Promises
         Chapter 30 
 

Michelle woke up a little while later with a splitting headache. That's what you get for falling asleep on the couch, she thought. A good neck rub from Danny would do the trick. After several attempts, she finally rolled off the couch onto her feet and began to look for Danny. She walked into his office when a hand grabbed her shoulder.
She jumped as she turned around, "Carlos! You scared me to death."
"Sorry," he smiled. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Where's Danny?" she asked.
Carlos' eyes glazed over, "He left a little while ago. He had a little work to do at the office before your guests arrive."
"On Christmas Eve?" she questioned. "You've got to be kidding me."
"He said he wouldn't be long," Carlos snapped.
"Okay," she said as an uneasy feeling crept into her stomach. "I'll just give him a call."
"No," Carlos demanded. "He said he didn't want to be disturbed so he could finish up and get home."
"Okay," Michelle said, still unconvinced. "I think I'm going to go upstairs and lie down for a little while."
"Good," Carlos said. "I'll be down here if you need anything."
Michelle rushed into her room, closing the door behind her. She picked up the phone and dialed Danny's office.
"Diane, this is Michelle," she said quickly. "Did Danny come into the office today?"
"No Michelle," she said. "He called in this morning and said he was spending the day with you. Actually, it being Christmas Eve, he told us to go ahead and leave. I'm the last one here and I was about to lock up."
"So you haven't seen or heard from him since this morning?" she questioned.
"No, I haven't," Diane replied. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," her voice unsteady. "He just went out without telling me and I was just wondering where he was."
"I'm sure you can reach him on his cell phone," Diane said.
"You're right," Michelle said. "I don't know why I didn't think of that before. Listen, that's my other line. Thanks."
She clicked the phone over, "Hello?"
"Michelle Santos?" the muffled voice asked.
"Yes, who is this?" her heart began to beat faster.
"If you want to see your husband alive again, I suggest you get down to the lighthouse."
"What?" panic was in her voice. "Who is this? What do you want?"
"Enough with the questions. You get here now or your husband dies."
"How do I even know Danny is really there?" Michelle demanded.
"You want proof. How's this for proof." She froze when she heard Danny's voice calling out to her from the other end of the phone. "You get here and you come alone."
Before she could respond she heard the click of the phone. What was she going to do? She hurriedly scoured through Danny's side of the closet. She knew he kept one gun down in his office, but he had another one up here on this shelf somewhere. Where did he hide it? There, she found it. She handled it gingerly, remembering her last experience with a gun. But she had to have something for protection. She slipped it into her pocket and headed out the door, grabbing her keys. She shirked back when she reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Carlos walking through the living room toward the sunroom. She had to find a way to get past him. The only way was to distract him.
Her mind reeling, she ran through the living room, screaming, "Carlos, help. I saw someone in the backyard. I think they're trying to break in."
He quickly drew his gun. "Get into the kitchen and stay low. And under no circumstances do you leave this house."
She watched him as he slowly made his way out the door and into the back yard. Then she made her way to the garage door and looking up at the alarm panel, tried desperately to remember the right combination to turn the alarm off. She gave a sigh of relief when the alarm flashed disarmed. As quietly as she could, she closed the garage door behind her and got into her car. She knew he would hear the car from the back yard, but she hoped to be out of the driveway before he could stop her.

"Are you sure we're at the right place?" Danny asked Bernard.
"My contact said this was the place," he explained. "It's been almost an hour, though."
"Why hasn't anyone shown up?" Danny sighed. "Something's not right about this."
"What do you want to do?" Bernard asked.
"I think we should get closer," he said. "Maybe they came in through a back door or something."
"Danny, you know how dangerous that could be," he said.
"We'll just have to use the element of surprise," Danny pulled out his gun and opened the car door.
"Well, if you're going," Bernard sighed, "So am I."

Michelle pulled up to the lighthouse and shut the car off. She had kept a close eye on her rearview mirror and Carlos hadn't followed her. But she was sure it wouldn't be long before he found her. She eased out of the car and patted her pocket again just to make sure the gun was still there. Her eyes scanned all around her, taking in her surroundings. This lighthouse had been so many things for her. It had been so special to her and Jesse. But with each passing day, it was harder and harder to remember the times she spent here with Jesse. The memories of her days and nights with Danny here consumed her mind. From the first night they were there together trying to make Jesse jealous to the last time, the night after Carmen's trial. It had been so long since they had been here. So much had changed since then.
Her mind drifted back to reality as she realized that they were coming together again at this place that held so much history for them. But this was different. Something inside her knew after tonight, their lives would never be the same again.
Slowly she opened the door and went inside, keeping her hand firmly nestled around the gun in her pocket. "Danny?" she called out.
There was no answer so she walked in a little further. The next thing she heard was the floor creak with footsteps coming up behind her. But before she could turn around, she felt an excruciating pain in the back of her head and then everything turned black.