Chapter 35

When Stephanie walked into the room, she looked down at her best friend, and felt unsure about her next course of action. She knew what Amy said was right. They needed Jessica's help, but if Stephanie pushed too far, she could lose her for good. With a soft sigh, Stephanie sat down next to the bed and gently shook Jessica's arm to wake her.

"Steph?" Jessica said groggily when she finally opened her eyes.

"Hey." Stephanie smiled at her. "How ya feeling?"

"Did they find him?" She asked with tears in her eyes.

"Not yet but they will. I know it."

"It's my fault."

"No, don't start blaming yourself. None of this is your fault."

"Yes it is. It's me he's after. If I hadn't gotten back with Jeff, he'd be safe right now."

"Jess…" Stephanie started.

"I wasn't thinking. I was so concerned with my own needs and what I wanted that I never stopped to think about anyone else and how my decision to keep this going put them in danger. I should have stopped after he got hurt in that ladder match."

"Jeff wouldn't let you. He couldn't let you just walk away."

"And now he's paying the price for it." Jessica sighed. "Steph, what if they don't find him?"

"They will. If I know anything about Jeff, it's that he won't give up, especially when you're involved. He'll find his way back to you."

"I hope so. I said some things…" Her voice started to falter. Stephanie squeezed her hand. Jessica took a deep breath and continued. "Jeff and I got into a fight."

"What happened?"

"After you and I got off the phone, Meg came by. We exchanged some words and then she told me that she was one Jeff had cheated on me with. I got angry at him. I was hurt that not only did I have to relive him cheating on me but that he had a long term relationship with her. Jeff stood there and pleaded with me to try to understand. He kept saying that he was only with her because he was scared of being alone but I didn't care. He begged me to forgive and I couldn't. I told him I needed some time to think everything over. That was the last thing I said to him." She could no longer hold the tears back as she started to cry.

"Jess." Stephanie struggled to think of something to say.

"Why couldn't I just forgive him then? Why did I have to be so stubborn and lock myself in a room to sulk? What if I don't get a chance to tell him how I really feel?"

"Honey, Jeff knows you love him."

"I should have told him. Then I would have been down there when that bastard called, I could have stopped Jeff from going."

"Tony told my dad everything that happened. He said that there was no stopping Jeff. He didn't want this guy to come anywhere near you. Even you couldn't have stopped him." Stephanie told her.

"I could have tried." She paused and looked to her friend. "God, Steph, I love him so much. I don't know what I'm going to do if he doesn't make it back."

"He'll make it back. We've got the cops and at least a dozen wrestlers out there looking for him, and we won't stop until he's home."

"This shouldn't be happening." Jessica looked away and Stephanie could tell what her friend was doing. She was trying to shut down again. She didn't know if it was because of fear or guilt, but Stephanie knew she couldn't let her do it.

"Jessica, listen to me. This is the last time I'm going to say this. This is not your fault, so stop second guessing yourself, stop thinking of what you could have done differently. It's not going to change anything and it doesn't help Jeff." Jessica just stared at her numbly.

"And neither does that. Jeff loves you and he knows how you feel about him. For the past couple of weeks, I watched Jeff take care of you and help you grow stronger. Well, now he needs you. Do you think that this is what he'd want you to be doing right now?"

"No." Jessica said softly.

"You told me how much you don't want to keep being a victim, so stop acting like one. I don't know any other way to say this but suck it up and stop this all this wallowing around. It's pathetic."

"Pathetic?" Jessica asked.

"Yea. You just sit there and shut yourself off from everything and everyone instead of confronting your problems. It might have been acceptable when you were younger but you're not a child anymore. Grow up and start dealing with what is going on in your life."

"Wow, thanks for the sympathetic ear." Jessica said sarcastically.

"You don't need sympathy. You need someone to snap you out of this so you can actually help the situation."

"I'm making things worse?"

"Well, you certainly aren't making anything easier." Stephanie said and paused to give Jessica a chance to process everything. "You know what I'm trying to say. Now's there's some police downstairs who really need to talk to you. They want to go over everything this guy has ever said to you to see if they could get some clue on who he is and where Jeff is. You need to help them."

"Okay." Jessica nodded to her.

"Good, so take a few minutes to get yourself together. I'll go down and get them." Stephanie walked out of the room and made a loud sigh of relief. She headed downstairs amazed that she had actually done it.

"How'd it go?" Amy asked her went she got into the living room.

"Believe it or not, she's up."

"Really?" Matt said standing up.

"Yea, she's even willing to talk with the cops. I told her to take a few minutes then we'll get started." Stephanie looked outside and saw a car pull up. She sighed when she saw her brother get out of the car. "Excuse me guys, I'll be right back."

"Hey, any news?" Shane asked walking over to her.

"What took you so long? I thought you were coming right away?" She asked him.

"I know, I just had to check on something first and then I had trouble getting a flight, sorry." Shane told her.

"That's why you should have met us at the airport to take the jet."

"I couldn't. Look, I'm sorry; I didn't think I'd have a problem getting here."

"Well, where were you?"

