The Monroe Legacy - G.3. Chapter 14 - Home Truths

'I remember you. You smiled and sang, but Mama said you never wanted me.'

Eva stuck her chin out, defying him to believe she cared but pain shot through her eyes.

'Mama didn't much like me either but at least she didn't leave me.' With this she turned and rushed into the bar, her shoulders beginning to shake.

Milo followed her leaving Gray, horrified and shocked, outside with the owner who now put his gun away and introduced himself as Ty, Milo's uncle.

'I'm guessing by the look on your face that you didn't leave her?' Ty asked. Gray shook his head numbly.

'Aisha... Her mother. She used Eva to try and fix our relationship. I loved Eva, still love Eva, but when I told Aisha it was over she just vanished and took Eva with her. I've been searching for her for a decade.'

Ty looked at the man in front of him with sympathy, his expression was so desperate, his tone so broken that Ty knew he wasn't lying.

'Listen man, you have to tell Maia, I mean Eva, all of that. But she's gonna want proof and it won't be easy to make her believe you. She's not even fourteen but she's been hurt too often, she puts on a good front with the piercings and the attitude, but she's a mess. You want your daughter back, I get that, but it's going to take time and it's probably going to break you heart all over again.'

Gray nodded, he'd never really imagined what might happen if he found Eva, imagining her personality to be the same as she'd been as a child. He would do whatever it took.

'Ty, can you tell me what you know about her, so I have some idea what I'm dealing with before I go to her and try to persuade her to come home with me?'

The older man nodded grimly.

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'I met Eva when she moved to the neighbourhood a year ago. Milo found her sleeping in the bus station and brought her here for the night. It took a couple of months to get her to trust us. She's never told us much but here's what I figured out.

 Antonia brought Eva and her little sister Cara, short for Carmen I think, to town a year ago to hide. Seems she had been married to a guy who made his money importing and exporting certain high risk products. Antonia was a cold woman, One time she came in here drinking and told me she'd only brought Eva here because her husband, Jorge I think he was called, said what she was smuggling in would be best hidden on a kid, specially an adorable white kid.'

 Gray seethed, he'd believed many things of Aisha over the years and she was living up to most of them.

'Even then I think Eva knew her ma didn't much care for her, especially when she saw how she was with Carmen. Cara was a sweet child, a little slow, but Eva and Antonia both worshipped her. Her pa liked her just fine, as long as she stayed quiet when he had his associates over. They wanted for nothing, even Eva was taken care of, and Antonia would have done anything for that man. What she did do and know was the reason she was out here hiding.

Just before they moved, someone killed Jorge, don't know how, don't know why. The girls were away at the spa. Antonia knew that with what she knew and without his protection she was a dead woman. So she ran.

Soon after she got here she threw Eva out, I never found out why but I got the impression from overhearing her and Milo that Antonia believed Eva had leaked the info that lead to Jorge being killed. Eva's a smart girl and I don't believe that's true, but one way or the other she ended up living on the streets, creeping back in and sleeping when her ma was at work and caring for Cara.

After Milo brought her here she asked for a job. I gave it to her and offered her a place to stay. Two weeks ago she went back to see her sister and found the place shot up and her family dead. I can't imagine what that was like. We've been hiding her in case those guys are looking for her too.

Your daughter is a good girl, but she's scared and she's angry and she doesn't trust anyone. Not even Milo really. We only found out her real name because she was screaming in her sleep.'

Gray's head was in his hands. He'd wondered what kind of life Eva had had, imagining all sorts of horrors which now seemed less ridiculous than he'd convinced himself they were. Her childhood sounded alright but it was a far cry from the affection he would have showered her with. And the past year... he couldn't begin to make sense if it, his mind going back over and again the look of betrayal in his daughter's eyes when she'd accused him of leaving her.

Gray wasn't sure if he could ever make it all right for her, but he would try.

After talking with Ty, it was decided that Gray would get his proof together, ready to show that he hadn't ever given up and Ty would try and prepare Eva for the truth of her abduction. Gray called a cab back to the police station to collect his evidence and to see what paperwork would be involved in trying to get Eva back home.

After a brief conversation with the police it became clear that the issue of Eva's identity would be difficult to prove, especially if it was tied up with the Jorge Garcia murder investigation. The man had been a kingpin of a major drug trafficking organisation who were caught up in a deadly turf war with a rival. However she was an at-risk minor (it was believed that the killers of Aisha and Cara were still in the area) they might be able to issue a temporary Visa which would get Eva home and the formalities could be dealt with then. 

The catch? Eva would have to go willingly.

Whilst the wheels were set in motion Gray called Rachel who seemed genuinely thrilled that Eva had been found. Despite the demanding cries of their 12 hour old son, Rachel insisted Gray should stay in Mexico and try and orchestrate Eva's return, Casper would probably be in NCU for at least a week and she could manage.

Gray felt as if his heart was being pulled in two. Across the border a beautiful woman with a kind heart was caring for a demanding toddler and a newborn baby and here in Mexico, his long- lost daughter was hurting and alone.

