Deceptions
37-The End
By Kellie
Carmen gathered her wits about her. She looked at Miguel and responded to his accusation of being a manipulative mother. She shakily raised her voice, "Don't even try to criticize the way I've run this family. You're the one who left me alone to handle the business and the children. You have no idea what it was like for me after you supposedly died. As for me sending Mick into the world of drugs, you are wrong. Mick was introduced to drugs and dealing drugs by your trusted helper, Dietz."
"Yes, Dietz does have some responsibility in all of this, and I will get to him in a moment. You need not bother to pass the blame for the path Mick went down on another person. You were his mother, and ultimately it was your responsibility to make sure he was emotionally equipped to handle life in this family. You failed to guide him properly and you are the reason I was not here to do so myself. If you hadn't gotten greedy and decided to act as an informant to the FBI in order to get me out of your way, Mick would have had a father. All these horrible things that have happened to our children go back to your need for power and desire for money. You are the one who single handedly ruined our family," Miguel firmly stated. "I don't know what happened to the woman I loved and had a family with, but the woman before me is not that person. How did you become such a manipulative bitch?"
Carmen was speechless after Miguel's tirade. She knew that with his words, Miguel had turned Danny and Pilar against her forever. She looked at Danny, who turned away from her gaze and put his head on Michelle's shoulder. Then she turned towards Pilar, whose face was soaked with silent tears. Pilar looked at her and remarked, "Papa is right, you're not a mother. I should have seen what a monster you had become for myself. I was beginning to see it until that so called attempted hit on you. Then out of my love for the mother I once had, I blocked out and ignored your manipulations and deceptions. Jail would be too good for you, Mama. I want nothing more to do with you."
Carmen looked at Frank and said, "Take me back to jail. There's no need in my staying where I'm not wanted."
"Not so fast Carmen," Miguel replied. "I haven't gotten to the reason I had the kind officer bring you here. You see, there is more."
"I can't imagine you finding any other ways to torture me this evening, Miguel. You have already destroyed whatever love my children had left for me."
"Ah, but I haven't gotten to Dietz. Detective Cooper, I have another package for you," Miguel said as he handed Frank a cardboard file box.
Everyone watched silently as Frank and David reviewed the contents of the box. Frank finally spoke, "Mr. Santos, you have done a very through job of gathering evidence about your wife's illegal activities. There's enough here to insure that Carmen never sees a moment of freedom again in her life. District Attorney Wolf is going to be pleased."
"Miguel, you can't do this. If you bring me down, Daniel comes too. He was involved in the business also," Carmen seethed.
Frank spoke again as he held up a set of documents, "Carmen, Danny won't be facing any charges thanks to these papers. It seems that Miguel has secured a full pardon for Danny for any past indiscretions from the governor."
"What!" Carmen exclaimed. "How did you do that?"
"Well, Prince Richard spoke with the governor on Danny's behalf. It's difficult for a lowly governor to reject the request of a crown prince," Miguel replied.
"Those papers won't be enough without witnesses. I know Danny would never want to testify and put himself and Michelle back under the scrutiny of the media."
"That's where I come into the plan." Everyone turned to look at the unexpected speaker, Dietz. "Carmen, not only did Miguel get Danny a pardon, he has arranged for me to start a new life on San Cristobel. The plea agreement that was worked out with the governor lets me off as a free man once I testify against you in court. After the way I've watched you destroy the organization and your children, it will be my pleasure to testify."
Carmen was speechless. Dietz turning against her was totally unexpected. Frank told the uniformed officers to take Carmen back to the jail. As they escorted her out the door, Carmen cried out, "You will all pay for this, especially you Michelle. From the moment you met my sons, your actions have led to the destruction of my family."
Danny grasped Michelle's hand tightly and looked at her face and remarked, "Mama can't hurt us anymore."
***
Frank looked across the table before saying, "David take this evidence to the car. Dietz, you need to go with Detective Grant. He will be transporting you to the safe house that has been lined up. "
David rose and began gathering the papers he and Frank had taken out of the box. As he was placing them back inside, he found one more sealed envelope with Frank's name on it. "Frank, you need to take a look at this."
Frank opened the envelope. Inside, he found a psychiatric report from Dr. Bradford about Pilar. After reading it, he looked at Pilar. "Your father has handled everything. Based upon the information in this report from Dr. Bradford, the DA will most likely drop the charges against you. There is enough here to show that you were mentally traumatized and unstable when you went along with Carmen's efforts to frame Michelle."
Pilar bowed her head and silently offered a prayer of thanks. Danny looked at his father in amazement.
"Pilar," Frank began, " I do have to take you back to jail until the DA reviews this paperwork. Hopefully, that won't take long. Danny, you might see if Ross can push the DA to handle things quickly."
Michelle looked at Danny, "I'll go call Ross and fill him in on what's happened. Will you be okay?"
Danny silently nodded. Michelle escorted Frank and Pilar to the door before going to call Ross. Theresa, Edmund and Nino left the house together. Bernard and Ray joined Michelle in the living room. They all knew that Danny and Miguel needed a moment alone.
Miguel walked silently over to the window. He knew Danny needed some time to process everything that had happened. He waited for Danny to speak first. Those few minutes seemed like a lifetime to Miguel.
Danny struggled with what to say. All these years he had carried around so many things he wished he could tell his father and even after tonight's explanations there were so many unanswered questions. Finally, he looked at his father and came out with his thoughts, "Papa, I'm not sure where to begin. I have years worth of things I have wanted to talk with you about and there are so many questions I need to ask. I guess I need to know if you're going to stay here and give Pilar and I a chance to know our father."
Miguel turned and looked at his son. A single tear rolled down his face. "Danny, I have so much to make up for. I never should have left you here to be raised by Carmen. I knew she had turned against me, but when I left I thought she would continue to be the loving mother she had always been. I had no idea what she was becoming. I only hope you and Pilar can find a way to forgive me for the mistakes I made. After all I have done, I not sure I should stay."
Danny walked over to his father and hugged him. "Papa, we know you love us and that you only did what you thought was best at the time. There's nothing to forgive; just years of lost time. I want you to stay."
***
Danny opened the lighthouse door and spotted Michelle sitting on the bed studying. He walked over and sat down across from his wife. A mountain of books and notepads were spread out between them. Michelle looked up as he leaned in for a kiss.
"Trying to distract me from my homework babe," she remarked.
"Definitely," he replied as his lips claimed hers.
Michelle was the first to break away, "Danny, I have exams to finish studying for." She sighed as he began kissing her neck and collarbone. "Tell me about Pilar's hearing. What happened?"
"Well, Ross handled everything easily. That report Papa got from Dr. Bradford did the trick. Pilar was released. She went to have dinner with Papa. She needed the chance to talk with him and ask the questions she needed answers for."
"You should have gone with her," Michelle replied.
"Michelle, you sat up with Papa and I almost all night while we talked everything out. Pilar needs to do this for herself. I don't want her to feel like I'm pressuring her into working things out with Papa. She needs to build a relationship with him on her own terms."
"You're right," Michelle answered as she ran her fingers through the curls along the side of Danny's face. "I need to get back to studying. I believe it's your turn to cook dinner."
Danny looked at her with mock horror. "You expect me to cook."
"Yes, that's your penance for insulting the cook last time."
"As I recall, you left yourself wide open for criticism with that burned roast."
"After I was distracted by a certain note you sent."
"Okay. I surrender. Let me see, I know what I would like for dinner," Danny remarked as he started tugging her ear with his teeth."
"Hmm! I guess I could study anatomy over dinner," Michelle replied. She pushed the pile of books onto the floor as they gave into their passion.
The End
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