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Fan fiction and fond (mostly) memories
of soap days gone by
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Let’s Give Them Something
To Talk About
by SheridanLF74
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Meanwhile, Luis and Sheridan were snuggled on her couch, some
music playing softly in the background, but she barely listened. Facing her father and brother today had been horrible,
but it was for the best. Finally, she was free from their dirty deals and inhumane treatment. She was in love and
she was going to marry the man of her dreams. In one week she and Luis would be completely out of the cottage and
there was nothing anyone could do to change that. In one week, Sheridan would finally be happy and safe with the
man she loved.
Sheridan looked around at all the boxes stacked in piles around the living room. Luis had been very adamant that
she take whatever she like from the cottage and had Miguel and some of his friends bring by all the boxes they
could find. Now the empty boxes sat waiting expectantly to be filled with memories from the past. She sighed; her
future was looking much better.
"Something wrong, Sherry?" Luis asked, placing a gentle kiss to her temple.
Her left hand on his chest moved up and down and she sighed again. "No, just daydreaming. This feels so right,"
she smiled. "I can’t wait to get out of here and be with you, Luis."
"Me neither," he kissed her again.
She looked up at him, her eyes glowing as they met his. ‘This
is what heaven must be like,’ she thought with
a smile, ‘Quiet and safe with no one to take away
your happiness.’ Sheridan was about to say something
else when they heard a knock on the front door. She waited fearfully on the couch as Luis walked over to answer
the door.
"Hit men don’t knock, Sheridan," he chuckled and she cast him a look. Luis swung the door open and was
surprised to see Sam and Agent Freeman, who was assigned to stay behind and assist in the capture of Roger and
Pierre. Luis was flabbergasted when Sam took out a pair of handcuffs.
"What are you guys doing here?" Luis asked, confused. The grim looks were starting to worry him and he
was afraid they would tell him that something was going down with the two French hit men.
"Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, you are under arrest," Sam said, his voice distressing. "You have the right
to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an
attorney, should you not be able to afford an attorney, one will be provided to you. Do you understand these rights
as I have read them to you?"
"Yea, Sam, is this some kind of joke? What is this all about?" Luis questioned as his hands were pulled
behind his back and cuffs were placed on them. In no time, Sheridan was at his side.
"What’s going on? What are you doing?" She asked, scared. "Luis?" she looked into his eyes.
He just shook his head. "I don’t know, Sherry."
"What is this all about, Sam?" Sheridan tried again.
"He’s being arrested for the May fifth kidnapping," Sam hesitated, his voice cracking slightly, "of
Sheridan Crane," Sam sighed.
"What?!" Sheridan screamed. "But Sam those charges were dropped," she looked around helplessly.
"They had to be…" her eyes were tearing now. "You can’t do this! I insist you release him this instant!"
"I’m afraid we have no choice, Sheridan," Sam replied softly. "We were faxed a letter reinstating
the charges only minutes ago and when I called the governor he told me that the charges were legit. I’m afraid
we just have no choice. You’ll have to take it up with your brother, he signed the charges."
Luis looked at Sheridan, pain in his eyes. "I love you," he stated softly.
"Luis, no…don’t say it…" she sniffled. He was going to say goodbye. She couldn’t let him do that…this
wasn’t happening! "Sam, please don’t do this!" Her tears started falling unchecked.
"I’m sorry…come on, Luis. Agent Freeman promised to watch Sheridan until this is cleared up."
Luis nodded, knowing it was useless to fight. He followed Sam out and from the back seat of the car, watched as
Sheridan sobbed in the doorway, held back by the FBI agent guarding her. Then the car started and drove away and
he could vaguely see her collapse to the ground as tears blurred his own eyes.
Sheridan, followed closely by Agent Freeman, stormed into the main house passing Ethan and Ivy on her way to the
library. She was fuming! Throwing open the tall oak door, she stamped inside like a child who had just been robbed
of his or her favorite toy.
"HOW DARE YOU!" She screamed.
"How dare I what?" Julian asked, feigning ignorance.
"How dare you reinstate those kidnapping charges!" she stalked over to the desk, slamming her hands down
on the wood and glaring at her brother on the other side. "You damn well know I wanted them dropped months
ago and you also know I’m engaged to marry that man."
