WHAT GOES AROUND PART THIRTEEN

    "Carl has promised to see his doctor." Rachel told Shane the next morning.

    "Ah'm glad to hear it."

    "Yes, but - Carl hates to admit being ill." said Rachel, "Even when he had pneumonia, he kept insisting that he was fine.  He might not tell the doctor about the headaches he's been having."

    "Maybe Ah should drop him a hint."  Just then, Claudia entered the room. "There's a telephone call for you, Dr Roberts."

    "Thank you."  As Shane left the room, he passed Carl. "Mornin'."

    "Good morning, Darling." said Rachel, "How are you feeling?"

    "Never better!"

    "Remember, you promised - "

    "Yes, Rachel, I give you my solemn word that I will call for a doctor's appointment, as soon as I have eaten breakfast."

   "That was Cass." said their houseguest, wheeling himself into the room, "The change of name is  official, so from now on , you can call me Bobby."

    "Delighted to hear it, Dear Lad." said Carl.

                                                ******

    Cindy, woken from a sound sleep by a knock on the door, peered blearily at Officers Tibbs and Burrell.

   "Cynthia Harrison?" said Toni.

    "You know I am."  Cindy yawned hugely. "Excuse me, I sat up half the night waiting for Grant to come home."

    Toni and Tibbs exchanged glances.  There was no easy way to say this:  "Uh, Cindy, Grant  - won't be coming home.  We - found him - this morning."

    "What do you mean - 'found him'?"

  "Grant was - floating in the Bay.  He must have fallen off the dock."

   "You're saying that Grant is - is ?"

    "He's dead, Cindy.  I'm sorry." said Toni, "I'm afraid you'll have to come downtown to identify  - the body."

   "Can it - wait a while?  This is such a shock; I need time to - to think."

    "Yes, of course."

    As soon as the two police officers left, Cindy opened the safe and took out Grant's will, which left everything to Kirkland.  She took it, and a box of matches, into the bathroom.  "Now we shall see who gets your money, Grant!" she said, striking a match and setting the paper alight.

                                        *******

    Down at the Bay City Herald, Chris Madison entered Jake McKinnon's office.  "Grant Harrison and Joe Carlino were both found floating in the Bay." he said, "It looks as though they were fighting, fell into the water, and hit their heads on the pilings. "

    "Fighting?" said Jake,  as visions of Hard Copy-like headlines danced in his head.

    "Yeah.  IN fact, my sources tell me that when they were found, they still had their hands locked around each other's throats."

   A juicy story like that would really boost circulation!  But, Joe the Jerk had been Paulina's husband, the father of her child.  If the truth were known, she would be hurt, and angry at Jake.

    "Let's not mention that angle," he said, "It's enough that the two of them died."

  "You sure?"

    "Yeah.  Just write it up as a straight news story."

                                                     ******

    Meanwhile, Josie and her partner, Detective Dolan, rang the doorbell at the Cory Mansion.  Rachel opened the door.

    "Hello Rachel, is Paulina here?" asked Josie.

    "Why, no." said Rachel, "She's in Reno, getting a divorce."

    "She's not gonna need one.  We found Joe dead, floating in the Bay."

    Rachel was shocked: "You don't mean - Joe Committed suicide?"

    "No, nothing like that.  It looks like they fell in accidentally."

    "They?"

    "Joe and - Grant Harrison."

  "But, how could they both have fallen into the water?"

    "Confidentially, it looks as though they were having a fistfight.  But we're hoping to keep that from becoming public knowledge."

   "I see." said Rachel, "I hope someone has informed Victoria.  She'll have to tell Kirkland that his father is dead."

  "I'll take care of it." Josie assured her.

    "Thank you.  I'd better telephone Paulina at once, and - has anyone told Sofia?"

                                                  *******

    Matthew encountered Lila in the hallway outside their apartments.

    "Are you okay?" he said, taking in her haggard appearance.  She had spent a sleepless night.

    "No!" she said, "Ah'm nevuh gonna be okay agin!"

    "What happened?"

    "Ah've lost Shane!  He hates me, now that he knows Ah'm carryin' yo' baby, not his!"

    "So, you admit it!" said Matthew.

    "They's no use lyin' about it, not now." said Lila, "'Sides, the truth would have come out when the baby was born, and you had that DNA test done."

    "Marry me, Lila!  Our baby deserves to be born in wedlock!"

   Lila looked up at him , with tears welling in her eyes.  She had lost Shane forever; she understood that now; all she had left to live for was the child in her womb, and that child was going to have everything Lila herself had lacked:  a name, a home, a father ...

    "All right, Matt." she said, "Ah'll marry you."

                                                  ********

    "How is he?" said Michael, entering Nick's hospital room.

    "No change." said Sofia, "He woke up - once."

    "That's great!"

    Sofia shook her head, "He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Joe's face.  The machines went crazy.  I guess he thought Joe was gonna hit him some more."

  "I'll see to it that Joe never enters this room again." said Michael, grim-faced.

    "What if Nick never wakes up?" cried Sofia.

    Michael folded her in his arms.  "Don't think like that." he said, "If Nick woke up once, then he's gonna do it again.  We just have to be patient."

    Just then, Josie entered.  "Sofia," she said, I - uh - have something to tell you."

                                                  ********

    "Congratulate me, I'm engaged." said Matthew.

    "To whom?" said Amanda, "I didn't even know you were dating anybody."

    "To Lila."

    "You can't be serious!"

    "Oh, I'm very serious." said Matthew, "Lila is carrying my baby, and she's going to be Mrs Matthew Cory when it's born."

    "And then what?"

    "And then I'll divorce Lila and get custody."

    "Oh, for a second I thought you were going to say   you were in love with her!" said Amanda, "I almost forgot why I called:  I overheard Carl making a doctor's appointment.  Apparently Mother persuaded him to get a complete physical."

To be continued.