Miguel had relented and agreed to let Michelle ride in the car simply because he couldn't handle the thought of the innocent young lady having to suffer in the trunk again but he was not going to take a chance on her finding out where they were going. Louisa's life depended on his delivering Michelle safely and soundly to Mr. Mick and that was his primary goal.
She climbed into the front seat of the car ready to survey her surroundings and was met with an unfortunate development when Miguel insisted on applying a blindfold to her eyes.
She made a squeak of protest when he reached around her head and tied the bandana which was to serve as a shield to her eyes.
Don't look in her eyes, Miguel thought to himself. It will be over soon enough. Just get the bandana over her eyes and you can finish your job. Don't look at those sad, innocent eyes.
Despite his efforts to jerk the bandana over her face before he could get caught in the pleading look in Michelle's eyes, he found himself letting his emotions rule his common sense and relenting.
What could it hurt? He would let her ride up in front with him without the makeshift blindfold and then when they got closer to their destination, he would explain to her the risk he had taken allowing her to ride with him with her eyes uncovered and he felt sure she would cooperate with him then. As long as he delivered Ms. Michelle to Mick the way he had demanded, Miguel figured Mick need never know about his small betrayal.
"Okay Ms. Michelle" he conceded. "I leave the blindfold off but you have to do something for me when we get there" he said and she shook her head in agreement without waiting to hear what her part of the deal would be.
"Okay Miguel. Thank you. You will not be sorry. I will make sure of that" she said and Miguel nodded sadly. She was still under the assumption that Danny would be able to take her and Rosie out of Barbados alive. He knew Mick and he knew that Michelle and Rosie weren't going anywhere and he doubted Daniel Santos would be allowed to leave the country alive.
"Perhaps we should go" he said solemnly and Michelle smiled and hopped in the front seat like a small child waiting to go on an adventure, instead of a weary young woman who had no idea what awaited her at the hacienda and how grave the situation truly was.
*****************************************************************
Deitz finally managed to calm Danny down enough to get him to at least listen to the possibility that he was on his side. He wanted Mick as badly as Danny did, if not more. He had his own score to settle with Mick but that didn't mean for one-second that he trusted Michelle or believed in her innocence the way that Danny did.
How could be continue this charade? All the evidence pointed to Michelle being guilty. How could Danny believe so strongly that she was innocent when there was so much proof to the contrary?
Danny had complete faith in Michelle and whatever sob story she had fed him. How could he be so damn blind when he came to this? The truth was right there for them both to see. She had ditched him again just like that night on the beach almost a year ago. How could he trust her again? How could he possibly believe anything she told him? His love for her blinded him to the truth and Dietz was afraid it was ultimately going to lead to Danny's downfall.
He, however, had never loved another person enough to have or to understand that kind of unfailing trust and he probably never would. This kind of blind faith would only bring you heartache as Danny was undoubtedly going to find out very soon.
He felt so bad for the kid. It wasn't fair, after the hell that he had already been through this last year, for him to find out his wife had been alive and betraying her country the entire time was just a kick in the teeth. That is exactly what had happened though and Dietz almost wished that Michelle really had died that night instead of deserting her husband and getting mixed up with Mick and his unsavory international activities.
It would have been a hell of a lot easier for Danny to mourn a sainted Michelle than to try and find out what had happened to his faithless wife. He was going to have to face some pretty ugly truths about the woman he loved and it would stay with him for the rest of his life. Deitz closed his eyes and shook his head at the thought of the torment that Danny still had ahead of him. Love, Dietz thought. Who the hell needed it?
He was also getting tired of standing around and he shuffled his feet nervously. He needed to be doing something, to be moving around. All this standing around was making him antsy but they had to stay put until the transmitter stopped flashing and Michelle's location was pinpointed. He needed to tell Danny about the tracking device he had planted on Michelle and he prepared himself for the tongue lashing that he was going to get from Danny for withholding that piece of information from him also.
Dietz didn't get a chance to speak first however, since Danny's agitation had finally broken through and he half yelled at Dietz when asking when they were going to do something.
"As soon as they get to their destination, which should be anytime now" he offered "we will make our move, but not until then."
"How the hell are we going to know when they make their destination or where it is?" he asked. "Are you having them followed and you haven't told me?" he shouted.
"Yes, and no" Dietz answered and was promptly met with Danny's puzzled, angry expression.
"Let me explain" Dietz interjected quickly before Danny blew his top. "I planted a tiny transmitter in her bag before I went to get my coffee. It flashes as long as they are on the move but as soon as they arrive at their destination, it will stop flashing signaling their arrival and the coordinates will pop up on the screen and I will enter them into my laptop and Bingo, we got em" he said dramatically.
"You know Dietz" Danny said "you don't have to be so damn proud of yourself and happy about all of this. I know you still think Michelle is guilty and when this is over I want an apology on a silver platter when you finally see that you don't know what the hell you are talking about. I am going to say this one last time and you best get it through your thick skull. Michelle is not guilty. There has been a mistake and I don't care what I have to do to prove that, but I will. Do you hear me? I will prove that she is innocent and then you and the rest of the people who thought she was guilty can go straight to hell" he said and began to walk away.
Dietz gently pulled on his arm pulling him back. "I would like nothing better than to be wrong about this Danny and if I am, you will get that damn apology, but I am not wrong Danny" he said. "not this time."
"We'll see Dietz" he said. "Did you know I have a daughter here?" he said. "Did you? Mick has got her and Michelle and I am going to get them back with or without you" he added.
"I didn't know that Danny" Dietz said "but it doesn't surprise me. Nothing about this ungodly situation surprises me" he said cryptically.
