Sins of the Fathers

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Episode 8

Previously on Sins of the Fathers
--- Tiffany and Hasting busted the drug deal
--- Tiffany, Vincent, and the two dealers were shot
--- Felix escaped into the night
--- Felix discovered a fragment of the letter from Rosa's father, Mateo
--- Rosa had serious doubts about Luc's honesty
--- Felix's money was stolen

Shashy Memorial Hospital

"Trey!" Serena rushed to her stepson, who was just striding through the double doors of the hospital's waiting room.
He hugged her. "How is she?" he asked.
"She's out of surgery, and she's sleeping. Did you talk to Clayton?"
"He's on his way from the convention now. He should be back in Carmine Falls by sunrise."
"You did tell him to drive carefully?"
"Yes, Serena. He'll be all right." He took her hand. "Can we see her?"
"Here," she said as she led him down a corridor. "She has a window we can look through. It's hard to watch your child... She looks so small and pale, Trey."
"Well," Trey said as he looked through the window of Tiffany's room, "not so bad, really, considering she was shot a few hours ago. I was expecting a lot worse."
Serena looked up at him. "Really?"
He nodded.
"I just can't get over how helpless she looks in there."
"Serena, I think it'll take more than one little bullet to render Tiffany helpless."
She gave him a weak smile. "It missed all of her vital organs. I thank God for that, but I just don't think I'll draw one easy breath until she looks up at me and says 'Mama' again... Of course, Tiffany hasn't called me mama in years, but somehow, right now, all I can think of is how she was when she was a little girl."
"I think that makes sense, Serena. She hasn't needed you to take care of her lately, but she does now."
"Yes, she does. And I'm going to do everything I can, and Clayton will, too."
"And I will, too."
"Oh, Trey, thank you so much for being here. I know Tiffany isn't really your sister---"
"That doesn't matter. I've always liked her. I think she's a unique person."
"Oh, she is," Serena agreed. "I'm so glad you can see that." She gently touched the window. "You hear that, baby," she whispered. "There are a lot of people out here praying for you, and I know you'll get better. You have to, precious. You're my first born, and my grandmama always said, 'There's just something special about your first.'" Serena brushed her eyes. "Trey," she said, "help me keep from crying."
He wrapped his arms around her. "You're not going to cry, Serena. There's no need." And as he reassured her, he looked over her head and through the window, and thought he saw, ever so slightly, the color returning to Tiffany's face.

****************

the Sidarus gates

Luc poured himself another whisky, neat. He toasted the air, "'As flies to wanton boys...'" and took a long drink.
"Darling," came Anna's voice behind him.
He turned and saw her standing just inside the door to his office. She'd wrapped a silk robe around her peach nightgown, but her hair was tousled and her feet were bare.
"You should be in bed, my love," Luc said.
"I couldn't sleep without you. What's the matter, Luc?"
He sighed and walked to his desk, sat in the armchair in front of it and took another sip of his drink.
"The drug deal?" Anna asked.
He looked up at her. "How did you---"
"My darling, I know everything. You might as well accept that."
"Yes..."
"What happened?"
He studied her for a moment, calculating the risks of telling her, but finally surrendered to her steady gaze. "Well, my love, the worst possible thing happened. The police, somehow they knew. And they arrived and there was a shooting and the dealers are dead."
"Good."
"Yes, I'm glad they can't talk. But Vincent is wounded---"
"He's easily controlled."
"But I'm afraid Felix is missing."
"Missing?"
"Yes."
"Are you absolutely sure?"
"Yes, I had a lookout stationed. Felix took the car and got away."
"Hmm..." Anna walked to Luc, took the drink from his hands, had a small sip, and frowned. "Darling," she said, "no wonder you aren't thinking clearly." She set the drink on his desk. "How many policemen?"
"I don't know, several, I believe. And one of them, Tiffany Watts, was also shot. She's in the hospital now."
Anna gave a short laugh. "Clayton's little stepdaughter. How fitting."
"Yes, isn't it?"
Anna sat on the edge of the desk. "There's a simple solution, Luc."
"Yes?"
"You must get Vincent a lawyer, and that lawyer must advise Vincent to confess to the whole thing. After all, it's perfectly reasonable that he was using his connection to Sidarus Enterprises to smuggle the drugs, and that he was trying to unload them because you were suspicious. And if he confesses to it, who will be able to say otherwise?"
He smiled at her. "Anna," he said softly.
"Except Felix, of course," she said. "He could say otherwise, and you must find him."
"Yes, I know."
"And might I suggest, love, that Rosa could be helpful in keeping track of Tiff---"
"No!" Luc sprang to his feet. "No, Anna, Rosa cannot know about any of this." He gripped her arm. "Do you understand me?"
"Yes," she breathed.
He loosened his grip, but continued to hold her wrist. "I'm sorry, my love," he said. "It's only that Rosa's so objective about things, so black-and-white. She's a simple child, really."
Anna nodded. She lowered her eyelids and said, "Now, you are indebted to me."
"I suppose I am," he answered.
She kissed him.
"My love," he whispered.
"Yes," she said, "and darling, you might let Vincent clear up any other outstanding concerns you have."
He pulled away from her and looked deep into her eyes, but they were as impervious as ever. Whatever she knew, she wouldn't reveal until she wanted to. "We're so alike," Luc said.
"More than you know," Anna agreed.

