Faith's POV
"Will you just tell me what's going on? Where are we going?" I turn to Michael.
"I'm so sorry" he says shakily, keeping his eyes on the road. "for what? You keep saying that, but what exactly are you sorry for!?" I snap getting irritated and he doesn't say anything for a moment.
"Your mom isn't in vacation. And she never changed her mind after Jackie took Precious" he mumbles and I look at him confused "what are you talking about? She text me and said..."
"It was Jackie that text you so you would stop worrying about her turning up and trying to take Precious from us"
"Then where is she?"
"I swear I didn't know until a week ago and..."
"Know what?" I cut him off and he sighs taking a deep breath. "Jackie had her locked in the basement at our old house and..."
"He what!!!!?" I scream, which startles Precious and she starts crying. "Just calm down. Your scarying the baby"
"Stop the car!!" I snap and he turns to the side of the road and stops and I get out then take Precious out of her car seat and walk away comforting her and Michael follows behind us.
"Where are you going? You can't just wonder off. It's not safe and.."
"Or what!? Are you gonna kidnap me too?... again?" I say that last part sarcastically and he looks at the ground and doesn't say anything. "Where is it?" I ask and he looks at me confused. "Your old house. Where is it?"
"We can't go back there"
"Well we can't just leave my mom locked in a basement!" I snap. "She's not there anymore. That's why we have to go away for awhile. Please just come back in the car" he says softly and I shake my head.
"Faith, please get back in the car. It's freezing and it's raining. The two of you are gonna get sick" I don't say anything and he sighs heavily. "Please? I'll explain everything" he says softly and I nod walking back to the car.
****
Michael's POV
After convincing Faith to get back in the car, I continue driving. I leave out the whole hammer an Jackie's idea part, but tell her everything else that's been go in on.
"I can't believe I was so stupid to believe she actually changed her mind" she mutters looking at the ground. "Your not stupid. I believed it too until Jackie told me"
"Then that makes you just as stupid" she snaps. "We knew Jackie was going to take Precious from her as soon as she was born. Of course she was gonna come after us and try and take her" she croaks and starts getting upset again. "Well she can't. We adopted Precious rember? And we have all the paper work to back that up"
"But it's not really legal though is it? I faked my mom's signature and.. "
"And there's no proof of that" I point out "the only proof is that it was a closed adoption and neither Julie or Jackie have any rights to take her or even see her without our permission"
"Then why are we running?"
"I told you why. LaToya let her out and we don't Know Where she is"
"I knew something like this would happen. I told you and Jackie that it was a bad idea and.."
"Then what do you wanna do!? You wanna give her back!?" I snap in a sarcastic tone. "I never said that" she mumbles and I sigh heavily. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to snap at you" I say softly and she doesn't reply.
"Lets just get to the cabin and we'll get some rest and we'll figure out what to do in the morning" I say softly. "She's probably gone to the police by now" Faith mumbles. "Probably, but like I said. They can't arrest somebody for adopting a baby and Jackie will back that up" I reasure her. "And how's it gonna look when they see we've ran away?"
"There's nothing suspicious about a married couple going away for the weekend with their kid" I shrug and she doesn't say anything for a moment.
"You still haven't told me what happend to your nose"
"That was down to your dad" I frown still pissed about that. "Why would Jackie bust your nose?" She looks at me confused. "I kinda told him about you being pregnant and he punched me"
"He what!? Why?"
"Because I knocked up his daughter... again"
"So? He knows we were trying for another baby"
"I think he still kinda has a problem with me and you having sex"
"How else did he think you were gonna get me pregnant?" She shrugs confused. "I have know idea. Jackie's always been kinda weird"
****
Jackie's POV
"Do you have any idea how stupid you are!? Why were you even following us in the first place?" I snap at LaToya as I'm driving her home.
"I'm stupid!? I just did what any sane person would do!" She snaps back. "You had no right to follow us"
"And you and Michael had no right to kidnap and murder a person!"
"We didn't murder anybody" I point out. "No, because I let her leave before you had the chance! and how come Michael was the one that had a hammer in his hand? What did you say to him?"
"Nothing" I lie "You obviously said something. Michael wouldn't dream of hurting another person then all of a sudden he's willing to commit murder. You obviously said something or did something. Did you threaten him?"
"What!? No!"
"Then what!? What do you say to him for him to go along with...oh my God!" She panics when we get close to my mother's house and the police are outside.
