“Dave are you sure that you want to do that?” Carly questioned shock sweeping in over her. She looked to the fragments on the floor before him, “Are you sure that you don’t want to know the truth?”

“That’s just it Carly. Deep down I know the truth,” Dave bent down to reach for the shredded pieces of the envelope. He collected them in his palm before walking over to the garbage can and depositing him. He spun around to face her again before holding his arms out towards her, “I love Kayla and I love you.”

“I love you too, but you were hoping to know about her paternity. We talked about her father and…” Carly stammered finding herself at a loss.

“As I said before as far as I’m concerned I am Kayla’s father,” Dave cut her off abruptly, an intensity burning behind his eyes. “From the moment I met her, I knew that I couldn’t make it without her in my life. She’s beautiful, wonderful and she’s everything I ever could’ve hoped for with us Carly. She’s too special for me not to love her.”

“I feel the same way Dave, but if there’s a chance that she could be Ken’s, then…” Carly tried to reason with him thinking about the past that could always find a way to come back and haunt them if he was wrong about his feelings.

“Carly, I don’t think you understand. When I tell you that I feel like I‘m Kayla‘s father, it‘s the truth. It‘s not just something I‘m saying to pacify you. As far as I’m concerned Kayla always was and will always be my daughter,” he insisted reaching out to touch the side of her face tenderly, “I love her and I love you. That’s all that matters to me.”

“Dave, I know you’re saying that now, but there might come a day when you wonder…” she offered hoping that she wasn’t just dreaming this up. She was happier than she’d ever thought possible at the idea of sharing her life and Kayla’s with Dave, but at the same time she needed him to be sure. She wanted to make him understand that if this was what he wanted, then he had to really, truly be positive, “Dave, this is forever. If you don’t want to know about the paternity now, then you have to promise me that when you’re in doubt in the future, you won’t…”

“Carly, I won’t be in doubt. I know in my heart that I’m Kayla’s father. If I’d wanted to, yes I could’ve looked at those test results, but I don’t see what the point in that would be,” he confessed readily, his words full of raw honesty, “The truth is that regardless of what was inside of that envelope, I had no intentions of letting you go especially not now. I made that mistake once before and it cost me four years with you and Kayla. I won’t do that to us again.”

“Dave, I just want you to be sure,” she sighed feeling his arms around her, “I don’t want you to wake up one morning and regret this choice you’ve made when I’m giving you every opportunity to…”

“To what? To walk away,” he questioned pulling her in closer to him, “Carly in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not ready to walk away. In fact it hasn’t even factored into my mind at this point and it’s not going to. I want what we’ve had over the last few days except I don’t.”

“You don’t?” she gave him a strange look finding herself suddenly confused by his declaration, “Dave, I thought that you said that…”

“I know what I said, but the truth is that I don’t want just what we’ve had over the last few days. I want more. I want to be with Kayla and with you from here on out. I want to come home from work to my little girl and have her there with me wanting to watch cartoons or to color a picture with me,” he eased his finger tips over her cheekbone in a feathery light movement, “I want to have you there through the good and the bad. I need this Carly. I need you.”

“Oh Dave,” she leaned up on her toes to kiss him eagerly, “I need you too.”

“Then promise me that what I did today won’t be a problem for us,” he whispered against her lips holding her tighter than ever, “Promise me that this won’t cause any kind of backlash.”

“As long as you’re fine with it, then I am too,” Carly confessed with a breath of relief, “because you have no idea how much I wished that when we got those test results back that you were Kayla’s father.”

“I am Kayla’s father and I always will be,” Dave assured her with a bright smile, “and as far as I’m concerned Ken will never, ever be able to get near her. He’s not a part of her life and he never will be.”

“I know,” she nodded, “and I promise you Dave that won’t be an issue for us. I know I made a mistake, but it’s out of my system. I won’t hurt you like that again. Ken is the past.”

“And he’s always going to be there. We have everything both of us have ever wanted now and I’m happy with that. I knew it from the moment I first learned that Kayla was a part of this world and that hasn’t changed. I want this life with the both of you more than anything. I want that perfect dream to be ours,” he confessed sweeping her up into his arms.

“It will be. I know it will,” Carly replied hugging him as if she’d never let go. While she’d been terrified on the way over to the hospital to get the results, she now felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Thinking about the bold gesture Dave had made, she knew now that he loved her--that he’d always loved her and that together they really could give Kayla everything she’d always hoped for.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“He sure likes to have fun, doesn’t he?” Ken questioned seeing Matt play with something else in the office. “No matter what it is, he will find a way to play with it, even if it’s originally boring.”

“Well, I guess he takes after me,” Don shrugged, rubbing his fingers along his aching neck, “He tries to make the best out of everything. Or at least we try.”

“What’s wrong?” Ken wondered, noticing the obvious look of sadness behind Don’s features. “What’s bothering you Don?”

“It’s nothing,” Don assured him before shrugging, “I was just thinking about Shannon.”

“Yeah, I heard that you were married to her,” Ken stated seeing Don look up at him, “I heard Brant talking about it one day. So, what’s going on with her?”

“Nothing really,” Don answered once more, seeing Ken shake his head slowly, “What?”

“I thought I was a bad liar, look at you,” Ken pointed out, folding his arms out in front of his chest, “You suck at lying. So, why don’t you just spit it out and tell me what’s wrong? It’s not like I’m not going to tell the whole world what’s happening.”

“I already think the whole world does know,” Don emphasized with a small laugh before shrugging his shoulders, “I guess I could. It’s not like everyone else doesn’t already know. We are kind of in the middle of a fight.”

“Okay, that was obvious,” Ken rolled his eyes, before motioning his hands to tell Don to go on, “What did she do to you? You are obviously upset right now.”

“I just think our relationship is going to be ending,” Don informed him before snapping his fingers, “Scratch that. I don’t think we are ever going to start a real relationship because we never really had a real one.”

“Why do you feel so bad then?” Ken questioned, leaning against the doorframe, trying to get comfortable as he looked on towards Don.

“Well, the only reason I think she left me is because she found out I had a son,” Don shrugged, biting down on his lip, “I guess I just thought that maybe we had a chance together.”

“You don’t feel bad that you have Matt do you?” Ken wondered worriedly. “Matt is twenty times better than her and if…”

“Ken, Matt is my world,” Don protested, holding his hands up in the air, “I would never choose someone over Matt. If Shannon can’t live with the fact that he is my son, then she doesn’t deserve me or him.”

“I’m glad you said that,” Ken explained, running his hand through his own short hair, “I would imagine that a child would be the most important thing in your life.”

“Yeah, he is a perfect son,” Don agreed looking over at Matt who seemed to be drawing something, “He is really great. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have him.”

“I can see how much you love that little boy,” Ken noted looking over Matt, seeing him grab another color pen from the desk, “Why would Shannon leave you because of him?”

“I really don’t feel like talking about this right now,” Don sighed, shaking his head slowly, “It’s not you, it’s just I would like to get it out of my mind quicker…you know?”

“I understand,” Ken nodded slowly, seeing Don shrug, “I know how people feel about these situations and it’s hard…I know.”

“Well, enough about me,” Don frowned pointing towards Ken, “What about you? How are you doing?”

“I guess you could say that I have made a good decision for myself,” Ken declared, looking towards the ground--whether he wanted to or not, it was something that he had to do. He needed to get help before anyone else got hurt, that would be including him. “I’ve decided to check myself into some kind of rehab because I know I have been a jerk lately and I want to change. I really do.”

“Is that something you really want to do?” Don questioned seeing Ken nod. If it were Don, he wouldn’t want to do something like that, but he wasn’t it Ken’s position. This was a choice made from Ken inside that may help him in the future.

“I’m absolutely sure,” Ken replied with a small sigh, thinking about what he would be getting himself into. His conscience was getting to him and he knew he had to change. There was something definitely not right with him and he wanted the thing to leave. “I can’t let my anger or whatever this feeling I am having grow any more. I need to take it easy and try not to stay the person I am now.”

