“I am sorry,” Grace said as she wiped away the tear’s moments later. It had been a quick moment after hearing that memory, and yet than Beth got scared and pulled the twins from the room and they ran off. “It’s beginning to be real, isn’t it?” she asked her father, and godmother.
“You have been through a lot these last few years. Beth knows that,” Maria said as she tried to be soothing to her god-daughter. “You have gone through a lot today in particular,” she smiled. “I better go and collect Elizabeth because I know she didn’t go home when I asked her to.”
“Say hello to Jake. I miss him.” Grace said she craved to see her friend and hated that she was confined in her bed and he was also confined to his. “I need to get out of this bed sometime soon.”
“He misses you too,” Maria smiled. “I am sure if you keep progressing like you did today, then it won’t be long.”
“Let’s hope,” Grace muttered as she all emotion she was feeling started to crack through her façade she had built up since her breakdown, and along came the tiredness. “I feel tired, god I am tired.”
“We’ll let you sleep,” Max said looking at Maria who nodded in agreement as they both could see how the weight of the world was sitting on Grace, and they knew she needed time to rest and this time she wanted it. “I’ll check back tonight. I love you.”
“I love you too Daddy,” Grace smiled. “Even if Mom is alive, nothing can change how much you have done for me.”
“The same goes for me,” Max smiled as he turned to walk out of the room with Maria, and they could see as moments later Grace nodded off to sleep. “She’s overwhelmed.”
“How about you?” Maria asked quietly as he closed the door to his daughter’s hospital room, and they walked to the elevator. “It’s life changing what is happening.”
“I haven’t even begun to figure it out,” Max admitted. “And I don’t know even I want reality to hit me.”
“Good luck,” Maria said as they walked to Jake’s room once they hit the right floor, “I am sorry for all of this.”
“Did we really think our kids were having it easier than we did?” Max asked sighing as they sought out Jake’s hospital room.
“God, I don’t know our parents did it.”
*
Where is your father?" Maria asked as she and Max walked into Jake's hospital room and saw that the brother and sister team were laughing about something secretive between them as they saw their mother and Max come into the room, and yet Michael seemed to be missing. "I expected him back by now."
"Last I saw him, he said he had business to tend so I figure the office," Elizabeth shrugged at the question from her mother as she realized she hadn't seen their father in awhile and that was strange given how concerned Michael was with Grace’s situation, and in his need to hover over her.
"Hmm" Maria muttered as she didn't know what to think about her husband's continual absence. "I don't like this."
"I am sure he will turn up," Jake offered to his mother before turning the subject on his brain. "Uncle Max, how is Grace?" he said as he worried for his friend and needed to know what was happening. "Please tell me, she's walking."
"Sleeping," Max offered. "She is doing as well as can be expected with her condition being what it is. "No, she's not walking but she's closer."
"I wish I could see her," Jake muttered.
"You will," Maria frowned as if she could read his mind. "But no leaving your bed," she warned for the millionth time that day.
"I can’t make no promises for tomorrow," Jake warned. “I don’t see why I have to be in this bed anyway, as it’s only my leg.”
"It’s your leg that is barely pinned together, so don’t do anything rash and risk your recovery. Okay.” Maria said looking at her eldest daughter after looking at the clock on the wall as she was way too tired to fight with her son. "Elizabeth, time is ticking down, so we have to go and pick up Belle and your brothers."
Elizabeth sighed as she didn't want to leave the fun of the hospital but knew not to push her mother, not after playing hooky from school “I guess!" she muttered.
"So, let's go. Jake if you need anything. Call us but know I love you” Maria smiled of her son.
"I will Mom, I love you too" Maria smiled but left with Elizabeth, leaving the 18-year-old with Max as he accessed Max. "Are you going home too?" he asked of his godfather but knew Max was pre-occupied by something.
"Where is your father?" Max asked with a critical eye at his godson as a sudden feeling came over him, a feeling that made him need to locate Michael, pronto.
"How should I know?" Jake asked. "I am kind of stuck here, as you can see"
"I need to know if he's doing something he shouldn't" Max of Michael as that sense of unease settled over him as he thought of his best friend. While he wanted to believe Michael had business to deal with, still, he knew better of his friend and knew the fact Michael hadn’t shown up in awhile meant trouble was in the offering.
"What would he do?" Jake asked a tad curious as the notion that his father could be up to something mischieveness and it took his mind off his feelings and dwelling over Grace.
Sighing as he looked at the teenager. "One world. Elizabeth," Max muttered as he knew with Jake in the hospital and Grace too, the fact his friend was MIA only meant he was taking the news about his daughter's attempted rape badly. If they could keep the alien soldier from acting when he heard about his goddaughter's rape, well Max knew if Michael own daughter was impacted than Michael would take no prisoners and Max needed to find his best friend.
