A Fresh Start
Chapter Sixty Seven
He holds her for several minutes as their bodies relax. After a couple minutes, Sam moves off him, lying down beside him she lays her head on his shoulder, laying one arm across his waist and one leg across his thigh. "I love you." She says, softly hugging him.
"I love you too." Jeffrey whispers, turning his head and kissing the top of her head. They lay there for a few more moments before he asks. "Are you feeling better about the wedding?"
"Yes, we'll deal with whatever Olivia tries and it's not going to stop us."
"That's right, it's not. We're going to be married and we'll have our baby. We're going to be happy."
"I'm happy right now."
"I am too, but think about how happy we'll be when we're a family."
"This coming from the man that swore he would never marry." Sam says, leaning up and looking down at him.
"I was young and stupid. I should have married you the moment you walked into that debriefing room."
"You should have."
"Yes, think of where we would be if I had."
"In divorce court." Sam replies, smiling down at him
"You would have divorced me?"
"I would have divorced the agent that walked up to me and said, "I don't need you. I don't want you, so watch your own damn back."
"I wasn't that cruel."
"You weren't that polite either. I knew where I stood on that first assignment. You were waiting for me to screw up."
"I…."
"You were waiting and you know it."
"Okay, so maybe I was. I didn't like the idea of having to watch out for someone else, especially a lady when we were in dangerous situations. I didn't think a woman was tough enough to handle the pressure."
"And what do you say now?"
"You can handle anything thrown at you. I've seen you do it."
"Was it Poland or Brazil that you changed your mind?"
"I think it started in Poland, but Brazil clinched it. You brought that operation in on your own."
"You helped."
"Until I was shot, I helped. I didn't bring them in, you did that."
"Alright so I was pretty good down there." Sam says with a cocky smile before she lies down beside him again, snuggling in close to him.
"You were, and I loved watching you work. It was hard to keep how much I loved you from you and everyone else." Jeffrey says, running his fingers through her hair.
"You never told me that. That you liked watching me work."
"You could be so tenacious when we were looking for someone. I'm surprised I didn't nickname you Terrier."
"Terrier?" Sam asks, looking up at him.
"Yes, when I first came to Springfield I was undercover trying to catch Salerno and find the connection to Spaulding for "D." I worked with Harley and that was her code name, Terrier."
"Why?"
"Because she's like a dog with a bone when she's working on something, I didn't stop to think about it at the time but she reminded me of you, at least that part of her. She and Gus worked well together, like we work well together."
"You never thought about… well you know."
"With Harley, no! She loves Gus and Gus is a good friend. My interest in Harley then and now will always be professional."
"Alright." There are a few moments of silence before Sam says. "I stopped by the farm today?"
"Cassie's farm?"
"Yes, it was on my way back from Oakdale so I stopped to give them their invitation."
"Okay. How are they doing?"
"Really good, from what I saw, we were talking… What happened with Hope?"
"Hope?"
"Yes, Baby Hope. The baby…."
"That Edmund kidnapped from Danny and Michelle and tried to pass off as his and Cassie's baby."
"Yes, she said you used to play her lullaby's on your guitar."
"Yes, I would play for her. She was so sweet and I hated having to tell Cassie the truth."
"You were the one that told her that the baby wasn't hers."
"Yes, I had a DNA test ran and when the results came back I had to tell her that the baby wasn't hers."
"Why did you have the test run?"
"It was instinct, I guess. Edmund shows up with the baby, Danny and Michelle's baby was supposed to be dead, and no one had seen Dinah since before Edmund showed up with that baby. It didn't add up."
"So, Edmund kidnapped Michelle, induced her labor and took the baby…."
"Edmund kidnapped her, but Michelle escaped after Edmund had given her the drug to induce her labor. She was driving when she went into labor and it caused the accident. Edmund found her, delivered the baby and then called 911 before he left and brought Baby Hope to Cassie. Michelle was later told that her baby had died in the accident."
"And he kidnapped Dinah and locked her in a building that he made to look like Cassie's farm."
"Yes, but we didn't know that until it caught on fire and Mallet rescued her. Cassie and Edmund were pretty much over by then, but that all sealed it. It broke my heart to watch her give up Hope. She's wanted a child since she lost Will."