“I respect your decision,” Don patted Ken on the shoulder lightly before doing something that he had already made clear, but this time is was more of a soulful one. “You know, everything that happened between us with your attitude towards me and everything…I completely forgive you. I give you my best wishes going through this whole thing. If you ever need someone to help you out, just call me. I will be there as quick as I can be.”

“I appreciate that Don, I really do,” Ken smiled, extending his hand out to Don’s and shaking it friendly before feeling someone’s little hands pull at his pant leg, “Hey there Matt, what can I do for you?”

“I made you this,” Matt answered holding out the paper to Ken as Ken bent down to Matt’s height, putting one knee on the ground.

“This is for me?” Ken questioned seeing Matt nod slowly as he took the sheet in his hands. The paper was covered in all the possible colors that Matt could use, but it was actually pretty good for a child of Matt’s age. It was a yellow colored dog that had a red collar around it’s neck.

“Do you like it?” Matt wondered seeing Ken look up from the drawing and smile at him widely.

“I love it,” Ken quickly answered with a small smile, extending his arms out to Matt, “Can I have a hug?”

“Of course you can,” Matt laughed leaning forward, wrapping his arms around Ken’s neck as Ken picked him up, “The dog’s name is Spike.”

“Spike? Okay, well I guess I will have to put Spike up somewhere everyone can see it,” Ken declared with a small smile before holding Matt closer to him. “Have you ever seen some type of dog like this before?”

“It’s a dog that I saw someone had at the park,” Matt looked over towards Don, “I really wanted one just like him, but daddy told me I couldn’t get it.”

“Bad daddy,” Ken stuck his tongue out at Don, hearing Matt laugh at what he just did, “What’s so funny?”

“You,” Matt answered with a small giggle playing with Ken’s hair, “I like you, you’re funny.”

“Well, thank you,” Ken grinned patting Matt on the back lightly, “I like you too. If you are good for your daddy I am sure he will get you that dog soon.”

“Really?” Matt questioned happily, as Ken looked over at Don who just shrugged before Matt looked back at him. “Would you daddy? Would you get me one?”

“It’s possible,” Don shrugged before seeing Matt smile, “I will have to think about it though.”

“Alright,” Matt nodded quickly before whispering something to Ken, “You should come toy shopping with us, he might buy me more things.”

“Maybe I should,” Ken laughed at Matt’s comment, “Toys are always a good thing to have more of. You’re a really great kid. I hope your father knows that.”

“I do,” Don nodded slowly, folding his arms out in front of his chest, “He’s the greatest thing that I know.”

“I can only imagine. You are so lucky,” Ken sighed looking into Matt’s little blue eyes, “Maybe one day I will be as lucky as you and have a child of my own. It really puts your life into perspective when you have one, doesn’t it?”

“That it does,” Don agreed, remembering back to a time when he had to change his whole life around when Matt came into his world. Matt became his number one priority and nothing--nothing was more important then Matt. “I’m sure you will be a perfect dad one day to a little girl or boy and they will love you with all their heart.”

“I hope so,” Ken smiled as Matt touched Ken’s cheek, “I really hope I do.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So what are you up for doing tonight?” Diane questioned as her and Ben came home with many bags in their hands, setting them down on the ground. “You want to go out tonight? Dinner? A movie? Something special just between us?”

“I was just thinking that we could possibly stay home and call it a quiet evening together,” Ben replied with a sigh, pulling her into his gentle embrace, “What do you say? Just us?”

“I like the sound of that,” she agreed, smiling widely as she wrapped her arms around his neck lightly, “What are you planning on having us do tonight?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ben shrugged with a small laugh, looking down into her curious eyes, “Maybe watch a movie and I will make you the perfect dinner.”

“A perfect dinner, huh?” she arched her eyebrows at him with interest. “I think that would sound absolutely wonderful. It’s beyond perfect.”

“I’m glad you said that because I already have everything here to cook,” Ben informed her, letting her out of his arms and rubbing his hands together, “Why don’t you just take a load off while I cook. Just take it easy.”

“Okay,” she agreed to his offer before hearing his cell phone begin to ring, “You should get that.”

“Right,” he nodded, quickly searching through his pockets before finding it, “Hello.”

“Ben, its Seth,” Seth sighed, switching the phone to his other hand, “Are you really busy right now because I could really use a buddy to talk to right now.”

“Sure man, what’s wrong?” Ben wondered, looking back at Diane, holding his finger up in the air motioning her to wait as he walked into the bedroom so he could hear better. “Are you alright Seth? Is everything okay?”

“I‘m fine, it’s just that Blake was upset and she went back home for a while,” Seth explained, taking in a deep breath as he took a look around the room, “I guess I could just use some company right now. That’s all.”

“No problem,” Ben assured him looking back at the clock before realizing what he had just told Diane about them having a night together. Maybe he would just have to take a rain check--she wouldn’t mind. “I will be there in a little bit.”

“Okay,” Seth decided with a sigh, “Thanks Ben. I know you must be really busy right now, but I guess I just really need someone to talk to right now.”

“It’s no problem,” Ben declared once more in an assuring tone, “I don’t mind at all. I will be over in a little bit.”

They said their goodbyes before Ben went back into the other room to find Diane sitting down, watching television like he had told her to do earlier. Hopefully she wouldn’t be mad at him agreeing to go to Seth’s.

“Hey Diane,” Ben caught her attention as she looked up at him with her big eyes, “About tonight…do you think it’s okay if we take a rain check and plan it on a whole different day?”

“Why? What’s wrong?” Diane questioned with a small frown, placing her feet on the ground before standing up and walking towards him. “Is everything okay Ben?”

“Yeah,” he answered quickly, shrugging his shoulders as he put his phone back in his pocket, “Seth just really needs to talk to someone right now…to let every thing out you know? And he asked me to come over to talk with him. Are you sure everything will be okay if I go over there for a while?”

“Of course it is,” she laughed, shaking her head slowly, “What? Did you think I was going to kill you or something for wanting to go help your friend out?”

“I figured you would be okay with it,” he pointed out with a small smile, “But hey, do you want to come with me? I don’t think that Seth would mind.”

“No, I think I am just going to stay home and rest,” she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck slowly, “I am just really tired right now.”

“Okay, just make sure you feel better when I get home,” he grinned, pulling her into his arms tightly before placing a quick kiss upon her lips, “I’ll be back later.”

“I’ll be waiting,” she quickly got out before seeing him walk out the door.

Actually, Ben going to Seth’s place would work out great because she had something she had to do and it was very important. She was going to really call a doctor and make a real doctor’s appointment to see what was really going on.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Cori put her earrings in, looking at herself in the mirror getting ready for tonight’s dinner with Diego. She was trying to look perfect for Diego. Perfect for him because Diego was perfect. Cori smiled to herself thinking of what happened earlier before she went for the job interview. What had happened to her and Diego was kind of funny, but also more embarrassing. Okay, it was more funny then embarrassing, but still…at the time it really was heart pounding when the guy came into the office. Getting back to reality, she was just about ready to leave, but she had to grab her dark blue purse from the counter before leaving the room.

“It’s about time I should be leaving to meet him,” Cori told herself, looking down at the time on her cell phone. “It should be close to the time.”

Cori looked up and stopped dead in her tracks seeing quite a picture before her. Kevin was standing in the hallway, his head rested against the wall--his eyes closed. His torso was covered in a blue shirt that seemed to stick to every muscle in his chest and abdomen.

“Hey there big guy,” Cori laughed walking up to him and touching his arm, making him open his eyes and look down at her, “Sleepy?”

“Kind of,” he nodded with a yawn, standing up straight, “What are you doing tonight dressed like that? Have a hot date?”

“I guess you could say that,” she shrugged looking him over, “What about you? You look good today too.”

