Gabriella spent the next two days limping around Kelsi's house. She could only image that this is what house arrest felt like. Troy hadn't been back since he left that night, which could mean a lot of things. A lot of things she didn't want to think about. She was tired of being cooped up. Tired of looking at the same four walls of Kelsi's living room and guest bedroom, she needed to go out. If only for a walk than it would be something, she wouldn't feel so helpless and fragile. In fact her father's house was within walking distance from here. She should go check up on how the renovations were going.

In jeans and light grey t-shirt Gabriella started the journey towards her childhood home. The warm air whistled through her hair, blowing it about her face. She tucked her hands in her pockets as she made her way along the sidewalk.

Life in Highland Meadows seemed so different from what she was used to but so much like what she remembered. It was as if the whole town had been imprisoned outside the loops of time and change waiting just for her return. Childhood memories and old emotions slid through her head one languid spin at a time. She felt the old mixed bag of emotions. Old emotions that always lay dormant until allowed herself to go that far back in memory.

There was always a confusion of love and longing, disappointment and missed opportunity related to this small town. Thoughts about her parents, who they pretended to be, who they really were and in the end how the bad just seemed to be all they were.

People never looked at her same way after her father was convicted. And when her mother left the looks of sympathy just got worst. But her childhood wasn't awful. Some of her earliest memories were of her mother dressing her up for a pageant. Of course the memories had blurred with age, the over-the-top pageant dresses and piles of fake hair clipped to her head were just faded recollections.

But she remembered the feelings, though. She remembered the fun excitement and comforting touch of her mother's hand. She remembered the joy her mother got from listening to her sing, watching her perform. There was never a school play or musical Gabriella hadn't been a part of. A holiday production Gabriella hadn't auditioned for. Dressing up and playing make believe was what her and her mother did best.

Her relationship with her father had always been confusing and difficult. A push and pull. An emotional tug of war that she always seemed to lose. Of course as a little girl she had memories of piggyback rides and photos of pillow fights with her father but it seemed like once she entered High School, their relationship changed. The more emotion she showed, the more she tried to cling to him the more he pushed her away until she gave up.

Then there was the conviction. He asked her not to come see him. He signed away his rights. He never called, never wrote. Just like that she was shipped off to Chicago. New parents, new life, new fears and anxieties.

Gabriella stopped when she stood outside her father's house. It was the birds she noticed first. There were large, dark flying in lazy circles up ahead. Vultures. Nature's garbage disposals. Not uncommon to see out here in the small tow located in the middle of nowhere but a little off putting.

Walking up the walk was when she noticed the stench. It assailed her senses; it was permeating and nauseating. She had never smelled anything liked it. Bringing her arm up, she tucked her nose into the elbow of her arm. "Oh my god," she murmured as she looked around the front yard. It was probably a raccoon or something that had gotten sick. Gabriella began making her way to the back of the property. Whatever it was she needed to get rid of it before Eliot came around.

The sickening stench was overpowering now, and her stomach was churning. She lifted her shirt to cover her nose and mouth. She kept walking, the crunch of some fallen leaves and rubbish from the house crunching under her footsteps. Where was it coming from?

The vultures seemed closer. She could hear them now, squawking back and forth as if in an argument. There was also another sound; the buzzing of insects that grew louder as she approached. As soon as she saw the thick cloud of flies she began frantically swatting at them as they flew into her eyes and mouth. The pungent scent was worse the closer she got. She could barely breathe.

Lack of being able to see clearly she tripped over a tree root, her hands stretched out in front of her breaking her fall and landing in something warm. That was when she saw the maggots. It seemed like they were millions of them. "Oh God!" she cried. It was a body. It was a woman whose face and body was covered with filth, flies and maggots. A stained blue satin ribbon was wrapped around her body with a large grotesques bow planted between the small of her breasts. And that's when Gabriella recognized the face. It was Betty.

Gabriella's throat filled with bile. She turned to her side and threw up what was left of her breakfast. Pushing herself up she began running back towards the front of the house screaming for help. For anyone help her. She felt hot tears flowing down her cheeks and realized she was crying.

"Help!" her screamed. Her tears were blinding now but her legs kept moving. She flew across the yard onto the sidewalk slamming against a hard solid body that dropped a bucket and tools. Both of them tumbling down to the ground.

"What the hell?!" Troy exclaimed as she clung to him, her nails digging into his back. She was crying hysterically and he couldn't understand what she was saying. Troy tried to stand but, she wouldn't loosen her grip.

