Scene 1:

Too much to do, Jamie thought climbing out of his car and heading up towards the Dean's office. Especially on no sleep. But life went on even though most of his was falling apart. He would just make this quick visit to set up the scholarship for the Staffords and then go home and crash. Chris wouldn't be home for another couple of hours and Ryan was working at getting Michaela's lawyer on the phone.

He still didn't know what to do about the divorce. He didn't want to divorce her. Dammit, he still loved her no matter how she felt. And she wasn't even giving him the chance to work things out. If he could only talk to her, he thought, he might be able to convince her not to give up so easily. He had ignored her but he could change.

He paused outside the main entrance and closed his eyes, soaking up the hot summer air. Autumn was on its way and days like this would be a memory. At least, it would be a good one compared to the others from the last 24 hours. He opened his eyes and looked around at the campus. With its carefully groomed lawn and tended flowers, the sight of it was idyllic. There was even a stray student or two sitting on a bench. His eyes fell on one in particular, sitting under a tree, her knees pulled up to her chest while she read what appeared to be a paperback novel. Her chestnut hair caught in the wind and lifted from her face, revealing her features. He grinned to himself, recognizing the girl instantly, and headed towards her.

"I didn't think you were a student here," Jamie said approaching the woman.

Reese absently tore her eyes from her paper back while in the midst of biting into a green apple. She chewed the piece, swallowed, and smiled charmingly still in a reverie from her novel. Managing to make it appear graceful and lady-like, Reese wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"What are you doing here?" she asked warmly, giving Jamie a hug. "You look like crap."

"Thanks," Jamie replied sourly. "I didn't sleep much last night. Lost my chief of staff at the hospital." He glanced up at the building. "I came by to set up a scholarship in his name. Least I could do for his family. What about you? What brings you here?"

"I meant that in 'look-like-crap-in-a-sexy-rugged-kinda-way'," Reese replied good-naturedly, rubbing the stubble Jamie rarely let grow on his face. "Sorry, I'm just in a good mood. I got the job here I wanted. I work in admissions now. Might have to see my parents more than I like, but their name was a factor in my getting the job, I'm sure."

"I could have helped you too. Just had to ask," he teased. "But congratulations. And I'm sorry if I snapped. I've really had a bad day."

"Don't worry about it," Reese assured. She stuffed her novel into her bag and slung it over her shoulder. She rather resembled a student, clad in slightly loose jeans that hung low on her hips revealing a sliver of bare skin below a fitted black tee. "So why such a bad day if you don't mind me asking?"

Jamie sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair, ruffling it gently. "Ah...well, Michaela's in Toronto with her parents. And I haven't seen or heard from her in weeks. Then last night..." He trailed off, the shattering memory of reading the papers flooding his head. He sighed again and looked her square in the eye. "Michaela filed for divorce," he said flatly.

Reese's eyes widened in surprise. She knew that their marriage had been rocky of late, but it still came as a shock. The more she thought about it, it pissed Reese off. At least her ex had had the gall to hand her divorce papers face-to-face. "Welcome to the club," Reese mumbled lowly, but not loud enough for Jamie to here or so she hoped. "If you're free for the rest of the afternoon, why don't I throw you a pity party and treat you to a meal?"

Jamie smiled at the gesture and nodded his head. "I'd like that. I doubt I could sleep anyway. All I have to do is speak to Dean Miles and I will be ready to go."

Reese nodded, "well, I'll wait here while you take care of business."



Scene 2:

"What are you doing here?" Toni snapped catching sight of Nicolas Tejera as he made his way through the maze of desks in the squad room. He was dressed for business in a light colored suit, something she thought would be more appropriate in Miami than here in backwater Virginia. She motioned toward an empty conference room, striding towards it without waiting for him. "Seriously, Nicolas, what are you doing here?" She demanded again once they were in the room and the door had closed safely behind him.

"I'm here," Nicolas replied carefully. "Because my brother is in your jail right now."

"You can't see him, you know!"

"And why not? Isn't he allowed visitors?" Nicolas asked, leaning against the table.

Was he kidding? His brother was being brought up on charges of rape, kidnapping and resisting arrest among other things and he wanted to visit him. She couldn't even get in to see him! Tyler didn't have a real lawyer yet. He'd spoken to a public defender but everyone knew those guys were useless.