“No, it’s just that I always look good,” Kevin replied with a small smile, fixing the collar of his shirt.

“Yeah, you do,” she agreed with a small laugh before shaking her head, “In your mind you do that is.”

“Oh come on,” Kevin laughed deeply before looking down at her, his dark eyes intense, “You can’t tell me that you never thought I was hot or that you don’t think I’m hot. If you didn’t think I was hot, I wouldn’t have been pulled into your hotel room that night.”

“I was obviously drunk,” she reminded him with a small shrug, remembering what happened between them that night, “You do really stupid things when you are that drunk.”

“Right, drunk,” Kevin rolled his eyes, before folding his arms out in front of his muscular chest, “Getting off topic, how are you doing today? Everything working out for you?”

“I guess you could say that,” she nodded slowly before arching her eyebrow at what he said to her a couple of minutes ago, “So you think I think you are hot?”

“There is always--one thing that women like about me,” Kevin grinned, running his hand through his dark hair, “What you like about me, I’m not quite sure. It’s either the fact that I read novels…or just me all around.”

“I would go with the first one if I were you,” she suggested hearing him laugh out, “You interest me with your romance novel knowledge, but I’m not quite sure about the rest of you.”

“Right,” Kevin nodded slowly, snapping his fingers, “I figured it might have been my body you were into though because before you came over here, I saw you looking at me.”

“I just ran into you, I didn’t look at you any longer than I had to when I am talking to you,” Cori protested hearing him laugh once more.

“I may be a man Cori, but I know better than that,” Kevin declared shaking his head slowly, “By the way you seemed to be looking at me…I would say you forgot that you have a date soon. Don’t you?”

“A date?” she questioned before shaking it off, remembering Diego. “Right…a date.”

“Yeah, a date,” she smiled before looking down at his watch on his right wrist, “You don’t want to be late.”

“What about you?” she wondered seeing him shrug. “Are you going to be sleeping in the hallway all night long. You going to be here when I get back…sleeping?”

“Actually,” Kevin began before choking a little, feeling someone’s arms wrap around his neck tightly.

“You ready to go Kev?” Trisha questioned kissing him on the cheek quickly, seeing him looking over at Cori. “Who is she?”

“Oh, this is Cori,” Kevin introduced her seeing Cori smile, “Cori this is Trisha, my…”

“Date,” Trisha answered for him with a quickly smile, grabbing his hand in hers tightly trying to pull him along, but it was not successful because of his size. “Come on, we can’t miss the party. We don’t want to be too late.”

“Uh, bye I guess,” Kevin frowned, walking back slowly seeing the look on Cori’s face before he turned around to Trisha, “Didn’t you say that it was only like a block away?”

“I did, but we don’t want to miss all the fun,” she answered with a small laugh, squeezing his bicep tightly, “You are going to love the party.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m warning you Ashford,” Grady lunged at Brant once again, sending him right square on top of the table in the center of the room. The two struggled and continued to attack one another until the table buckled underneath them breaking into pieces.

“What the hell is happening in here?” Julian asked entering the room to find both men tearing one another apart. He rushed forward reaching out to the both of them before pushing them away from one another.

Both men were panting and out of breath as they glared at one another. Brant’s lip was split and it was obvious that Grady’s jaw was swelling at the impact they’d made on one another.

“I just walked by and it sounded like the whole police station was falling to pieces,” Julian snapped at the both of them, “Now I don’t know what started this, but I’m telling you now it’s going to stop or else I’ll put you both into a jail cell to calm down.”

“He started it!” Grady remarked stubbornly his anger still riding over him.

“You were the one who tried to put my wife in danger. Hasn’t she been through enough Grady? Hasn’t she proven her worth to you yet?” Brant chastised, his voice still coarse with anger.

“She came with me today because she wanted to. She offered to do this Brant. I didn’t twist her arm to do any of this. She wants to help me find Jade, which is more than I can say for some,” Grady argued with him, his words shaking with emotion.

“But at what price? What did you think you were going to accomplish if you put her in there with Cameron?” Brant snapped back at him, “What did you think he was going to do? Share all of his secrets with her because he found her charming?”

“No actually she was going to go in there because…” Grady stopped himself when it suddenly dawned in on him that Avery was still in there with Cameron. He turned to look in the window and was horrified at what he saw before him. Cameron was close to Avery--too close for comfort judging by the expression on her face as he seemed to have her trapped against the wall.

Brant’s gaze followed Grady’s and immediately his anger doubled, “Damn you!” Brant snapped at Grady before pushing his way past Julian out into the hallway.

Brant walked over to the room where Avery was and as a guard marched towards him trying to tell him he wasn’t allowed inside, Brant slammed the door open. He didn’t pause, didn’t wait for instruction, but more so reached out for Cameron and slammed him into the far wall in the visiting room.

“Get your hands off of my wife!” Brant snarled with pure rage eating him alive. He glared down at Cameron for a brief moment before shoving him aside. Rushing over to Avery he collected her in his arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Avery replied, though her words were clearly shaken.

“No you aren’t,” Brant kissed the top of her head as he glared over at Cameron. He heard the sounds of people outside of the room and seconds later a guard appeared with Grady at his side. Seeing Grady only further infuriated Brant. “How the hell could you do this to her?”

“I didn’t…” Grady began to defend himself.

“I’m the one who suggested it,” Avery pleaded moving in between both men, “I’m the one who wanted to come here and get a confession out of Cameron, but I was wasting my time.”

“There we’re in agreement,” Cameron threw his hands up in the air, “For the last time I don’t have Jade. I never did and I don’t know why you idiots are wasting your time trying to pin this on me.”

“Because you’re a sick, demented freak who couldn’t just take no for an answer,” Grady stepped up towards Cameron only to be blocked by Julian before another situation arose.

“I don’t have her and as I was telling Avery here, you’re more than welcome to check each and every one of my estates. What you found at my house wasn’t there because I had Jade. I don’t have her. I never did and I’d like to just go home,” Cameron sighed bringing his fingers haphazardly up through his hair. The tip of the handcuff struck the center of his face and he let out a groan, “I’m tired of fighting this. I just want to go home, so do what you must to get it done and over with.”

“Just tell us where she is and we’ll call it a night. Then you can get ready to spend your years locked away for all the damage you’ve caused,” Grady snarled down at Cameron.

“I didn’t take Jade,” Cameron stood taller making a bold move towards Grady, “If I had Jade it would be because she came willingly to me, not because I’ve stolen her. I wouldn’t sink to that low.”

“You’re lower than low so there’s no telling what you’ve done to her, but I swear to you if you’ve harmed so much as a hair on her head,” Grady spoke sternly waving his finger in Cameron’s face wildly.

“For the last damn time, I don’t have Jade,” Cameron snapped back at him, “and the longer you keep pointing the finger at me, the harder it’s going to be for you to find her because the real kidnapper is no doubt laughing at all of you right now. The more you sling insults my way, the worse shape Jade will be in.”

“If you even think about hurting her…if you’ve done something to her, then so help me God,” Grady began again ready to launch an attack on Cameron.

“I don’t have her. If nothing else believe that Grady,” Cameron turned to Julian, “In fact, if you just get these cuffs off of me and start the paperwork, then I’ll sign whatever you need to give you access to my estates. I’m ready to cooperate and give you any and everything you need to prove that I’m not the one who took Jade. I had nothing to do with her disappearance and the sooner you idiots get that through your heads the better. This keeping me locked up has been a huge mistake--one that I might be willing to overlook if and only if you start doing your jobs and find the real kidnapper.”

“You’d better hope that you’re telling the truth Cameron,” Avery spoke up having her doubts about his guilt after the exchange they’d shared with one another. Sure he’d terrified her, but at the same time she couldn’t help but wonder if there was some validity in his protests. It made her absolutely insane to even think for a second that he could be innocent, but as she watched him, she was struck with a sudden eerie feeling that all this time they’d been looking in the wrong direction.

