Behind Bars (M/L CC Mature) A/N Sept. 18 [WIP]

[maya]

Thanks for the feedback. Please keep it coming.

Erina
Mica
Timelord31
tequathisy
Alex Balex
begonia9508
kiwigirl
roswell3053
orphyfets
L-J-L 76
dreamer19
Morning Dreamgirl
FSU/MSW-94
RhondaAnn
Tinkerbell_luvs_roswell


Part 11

“I don’t get it.” Isabelle put her head against Tess’s dining room table in anguish. “Your saying that he didn’t pull that trigger, not even in self defense?” All this time, she had been so sure.

The women had gone back to Tess’s apartment. Isabelle was still in a fragile state but after a glass of water and some reassurance from Tess she found herself a bit more stable, fueled by her desire to find out the truth and exonerate her brother.

“All I know is that he was frantic when he called me, begged me to lie about what happened that night.” Tess explained.

“When was this?”

“It was after your mother had posted bail. He had already started working with his lawyer on his defense.”

“What exactly did he ask you?” Isabelle asked.

“He said the prosecution would need a witness…someone who had been there, seen him pull that trigger.” Tess said as she thought back to the trial.

“Where were you at 10 pm that night?” The prosecutor asked her.

“I was at the Evans house.”

“What were you doing?”

“Max and I were watching a movie in his room.”

“What movie?”

She looked at Max across the courtroom and continued the facade. “I don’t remember…we sort of got distracted.”

“Distracted by what?”

“Every time we try to watch a movie in his room we end up having sex. That night was no different.’

“So what happened at 11pm?”

“Max went to get us something to drink. I heard yelling from the kitchen and then things being thrown. I ran out into the hall. That’s when I heard the shot being fired. When I got to the kitchen Mr. Evans was on the floor, bleeding. Max was standing over him, the gun in his hand.”

“Was anyone else in the kitchen?

“No.”

“Where were his sister and mother?”

“They came running into the kitchen a few seconds after me.”

“Why was the witness so crucial? They had the fingerprints.” Isabelle asked.

“Without a witness his lawyer could have argued that he picked up the gun after the fact…but of course they’d need another suspect,” Tess explained. “He was trying to protect someone else. He handed himself to them on a silver platter.”

“Why not say it was self defense? Why not admit what he did to us, to mom?” Isabelle cried.

“My guess is that he was worried they would look into it too deeply and realize he hadn’t done it or that the real killer would come forward. He planned it perfectly, he pleaded innocent and went to trial, knowing that if he admitted to it right away and someone else came forward it would look like he had been covering for them. Instead, he went for a trail, making sure the prosecution had the murder weapon and a witness. Then he used his own lawyer, convinced him to call him to the stand in order to plead his innocence where he conveniently ended up breaking down and admitting to the murder.” What strategy. Max Evans was a genius and he would make one hell of a lawyer.

“So who did this Tess? He must have told you?” Isabelle was frantic.

“You were there that night Isabelle. You tell me.”

Isabelle covered her eyes in frustration. “It’s all a blurr…so you…you think I did it?” Did she really have it in her to kill her father?

“I’ve thought all these years that it was you and that’s why you were trying to get Max out. I guess it could have been Diane.”

“I knew where the gun was Tess. Max had shown it to me the night before.”

“She could have found it Isabelle. It wasn’t a big house.”

“I have to find out Tess. I’m going to go to see someone, a psychiatrist that uncover repressed memories. Then we have to get Max out of there. Will you take his case?”

“Isabelle, I will take it unofficially, do some digging. His lawyer works at my firm so I’ll start with him but understand one thing. Someone else coming forward won’t be enough to acquitt him unless we find solid proof that he’s innocent. If we can’t, even if you remember Max has to agree for me to defend him…I’ve offered and he refuses.”

Isabelle gave her a look filled with fierce determination. “You do your lawyer thing, I’ll find a way to get through to Max.”

“Isabelle, you realize that if it turn s out that you did it, it might mean jail time for you, if we can’t prove self defense. It would be hard to prove after all this time.”

Isabelle nodded as she picked up her purse. Max had already lost way too much time. “Can you drive me back to pick up my car now?

Tess nodded. She would get to the bottom of this and free Max no matter what sacrifices she had to make. She just hoped the incarceration of Isabelle would not be the price paid for Max’s freedom. No. Don’t think that way, she chided herself. You won’t let that happen.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



“Liz, are you sure you don’t want to hang out tonight. With Maria out again, you must be lonely?” Serena asked from the other end of the phone.

“Thanks, but I’m kinda tired. I’m just lying on the couch right now, watching some TV, enjoying my solitude.”

After Liz hung up the phone, she lay back on the couch and pulled out a familiar envelope. It was the letter that Max had written her 2 days before. She had already read it multiple times but couldn’t resist reading it again, especially since she had the house to herself.

Dear Liz,

I am so sorry to hear about Sean. To loose someone that you cared about in that way, must be so hard especially if no one else is aware of your pain. It sounds like he was a great guy, you had a lot in common but was more of a companion to you then a lover? Don’t worry, I won’t say a word to Michael. I must confess, he doesn’t even know about these letters, I’m just not sure how we would react. And that guy that hurt you in college doesn’t know what he’s missing. He must have been a real loser to let you go.

You asked a lot of questions about prison life. I have to be honest, it can be worse than what you see on TV. On TV the bad inmate is usually punished or moved before things get to out of hand. That’s not always the case in here. As far as your question about hierarchy, it’s all about who is strong and who is weak. As long as you show you can’t be messed with, most people leave you alone. I sort of have a secret on one of the troublemakers here, so I have both Michael and I covered.

I had someone before I came in here. Her name was Tess. My relationship with her was similar to yours and Sean’s. We weren’t really lonely per say but we had a lot in common. We both came from very dysfunctional families, in fact dysfunctional is not a strong enough word. I do sometimes dream about meeting my soul mate but seeing as how I’m in here for the best years of my life, it will stay a dream and nothing more. Now Liz, you are a different story. You can go out there and meet someone. Don’t let your fear of getting your heart broken hold you back. Just make sure you heart makes it’s way to someone who can really cherish it.

Michael is doing ok. He doesn’t talk about Maria much but he is talking about other mundane things, you know motorbikes and videogames. How is Maria? How far along is she? Will you attempt to try to visit Michael again?

Ask me anything you want. I’m sure it sounds pathetic but your letters are the highlight of my week. Tell me anything and everything about you Liz parker. There is nothing I don’t want to know.

Sincerely,

Max Evans

Liz closed her eyes and sighed. She wondered what Max Evans looked like? Was he tall dark and handsome or was he some old fat, bald guy? He mentioned in one of his first letters that he had seen her when she visited Michael. She wished she had paid more attention, but she had been so focused on Michael and so creeped out by the prison that she hadn’t noticed much.

Ask me anything you want. I’m sure it sounds pathetic but your letters are the highlight of my week. Tell me anything and everything about you Liz parker. There is nothing I don’t want to know

It was so romantic. She knew she should feel uncomfortable that a convicted felon had said this to her buts she wasn’t. For the first time in years she felt cherished, she felt seen. She wanted to write him letters and letters about herself and she wanted to find out everything about him too.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



Tess asked her boss if it would be ok to do some Pro Bono work for a friend. Once it was okayed she went up to the 12th floor at Mclleland and Heigl’s and talked to Stuart Matheson.

“Mr. Matheson, I’m new here and I was wondering if I could see your case file on the Evans case from 2001.” She hoped he wouldn’t recognize her from the trial, but with the many cases he had, she doubted he would.

“Why do you need it?” he asked.

“Oh, I’m working on a similar case and thought it might help.”

“Evans case? What was that about?”

“It was a murder case.”

He obviously didn’t remember. “Ask my secretary Betty, she’ll get the file for you.

“Thank you sir.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


Dear Max,

Thank you so much. Your letters are so beautiful. I find myself reading them over and over again. Sorry to hear your childhood was so painful but it makes you stronger right? Maybe that’s why your so compassionate.

It sounds like Tess was really important to you. I’m glad you had some love in your life. It sounds like things ended when you went to jail? Thank you for your words of encouragement on my love life. It seems like you know me so well. You are so kind. Please be just as kind to yourself. Don’t give up on finding love for yourself. Don’t give up on love just because you are in jail.

Today I went with Maria for her first ultrasound. Seeing her and Michael’s baby on that screen was a miracle. We both realized that we haven’t been treating each other very well and resolved to change that. You see, she has been seeing her ex boyfriend billy for the last 2 weeks. I told myself I was upset because I was worried about her but I was only lying to myself. Truthfully I was angry at her, for giving up on Michael. I know he is being unfair, giving her limited options but in the end I feel they would be much better off with each other. No matter what happens they have created a precious life together and they need to support each other right now. If Michael continues to shut her out he will miss the first two years of his son or daughter’s life. So sad. We have to change that Max. You work on Michael, I’ll work on Maria. I hadn’t given much thought to it before now, but I really want to have a baby myself. Guess I need to find myself a father first, right?

I think you made the right choice, not telling my brother about the letters. I know you are sort of friends or whatever, but he is a very overprotective brother. More of a father figure really and I want you to stay safe.

You said I could ask you anything. What I really want to know is what you look like so that I can picture you when I am reading your words. You already know what I look like, so you have an unfair advantage.

Sincerely,

Liz Parker

Max stuffed the letter under the mattress with the others and laid back, his mind full of images of Liz. She wanted to know what he looked like. She was thinking about him, like he was of her.

The cell door opened and Michael wobbled in escorted by a guard. His face was cut up pretty badly, his arm was in a sling.

Max sat up quickly. “Michael, what happened?”

“I had the shit beat out of me, what does it look like?” Michael grunted as he lay on the bottom bunk on his back trying get comfortable.

“Gary would never…”:

“It wasn’t Gary. It was some new guy.”

“What did you do?”

“Nothing, Nothing at all.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



Tess arrived home to find Kyle had cooked her spaghetti and garlic bread, her two favorites.

“Your quiet tonight.” He commented, once they were finished.

Tess took a deep breathe. It was now or never. “Kyle, I have something to tell you. Something I should have told you a long time ago.”

She told him everything starting with her father’s abuse , then Max’s father’s abuse, his innocence, her purgery on the stand, and finished with her visit with Isabelle the previous day.

Afterwards he was quiet, taking it all in. “Wow,” was all he could say. Now he understood why Max Evans was so important to her.

“I’m sorry Kyle. It’s not that I didn’t trust you. It’s just I made a promise and….” She didn’t know what else to say. “And now I need to help him.”

Kyle nodded. “So you wouldn’t even be a lawyer if it wasn’t for him.” Kyle was referring to the 80,000 dollars.

Tess nodded. “And I blame myself for lying on the stand. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“But you loved him.”

She nodded.

“So if you do this it might mean you’ll loose your law license?” he asked.

“Yes Kyle but I need your support. If this happens, I might have to start over. We might not have much.”

“It’s ok. You do whatever you have to do.”

Tess threw herself into his arms. “Thank you Kyle.”

Kyle cleared his throat nervously. “Tess, while we are confessing or whatever ... there is something about me...that you need to know.”

[maya]

It seems that I have some new readers which is great. Thank you so much for taking the time to read and leave feedback to this story. Please keep it coming.

I saw that I had some nominations for this fic. Thank you so much!

Also, I have two new stories coming soon. One is called Stow Away and the other called The Forbidden One. The summaries and banners are on the bottom of the second page of my author's page.


Timelord31
Alien614
Evans3
RhondaAnn
roswell3053
begonia9508
Erina
spacegal17
Morning Dreamgirl
FSU/MSW-94
Srawberry88
Roswell10/2/00
candycane14
orphyfets
tequathisy
L-J-L 76
elizasere
out of this world

Part 12


“So Stuart Matheson remembers next to nothing from the case but his assistant is a totally different story. She remembered it well,” Tess explained to Isabelle. The two women were drinking lattes at a local coffee shop, discussing Tess’s finding at McClelland and Heigl’s.

Isabelle leaned in closer. Tess was speaking quietly so as not to attract attention and she didn’t want to miss a word of it. “What did she say?”

“He realized right away that Max was sabotaging his own case, but decided not to stop it,” she explained.

Isabelle’s face registered her surprise. “What about his reputation?” Surely losing a case would look badly on him?

Tess had wondered that two but his assistant had explained that he had a very good reason. “He had only been practicing law 3 years at the time and needed the money. He was going through a messy divorce and his wife was taking him to the cleaners. He figured if Max was going to bury himself it was less work for him. Sure he needed good publicity but he had other much higher profile cases at the time which gave that to him.”

Isabelle nodded. That made perfect sense. She and Max were complete unknowns at the time.

“What about the evidence?” Isabelle questioned.

“They had the gun and the finger prints but it was my testimony that put a nail in his coffin. Without it they wouldn’t have had much of a case. They would have had to look at other suspects. Every time Stuart brought up trying to show that there were other people with the mean and motive, Max forbid it.”

Isabelle sighed and sat back, marveling at what her brother had done to protect the family. “He was worried they would figure out it was mom or I.”

“Exactly.”

“So where does that leave us?” Isabelle asked.

“One thing that the prosecutor didn’t bring up was where the body was found, that might tell us where the gun was fired from and who fired it that night,” Tess explained hopefully and then added, “Do you know who owns your old house now?”

“Sure, the opals bought it.” Isabelle answered.

“Do you think they’d let us in for a few hours?”

Isabelle still kept in touch with the opals. “I don’t see why not,” she shrugged.

“I’d also like to pay a visit to your mother.”

Isabelle nodded. “You should be prepared through Tess. She isn’t the same woman. She barely says anything.”

‘She might say something to me,” Tess replied hopefully.

It was worth a shot. What did they have to loose?

Isabelle reached across the table and took Tess’s hand. “Tess thanks for all this. I can’t believe how much work you’ve done in the last few days.” She had hated Tess for the last 4 years, jumping to the wrong conclusions as to why she had lied on the stand. ‘I’m so sorry.”

Tess just shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. I’d have thought the same if I had been in your shoes.”

Isabelle shook her head. She doubted it. Tess didn’t have the history of making snap judgments that she herself did.

“As for the work I’ve done this week, It’s been easy. I’ve been avoiding home, this was a good distraction.”

Isabelle raised her eyebrows at Tess’s confession. “Trouble with Kyle?” she asked.

Tess just nodded. When Isabelle’s expression indicated she needed more information, Tess’s answer was vague. “Let’s just say I’m not the only one with a past.”

Isabelle sighed. There sure was a lot of that going around lately. Then a thought occurred to her. “What about my brother. Are you still in love with him?”

Tess fiddled with the cover on her latte, then looked up at Isabelle. “I’ll always be in love with him.” She couldn’t lie.

Isabelle smiled. That was exactly what she wanted to hear. “He’s going to need someone when he gets out Tess. It can be like old times, the four of us together again.”

Tess wasn’t sure how to respond. A week ago she would have said that she was committed to Kyle but after his confession she wasn’t so sure. “Isabelle, I don’t think that…”

Isabelle cut her off “Just think about it. Will you do that?” She had nothing against Kyle, in fact she had never met the guy and she wished him no ill will but her concern was not for him, it was for her brother. Tess had made him happy once and she was sure that she could do it again.

Tess nodded to keep Isabelle happy more than anything else. In all honesty she had been so focused on proving Max’s innocence that she hadn’t even had a chance to wonder about the ramifications. What would it mean for her and Max and Kyle?

“So how’s Alex?” Tess changed the subject.

Isabelle’s face fell. “I don’t know. I got up in the middle of the night and found him sleepwalking again.”

It was Tess’s turn to be surprised. “He still does that?” She remembered he had a problem with it in college, and would always sleepwalk when he was nervous over an upcoming exam.

“He hasn’t done it for a long time, so I know it means that he’s really upset. He wants a baby but this is not the time.” Isabelle looked at Tess. “Look at me I’m a wreck and I might be going to jail.” Tess had to laugh. Isabelle might feel a mess, but one would never know it. She was dressed to kill, her nails were manicured, make up perfect and hair recently colored.

“How much does Alex know?” Tess asked.

“Not much.”

“Maybe it’s time you tell him,” she suggested.

Isabelle shook her head. “I have an appt. with this Psychiatrist, Dr. Milner. Repressed memories are his specialty.” She wouldn’t say anything to Alex yet. Not until she knew for sure and had some time to deal with it on her own first.



-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_




Max sat on his bunk, pen and paper in hand. Michael was at the infirmary, having his broken arm looked at so he was alone. He agonized over what to tell Liz about Michael’s accident. He had promised to keep him safe and had failed miserably, but he had also promised to tell Liz the truth, even if it wasn’t always pretty.

He had cornered Gary in the yard yesterday afternoon and he had sworn adamantly that he had nothing to do with it. After asking around, Max had decided to absolve Gary of any blame. It seemed Michael’s’ attacker, Paulo from New Mexico was new to the jail and had not yet formed any alliances within the prison. Max had yet to catch a glimpse of him but he had heard that he wasn’t that big of a guy which left the question of why he would pick a fight and with Michael of all people.

In half an hour they had rec time outside. Paulo would surely be there and Max planned on getting some answers. Sure he wanted to help Michael, he always helped anyone that was in need, but he was really helping him for the raven haired beauty he had been writing to. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her. Isabelle would laugh if she saw him now. She had always said he was a sucker for a damsel in distress. She was convinced that was why he was so drawn to Tess. What would she say about Liz?

Dear Liz,

I am writing with some disappointing news that I wish I didn’t have to share. Michael was beaten up two days ago. He has a broken arm, 2 broken ribs and some cuts and scrapes but he is ok. Truthfully, I don’t really know what happened. I have confirmed it has nothing to do with the usual suspects that I have made deals with. It was some new guy that beat him and I can’t for the life of me figure out why. Michael is being very quiet about the whole thing, I am not sure if this is because of his wounded pride or because he knows more than he is admitting, the attack may have been personal. Either way I promise you that I will find out why and put a stop to this right a way. You have my word that I have his back and I will keep your brother safe.

