Chapter 18: Before the Storm

She turned on her side and placed her arm under her pillow. It was three in the morning and she still couldn't sleep. Opening her eyes, she looked at the envelope that was lying on her night table. Inside there was a letter written by her grandmother days before dying.

Elizabeth sat up in her bed and rested her back on the headboard. Why was she so afraid to read it? Why couldn't she just take out the paper and learn from the very own Audrey the truth?

"Because you are a damn coward, that's why." She took the envelope in her hands and opened it. Her hands were trembling . . . A tear ran down her face. "I can't do it."

>>

Eva woke up early as usual. Her face was void of emotion as she scrambled some eggs. The sun was shining on the small waves that crashed on the surf. And Francis was coming out of the water, like a mythological being would. His short blond hair was dripping droplets of water down his face and straight down his chest. And what a chest too . . . God he was gorgeous. And she was the stupidest woman on Earth.

The waves bathed the sand and the moon was all the lighting they needed. They were laying on a blanket together as if they were the only two human beings on the face of the Earth. He was loving her mouth and waking up feelings inside her that she once thought she never could feel. Smooth and slow motions brought a strong heat to settle on the pit of her stomach. His hands were exploring her body bit by bit. First her shoulders, her arms, her thighs . . .

She forgot herself in him and it was the most delicious sensation she had ever experienced. Soon their tongues were dancing together in a primitive rhythm that made her feel as if she were floating. Then she felt him running his hands up her thighs and she snapped back to reality. She wanted more, so much more and it scared her.

Breaking the kiss she pushed him back and sat up. Still breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?"

"I- I can't."

His expression was unreadable. "W-why? Did I scare you? Did I do something wrong?"

"Oh no. You did everything soooo right."

He leaned closer and took her lips on a quick kiss. "Then what is it?"

"I- I'm just not ready." She stood up and looked back at him with tears shining in her eyes. "I'm sorry." And she ran inside of the house without looking back.

"EVA!"

The smell of burnt eggs brought her back and the loud yell made her turn around. There she found a very angry Jason Morgan.

"What?"

"What? You almost burned the house down and all you have to say is what?" He walked closer and turned the water on and placed the scorched skillet under it.

"I'm sorry. I was distracted. I..."

"No kidding."

Francis walked inside the house and the reek of burning food made him wrinkle his nose in distaste. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and his swimming trunks. "What happened in here?"

"You'll have to ask your girlfriend that." Jason said tersely, still cleaning the mess.

Eva looked up to find Francis' gaze lingering somewhere above her head. He couldn't even look at her. So much for their special connection. Without another word she turned around and ran out of the kitchen.

>>

He was sitting on his usual table inside his rundown bar a cold Medalla (beer) in his hands. The two guards were giving him the information he had asked.

"She's still staying with Morgan. There's another woman with them and the bodyguard too. We found two guards that constantly follow the women, but more times than not Morgan and Caruso are with them."

"What about the Webbers?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. They've been keeping a low profile since the last meeting." The second guard added.

"Good job. Let me know the moment Elizabeth goes out alone so I can put my plan into motion."

"We'll do it, sir. How about your brother? What do we tell him the next time he calls?"

"Tell him I'm taking care of a personal problem, and that if things go as plan I'll manage to help him out with a thorn he's had in his side for a while."

>>

"Why don't we go to the mall and have lunch on a nice restaurant?" Sarah inquired from her place in the lounge in front of the pool.

"That's a nice idea. I'll call your father and brother and ask them to join us. We still have some things to discuss about Lizzie."

"Okay, I'll go change."

>>

Elizabeth was sitting on the ottoman still holding the letter from her grandmother. She woke up early and tried to do some sketching, praying to find the courage to read what her grandmother had written to her. She couldn't eat, nor sketch. She was too anxious to do anything except look at the envelope in her hand.

"Come on Webber. You have to do this. You've waited five years for an answer and now here you have something that might clue you in on what happened. Just do it."

She stood up and walked to the balcony. The light breeze played with her hair, taking in the light smell of the ocean and clean air. She tore the envelope open and took out the papers and unfolded them.

Dear Elizabeth,

If you are reading this letter it means you've just turned 18 years of age and that I've passed away before I could see you turn into the beautiful young woman I'm sure you are.

