it out.

Diving behind the door of the car, Sam held a bloody hand cursing as he reached for the radio. “Dispatch!” Keeping undercover, he quickly called for backup, and EMT.

~~~

“Maria!” Michael moved the small stepladder in place. His longer ladders wouldn’t work. They all had to be propped against something. Cursing the lack of a real tool, Michael blamed himself. He had taken all the larger ladders to the work site to keep Lila from climbing on them, and even after her death, he had never brought them back. “Maria, hold on!”

Maria nodded her head with her eyes shut, she couldn’t watch Kyle anymore, but her mouth said something different. “I can’t!”

“You can! I’m climbing up. You can trust me to get you.”

“Michael, my hand, I can’t feel it. My fingers are slipping.”

“Dammit. For once do something I tell you! Hold on! I’m coming!” Michael could hear Jim upstairs. “Jim! Do not go on the decking! It’s not secure. Your weight will take it all down!”

Jim paused in the doorway. He had been on the verge of stepping on the deck. Looking over at his son, he could barely make out his face as it kept changing, moving into the shadows and back to the moonlight, light and darkness.

“Whatcha doing, son?”

“Dad…”

Kyle pointed the gun at the hole with Maria. He looked at his father in the doorway. “This is Maria’s fault! I told her to stand still, but she wouldn’t listen.”

“She was always headstrong. You tell her to stay in bed, and she would be out of it in a flash. Contrary. Amy used to call her contrary.”

Maria felt Michael’s hands on her lower legs. Her left hand was going to give. She could not hold. What little time she had gained from sheer adrenaline and stubbornness was quick fading.

“Son, put down the knife and the gun. Come towards me slowly. Let’s go home, Kyle. Let’s go home.”

“Amy’s home.”

Jim bit the inside of his mouth. “I know. Let’s go see Amy.”

“Maria has to come.”

Jim shook his head. “No. Maria belongs here, son. We always knew she would leave home when she found someone to love. She belongs here with Michael.” Jim held out his hand. “Put down the weapons and take my hand.”

Kyle wiped a sleeve across his eyes. “She was going to leave me just like Mom did.” Kyle’s face deepened in anger. “How could you tell her to go? I needed her!” Kyle’s eyes gleamed as the lurking insanity moved to the surface again, and Jim watched in abhorrence at the swift change of demeanor. “You sent my mom away! You sent Amy! I had to stop you! I had to!”

“I didn’t send your mother away, Kyle. She was sick. I watched her almost kill you, and I had to protect you. She didn’t run away, son. She’s in Pinehurst Psychiatric Hospital.” Jim slowly removed the restraining strap from his gun. “I’ll take you to her, just put away the knife and gun, and I’ll take you.”

“She shouldn’t have left! Amy shouldn’t have left.” Kyle’s face shifted again. “I can’t lose Maria too!” Kyle turned the gun on Maria, who finally opened her eyes to stare into his. Whimpering, Maria took a deep breath, and she released her tortured hand.

Kyle saw her fall. “No!” Kyle discharged his weapon into the darkness.

“Kyle, no!” Jim rushed his son, and one moment, he touched his son, and the next moment he could only feel the sensation of falling as the temporary decking collapsed beneath them.

Michael had his hands on Maria’s legs, just above the knees. It was as high as he could reach. Before he could tell her to let go, he felt her body drop as she hit him. The ladder tipped due to the additional weight as it unbalanced, and they both were falling.

Michael heard the shot, and he pushed both himself and Maria to the side. He felt pain in his side under his arm along his rib cage as Maria screamed. They both hit the bottom veranda, both breathing hard. It was not over. As soon as they hit, Michael looked up as he heard the upper decking going. Cursing, he quickly threw himself over Maria as the boards and bodies hit them.

Jim struggled to get the splintered wood off him, as his body protested the movement. There was a large piece of wood in his leg. Moving, he could hear Kyle’s labored breath next to him. Pushing away the debris, he stared down at his son. Kyle had a blood streaming from his mouth, and for the first time in hours, his eyes held pain and not insanity.

“Dad…” He struggled to talk.

“Kyle, oh God!” The knife Kyle had been holding was hilt deep into his chest, as he fell on it. “It’s okay, son. Hold on!” Jim looked around frantically. “Sam! Sam, call for an ambulance.”

Sam ran onto the veranda, he was picking up boards and tossing them. “They’re enroute.” Sam kept trying to dig out Michael and Maria. “Is Kyle…?”

“Alive, but not for long if we don’t get him to the hospital. You got Michael and Maria?”

Sam pulled another sheet of plywood. “Yeah, I’ve got them.”

Michael groaned. He was bleeding from a cut on his head and one on his ribs, he slowly rolled off Maria as Sam uncovered them.

“Maria?”

“Ouch!” Maria could not move. “I think my arm is broken.”

Michael carefully touched her hand with the cast. “It’s already broken.”

“That was the wrist; now I think we can add the arm.” Maria’s other hand went up to touch his face, to look at his wound. “Are you okay?”

Michael nodded; he grabbed her hand and kissed it. “God, you scared me.” Closing his eyes for a moment, he breathed easier. Since the instant he realized Kyle had his keys, his heart had beat at breakneck speed. “Didn’t I tell you to stay off the decking?”

Maria could hear the other emergency vehicles. “Did you bring me my chocolate?” Putting her face in his chest, she wept.

Chapter 25

Maria watched them patch Michael’s ribs. He had taken the bullet in his side. It had creased his body leaving a long groove. Michael looked at her solemn eyes watching him as she held her new cast in a sling next to her body.

Michael thanked the doctor. They had to wait for his prescriptions. Once the door shut, Michael stood up gingerly and held out his hand.

Maria didn’t hesitate. She stepped into his arms as he held her close. Their clothing was ripped and bloody with small splinters and scrapes. Maria was wearing Michael’s shirt over her slip leaving him clad only in his once white tank and a pair of ripped bloody jeans.

“You don’t have any shoes.”

Maria tightened her arm around his neck leaning into him. She could care less. She was alive and he was alive. “Hold me tighter.”

Michael framed her face, forcing her to look at him. He could not hold her tighter than he already was. “It’s over. It’s finally over.” Fifteen years was a long time to live in a limbo waiting for the other shoe to drop. Trapped there all these years, all of them were finally free.

