Chapter 23

"Any luck?" Randy asked, sounding tired, which he was.

He hadn't slept, he couldn't sleep. He had stayed up pacing around, in turn keeping his friends up who had seemed too paranoid to fall asleep. Like he would go on a killing spree or something. No, if he did any murder, it would be only a one time deal and only one person would die.

"None." Cody replied softly and jumped when his cell phone rang, raising a slow eyebrow, seeing his father's name flashing across the screen. "Hey Dad." He greeted tiredly, standing up and walked into the other room, closing the door behind him. "What's up?"

Ted was lying on the bed with his eyes closed, feeling a migraine coming on. They'd traveled to Las Vegas and back to Anaheim, where the Raw show currently was in the span of a few hours. Vince had told Randy simply that Layne called, needing some personal time off, and he gave it to her with no idea when she'd be back. He didn't have any other information for the man unfortunately. Where the hell had Layne and Reed gone?

Randy listened attentively as Cody spoke, frowning when Cody finally went into a room, and shared a look with Ted.

"Did you know he was married?" Dusty asked quietly, his tone grave. If by chance his son DID know and had his sister date Randy, Dusty was going to come out of retirement for one match only.

"Dad, Randy thought he was divorced..." Cody trailed off, his eyes widening to the size of saucers. "She's there isn't she?" When his father grunted, Cody sighed a huge breath of relief and sank back on the bed. "Samantha was supposed to sign the divorce papers and Randy thought she did, but she ended up fighting it with abandonment shit, even though she cheated on him and had a baby with another man while married to Randy. The bottom line is Randy's lawyer never told him ANY of this. Randy tried getting a hold of his lawyer and the man has dropped off the face of the earth. So now he's in the process of re-filing."

"And of course Layne doesn't know any of this because she didn't stick around long enough to ask any questions." Dusty sighed, taking all of that in.

This wasn't going to be pretty; he already knew that. Why couldn't his daughter ask first, run second? It would save her so much grief in life; he hated seeing her hurting like this.

"But he IS still married technically, Dad. He just didn't know anything about it." Cody groaned, knowing this was a really big mess. He couldn't believe this was happening; they'd all been so happy lately. "Look, just...keep Lay there and Reed. We'll be there soon."

"Alright, son, I'll do my best." Dusty said, knowing he couldn't mention THAT fact to Layne. She would probably take off running quicker then lightening.

"I think he knows where she's at." Ted was going to eventually have to break his eavesdropping habit, but as it was for Randy's sanity, he'd do it.

Cody talked a few more minutes with his father before hanging up and took a deep breath. In all honesty, he didn't blame his sister for leaving, especially with how vindictive and cruel Samantha had been on the phone. Not to mention she knew Randy hardly; it'd only been three months after all. Cody looked at the door and finally walked out, holding his hand up when Randy came toward him.

"She's with our Dad."

"She went to Austin?"

"Yeah...and she's a wreck." Cody looked heartbroken as he stared hardening at Randy. "You're not coming with and you can beat my ass all you want, but until this thing with Samantha is finalized, you're staying away from Layne and Reed." His voice was full of finality, still not believing Randy had a crooked lawyer during his divorce proceedings. "She's been through enough in her life, I'm going to see her...alone. I'll explain to her what happened, but you need to deal with this shit with your ex before continuing this relationship with Layne."

Randy stared hardening at Cody. So it was his fault his bitch wife -and boy did that word leave a nasty taste in his mouth- had fucked him over and his lawyer had decided to be a rotten son of a bitch. "So instead of letting me explain things to her, you're-" He had to walk away before he put his fist right through his friend's face, deciding a mirror would be easier. "Do you think she'll listen to you?"

Ted understood why Cody was upset, but in all honesty, the only person who could explain things to Layne would be Randy himself. "We're all going."

"I know it's not your fault, man." Cody felt so helpless and sat down on the bed, putting his head in his hands. He was trying to be a good brother. "I just don't wanna lose my sister again..."

Ted sighed and looked over at Randy, silently nodding his head. "Book three flights, we're all going."