First of all I have to apologize for lying to you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my health problems until it was too late. You were so young my dear, I just couldn't cloud your innocence with something so terrible as death. But if there's one thing I don't regret is spending my last years taking care of you.

Secondly, there are things you must know. Things that might be going on as we speak and that might affect you without you even knowing about it. I know it's not my place to tell you, but I'm sure that they would never say it, in the hopes that they can manipulate you into doing what they want.

My last husband Tom Hardy was a very rich man. He had a lot of money in holdings and real estate. He also had accounts in different banks around the world. You might think I'm delirious as you never heard him making references to that money. He wasn't an avaricious man and he knew the consequences that having so much money could bring in the time of his death. Tom helped me race my son Jeff as if he were his own, he never denied him anything. Not until his last days...

By now you must know that your father, my son, is a very greedy man. Once Tom passed away, Jeff wanted control of half of everything Tom owned, but I was named sole beneficiary of his estate. That didn't fend well with Jeff, who still wanted me to sign half of everything over to him. My heart was broken at the person my son grew up to be. His greed was so much that he decided to abandon his younger daughter so he could go on to become part of a prestigious league of doctors in Europe.

I took care of you as if you were mine, becase some how I blamed myself for the fallout between me and my son. But now I know that he was the only one making the decisions, he wanted power and money above all.

That is why I made the decision of making you the only and sole beneficiary of the Hardy Estate.

Elizabeth, I raced you to be a responsible and honest woman and I know you'll do the right thing. Money it's not worth pain and heartache. You my dear will live a long and happy life. But you have to be careful with your family. As much as it pains me to admit it, Jeff is not a good man and I'm sure he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

I love you and I would've given all of the money away to have been able to see you grow up and become a great famous artist. I would have enjoyed seeing you fall in love and get married. But time is running out and I know that it's not going to be possible.

Live your life to the fullest. See the world as we talked so many times. Don't ache because I'm gone anymore than you have to. And don't look down to anyone. You are stronger than you think and I promise I'll be looking out for you from whatever Heaven might be.

I love you Elizabeth, and I've always been proud of you. I have faith in you and I know you'll do the right thing when the time comes...

Love,

Your Grams.

Tears were falling down Elizabeth's cheeks as she finished reading the letter. She folded the letter and placed it inside the envelope. She walked inside the bedroom and looked for her jewelry box. It was an antique wooden box that her grandmother had given her on her tenth birthday. She placed the letter inside and closed the lid.

Still crying she walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs. The house seemed quieter than usual, but she didn't really paid attention until a loud scream filled the silence and made her run in the direction of the noise.

Drying her tears Elizabeth made it out back to the pool side. Eva was standing outside and she was screaming her heart out.

"ARRRRRRGH!"

Her arms were clenched at her sides and her face was red. Elizabeth walked closer and cleared her throat.

"Eva."

"ARRRRRRGH!"

"EVA!" Elizabeth shouted.

The older woman still had her eyes closed. "I'm not listening Elizabeth. I just want to scream, scream until I have no voice left."

"What is going on? Did something happen? Where are the guys?"

"Ohhh I don't know. They left, not even bothered to tell me where. But why would they? I'm just the maid after all."

"What? Did Jason say that?" Elizabeth asked not understanding a thing.

"No, but he didn't have to. Maybe Francis will say it again. He said it to me a while back... didn't I tell you? It was one of his shining moments."

Eva was looking at Elizabeth then and her tears where about to fall, but she was still fighting them of.

"Eva, something happened but I can't help you if you don't tell me what it is."

The tear she was desperately holding fell down her cheek and then she lifted her face and meet Elizabeth's worried gaze.

"I feel in love with him."

Elizabeth smiled sweetly at her friend. "Yeah, we kind of figured that already."

"How? Does it show? Am I that transparent? Oh God, do I do stupid things around him? Oh God..."

Eva ran her hands over her face and down her long raven locks. "I didn't plan this you know. I was completely happy been a cold hearted bitch. And then all of you happened and now I'm a merry freaking sunshine all the time. If my grandmother sees me now she would flip." Eva sat down on the floor and crossed her legs indian style. Elizabeth followed suit and sat with her knees drawn up to her chest.

