Circle of Deception 2 (25 page)

Her loud sobs filled the room as her tears soaked the pink comforter. Marisol heard her cries and rushed inside the room, kneeling down in front of her. Marisol brushed the hair from her face and rubbed her back soothingly humming an old Spanish tune in her ear trying to soothe her pain.

They carried on in this position for over thirty minutes and Meg cried out her frustrations. Marisol tried her best to help, but her calming voice did nothing to stop the flow of tears streaming down Meg’s face. It wasn’t until Alex appeared in the doorway that she moved from the position she was in.

When Meg looked up and saw Alex, she stopped crying just for a second, and then started right back up. He sent Marisol away, and took her position beside Meg wrapping his arms around her. She allowed herself to mold into his embrace and he kissed her forehead. He held her close and held his tears in as he ran his hand up and down her back.

Her body shivered in his arms, and he felt horrible. He had made her a promise to always be there and protect them, but he had let their little girl get abducted from a place where she was supposed to be safe. He felt like a complete failure, and he had no words to express his regret to her.

When she felt his arms close tighter around her, she sat up to look into his eyes. She saw the sadness and the guilt and ran her hand down his cheek. “Alex,” she straightened her posture. “What are we going to do? Crying isn’t going to bring our baby home. We have to get ourselves together, for Alli.”

Alex stood and pulled her up from the bed with a renewed spirit. “Sweetheart, we are going to find her. I won’t leave one stone unturned. We are going to find our daughter today, I won’t sleep until she is back in this house.”

Meg looked at him and smiled at the determination in his eyes. She placed her hand in his and started to walk out of the room feeling hopeful for the first time today. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they found Maddie and Nathan both on phones, placing calls and Gio, Marco and Lexie were all on the computers looking for any clue they could find about Amanda Leon. As she scanned further, she found Emily and Aiden also on their computers.

Meg was overwhelmed by the support and help they were receiving. When everyone noticed her and Alex at the bottom of the stairs, they stopped and looked. Maddie offered her a beautiful smile and went back to her call. Meg was so happy to see them all, but something was puzzling her. When they went upstairs, there were a battalion of police in their living room, and now there was none. Just as Meg was about to ask what happened to them, the front door flew open.

Rogelio made his way in with a small guard of six and Melissa and Emilio were with him holding Jordan. Meg looked the group over and decided that Melissa must have had the officers replaced with different ones Rogelio trusted more. Watching them walk in, she dismissed her questions and soon Matt and Melia trailed in with Cienna, drawing her attention away from them.

As Meg greeted the couple and hugged Cienna, she saw a hooded person walk in behind the guards and went blank. Melia studied her expression and waved her hand in front of her face. “Meg, what are you looking at? What’s going on?”

“Who is that?” Meg whispered, pointing at the hooded figure.

Melia adjusted her attention towards the unnamed person and studied them as well. “I don’t know, but something seems familiar.”

“Yeah,” Meg sighed. When Emilio walked over and placed a hand on both their shoulders and motioned for Maddie and Gio to join them, Meg put her hand on her head. “Oh god! It can’t be! I thought... but how... Mom?”

Maria dropped the hood and the whole room went silent. Meg reached out to touch her face to be sure she wasn’t imagining things and drew back when she realized it was really happening. Maddie gasped and burst into tears, but Melia just stood staring blankly.

When Maria walked forward, Melia stepped back, bumping into the small end table behind her. Maria smiled to her other two girls and Gio, but advanced on Melia with determination in her eyes. Without speaking a word, she stood before her and without hesitation, she drew her hand back and slapped Melia across the face.

Melia was in a state of delirium and everyone watching gasped loudly. Maria had never hit either of the girls and they were shocked beyond measure. Maria placed her hands on both of Melia’s shoulders and pulled her closer.

“My darling girl, papa and I always shielded you. I’m afraid we didn’t give you a reason to fight for anything, and that’s our fault. When I slapped you just then, what did it make you feel? It would make me angry and when I get angry I fight. I fight for what I want, what I need, and I want you to do the same. Don’t let my mistakes hinder you for the rest of your life.”

Melia was still in her delirious episode. This was crazy, her dead mother had just slapped her and given her relationship advice. This had to be some crazy dream. Melia reached out and slapped herself and everyone started laughing hysterically.

“The women in this family are crazy,” Gio huffed. “First ghosts are slapping people now they’re slapping themselves.”

“I’m no ghost, son, I can assure you,” Maria smiled and touched his cheek.

After the sudden shock wore off, they all crowded Maria, covering her in hugs and kisses. Matt watched with a huge grin, but Aiden crossed his arms over his chest and cleared his throat. “I’m so glad you’re alive, but how? I think we all have that question on our mind. I identified your body, and when I told them I thought I was wrong, they proved it was you.”

“That would be my fault,” Melissa interjected. “I couldn’t let you find the truth before we were ready. I thought that if Amanda knew she had killed the wrong sister, she would come after all of you. It was a hard choice but I stand beside it.”

“How did you find out?”

Melissa inhaled and cringed. “Your father alerted me.”

“What? I’m confused,” Alex chimed in. “How would he know?”

“Your father was in love with Maria, he is one of the only people who knew she was a twin. When he saw the autopsy photos, he realized the dead woman couldn’t possibly be Maria.”

“The tattoo,” Aiden smiled. “It’s what tipped Matt off.”

While they all talked and figured the mystery out, Meg wandered off by herself. As happy as she was to see her mother, she was still thinking about her daughter being with that crazy woman. The chances of her hurting Allison were slim, but she just didn’t like her being away from them. She could be crying and upset, but there was nothing she could do about it. When Maria saw her, she followed closely holding up her hand to stop Alex, who was in pursuit.

“Meg,” she called out around the dark corner.

“Mom, I’m here,” she replied tearfully. “Flip on the light if you want.”

Maria turned on the light in the room and sat down on the couch. She motioned for Meg to join her and wrapped her in a protective embrace. Meg melted into her and sighed in relief. “Sweetie, I know it feels hopeless, but we will find your daughter. I’m just glad I could be here for you.”

“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.