~~~

Jim limped into Peter DeLuca’s room. They were all waiting for him. Maria was sitting beside her uncle’s bed holding his hand, with her head resting on the side of his bed. Peter’s hand would occasionally brush over her bright blonde hair. Sean was in a wheelchair. Ignoring his nurse’s protest that he should be in bed, he refused to be away from his family. Michael was sitting in a large chair in the corner watching silently, but his eyes never left Maria.

“Jim?” Peter looked at his old friend with an expectant look. They were waiting to hear about Kyle.

Jim shook his head. Unable to speak, he looked at Peter then at Maria. Kyle never made it out of surgery, too much damage and blood loss. The knife had punctured his heart.

Maria sat up, a tear moving down her cheek.

“He didn’t make it.”

Maria went to Jim and hugged him tightly, crying against him. Kyle was her brother, and despite the sickness that drowned him, he would always be so.

~~~

“I’m sorry, Jim.”

It was late and the rest had finally left. Michael took Maria home to repair the front door and survey the damage. Jim suspected he wanted her alone for a while, to gain some balance. Sunday…it didn’t feel like a Sunday. Actually, it didn’t feel like any day. There was strangeness in this reality. His son was a serial killer, and that son was dead.

“I never knew or even suspected.” Jim could not feel the tears, he had cried so many he was numb. “All this time, he was so normal. Granted, his choice in relationships and lifestyle was always a problem, but nothing prepared me for this.”

Peter couldn’t comment. There could be no words to express his pain at the loss of Kyle. No words he could offer Jim. 

“Did you know it was him? That night, in the kitchen when he stabbed you, did you know it was him?”

“Yes,” Peter said quietly, incapable of hating the young man. “I looked into his eyes, and I knew what horror had scared Maria into a lifetime of silence. Her young mind never could have comprehended Kyle in that manner. She adored him.”

“I’m a police officer. I should’ve seen it. He must have slipped from time to time.” Jim rubbed his face. “For god’s sake! I had his mother committed! I never thought for a moment that the weakness she caused in his body was also present in his mind. I never…imagined...anything this horrible.” Jim stood up and paced the room ignoring the pain in his leg, unable to stand the stillness. “How do I ever repay those families? The Parkers, the Evans, all those unfound women? How do I repay Amy’s family? The pain visited on your family alone…the loss of Amy, everything... It was my son, my own flesh and blood!”

“Jim, don’t!” Peter could move enough to reposition himself in the bed. “Amy would never want you to do this, and you aren’t responsible for the insanity that drove your son. He belonged to us too.”

Jim stopped pacing. “I thought nothing could ever be worse than Amy dying. All those years, I knew. We all knew that there was something wrong. We knew she didn’t run away. This is my fault, Peter. I knew, and I shouldn’t have trusted my father to do what was right. I should’ve been more like Sam…obsessed to find the truth.”

“I think Roswell has enough obsessions, Jim. Sometimes it becomes necessary to bury our dead and go on living.”  Peter moved, wincing, as his bandages stuck in an unpleasant place. “I tried hard to keep them away from this town. I always felt the eyes watching, waiting, and I thought if Maria found her world outside of Roswell, she would be safe. So far away, that this disease wouldn’t touch her. This is partially my fault. I tried so hard to protect her, that maybe I should have told both her and Sean the truth.”

“As I should’ve told Kyle the truth about his mother. Had Amy not hit her head, she would’ve survived, calmed him down, and we would’ve known. We could’ve gotten him help, long before any of this started.”

Peter thought of the moment he knew his son would walk into that kitchen with Kyle waiting. The fear was unlike anything he knew, as he faced his son’s possible death.

Jim sat down again across from his lifelong friend. “I never thought anything could hurt worse than losing Amy, and I was wrong. When Amy was taken from me, it was as if a hole was blown in my chest and when the wind would blow, I could feel it like an aching pain. Now I’ve got two.”

~~~

“Drink this.” Michael watched her drink every drop as he sat on the side of the bed. “You want to come sleep in your old room with me?”

Maria put the cup aside. “No, I want you to come to bed with me.”

Picking up his hand, she stared at it for a long time. Her hand in his, his holding hers firmly, it had always been so familiar.

“How many times have I forgotten you?”

Michael brushed her hair off the side of her face. “A few times.”

“I buried you with my mother, so deep. Even years later, you were a blank face, all I ever could remember was your hands and body.”

Michael moved in closer kissing the side of her neck. “Are you trying to tell me that you only want me for my hands and body, DeLuca?”

Maria held his face. “No. I’m telling you that I’m sorry for having forgotten you. You saved my life more than once.” Maria tilted her head, remembering the first time she met him. “That day you found me on the kitchen floor and revived me, you asked me if I remembered you. I said no. You said it was okay since we were never really introduced.”

Michael shrugged. He remembered, but her point was unclear.

“You expected me to remember you, but I didn’t.”

“It’s okay, I understood.”

“Michael, it’s not okay.” Maria moved back in the bed pulling him with her. Pushing him down on the pillow, she sat up on her legs. “You were always there. Alex reminded me of that. That time I broke my ankle,  the desert, many times, and how many more times?” Michael shrugged. He never kept count. “You always came to save me, just like tonight, like every night since I came home.”

“I had to,” said Michael simply.

“Had to? Tell me why. Tell me, Michael.” Maria held her breath, waiting for him to explain what something inside her understood instinctually.

Michael took a deep breath. He was not a man of words. Taking her hand in his, he stared it. “From the moment I held your hand in mine that first time in the desert, I knew.”

