Chapter 24- Heather's Old Pal

Dante hopped out of the police car with another officer the next morning and stepped closer to the parked trailer. Michael pulled behind them and jumped out with Nina.

"Michael, you can't be here," Dante said.

"Willow is in there," Michael said. "We've been following you all night."

Dante groaned. "Fine. But you're not coming in with us. Stay by the car.

Dante and the other officer approached the door.

"Why did she bring her to Pine Valley?" Nina asked.

Michael shook his head. "I don't know."

Dante kicked the door down and stormed through the trailer. He came out a few minutes later. "They're gone."

GHGHGH

Heather kept the gun against Willow's side and banged on the door. "What's taking so long in there? Open up!"

Finally, the door swung open and an older woman with long, auburn hair stood there. "Heather? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is," Heather said. "Let me and my baby in, Janet."

GHGHGH

"I don't want to go to school today," James said at breakfast.

"It's okay, buddy," Maxie assured. "I took the day off work. We're all staying home today."

"Can we pway horsey?" Bailey asked.

Maxie nodded. "Sure, we can play horsey."

They turned when they heard the front door. "Maxie? It's Mom. I'm here with Georgie."

"Coming." Maxie rose and James crashed into her.

"Don't leave us, Mommy," he said.

She hugged him. "I won't. Let's go see Grandma." She lifted Bailey Lou and they all went to the living room.

Felicia wrapped her arms around them. "I'm so glad you're okay."

"We pway horsey, Gamma," Bailey said.

"We will soon, Bailey," Maxie said.

"It was scary, Grandma," James said. "The bad lady took Wiley's mommy."

"I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," Felicia said.

"It's okay, buddy, they will find Willow," Maxie assured.

Georgie took a deep breath. "Are you okay, James? And um… Bailey?"

James shook his head and clung to Maxie.

"Horsey!" Bailey held her arms out to Georgie.

"You want to play with your sister?" Maxie asked.

"Uh… maybe later." Georgie ran off to her room.

Maxie frowned. She looked down at James. "Do you feel up to playing with Bailey? It'll make you feel better."

He shook his head, but then nodded. "Okay."

Maxie set Bailey down and she laughed as she climbed onto James' back. He zoomed around the room with her.

Felicia wrapped her arm around Maxie. "Are you okay, sweetie?"

Maxie ran her hands through her hair. "Bailey was upset at first, but she seemed okay once we got home. But James, he slept with me last night and he seems pretty shaken."

"I'm so sorry. They shouldn't have had to go through that."

"No, they shouldn't have," Maxie agreed.

"But how are you doing?" Felicia asked.

"I'm mad, Mom," Maxie said. "How could someone do that, especially in front of little kids? Heather is nuts."

"I know she is. Mac said Dante and another officer are on Heather's trail. She will be stopped."

Maxie nodded. "Look, I'm sorry for losing it on you last night. But this whole thing with Esme… it's bringing out feelings I thought I'd gotten past. I can't control my emotions and it's trickling down to Georgie. So, I need to take a step back."

Felicia looked at her concernedly. "A step back?"

"Yes, I don't want to see her and I don't want to talk about her," Maxie said. "I need to focus on my kids right now."

Felicia nodded. "I understand. Maybe some space is what you need. But what about—"

"You and Mac can still see the kids. I'm not barring you from them."

"And what about us?" Felicia asked. "You and me?"

There was a long pause. "I need space, Mom. I can't think about all that right now… everything that happened when we were younger and all. My kids are my priority."

Felicia's eyes welled with tears. "Okay. But just know that I'm here if you need anything. I love you, Maxie. Never forget that." She kissed the top of her head, then left.

GHGHGH

Esme carried Ace down to the kitchen and found Mac there reading the newspaper.

Esme glanced around. "Uh, where's Felicia?"

"Oh, good morning, Esme." Mac set the paper down and smiled. "Felicia took Georgie back to Maxie's. She didn't want to wake you."

"When will she be back?" Esme asked.

"Well, she's stopping by to see Sam and Spinelli after," Mac explained. "So maybe a couple of hours?"

"Wh-why?"

Mac folded the paper up. "Well, it's for work."

"I thought she worked at the hospital," Esme said.

"She does," Mac said. "Well, she volunteers at the hospital. But she used to be a P.I."

"What's a P.I?" Esme asked.

"A private investigator," Mac said. "She's technically retired but she takes on a few caseloads once in a while." He laughed. "She just can't seem to give it up."

Esme lowered her gaze.

"Would you like me to call her?" Mac offered. "I'm sure if you want her to come home, she'll come. But she thought you wanted some space."

"Wh-why does she think that?" She started crying. "Did you tell her to leave me?"

Mac frowned. "What? No. She didn't leave you. She just went out for—"

"You don't want me here!"

"I never said that. Why don't you sit down and have some breakfast." He patted the chair next to him. "As your new stepfather, I thought it would be nice to get to know each—"

Esme's heart sped up and she backed to the doorway. "Or what? You won't let me see her if I don't?"

Mac gaped at her. "What? Of course not. Esme, I'm just trying—"

"Just stay away from me!"

"Esme, it's okay," Mac said. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Esme fled from the kitchen and bolted up to her room. She set Ace down in the crib and pushed the dresser against the door.

GHGHGH

"Thank you for meeting with me," Carly said as she sat down at a table at the Metro Court.

"Of course," Diane said. "What's up?"

"I just needed some legal advice."

"I heard about what happened at Bobbie's," Diane said. "Does it relate to that? How are Wiley and Amelia doing?"

