Trust Me
      Chapter 13
 

Michelle paced the small room that she had made into her own prison. She wasn't sure what day it was. It didn't matter. Life had stopped. Or at least, she felt it had.

The low hum of the air conditioner was the only sound she heard. As she looked out the window, the street with colorful buildings beckoned to her. Opening the window she welcomed the hot sun and embraced it. The ocean breeze carried that salty odor that makes your body stretch and relax. The narrow streets bustled with activity, honking horns, the bells of the ice cream vendor. She watched as a young girl with deep brown skin purchased what appeared to be a snow cone. On the corner, a young man sat creating hats out of palm tree leaves. She heard a knock at the door. Turning to the sound she said, "Come i-..." before she caught herself. It was Ray. She frowned.

"Michelle? I'm going out for a bit. Would you like to come?"

She stayed silent.

"Michelle?"

She stared at the wooden door waiting for him to leave.

This self-imposed isolation was her passive protest. Ray was Danny's accomplice, and immature as it might be, it comforted her knowing that he was worried. He had proved himself to be a Santos. Every time she thought about how easily she had believed Ray would assist her in keeping Danny safe Michelle felt like screaming. How naive. Count only on yourself...

Ray's retreating footsteps were loud against the hardwood floors.

In her little room with the beautiful view of the fort overlooking San Juan Bay, she thought of all the things she would say to Danny if he would dare to grace her with his presence. "You're a coward Daniel Santos....a coward." She spit the words out and immediately regretted them. Her eyes welled with tears and her throat burned. "You loved me....You love me..."

The preceding weeks had been a seesaw of emotions for her. In a flash she hated Danny with all her might and then she loved him for wanting to keep her away from all that was ugly in their world. "Why couldn't you tell me?"

"For the same reasons you didn't mention your plan to leave Springfield. You didn't trust him. Danny took control. That's what bothers you the most... He was one step ahead of you. Stupid...stupid." .

The conversation in her head varied little. Sometimes it ended with her angrier than ever. Filled with rage that reminded her of her first weeks of marriage to Danny. Other times it ended with tears of pity. An overwhelming sadness would envelope her and she'd see herself and Danny as two beings who existed separately from her.

Danny and Michelle...the dream.

Perfection...

Honesty...

Trust...

Staring at her reflection in the mirror, Michelle realized she had lost herself.

She loved Danny, but he made it impossible for her to love him. Or did he?

Angry, yet sad.

Lonely for,

...his sweet caress.

...his deep voice.

...him.

The quiet and calm Caribbean days were easy to get used to. Too many weeks had gone by without any word from Springfield. She felt restless.

Scared.

Soon something would happen.

She picked up her journal and wrote:

Without him I am terrified...

Carmen made her way to Danny's room. What could she offer as an explanation? Her feet felt like lead as she made her way up the stairs. The moment after Nino had revealed the truth about Dietz and his plan, Carmen knew that her son, her only living son, was lost to her. Danny would blame her. Her slouched body covered the distance of the long hallway leading to the bedroom. She passed the portraits of her babies--

Mick.

Pilar.

Her Danny. She looked into the dark eyes of her child at three years of age and in them she saw that there would be no forgiveness.

She stood up straighter. Her head held high she walked to the door and pushed it open.

"Daniel?"

"Leave."

"Daniel, what do you plan to do?"

"Leave."

"DANNY! Look at me!", she demanded. Her voice gave away her feelings of despair.

He turned to his mother and glared.

"Mother why do insist?, spoken quietly. Then a ball of what seemed like fire grew inside him and exploded from his body.

"It's because of you. Your hatred. Your anger. Revenge. They are all GONE! GO-ne...", he shook his head and hands on his hips, tears in the corner of his eyes, he challenged his mother to answer his accusations.

She walked to her son and placed her hand on his cheek. "Danny, I--Dietz is acting on his own...this is not..."

"Please...leave.", as he removed her hand from his face and turned away from her.

There were no more words. Swept up in a current of despair she realized that Danny had dealt her the final blow. Carmen's body recoiled from the shock. She was alone.


As the door closed behind his mother's retreating form. Danny uttered one last sentence to her. It did not matter than she had not heard it.

"I've learned your lessons well mother."

Picking up the telephone he dialed John's extension.

"John, Is the plane ready?"

"Yeah! I was just making the final arrangements. Danny, let me handle this. You don't have to go.", John's voice reflected the tension of the last hour since Nino's revelation.

"Make sure the car is ready.", with that he slammed the phone down.