“I give you my word Avery. I don’t have Jade and I never did,” Cameron spoke to her in an impassioned tone, “If I had her, I wouldn’t have chosen such tasteless tactics of getting her. I prefer to have my women come to me of their own will instead of bullying them.”

“Yeah right. I saw you bullying Avery just now. I know what kind of man you are and I hope you get what’s coming to you,” Brant added keeping Avery close to him.

“I wasn’t bullying Avery. We were more so having a conversation on the similarities that we have with one another. She and I are similar creatures which is why even now she’s wondering if I’m telling the truth,” Cameron smirked casting another glance in Avery’s general direction, “I knew that I’d find away to reach you.”

“You haven’t reached me,” Avery argued refusing to let him think he’d made any kind of impact on her, “You’ve just motivated me to find out what secrets you’ve been hiding.”

“Then by all means,” Cameron waved his hand around in front of him, “Do what you must. Who knows maybe in the process you’ll discover a few things about yourself that you never knew possible Ms. April Fifteenth.”

“Okay Cameron,” Julian walked over to him, “Let’s go. We’ve got a few things to do now that you’ve given us permission to go through your homes. I want a listing of all your places on and off the record.”

“It’s a deal,” Cameron nodded grudgingly going along with Julian. He offered up one last icy smile at Avery as he passed by, “I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of one another very soon.”

“Not likely unless of course it’s at your trial,” Avery shot back at him sarcastically as he was taken out of the room.

“Okay, care to explain that to me?” Grady questioned moving in closer to her. “What did he tell you?”

“Nothing about Jade,” she tried to assure him as she was left with her own eerie feelings about the exchange.

“Quite honestly I don’t give a damn about what he had to say. I’m more so concerned with why you even thought that coming here was a smart idea,” Brant added throwing out a less than pleased expression, “You both could’ve gotten you in over your head today. Hell, judging by what I came in on here, that’s exactly what you did. Avery what were you thinking?”

“Brant, I don’t want to fight about this right now. I just want to get out of here,” she began with tired brown eyes, “Please?”

“Alright,” he softened a bit bringing his arm around her supportively. They moved towards the door and Avery walked ahead of Brant. Grady started to follow, but was stopped when Brant stood in front of him with a firm warning, “Stay away from my wife because I swear to you Denton, if you even think of putting her in the line of fire again, then so help me, Cameron won’t be the only one who is making a desperate attempt at pleading for his life. Do you understand me?”

“You can’t intimidate me Ashford. Your wife has a mind of her own and she’s not going to stand for you telling her what she can and cannot do,” Grady retorted with a clenched jaw.

“I’m not telling my wife. I’m telling you, so back off,” Brant finished leaving the interrogation room as Grady found himself wondering if tonight’s little attempt at Cameron’s truth telling would really lead him one step closer to finding Jade.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Susan, what did you do to him?” Sarah questioned seeing Susan get out of the bed. Sarah sighed in relief seeing that Susan was in a long shirt that covered her body. Sarah’s heart was nearly breaking, she didn’t need to go blind as well.

“What did it look like we were doing?” Susan questioned with a devilish grin. “You were right Sarah…he really is a big boy.”

“You bitch,” Sarah couldn’t help herself as she leapt forwards, pouncing on Susan. She slammed her fist into Susan’s jaw, not caring what the consequences.

“Get off of me,” Susan screamed at Sarah, trying to push her off, but Sarah was too strong of a force.

“You like hurting people?” Sarah questioned getting up stomping Susan in the stomach. “How does it feel to be the one hurt Susan? Do you like it? Get the hell out of here before I am tempted to do anything else.”

Sarah’s breath became heavier by the moment as her anger grew even more. She saw Susan reach the hallway before she turn to Kyle who was still lying in the bed.

“Sarah,” Kyle groaned in agony, his face twisting in pain as she got next to him. He cocked his head back in pain, his whole body tensing as if he was getting hit over and over again with a baseball bat.

“What did she do to you Kyle?” Sarah questioned quickly, running her hand through his sandy blonde hair. “Talk to me Kyle.”

“I…I don’t know what happened,” Kyle explaining, blinking widely before feeling his body begin to shake, “Everything is so blurry, I can hardly see.”

“Can you get up?” she wondered, putting her arm around his shoulders trying to help him sit up only to here him growl out in pain. “Kyle?”

“It hurts,” he hissed grabbing his neck in pain, feeling her trying to help him, “I feel sick Sarah.”

“It’s okay,” she hushed getting him to the edge of the bed and grabbing his pants quickly, “Let’s try to get these on you.”

“Okay,” he nodded, biting down on his bottom lip as his muscles seemed to be frozen.

“Here,” she whispered sliding them up legs and over his waist, “Come on, let’s try and get you up.”

“Alright,” Kyle agreed as she wrapped her arm around his waist pulling him to his feet. “God.”

“Kyle,” she squealed as he fell to the ground in pain as soon as his feet touched the ground. “Are you okay? Come on, we have to get you up.”

“Don’t touch me,” Kyle snapped in pain, grabbing his stomach, “It hurts so much Sarah. I feel like I am going to be sick.”

“Kyle, you have to let me help you,” she begged seeing him try and lift his head from the ground, “You have to try. Just try baby, try.”

“I’m trying,” he replied, getting to his knees and slumping over, “I can’t do it Sarah.”

“Yes you can,” she protested, leaning down and wrapping her around his waist tightly, “I know you can. You're strong Kyle, come on.”

Kyle slowly got to his feet, but growled in a pain as he got to his feet. Sarah grabbed his jacket, quickly wrapping it around his body before leading him towards the door.

“I want to go home,” he gulped down walking towards the door slowly, “I don’t feel good…I want to go home.”

“We'll go home Kyle,” she assured him, giving it all her power to try and hold him up. At first when she saw Susan and Kyle together, she thought something really had been going on, but by the way he was acting right now…she knew that wasn’t right. Susan must have done something extremely bad to Kyle to make him in this much pain.

Looking around the room, she noticed that Susan had vanished. Of course that’s what Susan would be doing because she didn’t want to face Sarah once more.

“I can hardly breath,” Kyle gulped down, trying to breath in deeply, “Sarah…what’s happening?”

“I don’t know, but we are going to find out,” she promised leading him towards the elevator, but everything seemed to go much slower as Kyle moved himself away from her and propped himself up against the wall.

“I’ve never felt this way before,” Kyle hissed feeling every muscle in his body tense in pain, “I don’t know what’s going on.”

“You need to hold on Kyle,” she hushed with a frown coming over her features, seeing the way he was in so much pain, “We are going to Diego. He is going to find out what is wrong.”

“Okay,” Kyle nodded, biting down on his bottom lip, tasting the own saltiness of his blood running into his mouth. “Just hurry.”

“I will Kyle,” she promised, helping him into the elevator, “You just have to hold on baby, everything is going to be okay.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What do you think?” Kellen held the baby closer to him, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair as they watched television. “You like Hercules don’t you?”

Charles looked up at Kellen and smiled. Kellen extended his finger out as Charles wrapped his little fingers around his one finger. The way this baby acted was just too adorable. Kellen was falling for him more and more every second.

“We are going to be hanging out all the time when you are older,” Kellen promised leaning forward a placing a gentle kiss on the baby's forehead, “We are going to be best buddies. You will never have to worry about looking bad because you will always have me to help you out with your clothes selection and your taste in things.”

Kellen frowned hearing the sound of the doorbell ring, making him get to his feet. He gently put Charles back in his crib before smiling down at him.

“I’ll be right back, your father probably locked himself out” Kellen laughed running his fingers along the crib before walking to the door thinking it would be Kipp, “I didn’t expect you to be back so soon.”

“Excuse me?” Augustus Ashford questioned before Kellen, seeing a frown spread over Kellen’s features. “Is Kipp Mahoney present?”