"Just stay calm" I say calmly "stay calm! There's police out there! and.." she pauses when she sees Julie yelling standing beside one of the police cars.
"Oh my God! I'm gonna go to jail! This can't be happening! This is just a dream. A sick messed up nightmare! This isn't real! It's..."
"LaToya calm down!" I snap and she jumps slightly. "Everythings gonna be ok, none of us are going to jail" I say in a softer tone. "But what if..."
"Just let me do all the talking and agree with whatever I say ok?"
"Ok?" She says shakily
We wait in the car for a few moments so LaToya can get herself together then drive over to the house.
****
Julie's POV
"There he is! Arrest him!" I scream seeing Jackie getting out of the car with LaToya and she looks terrified. "What's going on?" He says acting confused. "Are you serious!? Where's my fucking kid!!?" I scream charging towards him and an officer stops me. "Ma'am you need to let us handle this" he says calmly.
"Julie, we adopted her. I did tell you once we sign those papers we can't just take her back" he says softly. "Adopted? What the fuck are you talking about!? I didn't sign shit! You stole our kid from me then locked me in a basement you and Michael! You fucking psycho's! Now where are they!?"
"Sir, is this true?" The officer says. "Of course not! That ridiculous! We gave our daughter up for adoption a few months ago and as for a basement, I have no idea what she talking about" he looks confused. "Your a fucking liar Jackie!" I snap. "LaToya. You saw what happened. You helped me escape the basement. Tell them!" I turn to LaToya and she doesn't say anything "LaToya! Tell them!" I say more sternly and she turns to the officer. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what she's talking about"
"What!!?" I snap and charge towards her, but Jackie stands in front of her and I manage to take a hit at him before the officer pulls me away.
"Their lying! They stole my kid and I want it back. Now!!" I scream.
"We'd like to speak to Faith and Michael. Could you tell us where they are? This is a very serious allegation and we need to speak to them imeadiatly" The officer says. "They went away for the weekend" LaToya says. "You mean RAN" I cut in "with my kid!"
"No. with their daughter" Jackie cuts in then turns to the officer again. "They've done nothing wrong and I have copies of all the adoption papers to prove that"
"Which are obviously fake!" I snap and he turns back to me "if my brother and Daughter kidnapped my baby, do you really think I be standing here saying all this!?"
"He kinda has a point" a younger officer cuts in. "Why don't you stay out of this you snot nose little shit!" I snap at him. "Ma'am. DO NOT speak to my partner that way" the first officer says sternly "Why aren't you arresting him, instead of just standing there!?" I snap. "Because I haven't done shit. That's why!?" Jackie snaps at me and I go to charge at him again, but once again the officer stops me then turns to Jackie "I'm gonna need you to come down to the station"
"Fine by me" Jackie shrugs and walks with the younger officer to one of the police cars.
****
Faith's POV
After wrapping yet another blanket around Precious, I lay beside her, still trying to take everything in and Michael finally comes back.
"What took you so long?" I ask getting up from the bed. "I couldn't get any reception and had to drive around until I could"
"So what's going on?" I ask nervously seeing the expression in his face. "Julie went to the police and when they couldn't find us, they went looking at my parents and took Jackie in for questioning"
"Their gonna take her away from us aren't they?" I croak and begin crying again and he wraps his arms around me. "Nobody's taking her anywhere" he says softly "but, their lookig for us and we can't stay here forever it's freezing and..."
"We have to go back" he mumbles. "Are you serious!?"
"If we don't then it's going to look suspicious"
"And if we do then they'll take her away" I sob and he pulls me in closer to him. "We'll be ok. We just have to go down to the police station and answer a few questions that's all and then they'll let us go" he says softly and I shake my head. "No, their just gonna take her away and..."
"They can't just take her from us. Just relax and we'll think of what we're gonna say on the way there ok?" He says calmly and I nod, still sobbing at the thought of Precious being taken away from us.
****
Jackie's POV
"Why don't you explain to us again exactly what happened between you and Ms Owen's?" The officer says and I sigh heavily, rolling my eyes. "Me and her had a one night and neither of us wanted the baby so we gave it up for adoption. How many times do I have to tell you this!?" I frown after answering the same questions over and over. "That's not how Ms Owen's remembers it. She said to and her were in a relationship and you took the baby as soon as she was born and handed her to your brother, then had people lock her in a basement"
"That's ridiculous. I handed the baby to Faith and Michael because they were the one's that were adopting her"
"Its kind of strange you would adopt your child out to your brother and daughter" he says skeptically. "I wanted to keep her in the family and they said they'd adopt her" I shrug. "Your brother and your daughter?" He raises an eyebrow. "Yes" I mumble. "And your ok with that?"
