Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with TNA. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination.
Chapter Content & Trigger Warnings: none this chapter

Chapter 37

Three Months Later…


Joe entered the bedroom after a long day of trying to discover Ella's whereabouts, and set his keys, cellphone and the current photo of Ella he'd been using to aid in her search, on the table next to the bed. He fell onto the mattress and rubbed his eyes. Scrubbing his hand over his face, he realized he drastically needed a shave.

I can't believe, in all this time, no one's seen her at all, he thought dejectedly.

His phone rang then and he recognized the number on his Caller ID.

It's the private investigator I called, he thought with relief. Finally, he's getting back to me!

Hurriedly, he took the call. "Hello?"

"Joe Seanoa?"

"Yes, this is he," Joe replied.

"Mr. Seanoa, this is Matthew Wilson. I'm a private investigator. You left a message for me, correct? You wish to hire me to locate your wife?"

"Yes, I do," Joe answered immediately. "She was kidnapped a few months ago, and I can't seem to get any leads on where she's located. The authorities have been unable to come up with any leads either."

"You're sure she was kidnapped?"

"Yes," Joe answered curtly. "We're very much in love—so she didn't leave me if that's what you're implying." At least not due to falling out of love with me, he thought, telling a half-truth. "A man by the name of Jacques Fournier kidnapped her. He's had her in his sights since she was eighteen years old."

"I'm sorry," Matthew Wilson replied. "I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that many times a missing spouse turns out to not be missing, in my experience."

"Well, this one is."

"Okay, I can see there's a huge back story here. Would you like to meet somewhere and discuss everything in more detail?"

"Would you be okay with meeting at my house," Joe asked. Okay, technically not my house, he thought. But close enough. "I've just gotten in from a third consecutive day of searching for my wife, and I'm exhausted."

"That'll be fine," Matthew answered. "Where are you?"

Joe gave him the address.

"I know about where you're located. I can be there in less than a half hour, will that work?"

"That's great," Joe told him. "I'm eager to get started."

"Okay, see you soon."

With that, the line clicked, and Joe rushed into the bathroom to grab a quick shower and shave before the private investigator arrived.

About twenty minutes later he emerged, feeling somewhat rejuvenated. He sat down on the bed again and picked up his cell phone, searching through his restaurant guide app to find somewhere that delivered. He quickly decided pizza would be the easiest thing to deal with, so he put in an order for three pizzas since there were three grown men staying at the home and Miracle as well. No sooner than he laid his phone aside, the doorbell rang. He rose from the bed, grabbing Ella's handgun off the night table and headed downstairs. He found Jeff about to check the peephole. Joe motioned that he'd take care of it and whispered to him, "The P.I. I called."

Nodding, Jeff backed off and returned to the living room.

"Your name, please," Joe stated, cautiously eyeing the man standing on the porch.

"It's Matthew Wilson," the blond man replied. "Would you like to see my ID?"

"Yes, I would," Joe answered as he opened the door with the chain lock in place. "I was nearly killed a few months back and I don't wish to repeat that particular experience."

"I understand," came the reply, as a leather wallet was passed through the door. "The ID is in the clear pocket."

Joe took the wallet and compared the photo to the man's face and looked at the name on the ID. Satisfied, he handed the wallet back and undid the chain lock. "Thanks." He pulled the door open and moved aside so the private investigator could enter.

"No problem."

Joe led him into the living room, where Jeff was sitting in an armchair watching the news, and Miracle and Finn were playing Monopoly at the coffee table. Joe offered Matthew a seat on the sofa and the two men sat down to talk.

"I ordered some pizza that should get here soon if you're hungry," Joe said.

"Sounds great," Matthew Wilson replied, "I am pretty hungry. It's been a long day."

"Yes," Joe agreed.

"So, why don't we start at the very beginning," Matthew suggested, taking out a notepad and pen. "You say a man was after your wife ever since she was eighteen years old?"

Joe nodded, "Yeah. Her name's Ella. It's a long complicated story, so bear with me. Ella's dad was a surgeon who had failed to save a woman and her unborn child. They were in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. Jacques Fournier was the woman's husband and he decided to get revenge on Ella's dad by killing him and his wife. Then he planned to take Ella and get her pregnant in recompense for his child's death."

"Okay," Matthew said softly, taking notes down in shorthand. "This happened when she was only eighteen?"

"Well, some of it. But Fournier's obsession actually began even earlier on. Fournier's wife and child died when Ella was only fifteen. He began planning from there, and he didn't make his first attempt to kidnap her till she was eighteen. And that's when he killed Ella's parents."

"This Fournier guy…I assume he's now wanted by the authorities, but did he have any kind of criminal record before his wife died and he tried to kidnap Ella?"

