Vanished... Without a Trace 15/24
This is a moden day, Young Riders/Without a Trace crossover written by me andshantyrfan. All of your favorite characters (and a few not so favorite) are here, and alive and well. The non familiar characters don't belong to us (with the exception of the resort staff and the name of Tag's youngest daughter), they belong to the creators of Without a Trace. For those that aren't familiar with this story, it was inspired by this clip Kid and the Breakfast of Champions
Chapter 15
Lou woke up the next morning and found herself disappointed Tag wasn’t next to her. She reached for his pillow, inhaling his scent and feeling the warmth that still lingered. She had felt like a fool after what happened in the Jacuzzi, but he’d held her and comforted her as she fell asleep crying like a baby.
She had tried telling him about her past but couldn’t. It hurt her that as much as she cared for him, she still couldn’t share that part of her. How could she share something that bad with the person she loved when the only person she’d ever been able to tell everything to was a shrink? She knew Annie was right and that she’d never be able to give herself to him completely until she told him, but she feared he wouldn’t want to have anything to do with her again.
Finally getting out of the bed, Lou noticed a piece of paper float to the floor. She hesitated as she saw it was written on the resort stationary but then realized only Tag knew who she really was. She opened it and smiled as she saw his neat handwriting.
Lou,
Didn’t want to wake you, you need your rest. Went for a run and will be back later. You can order our breakfast from room service if you want, and yes, they do have donuts.
Tag
Lou reached into her purse for her iPod and popped in the earbuds as she headed towards the bathroom. Roxette’s “How Do You Do!” began playing, bringing a smile to her face, something about Per Gessle’s husky voice that made her weak in the knees.
Tag turned the shower off and opened the curtain. He wasn’t too surprised to find Lou asleep when he returned from his run. She’d had a rough night, waking up several times from nightmares, but she’d refused to talk to him about it. Not wanting to push her, he was just happy that she let him hold her and comfort her. Just as he stepped out of the shower, he turned, hearing the bathroom door open.
Lou gasped as she saw Tag’s wet naked body. She couldn’t help but grin and watch as he quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. “Lou!”
“Sorry,” she said as she pulled off the earphones. “I didn’t realize you were back.”
“Well, I am.” He sighed as she kept staring at him hungrily. “Would you kindly get out of here?”
Lou tried to pretend to be put off by his statement and turned to leave. Teasingly, she looked behind her as she slowly walked out of the bathroom and almost walked into the doorframe. She stopped again, just watching him.
“Go on!” He motioned.
She giggled and headed out, closing the door behind her. She leaned against the door and sighed as she closed her eyes branding the sight of his bare body into her memory. That was definitely not a cold shower.
~~ *~* ~~
Four hours later, Lou inserted another twenty into the machine and smiled at Tag. “Whoever said this job didn’t have its perks?” She asked chuckling.
“No kidding,” Tag said smiling. “If this money was actually coming out of my pocket, I would’ve stopped about a hundred bucks ago. Do you think Jack would mind if we pocketed the winnings,” he said as he moved to slide a twenty down the front of her revealing dress and then lightly kissed where her neck and shoulders met.
Lou moaned and then playfully slapped at him. She turned his face to whisper, “Remember, we’re wired and Cody can hear everything. But then again, we are on our honeymoon.”
Tag nodded as his mouth suddenly grew dry. He looked around for one of the scantily clad cocktail waitresses that never seemed to be around when they were needed. “I uhm… I need something to drink,” he said breaking free of Lou. “Do you want something?”
“A soda would be fine,” she asked smiling. “Hurry back,” she said seductively as she watched him walk away.
After last night, she was glad to be able to flirt and play with him as part of her job. For some reason when she was acting, the flashbacks wouldn’t take over and she was able to do the things she so wanted to do with Tag.
Lou continued to play the slot machine in front of her while she was lost in her own thoughts. She grew excited as she won a sizeable amount but froze as she heard a long forgotten voice.
“Congratulations,” the voices owner said walking up to her. “That’s a nice chunk of change you just won. I‘m Lyle Wicks, co-owner of this resort.”