Clearing her throat, she moved closer to him. “Knew what? What did you know, Michael?”

He finally met her eyes, as his golden brown ones stared deep into the living green of hers. “That this was where your hand belonged, in mine. I knew that no matter what, you belonged with me, and nothing, not time or distance, would change that.” Michael slowly brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it, then placed it on his chest over his heart. “Some cultures believe that when you save a person’s life, their life becomes yours, and you become their protector for life.”

“Sacred protector, am I yours?”

“All my life. I was waiting here for you to come home and remember me. It’s been a very long wait, and as always, you were stubborn.”

Remembering Alex, Maria moved his shirt aside pushing it off his shoulders. Her eyes immediately went to the dressing covering the bullet crease. Leaning forward, she kissed his chest above his heart, sucking on the skin in the hollow created by his clavicle. “Tell me why you worked so hard to get Guerin-Whitman up and running.”

“Someone’s been talking out of turn.”

Maria flattened her hand on his chest sitting up straighter. “Tell me!”

Michael shrugged. “Three years ago, when you got engaged, I thought it was over. You were beyond Roswell, living somewhere better. Then over a year went by and you still hadn’t married, hadn’t even set a wedding date. I started thinking that this person…Billy...was a fool, so I decided to come get you. I needed money. I needed to be more than I was so I took a bid too pricey for my company, and went to work.”

“What happened? You didn’t come.”

“I just finished the contract this week.”

Maria looked at him critically; he was still holding back partial truths. “So, after this week, you would’ve come to find me?”

Michael scratched his brow, and shook his head. “No. I had written you off.” Maria waited. “When Lila died, I knew you’d come home, but you didn’t. I thought…I thought you couldn’t be the person I thought you were, that I had built you up into something else. So thirteen months into my plan to come find you, I scrapped it.”

“You wrote me off. So what is this?” Maria gestured between her and him. “I just fell in your hands like a ripe fruit, and you thought, okay she’s not what I want, but what the hell?”

“Hardly.” Michael sat up, grabbing both her arms careful of her broken one. “There is nothing convenient about you, Maria DeLuca. I was attracted to you, true, but I had no intention of following through, not until I realized that I misjudged you. You didn’t come home because they didn’t tell you. I don’t doubt your love of Lila, and that was important to me.”

Michael saw her face, and he groaned low in his throat. Shit. Nothing could be easy, could it?

“Stop it! Stop doubting this.”

“What is this?”

Michael ran his hand through his hair. “I honestly don’t know, but I’m here. Right now, I’m here, and I’m willing to go the distance to find out. Are you?”

Maria sucked on her bottom lip worrying it. He had done a lot for a young girl he barely knew, in pursuit of a dream. Could she really ever be that dream? More than likely she would be a nightmare once he got to know her. She shouldn’t, but she did…she trusted him. “I want to be free of lies and deceit. I’m tried of living in the shadows of half-truths, lies of omission, and good intentions.” Maria pushed her hair off her face. “I know I’m childish most of the time. I get arrogant, self-involved, and I’m easily bored. I don’t lie. Never. Or, at least I can promise not to lie to you.”

“Do you really think I’m boring?”

“No. I can honestly say I haven’t found you in the least bit boring. I’m more afraid you’ll find me boring once you get to know me.”

Michael laughed at that. Not a chance in hell. She was too dramatic, too exaggerated, and too annoying, but one thing she never could be was boring.

“Not likely.” Michael picked up strands of silky blonde hair feeling them on his fingers. “I’m more likely to pray for a moment of boredom just so I can watch a hockey game.” Maria smiled, her eyes gentle as she kissed him softly.

“Can I tell you something about tonight? It’s important.”

Michael was not sure he was ready to talk about what just happened. It had been close, so very close, and he could not remove the taste of sheer terror he felt when he realized the killer was Kyle, and Kyle had his keys. He had left her home alone.

“What?”

Maria grimaced. He was going to think she was insane. “Last night, I woke up around midnight, and you were still gone. I remember falling back to sleep. The bed felt so good, it smelled of you, and the day before was so long and hard.”

“I know.” It had felt like the longest day of his life.

Maria took a deep breath. “The thing is, I was asleep, soundly, and Kyle was in the house with a knife. If he had found me in bed, I would’ve never woken up again.” Michael didn’t say anything, but his stomach hurt. He was getting her frickin’ ulcer.

“You woke up and ran.”

“No. I was woken up, Michael. I didn’t wake myself.”

“I don’t understand.”

“My mother was here. I swear it! She woke me up and told me to wake up, to hide, to run. She told me he was coming. That’s when I ran and hid on the veranda. I could hear the footsteps in the hall, and they were too close.”

“Maria…”

“I know. There’s no such thing as ghosts, but she was here.”

Michael took her hand. “Maybe she was. Maybe she had to save you and she came back for that reason.”

“Maybe. Whatever it was, she saved my life.”

“Kiss me,” he requested. Maria moved her hand up his chest to his face to lean in and kiss him. It was an easy request to grant. Michael removed her clothing, as his hands molded to her body, moving up to hold her firmly as his mouth moved to her breasts. “Maria?”

“Hmm?”

Michael gestured around the room. “Your mother and grandmother, they aren’t here right now, right?”

Maria looked around. “No, just my mom. She’s sitting at the vanity.”

Michael sat up in the bed abruptly staring over at the empty vanity. Maria reached up and whispered in his ear. “Gotcha!”