"Father and I think it best if the world learned that we do not allow men that have performed crimes against
our family to marry the eligible woman of the family as well. He needs to be taught a less. Besides, he broke his
contract to me."
"Contract?" Sheridan was confused. She straightened. When did Luis make any form of contract with the
Cranes?
"Yes, contract…or did your love Low Life Fitzgerald forget to mention that he made a deal with me to protect
his family?"
"What deal?" Sheridan growled. She hated when Julian started playing these games!
"I dropped the original kidnapping charges, had him placed back on the force and forgot he even existed if
he stayed away from you for good. But no, you two had to go and make up and get engaged and I have to deal with
Father breathing down my neck! Well, Sheridan, Father insists that he be taught a lesson and I agree whole-heartedly."
He stood and walked to the table where his brandy waited for him.
"You can’t agree ‘whole-heartedly’ when you don’t even have a heart, Julian! I want those damn charges dropped."
"No can do, dear sister. We had a deal; he broke it. Now he goes to jail and his family suffers. You should
have listened when Father warned you to stay away from him!"
"This isn’t over, Julian. I’ll get him out and I’ll make you suffer!"
"Just remember, Sheridan," Julian replied unfazed. "He is the one that was willing to never see
you again, to forgo all contact with you, in order to save himself and his family. Is that the type of man you
want to marry?"
"You mean the type of man that would put his family’s happiness and well being before his own?" She laughed
haughtily. "Hell yes, Julian. It just goes to show that he would do ANYTHING to save the people he loves…and
I am one of those people!" Grabbing his bottle of brandy, she threw the crystal into the fireplace and watched
the flames grow. With a self-satisfied smile, she turned on her heel and stormed out, slamming the office door
behind her. She spotted Ethan and Ivy and said, "We need bail money and a good defense team. We have got to
get him out of there."
The two nodded and began to set things into motion.
An hour later, Sheridan was at the Harmony police station with Ivy, Ethan, Agent Freeman and a checkbook. Sam walked
over the second they walked in, his eyes sad. "Bad news, we can’t release him on bail until he is brought
before a judge in the morning and Luis doesn’t look so good."
"What do you mean, Sam?" Ivy asked.
Sam didn’t acknowledge her, but explained anyway. "Ever since we brought him in, he’s been depressed. He’s
hurting terribly, Sheridan. The mayor suspended him…took away his pay again…plans on stripping him of his police
badge. He’s lucky if he gets paid for all the work he’s done for you in the last nine months." The police
chief looked over to the cellblock. "He called Pilar and begged her not to come down here, she’s already been
here. She said he hasn’t been this bad off since Martin disappeared, or maybe since you went to Paris and took
his heart along, but to me this looks worse. Even if he does get off by some miracle, he may never get his job
back."
Sheridan’s hands released her checkbook and it fell to the floor with a soft tap. Her eyes welled with tears. This
was all her fault. If she wouldn’t have been so stupid and had those charges filed in the first place, none of
this would have happened. Tina told her to drop the charges while she was in Boston! Damn, why didn’t she listen?
"Can I see him?"
"Yea, sure, I’ll have Martinez take you back," he waved the other cop over.
She nodded and turned to Ethan and Ivy. "You two talk with, Chief Bennett and see what we can do. Tell him
our plans," she said as she wiped away her tears.
They nodded and she hugged them both before following Officer Martinez back toward the holding cells. She immediately
remembered walking this hallway behind Luis so long ago. She started to cry thinking of the time that he locked
her away and how far they had come since then. Now, it was up to her to save that stubborn man’s life and she was
afraid that she couldn’t. Finally, Martinez stopped and motioned to a cell.
"Can I go in?" she whispered.
Martinez shrugged. "I’ll go ask the chief," he replied walking away.
She looked into the cell where Luis sat, his knees as close to his chest as he could bring them and his head back
against the cold gray wall. Another tear rolled down her cheek and all she wanted to do was hold him. "Luis?"
He looked over slowly, his eyes red from crying, and his face remained expressionless, almost as if he thought
she was only a dream.
"Luis, are you all right?"
Shaking his head he looked away. "I’m fine," his voice was tight.
"Please believe me, Luis, I knew nothing about this. It was Father and Julian."
