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“You know, Nick, I was thinking-” Elisabeth stopped short when she entered the dining room. Her purse and most of her belongings were scattered on the table and floor. “Nick?”

Walking from room to room, she heaved a sigh when she found the house was empty. “Where could he be?” she asked as she re-entered the dining room to pick up her things. As she was putting her possessions back into the purse, she noticed that the pictures of her family were missing. “That’s odd…”

Taking another look around the room she saw that nothing else was disturbed. “I wonder where he went. And better yet…why did he leave?”

Elisabeth decided she would grab her things and just go home. I have no business here by myself, she told herself as she made sure the doors were locked before leaving. “I’ll just walk home; it’s not that far.”

Face it Elisabeth…he doesn’t want you. He was using you and you gave him all he wanted, the little voice crept from the back of her mind to nag at her. He doesn’t love you…the only thing he wanted from you was sex and he got it. Now he can let you down…

“No, that’s not true,” she shook her head and tried to rid her mind of the thoughts. “I know he loves me.”

Don’t be so sure…

***

“Okay, Nick, make yourself comfy…this is your home for the night,” the officer said as he shoved Nick into the small cell.

“Damn it, Reggie! You don’t have to shove…I know how to walk.”

Reggie Clark laughed and sat down at his desk. “You know, I never pegged you as a fighter, Nick. You surprise me sometimes.”

Nick dropped down on the small bed and placed his head in his hands. “So what? Not everyone can be pegged.”

“Oh, you do realize that Graham wants to press assault charges against you, right?” Reggie asked casually as he looked over a few things on his desk. “He’s pretty pissed that you decided to beat the shit out of him on his date. And in case you didn’t notice…Paige Harrelson is pretty hot.”

“Whatever,” he glared at Reggie through the bars. “I’m gonna do a lot more than assault his ass when I get out of here.”

“Now, now Nicky…what kind of attitude is that? Just for that, I’m gonna leave you in there to think about your actions tonight,” his voice was full of sarcasm as he stood and headed out of the room.

“What about my one phone call?” Nick called angrily.

“You don’t get one tonight. I’ll let you make a call in the morning after you’ve cooled off. That is, if you’ve cooled off.”

“Asshole,” Nick grumbled and tried to make himself comfortable on the tiny cot. It was sure to be a long night…

***

Elisabeth slipped her key into the door, but before she could turn it and get the door open, someone was opening it for her. Stepping back from the door she watched as her mother appeared on the other side, a grave expression on her face.

“I didn’t think you would be back tonight,” Abigail said as she nervously began to wring her hands.

“I felt like coming home,” Elisabeth shrugged and stepped past her mother into the foyer. “What’s the matter?”

“Well, sweetie, Joshua left tonight-”

“Good,” she said quickly as she started for the stairs.

“He took the children with him.”

“He what?” Elisabeth quickly turned to look at her mother.

Averting her gaze away from her daughter Abigail only nodded. “He came in tonight and they were gone in less than an hour.”

“Why the hell would you let him take my children?” Elisabeth shouted. She could feel her anger rising quickly.

“Now, honey-”

“No! Don’t “honey” me. Why on earth would you let that bastard take my children? Are you completely stupid?”

Abigail tried to compose herself, but she could feel the tears stinging her eyes. “I didn’t have a choice, Elisabeth. The children…they left willingly. They said they didn’t want to be here with you anymore.”

“Wha-what?” she felt like she had been slapped in the face.

“They both asked if they could go back to Chicago with their father.”

“Jacob, too?” Elisabeth tried to keep her tears under control, but it was no use. She had never felt worse in her life.

“Yes, honey. Jacob, too. I’m so sorry,” Abigail reached out to pull her daughter into an embrace.

“Don’t touch me,” Elisabeth cried and pushed Abigail away. “Just leave me alone.”

***

“Reggie? Reggie!” Nick yelled as loud as he could and waited for the smug officer to come strolling back in.

“What is it, Nick? This isn’t the Holiday Inn, you know.”

“Cute, really…I’m serious, Reg…I want my phone call.”

“And I was serious when I told you that you had to wait until in the morning. I’m not letting you call someone to bail you out just so you can go beat the shit out of Graham again,” Reggie said as he took a seat at the desk. Propping his legs atop all the clutter, he laughed. “You’re worse than an old drunk dragging his cup across the bars.”

“Screw you, Reggie,” Nick rolled his eyes as he started to pace the tiny space.

“What are David and Winnie gonna say about you giving Graham a public ass whoopin’?”

“Now, who said they had to know?” Nick raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I just figured they would have to know since they’re probably the ones you’re gonna call to wire you the cash to pay your bail,” Reggie shrugged and picked up an old, worn out magazine. “What made you do that tonight, anyway?”

“You sure are nosey tonight,” Nick muttered.

“And you’re pissy, so what? If you’re gonna supply the gossip of the town, I’m gonna ask.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

***

Elisabeth rolled over as a ringing pulled her out of her restless sleep. It was late when she finally fell asleep and she had not bothered to change out of her clothes into her night gown. No wonder I didn’t sleep well. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she looked at her watch and groaned. 7:14…who’s calling this early?

Her cell phone continued to ring and she knew if she didn’t get to it soon, her voice mail would pick up. She finally found it under the edge of her bed next to her purse. “Hello?”

“Lizzie?” Nick asked sounding exhausted.

“Nick, what happened to you?” her question was harsher than she intended.

“I’m really sorry I left like that, Lizzie. I, uh…well, see…something came up and it was kinda bad.”

