Whereareyoupart14

"I met your father ten years ago, he came to my casino looking for a job. He gave me some sob story about having to leave his family behind in Roswell. He must have caught me on a good day because I took him on as a bartender. He was actually quite good. Kept his nose clean and worked hard."

He looked at her, he had her attention now.

"Then he met Alice, aka 'Slack Alice'. Not your run of the mill nicey nice girl. Alice had a lot of baggage with her, the guys in the bar warned him that she was bad new and had been around the block a few times, hell even the girls warned him. But he wouldn't listen, she was into drugs and she was a hooker, it wasn't long before she dragged him down to her level."

Maria sat up a little straighter.

"What happened then?"

"He got in deep, he started skimming the register, a hundred here two hundred there."

"Did you fire him?"

"No. Like I said he was a good worker."

"So?"

"So he did the ultimate no, no. He started selling drugs to the customers. I didn't find out until a customer OD'd on crack, his girlfriend pointed out Frank, your father. It took a lot of money to get the girl to stay quiet. That was it though for Frank, I threw him out."

He watched as Maria stood and poured herself a glass of water.

"Do you want me to stop?"

She took a gulp of water before going back to the sofa.

"No. I told you I want to know."

"One of the bartenders told me that 'Slack Alice' had dumped him for a high roller and that Frank was heading back to Roswell, to his family, to you."

Maria looked puzzled.

"But he never came back."

Joe shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know anything about that. I never saw him again until a month ago. He turned up at one of my casinos asking for help. Can you believe he wanted my help? After everything, anyway seems he got himself into trouble with a dealer, couldn't come up with the money. He expected me jus to hand over the money."

"How much did he owe?"

"50."

"You wouldn't give him a lousy 50 dollars?"

Joe laughed.

"Not 50 'dollars' more like 50 THOUSAND."

Maria's eyes widened.

"50 thousand?"

"Naturally I asked for collateral, he didn't have any. He was leaving when something fell out of his pocket, it was a picture of you. It was a couple of years old but you were a looker even then."

"Oh my god."

"Yep, when he saw me looking at your picture, he didn't hesitate, he offered you up. I'm never to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I gave him the money plus a little more and I came for you. That brings us to the present."

Maria twisted her t-shirt in her hands, she lifted her hand and wiped her hand over her eyes.

"So all I'm worth is $50.000?"

"Like I said, I gave him a little extra, I think I got the better of the deal."

"I can't believe he did that, what kind of father sells his own daughter?"

She laughed at herself.

"MY Father."

She looked at Joe.

"I'm tired, I need to sleep."

She looked so venerable, he wanted her in his bed but he'd give her one more night. He picked up the phone, the blood was rushing through her head, it drowned out the words. She looked up and saw Craig standing there. She stood and followed him out. By the time they got to her room, the tears were running down her cheeks. Craig turned when he heard a sound, anger flowed through him when he saw her body shuddering with the sobs, she was holding in.

"Maria? What did he do to you?"

Maria couldn't get the words out.

"Maria?"

"No...N..Not him...my..my...father."

Craig couldn't stop himself, he pulled her to him, wrapping his big arms around her shuddering body. She broke down, her legs buckling under her. Craig swung her up in his arms and carried her to her bed, putting her down gently. She curled up into a ball, he pulled the blanket up over her body. He went to leave.

"Craig....please don't go."

Craig went back to her, moving her hair from her face.

"I'm sorry, I have to. I have to lock you in, I'll be here when you wake though, I promise."

Maria nodded her head, she closed her eyes. Craig closed the door quietly. He locked the door pocketing the key. He took a chair and sat outside her room, tonight he would keep her safe.

TBC