Chapter Two
Lucky awoke the moment Liz got up from the bed, the shift of her weight awoke him, he was a light sleeper lately, a simple car passing awoke him now, but that was a simple fact that Liz knew nothing about. Wondering what was going on, he remained and did not move until he heard the main door open and close. He counted to a hundred and then rose from bed, going to the dresser where he noticed a sheet of paper, he quickly scanned Liz's letter.
Dear Lucky,
I awoke with a terrible craving for ice cream, seeing as how we haven't had much time for shopping, I am just going to run down to the little corner store. I should not be too long, please do not worry I will be careful. Talk to you soon.
Luv Liz
Her secretiveness was growing harder to handle, but a heartbreaking truth stood at the center of all the lies. It was not even a week ago that he had lain in bed, watching Elizabeth sleep. He often found himself unable to sleep, the draw of the pills still a tangible thing, the desire to simply give in and go back to a place of solace was some days almost too hard to bear. However, the peacefulness that overtook Elizabeth while she slept was hard to avoid, she was the embodiment of a goddess when she was finally able to find said peace.
It was during one of his sleepless periods that he discovered the truth about the paternity. Liz had been tossing, turning and moaning in her sleep. Most nights she talked nonsensical things, and most times, they never looked like she was in physical pain, but on this night something different was bothering her. She rattled on and on about how Jason was the father of her baby and how she could not allow me "Lucky" to go back on drugs, she spoke at length about their night together, the night of the blackout.
At first, I thought it was her mind playing tricks. Perhaps on a different level I heard the truth of her words, for it all makes a sick sort of sense. Her proclamations of loving Jason and the paternity of the baby, it is her subconscious way of trying to right the wrongs, which her waking self has made. I did not want to believe it at first, but when you start putting all the hints together, it makes perfect sense.
Her reluctance of making love, the chance meetings with Jason, her aversion to a simple kiss, but it was not just these things that sealed the fate of this child, night after night or of hearing her calling out to Jason, left me unable to think. So once again using the police department for my own wants, I claimed I needed to see files on Lorenzo Alcazar, his hospital records, so Epiphany took me to the records room, sat me at a table, and gave me the records. She knew I was a cop, so there for must be trustworthy, why else would Liz remarry me.
Nevertheless, when she left, I went straight for Liz's records, and there it was, plain and clear as day, declaring in bold black print, that Jason not I was the soon-to-be father.
This was the kind of sense, which rips your heart out, and stomps on it, I cannot explain why I have yet to tell her I know; perhaps it is my selfishness shining anew. The longer she takes to tell me, the longer I can fake myself into believing, that she loves me. For years, I have based my life around her, perhaps if I stay silent, she will too.
She is my very heart, and I love Cameron even though he is not mine, what is to say I cannot love this child like my own. And perhaps in the dark recess of his heart, he wished to keep Elizabeth away from Jason, so he could not have her. It was cold and heartless, but why should he have to continue to pay for all his mistakes, was it not Manny who started this chain of events.
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"Jason, I have to go, Lucky doesn't know I am gone and if he wakes up, he will be worried. I will see you tomorrow?" Liz asked, a note of hope tinting her voice.
"Goodbye Liz, I will see you tomorrow! There is much for us to discuss, however, Sam will be at another press conference, so stop by anytime tomorrow, I should be there." Jason said, almost wishing the night not to end, and wanting, with every fiber of his being to beckon her to stay.
When she turned and walked away, I felt like a heavy weight upon my heart, was finally gone. I wanted to go to her and take her in my arms, save her from the pain that tomorrow would bring. But my own selfish desire to finally take her in my arms and know that she would be mine and mine alone, stayed my arms and out weighted my current desire, not by much though. The coming weeks were going to be hard, I suspect on all, but perhaps in the end, everything will be as it is destined to be.
Sure, before I knew I was going to be a father, I never thought myself to wax philosophical ideas, but look at me now; impending fatherhood has changed me, whether for good or bad I have not yet seen. Just wait until Carly finds out, she is going to lose it. If nothing else at that moment, that brought a smile to his beautiful face, he understood in a fashion why Liz and Carly disliked each other, but on the other hand, it all seemed rather ridiculous.
He could have more than one girl who was a friend, without neglecting another, but Carly never saw it that way. Liz was the wild card to Carly, for even after all Liz and Jason had been through, they always managed to find their way back to one another. While his friendship to Carly had been steady, she was bullheaded and believed she knew how to run his life better than he himself did.
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Liz walked home at a leisurely pace. Things finally felt right, and her heart knew where it truly belonged. Now all she needed was to find out how Jason really felt, but there was time for that, and while the kiss tonight could mean something wonderful, she set those thoughts to the back burner, it was time to act, daydreaming about the amazing kiss could happen later. The kiss could have been nothing more than mere comfort, she had to be ready to handle whichever outcome came from this, but hoping a little was never wrong.
So absorbed in her thoughts, she did not hear the minute scraping on the sidewalk. By the time, she realized what was happening, hard-callused hands roughly grabbed her from behind, a knife poised at her pregnant belly.
