Chapter Eight

Darkness fell over Llanview and it took the combined convincing of Bo, Eve, Vicki and Clint before Natalie agreed to stay at home and get some sleep. John's plan had been to do the same, head over to the Angel Square Hotel and rent a room, but Natalie wouldn't hear of it.

Pointing out that it would be easier if he stayed so they could both be there for any news; Natalie insisted that he stay in the guest bedroom. At first he had been hesitant, not wanting to cross a line, but when he considered the possibility of Cristian coming back for Natalie, John quickly agreed.

After putting the house back in order, Rex had stopped by with take out from Rodi's. Natalie hadn't wanted to eat but both men convinced her that she needed to stay strong for her daughters. The initial meeting between Rex and John had been strained, as they had never been friendly to begin with, but when Rex realized just how upset and remorseful John was about the entire situation, he eased up.

By the time Rex left, and after Natalie had called that station for the millionth time, it was nearly one am and both John and Natalie turned in for the night. Neither of them got much sleep and were back at the station by eight the next morning.

Though most of the officers, including Bo had worked through the night following leads and handing out Cristian's photo, there was no news awaiting them when they arrived. They spent the morning separated, John going out and helping the other officers canvas the area and Natalie holding another press conference and offering interviews, knowing that the more they got the girls and Cristian's faces out there the more likely it would become that someone had seen them.

But when one of the reporters asked her if Cristian had been involved in anything illegal, Natalie was hit with an idea. The second John got back to the station she ran over to him and pulled him aside. "We need to talk to Evangeline."

"Evangeline?" he questioned in surprise. "What would Evangeline have to do with this?"

"Ever since he got out of prison, she's been his lawyer. They even dated for a few months after you left. If anyone knows anything it's going to be her."

Though he found it unlikely she would help, like Natalie John knew this was one of their only leads. Nodding, John put his jacket back on. "Let's go."

"Do you really think she will help us?" Natalie asked as John raised his hand to ring the doorbell to the large, two storey home they were now standing in front of.

John shrugged his shoulders. "Right now we have nothing else, it's worth a shot."

It only took a few seconds before Evangeline appeared at the door and her eyes widened in shock as she realized who was on her doorstep.

"Natalie… John…. This is a surprise, please come in." Evangeline said holding the door open to them. Wordlessly the entered the large home and stood awkwardly in the doorway until she motioned for them to follow her into the living room.

"Please have a seat. I just put Alyssia down for her nap." Evangeline turned her attention to John. "She's my daughter."

John nodded. "Natalie mentioned you had married Hugh."

"Yes," Evangeline responded with a smile. "But, I imagine you aren't here to catch up over coffee. I take it this has something to do with the kidnapping. Natalie I want you to know our prayers are with you, no mother should have to endure that pain."

Deciding not to beat around the bush, John got right to it. "We have evidence that Cristian was responsible for the kidnapping." John said as he took a seat across from her. "We hoped that you knew something – maybe where he went, or if he had bought any property in the area. Anything that could help us find him."

Evangeline shook her head. "John, you know that whatever information I may have is protected by attorney-client privilege. As much as I want to help you, I legally can't."

Natalie, who had remained silent, stood up and crossed to the other side of the room. For a few seconds she just looked at the framed photographs sitting on the fireplace mantle. A few of them were of Evangeline's family and from her and Hugh's wedding, but most were of Evangeline's daughter – Alyssia – who was almost two.

Turning away Natalie fixed the attorney with a hard look and pulled out a picture of the twins that had been taken on their last birthday. Crossing the room, Natalie dropped the photo in front of Evangeline.

"Sydney is dreamy – she loves any fairy tale, but Cinderella is her absolute favorite. When she grows up she wants to be a ballerina or a figure skater." Natalie let out a small laugh. "It doesn't matter to her that she hasn't tried either of these, Syd just knows she will be good at them. If you ask her what her favorite food is you'll get a million different answers – Grandma Eve's chocolate chip cookies, Grandma Vicki's ice cream sundaes, or pizza – Sydney tends to be a people pleaser."

"Natalie…" Evangeline pushed the picture away, but Natalie continued on.

"No, if you're going to hide behind your obligation to that monster, then you can just shut up and listen to me. Her favorite colors are pink and purple, and she loves spending time with Grandma Roxy at Foxy Roxy's because Grandma will paint her nails and do her hair and make-up even though I say she is too young. She is still scared of the dark and each night before bed I have to look in her closet to make sure there are no monsters. She loves Barbies, but her favorite toy is a pink bear I gave her that she named Ella. If Syd doesn't have Ella there is no chance of getting her to sleep." Natalie paused and drew in a shaky breath.

"Eve on the other hand is a lot different then her sister. She likes fairy tales, but isn't as crazy about them as her twin. If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she'll tell you that she is going to be a doctor just like Uncle Mickey because he helps people. Her favorite food is pizza, and her favorite sport soccer. Even though she isn't overly girly, Eve also loves Barbies and will wear a dress any chance she gets. When Uncle Rex told her she couldn't play soccer in a dress, Eve retorted 'Just watch me,' and proceeded to out run and out score him. Eve really isn't into the stuffed animal thing, but she does sleep with a brown bear named Johnny that belonged to Michael when he was a kid."

Natalie went back over and picked up the picture of her daughters. "These are my girls, and they are my life. See how happy they look in this picture? Well, this is what they look like now." Natalie reached into her pocket and took out the photocopy of the picture that had been slipped under John's hotel room and threw it at Evangeline. "They are absolutely terrified. Do you remember how we felt when Hayes kidnapped us? Well the fear we felt is nowhere near what my girls must be feeling – they are just four years old, they are helpless children." Natalie leaned across the table and grabbed a framed picture of Alyssia then shoved it at Evangeline. "Now, imagine its Alyssia that is gone, imagine that some monster has your daughter and the one person who could help you refuses to." Natalie's voice now broke and tears began to fall. "I am not asking you as Cristian's lawyer – I am asking from one mother to another. Please help us find our children."

Seeing that Natalie was about to fall apart, John quickly crossed the room and took her hand, trying not to show how much her speech had effected him. Not only did he get a small glimpse into the personalities of his daughters, for the first time Natalie had referred to them as "their" children.

Evangeline remained silent for a few minutes, but suddenly she stood up and left the room. Confused, Natalie and John looked at each other but their unspoken question was soon answered when Evangeline came back into the room. "I have to go check on Alyssia. If you want to look around the house while I am up there feel free, Hugh and I have done a lot of renovations. Just please ignore my home office which is the third door on the left… I was working on some files this morning and think I left them out."

With that Evangeline left the room, leaving a stunned John and Natalie in her wake.

"Was that an invitation?" Natalie asked, suddenly hopeful.

"I'm taking it as one," John replied as he jumped to his feet and made his way toward that third door which had conveniently been left open. Crossing the room, John and Natalie looked down to see a file marked 'Cristian Vega' lying open on the desk. Suddenly very hopeful, John picked it up and began to skim through it, stopping when he got to a sales agreement page.

"I've got it." He said, grabbing a piece of paper from Evangeline desk and copying down what he saw.

"Is that an address?" Natalie asked as she peered over his shoulder.

Nodding, John continued to write. "It says there that Cristian brought a cabin on Llantano mountain but put it in name of Jamie Vega."

"So it couldn't be traced back to him," Natalie finished for him. "John that's it, that has to be where he took the girls."

Replacing the folder, John pocketed the address he had just copied down. "We have to call Bo, he needs to get a team up there now before Cristian realizes were on to him and moves."