*
Michael was looking for trouble. Years of being the upstanding and understanding husband and father was being suspended as he drove and looked for his target. Fearful of the secret that he held had kept him silent for too long, and now he was acting because not only Grace had been hurt, but his precious daughter and he was not going to allow the madness to continue to percolate.
Driving, and ignoring his ringing cell phone. He knew his disappearance had to have been noticed by now, and he didn't want to stop himself by hearing his wife's voice as Maria had always been one to calm him down, even though he didn't always look like he listened to her.
He also knew he was being his daughter right now, and he should be beyond that and more adult. So, he drove, and fingered a way to do this.
He heard a noise from the back, and he became irritated, "Shut up back there," he shouted and continued to drive.
And pulled into the parking lot behind the old UFO Museum centre, and got in, and got out and walked around the car making sure he wasn’t being seen, and then opened the door. “Well hello, there” he looked down, and saw his god-daughter’s rapist and daughter’s attacker. “What am I going to do with you?”
“I just knew I would find you here?” came a voice and Michael whipped around and instead of Max, he found Isabel. “Michael, you’re better this, you can’t do this!”
“How did you find me?” Michael asked as he saw his friend come his way.
“Max put it through the alien grapevine that you had gone MIA and was worried about what you were up to, and I figured the only place I would find you at would be the one place we know to be safe.”
“Go Isabel, you don’t need to be here.”
“I know why you want to do this Michael, and you have more rights to do it than many others except maybe Max but still this isn’t the answer.”
“It feels good,” Michael said as he shut the trunk on his hostage.
“You have been telling your daughter and son to be careful and not to be as rash as we were when we were their ages, and now you go and mimic your daughter.”
“Well we got hit, and maybe I have had enough of it” Michael asked with bitterness in his voice. “This little punk has had enough of a free ride because of who his parents are, and maybe it’s time to give him a scare.”
“And risk our secret?” Isabel asked as she walked up to Michael. “You’re better than this,” she repeated.
“I need this Isabel” Michael murmured as he felt they needed a win, even if it was extremely dicey and something, they had been warning their kids against. “Max would be on my side.”
“No, you don’t,” Isabel said. “And given Max is the one who sent the search party out for you than I figure he wouldn’t be on your side either… I know why you feel like you need to do this, but it’s too much of a risk.”
“He’s a snake.”
“Yes, he is, but you’re bigger than this” Isabel said quietly.
“But I am not.” Michael said as he lifted the trunk up. “Okay, Ellis. Your time is up,” he said to the blindfolded young man as he turned to Isabel, who only shook her head. “You really didn’t think I would let him see me, did you?”
“Do you need help?” Isabel asked as she saw her friend maneuver the creep out of the car. “How did you do this anyways?” she asked as she observed the kidnapping. “It couldn’t have been that easily. It’s still light.”
“It was unbelievably easy,” Michael smiled as Isabel gave him a lift as they dragged the guy into the old Museum. “This little scum is an easy target” he muttered as they dragged their victim through the door, and down the stairs and slammed him against the wall where he fell to the floor.
“What are you going to do next?” Isabel asked.
*
Meanwhile Max was walking into the Sheriff’s office as he knew his sister could help with the Michael situation, but he needed to conduct some business before we went and figured out how to get his friend out of the mess, he was sure to be in. With Jim back at the station, Max decided to pay a visit because Beth and the kids needed some down time, and Beth needed some semblance of control of her situation. And Grace needed some rest, so he decided to be the concerned father and work out the gritty details.
“Where is the Sheriff,” Max asked the deputy. “I need to see Sheriff Valenti.”
“In his office, but he’s busy and told me no visitors. Can I say who it is?” the deputy asked as he recognized Max. “Do I know you?”
“Max Evans, you have probably testified in some of my cases. I am a lawyer, but I am not here in that capacity. I wanted to see the Sheriff, as he knows why I am here.”
“Oh right,” Deputy nodded as went into the Sheriff’s office and a minute later his old friend came out of his office, nodding as he saw Max.
“Hello Max,” Jim nodded as he allowed Max through the swinging gate.
“Where is he?” Max asked simply. “Where is the man who tried to kill my daughter?”
“Holding,” Jim said. “He’s not talking, and the only talking he is doing is saying that he’s not guilty.”
“There are witnesses, proof” Max said as they walked towards the holding cells.
“Seriously Max, he’s talking gibberish and it’s not all idiotic because he is saying that the girls did something to him to make him fall apart like that…”
“He’s blaming the kids?” Max asked as if he didn’t already know it and he did, as it crystalized for him that he had yet to get to the bottom of what the girls may or may not have done to aide on his behavior.