It took three days to get the temporary Visa and five days to persuade Eva to come back to Lucky Palms. She had been less harsh with Gray once he had shown her the newspaper appeals he had made with Hallie's help, the stacks of research and the police reports. But she couldn't dispel the idea that she would once again become the odd one out in a family or forget the last ten years.

Eva's response to Gray's remarriage had been minimal, a single tear that she refused to acknowledge or wipe away running down her face as he told her about Rachel, Lillia and Casper, unable to keep the adoration from his voice. Gray begged and pleaded, promising to protect her, to treat her equally and to help her adjust, but Eva was stubborn in her refusal, she knew how to survive here, she had friends.

In the end it was Milo and Ty who convinced her; Milo with his impassioned pleas to get away from the area before whoever was out for her family found her and Ty by threatening to kick her out and fire her. In the end Eva agreed because she was out of options.

It was far from the loving reunion that Gray had always imagined but he didn't care as long as she was coming back.

As they pulled away from Ty and Milo in a cab headed to the airport, Gray tried to squeeze Eva's hand and then tried not to be hurt as she pulled away, staring out of the window. He knew that nothing but time and actions would truly convince his lonely daughter that she was wanted and safe.

After a quiet flight and a tense drive they arrived at their house, Gray fighting the urge to rush inside, kiss his wife and meet his new son, giving Eva time to adjust and prepare.

As she finally began to walk through the gate, tugging nervously on the hem of the only new dress she had let him buy her, Gray allowed himself a small smile.

Eva was home.       

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Read on with Chapter 15 - Hard Choices

The Monroe Legacy - G.3 Chapter 13 - Degrees of Separation

'That can't be my daughter' Gray burst out.

The mortuary assistant looked at him sympathetically, 'I know it's hard to accept Sir.' But Gray interrupted him.

'No! I mean that that is not my daughter. I haven't seen Eva in almost eleven years but that girl isn't her.'

The cops and the lab techs exchanges confused glances.

'Are you sure sir? The neighbours seemed pretty certain that this was the lady's daughter.'

'I'm positive. This girl looks younger, but more importantly she's got a darker skin tone and black hair. Eva was blonder and fairer skinned. Did the neighbour say if there was more than one daughter or did you just assume that when you saw my missing person's file and it fit neatly?'

Even as he scolded the policeman for the fear he'd endured on the flight, a huge grin was beginning to spread across Gray's face. He barely saw the dead girl in front of him or Aisha's shrouded form. Eva might be alive!

'Could the hair have been dyed?' The policeman asked the lab tech.

'No, the notes say it's natural. Without a full post mortem it's more difficult to accurately estimate age and ethnicity, a DNA comparison could at least rule out this girl as Maia Garcia.'

'Eva Monroe' Gray interrupted. 'Her name is Eva Monroe and I'm going to find her.'

Hours later a DNA comparison confirmed what Gray had already known and a lot of paperwork was signed. A few simoleons persuaded a desk jockey to tell Gray where the crime scene had been and in minutes Gray was in a taxi and headed to Aisha's last known address.

The area was crappy but not desperately poor. Dust and litter blew between sad square little houses and dogs barked from chain fenced backyards. The only sign of violence from the outside was the police tape that Gray quietly removed from the door. Putting his shoulder to the cheap wood he felt the latch give and he was inside.

The Aisha he'd known would never have let anything but desperation force her to live somewhere like this. There was a small bedroom with a double bed, a poorly fitted bathroom and a few counters which passed as a kitchen area. All of these rooms were torn apart, bullet holes and a large stain marking the bedroom as the place where it had all ended. While there was no sign of Eva there was also a little girl's room, largely untouched, and here some effort had been taken to make the place a little brighter. On the wall was a picture of Aisha and the girl who'd lain on the table next to her.

Gray felt a lump form in his throat for that stolen life. Earlier he had been so happy it wasn't his daughter but now he couldn't get away from the horrid contrast of the bright smiles in the picture and the cold faces in the morgue. Rushing outside he emptied the contents of his stomach, water and trail mix, onto the dusty drive.

'What do you want with that place' a harsh whisper echoed from the house opposite and though nobody appeared, Gray saw a curtain twitch at the window facing him.

'I'm looking for a young girl, have you seen anyone else around.'

After a pause the voice came back, 'There's no girl there any more, her mama and her are gone where there's no returning, God rest their souls'.

Gray nodded, 'I know. I'm looking for another girl. A slightly older girl. Blonde.'

For several minutes the voice was silent and losing hope, Gray made to leave.

The voice returned. Quieter than before. 

'I haven't seen any blondes. But there was another girl. I saw her with Carmen sometimes when Antonia was working nights. She always left as soon as Antonia got back, went in the direction of uptown. Black hair, coloured ends.'