"Nicolas, this doesn't look good. Are you going to go in there and tell them you're his brother?" She asked trying, she hoped, to make him see how stupid he was. "You know what the DA will do with that information?"

"You're awfully concerned, Detective. Dare I hope I've swayed your opinion about my brother? Not about myself of course," he added dryly.

"I'm just trying to help him." She folded her arms over herself protectively. "You made a believer of me, yes. But if you go in there announcing you're his brother, they'll use your reputation against him."

"Then I'll just have to find a better lawyer than the DA. Shouldn't be too hard. He is my brother whether either of us acknowledges it or not and the DA will find that out on his own." He gave her a long look that she couldn't quite decipher edging closer to where she stood. "I had another reason for coming here," he added in a tone that she hadn't heard before.

She swallowed, hearing a click in her dry throat. "What do you mean?" She asked warily, unconsciously taking a step back from him. Nicolas' eyes kept a steady gaze on her, making her decidedly nervous. There was still something about this man that she didn't trust. She couldn't put her finger on it but it was there and it made all her instincts kick into high gear.

"I mean," he replied with a hint of amusement in his voice. "That I came here to thank you. I know it seems a rather ridiculous thing to do...especially when you consider who is doing the thanking. I don't do this often Detective. You might want to make a note of the date."

Toni blinked in surprise. Nicolas Tejera was a mystery to her. How could this man with such obvious criminal ties be so charming and...oh, god, interesting? And he was thanking her in a sincere way she wasn't expecting at all. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he surprised her.

"Thank me for what?"

"For believing that my brother couldn't have hurt that girl. I know what you think of me. I can see it on your face right now," he said raising his eyebrows gently. Toni blushed and dropped her eyes away from his. He couldn't really know what she was thinking. He was toying with her, she chided herself. "I know you think I'm a criminal. But he isn't. And I owe you a great deal for not...assuming he is a carbon copy of me."

"You don't have to thank me for that," Toni answered feeling her guard let down once again at his sincerity. "I can't get in to see him...but I might be able to get you in. He won't get bail though. He's too much of a flight risk."

"I understand."

"Okay. Wait here. I'll see what I can do."



Scene 3:

He hit the sunlight again, thankful for the warmth of it after the icy halls of the Admissions building. Reese was waiting for him, sitting on the bench peacefully. He waved at her as he neared her, relieved that he didn't have to go home and face Chris yet or hear bad news from Ryan.

"Thanks for waiting," Jamie said offering his hand to help her up from her seat.

Reese took Jamie's hand and gracefully lifted herself to her feet. "Well, what are you in the mood for? Connie's? Maybe something more obscure?"

"Obscure sounds good right now. Last thing I need is to run into anyone I know." He stared off towards the campus, trying to think of a close restaurant, not realizing he hadn't let go of Reese's hand. "Do you like Chinese? There's a Chinese restaurant over here called The Royal Dragon. Kind of splashy and gaudy but the food is good."

Reese managed to pull her hand free, Jamie seeming only half aware of the surrounding world. Poor guy. Of course, she had been in this exact same place. "Chinese is fine," Reese agreed, pulling her hair out from it's ponytail and gently fluffing it.

Jamie's hand fell to his side. He flushed a bit at his lack of concentration trying not to show his embarrassment to Reese. "I'll drive," he said shortly and headed off towards his car with Reese at his side. "So tell me, Reese, how did you survive?"

"I have a talent for the pretend-it-never-happened-slash-denial game," Reese admitted with a casual shrug. "I had my friend Frankie around to keep me sane at the time. I guess the surround yourself with friends theory is true."

"Did you want the divorce though?" Jamie pressed thinking more about himself than what the effect of the question would be on Reese. "I don't want this at all and I can't think how she could expect me to just sign away my marriage like that." They paused at his car long enough for him to open the door for her.

Reese squirmed, which she tended to do when she was uncomfortable. "Yes and no," Reese replied cryptically. "Jay though had the nerve to do it face-to-face though. No offense, Jamie, but what Michaela's pulling is crap, even I wouldn't do that, and that says a lot right there."

"Maybe so, but still, I can't even get a hold of her to find out why she's really doing this." He turned the car on and backed out of his parking space. "My lawyer is trying right now but he won't have any luck. I know Michaela. She's very good at stonewalling."