****************

Kara & Hasting's building

"Tiffany!"--- and then a flash of someone running from the warehouse. The memory cut through Hasting's brain like a laser. He couldn't shake it. One of those dealers, the one who got away, had recognized Tiffany. So how did she know him? There were only a couple of reasons why cops hung out with criminals. And if she knew one of them, why hadn't she said anything about it? And why had she wanted to pull out of the bust at the last minute? He shook his head. "Can't think about it now," he thought. "She might not even live."
He opened the door of his apartment, where Kara was waiting for him. He didn't speak as he put his arms around her.
"I'm so glad you're home," she said. "I've been so--- How's Tiffany?"
"She's alive." He walked away from Kara and collapsed on the sofa.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Kara asked.
Hasting shrugged. "Don't know what to say. She was shot."
"And the dealers?"
"Yeah, all but one of them." The troubling memory returned, and Hasting tried to shake it by focusing on his wife. "You waited up, baby?"
"Of course. Can I tell you something?"
"Sure."
"When you called me, the first thing I did was thank God you weren't the one who was shot. Does that make me a terrible person?"
"No, baby. You're a good person. Just glad your husband's alive."
"I am," she said, and Hasting realized she'd been crying.
He reached out to her. "Oh baby," he said, "what is it?"
"I was just so scared, Hasting. I mean, it could've been you."
"Come here." He pulled her onto his lap and cradled her like a child. "Nothing's gonna happen to me," he said as he stroked her hair. "You can get that idea out of your head."
"I know, but---"
"But nothing, okay? You know, it's my fault Tiff's in the hospital."
"Hasting, that's not true."
"No, it is. We had a shooter, and I should have taken him down for the count, but I just shot his shoulder instead. And he got Tiffany before he fell."
"You mean...?"
"I mean I should have killed him, baby. He was dangerous, and I was worried about saving his life. Christ!"
"Oh, no. No, Hasting, you were right. You did the right thing."
"The hell I did. And let me tell you, Kara, it's not happening again. Next time, I'll shoot first, ask questions later. It's not worth losing... losing one of us, baby."
Kara held him tight. "I know it's hard for you," she whispered.
"Yeah," he said. And the memory returned--- the sound of that scum's voice calling out Tiffany's name. He just couldn't think of it, couldn't dwell on what it might mean. "Oh, baby," he said. "I'm glad to be home." He buried his face in her hair, but even her warmth couldn't chase his doubts away.

