Greg watched as the information was processed by the family. He was glad that Alison had agreed not to be here. She couldn't have handed the expressions on their faces.
"How long have you known." Frank asked, his voice cold. Greg looked over at him.
"A while. I wanted to finish reading through the letters before I talked to everyone." He pulled out a file. "I plan to give this to Mac tomorrow. Her file is going to have to be reopened." He placed it next to the stack of letters.
"I don't understand." Erin said. "Why wouldn't she say anything."
"I thought at she didn't know," Danny growled out. Greg glanced over at him.
"She did her best to block it out. That's why she had such a hard time around the anniversary. She can't deny his existence when she's staring at a letter from him." Jamie reached forward, grabbing one of the letters looking it over.
"These typed." He said, looking over them. "And mostly marked out."
"I rewrote them." Greg explained. "And redacted them." He took a deep breath. "That was the only way Alison was going to let you know about them." Frank nodded his head.
"I take it that they are bad." Greg met his eyes.
"I'm amazed that she lived." Frank pressed his lips together.
"I see." Danny slammed his hand down on the table.
"Well, I don't. How do we know that? This person is the real deal. Her story was in the paper. It could be that they are making this stuff up." Greg was already shaking his head.
"There is a picture sent with every letter…And she has scars to match every story."
"So, where are the pictures." Erin asked.
"She isn't conferrable with anyone see them, and I'm not going to force her." Greg ran his hand over her face. "If I hadn't told her that I knew about the second man. She would never have told me about him or the letters. That's clear." Greg rubbed his hands together. "I'm not going to lie; I've had nightmares after reading these." His phone went off. Glancing over at it. "I have to go." Greg got to his feet. "I'm willing to talk to anyone about this, but I ask that you don't talk to Alison about this." Frank nodded his head.
"Understood."
Alison sat on the counter with a bowl of Ice cream. It was late, and Ethan was sound asleep. They had spent the evening playing with his new fire truck. He was still set on being a firefighter. She, unlike Danny, was pleased with the choice. It was safer than an underwater welder. The front door opened, and she closed her eyes. Greg had been called to a scene, and it had taken longer than he thought to clear it. He rounded the corner smiling at her.
"Hey, how's it going." He asked, walking over and kissing her.
"Alright, who's working the case at the lab?"
"Messer, he and Lindsey are going out of town, and he wasn't to pick up more hours. So, I let him have it." Greg grabbed an ice pack and the ice cream container. "I told Mac that I was going to be in late tomorrow since I cleared the scene. He was going to have someone else open the lab." Alison held up her phone.
"I know he called me." Greg rolled his eyes.
"There goes the lazy morning with my family." Alison had some ice cream.
"You can still have a lazy morning. It will just be you and Ethan." Her phone rang, and she reached over, glanced at the screen, and declined the call.
"Who was that?" Greg asked.
"Danny." The smile on Greg's face vanished.
"Really." He said, his voice careful.
"All I need is for Dad to call, and I will have the complete set." She looked at her watch. "All before I go to bed." Greg ground his teeth.
"I told them not to call you." Alison reached forward, grabbing his hand.
"I haven't answered any of their calls, so this could be about something else." Greg looked at her. "But probably not."
"I'm sorry, Ally." He ran his hand through his hair. "I know we had to do it. I just wish…."
"It's over, you told them, and tomorrow you'll tell Mac."
Greg's eyes snapped over at the sound of Alison screaming. He rolled to his left, dropping out of the bed landing hard on his knee just as Alison swung her arm. His body tensed as her screams were cut off. It was followed closely by the noise of her footsteps bolting for the bathroom and the locks being thrown. Greg rolled onto his back, closing his eyes. He hadn't had to do that in years. Angary tears started to blur his vision. Reaching up to whip them, he realized that his hands were shaking. He pressed them on his face taking a deep breath before slowly getting up. His knee protested, but he ignored it, limping down the hall to check on Ethan. He was thankfully still sound asleep. He went back to the room, stopping at the bathroom door.
"Ally, it's me, Greg. I'm going downstairs. Ethan is fine. He's still asleep." Greg waited for a response knowing that she wouldn't be able to give one before heading downstairs. He would probably end up sleeping in the guest room, but his mind was running to fast let him sleep. He sat in his office chair with an ice pack on his knee. He had known what the dream was. That's why he knew to roll out of the way. He pulled up the letter on his computer and looked for the section. It was the 4th letter. So that one had arrived not long after he and Alison had met. He reached over, grabbing his phone.
"Frank Reagan." His father-in-law said.
"I wanted you to know that Alison had to throw the locks tonight." There was a long pause.
"I'm sorry." Greg grounded his teeth.
"It would have been helpful if you all didn't call her." Now it was Frank's turn to let out a groan.
"I was supposed to be the one to call her, and I was going to wait for tomorrow."
"Well, everyone else called, but she didn't answer." Greg looked at the clock on his desk. "I have to go. It's late."
"I'm sorry, Greg."
"Aren't we all."