"Sounds rash if you ask me, I mean if she won't even confront you about it, it seems like she hasn't really thought it through. I honestly don't have much insight into your marriage Jamie, but what Michaela's doing seems ill-planned and stupid. It was different with Jay and me, we didn't have kids after all," Reese said. Yes, Reese was one to speak of rash decisions, but it didn't seem right what Michaela was doing.

"Actually, it sounds completely sane and well thought out," Jamie countered. "After all, if she confronted with me face to face, she'd have to deal with me. And I don't like being left out of things. And then, if she filed for divorce here, she'd have to see Chris and my family. Filing through a lawyer is the only way she can do it guilt-free. And I think that is what she's banking on."

"Yeah, she's chickening out basically," Reese countered back. Realizing that this might erupt into an argument, Reese immediately changed her tone. "That's just my view Jamie, but if you want my advice, just make sure you have friends around and work to distract you so you don't dive into despair. That's really all I can offer."

"Hey that's enough," Jamie grinned at her. "Sounds like sound advice to me. But enough about my problems. Tell me more about this job of yours." He'd rather talk about anything but his wife right now anyway.

"Well, I interview new students, help settle them in, review applications, stuff like that. I wanted something that didn't involve skating or modeling," Reese laughed.

"Well working at Hope certainly doesn't involve either one. You like it so far?"

"I've only been working for about a week now, but yeah it seems okay. Today I had off, so I did some brief work in my office, then bummed around the library. But, so far, it's good."

Jamie nodded, turning into the parking lot of The Royal Dragon. "And other than the job," he said parking the car. "What about you? How are you?"

"You sound like a shrink, Jamie," Reese laughed. "I'm fine. I still don't talk to my parents, I'm 23 and divorced, and I live with a 16 year old. Honestly, I think I handle it well." At Jamie's look, Reese laughed, and gave his arm a squeeze, "don't worry about me, alright. I think your problems are a bit more than mine right now."

"That makes me feel better," he chuckled. "Well come on then. I feel like pigging out on a buffet."



Scene 4:

She had done better than see what she could do, Nicolas realized as the door to the conference room opened and Tyler entered followed by a uniformed policeman. He'd have to thank her yet again. She followed behind the uniform, looking stern.

"You have fifteen minutes," she said giving him a hard look before motioning to the uniformed cop. "I think we can give Mr. Tejera a moment with his...client." The cop shrugged and left the room. "I told them you were his lawyer," Toni muttered before departing herself.

"A lawyer," Nicky repeated. "That is ironic, don't you think?"

"Whatever man," Tyler answered in a tired voice. "How is Dinah?"

"I assume she's fine..."

"What do you mean you 'assume?' Haven't you been to see her? Christ Nicky!" Tyler snapped. Nicky's eyes widened at the tone but didn't reply. His brother had just spent the night in prison and was now standing here in need of a shower and shave wearing handcuffs. It was just the tension and stress of the whole situation that made him snap. "I need you to make sure she's all right!"

"First of all," Nicolas began pushing a chair out for Tyler to sit down. "My main concern right now is my brother. You, remember? Do you think I am going to sit back and allow these...hillbillies railroad you into a life in prison?"

"I didn't do it remember? I'm not going to prison, Nicky." He dropped into the chair that Nicolas had shoved toward him. "But Dinah is going to need someone to help her. Especially if she doesn't know about her dad yet. Her family isn't going to help her, Nicky."

"So you want me to forget about you rotting away in this jail just so Dinah has someone to lean on when she wakes up? Tyler, that is admirable but stupid."

"I don't care about myself. Just make sure Dinah is all right," Tyler pressed.

"Your concern for her is nice Tyler," Nicolas began choosing his words carefully, "but you should really think about yourself now. After all, you are now in police custody and if these guys are at all sharp they are going to know you are not Tyler Jones but Tomas Tejera and that you are indeed the brother of a criminal mastermind as Detective Hamilton keeps reminding me. They will throw you in prison without thinking twice. Dinah would not want you to go to jail just because you stopped thinking about yourself."

"Dinah has done nothing but help me, Nicky. If I can help her now...even just a little...I'll do it. Besides, you'll get me a good lawyer. I'm not worried. Just please, make sure she's all right. For me."

Nicolas sighed heavily as the conference door opened. "I'll go as soon as I leave here."

"Time's up," Toni said from the doorway. "I'm sorry I couldn't get you more time."