"I know," he grumbled. "Sam showed me the letter. I forgot about that stupid deal, Sheridan. I made
it because you hated me and I had to save my family. I had no choice."
"I know," it was her turn to be understanding. "I am very proud that you were willing to sacrifice
your own happiness in order to save you mother and siblings, Luis. It’s one of the many things I love about you."
"Some way to celebrate our engagement," he was distant.
"I’m sorry," she looked at the floor, her eyes tearing. She moved closer to the cell and held onto the
bars. "Forgive me?"
"How could I not?" he looked over. "I love you, Sheridan," he stood up and went to her. "But
I need you to do me a favor."
"Anything, Luis, you know that," she replied strongly.
"I need you to pack your bags and go live with Mama and take care of her while I’m gone. Sam says this looks
bad, Sherry, and I agree with him. I know this isn’t going to go too well and I can’t afford a good attorney. I
need you to help Mama along. I know she’ll loose her job over this and she may never be able to find a new one
with a felon as a son. So if I go to jail, I need you all to get out of here, get away from Harmony." He reached
through the bars and pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Can you do that for me?"
"No," she shook her head. "I won’t believe that you’re going to go to prison. Ethan is putting together
a defense team…I can tell the judge that I wanted the charges dropped but when I saw you out of jail I assumed
that they had been since I had told Ethan I wanted it done. We’ll find a way…I love you, Luis."
"Sheridan, even if they are dropped, I’m lucky if I get my job back. Your brother and father obviously want
us apart…they can take away my job and my home. I can’t take the chance that they will ruin everyone’s lives. I
need you to get out of here…take Mama, Theresa and Miguel and move."
"No!" she sobbed. "You can’t ask me to do that."
He didn’t ask again. He reached through the bars and pulled her close, kissing her like he did that night in Boston.
When they separated, they were both breathless. "God I love you, Sheridan."
"I love you too," she placed her head against the bars, barely touching his. His hand caressed her soft
cheek.
"Sorry, Miss Crane, but I’m going to have to take you back now. Chief Bennett told me that Luis isn’t really
supposed to have any visitors tonight."
"I want to stay with him."
"It isn’t allowed, Miss Crane," Officer Martinez said again, grabbing her arm.
Sheridan tried to pull away, but the officer tightened his grip and started to pull her away.
"Sheridan!" Luis called through the bars. "I love you," their hands touched.
"I love you too, Luis!" she cried out, struggling with all her might. "I’ll get you out of here!"
"Damn it, David, let her go!" Luis pleaded. "Let us say goodbye."
"Sorry, Luis, governor’s orders," David Martinez shrugged. "Say goodbye, Miss Crane."
"I’ll be back tomorrow, Luis," she caught his eyes and could see the fear and pain in them.
Despite it, he joked, "I’ll be here," just as she was pulled out of the holding area and the door slammed
shut. "I’ll be here a very long time," he collapsed onto the cot in his cell.
When Sheridan joined the others in Sam’s office, she was surprised at the gloomy faces she met. "No more bad
news, not tonight."
"I’m afraid so," Ethan sighed. "It seems that just because you no longer wish to hold the original
charges against Luis, it doesn’t mean that they can let him go. Father never officially dropped the charges; he
made the file disappear. That technically changes everything"
"Which means?" Sheridan asked tiredly.
"Which means," Ivy replied, "that since you originally had Luis arrested for kidnapping and Julian
never dropped the charges, that at any time they can be brought back to haunt both of you and ruin Luis’ life."
"So now you have to testify as to why you had him arrested and why you would not seek justice when you found
out that the charges mysteriously dropped without your knowledge," Ethan continued.
"Which also means that if what your nephew and sister-in-law told me is true, Julian instituted a bribe to
a criminal and it was accepted. Now we’re talking a new set of charges," Sam finished.
"And let me guess, somehow Julian would miraculously get pardoned and Luis would STILL go to prison for accepting
a bribe."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a winner," Sam replied sarcastically.
"Damn it!" Sheridan screamed and knocked a nearby coffee mug off of his desk with a sweep of her hand.
It landed with a loud crash. "Then there is nothing we can do!"
"Well, that’s not completely true. Father would never want to have the Crane name pasted in a newspaper that
said we bribed an officer of the law by threatening to ruin his life with these kidnapping charges. We can always
play that card and see if we can have these charges dropped and Luis reinstated as a cop…" Ethan stated.
