Chapter 18

Things Aren't Always What They Seem

Martin Caldwell had watched from his car as Janet and Allan Meyers returned home with their daughter from having Thanksgiving Dinner at Jason Taylor's house. The same place he had a feeling that bitch wife of his and their brat was most and likely still at right now. He knew that the security around them was pretty strong so he was going with Cynthia's plans that he figured would benefit them both. She would get revenge on her soon to be ex husband and he would negotiate for the return of his family to him.

He had been watching the house for a few minutes when a petite, dark haired woman came outside, carrying a black trash bag, full of garbage. He couldn't see her face but could tell by the shape of her figure that this was the daughter and not the wife. So he slowly got out of the car and made his way over to the house. He stepped up behind where the teenager was standing at the trash can, placing the bag of trash into it and closing the lid. When she started to go back inside, he came up behind her, placed a hand over her mouth and whispered harshly in her ear.

"I swear to God if you scream, you little bitch, I will cut your throat!"

The next thing Martin Caldwell knew, he was being slammed to the ground. Before he could catch his breath, the woman he had grabbed had slapped a pair of handcuffs on him and despite their similar height, hair color and skin tone, looked nothing like Anna Meyers.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Rosa Jameson, FBI. The next time you and Cynthia Taylor plot to kidnap the daughter of Jason Taylor, you might want to make sure that your brother-in-law hasn't put a tap on your home and cellphone. Because that is how we figured out exactly what you and your co-conspirator were up to." The woman sneered at him as Sheriff Sanders and one of his deputies had picked Martin off of the ground and was leading him away. "Oh and your little partner in crime won't be able to help you, she is in enough trouble herself to be worrying about getting your sorry ass out of jail."

Martin was led past Hans, who was smirking in his direction and he felt an urge to kill somebody, preferably the bitch who got him into this. Cynthia Taylor would pay for all of the trouble she had caused him, along with that wife of his and his brother in law.

---

Thirty minutes later, Jason walked through the halls of his home, searching for Anna. She had disappeared after her mom, Allan and Agent Jameson had left so they could set up Martin to try and kidnap the FBI Agent. Hans had put a tap on his brother-in-law's phone hoping he would get a clue as to where he was and catch him. In the process, Hans and James, the head of his security team, had overheard several conversations between Martin and Cynthia. They were talking about kidnapping Anna and keeping her for period of time in an effort to get Bridget and Stephanie back to Martin and to hurt him and Janet while they were at it.

As soon Janet had heard about the plot to kidnap Anna, her famous feisty temper came out worse than he had ever seen it. It had taken all of his, Allan's and Hans efforts to keep the very pregnant woman from going over to Cynthia's home and challenging her to a fight. After she calmed down, Janet had agreed with him about calling the FBI and setting up a trap for the would be kidnappers.

When Anna had been told after everybody had finished Thanksgiving dinner, she had been upset at this being kept from her. The teenager had then worried about Martin hurting her mom and dad if he somehow got past the FBI Agent. She hadn't been reassured when Hans had stated that there would be plenty of local sheriff's and FBI agents in hiding to make sure that Martin was caught. After everybody had left, including Brian, who was reluctantly dragged home by his father, Anna had walked off. Now he, Melanie, Bridget and Shelly were all searching different parts of the house to find her with Neville staying downstairs just in case she came out of hiding.

That is what had led him up to the third floor of his home, in a section that he hadn't been to since he was a child. He had opened every door but the one that led to his great grandmother's bedroom. As he did, Jason saw his oldest daughter sitting on the window seat, staring out at the stars. She had tears falling down her cheeks and was biting her nails, an awful habit that Janet had warned him that their daughter had.

"If your sister sees you doing that, she will have a fit about you ruining all of her hard work from the manicure she gave you last week," Jason gently said, watching as she pulled her finger away from her mouth and glancing over into his direction.

"Is it over? Did they catch him?" Anna jumped up from the seat, a look of hope starting to brew in her dark eyes.

"Yes, they caught him and nobody was hurt. Well except for Martin's pride when Rosa body slammed him down onto the ground."

Anna smiled briefly before sitting back down and glanced out of the window again, staring out at the bright, clear and starry night. Jason walked over and sat down beside his daughter, who it seemed had something else on her mind.

"What's wrong? I thought you would be happy now Martin and Cynthia have been caught. All of us can get on with our lives again, at least until the next crisis happens," he commented, jokingly

"Papa, I talked to Daddy about this but I wanted to see what you thought about me going to UCLA with Brian, instead of going to UNC. I want to be close by and help mom with the baby but I also don't want to be separated from Brian either. So what do you think I should do?" Anna asked, genuinely curious as to what his opinion of this situation.

"Anna, your mother is the most capable woman that I have ever met. UCLA is a wonderful school and they would be very lucky to have you. I have a couple of questions."

"Okay."

"Are you wanting to go for yourself or are you scared that Brian will meet someone else?"

"At first it was because I was scared to lose Brian but now with Daddy d...dying," she stammered, tears filling her dark eyes. "I want to go and get out of Oak Hollow, to see the rest of world. I want to take the writing program that I read about when Brian was showing me the packet they had sent him. I think I could learn a lot there and become a better writer for it."

