Circle of Deception 2 (5 page)

Chapter Three

Melissa swung Jordan up in the air and he kicked his legs out happily. She loved watching him, and now that she had convinced Meg and Alex to let them go to her house during the day, she could really enjoy their time. “Granny loves you.” When she felt a hand on her shoulder, she almost jumped and then she remembered her house guest. “Jordan, it’s time you met someone special, your other Granny, Maria.” Maria reached for him with tears in her eyes.

Maria had been staying with Melissa for the past few weeks while they were working on finding Amanda. Maria thought it would be a bad idea to stay with her at first, but when Melissa explained how no one would ever suspect she was there, Maria agreed. This way, she could at least be near her family, even if she couldn’t contact them. The truth was, Melissa was lonely in that big house all by herself, and having Maria there provided her with the company she longed for. They hadn’t been the best of friends in the past, but these last eight months, had really improved their relationship. They now had a common goal, and they were family.

While Maria played with Jordan, Melissa looked over the information Ben had given her during their last meeting. He had informants all over the prison, and someone had reported that Sean had recently begun to receive mail. In the eight months he had been imprisoned, he had never received a shred of mail up until two weeks ago.

After the first letter had arrived, mail started to come in daily. This aroused Ben’s suspicion, and instead of contacting Melissa, he thought maybe he could get through to Alex. Of all his children, he missed Alex the most. Maybe it was the fact that Alex was the most like him, but nevertheless, Alex was his favorite.

Alex never let Ben dictate any aspect of his life, and he secretly admired that about him. Alex was always the one of the three who openly defied all odds, with the same intensity and fire he saw in himself. The letter he had sent to Alex and Meg was his first attempt to regain a shred of their trust. He wanted to be on their good side in case things went south, and with his new suspicions, he thought it could be sooner than later. He had made many mistakes with his children in the past, but he wasn’t going to let it happen again. If anyone were going to try anything, he would be one step ahead. As a result, he had the letters seized from Sean by any means necessary.

Melissa now had possession of the letters, and had read them several times. They were from Bianca, and none of them said much of anything. Just talking about how things were going, the usual small talk about how much she blamed Meg for everything, and how she couldn’t wait to make her pay; all typical for Bianca. She still refused to take responsibility for her own actions and blamed everyone, but herself for her current situation. She mentioned Allison several times, only to say that Meg would never be a real mother to her, but nothing significant.

Honestly Melisa was surprised she even mentioned Allison. All the time she had been around them, Bianca never seemed to care about her. Maybe she was remorseful now that she didn’t have the option anymore. Whatever the case was, the letters contained nothing to lead them to Amanda, and Melissa was beginning to lose hope. The only bright spot about everything was the fact that she was able to give Maria some much needed time with her grandson.

Jordan seemed to take to her instantly, and he rarely liked anyone on the first meeting. Jordan was a very picky subject. To be so young, he was selective about who he let near him. When they would take him to his appointments, he would scream his head off when the doctors and nurses would touch him. His tears would only subside when either Meg or Alex picked him up. It also took him a while to adjust to Matt. He used to cry every time Matt took him, but now they were okay. It was like he knew Maria already, and he seemed quite content with her. Maybe it was the fact that she and Meg looked so much alike. Whatever it was, he hadn’t made one peep since she picked him up.

As hard as it was, Melissa tore herself away from them and focused on the task at hand. She had to get whatever she could to reunite Maria with her family. She still felt like it was partially her fault for not pushing harder when it came to Ben’s torment. Letting the world believe that Maria was dead was the only way for now, the only one she could be around openly was Jordan. She knew being away from her daughters and Emilio was torture for Maria, and she wanted to help rectify the situation. For now time with Jordan had to be enough.

