Reliving The Past
A/N: I want to apologize for a mix up in the color of her nightgown from her honeymoon. I just watched a youtube video and it was black. So I caught my mistake just to keep it as honest with the details. Just in case there are any of you who are like me and pay too close to the details.
Chapter 14
When Elizabeth opens her eyes, her mouth feels weird.
"What happened?" She seems confused.
"Honey, you passed out. I think it was the shock and the tequila. How do you feel?" Franco asks.
"I don't know. Like I have cotton in my mouth. How long have I been out?" Elizabeth rubs her face.
"An hour. Do you remember what happened to cause you to hit the Tequila?"
"Something about noises upstairs. But I can't remember. I'm sure it will come to me." Elizabeth sits up. "Oh, bad choice."
"Here's some coffee. Yes, it's new. You need to drink this. People are getting ready to leave. So you need to be able to stand and say goodbye to people. So start drinking." Franco hands her the mug.
"Hey there champ. How are you feeling?" Ric asks.
"Ric, I'm sorry I didn't get to meet your new girlfriend. I behaved badly. Please forgive me. If you give me a moment to get some of this coffee down me, I will meet her." Elizabeth feels so guilty.
"You met her twice. She really likes you."
"Wow, imagine if I was sober. Then I bet we could be best friends." Elizabeth sets the mug down, puts her head between her legs and takes a few deep breaths. She sets back up and drinks a few more sips of the coffee.
"Elizabeth, she understands." Ric says, coming around to sit on the coffee table.
"Understands what?" Elizabeth doesn't understand.
"She was raped too. In college." Ric looks at her.
"What? Why are you bringing that up now Ric? This is not the time I care to talk about that. I have guests and I need to go apologize for my absence." She goes to stand up. A little too fast. "Oh big mistake. Give me just a second. God, why did I drink?" Elizabeth slowly starts toward the back door. Franco and Ric watch her.
"She's going to freak when she remembers. Maybe you should have waited until she remembered to bring up rape. Maybe you can stay until everyone leaves and we can talk to her about this." Franco says, knowing how Ric and Elizabeth feel about each other.
"Sure. If I send Lori home with my car, could you give me a lift home when we are done here?"
"Sure. I'm sure she won't want me to stick around after that. Plus she has to spend a little time with Cam, Jake and Aidan. The boys leave tomorrow with Audrey for England." Franco and Ric walk to the back door to watch her interact with others. She seems ok. A little unsteady on her feet, but pretending with the best of them. She seems ok, until she sees Molly's red sun dress. She excuses herself. Holding a hand over her mouth and rushes into the house. Franco then decides to put an end to the party.
"Excuse me. May I have your attention please? It seems as if Elizabeth is not feeling the best. And as a precaution to you all, we are just going to call it a day. I apologize on behalf of Elizabeth. She's so grateful you all came. Audrey, maybe you could take the boys to your house until we find out if she's running a fever. Take Max, Justin and Jace with you. Lulu and Maxie, if you could stay behind for a few moments. Thank you all for coming. Drive safely." Franco goes to Maxie and Lulu.
"Where's Nathan and Dante?" Lulu asks.
"They are at the police station. They said they would be right back. The stalker got into the house while we were partying. He left a sick gift for her. The dress Elizabeth wore the day she was raped. And exact match to it before the rape. It sent her off to drink nearly half a bottle of tequila in about 5 minutes. She doesn't know about the photos yesterday. So Dante wanted to look at them. Lucky got copies of them. To try to put them in order. Popular belief of that it was Tom Backer or Baker. Something like that. But Lucky says only the pictures of the day of the rape could have been Tom. The others he was in jail. So he's looking into it. When I told him of the pictures the day of the rape, he was almost as blindsided as Liz was with that dress. So if you guys could just hang back until your guys get back. I apologize that this cut into your holiday." Franco sounds sincere.
"It's ok. Thanks for explaining the situation. Poor Elizabeth. Maybe we can just tell her we stayed to help clean up." Lulu says.
"Sure. It will keep us busy while we wait." Maxie says, staying a little bit away from Franco. Elizabeth comes back out.
"Where did everyone go?"
"Honey, they thought you weren't feeling well. They went home. They said to feel better and they had a great time. Ric, Maxie and Lulu decided to stay and help clean up. It's that nice of them?" Franco smiles.
"Yes, thank you guys. I'm sorry. Wait, where are the boys?" Elizabeth starts to panic.
"They are fine. Calm down. Audrey has them. We can go get them soon. She just knew you would need to clean up and wanted you to be able to do it without kids under foot." Franco rubs her back.