“No, he’s not present,” Kellen answered angrily, folding his arms out in front of his chest, “Even if he was…he wouldn’t want to talk with you. I’m sure of it.”

“You don’t know who I am,” Augustus replied extending his hand out to Kellen, “I’m…”

“I know you and what you are,” Kellen snapped, shaking his head slowly, “You are piece of scum, that’s what you are.”

“Pardon me?” Augustus questioned, pulling his hand back seeing Kellen seem to belittle him.

“I don’t understand why a man like you is trying to help out a person like Heather,” Kellen stated with a frown, “Is it for the money or something? If any normal person took this case, they would realize that Heather isn’t the motherly type and that Kipp loves that baby. I can’t believe you are helping her out with this one.”

“I guess some people love you and some just hate you,” Augustus shrugged as Kellen bit down on his own lip, “I guess you just happen to be one of those people who don’t like my ways. If you were in my position I am positive that you would be making the same decision I made.”

“I am completely positive that I wouldn’t,” Kellen protested, grasping onto the doorknob tightly, “Why don’t you just piss off and go leave. In fact, don’t ever come back here again.”

Before Augustus could say one more word, Kellen slammed the door and locked it. He leaned against the door, taking in deep breaths before realizing the baby began to cry.

“I’m coming,” Kellen called out, running towards the room, “It’s okay little guy, I’m here.”

Charles seemed to stop crying as soon as Kellen took him into his arms and rocked him lightly.

“Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you,” Kellen hushed, kissing Charles’s forehead gently. “I would never be mad at you. Never.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So does anyone want to tell me what exactly happened in there tonight?” Jenna questioned as she, Hart, Kipp and Douglas stood in the center of the hotel room that Hart had gotten for Douglas. They’d tried to go back to his hotel room, but the hotel he was staying at was swamped with reporters.

“Nothing of any real relevance,” Douglas wrinkled his nose as he took a long look at the room he’d be staying in. He turned to Hart with heavy disapproval, “Was this the best that you could do?”

“On such short notice yes,” Hart nodded in response, “So you’re going to have to deal with it tonight. Besides look on the bright side, they have cable here. That’s something to be excited about.”

“Hardly,” Doug rolled his eyes at the remark. He moved to sit on the bed, took one long look at the comforter and opted to stay standing, “You can’t expect me to sleep here tonight.”

“Of course I can and you will unless of course you’d like to go fight the reporters all on your own,” Hart shrugged his shoulders simply, “That’s not part of my fee, which by the way you’ll be getting my bill in the mail.”

“Um hello,” Jenna waved her hands out in front of her face, “would someone like to tell me what happened at the police station tonight? I realize that we just made a quick exit, but I think you owe us a few answers after what we saw on television.”

“Yeah, from the looks of things, it felt like you’d already been convicted of Rochelle’s murder, so what gives?” Kipp piped in ignoring his father’s petty complaints about the room and cutting right to the chase. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing’s going on,” Hart revealed with a small shrug, “They thought they had some information that could tie your father to the murder, but they were mistaken. He had an alibi.”

“And alibi,” Jenna repeated watching Douglas pull out a handkerchief and dust at the dresser he was standing next to, “What kind of alibi?”

“My kind of alibi,” another voice rose from the doorway as Jenna spun around to see Thea standing there. She sashayed into he room moving past Douglas as she too looked less than impressed with the room, “Oh Doug, this is more than a step down.”

“Tell me about it,” Doug groaned inwardly, “but my son-in-law to be or whatever the hell he is felt this was the best we could get for the time being.”

“Well I could’ve and would’ve done better,” Thea added smugly, “You know maybe we can just get you out of here and into my place and…”

“Neither one of you are going anywhere until you tell us exactly what happened tonight,” Kipp asserted taking a small step forward, “What happened there?”

“The police said that they felt Doug had something to do with that slut’s untimely demise simply because he’d been amused by her once upon a time, but that was entirely out of the equation,” Thea waved her hand dismissively, “Since he was with me at the estimated time of the murder.”

“He was with you?” Jenna raised a doubtful brow.

“Doing what?” Kipp glared over at Thea who offered up a smug smile.

“Kipp darling if you have to even ask, then you’re even more naïve about women than I thought,” Thea rolled her eyes at him before pulling a compact out of her purse and a tube of lipstick. “No wonder you’re letting Heather take you to the cleaners there.”

“Listen you…” Kipp growled back at her.

“The point is that there aren’t any charges here and the police have no choice, but to move on,” Hart added feeling the tension mounting in the air, “Thea was with Doug, Doug was with Thea. The stories check out and there isn’t any physical evidence to link Doug to the crimes, so he’s not being arrested. They have to find someone else to try to pin this one on. He was more than willing to cooperate and the detective running the investigation felt that there was no further need to harass him. Doug is no longer a suspect.”

“So in other words this is one time his whore paid off for him,” Jenna remarked sourly glaring at her father and Thea, “Well this is just wonderful.”

“Jenna, it’s not like you are making it sound. It’s just that…” Douglas attempted to explain himself for the first time since he’d arrived at the hotel.

“No, it’s worse. It’s always worse with you Douglas, but oddly enough I think you like it that way,” Jenna threw her arms up in the air clearly disgusted before she spun around and marched out of the hotel room.

Douglas watched her go feeling a moment of desperation sweep over him as he turned to Kipp.

“What she said,” Kipp replied following his sister out of the hotel room with his own feelings of infuriation.

“Hart…” Douglas started with a small frown.

“Hey, don’t ask me. She forms her own opinions,” Hart shrugged his shoulders before moving to the door. He stopped momentarily to turn around and look at Douglas, “And as I said before my bill will be in the mail. I don’t think you’ll need anymore of my services, but if you do, you know where to call me.”

“Of course,” Douglas replied watching Hart leave closing the door behind him. Somehow this night had gone entirely unlike Douglas had hoped it would. Sure, the situation with Rochelle seemed to be resolved, but in seeing the disappointment in his children’s eyes, Doug knew he still had a very long way to go before he could claim a victory with them.

“Come on baby,” Thea moved in closer to him, rubbing her hand over the center of his chest, “Let me take you back to my place. I’ll get a bubble bath going, maybe a little champagne and then…”

“Not tonight Thea,” he replied stiffly stepping aside and away from her, “Tonight I need to be alone. I think you should go.”

“Doug, you can’t be serious about staying here at this dump,” she laughed lightly before noting the expression on his face, “Oh boy, you are serious.”

“Very serious,” he nodded before motioning to the door, “I trust you’ll be able to see your way out.”

Thea watched him walk into the bathroom. He closed the door behind him leaving her alone in the mess of a hotel room. She reached for her purse picking it up and shaking her head. Wrinkling her nose, she let out a small groan. First she’d been annoyed and called down to the station. Now she’d be spending the night alone after all the chaos.

“This is just wonderful,” Thea grumbled stalking out of the hotel room all the while wondering why she even bothered with Douglas half the time. These days it felt like it wasn’t even worth the aggravation. Then again with Cameron in jail there wasn’t much else to do.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What are you thinking about?” Nick questioned, seeing the dazed look in Angela’s eyes as she looked away from the television. “Is something wrong Angela?”

“No, nothing is wrong,” Angela assured him with a small sigh, sitting up straighter, “I was just thinking about us.”

“Us?” he questioned, raising his eyebrows and scooting into her closer. “What about us?”

“Just about the wedding,” she answered with a small smile, closing her eyes and imagining how perfect it was going to be. They would be together in front of people, showing how much they loved each other. “I just can’t wait.”

“I know,” he hushed her, pulling her closer to him and letting her lay in his lap, “It’s going to be a great day when I say those two words to you.”

“What two words?” she questioned blankly, hearing him laugh at her question. “What words?”

“I do,” he answered, running his fingers along her cheek soothingly, imagining their wedding himself, “So what do you imagine it will look like?”

“Perfect,” she replied with a wide grin, looking up at him, “You will be looking great in your tux. Well, I guess I will be looking okay too in my dress.”

