Chapter 50

Well shit, that was the one thing that I never expected from Jenson. I knew that Xander and I had done a search on Jenson's wife following our discovery of her being in touch with their daughter. I so did not want Jenson to know about that, so knew that I had to pretend to being totally ignorant of her existence.

"Your wife? I'm so sorry Jenson, I just assumed that maybe she'd died"

I felt awful for saying that to Jenson but what else was I supposed to say? I suppose what I needed to know was what had happened from Jenson's point of view.

"What happened to her?"

We both sat down, and I waited for Jenson to tell me his side of the story though from how he sat on the edge of his seat and wiped his hands over his face I could tell that this was going to be hard for him.

"We were happy. I had a good job in New York and Evelyn was working with her parents. Anya was born in 1997, our beautiful little daughter. Where I worked, well I became dissatisfied with some of the clients that my boss was taking on and he tried to get me involved"

I wondered if that had been when Peralta had expected Jenson to oversee that stupid contract with Chiconi or if it was just a build up of events and who Peralta was friendly with.

"In the end I resigned and decided to move as far away as possible. Evelyn was fine with that, and she helped me to set up our own legal business. Then three years later she fell pregnant, but she had an accident when she was six months pregnant, and the baby died. We were both devastated but Evelyn never got over it and she became more ill by the day. The doctors said that it was depression, but I knew it was more than that, two suicide attempts scared me to death but then one day. Well, I came home to find that she'd gone. When she didn't come home or get in touch, I checked with her family, but they hadn't heard from her. In the end I hired a private detective, but he couldn't find a trace of her"

I reached forward and laid my hand on Jenson's to show him that I understood the pain that he was going through. What I couldn't understand was why their daughter Anya hadn't told her father that she was in touch with Evelyn and that was definitely something that I wasn't going to be telling him. I was curious who's idea that had been and could only presume that it had been Evelyn.

"Why now, Jenson. I mean why would you think that she's still alive after all these years?"

"Anya. She said something after Aaron was born that seemed strange at the time and the more that I thought about it, well, the more it seemed as though she knew something about her mother. She wanted to take Aaron to Chicago to visit a friend, on her own, which was strange when as far as I knew she didn't have a friend who lived there. Then I overheard Robert asking her about the visit afterwards, how she felt after all the years. I just knew that it had to be her mother"

Okay, so at least Jenson now knew that Anya was in touch with her mother but why hadn't Anya said anything to him?

"Did you ask her?"

"I tried, said things like how proud her mother would have been of Aaron. Anya never once admitted to having seen her mother and gave me the same lines that she had always given me, that her mother was gone, so there was no point in thinking about it"

"Jenson what if Evelyn doesn't want you to find her. I mean she could have got in touch with you herself"

Though in the back of my mind I think I knew why. After nearly thirty years Evelyn would have forged herself a new life that she was happy with. She had survived but would she be carrying a lot of guilt at the loss of their child and maybe was afraid that Jenson would always blame her for what happened and even maybe hate her. I knew all about carrying guilt and that running and burying it was a way of surviving.

"I'll do what I can Jenson, but no promises"

Was all that I could say. In a way the situation was similar to Jay and Xander but with Jenson we were talking about half a lifetime ago and a lot could have happened in that time.

"I brought everything that I have on Evelyn. I knew that you would say yes, that's who you are. I'm pretty sure that fate was looking down on us that day when I met you"

I took an envelope from Jenson but refrained from looking inside, tomorrow would be soon enough. Tonight, we were all having dinner at Rossinis and hopefully Jay and Xander would be joining us as a couple. Carlos had arranged for rooms at a local hotel for Gregory, Jenson and Jay so I was pleased when they left to freshen up and I could return to our apartment in order to get ready for the evening. As usual Carlos left it to last minute before he came upstairs to change and as usual was showered and dressed in a suit before I'd managed to get my shoes on.

I took in his appearance as I exited the bedroom, totally appreciating the view in front of me. He looked amazing in his dark grey suit, the tailoring emphasizing the lean, mean muscles underneath. I still found it hard to believe that we were married and to be honest was feeling so frustrated that I still had a couple of weeks to go before the doctor would sign me off.