Gray waited, desperate for more information, but the voice was done and the curtain stilled. Gray called a quiet thank you and pulling the door shut he made his way uptown. He had no idea how long he walked for, asking anyone he passed of they'd seen anything. Most just ignored him, a few shook their heads and fewer still actually spoke to him, this was not an area where talking to strangers was a safe activity. As the sun began to rise he stopped, exhausted and checked in to the nearest hotel, a grey, peeling affair which smelt of must and sweat. Collapsing on the bed he fell in to a deep but restless sleep, dreaming of morgues and faceless teenagers.

He was woken by his phone ringing, the battery indicator flashing red even as he answered. A panting Rachel told him that the baby was coming more than a month early and that Saffron was taking her to the hospital. Over the crackling of the signal and her heavy breathing Gray tried to comfort her forgetting for a while everything he'd discovered before his phone cut out.

Pausing only to settle the bill he rushed out and found an Internet cafe, cursing himself leaving the police station without his luggage and his charger. Once again he had allowed his obsession with finding his eldest daughter to jeopardise everything else he valued.

The browser eventually loaded and Skype brought him crackly picture of Saffron who turned the phone to Rachel, she gave him a weak smile. Gray#s guilt intensified at her pale, worried face.

'Rachel, I'm so sorry I didn't call. I'm so sorry you're doing this alone, what do the doctors say?'

Gritting her teeth whenever a contraction hit Rachel managed, as always, to reason him out of his panic. 'Don't be silly Gray, we couldn't have guessed this would happen. I'm more worried about you, doctors think the baby will be fine, just little. What's happening there?

How was the... Was it- was it them?'

Even as his wife struggled to breathe through her contractions, clutching his sister's hand it was him she was worried about. Gray couldn't believe that after all his mistakes with Aisha life had granted him the love of somebody like Rachel.

Wishing more than ever to be by her side  Gray pressed his finger to her cheek on the screen.

'It wasn't Eva, Aisha is gone but Eva might still be out there. Don't think on it though, I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you so much.'

Rachel's smile at the good news was cut off by a cry of pain as another contraction hit, followed by a kerfuffle as the doctor came to check her and announced she was fully dilated. Saffron tried to follow as they pushed Rachel out and towards the delivery suite, the already blurry picture becoming illegible.

The forty minutes that followed were among the hardest of Gray's life. Saffron tried to tell him what was happening whilst helping Rachel, every scream torturing Gray with his absence. After a particularly harrowing yell the proprietor of the otherwise empty Internet cafe put a glass of rum by Gray's computer with a sympathetic look.

Casper Jude Monroe arrived shortly afterwards, his prematurity may have made him little but it certainly hadn't made him quiet. Gray watched the nurses hand the tiny, screaming bundle to Rachel to kiss before whisking their son off to be checked in the NCU. As Rachel began to doze Saffron kept him updated, Casper would be fine but would need to stay in the hospital until he was a little bigger than his current four pounds.

Gray signed off, booked a flight home and stepped outside, wondering how to get to back to the station it get his passport. As he emerged into the bright sunlight he almost ran in to a couple of teenagers who were loitering outside the door, barely acknowledging the odd stare one of them gave him.

As he looked around for a cab, something was niggling at his mind. He had missed so ruby, but what. He turned back to look at the cafe and the teenagers and it clicked.

The eyes of the girl who had looked at him so oddly, they were a clear bright green. They were eyes he had dreamed of for over a decade. And the hair was black, black with purple ends.

Starting towards them with a strangled yell of, 'EVA?!' his progress was blocked by the young man who had been with her.

'Who are you and who told you to call her that? Her name is Maia.' The teenager was surprisingly strong in his resistance to Gray's pushing.

With his eyes fixed on the girl sat stock still in the shadowy entrance, Gray responded.

'I'm Eva's dad, I've been looking for her!' Gray cried desperately, 'Eva it's me! Do you remember at all. Aisha must have told you something. Eva!'

As Gray's pushing gradually closed the gap between him and the girl he was sure was Eva, the proprietor of the cafe came out, responding to the ruckus in his yard with a gun. As Gray stepped back and raised his hands the boy stepped behind him and pulled Eva protectively close.

Speaking calmly but still aiming the gun the owner asked the pair,

'What's going on here? Milo, do you know this man?'

Milo shook his head,

'He says that he's Maia's father, and he knows her real name.'

The proprietor's eyes widened and he lowered his weapon.

'Milo, take Maia inside and close up the place. I'm going to get to the bottom of this.'

Before Milo could comply, Maia, Eva, whatever her name was, stepped out from his shadow and into the light. She was more beautiful than he'd imagined, her skin smooth and golden and her features a combination of his and her mother. Her hair was dyed black, blonde roots beginning to show through and she was dressed all in black and wearing heavy make-up. She looked so grown up but Gray could see hints of the little girl he'd read to sleep in her face.

She stared at Gray, her expression unreadable, hope, fear and anger seemed to chase through those unmistakeable eyes.

In a voice so different from those remembered baby words, a woman's voice with a definite Latina twang she spoke for the first time.

'I remember you.'

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Read on with Chapter 14 - Home Truths

The Monroe Legacy - G.3. Chapter 12 - Heart of Darkness

This chapter is rated PG-13 as it refers to subjects that some readers may find upsetting.