“You will be looking beautiful in your dress,” Nick assured her, leaning forward and placing a sweet kiss on her forehead, “What about people going to be there? Kevin?”

“What about Kevin?” she quickly questioned, looking up at him with a frown. “What does he have to do with all of this?”

“Don’t you want him to stand up?” Nick wondered with a confused expression. “I mean he is your best friend. You need him to be there for you.”

“Oh, I know that,” she sighed nodding slowly, thinking back to other night when she talked to him on the phone about Michelle, “I guess you can say I am a little worried about him.”

“Why? What happened?” Nick questioned, seeming slightly worried. “Is everything okay with his cousin?”

“He didn’t seem to mention anything about that so I am assuming that everything is okay,” Angela shrugged biting down on her bottom lip, “When we talked the other day, he told me how he had ran into his ex-wife. He was just really feeling down I guess you could say.”

“Well, that must have really sucked,” Nick frowned seeing Angela nod and look up towards the ceiling, “You’re worried about him aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” she nodded slowly, biting down on her bottom lip, “I just have never really thought he would get that mad over something like seeing his ex-wife again. I just can only imagine what it would be if he ran into her again. That woman was evil I hope you know.”

“Anyone who hurts Kevin is evil,” Nick agreed seeing the weird look come over her features, “Right?”

“Yeah,” she agreed before shaking her head slowly, “I just don’t know if he is okay or not because last time I had talked to him he sounded like he was feeling really down.”

“Maybe you should call him,” Nick suggested with a small shrug, “It might help a bit I guess. It’s no harm in calling him to see what’s up. It may even make you feel better to know if he is okay or not.”

“Alright,” Angela agreed sitting upright on the couch, reaching over and grabbing the phone to dial Kevin’s number, “I will just call and see how he is doing.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Look at this,” Trisha smiled widely walking into the big crowd, pulling Kevin along with her, “You are going to love this party and all of my friends. My friend Katie will love meeting you.”

“I’m sure she will,” Kevin nodded looking around the big crowd, noticing that everyone there seemed to be younger than him. “I kind of feel out of place Trisha, I am the oldest guy here.”

“So,” she shrugged with a small smile pulling him through the crowd, “You are the hottest one here too. Oh hey, there she is. Katie.”

“Trisha, I‘m so glad you could make it,” Katie squeaked hugging her best friend tightly before noticing Kevin who just seemed to be standing there, “Who is this hunk?”

“This, is my boyfriend, Kevin Adonis,” Trisha answered, wrapping her arm around Kevin’s arm tightly.

“Uh, Trish…” Kevin began trying to state that he really wasn’t her boyfriend, but he was cut off by her going back to talk to her friend Katie again.

“We were going to get dancing soon, but I just wanted you to meet him,” Trisha stated with a wide smile seeing Katie nod slowly.

“Too bad he is taken,” Katie winked at Kevin, her eyes looking over his body hungrily, “I wouldn’t mind to unwrap him myself.”

“Maybe we should dance,” Kevin coughed out seeing the girl begin to size him up even more. What was it with these girls? He was hot--really hot, but still. “Come on.”

“I guess we will see you later,” Trisha waved before pulling her towards the mass of people before them, “I guess you really want to dance, huh?”

“Right,” Kevin answered quickly, nodding as he pulled her along. He did this to just be a nice guy, but as it was going right now, maybe he shouldn’t have said yes to coming.

“Oh wait, Dustin,” Trisha held Kevin back as he saw a younger guy approaching them, “Dustin, this is my boyfriend, Kevin.”

“Man, you're huge,” Dustin looked at the mountain of height before him, “How much do you work out?”

“A lot,” Kevin answered, with a small shrug, “It’s usually what I do in my spare time.”

“Maybe you two can work out together sometime,” Trisha suggested, placing her hand on the center of Kevin’s chest, “I’m sure Kev would love to do that.”

“That would be cool,” Dustin agreed before pointing to the corner of the room, “I have to do something real quick, but I will catch you later Trish.”

“Uh, I have a question for you,” Kevin declared seeing Dustin begin to walk away, “Why do you keep saying I am your boy…”

“Trisha, baby,” a girl called out from behind them, making Trisha turn around happily, “I haven’t seen you in so long. Is this your new man here?”

“Yeah, he is,” Trisha answered with a smile looking back at Kevin, “Isn’t he so hot?”

“He’s more than hot,” the girl replied looking over Kevin’s muscular form, “He flaming girl. Have fun with that guy.”

“I will,” Trisha promised with a wink before going back towards Kevin and leading him to the dance floor, which seemed to be playing some type of rap or hip hop.

“You like this stuff?” Kevin questioned Trisha began to dance in front of him, grabbing his hands in hers and placing them on her hips.

“It makes good dancing,” she replied with a small laugh reaching her hands behind him, squeezing his bottom as he jumped.

“Hello,” Kevin laughed slightly, grabbing her hands in his, holding her a distance away from any areas she could start touching. He heard a light, slow song begin to play as he arched his eyebrow. “Somehow, I didn’t think they would play a song like this at one of these parties.”

“Well, we better not waste it then,” Trisha flirted, wrapping her arms around his neck, “I wanted to thank you for coming tonight.”

“It was no problem,” he assured her thinking back to how he agreed to come. When he agreed, he really didn’t think that all this would be happening, he thought it would be just more of friends going together. Not what it turned up being.

“I wanted to give you something as a present for going with me today,” she told him, seeing him nod slowly, “Do you want to see what it is?”

“Sure, why not,” Kevin shrugged with a small sigh, feeling her fingers start to run through his dark hair. He was surprised when he felt her pull him down to her height as if she was going to kiss him, but before she could…his cell phone began to ring. “I have to get this. I’ll be right back.”

Kevin quickly walked out the door, leading him to the outside where it was much quieter and not so many people. One more second in that house and he was sure that he would be in more trouble then he wanted to be in.

“Hello,” Kevin answered his cell phone as soon as he got outside of the full house.

“Kevin, what took you so long to answer your phone?” Angela questioned worriedly as Kevin thought of an answer while she questioned him. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah,” he replied quickly, thinking of the first thing that came to his mind, “I was just in the shower and I didn’t think I heard your cell phone at first, but then I did. I had to get a towel on and everything before I answered.”

“Oh, I understand that,” she nodded slowly before going on to why she originally called, “How are you feeling today? Feeling any better than the other night?”

“I guess you could say I am hanging,” Kevin sighed, taking a seat on the ground, underneath a tree. “How about you? How are you feeling today?”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ria stepped off of the elevator thinking about Seth and the nightmare that Valerie had given to him on his wedding day. While she was certain she should’ve come over sooner, the fact to the matter was that now she hoped that things had found a way to even themselves out. She approached Seth’s door only to feel something snag on her purse. Looking down she saw that her bracelet was caught.

“Damn it,” she cursed under her breath fighting to dislodge her bracelet from the beads on her purse. She tried to untangle it, but the more she tried, the more the bracelet seemed determined to stay latched onto her purse.

“Here let me help,” she heard Ben’s voice approaching. She looked up to see him standing in front of her. Before she could say another word he was quickly dislodging the clasp of her bracelet from the mesh fringe on her purse.

“See, you just need a little help from your friends,” Ben explained once he’d finished helping her with the problem. He nodded towards her purse, “and look with minimal damage.”

“Thanks Ben,” she smiled at him, “I appreciate that.”

“We all can appreciate our friends helping us when we have a problem. Don’t you agree?” Ben arched a curious brow.

“Of course I do,” she nodded giving him a strange look, “Why do you ask?”

“Because I was starting to wonder if you forgot what friendship was all about Ria especially after the way you turned your back on Val,” Ben explained with a heavy look of disapproval, “I can’t believe you were ready to kick her while she was down.”

“Kick her while she was down?” she repeated with a huff, “Is that what she told you?”