The hours seemed to fly by as Maria sat talking with Melissa and getting acquainted with Jordan. She fed him, she changed him, and she played with him all day. He loved all the attention she showered on him. He even fell asleep in her arms. Melissa offered to take him to his room and lay him down, but Maria refused; she wanted to keep him for as long as she could. Melissa loved seeing her so happy, she hadn’t seen her smile in so long, and she was excited to be able to give her that moment.

While Melissa watched a sleeping Jordan in Maria’s arms, she looked over to see the clock and gasped at the time. “Oh my, it’s almost time for Meg to arrive. I’m afraid you have to get out of sight until she leaves.” Maria sighed and kissed Jordan’s forehead before handing him over. Within five minutes, Meg had arrived to pick him up. As soon as he heard her voice, his eyes popped open, and he reached for her. Meg’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw him.

“Hi, mommy’s little man. Did you have fun with Granny today?”

“We did,” Melissa smiled. “We played hard.”

When Meg took him in her arms, she pulled him close and inhaled deeply. She had a rough day at work, and the comfort she found in her son was indescribable. Gio hadn’t returned to work, and she couldn’t reach him for the better half of the day. When she did reach him, he sounded irritable and out of breath. She tried to pull the truth out of him, but he was close-lipped about everything.

In the sit down, she had with the girls, they decided that someone should just drop by the house and check on him. They all agreed that it should be Maddie. She and Gio had always been the closest, and she agreed. She had been occupied at work and hadn’t been able to go by, but she planned to drop by very soon.

As Meg continued to hold Jordan to her chest, she smelled a familiar fragrance and her eyes widened. She knew the smell, and knew she had to be imagining things. Melissa took notice of the look on her face and laid her hand on Meg’s arm. “What’s wrong, darling?” Meg moved back when she felt Melissa’s hand on her skin. Melissa’s face paled in shock as the realization hit her. Meg stepped backwards with Jordan and ran into the wall. With trembling hands, Meg began to address her.

“Jordan smells like... he smells like the perfume my mother used to wear. Where did it come from? It was her favorite, I’ve never smelled it on anyone else.”

Melissa stalled, she didn’t know how to explain it. She was at a loss for words, when Margret came speeding around the corner. “It was me, Mrs. Hanover, I have the same perfume. I’m sorry to upset you. I must have rubbed it on him when I put him down for his nap.” Meg looked at her sincerity and calmed down. She bought the story, and Melissa exhaled deeply.

“It’s okay Margret, I just let my mind escape me for a minute. I’m sorry I got you guys all riled up. I’m sure the scent is popular, I just haven’t met anyone else who wore it except her. It makes me think of her. At least Jordan got to know at least a little piece of her today.” She reached out and hugged Margret lightly to be sure not to crush Jordan. “Thank you. Thank you both for taking such good care of my little man.”

Melissa ran her hand down Jordan’s back tenderly. “He was no trouble. He was wonderful like he has always been for Granny.”

“Well, I’m glad you had fun, but let us get going. We have to go see your sister and daddy,” she said softly while holding Jordan out. He kicked his feet as if he knew what she was saying and she grabbed his bag from the floor. “Let’s get you loaded into the car. Say goodbye to Granny.” As Melissa watched Meg and Jordan walk out of the door, she positioned her hand on Margaret’s shoulder. She was very grateful for what she had done.

“Thank you, Margaret, you were a godsend just then. I was absolutely speechless when she asked.”

“It’s no problem ma’am, you looked like you needed help.”

“Yes, I did, and thank you for helping out.”

“It was no problem, but tomorrow I think Ms. Maria should skip putting on the perfume. We wouldn’t want to take any chances until we can afford to.”

“Good idea,” Melissa laughed and put her arms around Margret. “Let’s get a drink, we need a nice stiff one.”

Maria came from the back with a nervous look on her face and sighed. “That was so close, I need to be smarter when it comes to my daughter. She is so insightful.”

“Yeah, well Margret here saved the day. Now, no more worries for the night. We have earned ourselves a round of drinks.”