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The first year was everything they had hoped it would be. Lillia was a placid baby, sleeping through almost from the start, as if to make up for the turbulent pregnancy. She cut her first tooth with barely a complaint and could bring a smile to her daddy's face even on his gloomiest days.

Rachel worshiped her baby daughter,  amazed and surprised by every little noise she made, every new thing she did. It did Gray good to see how happy their new arrival had made his wife, the days when he couldn't shake visions of Eva at the same age he would focus instead on the joy radiating for. The woman he loved and remind himself that Lillia was the product of what he felt for her, and in no way a replacement for Eva.

Every surprise Lillia had brought Rachel paled into comparison when she found herself pregnant again before their daughters first birthday. It was not planned or even discussed but once the pair got over the shock they could see the appeal of having two children close in age.

Shortly after their little girl's birthday party Gray and Rachel found out they would be giving her a little brother. Gray was secretly relieved, he wasn't sure he could have coped with another little blonde girl running about, Lillia looked more like her big sister every day.

This time around Rachel didn't suffer more than the normal sickness, glowing with happiness as she played with her little girl and imagined her son playing with them. Rachel had decided to quit the restaurant for the time being, content to spend every waking moment enjoying her family and Gray was pleased to support her in this. Working gave him structure and he lived to come home to a busy, smiling household and hear about all the day's little dramas.

It was one of these evenings when his phone went, an unknown number that he assumed was a supplier calling about a delivery. Flopping on the sofa and grinning at Rachel balancing a giggling Lillia on her rapidly expanding bump, he froze as he heard the automated voice tell him this was a call from the Acapulco police department.

His heart skipped a beat. Could this be it.

Rachel hadn't noticed Gray stiffen but she noticed when his face turned white. She waited, shushing Lillia and praying that whatever happened next wouldn't destroy the happiness they had salvaged from the wreckage of heir old lives.   

Gray hung up, his hands shaking, his voice shaking.

'They found Aisha' he managed, his voice a monotone and his eyes staring at nothing. 'She's in their morgue. They think a gang related shooting'

Rachel clutched Lillia closer! covering her ears though she was much too young to understand. She waited for Gray to continue, the next words forced and desperate.

'They also have the body of a young girl believed to be her daughter. Aged about 10. No ID.'

His voice barely raised above a whisper he choked out five more words before he broke down.

'I have to identify them.'

As Gray fell apart Rachel leaped into action. Whilst she wanted nothing more than to curl up with her husband and let him cry but she knew once he had got past this initial shock he wouldn't want to wait. Calling Saffron to take Lillia for the night she got onto the phone with a travel company, booking a seat on the first flight of the next day. She wished she could go with him, to be there when what they had feared but never said aloud was confirmed, but she was too far along to fly without the doctors permission, permission that she couldn't organise in time.

Once everything was settled she sat by Gray, holding him when he would let her and staying silent to avoid those meaningless words if comfort that she couldn't be sure were true.

It wouldn't all be okay and she couldn't promise it would get easier.

They drive to the airport in silence, his fierce hug at the gate the only sign Rachel had seen of Gray's fighting spirit since the phone call. She worried that the man who returned from Mexico might be changed beyond recognition.

Gray boarded the plane in a daze, stared at the wall through takeoff before finally turning his gaze to the brown of the desert as he passed it by.

He was dreading landing, dreading the taxi drive to the police station. Dreading seeing Aisha again, even like this. He'd always imagined he would at least get to look her in the eye and tell her what she had done to him, to see if there was remorse in her eyes. Would she be sorry? Now he would never know.

And then Eva.

He couldn't think of it. He wouldn't make it if he thought of it. But one thought circled his brain insistently, like a vulture around the broken mess of his heart.

He had imagined how she would look at this age, and now he would find out. But she wouldn't grow any more. Not in life or in his head. This was all she would ever get to be.

He mustn't think of it.

The numbness lasted him to the police station and through the paperwork. It stayed when they drew back the sheet on the bigger gurney. It was Aisha. Older and colder but unmistakable, the numbness even made him immune to the horrid grimace on her lifeless face.

As the attendant reached for the sheet that covered a smaller form Gray turned away. The numbness was fading and he could feel something, a scream or possibly vomit rising in his throat. A dull reflection showed the sheet rise and be folded back.

'Mr Monroe, is this your daughter?'

The voice sounded as if it were miles away. It was now or never.

Gray turned around.

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Chapter 13 - Degrees of Separation

The Monroe Legacy - G.2. Chapter 6 - Tears and Fears

Hallie found Gray frozen in place a few minutes later. His face was white, his eyes distant and the letter, if it could be called that, was still in his hand. It took three attempts to get Gray to tell his mother what he had found. That Aisha was gone and Eva too.

Hallie blanched and called the police, pacing the room until a detective arrived. As he questioned Gray, Hallie and Saffron started calling around their family and friends, searching for any sign of Aisha and Eva.

'Mr Monroe, we understand your daughter is missing' the man asked kindly.