“She told me how you weren’t at all interested in helping her once she’d had a misunderstanding with Seth,” Ben nodded.

“It was more than a misunderstanding Ben. She ruined his wedding day,” Ria snapped back at him.

“Like it was her fault. I’m sure she didn’t know that her and Seth were still married and her showing up was just her way of letting him know before he did something illegal,” Ben suggested thinking of their long time pal.

“That’s bull and you know it. Val’s sole purpose for waiting until that point in time to tell Seth about their marriage was her being vindictive. She knew exactly what she was doing when she walked in there ready to ruin Seth’s big day,” Ria argued with him, “She was out to hurt him and she succeeded.”

“Ria, I think you of all people should cut her a little slack. She’s one of our best friends,” Ben insisted with a heavy sigh, “She’s been through a few rough patches and…”

“Rough patches?” she repeated with a small laugh, “If you call living the life of luxury traveling all over the world and spending time in elite places with famous people a rough patch, then yeah you’re damn right she’s been going through a few of them lately.”

“Ria, now you’re being catty,” Ben frowned down at her, “It comes off as being jealous and that’s so unbecoming.”

“I’m not jealous of Valerie--far from it,” she shot back at him icily, “I was fine and I treated Val great until she decided to cause a scene at Seth’s wedding.”

“She was trying to keep him from getting into trouble,” Ben argued further, “You shouldn’t have turned her back on her when obviously she’s just as upset as Seth is about this situation.”

“She’s just upset that she wasn’t able to get Seth into bed that night,” Ria folded her arms in front of her chest.

“Oh that’s nice coming from someone who is supposed to be her friend,” Ben shook his head at her, “You know Ria for someone who claim to care so much you have a bad attitude. You shouldn’t have kicked her out of your place leaving her stranded.”

“Well if you feel so sorry for her, then why the hell don’t you take her in? I’m sure Diane would love that, but hey maybe then you’ll be doing Seth a favor since it probably won’t take long for Valerie to set her sights in on you considering the last time I checked she was into taken men,” Ria glared up at him ready to say something more when Seth opened the door surprised to hear the two of them bickering outside of his apartment.

“What’s going on out here?” Seth questioned looking between the two of them as silence followed. “Well? Let’s hear it.”

“I was just leaving,” Ria finally blurted out behind a scowl. She moved forward to give Seth a quick hug before taking a step back, “I have to go, but I’ll try to be back later.”

“But…” Seth began confused as she stormed off down the hallway in an obvious rage. Frowning he looked to Ben, “What did you say to her?”

“I just told her that maybe it would be nice if she started behaving like a friend instead of thinking like she’s your jealous lover,” Ben shrugged his shoulders before looking over his shoulder to see Ria step onto the elevator.

“Jealous lover?” Seth repeated with wide eyes, “Why in the world would you say that to her?”

“Let’s face it Seth. Ria’s never going to be happy with the woman you’re with and she’s always going to hold a grudge against those that are in your life,” Ben explained entering Seth’s apartment, “She’s not happy with Blake and she was never happy with Val either.”

“She might not have been happy, but she’s been nothing but supportive of my relationship with Blake lately,” Seth informed him point blank. “You shouldn’t have said that to her.”

“Of course I should’ve. She threw Valerie out of her apartment without so much as giving Valerie a chance to explain herself about what happened on your wedding day,” Ben explained shaking his head with heavy disapproval.

“Well good for her,” Seth blurted out.

“What?” Ben gave him a strange look, “What did you just say?”

“I said that it was a good thing she threw Valerie out. It’s just what she needs,” Seth answered flatly, “After the stunt she pulled on my wedding day, I’d say she’s lucky that’s all that’s happened to her.”

“Seth, I can’t believe you’d say that…” Ben found himself at a loss, “I thought that Val was more important to you than that.”

“Ben, she’s not the same person she used to be,” Seth shook his head with obvious dismay, “If you were at the wedding you would’ve seen that.”

“Well clearly I wasn’t there, so why don’t you fill me in on what happened since I’ve heard Valerie’s side of things?” Ben suggested further.

“Fine, but I can promise you by the time I’m done telling you all about Valerie, you’re going to be owing Ria an apology big time for what you said to her,” Seth warned him ready to rehash the details of his almost wedding with Blake and how Valerie went well out of her way to screw that up for him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Blake sat in her room looking around and thinking about how long it had been since she’d been home. Sure, she’d been wrapped up with the things that were happening with Seth, but it was all a bit overwhelming. She kept fighting to be strong for him, but now, well now that she was alone in the privacy of her room, she felt a sense of relief. She was free to cry, free to feel anger and pain and not hold her emotions within for the sake of being strong for Seth. Laying back on her comforter, she buried her head in her pillows and started to sob. She wasn’t sure where it was all coming from, but in it’s own way it felt good to finally just let it out.

“Blake,” she heard a voice call out to her after what felt like forever being lost in her tears. She’d thought she’d imagined it, but when she felt a faint touch on her shoulder, she looked up to discover a blurred vision of her brother before her. She sat up straighter wiping at her tears, “Kenny hey…”

“Blake, what’s wrong,” he questioned his voice softening as he reached out to wipe at her face, “What happened?”

“More like what hasn’t happened,” she replied in a small whimper holding her pillow to her chest, “I’m just having a really bad day Kenny. That’s all…”

“It looks like it’s more than that,” Ken decided reaching out to pull her into an embrace. He hugged her in his arms feeling her break down against his chest. After a few minutes her tears finally died down and he brought his fingers through her long, blonde hair. “Blake, what’s really going on?”

“Ken, it’s just awful,” she whimpered in between small sighs, “Seth and I tried to get married, but we can’t. He’s married to this horrible, wicked woman and she’s hell bent on making our lives miserable. She won’t just go away and I feel like I’m never going to be with Seth. Then to make matters worse they still haven’t found Jade and I know it’s killing Seth. I’m trying not to fall to pieces around him, but it’s so hard when all I want to do is…well, this…”

“Oh honey, I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through all of this,” Ken replied in a pained tone, “I wish that I knew you were upset sooner because I would’ve tried to find a way to be there.”

“You’ve had your own problems to deal with,” she pulled away from him wiping at her face once more, “You’ve had a hell of a lot worse happening for you and listening to my whine is the last thing you need.”

“Blake, you’re never the last thing I need,” Ken admitted with a sigh, “I know I’ve been a bit unapproachable lately, but I always have time for you.”

“Ken, this all seems so trivial compared to what you went through when you lost Caitlin. She’s dead and she’s never coming back, yet with Seth, he’s here with me, but I’m afraid of losing him. I’m terrified that this woman will find a way to keep us apart forever and I know that’s nothing in comparison to what you faced…”

“Blake, I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that losing Caitlin didn’t change me or my life, but what you’re going through,” he paused thinking about how Caitlin’s death was effecting everyone, “sweetheart, she was your best friend. I know that it’s hurt you too.”

“I try not to dwell on it, but sometimes it’s hard. I mean like now, well right about now I would’ve found a way to talk to her--to get her advice and see what she would say I should do in this situation,” Blake admitted with a sniffle, “I mean, sure I could call Sarah, but she’s got so much going on with her sister and with Kyle that I hate to add to the problems…”

“Blake, you’re not a problem. You’ve never been a problem. If anything, I’m the problem,” Ken shook his head poignantly, “If you knew the half of what I’ve done lately to deal with my pain…”

“You’re well within your rights to be hurting right now. I, on the other hand, should just learn to shut up and stop whining. I know not being able to get married should seem like small potatoes in the grand scheme of things. I mean, it’s not like Seth doesn’t love me because he does and it’s not like it was the right time because it really wasn’t, yet to come so close to have it ripped away from me like that…”

“It’s not fair,” Ken added hugging her again, “Blake, sometimes life isn’t fair, but you have to learn to roll with the punches. You have to find a way to deal with the situation that you’ve been put into and find a way to make the most of it.”