Lou looked around, wishing more than anything Tag was with her. She never imagined Wicks would be here, not now when she needed him the least. Swallowing hard, she realized she needed to say something and quick before she aroused his suspicions.
“I’m Colleen Monahan,” she said forcing herself to look at him.
“Ah, the lovely bride. And where would your husband be? Surely he had a hard time pulling himself away from someone as pretty as you.”
“He went to get us some drinks,” she said praying he would return soon.
Wicks bent down as he saw something on the ground and picked it up. “Looks like you’ve dropped this,” he said handing Lou a penny. “Looks like it’s your lucky penny.”
Lou cringed and shivered as his words echoed to a time long before. All she could do was nod and accept it.
“Well if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to, but I’m sure I’ll be seeing you later,” he said smiling and then walking away.
Lou sat frozen hugging herself and jumped when she felt a hand on the small of her back.
“Lou?” Tag asked concerned. Not even when he’d gone too far had she jumped like that and he knew something was wrong. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she lied grabbing her soda and downing in one sip. She wished it had been something stronger, but knew she needed to keep her wits about her; especially now.
Tag knew Lou was lying as he sat down next to her. “Did someone recognize you?” Lou shook her head. “Did you recognize someone?”
“Just someone I use to… use to know,” she said quietly.
Tag wrapped his arm around her and brought her closer to him. “Do you want to go back to the room for awhile and relax?”
“I’m fine,” she snapped. “I’m here to do a job, and nothing is gonna stop me from doing it. Do you understand?”
Tag was taken aback by her venomous tone and knew the encounter left her more shaken than she cared to admit. “I never said you couldn’t,” he said rubbing her back.
Lou stood up not wanting to talk about it anymore. “Speaking of a job to do, let’s start doing it. The sooner we get it over with the sooner we can leave.”
Tag realized she was regretting being here with him; that she wanted this to be over so they could go back to their lives before any of this happened. He reluctantly followed her wondering if last night had upset her more than she would admit.
The couple continued exploring the resort, looking for the passage ways from the blue prints that Lou insisted were still there. But with each dead end, Lou began to think the entire operation was for nothing.
Tag sensed Lou’s disappointment and whispered in her ear so Cody and the others wouldn‘t be able to hear. “Don’t worry, we’ll get your brother and sister out of here with or without the secret passages.”
Lou nodded amazed that he could be so understanding. “Maybe we should go back up to the room and regroup. We can check any passages that might be along the way, but I don’t think it’ll do much good.”
Tag nodded and they turned and headed in the direction of the elevators that would take them to the guest rooms. Halfway there, Lou stopped.
“That door, it’s still there!” she said excited. “And it’s not hidden!”
Tag looked and realized she was right. It was labeled Maintenance, but according to the blue prints, it led to one of the many secret rooms that Boggs often conducted his less than legit business. He stopped Lou as she turned the knob.
“Lou, maybe we should wait and get a warrant. Who knows what's behind that door, and if it’s something we can use against him, we need that warrant.”
Lou sighed knowing he was right. “I guess you're right,” she said smiling and reaching up to hug him. She stiffened as she saw Wicks walking towards them. She pulled him towards her, against the wall and kissed him passionately, hoping Wicks would walk right by, or at least not notice where they were standing. She should've known she wouldn't be that lucky.
“Good to see you again, Colleen,” he said approaching them and watched them break apart. “This must be your husband. Congratulations on your wedding, she sure is a pretty one.”
Tag realized the grip Lou had on his arm would leave marks in the morning. He looked at her concerned. “Yes she is,” he said extending his hand out. “I'm Rob Monahan, and you are?”
“Lyle Wicks, co-owner of this resort.” Lyle looked at the lovely bride thinking there was something vaguely familiar about her. It’s a shame she’s married, he thought. I bet I could spice up her life.
“Nice to meet you,” Tag said as they shook hands trying to hide the disgust he felt. “If you’ll excuse us, we were just about to head back to the room.” And as far away from you as possible, he thought.