"Don't say a word, just walk," her assailant commanded.
Not in a position to argue, Liz went along quietly, fear for her unborn child evident, it was palpable in every curve of her body.
The voice of her attacker was seemingly familiar, but before she could ponder whom the voice might belong to, she was roughly shoved into a SUV like vehicle. Without even noticing what happened, the attacker had sliced a diagonal line into her protruding stomach. The pain was immediate, but she would not give him the satisfaction of knowing he had hurt her. Nevertheless, the man waiting inside the vehicle noticed it, and with cold calculation, shot the man who had harmed her, where he stood. The sound of the gunshot tore from her the scream, which the attacker had been unable to elicit from her, intentionally or not.
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Jason had lingered on the docks, taking in the night air, it was brisk, but it felt wonderful on this night. It could not have been more than a few minutes since Elizabeth had left, to when he heard the gunshot, followed by a woman's scream.
Every muscle thrummed within, a sick sensation flowed through him, knowing deep down, something had happened to Elizabeth. With cat like reflexes, Jason spun around and ran in the direction of the gunshot and the scream, the same direction in which Liz had left.
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As soon as the man crumpled to the ground, the man inside the vehicle demanded they leave, someone was driving the vehicle but she did not have a clue as to whom it was.
Wishing for more time, Liz tried to stall, but there was nothing she could do, for the gun was now directed at her. She could not see the mans face, it was bathed in shadows, but even that small outline gave her a clue to who the man was and what motives lay behind his façade. As the vehicle took off, Liz continued to look at the man who sat opposite of her, trying and failing to engage him in conversation, while she might think she knows who it might be, she figured if she could just hear his voice, then all would be clear.
The SUV hit the curb as it was speeding out of the parking lot; the jolt knocked Liz from her seat and partially onto her kidnappers lap. Oh yes, she knew that face, she knew it well…
"Ric, oh my God, what are you doing, scratch that, why are you doing this?" Liz asked, a small whimper emerging from her.
She received cold indifference, the man, Ric, refused to speak to her, something was wrong. This was not the man that she had once been married to; this was a cold-hearted monster. The lack of emotion in his eyes and upon his face, scared her deeply, it was the same look of inhumanity that had been on Manny's face.
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Jason skidded to a stop, he could see where a vehicle had taken off at a rather high speed, the tire tracks were inconsistent, and it was obvious this is where something had gone down, the dead man lay just inches away from the tracks. Jason whipped out his cell phone and dialed 911.
"911, how can I help you?" The operator asked.
"There has been a shooting, a man is down, I don't know what happened, but you better get the police here." Jason said flipping his phone closed.
Liz I pray you were not anywhere near here when this went down, but something tells me you were. A pain in my heart speaks the truth, for while I may wish to make this fact untrue, every fiber of my being, knows you have been taken.
Jason waited for the police to arrive, knowing once again he would be questioned thoroughly, and the worst part of it all, is the fact that they are going to hinder my progress in finding Liz. Before the cops could get there, Jason made one more phone call.
"Sonny, it's Jason, I think…"
"Jason… Jason, are you there." Sonny screamed into the silent phone, his sleep muddled mind instantly clearing, concern for his friend had cut through that fog.
The phone in Jason's hand slipped to the damp earth, laying in the tread of one of the tire tracks was Elizabeth's bracelet, the one she had bought herself on Cam's first Christmas. He fell to his knees, picking up the small ornament that once held pride on her tiny wrist. Without even realizing it, he was screaming, an agonized jumble of words issuing from him, it was undeniable that she was taken, if he hadn't seen it, then he could have continued to delude himself a little longer, but now that was not an option. When he finally had himself under some semblance of control, he picked his phone back up, placing it next to his ear.
"Jason, what the hell, what is going on?"
"It's Liz, she's been kidnapped. For some reason she decided to take a walk down to the pier, we ran into each other, she said she could not sleep and I was out, just needing some fresh air. What kind of idiot am I, I should have insisted I walk her home." Jason said, his agony piercing his close friend.
"Jason, slow down, just think, why would she be taken?" Sonny asked.
Not thinking about who knew, Jason admitted to being the father of Liz's baby.
"Excuse me, Jason, that's not possible, Liz herself said it was who she expected… Oh no, I jumped to conclusions didn't I. Oh Jason, I am so sorry. Give me five and meet me at the warehouse." Sonny said, fear coloring his words.
"I will be there as soon as I can; I called the cops, seeing as how there is a dead guy beside the vehicle's tire tracks. I cannot tell the cops that Elizabeth was kidnapped, but I will tell them what I can, we do not know who did this, so I will not take a chance that alerting the authorities will cause her or the baby further harm. I will see you as soon as I can. Also can you get everyone to the warehouse; we need to be prepared to start a search." Jason said as calmly as he could, hitting the end button on the phone and ending the conversation.
Sonny nodded his head and was about to speak, seeing as how Jason couldn't hear his affirmative nod, but before he even had a chance to say anything, that connection ended.
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