by Skye, M.
“Why? Why now when she could still come after you?”
“Sweetie, if she has my granddaughter there is no point in me staying hidden. She obviously won’t leave this family alone until she is either dead or behind bars. There is no way I’m going to keep letting you girls and your brother pay the price for my bad choices. You know, when you’re young, you don’t think the choices you make then will still be affecting you when you get to my age, but mine have written my years. They have cost me so many precious moments with the people I love most.”
“Mom, why? Why did you leave us? I’ve never asked maybe because I was afraid of the answer, but why?”
“I knew the day would come that I would have to have this talk with you, I just hoped I would be stronger,” she replied solemnly. “I just hope you understand.” Meg’s eyes widened and she looked over to see her sister’s in the corner of the room. She looked to dismiss them, but Maria motioned for everyone to take a seat. “I might as well do this with all of you, you all deserve the truth.”
Maria stood and turned her back to shield herself from their penetrating glances. “I wasn’t always the best person. I used to take things no matter what the costs were for others. When I met Richard, I knew I shouldn’t get involved with him romantically, but when I noticed him falling for me, I didn’t pull back. The fact that he had a wife and children didn’t matter, I just wanted what I wanted and didn’t care about the rest. We were only together for almost a year before Ben caught up to us. He warned me, but of course, I didn’t listen. Richard went missing that summer, but I was already pregnant with Meg.”
“What did he tell you?” Meg asked quietly.
“That he would dispose of Richard, and he did. They were never able to prove anything, but I knew what happened. When Richard disappeared, I picked up all by myself and moved here where I met your father. We lived happily for twelve years until Ben found me again. I was just out shopping one day and he walked up behind me with that sadistic laugh of his and shattered my perfect world.”
“Why didn’t you just tell someone? Papa would have protected you,” Maddie huffed.
“I couldn’t take that chance. Your papa is the only man I ever loved, I wouldn’t let Ben take him away from us, so I did the hardest thing I ever had to do. I left to keep you safe. He didn’t mess with you as long as I wasn’t there.”
“Maybe not physically, but he was awful to Meg. He tried to interfere with her and Alex so many times. Thankfully Alex was devoted, if he hadn’t been they might not be here today,” Melia said.
“All of this is my fault. My choices hurt you more than I could have imagined. All I wanted was the best for you girls.”
“Mom,” Meg stood and grabbed her hands. “Without the bad, we wouldn’t have the good either. My daughter was a part of this big mess, but she is one of the best things to happen to me. I love that little girl more than life itself. Without all the drama, I wouldn’t have her. I don’t blame you for anything.”
“What you did was amazing,” Maddie replied and pulled Melia up to embrace their mother together.
“You forgive me?”
“Of course we do,” Melia replied with a huge tearful smile. “We love you, and I’m so glad you’re here. I missed you more than you know.”
“I’m never leaving again, I promise.” Maria hugged her girls finally feeling like the mother they deserved. She was happier than she could ever remember being and couldn’t hold back her tears. “Now that I have my girls and son, let’s focus on getting our darling Allison back. Now, papa may have some leads on what we can do. Rogelio was able to tap into the traffic cameras around the school and caught a glimpse of the car they were in. He is trying to trace the plates, maybe we can figure out where she got it from.”
“Let’s go. Alex will want to know this,” Meg exclaimed, racing into the dining room. When she rounded the corner, she found Broderick sitting at the table showing Rogelio and Alex a small device. “What’s this?”
“We might have a way to find Alli. Think hard babe, when you dropped her off did she have her tablet?”
Meg squinted her eyes, trying to remember. “I don’t know. She could have, she loves that thing, but how will it help?”
“Check her room,” Rogelio instructed the officers.
“Drop the act, I know dad had the gifts sent over.” Alex admitted. “The tablet has gps, and if she took it, we can locate her with this.”
