FanFic - Other
"Heart of Maria"
Part 3
by Michelle
Disclaimer: The characters are the property of the WB, but the incidents are my work of fiction.
Category: Other
Rating: PG-13
After work, Liz and Maria went to Maria's house. During their search for a decent radio station, Kyle's name stopped them.

"...assumed he ran away after his mother's recent death," the deejay was saying.

"What!" It came out simultaneously.

"Kyle was last seen yesterday afternoon, by his father, Sheriff James Valenti Jr., and two friends, Max and Isabel Evans. Max is here right now with his theory on Kyle's disappearance."

"My sister and I learned that his mom died from a rare disease," Max said. "I guess Kyle was afraid it was hereditary, and ran away to think things over for a while."

"How does Max know about this?" Liz asked. She picked up the phone to call him, but then it rang.

"I'm calling for Maria DeLuca," the woman on the other end of the line said.

"She's right here." Liz passed the phone to Maria, saying "It's for you."

"Hello? This is Maria."

"Congratulations, Ms. DeLuca! You are the grand prize winner in Dolphina cosmetics contest!"

Maria vaguely remembered entering it. "Cool. What do I win?"

"You are aware that Dolphina cosmetics are products of our spa in Jamaica."

"Yeah..."

"In this contest, you and two of your friends will be flown first class to Dolphina Spa and Resort, Kingston! There, you will receive the full-out Dolphina spa treatment, hydrotherapy to aromatherapy and every beauty treatment in between."

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!" Liz stared at Maria.

"Your plane tickets will be arriving at your house within the next week. Congratulations again!"

Maria hung up, dazed with happiness. Kyle and everything else had fled her mind. All she could think about was her upcoming vacation.

"What was that all about?" Liz asked.

"We're going to Jamaica!"

"Do you think they bought the rare disease story?" Isabel asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure stuff like that happens all the time. Don't worry," Max said.

Michael was worrying. "How long do you think it will be before Nasedo finds out what I did?" he asked.

"I'm sure he already knows," Isabel said bluntly. "You know, maybe you didn't have to kill her. Maybe you could have just erased that knowledge from her mind."

"If you'd done that, could you also have erased her delusions about me?" Max asked.

"We should've done that and gotten rid of her doctored journal long ago," Isabel said.

The phone rang. "I'll get it!" Isabel and Michael said in unison. Maria's number had come up on caller ID.

Isabel got the phone first. "Hello?"

"Isabel, you are not going to believe this!" Maria sounded breathless with excitement. "Dolphina cosmetics had this huge contest, and I won it!"

"What'd you win?" Isabel didn't think she wanted to hear about Maria's prize in a time like this.

"Me and two friends are flying first class to Jamaica! And Dolphina's spa has the best of everything from aromatherapy to massages to facials to experts in just about every beauty field to"

"Maria, stop! You're getting me all excited."

"Well, you should be! Liz is one of the two friends I'm bringing, and I called to ask you to be the other one. Oh, and Liz wants to talk to Max. We heard him on the radio."

Isabel handed the phone to Max. While he told Liz everything he knew, Isabel told Michael about her upcoming trip. "Isabel, how can you think of leaving for some spa now?" he asked.

Isabel sighed. Michael could take the fun out of anything and everything. "Because now is the perfect time to go on vacation," she said. "It'll get my mind off everything that's happened here. You and Max should go somewhere, too."

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