Exes and Oh's: Part 25

MARLEY

Christmas was looking to be a lighter day considering I woke up to breakfast in bed instead of my obnoxious alarm clock. All Freddy's doing. Even though he was supposed to be resting and I was supposed to be planning tonight's festivities. The man was incapable of sitting still. But I appreciated every moment he sat beside me, shirtless, wearing festive silly boxers just to make me laugh. I couldn't hold my amusement in when he kept shifting and Rudolph's red nose kept moving right along with the junk inside his pants.

"Can you stop? I'm going to choke!" I exclaimed, holding a hand over my mouth to keep the oatmeal from spilling out.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Freddy insisted, relaxing his shoulders against my headboard, trying to keep himself from smiling. He was in a better mood today. I prayed it would stay that way for as long as possible. "I had everything that belonged to us from the timeshare brought here since we couldn't go there. I looked through some of it while you slept and I found something not so shocking."

He resumed and headed over to my closet to pull out a box, placing it on the edge of my bed. I placed my tray on the nightstand and crawled my way towards him. He handed me a picture of him, Becca and Gabe and I wasn't exactly sure when it was taken, but I knew where. It was in the garden stationed in the back of the Magnolia Hotel. The same hotel Gabe had been rumored to be spending more time in during the last few weeks of his life. I took photos on that property on a regular basis, since that was the wedding venue to book during the summer time. I featured some of the most prominent and wealthy couples in the county in my magazine. The locals ate it up and bought every copy. Which I definitely appreciated.

I don't remember hearing about any weddings that would've involved Freddy, Becca and Gabe. Which only gave me more questions than answers.

"I didn't know the three of you got along enough to hang out," I mentioned as I tried to inspect the backgrounds in these pictures. They weren't telling me much. All I knew was that whoever took these pictures was an amateur. No technique or effort. Which could've been anyone at that event.

"Becca had invited him to our family's charity event. The hotel had the space we needed and believe me, I knew the second I saw him that they were back together. Or at least screwing around. He was also engaged to Rita at the time. Or so I heard. I don't know. I just know whatever happened between them really messed Becca up."

"You mean more than she already is?" I countered, grinning as he gave me a look, and I leaned into him for a kiss. He spanked my behind with his good hand and I moaned, biting my lip as I pulled away to focus.

"Becca is a handful. I know. But she disappeared for a year after that. Came back with a brand new man, and a brand new attitude. Which seems to disappear when you're around," Freddy dished and I rolled my eyes. Becca had nothing to worry about anymore. Gabe was in a better place now and I had moved on even before all this started.

"I think we should go there. See if any of the employees who worked the weeks Gabe was visiting still work there. Maybe find out once and for all what the big mystery is," I suggested and hopped off the bed to head for the bathroom to take a quick shower.

"I think I know why Gabe hid these in Galveston. That's where he and Becca met," he answered, sounding distracted as I turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to warm up before I undressed. Freddy stepped into the bathroom and handed me a picture that was taken of all the bus boys and girls that had attended the event. His finger pointed towards a woman who looked vaguely familiar. I squinted hard enough since the picture was taken at a weird angle. Once the facial features became clearer, I gasped and looked up at Freddy.

"What the hell was Thea doing at that event?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After we conference called everyone on our way to the Magnolia Hotel, Freddy and I began piecing together the rest of the stuff Gabe had left for us to find. We tried to build a timeline leading up to the day of the car accident and there were still a few things that didn't make sense. What the hell did Michael have to do with all of this? And did Becca actually kill the one man she ever tried to love?

When Michael arrived later than anticipated, I noticed he looked anxious, nervous even. I nudged at Danny's side as I pointed to Michael's bruised eye and Danny shrugged, letting me know he had no idea what was going on with him. He was lying of course. There was obvious tension between them and I hoped it wasn't going to bite us in the ass later on.

"Should we split up?" Serena asked when the group gathered in the lobby of the Magnolia Hotel. There wasn't much time to admire the traditional black and red decor surrounding us. But I'd been here so many times, I didn't mind. Danny nodded and hooked my arm in his as he dragged me away and Freddy followed not too far behind. Serena and Michael were on their way towards the east wing of the hotel while we walked down the hallways of the west.

"What the hell is going on? And what happened to Michael's eye?" I asked as we tried to find some employees to talk to. Particularly the ones who wouldn't mind being paid to give us information.

"They got into it at the hospital the other day. Idiot still won't tell me why," Freddy answered as he smacked the back of Danny's head. Daniel glared at him, but didn't bother to retaliate.

"You guys got into a fight? Why?"

