Twenty-five

It had been almost a week since Carly told Jack that she planned on going to Europe with Rosanna. Of course, Jack didn't know that what she really had planned on was instead staying at the Lakeview in Rosanna's suite. Every second of every minute of every day Carly felt guilt eating away at her. Sometimes the guilt was so bad that she almost changed her mind and really planned on going with Rosanna. In fact, she nearly confessed to Jack just yesterday.

Jack had come home from work early. He had stopped and purchased Carly some new luggage. Inside he had put some of Carly's favorite things. Magazines, chocolates, a new book, slippers and a picture of the kids and him to have while she was gone. Carly broke down crying at the beautiful gesture. Jack assumed that it was her hormones making her so weepy. That was probably part of it, but Carly knew the real reason for all the tears. Guilt. She absolutely hated lying to Jack, but she didn't think there was any other way to get around it. She knew Jack would find some way to get her out of town one way or another. If she played along, she wouldn't have to actually leave at all.

Rosanna was not happy about the little scenario either. She almost refused to go along with it at all until Carly reminded her that she was in this predicament in the first place because of Rosanna's suggestion. Rosanna relented and agreed to the plan.

So it was now the day before she and Rosanna would be "leaving". Carly had been fortunate to reschedule her doctor's appointment and get it in before she left. Jack had met her at the doctor's office and wanted to make sure the doctor was ok with Carly taking this trip at this point in her pregnancy. Dr. Schiller wasn't thrilled by it, but felt that Carly and the baby were physically healthy enough to do it. Carly had tried her damnedest to have the doctor tell her no to the trip, but it didn't work out. Jack had returned to work and Carly headed over to the Lakeview to finalize things with Rosanna.

"So… Jack still doesn't know a thing?" Rosanna asked, hoping that Jack did indeed find out and that she wouldn't have to go through with this lie. For it wasn't only Jack that she had ended up lying to. Rosanna had had dinner twice with Daryl this week. She had bumped into him the day after she had received the rose from him. She thanked him by accepting his proposal of dinner that evening. He had quite the gentleman and had walked her to her suite afterwards. He'd given her a kiss on the cheek that had made her fingers and toes tingle and left her wanting much, much more.

"No. He doesn't suspect anything. And it's killing me. I don't know if I'm doing the right thing or not," Carly said sitting in one of the chairs. "He's been so sweet about it. He bought me this care package wrapped up in new luggage and everything." Carly felt a cramp and took a deep breath and rubbed her stomach. Rosanna noticed it right away.

"Are you ok? Is it the baby?"

"It's just a cramp. It could be Braxton Hicks. I am far enough along that my doctor said I could start feeling them. I just…" she trailed off not finishing the thought.

"You just… what?" Rosanna asked worriedly.

"I just hope that they're not stress related. I mean, I am stressing out because of this whole mess, but my blood-pressure was fine when I was at the doctor's earlier. I just don't want to do anything that's going to harm the baby."

"Oh Carly," Rosanna began coming over to her and giving her a hug. "If you're worried about that, then why don't you just come with me. That way you don't have to lie to Jack anymore and you won't be stressing out about it."

Carly hugged her back. She pulled away and shook her head. "I told you Rosanna. I can't leave. My doctor's here. The kids are here. Jack is here. If something were to happen to him…" she took a deep breath. "I just have to be here."

"Alright. I know I can't convince you otherwise. So what time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow morning?"

"Actually, Jack is going to drop me off on his way to work. So, you won't have to do anything but get yourself to the airport."

"And what about the kids? Do they know why you're leaving?"

"No. Jack and I decided that it was best to keep that to ourselves. They think I'm going with you on this trip because it will be my last chance to get away before the baby is born. We told them they'd be staying at Lily's because Jack is working on a case with Daryl that might take him to Chicago and so he won't be home the entire time and will be working late."

"It sounds like you guys have thought of everything," Rosanna said giving her sister a sideways look.

At the station…

Jack was sitting at his desk on the phone with Lily. He wanted to ask her if it would be alright if Parker and Sage came over that night after dinner. He wanted to have a family dinner with Carly and the kids that evening before she left. And he wanted her all to himself that night.

"Sure Jack, that's not a problem. If you want, the kids can come over for dinner," Lily offered.

"No. I know Carly is going to want to spend time with the kids before she leaves. They can head over afterward. I really appreciate you taking them for me. Hopefully, it won't be for too long."