Gray nodded numbly.

'When did you last see her and what was she wearing.'

Gray just stared.

The detective's tone grew more urgent,

'Mr Monroe, I know this is difficult but we need to move quickly, we need to know anything that might help us find your little girl.'

'She was wearing her pajamas, blue ones, when I tucked her in last night. I haven't seen her since. She was gone this morning.' Gray's voice was cracked and brittle.

The detective nodded. 'Is there anyone who would wish your daughter harm. Have you seen anything or anyone suspicious around the neighbourhood.'

'Her mother took her. She left a note'. Grey put the crumpled paper on the table, the first time he'd let go of it since he'd found it.

The detective unwrapped it and looked at Gray, confused. 'Her mother? Is she in violation of your custody agreement? Do you have reason to believe she might wish to harm your child?'

'No. We don't have a custody agreement. Aisha is a crap mother but I've never known her deliberately harm Eva. Leave her to cry, yes. Forget to feed her, yes. But I don't think she'd hurt her.'

'Mr Monroe. If I understand correctly, your daughter's mother, who has every right to be with her daughter, has taken her out. And you've called the police why?'

Gray looked stricken. 'Were you not listening! Aisha, she doesn't like Eva, she ignores her completely. And she's taken her, left a note. Detective, I don't know if she'll bring her back.'

The detective gathered his notes and stood to leave.

'I understand your worry but there's nothing I can do. Eva's mother has as much right to custody as you do, she's been gone less than a day and we have no reason to believe Eva to be in immediate danger. If they don't return or make contact within 48 hours, you can report them missing and then we can start to look for them. In the meantime, get yourself a good lawyer, if she's taken her before opening a custody battle you'll need all the help you can get.'

 Gray couldn't sit still for the next 48 hours. Hallie called his work and explained and they put him on compassionate leave. He spent the waiting period driving around the neighbourhood and then further out with a picture of Eva, asking everyone if they'd seen her. Saffron and Leyton helped, they even drove across two states to a distant aunt's house, Aisha's only family, but they hadn't seen them.

When the 48 hours were up, Gray reported both Aisha and Eva missing. The police finally began to search, too slowly for Gray's taste and he paced the house, tossed and turned, barely eating or sleeping.

Hallie tried to get him to talk, but all he could say was that he didn't understand why Aisha had done it, he wasn't surprised she had left, in a way it was what he had been hoping for, so that he wasn't forced to kick her out. He would even have agreed to some sort of shared custody, whatever was best for Eva, if Aisha had been willing.

But why had she taken his baby? She had never been interested, never seemed to care, especially recently. He could only assume that Aisha had wanted to hurt or punish him for some reason and that this was the best way she knew to do it.

And God did it hurt.

A week after Eva was taken, the police turned up at the door, serious looks on their faces.

Gray let them in wordlessly and the lead investigator dove straight in.

'We have a sighting,' Gray's face lit up so the officer hurried on, 'but it's not what we were hoping for.'

'Where were they?' Gray demanded, 'Tell me please!'.

The detective gestured to his colleague who pulled a grainy picture out of a cardboard folder and passed it over. Gray snatched it up. Between the picture quality and the floppy Sunday Aisha was wearing it was hard to identify her but he'd recognise his daughter anywhere. She didn't look happy.

'Mr Monroe, that photograph was taken at the Mexican border. The passports used by the people in that photograph identified them as a Mrs Antonia Garcia and her adoptive daughter, Maia.

Gray looked puzzled. 'But that's Eva. My daughter Eva'.

'And we believe you sir. However, their paperwork was all accepted as valid, they crossed the border and with that... Well things get rather more complicated. We traced Antonia Garcia's  identity  through her marriage certificate. Her maiden name - Antonia Lopez - belonged to a cadaver, now listed as a Jane Doe in a New Mexico morgue, the identity of her "adoptive daughter" belonged to a child at the same hospital which died in infancy. The transferral of these identities was done incredibly professionally. The marriage licence is fully legal, the adoption papers are expertly faked or again doctored. Mr Garcia, a Jorge Garcia, married Antonio, Aisha, whatever you wished to call her, four months ago  here in a Lucky Palms chapel a few streets over.

We don't have an address for Garcia, the one he provided was fake, but we do suspect he is involved in organised crime and possibly in trafficking both substances and people across the border. We have, so far, been unable to trace your family any further than the border.'

Gray sat, disbelieving, his head in his hands. Hallie laid a hand on his back, not knowing what to say. She looked at the detective, looked him in the eyes and asked what they had all been wondering.

'How can we get her back'.

The pained look that passed between the officers in the room did not escape her as the detective gave her a grim smile.

'We will search for her. The Mexican authorities have been informed and are on the lookout. If we find them you have an incredibly strong case for parental abduction IF we can prove their real identities. DNA samples will help with that. If we find them, we can look to extradite Aisha with Eva as a dependent, but I don't want to mislead you, this could be a very long process, especially if they are in the care of a criminal organisation who are capable of hiding them.'

Gray finally raised his head, his jaw set.