Wicks nodded and chuckled. “Don’t let me stop you then. But I would like to invite the two of you to be my guest at dinner tonight. It’s not that often we get newlyweds these days, especially ones who can afford the Redfern Suite. Then again, the amount your wife won earlier, pretty much paid for it all and then some.”
Tag looked at Lou surprised. “Why darling, you didn’t tell me you won. How much?” he asked grinning trying to calm her down as he realized this was the person who had her so upset earlier.
“Enough for a little nest egg if you ever decide to leave me.” She forced a smile. “Thank you for the invitation Mr. Wicks, but we’ll decline.”
“Please, call me Lyle. And I wish you’d reconsider. But if tonight is no good for you, my partner and I eat in the Lounge at eight every evening. Feel free to join us one night while you’re here.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Tag said as he led Lou towards the elevators. Once they were alone, Lou finally released her grip on his arm and breathed a sigh of relief. “You okay, Lou?” he asked concerned.
“I am now,” she said quietly.
“Lou, what is it about him that bothers you so much? Is it just because he’s partners with your father?”
The voice in the back of her head screamed to tell him everything but she couldn't. “That’s part of it.”
As they reached their suite, Tag remembered back to the files he had on Wicks and he realized what she was probably worried about. “You can unhook you’re wire now, Lou,” he said wanting to let her know that what he was about to say shouldn’t be heard by listening ears. He even unbuttoned his shirt to unhook his and turned it off.
Lou looked at him strangely and then realized why he wanted her debugged. She turned her back and unbuttoned the front of her dress, relieved when she saw the wire was in the same place she put it this morning. “Thanks,” she said smiling as she turned around.
Tag was disappointed that she turned to take off the wire, and it took a moment for Tag to focus after she turned around and he realized she had missed a button on her dress. It exposed just enough of her breast to awake the desire in him, but held back not wanting to scare her off like last night.
“Are you worried about Teresa? How both of them are here?"
It took a moment to realize what Tag was talking about and Lou paled. Oh God! she thought. I can't let it happen again! Not to Teresa. Lou nodded.
Tag crossed to her and cupped her face. “I promise we’ll get them out of here and soon. I’m sure as soon as I said the word warrant, Cody told Jack to get on it.”
“I know, it’s just…”
“Just what? What else is it, Lou? Why can’t you tell me?”
Lou looked away from him. “I can’t. Tag, please.”
“All right, Lou. I won’t make you tell me,” he said caressing her shoulder. “But when you’re ready, I’m here for you.”
Lou nodded and went to the dresser to pull out a pair of sweats shorts and a big t-shirt. “So what do you want to do now?” she asked.
“Let’s just relax,” he said grinning. “Guess you’re not in the mood for the Jacuzzi?” he said half-heartedly.
Lou shot him a nasty look and headed for the bathroom. When she returned, Tag was sitting on the couch flipping through the TV channels. “A hundred and twenty three channels, and nothing’s on. Want to order a movie?”
Lou shrugged as she sat down on the other side of the couch. She wanted to sit close to him, to have him hold her and make things right, but after her encounter with Wicks, she wondered if things would ever be right again.
Tag wondered why Lou sat on the opposite end of the couch. He flipped the channel to the listings and handed her the remote. “I’m gonna call Jack and make sure he knows about the warrant,” he said standing up and taking his satellite linked phone from his bag. “Hey, Jack, it’s Tag.”
He continued to listen as Jack gave him a few updates and let him know about the warrant. “So how long do you think?… And you can’t rush things?… I know…” Tag looked back towards Lou and smiled as he saw she‘d fallen asleep. “She’s fine, Jack… No, she’s not having any problems being here… Jack, she knows how to do her job but I don‘t think that‘s a good idea… Okay will do… Thanks Jack.”
Tag hung up the phone, placing it back in his bag. He crossed back to the couch and gently lifted Lou’s head as he sat down then put it back in his lap. Tag heard her whimper and gently smoothed her hair. He realized that he loved her, even though they’d only known each other a short time. His feelings for her were so much stronger and deeper than he ever felt for Naomi.
“Leave Teresa alone!” Lou hollered as she struggled in Tag’s lap. “Leave my little girl alone! Don’t touch her!”