“Like you did when Caitlin died?” she questioned looking up at him with teary blue eyes.

“No, unfortunately nothing that I’ve done since Caitlin died was right. If anything, I’ve discovered how much of a jackass I can be since she’s been gone. With you, well like you said you have Seth and he loves you. I know that you’re his world and while I’m not sure exactly what happened between the two of you there, I know he needs you. You two belong together and something like this is only a minor roadblock.”

“Deep down I know that, but I guess I just needed a place to cry--a place to stop pretending for a while,” she shook her head, “That doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

“Actually it makes a lot of sense and if I’d been smart enough to do what you’re doing, maybe things wouldn’t have spun out of control as much as they have,” Ken replied thinking about all the things he’d done over the last few month, “Maybe if I would’ve reached out to you or Brant, then things could’ve been different.”

“They still can be Ken,” Blake reminded him with a small smile, “You know that, don’t you?”

“I’m not so sure of that anymore,” he whispered under his breath before offering up a poignant smile, “but for what it’s worth, I hope you know how much I love you Blake.”

“I love you too Kenny and I’m always here if you need me. That’s something that won’t ever change for us,” she promised leaning into him as Ken wondered if she’d truly feel that way if she knew of all the things that he’d done to destroy those around him that he’d cared about. Of course now wasn’t the time to worry about that. Right now was about taking care of Blake and making sure that she’d pull through this latest heartache that came her way.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Diego, I need your help,” Sarah came through Diego’s office door frantically, quickly closing it behind her. She still had a groggy Kyle at her side as she entered, “Something is wrong with Kyle.”

“What happened?” Diego questioned getting up from where he was seated at his desk, to run over to her and help her carry Kyle over to the couch to help him sit down.

“I went to Susan’s and they were…in bed together,” Sarah told Diego as he looked up at her surprised, “That’s the thing though. I think she drugged him Diego. He hasn’t been acting right.”

“I’m fine,” Kyle snapped rubbing his aching forehead slowly, “I just want to go home. I don’t even understand why I have to be here.”

“I’m going to try and help you Kyle,” Diego hushed him, seeing Kyle’s face tense in pain, “You need help.”

“What I need is some Tylenol or something,” Kyle protested shaking his head quickly, “I don’t need some hospital to help me. They never have in the past.”

“Just take it easy baby, Diego is trying to help you before you hurt even more,” Sarah hushed, sitting next to him and ran her hands along his shoulder soothingly. “That’s all.”

“That’s all?” Kyle questioned with a laugh, standing up and almost losing his balance before Diego helped him stand up right. “I don’t need help.”

“Kyle, you can’t push yourself,” Diego explained as Kyle took a few steps back, “You could get hurt even more.”

“Hurt?” Kyle questioned in a yell, clenching his fist. “I don’t think there is a word that can describe the pain I am feeling right now. My whole body feels like it is being pounded in by a steel pole. I can’t take the pain I am feeling right now. Nothing could feel worse then this.”

“Kyle calm down,” Sarah pleaded after seeing Kyle turn around and punch the wall behind him. He wasn't acting right at all, and if he kept it up…he was going to be hurting himself even more than he already was.

“I’m not going to calm down,” Kyle hissed with another sharp pain going through his body before he put his hand over his chest breathing in deeply, “I don’t think I can breathe.”

“Kyle?” Diego questioned seeing Kyle try and gulp for air before coughing slightly.

“Please,” Kyle begged, grabbing his stomach, “Just make everything go away.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“So what did you come up with?” Julian questioned one of the officers as the man came up from Cameron’s basement.

“Nothing,” the officer shook his head before moving on to another spot in Cameron’s home.

“There has to be something,” Grady rumbled from the place he stood in the foyer basically twiddling his thumbs while waiting for the police to come up with some clues as to where Jade was. It had been hours since the search began, yet nothing was happening. “What about the other teams?”

“So far nothing’s come up,” Julian replied with a frown, “You have to be patient.”

“I have been patient,” Grady snapped back at him, “The love of my life has been missing far too long already. I want them to find her. Are you sure Cameron hasn’t bought off the other teams checking out his other homes?”

“Grady, let the police do their job,” Brant growled up at him from where he sat on the edge of Cameron’s staircase. “I don’t see the point of us being here when the police are clearly capable of doing their jobs.”

“I want to make sure they’re done right,” Grady remarked sourly, shooting an icy glare over in Julian’s direction.

“They are Grady. I’m sure of it,” Avery piped in taking a step towards him, “We may have to face the fact that Cameron isn’t lying. He could be innocent after all.”

“Avery, you know what he did to me before. You know how he lied and manipulated to keep me behind bars so that he could have Jade. It’s just like him to take her away and keep her locked up somewhere just to spite me,” Grady’s voice rose with obvious emotion.

“If he had her, we would’ve found her,” Julian added as his cell phone rang. He stepped aside to take the call as Avery moved in front of Grady.

“Grady, listen to me, you’re going to have to calm down. This isn’t helping anything,” Avery tried to reason with him.

“They should be letting us search. You and I both know we’d be doing a better job at this,” Grady spoke up in an agitated voice. “We should be the ones doing this.”

“Grady they have to follow procedure,” Brant loosened his tie irritation passing through him as he rose up from the bottom step to approach Grady, “As much as you’d like to call all the shots, there are rules to be followed in conducting a proper search. If they aren’t, well, can you say O.J. Simpson?”

“Cameron said he wanted Avery to be the one to search. He said that he wanted us to look and we should be able to,” Grady argued with him.

“Grady, you’re a lawyer. You know that would never hold up. Even with us being here, we’re taking a risk,” Avery tried to reason with him, “This has to be done through the proper channels.”

“How proper can they be if Cameron is paying them off?” Grady snarled in response.

“You have to have faith in the system,” Avery insisted once again.

“You mean the same system that damn near killed me or the system that had me locked up for a crime I didn’t commit?” Grady’s voice grew louder by the second, “Oh yeah that system has given me plenty of things to have faith in.”

“Grady stop!” Avery snapped back at him, “You need to calm down. This isn’t helping anything.”

“No it’s not and as far as I’m concerned, it’s time for you all to leave,” Julian added returning to the room. “That was my contact at the last of the homes Cameron gave us permission to search through. They’re going to continue their search through the night, but as it stands they’ve come up empty as well. I’m afraid we’re going to have to let this go.”

“Let this go? What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Grady questioned hearing the sounds of the front doors open just before Cameron stepped into the foyer.

“It means that you’ve had a look around, now it’s time for you to get the hell off of my property,” Cameron paused before offering up a wicked smirk, “please.”

“I don’t believe this,” Grady’s jaw practically dropped, “You mean you’re going to let him out when…”

“The judge posted bail Grady. There’s nothing more I can do, but ask you to leave,” Julian apologized as it was clear that this search hadn’t turned out at all like Grady was hoping.

“This isn’t over Stone,” Grady warned as Brant and Avery started to guide him out of the house before more problems ensued.

“Oh but it is…especially for you, but rest assured I’ll do whatever I can to help you find Jade. Together maybe we will accomplish what others could not,” Cameron replied with a wave hearing Grady cursing all the way out the door. His grin expanded and seconds later Thea rushed into the mansion.

“I heard that they’d let you out,” she began breathlessly, “I was on my way back to my place when…”

“Thea, my dear I think it’s time we open up a bottle of champagne,” Cameron glanced over at Julian, “Please feel free to continue to conduct your search if need be.”

“Oh believe me I will,” Julian added still distrusting the man before him.

“I have no doubt about that. Now Thea how about that drink?” Cameron suggested holding his arm out to her.

“I’d like that,” she laced her arm in his, “So tell me Cameron, how does it feel finally being out of that place?”

“It feels good. No I take that back. It feels better than good to know that the system finally worked in my favor,” Cameron confessed with a proud smirk, “It feels great to be back.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

...to be continued...