"Then you have your answer, sweetie. Have you sent the application yet?"

"Yes, I sent it last week. I know my academic record is enough and my SAT scores are pretty good...."

"Pretty good?" Melanie asked rhetorically from where she was leaning into the doorway. "I don't think 1450 is pretty good, it is damn near close to prefect, Anna."

"Watch your language, Melanie Leigh." Jason chided her before looking back at his other daughter. "Your sister has a point, she could have said it differently but she's right. That school would be very lucky to have you."

"Papa, what are you going to do about Melanie's mom for her part in what happened tonight? I hate the thought of her sitting in jail because of this."

In a shocking move, Melanie came over and hugged her sister, before sitting down on the bed close to where her father and Anna were sitting.

"Anna, do you ever think badly about anybody? This woman kept your inheritance that was rightly yours away from you and then plotted to kidnap you. If it was me, I would be wanting to see her rot in prison. My mother was wrong to do this and she deserves to be punished for it. She brought this onto herself and I don't feel one ounce of sympathy for her." Melanie's voice was harsh as she talked about her mother but Jason could see that she was on the verge of tears.

He stood up and sat down beside his youngest daughter, taking his very upset daughter into his arms. Melanie buried her face into her father's chest and sobbed over what her mother had tried to do. She then felt Anna's arms come around her from the other side and for the first time, the three of them looked like the family they were.

That was how Janet found them a few minutes later, tears filling her eyes at the sight of father and daughters being there for each other. She had been afraid that Anna would withdraw back into her shell after today's events. Her fears were unfounded because it seems ever since Brian had became apart of Anna's life, she had found a strength to handle things a little bit better. Although Jason had surprised her with how he was acting lately, being the man she had fallen in love with nineteen years ago.

She stepped into the room and when Anna saw her, she jumped up and ran into her mother's open arms. Janet knew that her baby would soon be gone, most and likely all the way across the country, but she still enjoyed it when Anna hugged her the way she did as a child. That there was still a part of her that still needed her mother.

"Janet, what are you doing here? Who's with Allan?"

"Allan told me to come here and make sure that Anna knows that we are okay. Jonathan is with him and Brian drove me over here, I couldn't keep him away."

As soon as Anna knew that her boyfriend was there, she quickly rushed out of the room, a huge smile lighting up her face. The three remaining people in the room grinned at each other before Melanie stood up and walked over to the doorway but turned back to look at her dad and Anna's mom.

"Hans wasn't hurt, Mrs. Meyers?" The teenager asked, fighting not to show her father and Janet how scared she was.

"No, sweetie. He's fine and after he makes sure that Martin is securely locked up at the Sheriff's office, he will be back here to pick up Bridget and Stephanie." Janet saw a mix of happiness and sadness come across the young woman's face. "I think he might be more than willing to be with you even with the baby coming. Hans is just scared that he will hurt you. I suggest you let him know how you feel for him and then don't back off until he finally sees that you aren't going anywhere. That you are willing to fight for him. I think he needs to know that even though you are having another man's baby, he is still important to you too."

"Thank you. I'll see you in the morning when you pick me and Anna up to go shopping."

Melanie left the room, leaving Janet and Jason alone in the room where the tension that had been growing between them for months increased even more. She sat down on the window seat, putting some distance between them so nothing would happen.

"Both of them are completely in love with those two very lucky men, why couldn't they have stayed little girls just awhile longer?" Jason asked.

"Time passes by and the older you get, the quicker it goes, Jason." Janet placed her hand on her swollen abdomen, enjoying the kicks of her baby boy. "Although I have to start this all over again so it's not over for me."

"You know I will be there for you in anyway you need me, don't you? You don't have to do this alone, Jan." He reached over and took her hand in his, gently caressing her.

"I know that, Jase." Janet sighed before continuing to talk. "I know that the two of us getting back together is most and likely inevitable because you are the only man besides Allan that I have loved. I still love you but for now, we need to just be friends. My husband is dying..." Her eyes became shiny with tears and her voice was almost hoarse with the grief she was feeling. "I am watching him waste away in front of me and it's not fair. He should be here to see his son be born and grow up, the same way he did with Anna. He was there for me at the lowest point of my life when I needed someone the most. You were gone, married to another woman and he was there. I love him and I don't know if I can watch him slowly and painfully die like that."

She started to crying heart brokenly, letting Jason move over beside her and hold her, giving her the comfort of a friend that she needed at that moment.

Anna watched them from the doorway with Brian behind her, having overheard the conversation, especially the part of how much her mom loved her dad. She felt a little better about the fact that if Allan wasn't dying, he would be her mother's choice but also loved her Papa for being there for the woman he still loved.

Anna took Brian's hand in hers and walked down to her bedroom, leaving the door partially open and sitting down on the bed to talk. She gazed lovingly at him, caressing his cheek softly.

"I have made up my mind, Brian. If I get into UCLA, I'm am going to go there next fall. I think my mom will be more than okay."

He smiled at her before leaning over to gently kiss her before grabbing the remote for her televison. They found an old Christmas movie to watch and laid there, enjoying being with each other. They even made space for Stephanie to join them to watch TV with them and smiled as the little girl talked about all that she wanted from Santa Claus that year.