Words To Live By
Notes: This story is set in 2008. Maxie is 18 years old and Georgie is 13. They have not seen their father in 2 years.
"Always trust your instincts about people. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't."
Maxie Jones stared at the computer monitor in wonderment. She and her sister had been getting emailed inspiring phrases every once in awhile from someone only known as Eagle. For the last month the emails had been coming every day. Though they didn't really understand all the messages, they enjoyed getting the emails and never told their mom for fear that they would be told to stop reading them.
"Max what does today's say?" Georgie asked, leaning over the computer monitor. "Always trust your instincts about people? What does that mean?" Georgie's nose wrinkled a small bit.
"It means that if we get a creeped out feeling about someone, to follow that. Sometimes people act nice at times but they aren't."
"Like Stefan Cassadine?" Georgie and Maxie both got that feeling from the mysterious count. Even though he smiled sometimes they got a scary feeling from him. There was something about him that they didn't like.
Maxie nodded. She knew what Georgie meant when she asked about Stefan. He was one of those slimy people who always seemed like he had something to hide. They hated being around him, but since the town was so small, they saw him often. They always tried to keep their distance when then could, though, and kept their younger brother and sister away from him. After all, they were young and needed their big sisters' help. Robert was only 7 years old and Anna Beth was only 4. And they didn't have a dad, since Mac had died in the line of duty just before Anna was born.
Turning off the computer, Maxie got up from the desk chair. As Georgie had gotten older, Maxie and she spent more and more time together. After Anna Beth was born, they even shared the same room. All of that would change when Maxie went to college in a few months. She had been accepted at NYU and had decided to study architecture in one of the most exciting and interesting cities in the world. She would miss her family, though. Maxie and Georgie were united in their loneliness for their father. Through the years, something had always been lacking from their lives. It was Frisco, their father. They hadn't seen Frisco since he took them on a vacation two years ago, to San Francisco. He had taught them both how to drive on the idyllic three weeks together and it was a vacation neither girl would forget in a long time.
"Max what's wrong?" Georgie asked, concerned. Though she was the younger by 5 years, she felt fiercely protective of her older sister. Maxie was somehow more innocent in some ways. Georgie was always watching out to make sure Maxie wasn't hurt.
"I just miss dad." Maxie confessed. Georgie had never lived with Frisco as a constant presence lives but Maxie remembered the time when she had been sick as a time filled with hope that her parents might get back together. She was happy Felicia and Mac had married, but wished her dad lived close enough to come visit occasionally. The letters cards and phone calls just couldn't make up for his physical presence.
"I know." Georgie agreed. "Do you think he'll ever come back. Maybe he and mom could marry again and we could all live happily ever after."
"That only happens in the movies." Maxie snapped. She was upset that Georgie had hit upon her greatest fantasy as well. She strode quickly into the backyard before the tears that were flooding her eyes overflowed. "I miss you dad. Come home please."
~*~
Cesar Faison looked around the hotel room he had rented and straightened some college brochures on the table. Everything looks perfect and would proceed according to plan. He spared a look at himself in the mirror. "I look quite uppercrust." He said in an exaggerated European accent and a smirk. "Just like a college recruiter should look." His hair had been slicked back and the designer suit he wore hung expertly upon his rail thin frame.
The plan was set and soon, the victim would walk right into it. He would be Faison's now; anyone who stood in his way would pat a permanent and ultimate final price. This plan had to work without a hitch, for, in doing so, an avalanche would be triggered. "I will have you back after all these years Anna, no matter how many innocents must die."
~*~
Hunter Jones smoothed his hair down and took a deep breath; this meeting would change his life. Out of the blue, he had been offered a soccer scholarship to UNLV. It had been his dream to play professional soccer for years, but that dream had been torn apart when he had sustained an injury at the beginning of his senior year. Working in rehabilitation had set his schoolwork back, thus ruining his chances for advancement to a top College, so Hunter thought. That was why this appointment had come as such a surprise to him. Not only were UNLV interested in his academic achievements but this highly competitive school was interested in his soccer prowess as well.
The man who was conducting the interview had given Hunter a first class ticket to Las Vegas. He'd tour the campus on his trip as well. His grandparents had not been happy about this trip, but they had agreed not to tell his parents after an all night begging session. Hunter sighed, his thoughts on his parents for a moment, he really wanted to surprise them with this news. It was so hard to live up to the mystique of having parents that were WSB agents. Hunter didn't mind his parents' line of work, even though it had kept him parted from them. They did, after all, have an important role in an important agency. Sometimes it was hard to accept that he came behind their career.
With a sigh, Hunter shook off his feelings of inadequacy. He would prove himself to be a winner and show them all, starting now. He rapped on the door confidently, eager to get on with his life.
~*~
Geneva, Switzerland
The woman walked slowly up to the door of her quaint cottage. She had been out shopping for her family all the morning. She paused in the doorway, inhaling the sweetness of the wildflowers that grew throughout their yard. She could have never imagined herself in this place, so far away from family and friends, but it was a necessary evil. She gave a startled jump as a car pulled slowly into the driveway, sending up a fine spray of gravel. Using a long forgotten instinct, the woman dropped to her knees, deftly aiming a gun at the intruders. "Who goes there?" she called out, knowing she could very well be defending her family to the death.