“Yes, and we all know for us what he’s claiming is not that outlandish but to a judge and in front of a jury, it might….”
“So that means?” Max asked.
“It’s something to think about,” Jim said. “He’s going down, but you might have to worry about how messy he’s going to go down.”
“Even if we take the stabbing off the books. He’s going down for attacking Sue, right?” Max asked. “The Adams family want to press charges?”
“Yup,” Jim said.
“Then his goose is cooked. He almost killed my daughter, and we might not be able to go after Ellis, but this is not going to be ignored,” Max muttered. “The kids say they subdued him, and then he went for the attack. That means he had a chance to stop, and he didn’t, and the kids also say that it was a hit and money was going to be paid if he killed my daughter. I am not going to ignore it.”
“I am not asking you to Max, but I am just telling you the facts as I know it now.”
“I realize that Jim, but I need to see him. I need to know why?”
“I’ll allow it,” Jim nodded he took the keys off the wall, and they walked into the area where the cells were held. “Okay Samuelson, you have company” he announced to the only suspect they were holding that day. It was a light week, and he hoped it stayed that way as he relished small towns for this simple reason.
“Are you letting me go?” the man said.
“Are you crazy. Nope,” Jim said. “But someone wants some words with you. You almost killed his daughter last night. This is Max Evans.”
“I don’t need to see him. I need to see my lawyer,” the man said.
“We’re trying to arrange it, but your lawyer seems to have the good fortunate to be MIA for moment, so you need to wait” he smiled as he left the cells, and left Max in with the suspect into his daughter’s attempted murder the night before.
“What do you want?” Samuelson muttered.
“Why Grace, why my daughter?” Max asked. “She almost died, and she did for a moment or two there and you almost were a murderer. So why, I need to know.”
“I have nothing for ya,” Samuelson muttered. “I don’t know you; I don’t know your daughter. I told the Sheriff I have no idea how I got to this place. This is not my hometown.”
“Well you’re here, and you committed crimes in my town, so why?”
“I didn’t do it. It’s a case of mistaken identity, so tell the Sheriff that I don’t belong here.”
“You were caught at the scene of the crime, and we have witnesses who saw you attack my daughter and attack another young woman in the minutes before the stabbing that nearly claimed my daughter’s life.”
“They lied,” Samuelson murmured. “They did something to me.”
“What would they have done to you?” Max asked annoyed that he wasn’t going to get anything from the stubborn idiot in the jail cell as he waded through the crap he was sprouting.
“I don’t know. Suddenly I was on the ground,” Samuelson muttered. “And the knife was on the ground.”
“And you picked it up and stabbed my daughter?” Max asked.
“Those girls did something to me; my mind is all fuzzy. I don’t know where I am. And how I got here.”
“That’s not my problem,” Max said. “I will be back, so you might as well develop some answers for me,” he muttered as he walked out to Jim’s office, and went through the door. “He won’t talk. Says he doesn’t know how he got here to Roswell. That the girls did some voodoo on him, and he’s innocent.”
“His fingerprints are on the knife. And we have eyewitness accounts,” Jim assured Max. “But you do have reason to worry because you don’t need him recounting any memories of the encounter with the girls. If Elizabeth or Grace for that matter did something to him…”
“They didn’t indicate anything,” Max admitted.
“Well they have reason to want to be silent on that matter,” Jim allowed. “Be careful,” he warned his friend.
“I will,” Max said as he checked the watch. “Speaking of high wattage individuals. I have to find Michael and my sister.”
“Oh god, what now?” Jim asked warily, as he closed the door.
“Michael has disappeared. I sent Isabel after him, but I fear with her as backup than Michael is liable to do anything, he wants…”
“To whom?” Jim asked.
“Tommy Ellis,” Max said. “Finding out what Ellis tried to do to Elizabeth before he was able to accomplish it with Grace has sent him over the edge. And I am afraid of what he might do if I don’t find him.”
“I’ll check his car VIN number,” Jim suggested.
“Call me,” Max shrugged. “I appreciate all this. I know how much you have on this, if the town becomes wise to any of it.”
“Family means more than this job,” Jim said. “So, don’t worry. Find Michael and make sure we don’t have to do anymore clean up.”
“I will,” Max said quietly as he left the Sheriff’s office praying, he wouldn’t encounter anymore drama. The last week has enough for a lifetime. And yet he knew he would find it, when Jim called minutes later and told him that Michael’s car was located at the old UFO Museum.
“Damn it Michael,” Max whispered to himself as zoomed towards his old job.