Faith

My mind explodes. "Wait, Janet Walker is Travis, I mean Henson Walker's mother?" I say in shock.

"So you do know his mother?" asked the detective.

I replied, "Yes, yes I do."

It's at that moment when I realize what the hell is going on with Henson Walker. "This is not good, not good at all!"

"Janet Walker was my father's assistance for years. I don't know the specifics, but I do know that my mother insisted on firing her. Grace and I were very young, but our brother was much older. We asked him about her because when my father or mother mentioned her name, they would always argue. It lasted well into my teens. Then my parents died in a car accident when Grace and I were twenty. I haven't heard her name since my parents passed."

I pause to gather my thoughts.

"Why the hell would her son change his name and apply for an internship with our company? It makes no sense. Does he hate us because my mother insisted that my father fire his mother? It's all so confusing."

Benson put his arm around me.

The detective begins to answer my questions, "Well, here's what I've been able to find out. It seems that Miss Walker was pregnant with Henson when she was fired from her position as your father's assistant. On Henson's birth certificate--"

I don't let him finish. "Oh my God, oh my God! HENSON Walker. Janet named him after my family-- no, no, no. It all makes sense now." I cover my face with my hands.

Benson pulls me into his strong arms. "Can you please give us a minute?"

I hear the detective reply, "Of course." I hear the door to the meeting room open and close.

"Baby?" Benson says as he runs his hand soothingly through my hair. "What do you need from me? God, I want to remove you from all of this insanity!"

I look at him as tears well up in my eyes, "My dad... I can't believe my dad would do such a thing. Walker did this! I know that the bastard did this. He took Grace, and I'm next, Benson."

"He'll never get a chance to take you, Faith. I promise you that I'll never leave your fucking side. That bastard will have to go through me first. I promise you right now if I even see him anywhere near you, he is a fucking dead man." He squeezes me tightly.

"Right now, Baby. We need to keep our heads together for Grace. The detective said that there was more. Can you handle hearing more?" he asks me with concern.

I decided right there and then that I would be here for Grace. I'm her voice, her advocate, and I refuse to let her down. She would never stop fighting for me, never, and I won't let anything or anyone stop me from fighting for her.

I sit up straight and look Benson in the eye. "I'm ready. Could you please get the detective?"

He kisses my lips gently. "That's my girl!"

He gets up and opens the door. "We're ready."

The detective must have been right outside of the door. He returned to his seat and picked up where he had left off. "As you have figured out on your own, your father is on Mr. Walker's birth certificate as his father. There was also DNA testing to confirm that Mr. Walker is indeed your father's son."

He takes a breath and continues. "I spoke to your brother right before you came in. I had asked him to be here as well, but he was unable to getaway. I told him about Walker, and he was not surprised at all. It seems that he had known about Miss Walker's firing."

To say that I was shocked is a fucking understatement. "My brother knew?"

"Yes. Your brother was told early on by your father to never speak of it to you or Grace," the detective explains.

I sit back in my seat. My brother knew this whole time that we had a half-brother.

The detective clears his throat, and I know there's more coming. "I was able to speak with Walker. He said that the reason he left the office after Grace and never returned was that Grace let him go."

"She fired him?" I ask incredulously.

He answers, "Yes, it seems that he made her uncomfortable as well."

Benson places his hand on mine, looking at me to make sure that I'm okay. I give him a slight smile to let him know that I'm good.

The detective continues, "Here's the thing, Mr. Walker doesn't have a credible alibi for after he left the office. He claims that he went home and didn't see or talk to anybody. Unfortunately, we have no physical evidence that he was ever in your home. We did, however, find the video that shows someone going into your home. Grace freely lets that person into her home. Hours later, that person leaves, goes to their car, and retrieves a large suitcase. Several minutes later, we see this same person leaving with the suitcase. We never see Grace leaving home."

My hand goes to my mouth in complete shock.

"Faith, would you be willing to watch the video? I hope that you'll be able to identify the person in the video," he asks.

I look at Benson. He squeezes my hand in support: strength, Faith, strength. I talk to myself.

"Yes, I'll do it," I say, and the detective gets up and leaves, returning a few moments later with a laptop. Benson once again puts his arm tightly around me.

The detective silently starts the video. I find myself leaning forward, focusing on the figure walking into my home, leaving, and returning with a large black suitcase. I see this person come out of my home struggling with the same bag.

I turn toward Detective Kidwell, "I know two things after watching this video. One, the person who took my sister is a woman that I don't recognize. Two, she removed my sister from our home in a fucking black suitcase."

The detective looks at me, impressed. "I, too, agree that this is a woman. Is she working with Mr. Walker or on her own? That we still need to find out. I was hoping that you would recognize her."

"I'm sorry, I don't. I wish to hell that I did!" I said as tears threatened to fall down my face: strength, Faith, strength.

Detective Kidwell wraps up our meeting, "That's everything we have so far." He stands, and Benson and I follow him. "Thank you again for coming in. If anything at all comes to mind, anything at all, you can call me any hour of the day."

Benson reaches his hand to the detective. "Thank you for filling us in. We appreciate you keeping us in the loop."

The detective takes Benson's hand, and they shake. "I promise to let you know updates as they come in." He looks towards me. "Miss Henson, I promise you that I will not give up on your sister's case."

I half smile. Thank you!"

Benson and I make our way to Benson's car. Robert opens the door for me. I slide in, and Benson follows me.

Once inside, Benson turn towards me, "How are you doing, Faith?"

I lay my head on his shoulder. "I need to have Liza come over tonight. Are you okay having another woman enter your apartment?"

Liza and I have been in touch through texts, client meetings, and phone calls primarily because of work, but I need her in the flesh with a bottle or two of wine.

He laughs, "Whatever you need, Babe. Anything."

I look up into Benson's eyes, and against my better judgment, I let him know exactly how I feel, "I love you, Benson. I couldn't have survived this day without you, let alone the past week. You don't need to say it back. I need to tell you what you mean to me. You mean the world to me."

He pulls me close, leans into my ear, and speaks the words that I need to hear. "Faith, I've never loved any woman other than my mother in my entire life, but this feeling I have in my heart for you cannot be explained any other way but as love. I love you too, Faith." He kisses me so tenderly and passionately that he steals the air from my lungs.

He pulls back and places his forehead on mine. "Call your friend. Invite her into our home. She's always welcome."

I grab my phone and text Liza, that I need her. She responds right away that she's all in and lets me know that she'll be over after work.

I take a deep breath. I need my friend to help me through the process of all of this overwhelming knowledge.

*****