"This ain't the time for that, Marley," Danny argued and I poked at his chest, forcing him to take a breath so he could explain.

"Fine. She'll kill me for telling ya'll this but fuck it. I have nothing left to lose," Danny took a second and straightened as he looked around, making sure no one was listening. News spread fast around here. He continued to tell Freddy and I the story of what happened at the hospital and we both shared a defeated look before we even began to scold.

"I can't even begin to fathom why ya'll do the things you do," I pointed out, feeling a migraine coming on as I processed everything he had just spilled.

"Wait, you're having a kid? With Serena? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Freddy asked and I smacked his chest at his ridiculous comment. He sighed and grabbed my hand to kiss it.

"She's not keeping it is she," I concluded, and saw the devastation in his eyes as he looked away and pinched the skin between his eyes to keep himself from crying. I had no idea how he was keeping it together, but I could finally see the growth and maturity he's been trying to obtain since way before this mess started. He was keeping himself in tact, despite wanting to spiral and destroy everything in his path. Danny was growing up, and I hated that losing the one thing he's always wanted was what finally made it happen.

"Anyway. We came here for Gabe. Let's focus on that," Danny persisted and cleared his throat as he jogged over to one of the maids and began talking to her. She was an older woman, with salt and pepper hair pinned into a low bun. Whatever she was telling him, it made Danny smile, which led me to believe he had found some valuable information.

"What if that were us? Would you do the same?" Freddy asked, interweaving his fingers between mine as he held our hands against his lips and I turned to look at him. I wanted nothing more than to have a family with this man. He was the love of my life. However, we had a long way to go before his burns healed, before we could resolve our issues and reach that dream we've always had of starting a big family. I also had to deal with my leftover feelings for Michael. Which I suspected Freddy already knew about. If that was really the case, I was glad he wasn't using the opportunity to make this a competition between him and Michael again. He was letting me figure it out on my own and I loved him all the more for it.

"You have to ask?" I countered, and he gave me a smile and a look full of silent relief before he kissed my temple. Danny jogged his way back towards us finally and he resumed to tell us everything the older woman had told him.

"I showed her a picture of Gabe and Becca. See if it jogged her memory. She says Becca practically lives here. And she's not alone," Danny determined.

"Well, yeah. Maybe she's staying here with her boyfriend," I reminded him, but Danny shook his head.

"She's staying here with a little girl. Patty, the old lady I just spoke with said she saw a picture of the three of them in Becca's room. And I may or may not have convinced her to let me borrow it for a few minutes," Danny explained as he showed us Becca's room key from his jean pocket.

"How'd you do that?" I asked him in a hushed tone, while I typed a text to the others, letting them know where we were and to meet us as soon as possible.

"I promised her I'd fix her old Buick for free," he answered and I smirked, reaching to give him a hug. He hugged me back and I could tell he needed it as much as I did after hearing the sad news about his kid.

"It's going to turn out alright. I promise," I whispered into his ear and he nodded as I gave his hand a squeeze and the others finally made it to our location.

"What'd you find?" Serena asked, and I began to fill them in as we all headed towards Becca's hotel room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Gabe had a secret child with Becca? I should be appalled but I'm not. It makes total sense. Some people are just meant to be," Serena gathered, avoiding Danny's gaze when she knew he shot a look at her. Becca wasn't here. And we weren't sure how long that was going to last so we hurried inside the room, making sure no one noticed us all going in there. The cameras on the corners of the hallways looked like they hadn't been updated in decades. It was safe to assume they weren't working, which made sense why Becca thought she could hide out here with this giant secret.

How did she even explain that little girl when she left this hotel with her? Did she tell them she was a distant cousin? I wouldn't put it passed Becca to do so. She had always been a horrible person not only to me, but to everyone who had ever met her. Including Gabe.

"I still don't know what this has to do with Thea. She wasn't here when Gabe passed away," Michael argued as we sat on the edge of the bed, his arms crossed defensively.

"Doesn't mean they didn't cross paths before," I chimed in and he raised an eyebrow, taking it as personal attack from the looks of it.

"Ya'll are so paranoid. Thea has nothing to do with this bullshit. And neither do I. I don't care about the million dollars. I won't be needing it after tonight. I'm leaving Texas," Michael informed everyone and we all stopped searching through Becca's room to listen.

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Freddy asked, Danny and Serena joining him at his sides. We grilled Michael until he sighed and looked away from us.

"I got into a pretty bad situation a couple of years ago. Gabe helped me get out of it. But everything came with a price with him," Michael started, and swallowed when he saw Danny's fists turn into tight balls. Serena noticed, and moved to stand in front of him as a precaution.