"I came here running away. I wanted to disappear from a life I never really wanted but that was the only one I had. My family was poor, not boarding on homeless, but poor nonetheless. We are five siblings, my grandma took care of all of us because my mother scrammed. She was an addict and never really cared about us. My big brother is a dealer, with his money we managed to help our grandparents and send our younger siblings to school. I'm the oldest of the girls, so I took the role of mother to the three youngest."

"How old are you?"

"I turned twenty-three a couple of months ago. But I feel like I've lived a lot more. I've been working since I was fifteen. I've been a waitress, a bartender, and a maid on a good day... but I've been a lot of other things too."

"I don't understand." Elizabeth said confused.

"Elizabeth, I've done things I'm not proud of. And looking back now, I should have run when I had the time, because now I don't really know how to tell him..."

"I'm sure Francis wouldn't mind about your background. He likes you, I'm pretty sure that your curriculum is the last thing on his mind."

"Well I'm not so sure. I haven't been completely honest. And my life story do matter... Elizabeth, I was an escort."

"A what?" The younger American girl asked shocked.

"An escort, as in a hooker. As in I used to sleep with men for money."

There was a long silence before either one decided to talk. They both sat there over looking the gardens and the poolside.

"Do you want to go to the mall?" Elizabeth asked after a while.

"What?"

"It's been a long day filled with a lot of new information and I'm tired of acting like an adult. I want to be a teenager for a day. Would you like to be one with me?"

Eva laughed out loud. "I'm not a teenager, Elizabeth."

"I know but... come on. Let's do something completely unexpected and free." Elizabeth stood up and pulled Eva with her.

"I'm not sure..."

"It'll be fun, spontaneous and it will take our minds from all of our problems. Let's pretend we are normal for a day."

"Normal would be a stretch." Eva said still not convinced.

"I know, but let's do it anyway."

They spent all day running around the mall. Both, mostly window shopping had a great time together. They caught an early movie, a withy and funny romantic comedy. Elizabeth had convinced Eva to buy a beautiful dress and a pair of shoes too. She had brought a couple of things she needed too. Around five o'clock in the afternoon, after an early dinner they made their way out of the mall. Standing outside the building waiting for their cab, they spotted the Webbers coming towards them.

Caroline, Jeff, Steven and Sarah had spend the afternoon talking and planing their next move against Elizabeth. Shortly after coming out of the restaurant they saw her standing to the side with another woman, so they made their way toward her.

The men sitting inside the black jeep smiled at the scene. It couldn't have been more perfect even if they tried.

Jason and Francis made their way to the entrance of the mall, not realizing the situation they were about to walk in to.

"Good afternoon, honey. How are you?" Jeff said as he walked toward his younger daughter and hugged her.

Elizabeth stood there and let him wrap his arms around her, vile coming up as she remember her Grams words... Jeff is not a good man and I'm sure he'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

"How are you, Liz?" Sarah asked in her bubbly and upbeat voice.

"I was doing fine..."

Steven look at the beautiful young woman standing beside Elizabeth and steped closer.

"Who's your friend?"

"She's a good friend." Elizabeth said not really paying attention.

"It seems like my little sis is not going to introduce us. Hello, my name is Steven Webber." He extended his hand and Eva looked at him as if he had a third eye growing on his forehead.

"Eva Cruz."

"Nice to meet you, Eva."

"Sorry I can't say the same."

"Oh my God, could she be more uncivilized? Where do you find this people? The barrio?"

Elizabeth's temper flared at her mother's words. And Eva stood her full lenght also ready to deal with the bitches. She had been wanting to clean the floor with the two harpies standing in front of her and it seemed like the time had finally come.

"Excuse me? Oh sorry, but not everyone falls for your unrehearsed concerned family act. I didn't have to go to the barrio to find 'this people' as you call them. Thank God, they've found me. And I'm glad that they have sticked around even though the twisted family tree."

"Are you implying they are better than us?" Sarah asked stunned.

"I'm not implying, I'm flat out telling you." Elizabeth said.

Before they had the chance to answer, a rain of shots thundered around them.

Jason and Francis accelerated their pace and soon were both running toward the noise.

They couldn't register their voices yelling for them to move. Elizabeth and Eva tried to run, but the shots were coming from all around them, soon Eva threw Elizabeth down on the ground. The red blood started to pull around them as the heat of the wound started to burn her skin. Counter shoots rang too and then silence fell over them.

