Chapter 20          The police paperwork took until about 3:30 AM, after which Derek finally brought
     the couple back to Pine Valley. Trevor offered to drive, but it did Derek good to
     see the two of them snuggled together in the back seat, trying to get some rest.
         When they arrived at the Valley Inn, Janet was a little surprised that Trevor
     wanted to be dropped off with her. "What about the kids?" she asked in the
     elevator.
         "It's all covered MoMo's at Hayley's, Tim's got Belinda there... hell, the night's over!
     What are we talking about here?"
         "But... what about YOU?" They headed for suite 902. "You must be so exhausted. It's
     not fair of me to keep you here just because..."
         "Because...?" Trevor slipped through the door behind her, keeping her at arm's
     length.
         "Because I'm selfish," she admitted guiltily. "Because I need you more than ever..."
         Very pleased that she admitted this, he drew her close and pinned her to the
     door with his kiss. "Well, then I'm selfish too," he whispered coarsely, gasping for air
     along with her. "Because I need to be here. I need to hold you. I need to feel you
     all around me, I need to look as deep as I can into your eyes and know that
     you're safe...and that I can keep you safe from now on." He wiped Janet's tears
     away. "I want to make love to you like I never have before...right now... until
     every last bit of my strength is gone. I may be exhausted, but I know I won't sleep
     any other way. So maybe I'M the selfish one--"
         "No," Janet managed to laugh though her breathing remained as labored as his.
     "Everything you said... those were the thoughts that kept me going tonight.
     Especially the last part. They simultaneously tossed their jackets off on the way to
     the bed.
         "I want you to stay, Trevor. I need you to--"
         "I'm here, Gorgeous."
         The clock read 5:58 AM, but for them a beautiful night was just getting underway.          A couple hours later, Hayley brought Amanda home to pick up some extra things
     for school. Belinda answered the door, clearly expecting to see someone else.
     "Happy Birthday, Amanda!" she remembered to tell Amanda just in time.
         Amanda thanked her, then looked around curiously. "Isn't Daddy still here? I've
     gotta go find him."
         As she marched up the stairs calling for him, Hayley threw a startled look Belinda's
     way. "I thought for sure you'd have heard something between our phone call
     and the time it took to get her here.."
         "Hayley, what do we do? The last thing I knew for sure last night was that Janet
     seemed to be all right, and was looking for Trevor. Then I get some vague call from
     Harrisburg saying they think the situation is under control... then nothing. No
     Derek, no Trevor, no more Janet.
         "Maybe they all decided to catch 40 winks in Harrisburg."
         "Well, somebody needs to tell us something before the birthday girl is clued in that
     her parents are as good as missing..."          "Aunt Belinda..." Amanda called from the stairs. "What's going on?"       Re-view Chapters 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21