I can’t believe that Maria is seeing an ex boyfriend when she is 5 months pregnant. What kind of man would take advantage of a vulnerable woman in that position? I would keep an eye on that situation if I was you. Maybe we should tell Michael, he would go through the roof and maybe he would agree to see Maria if only to talk some sense into her.

I am going to talk to Michael about Maria today. See if I can’t knock some sense into him. I wish I could show him the photocopy of Maria’s ultrasound that you sent me. Maybe there is a way for me to do that without him finding out about the letters. I’ll have to give it some thought.

Yes, Tess was important to me. Thanks for asking. But now she is engaged and moving on with her life and I couldn’t be happier. That’s what I want for my friends and family, happiness. You told me not to give up on love but unless I change sides I won’t be meeting any potential soul mates in this place. You on the other hand should start dating again. I know you have been hurt and I don’t know all of the details but Liz, life is short and you can’t waste time worrying, you have to just live it. You said you wanted a baby. I can just picture your daughter, another raven haired beauty. You would make an excellent mother. I so hope that happens for you. I just know there is a father out there for your baby somewhere.

You asked what I look like. I am 5’11 and I have dark hair which is a little on the longer side right now and my eyes are brown but my sister always describes them as amber. I don’t know if you remember but we actually saw each other twice when you came to visit Michael. The first time you seemed a little frightened, the second time we shared a smile. I feel awkward saying this but if you ever want to come visit me, please do. I consider you a friend now and it would be nice to see you in person. If you are uncomfortable with this you don’t have to say anything. I won’t bring the subject up again unless you do.

Sincerely,

Max Evans


Max re read the letter several times, unhappy with it’s contents. Why was he pushing her to get out there and date? Because it was the right thing to do and he wanted her to be happy. If he was honest with himself though that wasn’t what he wanted. He wanted to date her. He fell asleep at night fantasizing about a life with her. But he couldn’t write something like that in the letter, it would surely freak her out. Besides, he would be in this place for a long time, a relationship with Liz Parker just wasn’t feasible. His reference at the end of the letter to a visit was bold enough. He was taking his own advice, taking a risk, just in case there was the slightest chance but he wondered if after she read this he would he ever hear from her again.

20 minutes later, Max scanned the prison yard until hi eyes landed on his target, Paulo.

He cornered him against the fence in a more isolated area of the yard. “Why did you beat up Michael Parker?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“I got no beef with you. Stay out of it,” Paulo said.

Max grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the fence. “I guess you didn’t hear me. I asked you why you beat up Michael.”

Paulo spit in Max’s face. “I told you. Stay out of it or you’ll get hurt.”

Max let him go. Hurting him wasn’t going to get him the answers he needed. “How long do you think you can survive in here if you don’t make friends?” he asked him.

Paulo just smiled. “Friends out the outside are far more important than in here.”

When Max looked at him questioningly, Paulo continued. “I’m not the one you should be worried about. I would worry about your friend.”

“Just give him a break. Whatever he did….”

Paulo cut him off. “If I back off they’ll just find someone else,” he said as he started to walk away and then turned and added, “Tell your friend to listen to them and then he’ll be fine. I just hope that he listens well.”



-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



After Isabelle arrived at Dr. Milner’s office and was guaranteed anything she said in his office was confidential she explained why she was there. That she needed to know what happened that night her father was killed and that she was in a hurry.

“So do I lie down?” she asked as she sat on the couch in his office, her hand laying nervously in her lap.

Dr. Milner just shook his head and smiled. “That won’t be necessary.” New patients always asked him that. Their only experience with the field of Psychiatry had been what they saw on TV.

“So Mr.s Whitman, what does your husband think about you being here?” Dr, Milner asked.

Isabelle looked at the man with the small black glasses, messy pepper colored hair and white coat that was sitting across from her anxiously scribbling notes on a pad of paper that was sitting on his lap. “Call me Isabelle and my husband doesn’t know,” she answered.

“Why not?” he asked.

Psychiatrists always asked why. “He doesn’t know about any of this.”

“What is your relationship like?” he inquired.

Isabelle felt like a laboratory rat being observed and squired a little on the couch. “It’s great. He’s very loving and supportive. We are very close,” she answered a little too enthusiastically.

Dr. Milner stopped writing and looked up at her. “And yet he doesn’t know that you think you killed your father. Don’t you think that is strange?”

Isabelle just shook her head. What did any of this have to do with what happened that night? “Look. He has never known what happened that night. He thinks Max really killed my father. Only Max, that’s my brother that I was telling you about and his ex fiancé Tess and I know that isn’t true.”

“Why didn’t you let him in on the secret?”

Isabelle took a deep breathe knowing she was about to tell a perfect stranger something that only three other people knew. “We were abused by my father, Max, me and my mother. We didn’t tell anyone about it until I met Tess in high school. She had been abused too. You learn to hide the bruises well with clothes and makeup or sunglasses and you learn to lie really well. I never told Alex prior to that night.”

“But after your brother went to jail and you and Aelx were married, he became a support system for you. Did you think of telling him then? Did you trust him?”

Isabelle was annoyed. “Of course I trusted him. It’s just I had gotten so used to lying that I just continued to do it and until last week I honestly thought Max was guilty. I thought it was self defense. Now I know he wasn’t even the one to pull the trigger.”

Dr. Milner nodded as Isabelle talked and continued to take notes. Isabelle rolled here eyes wondering just what he was writing about her. The idea of a file being created on her just didn’t sit well with her at all.

“Look. Aren’t you supposed to count to ten or something or ask me to picture myself in a safe place?” she asked.

“Isabelle we are not ready for the hypnotism part of our sessions yet.”

Isabelle was perplexed. “But that’s why I am here. I need to know what happened that night.”

Dr. Milner shook his head. Society was so obsessed with speed these days, wanting results as fast as you can reply to an email or answer a cell phone. The human brain was a sensitive thing that could not be rushed. “There’s a lot more to it than that. I won’t just jump into something like that. It could cause irreparable damage. Unless your ready to do this my way you’ll have to find someone else.”

Isabelle sighed. She didn’t want to go through this embarrassment again with another doctor. “Ok, but how long will it take?” she asked.

“I can’t give you a date. Each patient unfolds at a different pace.”

Isabelle groaned. Of course he couldn’t. He reminded her of a lawyer. The longer this took, the more he would get paid.

“So are we on the same page?” he asked her.

She was reluctant but she nodded.

Mr. Milner looked pleased as he sat back in his chair and asked Isabelle another question. “So when did your father first hit you?”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



One week later


“Hey Maria, I’m making some spaghetti and garlic bread. You interested?” Liz asked when she came into the living room to find Maria rooting through her purse.

Maria looked up with a smile. “No thanks, Chica, I’m going out in 15 minutes. Have you seen that new lipstick I bought when we were at the mall yesterday?”

“I think it’s in the bathroom upstairs….hey where are you going?” she asked.

“Billy asked me to see that new comedy that came out last week,” Maria explained as she ran up the stairs to get the lipstick.

“Oh,” Liz’s face fell.

When Maria came back downstairs, lipstick in hand she gave Liz an annoyed look. “Liz, I thought we agreed we wouldn’t make judgments on each others life anymore?”

Liz sighed and decided to tread carefully. She didn’t want to start another fight. “Maria, it’s not a judgment. It’s just that I’m worried. Your 5 months pregnant. Why would you want to date?”

Maria laughed. “Oh Liz. It’s just Billy, an old friend. No big deal.” She worried to much.

“Does he know that?” Liz had seen the way Billy looked at Maria lately and she doubted as much.

“I don’t want to fight,” Maria explained. She just didn’t have the energy for it.

“Maria, there’s something you should know. Michael was beaten up in the jail. He has a broken n arm, 2 broken ribs” Liz blurted out suddenly.

Maria dropped her purse on the floor and gasped. “What, how?”

Liz just shook her head. “I don’t know Maria.”

Maria was so tense you could see the worry lines in her forehead. “Is he causing trouble in there?”

Liz didn’t know for sure. She hoped Max would write her again with more information. “I don’t think so. Someone just decided to pick on him.”

Maria sat down on the couch and took a few deep breaths. “And he’s dealing with it all alone,” a tear traveled down her cheek and she immediately wiped it away and her expression changed to one that was stern and cold. “Well he chose this Liz. He could have had us visit him once a week , write him letters but he chose not to. It’s his own damn fault.”

Liz’s jaw dropped. It was one thing to move on but how could Maria say such a horrible thing. “Maria you don’t mean that.”

Maria’s expression changed to one of despair. “Of course I don’t but I have to pretend Liz. It’s the only way I can cope right now. Don’t you think I worry every day that the father of my baby might be lying in a pool of blood in that place, that he might not ever come home or worse that he might give up on life itself….but I have to push those thoughts out of my mind, for me, for this baby. That’s why I have to get out now and again.”

“Why can’t you do things with me? Why does it have to be Billy?” Liz didn’t understand.

“Liz, I love you, I truly do but when I’m with you I can’t not think about Michael. When I’m with Billy, I can forget for a few hours. Do you understand?”

Liz took a seat beside Maria and put her arm around. “I do Maria. I really do.” Maria’s actions made some sense now.

After Maria wiped away her tears and Liz helped her reapply her makeup something occurred to her. “Liz, how do you know any of this anyway? I thought Michael wasn’t talking to you”

Liz took a deep breathe. “Before I explain can you promise not to get mad?”

“Oh god Liz. What did you do?”

“His cellmate started writing to me and I wrote him back. He’s been keeping me updated on Michael.”

“Liz, are you sure that’s a good idea? Isn’t he in for murder?” Maria panicked. “I mean how many of these letters have you written?”

Liz looked down guiltily. “Quite a few?”

“Do you tell him personal stuff?” Maria asked.

Liz didn’t answer. Her silence did.

Maria looked at her as though she was crazy. “Liz, do you know how stupid that is? He could be a stalker. My god.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Maria, he’s not a stalker. You haven’t seen his letters there so…”

“So what Liz? There letters. People can pretend to be anyone on paper. He’s lonely, probably feeding you anything you want to hear. Maybe Michael is fine, wasn’t even beaten up at all. He’s just trying to reel you in”

Liz just shook her head. Max wouldn’t lie to her. “Max is a great guy. He’s compassionate and he’s really looking out for Michael.”

“Max?” She was talking about him like she knew him.

Maria was more than concerned. “Are you forgetting that this Max murdered someone?” she tried to remind Liz.

“So what,” Liz yelled. “Michael killed someone and we both know it was an accident. I am sure there was a reason for what Max did as well. I know he’s a good person. I just feel it,” Liz defended Max with all she had.

Why was she defending this man? “Do you have feelings for him?” Maria asked.

“Of course not,” Liz replied just as the doorbell rang.

“Maybe I shouldn’t go,” Maria looked at Liz worriedly. They needed to talk more about this.

“Maria. I’m fine. Go and have a good time.” She literally pushed Maria out the door.

Once she was gone Liz sat down on the couch and reread Max’s letter. She had defended him so adamantly to Maria. Max had never told her why he was in jail or made any excuses for it. Maybe she was wrong and he was a cold blooded killer preying on a vulnerable woman. She shook her head. She refused to believe that. She could talk to him about things and not feel like she had to apologize for who she was with him. She had more feelings for him than she had admitted to Maria. . He had asked to see her and she had been seriously considering it. But Maria had a point. Who was Max Evans? She picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn’t dialed in a long time.

“Sheriff, it’s Liz Parker. How are you?” she said into the phone.

“Actually, I really need a favor,” she explained.

“No nothing like that,” she laughed.

“Do you have contacts at the Arizona sheriff’s office?” she asked him.

“Good because I need some information on someone.” She hoped he could find what she was looking for.



-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



Tess arrived home from a long day of work to find Kyle standing in the middle of their kitchen with an apron on, cooking up some lamb chops. He looked at her guiltily. “Am I in your way Tess?” he asked and her heart went out to him.

“I’m sorry I’ve been so distant Kyle. I just needed some space, some time to think. I mean I just wasn’t expecting this,” she explained.

Kyle shook his head sadly. “I know Tess. I know.” No matter what happened, he was glad that he had told her the truth. She deserved to know.

“Oh Kyle.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “I know, I’m being hypocritical. I told you what I had been hiding from you and you accepted it without question. Then you tell me this and…I act like a spoiled baby. I’m sorry.”

Kyle took her hands in his and looked at her lovingly. “Tess you know it’s not the same. You lied to help someone else. There’s no fault in that. I on the other hand lied, to make myself look better. I understand if you want to leave.”

“No Kyle. I’ve decided I’m ok with it. It’s in your past. Your not that same guy anymore.”

Kyle’s face lit up. “So you still want to marry me?” he asked in surprise.

Tess nodded. “I do…but Kyle I want to postpone the wedding.”

His smile faded. He should have suspected this. “No, it’s not for the reasons your thinking. I just need to focus on Max now and well I sort of….”

“Want Max to come to our wedding?” he asked.

“Would you mind?” she asked meekly.

“It wouldn’t be right to have our wedding without him,” Kyle smiled and wrapped his arms around her tenderly. As long as they were together he would wait as long as he had to.

[maya]

You all have some very interesting theories about who is behind Micheal's attacks but I don't want to give anything away. It could relate to Billy or Sean or someone else. Thank you so much for your feedback. It means a lot to me.

I hope you like this part. I didn't have time to edit it yet but I really wanted to post it today because it has been a while. I will go back and do that later.

Thanks:


xmag
Nicoletta
cabdycane14
Erina
kittens - yes, Alex does add a new possibility.
Morning Dreamgirl
RhondaAnn
orphyfets
kiwigirl
begonia9508
FSU/MSW-94
Mica
tequathisy
timelord31
Michelle in Yonkers


Part 13


“Miss Parker, I was told you were trying to get a hold of me?” the prison warden asked.

“That’s right,” Liz answered into the phone, wrapping the phone cord around her hand nervously as she took a seat on the couch. “I’m Michael Parker’s sister,” she explained.

His secretary had told him that when she relayed the message that Liz had called earlier that morning. “I know that,” he managed through a yawn, one of many this morning. It was only 10 am and already he’d had to deal with a riot in the cafeteria and two prisoner confrontations. Dealing with an inmate’s relative was not high on his priority list. “What can I do for you?” he asked hoping to keep the conversation short. He wasn’t paid enough for the job he had to do.

“I heard that my brother was in a fight a few days ago,” Liz explained wanting the warden to confirm or deny what Max had told her in his letter.

The warden thumbed through Michael’s file to locate his medical records. “That’s right,” he stated matter of factly. What did she want him to do about it?

“Was it serious? What kind of injuries did he have?” she asked quickly feeling agitated by the fact that Michael had been hurt and she had been unable to be there. “I’m sure you can understand how concerned I am.”

“Broken ribs, a few scrapes, nothing life threatening.” He had certainly seen worse.

“Was there an investigation? Do you know who did this?” she asked.

The warden rolled his eyes. “This is a prison not a court room. There were no witnesses so we don’t know who did it. Michael is fine.”

“Well what are you doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” she asked, her tone demanding.

“Look mam this isn’t a preschool, it’s a prison. If we notice an inmate is out of line we step in but we can’t possibly be in all places at one time.” Did she not understand it was the taxpayers dollars that were funding her brother’s three year stay here, the majority of taxpayers could care less if an inmate got that shit beaten out of him now and then, in fact they believed he deserved it.

“No, you look here. My brother is a model inmate serving his time. It is your responsibility to keep him safe.” Her fists were clenched in frustration.

“I understand your concern mam but there is nothing I can do. If you brother comes to me and tells me who did this, I’ll see what I can do. Why don’t you talk to him?” he suggested knowing full well Michael wouldn’t give him any information. In his 10 years as prison warden he had never known a prisoner to snitch. “I’d like to help you but my hands are tied.”

Talk to him? How could she talk to him when he wouldn’t even talk to her? “Thanks,” she said sarcastically before slamming the phone down. Thanks for nothing.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



“Did your father sexually abuse you as well?” Dr. Milner asked Isabelle. It was their second session.

Isabelle shook her head. “It was only physical.”

“How often?”

“It depended on how much he’d been drinking and whether we set him off or not. We learned over time how to keep things as calm as possible,” Isabelle explained hoping that reliving these painful memories would reap what she was hoping for.

“So no one knew about the beatings?” Dr. Milner asked.

“No.” Isabelle shook her head. “Well actually there was this one time when I was about 13. I had just started middle school. The night before, dad had come home to find me up doing homework at the kitchen table and he was really drunk. He said something about me being in his way and he broke a beer bottle, picked up a chard of glass and ran it across my cheek. It wasn’t really that deep bit it bled and I didn’t bother trying to cover it up. When I went to school the next day the principal asked me about it. I told him that I had been climbing a tree in my back yard and had fallen and scraped myself.”

“Did he buy your story?”

Isabelle shook her head. “He passed me this pamphlet for an abuse crisis center.”

“Then what happened?”

“I continued to deny it but I was absolutely mortified. Anyways he never brought it up again.”

“Why was that?” Isabelle smirked. Dr. Milner reminded her of a two year old always asking ‘Why’.

“I told Max and he went and talked to the principal about it,” she replied.

“Do you know what was said?” he asked.

She shrugged. “No and it didn’t matter. Max took care of it he always did.”

“What about your mother?” He wondered where she fit into all of this.

“She was great when it came to baking and sewing and decorating but she was in denial about everything else. I mean you couldn’t go to her with anything emotional or she would just fall apart. She’d be out of it for days.”

Dr. Milner wrote something on his notepad causing Isabelle to cringe. When would this bloody session be over? It seemed to be taking forever. “So who did you go to for emotional support?” he asked.