Tag rubbed her shoulders gently trying to wake her. “Lou, honey. Lou wake up.”
Lou jumped at the contact and it took a moment for her to regain herself after the dream. She looked at Tag and saw the concern in his eyes and ran her hand through her hair. “Was I dreaming?”
“More like a nightmare. Lou, it’s killing me to see you this upset. Let me help you… Tell me what happened.”
“I can’t,” she said quietly, looking away.
Tag lifted her face and looked in her eyes. “Nothing, and I mean nothing you tell me can change the way I feel about you. Did Wicks have Teresa in your dream?”
Lou nodded. “You don’t understand Tag, he can’t… he can’t have a relationship with her.” Lou looked away not wanting to see his reaction when she told him. “Teresa is his daughter,” she said very quietly.
Tag sat there shocked. “I didn’t know, I’m sorry,” he said pulling her into his arms.
He doesn’t understand, Lou thought, shaking her head. “What did Jack say?”
“He said the warrant may take a few days, but he’ll try and rush it. He also thinks that maybe us meeting with your dad and Wicks may be a good idea.”
Lou shook her head. “I can’t. Please don’t make me,” she said starting to cry.
Tag pulled her into his arms. “I won’t Lou, I’m not gonna make you do anything you don’t want. Don’t you know that by now?” he said smiling trying to lighten the mood.
Lou chuckled and nodded, again amazed how caring he could be. But no matter what he said, she knew things would be different once he learned the truth.
“So what do you want to do for dinner? We can either go down to the restaurant or order up room service again.”
“Can we order up again? I don’t feel like going back out tonight.”
Tag nodded and smiled. “Anything in particular?”
Lou giggled knowing he was remembering the fondue incident. “Well since I didn’t get my workout this morning, the fondue probably isn’t a good idea.”
“You don’t need to exercise, if you do, you’re gonna waste away nothin’ but skin and bone,” he said tickling her side. “Course it’s nice skin and bone.”
Lou squirmed when he tickled her and before long, he was lying on top of her on the couch. She looked up at him and smiled. “Yeah well if I ate like you, you’d have a hard time finding my skin and bones.”
Tag started tickling her again, wanting so much to do more, but afraid to because of her behavior the night before. He leaned down and kissed her, hoping she would take the lead, but she barely returned the kiss.
“I’m sorry, Lou,” he said sitting back up. “I don’t know what came over me.”
“I know what came over me,” she said trying to lighten the mood. “I’m the one who should be sorry.” She got up and grabbed the Room Service menu from the table and crossed back to the couch. “So what will it be?”
Tag looked over her shoulder and gently rubbed her back and shoulders. “How about getting just desert? The crème brulee and chocolate soufflé look good.”
“I was thinking about the chicken salad. If I keep eating like you, you’ll have to wheel me out of here, I’ll be so big.”
I can think of ways we can work it off, Tag thought and then cursed himself. “Let’s get the desserts and we’ll split them. And if you feel like a pig afterwards, I’ll wake you when I go running in the morning. All right?"
Lou sighed and nodded. Tag kissed her lightly and then went to order the food. When it arrived they ate in silence, sharing each others dessert, but with none of the playfulness they’d shared the night before.
While she was taking a shower, Jack called to say they had dug up some more information on Wicks and had sent it to his computer. He pulled up the information surprised how many newspaper articles were there and started going through them one by one.
“Lyle Wicks, and an unnamed escort, presumed to be his mistress, attend a charity benefit,” he read. The photo was grainy, but Tag assumed that his date was Lou’s mother. He thought back to when Lou had said Teresa was Wick’s daughter but after looking at the date of the article, the timing didn’t fit, unless the affair continued for a couple of years.
“Where’d you get that?” Lou asked angrily as she dried her hair looking over Tag’s shoulder.
Tag jumped at her voice and turned to look at her. She had changed into one of her conservative nightgowns, but he still found himself being aroused as he could see her nipples peaking through the thin white fabric. “What?”
“I asked where you got that article?”
Tag looked back at the computer. “Jack called and said they had some more information on Wicks. Press clippings and stuff and he sent them over.”