***

Alex had gotten off work and was rushing over to Allison’s school to pick her up. He was cursing himself for running behind. He was only five minutes late, but Meg was always on time. He already had a lot to live up to considering her squeaky-clean image with Allison on the pickup and drop off scene, and he wanted her to request him the way she always requested Meg. When he arrived, he saw her standing with her teacher holding her hand looking a little upset. He assumed it was because of his tardiness, and immediately felt bad.

The car ride home was very quiet as they rode in silence. When he asked her what was wrong, she deflected his question, and began to look out the window as they headed home. He knew that she must be upset with him because usually she would be talking his ear off, but this time she was dead silent. They made it home, they were still quiet, and he just let her venture off to her room. Hours later, he was sitting on the couch and she came and sat down next to him quietly. He looked at her blank expression and decided to start up a conversation.

“Princess, how was school?” he pulled her into his lap.

“It was good, daddy. I got a new teacher, she plays with me at recess.”

“That’s good. Now, tell me what you want to do for your birthday.”

“I want a party, a big one,” she giggled. “I want all my friends from school, my granny, and my aunts and uncles, but I wish,” she drifted off and looked away.

“You wish what, sweetie?”

“Nothing, you’re going to get mad.”

Alex stroked her blond curls and kissed her cheek. “It’s your birthday, you can have whatever you want.”

“I wish grandpa could come. I know he is in grown man’s time out, but I wish he could come to my party. I miss him.”

Alex huffed and held her to his chest. He knew she and Ben had developed a close relationship, but he had hoped she would forget all about him with time. With everything Ben had done, he was never going to let him near her again, and he was never going to get a chance to suck Jordan in. The day Ben was arrested, Alex vowed never to let him into his life again. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, but you know grandpa can’t come. He has been very bad and we won’t be seeing him again.”

“I know,” she lowered her head. “I just wish we could.”

Meg walked around the corner with Jordan and saw the troubled look on Allison’s face and rushed to sit next to them. Allison moved to the side to where she was right up against Alex and placed her hand on his leg. Meg watched as she leaned away from her, and felt displaced. Normally, Allison would have been on top of her head to kiss Jordan or at least tell Meg all about her today. Today, she seemed to want to be far away from them. Meg was caught off guard, she and Allison had always been so close, and to pick up on the resistance stung. Alex saw the pain in her eyes, and tried to soothe the situation.

“Alli, don’t you want to tell mommy what you want for your birthday? I’m sure she would like to know too.”

Allison sighed and turned to face Meg. “I want a big party; daddy said I could have one.”

Meg tried hard to hold in the tears threatening to escape her eyes. “That would be great, sweetie. We will do whatever we can to make that happen.” Allison studied her for a second and then got up and ran upstairs. Once she was gone, Meg allowed the tears she had been holding in to flow freely. Marisol had been watching the scene unfold, and quickly rushed in to grab Jordan. “Go, Mr. Hanover, take her for a walk to clear her head.” Alex wrapped his arms around Meg and pulled her from the couch. He held her to him before grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the side door.

They walked outside and through the garden in silence for a while. Alex clutched her hand tightly and let her gather her thoughts. She sobbed quietly for another few minutes before they began a conversation. “Baby, I’m sorry she hurt you, I think it’s my fault for being late for the pickup.”

“If that were the case, then wouldn’t she be upset with you and not me? I think it’s what I always feared would happen. I think she feels that I care more for Jordan. Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been picking him up and not her. It used to be such a special time for us, and now that we’ve changed things up, she feels second best. I never meant to make her feel that way, I love my little girl, Alex. Seeing that look in her eyes broke my heart.”

Alex turned to her and brushed her tears away. “I know how much you love them both. She’s five, baby, she’s going to have times where she’s jealous of her brother, but she knows you love her. Now, I’m going to talk to her about the way she acted because she has to know that she can’t treat you that way, jealousy or not. You’re her mother, and she’s going to respect you.”