"Michelle was two months pregnant when she was abducted" Danny said distantly. "Rosie was born here on this island but she wont be staying another day if I have anything to do with it" he said and Dietz knew then what he had been afraid to admit. Danny would die trying to get Michelle and his daughter off this island if necessary.
"So" Dietz said "Carmen is a grandma again" trying to lighten up the tension that had been created between he and Danny. "Wonder what she is gonna say about that."
Danny couldn't tell if Deitz was being sincere or just trying to make him madder. He needed Dietz's help so badly that he would put his anger behind him and try to curb the urge to belt him in the mouth.
"Yes, she is a grandmother again" Danny said and he knew exactly how Carmen would take it. She would say something snide he felt sure but he didn't give a damn about Carmen right now. "Look Dietz. Why don't we make a little bargain huh?" Danny said. "Let's not talk about anything other than things related to finding Michelle and Rosie" he said and Dietz nodded his head in agreement.
"Good" Danny said "At least we understand each other now" and again Dietz nodded.
"You can be a cold bastard sometimes can't you Dietz?" Danny said rhetorically.
"Only when I have to be" he answered vaguely.
"I feel sorry for you. You know that Dietz?" Danny said. "you have never loved anything enough to understand what I am going through".
"Oh no?" Dietz said. "You think you can stand there and make judgments on me Danny? How long have I been working for your family? Twenty years or so right? What do you know about me? Huh? You ever care to find out? Hell no" he shouted answering his own question "You sit in your ivory tower and only call me when you need help, just like when you lived at your mother's house. Nothing has changed has it? you only come to Dietz when you need something. You better be damn glad that I am in a generous mood and feel like helping you out of this mess, so if I was you" he sneered "I would watch my mouth because you know what Danny?" he paused "you don't know me. You don't know a damn thing about me" he said and walked away leaving Danny wondering how they were going to find a way to work together to find Michelle and their daughter.
********************************************************************
Mick came into the little room that Louisa had transformed into a make shift nursery for Rosie. Her displeasure had not wavered any and she was becoming fussier than she had ever been.
She held Rosie's little body to hers when she noticed Mick walk into the room. She never knew what kind of mood Mick would be in and she was not going to allow him to harm Rosie...ever. Sometimes he would speak to Rosie in gentle tones and rub her light curls and other times he would come in angry and not relent until he had Louisa or Rosie and sometimes both, in tears.
"Well, Louisa" Mick said "They should be here very soon and you know what that means. Soon everything will be back as it should be. Miguel followed his instructions to the tee and they are en route as we speak. Soon, my little family will be back together and then I will deal with my brother" he said and smiled wickedly and Louisa cringed.
Mick was too sure of himself and Louisa hoped that it would end up being his downfall. She prayed that Danny would be able to retrieve his wife and daughter and Mick would be caught by the authorities.
Mick placed his finger on Rosie's cheek and rubbed gently. "Soon Rosaria" he said "very soon your momma will be here and we can be a family again" he said and Rosie wailed in protest as if she understood what he was saying and was letting him know how she felt about it.
Louisa braced herself for the tirade that was sure to come. Mick hated it when Rosie cried but he especially hated it when she cried because of him. He hated being rejected and when Michelle returned to the hacienda, she knew that he was going to take from her what she had been able to keep from him so far. Louisa had to find a way to keep that from happening.
Mick removed his finger from Rosie's cheek and placed it on Louisa's chin and said. "If anything goes wrong this time. I will hold Miguel personally responsible and then he will suffer the same fate as your other brother. Is that what you want?" he asked and she shook her head swiftly in a negative fashion.
"Good. Now that we understand each other, I am going to go and await the arrival of our special guests" he said and Louisa watched him leave vowing to do whatever she had to do in order to keep her brother safe. She would never allow him to hurt another member of her family or Michelle and the baby. She would risk hell if she had to, but one way or another, she would find a way to stop Mick Santos from going through with is evil plans.
********************************************************************
Miguel stopped the car and turned to face Michelle. "I am sorry Ms. Michelle, but you have to put this on now" and Michelle nodded.
She had managed to see the general direction in which they were going. They were traveling south and they had traveled about 20 miles. She had snuck a glance at the odometer and noticed how far they had gone. Barbados was only about 150 square miles so she felt reasonably sure that they headed into the part of the island that was not inhabited by people or tourists. Somehow she had to get a message to Danny about where they were and then he would come and get her....... she knew he would.
********************************************************************
"Okay Danny" Dietz said. "The light has stopped flashing. They have arrived".
"What are we waiting for then. Let's go" he said.
"In just a second. We need to go over some things first" he said.
"Like what?" Danny said not knowing if he wanted to know the answer to his question or not.
"Like the fact that when we get there and I get Mick, I am going to have to take Michelle also" he said.
"Like hell you will" Danny said. "I am not going to allow that to happen Dietz."
"You want your daughter don't you?" he said.
"Hell yes, I want my daughter" Danny shouted. He was very near the breaking point and he didn't know how much more he was going to be able to take.
"Then you have to cooperate with me. If Michelle is innocent, then we will find a way to prove it but you need to prepare yourself for the possibility that she isn't Danny" he said. "You need to face the facts and know that there is every likelihood that she is a traitor to her country."
"I don't have any choice but to cooperate with you, you SOB and I hope one day you will know what it is like to have your hopes and dreams ripped from you not once but twice. You really are a cold bastard. You don't care about anything or anyone" he said.
"Oh no" Dietz said. "Oh no. You don't have any idea what the hell you are talking about and I am not going to enlighten you" he said.
"What are you talking about Dietz?" Danny shouted. "You could never ever imagine what it feels like to have someone you love taken from you and then placed in danger. You just don't have any idea..." he said when Dietz interrupted him.
"Don't be too sure about that" Dietz said. "Mick killed my brother".