"Two more weeks"

I chanted as I walked up to him and sighed getting a full smile from him.

"Yes, but think how good it will be. Maybe we could disappear for a few days and celebrate"

"Mmm"

I could go with that and was immediately thinking of where we could go. Somewhere where we wouldn't be disturbed.

"How was Jenson?"

I looked at Carlos and then realized that I hadn't spoken to him since Jenson had been here, so he didn't know the outcome of our meeting.

"Jenson is doing fine but he asked me to do a favor for him, which to be honest I couldn't very well refuse. Especially as he was so good to me"

Yep, that had Carlos giving me a look as though he recognized my hesitation at doing something for Jenson.

"He asked me to find his wife"

I stated as I linked my arm through his and turned us toward the door. I was thinking that with the shoes that I was wearing it was definitely going to be the elevator.

"That could be difficult and what if he doesn't like what you find?"

Yeah, I'd thought of that as well but to be honest I would always tell Jenson the truth regardless of what I found. I shrugged my shoulders because I didn't want Carlos to worry about that, instead I wanted us to have a pleasant meal out.

Carlos drove us in his Porsche as it had been agreed for everyone to meet at Rossinis, so I wasn't surprised to see a couple of Rangeman SUVs already parked there. Les would be here with Tank and Bobby and the other SUV had probably been driven by Xander. As I got out of the car and Carlos guided me to the front door, I wondered how Xander and Jay had got along with their reunion.

Carlos had booked the back room at the restaurant seeing as there was a large group of us and on entering my eyes instantly fell on Xander and Jay sat next to each other in a deep conversation. They were leaning toward each other so from their body language I was secretly hoping that romance was blossoming between them. It seemed that Carlos and I were the last to arrive, so we were soon looking at menus and ordering drinks. Conversation flowed between the men making me realize just how well the friends that I'd made in Hoquiam fit in with my old friends from here in Trenton. It was an evening, when to be honest, it was nice to just sit back and people watch, one of those traits that I seemed to have acquired having spent so much time re evaluating my life.

It was after enjoying an amazing steak, soaked with a creamy mushroom sauce that I decided that I needed to visit the rest room. I made sure that Carlos knew what my choice for dessert was before heading back through the main restaurant and into the lady's room. The place was empty when I went inside but it was as I came out of the toilet cubicle that I stopped in my tracks. Stood there, with tears running down her cheeks was Mary Lou.

I froze, not knowing what to say or do. The last time that I'd seen her she'd ignored me, which had hurt. Mary Lou had been the one person that I had in the past thought of as my best friend. We'd know each other from being toddlers and shared our secrets, laughed and cried together, that is until that time when my grandma had died.

"Steph, I'm so sorry. I have no excuse for not trying harder to see you. Please Steph, at least say that you don't hate me"

Her words hit me hard as they came through her crying and had me trying to work out how I actually felt with what she'd said.

"Your parent's, they said that you didn't want to see me, that you thought that you didn't deserve to have me as a friend after what you'd done. I was hurt and angry at that, which was why I ignored you at your grandma's funeral. Then when I heard that you were back in Trenton and the stories came out, well I felt too ashamed to get in touch"

I did the only thing that seemed to feel to be the right thing to do, I opened my arms and then watched as Mary Lou walked into me. We were both hugging each other while tears ran down our faces and it felt so right. I felt complete with having my best friend close to me again.

"A lot happened Lou, so I'm sorry that we drifted apart"

"I know. I'm just so happy that everything worked out in the end. I could never believe what the rumors were saying about you, that just wasn't you, but I should have stood up and been there for you. I'll always regret that"

I sighed as the tears began to subside realizing that they were happy tears and tears for this moment.

"The past is just that Lou. Let's pick up from when we were best of friends"

Having separated from each other we both stood in front of the basins and splashed water over our faces to try and get rid of the evidence of our crying jag and then spent quite a while just catching up with each other's lives. That Carlos ended up bursting into the restroom because he was worried that I'd been gone for so long only emphasized how much we talked. As he escorted me back to our room Mary Lou went and joined her husband and parents with promises of seeing each other soon.