“Jack saw those?” She asked worriedly.
“I guess, why?” He looked at her with concern.
“Nothing. What does it say?” She asked knowing what each everyone said, even after all this time.
“Not much, just that he’s always with an unnamed companion. Do you want to look through them with me?”
Lou shook her head. “I think I'm just going to go ahead and go to sleep.”
Tag sat up watching Lou as she slept. He knew something had been bothering her since their run in with Wicks and her behavior at the articles confirmed it. He just wished she would share it with him.
“I love him, you can’t make me leave him,” Lou yelled out, fidgeting in her sleep. “You’re just jealous because he loves me.”
Tag wasn’t sure who she was talking to or about and debated about whether or not he should wake her. She settled back down, but a few minutes later, she started kicking and hitting anything she could, including him once he joined her. Deciding enough was enough, he tried waking her, determined to get the whole truth out of her one way or another.
“Lou, wake up,” he said gently shaking her. “Come on Lou, wake up honey and talk to me.”
“Leave me alone,” she yelled fighting him off, still asleep.
Tag held on to her, trying to make her stop. Finally she started to wake up.
“Tag?” She asked groggily.
“Lou, tell me what’s wrong. And don’t deny it, you’ve been having bad dreams all day.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. I want to, but I can’t.”
Tag got out of bed and headed towards his computer bag. “Then I’m calling Jack and telling him to abort the mission. That you can’t handle it.”
Lou jumped and followed him taking the phone from him. “Please, Tag, don’t do that.”
“Then talk, Lou. Please, tell me what’s happening,” he said concerned.
The moment Lou knew would come but had been dreading had finally arrived. She either told Tag everything, or they would have to abort the mission. But she feared after she told him the truth, he would force her to abort the mission anyway as well as be disgusted by her. Slowly she nodded and sat down at the table.
“You already know I was a spoiled brat,” she said quietly looking away from him as he sat down across from her. “I was worse than Paris Hilton if you can believe it. Anything I wanted, anywhere I wanted to go, I got my way.”
Tag nodded, knowing all of this already, but not wanting to force her to continue faster than she was ready.
“I’d known him my whole life, and I developed early. By the time I was twelve, I could pass for seventeen or eighteen. Older if I worked at it. He was always trying to touch me and have me touch him saying how much he loved me. We became lovers shortly before my fourteenth birthday,” she said quietly. “We were at a party and we snuck away. We wound up in his whirlpool and before I knew it, we were having sex.”
Tag’s jaw dropped. “That’s why you freaked out last night isn’t it?”
Lou nodded. “In my heart I knew it was you, but my mind kept flashing back to that night. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be Lou, it’s not your fault. I keep telling you that none of it was your fault. Was it someone who worked here?" Lou nodded.
“It was Wicks wasn’t it?”
Lou slowly nodded, afraid to look him in the eyes. “That’s why I had all that information on him.”
“Bastard,” Tag said as she confirmed his suspicion. He got up and sat down in the chair next to her. He pulled her in his arms, relieved when she didn’t pull back. “That was you in the articles wasn’t it? I thought it was your mom.”
Lou nodded. “I told you I could pass for older. I was only thirteen when that picture was taken. That was the night… That was our first time.”
“You don’t need to say anymore, Lou.” He silently prayed she wouldn’t. He wasn’t sure how much he could handle, and it hadn’t even happened to him.
“Yes I do,” she said pulling back slightly to look at him. “You haven’t heard the worst of it yet.”
“I can’t imagine it getting much worse.”
“I thought he loved me. He promised we would get married as soon as I was old enough. But he was just using me,” Lou felt the tears forming but didn’t try to hide it as they fell. “He was brainwashing me... teaching me how to please him and making me think I was doing it out of love. When all he really wanted was for me to be his personal whore.” She bawled.
“One day, I guess we were just careless and my mom walked in on us. She went crazy and threatened to tell my dad what was going on and I accused her of being jealous. They were having problems at the time and I just thought it was because she couldn’t stand the fact I was so in love with someone that loved me back.”