Michael growled and attacked her as they rolled around in the bed.

~~~

The day they buried Amy and Kyle it rained. The Dog Days of Summer finally broke, and the vacuum of heat was swept away by a northern front that moved quickly to the east, allowing the winds to shift as moisture came in across the Gulf from the south.

Jim and Maria stood at the graves as the others left them alone for a few moments. They had buried Kyle next to Amy, who was next to Lila in the DeLuca plots.

“It feels wrong putting him next to her. He killed her.”

Maria took Jim’s hand. “I was there, Jim. It was an accident. He never meant to kill her. I think he lost control, and when she fell it was over.” Maria stared at the three headstones. “She would’ve wanted it this way. My mother would’ve wanted to save the wounded little boy he was. She would’ve never wanted him alone.”

Jim tightened his hand on hers. They found Amy’s last journal with her remains. He had read them all, and like Maria, he understood her better than he ever had before.

“I’m thinking of leaving Roswell. My job is…” Jim did not want to mention the problems he was having with the City Board thanks to Philip Evans, but he was tired. He was done.

“Please, don’t leave.” Maria breathed deeply. “I need you. I can’t do this alone. All alone, I can’t mend. I need you.”

“Hanson would be a good Sheriff.”

“Jim Valenti, you are the Sheriff, and a good one. You ordered Sam to kill Kyle to save us. That took more than anyone could’ve asked from you. You watched your son die. You are not to blame. We’re all victims. This is your home, your life…please don’t walk away.”

“I might not have a choice.” Jim kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry, kid. I won’t lose track of you. I have a feeling that all I need to do is look no further than Michael Guerin to find you.”

Maria was quiet, but her chin became firm. So it wasn’t over, not until all the dead were buried, and the living chose to go on living.

~~~

“Maria?” Diane Evans stood back in surprise.

“Sorry to come by without calling first. I called the firm, and they said that your husband was working at home today.”

“He is. I’m sure he would love to see you. Please come in.” Diane moved aside to let Maria enter. She had spent the past few weeks watching the young girl, unable to stop once her husband told her the truth. She searched her face for signs of Max, and signs of Philip.

“He’s in the study.” Diane led the way, she paused at the door unsure what to say. “It is nice to see you looking so much better. Is your arm healing?”

“Fine, thank you. I’ll have to do physical therapy to regain strength, but it looks good.”

“The violin? Can you still play?”

“Yes, once my arm is healed.” Maria gestured to the door. “Is it all right with you if I see him?”

“Yes! Of course!” Flustered, Diane opened the door. “Philip, honey, Maria is here to see you.”

Philip quickly stood up at the mention of Maria. He came around his desk. Diane smiled encouragingly at Maria and shut the door after she entered the room.

“Maria…” Philip went to take her hand, but Maria quickly stepped back. He paused at her reaction.

“I’m sorry not to call before coming over.”

“It’s no problem, I had wanted to speak to you anyway, and I didn’t know how.” Philip took a deep breath. He had told his family the truth, and she was all that remained. He didn’t know if she would want to know, or if Jim told her, but he needed to tell her as well.

“I really don’t want to talk about anything but Jim Valenti.” Philip raised an eyebrow. That wasn’t what he expected. “It’s come to my attention that you’re leading a group of council members on some vendetta to have Jim removed as Sheriff.”

“A serial killer lived in our community for fifteen years. It cost me a daughter, you a mother, and many other families have suffered.”

“Jim lost a son and the woman he loved. He’s no stranger to pain.” Maria looked around the room. It was very chic, the perfect place for the perfect lawyer. “You’re holding him responsible for something he could not contain or even believe. Kyle Valenti slept with your daughter; but did she see the sickness in him? I guess her death was punishment for not seeing? You gave him an invitation to the Roswell Country Club, and until a few weeks ago, you would have greeted him as a fine upstanding member of this community.”

“He hid it well.”

“And yet, only Jim is to be punished?” Maria shook her head. “No, he is not. I won’t let this happen. Jim Valenti went the extra mile to find the truth, the very truth you tried to bury, even at the expense of your own daughter’s murder. It cost him a son, and a lifetime of believing in something that didn’t exist. He’s human, but in the final moments, he was willing to sacrifice his son for the innocents he swore to protect. You couldn’t find a better man for Sheriff.”

“Kyle killed my daughter, brutally!”

“Yes, he did. He killed many daughters. He was sick. He was obsessed, but he wasn’t the only one. Your daughter, Isabel was obsessed too. Her hatred of Michael Guerin was reaching the same amount of deviant behavior as Kyle’s. Why was that? Why did Isabel hate Michael so much?”

“It wasn’t him, not really.” Philip sat on the edge of his desk. “In her junior year in high school, Isabel discovered that she was adopted. I never realized how that knowledge altered her sense of self. She had to be perfect, almost like she needed to justify being adopted by us. My wife, Diane, couldn’t have children, so we adopted Isabel. Things got hard between us. Diane was one of those overprotective mothers, and Isabel became her world. It put a strain on our relationship, especially when Diane became so overly emotional. We split up for a while. Later I learned why she was so incredibly hard to deal with. She had been pregnant with Max and she was suffering a hormonal imbalance. It was a difficult pregnancy, but worth it. He was like a miracle.”

Maria did not comment. She knew that time he had spent away from his wife was the period that led to her conception, but that wasn’t something she wanted to talk about right now, or ever.

“The thing is that once Isabel knew she was adopted, and how Max was a miracle baby for us, she became obsessed with being better than Max, doing everything perfectly from simple things to bigger ones. When Lila adopted Michael he became a DeLuca, I think Isabel saw him as a kindred spirit, someone adopted into a better place. I mentioned how he was now a true heir to one of the city’s leading families.”

“She wanted to be part of that too.”

“Yes. It was like a goal. Michael was rough around the edges, and my daughter wasn’t noted for gentle tact. She tried to pound him into shape, or into the shape she needed him to be. It didn’t work.”

That was an understatement. Maria could see the errors in Isabel’s technique. She steamrolled over Michael, hardly noticing him or listening to him, so she erred in being too zealous in her need to achieve a goal. It felt like greed, but it was more. Isabel was like Michael in so many ways.

“Your daughter let her obsession rule her, and when Michael ruined her idea of the future, she let the bitterness eat away at her soul.”

