Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with TNA. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. This story contains various scenes that are for people 18 years of age and older ONLY.
Chapter Content & Trigger Warnings: some blood

Chapter Thirty-Six

A Few Weeks Later…

"Daddy, are you sure I can't go with you to help find Mom," Miracle asked again for the umpteenth time that morning. She watched as Joe selected a few pictures of Ella and put them in his satchel and proceeded to look through Ella's bedroom to see if there was anything else which could aid in her rescue.

Discharged from the hospital a couple days prior, he was anxious to start searching for Ella. He hadn't wanted to wait even the two days, but Jeff had urged him to acclimate himself before getting down to business. But the thought of what Fournier was doing to Ella fueled his fire to find her.

And kill the sicko, Joe added to himself. God, he's had her for three weeks. He shuddered thinking about it and quickly had to dismiss the thought or he knew he'd go insane.

"Daddy," Miracle prodded him. "Please? I could take some time off from school and-"

"No, baby," Joe interrupted his daughter. "I'm not strong enough to keep you safe yet. You'll be better protected at school and here at the house with your uncle and Finn."

"I know," the girl reluctantly agreed, grateful that the police had assigned one of their officers to be the family's bodyguard. "But I do wish I could stay with you. What if something happens to you? I've just gotten you in my life, Daddy!"

"I know, honey," Joe replied, sitting down on Ella's bed. He bitterly noted the room was nearly in the exact same condition as the night Ella was taken from him—despite the crime scene investigation. He patted the spot next to him and motioned for his daughter to sit down. "Miracle, you know as well as I do—Fournier planned to kill you. If he's still in the area, you need to be somewhere safe. I can't protect you. Please understand. This is how it's got to be, because I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you. I already have your mother's fate weighing on my conscience—I couldn't bear to have yours also."

A tear spilled down Miracle's cheek and her chin trembled slightly, "But who'll protect you?"

"Honey, I'm going to be fine," Joe said, pulling her into his arms. "I'll protect myself. I promise. Nothing is going to happen to me. Worrying about me isn't your responsibility—it's mine. Let me take care of everything, okay?"

She nodded reluctantly as he stroked her hair, "I'm just scared."

"I know," Joe said, hugging her closer. "But-"

Jeff walked into the room just then, carrying something in his hand.

"Joe…I found this on the floor in the living room…" He handed the object over to Joe and watched as recognition dawned in the man's dark eyes.

"Ella's necklace," he said softly. "She still had it after all this time."

"It was here," Miracle exclaimed. She reached over and gently took the necklace from Joe. "Mom gave this to me the night she told me about you," she explained to Joe. "I thought I'd lost it the night…the night he took Mom." She noted the broken clasp and unable to control her frayed emotions, bit back a sob. "It's broken."

"It's okay, baby," Joe whispered, wiping away a tear from under her eye. "Jeff can take you to get a new chain for it. It'll be good as new."

Jeff reached over and patted her head, "That's right, sugar. We'll go to a jewelry store soon."

"Could we just get this chain repaired instead," Miracle asked. "It just wouldn't be quite the same with a different chain."

"Of course we can," Jeff replied. "Whatever you want."

"Thank you, Uncle Jeff," she said softly, hugging him.

"You're welcome, baby," he said, returning her hug. "It's not a problem."

Miracle pocketed the necklace in her jeans and sighed softly. "I think I'll go get the mail. The box was really full the last I saw." She headed out the bedroom door and bounded down the stairs nearly colliding with Officer Bálor—or Finn—as he'd asked to be called.

"I feel like we're friends now," Finn had explained to Joe, Jeff, and Miracle. "Feels weird for ya t' call me by my last name."

"Oh! Sorry, Finn," Miracle cried with a shy smile. She grabbed hold of the banister to keep from losing her footing.

"No problem, lass," Finn said, reaching out and steadying her tiny frame. "Where are ya off to?"

"Mail," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "The mailbox is overflowing."

"Well, I was goin' t' go talk to your da. If ya could wait a minute, I'll go wit' ya."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll just be a second. The mailbox is mounted next to the front door."

Finn looked apprehensive, his blue eyes flashing as he thought about it.

"Really, I'll be okay, Finn," Miracle assured him. "Go talk to Daddy."

"I'll compromise," Finn told her. "Ya step out and get the mail, I'll wait on ya, and when ya get back inside, I'll go talk t' your da then. Deal?"

She smiled at his stubbornness. "Deal."

Miracle quickly reached the front door and stepped out onto the porch. She saw an impressive amount of letters in the box and even a padded manila envelope. Curious of the small package, she grabbed all the mail and took the bundle back inside, closing the front door behind her. Then she inspected the padded envelope, surprised to find it addressed to her.

"Okay, lass, I'll be back down in a bit," Finn told her as he went up the stairs.

Miracle gave him a distracted nod, and turned her attention back to the manila envelope. It was completely blank, except for her name printed across it. And there was no stamp.

"Who would leave me a package," she wondered out loud, setting the remainder of the mail on the coffee table. She quickly tore into the envelope and peered inside. All she could make out was several small sealed, air-tight baggies. Whatever they contained was obscured by the bubble wrap lining the envelope. Instantly, she dumped the baggies onto the coffee table to examine closer, and gasped when she saw blood.