"I had hired a private investigator to look into everything that was going on. When I got the call, I called him to see if he had gotten anything."

"Had he?" Stephanie looked at him hopefully.

"No, who ever this guy is, he's good. How's Jessica holding up?"

"All right, now. I got to admit, when I first got here, I was having flashbacks. She was acting like that day in the hospital, she was inconsolable. Thankfully, she snapped out of it a lot quicker this time."

"How'd you pull that off?"

"As much as I'd love to take all the credit, it was Jess. She realized that she wasn't helping lying around and that Jeff needs her."

"So what do we do now?" Shane asked her.

"The cops are going to try to jog her memory, see if this guy has ever slipped before or if there's something she's forgotten. Hopefully they'll come up with some leads."

"Well, I'm going to stop in and see her, and then I'll head out and help with the search." Shane walked inside and nodded to Matt and Amy.

"She's the second door as you go up, but knock first." Stephanie told him. Shane went upstairs and knocked on her door.

"Jess, it's Shane, can I come in?" He waited for her to respond then entered the room. He was amazed at what he saw. "Well, look at you." Jessica was not only up but dressed.

"You seem surprised?" She asked him.

"Based upon what everyone was telling me? Yes."

"Sorry, you missed my latest flip out."

"I'm glad you're okay." He gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry I scared everyone, again. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm just worried about Jeff." She told him.

"We know, don't worry about it. I'm just glad to see you up."

"I need to help find him." She said stepping into the bathroom. Shane glanced around the room but turned his attention to her as she stepped back out.

"Jess, are you sure you should be here?" He asked her.

"Why not?"

"Well everyone knows that this guy is looking for you. I don't think that this is the safest place for you. He knows that you are here."

"He'll know if I go somewhere else too, so I might as well be here." She said to him.

"I can fix that." Shane said taking her hand. "I can get you out of here to somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would think of. I can protect you as well." Jessica pulled away from him.

"Shane, I'm not leaving without knowing Jeff is okay. I just can't." She explained to him. "I'm going downstairs to see what I could do. I need to help." Shane nodded at her then stopped her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." Shane said to her. "This whole thing with Jeff being kidnapped really showed us what this guy is capable of. I just don't want you to get hurt. I want to keep you safe."

"It's okay. I appreciate it, I really do but I can't leave. I got to help any way I can, not run away." She said and Shane nodded.

"I know," He told her. "And I'm going to help too. I'll get Jeff back to you."

"Thanks," She smiled at him. She headed to the door and looked back to see if he was coming.

"You go ahead. I'm just going to use the bathroom. I'll meet you downstairs." He told her. She nodded, leaving him behind. As she entered the living room Matt came up to her and gave her a hug.

"I'm sorry." She whispered to him.

"I'm just glad you're okay." He told her. "Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Jessica nodded. He took her hand and led her to the kitchen. They sat down and the cops started drilling her on everything that had happened. Jessica stayed strong, answering every question. She revisited all of her past conversation with the stalker, even going back over what happened the day she attempted suicide. They questioned her about everyone she knew and if she felt any of them could be capable of doing this. She couldn't think of anyone who would want to hurt her or Jeff. The police kept going over the same questions hoping to jar something from her memory but nothing was coming out from it. Matt could see that Jess was getting more upset as they kept going at her.

"Look, maybe we can take a break." Matt suggested noting everyone's frustration. The officer in charge nodded.

"No! We can't stop." Jessica said to them. "We need to find him."

"Jess, you need a break."

"I'm fine!" She protested but Matt took her hand.

"Honey, please, for me. I know you want to find him, we all do but I'm not gonna see you getting all stressed out again. Take a few minutes and we'll give it another try."

"Fine," She eventually agreed.

"Thank you. Why don't you go hang with Amy in the living room for awhile? I want to talk to the cops alone." He told her. She headed into the living room and sat down next to Amy. She noticed Stephanie sitting across the room.

"Where's Shane?" Jessica asked

"He didn't want to just wait around so he went to meet up with some of the other guys to help in the search. He said to tell you he'd be back later to check in on you." Stephanie told her.

"How'd it go in there?" Amy asked her.

"It's so frustrating. I keep going over and over everything, but nothing is leading us to any clues on who this guy is or where he may have taken Jeff."

"Just keep trying. I'm sure something will come out sooner or later." Amy said.

"I know, but I think Matt's afraid I'll go all catatonic on him again."

"Well, you were pretty bad earlier." Stephanie said.

"I know, and I don't want to get like that again either. It's not the best feeling in the world."

"Just focus on something that keeps you calm." Stephanie suggested. Jessica didn't answer. In the past few weeks there was only one thing that kept her calm, and that was Jeff.

"I'm going to go upstairs a second." Jessica said and both of the girls stood up. "It's okay. I just need to be alone for a little. I won't do anything stupid. I promise." She told them and they nodded at her. She went back up to her room and flipped on Matt's laptop. She went back to the videos that Matt had found and played one. Staring at Jeff's face she felt her desperation rise.

"Where are you?" She asked aloud, touching his face on the screen. Again, she found herself giving in to her tears. "I need you."