"Ben Weston?" Ben nodded and the next thing he knew, the man in all black pulled out a pair of handcuffs and handcuffed Ben. Ciara turned away from Claire's tombstone and looked at where Ben was and noticed he was gone. Ciara started looking around and finally saw Ben. It took her a moment but she realized that Ben was handcuffed! Ciara took off as quickly as she could and made a mad-dash to Ben.
"Ben?" The man in all black pushed Ciara back, "Step back, ma'am."
Ciara sighed angrily, "Why is Ben in handcuffs?" The man in all back responded, "Judge's orders. He's being remanded to Statesville until his trial."
Ciara looked at the man in shock, "What? You can't do that!" Hope walked up a moment later, "Yes, he can. That's exactly where he belongs."
Ciara's eyes turned to daggers toward Hope, "Tell him to let Ben go!" Hope looked at Ciara in shock, "Why on earth would I do that? He's gonna spend some time in Statesville." The man in all black started to pull Ben away when Ciara exclaimed, "Wait. Can I please give him a kiss goodbye?" The man in all black rolled his eyes, "Ugh, fine." Ciara grasped Ben's face and gave him a kiss. Ben looked at Ciara with pleading eyes, "Rockstar…" Ciara put her forehead to Ben's, "You don't have to say it. I know. I love you too." Ciara wrapped Ben in the tightest hug she could possibly do. "Alright, that's enough." Ciara sniffed as the man ripped Ben from Ciara's grasp.
Ciara sat down at the island scrolling through pictures in her phone. It had only been hours since Ben was arrested and taken from her again, but it felt like a lifetime.
Tripp walked through the door and got a bottle of water from the fridge. Ciara looked up for a second and stared at his with her tear-stained eyes. Tripp gently put the bottle of water down, "I saw what happened."
Ciara got up and sighed, "I REALLY don't have the energy to get into it." Ciara picked up her purse and started to walk out, but Tripp blocked the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" Ciara sighed, "Look, I can't be here. This loft reminds me too much of Ben. I'm gonna ask my Grandpa Vic if I can stay with him for a few days." Tripp looked at Ciara, "A few days?" Ciara nodded, "Yeah, by then Ben should be out."
Tripp looked at Ciara in shock, "Why would Ben be out in a few days? He's looking at 20 to life!" Ciara nudged Tripp out of the way and walked out of the apartment without saying another word. Tripp threw his water bottle across the room.
When Ben heard that he had a visitor, he knew that it had to be Ciara. Who else would come to visit him? Ben rubbed his hands on the legs of the prison jumpsuit trying to get the sweat off. He was so nervous to see Ciara. When Ciara walked up, the smile on her face disappeared as soon as she saw Ben's face. "What happened?"
Ben sighed, "I guess being the Necktie Killer gets you more enemies than bitches here." Ciara sighed, "Ben…"
Ciara put her hand up on the glass and Ben did the same. It was the closest they were gonna get to holding hands. Ciara kept looking at Ben's black eye and swollen lip.
Ben shook his head, "Enough about me. Let's talk about you." Ciara sighed, "Ben, I'm gonna find out who is doing this to you. I'll find out who's setting you up."
Ben shook his head, "Ci, you can't do that." Ciara looked at Ben in shock, "Why not?" Ben lowered his voice, "Whoever is doing this, setting me up, is obviously a VERY dangerous person. You can't be going after someone like that. No, babe. I don't want you going anywhere near this. Whoever is doing this is dangerous and I can't have you risk getting hurt or worse because of me."
Ciara looked up so Ben wouldn't see the tears that were forming in her eyes, "What, you think that I can't take care of myself?" Ben shook his head and cracked a smile, "No, babe. I know you can. I barely have my teeth from when you tried to defend yourself." Ciara chuckled at the memory as she wiped her eye, "Why then?"
Ben sighed deeply, "If something happened to you, and I was in here, I could never forgive myself if you died trying to help me."
Ciara sighed angrily, "Well, I-I'm not just gonna stand by and let someone get away with murder while you're stuck in this hellhole! Ciara sighed, "Ben, you are NOT going to prison for something you didn't do."
Ben sighed, "Ciara, promise me you'll stay out of this." Ciara's eyes became soft, "Ben…" Ben continued, "Please." Ciara sighed, "Ben, I love you." Ciara walked away from the seat while Ben yelled Ciara over and over again.
As soon as Ciara was out of the prison, she pulled out her phone, "Hi, this is Ciara Brady. I need a favor. The biggest favor ever."
