All of the people in this story are owned by Vince McMahon and the WWF, except for Melanie, Uncle Wes, Michael and Monica.

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Chapter 4: Do I Know You?

"Nora!" Jeff said. Blindly, Nora reached out to steady herself, expecting to touch solid stone, but grasped human flesh instead.
"Easy there," Jeff whispered calmly into her ear, as he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her close. Jeff peered intently at the young, raven haired woman standing across from Nora. He knew her, yet he couldn't place the face. *Wait a second, no way! Oh geez,* he thought, nervously running a hand through his purple hair.
"What do you want Monica?" Nora asked, her gaze steely.
"I just want to"... but Chris cut her off.
"Okay, so why'd you do it?"
"Do wha,"... Monica tried to say, but Chris kept on going, "Why did you blow up my S.U.V.?" Monica's jaw dropped.
"What are you talking about?" she asked Chris in confusion.
"Why did you try to kill Amy?" Matt asked through clenched teeth, his eyes boring into Monica's.
Monica's face registered genuine surprise, "Wha, what, I didn't"...
"What do you have to say for yourself?" Chris grilled her.
"She can't say anything because you won't let her," Paul muttered.
Chris glared at him and was about to continue when Nora surprised
him by saying calmly, "Paul's right, now would you kindly shut up."
Jeff smiled, that's what he loved about Nora, usually she was meek and sweet, but she had this fiery side to her too. Jeff found it alluring and intriguing. *She's like a sweet and sour meatball,* Jeff thought to himself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and focused his attention on what Monica was saying.
"I wanted to say I'm sorry for what I did to you guys. It was wrong of me to kidnap and threaten you."
"You forgot to mention using us for target practice," Chris added sarcastically.
"Point taken," Monica said with a wry grin. Jeff spoke up for the first time since Monica's reappearance.
"How do we know you're telling the truth? You've burned us too many to times to just trust you like that."
"I know," Monica said sadly. I didn't expect you to believe me at the drop of a hat, but I'd appreciate it if you'd just hear me out." She looked at Nora pleadingly.
"Guys?" Nora asked. Reluctantly, Matt, Jeff and Chris shook their heads yes.
They went downstairs to the lobby and sat down in the overstuffed chairs.
"Okay, were listening," Chris said, more than ready to hear her 'story'.
"Prison gave me a lot of time to think, that and I talked to the priest, who visited the jail every two weeks. He was kind and always listened to me. He wasn't judgmental, nothing I said ever seemed to shock him. It felt good to get my feelings out. I became painfully aware of just how bitter I really was, and how much I hated just about everyone. Eventually, after all our talks together, I began to realize that I had hurt innocent people for something that they had no control over. She looked at Nora and Chris, "Your family meant well and couldn't have known what would happen to me. They did what they thought was best for me and I'm grateful for that.
I no longer hated everyone and was trying to work through the bitterness, but being in prison was getting to me and I realized all the things I could have had if I had taken the less traveled road, you know. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I broke out, or rather I dug out. Security in that place is tight, you wouldn't believe how hard it was to escape."
"If anyone could pull it off, I'm sure you could," Chris said dryly. Everyone turned to stare at him and quickly, Chris shut his mouth.
Monica continued, "I dyed my hair back to it's original color, hoping it would make it harder for the police to find me, though I know I can't run forever." Monica let out a gasp and pointed to the tv screen. She stared at it, not moving a muscle, almost as if she was frozen. The others looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "Just look and listen," she said frantically. The wrestlers turned towards the television and listened carefully to the news anchor.
"Earlier this evening, a New Orleans prison was burned to the ground. No one was killed, but there were some minor injuries. The big question is, where are the seven criminals that managed to escape!" Monica held her breath as they showed pictures of the escapees.
"Okay, so maybe they won't be coming after me anytime soon, all my prison records were stored in the jail safe," Monica stated.
"So, what did you do, burn it to ashes, because you hated the jail so badly?" Stephanie asked incredulously.
Monica shook her head, "No, but I think I know who did. Jamie and I were cell mates for the first month I was there. He was an okay guy, once you got past the psychotic tendency thing. He had a huge fascination with fire. Anyway, one day they took him out of the cell, kicking and screaming, and I haven't seen him since."
"He must have done something pretty bad," Stephanie commented, her eyes wide.
Monica nodded, "Probably, but he never talked about his past crimes, ever. Anyway, the next day I overheard one of the guards talking about moving a prisoner to another section of the compound, one with tighter security. I can't remember his face very well though, and none of the pictures on the news looked liked the way I remember him. Anyway, he definitely could have pulled it off. He was bright in an insane kind of way," she said thoughtfully, cocking her head to the side.
"Uh, maybe a little bit of him rubbed off on you," Chris suggested.
"Nah," she said, dismissing Chris's suggestion with a wave of her hand.
Changing the subject, she looked at Chris and said, "That letter Nora gave you, I meant for it to be funny." They all stared at her. "Okay, judging by the looks on your faces, you obviously didn't find it amusing."