"You okay, Babe?"

Of course, he was worried with me bumping into Mary Lou, especially after I'd told him how upset I had been after she had ignored me.

"Yes. Mary Lou was told that I didn't want to see her, so she was hurt. My parents and Morelli did so much damage with their lies"

I was close to sighing as I realized just how much they had turned my world upside down then rethought that through.

"I have the man of my dreams as my husband and some amazing friends. In the end they did themselves the most damage. Morelli is rotting in prison somewhere and my parents have been evicted from their house, so have had to move out of Trenton"

Yep, it was amazing just how much update Mary Lou and I had shared in such a short amount of time. It seems that my parents had remortgaged their house to lend Val and Albert money to survive on. The problem was that they were relying on money from grandma to bail them out so when that didn't happen, and they couldn't make the payments, the house had become forfeit. Fortunately, the Burg gossipers had gone to town on them and the way that they'd treated me so that was the final blow that had them moving out of the area. As far as I was concerned, good riddance, Camden, Philadelphia was welcome to them.

"There's a natural law of karma that vindictive people, who go out of their way to hurt others, will end up broke and alone."

I smiled at Carlos as he told me that interesting quote because as far as I could see it was spot on for my parents and Morelli.

It was two days after Jenson had asked me to find his wife that I actually had the time to start some research. I didn't want to be doing it while he was around. Jenson and Gregory had returned to Hoquiam as they both had business to attend to and Xander was returning to England with Jay. I couldn't wait to learn how that would turn out but hoped that just maybe they'd return to the States.

I knew that the search that Xander had done all those weeks ago had drawn a blank and seeing as a private investigator had not found any clues, I was sure that Evelyn would be living under a new name. There had been no way to trace that phone number though it had given Trenton as the area where the phone had been purchased. I decided to start with the last known place that Evelyn had been and that was when she had met up with her daughter and grandson in Chicago. Jenson had left me with the dates, so I set about finding out where Anya had stayed while she was there. There was a chance that maybe Evelyn had booked into the same hotel or even made a payment at the places that they'd visited.

I ran a financial search on Anya and focused on her time in Chicago finding a variety of payments that took place over the two days. The hotel was there and various cafes but what was interesting was that these places looked to be in a small area of Chicago. I found a map of Chicago that surrounded the hotel, The Godfrey Hotel Chicago, West Huron Street, and then began to mark onto the street map where she'd made a payment. All of her visits were definitely in the same area which had me wondering what was so special about the place. The hotel wasn't exactly cheap and to be honest there was very little sight seeing to do in that neighborhood, the most interesting place being the Cathedral. Maybe they'd spent time together at the hotel, but eaten out where it was cheaper?

This route was definitely going nowhere so I messaged Hector asking for his help. Apart from Xander, Hector was the only person that I knew who could hack into any of the systems that might give me some names. A reply said that he was thirty minutes out so I continued to peruse through some of Anya's other spending. A purchase at a jewelry store caught my eye, Lester Lambert Fine Jewelers. I looked them up on the internet surprised that they specialized in unique Miraculous Medals. I suppose it made sense seeing as it was so close to the cathedral.

All of the Medals had the Blessed Virgin Mary on the front and the inscription around the margin of the medal Ô Marie, conçue sans péché, priez pour nous qui avons recours à vous ("O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee") The back of the medal had the traditional M surmounted by the Cross and the Immaculate and Sacred Hearts.

Now being Catholic I knew the significance of those medals but the purchase of one of those surprised me when I knew that Anya wasn't Catholic. Did that mean that Evelyn had converted to Catholicism after she left Hoquiam? Was that even important? Was that why they had chosen to stay in the neighborhood where the cathedral was? I pulled up a map and had any Catholic buildings highlighted in that neighborhood and ended up just looking at the one closest to the hotel. It was the Convent of Saint Annes, on N La Salle St, a five minute walk away.

"Estefania, you have that look about you"

I jumped at hearing Hector stood behind me, so close that he was almost next to me. Why couldn't these men make more noise?

"Hector, would it be possible to get the flight manifests from Trenton to Chicago and back again for these dates?"