"Or," Sheridan interrupted him, knowing that tone in his voice.
"If that doesn’t work, we pray that I am able to convince the judge that you want those charges dropped, only
issued them because you were angry and convince him or her that Luis did it in your best interest. If I can manage
that and have you testify that you would now admit to acting irrationally, perhaps we could get him off…"
Again she cut Ethan off. "But that wouldn’t save his job."
"Now that’s the easy part, Sheridan. If Ethan can get the case dismissed I can go to the governor myself.
It would be scandalous in an election year for him to be foolish enough to ruin a man’s life that had his case
thrown out and on top of that, having this man be the fiancé of a Crane heiress," Ivy replied. "Ethan
and I could not only get his job back but a promotion to boot if we really wanted to."
"The only other way is to prove to Father and Grandfather that you will not marry Luis, but then you and he
would suffer anyhow," Ethan sighed.
Sheridan sighed and plopped tiredly into a chair. "So what do we do? Where do we go from here?" she was
too depressed to try to make a decision. "Luis does look horrible. I don’t think I have ever seen him like
that before. In fact, he sounds so helpless. He insisted I take Pilar and the family and run from Harmony…he doesn’t
think we’ll win." She looked form face-to-face, tears in her eyes. "What if he’s right?"
"It’s a chance we have to take," Ethan stated sadly. "Father and Grandfather are much more powerful
than we are…which will not increase our chances any."
"But damn it," Sheridan slammed her fist on the desk. "I’m a Crane too!!" She took a deep breath
to calm down. Covering her face with her hands for a moment, Sheridan fought the tears of pain and anger that were
stinging at the back of her eyes, but they fell anyhow. When she looked back at them all, she sniffled. "The
man that I love is locked in that jail and slowly giving up. I cannot sit idly by as his life is taken from him.
We have to do something!"
"And we will," Ethan hugged his Aunt. "But tonight we should get you home to rest. We can worry
more about this in the morning when I can have a chance to get my own connections working for us."
"I can’t leave him here alone," Sheridan looked at Sam.
"Sheridan, it would be best if you went home," Ivy stated. "Sitting here at the station house won’t
do you any good."
"Promise me that you’ll check in on him, Sam," Sheridan pleaded. "At least I know he won’t be alone."
"I promise," the police chief vowed.
Sheridan stood and left the room, while the others finished talking. She sat at Luis’ desk and sighed. In plain
view were a few picture frames, all of them with pictures of his family inside. She opened one of the only unlocked
draws and noticed some papers and another frame. Lifting them out, she found a picture of her and Luis from one
of the many dances at the Youth Center. She sniffled; they looked so happy together. "It can still be that
way," she nodded and put the picture back. She unfolded the papers and noticed they were all letters he started
to write to her. Most of them stating that he loved her and their time together. She started to cry harder and
put her head down on his desk. "Why, Luis? Why did I have to be so stubborn?!"
"Sheridan?" Ethan asked as they came out of the office. "Sheridan, what is it?"
She just handed over the letters and the framed photo and started to cry harder. Ivy hugged her and looked at Ethan
for answers.
"Sheridan," Ethan read from the note, "I wanted to tell you what a great time I had tonight on our
date. I would have said this in person but I get kind of nervous around you. Can’t wait to do it again…Luis."
He flipped to another page. "Sheridan, tonight at the wharf I realized something that I had buried inside
me for a long time now. I don’t know how to tell you this, but I love you and I think I always have. Isn’t it funny?
All my bickering is just like the eight-year-old boy that pulls a female classmate's ponytail to show he has a
crush. I love you. It seems so easy to tell you this on paper, but so hard when I look into your beautiful blue
eyes. I better get back to work now, just stopping in to book that dealer. Love Always, Luis."
Sheridan’s shoulders were shaking as she sobbed and Ethan showed his mother the photo of Sheridan and Luis at one
of the Youth Center dances.
"Where did you get these, Sheridan?" Ivy asked. Sheridan merely pointed to the open pen draw in Luis’
desk. She couldn’t answer. What could she have possibly said? The man that had written these, the man she loved
was in jail and the people she hated most had separated them yet again. |
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