'I'm going to look for them, I will find my daughter and I will bring her home.' His tone was absolute, his certainty convincing, but the police had seen it before.

Sighing the detective replied, 'I understand your sentiment but honestly you will be most useful here, building a case under The Hague convention for parental abduction and raising awareness, TV appeals can provide new leads.'

Gray was unshaken, 'I don't care, I have to do something. I keep imagining Eva waiting for her story... Aisha never read to her. She loved .... She loved how Much Do I Love you, the one with the bunnies, you know where they-'

His voice broke and Gray started sobbing, unable to continue. Hallie sat helpless, how could she possibly make this right, she wished more than ever that Cai was here, Leyton and Saffron had helped keep the house running but nobody could make a situation make sense like Cai had. So she did the only thing she could think of, knowing how she would feel if one of her children were taken from her, she would fight,

'Gray honey, go if you need to go, find your baby. I will build the case, do the lawyer thing. Your siblings will help. You go, be safe, be courageous and bring her home.'

Unable to answer, Gray buried his face in his mother's lap, a child once again and she stroked his hair as the police filed out of the house.

The next morning Gray left, armed with desperation, hope, photographs and every penny he could scrape together.

Six months later he returned with nothing.

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Read on with - Ch. 7 - I'll Be Seeing You

The Monroe Legacy G.2. Chapter 21 - Ugly Love

This chapter is rated PG-13 for both language and content. 

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'Carson?' Cai asked, his face blank even as Hallie's mouth dropped open. 'Who the hell is Carson?!'

Lola shook her head as if trying to clear her mind. 'Carson was my high-school boyfriend and  we later discovered he was also my cousin.' She shuddered. 'We ended things the second we found out but I don't think it was ever really over for him. I'll admit struggled with it for years, you can't turn off feelings, even in that situation.'

Cai's mind was working in overdrive. 'Let me get this straight. Your mom was half-sisters with Marilyn Monroe, she never knew her and when she found the link Marilyn died. Except she didn't, she faked her death to cover her pregnancy. Eventually your mother and she reconnected with dire consequences and somewhere in the middle Lola started dating her son with nobody having any idea who he really was?'

Hallie nodded, it bordered on the ridiculous but it was true.

Cai flopped in the armchair and raked his hands through his hair. 'Jesus Hallie, this would make a great mystery novel' he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Lola groaned.

'That's how he knew there was a journal,' she exclaimed. 'I'm so stupid. I made a similar joke back when we were corresponding at university. I mentioned mom writing a journal and said it would be priceless to a publisher. That was before...' She trailed off.

'Before he turned up at our door and declared his undying love and proposed?' Hallie offered, a hint of a smirk in her tone . Lola looked at her reproachfully,

'It really isn't funny Hal' she objected. 'I know we all used to joke about it years ago but things are different now

Hallie shrugged, 'I'm sure Jeffery doesn't care, but if it makes you uncomfortable then I'll stop'.

Lola hauled herself back on to the sofa, blushing deeply and looking uncomfortable. 'It's not Jeff,' she began, 'this is equal parts alarming and humiliating, I tried to keep it secret from everyone except Jeffrey.

About five years ago I received a letter from Carson, apologising for the proposal and asking if we could be friends. He told me that his step-dad had died and that Norma - that's what we all knew her as Cai - was sick. He said I was the only one he could talk to who knew everything.

I felt bad for him. He was my first love and I wanted to help so we started writing again. At first it was fine but then I started getting gifts. At first it was just flowers and chocolates and little things. Then it was jewellery and bigger stuff. It was always anonymous but the gestures, however misguided, had Carson written all over them. 

I had to tell Jeff when a new car was delivered to our drive, he was angry but got over it and made me promise to stop writing. I did, telling Carson I thought he needed a clean break to move on. A couple weeks later Jeff noticed a car parked across from the house that never moved or belong to any of the neighbours. We saw it again when we were out shopping and at Zander's speech day.

One day Jeff went over and slammed the driver's door open. Carson had been living in his car, following us around. I confronted him and he broke down, he said his mother was dead and that I was all he had. He had every letter I'd ever written in the car with him, along with the ring I wouldn't accept all those years ago. It was both heartbreaking and terrifying and I had to stop Jeff from kicking his ass.

I called in a few favours from my doctor friends and we got him in to a great counselling and therapy programme across the country. After a lot of thought I took out a restraining order, I wrote one last letter to explain why we couldn't be in each other's lives and encouraging him to get on with his.

That was almost two years ago and I haven't heard from him since. I hoped he had found a way to cope and made a life for himself, maybe found himself someone to love. But he must be back. I just wish I knew what he was planning.'

Seeming exhausted by her confession Lola collapsed back on the sofa and Hallie rubbed her shoulder comfortingly. It seemed they had all been more affected by their family's past than they'd been letting on.

'If he's violated his restraining order we can have him locked up' Cai realised. 'This can all be over!'

'But he knows too much, especially with the journal as proof!' Hallie objected. 'I want this done as much as you do but based on what Lola has said he's got nothing left to lose by telling the world. I'm not sure we can manage five children and the attention of the whole world when the story breaks.'

