Here's what you need to know about Elizabeth. Elizabeth wasn't a part of our group. Elizabeth was just somebody that we knew and a friend to Riley. She and Riley used to have the same kind of relationship that Davey and I had. Their parents were best friends, and since they were only a couple months apart, they grew up together and knew each other from the time they were babies.

Elizabeth would have been a part of our group but she didn't really have a of interest in hanging around with us when we were in high school. The truth is, even though Riley and Elizabeth enjoyed hanging out with each other, they didn't enjoy hanging out with each other's friends. So while Elizabeth ended up being prom queen and would spend her time with her cheerleader friends, Riley was interested in skipping school, smoking weed and playing video games with our little crew.

When we were about 15 or 16, the band used to perform at the school talent shows and other events like that, but at the time, it was just Davey, Javier, Kevin and me. No one really cared or wanted to pay any attention to us, but that was until we asked Riley if she wanted to join the band.

Through a few of Kevin's contacts we started getting more opportunities and places to play our music. With the addition of Riley, more people started watching us, including Elizabeth. Elizabeth came to see Riley, but someone else on the stage started to get her attention.

After one of our shows, Elizabeth asked Riley to introduce her to Javier. They started talking and immediately sparks started flying.

As the years went by, Javier and Elizabeth never really got separated from each other. As far as relationships went, the two of them were much more stable than anything that anyone else in the group had. It felt real. It was the relationship that set the standard for any of our own relationships and we all believed that nothing would come between the two of them.

Javier was the third generation of a Military family. Javier was always going to join the Army. This was something that Elizabeth wasn't happy about, but had prepared herself for. They sat down and had the difficult conversation acknowledging that they were not going to see a lot of each other for a while, but Javier was very attached to Elizabeth so they promised even though it was going to be very difficult, they were going to wait for each other.

Javier didn't realize that Elizabeth had a secret for a couple months before he left. While Javier was getting ready to fight for his country, Elizabeth was making a new friend at work named Calvin. The love that Elizabeth had for Javier was dying and he was being replaced by the new boy. Elizabeth told Calvin that nothing can happen until Javier was gone.

Javier left for the war thinking that he was in a long-term relationship with Elizabeth. They would keep in contact with each other and Elizabeth would write back to him giving him no indication of Calvin's existence, but things between Elizabeth and Calvin were heating up. Elizabeth was beginning to feel more sure about Calvin and decided that he had to break it off with Javier, so she wrote him a letter saying that not seeing him was breaking her heart and she couldn't wait for him any longer and they needed to take a break. Javier was heartbroken but he decided that she was right.

It would have been nice for Javier to be able to get on Facebook and talk to Elizabeth when he was going through all the pain and suffering that he did, but instead he found Elizabeth listed as being in a relationship with Calvin. He went through pictures and found pictures of the two of them together from a long time ago. A time that he thought belonged to the two of them.

A few years went by, the relationship between Calvin and Elizabeth grew stronger and they eventually got married to each other. Javier didn't really talk too much about Elizabeth so everybody was under the natural assumption that Javier was over her, but he wasn't.

*****

Thursday, Sept 27th (2 days before the arrest)

Javier and I made plans to go the the bar and hang out, but those plans were put on hold when Kevin called me and said that we were going to be playing a show at Henry's Bar. I did invite Javier to come and watch us jam, but Javier had something else planned for that night.

"What are you doing? You shouldn't be calling me" Elizabeth said over the phone

"Liz, I'm only here for a few more days. I really need to see you"

"I don't think that's a good idea" Elizabeth replied, "Especially after what happened with you and Calvin"

"I just really want to see you before I leave again. I just need to say goodbye. You mean a lot to me and I don't even know if I'll ever see you again" Javier replied. Elizabeth was calculating everything that was going on, and she finally decided to bend and give in to what Javier wanted.

"Look" Elizabeth said. "Calvin is out for a few hours and you can come over if you'd like and we can talk, but you need to be gone before Calvin comes back"

That was all that Javier needed. I guess a part of him knew that seeing Elizabeth would not be a great idea, and if we had hung out, I would have been able to be enough of a distraction for him to not think about Elizabeth, but I wasn't available, and Javier felt lonely.

Javier hung up the phone on Elizabeth and got ready to go over to her house. He understood what was happening and knew he only had a couple hours before Elizabeth's husband would be coming home.

Elizabeth greeted Javier at the door, gave him a long hug and told him it was nice to see him again. For a few minutes they recapped what had been going on in their respective lives and caught up with each other in an amicable manner, but the tone of their meeting changed when there was a few seconds of silence and Javier walked over to Elizabeth, put his hands on her waist and said a few words.

"I've really missed you, Liz" Javier said

"I've really missed you too" Elizabeth responded as she pulled her body a little closer to his.

"I just want you to know that I think about you all the time" Javier whispered "I've got demons in my head and I've got dark thoughts, but when I think about being with you, for a few minutes I'm able to make them disappear"

Javier was taking a few risks with what he was saying to Elizabeth. He was not in the right place to face rejection. Luckily for him, Elizabeth wasn't going to give him any rejection.

"I've never stopped thinking about you either" Elizabeth said as she placed her hands on the small of his back.

"I love you Liz"

"I love you too"

Before you know it, Javier and Elizabeth were ripping into each other's clothes and they spent their next few minutes on the kitchen counter, followed by the couch, followed by Calvin and Elizabeth's bed.

When they were done, Elizabeth had her head on his chest while Javier was rubbing her back with the tips of his fingers.

