One year later.....

Dana sat at the kitchen table checking her email. None of the colleges she had applied to have gotten back to her yet. Sigh!

"Dana" Alice said entering the kitchen. "Everyone is in the car, come on now."

Obediently she closed the laptop and followed her mother out. They were all dressed in black.

"Could you help me with this clasp? I don't know why baby things are so complicated." David said as he tried to fasten the baby into the car seat.

"Maybe because babies are not supposed to be able to handle it." Dana said with a laugh ruffling his hair before she turned her attention to her baby.

"Hey." Dana said kindly to Eric who was sitting in the seat at the back very quietly. "Why don't you come an sit next to Derrick?"

"I thought we agreed to call him Rick." Eric said with a frown. "Naming your kid after your our father is weird."

Dana shook her head sadly and changed the topic. "Speaking of dad, is he with you?"

"Always." Eric said holding up the urn with Derrick's ashes.

"God! Mom!" David moaned from outside. "Did you pack the entire kitchen? It's just an hour long journey."

"Come on honey, we need to leave now if you wanna reach before sunset." Sophie said. She was already seated at the drivers seat and buckled up ready to go.

It was exactly once year since Dana, Alice and Sophie had found the remains of Derrick in the incinerator of the Maxwell mansion.

Alice and Sophie were found with the rest of the prisoners in the secret tunnel under the Maze. Cristy and Helen were arrested and William was found innocent during the investigation. Cristy and Helen agreed to take the blame for Derrick's murder as long as William made sure that the little girl found her family and that Dana's baby was safe.

True to his word, William took care of Dana and her family. Although he never had the nerve to tell them the truth, he vowed to spend the rest of his life hiding in the shadows and keeping an eye on them. He had to make sure that family did not have to suffer anymore.

Dana had her child and named him after her father. She blamed herself for the trouble her family went through and skipped college until she could fix the damages she caused.

With the arrival of baby Derrick, her mothers, David and even Eric (even though he doesn't like the name) seems to have a good distraction. Now Dana is taking life more seriously and applied to the best colleges.

Kenny Jenkins is now dating Dana. He has been promoted after the Lanchester investigative breakthrough and is assigned the lead investigator in his team.

Although all scars did not heal completely. They were on the right path ..... finally.....

What about Lanchester?

The town was all over the news for several weeks until it went back to being a dusty old town with nothing interesting. The corn wall maze had been shutdown and taken apart. The Maxwell mansion has been taped as an active crime scene because they are still discovering secret rooms and traces of new victims. No bodies have been found, such was the manner of their disposal.

William had inherited his father's business and with the help of the bedridden Captain, he took it upon himself to trick the other psychopaths who usually came to his father for victims to torture, into getting caught red handed.

He is now officially engaged to Leah, who has since the kidnapping, given up her career in acting and moved to helping William and the captain in their heroic work. This was her form of redemption.

"Are you ready?" Leah asked William who was staring at his reflection in the mirror.

"As ready as I'll ever be." William replied turning to face her. He has since forgiven her for lying, realising that the real monster was his father for threatening her.

"You don't have to go. They wouldn't think less of you, you know." Leah said straightening his tie.

"I know." He said giving her a small smile. "But I need to go."

Leah knew better than to argue. She could see the pain in Williams eyes every time Derick was mentioned. It is how she felt for a long time just looking at him.

They drove down to a park on the outskirts of Philadelphia. It was where Dana said she was going to spread the ashes of her father. In the course of the year, William would email Dana occasionally and she would respond kindly. She didn't blame him for whatever happened but William know she didn't know the whole truth.

The only people, apart from him, who really knows what happened that night is Helen, Cristy, Leah.

As they drove in silence, William recalled the events of that fateful night. After Helen killed John, the police arrived. The burning bodies in the incinerator and The women in the container filled with water was enough to throw them on the ground and cuff them.

He was so relieved that they managed to find Alice and Sophie and glad to see Dana, David and Eric were all ok that he relaxed as they took him to the station.

A month later when the trials started, he was cleared of al charges and was treated like a victim. He knew that was only because of Cristy.

He still attended trials and sat behind Dana and her family as the court sentenced Helen and Cristy to twenty years in prison because they were accomplices. Alice bursted into tears, 20 years was not enough to her. She had been the most vocal during the trials. She wanted them to get life in prison if not the death penalty. William stayed clear from her, knowing she wouldn't be welcoming of him.

The day William was cleared, Dana had stood up to come and congratulate him but Alice pulled her back by her arm and angrily muttered something to her ear. She then sat back down and avoided Williams eye.

Knowing she wanted to talk to him, William staged an accidental run in with Dana when she was alone at the coffee shop and they swapped email IDs. This was the most effective way to get updates, especially after her doctor appointments.

"I'm sure they wouldn't mind if we joined them." Leah whispered to William, who didn't respond, as they got out of the car and hid behind a big tree. They watched as Dana and her family, huddled together to open the urn with Derricks ashes. They each said a few words before passing it back to Alice who whispered "I hope you find the happiness I could never give you." Before gently tilting it causing the contents to fly in the wind.

Dana pulled out a box from her pocket as David dig a small hole next to the tree they stood by.  She opened the box one last time and touched the little bell collar, her cat Louis once wore as a kitten. With a sniff, she closed the box and placed it in the hole as David covered it up again.

"It's a beautiful place." Leah said. "Wonder why they chose this one though."

"It's where Derrick proposed to Alice after they graduated." William said. Dana had explained during their last correspondence. They continued to watch from the shadows

"Come on, let's go if we want to keep the appointment with the captain." William said finally and they walked back to the car. William turned to give the family one last look and he noticed Dana staring at his direction. He have her a small wave and she nodded in acknowledgment. She was a good kid.

Captain fields remained an active inspite of being paralysed on one side. William had inherited his father's business and money, allowing him to get the best technology for him to be comfortable and to function in his own apart from the nurse who stayed with him.

"I have good news." He said when William arrived followed by Leah. He had not fully forgiven Leah for the mess she caused but they have at least settled on normal speaking terms.

"I could use some." William said.

"I got the court to move frank to a hospital here." He said looking proud of himself.

"You did!" William said sitting up in surprise. "What made them change their mind?"

"I got in touch with the Lanchester hotel manager and captain and made a few subtle threats. I guess with John gone, there was no need to hold on to Frank anymore."

William sighed in relief. He had been suspicious when the doctors forced frank back into coma when he seemed lucid. They had spent months trying to get Frank some real medical care in hopes that he would wake up one day and now finally they have a real chance. Things were looking up for them and he had Captain to thank for that.

******

Surprise!! Of course I wasn't going to leave without an Epilogue ...... I hope you guys got some closure for your characters.

😘😘