While Michael had been sitting in the park, Maria had been sitting in the gardens of the house she was living at. Craig was hovering over as per usual, but she was getting used to it now, once in a while he even spoke to her. Most of the time though he was silent, not even a smile could be brought to his face. She still didn't know where she was, she knew they were somewhere secluded because she had eventually seen out the window, there was nothing but fields and the people who came and went were employees and they never spoke to her. Hell they didn't even look her in the eye, their heads were always bowed looking at her feet. If it wasn't for Craig and his few measly words she would have gone stir crazy. A couple of times she'd asked him for his help, he'd closed off from her, sending a different goon to her room, they were scary looking and they made her feel uneasy. The next day Craig would come back, the last time she'd asked him for his help he offered to let her go outside if she didn't ask again. She'd agreed, she'd wait a while before asking again. She wondered about Roswell and her friends, did they have any clues about her whereabouts? Her mom must be going out of her mind by now. But most of all she worried about Michael, how was he holding up? If she knew anything about him he would be blaming himself for this. But he wasn't the bastard who put her in this situation, this was all down to her so called father. She heard a sound in the distance, it sounded like an aeroplane, a very low flying aeroplane. Craig suddenly moved to her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the house. "What's going on?" The boss is back and if he finds you outside, he'll have us both." They ran all the way to the room she more or less lived in. He locked the door behind her, she stamped her foot in frustration. He had been gone since the night they first had a meal together, when he didn't come back after the first week, she started hoping he'd never came back, he wish had been granted until now. She had been sitting for an hour until she heard a key unlock the door, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Craig and not him. But her relief didn't last when he told her to follow him. They walked down the corridor to his room. When they reached the door, he stopped to bar her entrance. He turned round to look at her. "Don't do anything stupid. Just stay calm and do what he says, okay?" "Depends on what he wants me to do." "Maria. Just....behave." Maria saluted him, he shook his head but gave her one of his rare smiles, she grinned back at him. Craig knocked on the door she heard his voice on the other side. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Craig gave her a wink and opened the door. As Maria walked in she spotted him sitting behind his desk, he looked her up and down as the door clicked shut behind her. "Ah Maria, I've missed you....." ************************* Michael was cleaning the grill, he looked through the hatch at the sound of the bell, Kyle and Jim Valenti walked in followed by Tess. They made their way over to the booth Isabel, Max and Alex were sitting in. Jim stopped beside Liz and spoke to her, she nodded her head and went to the door locking it. Jim saw Michael he motioned for him to come through. Michael pushed his bandana from his head and pulled his apron off, he pushed the door open and grabbed a chair as he passed it and sat at the end of the table. "What's going on?" Jim took a deep breath. "Before I start, I don't want to give any false hope, but we might have a lead." Michael's heart speeded up, his palms sweating. They started to speak all at once, questions flying through the air. Jim put his hand up to stop the questions. "Everyone just stay quiet for a moment. I sent pictures to colleagues of mine who are on the force around the country, well today I had a call from one of them in Las Vegas. Seems as though Frank Deluca's name has popped up. They wanted to know if there was any connection between them. As well all know Frank Deluca is Maria's dad's name." Michael leaned back in his chair giving the air of ease. "At least we know he's not dead, what I don't understand is, what this has to do with Maria?" "If you let me finish I'll tell you why." Michael nodded his head, Jim rolled his eyes. "Seems Frank owed someone some money and had been lying low, now all of a sudden his debts are paid and has cash to spare." He stared at Michael, who seemed to be a little spaced out now. "Michael? Now don't get crazy okay?" Michael straightened up in his chair and looked at him intensely. "Why would I get crazy?" "The guy he owed money to has a liking for young blonde girls, young girls who come from broken homes that maybe people won't miss." Liz pounced on that, she leaned towards Jim. "Well he couldn't have Maria, we miss her, everyone misses her." With that she broke down in tears, Max pulled her to him. He nodded to Jim to carry on. "Seems as though Frank often goes on about his beautiful daughter and how he walked away from her." Michael looked at him puzzled. "Wait. Mr Deluca hasn't seen her in years, so how does he know what she looks like?" "I don't know Michael, I'm just telling you what my friend said. Hell this could be just a dead end, but at the moment it's all I've got." "I think you've got more, what aren't you telling us?" Jim nodded and opened a folder he had brought with him. "The guy Frank owed the money to, his name is Joe Caldwell, he's got money coming out his ears. He owns a couple of casino's and he's well respected, at least by other casino owners. The law down there have been keeping him under surveillance, they believe he's in the drugs trade, but that's just speculation. He doesn't live in Vegas, he's got homes all over the place, here and abroad. Three weeks ago he was spotted in New Mexico not far from here, then disappeared for a couple of days before going back to Vegas where he's been since." Jim closed the file and looked at Michael. "That's all the information I've got." "What's the plan then? What are we going to do?" Jim shook his head. "WE aren't going to do anything. I am. I've booked a flight to Vegas tomorrow." Michael stood, knocking the chair over. "I'm coming too." "No you aren't Michael, none of you are." "She's my girlfriend, she needs help, she needs me." "Michael you aren't coming. I want you to stay here. Don't any of you follow me, if I need you I'll contact you okay? Okay?" Michael stood his ground not saying anything, the others mumbled yes. Jim walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder. "Michael? Okay?" Michael sighed in frustration but nodded his head. "Okay, but you keep us up to date, no matter how little the information." Jim squeezed his shoulder before letting go. "I will, I promise." Jim picked up the folder and left the Crashdown. The others sat in silence going over what Jim had told them. Michael went to the kitchen, a plan forming in his mind. TBC

Part 11