Meg put her hand to her face and cried out. “I told her to leave it. I told her she didn’t need it at school. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Shh, it’s okay. She shouldn’t have needed it. She should have been safe there. Well, I guess we will have to explore other possibilities. I don’t even remember if I turned the gps on anyways. It was just a thought.” Alex didn’t want to let her see his disappointment. The truth was that was their only hope for now. All the other leads were dead ends. When the officers came down from the room empty handed, a slow smile crept across his face. He walked over to the group to keep Meg from hearing what he was asking them. When he got the answer he wanted, he let out a loud sigh.
“What is it, Alex? Did they find it?”
“No!” he screamed joyfully. “Our little girl seems to have disobeyed her mother this morning and took it anyways.”
Meg flew into his arms, crying noisily. “Well, what do we do? Turn that thing on, find my baby!”
“We just have to hope Amanda didn’t discover it in her bag and hope the gps is on,” Rogelio announced. As they tried to get the locator working, Meg rocked back and forth in anticipation. She was trembling with excitement, and Maria pulled her into a gentle embrace. When the locater lit up, Meg jumped, her eyes grew and she reached for it.
“What does it say? Is it working?”
Rogelio looked at the computer screen and then back at the locater and smiled. “It looks like we have an address. It’s on the other side of town, but we have to be prepared that she might have just tossed the bag. I don’t want to get your hopes up for nothing.”
“Whatever, let’s go. Let’s go get our daughter,” Meg jumped up.
“Wait,” Rogelio snapped. “We can’t just charge in there, if we rush the building and she does have her there, she could kill her before we get to them. We have to have a strategy.”
“She will be alone,” Broderick supplied.
“How do you know you can trust the word of that boy? You said it yourself, he’s a killer just like her.” Rogelio stated.
“Because Ben does. He would never give me any information that would harm Allison. I trust his instincts.” Broderick was growing impatient with the lack of faith Rogelio seemed to have in Ben’s obvious love for his grandchildren. Broderick had no doubt in his mind that Ben wouldn’t have disclosed any information that could be harmful to Allison. He was just ready to get the search underway and made his presence known by slamming his hand on the desk, heightening the argument.
“Well, I don’t know about all this,” Rogelio countered.
In the midst of the argument, Maria slithered up and took the locator into her hand. The men were so engrossed in their squabble, they didn’t see when she grabbed her purse and Emilio’s keys. She managed to get all the way to the car before she heard someone following closely behind her. When she turned to see Meg, she jumped. “Mom, what are you doing?”
“Megan, you scared me. I’m going to check this out. While they’re arguing our girl is sitting there missing her mommy and daddy.”
“This is dangerous mom, you should let them go.”
“No, this is my mess, I’ll go and get her. I need to do this.”
“You’re not going,” Meg turned. “I’m getting papa.”
“No, Meg,” Maria pleaded. “Don’t do this.”
Meg shifted to the side and placed her hand on her cheek. “Do you trust Ben’s instincts?”
“Yes.”
“Well then let’s go.”
“No, I won’t take you. You’re
my daughter, I won’t let you do this.”
“She’s my daughter, I won’t let you go without me.”
Maria looked at the determination in her eyes and saw that she wasn’t backing down. She saw so much of herself in Meg it wasn’t funny. She embraced her and unlocked the door for them to get in. When the back door flew open both their eyes widened. “I thought I saw you two planning something stupid,” Maddie huffed closing the door. “Let’s go, I’m in.”
The ladies drove in silence for the first few minutes, then Maria broke the ice. “Girls, I’m going in alone. I don’t want you to leave the car.”
“Mom, we’re coming in. If what Sean said is true, three is better than one. She won’t be able to overtake all three of us,” Maddie replied.
“And if he’s wrong, you two could be in danger. It makes no sense for all three of us to perish.”
“I thought you said you were sure,” Meg said confidently. “You have to in trust yourself and in Ben’s love for Allison,” she laughed. “I never thought I would say that.”