Why Trenton, well wasn't that where Xander had traced the sale of the phone to? I felt as Hector pushed my chair out of the way and started to work at the keyboard. He worked so fast that I hadn't a chance of understanding what he was doing. The final result that came onto the screen was what I was interested in though, and hearing the printer suddenly come to life had me smiling that Hector knew me so well.

"Is that all?"

He asked as he watched me collecting the papers from the printer. To be honest I was so busy reading through the names of the passengers that all I did was to nod my head. My eyes were skimming down the names, sure that when I saw it, then I would know who Evelyn Wagner had become. I was so sure of it, that the link to Catholicism was what would lead me to her that I wasn't even going to ask Hector to hack into the hotel guest list. Yep, my spidey sense was definitely agreeing with me so when I saw the name Sister Arianna Marie, I threw my arms up in the air.

"Got you"

"Estefania?"

I looked across to Hector who was watching me, slightly embarrassed with my outburst so decided that maybe he was owed an explanation.

"Jenson asked me to find his wife"

"And you have a lead?"

I pulled another chair next to Hector and pointed to the name that I'd found. I wasn't about to explain how I discovered it, but I also knew that Hector was aware that Jenson's daughter had been in touch with her. Hell, that had been when we were staying at that lakeside house in Chicago. So why hadn't I followed up on her before now? Probably because solving the death of my grandma had been my priority at the time.

Hector was already inputting the name into a search but even I was surprised with the number of women who had that name come up.

"Okay, narrow it down to white Caucasian, within an age range of between 50 and 60 and based somewhere near New York"

That narrowed it down to two women, so I watched as Hector pulled up the first one.

"Does the information go back to before she was 21?"

A nod of his head had Hector understanding why I'd asked that. The woman that we were looking for would only be in existence since 2000 or probably even later than that.

The second Sister Arianna Marie's history started when she took her vows as a sister, not the solemn vows of a nun. As we read through her history, she had traveled down into South America, I assume to support the charitable work of helping those in greatest need. Her last position had been working in Juárez, Mexico, supporting migrant women from other countries who were desperate to find a safer life. Sister Arianna had been at a convent near New York for 18months, making me wonder why she hadn't continued her work down in Mexico.

As I read, I tried to work out how old she was because there was no reference to it in the information. I knew that she'd attended university and had been working for her parents when she met Jenson, so she'd have been about 27 years old when she gave birth to Anya in 1997, a year later they had moved and three years later she's lost her unborn child. So she would have been around 31 years old when she disappeared, making her 55 years old.

"What will you do now?"

I wasn't too sure. According to what I had she was a resident at the Immaculate Conception Convent, Spotswood, which was just north of New York City. I had no idea what she did there or if she would be very welcoming to me turning up. I sat with my arms on the table and my head laid down contemplating what I should do next. I wasn't aware of Hector leaving the room but knew that Carlos was now with me. I felt as his arms came around me and his lips began to kiss my cheek.

"Deep thoughts, Babe"

I sighed, probably due to his closeness and how he always seemed to be able to read my moods.

"I found Jenson's wife"

Even with his arm still over my shoulder Carlos took the seat that Hector had been using. He was prepared to hear me out so maybe he'd be able to advice me on what to do next.

"After she disappeared, she became a sister with the catholic church and spent years working down in South America at some of the convents that support the community. She came back to New York a couple of years ago"

"Not what you were expecting then?"

Definitely not, but then again Evelyn had been so damaged when she had disappeared so maybe she'd found that solace that she needed through the church.

"Do you want me to come with you when you talk to her?"

I lifted my head and looked at Carlos when he said that because I realized that he was right in assuming that I'd talk to her. She'd forged a new life and had the right to maintain her privacy, even from her husband. That had obviously been her decision but then why had she reached out to just her daughter?