“Well, where are you now? I’ll come get you.”

“The police station.”

“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” she said and started to hang up.

“Wait! Okay, Lizzie, here’s the thing…I’m in jail. I don’t have time to explain right now, but I will once you get here. That is if you come,” his voice lowered to a whisper. “I love you.”

That made Elisabeth smile. “I love you, too. I’ll be there in a little while.” Grabbing her keys she started out of the room but something on her dresser caught her eye. A credit card. Joshua’s credit card… “Well, that will come in handy,” she smiled to herself and slid it in the back pocket of her jeans.

A few minutes later Elisabeth was walking into the small police station. Stopping at the desk that was occupied by a man, she cleared her throat and smiled. “Hi. I’m here to see Nick Carter.”

The cop raised an eyebrow and nodded wordlessly. Elisabeth smiled again and followed him to where Nick was being held.

“Thank God,” Nick said when he saw them coming. “Now, let me outta here Reggie.”

A little while later, Elisabeth and Nick were exiting the police station. Neither of them said anything as they got into the SUV.

“I’m sorry you had to bail me out, but I didn’t have anyone else to call,” Nick said quietly. “I’ll pay you back.”

“You don’t have to worry about it…Joshua paid for it,” she said with a mischievous grin as she flashed the MasterCard. “So, why were you in jail anyway?”

Shifting uncomfortably, Nick ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “Last night when you were taking a bath, I knocked over your purse. I was trying to pick it up and put everything back so you wouldn’t think I was just snooping around in your stuff when I came across these.”

Elisabeth reached out and took the pictures he was handing her. “But I don’t understand.”

“I was looking at the pictures to see that side of you and I realized I had seen Joshua before. Just the day before to be exact. I bumped into Graham in Food Lion and Joshua was with him. I guess you could say I put two and two together, so I left and went to find Graham. And when I found him, I beat the hell out of him.”

“So that’s how Joshua has been keeping tabs on us,” she said absently as she turned onto Nick’s street.

“Exactly. I just lost it last night and I wanted to call you then, but that asshole Reggie wouldn’t let me.”

“It’s okay Nick,” she said and stopped in front of his house.

“I’m sorry our night was ruined by my temper,” he reached over and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Why don’t we try again tonight?”

“Joshua took the kids back to Chicago,” she said suddenly and turned to look at him with tears shining in her eyes. Wiping her eyes she forced a chuckle, “I’m sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” Nick asked and pulled her into his arms. “Why did he take them?”

“I’m an unfit mother, I guess, but they went willingly. My mother was waiting for me when I got home last night and she said they were in and out in less than an hour. He knows that they are my life and that’s why he’s doing this. He filled their minds with garbage and now they hate me…even Jacob,” she finished as she broke down sobbing.

Nick wrapped his arms around her tightly as she cried. He tried his best to soothe her, but the truth was he didn’t have a clue how she felt and he couldn’t relate. The only thing he could do was let her cry.

“I’m sorry,” she said and quickly pulled away. “I don’t need to dump this all on you.”

“No, it’s okay, really,” he said as his forehead creased in concern. “You know I don’t mind listening to you. And I’m glad you feel like you can talk about it with me.”

“Thank you,” she whispered and pressed her lips to his. “I should get going before my mother starts calling to find out where her truck is.”

“Okay,” he nodded and captured her lips once again. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” she said and watched as Nick crossed his yard and disappeared into his house.

***

Nick flopped down onto the couch. He let out a deep sigh and ran his hand through his disheveled blonde hair. Something didn’t seem quite right to him. His thoughts wandered to Elisabeth and he scrubbed his hands over his face. Elisabeth…

Nick knew she was upset and she had every reason in the world to be. But something seemed to tug at him; an unresolved feeling settled within him as he tried to pin point where it was coming from. For some reason, Elisabeth seemed distant and uneasy around him this morning. I’m just thinking crazy, he tried to reason with himself.

He couldn’t help but feel that it was true. Elisabeth’s marriage was over and her children were gone because of him. How could he possibly feel good knowing he was the cause of all her unhappiness? But I’m also the cause of all her happiness now…she said so herself. That didn’t settle his uneasiness. No matter what he told himself, he still felt shitty.

***

Elisabeth checked her watch and saw that it was almost 10 am. She had been driving around for nearly two hours and she still didn’t feel any better. A heavy feeling weighed on her shoulders as she thought about Nick. He had gone out and gotten himself thrown in jail because of her.

Pulling onto Main Street, she parked the Denali and was preparing to head inside the small diner to get herself a biscuit and some coffee when she saw Dee-Dee. Cocking her head to the side, Elisabeth watched as Dee-Dee made her way inside the diner. She looked terrible; her features were drawn in worry and she almost seemed lost.

She let out a short sight and cranked the large SUV; she couldn’t go in there while Dee-Dee was there. Elisabeth didn’t know how Dee-Dee would react to seeing her, but she really didn’t want to risk finding out. She could just picture Dee-Dee completely freaking out and starting a catfight or completely breaking down and blubbering about how she “stole her Nicky.” Elisabeth rolled her eyes at the mere thought of how Dee-Dee might handle the situation if it arose. Well, I am not going to find out today.

As she drove back to her parents’ home, Elisabeth couldn’t shake the heavy feeling that had nestled in her stomach. Nick is happy…and he makes me happy and that’s all that matters… she assured herself. That didn’t settle her uneasiness. No matter what she told herself, she still felt shitty.