>>

Night fell and they all waited on the living room for Barbara to come down with news on her. Eva had recieved a wound to her arm as she was crouching down and shielding Elizabeth.

The young woman was biting hard on her bottom lip, waiting for the doctor. She was praying that Eva was okay, because she felt responsible for what happened. If it wasn't for her they wouldn't have been outside that mall. It was all her fault.

She paced the room and twisted her hands. Jason watched her for a long time before he stood next to her and whispered.

"This is not your fault."

She looked up at his concerned face and her bottom lip trembled when she released it from it's hold between her teeth.

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"Yes, it is. She didn't want to go, Jason. And I made her."

"Things like this happen... if it's anyones fault it's mine. If it wasn't for me neither one of you would be caught in the cross fire."

"What do you mean?"

"What happen today was because of me."

"How do you know?"

"It's the only reason we could find."

"What if it's about me? What if it was Tony?"

"It would have been my fault too."

"No it wouldn't, it would've been mine. Don't you get it yet, I'm trouble... trouble you don't need." Elizabeth said in a whisper.

"Well, I'm trouble too and ..."

"She's gonna be fine." Their quiet conversation was cut short by Barbara's words.

"How is she?" Francis spoke for the first time since the shooting. He had been sitting on the couch silent for the past couple of hours waiting for news on Eva's health.

"She's gonna be fine. It was just a scratch. The bullet brazed her arm, but it didn't do much damage. I cleaned the wound and bandaged it. She took a couple of painkillers and the antibiotic."

"Can I come see her?" Francis asked the doctor.

"Of course. But she'll be dozing off soon."

"Thank you for everything, Barbara."

"It's my job." She said with a reassuring smile as the bodyguard made his way up the stairs. Taking in Elizabeth's wary state, the older woman walked closer to her. "How are you doing, honey?"

"I'm fine." Elizabeth said trying to cover her nervousness.

"You don't have to pretend you are. I know that going through something like this is not easy at all. If you need to talk..."

"I'm fine, Barbara. Everything is fine. I was just a little shaken up. But now that I know Eva is going to be okay, I'll be too."

"Well if you say so, I believe you. I'm going to head home. It's going to start raining any minute now. Have you guys brought groceries and first aid necessities?"

"Why would we?" Jason spoke from his place a few feet away as he looked out the sliding doors.

"Haven't you watched the news? A tropical storm is coming this way."

"Oh, that. Yeah I knew about it. We are stocked up. There's no problem."

"Okay. We'll if you need anything call me, okay."

"Thank you for everything, Barbara." Elizabeth spoke as she embraced the older woman in tight hug.

>>

He walked inside the room and his eyes wondered to the figure of the woman lying on the bed. Her caramel colored skin was a big contrast against the white sheets surrounding her. She had her eyes closed and her long black hair was fanned across the pillow. She looked so frail he only wanted to hold her close and never let her go.

She felt him come in and stop after closing the door. With her eyes still closed she spoke.

"You can come closer, it's not contagious."

He smiled and walked until he was at the side of the bed. "No it's not contagious, but I'm sure it hurts like hell."

"It's not that bad. I've had worst." She opened her eyes to find his concerned blue orbs trained on her.

"I'm so sorry you got hurt."

"This wasn't your fault."

"It never is. But still innocent people get hurt."

"Francis, I don't think this is the time to start with the 'my life is too dangerous' speech."

He sat on the edge of the mattress and covered her hand with his. "You scared the hell out of me today."

"I'm sorry..."

"This wasn't your fault." He placed a strand of hair away from her eyes.

"I meant about last night."

"We don't have to talk about that now."

"Yes we do. I want to explain everything."

"There's nothing to explain."

"Yes there is. I got hurt today. I was lucky the bullet wasn't a couple of inches to the side or I would've..."

"Don't say it." He whispered.

"Well it's the truth. And I've never been more afraid of death than today, because I didn't want to die before I told you the truth."

Francis' eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What do you mean? What truth?"

"I think I'm in love with you."

Their eyes met and time seemed to stop. He almost forgot to breathe at the sincerity he found in her dark brown eyes.

"I..."