"No. There's no danger involved, and I think a woman to woman conversation will suffice. That's if she even agrees to see me"

That was how I ended up sat in a large conservatory that was attached to the Immaculate Conception Convent which was obviously the only place within the building where visitors were allowed. I'd been surprised when I phoned the convent to enquire about a visit to see Sister Arianna that someone had returned my call so quickly with an appointment for that afternoon. A young novice had been the one to greet me and assured me that Sister Arianna wouldn't keep me waiting for long. I was admiring the beautiful ornate furniture that adorned the conservatory and the many catholic pictures that conjured up images from my youth, when I was aware of a door opening.

I wasn't sure what to expect really. Yes, I had photos of Evelyn that Jenson had provided for me, but they were from a long time ago. The search that Hector and I had done didn't contain a photo, so seeing the figure of a woman approach me did have me wondering if this was in fact Sister Arianna. What surprised me was how old and frail the woman looked as she approached me. She seemed unsteady on her feet and had that stoop of someone much older but it was her face that had aged so much. Evelyn had been a beautiful young woman in Jenson's photos but now her face looked gaunt and drawn. I stood up when she came closer to me, with the intention of maybe helping her, but a wave of her arm had me sitting back down as she slowly lowered herself into the high backed chair opposite me.

"Mrs. Manoso. I have to say that the name sparked some curiosity for me. Why would you feel that you needed to speak with me?"

I opened my mouth to start on the speech that I'd been practicing ever since this appointment had been arranged, but somehow it just seemed too formal and impersonal, so I went with my heart.

"I went through a very difficult time in my life where I literally lost who I was. A gentleman was kind enough to take me in and support me. If it hadn't been for him then I don't think that I'd be here today"

I looked up to see Sister Arianna watching me closely, but it was how she was sat relaxed back in her chair and the expression on her face that confused me. It was almost as if she was smiling about what I'd said.

"I wondered how long it would be before you found me. I know who you are, how you began as a woman named Chloe but that you are in fact Stephanie Plum, now married to a Carlos Manoso"

Okay that totally shocked me and anything that I was going to say became totally irrelevant.

"How?"

Was the stupid one word response that came out of my mouth.

"A long story"

I was waiting for her to continue telling me this long story when the door opened, and the young novice walked in carrying a tray that she set down on the table between us. Seeing a tea pot, cups and saucers I smiled up at her before watching as she poured tea into two of the cups. After she left, I helped myself to some milk and sugar before taking a small sip. All of the time I was conscious of Sister Arianna and her very slow and precise movements as she began to bring the cup to her mouth. Every thought inside of me was shouting out that this woman was very ill.

"I was also broken and lost. So damaged and full of guilt and despair that I had to leave my family. I wondered from town to town, somehow surviving but for me it was the compassion and kindness of a group of nuns who helped me. They broke me down and then slowly started to rebuild me. I suppose that they showed me that I wasn't as worthless as I thought I was. I felt at peace for the first time in years and continued my new faith by taking my vows as a sister. For each of us there is always a way to salvation"

Her story didn't surprise me and I was pleased that with help and support that she'd managed to pull herself away from the self destruction and guilt.

"I can understand that. I couldn't see a way out of where I found myself and the thoughts that were going through my head were tearing me apart. I suppose like you, I just needed someone to believe in me so that I could start doing that for myself"

It was strange but I'd never really talked to anyone about how I had really felt all those months ago. At the time I don't think that even I was aware of what was happening to me after I met Jenson. Jenson had been to me what the nuns had been for Evelyn.

"My faith led my life, I was totally devoted to who I had become so much so that my past was a mere shadow of a memory. I realize now that it was probably my way of protecting myself, of not having to face the past. Anyway, I was working down in Juarez, on the border with Mexico, helping some of the women who had found themselves abandoned there. Many were beaten and battered trying to escape the violence from where they had come from. They were trying to somehow cross the border but that wasn't likely to happen. So, we supported and cared for them. Then two years ago a journalist turned up, a young man who wanted to research the plight of our migrants"

Robert. It had to have been him and he was the link that spurred Sister Arianna to revisit her past.

"Yes, Robert. Young, keen and such a sociable young man. Imagine my shock when I realized that the woman of his dreams, his wife, was my Anya. That caused me so much anguish at the time. The guilt and fear were almost too strong for me to control but I realized that it was time to lay those ghosts to rest. Then eighteen months ago my health started to decline. I could no longer be effective at the job that I was doing so agreed to return here for my last few years. My condition isn't treatable, Fahr's disease, so I suppose that selfishly I wanted to atone for my past"

"So you arranged to meet up with Robert and your daughter?"