“I went to Max. He helped me with school. He helped me when my first boyfriend dumped me,” Isabelle said and then laughed remembering something else. “I even went to him when I got my first period.”

Dr. Milner raised an eyebrow in response to her last remark and before he could ask her more, Isabelle beat him to it with an answer. “I was 12. Sure it was a little embarrassing… but Max got some books and we read up on everything. He took me to the doctor to have my first pap smear.” Isabelle laughed thinking about how red Max had turned when he had mentioned the word ‘pap smear’. He had been only 14 at the time.

Dr. Milner thought for a moment then made a few more notes. “Did you and your brother have a sexual relationship?” he asked.

Isabelle’s eyes widened with shock and she jumped out of her seat on the couch. “What? Of course not. How could you say something like that?”

“Well don’t you think your relationship was a little strange?” he asked.

“So what? Look Dr. Milner. My family may have been screwed up but there was no incest. Have you not heard anything I have told you about Max?”

“Well he certainly looked after you and I just wonder how far he took that?” he asked.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. “I guess when I told you my father didn’t sexually abuse me you hoped my brother had?” she asked. This man was clearly sick. “I mean when someone is screwed up there always has to be some sort of sexual abuse or dysfunction involved. I read your book last night and I noticed that was the recurring theme for all your patients.”

“Isabelle,” Dr. Milner started to defend himself but was cut off.

“What is it with you psychiatrists and your obsession with sex? My brother has done nothing except protect me and the fact that you could suggest such a thing makes me sick.” Isabelle stood up and grabbed her purse off the couch.

“Well we find that a lot of patients in your situation have blocked out painful sexual experiences,” he explained.

Isabelle glared at him, contempt flowing through her veins. “This isn’t why I am here and you know it. I need to find out what happened that night. But you don’t care about that do you?”

Dr. Milner didn’t answer, he didn’t know what to say.

As Isabelle walked towards the door he stood up hoping to reason with her. “Isabelle we still have 15 more minutes left. Sit back down. Let’s try to get at that memory your missing.

“I don’t think so. I’m leaving now before you try to plant some fake repressed memory in my head.” With that Isabelle Whitman stormed out of the office never to be seen by Dr. Milner again.



-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



“You aren’t listening very well Parker are you?” Paulo asked as he punched Michael square in the jaw once again in the laundry room.

At the mention of Maria’s name Michael saw red. “Leave Maria out of this,” he hollered as he ran at Paulo pushing him to the ground. He and Gary were supposed to have laundry duty today. Paulo must have pulled some sort of a switch which meant that
his problems were a lot more serious than he had originally anticipated.

Michael was much bigger than his opponent but his residual injuries from last weeks attack had left him weak, Paulo used to his advantage, quickly rolling over so that Michael was pinned beneath him.

******

“Are you looking for Michael?” Gary asked Max when he stood in the meal line behind him.

“Ya. Why do you know something?”

Gary looked around nervously and motioned for Max to join him outside the cafeteria door.

“Look there was nothing I could do. He threatened me,” Gary explained nervously.

“Micheal?” What kind of line was he feeding him.

“No.” Gary shook his head. “That Paulo Kid. Made me trade laundry duty with him. The guard was there too man, I had no choice.”

“Shit!” Max cursed.

“This doesn’t count does it. I didn’t back out on our deal. They made me.” Gary asked him.

Max thought for a minute. “Not if you come with me.” With that the two men broke into a run.

******

“The orders were simple. Stop talking to your girlfriend and that snoopy sister of yours.” Paulo explained as his fist made repetitive contact with Michael’s face. Michael writhed in pain as he heard his nose snap and soon he had the metallic taste of blood in his mouth.

“Get the fuck off of him,” Max screamed as he pulled Paulo off of Michael. Grabbing the neck of his shirt he brought him towards himself and punched him in the face. When Paulo turned to run in the opposite direction his stomach came in contact with Gary’s fist. For a few minutes he was bounced between Gary and Max like a badminton ball until Max felt he had had enough and pulled away to help Michael up and into a chair.

He grabbed a towel from the laundry bin and passed it to him. “Here. Hold this against it and pinch the top of your nose.”

“Thanks Man,” Michael said. He had never been so glad to see Max and Gary in his life. If they hadn’t shown up, he wasn’t sure how bad things would have become.

Max looked over to the other side of the room to see that Gary was still attacking Paulo and had kicked him to the ground. “Ok Gary. That’s enough.”

“Hey Bro. Just watchin your back.” Gary put his hands up indicating he was done.

“Yes and having fun doing it to,” Max couldn’t help but let out a single laugh. Guys like Gary were so predictable.

Max helped Michael out of the chair and allowed him to lean against him for support, with Gary on the other side. As the three prepared to leave the room Paulo called after Max.

“I told you to stay the Fuck out of this.”

“And I told you to leave Michael alone,” Max retorted.

“Your lucky your friend was here,” Paulo spat blood out as he spoke to Michael. “But he’s not always going to be here to help you and if he is I’ll make sure that you are both taken out.”

******

“What the fuck was that about?” Max asked Michael once they were both back in their cell.

“It’s none of your concern,” Michael replied as he took a seat on his bunk.

“When I have to clean up your mess I think it is. How can I help you if I don’t know what’s going on?” he asked as he paced the length of the cell.

Michael rolled onto his back in pain. “They think I’ve been talking to Liz and Maria, what about they won’t say.”

Max gulped. What could any of this have to do with Liz and Maria? Were they in danger?

The more Michael thought about it the less sense it seemed to make. “The crazy thing is that I haven’t talked to either of them at all so I don’t know what they are talking about….maybe there is no point to it all and their just messing with me.” Michael was so tired and in so much pain he could barely think straight.

“Actually the even crazier things is that…..” he looked at Max and then it hit him. He had told no one he had a sister or a girlfriend and Paulo mentioned them by name. He had told no one except for Max.

“What man? What?” Max asked hoping whatever Michael had to say would give him some insight into why he was being targeted.

Michael looked at his supposed friend nervously and then looked away. “Nothing man. Nothing. I just need some sleep.” Michael rolled over and faced the wall.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



“So you’ve been in a strange mood this week,” Billy observed as he took another bite of spaghetti.

“Strange how?” Maria asked shoving another bite of lasagna down. She was starving; lately she just couldn’t eat enough and every time she did eat she had the worst indigestion. She rubbed her belly. Guess the little one is hungry. She hoped the she or he enjoyed it because she wouldn’t be enjoying the continuous burping that would be consuming the remainder of her evening.

Billy shrugged and took a sip of his wine. “I don’t know. Distant?” he suggested.

Maria smiled. “Your right. I’m sorry, I’ve just had a lot on my mind. Guess I haven’t been the best company huh?” Then she laughed. “I just sit here and shovel food into my mouth all night.”

“It’s a beautiful sight, you shoveling food,” he laughed causing Maria to thrown her cloth napkin at him, hitting him in the face.

“It means a lot to me Billy. Just getting out, even if all we do is sit in this restaurant. It’s a nice change of scenery.”

“I’m glad.” He smiled. “But about this stuff you have on your mind. Anything you want to talk about?” he asked.

Maria shook her head. “It’s about Liz and Michael too. It’s her stuff so I really shouldn’t.”

“Maria, if it’s bothering you, you should get it out. I mean I’ve only been back in town a few months, I know no one so who am I going to tell?” he winked at her, putting her at ease.

She looked at him considering it for a moment. “Well it would be nice to tell someone,” she said and then paused not knowing where to start.

“Michael’s been hurt. Beaten up really bad,” she blurted out. She had been planning to talk only of her concern for Liz but obviously Michael’s supposed attack was bothering her far more than she had realized and she wasn’t sure why considering the fact that she didn’t even know if it was true.

Billy’s eyes widened in suprise and he took Maria’s hand. “How did you find out? I mean I thought you weren’t talking to Michael?

Maria took a deep breathe and began the tale. “Well about eight weeks ago Liz wrote Michael a letter…”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


“Liz, I have that information you requested on Max Evans from Arizona,” he said to her over the phone.

“Oh thanks Sherrif,” Liz replied. She had been anxiously awaiting the information all week. Maybe he killed someone who was hurting someone else or he was falsely imprisoned? There had to be a reason she’d had such a good feeling about him.

The sheriff took a deep breath. There was no easy way to tell her this. “He’s serving time for murder.”

“I already know that sheriif. What I want to know is who he killed and what were the circumstances?”

“He killed his father. He pleaded innocent but he had purchased the gun, his fingerprints were on it and his own girlfriend gave eye witness testimony.”

“Tess.” Liz whispered. That’s why things didn’t work out. She had given him up.

“What?” he asked.

“Oh nothing please go on.”

“Well apparently half way through the trial he admitted to the crime while he was on the stand.”

Liz’s heart sunk at the words. He admitted to it, to killing his own father. She would do anything to have her father back and he had taken the life of his? “Was there anything else?” Liz asked hopefully.

“No. His sister is a fashion designer living in Arizona. Her name is Isabelle Whitman. His mother is in a home. Her name is Diane Evans. She has a severe case of dementia. The sherrif I talked to in Arizona said she was a real sweet woman but after her husband died she just couldn’t deal with it.”

“Thanks,” Liz said jotting down the information.

“What kind of information were you looking for exactly?” he asked her with concern.

“Exactly what you gave me.” she said trying to keep her voice steady, her chest felt heavy. He had answered her questions but they weren’t the answers she was looking for. “Did that sheriff you talked to know Max personally? I mean did he say what sort of person he was?” Again she was looking for something that would tell her that her heart had been right, that this man she had shared a part of herself with was who she had thought him to be.

The sheriff couldn’t give her that something. “No. He said it was surprising but he didn’t know either of the Evans kids well. They pretty much kept to themselves. It’s always the quiet ones you have to watch out for,” he explained and when Liz didn’t answer added,” Are you in some sort of danger?”

“No not at all. Thanks sheriff.” Liz put down the phone and pulled out Max’s latest letter. She had already read it at least 10 times.

Dear Liz,

I haven’t heard from you since my last letter. I hope that everything with you is ok and that your not in any danger. I suspect that your fine and that it was my invitation to meet me that scared you off. I really am sorry about that. Let’s just forget that I ever mentioned it.

Today I intercepted a fight between your brother and that new inmate again. It was far worse than the last one. This guy was threatening you and Maria…...

******

Maria arrived home from her dinner with Billy and quietly opened Liz’s door expecting to see her asleep. Instead she saw Liz pick up the lamp that was on her nightstand and thrown it against the wall in anger as she burst into loud hiccupping sobs.

Maria immediately went to her and pulled her into her arms as Liz continued to sob. ‘Oh Maria, I am such a fool. I was just so lonely. So lonely,” she cried.

Maria held her tight and rocked her back and forth soothingly. She had been so wrapped up in her own loneliness that she had forgotten how difficult this would be for Liz too.

As she held Liz, she picked up a piece of crinkled paper that was sitting on Liz’s bed. It was another letter from Max Evans. Maria’s heart ached for her friend. Her boyfriend was dead, her brother in jail and now she assumed from Liz’ s behavior, she had just discovered that the man that she had been writing to, was a fraud.

[maya]

I know this part is long over due and shorter than usual....rather than give you a long list of all the reasons its taken me so long to post another part, I will just say, better late than never. The next part is also half written so I should have no problems posting it next week.

I have posted three new fics in the coming soon section of my author's page. If you have a chance, please check it out and let me know which fic or fics you think I should post next.

Thanks so much for the amazing feedback. I truly appreciate it!

Maya

FSU/MSW-94 - a very sad homelife indeed and things will get worse before they get better
candycane14 -I love what you said "People and circumstances are just conspiring against Max and Liz"
kiwigirl - Billy does have a role. Poor Max, he tries to do a good thing and it blows up in his face. Do good guys ever finish first?
orphyfets - yes, Micheal thinks that Max told the guys.
Michelle in Yonkers - yes Maria does like to sing like a canary and she doesn't stop any time soon
RhondaAnn - it is in chronological order.
xmag - Maria just might grow on you given a little time.
roswell3053 -Isabelle and Liz will talk...just not yet.
timelord31 - we won't find out for a while
begonia9509 - thanks
tequathisy - your not dumb. we don't know how paulo found out yet...there are possibilities.
Mica - thanks
Alien614 - thanks
Morning Dreamgirl - your right, Micheal can't exactly come out and ask Max.
bluesands - thanks
L-J-L 76 -thank you
dreamer19 - are you sure she didn't write him back?
Sirio - glad Italy likes this story
Antarian - thanks for the bumps
Behrgirl1230 - interesting.


Part 14


“I mean he killed his own father. Can you believe it? And with Liz’s father being dead can you imagine how much that must of hurt her? And then to find out he was using her?” Maria said. Liz had always been so level headed. It must have been so hard for her to admit.

“Sounds like she took it really hard,” Billy said as he gave Maria’s hand a squeeze across the table. An hour earlier, she had mentioned a craving for Pizza so they now found themselves in Tony’s, finishing off a large Pizza together as Maria filled Billy in on what had happened between Liz and Max.

Maria sighed. She had never seen her friend so broken but she had also never seen another person pick herself up again so quickly. “Oh she did but then she went into Liz mode,” she replied as she took a sip of her cola.

Billy just lifted his eyebrows to her comment until he had finished chewing, “Liz mode?” he asked. “I don’t know her well but what I do remember from high school was her being some big brain,” he couldn’t help but chuckle thinking back. Liz had worn glasses back then and they were black rimmed. The glasses, the hair in a tight ponytail and a set of books always against her chest, no wonder everyone referred to as a ‘Nerd’.

Maria rolled her eyes. “She had purpose. She knew what she wanted and went after it. I hardly call that a Brain. Yes, she was smart…but what’s wrong with that?”

Billy shrugged. “Nothing at all Maria. You know what people are like in high school with labels and all that.”

Maria just nodded. Glad high school was long over and college too. “Well, you are kind of right. That’s what Liz does when things don’t go well. Research, plan, find out why things have happened.”

“Well the day after she found out that Max had killed his father, she went to the library and did all of this research about predator inmates. They prey on people in the outside, it’s like they have this uncanny way of knowing things about them, know what they need and then they fill that need. Max was a prefect example. He knew Liz was desperate for info on Michael so he used that as his way in. Then he discovered how lonely Liz was and jackpot.”

“Wow,” Billy replied, not sure what else to say.

“I feel badly though. I’ve been so consumed with my anger for Michael and this baby that I didn’t even see that my best friend was so lonely. Maybe I could have prevented her pain,” Maria said sadly.

Billy gave her a stern look. “Maria, you can’t worry about that. You have your own grief and this baby…you have to focus on this baby anyways,” he lectured.

“Billy, no one should ever be so wrapped in their own life that they don’t notice someone else’s pain,” she replied but then her face lit up, “I might have a chance to make it up to her though. A while ago I tried to set her up with this guy from work and she nixed the whole thing but last night she asked me to set something up if he was still available.”

“That’s good news,” Billy replied with suprise. It sounded like Liz was really moving on.

“So what about all that stuff max wrote about Michael being attacked? Did she ever find out if that was true?” he asked.

Maria couldn’t believe how much of what she had told him he remembered. “Oh that. Turns out that it was only one fight. There’s no one out to get him like Max had insinuated,” Maria rolled her eyes.

“Wow, he was good, wasn’t he,” Billy replied shaking his head in disbelief to which Maria nodded.

“So Liz has stopped writing him?” Billy asked.

“Yup.”

“She didn’t write him to call him on all his bullshit?” he asked wondering if Max would then write her back trying to explain his actions only to draw her in again.

Maria shook her head. “They are through. Liz wouldn’t touch Max Evans with a 10 foot pole.”

“Good. Smart girl,” Billy replied.

“But I would. Id’ like to give him a good swift kick where it counts,” Maria said with a glare.

Billy couldn’t help but laugh.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



“Thanks for letting me come out here. I’m sure it’s hard for you,” Randy said as he slid his exacto knife over the seal of another box. He had called a few days earlier asking where Michael’s things were being stored. Some were at the house but most were in this storage unit, especially his bikes and equipment.

Liz sighed. “It is but I know you need it,” Liz replied as she opened another box. “What exactly are you looking for again?” she asked. She just wanted to get this over with.

“Just the original lease for the shop as well as the bank loan info,” he explained. Michael had always dreamed of owning his own shop, he and Sean had joked about it for years, but a little over a year ago they had decided to make it a reality. Liz was skeptical at first but they wrote out a business plan and things had really come together. They applied for a small business loan and got things going. 1 week before the accident, after being approved for a small business loan, Michael and Sean had signed a lease on a garage that would house their new shop. They would open in a little over 4 weeks. When Michael went to jail, he cut Randy and Peter in on the deal asking them to run it in his absence.

After a few more minutes of opening boxes in silence Randy walked over to Liz and passed her a bottle of water.

“Thanks,” she said, taking it from him and unscrewing the top. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she was. She quickly devoured half the bottle.

Liz hadn’t talked to Randy since Sean’s funeral and was surprised when he called asking if he could through some of Michael’s stuff. At first she wanted to relent but then realized that it would be a good opportunity to talk about that night.

“What was Michael like that night of the accident?” she asked.

Randy looked a little surprised by her question. “He was no different than usual.” He shrugged, not knowing what she meant.

Liz could see his confusion. “The reason I’m asking is that it just wasn’t like him to drink that much,” she explained

“You know what those places are like Liz….” he trailed off.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m not trying to put you on the spot. It’s just I have such a hard time understanding what happened that night.” Michael wasn’t exactly forthcoming.

“It’s hard for all of us and we all blame ourselves. I mean my god, if we hadn’t come up with that stupid idea to have a bachelor party. I mean he wasn’t even getting married…and Liz if I hadn’t had so much to drink I would have noticed he was driving home and I would have stopped him.”