Maria looked to Meg and patted her hand. She knew she was right, and she would need them just in case they were wrong. Meg could slip Allison out, and Maddie could drive them far away.
When they finally pulled to the destination, Maria stopped a block away observing the vacant building. She scanned the area noticing nothing in plain sight and no people lurking around this was a good sign that there weren’t others, but it also could mean they had the wrong place. When she turned to her daughters, she smiled and opened the glove compartment. She revealed a revolver, their eyes bucked finally grasping the severity of the situation. “Maddie, you stay here for when Meg returns, and Meg, you sneak around back in two minutes. Keep this with you and if she gets anywhere near you, you shoot first and ask questions later.” She opened the door and looked back to them tearfully. “Be safe.”
“Mom, what are you going to do?” Meg asked.
“I’m going to be your distraction. Seeing me will throw her off her game, and that’s what I’m counting on.”
***
While the girls said goodbye to their mother, back at the house, Alex had grown tired of the arguing and threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve had enough! You guys shut up and let’s get over to the address. We will scope the place out and play it by ear.” When he looked to find Meg and let her know what was going on, he saw that she was missing. “Hey, where did Meg go?”
“I haven’t seen her in a little while. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen Maria and Maddie for a while either,” Matt replied.
“Check upstairs, while you’re doing that we’ll load up and get the locater,” Emilio offered. While Alex walked up the stairs, Emilio looked around for the locater and had no luck. That’s strange,” Emilio sighed. “We left it right here.”
“They aren’t upstairs.” Alex shrugged, coming down. “Maybe they stepped outside.”
“See if they know where the locater is,” Emilio called out.
When Alex walked out and discovered Emilio’s car missing, he yelled. “Dammit! They’re gone! They left without us.”
Emilio’s eyes widened and he slammed his fist on the table. “Get your keys son! I think I remember that address. Let’s go!” They all loaded in the cars and raced out of the yard. Rogelio took the lead with his sirens blaring letting the people in traffic know to let them pass. As they raced over, Alex gripped the steering wheel tight cursing to himself. If only he had noticed them missing sooner, he could have been right there. If anything happened to them, he would blame himself forever.
***
Meg looked to Maddie after watching Maria venture off towards the building. “Maddie, listen, if I don’t come back, you take Allison and run. Don’t look for us, just run with my daughter.”
“No. I won’t agree to that. You’re coming back, I won’t accept any less. If you have to, you put one right in between her eyes. Do it for Tia Carmen.”
“For Tia Carmen,” she smiled and hugged Maddie tight.
Meg got out of the car and ran towards the building. When she got closer, she slowed down and went to the back door. She placed her ear to it and listened. She couldn’t hear any movement and that made her nervous. With trembling hands, she reached out and pushed the door open slowly with the gun in hand. At first sight, she saw nothing, no Maria, and no Allison or Amanda. Walking further inside, trying to be as quiet as possible, she heard something.
Hearing voices, made her heart leap into her throat. From what she could make out, it was a man and a woman’s voice and neither sounded pleased. Meg inched closer quietly trying to figure out what they were saying and stopped when the voices got louder. The woman appeared to be trying to make the man do something he didn’t want to and then she heard a loud noise that sounded like a slap. She was nervous until she heard Allison’s voice.
Meg’s nervousness was replaced with determination, when she realized Allison was doing okay. She continued to inch closer quietly until she got close enough to see the threesome. The man was sitting in a chair of some sort, and Allison was on the floor coloring. She sighed when she saw that she was content and not in distress, this meant she hadn’t been mistreated. At the very moment Meg gained a visual, Allison seemed to look straight in her direction as if sensing her there. She hoped she hadn’t spotted her, but when she put her finger to her lips, Allison stood.