“She wasn’t always like that. As a child, she was so sweet, loving, and happy. I don’t know how we got from what she once was to what she became. God, every day I wished we never told her about her adoption.”

Maria couldn’t handle much more. Her stomach was hurting from all the stress. “Don’t let her mistake become yours. Obsession is a hard thing to live with, especially when it pushes your life into places you never imagined. I really believe that your daughter loved her husband, but she allowed her bitterness and hatred of Michael to continue to wear on her. It poisoned her life, and made her a target for Kyle. Don’t make this vendetta against Jim become your downfall. Kyle killed one of your daughters, but Jim Valenti saved the other. He saved me.”

“Maria…”

“I’ve never asked you for anything in my life, and in truth, I never imagined I had a reason that I would, but I’m asking for this. I’ve lost so much, and I can’t lose Jim. He’s my father, the only one I’ve ever had. I can’t do this alone. I can’t go on without what little family I have left.” Maria took a long breath. “If you can’t do this for yourself and your own soul, then do it for me. This might be the only favor I’ll ever ask of you. Back off on Jim.”

Maria did not wait for an answer. She walked out of the office, thanking Diane Evans along the way. Diane looked in on her husband.

“She’s more like Amy than I ever imagined. Listen to her. It does no good to live in hate and spite. I want to remember my daughter with a full heart. Let this go.” Diane left her husband’s office, allowing him to find in himself what he could.

~~~

Jeff Parker slowly walked towards his daughter’s grave. It was a hard thing for him. He had buried her with a heavy heart knowing that had he let her come home, she would never have been in that motel. It was the figure sitting on the ground next to her grave that held his feet from their usual brisk pace.

Max Evans.

It was hard. Uncertain whether he should turn away or angrily oust Max from his daughter’s resting place, Jeff stood there for a moment watching the young man.

“Max.”

Unable to turn, Max wiped an arm across his face. “I’m sorry. I’ll leave.”

Jeff unclenched his hands. All things being said and done, one fact remained. Liz loved Max with all her heart. “Don’t. She would want you here.”

Max nodded. He put his hands over his eyes. “I can’t erase the last images of her from my mind.” God help him, it haunted him.

“I don’t think she would like to be remembered that way.”

“I know.” Max stared at her name. Elizabeth Parker. Closing his eyes, he could feel a lifetime of regret washing over him. It should have been Elizabeth Evans. “I find it strange that at almost twenty-four, I feel that I’ve lived a lifetime, and all I can feel is regret.” Max finally looked up at Jeff Parker. “I can honestly say that my life was better for her being in it. I made so many mistakes. So many that I regret with all my heart. If I could bring her back, I would, even at the cost of my own life.”

“She changed.”

Max nodded. “I was my fault, too. When I was fifteen, I found what I thought was proof that my father not only had an affair with another woman, but had murdered her.”

“Amy DeLuca?” Jeff closed his eyes. He knew about Philip’s affair with Amy. He always knew.

Max nodded. “It’s no excuse, but I think it warped my views on life. I always thought my parents to be the perfect couple, a real love match. Realizing that it wasn’t true, hurt. I started fighting with Liz, and even though I loved her, I think I stopped believing in love. Then Tess came, and Liz and I were in an off period. I made a mistake, one that had lasting ramifications. Zan. Tess wasn’t this evil person people made her into, and she was carrying my child, so I married her. That too was a mistake.”

“Liz never got over that. I remember her crying all night the night you got married. I thought it was over, that she would write you off and go on, go back to her studies.”

“My reaction to my father’s affair resulted in harming Liz in a roundabout way. She could never forgive Tess for marrying me and having my children. Strange that she rarely blamed me. She blamed Tess. I think if wasn’t for her need to punish Tess, she would’ve given up on me a long time ago. God knows, she accepted what little she could have of me, waiting for me to do right by her. I failed her at that as well.”

Jeff looked at his daughter’s grave, and he had to share some of the blame. “Secrets. They poison us. I held a secret as well, some knowledge about my own parent’s private life, and I let the horror and disgust I felt for what I thought they did affect how I reacted to Liz’s relationship with you. I was at a breaking point, and I kicked her out. I should never have done that. I hate that my last words to her were in anger, and not love.”

Max felt tears moving down his face again. He quickly wiped them away. “The last thing she saw of me was my back, going off to find my wife. She died in that room alone. I helped to turn her into the person she became, the person that was something a madman would want to kill.”

Jeff squatted down beside Max. “I hated you for a long time, but part of it was helplessness. I couldn’t get Liz to let go and take back her life, and I blamed you for that.”

“You should.” Max stared at the cold granite stone. “She made my life better in every way. I love my wife, in my own way, but Liz was my heart. I should never have married Tess, or at minimum I should have divorced her after I realized my mistake. So many things I should have done, and now I can’t. I ran out of time. I can’t even tell her that I loved her.”

“Will you go home to your family, to Tess and the children?”

Max shook his head no. “Liz was my family. I forgot to remember that, and now it’s too late. Tess knows it too, and she has no problem letting me go, after all, I was never really there.”

Jeff placed the flowers he brought on his daughter’s plot. Squeezing Max’s shoulder, he walked away leaving Max to sit there with Liz. It was cold comfort, the granite headstone offering no human warmth. Regrets clouded Max Evans’ young life, and it would be a long time before he felt anything close to forgiveness for his own soul. One truth remained, that without Liz Parker in his life, he was not alive.

~~~

A Month later…



“I don’t get it.” Tess frowned. Tasting the food one more time she grimaced. “I watched you carefully. You did everything right. Why does this taste so awful?”

Maria sighed. “I’m hopeless.”

“At least you’re pretty.”

Maria covered her face. “God, I’ve heard that before!”

Michael came in carrying some tools. He sniffed the air. “Tess, tell me that you’ve been cooking and not Maria!”

