Promises

Parts 7-8

By Candy

Michelle had continual nightmares about that fateful day. She would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. Carmen had come so close to killing her. If Danny hadn't been there…no she didn't want to think about it. When she finally awoke from these nightmares, Danny usually slept peacefully beside her and she didn't have the heart to wake him. She always had trouble falling back to sleep, so she would lay there watching him sleep. When he woke up and saw her wide awake looking at him with tears in her eyes, he knew she had had the nightmares again. Without saying a word, he would reach over and hold her in his arms. Many times when she did wake him up, he would wrap his arms around her and hold her until she fell back asleep. She never did tell him that sometimes the nightmares took a different twist with what could have happened. Sometimes Danny walks in and Carmen turns the gun on him and kills him. In others, Danny never shows up and Carmen follows through on her promise to kill her. However, after the events of the past few days and knowing what she now knew, her dreams took a different turn…

"What do you want Carmen?" Michelle asks impatiently.
"We need to talk," Carmen said coldly. "I understand I am to become a grandmother."
"What?" Michelle shouted. "How do you know anything about this?"
"I have my people everywhere, Michelle," she smiled. "I thought you understood that from our visit when your brother had you locked up in the Psych ward at Cedars."
"Okay," Michelle nodded. "You're right. I am pregnant, but I think you forgot something about that same conversation. I said I would never let you near any child of mine and I meant it. This child will never know you."
Michelle turned to leave when she heard the click of the gun.
"You're right," Carmen smiled sadistically. "This baby won't know me because you see, I cannot allow this baby to be born. I am just now getting my Daniel back in my life and you and this baby will only pull him away from me. I cannot allow that to happen. I will not let it happen."
"Put the gun down Carmen," Michelle pleaded. "I know how much you hate me, but think about what you'd do to Danny by killing his wife and child. It will destroy him."
"He'll no doubt be upset, but his mother will be there to comfort him in this time of tragedy," she feigned compassion. "I'll be back to being the most important woman in his life. He'll take over the family business just like I have planned since he was a boy. I'll finally have you out of my life, once and for all." And with that she pulled the trigger and the gun exploded.