Allison was just about to draw attention to them, when a loud noise in the far corner distracted her and Amanda, giving Meg the opportunity to move. When Amanda heard the noise, she raced over to see what it was, and that’s when Maria pushed over a few boxes landing them right in front of her. Amanda’s eyes bucked in horror when she realized Maria was standing before her. “You! I fucking killed you! There is no way!” Maria laughed at her and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I guess you just aren’t that good.” While Maria taunted Amanda, Meg made a mad dash for Allison. When Amanda noticed Meg in the room, she pulled out a gun and aimed it in her direction. Meg had her back to the whole scene and didn’t see the gun, but Maria had a full visual. Before Amanda could pull the trigger, Maria tackled her, knocking her and the gun to the floor. “Meg run!” she screamed while wrestling with Amanda.
“Mommy!” Allison screamed and ran into her arms.
“Alli bear, run! Your Aunt Maddie is outside waiting for you, you just run out that door and keep running until you see her.”
“You too,” Allison pleaded.
“I will be right there. Just go!”
“Okay, mommy,” Allison replied and ran towards the door. Meg watched as Allison ran to safety, and she raced over to help Maria. On the way, she approached the man and noticed he was tied down to the chair. She decided she would come back and help him after making sure Maria was okay, but when she tried to pass him, he grabbed her arm. She tried to fight her way out of his grip, but he held tighter.
“Let me go!” she screamed.
“You have to help me! She’s crazy! She has held me for months, I need to get away from her!”
Meg pulled and when she fell the chair tipped over revealing his face to her. She stood to run towards Maria, but something about him stopped her in her tracks. As she stared down at the man, she saw her own hazel eyes staring back at her. She stood frozen until she heard screams coming from the corner. Amanda was inching towards the gun and, Meg raced over kicking it away. Maria and Amanda continued to struggle until Meg pushed Maria out of the way and grabbed Amanda jerking her across the floor by her hair. “You bitch! You turned my life upside down and now you’re going to pay.”
When Meg threw her into the wall and pulled the gun from her waistband, Maria stood next to her trying to talk her down. “Megan, this isn’t you. You’re not like this woman. You don’t kill people, you’re a wife and a mother. She is not worth your life.”
“I want her dead,” she cocked the gun back.
“Shoot her,” the man yelled. “Shoot her now!”
; “You shut up, this is my daughter! She will not kill anyone, she is too kind for that.”
While Maria was screaming at the man, Meg aimed the gun and a gunshot rang through the building. Maria gasped, and when she looked back, she saw the blood seeping onto the floor. Meg’s hands were steady as she cocked the gun back and aimed again. Maria screamed her name and she heard nothing, she just stared blankly at Amanda with the gun still pointed in her direction. Before she could fire off another shot, the doors burst open and the guys crowded into the building.
When Alex found Meg with the gun still in her hand, he walked to her and pulled it away. She began to tremble in his arms and sank to the floor in shock. “I shot her Alex, I shot her. Is she dead? I want her dead,” she mumbled.
Alex looked around and saw all the blood and pushed her into his chest. “It’s over, baby, you don’t have to worry anymore.”
Rogelio lifted Amanda to see that she was only shot in the shoulder and pulled her up placing handcuffs on her wrists. He called for an ambulance and read her rights to her as they applied pressure to her bleeding shoulder. He held her up while scanning the room in amusement. The women in this family really were a force to be reckoned with. They had come in and gotten the job executed perfectly without an ounce of help.
Alex continued to hold Meg in his arms as she mumbled incoherently. He knew she was still reeling from the whole ordeal, but when she stopped suddenly, he pulled her up to look in her eyes. “The man,” she mumbled. “The man needs help, he grabbed me when I was running.” Alex scanned the room and saw the man tipped over in the chair and stood to walk over. When Maria, who was now accompanied by Emilio, saw them heading for the man, she too started off in his direction.
When they approached, Alex flipped the chair over and shook the man to wake up. He had a gash on his head from the fall and was out of it. When Alex moved to untie his arms, his eyes blinked, slowly opening. Meg looked to him, and again saw a familiarity she couldn’t explain. “Do I know you?” she asked quietly.