Maria rolled her eyes at him, and stuck out her tongue. “I did not destroy your beautiful new kitchen. Tess kept watch.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. He methodically surveyed the new kitchen with its pristine new tile and new appliances. Everything looked intact. He still didn’t trust his roommate. He opened the oven just in case.

Maria snorted. She grabbed the plate and shoved it in his face. “Here, try this. Tell me what you think.”

Tess covered her mouth, and waited.

Michael obediently tried a bite of something that might have been lasagna. He coughed, and looked at Maria. “It’s interesting.”

“Good?”

“Well…”

“Here, have another bite.” Maria tried to shovel some more into his mouth.

“Okay, it sucks! There. Are you happy?”

“Yes, I am.” Maria was just checking. It would be horrible if he started lying to spare her feelings. “I don’t know what I do wrong.”

“I think we can assume the first error is trying to cook in the first place. You got the new kitchen, so you think we can spare Tess the cooking lessons? She’s already about to burst.”

Tess looked at Maria. “Did he just call me fat?”

“Yep. I’m sure he did.”

Sean came into the kitchen. “Michael, you were supposed to come through to the other side. They’re waiting.” Sean smiled charmingly at Tess. “Hi, Tess.”

“Sean.” Tess looked away, but not before Maria noticed the blush.

“Sean, what are you doing in here? I thought you were helping with the roofs.”

“Calm down, little slave driver.” Sean gave Maria a big loud kiss on her cheek. “The boys sent me in here to extract Michael from you. For some reason they thought you two would be rolling around in the sheets.”

“Fat chance. Maria cooked.” Michael shoved the plate at Sean. “Here, try some.”

Sean put the plate aside. “My mistake. I knew you two were either creasing the sheets or trying to poison one another.”

Maria opened her mouth to make a biting comment, when Tess made a sound of distress.

“What?” Sean rushed to her side.

“My water. I think it just broke!”

Sean’s face paled. “Oh God! Where are the kids?”

Maria pushed Sean towards the door. “They’re with Max. You take Tess to the hospital, and Michael and I will follow as soon as we take care of the house and call Max. Go.”

Sean fluttered around Tess like a mother hen, his excitement and anxiety just short of hysteria. Alex walked in the door hindering Sean’s frantic efforts to get Tess out.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked as Sean nearly threw him on the floor to clear the doorway.

“Tess is going into labor.”

“Oh please! I’m a confirmed bachelor! All this domestic birthing stuff has me…oh, god! I’m going back to work.” Alex took off before anyone could request his assistance.

Maria turned back to Michael, confused by the expression on his face. “What?”

Michael shook his head. “I just realized that he’s going to marry her, isn’t he?”

Maria swallowed a smile. That was still uncertain, but Maria had a good feeling that within the next year, after Tess’s divorce came through, that might very well be true.

“Why do you say that?”

Michael pointed to the mess on the floor. “She messed up my kitchen. That’s such a DeLuca trait.”

A year after Lila…



Tess smiled at her six-month-old son, Edward, or Ned as they called him. He was gurgling in his special chair. She had named him after her father. He was watching her and Maria cook. Actually he was watching his mother help Maria arrange food on plates. There was no cooking involved, just lots of takeout boxes.

“Did you tell him you were cooking?” Tess asked curious.

“Of course. You know I promised never to ambush him.” Maria stared into the empty container. “Do you think this is enough? Should I order more?”

Tess looked at the large display of food. “Is this just for you and Michael?” Maria nodded. “Then this is  enough, and if it’s not, you should engage professional help.”

“I need this to be perfect.”

“Maria, what are you up to?” Tess felt bad distrusting Maria, but after knowing her for seven months, she couldn’t help it.

Maria turned slightly pink. “Nothing!” Seeing Tess’s look, Maria rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to hurt him!”

Tess laughed as Max entered the kitchen. Tess’s smile lost some warmth, but she was pleasant enough. “It’s taking a long time to pick up the kids.”

Max stopped to talk to Ned, letting him hold his finger. “Sorry about that. Zan had to play the violin for me. He’s getting good!”

Maria made a comment under her breath which made no sense, but they ignored her since she was obsessing over food.

Sean and Michael entered the kitchen both arguing. Maria ignored them too, as she readjusted the salads. Picking out the ingredients she liked best, she put them on her plate, and pushed the things she hated into Michael’s.

Sean kissed Tess’s cheek and stopped to kiss Ned. “Hi Max. I thought you were picking up the kids for the weekend.”

Max grimaced a little. He and Sean had not found a way to get along, but they were trying. “Zan is still practicing, and Chloe can’t find her shoes.”

Michael scowled at all the people in his house. The food distracted him. Maria could prepare some very pretty food now, but it was all windowdressing. Everything she made tasted like ashes or dirt. It was a mystery.

“Maria, um, you know, my stomach hasn’t felt good all day. Maybe you should let me take us out to eat.”

Maria stopped her obsessing for a moment over the plates. “No way! I went through a lot of trouble.” Maria pushed him towards the back stairs. “Go. Shower. Dinner is ready and getting cold, and you know eating my food cold is lethal. Go!” Michael reluctantly went up the stairs, shooting Sean a pleading look of help. “And hurry!”

“Mar, maybe…” Sean offered half earnestly, trying to rescue Michael.

Maria looked at all the people infesting their house. “Everyone out! I’ve got to set the table, and you’re ruining my evening.” Maria looked around when Zan and Chloe entered the room. She squatted down to Chloe’s level. “You find your shoes, honey?”

Chloe shook her head no, her eyes filling in tears. “Lost.”

“Hmm, I think maybe they’re upstairs on the third floor, in the room we were in. Do you remember? You were trying on old clothes. How about I send Zan to get them for you?” Chloe nodded her arms going around Maria’s neck as she picked up the little three years old. “Zan?”