Liz dropped her head. She hadn’t meant for him to feel to blame. “Randy, Michael is a grown man. He makes his own decision. What happened it was …..” what word was there to describe it?

“Pointless, Horrible,” he offered.

Liz just nodded and went back to looking through the boxes.

A few minutes later, the conversation started up again. “He cared about you, you know,” Randy said

Liz set down the box she had just carried over and looked at him. “Who, Michael?”

“Sean,” he clarified.

She wondered what he was taking about.

Randy saw the confusion on her face. “He told me…about the two of you,” he explained

She was very surprised. She hadn’t told a sole about their relationship, except Maria and that was after the fact. “Oh I thought that…” Maybe she shouldn’t be so surprised. After all, Sean was not exactly the master of discretion.

“I was the only one. I think he just needed to tell someone you know? He had strong feelings for you Liz. He was really changing for you. He knew that he didn’t have your heart, that he never would, but he was ok with that.”

Liz just nodded sadly.

“I’m sorry for both your losses,” he said giving her shoulder a squeeze.

Liz just nodded. All these trips down memory lane weren’t boding so well with her stomach. She really wanted to get away from here. “Well, we’ve gone through everything and It’s not here. Is it really that important?” she asked.

Randy nodded. “The landlord been giving us some problems with the lease and we don’t have a copy of the original agreement.”

Liz gave him a look. His explanation seemed so odd. Wouldn’t the landlord have a copy?

“Well, I thought all of his papers were out here but there might be some more stuff at the house. Let’s wait till Maria is out though…I don’t think she’s ready for this type of thing.”

“Ok,” Randy answered as they locked up the storage unit and headed to their respective cars.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



Isabelle put her hand on Tess’s arm just before she opened the door to Diane’s room. “Don’t expect anything…..Ok?” Tess had given her the impression that she thought Diane would just open her mouth and tell them exactly what happened that night. “Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t talk at all,” she explained. When Tess nodded, she pushed open the door to her mother’s room, Tess following closely behind her.

The two women found Diane seated in a chair facing the window. She didn’t even stir as they entered the room and stood beside her.

Isabelle put her hand lightly on Diane’s shoulder. ‘Mom, it’s me Isabelle. How are you?” When she received no response she gave Tess a knowing look.

“Can I try?” Tess asked.

Isabelle shrugged. “Sure.” What did they have to loose.

Tess bent down beside Diane’s chair and put her hand on her lap. “Mrs. Evans, it’s me Tess Harding.”

At the sound of her voice Diane turned her head and looked at Tess.

Tess gave her a big smile. ‘Do you remember who I am, Mrs. Evans?”

Diane blinked and recognition flashed across her face. ‘Of course I know who you are sweetie,” she laughed. ‘And what’s with the Mrs. Evans bit. I’ve told you a million times to call me Diane.”

Isabelle was shocked to hear her mother talking. It hurt a bit, that she had responded to Tess and not herself but she also knew it was a good sign, so when Tess looked back at her for direction, Isabelle motioned for her to keep talking.

“Let me guess. You’re here to go over the wedding plans?” Diane asked. “The wedding is only 8 months away and we will need every minute of that to make things perfect.”

Tess gulped and shared a nervous glance with Isabelle. Isabelle wasn’t surprised, whenever Diane was lucid; she was living in the past, before the murder.

“Yes, that’s exactly why I’m here. There’s just so much to do.”

Diane nodded enthusiastically. “What do you think of the color lilac?”

“Oh, I love lilac,” Tess replied, once again looking back at Isabelle. “Isabelle?” she asked.

In was at this point that Diane looked up and saw her daughter. “Yes Isabelle, come join us. We could really use your help with the planning. You should pick out the bridesmaid dresses. You’ve always had an eye for fashion.”

Isabelle took a seat on the other side of Diane’s chair. When Tess had called her name she knew it was because she wanted permission to ask Diane about that night, knowing full well that it could set her back even further. What other choice did they have? When her eyes met Tess’s she reluctantly nodded.

Tess took Diane’s hands in her own. “Diane. There’s a problem.”

Diane gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘What is it dear?”

Tess took a deep breathe and prayed she was not making things worse. ‘It’s Max. He’s been arrested for killing his father.”

Diane laughed a little. “Tess honey, Max wouldn’t kill his own father.”

“I know he didn’t…but someone else did and he’s taking the blame. You were there Diane. What happened? Help me help Max.”

Suddenly Diane took a large intake of air and her hand flew to her chest.

“Diane what is it?” Tess asked in a panic. Was she taking a heart attack?

She and Isabelle rushed to Diane’s side but realized she was fine, that she was only being transported back in time and the memory was shocking her.

Suddenly, she grabbed Tess’s arm, “You have to help my son,” she screamed.

“I will but I need to know what happened. Can you tell me?” Tess asked desperately.

Diane’s grip tightened. "Isabelle. No. Isabelle. No!” she screamed and then her grip loosened and she collapsed in the chair.

[maya]

Thanks so much for your feedback!

nibbles2
Timelord31
clueless
RoswellRulz
Michelle in Yonkers
tequathisy
dreamer19
roswell3053
orphyfets
RhonaAnn
Alien614
Luzser1800
candycane14
Evans3
begonia9508
FSU/MSW-94
kiwigirl
LairaBehr4


Part 15

“Oh my God. I killed my father. Oh my God, I killed my father,” Isabelle repeated it over and over like a mantra as she paced up and down the hospital corridor.

Tess just shook her head. “We don’t know that for sure,” she said reassuringly.

Isabelle looked at her as though she were crazy. “You were just in the same room as me weren’t you? You heard what my poor mother said before passing out?” What other conclusion could be drawn from that statement.

“Isabelle, ‘No’, could have meant anything. It could have been what she said that night. Maybe she was protecting you?” Tess suggested.

Isabelle shook her head as she continued to pace, Tess running along beside her. “My mother could never kill my father. It just isn’t in her….she was always making excursuses for him.”

Tess put her arm around Isabelle and took her over to a chair, forcing her to sit down. She took the chair beside her and took her hands in her own. “Isabelle, for all we know she was remembering some other event, from your childhood maybe. A time you did something she asked you not to?” Tess knew she was reaching here, but she really wanted to calm Isabelle down.

Isabelle still looked unconvinced so Tess tried another tactic. “We came her trying to find the truth and we found only a piece of it at best. We have to keep going, we have to know for sure.”

A single tear fell down Isabelle’s cheek and she turned to Tess with a nod. “I want to know, really I do, but if I did it Tess…..” she wasn’t sure she could be as strong as Max.

“No matter what we find. I will be here for you. I promise,” she said and she meant it. After all it was Isabelle who saved her life that day in the school bathroom. She would return the favor, no matter what sacrifices of her own she had to make.

“Come on lets go. It’s getting late. Kyle will be wondering where I am.”

The two women exited the building, headed for Tess’s car when Isabelle stopped abruptly. “What?” Tess asked.

“Oh god Alex. I can’t face him now….I”

“Come over to my place for dinner. Then once your calmed down, I will drive you home,” she said as they once again headed for her car.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


Kyle sighed as he tossed the cilantro and onions into the pan, carefully stirring them to a perfect golden brown. Tess would be home soon and he couldn’t wait to see her reaction at what he had planned. Her whole week had been consumed with things Max related and Kyle had taken it all in stride, at least that was the pretense he was working under but in truth he was starting to get worried. If Max got out, would he and Tess pick up where they had left off? He shook his head, knowing he was just letting his imagination get the better of him.

Things were good with Tess. She was happy, and made sure to tell Kyle that on a daily basis to quell his insecurities. She assured him that although she had always loved Max, it wasn’t as a lover as she once had but more in a brotherly sort of way.

He looked at his watch. Her visit with Diane would be over by now. She would drive Isabelle home and should pull into the driveway in 10 minutes. He looked around the room. The table was set, the 2 vases of roses, sitting beautifully in the middle. The chicken was almost ready.

He heard the key turn in the lock and ran to the door to great his fiancé. “Something smells wonderful,” she said as she walked through the door. Kyle smiled as she gave him a kiss, the delight in her face, exactly what he had been aiming for. It was then he heard the clearing of a throat and realized she wasn’t alone.

“Hi Isabelle,” he said in surprise. She was so quiet, so unlike her normal self that he hadn’t noticed she was there. Wasn’t Tess supposed to drive her home first?

“I hope you don’t mind but I invited Isabelle to stay for dinner,” she said as the three of them walked towards the kitchen. She then tugged on Kyle’s shirt to bring him closer, “It was a traumatic day and I don’t think she’s ready to go home yet,” she whispered.

Kyle sighed. So much for the romantic dinner. “Great. Isabelle, were glad to have you.” What else could he say?

When they entered the kitchen. Isabelle’s eyes fell on the table, set romantically for two and hesitated. “I don’t want to spoil a romantic evening or anything so…” her voice trailed off as she took a step back.

“Don’t be silly. Have a seat. We’ll just add an extra place, won’t we kyle?” Tess motioned for her to sit down and Kyle quickly opened the kitchen drawer, pulled out some more silverware and set it in front of Isabelle.

“You sure this isn’t an imposition?” she asked, having noticed the awkwardness in Kyle’s body language when she had first come in the door. It had seemed to escape Tess, or if she did notice she had chosen to ignore it.

“Not a problem at all,” Kyle smiled placing a plate in front of her. “Dinner is served.”

“This looks great Kyle,” Tess replied as she squeezed his hand under the table, using the other to pick up her fork and take the first bite.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


So far Liz’s date was going well. Brian had picked her up promptly at 6pm, which may seem like a small thing but she had always said you could tell a lot about someone’s character by whether they showed up on time or not. He took her out for Chinese which was undoubtedly her favorite, scoring him more points. He wasn’t bad looking, tall with dark hair and bright blue eyes. He had also asked her lots of questions about herself, making sure to keep the conversation light, avoiding anything personal on a first date was always a safe bet, earning him yet another point.

Liz smiled as Brian told her all about his days studying molecular biology. He had done an internship at a clinic in Mexico one summer. “Wow, so you used large amounts of antioxidants to cure immune related disease?” she was impressed.

“Yes, we actually administered them intravenously.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” she asked.

He nodded. “It is but we monitored each patient very carefully. Besides, these people were dying so they didn’t have anything to loose.”

“Wow. So I guess my only other question is why did you give it up to work in advertising.” She asked and then caught herself. She hadn’t meant to put sown his chosen field of work “I mean, not that it isn’t interesting or anything but….” she trailed off hoping he wouldn’t think her rude.

He didn’t seem phased by her question at all. “I don’t know, I just wanted to explore my creative side instead. I took a few media courses and a scriptwriting course and landed the job here in Santa Fe.”

“So what’s it like to work with Maria everyday? I promise I won’t tell her,” Liz said with a laugh. She was feeling much lighter than she had in weeks.

“You mean hurricane Deluca?” he laughed. “Just kidding. Actually, I have to say I am very glad to be working with her. After all she set me up with you.”

This earned a blush from Liz, who quickly changed the subject. Light. She was keeping the evening light. She wasn’t ready for anything else.

After the dinner, Brian drove Liz home and walked her up to her door. “Brian, I really like you but…..I would rather skip the goodnight kiss tonight.”

“Oh sure,” he said looking down.

“I like you. I just. I don’t know if Maria told you that my boyfriend recently died and It’s just hard…”

Brian looked up with a smile, visibly relaxed at her admission. “Say no more Liz. I wasn’t expecting anything. Would you like to go out again though?”

Liz nodded and pushed her long dark hair behind her ear. ‘I would like that. How’s Saturday?”

“Saturday’s perfect. Do you mini golf?” he asked.

“I love it,” Liz beamed.

“Ok, I will pick you up at 6pm then,” he said giving her hand a warm squeeze and heading for his car.

As soon as Liz entered the house, she was bombarded by Maria, who asked her a million and one questions. How did it go? Was she attracted to him? Did they kiss?

“Maria, I’m not giving you all of the details,” Liz whined. God, was nothing in life sacred anymore?

“Oh come on Liz. I set you up. Can you at least tell me something?” she begged.

Liz thought for a moment. “It…”

“Yes?” Maria asked eagerly.

“It wasn’t as painful as I had anticipated,” Liz finished.

“That’s all?” Maria asked.

“That’s all you get,” Liz replied as she headed up the stairs. “Oh and the fact that we are going out again on Saturday,” she added with a smile. She didn’t look back but she was sure if she did she would see a wide smile adorning Maria’s face. She could almost feel it.

Once safely in her room she pulled out her cell phone and made a call.

“Randy? Hi.”

“Look I know you were supposed to come over to the house and look through the rest of Michael’s things on Saturday night but I just remembered that I have a date and Maria will be out with Billy.”

“Can it wait till next week?”

“Ok I’ll call you early next week. Bye.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_


Michael hated this. Hated having to smile and make nice with Max, all the while knowing that he was double crossing him, getting him and his sister and girlfriend in trouble. But what was the other alternative? Confront him? Give him more reason to make trouble for him?

Why did he open up to him? Tell him everything that had happened that night. He had needed someone to talk to and Max had taken advantage of that. He had been played.

Now he had to sit here and listen to Max talk about Maria. All the while he wanted to rip him apart with his bare hands.

“How far along do you think she is now?” Max asked.

“5, maybe 6 months,” Michael murmured as he sat on the floor of the cell.

“Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?” he asked.

Michael glared at him. “How would I know that Max? I have had no communication with Maria or my sister and you know that.” He hoped he would tell that to whomever it was he was working for. Make it clear so they would stop the harassment.

“Maybe you should?” he suggested.

“What?” Michael asked him baffled. He’s threatened to stay way from them and now Max is encouraging him to contact them?

“I just think you’ll regret it Michael. This is your child. Every moment is precious.”

“Well even if I wanted to there are people threatening me not to, in case you’ve forgotten.”

“I haven’t forgotten Michael. You know I have your back.”

“Really? You have my back?” Michael got up and stood across from Max staring him down. He was so angry he didn’t care anymore. Let Max and his goons beat the shit out of him. He was sick of playing these games.

“Michael, I know you think that I having something to do with those guys, but I assure you…” before Max was finished he and Michael were interrupted by a guard.

“Parker, your on clothes duty.”

“Thank fucking god,” Michael said as he slipped out of the cell, thankful for the time away from Max.

“Evans, this is for you,” the guard said handing him a letter before once again closing the cell door.


Max smiled as he looked at the envelope. It had clearly been opened and resealed by someone in the prison, just as he had predicted it would. They had done such a lazy job of it, didn’t even try to hide the fact, but at least it had made it through. Isabelle’s address was written in the upper left hand corner but he would recognize the handwriting any day, it was Liz’s and just seeing it made his heart skip a beat.

He opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Max,

I post marked this letter exactly how you said. Hope everything works out all right.

Thanks so much for all of your valuable advice. I looked into your concerns and have found that you were right on the money. I have put everything into action for Saturday night and will keep you posted. Thanks again for everything.

BTW, I have a date for Saturday. I actually went out with him tonight, as sort of a test run. He’s a pretty nice guy and I had a much nicer time than I thought I would. Maybe you were right about the fact that that I will find love again.

How is Michael doing? Any more fights? Sorry to hear that he is being so cold to you now. If he blames you for all that has been going on then he is even more pigheaded than I originally thought. I am sure that it means the world to Liz that you have been looking out for him. Not many people in your position would even care. You are one in a million brother. Of course, I have always known that.

Well, wish me luck on my date Saturday. I will come visit you next week to let you know how it goes.

Love,

Your sister,

Iz

To the other sets of eyes that had perused it, the content may have seemed lacking but to Max it contained everything. He closed his eyes and took a deep breathe. Be safe Liz. Good luck. Saturday was still a week a way and he probably wouldn’t get to see her until Monday or Tuesday. He just prayed she would be ok.

[maya]

Author's Note: Well, I am finally back with the next part. Now before you throw rotten tomatoes at me for the long delay, I come bearing good news. I actually have the next three parts written as well, which should give me a cushion and allow me to start updating every week again!


Thanks so much for your feedback! Please keep it coming!

LairaBehr4 - I kept my promise. Thanks for all of your support!

Alien_Friend - I am so glad that you started reading this Fic! Yes, it is wonderful how Max and Liz always find each other, no matter what alternate universe they find themselves in. I must warn you that there is a bumpy road ahead for them. You will get to see part of saturday's events in this part. The rest continue in part 17.

Antarian- Glad you caught up.

Clari - Thanks for the bump and sorry for the delay.

RoswellRulz - Thanks for the feedback and the bump. Your right Max is 10 times better!

bluesands- no problem. I know all about computers breaking down. Hope yours is fixed now. Would love to hear what you think of this next part.

candycane14 - you did miss a letter. Actually a few letters. We have jumped a head in time a bit. The missing letters will be shown in part 19.

Michelle in Yonkers - thanks for the feedback. Yup, Liz was decoying Maria but the extent of it and who else is involved remains to be seen. Philip wasn't known to be an abuser. Tess was the only one outside of the family that knew...other than that one suspecting teacher and Max threw him off the scent pretty quickly. If it was Diane or Isabelle, they have no concious memory of it and therefore wouldn't plead self defense.

FSU/MSW-94 - Yes, Max knows that this whole thing with Michael is pretty big and is trying to get to the bottom of it. It's hard to do much investigating when your in a cell. The timing of Diane passing out was poor. She was just to weak to give them anything more. Tess will have to find another way to find the information.

Tequathisy - Yes, more than one person in the prison is on someone's payroll.

begonia9508- She knows a few things that we don't. The next few parts will begin to clue you in.

Timelord31- thanks so much.

Erina - Kyle is a really good guy. Tess's attentions are clearly elsewhere right now, which is why he is so insecure. I can't tell you if their relationship will survive it or not. Read on.

sprayadhesive - Glad you found the missing part...but there are other missing parts. They will be shown later in the story.

roswell3053 - Thanks. Your right about someone on the inside and outside working together. As for your theory on Billy, only time will tell.