“One night, about a month later, mom woke me in the middle of the night and said we were leaving. I refused to go and she had two of my dad’s henchman literally carry me out kicking and screaming. I tried running away, tried coming back to him, but each time I was sent back to her before I could see him.”
Tag noticed Lou was crying hard now. He wanted to end her pain, tell her she didn’t need to go on, but he knew she finally needed to get it all out.
“A few weeks later, Wicks found us. I overheard him arguing with my mom that if she went ahead with the charges she brought against him, for what he’d done to me, he’d kill us both. I heard him say he was just using me to take over the entire business.”
“I’m so sorry. I can’t believe... How could anyone use you like that? What happened? Is that why your mom decided not to testify?”
Lou shook her head. “I was so mad, I started hitting and kicking him. He knocked me to the ground and then hit my mom. She fell on the edge of the coffee table and was knocked out. Wicks... he forced his way with me one more time, but kept telling me how much he loved me and how he had just said that to hurt my mom. That he still planned on marrying me.”
“And you believed him,” he said. Every word she said broke his heart even more. He was so filled with rage and anger for the man who stole her childhood. The man who made her loose trust in not only men, but in love.
Lou nodded. “He told me that even if my mom did follow through on the charges, I was his ‘Lucky Penny’. That as long as I was by his side, nothing would happen to either of us. He then kissed me goodbye and left.”
“What happened then?”
“I noticed my mom was still unconscious and that there was blood everywhere. I called 911 and she was rushed to the hospital. She almost died because when she hit the table, it caused her to have a miscarriage. I had been so blinded by his charm again that I didn’t notice...”
That one statement hit Tag like a bolt of lightning and suddenly the pieces started to fall into place. The way she’d often referred to Teresa as her baby and they way both twins looked just like her. Now that he thought about it, she rarely called them her brother and sister and more importantly, there was her scar; the exact one Naomi had after her C-Section. He swallowed hard before speaking. “That means Teresa and Jeremiah… They don’t know?”
Lou shook her head. “Mom suspected I was pregnant before we left. When she lost hers, she came up with the plan of raising mine as hers. She wanted me to have the best life she could give me, and she knew having a child at fifteen…”
“Why didn’t you ever tell them? Do you ever plan on it?”
“I’m too scared. They loved my mom so much, and I don’t want them resenting her or me for lying to them all this time. She thought it would be safer if Wicks ever did find us, that he thought they were Boggs’ kids and not his own.”
“Lou, you need to tell them. They have a right to know. They may be mad at you, but they could never hate you. They love you too much.” Just like I do, he thought.
“When the feds started pressuring mom more and more to turn over the hard evidence against both Wicks and my father, she refused. She knew it would likely go to trial, and she didn’t want me to go through that. She was trying so hard to get me help, to help me forget everything he had taught me or done to me…”
“You were the hard evidence, you and the twins.” He couldn’t believe the government he worked for would be so cold as to use an innocent child to suit their needs. Even though Wicks deserved to be brought down, more now than ever, he hated the thought of what Lou almost had to go through.
Lou nodded. “Once they were born, all they needed was DNA evidence. Mom didn’t want me to go through all that, so we took off again. This time she was able to give us new identities and we just disappeared.”
“Lou, are you sure you can handle this? Wicks wasn’t originally part of this operation.”
“I want to bring them both down. Please, Tag, you can’t tell Jack.”
He wasn’t happy about it but he nodded. “Only if you promise me you’ll stop the moment you think you can’t handle it. Promise?”
“I promise,” she said yawning.
“Let’s get you back into bed,” he said. He immediately regretted his words when he realized what that sounded like. “I mean…”
Lou smiled at him. “I know what you meant,” she said standing up and crossing towards the bed. “Tag?”
“Yes, Lou?”
“Will you hold me? Make me feel safe?” she asked before crawling under the covers.
Tag nodded and crawled next to her. “Anytime you need me to, Lou,” he said as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. Before long, he heard her soft snore and realized he’d lied to her and to himself. He swore that nothing she would tell him would make him change the way he felt about her, but he had been wrong. He realized now that he loved her more than he could ever have imagined, and it was all because of how strong she really was.