XX
Fox went back inside the house to find Whitney and Chad entertaining Little
Ethan. "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want." Fox said running his
hands through his blond hair. "But I don't know when Theresa's going to get
back."
"We'll just stop by tomorrow. We just wanted to talk about the wedding anyway."
Whitney replied as she stood up.
"Yeah," Chad replied. "We'll just come by tomorrow. That is, if it's all right
with you and Theresa."
"It's fine." Fox said. "I'll see you guys tomorrow then."
Whitney and Chad waved goodbye and closed the door softly behind them. Little
Ethan grinned at his father. "Da!" He said happily as he reached his arms up to
Fox. Fox leaned down and picked up Little Ethan. "Hey, buddy." He said softly.
Little Ethan snuggled against Fox. Fox sighed. "Sleepy are you?" Fox said
glancing down at the little boy in his arms. Ethan Martin yawned in response.
"I guess so." Fox said smiling. "Perhaps this calls for a little story." Fox
said quietly. Little Ethan looked at him expectantly.
"Once upon a time there was this handsome yet very troublesome Prince." Fox
began. "He caused so much havoc around the palace that his parents didn't know
what to do with him. They sent him to a faraway place, and the little prince
grew up feeling unloved and unwanted. When he was older, the prince came back
to his hometown."
Little Ethan's eyes began closing. "Well, everyone was surprise to see the
prince return." Fox said as he resumed his story. "One night, the prince ran
into a beautiful maiden. Her beauty stunned the prince. He didn't know that
such beautiful people existed. Luckily for the Prince, the maiden liked him and
they became very good friends." Fox looked down at Little Ethan whose eyes were
barely open.
"Well," Fox said quietly. "What the prince didn't know was that he was slowly
falling for the beautiful maiden." Fox smiled. "He thought he was in love with
the maiden's closest friend, but it was the maiden who had a hold of his heart
the whole time."
When Fox glanced down at Little Ethan he smiled. Little Ethan was fast asleep.
"We'll continue this story later," Fox whispered. He leaned back against the
couch and closed his eyes.
~*~
"Is- is it mine?" Justin asked warily.
"Well, the woman who we think is your wife is eight months pregnant."
Smith said.
"That's how long she's been missing." Justin said in astonishment. "So the
ch-child could be mine?"
"Possibly." Smith replied. "Or the kidnapper's." He said in a low tone.
Justin tensed. "Has the kidnapper been found?"
"It's actually kidnappers." Smith said gravely. "I wasn't told much
information, but I'm sure that once you get to Chicago, you're going to find
out a lot more about the whole situation."
Justin sat in his chair stunned. His mind tried desperately to process
everything he had been told, but Justin was far from comprehending everything.
Theresa patted his hand comfortingly.
"You leave first thing in the morning." Smith replied handing Justin an
airplane ticket. There are two tickets to Chicago in case there's anyone you
would like to accompany you." Smith briefly glanced at Theresa and shifted his
gaze back to Justin.
Justin stared at the tickets in his hand. "Thank you." He said.
"This must be a huge shock for you." Smith said. "But remember Mr. Hammond,
this may turn out not to be your wife. You've got to be prepared to face that,
all right?" Smith asked.
"Yeah, I understand." Justin said standing up. "Thank you again." Justin turned
and walked out of the room.
Theresa nodded to the investigator, but Smith stopped her. "Excuse me, miss."
He said.
"Yes?" Theresa said turning around.
"You're obviously a comfort to Mr. Hammond. Perhaps you should go with him to
Chicago." Smith suggested.
Theresa was a bit flustered. "We'll see." She said before she hurriedly left
the room to find Justin. Theresa looked around the station and didn't spot
Justin anywhere. In a small panic Theresa ran outside and looked around. She
sighed in relief when she saw Justin sitting on one of the benches outside of
the station. He was staring off in the distance with a dazed look in his eyes.
"Justin?" Theresa asked while approaching him slowly.
Justin turned his head and looked at Theresa. She already saw the tears
forming. "Are you okay?" She asked softly as she sat beside him.
"No," Justin admitted as he let tears escape from his eyes. "First I find out
that my wife is possibly alive." Justin's voice broke. "And now?" He said when
he regained some composure. "She's pregnant?"
"It's a lot to take in." Theresa agreed.
"I'm scared for some reason Theresa." Justin said. "Shouldn't I be happy?
Ecstatic even?"
Theresa took a hold of one of Justin's hands. "You're scared because there's a
possibility that the woman in Chicago isn't Lindsay."
Justin sighed. "Yeah," He said looking up at the sky. "You're right. What if it
isn't her? What if my hopes are shot down again? I can't take this anymore
Theresa. It kills me not being able to see my wife everyday. It kills me not
knowing where she is, or if she is hurt~" Justin paused to regain his
composure.
"Well, she may just be that woman in Chicago." Theresa said softly.
"I-I don't know if I can go up there alone." Justin admitted. "I wouldn't be
able to handle it if I got there and the woman turned out not to be Lindsay."
"Who do you want to go with you?" Theresa asked. She looked at him curiously.
Justin averted his gaze to the ground. He twisted his hands nervously and
swallowed. "Will you go with me to Chicago, Theresa?" He asked. "I don't think
anybody else understands because~ well~ you're the only one I've ever talked to
about Lindsay."
Theresa sat back. She wasn't surprised at his request, for the moment Smith
looked at her when he suggested that Justin take someone along Theresa knew
that Justin was thinking of bringing her. "Justin~" She said softly. "If it's
what you really want~"
"Yes," Justin nodded. "Please, Theresa. Will you?"
"Sure." Theresa said. "I'll go. But you know~" she said as a smile tugged at
the corner's of her mouth.
"What?" Justin asked wiping his eyes.
"We're going to be missing a lot of class." Theresa said.
"True." Justin said. "You can make up your missed assignments with another
paper."
Theresa frowned. "Another one?"
"Sure, why not?" Justin said with an amused smile on his face. "You'll probably
just end up writing an excuse why you didn't do the paper."
"Ha ha," Theresa said nudging Justin. "You like my excuses though."
Justin laughed. "What would be your excuse then?"
"Hm," Theresa said as she stood up. "My excuse would be~" Theresa motioned for
him to get up.
"What?" Justin asked intrigued.
"My excuse would be that I was helping a friend." Theresa said.
"I'm your friend now?" Justin said touched.
"Of course." Theresa said. "Now c'mon. Let me drive you home. You need to get
packing."
As Theresa and Justin walked off to the car, they failed to realize that they
were being spied on. Paul Grissom was hidden behind bushes and was taking
numerous pictures of Theresa and Justin. "This is great," He thought to
himself. "This story is coming along just fine." Paul adjusted the camera
around his neck and took out his notepad. "I wonder where they're going together?"
He wondered aloud. From his position, Paul caught some of their conversation.
He didn't hear about Lindsay, but his ears definitely perked up when he heard
Justin asking Theresa to go somewhere.
"This calls for more snooping." Paul mumbled. "But first, I need to get my
story together. The town will be buzzing with gossip tomorrow morning."