Dietz walked down the small cobble-stoned street towards the center of the old city. He had never be to Puerto Rico, and he liked what he saw. He'd sat at a little bar on Tanca Street sipping whiskey and realized that what he enjoyed most was that they were not pretentious. The places were there to sell drinks--not ambiance. It suited him.

So far his travels had not revealed any new information to him. He'd flashed a few pictures of Michelle in the faces of the unsuspecting street vendors and they immediately responded. No one had seen Michelle, but they were more than willing to help him find his daughter, especially after he'd explained that she had run away with her evil boyfriend. Time was of the essence. Nino had probably already visited Santos.

The bartender approached and in heavily accented English gave Dietz the details he needed.

As he walked out of the dark bar into the sunlit street he felt giddy...

Ray walked to the terrace doors and made sure they were locked. He closed the shades. The room was dark.

Turning the key in the lock he made sure the bolt clicked. He then locked the iron gate that covered the door. The spare keys had been left on the counter for Michelle. Ray didn't like leaving her alone. He walked down the street lost in his thoughts. The situation with Michelle wasn't getting any easier. Her continued isolation was nerve racking. Desperate to communicate with her, he was on his way to the Cathedral to speak with Father Antonio. The two Priests had established a friendship. Padre Antonio did not know that Ray was a man of the cloth. In San Juan, Ray was simply a young man on vacation.

He wasn't paying attention and he tripped over the feet of a person sitting on the steps leading to the Cathedral entrance.

"Sorry. Perdona. Lo siento...", the words rushed from his mouth.

A soft voice giggled and only then did he look into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. Her grinning face was pink from the sun. She had long black hair, that fell straight down her back. She was beautiful.

"No te apures. It's okay." , she said.

"Are you okay?", he asked.

"Of course. Please! Do not worry...", she replied in slightly accented English.

"I--I should have been looking where I was going. I'm sorry. I'm Ray Santos.", he held out his hand.

She smiled and placed her soft hand into his, "Isabel."

Ray held on to her outstretched hand and stared into her eyes. His cellular phone rang disturbing the perfect silence.

"Um...Excuse me."

She smiled and turned her eyes to her book granting him his privacy.

"Yes?", he spoke quickly into the phone.

"You have to leave."

"What? Why?" he felt his breathing quicken. A feeling of fear enveloped him. He turned to look at Isabel. She had stopped reading and was watching him. He looked away.

"Get out of there. Now."

"Danny, what's going on?"

"There's a man on Cristo Street. Ruben Vega. Number two twenty-two. He has everything you'll need. Go. Now."

"Okay..okay, ummmm....I'll get back to the apartment and get Michelle..."

"What do you mean? You're not with Michelle?", Danny bellowed into the phone.

"I went out for a bit."

"You left her alone? What the fuck were you thinking?"

"I'm sorry. I ---She'll be fine. I'm on my way." He ended the call and ran down the narrow streets, pushing past people.



"I swear Ray. If anything happens to her...", Danny thought.

I shouldn't have left her with him. He's not used to this. Fuck!

He had called from the plane numerous times but had been unable to reach Ray. Now that they were finally on the ground it had been too late. Danny knew Ray wasn't going to make it back to Michelle on time.

John sat in the seat next to him dialing furiously. The phone was picked up immediately.

"Victor, we need you to get to the apartment. Now. Dietz is on the move and the target is alone. Unguarded."

"Okay boss."

John sat back in his seat and doubted they would be there on time. He looked at Danny and saw a broken man.

"The kid's not going to make it unless she's safe.", he thought.

"Danny, she'll be okay. We're almost there."

Michelle stared at the keys on the table and considered her choices. She wanted the freedom the keys represented, but was afraid of the consequences. She had absolutely no information about Danny...or Dietz. Was Dietz close by? Would she put herself in more danger. Her stomach felt queasy. Decisions...Make up your mind.

Ray had given her the perfect opportunity. She knew she had to decide. Feeling dizzy she sat down and tried collecting her thoughts.

You can make it to Europe if you're smart. Danny won't let anything happen to you...if only I had...no time for that. What you could have or didn't do isn't important now. Decide!

She ran to the room and threw a change of clothes in her bag. "Money....you need money." In her purse she found two hundred dollars and her credit cards. All had the name Michelle Santos printed on them. "They'll do." She grabbed the keys and headed for the door. "I can at least get out of here. Away. I need to get away...."

She unbolted the gate and headed down the dark staircase. The door to the building flew open and she gasped.

"Ohhhh!"