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Disclaimer: Nope, they're still not my characters.�
Michelle stood in her bedroom at the Bauer house, trying to decide what to wear. Her confrontation with Carmen would not be easy. She would have to play the part perfectly. She had to let Carmen believe that she�d won. Carmen would have to believe that Danny had ended things with Michelle, before she would brag about her accomplishment. She decided on a pair of jeans, and a blue short sleeved sweater. She didn�t want to look totally unkempt, but if she was too dressed-up, Carmen would know that Danny hadn�t really broken her heart.
At Drew�s apartment, the phone rang. Jesse awakened with the sound of it, and moved from his position on the couch to be next to Drew. Max was still sleeping.
It was Ben Warren. He had some information for Drew. �I checked Selena�s medical records and was able to obtain her blood type. I called a friend of mine, a hematologist in Detroit, and he was able to tell me what blood types were incompatible with yours and Selena�s.�
�You mean, now you know what my father�s blood type is?� Drew asked.
�Not exactly. It�s a complicated process, but he could tell me for certain what type of blood your father couldn�t have.�
�So, where do we go from here?�
�Well, I�ll have to pull some strings to find out some medical history on the two men listed in Selena�s book. If either of them have the blood types that the hematologist ruled out, then we�ll be able to rule them out as your biological father. However, the one entry with no information - the �Sweet College Boy�- isn�t going to be quite so easy. You�re going to have to get some information about him from Selena.�
�I�m not talking to her, ever. Besides, she left town.��
�Suit yourself, Ms. Jacobs. But I suggest if you really want this issue settled, you�ll get over your disappointment, and ask her.�
Back at the Bauer house, Michelle took out the newspaper clippings she�d taken from Selena�s book and Ben�s office. She still couldn�t believe that Ben could be Drew�s father. She was torn as to whether or not to talk to Drew about it.
Just then, the phone rang. It was Drew. She told Michelle about the conversation she�d just had with Ben. Michelle decided it would be better if she didn�t tell Drew about the clippings yet. She wanted to wait and see what Ben dug up on the other two men.
Michelle could contain herself no longer. She absolutely had to tell someone about last night. She knew Abby would be happy, but she�d also be cautious about the whole thing, and that was not what she wanted to hear. She wanted someone to say, �You Go Girl� and congratulate her on snaring some along time with the man she still considered to be her husband. And she knew that the person on the other end of the phone line would do just that.
She told Drew everything � how she called him at Towers, how he hid his car at the hospital � she even told her how Danny hadn�t wanted to make love. At first, she almost left that part out, considering everything, but she didn�t. And Drew reacted just as she suspected she would.
�Girlfriend, you are THE woman!� Drew screamed. �That was totally ingenious! It�s about time the two of you had some time to yourself. I can�t believe we used to think he was some classless jerk.�
�I know,� Michelle said. �He�s really opened up to me, and shown me the real Danny Santos.�
It felt good to talk about Danny, the way women talk about their men under normal circumstances.
Michelle placed the cordless phone back in the charger. She�d left the newspaper articles in her nightstand drawer, underneath her journal and some other notebooks. She chose a purse that looked like a mini-back-pack. There was a small zipper pound on the front, that would be perfect for the tape recorder. She loaded a blank cassette into the machine, and left the others on her dresser. If everything went according to her plan, she would be making copies when she returned to her bedroom.
Her hair was pulled back in a bun, and her make-up, although there, was very pale. She would play the part of the broken-hearted wife for all she was worth. She drove by Millenium, and saw Pilar inside with Bill. Danny had told her he would be going to Chicago today, to do what he told Pilar he was going to do last night. So, there would be no one at the Santos house to hinder her mission.
She checked once more, to make sure that the tape recorder was in place, and then she turned it on. She rang the bell, and Dietz opened the door.
�What are you doing here,� he asked, in that voice that had always gotten on her last nerve.
�I need to talk to Carmen.�
�Ms. Santos doesn�t have anything to say to you.�
�Dietz, after everything that woman has taken from me, she owes me at least a few minutes,� Michelle said, with an anger in her voice that he immediately detected.
He led her to the study, where Carmen was seated behind the desk. This was the moment of truth.
�Dietz,� Carmen said, �Could you give some privacy?�
He slithered out into the main hall of the house.
Michelle began immediately. This conversation was going to begin on her terms, not Carmen�s. She made herself imagine a life without Danny, and it gave her the saddened, grief-filled look she was hoping for.
�I hope you�re happy, Carmen. I hope that you�re satisfied. You�ve ruined everything for Danny and me. You�ve manipulated him back into your nasty web, and he�s left me forever.� There were tears in her eyes, and her voice was cracking. �He�s told me to stay away from him. He says he has to stay here with you and this farce you call a family. What kind of family are you anyway? How can you not want your son to be happy?�
Carmen took a deep breath, �Danny�s happiness is a moot point. The only important issue at hand is his position in the Santos family.�
�Damn you Carmen!� Michelle screamed. �If I�ve got to spend the rest of my life without Danny, the least you can do is tell me the truth.�
�What are you talking about Michelle?� Carmen asked. Michelle knew she�d deny it at first.
Come on, Carmen. I know you�re proud of yourself. Do you think I haven�t figured out that it was you who ordered that hit, just to get Danny to run back to you? You may think I�m stupid, but I�m far from it. So, just admit it, Carmen. You know you want to. It was a brilliant plan. You know you want to tell me,� she screamed. �You know you want to gloat!�
Carmen�s smile was so cold, so unfeeling. Michelle knew she�d hit pay dirt.
�It was brilliant, wasn�t it Michelle. So much more than your attempts to keep Danny with you. You see, Danny loves this family, and I knew that he would come back to protect me. You had to know that in the end, he�d realize that he belongs here, with us. You were just an unfortunate disctraction.�
�You�re a monster,� Michelle said, as she marveled to herself at how beautifully her plan had worked.
�Well, call me what you will, but I�m a woman who always gets what she wants. I can make anything happen, Michelle, you know that. Manufacturing that hit was just the means by which I got my son back.�
�And almost killed your daughter.�
�Leave Pilar out of this. If she�d never moved into that boarding house, she wouldn�t have been sneaking in here. Now she�s back where she belongs � safe with her family.�
Michelle had what she had come for, and now it was time to get out of there. She looked at Carmen, and with all the bitterness and hatred she felt for her, she said, �If Danny gets killed, doing your dirty work, you�ll have no one to blame but your miserable self.�
And with that, she walked out of the study, and out of the Santos mausoleum.
Once she had driven a safe distance away, she pulled off the road, and replayed the tape.
�Perfect,� she said out loud.
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