"What exactly did the letter say?" Stephanie asked, her interest piqued.
"All I wrote was: 'I'll be watching'. I thought it was fitting, since, well, I have been watching you guys since earlier this evening."
"Did you follow us all the way from North Carolina?" Jeff asked suspiciously, thinking of the telephone wire incident.
"Yes," Monica said. "It took several buses to get here.
Look, I didn't come here to blow up anything, endanger any lives or play psycho stalker. I just wanted to apologize for what I did."
"Phones can be just as effective," Chris commented. Nora elbowed him in the ribs, hard. "Hey, I was just"... her look silenced him. Pouting, he gingerly rubbed his side.
"Do you have any place to stay?" Nora asked Monica.
Taken aback, Monica quickly responded, "Uh no, but I'll just find one down the road." Nora knew she was fibbing because there weren't any hotels down the road.
"Nonsense, you can stay with me in my room," Nora said excitedly, putting an arm around her shoulder. Monica glanced at Nora's hand on her shoulder then looked at Nora in surprise. "It's okay," Nora assured her, "I have a room all to myself this time and I have an extra bed that you can use." Jeff's jaw dropped and he looked at Nora in surprise. His first impulse was to camp outside Nora's room to make sure she'd be okay.
He wrestled with that feeling though, "Nora's a grown woman, she can take care of herself," he told himself.
Paul looked at his watch and nearly jumped out of his chair. "Holy smoke, it's after midnight! Well, time flies when you're having fun. I'm going to turn in. I'll see you all tomorrow." He leaned down and gave Stephanie a quick kiss on the lips. "See you at breakfast tomorrow hon," Paul said.
"Night Paul," Stephanie rewarded him with a bright smile. Pretty soon the rest of the group headed for bed also. Matt went in to check on Amy before he went to bed. Matt was relieved to find her sleeping peacefully and no longer ice cold to the touch. When Matt walked into he and Jeff's room the lights were already off.
"Hey Jeff, are you still awake?"
Jeff sat up in bed, "Yeah, I'm still up."
"Are you and Nora okay? You seemed kind of cool and distant towards each other tonight."
Jeff sighed, "We're just going through some trying times, that's all."
"It's about Melanie isn't it?" Matt asked. Matt flipped on the lights, momentarily blinding Jeff. He had to blink several times to adjust to the bright light.
"How did you know?" Jeff asked in surprise.
Matt shrugged, "The hotel was abuzz with, 'Oh, did you hear about Jeff's ex-girlfriend, his new manager, and get this, she's pregnant.' I've been hearing it all evening. People just think the worst," Matt said in disgust. "Good thing Nora heard it from you before she got wind of it from the rumor mill." Matt's grin slowly disappeared from his face. "You did tell her, didn't you?"
"Yes," Jeff said slowly, "after she heard the rumor."
"Oh, geez," Matt said, sitting down on his bed.
"I was hoping Melanie wasn't going to tell Vince that she was pregnant. I was hoping that everything would kind of blow over and that would be it. You want to know the worst part, Nora believed the rumor," Jeff said angrily. Matt could hear the frustration in Jeff's voice.
"Really?" Matt asked in disbelief, his eyes wide. Jeff sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes.
"Nora told me that she guessed there was no truth to the rumor, but that she really wasn't sure. I stormed off and just left her there, staring after me. What hurt the most was that the possibility of the rumor even being true, crossed her mind. I thought she knew me better than that!"
"Were you planning on telling Nora about Melanie, Jeff?" Matt asked softly.
"No, I was kind of hoping it would just blow over ."
"Jeff, things like that don't just blow over, it's important you and Nora discuss things like that. Don't let her be the last to know. Believe me, I've been there, done that."
"Do you love her?" Matt asked.
"Well, yeah."
"Have you told her?" Matt asked.
"Well, no," Jeff replied.
"Does she love you?" Matt continued.
Jeff's brow furrowed, "Yeah, I think so."
Matt's eyes widened, "Whoa, you guys need to talk.
Oh, and Jeff," Matt said gently, "maybe it's not so much that she doesn't trust you, perhaps it's because she doesn't know you well enough."