Luzser1800 - Thanks Lynda.

clueless - Thanks. Sorry for the delay.

orphyfets - Thanks. Hope you like this part.

RhondaAnn - The letter was from Liz, pretending to be Isabelle so that 'whoever on the inside' wouldn't catch on. Randy is a suspicious character isn't he?

Part 16

“And you just left after hearing that?” Kyle asked, shock evident in his voice as he and Tess cleaned up the dinner dishes. Tess had already driven Isabelle home and was now giving Kyle a play by play of their earlier visit with Diane.

She nodded. “Once she came out of it, she was just so tired Kyle. We just couldn’t push her anymore,” she sighed, regretfully.

She had wanted to keep going, force it out of her, to hell with the consequences. It wasn’t that she didn’t feel compassion for Diane, but so many lives were riding on the information. Information she was positive Diane had.

This just wasn’t a situation one could pussy foot around and Diane was already so broken….but then she had thought of Max, the son that had subjected himself to Philip’s abuse year after year, trying in vain to protect her. Maybe still trying to protect her. He wouldn’t want her subjected to all of this…with no guarantee she would ever return, if they lost her again.

Those were the thoughts that turned off the lawyer’s instincts which were shouting at her to push her way through to the truth at all costs, the thoughts that had allowed her to follow Isabelle back out the hospital doors.

“Do you think she will be ok?” Kyle asked, referring to Isabelle, as he emptied the last few plates from the dishwasher. She had barely said a word at dinner and hadn’t laughed at even one of his cheesy jokes, and he had brought out some of his most tried and true.

“God, Kyle I hope so,” Tess answered, sharing Kyle’s thought. Sure Isabelle had finished her dinner but her movements had been monotonous through out, and her contribution to the conversation they had tried to encourage was limited to a few muttered words. Even worse, there were a few times Tess had asked her a question, only to be met with no response at all, it was as if she didn’t even hear her. It was only after Tess had snapped her fingers right in front of Isabelle’s face that she was able to get her attention.

After dinner, when Isabelle refused their invitation to stay the night, Tess had reluctantly driven her home, not wanting to leave her in such a fragile state of mind. She knew mental illness was often genetic, that a predisposition linked with a stressful event increased the risk.

If only Alex knew what was going on right now, he could be a support for her. Instead, he only added to her stress. Isabelle feared that if she told him the truth, she would loose him too.

Tess remembered a time, years ago, when she had found Isabelle in a catatonic state.

It was right before she had left for graduate school. Even though she and Isabelle hadn’t been on speaking terms since Max’s trial, Tess had decided to stop by the house, she had wanted to say goodbye. Despite their differences she had still considered Isabelle to be her best friend.

Newly married, Isabelle and Alex were still living with Diane, but caring for her was proving to be too much for them.

“I can’t believe you,” Isabelle said through cold eyes.

‘I just wanted to say goodbye I…” Tess stammered , feeling like she was 5 years old, begging her father not to hit her again.

“Your not welcome here.” Isabelle turned her back to Tess and resumed her task of loading the dishwasher.

Tess turned and began walking towards the door when she heard the sobs. They were so loud they almost sounded like repetitive heaving and when she turned back what she saw had surprised her. Isabelle was sitting on the floor of the kitchen, her back against one of the closed lower cupboards. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped tightly around them and she was rocking herself back and forth as she sobbed.

Tess immediately went to her, crouching down directly in front of her. “Isabelle?” she asked softly but was met with no response. Was she so mad at her that she wouldn’t even acknowledge her?

She tried again. “Isabelle?” This time she was much louder. “What’s wrong?” Again she heard nothing. She leaned forward and put her arm on Isabelle’s shoulder. “Say something. Let me help you,” she pleaded, feeling an anxiety rise in her chest. When she looked into her eyes she felt a slight jolt of shock, it was as if Isabelle couldn’t see her, was looking straight through her. Her eyes were red, maybe her vision was just blurred with tears?

“Isabelle,” she snapped her fingers in front of her eyes. Again no response. She began to shake her shoulders slightly. ‘This isn’t funny,” she pleaded with her, her eyes roaming Isabelle’s face, hands for any form of a response.

She heard the front door open and a man yell “Honey, I’m home,” followed by footsteps into the kitchen.

“Oh my god, what happened?” Alex asked running toward his wife. Tess immediately moved out of the way and stood up.

“I don’t know. It’s like she’s dissociated. She was mad at me and…” Tess said guiltily, immediately moving away.

Alex picked Isabelle up and placed her on his lap and began to whisper soothingly in her ear.

“Should I call the police?” Tess asked, at a loss for what to do.

Alex just shook is head. “I think it’s best if you leave Tess,” he whispered.

“I…..umm I…” Tess stammered.

“It’s not your fault,” Alex gave her a compassionate smile and then nodded towards the door.

Tess walked to the door, not wanting to make things worse for Isabelle. She took one last look on her way out, noticing the way Alex was responding to her, it was like he knew exactly what she needed. It was then that she realized that this was not the first time…this had happened before

“Do you think Isabelle did it?” Kyle asked, breaking Tess out of her bad memory. He had only known Isabelle a few weeks but found it hard to picture her as capable of violence.

Tess looked at Kyle, her inner struggle written all over her face. “I don’t know Kyle. I just really don’t know,” she replied. She had been through it a million times in her head, drawing a different conclusion each time. The more digging she did, the more of a wall she seemed to hit.

Tess and Kyle moved to the living room and sat on the couch. Tess had been tense all night. “Do you want a foot rub?” he asked her, hoping it might help her relax.

“Kyle, you’re a god send,” she replied, lying down on the couch. Kyle picked up one of her legs and rested it on his lap, removed her sock and began to massage her foot.

“Well, I wouldn’t blame her if she did,” he said, his mind returning back to the conversation. Had it every really left? Her father certainly deserved it, whoever had pulled the trigger.

“Me, neither. Philip was exactly like my dad. I never understood why Max and Isabelle stayed while they were grown adults,” Tess replied, closing her eyes, enjoying the massage.

“Did you ever ask?”

“Sure all the time. They stayed for Diane. They feared for her safety. Why pick on her when he had two kids at his disposal?”

“Well maybe Diane was sick of it and she just broke,” he suggested. Only a saint could endure what she had.

Tess just shook her head, “Diane was always a very fragile women but with no evidence and Isabelle’s memory loss…” she trailed off, the defeat evident in her voice.

“Hey,” Kyle dropped her foot and pulled Tess up so she was leaning against him. He wrapped his arm around her. “And since when has Tess Harding ever backed down from a challenge?” he teased trying to fuel her motivation.

Tess lifted her head to look at him. “I’m not giving up Kyle. It’s just hard when it’s so personal.” The lives of people she cared about were at stake.

“So what’s next?” he asked.

“The Opals bought the old house. They are letting us come over sometime next week.” She wasn’t sure what they would find. They planned to go over the scenario, based on the forensics in the police file. If they couldn’t prove who had done it, maybe they could prove Max hadn’t.

“And of course we could visit Diane again,” she added but knew the chances of a second visit playing off were a million to one. Visiting her again would make them feel they were doing something but in reality would reap no rewards. She hadn’t mentioned it to Isabelle, not wanting to add any more pressure, but unless answer fell from the sky, everything depended on Isabelle’s memory now.

Tess sighed. She’d had enough depressing talk for one evening and there was nothing more that could be done about it tonight. As always, Kyle was being so supportive and it had been a few days since they had done anything fun.

She smiled as an idea hit her. “Want some ice cream?” She asked as she jumped off the couch, heading back into the kitchen.

“What?” Kyle asked with a laugh. “Your hungry again? After the huge supper and the two pieces of apple pie?”

“Uh-huh,” she laughed back as she opened the fridge and pulled the carton out. “Want some?”

“Ok,” he hollered. She had twisted his arm. “Only a small bowl though.”

She came out of the kitchen, a carton of ice cream in hand. “Who said anything about bowls?” she asked him suggestively as she pulled her top off and proceeded to walk towards the bedroom. “Coming?”

She didn’t have to ask him twice.



-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



“That day you had to switch laundry duty with Paulo,” Max asked Gary.

“What about it?” Gary asked with a shrug taking a quick look around him. Max had pulled him aside as was heading to the chow line. He really hoped no one would see them together.

“You said a guard made you switch.”

“Ya? So?” Gary asked. Why was Max asking him about this now.

“I want to know which guard it was,” Max said sternly, staring Gary down.

Gary looked around, once again confirming no one was watching them. “I ain’t no snitch, specially when it comes to what goes down with the guards man. If he ever found out do you know what a shit my life would be?”

“Hmmm….let me think about that?” Max asked and then grabbed Gary by the collar and pushed him up against the wall. “Worse than if your little secret got out?” he asked with a grin.

Gary glared at Max, wanting nothing more than to spit in his face but knowing that it wouldn’t be wise. Max wasn’t bluffing. “Anderson,” he spat out.

‘What?” Max asked.

“Don’t make me repeat it, “Gary rolled his yes, knowing Max had heard him. One day, very soon, he hoped he could turn the tables on him.

“Now, that wasn’t so hard was it?” Max asked. “Let’s go eat,” he said, giving him a pat on the back as the two began to walk down the hall.

Michael just shook his head in disgust as he watched Gary and Max directly in front of him, walking towards the cafeteria together.

He grabbed a tray, got some food and sat down at a table. These days he was eating by himself. He liked it better that way. At least he didn’t have to worry about who he could trust.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


‘So, Billy, what did you say you do again?” Brian asked.

Billy just rolled his eyes. “Actually I didn’t.” he replied as if the very question was a bother.

“Oh,” Brain said, looking to Liz who was sitting beside him for some sort of guidance. He was just trying to make conversation.

Liz just shrugged, not knowing what was up Billy’s ass.

Seeing the exchange between Liz and Brian, Maria gave Billy a swift kick under the table. Why was he being such a jerk? Usually he was so attentive and supportive but tonight he was wiry, on edge. She had asked him about it in the car on the way over and he had just laughed it off, dismissed her.

She had been so excited to hear that Liz was going out with Brian a second time and when she had asked her to join them on a double date she had wanted to go to show her support.

Now they were all out enjoying dinner at a Chinese restaurant and despite his insistence in the car that nothing was wrong, Billy was being nothing but difficult.

Billy hated these lame getting to know you questions, but Maria’s kick had made her unhappiness with his behavior crystal clear. “Umm, I’m still trying to find my niche you know….so I’m just doing odd jobs right now. What about you? You work with Maria right?” He asked looking at Maria for approval, who was still giving him a skeptical glance.

Once the ice was broken the conversation between the two men picked up, immediately moving onto sports. Maria and Liz shared a smile, visibly relaxing now that the tension had left the table.

After they had finished eating Liz sat back in her chair and patted her stomach. ‘I cannot eat another bite,” she said.

Brian couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “How in the world did you fit all of that in there?” he asked pointing to her stomach.

“Liz has always loved to eat. Billy, remember that time we went out with Liz and Michael to Italianos and they were having that all you can eat Pizza contest?”

Billy nodded, a grin forming on his face.

Brian looked at Liz with surprise. “You didn’t?”

Liz, slightly embarrassed, bit her lip and smiled. “Yup. Not only did I enter but I won.”

“And she had stiff competition. Remember Biff, that 250 pound guy, that had won for like 2 years straight or something?” Billy asked.

“Biff was hilarious. He had on one of those tops that end above the bellybutton, and his stomach was just pouring out over those jeans that must have been about 2 sizes to small,” Maria added.

At this point all four of them were laughing so hard they were practically rolling on the floor.

“I think this is the perfect time for fortune cookies,” Maria said as she took hers from the middle of the table and removed the plastic wrapping eagerly.

“You think I’m a freak now don’t you?” Liz whispered to Brian.

He smiled. “No quite the opposite. I think your full of surprises.” He took her hand in his under the table, resting them in his lap.

“You like that?” she asked.

“Very much,” he replied.

Maria smiled as she listened to their conversation while pretending to decipher the meaning of her fortune. It was only ‘Your future is as boundless as the lofty sky’. She always got that fortune. There was a time that she believed it. In fact, a week before Michael had decided they should move in together, she had gotten that fortune. Tonight she just felt that the fates were mocking her.

At least she could comfort herself, in the fact that Liz’s life was looking up. She was so glad she and Brian were getting a long well and decided she deserved a pat on the back herself; after all she was the one who had set them up.

Maria noticed that Billy had eaten his cookie, looked at the fortune and then just thrown it away. “Billy, what did yours say?” she asked.

“Choices have consequences,” he said with the roll of his eyes. “How lame.”

“Why’d you throw it away?” she asked.

He shrugged. “There wasn’t anything meaningful in it.”

“Well there must be something in it,” Liz said holding her fortune up with a grin. “I got the same one.”

Billy laughed. “Ya, it means that they buy their fortunes in bulk.”

Brian couldn’t help but laugh at Billy’s joke but quieted down right away when he found himself on the receiving end of a glare from both Liz and Maria.

“What?” he asked.

“Liz and I take our fortunes very seriously,” she explained. “So what does yours say, funny man…He who laughs first, laughs last?” she asked with a grin.

“Nope,” Brian replied, cleared his throat and then began reading his fortune out loud. “Tonight is the start of something new.”

Maria raised her eyebrows at Liz who gave Brian a quiet smile.

“I’m just going to the bathroom. Maria, Liz, why don’t you choose what movie you want to see,” Billy said as he got up from the table.

When he got back a few minutes later, he found that Liz was sitting in his seat, her hand on Maria’s stomach. “Maria?” He rushed to her side. “Is something wrong with the baby?” he asked.

Maria threw her head back in laughter. “No. He or she is just kicking,” she grabbed Bill’s hand and put it on her stomach. “Isn’t that amazing?” she asked.

Billy nodded his head. It was.

“So, what movie did you decide on?” he asked a few minutes later.

“Actually, Liz has a really bad headache so we just decided to call it a night.”

“What? Liz can’t you take a Tylenol or something?” he asked.

“Billy,” Maria screamed. “Why are you being so rude?” she asked, grabbing his and pulling him to the back of the restaurant.

“What is wrong with you tonight?” She was so used to Billy doting on her that she couldn’t figure out why he was being so insensitive.

“Geez,” he growled. ‘I’m just trying to help you out.”

“Help me out?” Maria yelled, hands on her hips. “Can you explain to me how treating my best friend like shit helps me out. I really want to hear this.” Even in pregnancy Maria was a force to be reckoned with.

“You’re the one who’s been going on and on all week about how much you want Liz and Brian to get together. How, this is exactly what Liz needs. Now Liz is trying to bail on the date early. I’m just trying to keep the evening going,” he explained, exasperated.

Sympathy appeared on Maria’s face. “Oh Billy, I know you mean well but Liz really does have a headache.”

“So, she’s not just saying that to ditch him?” he asked.

“No. In fact their really hitting it off. She gets bad migraines and she just needs to get home and sleep,” Maria explained. “So can you just take me home please?” she asked.

Billy thought for a moment. “Ok but I need to make a quick phone call.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



The couples had arrived separately at the restaurant, so Brian gave Liz a drive home and Maria drove back with Billy.

“So,” Brian said, once they had pulled up in front of the house and he had cut the engine. “You’ve been quiet since we left the restaurant. Is anything wrong?”

Liz shook her head. “It’s just the headache.”

He just nodded. “I had a great time tonight.”

“So did I.”

“So,” Brain said awkwardly. “Last time you said you weren’t ready for a kiss. How about now?”

Liz couldn’t help but grin. “Now would be fine,” she said.

Brian bent down and brushed her lips softly with his own. The kiss, was short but sweet, even though he was aching to deepen it, he wasn’t sure that Liz was ready for that yet.

When they separated, Liz had a very serious look on her face. “Look Brian I…” he got the feeling she was about to tell him something important but she was distracted when Billy’s car pulled into the driveway and Maria and Billy exited Billy’s vehicle.

“What is it Liz?” he asked.

“What? Oh nothing. I should probably go lie down,” she replied.

“Ok, I’ll walk you to the front door,” he got out of the car and opened her door for her.

“Thank you,” she replied as she got out of the car.

Billy and Maria had just opened the door when Liz heard Maria scream “Liz. Oh my god Liz.”

Liz and Brian ran to the house, stopping dead in their tracks when they ran through the open door.

“Oh my god Liz,” Maria said again, running over to her and throwing her arms around her.

The entire place had been trashed. The couch was sliced open, the living room lamps smashed; all of their belongings strewn across the house.

“Stay here,” Billy ordered as he and Brian ran further into the house, making sure the burglars were no longer there. Brian ran upstairs and Billy down.

A few minutes later they were back, telling the girls they were safe. The intruders had already left.

Brain wrapped his arms around Liz and pulled her close to his chest. “The important thing is that you weren’t here. Your safe,” he whispered and felt her nod against his chest.

“God,” Maria said to Billy. ‘Who would do something like this? We don’t even have anything.” Just when she thought her life couldn’t get any worse, it did.

“I don’t know baby,” he said wrapping his arms around her and kissing the top of her head. “I don’t know.”

[maya]

Ok, you twisted my arm. I'm posting early. I don't think I've ever posted early before....late many times but never early.lol.

We are having a major thunderstorm here so I hope I don't loose power while posting.lol

Thanks so much for your feedback! I really enjoy it!

LairaBehr4 - thanks. Glad you liked the fortune cookies! My head is spinning too, there are just so many people involved!

sprayadhesive - thanks so much for the feedback. they were certainly looking for something. You will sort of find out in this part.

Luzser1800 -

Conjucal visits, conjucal visits, CONJUCAL VISITS!!!!

I did hear you and anything is possible in the world of fiction but since they are not married I don't see it happening...but I think there will be something else along those lines that you will like, eventually!

roswell3053- Thanks for all the feedback you leave on my stories! No one likes Billy and I don't think your opinion will change after this part.