"Not that I know of," Joe answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "He was wanted for questioning after the drunk driver mysteriously died a week after his wife and child. He didn't cooperate very well with the cops however, and that made him a suspect."

"Did he get convicted of murder," Matthew asked, scribbling furiously on his notepad.

"No," Joe replied. "There wasn't any evidence to prove he did it."

"What did the drunk driver die of? And how was Fournier linked to his death?"

"He died of food poisoning. And that was how Fournier was linked to his death—he's a botanist. There was just no way to prove he was behind the poisoning."

Matthew nodded and made another note when the doorbell rang again.

"That'll probably be the pizza," Joe said, rising to his feet. A few moments later, he along with Matthew, Jeff, Finn, and Miracle were seated at the dining table eating and giving as much information as they could, hoping to aid Matthew in discovering Ella's whereabouts.

"Okay, so let's move forward," Matthew said as he started a new page for his notes. "When exactly did Ella go missing, and how do you know for sure Fournier was behind her disappearance?"

Joe swallowed a bite of his pizza before answering. "She was kidnapped about four months ago. And I know Fournier is behind it because I saw him face to face. He shot me in the chest, knocked my wife out cold and then took her away."

"I'm so sorry," Matthew apologized as he took the information down. "That's just…horrible."

Joe nodded and then spoke softly. "Do you think you can find her?"

"I'm certainly going to try," Matthew replied, picking up another slice of pizza. He looked at Joe, then at Jeff. "Do you have any idea why it took Fournier so long to get to Ella?"

Joe shrugged slightly, "I can only speculate. I assume maybe he had trouble finding her or something. See…" Joe hesitated, "Ella and I married a few weeks after her parents died. Jeff, here, wanted us to marry because he thought it would protect her. However, on our wedding night, Fournier made another attempt to take her. Before he could get to her though, she faked her death and ran off. I didn't see her again till twelve years later—the night Fournier finally succeeded in kidnapping her." His face darkened then. "Oh my, God... What if I led him to her?"

"Now, Joe," Jeff started. "This is not your-"

"Don't say it," Joe growled, angry at himself. "If I led him to her, then yes, it is my fault."

"No, Daddy," Miracle exclaimed loudly in order to get his attention. "You didn't lead him to her."

Joe's expression softened when he looked at his daughter. "How do you know, baby?"

"Because...Fournier was pretending to be someone else—supposedly a detective named Viktor Dankevych. That was why he had all the plastic surgery. But the night he had me kidnapped for him, he left his brown contacts out. I recognized his blue eyes."

"Okay, honey," Joe said softly, "But I don't see where you're going with this."

"Mom, met Viktor Dankevych about two years before you found us. So you couldn't have led Fournier to her."

Finally, Joe realized what she was explaining and he nodded. "Thank God. I'd never forgive myself if I'd caused this."

"But," Jeff cut in, "If he knew where she was the past couple of years, why did he wait so long to grab her?"

"He was toying with her," Joe guessed. "That's what he has always done. It's not enough for him to get what he wants. He wants to try to drive someone crazy in the process." He slammed away from the table then, horrible images of what Ella was going through racing through his head. "God, and he has her. He's-"

Matthew took some more notes and spoke up. "Hang in there, Joe. Focus. What else can you tell me about Fournier?"

Joe took a deep breath and sat back down at the table, visibly trying to calm himself. "He's had at least one alias I know of—which is Viktor Dankevych. And he's had a ton of plastic surgery as Miracle stated. He doesn't look at all the same as he did twelve years ago." He picked up a few photos from his end table. "These are copied photos you can keep if you need to." He handed the first photo over, "This is the most current photo of Ella I could find." He motioned to the remaining two photos then. "And these are both of Fournier. This first photo is his mug shot from when he was questioned about the drunk driver's death. This second is a sketch of what he looks like now after all his surgeries."

"This will help a lot, thank you," Matthew said, taking the photos. "I'm going to work my hardest to find her, Joe. I promise."

"Thank you," Joe replied, reaching out to shake the private investigator's hand. "I appreciate this very much. Ella is my life. It's killing me to think about what he's done to her."

"Try not to think about that," Matthew told him. "It'll just drive you crazy. Let's focus on finding her, then you can help her heal."

Joe nodded his agreement, and thanked the man again.

"I have your cell number, so if I think of any other questions I'll give you a call. And I'll be sure to keep you up to date on any findings."

"Do you know where to start with all this," Joe asked. "I know I gave you quite a bit of info to sort through."

The investigator nodded. "I already have a plan forming. I'm also a hacker, so that may come in handy with this case. Give me a few days and I'll let you know what I've found and we'll go from there."

"Okay," Joe replied, feeling better that there was now a plan underway.