"Ella, what's going on? What's back there? Honey, look at me!"

Her mouth moved, but nothing that came out made sense. She thought she was going to be sick again. No. Not now.

"Body." She had to make him understand.

"What?" Troy pulled Gabriella to her feet and moved her towards his truck. Leaning her against it for support and holding her shoulders. "Try that again. What happened?"

"There's a body in the backyard." There, it was out. "It's Betty."

"Shit. Stay here. Don't move." He gently pushed her against the truck, steeped back to make sure her legs would hold then ran towards the backyard.

Moments later she could hear him talking. He seemed to be giving order to someone. Finally, he came around the house growling at someone on the phone. "Get out here now. Send the crime techs and the M.E., too. A body was just found on the Montez property." Troy tossed his phone on the dashboard of his truck and pulled Gabriella into his arms, holding her as tightly as he could, his heart beating as erratically as hers.

Once her initial shock had worn off, she shivered, though she wasn't cold. There was a dead woman in her father's backyard. Betty. How was she going to tell Kelsi? What was going to happen to the diner? Was she still employed? How did the killer know where her father property was? Icy fear twisted around her heart and clamped tight.

Once they secured the area with crime scene tape, deputies moved in and out of the backyard, sometimes stopping to talk to each other. Troy stood near his truck having a serious conversation with Taylor, who appeared to be a jerk of epic proportions. As soon as she found out that Gabriella has discovered the body, she had sequestered that Gabriella be placed in the backseat of her car until she had a chance to talk to her further. What was there to talk about?

A news truck pulled up, and a woman in a suit holding a microphone hurried past, along with a cameraman. They were stopped by a deputy, who was then peppered with questions.

The longer Gabriella sat in the back of Taylor green Ford, the more pissed she became. Why couldn't she be standing out there like the rest of them? Why couldn't she have stayed in Troy's truck? Better yet, why couldn't she go home? She needed to get her son. She smelled like rotting garbage. The stench coated every inch of her body and hair like a stinking, sticky film. Enough was enough.

She flew out of the back seat, slamming the door behind her. She wasn't a freaking criminal. She was sick of waiting, tired of being ignored. She was going home, damn it. To be with her friend and her son.

"Excuse me," she said tapping on Troy's shoulder. "You remember me. I'm the one who's been stuck in a back of a car for what seems like hours. Unless I'm a suspect and you're going to arrest me, I'm going home."

Her tone angered him. Who the hell did this woman think she was, challenging his authority like that in front of his deputies? "If I tell you to stay in the back of the car then you damn well better stay there until we get around to you."

"Really?" Gabriella said placing her hands on her hips.

"Really," he challenged.

"Mrs. Catania is it?" Taylor asked coming up to Troy with a white envelope. "We have a search warrant to search the premises."

"Fine, search it. Have the time of your life." Gabriella turned back to Troy. "I want to go home."

"Not. Going. To. Happen." He said pausing between each word.

"I'll need to ask you some questions Mrs. Catania," Taylor said taking out her note pad.

Gabriella glared at Troy before turning to Taylor, "What is it you want to know?"

"Mrs. Catania, Let talk about how you happened to find the body in your backyard?"

"Call me Gabriella," she said crossing her arms. "This property belongs to my father. What is it you would like to know?"

"Why don't you start from the beginning, and tell me how you knew the body would be in your backyard." Her words were said calmly as if there wasn't an accusation in them.

Gabriella lips flattened into a firm straight line. "I didn't know the body would be in the backyard. What are you getting at?"

"You got to be kidding?" Troy interjected with a low voice, "You can't be suggesting that she knew that the body was there."

"Why not?" Taylor turned towards Troy, "Do you have reason to believe otherwise. Other than the fact that you're clearly involved with Mrs. Catania."

"Over the line Mckessie," Troy's voice was firm.

"You're over the line," she shot back. Turn back to Gabriella she narrowed her gaze, "Just start from the beginning."

"I was taking a walk."

"By yourself?"

Gabriella arched her brow as she looked questioningly at Taylor, "Yes, why is that a crime?"

"No just weird that someone who was almost carjack and killed a couple of days ago would venture out by themselves." Taylor jotted something down on her notepad. "Tell me, is there any reason why you chose this particular area for your walk?"

Gabriella looked up at Troy with concern then back at Taylor, "Yes, I wanted to check on the renovations for the house. I was hoping to turn it around and sell it."

"The location of the body was deep within the property. Tell me how did you happen to stumble upon this unique find?"