Alien_Friend - AWW thank you! Liz and Max are still in the planning stages...but I'm sure they have a few things up their sleeves.

begonia9508 - YUP. Boys are always suspicious. lol

Sternbetrachter - thanks so much

candycane14 - Thanks! Hmm did you say camera...I think you'll find this part very interesting.

Timelord31 - Thank you so much!

nibbles2 - Thanks. It's something else.

Michelle - So glad you found this story. And I'm posting early..so you won't miss it! Looking forward to your feedback!

RhondaAnn - Randy certainly is suspicious.

Also, I don't think I've ever had a male friend call me "baby" the way that Billy did Maria. Joking around yes, but not like Billy did.

Exactly what my hubby said when he read it. He said Why did he call her that? Are they together now?

orphyfets - Thanks so much for your feedback and suport!

pandas2001 - Thanks! You're theory will be tested in this next part.

tequathisy - Thanks! Yes Billy's attitude towards Liz sucked. And if he didn't like her before....he's not going to like her now.lol

Antarian - Thanks! oblivious is a great way to describe Maria!


Part 17

“God Liz. I just don’t think I have the energy to do this tonight,” Maria said after the officer had left. He had taken a statement from all four of them and asked the girls to take an inventory of anything that had been stolen and let him know as soon as possible. He explained that it was easiest to catch thieves when they tried to fence the stolen items.

“Maria, just put your feet up. We can do all of that tomorrow,” Liz replied knowing how much the evening had worn Maria out, especially given her condition.

When Maria and Billy were deep in conversation and Brian had gone to the bathroom, Liz quickly slipped downstairs, into the basement where most of Michael’s boxes were. A quick survey of the room confirmed her suspicions. All of Michael’s boxes were open, the contents of some were scattered all over the floor.

She walked over towards the largest box, that sat in the middle of the floor. She had left it open before they left for dinner that night and had placed the lease for the shop and Michael’s copy of the terms of the bank loan in plain sight. If someone was looking for them, they would have noticed them right away. When she got to the box, she could see straight away that they were both still there. If that hadn’t been what they were looking for, then what was?

She walked over to the wall, where her miniature video camera was hiding, pulled out the disk and stuffed it into her purse. She would watch it later, when there was less of a chance she would be seen.


*********

“You sure you don’t want me to stay Maria? I could help clean up,” Billy offered. It was now 1 in the morning, Brian had left an hour before.

“No, thanks for everything. We’ll be fine,” Maria answered.

As soon as Billy headed to his car Liz new exactly what she had to do. “Maria, I just realized that the house insurance is at work, so I’m just going to swing by and pick it up,” Liz said, hoping Billy wouldn’t have gotten to far.

“Liz, can’t this wait until tomorrow?” Maria protested, not really wanting to be alone after what had just happened.

“You know me Maria. I won’t be able to sleep until I have it. I won’t be long. Just lock the door behind me, ok?”

A minute later, Liz sped off down the road, hoping to catch up to Billy. It wouldn’t be hard, she thought as she turned onto the highway. She had a pretty good idea where he was heading.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--


Max paced up and down his cell, wondering how Liz was getting along, consumed with worry.

Michael had continued to ignore Max all day but his constant pacing was slowly driving him insane. “Will you stop it with that,” he screamed. It was giving him a big headache.

Max smirked. Micheal was finally talking to him again. Technically yelling, but it was a start. “Michael, we need to talk.” He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep, due to his worry over Liz, so he figured it would be a good time to try and mend fences with Michael.

“We have nothing to talk about,” Michael glared at him. Was there anything worse than being locked up in a cell with the scum of the earth?

“I think we do,” Max grabbed a chair and sat down in front of Michael who was sitting on his bunk.

“Ok, you want to talk?” he asked angrily, his head throbbing. After Max nodded eagerly, Michael continued. “Let’s talk about how you befriended me, made me trust you, and all the while you were just pumping me for information, working for those goons,” he spat, his eyes trained viciously on Max.

Max shook his head. “It’s not true Michael. I have nothing to do with them,” he replied but Michael would have none of it.

Max didn’t blame him, if he had seen the things that Michael did, he would have drawn the same conclusions. It was just so frustrating. He just wished Michael could see that nothing had changed. He was still on his side.

“And if that wasn’t bad enough,” Michael continued to rant, “that whole thing with Gary was a set up wasn’t it?”

“What?” Max asked. He had no idea what he was talking about now.

“That day you saved me in the locker room by having some dirty secret to hold over Gary. We were never in danger. You just used that as a way to get me to open up to you.” The more he thought of it the sicker he felt. He had told him all about Sean’s death. About Maria. About his sister. God he really did deserve to be in here. He was nothing more than a fool.

“No, Michael, that wasn’t staged. None of this was. God dammit!” Max yelled.

Michael was fed up with his bullshit. He got up off of the bed and began to pace the cell. “I saw you with him, today. Gary. You were looking all buddy buddy.”

“Oh,” Max could understand how bad that must have looked. “I was trying to find out what guard was working with Paulo,” he explained truthfully. Surely Michael would get it now.

If only he could him the truth, about the letters about what was happening in New Mexico right now. But he couldn’t, if Michael got too worked up, who knew who he might tell or what he might do and if the wrong people got riled up and someone got wind of it….no he couldn’t do anything to jeopardize Liz or her plan.

“And why would you be interested in that?” Michael’s voice was laced with sarcasm.

“To help you and Liz and Maria.” Wasn’t it obvious?

Michael drew his hands into fists. “Don’t talk about them like you know them,” he said and then charged at Max, knocking him out of his chair.

“If you ever so much as say those names again, I’ll kill you,” he said with a smirk. And he would too. As far as he was concerned, he had nothing left to loose.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


Liz turned off her headlights as she turned down the side street that Billy had taken. Sure enough, he had pulled up to the garage, just as she had predicted. She parked a block away, took her shoes off and quietly made her way up the driveway.

The garage door was closed, but with her head up against it she could hear the conversation that was going on inside. She held her tape recorder up the door as well and pressed record.

“Good going. Did you have to trash the whole place?” Billy asked.

“Well Romeo, we wouldn’t have had to if you had kept them out until 11 o’clock like you’d promised,” another voice spat out in reply. She recognized the voice and she was positive that the video tape she had in her purse would confirm it when she watched it later.

“I tried to stall but Liz had a headache,” Billy explained. Liz could just picture him rolling his eyes in disgust. He did that a lot these days.

“Ya, well when you phoned us to say get the hell out, we had only gone through half the stuff,” the voice complained, ‘So we had to go as fast as we could.” This time she heard another voice, one she didn’t recognize.

‘Well? Did you get it?” Billy asked.

“No.”

“How hard can it be to find a fucking key?” Billy whined.

A key to what? Liz wondered.

“Ya, well now it’s up to you Billy. You’ve got to find it. You’re the only one who’s close enough to that house.”

“No way man. This is already way more than I signed on for. You’re the ones that got mixed up in this mess.”
“We didn’t think this would happen. It should have been so easy, right from the start,” the voice she didn’t recognize whined.

“He said that we have three days to get it.”

“He was by here today? You actually saw him?” Billy asked in disbelief.

“Of course not. He sent two of his guys. Three days Billy…or we will all find ourselves at the bottom of a fucking dumpster. You’ve gotta get it. The cops will be around now. You’re the only one with access.”

“Your on your own. I’m wiping my hands of this,” his voice sounded agitated.

“You can’t just walk away.”

‘Watch me. All I had to do was deliver some information, you’re the ones who are in knee deep.”

“Three days… we would do anything to prevent that from happening. Do you get what I’m saying?” It was the other voice again, the one she didn’t recognize. The tone was threatening.

“You said Maria wouldn’t get hurt.” Liz could hear the fear in Billy’s voice.

“Rather her than us.”

“Fuck,” Billy shouted. “Fine. Just leave Maria alone!”

Liz slinked away from the door and made her way to her car as quickly as she could. She got inside, locked the door and drove back out to the highway. Once well underway she rewound the tape and played it back. Only fuzz emanated from the tiny recorder. Damn it. She knew the chances it would record through that garage door were slim but still she had hoped.

She replayed the conversation she had overheard in her head multiple times, making a mental list of the facts. Max had found it suspicious that Randy wanted to get into the house, so he suggested she set him up. Sure enough he had taken the bait. She hadn’t really suspected Billy until this evening at dinner, his odd behaviors had led her to believe he had something to hide. She assumed that Randy would show up on the tape when she watched it, but what about the other man in the garage, would he show up too?

Either way, this all seemed so much bigger than she had originally thought. These three were only the small fish, carrying out orders for someone they had never even met. But who was the big fish? And how the hell did Michael get involved in all of this?

Liz shook her head in frustration as she pulled into her driveway. Everything was about as clear as mud. She had a lot more digging to do, starting with finding that missing key, before Billy got his grubby little hands on it. The key to what?

It would be hard to lie to Maria and even harder to let Billy into the house, but what choice did she have? Any change in her behavior would only make them suspicious. She had heard them threaten Maria. They weren’t safe.

She couldn’t wait to get Max’s thoughts on all of this. He would know exactly how to help her. It was only the thought of him and his support that had given her the strength to carry all of this out.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Sunday night

When Isabelle arrived home it was close to midnight. She and Tess had gone out for dinner. She had drunk far more than she should of but they had just decided to let their hair down. For a few hours, she wasn’t the Isabelle, whose husband was beginning to resent her, or the one who had let her own mother down, or her brother. Tonight she was 19 again, out with a friend for the evening. Not a care in the world.

Of course the minute she had pulled into the driveway it all came flooding back but she didn’t regret the escape, not at all. She knew a few hours of laughter wouldn’t change anything, but she had desperately needed a reprieve.

The house was dark when she entered through the kitchen door. She planned to tip toe into the bedroom. Alex was most likely asleep.

As she walked through the kitchen she heard a voice and jumped startled. “How was your night?” Alex was sitting quietly at the kitchen table.

From the tone in his voice, she could tell he was annoyed. She begrudgingly sat down at the table across from him, like a teenager, ready to face the music. Neither made any move to turn on the light, it would be harder if they had to literally face each other, so the conversation continued in the dark.

“It was good,” she replied. Her heart was racing, knowing a confrontation was coming but she tried to keep her voice even, pretending nothing was wrong.

“Were you out with Tess again?’ he asked sarcastically.

She nodded and then added a “yes,” unsure as to where he could see her.

“You’ve been seeing a lot of her lately. What the fuck is going on Isabelle?” It was very unlike Alex to raise his voice.

Those words sent Isabelle into a defensive rage. “I was out having fun with a friend Alex. Why the fuck do you have a problem with that?”

“I have a fucking problem with that my dear wife because ever since our disagreement about children we haven’t said more than 2 words to each other. Your like you were 4 years ago, Isabelle. You cry all the time, your up, your down , sometimes your completely despondent and now your going out with Tess, the woman who a few weeks ago you despised?” He asked skeptically.

“That was a misunderstanding Alex and we’ve resolved it. Your the one whose always talking about what great friends we were and how I should give her another chance. So now I have. Aren’t you happy?” she asked condescendingly.

When Alex replied his voice was soft, almost a whisper. “Happy? No I am far from happy Isabelle.” If she could have seen him, she would see that he was looking down at his hand, touching his wedding band.

His words were a stab to her heart and she began to panic. “Alex. I’m sorry. It’s just that you were pressuring me and I just needed some space. I’ll get past this, I swear,” she felt a tear fall down her cheek. She was begging him, for what she didn’t know. Some understanding, maybe?

“That’s what you said a month ago Isabelle, and a month before that,” his voice was curt.

“What are you saying?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“I want my wife back and if that doesn’t happen….” His voice trailed off.

Her voice took on a small child like quality. “Then what Alex. If that doesn’t happen than…” Would he end things with her?

Alex didn’t answer her. Instead he just got up from the table. She stood up to meet him. He tried to walk past her but she grabbed his arm, pulling him back towards her. “Then what, Alex?” she asked him again, this time her tone was begging.

“I can’t talk about this right now Isabelle. I’m going to bed. I suggest you do the same.” Again his voice was almost devoid of emotion. Where was Alex; the kind, caring, supportive man whose love for her never wavered?

You pushed him away…just like everyone else, A voice in her head mocked at her. She put her hands over her ears as if trying to shut out the voice but how could she turn off what was inside of her.

You pushed him away and now he’s going to leave you. It’s exactly what you deserve.

“No, no,” Isabelle said, her hands still covering her ears.

Her heart was racing as she made her way to the bathroom and pulled her sleeping pills out of the medicine cabinet. She quickly poured herself a glass of water and washed two pills down with it before getting into bed. Soon she found herself in a slumber, far far away, where the voice could not haunt her.

[maya]

A/N Thank you so much for the feedback. It means a lot to me that you take the time to read my story and post coments. I really love hearing (well reading) them.

I hope you like this next part, Max and Liz finally meet face to face.

Also, I know I have done really well with keeping my weekly updates but I am leaving for myrtle beach this week for a much needed break and won't be back for 2 weeks. I will post again when I return. If it's any consolation, this part is much longer than usual


xmag - Maria does have a lot to make up for.

Michelle in Yonkers - so glad your back. I missed your feedback! And yes, there is a missing scene and I promise that it will pop up at some point in the future.

LairaBehr4 - the new part ...or should I say bit? is here now. And, yes, I am dark.

Alien614 - thank you.

Sternbetrachter - thank you.

candycane14 - Yup. You called the camera. We will find out what was on it in this part. Are you so sure about Brian? You'll have to wait and see.

Emz80m - Thank you.

tequathisy - They do have another way to communicate that will come out later.

begonia9508 - thank you.

Alien_Friend -That definetly is part of Michael's charm.LOL. And you are right about Isabelle...she has a lot of issues which reached a clinical level long ago.

roswell3053 -I hate Billy too! Max will offer Liz some advice in this part.

Michelle - your Max/Liz scene is here.

FSU/MSW-94 - Everyone in this neigbouhood is shady...or so it seems. And hold on tight, because Liz will be continuing to put herself in harms way. Isabelle's mental illness will be addressed in a future part.

Luzser1800 - Don't stop chanting! Something will happen with Michael very soon!

Timelord31 Thank you

RhondaAnn That's Michael for you. Keep your fingers crossed that he will wise up before it's too late.

Part 18

“But I don’t get it. I have a copy of the loan right here,” Liz said with more than a hint of frustration in her voice, as she urged him to take another look at the document.

After the loan officer had been unable to help her she had insisted on speaking with the bank’s branch manager. His name was Mr. Pecker and as he stared at the loan in front of him with a complete lack of interest, she couldn’t help but think that he was even less helpful, than his subordinate had been, if that was even possible.

The previous night she had stayed up until 4 am, watching and re-watching the videotape. Fortunately, it had been placed in the most opportune spot and had recorded most of what had transpired in the basement. Just as she had been predicted, she could see Randy, the same man she had heard in the garage last night, ripping boxes open, leafing threw them and emptying them on the floor.

She had been surprised to learn the identity of his companion. Peter. She was now certain that he had also been in the garage the night before. She wasn’t sure why she was surprised. Peter was good friends with both Randy and Michael and was helping with the garage.

She knew they had mentioned a key but after ransacking the house in attempt to look for it she had come up empty handed. She had then thought back to her previous conversation with Randy. He had said he was looking for copies of the lease and bank loan and yet had not taken them. Still, she couldn’t help but think they were somehow an important piece to the ever-growing puzzle. And so at 9 am, the moment the doors had opened she found herself in Grand Western Bank, with no appointment, refusing to leave until she had been given the information she had come in search of.

“Miss Parker. As Doug explained to you we are not disputing the validity of these loan papers. Your brother and Mr. Deluca did have a loan here, but it was closed months ago.”

“What do you mean closed?” Liz asked, wide eyed.

“The loan was repaid in full, early,” he replied, not understanding why Miss Parker appeared to have great difficulty with this fact.

“And why would they do that?” she asked.

“Well, the most obvious reason is that they took their business elsewhere,” he said. The newer banks were offering a much lower interest rate, especially those online ones. He had lost two perspective loans last week.

“Well, did they say why or where?” she asked. Michael had never mentioned anything about this to her. She knew for a fact that he had been very happy with Great Western. The day his loan had been approved he had come home with a smile the size of Mount Rushmore. With no collateral, little business experience and only satisfactory credit he had been expecting to be flat out denied.

He sighed. Mrs. Jennings, his 9 am meeting had been left waiting but he was sure given the way Miss. Parker had barged into the bank this morning that she would not be leaving his branch until she had milked them of all of the information they had, creating a scene that rivaled her earlier one, if needed.

Mr. Pecker returned with the file and retook his seat across from her. “Let’s see,” he said as his eyes perused the file. “It’s exactly as I said. They closed it early. Of course there was a penalty of 4%,” he said.

That didn’t make sense. It wouldn’t be worth a 4% penalty to get a loan at a rate that wouldn’t be much lower than 2%.

Liz’s mind was running a mile a minute trying to put everything together. “Was the reason for the closure noted?” she asked.

Mr. Pecker closed his file and shook his head. As if they concerned themselves with such trivial things.

“Anything else, Miss Parker?” he asked looking at his watch.

Michael was a very private person. Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell her. But Sean? She was sleeping with him for god sake. Wouldn’t he have told her something? This just didn’t make sense…unless he didn’t know. Maybe Michael was dealing with the finances? She didn’t think Sean was the type to concern himself with those types of things. “Who closed out the loan?” she asked.

Mr. Pecker sighed as he once again opened the folder in front of him. “Mr. Deluca,” he stated, and then quickly closed it once again.

Liz nodded. It wasn’t the answer she had been expecting. “Thank you. Mr. Pecker, I’m sorry for just barging in like this. It’s just that Michael is in..”