"Thanks for dinner. I appreciate it," Matthew said, gathering his things and get ready to leave.
"No problem. Thank you for your help," Joe returned. "You don't know what this means to me."
"Glad to help."
Joe and Jeff walked Matthew to the front door, and with a smile of encouragement, Matthew left, setting out to begin his investigation.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

Fournier watched as Ella's eyes slowly fluttered open. He saw the horror slowly register on her face as she realized she was both still alive, and unable to move on the bed she was lying on.

"It isn't permanent," he told her. "It's a toxin I developed over the past few months. I have to keep you from hurting yourself."

Ella whimpered softly. "M-Months…?"

"Yes," Fournier answered. "I medically induced a coma on you till I could develop the toxin that's paralyzed you."

"H-hate you…" she cried weakly, closing her eyes.

God she prayed silently. Please, please let me die. I'm begging you! I can't…can't do this… Please, let me be with Joe…

"You know I have to punish you for what you've done, don't you?"

Fournier's voice cut into her prayer and she sobbed. "Please… Please, leave me alone…"

"I'm afraid your daughter will have to pay for your mistake."

"N-no!"

Ella tried to will her limbs to work with all her might, but the toxin was simply too strong in her system.

"She has to die."

"Oh, God…please, no…"

Ignoring her, Fournier continued to deliver blow after blow. "I also took the liberty of drawing blood while you were unconscious. I wanted to see if you have become pregnant yet. And you are—about four months along, to be exact."

Ella had no words. Nausea rolled in her stomach at the thought of carrying his child.

"Going to…b-be s-sick…" she managed to whisper.

Ignoring the fact that his news was the cause of her sickness, he quickly lifted her limp frame to a sitting position and placed a small waste basket under her face. He didn't act a moment too soon as a series of harsh dry heaves racked through her body.

Her breath came in snatches as the nausea slowly lessened. Then she glared up at Fournier. "I swear I WILL get away from you. I don't know how yet, but I will."

"Even if you do," he smiled evilly at her, "I'll simply get you again. I can get to you wherever you are, Ella. I knew where you were long before I entered into your life as Viktor Dankevych." He paused, a smirk on his face. "I saw footage of you getting on the plane to Seattle. Now, I'll admit it did take me a while to find you in Seattle, since you chose such a common name to go by, but I found you nonetheless. And remember the night I saved you from the drunk idiots at the strip bar? I set that up. The situation got a little more out of hand than I intended, but it was all my doing. Oh, and the picture of my daughter? It was just a photoshopped picture of you. It was all the perfect way to get my foot in the door and become your friend—get you to trust me. Mark my words, Ella Roberts, I'd find you again."

"My name is Ella Seanoa," Ella shot back, trying to hide her surprise at discovering he'd known where she was almost the entire time she'd run away from Joe—not to mention the tactics he'd used to get into her life.

Her retort earned her a sharp slap that left her more than a little dizzy.

"And if you do run again, the remainder of your family will die a very painful death. I suggest you stay put." And with that, he turned around on his heel and left her.

"Nothing matters anymore," she thought out loud, curling herself into a ball. "I don't care about anything now."

Her eyes went blank and vacant as she retreated into herself—letting her mind take her away from the hell she was being put through.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

"Gotcha," Matthew Wilson muttered as his gaze scanned over his laptop's screen.

He'd been working for a couple weeks to hack into Tennessee's state court database to see what information he could find about Fournier, Ella and her parents.

And I've finally hit the jackpot, he told himself. Or I'm really close to it.

He'd found a sealed file in the system pertaining to Fournier's wife's death.

"Now, all I've got to do is hack into the federal court system to find out what's in the file," he thought out loud. "And unfortunately, that could take a while longer."

Beginning to mentally plan out his next line of action, he picked up his cell phone and gave Joe a call.

"Yeah," he heard Joe's voice answer.

"Joe, it's Matthew. I have something."

"What is it," Joe demanded instantly. "Have you got any idea of where she is yet?"

"I've not gotten quite that close yet, sorry," Matthew replied. "I have, however, hacked into Tennessee's state court database and found a sealed file regarding the death of Fournier's wife. I can't get into it yet, because I need to hack into Tennessee's federal court databases before I can get access to the contents of the file, but I'm working on it as we speak."

"So, you think there'll be some clues there?"

"That's what my gut instinct is telling me," Matthew replied. "I mean, the woman died from a drunk-driving accident, the drunk driver died of natural causes—or so the M.E. reported… so why would there need to be a sealed file on Fournier's wife?"

"Good question," Joe replied. "Okay, great. I'm glad you've found something to go on. How long will it take to hack the databases?"

Matthew swallowed hard and hated to douse Joe's hope. "Well, it's taken me a couple weeks just to get into the state court databases… I'm afraid hacking the federal court's will take a considerable amount of time more."

"How much more, Matthew," Joe prodded.