Cody didn't say a word, knowing Layne was going to maim their father for calling and telling him where she was, but it was for her own damn good.

~!~

Layne stepped out of the shower and went back into her room, seeing Reed sitting on the bed, cracking a smile at her.

"Mommy, don't cry." Reed murmured and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, knowing she was very upset right now. She didn't blame her. "It'll be okay."

"I'm supposed to be comforting you, sweetheart." Layne whispered and slowly pulled away, staring into Reed's green eyes. "You know why we left, right?"

"Yes, I understand. I don't want to see Randy ever again."

Tears slid down her cheeks as Layne nodded, closing her eyes. "I know, sweetheart, I don't either."

"Mom, why does Grandpa talk weird? Uncle Cody does it too." Reed commented after hearing a very long story from her grandpa, who was now retired for a nap. "You don't do it." She bit her lower lip, needing to distract herself. She was eleven years old and too smart for her own good, she had been told that time and time again.

"Oh you mean their accent?" Layne smiled, glad her daughter was providing a distraction and sat down on the bed, pulling her on her lap and wrapped her arms around her. "Well sweetie, I left here when I was fifteen years old. I used to have that accent, used to talk like them, but I don't anymore because of where I moved. I adapted to my new surroundings and my accent sort of disappeared. It's all about the environment you live in, do you understand?" When she nodded, Layne smiled, kissing her forehead softly and ran her fingers through her hair. She missed Randy and closed her eyes so the tears wouldn't fall again.

"So if I had been born here in Austin, I would have an accent?" Reed wondered aloud, shrugging, and moved onto the next topic. "Grandpa says he wants to take us horseback riding." She didn't think he meant he was going to ride, but what did she know?

"Oh really?" Layne sighed, remember her horse Midnight, knowing the poor creature was put down. Horses didn't live that long and it'd been eleven years since she'd been back here. "You can go horseback riding, but I'm not big on it. How about we go out to a movie while your grandfather is sleeping, hmm? I heard the new Disney Pixar movie is awesome."

"I'll go get my things!" She squealed and rushed out of the room.

Layne stood up, wearing jeans with an orange tank top that had a butterfly design on it, her hair up and walked out of the room after grabbing her purse, keys and sunglasses.

~!~

So this was where Cody and Layne had grown up. Randy and Ted hung back while Cody exchanged a few words with his dad on the front porch. Randy had been expecting a shotgun reception, thank god his expectations were wrong. He was itching to see Layne, but then heard the Dream.

"Lay and Reed went out to see a movie, they'll be back in an hour or so."

This was going to be the longest hour of his life.

~!~

"That was so cute!"

"I know the old guy is my favorite character of the movie."

Layne chuckled and shook her head as they walked out of the movie theater, heading for their Escalade and suddenly stopped. She felt something, a pair of eyes on her, and a chill shot down her spine as Layne slowly turned around. Those green eyes that mirrored her daughter's stared back at her. Feeling her heart give a painful lurch, Layne's breathing quickened instantly.

"Come on Reed, we'll go get some ice cream." She was doing her damnest to keep the panic out of her voice and practically ran to the Escalade, hopping in and turned the ignition shakily before peeling out of there. She cracked a smile at her daughter's confused face and asked, "How about Dairy Queen?"

Reed might have been young, but she wasn't a fool. Her mom had raised her to be cautious and aware of changes in people and in places. "What's wrong?" She asked softly, the running from sidewalk to car had been a dead giveaway. "Momma, what's the matter?" She looked out the window, frowning when she picked out a man who was staring them down intently.

"Nothing sweetie, we just have to get back to grandpa's after ice cream." Layne's heart was pounding furiously in her chest as she nearly blew a red light, thanking god there wasn't a cop in sight. She'd looked in her rearview mirror and frowned, seeing Damien was following them. Layne decided she would give her daughter ice cream later; right now they had to get back to Dusty's in one piece. Damien knew she was back in town, this wasn't good. Why had Layne come back here? "Grandpa has ice cream; we'll have some there, okay?" She grabbed her daughter's hand and squeezed it, the radio playing softly as she turned on the dirt road that lead to her father's place. 'Please get us there safely.' She thought, sending up a silent prayer.