"And now she has him back. She has Richard back. I think she's pretty lucky, especially since she gets to wake up to this face every morning." Sam says, leaning up to kiss him.
"Richard is nothing like me." Jeffrey says, sitting back.
"Maybe not, but I think you're more alike then you admit."
"So, how did you get on the subject of Hope?"
"We were talking…." She almost tells him about the guitar but catches herself. "…talking about the baby and she mentioned how fascinated you were by her. That you used to play for her."
"Was that all you were talking about?"
"Well, I asked her if it bothered her to see us together."
"Why would you ask her that?"
"She seemed a little sad, talking about Hope. I was curious. She is one of your ex's."
"We were a brief interlude. She's always loved Richard."
"I know, but sometimes even when you have what you want, you sometimes miss what you had. I'm not saying I'm jealous of her. I was just curious if she misses you. Do you, miss her?"
"Cassie, I... haven't thought about it."
"Now that Josh is out of the picture and Richard and I weren't back, would you try again?"
"Why are you asking this?"
"I'm curious."
"I don't know. I hurt her, seriously hurt her. And I don't know that we really loved each other, maybe it was the idea of having something that I wanted for so long."
"A fantasy."
"Yes."
"Okay." Sam replies, shivering slightly.
"Alright, let's go." Jeffrey says, releasing her.
"Go, go where?" Sam asks, as he starts to move away from her.
"Upstairs, you're cold."
"But I want to stay down here."
"You're cold and that's not…."
"I'll be fine with you and another blanket." She says, looking up at him.
"Alright." He says, looking down at her.
Getting up, he walks across the living room to the stairs. Taking them two at a time, he disappears upstairs as Sam reaches for the pillows he brought with him before. Laying his beside her, she lies down and waits for him. A few minutes later, he returns with the blanket, spreading it out before he lies down beside her again and she snuggles in closer to him.
Olivia stares at the door for a few seconds before she turns away. "What have they done to my daughter?" She asks, as she walks over to the couch. Sitting down, she stares out the balcony not seeing the garden or lake beyond. "He's corrupted and turned my own daughter against me. And that woman... she'll pay for taking him. Jeffrey is mine." Olivia gets up. Grabbing her purse, she leaves for the inn.
Simmons is sitting out on the porch when she pulls up. Standing up, he's surprised to see her as she walks towards the inn. "I just talked to you."
"I know that. Things have changed as I said."
"We can't do this right now. Labor Day is…."
"Labor Day maybe too soon, but it will be done soon." Olivia says, walking into the Inn. "And they both will…."
"We're going to need extra people and it'll take more planning if you're planning on kidnapping the woman too."
"I'm not planning on kidnapping her, although I do have a briefest of idea for her."
"What are you planning?"
"I haven't worked it out completely, but I'm working on something."
"What are you thinking?" Simmons asks, sitting down at the table and propping his feet up on it.
"I think we need to make her the fall guy in this."
"You mean set her up for the kidnapping."
"Yes, but we need a motive."
"We don't know that much about her and from what we've seen she seems pretty tight with him."
"We'll make it look like she thought he was going to leave her for me."
"I see where you're going, but how is this going to work?"
"Have you gotten the drug yet?"
"No, not yet, I'm waiting for my contact in New…."
"Never mind that, finds someone closer."
"No one around here will have that drug."
"Then try Chicago, but get it and get it fast."
"You realize that we can't do this in less than two weeks."
"I realize that, but we can soon after. I don't want them to think they're going to live happily ever after."
"What exactly have they done to you?"
"She stole my man and my daughter."
"So, why are you going after him? Why not go directly after her?"
"I was going too, but then I thought it's better to take away the one thing she's desperate to hang on to, him."
"And what about your daughters, if the oldest one finds out you're behind this, what will you do? And you have to think about the younger one, have you thought about that?"
"She's not going to find out, and I'm going to be there with Emma. I know what I'm doing. Get the drug. If we can't get them at their wedding, then we'll get them at Richard and Cassie's wedding."
"Who's wedding?"
"Richard and Cassie's, my partner is remarrying her dead husband."
"How is she…?"
"It's a long and complicated story, but I think that will be the easiest time for you to grab Jeffrey and frame Sam."