Cai looked defeated as Lola agreed, the only thing more dangerous than Carson right now was what Carson might do if he figured out they were on to him.

Lola needed to get home and tell Jeffery what had happened and finally tell him the full story of Carson's link to her family.  Hallie and Cai needed to get the triplets up from their nap. They arranged to meet the next day and come up with a plan of action.

For the rest of the day Hallie and Cai went through the motions. Cai was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he forgot to let Violet beat him at hopscotch and Hallie put both of Sienna's legs through the same hole in her romper three times before she realised what was going wrong.

They slept fitfully, imagining dark figures in the corners of their beautiful home.

The next morning Lola arrived with Jeffery and a plan. It wasn't perfect but it was their best hope of ending things quietly and with no damage to anyone.

Hallie would wait for Carson to make contact again but this time she wouldn't be alone when she met him. Lola would go and try and draw him out and Cai and Jeffery would be waiting, hidden to support them, Jeffery with his gun license and Cai with a video recorder.

None of them liked it but with the sustained public interest on the family and the secret they were hiding their options were limited. Even a private security firm might decide that their story was more valuable than their fee.

With the plan decided Hallie and Cai tried to pretend that nothing had changed to avoid raising suspicion if they were being watched. Weeks went by with no contact and they began to stop playing at living and started actually living again.

Cai was taking a break between books to spend more time with his family and you could feel the change. Violet's grades improved as she finished up her last year in middle school and Gray could read short words all on his own!

The triplets were happy children, growing up with distinct personalities. Jet was laid back, spending hours with his Rocky doll and taking his time to walk and talk. Hallie could tell she would have her hands full trying to keep him focused at school when the time came.

Sienna was a joy to be around, she loved nothing more than cuddles and following around her parents and siblings. She was a friend to everyone but where she was a sweet-natured little thing Saffron was a drama queen!

Saffron's first word was NO! And she used it regularly. Whether she was making a fuss about her outfit or crying for the toy her brother had just picked up after she threw it away she lived to make a scene. She was either sunshine or thunder, singing and dancing or screaming mad. Hallie had always though Violet was a handful but Saffron was fast taking the crown.

Gray's birthday crept up on them and they kept the celebration in the family. As much as they hoped that Carson had taken the money and gone they were still afraid of exposing their kids to the public, he had never shown any violent urge but you couldn't be too careful.

Gray grew into a handsome little boy who was anxious to please. He was desperate to start school and kept offering to do Violet's homework, much to Hallie's horror! Violet was bad enough without encouragement from her little workaholic brother.

Life had almost returned to the golden days where Hallie and Cai could only just keep their hands off each other for as long as the kids were in the room when the next note arrived.

They opened it together with a grim determination to end this now. It was short and to the point.

The same again, I know you can afford it. Friday, 5am, leave it under the plaque in the old bridge down at Hudson's Creek. Don't be an idiot and tell.

A phone call to Lola confirmed their timings and two days later Cai hugged Hallie goodbye in their room and watched her drive away, Lola lying concealed on the back seat.

From his vantage point he saw a dirty sedan pull out a few houses down and follow Hallie's car towards the creek. Taking a steadying breath he left through the back door and walked round the block to where Jeffery was waiting  a loaded revolver on his hip.

As Hallie pulled off the road and onto the bumpy track which would take them up to the old ruined bridge she wondered how Carson would respond. She still had no idea what he wanted from them, whether there was some greater motive to it all.

She cut the engine and could have sworn she heard another vehicle shutting down off in the woods. Poker faced she stepped out of the car and swung the bag, stuffed with sheets of blank paper, over her shoulder. Ducking under the branches of the trees on the bank she quickly located the plaque and stuffed the bag behind its plinth and out of sight.

Returning to the car she started it up and made as if to pull away, turning and driving twenty feet towards the road. Then as quickly as she could she stopped and got back out, Lola joining her as they sprinted back up the track.

A rustling near the bridge confirmed that they were not alone and for a second Hallie panicked that it might be someone else, someone more dangerous than her sister's crazy ex.

But a broken voice called out from the thick shade.

'Lola! Is it really you?'

As Hallie grasped her sister's hand as Lola tensed. Footsteps approached and a man looking much older than 47 but with a resemblance to the Carson she had known as a child emerged from the bushes. Dropping the rucksack he had just picked up he rushed to them, a huge grin on his withered face.

 'Lola I knew you hadn't forgotten me' he exclaimed, and before anyone could react he crushed her to him and kissed her. Too horrified to move for a moment Lola soon pushed him off throwing a panicked look at the bushes where Hallie could hear a scuffle that she was pretty sure was Cai trying to stop Jeffery rushing in and ruining it all.

By some miracle Carson was oblivious, devouring Lola's face with his gaze even as she shrank from him.

In a shaking voice she said,

'Carson I want the diary pages back. They're precious to me.'

Eager to please he rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a dirty wad of pages and held it out to her.