"I wasn't at first, but there's nothing I could do about it. Their both adults" I shrug. "So you didn't like the fact that the two of them were together yet you gave them your child?" He raises an eyebrow. "Because I knew they'd be good parents to her"
"And Faith is your first child you had with Ms Owen's. Is that correct?"
"You know she is" I frown at his stupid question. "You both must have been pretty young when you had her"
"Yes" I roll my eyes "what does any of this have to to with anything? I thought this was about Precious not Faith"
"It's just pretty strange how you'd both keep the child you had when you were teenagers yet you adopted your second child when you were both clearly capable of taking care of her yourselves"
"I didn't know Faith was my daughter until she was older"
"Would you have suggested adoption for her too if you'd known?"
"Probably. We were kids" I shrug. "Look, why are you asking me all these stupid questions? That's all in the past. I came here to talk to about Precious and that's it and I've already explained it. Me and Julie didn't want her and we adopted her to Faith and Michael who did want her. case closed" I say with and attidude.
"A closed adoption correct?"
"Yes" I sigh heavily, having to answer the same questions yet again.
****
Michael's POV
"How much longer is this gonna take?"
"What's the hurry?" The officer asks "there's not. I already Told you everything and I've shown you the adoption papers. What more do you need?"
"How long have you and Faith Owens..."
"Jackson" I cut in "Jackson" he corrects himself. "How long have the two of you been together?"
"About a year. What does that have to do with anything?" I frown. "I'm just trying to get all the information" he smiles through pursed lips. "And how old was she when the two of you started a relationship?"
"18"
"18?" He looks at me skeptically "Because we have it on our records that you were accused of having a sexual relationship with your neice when she was 17. She is your neice right?"
"Yes, technically but nothing happened between us until she was 18" I lie. "It shows in our records that there was an incident not long long ago that you were seen by one of our officers being very aggressive towards your neice. It says you had her pinned to the bed. Care to explain?"
"That was a misunderstanding" I shrug. "Is that so?" He raises and eyebrow. "I think you'll find that it also says those charges were dropped against my client and Ms Jackson even said herself it was a misunderstanding" my lawyer cuts in. "What does any of this have to do with anything anyway?" I frown. "Well, the majority of these complaints came Faith's mother Julie"
"So? They didn't come from Faith did they?" shrug with a slight attitude. "Clearly Ms Owen's had a pretty big problem with you being anywhere near her daughter, yet she'd willing hand over her second one to you. That's kind of strage she'd do that" he says skeptically. "That wad all in the past. We adopted Precious. I already told you all this and showed you the proof"
"Last time you were interviewed by us you told us you weren't in any kind of relationship with Faith yet now you are and claiming to be married to her. Why is that?"
"Because it's true" I shrug "well legally an uncle and Niece can't marry so by law your technically not"
"Technicality no, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"It's just strange to me is all. that you would deny any relationship or feelings towards her when she was underage, yet as soon as she's legal, your there ready and waiting"
"It wasn't like that" I frown "then what was it like?"
"I think you'll find my client is here to discuss his child not past allegations which were proven to be false" my lawyer cuts in.
"I'm just trying to work out why Ms Owens would willingly adopt her child to man she clearly hates?" He says in a slightly sarcastic tone. "Like I said before. That's all in the past and things were ok with us before all of this"
"Before you kidnapped her child?" He raises and eyebrow. "Adopted" my lawyer cuts in "and my client has already proven that fact and even Faith and their daughters biological father have also confirmed this fact"
"Then why would she be claiming her daughter was stolen from from her?"
"I don't know, but we haven't done anything wrong here and if we had then why didn't she call the police months ago? Or try and take her back herself. She knows where we live?" I point out. "And how could she possibly do that when she's locked up in a basement by you and your brother?" He says in a sarcastic tone. "She wasn't"
"Then why would..."
"I don't know why she's saying all that stuff" I cut him off getting frustrated. "I haven't seen Julie since she signed Precious over to us. I'm always either at home or at the studio"
"And you can prove this?"