“Jail, I know,” he said cutting her off.

“Oh.” She was surprised. Just how many people knew?

“Good day Miss Parker,” Mr. Pecker said as he got up from his chair and ushered Liz out the door and into the main part of the bank.

“Mrs. Jennings, sorry for the delay. Please come on in.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



She was so beautiful; he lost his composure as he walked towards her, nervous anticipation traveling through every nerve of his body. He had only seen her twice before but had memorized every inch of her. Still, seeing her now, waiting for him at a table in the visitors room, he realized that his memories didn’t even begin to do her justice. She was even more beautiful than he had imagined, and he had imagined a lot.

She looked nervous too, sitting still in the chair, with perfect posture, having not noticed him yet. She pushed her hair behind her ears and then folded her hands and placed them in her lap. She couldn’t wait to see him, to talk to him. So why was she feeling so nervous?

He continued to walk towards her. When she finally looked in his direction, their eyes met and she smiled. He was surprised she recognized him. She had seen him the last two times she had visited Michael, but he knew he had made her uncomfortable, not exactly the impact he had been hoping for… but so much had changed between them since then.

“Hi,” he said when he finally reached her and was standing in front of the table across from her.

“Hi,” she replied standing up to meet him, butterflies, flying around in her stomach.

There eyes locked. Liz bit her lip and twirled a piece of hair around her finger. Max grinned. He could remember the last time he had grinned.

They had shared things with each other that they had never shared with another soul and yet they both were at a loss for words. Shouldn’t they feel at ease?

Max wanted to hug her, touch her, run his fingers through her hair, like he had in his mind so many times. But he couldn’t. Emotionally, there relationship was in one place, but the physicality of it trailed so far behind. This was really the first time they were meeting officially. Neither sure of the social rules to be followed.

They sat down across from each other, their eyes still locked.

“You look…” she started, her eyes wandering across his face, “good,” she finished.

“Different?” he questioned and she nodded.

Last night he had decided to clean himself up a little. He had chopped off his hair and now was sporting his pre law school, short preppy style and was clean shaven. Last time he had seen her, he knew he had startled her. He didn’t blame her, then he had looked like a thug. Then, he hadn’t cared much about anything. Things were different now. Very different.

He wanted her to see that he was the same guy she had talked to in the letters, after all, he knew that she still had doubts. She had every right to, anyone would. But she wasn’t anyone, was she? She had such fight and spirit in her.

There were so many things he wanted to say to her. But now wasn’t the time and time wasn’t something they had a lot of, literally. In 20 minutes the guards would be calling an end to their visit.

“So how did it go?” he asked getting down to business. “Did the video recorder work?”

She nodded, looked around her to make sure no one was listening and leaned forward. Max leaned in to and thought he would die as he inhaled her vanilla scent. “It was Randy,” she said “and Peter,” she added.

“Peter,” he repeated, remembering that Michael had told him that Peter had been at the club that night. Once he heard something once, he never forgot it. He had always been that way.

“Was there much damage?” he asked with concern.

She shook her head and then explained. “I left the front window open so they wouldn’t have to break it or mess with the locks.”

“Good thinking.” He grinned.

“Get this, I left the loan and lease in plain sight, just like you suggested and they didn’t even take it. I followed Billy,”

“Liz,” Max gave her a scolding look, “That wasn’t safe.”

“Max, I was fine.” She couldn’t help but smile. She liked that he was so concerned about her. “Besides,” she added “It’s a good thing I did. Billy went right to them.”

Max wasn’t surprised at all. “Of course that was what you suspected, hot shot,” she laughed giving him a light punch on the arm. She had felt awkward when she had first sat down with him but now she felt that connection between them starting to stir once again. She looked at him and blushed, feeling the heat of his gaze and then began to recount the previous nights events.

Anderson walked by and caught a glimpse of Max in the visitor’s room. “Who’s that visiting Evans?” he asked the other guard on duty.

He shrugged. “I think it’s his sister?”

“Check,” he replied sternly. He didn’t want guesses. He wanted guarantees.

“What’s her name?” he asked as the guard opened up the sign in book.

He pointed to a Liz Parker that had signed in at 1:15.

“That’s not his sister,” he growled under his breathe.

“What did you say sir?” the guard asked.

“Nothing,” he grumbled as he made his way to his office. He had a phone call to make.



**********


Michael arrived at laundry duty to find that he’d been paired with Paulo again and couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. He’d fought with Max only 2 days ago and now found himself paired up with them again. Max just kept crying wolf and Michael just kept calling him out.

“Look, I don’t want any trouble,” he said putting his hands up in the air. Not that it would make a difference.

“Hey, there’s no trouble here,” Paulo laughed. “You stopped talking to your sister, that’s all any of em care about,” he said as he picked up a towel and started to fold.

Michael gave him a questioning gaze. “But I was never in contact with my sister.” Sure he had seen her twice when he first came in, but not since then.

Paulo just gave him a wink. “Sure Michael. Whatever you say. I have to admit, getting your cellmate to send her letters was pretty smart, but you had to know we’d find out.”

“Letters?” Max hadn’t sent Liz letters. What was he talking about.

Paulo laughed as Michael continued to deny it. “Look man. Stop denying it. The point is it stopped. My boss is happy. I don’t have to rough you up anymore.”

He gave Michael a compassionate look. ‘Sorry about that, eh. I was just doing my job. For a reduced sentence I’m sure you’d do the same.”

“He he ,” Michael laughed, trying to play along while he wracked his brain trying to figure out what was going on. What the fuck had Max done?


***************


‘A key to what?” Max asked.

“I don’t know. I just know that Billy will be looking for it so I have to find it first.”

“Liz, this is getting too dangerous,” Max shook his head.

“Max, I have to do this. They're beating Michael up,” she tried to reason with him. Who else would help Michael if she couldn’t? Maria certainly wasn’t up for the task and one by one all of Michael’s supposed friends were proving themselves untrustworthy.

“And it’s my fault,” he cursed.

“Max?” she shook her head. Why was he doing this to himself?

“They didn’t start to hurt Michael or threaten you until I started writing the letters.” Max’s voice was pained. He’d wanted to write to her so badly that he had never even considered the consequences.

“That may be Max, but you didn’t know that. And whatever there after, they would have still gone after even without the letters. And if they had come straight to me and Maria, we would have had no one to turn to. You don’t know how much you’ve helped me or how much it means to me.”

Max sighed. How did she do that? Put a positive spin on everything? Make him feel like he was a hero in her eyes, instead of the criminal he was in everyone else’s.

She took his hand across the table and clasped it in her own. “Besides, your letters meant a lot to me Max. I was holding everything in….I didn’t realize how badly I needed someone to just listen and not judge until you did both.” She looked down unable to meet his eyes when she said it.

“So let’s examine the facts,” Max said as he started to trace circles in her palm and Liz couldn’t help but laugh. He was acting like a lawyer.

“We have 2 guys who are involved in the shop, a guard and an inmate in here and then somehow an old friend of Maria’s gets recruited…and that’s only the people we know of.”

“Max, what are you saying?”

“Someone’s going to an awful lot of trouble and this is a lot bigger than we originally thought. It’s not safe Liz…if they don’t find what they need, you and Maria will be targets.”

Liz knew he was right. “What do you suggest?” she asked.

“We need to find out where Sean got the money to pay off that loan. Is there anyone you can ask?”

“I could try Aunt Amy?” Liz suggested but doubted Sean would have told her anything.

“And that key. I bet it’s for a safety deposit box,” he suggested. “Find out if one is registered in Michael or Sean’s name.”

“Maybe. But Max…I looked everywhere. If there is one I just don’t know where….” She said and then her eyes lit up. “Max, I think I know where to look.”

“Good, good,” he replied. God, he hoped she wouldn’t get hurt.

“Michael is in real danger. I think we need to find out what he knows,” he added. “I’ll talk to him tonight.”

Liz nodded. “But I don’t think he knows anything Max. I can’t believe that he would leave us in this position if he did.” He loved her. Loved Maria. It just didn’t make any sense.

Max didn’t say anything. He was beginning to wonder if Michael did know more than he was letting on but he didn’t want to say that to Liz, it would only upset her.

“Look Liz. Remember that friend I told you about?”

She nodded eagerly.

“He’s a retired cop and he and his wife just moved to Santa Fe to retire a few years ago. I need you to contact him. He’ll be able to help you out. His name is Hansen. Can you remember that?”

Liz nodded.

“So how did it go? The date?” he asked, hoping his anxiety wasn’t too evident.

“Oh,” Liz blushed. “It was good. It was really just a reason to get out of the house with Maria and Sean and make sure that Randy knew about it.”

He nodded. He wanted to ask her if they had kissed. That would mean it was a real date but knew it wasn’t his place to ask. Sure he and Liz had some sort of a relationship, but it certainly wasn’t the relationship he dreamed about.

So instead he asked, “Was he good to you?”

She nodded.

“Good.” That was what she deserved he thought as his heart twisted in jealousy. He knew he was being irrational, he would be in here forever and even if he wasn’t she had never given him any indication she felt more than friendship for him. Of course he really hadn’t told her how he felt. Just the suggestion of a visit in a letter a month ago, had caused her to hesitate in her reply, so how could his real feelings make him appear any less than a stalker.

“I feel bad not telling him,” Liz sighed. “I know what it feels like to be used.”

Max just couldn’t understand how anyone in their right time would ever use Liz.

“Liz, you can’t,” he understood how she felt but it was too risky. “You don’t know him,” he said and then they both laughed at the irony.

“God, I just realized how stupid that sounded. I mean you don’t know me either.”

Liz’s expression changed to a serious one and one she spoke, it was with conviction. “Yes, I do Max.” Then she smiled and Max beamed. She had faith in him.

“I just think that like Billy, his sudden appearance in your life could be a bit too convenient,” he explained. “It’s just I worry Liz,” he added, rubbing the back of her hand that he was still holding.

It warmed her heart to know he felt that way about her. “I know,” she said reaching her other hand across the table so that she was now holding both of his hands. He immediately felt a spark fly between them. The look on Liz’s face told him that she felt it too.”

“I just hate this Max, not being able to trust anyone. As you know, for a long time I couldn’t trust people, I finally let then in again and then…”

“This happened,” he finished for her.

“I don’t know where I’d be without your help,” she said.

“Oh I have a feeling you’d be just fine, Liz Parker.”

She loved hearing him say her name.

“Maybe.” She said. And maybe she would but what she was starting to feel was that maybe she didn’t want to be. She wanted to need him, wanted to be with him. A man that had committed murder for reasons she still had yet to learn why.

A guard signaled they had five minutes left.

“What about the letters?” she asked.

“I don’t want to stop Liz, but at this point they are probably reading everything coming through here.”

She gave him a regretful look. “As long as you don’t say anything incriminating we could keep them up…” he said, not wanting to have to go back to a life without reading Liz Parker’s words. “Then maybe, when the time is right, we can use them to our advantage.” They would be good bait.

“So should we keep in touch the same way we did last time?” she asked.

He nodded.

“I just…I’m trying to keep her out of this as much as I can…” she trailed off.

“I know, but after I talk to Michael and you and Hansen look into some things we need to touch base…at least once.”

She nodded. They glanced at the clock. It was time to go.

They both stood up, reluctantly. “I want to hug you Max..that is if you don’t mind.” She was blushing yet again.

“No, I-sure.” He said, standing up and wrapping his arms around her, as she rested her head against his chest.

Liz closed her eyes and just listened to his strong heartbeat for a minute. She had never felt so safe. “Do you think he saw us?” she asked as he continued to hold her.

He nodded.

“Good,” she said, really hoping this led them to something.

Eventually she pulled back.

“Be safe,’ he whispered in her ear as they parted. “And promise me, you will let Hansen help you. Tell him everything. You could be in danger.”

“I promise,” she whispered. They shared one last look of longing and then Max watched her walk out the door.


*******


Michael looked around the bare cell frantically. Where would Max have hidden these supposed letters? Then it hit him. Probably the same place he had always hidden his Skin Mags when he was worried Maria might find them.

He slid his hands under the mattress of the top bunk and immediately found them. Letter, after letter, addressed to Max in Liz’ s handwriting.

[maya]

A/N Thanks so much for your patience.

One of the three missing scenes is in this part. Remember that anything in italics takes place in the past.

Thanks so much for the feedback and bumps!


sprayadhesive
LaiiraBehr4
roswell3053
RhondaAnn
orphyfets
L-J-L 76
Michelle
ultimatepickupline
tequathisy
begonia9508
Alien_Friend
Alien614
FSU/MSW-94
timelord31
POM
Luzser1800
canycane14
ausietrueblue



Part 19


Liz sat in her car in the prison parking lot, going over the conversation she had shared with Max in her head. Despite the grimness of the situation she, Maria, Michael and even Max found themselves in, she couldn’t help the feel of euphoria that washed over her, nor the dazed look in her eyes or lazy grin that had formed on her face.

Max was gorgeous, and sweet and attentive and even though they had been having a serious conversation, she had felt more alive while talking to him then she had since…..since she couldn’t even remember when. Add to that the fact that he was willing to risk so much to help her and she found herself over the moon.

Just thinking about him had her pulse racing, her breathing ragged almost like she was….no she had never been in love before and she couldn’t possibly be now. She let out a chuckle at the thought as she put the car in reverse, backed up and exited the prison parking lot. She had only written him a few letters and had one face to face conversation with him. Besides, she had never believed in love at first sight. Maybe it was the tragedy she had endured when her parents died so early in life that swept all romantic notions from her mind. Love was a gradual thing, it was only logical that it something you felt for someone over time, after getting to know them, it wasn’t instantaneous. And there was no such saying as ‘love at first letter’ was there?

He was simply a great man. That’s all there was too it. A great, gorgeous man, who put others above himself. She thought back to the last letter she had received from him.


Dear Liz,

I haven’t heard from you since my last letter. I hope that everything with you is ok and that your not in any danger. I suspect that your fine and that it was my invitation to meet me that scared you off. I really am sorry about that. Let’s just forget that I ever mentioned it.

Today I intercepted a fight between your brother and that new inmate again. It was far worse than the last one. This guy was threatening you and Maria. I really think that the attacks on him have to do with something that transpired on the outside. I mean they knew who you and Maria are, names that Michael and I have never uttered to a soul. To make matters worse, Michael is suspicious of me. He thinks I’m working for the ‘bad guys’ which couldn’t be farther from the truth. I pray that you believe me Liz.

I can’t help but think that I have made matters worse by writing you. Is it these letters that have led them to you and Maria? Of that I am unsure. I know sending you this letter was risky but felt not warning you would be far riskier. Watch your back Liz and please be safe.

Do not write to me again. I think it’s safer for me to stick with visits from my sister and friends. Another visit or letter from you would only make things worse for you.

Your letters have meant so much to me Liz Parker. Take care and please watch your back. I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you.

Max Evans


That day she had received the call from Valenti, telling her he was a cold blooded killer, and then had confessed to Maria, willing to toss him aside like yesterday’s garbage. But the decision just hadn’t sat well with her at all. Her mother had always told her to follow her heart. In the months since Sean’s death and Michaels’ incarceration, the only thing that had ever felt right had been Max’s letters. She owed it to herself, her brother and to Max to find out if there was any truth to them.

Reading between the lines of his letter, she realized he was asking her to find another way to contact him. But how? The next morning on her way to work, it had hit her.

She drove to work as quickly as possible, rushing into the lab where Serena was feeding an abandoned rabbit. “Serena,” she said. I need your help.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_


“Oh my god Liz,” Serena put her hands over her forehead in shock. How could someone as level headed as Liz have gotten herself into this mess? “You have to be kidding right?” she asked pacing.

“Serena, please,” Liz begged.

“Ok. Your not kidding. You want me to go meet with this murderer?” Was she insane?

Liz nodded and calmly walked over to Serena. “Just to see if he’s telling the truth.”

“It’s most likely all lies,” Serena protested, her stomach in nots.

“What if it isn’t and Michael really is in trouble? I just….I don’t know. Strange things have been happening.”

“Like what?”

“Like Randy, showing up wanting to see Michael’s things, looking for a lease.”

“A lease?” Serena asked.

“Ya. I mean why wouldn’t he have a copy or the landlord for that matter? And Billy showing up and wooing a pregnant Maria. Max said in his letters that the goons had mentioned us by name. “

“Ok,” Serena said very cautiously. “Let’s just say hypothetically, that I went to see this Max,”

Liz nodded. “Yes, hypothetically,” she said enthusiastically, knowing this meant Serena was at least considering it.

“What exactly would I say?”

Liz took a deep breathe. “You’d tell him everything I know and find out what he knows. Figure out, if he is telling the truth. If he is, we can than piece it all together and come up with a plan.”

“How will I know if he’s lying?”

“Serena, give me a break.” Liz rolled her eyes. “No one has ever lied to you and gotten away with it.”

Serena chuckled at the truth in the statement then resumed her stern expression. “Alright, I’ll do it but you better tell me everything…” she warned.

“EEEE,” Liz screamed and threw herself in Serena’s arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“Everything Liz. I won’t go in there in the dark. And if this comes back to bite me in any way…” she cast a warning look at Liz.

“It won’t,” Liz promised to which Serena just rolled her eyes.

“We’ll see.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’d make a prefect school teacher?” she asked and the two burst into laughter.

As Liz continued to drive, she noticed that the same car that had followed her when she left the parking lot was still on her tail.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_



In the car that followed, one man said to the other, “Where the fuck do you think she’s going?”

“Don’t know,” the other replied.

“How much do you think she knows?”

“No idea. But were supposed to follow her until we do.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


Isabelle looked around her childhood home, a multitude of emotions fluttering through her heart. The place had changed so much. The yellow wallpaper had been replaced with nice mocha paint; the cupboards had been redone in mahogany with a large pantry. The floor was now hardwood. So different and yet a chill went up her spine at how much it was the same. After all, you could rip up tile, repaint and rebuild but it was still the same space; the place she and Max had endured all that abuse; the place where she and Alex had made the heart wrenching decision to send Diane to a care facility.