"I noticed the horrible smell and there were vultures circling the area. I thought it was a dead animal, I have a young son. I wanted to remove it from the property before he came home from school."

"Interesting." Taylor murmured as she wrote down the last of what Gabriella had said. "I'll let you know if I have any additional questions. Thanks for your time." Taylor turned to walk away.

"Hey," Gabriella shouted after her. "I have some questions of my own."

Taylor raised a brow as she turned around to face Troy and Gabriella, "Do you Mrs. Catania?"

"Has Kelsi been notified or is she going to have to find this out from the television?"

"We sent deputies to her place of work a while ago." Taylor said looking over at Troy, "I don't think it'd be a good idea for her to stay with the Evan's while this case is under investigation."

"Agreed."

"You realize someone's trying to kill me don't you?"

"So you've informed us."

"They're just going to keep killing everyone unless you let me go."

Taylor frowned a moment and then looked back up at her with a suspicious look that was not lost on Gabriella. "You're not going out of town anytime soon, are you?"

Unbelievable. "I don't have any trips planned."

"Good. Then you let me and Sheriff worry about that. Just make sure I can reach you if I have more questions."

When Taylor was gone Gabriella turn towards Troy. "Do you think I'm guilty?"

"What I think doesn't matter, it's the evidence and your attitude that's putting you in hole." He said ushering her to his truck. He touched her waist as they walked. The sexual awareness from his touch tickled her mind, but Gabriella didn't fuss; she was too busy trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her life was spinning out of control. Panic buzzed in her head. She was a suspect. Betty was dead. She was under investigation. Someone was trying to kill her. Was it Michael? Was he watching her right now?

She climbed into his, "Now where are we going?"

"My house."

"Your house?" Gabriella stopped in her tracks as she looked down at him as if he were crazy. "I don't think that's a good idea."

Troy let out a sigh as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Why?"

Had he forgotten the other night in Kelsi's guest bedroom? Their kiss. Okay, maybe he didn't see that as a bad thing but she did. "I'll find someplace else to stay."

"Is this because I kissed you the other night?" he asked as if reading her mind.

"Oh, it's not the kiss," she snapped. "It was your beady eyes looking at my naked body. While I was passed out on medication. And telling me how great my tits are. That's is the problem." She folded her arms over her chest.

"Look, I'll admit I was probably wrong to have undressed you like that."

"Probably?" she squinted at him as she sat down.

"Why is it women focus on one word? I said I was sorry."

"Jeez, I totally missed that part."

Troy shut the passenger side door and went around to the other side opening up the door and climbing in. "Okay, I said I was wrong. Isn't it the same thing?"

"You said you were probably wrong," she corrected.

He stared at the truck ceiling as if in frustration. "You don't have anywhere else to go."

"Yes," she lied and started brainstorming because…

"Where?"

Because she knew he was going to ask her that. She mentally searched for options and came up blank.

"We're adults, Ella." Her time was obviously up.

"Really because whenever we're alone together we don't act like it."

Both his eyebrows arched over his soft blue eyes. "We? Are you actually taking part of the blame here?"

"I never said I didn't share in the responsibility. But I didn't remove your clothing while you were sleeping either."

"Probably a good thing," he mumbled.

"Yeah. Probably." Silence filled the parked truck.

"Look," he said. "I have an extra bedroom and –"

"You can honestly tell me that you won't… that we won't do anything."

"I can honestly tell you that if you tell me no, I'll accept it."

"But you're not above trying?" she asked.

"Probably not." he grinned at her.

"The fact that I'm married with a son doesn't do anything for you?"

Troy shrugged his shoulders, "Your husband's a criminal. And I like your kid."

"You like my kid?"

"He's smart, funny, likes aliens, what's not to like?"

Gabriella let out a long breath as she thought about getting naked with him. Both before and after she'd found out she had a psycho killer after her. Now how bad was that? Someone was killing people around her and making a beeline right for her and it still wasn't enough to douse the flames of desire.

"Let's be logical," he said.

Okay, she'd give logic a shot. And logically if she agreed to go and stay with Troy at his house. She'd end up in bed with him. And possibly in the same predicament she found herself in 15 years ago. Had she learned nothing?

"Come on Ella. Nothing will happen unless we let it." All teasing had faded from his eyes. "This guy isn't playing around. He's serious." Troy paused as he looked out at the crime scene. "It's just for a few days."

She gripped her hands together. "I need to think about it."

Troy let go of a deep gulp of air. "Are you saying that you'd rather risk being killed than risk having sex with me?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Frowning, Troy started the truck.