Elisa was sitting in her living room that afternoon, visiting with her parents.
Earlier that morning, Beth had gotten up, helped herself to a business-type suit from Elisa's closet, took a shower and hustled Elisa out the door, all before nine in the morning. She had left for work straight from when she had dropped Elisa off at the Aerie Building for her appointment with Dr. James.
Before leaving Elisa at the Doctor's offices, she had reminded Elisa that their parents were going to come and pick her up shortly and take her home.
True to their word, Peter and Diane Maza had been there to pick up their eldest daughter. Despite most of the danger of concussion having mostly passed within the first 24 hours, the Mazas were not going to leave her alone until they were a hundred percent positive that she was going to be fine.
No matter how much she protested.
Peter had just brought out a pair of blue mugs of coffee when Elisa's phone rang.
Elisa practically dove for it. Any kind of distraction from her enforced house confinement would be welcome.
"Hello?" She answered on the third ring.
"Maza," came the authoritative voice from the other end of the line. "Sorry to bother you, but I really didn't want to wait."
"Morgan?" Elisa asked, puzzled.
"Yeah, sorry," Officer Morgan apologized brusquely. The fact that he had called her by only her last name with no greeting was the tell-tale sign that something was wrong.
"Hold on just a moment," Elisa said. She got to her feet, and took the phone with her out onto the balcony. Thankfully, her parents stayed in the living room, giving her privacy.
"O.K. Morgan," Elisa said, as direct as he had been. "Whats going on?"
"The station just got a phone call from Attica."
"Are you serious?" Elisa asked, stunned. There was only one person in New York State's Attica Prison that anyone would call her at home about. "Please tell me that you're not about to tell me…." Elisa trailed off, hoping that she was wrong in her assumptions.
"Jon Canmore escaped two days ago." He said.
"Wait," Elisa, caught by surprise, sat down roughly on one of the stone benches. "Two days ago? And we're just now hearing about this?"
"I know," Morgan said, gruffly. "I am not pleased about this, and you can bet that Captain Chavez is going to be pissed."
"Yeah," Elisa agreed. She suddenly felt her chest tightening. It had been roughly two years since Jon Canmore had been arrested and sent to the maximum security prison. Elisa and the Gargoyles had been the ones to put him there, and he had still been cursing Elisa's name as they drug him out of the courtroom after his sentencing.
"They said that they sent a notification in a fax yesterday. Why they didn't call, who knows. I do know that they haven't widely made the news known outside of their ranks for the moment. Chances are that the fax got lost in the confusion last night. As to why the news stations haven't gotten a hold of it yet, they probably don't want it known that someone escaped and tarnish their sterling reputation," Morgan said, the sarcasm fairly dripping off of each word.
"Has anyone contacted the other two Canmore siblings?" Elisa asked. "He might have been in contact with them."
"Robyn Canmore is still in jail," Morgan assured the detective. "All communication going in or out is monitored, and no contact has been made that we are aware of."
"And Jason?"
"Jason is still reporting to his probation officer," Morgan stated. "We have both his home address and his work addresses. He is working at Mt. Sinai Hospital, helping with rehabilitation patients. We have officers en route to both locations to talk to him."
"Have they searched Jon's cell yet?" Elisa asked. "Surely there was something in there to give them a hint about where he was headed?"
"That's what I asked," Morgan admitted. "Evidently his room was spotless. He had been spending most of his time in solitary, anyway."
"Wait… wait… Let me get this straight, because I don't think I heard you correctly. He not only escaped from a maximum security prison, but from freaking solitary confinement too?" Elisa ran her hand through her hair in frustration. She suddenly had the urge to throw something. Or hit something. Or kick something. Really hard.
Turning, she saw her parents standing in the courtyard near her. Her voice must have risen and carried to them inside.
Damn it.
Angrily, she shoved the phone to her father. "Here dad, maybe you can make sense of this. I just can't..." She trailed off angrily.
Peter frowned, puzzled, and took the phone from his daughter and proceeded to get to the bottom of things.
While Peter and Morgan were talking on the phone, Elisa leaned into her mother. Her sudden burst of angry energy leaving her as abruptly as it had come.
There were certain things that she had never shared with her parents, for all of their sakes.
