A/N I do not own these characters. Oh wait I do own Shelly, Jerry, Mr. and Mrs. Falk, and any other character I might make up on a whim, and all the mob guys except Walter Balsom. I am getting no profit off the use of ABC characters so please refrain from suing me. I have no money anyway.

Chapter 14

Jessica ran to the entrance of the building. Hold the door she called out as she ran, her hands full of papers and other things. This was her big day and she wanted to make it as good as she could. As a junior reporter this was her big chance to prove to her uncle Todd that she could be put on the big stories. She had always wanted to be the best investigative reporter she could be and no was her chance.

She ran into the building and, thanking the man who had held the door for her, ran up to Todd's office.

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Shelly ran after Rex. When she missed him in the parking lot she tried to think of where he would go. As she thought about it she realized that he would go to their room, which was now the room he shared with Natalie. She made her way the short distance from Rodi's to the Angel Square Hotel quickly. Once she got there she hesitated at the stairs. 'What if he really needed to be alone?' she wondered to herself but then decided that after everything he, they, had been thru, he needed to be comforted.

She hurried up the steps and to room 212. With out knocking she tried the doorknob; it was open. She stepped in and looked around for Rex. She didn't see him at first. The first thing she saw was that he had thrown things around. Like he couldn't control his anger there were clothes all over and several smashed dishes on the floor. Calling, "Rex," softly she listened and waited. When there was no answer she called louder and finally he answered.

"Go away, Michelle." He answered. He had known she would follow him; it was her nature to protect and comfort the people she cared about. Even knowing this about her he had still hoped she wouldn't come. He felt dirty. He felt like it was his fault somehow that Natalie had been kidnapped and her baby stolen. He couldn't bear to look at the people he loved most in this world knowing that they must surly blame him too. It was after his father that took Alex, his niece.

"No!" Shelly said fiercely coming up to the window next to him. She put her hand on his shoulder but he shrugged her off. "I'm not gonna go away Rex! Not until you listen to me." She paused then said more softly, "Please."

He refused to turn around even though he knew she wouldn't leave. He just couldn't bear to see the disgust in her eyes. "Please Shelly" was all he said.

"No Rex." Shelly said again. She didn't understand what was the matter. She had known he would be upset that his father was alive and doing terrible things but he was acting guilty, as if it were his fault. Surely he couldn't think that anyone blamed him for his fathers wrong doings. "Rex..." she started hesitantly.

Hearing her again he suddenly turned on her and the look on his face made her step back a little. He looked so furious. When he took a step forward she involuntarily stepped back again. "See. You are scared of me now. Now that you know my father is alive!" Rex said harshly when he saw her movement backwards.

"I'm not scared of you, Rex." She said, suddenly not even a tiny bit scared of him now.

"No, not even if I do this?" Again his voice was harsh and unyielding. He pushed her, hard, and she stumbled back towards the bed. He was so angry and he didn't even know why. But he took it out on her. The look on her face, that trusting look, it just made him angrier.

'It was almost as if he was trying to scare her.' she thought looking up into his face after he pushed her. But she refused to be intimidated by him. She would show him that just because he father was a crazy psycho she didn't think less of him. She straightened up to her full height and boldly looked him straight in the eye. "If you want to scare me you will have to do better then that!" she said and then waited. She had no clue how he would react and she he did it shocked her.

Seeing her standing there, not backing down, but most of all not scared of him, broke his control and stripped away his defensive anger leaving only the gut wrenching sadness and horror. Suddenly it was too much and he went to her and fell to his knees, silent tears running down his face. When she fell to her knees with him he buried his head in her shoulder chanting, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Shelly held him tight, running her hand through his hair and placing gentle kisses the side of his face and neck. "It's ok," she told him over and over. "It's going to be ok." Finally he pulled back and looked at her still not quite meeting her eyes. She realized he was unsure of her feelings for him still and she brought both hand to his face. Cupping either side of his face she smoothed back his hair from his eyes, forcing him to look at her, "Nothing that you have done or that your father has done could make me stop loving you. I love you, Rex. Don't you know that by now?" she told him softly but with conviction.

Hearing her, her tone of voice, he couldn't help but believe her and he was filled with such tenderness for the woman in front of him. She was strong, and wise, and smart, and funny but most of all she was loving and forgiving. Even after the way he had treated her tonight she forgave him. Leaning forward slowly he gently put his lips on hers. The kiss was soft and gentle as he tried to show her how much she meant to him. When he finally pulled back he whispered, "I love you too."

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John stared after Shelly for a minute; he was so proud of her despite the fact that he didn't care for Rex. His little sister was quite the girl. She was not only smart but she was also strong. Thinking about just how strong brought back the fact that his little sister, his 16-year-old sister, had actually taken a life. She had killed someone and he wasn't sure if she had ever dealt with that. He knew that at the hospital when they had brought Natalie in she had been shaken up a bit, in shock really, but after they had talked she had seemed fine. He wondered now how much she was still affected by it.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked, seeing his face.

"I was just thinking about Shelly. She shouldn't have had to go through so much." John told her, feeling sad for what Shelly had gone through.

"She is strong John. She can handle it." Natalie paused, unsure of how much to tell him then decided he should know that Shelly had told her about the man she had killed. "She told me about the guy she killed," Natalie told him softly. "She's dealing with it alright. Better then most people would."

John nodded relieved to hear that. He changed the subject and said, "So tell me what you remember about Walter Balsom before he disappeared."

Natalie told him everything she could remember about him, which wasn't much. Then she sat and waited for him to take it all in. After a moment she asked, "So how do we find him?"

John was thinking. Assuming the note was true then finding Walter would be difficult. If he had Alex then odds were he had a plan. His usual MO was to get rid of the kids not keep them except in Natalie's case. But if the note were a fake and meant to distract them going after Walter would be a bad idea. "First we go to the hospital and talk to Michael. Maybe he knows some doctors that might have worked with Walter Balsom before he disappeared," he told her. He decided that it was worth the risk if this clue led them to Alex.

"You think he might be able to tell us anything?" She asked hopefully.

"I don't know," John said thoughtfully. This was the only thing they had to go on right now so it was going to have to do. "I hope so."

As they headed out of Rodi's Natalie looked longingly at the pool table. Maybe some day when this was all over and she had her daughter back she could play again. She really missed it. "Lets go talk to Michael then. I think he is back from his honeymoon." She said with a slight laugh. Him getting married had shocked the entire town but after it wore off everyone could see how happy and in love he and Christina were. That gave her hope that maybe one day she could get her happy ending too, that maybe this lead would be the one that brought her daughter home.

To be continued...