Chapter 4:
JJ pulled her phone out of her purse, "Hello?"
"Hey JJ I need a favor," Emily said without an introduction.
JJ nearly halted in the middle of the busy street, what was Emily doing calling her? "Isabelle, I thought you were on a plane," she said carefully.
"I had a stop to make first; I'm going to need another favor."
"What is it?" JJ asked.
"Another couple of people need to go into hiding," regret laced Emily's voice.
"Who?"
"Robert and Marie Brewster," Emily said. "They live in Concord Massachusetts."
"Okay, I'll have them out by tonight."
"I didn't know they would see me," Emily tried to explain.
"I understand," JJ said soothingly.
"I couldn't say no when he looked at me Jayje. If you met him you'd understand, it's like trying to say no to Hotch or Pen."
"It's fine," JJ soothed again. "Like I said, I'll have them out by tonight, give me the address."
"278 Waverley Lane." Emily leaned back in the rental car's driver's seat. "I didn't mean for him to see me JJ; I should have parked farther from the school."
"Isabelle, it's fine," JJ kept talking in a soothing tone. "I understand that you didn't mean for that to happen. I'll make sure Marie knows."
Emily tried not to cry as she kept talking. "If I had known he'd see me I would have gone to Italy from New York right away, I wouldn't have gone to Concord."
"I know this is a stressful time," JJ said. "And I'm sorry that I can't be there for you." JJ halted and stepped to the side where the other pedestrians could pass her, it sounded like she had a sudden head cold. She glanced around and her eyes fell on the display next to her, it was a book store. "But I want you to go to a used bookstore and get a romance novel, then go to a grocery store and get some ice cream."
Emily nodded before she realized that JJ couldn't see her. "Okay JJ," she replied, realizing that her plan of getting drunk if she got the negative was a bad one; it probably wouldn't do for Isabelle DeLuca to be hung over when she went home to Italy.
When JJ and Emily hung up, JJ went into the bookstore, she couldn't be with her friend right now, so she'd do the next best thing, she'd do what she'd suggested Emily do. "Excuse me." She walked up to the help desk, "could you tell me where the romance novels are?"
Emily hung up and started the car again, time to find that non-descript hotel. She turned on the GPS and quickly had directions to the closest Motel 6.
After driving to it, she parked and leaned back in her seat for a moment. "I'm Isabelle DeLuca," she whispered to herself. "I'm going back to Italy after a trip around the world."
A hand went to her abdomen. She didn't know whether or not to be excited about the possible pregnancy. While she wasn't excited about the prospect of being pregnant by Ian, she'd always wanted to be a mom.
After getting a room for the night, she went back out to do as JJ suggested and get a romance novel and some ice cream. After getting both she went back to her room and sat on the bed. "To take it or not to take it, that is the question…" Emily murmured to herself as she stared at the box of pregnancy tests that she'd bought earlier.
"Just because you don't want to know the answer doesn't mean there isn't one." Emily could almost hear her mother saying. It was a phrase that Emily had heard several times as a teenager.
Emily sighed and got up. She had to pee anyway. She might as well take the test and get it over with. Quickly going into the bathroom she took the test. She glanced at the box and noticed that it was supposed to take three minutes for the answer to show.
She glanced at the clock, 5:30. "I'll come back in here at 5:33," she decided aloud as she quickly washed her hands and left the test on the bathroom counter. She went back out to the bedroom and sat on the edge of the mattress. She stood up again though and grabbed one of the hand towels from the bathroom and began wiping the night stand down. It looked like the Maid hadn't done a very good job. She quickly had all the surfaces in the hotel room dusted and she dropped the towel on the floor in the bathroom; the maid would pick it up in the morning.
She glanced at the clock in the bedroom still 5:30. She looked at the pint of Ice Cream and thought about opening it and starting her celebration/pity-party early. She glanced at the time: 5:31.
She turned her back to the clock and started to dig into the ice cream. She would have sworn that she'd been eating for a couple of minutes when she turned to look at the clock. The red digital numbers slowly changed from 5:31 to 5:32.
Emily tried not to get too annoyed as she turned back to her ice cream; she picked up the book she'd gotten at the bookstore. It had a woman on the front; she was lying on a bed with only a sheet covering her, there was a gun on the night stand next to her. The Bounty Hunter's Bride, the cover read.
She flipped it open to about half way through the book. "Star Joy panted heavily as Richard pounded into her. Their cries of ecstasy filled the room…" she read aloud. Emily rolled her eyes and tossed the book in the direction of the trashcan. It landed in the plastic can with a loud thud.
She turned around and looked at the clock again and did a double take, did it really still say 5:32? The last time a minute seemed this slow was when she was watching a front loader do laundry, and even that minute seemed to be faster then this one. Emily swore quietly. Could time move any slower? She wondered.
Emily pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed her voice mail. Penelope's voice came on the line.
"If this is you and you're out there, come home. Please. Did you think we'd just let you walk out of our lives? I'm so furious at you right now. Then I think about how scared you must be, in that dark place all alone. But you are not alone; we are in that dark place with you. We are waving flashlights and calling your name. If you can see us, come home. But if you can't then stay alive, because we're coming!"
Emily looked at the clock. 5:32.
"Close enough." She muttered she went to the bathroom and looked at the test; it was in the middle of the counter where she'd left it. It simply lay there, taunting her.
Emily hesitantly stepped forward. She wanted to know what the test said, but at the same time she didn't. Finally she picked the test up, her hands shaking and looked at the little window.
Looking at the two lines on the pregnancy test she suddenly knew three things: One: she could never have another abortion, even though this baby was conceived through a rape; she could never abort again. Two: She couldn't see Declan again until after Doyle had been captured. She wouldn't even try to see him from a distance, especially not after what happened last time. She wouldn't let herself put either of her children at risk like that.
And last but not least: Ian Doyle had to die.