"What does it mean?"

"I don't know."

"It means that they were planning this."

"You're wrong."

"Am I? How else do you explain three exact same notes?"

"Maybe the government was involved."

"Oh God…"

"The government can't copy their handwriting perfectly."

"Well…" Alex trailed off, frustrated. Maria had a point. He looked again at the notes that lay in the middle of the table and compared them. "Ok. Let's go over the facts again."

Maria snapped, "It's not going to do any good. They're gone and they're not coming back."

Alex noticed the pained expression on Liz's face and decided that it was time to put an end to Maria's behavior. "You know, we've been pretty good about putting up with your shit this last week, Maria, but I'm sick of it. I won't let you do this anymore. You can blame yourself for Michael leaving if you really want to, I can't stop you. But leave Liz and I out of this. Do you think that we're not hurt by this? Because you'd be wrong. Everything I see, touch, hear, and smell has Isabel in it. She is everywhere in this house. And Liz is pregnant and her child may never see its father. We have plenty to worry about without you getting drunk and being bitter. So either shut the fuck up or get your ass in gear." He took a deep breath and stared at her, waiting for her reaction.

Liz could barely believe her ears. She knew that Alex was upset, but she obviously had had no clue how much. He was still clenching his jaw and his eyes were hard.

Maria glanced from Alex to Liz. The news of her pregnancy was news to her. But that wasn't the issue at the moment. She looked back at Alex and nodded tersely, "Ok."

His eyes narrowed and he asked, "Ok what, Maria?"

She leaned back in her chair and rubbed her eyes. "Ok. You're right. I'm being selfish," she paused, "But that doesn't mean I feel any differently about this. The three of us have been led on and tossed aside. They made us believe that we were enough for them and they still left." She closed her mouth before she went any further, knowing that she would lose the lid she kept on her pain. If that happened, she would start crying and never stop.

Alex sighed. It wasn't what he had hoped for, but he supposed it was enough for now. "Anyway," he looked at the notes again, "we have three notes, all saying the exact same thing except for the names, and they're all handwritten."

"And we know that no one had any contact with Max before they left. I was with him the entire time and we went to sleep as soon as we got to the hotel." Liz said softly.

Maria sighed, "Unless they've been planning this for a long time. They planned on leaving when they did, even coordinated the notes and found a way to slip out without any of us knowing. In Michael's case, getting in and out."

Alex really hated the fact that Maria was actually making sense. It hurt too much. He didn't want to believe that Isabel would keep something this big from him and leave him without even saying goodbye.

Liz closed her eyes in concentration. Something that Maria had said had stuck in her mind. "Maria, you said that Michael wasn't supposed to be home until at least that afternoon?"

She nodded and ran a hand through her long blonde hair, "Yeah."

"Where was his showing?"

Maria's brow creased. She didn't understand where Liz was leading with this, "Kansas City. Why?"

"Well, Max and I had to reroute to St. Louis because of the weather and it was a good four hours until we were able to get back in the air. And the bad weather was pretty much covering the entire western half of Missouri. That's why we had to land. No one could get through or out." Both Alex and Maria were staring at her now.

"But he had to have gotten home to leave the note…"

"Then where's his luggage?"

"He took it with him I guess."

Liz looked from Alex back to Maria, "None of Max's things were missing."

Alex's voice was low, "Isabel's either…"