****************

the sunrise over Carmine Falls

Felix answered the knock on the door of his cheap motel room. Rosa stood on the step with the day's first light brushing her face. She was dressed in her hospital scrubs and carried a small black box, fastened with a padlock.
"You found it," Felix said.
She nodded. "I still don't understand why you called me."
Well, that would be hard to explain. He'd called her at the hospital, told her he needed to see her urgently, asked her to retrieve a box from his guesthouse (without letting anyone in the Sidarus compound see her), and bring the box to him at this motel. A strange request, certainly, and especially odd coming from someone who was barely an acquaintance. But he'd counted on her basic decency, and he'd been right. Now came the difficult part. He had to tell her about the slip of paper inside that box, the piece of her letter, and how he'd come by it. And then he had to offer to sell it to her. She was a nice person, so he hated doing it, but it was his only choice. He had no money other than the forty bucks he'd already spent on the room, and if he didn't get out of town by noon, he was a dead man.
"Why don't you come in," he began.
"I don't think that's a good idea. I'm sorry, Felix, but I am completely in the dark about all of this."
Felix nodded. "Right. I mean, I don't blame you." He sat on the end of the bed. "Look, what if we leave the door open?" When she hesitated, he continued, "I have something to tell you, and it's not the kind of thing you want to hear while you're hanging in that parking lot."
"All right, I think I'll sit right here," she said, indicating the chair closest to the door.
"Okay, look there's something in that box that I believe belongs to you..."
"I--- I can't think of anything, Felix. I mean, I haven't lost---"
"No, not something you lost, something you gave away."
"Something I..."
Felix watched as a confused look came over her face. He thought how lovely it was, to see someone so open, someone whose thoughts immediately registered in her eyes. Such a rare thing, and he was about to destroy it. Because after he told her, she would never leave herself so unguarded again. He swallowed hard. "Um, Rosa," he said, "it's not like a piece of jewelry or something, and you probably don't even realize it's not where it's supposed to be."
"I think you should just tell me."
"Right," he said. "Uh, have you talked to Luc recently?"
"Um---"
"About your father, your biological father."
She shook her head. "Not since Father's Day, when I gave him--- the letters! You're not talking about the letters?"
"Yes, I am."
"How did you get them? Did you take them from his office?"
"No, I... stumbled across them."
"Well, Felix, Luc needs them. They're the only link to my father. If you don't give them back--- Felix, I'm going to call him right now. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but---"
"No, Rosa, don't call him. He won't help you."
"Of course he will. Luc has always helped me, no matter what his faults, I know I can depend on him."
"You're not making this easy, Rosa."
"What should I make easy?"
"Okay, I'm giving you an opportunity to get the letters back, what I have of them, anyway."
"Because you stole them from Luc."
"No, I didn't. I found them, Rosa. I saved them."
"Saved them?"
"From Vincent. You know Vincent, don't you?"
"Of course, the valet."
"Otherwise known as Sidarus Enterprises' favorite firebug."
"Fire?"
"He was burning your letters, Rosa. Look." He ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you like this, I didn't want to tell you at all, but I..." He told himself to say it. "It's so easy," he thought, "just the words 'I need money,' and everything will be okay."
But before he could speak, Rosa said, "I don't believe you."
"Excuse me?"
"I don't believe you, Felix. You just wanted to lure me over here, for what purpose, I don't know. But there's nothing in this box."
"Rosa, there is."
"Then open it, and show me."
"I..."
"That's what I thought." She dropped the box on the floor, stood, and started for the door.
He caught her. "Rosa," he said, "Luc has been lying to you. He never even looked for your father."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because... look." He took a tiny key from his key chain, picked up the box, and unlocked it.
Rosa reached into the box and slowly touched the slip of paper. She frowned as she peered at the writing. When she raised her face, Felix saw tears in her eyes. She sat on the corner of the bed.
"I'm sorry," Felix said quietly.
"It was all I had. I... I can't believe this."
"So you see, now?"
"I don't know what I, I just can't believe it. My father, my only..." She sank down to the bed, sobbing.
Felix crouched next to her. "Rosa," he said, "you haven't really lost anything."
"I have," she cried. "I feel like... nothing. Just."
"I know," he said. He brushed a strand of her dark hair from her face. "My father, too. I lost him."
"I thought you said---"
"Oh, right." Felix remembered his lie about being adopted. "It's a long story," he said.
"Felix, why would Luc do this? I just don't understand."
"I know. It's... I wish I could tell you."
"I never met my father, but I miss him, Felix, so bad," she whispered through her sobs.
He sat on the bed and put his arms around her.
"I thought things would be easier than this," she said. "I always thought that one day I'd find him, Felix, and he could come live with me and when I had children, he'd take care of them, and--- Oh, God, Felix! I'll never find him, will I?" She rested her head on his shoulder, and her tears streamed beneath the collar of his shirt.
"Of course you will," he said without thinking. He couldn't even remember why he'd originally called her to the motel. All he knew was that he desperately wanted to make her feel better. "You don't need Luc," he said, "because your father is out there, and he misses you as much as you miss him."
She looked up at him. "Do you really think that?"
"Yes, I know it." He brushed tears from her cheeks. "You're so beautiful, Rosa," he said, "and wonderful. Who wouldn't want you?"
"Felix, I don't know what to think anymore."
"I know, sweetheart. Don't think right now." He kissed her eyelids.
"Felix," she said slowly, "will you help me?"
"What's that?"
"Will you help me find my father? I just don't think I can do it on my own."
Reality kicked him. Help her find her father? First of all, the man didn't exist. It was as plain as day that Rosa was Luc's child, but she didn't believe that, and she wouldn't give up until she found the father she'd dreamt of. But second, even if he wanted to go on this crazy hunt with her, he absolutely couldn't. Luc probably had his goons out looking for Felix even as they sat there on the bed. But Rosa, she was so genuine. Really genuine, and good, too, and she didn't deserve this. She'd been disappointed enough. And as she sat there, shaking with sobs and clinging to Felix, he felt something hed never felt before. She needed him, and even if the only reason was because he happened to be there, she still needed him. She felt so soft and warm, and she smelled good; the clinical smells of the hospital barely interfered with the rosewater scent of her skin... Her skin, which was so close to his...
"Yes," he said, "I'll help you, Rosa. Anything." He kissed her eyes again, then her cheeks, and then her mouth.
She pulled away from him and looked in his eyes. "Felix, I... Do you understand?"
He nodded, and as she melted into him, he forgot about Vincent, and the shooting, and Luc. He knew nothing but Rosa, and the sound of the morning birds in the parking lot of the cheap motel.