"Yes. You can ask Faith, my staff, Quincy. Anybody you want and they'll tell you the same thing"
"They could confirm they saw you, but they can't confirm you haven't been anywhere else on your way to or from the studio" he shrugs. "You could have been going to check on Julie then"
"Well I didn't" I shrug and he's about to speak when my lawyer cuts in. "Is there any actual proof of Ms Owen's being kidnapped or anything to back up her ludicrous accusations?"
"What happened to your nose?" He asks referring to my busted nose. "I fell in the shower" I shrug. "Is there anyone that can confirm this?"
"Does this really have anything to do with why were here?" My lawyer cuts in once again, getting as frustrated as me.
****
Faith's POV
"And how were things between you and your mother before she left?" The officer asks me. "Fine, where's my daughter?" I ask "she's with one of our officers. When you say fine? What exactly do you mean?" She asks. "I'm mean she was fine. Why couldn't I bring her with me or let my grandparents take care of her?"
"Because this is a very serious allegation that has been made against you and and Michael and we need to interview all parties before anything else can be done"
"Your not taking her from us are you!? We haven't done nothing wrong. We told you what happened. She can't just change her mind and take her back!"
"Not without good reason and if what your saying is true then you and Michael have nothing to worry about and can leave here with her. I understand this must be very stressful for you, but I need you to answer my questions" she says softly and I nod. "When was the last time you spoke to your mother?"
"About a week ago"
"An did she say where she was? Or sound like she was in distress of any kind?"
"No, she just said she was having a good time on her vacation and she met a guy there and wasn't sure when she was coming back"
"And nothing else?"
"No" I shake my head. "Did she say where she was?"
"No"
"You don't find it strange that she just left without a word?"
"She already said that after the baby was born she was gonna go away for awhile"
"So she told you she was going away and contacted you letting you know she was ok?"
"Yes. I already Told you that"
"Then why would she then walk into a police station and claim Michael and your father kidnapped her an stole the baby?"
"I have no idea, but none of that's true. We adopted Precious and that's it. I don't know why she's saying all this stuff, but it's not true" I shake my head. "This was a closed adoption yes?" She asks looking at her files "Yes, is says so right there"
"But a closed adoption usually means that the biological parents don't know who the child is adopted to or can have any kind of contact. Yet your father has regular contact" she frowns confused. "Michael and I have always said that he and my mom could she Precious as much or as little as they wanted"
"And why did they adopt their child to you and Michael? Clearly your capable of having you own children since your pregnant"
"My dad said he even though he didn't want her, he still wanted to keep her in the family"
"And your mother?"
"She didn't care who she went to" I shrug. "You only recently found Jackie was your biogical father is that correct?"
"About a year ago"
"Was that before or after you got involved with a sexual relationship with your uncle?"
"Before" I lie "what does that have to do with our daughter?"
"I'm just trying to build a picture. "It's pretty well documented how your mother felt about the relationship and about Michael. Why would she adopt a child to a man she Clearly dispises? It's also well documented that you and your mother also had a pretty rocky relationship"
"That was a long time ago and we all made peace about all that. I already told you this"
"If you all made peace and everything was ok then why would she claim Michael and your father kidnapped her and stole a baby from her?"
"I don't know. Last time I spoke to her she was fine and didn't even mention Precious or that she wanted her back. She can't take her can she?" I ask nervously. "Not if what your saying is true or there's no other reason"
"Well it is true" I lie. "I noticed Michael had a busted nose when he came here. What happened?" She asks curiously "he fell when he was in the shower" I lie "What does that have to do with anything?"
"I was just wondering" she smiles at me through pursed lips. "Can I go now?"
"Just a few more questions"
"My client has been here for over an hour and has already answered your questions several times and has given you the same answers over and over, plus proof of the adoption" my lawyer cuts in. "Now is there any other questions?.. other than what you've already asked?" She says with a slight attitude and the officer goes silent for a moment. "For now" the officer says with a similar attitude. "So I can go and get my daughter now?" I ask. "I just to speak with someone first" she smiles at me through pursed lips and leaves the room.
"Who does she need to speak to?" I turn to my lawyer. "We can take Precious home right?" I say nervously. "They just need to do checks to make sure" she says calmly. "Make sure of what!? They can't take her away from us can they!?" I panic and I go to get up, but she stops me. "Just try and stay calm" she says softly and I sit back down nervously waiting for the officer to come back into the room and pray to myself that they don't take Precious away from us.