"And you failed to mention this because?" Serena added, holding Danny's hands in hers, placing them over her belly. It was a gesture no one expected her to do, but I suspected she was only doing it to calm Danny down. It was working. He melted into her like butter on a hot piece of toast.

"Because I got out of it. Until they came back to ask for more the day of Gabe's funeral. They found out I was working at the hospital and asked me to cough over some name brand pills they could sell down in Mexico. That's why I sold my house. I wanted to replace the drugs I stole," Michael finished and his gaze went straight towards me. My heart dropped instantly as I realized what this all meant. Michael was dealing drugs again. Everything he had been working for, everything he had done to turn his life around was about to come crashing down. I can't believe I thought he had changed.

"Tell me you're joking," I pleaded, blinking away the tears as I glared at him.

"They know where you live, Marley. They know where you all live. And I'm not going to let anything happen to any of you because of my bullshit," he deduced and got up from the bed. Freddy stood in front of him, blocking his path. I reached to pull for him but he shook his head, letting me know he wasn't going to hurt him.

"Did Gabe sell Catherine those pills to pay off your debt? I know her family was wealthy at the time. She could've easily dropped a few grand on your lap," Freddy provoked and Michael's nose flared in anger. He didn't like people in his face. Especially people like Freddy who enjoyed provoking him.

"For the last fucking time, I don't know who gave her the damn pills. Could it have been Gabe? Of course. Gabe had all the connections. But I never saw him sell them to her."

"And Thea? Did you know she was Catherine's half-sister?" Freddy continued his interrogation, shocking us all with that out-of-the-blue question. How did he even know Catherine and Thea were related?

"Half-sister?" Michael asked, sporting a genuine look of confusion.

"Don't play dumb, Michael. Not now. Not when we're this close to finding out if your stupidity was what caused Catherine and Gabe their lives."

"Freddy, stop," I ordered stepping in between both of them, not willing to hear any more bad news right now.

"Guys, someone's coming," Serena interjected and we all looked towards the door. There was nowhere to hide. Nowhere to run to. Whoever was behind that door, was going to have a big surprise waiting for them.

"What the hell are ya'll doing in my room?" Becca asked, shielding a little girl behind her legs as she entered the room.

"Uh... Merry Christmas?" Danny answered for the rest of us, his faltering grin fading as we all shared a look and realized this was going to be another long day.

"Merry Christmas indeed," Thea's voice claimed as she stepped into the room from behind the opened doorway, holding a gun and an FBI badge in her hands. "Michael, please come with me. We have a lot to talk about," she ordered as two other men with FBI jackets stood behind her with taser guns and handcuffs.

"Becca, did you know about this?" Freddy inquired and Becca shook her head, looking just as confused as we all were. But it seemed pretty obvious Thea wasn't the person she claimed to be. She must've been following us this entire time, just waiting for us to put the pieces together for her.

"He's not going anywhere until you tell him what he's being arrested for," Serena stepped in front of Michael, the rest of us falling in line as we did the same, not willing to let them take him without good reason.

"Okay. Let's start with drug trafficking. Then we'll find out if your drugs were the ones who aided my sister Catherine in her suicide," Thea replied stiffly. It was difficult seeing her like this. She was so sweet during Thanksgiving. I guess my judgment really has been clouded.

"Catherine? Catherine Lopez?" Becca asked, as the little girl behind her began to sniffle, tears not too far behind. She was scared, holding her mother's hand tightly as if she were afraid her mother would leave her, just like her father did.

"You knew her?" Thea countered, narrowing her eyes at her and Becca swallowed hard before she looked at all of us, then stood in front of Thea.

"Not only did I know her, I'm the one who sold her the drugs. Michael and Gabe knew nothing about it," Becca confessed, making us all even more confused. What the hell was she doing?

"Becca—" Michael started but Becca lowered down to whisper something into her daughter's ear. Whatever it was, it had made the little girl walk over to Freddy and grab his hand, tears streaming down her dimpled cheeks. It broke my heart watching that little girl cry as the FBI placed the handcuffs on Becca's wrists. But she was in good hands. Nothing would happen to that little girl as long as we were around.

"I'll tell you what else I know if you let Michael go free," Becca bargained, allowing Thea to consider it before she nodded and began to drag her out of the room. She didn't look back towards anyone. Not even to the little girl in Freddy's arms crying for her. Becca might've just saved Michael's ass, but she was still the same old Becca we all grew up with.

"Come on, babygirl. Let's take you home."