Expanding The Comfort Zone

A Bigger Puzzle Begins

"Mamma bang. Mamma hirted. I fix you Mamma."
"Grazie mio piccolo insetto d'amore.  Vieni qui ma stai attento."
Carina smiled at Liam as he crawled onto her lap and put his stethoscope on her chest. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his head as he snuggled against her. Standing on the other side of the living room, Katherine shifted Andrea to her other hip as she leaned toward Maya.
"I'm so glad she's ok and home safely.  How are you doing honey?"
Maya didn't take her eyes off Gianna as she watched her daughter playing with her necklace.
"Do you really want the truth Mom?"
"Of course Maya."
"I'm struggling between staying here to protect my family and going out there and hunting down the assholes who did this to my wife."
Katherine laid her hand on Maya's arm and gave it a light squeeze.
"You need to stay here and be with your family, they need you right now.  You said you talked to Detective Lord and you know that he is one of the good ones.  He will find out who did this and make them pay.  Oh, I called Mason and he's going to come over with Vic in a little while so we can take the kids to the park and you can get Carina to rest."
Maya nodded and looked over at her wife and son as they snuggled on the couch.  Maya's heart ached while her blood boiled at seeing Carina with a split lip and nasty welt on her head.  Liam was pointing and asking questions and Carina was gently answering them.  In her arms, Gianna was falling asleep so Maya began rocking her gently until she grew heavy as she dozed off.  Laying her in the pack n play, Maya put her hands out and Andrea reached for her, allowing Katherine to go into the kitchen as Maya started pacing and rocking her daughter.  She looked down at Andrea and smiled as her eyes began to glisten.  She looked so much like Carina that it always brought Maya back to that day when she said she wanted to hold a little Carina and count her blessings.  Now here they were with three blessings and Maya couldn't be happier, but the news of Andrew's gift had been weighing on her. It had also brought up emotions that Maya thought she'd long since come to terms with.  Seeing Andrew when she was in her coma had been comforting, but now knowing that there was a real possibility of having a version of him added to their little family made her heart ache that she hadn't gotten a chance to enjoy him before his death.  Carina had said next to nothing since Maya had told her and Maya wasn't about to upset her wife by pushing her for a decision.  Taking a deep breath, Maya looked down and saw that Andrea was asleep so she moved to place her in next to her sister as she stared at both of them and felt her heart skip.  Turning around, she saw that Liam and Carina were both asleep on the couch, with Liam's head nestled into Carina's neck.  Maya crossed the living room and pulled her SFD blanket over to cover them before quietly heading into the kitchen.
"Mom, everybody is sleeping, how long until Mason and Vic get here?"
"Oh it'll be a good hour at least."
"Ok great.  I need to go for a run and clear my head."
"I understand sweetheart.  Be safe.  I love you."
"Love you too Mom, thanks."

Maya's run took her to Carina's office.  She stopped in front of it and stretched for a moment as she looked around the street before heading down toward the alleyway.  Stepping into it, Maya saw the remnants of the mugging and knelt down as she noticed something shiny under some  debris.  Picking it up, Maya turned the necklace over and noticed the initials 'A.C.' on it.  She stepped back out onto the sidewalk and scanned the storefronts until she saw a camera pointing almost directly at the alley.  Looking both ways, Maya jogged easily across the street and headed into the store.  To her surprise, Detective Lord was standing at the counter speaking to an employee and taking notes.  Maya stuck the necklace in her pocket and walked up as the phone rang and the employee excused himself to answer it.
"Funny running into you here."
"Captain Deluca-Bishop, how's your wife?"
"Resting at home thankfully.  She has a mild concussion and bruises but otherwise she's ok.  How is Amy Chapman doing?"
"I just came from the hospital and she's in fair condition.  When can I speak to your wife?"
"Can you give me about an hour?  She was resting so I went for a run but I'll head home and let her know you're coming."
"Perfect, I'm going to finish up here with getting any video footage and then I've got another store to talk to.  I'll see you soon Captain."
Maya nodded to him and the store clerk and headed back outside.  She looked down at Carina's office and then turned and headed in the opposite direction toward Greg-Sloan.

Maya knocked on the door and stuck her head in.
"Amy Chapman? May I come in?"
The young woman nodded as Maya stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.  She smiled softly at the woman, being sure to make no indication of how the TV reporter looked.  Amy's face was swollen, her left eye was a deep purple and practically closed.  She had bruises on her jaw line but she still tried to smile back as she looked at Maya.
"You-you're Doctor Deluca-Bishop's wife aren't you?  Maya?"
"Yes that right.  I'm so sorry for what happened to you Amy, how are you feeling?"
"Hopefully better than I look.  How is Carina?"
"She's home and resting.  Our son Liam won't leave her side so I know she's going to be ok."
"He's very cute, all of your kids are honestly.  Carina showed me pictures.  She's really such a nice, genuine lady."
Maya smiled and nodded her head.  Compliments about Carina always reminded Maya how lucky she was.  She reached into her pocket and pulled out the necklace.
"I found this in the alley.  I thought you would want it back so I didn't give it to Detective Lord."
Amy's eyes teared up as Maya placed the chain in her hand.
"Thank you.  This was a gift from my Dad before he passed."
"Then I'm glad I found it. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?  I promise I won't take up too much of your time.  Can you tell me what happened?"
"I had stayed to ask your wife about...well...if I tell you, can I count on you to not say anything?"
"If you're comfortable with telling me then I promise I won't say a word."
Amy swallowed hard and nodded as she continued.
"About two months ago I was conducting an expose interview.  I know it was dumb of me to go alone with just my cell phone and a mini recorder, but I had a limited window to meet with this contact and my story depended on his cooperation.  I didn't realize that I was being set up though so when I finished the interview, a couple of his buddies came out of nowhere and, well, I was sexually assaulted.  They took my phone but didn't know about the recorder. They threatened me to keep my mouth shut and either kill the story or be killed myself.  I hid the recording and caught a lot of flak from my producers when I buried the story but I had no choice.  I found out last week that I'm pregnant...from that assault.  I didn't want to go to the hospital and have a record of what happened so I pushed for doing the interview with your wife.  At least I knew I'd be able to talk to her privately."
Maya had been listening intently, trying to keep calm as she thought about how worried she had been when Carina had been taken in Italy and that her worst fear had been her wife being assaulted.  It infuriated Maya that this woman had been terrorized and at the same time, Maya was relieved that she had the courage to talk to Carina and try to start reclaiming her power.
"Amy, does anyone else know about the assault and your pregnancy?"
"It kind of slipped when I was out with friends the other night at this club we go to over in little Italy.  They wanted me to do shots with them but I said I couldn't."
Maya's phone pinged and she pulled it out of her pocket.
"Shit."
"Is everything ok?"
"Yeah, I just have to get home.  Detective Lord is on his way to interview Carina and I want to be there.  Just one thing before I go...do you mind telling me what the story was you were following?"
"It was about a smuggling ring that's been building traction here and in LA.  They're called 'The Company'.