Michelle, still sleeping, started screaming. Danny bolted out of the chair and gently shook her, trying to wake her. "Michelle," he said. "Baby, wake up. You're dreaming."
Suddenly her eyes opened wide and he saw the same fear she had the night on the beach when she thought he was going to kill her. That night seemed like an eternity ago. Even then, he knew he was going to love her. He had promised himself then that he would never let her face that kind of fear again. She sat up and threw her arms around him, holding on tight. He responded by tightening his arms around her. "What is it?"
"Please just hold me," she pleaded.
He gently stroked her hair and held her close. "Michelle," he pulled her back to look in her eyes. "Was it the same nightmare?"
"No," she whispered. "It was different. She…" She stopped as the tears fell from her eyes.
"You're okay now," he tried to reassure, holding her close again.
"I'm not worried about me," she cried. "She killed our baby."
"No she didn't," he whispered. "Our baby is okay and so are you."
She suddenly pulled away and hastily wiped her tears away. "What am I doing? I'm sorry. I shouldn't be carrying on like this about some dream."
"Michelle," he murmured quietly, grabbing her hands with his. "You and I both know this was more than a dream."
Her voice cracked. "Danny, I know we didn't plan on this…that we wanted to wait until the business was settled before we started a family, but I want this baby so much. And I know we just found out, but this baby has already become so important to me. I don't know what I would do if anything happened."
"I know," he sighed, pulling her back into his arms. "And I promise you I'm going to make sure no one ever hurts this baby or you again."
***************************************************
Danny had eased himself into the bed beside her and held her in his arms until she fell asleep again. He wished more than anything he could take these nightmares away from her and replace them with good, happy dreams.
He looked down at his watch and realized Frank would be here soon to question Michelle again. He had been racking his brain trying to think of what it could have been that made her so sick. Unfortunately, he hadn't been home much in the past week. Could they have really been after him? No, that didn't make sense because if they were really after him, they would have known he was working at the office late every night alone. Someone could have easily gotten to him. They would also know that with him at the office Michelle would be alone. Someone was after her. But who could that someone be? That's what he had to find out. He still had his doubts about Ben's alleged innocence in not knowing anything about this. Even he wasn't involved, that didn't clear Carmen. She still had her followers, even while in jail. And she was the only one he knew of who wanted Michelle dead. But the poison hadn't been enough to kill her, only enough to make her sick. Maybe the intention wasn't to kill her, but only to make her very sick. But why?
"Danny," Frank whispered, interrupting his thoughts.
Danny looked up and carefully moved his arm from underneath Michelle.
"How is she doing?" Frank asked, looking at Michelle.
"She's exhausted," he explained. "And Dr. Sedwick said she's dehydrated, but if the rest of the test results come back okay, she may let her go home tomorrow."
"I know now is not the best time to question her," he began, "but the longer we wait…"
"I know," Danny sighed. "I just hate to wake her up when she's finally sleeping."
As if on cue, Michelle began to stir. "Danny?" she asked groggily.
"I'm right here," he reassured, moving back to her side.
"Frank?" she said looking over her husband's shoulder. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm sorry Michelle," he apologized. "But I need to ask you a few more questions."
"Okay," she nodded, trying to prop herself up.
"Easy," Danny panicked.
"It's okay. I'm actually feeling a little better," she tried to reassure her husband. "What do you need to ask me Frank?"
"Well, Rick gave me the results from the toxicologist's examination and it appears that the poison was ingested, most likely in something you ate or drank in the past five to six days," he explained. "I need you to try to remember everything that you've had during that time. Did you eat anything different than you normally do? Did you go out anywhere?"
"No," she shook her head. "Danny was working late at the office every night so I would just fix something quick. And I've felt so sick the past three days I haven't really eaten anything."
"Think back to the first part of the week, before you started feeling sick," Frank said. "What did you eat then?"
"I don't really remember," she sighed, rubbing her eyes, trying to remember. "Just whatever we had around the house."
Danny interrupted, seeing the tense expression on Michelle's face, "Frank, listen, she doesn't remember. Just go through the house and see what you can find. She really needs to rest and…"
"Wait!" Michelle interrupted. "I remember something."

