Searching for Love Ch. 08

"No," Cal told Caitlin calmly, trying to hide his smile of amusement.

"I want to be there when you question the bitch," Caitlin repeated, her voice cold.

"No," Cal repeated.

"Damn it Cal, she MURDERED my mother!" Caitlin shouted.

"What?" Caitlin whirled around and Cal looked up to see Jake, Jeff and Paul walking towards them; Jeff and Paul were escorting a very irate Juan.

"His bitch of a sister kidnapped mom and Craig AND tried to rape a 12 year old. Mom tried to stop it so she killed her," Caitlin answered, her eyes brimming with tears.

She could feel the anger welling within her.

"I'm so sorry," Jake said softly, reaching for Caitlin. Caitlin shrugged away from Jake's embrace and turned to Cal again.

"I want to be in the room while you question Marisol and I will not take no for an answer," Caitlin said, her voice even, calm, deadly. The look in Caitlin's eyes made Cal swallow.

"On one condition. Danny is in the room with you." Jake opened his mouth to protest. "Your emotions would get in your way over this one and Danny will be able to keep a cooler head," Cal said. Jake and Caitlin nodded.

When Danny and Caitlin entered the interrogation room, the look in Caitlin's eyes made Marisol's eyes widen in fear. Caitlin stood back against the wall while Danny began the interrogation, her eyes never leaving Marisol's. It took Caitlin threatening to hurt Marisol for killing her mother to get the hysterical woman to finally give up the plan that she and Juan had come up with; Juan would start some shit in the Middle East with the Iranians to lure Jake away, leaving Caitlin vulnerable.

Only Marisol was supposed to kidnap Caitlin directly, not Evelyn and Craig; however Jake's agreement with Cal was that Caitlin was not to leave the base until he returned threw a wrench into the plans and Marisol had to improvise to get to Caitlin.

She hadn't anticipated that Caitlin would bring backup. Caitlin grinned and looked at Danny. "I normally wouldn't have needed backup to deal with murdering scum like you, however the desire to keep Jake's baby safe required that I bring some backup," Caitlin said, her voice low, but she couldn't hide the joy she felt about being pregnant with Jake's child.

Marisol gasped as Danny began describing what would happen to her in an American prison for murder. Neither Danny nor Caitlin were prepared when Marisol lunged across the table for Caitlin and just before she could wrap her hands around Caitlin's throat, a loud bang reverberated through the room, causing Caitlin to scream a little. "Are you okay?" Danny asked Caitlin as Marisol fell to the ground and the door flung open; Cal and Jake rushed into the room.

"I'm fine," Caitlin said before either of them could ask. Jake led Caitlin out of the interrogation room and insisted that Claire take a look at her.

-Later that night-

Caitlin, Jake, Danny, Jessica and the kids followed Cal out towards the yard used for outdoor exercise. "Where are we going Cal? It's been a long day and we all want to go to bed," Jake grumbled. Cal grinned.

"Trust me. Just shut up and trust me," Cal said. Cal led them to two houses; each house had two stories, one was painted a pale yellow, the other a light blue.

"Jess, Danny, you have the blue house. There are four bedrooms in each house, a full bathroom upstairs and a half bath downstairs. Everything is the same; the kitchen, layout, everything," Cal said.

"Why?" Danny managed to ask, rubbing Will's back as he started to fuss. Cal grinned.

"Because we aren't equipped to have children running around, and I have a feeling that neither you and Jess or Caitlin and Jake are done yet," Cal answered.

Caitlin gave Cal a hug. "Thank you," she murmured.

Cal smiled. "No problem. Take some time off to get acquainted. That goes for Jake and Danny. Jess, I need you to come cook meals, but other than that, take time to be with your family."

Cal turned to Caitlin.

"You are not required to come to briefings, if I need you there, I'll let Jake know. Give Craig some time, and just be there for him. I'm here if you need any guidance," Cal said gently. Everyone nodded and went inside to explore their new houses.

-Months later-

"Are you sure you don't mind doing this?" Caitlin asked Jessica as they settled down in the dining room.

"It's not a problem. Craig's a good kid, and he's really great with Will and Kylie. He's done really well in his studies too," Jessica answered. Caitlin smiled.

"Things are interesting, having a near teenager in the house ... it's weird. He's so moody and I know he's having to process this thing with mom and Michael and me.

Craig's trying to stay out of our way, but he's been so quiet that I don't know what's going on with him," Caitlin said, taking a sip of tea. Jessica gave her friend a sympathetic smile.

"Have you considered having Claire bring in a councilor to talk to Craig?" Jessica asked.

"Yeah, I mentioned it a few times and he blows me off," Caitlin answered as the front door was opened and slammed shut. "Craig?" Caitlin asked, standing up and heading to the foyer.

Jake was standing next to Craig with a very unhappy look on his face and Craig was looking at the carpet. "What happened?" Caitlin wanted to know, tilting Craig's face up towards hers. There was an ugly bruise over Craig's left eye and dried blood trickling down from his nose and his lip was cracked and scabbing over.

"I got in a fight," Craig mumbled, trying to pull away to escape to his room.

"Why?" Caitlin demanded to know.

"It's a little late for you to start acting like my mother!" Craig shouted, pulling away from Caitlin and Jake and running up the stairs and into his room.