Danny stood frozen in place while he watched Carmen hold the gun to her temple with shaking hands. There was no life in her dark chocolate colored eyes and Danny knew this wasn't an attempt to play on his sympathy. He had seen that dead look in Mick's eyes before he snuffed out a life. She was not messing around. She was desperate and she was serious. Danny's biggest fear was that she would turn the gun on others as well. He didn't want her to die this way, but he also had a real fear for the innocent mourners attending his grandmother's funeral.
Nearly all the mourners that had come to the service had either fled the church or were under their pews trying to conceal themselves from Carmen and her wrath. Only Danny and Michelle remained standing in the church. Danny took a quick glance to his right to see where Pilar had gone and saw that she and Bill were taking cover under the front pew as well and Bill was shielding her body with his.
Danny felt Michelle brush against him and take his hand. Her hand brushed over the finger that bore his wedding band and he felt her straighten. So now she knew he was wearing it again. He couldn't allow himself to think of that or of the talk that they were going to have later.
She had not taken cover like the others but was standing beside him. He was trying to find a way to get the gun away from Carmen before she decided to pull the trigger. As much as he loathed Carmen, he certainly didn't want to see her dead.
Frank Cooper was quietly making his way back down the aisle out of Carmen's sight. It was only a matter of time before Carmen caught him in her peripheral view and Danny wished he knew what Frank was thinking. Was he going to try and rush Carmen and take away the gun or was he going to try and talk her into giving the gun to him?
He knew she wouldn't give the gun to Frank. Whatever Frank had whispered in her ear prior to the funeral was the reason she had that gun to her temple now. It was up to him to try and reason with her. Would she listen to him after the heated argument they had had just hours before at home where he had said he never wanted to see her again? Could he try and convince her that he hadn't meant anything he had said?
Danny breathed deeply and tried to form the words. This was going to be extremely hard because the fact was that he had meant every word he had said and he knew that Carmen wasn't going to believe anything he said to the contrary. She would know he was just trying to pacify her long enough to remove the gun from her possession and then things would go back to the way they were before with him walking out of her life for good.
He was just about to begin his sentence when Michelle released her grasp from his hand and stepped forward and gazed straight at Carmen. Carmen's penetrating stare transferred from Danny to Michelle. She looked at Michelle as if she had never seen her before in her life.
"Carmen" Michelle began. "Please hand me the gun," she said as she walked around Danny and started to close the gap in space between Carmen and herself. She walked calmly and confidently to the row of pews where Carmen was holding herself hostage.
Frank looked at Michelle and she caught his glance for a moment and silently pleaded with him to let her do this. She heard Danny's swift intake of breath as she stood within a breath of Carmen.
The hand that was holding the gun began to shake. Carmen's eyes were affixed on Michelle and Michelle knew that there was real pain in them and that she had nothing to lose anymore. Something had devastated Carmen to the point where she no longer cared about her own life.
She held no love loss for Carmen Santos but if she killed herself in front of Danny as it appeared she was intending to do, then he would never forgive himself and he would be irreparable scarred. He would blame himself and carry the guilt until he himself was gone from this earth. Michelle could not let that happen.
She would find a way to get Carmen to release her hold on the gun and on Danny's very sanity. "Please Carmen" she said again. "Please give me the gun. You don't want to do this. Whatever has happened can't be so bad that you want to do this. Please think of that. Think of your family. Think of your children" she said and with that remark Carmen's eyes began to tear.
"I have no children," she said with a tear-choked voice.
"That's not true Carmen" Michelle continued. "You have two children who love you very much. I know you have been having some problems, but nothing that can't be worked out. Why don't you give me the gun and then we can all go somewhere and talk this out" she offered and was met with another of Carmen's infamous icy stares.
"We Michelle?" she spat. "There is no we. Don't you understand that you are the entire problem? Everything was fine until you showed up in our lives. You are an outsider. You are not even married to Danny anymore. What right do you think you have to tell me about my children? What right do you even have to be here at this service?" she said.
Michelle was secretly delighted. She had gotten Carmen to focus on her anger for her rather than her own misery. Perhaps while she was attacking her verbally, Frank would have a chance to come in from behind her to maneuver the gun out of her grasp. If she could just keep Carmen talking......
Carmen must have sensed her plan because at that moment she turned her head and saw Frank in the aisle barely three pews behind her. She turned her head back to Michelle and then to Danny and then back to Frank. She had the look of a cornered animal that had no way out and Michelle knew she only had one chance to get Carmen to relinquish the gun.
"Carmen, listen to me, I know you don't think of me as part of your family anymore but if you wont think of yourself, please think of Danny" she pleaded.
"My son has informed me that as far as he is concerned I am not his mother" Carmen said and stared blankly in Danny's direction as if recollecting the painful conversation in the study.
"Carmen, you know that Danny didn't mean that. He must have said it in the heat of the moment. You know how things can get out of control and.........." she began to say and then Carmen removed the gun from her temple and pointed it straight at her.
"You're right Michelle" Carmen said. "My son didn't mean those horrible things he said to me. He only said them because of the hold you have on them. If I get rid of you then he won't feel that way anymore and we can be a family again. Thank you Michelle, you have made me see the truth. Once you are gone, everything will be fine" she said.
Danny leapt forward and tried to get in between Carmen and Michelle. Michelle held her arm out and stopped him from positioning himself in between them. "No, Carmen" she said. "You won't shoot me," she said and Danny grabbed her again and tried to put her behind him.
Carmen laughed and began to wave the gun around as she spoke. "You underestimate me Michelle. You have no idea what I am capable of."
"No, Carmen, You are right. I probably don't but I know you wont shoot me when there is a chance that I am carrying your grandchild" she said.