"What time does Calvin get back?" Javier asked

"He'll be back in about an hour but you should probably be gone in the next 30 minutes to play it safe"

Javier thought about what Elizabeth said, but decided he didn't want to listen.

"I'm going to wait until he gets home" Javier said. This took Elizabeth by surprise, she lifted her head and looked at him.

"What?" Elizabeth asked

"I want to wait for Calvin. I want to tell him that it's over between the two of you" Javier responded.

"Nothing's over between Calvin and I" Elizabeth declared, "Look Javier, this was beautiful, but this doesn't change anything. Calvin and I are still going to be together"

This shouldn't have caught Javier by surprise but it did.

"How are you still going to be with him?" Javier asked, "You can't be with him, Elizabeth, you're not meant to be with him. You're meant to be with me"

"You need to leave Javier, you can't be here when Calvin gets home" Elizabeth said, starting to panic.

"What's he going to do about it?" Javier yelled back.

"He's going to call the cops and he's going to have you arrested" Elizabeth responded as her anxiety levels were increasing, "Javier, please leave. I can't do this right now"

"What's the matter with you?" Javier shouted, "What were we just doing? Does that not mean anything to you?"

"Nothing is going to happen between us because you're not here" Elizabeth screamed back. "I'm sorry Javier, I love you and I care about you but you need to get out of here"

"Is this it then?" Javier asked

"This is it" Elizabeth replied.

"You're making a decision. I'm asking you one last time. I want you to think about me and our life together. Everything we had and everything we could be. I want you to choose right now, is it going to be Calvin or is it going to be me?"

"It's going to be Calvin" Elizabeth yelled back, "It's always going to be Calvin"

"You just told me you loved me" Javier screamed back

"I love you, but I love Calvin" Elizabeth explained, "and I'm spending the rest of my life with him"

Javier digested what she said and decided that he would call it quits on their screaming match. He got out of bed and put his clothes back on.

"I can't live without you" Javier softly said to Elizabeth from across the bed.

"I'm sorry" Elizabeth responded, "I care about you, I want to be there for you, I want you as a friend"

"I want more" Javier replied

"I'm sorry"

Javier left the room, walked out of the house, into his car and drove home.

He spent the next day miserable and alone at home. In the evening, he received a call from me after I had just had my conversation with Laurie.

"Javier" I said over the phone

"What's up?" he said to me in response

"I need a favor from you" I replied

"What do you need?"

"I don't know the right way to ask for this so I'm just going to say it" I started, "I need a gun"

Javier didn't have many questions for me on why I needed a gun.

"Let's hang out tomorrow" Javier said

"We have the big show at Henry's tomorrow" I responded

"Torrey" Javier, "I've had a really shitty couple of days and I'm going to be leaving soon. I would really like to hang out before the show tomorrow"

There was no way I was going to turn Javier down.

"Alright" I responded, "Do you want to go Ale Chambers?" I asked him

"Sure" he replied, "Pick me up at about 2, and I'll give you what you want"

"Sounds good" I replied

I hung up and practiced in my room for a few minutes to get ready for tomorrow's big show. I went to sleep and woke up ready for the big day.

Saturday, Sept 29th 2018 (The day of the arrest)

It was a nice Saturday breakfast. Charlie was sitting on his high chair playing with his Cheerios while Molly and I were playing 20 questions. Laurie, being the busy body that she is was organizing some shelves in the kitchen. There was one person missing from the breakfast table.

"Where's Ben?" I casually asked Laurie

"Ben's hanging out with a friend from work right now" Laurie replied, "I think they're watching some game or something like that"

"Really? That's cool" I replied

"Yeah"

"Where are they going?" I asked

Laurie stared at me up and down before asking, "Why do you want to know?"

"Am I not allowed to ask? I'm just curious"

"I'm not sure where they're going Torrey, I think they might be going to the Ale Chamber's but I don't know. They might go to his friend's house too."

"Really?" I replied, "Maybe I'll see him then. Javier and I made plans to hang out"

"Where are you guys going?" Laurie asked me

"We're going to Adam's bar" I told her

Laurie was still in silence as she looked at me. She was trying not to say too much because the kids were around.

"What are you doing?" she softly whispered to me.

"What do you mean?" I loudly responded, "Javier and I made plans yesterday to go to Adam's bar"

"Is there another place you can go to?" she asked, "Why do you want to go to a bar so early in the day?"

"Well, we'll probably get some lunch and have a couple drinks and then I'll get ready for the show" I replied. Laurie looked at me in a disapproving way.

"I can't wait to see you tonight" Molly said

"I can't wait either" I replied, "I'm going to be really nervous so you and Charlie have got to scream as loud as you can to support me"

"Will do" Molly said.

I walked upstairs to the bathroom, took a shower, got dressed and then about 20 minutes later I returned downstairs to see Laurie waiting there for me. She was clearly uneasy about the fact that Ben and I were potentially going to be in the same room without her.

"Torrey" she quietly said.

"What's up?" I asked

"I know that you're angry, I know that you love me and I know that you're trying to protect me, but I need to know that you're not thinking of doing anything stupid"

"Look Laurie" I replied, "Javier and I made these plans yesterday. It's purely a coincidence that Ben is going to be there. You have nothing to worry about"

"Okay" Laurie responded.

"I'll see you at the show"

"Alright"

I was just about to walk out of the door before Laurie quickly walked up to me, put her arms around me and gave me a hug that lasted about 15 seconds.

"Drive safe" Laurie said, and then she kissed me on the cheek for the very last time.

A Nuclear Famiy - Elizabeth