"Wait. Please don't say it yet. There are somethings I need to tell you first, things that might make you change your mind."

"Nothing is going to change my mind about how I feel. I've been fighting it for a long time, but it's been useless."

"What I have to say might. Listen to me first and then we'll figure out what to do about all this."

"Okay, go ahead."

>>

The door opened to reveal the Webbers as they came crusing in. Both Jason and Elizabeth looked at them in utter disbelief.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"We came to take you home with us." Jeff said tersely.

"I'm not going back to that house until you leave." Elizabeth countered.

"I didn't mean to the house. I meant to Moscow. We are leaving tonight and you are coming with us."

"What? Are you crazy? I'm not leaving with you to Russia. I don't want to live on a house in the other side of the town with you, what made you think I'll live all the way on the other side of the world with you?"

"Listen kid, I'm not asking for your input here. I said we are leaving." Jeff stepped closer to Elizabeth.

"Hey, you'll listen and listen good. Elizabeth said she's not going." Jason said stopping the olser man before he reached Elizabeth.

"What are you going to do to stop me, ha? Take out your gun and shoot me right here? Wasn't enough the attempted murder in a public place?"

"Jason didn't do anything."

"Yeah well tell that to the police. We already testified. And we weren't the only ones that saw him draw his gun and fire." Caroline pitched in.

"I can't belive you. He only fired to stop the other people. If anything he helped all of you."

"If you believe that, you are crazier than we thought." Sarah added.

"I'm not crazy." Elizabeth said getting angry.

"Yeah, well the doctors will think differently." Caroline spoke again without an once of concern.

"The only ones crazy here are all of you and if you don't leave my house at your own accord, I'll make you leave." Jason was losing his temper rather quickly.

"This doesn't concern you Morgan." Jeff spoke again.

"If it concerns Elizabeth it concerns me." Jason said standing besides Elizabeth protectively.

"Your token knight in shining armor are you? Changed the white horse for a Harley and the sword for a magnum?" Jeff added mockingly.

"I know what you are trying to do and it won't work." Elizabeth said holding back her tears. "I know everything."

The three of them looked at the petite brunette and then back at each other.

"We don't know what you are talking about. You are even more sick than we thought." Jeff tried to cover for his initial surprise. It most be a bluff, he thought.

"I'm not sick. You are, if you think that you can pull this off. I got Grams' letter yesterday. I know everything. I'm the sole beneficiary of the Hardy Estate. All you wanted was to come here and play nice so I would sign it away to you. Now that that didn't work, your plan changed. You want to make people believe I'm crazy so you can be my legal guardian." Seeing her father's face turn pale she went on. "That's it isn't it? Well you all can go back to whatever hell hole you came from because your plan is not going to work. I'm staying right here and you won't see a penny of that money."

Jason stood quietly listening to Elizabeth's words. Everyone of them was cold and heartless, but he knew she was dying inside. This people were her family after all.

"You don't know what you are talking about. Whatever this man is telling you is not the truth." Sarah did her best to cover her fury, there plan had been exposed. Little Lizzie wasn't as stupid as she thought.

"Stop bringing Jason into this. This has nothing to do about him, this is between me and you. Let's cut the crap already. I know you hate me and it's no secret I hardly care. You heard me. I'm not giving you Grandmother's money, so get over it. Leave me alone or I'll swear you'll see a whole different side of Lizzie Webber, a less pleasant one."

"There's one more unpleasant?" Caroline asked to no one in particular.

"Oh yeah. There is and you don't want to meet her, Mother. Now you came to say good bye, something about going back to Russia? Well... arrivederci, bon voyage, hasta luego and see hope I don't see you ever again." Elizabeth walked to the door and opened it. "Get out."

"You've not heard the last of us, you little bitch." Jeff said unable to hold his anger any longer.

"Bring it on, Jeff. Whenever you want." Elizabeth stood with her hands at her hips as her family walked out the door. Once they were out of sight, Jason closed the door and stood in front of Elizabeth. She had been glued to the spot for a couple of minutes a blank expression on her face, until the first tear fell down her cheeks.

"Elizabeth..."

She said nothing. But when she felt his arms around her, she broke down. Jason caught her as they both fell to the ground and her whole body started to shake uncontrollably with sobs as she cried in his arms.