"Ok, I need to get this cleaned up fast. Then I think a little nap before I go get the boys." Elizabeth, Lulu and Maxie go out and start to gently take down the decorations. Ric takes care of the food. Kevin cleans and takes care of the grill. Franco goes into the house and calls Nathan.
"Hey, the guests have left except for Ric, Lulu and Maxie. I told Elizabeth they were there to help clean up. That will explain for a little while. The boys and their guards are at Audrey's. So have you guys talked to Lucky and found out anything out about Tom whatever his name is?" Franco's a little anxious for this info.
"We did talk to Lucky a few minutes ago. He's afraid for Elizabeth. He did confirm that he did get that picture of you and her. Same as what she got. When we sent a picture of the dress she got today, Lucky paled. That is definitely the same dress. The negligee is the same one she wore at their honeymoon. We are dealing with someone that is too well informed. We had the commissioner call the prison. After a little while, they faxed us the paper work on Thomas Baker. He was released 6 months ago. They noted in his file he seemed to be obsessed with a girl. He called her Lizzie. He drew pictures and had pictures all over his cell of her. Young and throughout the years."
"How would he get pictures of her? This is not making any sense. Did they tell you how he got those pictures?" Franco asks, getting angry.
"No telling how. There is more. A guard saw a picture of Elizabeth very pregnant and somehow he photo shopped a picture to look as if it was her and him happy. The prison shrink did find that he was a bit obsessive compulsive. The notes in here from the shrink indicates that he is capable of violence. And that he highly believes this young lady will be in danger if and when he gets out."
"What? Why wasn't Elizabeth contacted before he was released? Why wasn't it brought to attention of the police? Something isn't right here. I can't tell Elizabeth this. She's going to panic. Does his parole officer have an address for Tom? I'll make sure he leaves her alone." Franco gets forceful.
"Don't get all scary Franco. You need to be there for her. We are coming over with copies of the photos. But also bringing with us a shrink. To help her understand the issue and what we know. And this shrink can explain what the prison shrink thinks. We need to do this very gently. I don't want to scare her. But she needs to know what she's facing.
"Well Between all of us, Ric, Lulu, Maxie and hell even Kevin, she should have enough support. Are you going to have an officer go to his address?" Franco wants to know.
"Yes. We have an officer dispatched to his place now. And we have our tech guy going over the trace and recording on her land line. We need to know if this is Tom or someone else." Nathan says, trying to keep everyone calm. Dante is technically not on duty. Not until the next day due to his head injury. But Nathan is keeping him clued in as its Lulu's family. "As soon as the shrink calls us to let us know he's on his way, we will be there." Nathan hangs up. Franco stops Ric on one of his trips in.
"Hey, they are bringing a shrink and the paper work they have on Tom whatever his last name is. There is a real chance she's in real danger." Franco says, not happy.
"Maybe Sonny will consider putting Elizabeth in one of the safe houses he has. Once the boys and Audrey are safe and sound. I know she doesn't want to leave her house. I can respect that. But I don't think her staying here alone with Kevin is a good option either." Ric states the facts.
"True. This is a middle of country and not country. The drive out is not good for when seconds matter. Maybe they can plant a decoy here while she's in the safe house. I don't know how to go about catching this freak. He's a special kind of freak. I'm sure if I sat down and really thought about it, I could channel that dark side of me. Maybe not as dark as I was before, but enough to help." Franco throws the idea out there.
"You will do no such thing Franco Baldwin! If you start scheming and becoming that old Franco, even just a little, then we are not going to continue to be friends. I told you that if we were to be friends, we are honest to each other and no funny business." Elizabeth starts pointing her finger at him as she gets closer. Until she is pointing him in the chest.
"It's not what you think. I swear. Just ask Ric." Franco pleads.
"It's true. He was just offering to get back to his sneaky roots and try to think like this guy. Now that I say this out loud, I can see why she would freak. That does sound bad." Ric says, throwing his hands in the air.
"Will you please tell me what's going on?" Elizabeth asks, confused and frustrated.
"When Nathan, Dante and the shrink get here." Franco says, blushing.
"What? Ok, I am going to run upstairs and take a quick shower. When I come back downstairs, please be ready to make some sense." Elizabeth heads upstairs. Everyone looks at each other. Trying to figure out how to talk to her delicately enough to not send her into a panic.
A/N: Thanks for all your support, reading and reviewing. I am trying to make this story as interesting and exciting for you all. I hope I am living up to the effort. I hope you have enjoyed this so far. Thank again!