"So, how am I supposed to do this?"
"Get your guy hired on with the catering service. Company is probably catering both weddings, and Buzz always needs extra hands."
"And what if he doesn't need extra hands?"
"He will, if I have to make sure that he does."
"So he gets a job with this Buzz guy. What is he supposes to do from there?"
"Watch Jeffrey and Sam, find a time where he can slip Jeffrey the drug. It will make them sleepy, won't it?"
"Yes."
"Well, then he's to slip them the drug but not too soon, because I want Jeffrey to fall asleep while they are driving."
"If he does that, they will wreck."
"I know, but it will make it easier for you and your guy to come in and remove him and move Sam over to the driver's side, so it looks like she was the one driving."
"Do we give her the drug?"
"No, I want the police to believe that she did something with Jeffrey. But you have to make sure that no one sees them leave so that no one can come back and say that Jeffrey was the one driving."
"Alright, we get him and we bring him here. Do you want us to keep giving him the drug?"
"Yes, I don't want him to know where he is for a while. I can't leave town right way. If I'm gone, I might become a suspect. I need the police and everyone to believe I've given up on getting him back and that I had nothing to do with the kidnapping. It'll make her look guiltier. When you kidnap him have your guy plant the drug in her purse."
"Do you know when this wedding is supposes to happen?"
"Not yet, Cassie hasn't sent out her invitations yet. But I'm sure it's probably going to be after Jeffrey and Sam's."
"Well, you need to find out when the wedding is supposes to be so we know exactly how much time we have."
"I will and I'll let you know."
"You know that you'll loose everything, including your daughters if we're caught?"
"We can't be caught." Olivia says, getting up.
"Is he worth all this?"
"Yes."
"You know we could…?"
"We are finished James, I've told you that over and over. You were a one night stand, something never would have happened between us if I hadn't've been drunk that night. But you've come in handy, so I guess it was worth it."
"Well, thank you so much." James says, sitting back and watching her walk out of the cabin.
Josh is sitting at his desk when Reva walks in. "Hi." She says, walking over to him.
"Hello." He replies, continuing to look over a contract that Billy dropped off.
"I thought maybe we could go to lunch. We haven't had…." Josh is shaking his head no. "Why not?" Reva asks.
"Well, I've got a meeting in a few minutes with our lawyers to go over this contract for the project in Oakdale and then I've got to drive over to the site in Laurel Falls and fix some problems we're having over there. I don't have time for lunch."
"You can't take an hour for lunch with your wife."
"I'm sorry." Josh says, shaking his head no, as Wanda buzzes him.
"Josh, Mark is…."
"Send him in Wanda." Josh says, holding the button down.
Reva stands there looking at him as Mark walks in. "Sir, Mrs. Lewis." He says, nodding to her.
"Mark." Reva says, still watching Josh.
"I'll see you at home." Josh says, looking at Reva.
"Yes." She says, stiffly walking out of the office. She heads over to Billy's office. He too is sitting at his desk looking over a file when she walks in. "Well, are you too busy for lunch?"
"Ah no, but what about Josh?"
"He's too busy, looking over contracts and going to construction sites to spend time with his wife." Reva says, sitting down in a chair.
"What?"
"I don't know. I stopped there first to see if we could have lunch. We haven't been seeing, eye to eye lately about things and I wanted to spend some time with him."
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. He acts like he's jealous, but he has absolutely nothing to be jealous of?"
"Jealous of whom?"
"Jeffrey, Richard, both. I don't know. I don't know what's going on with him."
"Does he have a reason to be…?"
"Hell no Billy, Jeffrey and I are business acquaintance, and Richard is Cassie's husband. The only connection I had to him was Jon, and he's gone. He's my brother-in-law. Josh is over reacting as usual."
"If he acting this way he has his reasons Reva."
"Well, I wish he would tell what they are. I only went with Jeffrey to DC…."
"You went with Jeffrey to DC?"
"Yes, on a professional basis only. He needed my help with his fiancé."
"He needed your help with his fiancé, does Josh know that?"
"I don't know. I think I told him it was for a friend of…."
"Could it be that he's jealous you're helping Jeffrey with his fiancé. A married woman helping a single man…."
"Jeffrey is nothing more than a colleague."
