9



"Any luck?" Pilar asked as Fox returned to the kitchen. Little Ethan looked up at him with an anxious gaze. "Did you find Mommy?"

Fox looked down. "Uh- no luck."

"I'm sorry Fox." Pilar replied as she touched his arm comfortingly.

Little Ethan looked up at Fox with tear-filled eyes. "Will I ever see mommy again?" He asked sadly. Fox immediately reached out to the little boy and embraced him tightly. "Yes, you will." He promised quietly. "Your mommy will come back."

"I want her now.

"Me too." Fox replied quietly. "Me too." Fox only let go of Ethan Martin when his cell began ringing.

"Hello?" He answered. He expected it to be Whitney, but to his surprise it was one of the individuals who was helping him on the search for Theresa's whereabouts.

"Mr. Crane?"

"Please, call me Fox."

"Fox, I've found some information on Ms. Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald."

"You have?" Fox asked anxiously. "What is it?" Fox waited impatiently for the information. He was full of so much anticipation that he could not keep still. Fox resorted to pacing around the room.

"She was reported to have been spotted at the airport." The informant replied.

"Does anyone know where she flew to?" Fox asked urgently.

"We're working on that sir,"

"Call me as soon as you know what flight she took." Fox replied. When he hung up the phone he found both Pilar's and Ethan Martin's gazes fixated upon him.

"She was spotted at the airport." Fox replied breathlessly. "They're finding out which flight she took."

Pilar exhaled slowly. "We're getting closer to finding her location."

Fox nodded. "As soon as I find out where she went, I'm going after her."

Pilar nodded. The doorbell began ringing before Pilar uttered a word. "I better see who that is." Pilar said. Fox took Little Ethan by the hand as they both followed behind Pilar. Fox frowned when he saw the person at the doorstep.

"Ethan." Fox said indifferently.

"Hello, Pilar," Ethan said ignoring Fox.

"Hello, Ethan."

Ethan glanced at Ethan Martin and smiled. "Hi, buddy."

"Hi." Ethan Martin replied with a small voice. His hand was still tightly enclosed in Fox's. "Did you come to see Mommy?" Ethan Martin asked. "Because Mommy isn't here. She left." He said miserably.

"I know." Ethan replied. "I ran into Whitney. She told me Theresa left."

"Do you know where Mommy is?" Ethan asked his godfather.

"I wish I did, buddy, but I don't." Ethan said.
Little Ethan's lower lip began trembling. Fox bent down and tried his best to comfort the young child.

"Here, let me." Ethan said extending his arms.

"I've got it." Fox said firmly.

Ethan glared at Fox. Pilar glanced worriedly from Ethan to Fox. "Can you two put aside your differences for the meantime? Now is not the time to be fighting."

"We weren't fighting." Ethan replied.

"Well you weren't fighting yet." Pilar responded frowning. "But I can already feel the tension building up between you two."

Ethan looked away. He wanted to be the one comforting little Ethan. After all he was Ethan Martin's godfather. Ethan also desperately wanted to find Theresa. He knew she hated him, but he resolved to do everything in his power to find her. That was as long as Gwen did not find out. Woody Stumper was still the only one who knew of Ethan's secret attempts to aid Theresa in the custody battle. Unfortunately, Julian and Rebecca managed to unfairly sway the judge's decision, but Ethan was determined to find another way to make sure Ethan Martin was given back to Theresa. But first, he was determined to find Theresa. "Do you have any idea where Theresa would have gone?"

"Well, she was spotted at the airport." Pilar answered. "We're waiting to find out where she flew off to."

"Once you find out, let me know. I want to go after her." Ethan replied.

"What?" Fox said in disbelief. "You?"

"Yes." Ethan replied through clenched teeth. "Me."

"What about Gwen?" Fox asked. "She's going to flip out if she finds out."

"She won't find out." Ethan replied.

"Why are you showing concern for Theresa now?" Fox asked. "You sure as hell didn't show any support for Theresa during the custody battle. She needed you the most then, but you turned your back on her."

"No I didn't." Ethan replied firmly.

"Oh yes you did. You sided with Rebecca and Julian. You betrayed Theresa after you promised that you would be there for her and Ethan Martin."

"That's what you think." Ethan said quietly.

"What do you mean Ethan?" Pilar asked.

Ethan sighed. "Let's just say that it appears that I turned my back on her, but in actuality I didn't."

"That's complete bull sh~"

"Fox!" Pilar reprimanded. "Not in front of Ethan Martin."

"Oh, sorry." Fox replied.

"Ethan, could you please clarify what you meant? I'm still a bit confused." Pilar said.

"You know how Woody said that he would be Theresa's lawyer free of cost?" Ethan began.

"Yes," Pilar said. "We were all surprised to find out he would do it pro bono."

"Well he wasn't providing his services for free. I was paying the legal expenses." Ethan admitted.

"What?" Fox said in disbelief.

"I paid for the legal expenses, and I gave Woody advice on what to do in the case. I even tried to bail Theresa out of jail, but Fox beat me to it." Ethan said putting his hands in his coat pockets.

"You promised Gwen you wouldn't be involved with Theresa~" Fox said.

"I know that." Ethan interrupted. "That's why I did it in secret. I didn't want Theresa or Gwen to know what I was doing."

"You still love her, don't you?" Fox asked with narrowed eyes.

"I will always care about Theresa." Ethan answered. "But I'm with Gwen now~"

"Stop." Fox said holding his hand up. "I don't need to hear that excuse again. I know- Gwen's your wife, you love her, blah, blah, blah. But the fact is that you will always love Theresa and despite your many attempts to stop, you just find yourself loving her even more. Am I correct?" Ethan looked away. Theresa would always hold a place in his heart, but he could never act on his feelings for her ever again. He made a commitment to Gwen, and as hard as it was he was going to maintain that commitment.

"You see- you do love her." Fox replied.

"Well at least I truly care about her." Ethan retorted.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Fox asked. "Are you trying to say that I don't truly care about Theresa?"

"If the shoe fits~"

Fox walked up to Ethan and towered over him. "Don't you ever tell me that I don't care about her."

"Since when did you possess the ability to think of others but yourself?"

"Look, I care about Theresa okay? You may not believe that, but it's the truth."

"If you really cared about Theresa, then why would you betray her? You used her to get to Whitney."

"What? Who told you that."

"I figured it out. Whitney told me everything."

"Everything, what do you mean everything?" Fox asked. "What exactly did she tell you?" Before Ethan could say anything, Fox's cell began ringing. "Hello?" He answered hastily.

"Fox, we've got it. We know where Theresa is."

~*~