'Anything for you sweetheart!' He enthused, Hallie could see the sickness of his mind in his actions. It was like she wasn't even there even as she took the pages from Lola and put them in her own pocket. Carson was totally obsessed with her sister, Hallie wondered how Lola could stand there looking so calm! She would have run like hell and she was always supposed to be the brave one.

 With barely a tremor in her voice Lola asked the question they had all wanted answered. 'Carson, why are you here? Why are you blackmailing my family?'

For the first time a flicker of doubt muddied Carson's expression, he seemed genuinely confused.

'For you Lola. She's only your half sister and we both know that that doesn't count for much, just look at our mothers! They might as well not have been related and if they weren't we'd never have broken up at all. And I needed to be near you, I couldn't get a job, how could I work and not be near to you but I needed money since my inheritance is all gone.

I saw in the paper that she was rolling in it' with this he gestured violently to Hallie, 'and I knew that she wouldn't want her secret leaked. It was easy really.'

Lola's expression was full of sorrow and pity.

'Oh Carson, can't you hear how sick you are. I'm married, I love my husband, I have a 16 year old daughter  and two sons with him. You and I have been over for more than 25 years and you still really truly believe, after everything you've done, that I would want to be with you?'

With every word she uttered a change began to sweep Carson's features and ugly blackness entered his eyes, his pupils dilated and his breathing got faster. As his lip curled he pulled back his arm, his had balked in a fist and screaming 'You bitch' he lunged at Lola.

Hallie tugged her sister out of reach as Carson's momentum carried him past them and to the ground.  Cai and Jeffrey came rushing from the shadows, Cai with a  camera capturing the whole scene and as Carson struggle to regain his footing Jeffery trained the gun on him at point blank ranged and clicked off the safety.

'If you ever come near my wife again I swear I will kill you' he said in a voice so even and deadly that it sent a chill through Hallie.

Carson glowered, his face a distorted mask of hate.

'She's not who I thought she was' he spat in Lola's direction. 'She promised we'd love each other forever and she lied. She's a whore and she's spoiled. You can have her now.'

Lola's strong exterior was crumbling under the tirade of cruelty from a man she had once loved and an almost imperceptible signal passed between Jeffery and Cai.

Cai shut of the camera and moved in closer as Jeffery holstered his gun and pounced on Carson, twisting his arm behind him until the older man shouted out in pain.

Cai quickly searched the incapacitated man for weapons before making a reluctant Jeffery let go. Turning to Carson as he crawled away and began to rub his shoulder Cai's face set in a mask that Hallie hadn't seen since the night he had seen Brian drag her from the party in college.

It was an expression of deadly, hardened calm and the voice which accompanied it was low but threatening, without hesitation or sympathy.

'Listen to me you pathetic piece of shit. You have done your damage here. You came damn close to ruining my marriage, you've harassed my wife's family and now you've tried to blackmail me.

I have your evidence, I have a video of you threatening us and trying to assault my sister-in-law. I also have a very large bank balance and a string of ruthless attorneys, contacts at the police department and I will have no problem destroying you if you continue to interfere.

All you have is a fake identity and a history of mental health issues including being institutionalised.  Without a shred of evidence do you really think your little story is going to be believed?

You have no power here. We've given you more chances than you deserve but here's one last one, for your mother's sake.

Leave state. Hell, leave the country, I'll even give you cash for a plane ticket. But if I ever hear of you again, if so much as a sticky note finds its way to anyone in my family again I will find you and I will see you put away for the rest of your life.

 Do you understand me?'

Carson had started crying halfway through Cai's threat, his shoulder shaking at the mention of his mom and his gaze fixed on the place where his knees hit the mud.

 Without looking up he nodded once.

Not wanting it drawn out any longer Hallie took Lola's hand and led her back to the car, Jeffery waiting until they were safely inside before stepping away from the husk of a man sitting on the floor. Even Cai's heart, flooded as it was with hatred couldn't help but pity Carson as he threw a roll of money at his feet and went back to the car.

As they drove away Hallie looked in the rear view mirror and saw that Carson still hadn't moved, he stayed down as the dust from the car erased him for their view and, she hoped, their lives.

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This chapter ended up being epically long - I kept trying to cut it back and missing important bits so if you're reading this - thanks for sticking with me! I appreciate it more than you'll ever know :)


Read the next chapter - Ch. 22 After The Storm now!

Author's note - A few people had expressed surprise that Carson was behind all this - I'll admit I was pretty surprised too and I would have started hinting sooner if I'd known. When he hit YA he developed the Mean-Spirited trait and when Lola dumped him they became nemesis-es (nemesi?nemeses? anyone!?). I left him in neighborhood as I'd always had a soft spot and he would turn up at verious parties, at first just mooching about until at the trips toddler birthday he started a fight with both Cai and Jeffery. Then he was horrid to Lola and insulted Hallie. After I'd kicked him out it emerged that he might be the person with nothing to lose and everything to gain from abusing what he knew and the Monroe's protective instincts. It's a funny old game we play eh?