"Mom, who's that behind us?" Reed demanded, peering through the side mirror, turning around in her seat after unbuckling to stare out the back window.

"Sounds like they might be coming." Ted said, watching as Randy instantly got up and walked over to the window. "Dude, you might want to stay in hiding until she's OUT and AWAY from the car."

Ted made a very good point.

"Reed put your seatbelt on NOW!" Layne shouted, her voice shaking as she gripped the steering wheel, squealing her tires to a halt five minutes later and seen Damien had done the same thing. "Stay in the car and lock the doors." She ordered her daughter, who just nodded, and slid out of the Escalade before turning to face her ex-boyfriend, the man who had raped her, tears swelling in her eyes. "What the hell do you want?" She demanded finally, seeing his black hair glinting in the moonlight with those cold, calculating green eyes, her heart hammering in her chest.

"I want to talk to you." Damien said, his eyes just as cold and calculating, glancing into the Escalade with an arched eyebrow. "When the hell did you have a kid?" He demanded, having not seen Layne in years obviously. She was a beautiful woman. She had been a nice looking kid; my how kind time had been.

"That's none of your business, Damien." Layne spat, her own eyes growing cold and seen Reed was watching her every move, flashing a smile at her to let her know everything was fine, though not taking her eyes from her ex-boyfriend. "You need to leave now before my father comes out here." Her voice was low again and the tears were glistening in her midnight blue eyes, raking a hand through her honey chestnut hair. "I mean it Damien, leave now."

Cody, Randy and Ted were all watching from the window. Cody was gripping the sill so hard his knuckles were turning white, seemingly frozen in place.

"Or what?" Damien snorted, backing her into the vehicle, stopping her from smacking him and retaliated by ripping back on her hair.

Randy was on his way out the door, Ted and Cody following. He got there first, grabbing the other man by the back of his neck, pulling him away from Layne only to slam him face first into the side of the Escalade. Layne landed on the ground with a grunt and looked up with wide eyes at Legacy, her boys, tears streaming down her face.

"YOU THINK YOU CAN RAPE MY FUCKING SISTER AND GET AWAY WITH IT, BOY?"

Ted's eyes widened along with Randy, both of them looking up to see Reed was backing away from the seat as much as possible, scared out of her mind.

"MOMMY!"

Layne heard that and was on her feet in an instant, running around the other side of the Escalade while Legacy took care of Damien. She pulled Reed out of the car after she unlocked the door. She wasn't letting her daughter go and rushed inside the house past her father, needing to calm Reed down, who was crying.

Dusty was now moving as fast as he could, carrying a shotgun, having overheard Cody's shouts. Usually, he was a mild mannered man, but right now he was just as pissed as the three youngsters out in the yard who were beating the shit out of Damien. He watched as Ted and Randy got in on the action, wondering if he would have to stop THEM instead of hurting Damien more.

~!~

"Mom, what's going on?!" Reed was in hysterics at the moment, burying her face in her mother's neck, her grip tightening around her neck. "I'm scared!"

"I know, sweetheart, I know. Ssshhhh calm down, please calm down for me." She was crying as well, her head hurt, and tried to get over the initial shock of Randy being there. Had her father called him? Layne pushed everything aside and began singing her lullaby to her daughter. "Never forget who you are, Little Star...Sing with me, Reed."

She hiccoughed, taking a deep breath. "Never forget how to dream butterfly." Her voice was low and shaky, but it was slowly calming down.

"That's my girl..."

~!~

"Guys, I think we mighta killed him." Ted panted, brushing sweat off his face.

Damien groaned, even though he was unconscious the pain wasn't gone, just kept at a greater distance. Randy and Cody exchanged looks before each taking a turn at stomping on his head.

"NOW we mighta killed him."

"I'll call the sheriff and say we caught him trying to break into the house."