"They're pretty shaken up," Carly explained. "They're at home with Josslyn. I just wanted advice on what to do when you're concerned about the people your daughter-in-law is allowing around your grandchildren."

"I see," Diane said. "Does this have to do with Nina?"

Carly nodded. "She's the reason I was almost put in prison and why Drew was almost killed. Not to mention how she's treated Willow in the past. She told Wiley once that Willow isn't his real mommy."

Diane cleared her throat. "I remember you telling me that. But Carly, parents have certain rights to allow grandparents to see their children. The grandparents themselves have rights too."

"But Nina lost her rights in court," Carly said.

"Yes, she did," Diane said. "But since then, her rights have been reinstated. As for the insider trading, you and Drew are guilty in the eyes of the law. I can't see you having a good case for this. In fact, you yourself will probably look bad."

"Not if I have Michael in my corner sharing his concerns."

GHGHGH

Heather sat Willow down in a chair at the apartment and she wrapped her arms around her old friend. The two women squealed and jumped up and down.

"Janet Green!" Heather beamed. "It has been too long."

"Way too long," Janet agreed.

Heather gestured to Willow. "I finally found my precious Esme. And I have a grandson too now."

Willow raised an eyebrow, then scanned the room to figure out an escape plan.

"Oh, Heather, that is wonderful," Janet said. "My Amanda has also started visiting me again. I was released from Oak Haven a few months ago. I also have a grandson, but Amanda hasn't brought him around."

Heather shook her head. "Well, Esme was going to take me to my grandson, but those bloody cops were chasing us. So, we came here."

"And you're welcome to stay as long as you want." Janet turned to Willow. "Why are you so quiet?"

Willow cleared her throat. "Uh—"

"Sweet Esme is just shy." Heather leaned her head against Willow's and stroked her hair.

Willow shivered. "Uh… how do you two know each other?"

"Friends!" Heather beamed.

"Best friends," Janet said. "We met in prison years ago."

"And again in the sanatorium," Heather added.

Willow's heart sped up. Now she'd have to deal with two psychopaths. But it assured her knowing Wiley and Amelia were safe.

"We hit it off right away," Janet said.

"Ah, yes." Heather nodded. "Both sent to the slammer for the sin of loving too much."

Janet stared at the mirror hanging on the wall and spoke to her reflection. "What?... no…. Stop it…. Heather is my friend and I'm helping her." She turned back to Heather and smiled. "You'll have to meet my Amanda. She doesn't love as much as we do, but she is so precious. Hopefully she'll come for a visit soon."

Willow swallowed hard. Perhaps this Amanda was sane if she apparently didn't "love" like these two nutjobs do. And maybe she could help her.

GHGHGH

"Hey, what's wrong?" Felicia asked when she got home. "I couldn't understand over the phone. Esme is upset?"

Mac rose from the couch and shook his head. "It's worse than that. She's afraid of me."

"What?" Felicia frowned. "Why?"

"I don't know," Mac said. "She came downstairs with Ace and asked where you were. I explained you should be back in maybe a couple of hours and that you thought she wanted space. She didn't understand why you thought that, then thought I told you to leave her. I invited her to have breakfast with me, then she backed away from me in fright and thought I wouldn't let her see you if she didn't sit with me. Then she told me to stay away from her and fled to her room. And it sounded like she was moving furniture around, but I haven't gone up to check."

"I—I could've let you take Georgie home this morning, but I wanted to see Maxie and the kids. And after how Esme reacted last night to her baby pictures, I thought she wanted space," Felicia said. "Mac, what did that monster do to her? She's the same way with Kevin. We assumed it's because he looks like Ryan. But why you too?"

"I don't know," Mac said. "But I don't even know how to approach her. This is going to be difficult if she's going to live here."

Felicia sighed. "Okay, I will go check on her. Then maybe I'll talk to Kevin about this."

Felicia made her way upstairs and knocked on Esme's door. "Esme, sweetie? It's Felicia. I'm home now. Can I come in?" She tried to push the door open, but it slammed into the dresser.

Esme got up and pushed the dresser aside. Felicia stepped in.

"Are you okay?" Felicia asked but was taken aback when Esme hugged her.

"S-sorry…." Esme pulled away.

"You don't need to be sorry." Felicia glanced over and Ace was asleep in the crib. "But I'd like to talk to you. Esme, why did you feel you needed to block the door with the dresser?"

"Um, no reason."

"Mac thought you were frightened of him," Felicia said. "Mac is a good guy. He won't hurt you."

Esme laughed nervously. "Yeah, yeah… yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Felicia asked.

"No," Esme said.

"I hope you know you can talk to me about anything," Felicia said. "Whenever you feel comfortable to do so."

Esme bit her lip. "How does someone become a P.I.?"

Felicia scrunched her face at the sudden change in subject. "Um, well, it takes lots of experience and there are programs at college for it. But it's not for the faint of heart. How come?"

Esme held her head high. "I'm going to be a P.I."

Felicia smiled. "Okay, well I'm a P.I., so maybe I can show you the ropes a bit, if that's the career you want."

"Yeah, it is," Esme said. "Uh, Felicia? Where did you meet Daddy?"

Felicia shivered a little hearing her call him Daddy again. "Um, well…."

Esme frowned. "Sorry I asked…."

"No, it's okay," Felicia said. "You can ask me anything. I first met him in Texas. And then… he was here in Port Charles again."

"I guess we have that in common," Esme said.

"Have what in common?"

"We both know what it's like to love Daddy when no one else understands," Esme said.

Felicia looked at her sadly, unsure when she should tell her about the ra pe. "Your father hurt both of us. But I will do everything I can to help you to have a better life, Esme."

Esme smiled a little.