Carmen stood rigid with her mouth slightly agape. This was a trick. It had to be. Michelle had been out of Danny's life for several weeks now. Danny had been in California and...........
Dread penetrated her very soul when she remembered the conversation she had eavesdropped on last night when Danny had admitted to Michelle that he had never gone to California. But if Michelle hadn't known he was still here then there was no possibility that she was telling the truth. It was just more lies to try and get her own way and to try to look good in Danny's eyes.
"That is a lie" Carmen spewed. "You are not pregnant nor is there a possibility that you are."
"Yes, there is Carmen," Danny said and both Carmen and Michelle looked at him. "There is every chance that she could be pregnant."
"But how can this be?" she said. "I heard you tell her you never left Springfield. She didn't know you were here. How can I believe she might be carrying your child if she didn't even know you were here Daniel?" she said and Danny noted that her look of desperation was being replaced by a look of anger. He didn't know which one frightened him more.
"We have been together three times mother," Danny admitted and Michelle looked at him in shock. They had only been together two times, once in New York and then again last night. He was so upset by this that he just forgot was all, she told herself.
"Daniel" Carmen replied. "Why are you telling such lies? I don't believe you have been with her once never mind three times. There simply wasn't any opportunity. I may be a lot of things Daniel, but I am not stupid" she said challenging Danny to prove her wrong.
"We have been together three times Carmen. The last time was last night in my room" he admitted and he saw Michelle blush at the memory of her immodest visit to him last night.
"What?" Carmen shouted. "Under my own roof? You brought that trollop into my house and..."
Michelle spoke up then and tried to gain control of the situation again. This was beginning to turn into an argument between Carmen and Danny and she needed to make Carmen believe that there was even the slightest possibility that she was pregnant even though she doubted she was. It was the wrong time of the month for her to conceive if she recollected correctly.
"He didn't bring me into the house Carmen" Michelle said. "I came to him and seduced him. It was all my doing but that doesn't change the fact that we may have conceived your grandchild last night" she explained.
Carmen was livid. A grandchild had been her greatest wish but not one born of this little strumpet. She was not fit to carry her grandchildren. She had to make sure that never happened.
"One indiscretion does not a baby make" Carmen reminded Michelle all the while moving the gun around as she spoke.
"It wasn't one time," Danny said and gain Carmen looked at him with disbelieving eyes.
"What do you mean Daniel?" Carmen asked.
"I mean that we have been together three times just like I said" he answered.
"But when Daniel? When did you get the chance? If Michelle didn't even know you were still in Springfield, then this doesn't make any sense," she said.
"The night that grandmother died, Michelle came to New York to be with me" he said and looked at Michelle who returned his gaze. "And then there was the time that we were together in her room when she was sick" he said and watched Michelle for her reaction. He still didn't know whether she remembered their encounter or not but the shocked look on her face told him she did.
"I thought that was a dream," Michelle said suddenly forgetting the grave situation that was still occurring.
Danny also seemed to forget that Carmen was brandishing a gun and threatening to use it for his eyes were only on Michelle as he said. "It was no dream. It was very real"
Carmen continued to stare at them in disbelief and before she could see what was happening, Frank had managed to position himself behind her and grabbed the gun from her grasp.
She made no attempt to run. She remained frozen to the same spot for several moments before Frank took her hand and began to lead her up the aisle and out of the church.
"Frank" Danny called. "What is she being charged with?" he asked.
"We matched her fingerprints with the ones on the plug in Dietz's hospital room. She pulled the plug on his life sustaining machines Danny and tried to kill him" he said.
Danny looked at Carmen and no matter how much he thought he hated her, she still deserved a fair chance. The chance she had never given him or Michelle. "I'll call Ben for you and have him meet you at the station" he said and Carmen nodded her head and then stared at the ground and never looked up until she was seating in the black and white police car that bore the Springfield Police logo.
It was only then did she look up at Danny and met his gaze. Danny was saddened to find that he felt nothing. Any feeling he may have had for her was gone. Gone as if it never existed at all. The only thing he wanted to think about was getting Michelle out of here and to a place where they could talk.
The other mourners who had remained in the church and under their benches were beginning to immerge and began to file out of the church. Some of them patted him on the back and told him what a good job he did of keeping his cool and keeping them all safe.
Danny nodded at each person who commented to him but his mind was suddenly drawn to the back of the church and the last row. There was a woman there whom he had never met but who looked strangely familiar. She wasn't a family member, of that he was certain.
Was she one of grandmother's friends? She liked to go and visit friends every now when she felt up to it and sometimes even went to the senior community center. This woman was much younger than his grandmother was but she could have been a volunteer at the center or something. That had to be it. His grandmother was the type of lady that people instantly fell in love with and he had never been able to understand why Carmen had disliked her so.
He felt her eyes on his also and he grabbed Michelle's hand and began to gently lead her up the aisle as well. Without knowing why, he found himself leading Michelle over to where this woman was standing. He wanted to find out who she was and how she had known his dear grandmother.
Soon, they were on the same row as this mystery lady and Danny spoke first. "Hello" he said. "I am Danny Santos. Did you know my grandmother?" he said and the woman nodded never taking her eyes off of him.
"Yes, I knew her" she said in a husky voice that Danny found strangely calming.
"Did you know her from the senior center?" he asked and the woman shook her head no.
"Well, how did you know her then?" Danny asked with a curious voice.
"I used to work in her home" she explained.
"Oh I see" Danny said "Did you work for her before papa and ......" and realization hit him.
"What did you say your name was?" Danny asked.
"My name is Teresa" she announced and Danny stood in complete shock and was incapable of forming anymore words. "That's right Danny" she continued, "I am your natural mother."