I suppose that contacting him would have been easy enough to do through his publisher for the article that he'd written. It may even have been Hennley and as Sister Arianna had been a source for his publication, he probably would have found it difficult to refuse.

"Yes. I suppose that I needed for Anya to understand the emotions that led me to leaving her and her father. I did love them so very much, and still do, but at the time I couldn't cope. When Jenson and I lived in New York it was a dream come true, especially after having Anya. Then Jenson's work began to trouble him. I totally understood how he felt. His boss, Trevor Peralta was a greedy man and his associates, well let's just say that they scared me, especially the man Chiconi. When Jenson wanted to move as far away as possible from them, I agreed, though hadn't expected to end up in Hoquiam. It took some adjusting to get used to the laid back living, but with Anya I found that I enjoyed the role of mother and wife. Then I fell pregnant, a child that Jenson was desperate for, especially if it could be a boy"

"So you told Robert and Anya why you moved to Hoquiam and then how everything fell apart?"

I watched as Sister Arianna nodded her head at what I'd asked, so at least that answered my unanswered question as to how Robert had known about Chiconi and why he had then involved Hennley in his quest to write about him.

"Did you know what Chiconi had done?"

I wasn't planning on asking Sister Arianna that but to me it would tie together how Robert had found out that there was more to Chiconi than generally known.

"Some. Jenson brought all of his old files with us and included by mistake was one that involved that horrible man. If I remember correctly, it was a contract, but Jenson swore that he had never been involved with Chiconi, that it was the reason why he felt that we needed to leave"

I suppose Robert may have known that Peralta had died, either from Sister Arianna or even just through reading the news. He'd then remembered what he'd heard from her and decided that there was a story in there somewhere. I looked over to Sister Arianna noting how she was struggling with her cup, almost as though her coordination was impaired. I suppose that I'd found what I'd come here for, to understand the truth how her life and mine had intertwined even though we were both unaware of each other. Carlos might say that everything that had happened was coincidence but in my own mind I knew that this was fate trying to put things straight. I had one last question to ask the sister, one that I was dreading the most.

"Sister Arianna, I knew of your existence in Anya's life a few months ago but one of the reasons that I'm here is that Jenson asked me to find you. Do you want him to know about you?"

I watched and waited as she awkwardly set her cup down, as though by doing that it was giving her time to think through how she felt about that. What did surprise me was the intensity of her eyes as she looked back at me.

"I admire you, Stephanie. How you managed to find your way and to seek out the truth that had nearly destroyed you. Yes, I know your story, I do watch TV you know and use the internet. Laurence Peralta made for interesting listening and your fight for the truth for your grandmother was admirable. Maybe you and I were meant to cross paths, because I see how freeing the truth can be. I carried so much guilt that I was sure that Jenson hated me. The longer and deeper I involved myself with my vocation the less the pain tormented me but I think that I'm ready to finally face him"

I was surprised that Sister Arianna was so forward and agreeable to meeting Jenson. I suppose for both of them of them it would bring them some comfort and closure to a lifetime of regret. It was strange really how guilt had been such a hurdle for all of us. Xander's guilt for what had happened to Jay, mine for what had happened to grandma and Sister Arianna's guilt for her lost child and feelings of inadequacy with Jenson.

I left that convent feeling so much lighter as though some weight had been lifted from me. Maybe it had, maybe I could understand better that I wasn't alone with what I went through, that there would always be someone who could help you through it. For Xander I think that it was me, for Sister Arianna, she had had the nuns and her faith whilst I would always owe Jenson for how he had helped me.

I'd left Sister Arianna with a phone number and email address for Jenson so would leave it up to her to decide if she wanted to make that connection, though I was pretty confident that she would. How it would impact on Jenson I had no idea but I felt that I'd done all that was needed from me. Now I had other things to do. I had a wedding to help plan for and knowing Lula it would be one hell of a wedding.

The end