Some of what she had never shared had involved the Gargoyles, but they had met all members of the clan now, so that was of little worry.
She had never told them about falling off of the dam. Or the time she had nearly drowned when the Labyrinth roof had collapsed, flooding it.
Most of the never-spoken-of events involved Jon Canmore. Those had been left out of any kind of communication with her parents.
For all of their sakes.
For one, she didn't want them to worry about her any more than they already did. Over the years, Elisa had vanished a handful of times, causing them a lot of stress and worry. She was really trying not to do that to her family any more than absolutely necessary.
Secondly, her father still had friends on the force. If he thought Elisa was in danger, he would contact each and every one of them and Elisa would never have another moment of peace until Jon Canmore was either back behind bars or dead. He had done it before for lesser reasons.
Lastly, Elisa just mentally couldn't rehash everything that had happened. Even now, two years later, Elisa was still having minor panic attacks when she thought about how he had drugged and abducted her from a crime scene that had been swarming with other cops. He had held her captive, then used her as bait to get to the gargoyles.
Elisa had managed to get loose and distract him long enough for the Gargoyles to subdue him.
Oh, yeah, and all of this had taken place several stories above the ground. Both she and the clan had managed to get Canmore in the end, but the final fight had taken place atop one of Manhattan's tallest construction cranes at a development site for office buildings.
Elisa took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was not going to get her again. She would be prepared.
Her father disconnected the call and turned to Elisa. "Morgan will keep in contact with you to keep you as up to date as he can about what is going on. The story is about to hit the news, which is why the 23rd is just getting word from the reporters. Morgan verified with the Attica people before calling here. The fax that was supposedly sent has yet to actually be found."
"Yeah, great," Elisa said, feeling oddly numb.
"I know, sweetie," Peter said, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "But at least you are medically housebound right now, right?"
"Yeah, great," Elisa said again.
Peter and Diane exchanged a glance. "Elisa," Diane started, "Why are you so worried? Surely this is not the first criminal that you have put behind bars who said they would 'get you'?"
"No," Elisa confirmed. "But it is the first one who was flat out bat crap crazy."
"Elisa," Diane scolded.
"Sorry mom," Elisa apologized.
Diane Maza heaved a heavy sigh.
"You are to stay here at home," Peter said, handing down orders as if she was still a rambunctious kid who had been grounded for some infraction. "And you will have someone with you at all times."
"I thought that was the plan anyway, dad," Elisa shot back. "Beth will be here in a little bit, and you guys can go home. After that, Goliath will be taking a turn, and then it's back to you guys."
Elisa turned and flung open the sliding patio door that led the way back inside her condo.
"Now, Elisa," Diane said, sternly. "We are just trying to make sure that you are safe."
"I know mom," Elisa admitted. "I'm sorry for snapping, but knowing that you guys are concerned isn't helping the situation. This guy is straight up crazy as a shit-house rat, and the fact that it's been almost forty eight hours before notifying us…" Elisa absently rubbed a hand over her suddenly unsettled stomach.
Diane cringed a little at the language that her daughter was using, but she understood it. After all, she'd married a policeman and they had been through it all at least once.
"This would be so much easier if we could put you into witness protection…" Peter grumbled.
"Not an option, dad," Elisa stopped him. "I am not just going to disappear on the clan, and leave them alone to clean up the mess."
"Well," Diane huffed. She had seen father and daughter snap at each other like this before, and was resigned to the fact that their easygoing visit was over. Now it was about keeping Elisa safe. "How about we go drink that coffee and we can come up with a plan."
Together, the three Mazas headed back inside the condo, shutting the door and leaving the curtains open.
By the time that the sun had gone down, and Goliath had awoken, the Maza family had put a plan of action into effect. Elisa was not going to be left alone until Jon Canmore was once more in custody.
Effective immediately.
And she was to take the full week off recommended by Dr. James to give the various law enforcement agencies a chance to find Canmore on their own.
The one time Elisa dared protest, Peter had laid down the law. It was this, or witness protection. End of story.
To ensure that Elisa followed her half of the agreement, Peter called Captain Maria Chavez.
