"I don't want to talk about it." Dillon cut Elizabeth off when she tried to make yet another comment about how close the abductions were. They had left Robin in Patrick's care and were on their way to pick up their children.
"I can't help it." Elizabeth bit her lower lip and looked out the passenger side window. "This shouldn't be happening."
"We can't change it. All we can do is prevent it from continuing." Dillon told her through gritted teeth. He was holding the steering wheel hostage, his knuckles whitening under the pressure.
"Then why are you driving so slow?" She challenged. All she wanted to do was grab Cameron, run home, and never leave the house again. And she had laughed at Lucky when he expressed a similar reaction after Cameron's accident.
"I don't want to be pulled over." Dillon informed her hotly.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I just want to get to the schools before something else happens."
Dillon blew out a breath. "I'm sorry. I'm scared and it's not a welcome feeling."
Dillon pulled his blue nineteen fifty-one Chevy into the parking lot of Cameron's preschool and parked, not missing the way Elizabeth hopped out before he had even stopped the vehicle. "Liz, wait. I'm coming."
"Why? Lance doesn't go here."
"Someone has to drive you home." Dillon pointed out.
Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm losing it. Dr. Lansing said being forgetful was a part of pregnancy, but I thought I was skipping that."
They ran the rest of the way to the principal's office where Elizabeth had insisted Cameron be. They hadn't even questioned her, which made Dillon nervous. Throwing open the door, Elizabeth's eyes searched desperately for Cameron. Finally, he leapt out of a chair three times his side and wrapped his arms around Elizabeth's right leg. "Lizzie!"
Dropping down to her knee, she hugged Cameron to her hard. "Cameron." She sighed, mouthing the words "thank you" to the secretary seated behind the desk. Forcing a smile onto her face, she pulled back just long enough to look into Cameron's eyes. "You ready to go?"
"Uh huh! Why's Dillon here?" Cameron wanted to know, nodding toward the shaking blonde.
"He's our ride. You know I can't drive Daddy's car." She couldn't explain why driving the Jeep or the truck made her nervous, but they did. Plus it was getting a little uncomfortable sitting behind the wheel these days.
"Alright guys. We gotta go." Dillon reminded them, ushering them toward the car.
"Yeah. We have to go pick up Lance before we get home." Elizabeth grabbed hold of Cameron's hand tightly and scanned the hallway and parking lot for anyone that looked out of place.
The situation at Lance's school was no less dramatic. Dillon must have held his son in shock for at least five minutes before Elizabeth's placed her hand on his left shoulder, snapping him out of the spell. Dillon dropped Elizabeth and Cam off with every intention of driving straight to Lucas' office. This was too important to talk about over the phone.
She hoped Lucky was still asleep. This would go so much easier if he was still in the bed. Then they could just slip in and pretend everything was normal, at least for a few minutes longer. But as soon as she opened the door, her hopes were dashed. Lucky was coming down the stairs, wide awake and in a considerably better mood than the one she left him in.
The nightmares hadn't been that bad this time around. He had even managed to get back to sleep after them, which sometimes never happened. Maybe, Lucky mused as he made his way downstairs, today wasn't going to be as a bad of a day as he originally feared. Seeing Elizabeth open the door, he initially smiled, guessing she had taken the day off to see Robin as she had suggested this morning. But his smile gave way to confusion as he saw Cameron rush in from behind her.
"Daddy!" Cameron yelled as he spotted his father. He launched himself up the stairs, causing Lucky to reach down and catch him mid-step before the four-year-old could knock him on his back. "I'm home early."
"Yes you are." Lucky looked back and forth between Cameron and an increasingly nervous looking Elizabeth. "Are you sick buddy?"
Cameron shook his head. "No. Lizzie and Dillon came to get me and Lance."
Dillon? Lance? "Did they now?" Lucky reached the living room and set Cameron down, moving toward Elizabeth. "Any reason?"