"A colleague, since when are you a colleague of the mayor?"
"Since I've helped him solve cases when he was the DA and he needed my help that night, in that capacity."
"Did you tell Josh that?"
"Yes, I think so. I was focused on other things when I got back from that trip, but it doesn't matter. I've never given Josh any reason to think that I wanted anyone other than him."
"Well, come on. I'll take you to lunch and you can tell me more about this trip to DC." Billy says, standing up with Reva following him.
About an hour later, she and Billy are walking into the offices of Lewis. "So you'll talk to him." Reva asks.
"Yes, I'll say something to him. Although you know it's probably not going to do any good."
"Please, Billy."
"I will, I will, I promise." Billy says, hugging her.
"Thank you. I'm gong to go."
"Alright."
Reva starts to leave but decides to stop by Josh's office to see when he's going to be home that evening. As she walks up to his office, she hears voices coming from inside. Wanda isn't at her desk, so she walks over to the door, standing to the side so Josh can't see her she listens. "So I took care of the file. And you're absolutely sure no one else saw it or knew anything about it?" Josh asks.
"Yes sir."
"Everything was destroyed so no one can find out the truth? Thank you Mark." Josh says, sighing softly before he stands up and walks around his desk. "Give those contracts to Billy…" Reva sees him walking towards the outer office so she quickly walks over to Wanda's desk. Turning, she sees him walk out.
"I'll do that, Sir." Mark replies, as Josh looks up and sees Reva standing at Wanda's desk.
"Thank you Mark." Josh says, dismissing him.
"Yes Sir." He replies turning to leave as Josh turns to Reva.
"You're still here?"
"Yes, I had lunch with Billy. I stopped by to see when you would be home tonight?"
"Ah, I don't know. I've got to go to Laurel Falls and I don't know how long it will take me to handle those problems over there. I might be late."
"Well I'll see you when you get home then."
"Okay." Josh says, as she turns to walk away. "Reva." He says.
"Yes." She stops and turns back around.
"You look beautiful in that dress."
"Ah, thank you." Reva says, smiling as he turns to walk back into his office. She stands there for a few moments before she turns and leaves the building.
She walks to her car, playing over and over the conversation she over heard. "What did it mean? Why was Josh afraid of anyone finding out the truth, and what file was he talking about?"
Getting in her car, she backs out and starts through town, really driving on autopilot. She doesn't realize where she's going until she pulls up to the gate at Cassie's farm. Getting out, she opens the gate and then she gets back in and drives through. Stopping she closes the gate before driving down to the house, avoiding as many of the pot holes that she can. When she parks, she spots RJ and Will playing in the back yard and as she gets out she waves to them as she walks up to the house. Cassie is getting off the phone when she walks in.
"Reva, hi." Cassie says, surprised to see her there.
"Hi." Reva replies, walking over to her and hugging her. "Where you busy?" She asks, pointing to the phone.
"No, I was talking to Holly. She's agreed to interview Richard and I about Will and San Cristobel and Richard's survival."
"Is the press still hounding you?"
"It's not as bad as it was when we first got back, but we had a bit of a run in with a photographer, well RJ and Will did at the pizza place the other night. And we sort of put off doing the interview, with us getting settled and Richard starting at City Hall, but it's something we need to do?"
"Alright." Reva says, walking into the living room.
"Are you alright?" Cassie asks, following her.
"Yes… I don't know." Reva says, sitting down.
"What happened?"
"It's Josh."
"What about him?"
"He's covering something up?'
"Covering something up, that doesn't sound like Josh."
"Yes, I know. But I over heard him talking to one of Lewis's attorney's and they were talking about a file that Josh had destroyed and no one finding out the truth."
"That could mean anything Reva."
"I know, but Josh said that no one could find out the truth."
"So what do you think is going on?"
"I don't know."
"Reva?"
"Do you think he could be…?"
"Cheating on you, no, never, he loves you."
"I know he does, but why would he be worried about people not finding out the truth. I know it doesn't have anything to do with the business. Josh is more ethical than Richard when it comes to business."
"Maybe he…."
"And why would he tell me I look beautiful in this dress when I'm about to leave when I come by in the first place to see if he would have lunch with me and he told me no?"
"Maybe he wanted to give you a compliment."