“Earl and I will just be in the back yard.”

“But Mr and Mrs. Opal, we don’t mean to throw you out of your own house,” Isabelle protested.

Mr.s Opal gave Isabelle’s arm a squeeze. “We don’t mind really. It will give you girls some more privacy. I always felt what happened to your brother was an injustice. Just come say goodbye before you leave,” she said as she and her husband opened the patio door and slipped out onto the linage.

“Thanks so much Mr.s Opal,” Isabelle replied.

Tess pulled out all of her case files and the girls quickly went to work.

“Look at this,” Tess pointed to a picture of Philip lying on the floor covered in blood. “Your father was lying here in front of the door. Wasn’t Max’s room down the hall?” Tess asked.

Isabelle nodded, not knowing where Tess was going with this.

“Ok. If your father was beating you and Max had run from his room, he would have been facing your dads back. The shot had to have come from the other side. Who was standing there?” she asked.

“I told you, I don’t remember,” Isabelle let out a frustrated sigh. “Most likely me or if mom had heard the commotion….her room was on the other side. She would have been facing Dad.”

Tess gave Isabelle a compassionate look. “Let’s not worry about who did it right now. Let’s worry about proving that Max didn’t,” she said, pulling out her camera. “Let’s get pictures of everything and see if we can get the scenario down on paper.”



-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



Max walked back to his cell, a dreamy smile on his face. Seeing Liz had been the highlight of his week. Ok, who was he kidding? It had been the highlight of his four years plus some in jail.

When she had taken his hand, he had felt a jolt of electricity that ran straight to his nether regions. He wondered if she had felt it to. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful or had a heart of gold, it was her strength and her trust in him. It had been a long time since he had seen that look of trust from anyone.

Now, he would finally be able to tell Michael everything. Keeping this from him had been so difficult and caused so much undue pain.

When he entered the cell, Michael was sitting on the edge of the bottom bunk, looking down at something in his hands.

Max walked a little closer and when Michael looked up and their eyes met he could tell that Michael had seen red.

“You fucking bastard,” Michael screamed waving the white envelopes in his hand.

“Michael, it’s not what you think,” Max tried to explain.

“You were writing to Liz…and what’s this,” he said holding up the ultrasound. “A picture of my baby?”

Max nodded. “But it’s not what you think,” he repeated. Michael obviously hadn’t read them all.

“Not what I think?” Michael charged at Max, pushing him over onto the floor against the wall and began to punch him in the face. “That’s always what you say.”

“I was trying to help,” Max yelled after a really bad hit to his eye, but Michael would have none of it, instead he choose to throw another punch.

Michael had just grabbed Max’s collar, his hand in a fist ready for another punch when Max spoke again. “I just saw your sister.”

That comment stopped his fist in mid air. “What? Here?” he asked. “What kind of game are you playing?”

“She’s in trouble. So is Maria. Billy is involved,” Max continued to explain.

“Billy?’ he asked. What was he doing back in town?

“He’s using Maria to get a key to a safety deposit box,” Max continued, encouraged by the fact that Michael still hadn’t followed through on the punch.

Was Max telling the truth or was this just another game? Michael’s angry fog was beginning to lift and he took a close look at Max. His nose was bleeding, his mouth was bleeding. He was in very bad shape and yet had refused to fight back. Why hadn’t he fought back?

“I’m just trying to help Michael. I should have told you everything earlier please,” Max begged him for a chance to talk.

Michael studied him closely still deciding what to do when the cell opened and one of the guards came in. “What’s going on here?”

When neither men replied the guard called another guard in. “Take him to the infirmary,” he said pointing to Max.

“Just read them, Michael, read them all,” Max said as the guards removed him from the cell. He knew there wasn’t much in them but he hoped they would show Michael he meant no harm. He prayed they would and that when he got back Michael would be calm enough to talk. They were after all, running out of time.


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-



Mr. Pecker groaned when he saw Liz parker making her way through the bank’s main doors for the second time in one day. What could she possibly want now, he muttered under his breathe. His first thought was to escape into his office but he knew Liz would only create a scene, so instead he decided to meet her head on and deal with things as quickly as possible.

“Miss Parker, how can I help you?” he asked ushering her into his office. “Still having problems with the circumstances under which your brothers loan was cancelled?”

“No,” Liz replied. “Well, yes, actually, but that’s not why I’m here.”

“Oh?” he asked gesturing for her to sit down.

“I’ve come to inquire about a safety deposit box. Can you tell me if Sean or Michael have one registered here?” she asked.

“One minute,” he replied as he got up and went to look.

He came back a few minutes later. ‘Sorry, no such luck.”

“Thanks. I guess I’ll try another bank,” Liz sighed as she got up from her chair.

“Miss Parker, do you have a key for the box you’re looking for?” he asked.

He knew he should shut up and be happy that she was leaving but something so forlorn in her expression made him want to help her.

She shook her head.

“Well, your not Mr. Deluca’s next of kin and your brother is still alive so even if you find the box, without the key and signing authority you won’t be able to access it. I just thought you’d want to know.”

“Thank you sir,” she replied even more discouraged.

As she headed outside and walked down the staircase towards the street, she realized that she had to find that key. It was her only option.

As she continued to make her way to her car, she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to notice the two men coming towards her.


*******

Brian was driving down main street on his way to the bank when he saw Liz walking on the sidewalk. “Liz,” he hollered, but she was too absorbed in her own thoughts to hear him.

He immediately pulled over. Took the keys out of the ignition and went chasing down the street after her.


*********

Suddenly Liz found herself stopping in her tracks, two very creepy men preventing her from moving any further.

One was skinny, bald and had a gold tooth. The other, short and stocky.

“Miss Parker,” the skinny man said with a sick sneer that made her stomach turn.

“If you’ll excuse me. I’m late for an appointment,” she said starting to walk around them.

The short one grabbed her arm to prevent her from going any further. “I don’t think so, Miss Parker,” he slurred, turning her around to face them both once again.

“Liz, Liz,” Brian said out of breathe as she finally caught up to her. He had quickened his pace when he had seen two shady looking men stop and talk to her.

“Brian?” Liz turned to look at him with relief in her eyes.

“What’s going on here?” he asked looking to the two men, then Liz.

“We were just askin the lady here for directions,” the skinny one slurred.

“Well, unfortunately I can’t help you. Come on Brian, were going to be late,” she said taking his hand and walking briskly in the other direction. “Where’s your car?” she whispered, fear in her voice.

“Over here.”

“Oh shit,” Brian yelled when they arrived at his car and he spotted the ticket on his windshield. “No parking zone,” he explained to Liz who just nodded.

They both got in the car and Liz locked the doors immediately. “Care to tell me what’s going on because I don’t think you would be scared of two men asking for directions.”

“Can you just drive?’ she asked.

‘Ok. Where?”

“Anywhere, just away from here. God I hope they aren’t still following us.”

“What?” he asked as he sped onto Main Street towards the highway.

“They’ve been following me since the prison.”

“Prison?” His gulped, eyebrows raised in question.

“Brian, if you hadn’t come when you did, I’m not sure I’d be breathing right now.”

“Liz…what?....”

“Brian, it’s time I told you everything,” she said. Poor guy, would wish he’d never gotten involved with her.

*********

“Shit, she knows too much. We gotta take care of her.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe we’ve been going about this all wrong.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe it’s easier this way. Let her do the snooping around. I mean Billy is useless. She on the other hand will lead us right to it.”

[maya]

Part 20

Michael opened the last letter and began to read.

Dear Max,

If you’re reading this it means that things went well with Serena. I’m sorry but I wanted her to make sure we could trust you. If she did, she was to give you this. I know you will understand my apprehension.

Hopefully, the two of you came up with a plan to expose Billy and whoever else is in on this and determine what is going on. As you read this Serena is most likely filling me in.

Thank you for keeping Michael safe. I know it isn’t easy with him thinking your guilty and I hope you know how much I appreciate it!

I already miss our letters but since they are still being monitored……

Sincerely,
Liz Parker

Michael leaned his head against the upper bunk post and sighed. He had read every word of every letter. There wasn’t much in them but the one thing they did reveal was that Liz trusted Max and that she and Maria were in some sort of trouble.

Earlier, Max had mentioned a name that never ceased to make Michael’s blood boil; Billy. Liz had also mentioned it in the letters. It almost sounded as if they were dating. That thought caused Michael to pull both of his hands up into fists.

Billy had been one of Maria’s closest friends and Michael had never trusted him. Billy was a coward, the type of person that looked out for himself first and foremost. He wouldn’t know right from wrong if it bit him in the ass and had proved that time and time again when Maria got caught in the crossfire.

He remembered a time in high school, when Billy had convinced Maria to help him break into the school after hours, saying he had left his inhaler inside and would have an asthma attack if they didn’t get it. Maria went along with it, not wanting Billy to get sick.

It turned out Billy was trying to break into the computer to falsify his grades. When the cops showed up, they tried to crawl out a window. Billy went first and when Maria’s skirt got stuck on the tip of the window, he took off, leaving her to get caught by the police. She had refused to implicate him and now Maria had a juvenile record.

If Billy was back in town, chances were he was involved in whatever was going on.

Michael heard the cell door open and watched Max walk back inside the cell. He had been cleaned up but his face still looked battered.

Max walked towards him slowly as if unsure of what his reaction would be. All of the letters were strewn across the top bunk and he assumed that Michael had read them all.” Are you ready to talk?” he asked.

Michael sat down on the bottom bunk and looked up at him. “Yes.”


_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


“Wow. So that night we went out with Billy. That was a set up?” Brian asked. They had driven outside of town, unsuccessfully trying to loose their tail. Eventually they had given up and driven home. The car had stopped 1 block down.

Liz nodded.

“So that phone call Billy made was to alert them?”

“That’s what we assume,” Liz explained. Her stomach was doing flip flops over having confessed to Brian. Could she trust him? Was it really the right thing to do? What choice did she have? He was now a part of this, his life was in danger and had a right to know.

Suddenly a realization hit Brian and he looked like he had been punched in the gut.

“What is it?” Liz asked, noticing the change in his demeanor.

“It’s just that when Maria first tried to set us up you weren’t interested, then suddenly you were…..you were just using me, weren’t you. For the set up?”

Liz swallowed heavily. She couldn’t lie. “Yes.”

“Oh.” Disappointment was evident in his voice. He really liked her and he had thought that things were going somewhere.

Liz reached her hand out and placed it on top of his. “I did use you. I feel horrible about it but Brian I really enjoyed the two times we went out.”

He looked up at her hopefully. “You did?”

Liz nodded and smiled slightly.

“Your not just saying that because of what I know now?” He didn’t want her to feel obligated.

She shook her head. “No. I genuinely like you.”

“Look Brian,” she continued, trying to explain how she felt. “A lot is going on and I wasn’t looking for a relationship….but that doesn’t mean I don’t want one.” She liked him, felt comfortable around him and she wanted him to know. At the same time, she didn’t want to be responsible, if anything happened to him. “Things aren’t safe. There’s a lot going on and I would never ask you to put yourself at risk for me.”

“I don’t mind Liz,” he replied. His feelings for her were already so strong and he wanted nothing more than to protect her. “So are you saying you want to give it a go?”

Liz took in a deep gulp of air. She felt the room begin to spin. She wasn’t ready to make a commitment. “I’m saying, saving my brother and Maria, it comes first but I would like to get to know you better….beyond that I’m just not ready to make any promises.”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “That’s all I’m asking for,” he said. It was a place to start.

“I do need to ask you something, though,” he added. It was something he had been wondering since she began telling him her story.

“Ok?” Liz asked worried about what that something was. She had already told him so much and she was emotionally drained. What more could he possibly want to know?

“This Max, I can’t help but wonder with the way you talk about him…..are there feelings there?” he asked, unsure as to whether he would like her answer, but feeling it would give him a much better idea as to where he stood with her.

“Max,” she whispered thinking back to the conversation she had had with Serena, the day Serena had visited Max.

“He suggested a set up. He wants you to call Randy and cancel for Saturday saying you and Maria will be out. Set up a camera and see if you catch them,” Serena explained.

“What about Billy?”

“Make sure that Billy goes with you, then feign sickness and go home early. See how he reacts.”

“It’s a good plan.” Liz reasoned but found her mind wandering to Max, dying to know what he was like. “So did you give him the letter?”

Serena nodded. “You were right. He’s not your typical criminal. He seems like the boy next door and he thinks the world of you.”

Liz couldn’t help but smile, a smile that didn’t go unnoticed by Serena. “Liz, he can be trusted….for this…but beyond that….don’t get involved.”

“Serena, I’m not going to get involved with him. He’s in jail, for God’s sake.”

“See that’s the thing. Your already involved. These letters, they were intimate.” She knew Liz better than Liz knew herself. Knew when her heart had been given.

“Serena, that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heared. I’ll admit, he’s…..he’s been kind and I’ve been lonely…but he’s a friend that’s it.”

“I hope you’ll make sure he knows that next week.”

“Next week?” What did Serena mean?

Serena sighed and relayed the part of Max’s plan that she didn’t like. “He wants you to visit him after the weekend to fill him in on what’s happened.”

“But someone will see me,” she said with surprise. “I mean that’s why we sent you. No one knows who you are.”

“That’s the point. He wants you to be seen. Figures that will draw out whoever is in on this whole conspiracy in the prison?”

Liz smiled. “That’s a good plan.”

Serena nodded. “But can you handle it?” she asked.

“Of course I can. I’ve been to the prison before.”

Serena rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant Liz. Keep it professional only. Nothing good can come of any more,” she warned.

Liz frowned. She didn’t like it, but she knew Serena was right. “I will keep it professional,” she replied. “Besides your way off base with this Ser…as I said he’s just a friend,” she said, although she didn’t like to feeling the words left her with.

“No, it’s not like that at all. I mean I feel gratitude. He’s been great. But that’s all,” Liz reassured him and Brian felt himself relax.

So she had left out how handsome Max was. How she had felt a jolt of electricity when they had touched. How euphoric he made her feel. It was all moot anyway, Max Evans was serving a long sentence in prison. Building a life with him, even if she wanted to, wasn’t possible.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


“Randy and Tommy?” Michael asked surprised when Max explained they had been on the video tape. “There such good guys. I never would have thought.” He felt like he was in the twilight zone

“What about Billy? You said he got nervous when Liz wanted to go home early and got on his cell phone?” Michael asked. “How do you know for sure he was involved?”

“Liz followed him. He went straight too them.”

“What? Is she crazy?” He screamed.

“I know. I already gave her the third degree on it.”

“Michael, what is going on? You must know something. Whatever your involved in, just tell me,” Max begged.

“Max, Maria and Liz are in danger. If I knew anything. I’d tell you for fuck’s sake.”

“Ok. I’m sorry. This is just so frustrating.”

“I know. I know. So lets go over this again,” Michael said hoping he could shed some light on the situation.

“They said they were looking for a lease and bank loan. Apparently you paid off your loan at Grand Western Bank.”

Michael shook his head. “No we didn’t.”

“Liz talked to the manager. Sean closed out the account.”

“No. That’s not possible,” Michael said and then remembered something. “That Bastard!”

“What?” Max asked.

“Sean mentioned that we had been offered a personal loan. More money at a lower rate. The whole thing sounded shady so I told him no way.” He must have done it anyway.

“Who offered the loan?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say. Just that we had to store some stuff in the garage for them. People would pick it up, give us some money and we’d hand it over.” Sean had made it sound like a piece of cake.

‘What was the stuff?”

“I don’t know. Like I said. I said no right away. This garage was my dream and I wasn’t going to fuck it up by getting involved in something.”

Sean was a good guy but was always looking for an easy way out of things. Michael had learned long ago there was no easy way. You got what you worked for, nothing more, nothing less.

“So what would these people want with the bank loan, if they know we don’t even have one?” Michael added. It just didn’t make sense.

“Well, that’s what they told Liz but then she overheard them looking for a key. Maybe it’s what they were offered all along”

“A key?”

“Ya. Do you have a safety deposit box?”

“Yes. I mean Sean does. He opened one at that new co op bank. It was his own, though, nothing to do with the business.”

“Do you have a key?”

“No. But I know where it is.”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-


“Sean’s truck?” Maria asked as Billy helped her carry her groceries in from the car.

“Ya. Well it’s just mine is in the shop and I need to move some stuff on the weekend.”

“You know it’s been sitting in our garage for months,” she explained as Billy opened the front door for her.

“That’s fine, Maria. It’ll still run.”

“Ok. I don’t see why not. I’ll just have to find the keys. I know we have an old set of Sean’s keys somewhere.”


-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_


That night Max and Michael laid in their bunks but neither could sleep. Serena would be coming any day now and they would let her know where the key was. They just hoped it wouldn’t be too late. Maybe they could find a way to contact Maria or Liz before then. But they’d need to find a way that did create more problems for them. They were still in the dark about so many things that it made decisions difficult.

“Max?’ Michael asked.

“Ya?”

“Are they together?”

“Who?”

“Maria and Billy?”

“I don’t know. I mean they spend a lot of time together but I get the feeling it’s not sexual.”

“She’s pregnant for god sake. What kind of guy makes a move on a pregnant woman?” Michael asked in a rage.

“She was lonely when you shut her out, Michael.” Max tried to give Michael some perspective.

“I know,” Michael whispered, silently cursing himself. Why did he always fuck everything up?

“And he doesn’t even really care about her,” he added, his heart aching for her.

“Michael, they’ll find the key in time,” Max tried to reassure him. “And I told you about Hansen. I’m sure Liz has contacted him by now. Things will work out.”

Would they really? Michael wondered to himself. So far, nothing else had.