"I hope you're careful Jack. You never know what Julia could be capable of," Lily cautioned.

"Exactly. Which is why it's imperative that the kids and Carly are out of harms way."

"Well, I'm glad I could help. Let me know if there's anything else I can do. Bye Jack."

"Thanks again Lily… I owe you," Jack said hanging up the phone.

"The kids are set to go?" Daryl asked handing Jack a file folder.

"Yes. They're heading over to Lily's tonight. Can you make sure that the surveillance is set up over there tonight? I don't want to take any chances."

"You got it."

"What's this?" Jack asked opening the folder. Inside was a few photographs of a blond woman and a breakdown of her known whereabouts during the last month. Jack looked closely at the photos. They weren't very clear and were taken at odd angles. However, Jack was sure he could tell it was Julia in one of the photos. It looked like it had been taken near Al's diner. Julia had obviously either cut her hair and dyed it from the time she'd been in Canada purchasing the rattle or was wearing a wig. This particular photo had been taken about 2 weeks ago. Who knows if she still looked like this or if she had changed her appearance yet again. Thankfully though, they knew for sure she had been in town. It was something to go on.

"This is the most recent information we have obtained. It looks like she was here in Oakdale and hopefully still is. I don't think she's been spooked yet, so she should still be around."

"We can start checking out area businesses to see if anyone's seen her tomorrow. If that's alright with you," Jack asked. "Since this is Carly's last night, I'd like to get home early so we can spend some time together with the kids." And later some time alone, Jack thought to himself.

"Yeah, that sounds good. I think I might stop by and see Rosanna before she leaves," he said gathering up the paperwork and keeping his gaze down.

"So what's up with the two of you?" Jack asked with a smile on his face.

"Nothing. We've just had dinner a couple of times," Daryl said nonchalantly.

"Oh. That's it, huh?"

"Why? Is there a problem?"

"Absolutely not. I was just asking… you know making conversation."

"Sorry. I thought maybe you might have a problem with it because Rosanna is Carly's sister."

"Not at all. Rosanna and Carly haven't always gotten along, but I still wouldn't begrudge her something as simple as dinner out. I wouldn't want her to get hurt either. She's had a rough time in the relationship department."

"Does that guy Craig Montgomery have something to do with that?"

"As a matter of fact he does. How do you know about him? Has Rosanna mentioned him to you?"

"Actually, I ran into them at the Lakeview lounge. He seemed very possessive of her."

Jack laughed. "That's Craig alright."

"What's the history with them anyway?" Daryl asked.

"They used to be married a while ago. I'm not going to give you any more details than that. You need to ask Rosanna about him."

"I tried to the other night, but she said she didn't want to talk about him."

"I can't say as I blame her. I don't like talking about him either," Jack grinned. "On that note… I'm outta here. I'll see you tomorrow after I drop Carly off at the Lakeview."

"Have a good night," Daryl smiled.

"I certainly plan to," Jack smiled back. He was not looking forward to Carly leaving. However, he was very much looking forward to saying goodbye tonight…

Meanwhile…

She had been listening off and on for the last week. She knew dumping the listening device into the backpack wouldn't give her the best results, but it had given her some information. She'd learned that she was heading out of town with her sister. She also learned that the kids were going to be staying with her former friend, Lily. Which meant that he would be home… all alone. The temptation of him and only him in their house was nearly more than she could bear. While he was her objective in the long run, she had to be patient and do what she could to ensure he'd be hers for the taking. Finding out she was leaving was very vexing. She'd cut her hand pretty badly when she'd slammed it into the mirror upon hearing that. The cuts were pretty deep and had needed stitches, but that was something she couldn't risk going to the emergency room for so she'd doctored her hand herself. She had soaked the thread and needle in alcohol and stitched it up. It wasn't very neat and it would surely leave a scar, but it was something she had to deal with as a result of her loosing control of her emotions. She always pushed her control to the limits. She had to remain in control and focused or else her plan would never work. Plus, now that she'd found out she would be gone she had to come up with another plan. Since the house would be empty during the day, she'd planned on gaining access and laying a trap from within. Getting into the house with the security system was the challenge she was still working through. Her other plan, in the meantime, would be disposed of shortly. She'd followed the gentleman from the FBI back to his suite and noted the number. Once he was out of the way, she would be one step closer to her goal. She smiled as she went over the plan again in her mind. "He'll never know what hit him," she laughed.