He sighed and replied softly, "Maybe months, Joe." He heard Joe curse softly on the other end of the line and he scrubbed his hand down his face. "I know, I know. But this is the best plan I've got, so far. This Fournier guy is really good, Joe. But I think I'm better. You just have to stay patient. We'll find her, okay? I promise."

"Yeah," Joe replied softly. "I know we will."

"Good. Keep that positive thinking. I'm gonna go now and keep working, okay? I'll work around the clock as much as I can till I find something. Your case is the only one I'm working at the moment, and I won't accept any more cases till Ella is found, Joe. That's how strongly your case has affected me. I won't stop till you have your wife back."

He heard Joe puff out a sigh. "Thank you so much, Matthew. I can't even express to you what this means to me."

"You don't have to thank me. Anyone would do the same if they could. I'll talk to you soon and keep you updated. Bye."

With that, he snapped his phone shut and got back to work.

}i{}i{}i{}i{

"Jeff, it's Joe. I have a little news," Joe informed Jeff over the phone. He'd taken a small break from questioning people about Ella's whereabouts, and wanted to tell Jeff about Matthew's findings.

"Yeah? What kind of news," Jeff asked eagerly.

"Well, it's too early to know if it's good news, but it's definitely not bad news," Joe answered. "The private investigator I've hired, Matthew Wilson…he's been working on hacking Tennessee's court database for the past couple weeks. He finally got in today. He found a sealed file on Fournier's deceased wife."

"Really?"

Jeff sounded completely shocked.

"Why would there need to be a sealed file on her?"

"That's exactly what Matthew was thinking. He says he needs to break into Tennessee's federal court databases now to be able to open the file and find out what's in it. There are no guarantees of course, but he is good at his job, and his instincts are telling him to check into that file."

"It makes sense."

Joe could detect some skepticism in Jeff's voice.

"We're gonna find her, Jeff. I know it," he reassured him. "Okay? Don't give up hope or faith."

"I'm not," Jeff said softly. "It's just beginning to get to me, wondering what he's done-"

"Jeff, we can't think about that. It's only borrowing trouble. We have to concentrate on finding her first. Then we can help her heal, just like Matthew told me when I first met him."

"I know."

"Okay, good," Joe smiled softly. "Keep thinking that way. It'll keep us motivated." He shifted the conversation to his daughter then. "Is my baby in from school yet?"

Jeff chuckled. "Yes, she and Finn came in just a little while ago. She's just now come to stand beside me. She obviously wants to talk to you."

Joe chuckled in return. "Okay, just don't tell her anything about this just yet, okay? I want to be sure it's a real lead before we tell her anything."

"Got it. I'll talk to you later. Here's Miracle."

"Okay, later," Joe said his goodbye and waited to hear his daughter's voice.

"Daddy!"

"Hi, baby," Joe greeted. "How'd your day go?"

"It was good. I missed you today."

"Oh, I missed you too, angel," Joe replied.

"When are you coming home," Miracle asked. "And have you heard anything about Mama yet?"

Joe scrubbed his hand down his face, unsure of how to answer her second question. Taking a deep breath, he decided a slight lie was his best option. "Well, I'm not sure what time I'll get home tonight, because the truth is…" He rolled his eyes at the irony of his words, "This private investigator is still working on some things to help give him an idea of where Ella is. And I'm doing what I can to find out any leads too. Right now, I'm sadly coming up empty handed."

"But you guys will find her, right, Daddy?"

"Of course, lo'u alofa. This private investigator is really good at his job. I think he'll be able to locate her, and then we'll go and get her. Just be patient, okay, honey?"

She was quiet for a moment and then Joe finally heard her quiet answer: "Okay."

"That's my girl. Now, how's school going?"

"Pretty good. All my friends are really supportive. The school work kind of helps keep my mind off...stuff."

"I'm glad, baby," Joe said. He knew he needed to get off the phone and start working toward finding Ella again, but he couldn't resist talking to his little girl a while longer.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"You're taking care of yourself, right? I mean, I don't get to see you much, so I don't know. You're sleeping and eating, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm taking care of myself, I promise. I wouldn't be much of a help to your mom when we find her, if I wasn't taking care of myself, would I?"

"No."

"Okay, so stop worrying about me. I'm fine." He decided to try and joke to lighten her mood and anxiety. "Besides, when I do get your mom back, can you imagine the tongue-lashing I'd take if I wasn't taking care of myself?"

He smiled when he heard her laugh slightly.

"True," she said. "You'd be a whipped puppy when she got through with you."

Joe laughed, "Yes, you're mother has a definite way of making her feelings known."

The two laughed again, and it was like music to Joe's ears. He hadn't heard his daughter laugh till then.

Please, God…Help me and Matthew to find Ella so we can be a family, Joe prayed. Help me to do whatever I can to help Ella heal. Please, help me get my wife back…