Tucking a piece of hair behind her ear, Elizabeth sank down onto the couch. The words hadn't been easy to say to Patrick and now she had to say them again. Glancing at Cameron, she sent the little boy a wink. "Why don't you go upstairs and find that new train of yours?" She asked forcing calmness she didn't possess into her voice.
Cameron nodded and shot up the stairs in a second. Lucky watched him go before turning to Elizabeth. "The train is in the basement. Not his room."
"I know. But he doesn't need to hear this yet." Elizabeth motioned toward the spot next to her. "Sit down. I have to tell you something."
Slowly Lucky took a seat, taking a hold of her hand in the process. This couldn't be good news that much Lucky realized. "Was there bad news from Dr. Lansing?"
Shaking her head quickly, Elizabeth chewed on her lower lip. "No. No. Everything is fine. I'm fine. Everyone is healthy."
Lucky blew out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Then what is it?"
"It's Morgan. He's missing."
For the second time in two days, Lucky felt himself being hurled back into his worst nightmare. Closing his eyes, he could see the evil smile Faison had sneered at him, the white hair gleaming under the bright light. "No one is going to look for you Young Spencer. Why do you fight my hospitality?" He shook his head to clear the image from his mind. Not again. Not again.
Elizabeth continued on, hoping if she could just get the words out, maybe then the situation would start to make sense. "Robin got a call from the school. Morgan never came back from a fire drill. A little girl saw some woman talking to him and then he was gone."
It was too close. Too close. The details weren't the same as his own ordeal, but there were similarities. Kristina and Morgan? Less than a full day apart? It didn't happen here. It didn't happen in Port Charles. Not since Sonny and Jason went to jail. "Robin?"
"She's a mess. Hysterical. Patrick's with her now." The image of her friend shaking violently as she screamed in rage against Dillon's chest would haunt Elizabeth for years to come.
"And you picked up Cameron."
"I know it seems insane, but I just needed to make sure he was here and he was safe. If Morgan could be grabbed at school and Kristina out of her bed..." Elizabeth let her words trail off as she shuddered. Was there nowhere safe anymore?
He understood the impulse perfectly. Looking at his watch, he listened carefully for the sounds he associated with Cameron looking for his toys. Bangs. Clatters. A laugh of delight. Five minutes? Would he still be looking for that train after five minutes? Did he go upstairs now to make sure Cameron was still in his room, still with him, when Morgan and Kristina were God knows where?
"Maybe I was wrong." Elizabeth called upstairs. "Check down here." She offered a soft smile. "I didn't want to scare him."
Lucky nodded. "No. We'll explain it to him later." Right now, he had to calm down and focus. He wouldn't be able to protect Cameron if he was too busy freaking out over old issues. Not now, he told himself harshly. Not now.
Cruz whistled as he crossed the driveway to his house where his wife and his mother were waiting for him. He smiled when his nose picked up the familiar aroma of homemade lasagna. His mouth was watering and he wasn't even to the door yet. He turned the knob and the smile froze on his face.
Curled up in his mother's embrace was Bobbie. Her face was hidden from his view and her back was turned toward him. He could tell from this distance that she was shaking and he could hear her sobbing. This wasn't hormones, a little voice told him. This was heartbreak. What was going on? Bobbie didn't just break down into tears for no reason, and break down in front of his mother didn't comfort him in the least. "Mama? Bobbie? What? What's wrong?"
"My baby...my baby..." Bobbie moaned out.
"Baby?" Cruz parroted, tears instantly springing to his eyes. "What about the baby?" He closed the door behind him and pulled Bobbie into his arms.
Isabella shook her head. "No. Not this baby. Morgan."
"What about Morgan?" Cruz demanded.
"He's missing." Isabella said sadly. "Just like his sister."
"Missing?" Cruz breathed out, stroking Bobbie's back lightly. If he hadn't been sitting down, he surely would have been now. Less than a day apart. What was going on? Who was taking the children and why? Even the relief he felt at the announcement that nothing was wrong with his baby didn't do much in repairing his shattering heart.
"He can't be gone. He can't be gone." Bobbie cried softly.