Max looked at his son. “Zan can you go quick? We’re going to be late for the trip to the cabin with Grandma and Grandpa.” They didn’t have to ask twice, Zan was gone. Max looked at Tess talking to Sean in low whispers. “Tess, you sure I can’t take Ned?”

Tess shook her head. “For a day maybe, but not three. I can’t express that much milk and he still hasn’t been weaned to formula. Maybe next time.”

Max frowned. “You could come with us. My parents would love to have you.”

Tess tightened her hand on Sean’s hand smiling at him. “I can’t, but thank you for inviting me. Sean and I have plans. I think I can have Ned on formula soon, and then you can take him longer.”

Max nodded. He smiled when his son returned. Their divorce came through finally after six months. Tess had moved on, and it was hard to take. Without Liz in his life, he was very much alone, but for the first time in years, he concentrated all his attention to his children. It was hard moving on, but he was getting better.

“Sean, help me take the food into the dining room.”

Sean grabbed two plates. “Maria, you’ve got to talk to Michael. He just signed a bid on a huge project, and he even got Alex all excited over it.”

“What’s the problem?”

“The money. I told him that I can’t extend the credit that long, but he won’t listen to me.”

“Money is your business. I have nothing to do with your business. You need to talk to your partners.”

“Partners?” Sean snorted. “They’re both insane. Michael has corrupted Alex. I can’t get either of them to listen to reason.” Sean frowned. “I was in meetings all day with Jesse, and they pretty much have him all gung-ho as well.”

“Jesse can’t concentrate on anything. What did you expect him to do, try to curb Alex and Michael’s enthusiasm?”

“He’s a lawyer, dammit! He should show some good sense.”

Maria laughed. Fat chance of that happening. Jesse just recently found out that he and his new wife, Kathleen were expecting. The man had not stopped smiling since. He left the old firm after Isabel’s death, taking a few clients with him, including Michael and Maria’s accounts. His new practice served his old neighborhood and the newly merged construction company of Guerin-Whitman and DeLuca Enterprises.

“When Dad sees the money I’m going to have to use to cover for them, he’s going to burst a gastric ulcer.”

Maria shrugged. “Sean, you have to learn to deal with them. I’m not going to involve myself. I’m too busy.” Maria looked at the clock on the mantel. “Look, Michael will be down in a few, and I need you to be gone. So, go collect your girlfriend and the baby, and scram. Talk to Michael on Monday.”

“You’re supposed to be on my side!”

“Scram!”

~~~

Tess watched as Max said goodbye to Ned. She smiled slightly at her son and he ushered Chloe out the door posthaste to get the weekend on the road. Zan loved going to the cabin.

“You look tired, Max. Are you okay?”

Max nodded. “I had a paper due this week, lots of late nights.”

“How is college?” Max shrugged. Tess looked at him kindly. “You can tell me, I won’t get upset. Is it Liz?”

Max stared at his son. “Yeah,” he said quietly. “I imagined it so differently when I was younger. I thought it would be Liz and me going to school, doing all the parties and study groups. I don’t party, and I pretty much keep to myself. I’ve got work in the evenings so I have to use what free time I have to get my homework done.”

“You don’t have to work.”

“Sure I do. I have to pay for this little guy.” Max played with his small son’s hand.

“We’re doing fine. I’m working now. My dad helps and so do your parents. Maybe you should concentrate on your studies.”

“Maybe. I don’t want to make any more mistakes. I’ve made a lifetime of them in just a few years. They’re all I’ve got left. I can’t afford to fuck this up too.”

Tess knew he was talking about Liz. “I share that blame with you, Max. If I had listened to my father when I got pregnant with Zan, and not married you, Liz might still be alive. You would’ve married her, gone off to college, and had a family with her.”

“I asked you to marry me, Tess. I got you pregnant.”

“It takes two.” Tess sighed. “Back then, it felt like there were so few options. We did the best we could. I married a man whose heart belonged to another woman. I knew that. So I’m not without blame.”

“I can’t get her out of my head.” Max looked at his ex-wife. “I was a stupid child. I never really valued her love until it was gone. I think I always thought she would be there, and I was wrong.” Max stared off, his face blank with pain. “I let her carry the blame, the dishonor and shame, all because I couldn’t lose my children, not even for the love of my life.”

Zan came back to the door looking for his dad. “Dad?” Zan’s voice was a young voice of impatience.

Tess smiled at her son, and extended a sadder version of her smile to Max. “You’ll heal.”

Max kissed Ned one more time, and kissed Tess on the cheek. Staring in her eyes, he shook his head. “No I won’t. I’m no longer alive. I’m going through the motions for them.”

Tess watched him leave, her eyes glistening when Sean came up behind her. “Are you okay?”

Tess nodded. “I am. He’s not.”

“Time, Tess. Give it time. He won’t forget, but someday he’ll stop feeling it so much, once he learns to let other things take her place in his heart.”

Tess doubted that. Half of whatever Max was had died with Liz Parker. He was no longer whole. Shaking her head, her curls moving softly around her face, she smiled into Sean’s clear hazel eyes. “You never told me where we’re going.”

Sean picked up Ned and his carrier. “That’s right, I didn’t. It’s a surprise. Let’s get out of here before my whacked cousin comes in and find us. She’s determined to poison Michael in peace.”

Tess agreed. Maria had an agenda, but poison was not on the menu tonight.  

~~~

Michael reluctantly tried the food. After the first bite, he sat his fork down. “You did not cook this.” Michael looked at the table. It was set up beautifully with good china and long tapered candles. “Tess?”

“Takeout from Senior Chows.”

Michael blew out the air from his lungs. “You might have mentioned that this morning. I spent the day terrorized.”

“My cooking is not that bad!”

Michael grabbed Maria’s hand. “Maria, you know I love you, but yes, yes it is. Honey, your cooking is a death threat.”

Maria sniffed. “I do other things much better.”

“You do. You play the violin beautifully.”

“I do.”

“You play a mean hand of poker.”