____________________________________________________

"What do you remember, Michelle?" Frank asked.
"There was a delivery at the house on Monday…no Tuesday," she said struggling to remember. "I was getting ready to go register for school. When I opened the door to leave there was a man standing there and I jumped. He apologized for startling me, but he said he had a delivery for me and handed me a box of chocolates. I signed for it and he left. I noticed there was no card, but I assumed they were from Danny. When I got back home I got a message from Danny that he was working late again. I didn't feel like eating dinner alone, so I grabbed the box and ate a few of them while I watched television."
"You never mentioned anything to me about it," Danny said.
"Well, I haven't seen you much lately," she explained. "And truthfully, I started feeling so bad after that night, I forgot all about it until just now."
"Did you happen to recognize this delivery guy?" Frank questioned.
"No, I don't think so," she answered.
"Did you notice the vehicle he was driving? Was there a company name on the side?" he asked.
"There was a black van parked in the drive way," she answered. "It had yellow writing on the side, but I didn't pay attention to what it said. I was in a hurry and nothing seemed out of the ordinary with the delivery so I never thought twice about it. I guess with our track record I should have known better."
"Michelle, what did this guy look like?" Frank inquired.
"He was young, late twenties maybe, shoulder length dark hair and dark eyes," she began. "He was a little taller than you and a little overweight."
"Any distinguishing features? A scar? A tattoo?"
"No," she shook her head. "None that I noticed. He seemed like an ordinary guy."
"Is this box still in your house?" Frank quizzed.
"Yes," she said. "I ate just a few of them that night and I haven't eaten any since."
"Thank goodness you didn't," Danny sighed. "Frank, do you think if she had eaten more it could have…" He stopped, unable to get the words out of his mouth.
"I don't know," Frank uttered, knowing Danny's fear. "We need to get that box and have it analyzed. Do you remember where you left it?"
"It should still be on one of the tables in the living room at the house. I don't remember moving it anywhere," she answered.
"Okay, then," Frank said. "I'll need to get it from your house so I can take it to the lab for analysis."
"I'll give you my key," Danny stood, pulling his keys out of his pocket.
"It would be better if I had someone there with me," Frank explained, "just to make everything legal. It would take too long to get a search warrant."
"Danny can let you in," Michelle said.
"I'm not leaving you," Danny snapped.
"I'm feeling better," she defended. "I'll be fine until you get back."
"Michelle, somebody poisoned you," he demanded. "I'm not leaving you here alone."
"She won't be alone," came a voice from the door.
"Bill, hi," Michelle smiled. "I'm glad you're here. Now my overprotective husband can leave for a little while."
"I'm not trying to be overprotective. I'm just worried…" he began.
She pressed her finger to his lips. "I know, honey, I know. I understand. Bill's here so I won't be alone. Now go with Frank."
"I love you," his voice cracked as he leaned down to brush her lips with a kiss.
She put both hands on either side of his face to pull him closer. "I love you too," she whispered. "We're going to be okay."
"I'll be right back," he said, not realizing his hand was resting on her stomach.
"Take your time," she smiled. "Get something to eat, take a shower…"
"You trying to get rid of me?" he kidded.
"You know better than that," she smiled.
"Danny, we really need to get going," Frank interrupted.
"Okay," Danny sighed, turning to Bill. "Bill, you keep an eye on her for me. And don't leave her alone for a minute."
"Sure thing," Bill nodded.
"I'll be back soon," he said looking back at Michelle.
As he followed Frank out the door, he turned around for another look.
"He's really worried about you," Bill said, sitting down next to her bed. "You want to tell me what's going on with you?"
Michelle went through the story again about the delivery man and the box of chocolates and being poisoned. However, she left out the part about being pregnant. She and Danny had decided to keep the news of her pregnancy to themselves for now and Rick had promised he wouldn't tell anyone either. Danny didn't want anyone to know…not until he found out who had hurt Michelle.
-----------------------------------------
"Okay," Danny sighed, opening the front door to his and Michelle's house. "The living room is right through here."
They both searched every table and the floor, even looking under the furniture. After searching every room and turning up nothing, Frank groaned, "It's not here."
"She said she left it here in the living room," Danny sighed.
"We've turned this house upside down, Danny. It's gone. Don't touch anything else," Frank said, pulling out his cell phone. "This is Cooper. I need Adams and Taylor at 420 Harvest Lane in reference to a possible home invasion."
"This is my fault," Danny slammed his hand against the wall. "I should have let you question her earlier. Then we would have known about the delivery and gotten here sooner. I thought with the security system we have here, there was no way anybody could get in."
"You were worried about your wife Danny," Frank consoled. "Whoever was here, probably came in days ago to get that box."
"Tuesday night," Danny suddenly remembered. "I get on to Michelle all the time about not setting the alarm. Tuesday night I was late getting home and the alarm was off. She swore to me she had set it, but I assumed she probably just forgot again."
"We'll check it out with the alarm company," Frank said.
"Listen, do you need me for anything else?" Danny asked.
"No," Frank said. "We're going to see if we can get some fingerprints in here and check around for any signs of a break in. I'll call the alarm company and let you know what I find out."
"Okay," Danny nodded. "You've got my cell phone number?"
"Yes," Frank said. "You going back to the hospital?"
"Not just yet," Danny's eyes blazed. "I have someone I need to see first."

Parts 9-10

Home