"He's not gone." Cruz argued. "Mac is going to find him." If only saying the words meant that that was exactly how everything would play out. He had no guarantees.
"Why would someone do this? Why?"
"It doesn't make any sense." Cruz murmured against her frizzy red curls.
"Cruz, can I see you in the kitchen?" Isabella suggested.
"Would that be okay?" Cruz asked Bobbie.
Nodding her head, Bobbie wrapped herself up in a blanket she kept on the back of the couch. "Hurry back."
"I will. I swear." Cruz told her, kissing her forehead and sluggishly moving toward the kitchen. "I need to be in there."
"You need to calm down first." Isabella corrected him.
"How can I?" Cruz challenged. "How? I love that little boy. How am I supposed to act like nothing's wrong, that it's not eating me up inside?"
"You are going to do it because your—because Bobbie needs you to. You're going to hold it together for your family." Isabella explained.
"Did Robin call and tell her?" Cruz whispered even though Bobbie couldn't have heard him over her wailing.
"No. Patrick." Isabella clarified. "He didn't sound too good."
"No. I guess he wouldn't." Cruz answered, rubbing his hand up and down the back of his neck. "Okay, I can do this."
"I'll check on dinner." Isabella offered, giving him a small smile.
"Hey, come here." He ordered, pulling Bobbie close to him. "I love you. I love you so much. And you're so strong. Morgan will be back before you know it."
"I want him back now."
"I know it baby." Cruz nodded against her cheek.
Mac stepped into the kitchen and was barely able to dodge the plate of china. "Alexis? The hell?" He roared, noticing that more than half the dinner dishes were missing from the open cabinets and their skeletons were littering the mahogany kitchen floor.
When Alexis faced him, her eyes were wide and incredulous, "You said we would get Kristina back! You said we would! But now Morgan's missing too!" Her scream sounded the proverbial fingernail scraping across a chalkboard. "They're both gone and we've done nothing to prevent it!"
"There was no reason to believe that Morgan would be targeted." Mac rationalized. "Are you willing to believe that maybe this is about Sonny after all?"
"Oh, you're so much smarter than I am, Malcolm. So much smarter. So much faster. So much more friendly. You're a better investigator than I am." Alexis growled at him, tossing another plate in his direction.
"We've both been clouded on this issue because it's hitting too close to home. You're not the only one hurting, Lexie!" Mac pointed out harshly.
"Have you even been to see your niece yet?" Alexis challenged. "Have you?"
"No! I came to check on you! Why is that suddenly a crime?"
"The only crime is that we didn't see this coming and stop it!"
"Do you want me to go?" Mac asked in a strained voice.
Alexis hung her head. "No. I don't want you to go."
Closing the space between them, Mac wrapped her securely in his arms. "We're going to get them back and whoever did this—" His voice broke off. He had always upheld the law and lived by it his entire life, even before the Academy sparked his interest. He lived and breathed the law. He wanted more than justice this time. He wanted blood.
"Do you think they'll call Robin tonight?"
Mac squeezed his eyes shut. His niece was going through enough. He wished he had been the one to answer his phone when the kidnapper had called the night before. It should have been him. He could have handled it. Alexis though...Robin...they shouldn't have to. "God I hope not."
"When you go see her," Alexis whispered, "tell her I'm sorry."
"For what?" Mac inquired, lifting her chin. "What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"
"I thought I had gotten rid of the crime in this town. I thought—and our last exchange wasn't pleasant. Please just tell her."
"You don't have anything to apologize for. You're both grieving." Mac muttered.
"No." Alexis shook her head fervently. "She's not to that point yet. She's not lucky enough for grief."
Mac let out a shaky breath. He didn't want to think Alexis was an expert in this. He didn't want to think that someone had both his stepdaughter and his nephew and were planning on terrorizing their mothers. So he did what he could and he rocked her. He stroked his hand through her silky cinnamon strands. He whispered words of reassurance that he didn't have evidence to back up. He loved her. It was all he knew how to do.