“Got you out of your clothes,” she said, but her eyes narrowed, “Though I suspect you cheated.” Michael shrugged. Sometimes losing was not so bad.

Enough chitchat. Michael took in the table, her dress and makeup, and the fact she didn’t try to poison him with her usual cooking attempts. “So what’s going on?”

“Can’t I make a nice dinner and have it be innocent?”

Michael gave that some thought. “No. Confess.”

“Fine. You spoil everything. You’re mean that way, and…”

“Mean. Yeah, I know. Maria...?” He motioned to the food.

“I got a call today.” Michael put down his fork again. “The BSO wants me to do a special tour with them this season.”

“BSO?”

“Boston.”

“Boston?” Michael pushed away from the table. She was leaving. It was just a matter of time before she returned to touring, but… “What about Las Cruces? Your guest appearances in Albuquerque? Arizona?” She had returned to limited engagements with local symphonies, but most of the time she stayed home, practiced irritating him, and taught violin.

“I know it’s a long way from home, and with this new contract, you can’t come with me.”

Michael cursed the new contract. They had signed it that day. They were building a new Air Force Base. He couldn’t leave. She was right about that.

“Maria…”

“So, I said no.”

“What?” Michael stood up pacing the room. “You…I…” Dammit! Michael stopped pacing to lean down trapping her in her chair, holding the arms. “Maria, it’s your career. What are you thinking?”

“That I would miss you too much.” Maria moved her hand up his face, touching his skin. “I didn’t say no to everything. I agreed to three performances, and I’ll have to travel for those. I couldn’t do the entire season. It would be too long.” Maria unbuttoned his shirt. “One is televised for some PBS Chamber Music thing.”

“Three?” Michael thought it through. “I could make three, depending on the dates and what’s happening with the company.”

“I also have to go to Chicago about five times, and LA once.”

Michael breathed easier.

“And Milan. I promised two weeks in Milan.”

“Milan?” Michael sat down in his chair. “When?”

“In ten days, which doesn’t give me much practice time, and God knows I need it! I’ve been really bad lately, letting you distract me with construction, and sitting on roofs, and other things.”

“I did not tell you to get stuck on the roof, Maria.”

“That was not my fault! Zan lost his kite, and that silly ladder fell. He was too small to pick it up.”

“The tree?”

“A cat was trapped. Chloe was worried.”

“Uh huh.” Michael shook his head. “The flower bed, and we’re missing some shrubbery?”

“I had a little problem with the lawnmower, but it was fun to drive! Zan and I had a grand time.”

Tess was insane. She let Maria watch her kids during the day while she was at work. Only two times a week when Diane Evans was unavailable, but twice was enough for Maria and the small children to get into trouble. Tess was not crazy enough to leave the baby with Maria. Ned went with her to work, thanks to her equal opportunity employer, Sean DeLuca, who hired her as his secretary and assistant to his newly established branch of DeLuca Enterprises in Roswell, its parent company still operating out of Chicago.

DeLuca Enterprises, a money backing company for construction ventures, found a partner with Guerin-Whitman and they were soon commanding a large amount of the construction work around Roswell and Las Cruces, hoping to expand further in the next five years.

“So you’ll be gone for two weeks.” Michael said, his stomach not digesting the food very well. He did a quick mental tally. They just got the contract. It would take almost a month to get all the supplies and raw materials ordered and delivered, and they wouldn’t pour the first cement slabs until approximately three weeks after that. “I could come with you, maybe. I’d have to check our company schedule and talk to Alex.”

“I already did that. He said he’d get you clear.”

Michael looked at her. “You already arranged for me to go with you? Did you buy my ticket too?”

Maria pulled out two tickets and held them up. Michael reached for them, but she held them away. “They come with a catch.”

“Oh?” Michael should have known. “Well, are you going to tell me, or do I have to guess?”

Maria moved closer. “No, you do not have to guess. I’ll tell you.” She put her hands on his legs moving them upward to rest on his thighs, leaning in closer. “I was thinking that Milan is the perfect place for a honeymoon.”

Michael blinked.

Then he blinked again. Clearing his throat, he tilted his head at her.

“Did you just ask me to marry you?”

Maria frowned. “What? Did I talk too fast? I did only asked you one question! You told me…”

Michael kissed her before she ruined his first and only marriage proposal. Michael could not let this go. “Maria, is this a real marriage? One where I don’t just deposit my sperm and then find myself divorced with you raising our child as another damn single DeLuca woman?”

“Children?” Maria squeaked. What the frickin’ hell was wrong with him? “Oh, God! You’d trust me with children? By myself?” Michael almost laughed at the dramatic display of pure terror on Maria’s face. “If you think for a moment that you’re going to settle me alone to do all the work, you can forget it, Michael Guerin! I know your tricks! Partners, remember? I’m going to talk to Jesse, and we are going to draw up a contract…”

Michael kissed her hard. Practically pulling her into his lap, he pushed his hands through her hair to hold her head still and stop her flow of words with his mouth.

“Is that a yes?” she asked hoarsely.

Michael rested his forehead against hers, his breath panting to his heartbeat. “Do you have a ring? It is customary, you know.”

Maria moved away from him. Reaching over to a place beside her plate, she held a silver box he hadn’t noticed earlier. Opening it, she showed him a very masculine silver ring. It was ornately inscribed.

“This was my great-grandfather’s, Ryan DeLuca. He built this house, and loved it more than his life. I think he would approve of you having this.”

Michael was touched to the point of being unable to speak. Ryan DeLuca’s ring, it was…

“Maria, that’s a family heirloom. Shouldn’t you let Sean have it?”

“I think it already found where it belongs. I think Sean would agree.” Maria took Michael’s hand, and held the ring barely on his ring finger. “Yes?” She asked, holding her breath.

“Yes.” Maria smiled pushing the ring onto his finger while kissing him. Lila had made him a DeLuca, but it took all that time for him to learn to believe it.

The End