When the time came when Elisa was finally able to go back to work, she was to have Matt, Morgan, or some other member of the force at her side. Period. Both Peter and Captain Chavez were firm on that, and knowing Elisa, the captain threatened to not allow her back to work at all until Jon was back in custody.
Elisa agreed to the conditions. She didn't like it, but liked the thought of staying home even less. She loved her job, and she wasn't going to let one lone psycho keep her away from it.
Despite Elisa's protests, her parents had put their foot down about her being left alone even at home. Diane had immediately called Beth, and asked if she could move into the spare bedroom at Elisa's temporarily. Beth had agreed, and Peter had gone to meet her after work to help pack a bag or two of clothes and essentials for an unknown length of time.
If Beth was not able to be there with her, Peter, Diane, Derek or a member of the clan would need to be with her.
As soon as Goliath heard this news, Elisa knew that she would be lucky to be able to go to the bathroom alone.
Diane stayed with Elisa, doing what her mother did best in upsetting situations. Her mother was a stress cleaner of the extreme variety, and it was a trait that had passed on to her eldest daughter.
When Peter had left to help Beth, Elisa and Diane had tackled the kitchen with a vengeance. They were just finishing up when Beth and Peter arrived.
Diane helped Beth haul her bags up the stairs and put her things away.
"Alright," Peter said, sending Elisa a "don't mess with me" look that Elisa remembered vividly from her childhood. "So, here's the plan. If Beth is not here during the day, you call me or your mom. You have enough help at night between Derek and Goliath, but if something happens, you call me. Any time, day or night."
"Yes, sir." Elisa answered, giving him a crisp salute.
"Elisa," Peter said sternly. "I am not kidding around here. This Canmore is dangerous, and I need to be able to sleep at night knowing that you have someone here in case he makes an appearance."
"I know, dad," Elisa said, smiling. "I love you too. You guys keep an eye out too. There was that department leak not that long ago, and that had been indirectly linked to this guy. He may still have your address."
"Don't worry about us," Peter said briskly. "I invested in a security system not long after that fiasco, and I still have my handgun in my bedside table in case of trouble."
Elisa sighed. "I am so sorry that all of this craziness is spilling over onto you guys."
Peter patted his eldest daughter's shoulder. "It's part of the job, honey. You arrest enough bad guys, you eventually have one attach to you. I had my share of them back in the day."
"Really?" Elisa asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "I don't remember anything like that happening."
"You were really young," Peter admitted. "You were only about five or so, but someone I had put behind bars made my life interesting for a while. He sent some crazy letters to the house, and even had his cousin throw a brick through our window one night while we were all sitting there watching television."
Elisa frowned. "I don't remember that at all."
"That's good," Peter said. "I would have hated to be the cause of something traumatic in your childhood. You talked about it for a while,even had some nightmares, but then suddenly you didn't anymore. I was hoping that you had forgotten it."
"Wish granted," Elisa reassured him. "No bad memories requiring therapy here."
"There," Diane called out, leading the way down the stairs with Beth following behind. "All done."
Elisa sighed. "Thanks for doing this, Beth."
"Oh, yeah," Beth said, sarcastically. "Like spending some time in a penthouse apartment with an amazing view is a slow torture. Stop twisting my arm!"
Elisa laughed. "Oh, come on. Your apartment isn't that bad."
Beth leaned against a wall and crossed her arms. "My bedroom window looks straight out to a brick wall, and the roaches from the mexican restaurant next door are big enough to require leashes."
Elisa laughed. "Well, glad I could help. I offered to let you move in here when you were first talking of moving back to New York, if you remember."
"I know," Beth sighed. "Trust me, it was tempting, but we both like having our own space."
"True," Elisa acknowledged. "But the offer still stands."
"My lease is up in five months. We will see how this goes for now, and we can revisit that one."
"Deal," Elisa said.
"Well," Diane said, "Now that is settled, your dad and I should get going before it gets too late."
"O.K." Elisa said. She gave her parents a hug, and thanked them again.
The door closed behind them, leaving the two sisters alone.
A moment passed in silence before Beth spoke up. "So… what's for dinner?"
Elisa looked at her sister and grinned. "Loser cooks?"
"Best two out of three?" Beth asked.
"Deal."
Together, the sisters brought their fists up.
"Rock, paper, scissors…"