Disclaimer: I don't own ELR nor do I own the characters, this is just a fan fic.
"A Distant Past"
It was an average day at the Barone house, Ray had just returned home from work and Debra was cleaning up the kitchen from dinner. No one would guess by looking at this happy family what Ray had discovered as he was doing some background work for his next article. With a quick kiss for his wife, Ray heads downstairs to look more closely at this old newspaper story.
As he sits down at his desk to examine the article more closely he can't help but wonder if this child could be the woman he now shares his life with. The picture comes alive in his mind.
We see a small girl, about 4 years old, huddled in a cold, dark, basement room, nothing but a threadbare blanket to comfort her and keep her warm. As the child cries a woman's voice is heard yelling from another room.
"All that girl does is cry, I can't stand to hear it anymore!" she says.
The child's eyes widen with fear as she imagines her father's reply.
"I've made the necessary arrangements, they're coming tomorrow night," he replies.
It is far worse than she imagined, what arrangements had been made, who was coming for her tomorrow night? If this is how she has been treated by her parents, the people who were supposed to love and protect her, what horrors may await her in the outside world?
A tall, eloquently dressed woman sits in a high-backed chair in front of the fire. She turns toward the closed door as she hears her child scream.
"Daddy, no daddy, don't do it! I didn't do anything, I promise! Daddy!" she cries.
As the child's cries are silenced the woman turns back to the book in her hands, her face showing not even the slightest sign of emotion as her husband comes back into the room.
"She's ready." he says as he leans against the door.
The woman looks up at her husband with a worried expression.
"What if they find us? What will we do?" she questions.
As he is about to answer, a knock on the door quickly calls him away. The woman looks down at her hands as she begins to question her husband's contacts. They couldn't afford to be caught.