"Oh, my God…" she whispered, horrified.

Gingerly, she turned a baggie over to inspect it further—and instantly regretted the move when she spotted two intertwined hearts. Instantly recognizing them, she screamed in a mixture of disbelief and terror.

She was looking at her mother's tattoos.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Jeff, Joe, and Finn were discussing the search for Ella and Miracle's protection details, when they heard her blood-curdling scream. Finn moved like lightning, bolting from the room.

"God, what's happened," Joe asked as he and Jeff ran for the staircase.

Instead of taking the stairs, Finn opted to vault over the hand-railing and landed in a crouch on the floor below. Ignoring their own astonishment, Joe and Jeff flew down the stairs, in a hurry to get to Miracle.

The girl's screams died down gradually as he and Jeff hurried through the foyer. They entered the living room then and saw Miracle cradled in Finn's lap. She was pale and crying, and Finn was speaking to her softly as he rocked her.

"It's okay, wee lass," he was whispering. "Don't look at d'em. Everyt'ing is goin' t' be fine. Tá tú sábháilte. "

"Baby, what is it," Joe asked urgently, kneeling by her side. When she continued to weep, he turned her face to his and spoke softly so as not to frighten her. "Honey, look at me."

She finally quietened as her eyes met his, but the terror would not fade from her black gaze.

"Mommy," she cried softly. "Her t-tattoos…"

"What," Joe asked, shifting his gaze up to Finn's. "What's going on?"

Finn motioned with his head to the coffee table. "She was left a package. She says it's Ella's tattoos. Fournier has apparently cut d'em off 'er," he finished in a quiet whisper so he wouldn't upset Miracle further.

Joe's attention shifted to the coffee table where an envelope and plastic littered the surface. He immediately spotted what Miracle had seen.

"My God," he whispered, nausea rolling in his stomach. "No…" He took a closer look at the baggies and saw that each one of the tattoos on Ella's rib-cage had been cut away. Instinctively, he picked up the manila envelope the baggies were shipped in and looked inside. As he suspected a small note had been packed in it.

He quickly, but gently pulled it out, handling it only by the corner so as not to damage it or interfere with any evidence. He read it in only a mere second:

The Last Of Her.

"Dear Lord," Jeff whispered, also reading the note.

"It's a lie" Joe finally managed. "There is no way Ella's dead. He's bluffing to get us to forget about searching for her."

Jeff nodded, though he still wore an expression of concern on his tired face.

"He hurt Mom," Miracle cried, unable to shake the horror of what she'd seen.

"It will be okay," Joe said, sitting on the sofa and gently shifted her over to his lap from Finn's. He held her close and whispered soothingly, "You mother is the strongest woman I know. We'll find her and she will recover from all this. I'll see to that. I will never give up on her."

"But what if… What if Fournier has killed her?"

"Shhh, baby," Joe said softly, rocking her in his arms. Wiping tears from her face, he spoke again. "Don't think like that. She's alive. I know it."

"But, how," Miracle asked. "You thought she was dead till you stumbled across her by accident at the Hilton."

"Yes, but she actually was alive. I think now if she was truly…gone, I'd feel it. And I don't. She's alive, baby. Don't lose faith in that. He tweaked her chin affectionately and she nodded. "Why don't you go up to your room for a little while and take a nap? Your uncle and I need to discuss a few things."

"No, Daddy, please," the girl cried out. "I can't be alone right now."

"I can go wit' 'er," Finn offered. The officer had grown quite fond of the young girl over the weeks, and they'd developed a close friendship. "She really needs some sleep, and I'm sure she'll feel safer wit' someone watchin' over her."

Joe nodded his appreciation, "Thank you. Is that okay with you, Miracle?"

The girl nodded, and rose up from Joe's lap. "Yes, I just can't stand the idea of being alone."

"Before you go up," Jeff interrupted, eyeing Finn closely. "Where did you learn to fly like that, son? That was impressive."

Finn almost blushed as he stood to his feet from the sofa. "Well, truthfully, I'm actually trainin' t' wrestle. But I have t' pay the bills, so I'm a cop, and I wrestle on the side."

"Well, your jump over the railing was amazing, keep up the good work kid," Jeff smiled softly. "I hope your wrestling career kicks off. You seem to have the mind for it."

"T'ank you, sir," Finn smiled with a hint of shyness, and then turned to follow Miracle up to her room so she could get some sleep.

Joe was silent till he heard Miracle's bedroom door close.

"You've familiarized yourself with Ella's security system, right?"

"I'm good," Jeff assured him. "Miracle will be safe while you're gone during the day, Joe. I promise."

The large Samoan nodded as he eyed the front of the manila envelope. A curse burst from his mouth in the next instant.

"That monster actually left this to Miracle! Her name is all that's on the envelope. Not even a stamp. He had someone hand deliver it!"

"He's completely insane," Jeff cried.

"He's completely dead," Joe corrected. "I'm serious, if I find him before the cops do, I will kill him—no hesitation whatsoever."

Jeff nodded his agreement, "I'm with you, one-hundred percent."

"It's unbearable already—the fact he has Ella," Joe went on. "But to also target my baby—my only child… he has no hope for survival."