"What about the file that he shredded?"
"Maybe it's something old and doesn't matter."
"But he said we can't find out the truth. He's hiding something?"
"I don't know Reva. How has he been acting at home?"
"He's hardly ever there. And when I asked him if he would be home tonight, he told me that he didn't know when he would be home. That he had some problems at the Laurel Falls job site and he had to be there until he takes care of them."
"Well, Billy did say that they were having some problems over there. Something about the zoning commission and permits for the work."
"So maybe there are problems? But what is going on that he doesn't want the truth to come out about?"
"Did you ask him?"
"No, it seems like when I question him lately, he gets mad and bites my head off."
"Is he still upset about Jeffrey and the trip to DC?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him to talk to him. He comes home late and then he's gone by the time I wake up in the morning."
"I think he's busy and…."
"And I going to find out what he's hiding."
"Don't fly off the handle Reva and accuse him of something. You've got no proof that he's doing anything."
"Something's going on Cassie, maybe I can help him."
"Reva."
"How are you and Richard going? Have you made any plans for the wedding yet?"
"Alright." Cassie says, realizing that she was trying to change the subject. "I was actually starting to look at invitations. Sam used the printers down town and he did a beautiful job with hers."
"I know. I saw mine when I got home yesterday. I can't really believe that Jeffrey's getting married. I mean I'm happy for them both, but I didn't think Jeffrey would ever do that."
"I know, but he loves her."
"The same way he loved you?'
"No, it's different. Jeffrey and I were… a fantasy I guess. He wanted me when he was in San Cristobel and I wanted Richard."
"There might have been more to it than that." Reva says, looking at Cassie.
"Maybe if my heart didn't belong to Richard and I could have forgiven him for San Cristobel. It doesn't really matter. I've got what I need and he has Sam."
"Alright, so you're looking at invitations. Anything in particular you're looking at."
"I've got a couple I like." Cassie says, pulling out the samples she had picked up that morning in town.
"Well, let me see them." Reva says, holding her hand out.
Rolling to his side Jeffrey puts his arm out, reaching for Sam, he finds her side empty. Waking up, he looks around the loft until he finds her sitting in the chair behind them. Sitting up, he asks. "What are you doing?"
"I was watching you sleep."
"Up there?"
"Yes, I had to go to the bathroom." She gets up and lies down beside him. "You looked so peaceful. I didn't want to wake you up."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I had to go to the bathroom."
"So, you weren't sick or…."
"No." She says, moving over beside him
Laying her head on his shoulder, she snuggles in closer to him. They lay there for a couple moments before Jeffrey asks. "What woke you up?" For a few seconds, Sam doesn't answer. "Sam." He says, running his finger through the hair on her shoulders.
"I had a dream." Sam says softly.
"About."
"Olivia." Sam says, moving closer to him.
"It's going to be okay." Jeffrey says, tightening his arms around her. After a few seconds he asks. "Can you tell me what you dreamed?"
Sam sighs softly before she says. "I dreamed that she took you away from me."
"She's not going to do that. I'm through with her."
"Not that way, I know you're not going back to her. No, I dreamed that she kidnapped you and she wouldn't let you go. She would come by to see me and she would tell me about everything that you did to her and that you had completely forgotten about me or the baby, that you didn't want me anymore and that you were happy with her. And then the police came to the loft and they were talking, but I couldn't really understand what they were saying, except that they thought that I had done something to you. They said that they had evidence that I had gotten rid of you." Sam says, leaning up and looking down at him. "And then they showed me pictures of your body, all cut up and bleeding. They started to search the loft and they found your clothes and they were all covered in blood, your blood and they found drugs here and they said that I used them to subdue you and then I killed you."
"Shhh." Jeffrey says, laying her head back down. "I'm not going anywhere and I will protect you and our baby. Olivia will not ruin this for us."
For a couple of minutes, they lay there until Jeffrey starts to pull away. "Where are you going?" Sam asks, looking up at him.
"Come on." He says, getting up and holding his hand out to her.
"Where are we going?"
"Upstairs." He says as she puts her hand in his and he helps her up.
When she's standing, he bends down and sweeps her up into his arms. Turning he walks towards the stairs as Sam lays her head on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding on to him.
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