Their plane landed and Hannibal had pulled out his cell phone. He rarely ever used it, only in cases of true emergency. Clarice sat in the passenger's seat. She was extremely uneasy in returning to the United States so soon, but Ardelia had to be helped and the evidence needed to disappear. Hannibal had just finished up his call and looked over to Clarice.

"That as an old friend. He has agreed to take us in."

"Old friend? Anyone I would know?"

"I saved his family once, before the incarceration."

"What's his name?"

"Samuel Rivers."

"I heard of him very briefly in some of the case files. He refused to share any information about you."

"I was a friend of his. He ran into some trouble when he borrowed some money he couldn't return. He was having his first child at the time. Unfortunately, the person he borrowed from decided to rob him one night. And I intervened."

Clarice took his hand and squeezed it gently, "so we can trust him?"

"Yes."

Clarice leaned her head against him. "I wonder if Ardelia is ok. Why can't they just leave us alone? Why do they have to follow us?"

Deep in Hannibal's thoughts he was upset. He knew that as long as she chose to be with him they probably would be followed for the rest of their lives. He asked her once if she would ever consider leaving for the child's sake. They could go on and live their lives. She refused to do so. Hannibal had such pride for her, and now he was almost a father. About five and a half hours later they arrived. Hannibal got out of the car and went around to open Clarice's door. The house was rather large in a wooded area. It had beautiful gardens all around. The house was about three stories and out on the front porch was an elderly man. His hair was gray and he had dark brown eyes. He was kind of scrawny too. He smiled when he saw Hannibal and Clarice.

"Hannibal, dear boy, it has been a while."

Clarice was surprised she had never heard anyone refer to Hannibal as boy before.

"Samuel nice to see you again. I would like you to meet my wife Clarice."

"Ahh, so this is the Clarice Starling I have been hearing all about."

"Clarice Lecter," said Clarice.

"Of course. I owe you so much Hannibal so please stay as long as you like."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I may need you to watch over my wife and child while I am away though."

The man stared down at Clarice's stomach and did indeed notice the bump.

"You are having a child! This is wonderful."

Clarice smiled at him but then turned to look at Hannibal. "'Watch over my wife while I am away'?"

"Clarice please don't get upset. It is just in case I need to go somewhere. You know I would never leave you behind."

Samuel interrupted, "Honest Mrs. Lecter, he just wanted safety precautions."

Clarice and Hannibal were led through the brown door and into the living room. The kitchen was right across from it.

"Now then, your room is on the third floor second door to the right. The bathroom are directly across that. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable."

They thanked him again and went upstairs. The house was beautifully decorated, their were flower arrangements on stools in the corner of the halls. Once they entered their room Clarice was quite astonished. Their was a huge king sized bed and the window overlooked the gardens. Clarice and Hannibal sat down on the bed. Clarice rested her head in his lap.

"Hannibal, we need to get to Ardelia soon."

"I know. They can't fully charge her just yet though. The last letter you sent said that you were pregnant did it not?"

"Yes."

"So the FBI knows about that as well. Your friend will probably be put under surveillance to see if they can get anything else from us."

"We should leave soon then to assist her."

"We will leave tonight after you have had something to eat."

Hannibal brought his hand to her stomach. He rubbed it gently and felt an occasional movement. Clarice looked into his eyes. His eyes were darker than usual. Hannibal had always felt a need to protect Clarice, and since they returned to the United States he was always aware of his surroundings. Hannibal and Clarice felt like they had a chance to raise a child with a happy environment. To give to it what had not been given to them. For their child to have a mother and father. They both agreed to that. Their bond was strong and seemed unbreakable Hannibal would follow Clarice till the ends of the earth and Clarice would follow him as well. They ate in silence for the most part. At about 9:00 they departed to go find Ardelia.

Ardelia was, for obvious reasons, put on suspension. She knew they couldn't put her in jail for just that there needed to be more evidence. Of course she was irritated as well. She always left paperwork for the front desk clerk, Sarah Johnson. Sometimes she left the paperwork on her desk, and how inconvenient she stumbled upon that postcard. Ardelia had always been a careful woman, and she beat herself up pretty bad over it. It turns out Johnson had been put there on purpose after Clarice and Lecter disappeared. She is a sort of private investigator for the FBI. Ardelia had been stuck in her house and if she had to go anywhere two agents would follow. She felt angry and frustrated. She put her PREGNANT friend in danger. The phones in her house were all tapped so many of her friends stopped calling. The phone rang and it was 10:00 on the dot. Ardelia answered it on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Tattle tales are a problem, but they do send truths."

"What?"

The phone went dead. She thought the voice might have been Clarice's but there is no positive way to tell. She thought for a moment, If that was Clarice she was probably trying to send me a message, but what? Let me think she said tattle tales are a problem…tattle tales? Is this about Johnson? No, Clarice wouldn't go after her. That would solve nothing. Tattle tales, tattle tales, tattle tales. But they send truths? Truths from a tattle tale? Clarice was called out numerous times by the…..Tattler. That is it! They paired Lecter and Clarice numerous times and in the end it turned out to be true. Lecter once told Clarice to contact him through the Tattler.

"Tomorrow I think I am going to go grocery shopping. I am running low on milk anyway."

Thank you everyone who has stuck with me. I want to give a special thanks to Lou92 for all of your great comments and advice. Please keep the reviews coming.

Kanan