"That's all right. I fully expect to see my brother out on the streets in no time at all. But thank you Detective." Nicolas helped Tyler to his feet, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. No matter what Tyler wanted, Nicolas was not about to let him stay in prison a minute longer than was necessary. His concern for Dinah was admirable but misplaced. His only aim was to get his brother out of jail and out of trouble as quickly as possible. No matter the cost.



Scene 5:

Dinah's eyes flickered open and then closed as quickly as she tried to wake herself. There was something she had to do, she thought in her semi-conscious state. Something important. She struggled for a moment trying to rouse herself from the gray area she had floated in since the night before. It wasn't a nice place but it was safe for the time being. Somehow, she knew if she woke up the world would be different. Gone.

"Dinah." She heard Galen's voice somewhere nearby and roused again. She was somewhere safe after all, she tried to tell herself. Galen was safe. He always watched out for her...even after Kelly was gone. Her eyes opened again and she forced herself to focus. She swallowed and heard the inevitable click of her dry throat. "Hold on," Galen said putting a straw to her lip. "Okay, go ahead and swallow...but not too much."

She obeyed just as she always had when she was younger and Galen took care of her. She smiled gratefully at him wondering just how she could have ever taken him for granted. He pulled the straw away and returned her smile easily.

"Better?" He asked. She nodded and let her eyes flutter closed for a moment while she forced the water down to ease the scratch in her throat. "Good. How are you feeling? Are you hurting at all?"

She thought about that for a moment, letting herself feel. Her shoulder hurt...burned almost. But other than that, she seemed all right. A bit groggy but okay. "My shoulder..." Galen nodded understanding, the smile never wavering.

"Yeah, that's gonna hurt for a couple of days," he replied. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Last thing I remember is being in the street with..." She broke off at the memory. Tyler! She remembered being in the street and the police running towards them. She remembered wanting to run, wanting Tyler to run. But then...something...no someone had stopped them. Had he gotten away? Oh God, she prayed, please let Tyler be as far away from here as possible.

"That's the last? Do you remember who was with you, Dinah?" Galen pressed gently.

She frowned at him but went back to the night before willingly. Tyler had been with her. And then the police. But there was someone else. Why couldn't she see who it was? Tyler had her hand and they were watching a car approach... Nicolas was in the car, she remembered. But he wasn't. Not really anyway. They had thought it was Nicolas but it was someone else. No, it wasn't there.

"I was with Tyler," she answered her brother-in-law at last. "And someone else. But I don't remember who the other person was. Was it Tyler's brother?"

"Brother?" Galen repeated with a frown to match hers. "No, Dinah. It was your father. John was on his way home from that damned ball at the country club when he heard that the police had you in custody. He was heading home to get you. Do you remember him being there now?"

"Oh well it must have been him then," she replied trying to remember. He had probably yelled a lot but then... No, something else happened. "Galen...I don't remember much of anything from last night. Is Tyler okay? Did he get away?"

Galen's face softened even more in what Dinah thought must have been pity for her. "No. He's in custody, Dinah. He wouldn't leave you."

"He's in prison. We should never have come back," she sighed heavily.

"Dinah...listen to me," Galen interrupted taking her hand. "You do know that the police fired at you and Tyler when you tried to run, don't you?"

"It's why I'm here," Dinah added, realization setting in at an alarming rate. "They shot at us because we tried to run and I got hit. But Tyler didn't. Otherwise he'd be here too!"

"That's right. Someone else was shot though. The police said you were unconscious by the time they got to you so you probably don't even know." She studied Galen for a moment trying to decipher his expression. She couldn't though, giving up almost as soon as she had begun. She was tired, she told herself, and Galen was acting weird. "Listen, Dinah. I'm about the only family you have right now who is going to stand by you through this, so don't roll your eyes at me or ignore me right now. Okay?"

"I'm not doing either. I'm just tired," Dinah replied trying to defend herself. "And you are always the only one in my family who is nice to me, Galen."

"Well listen to me then. Dinah..." He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand again. "Your dad...John...was there with you on the street. Only...he got in the way." Dinah's brows pulled together in a tight frown. Got in the way? What did that mean? "He got hit by a stray bullet, Dinah. He's gone."

"Gone?" She choked the word out not entirely sure she understood what Galen was getting at but then it hit her full force. She sucked in her breath as if she had been slammed in the chest and had the wind knocked out of her. Her father was gone. Dead, she added silently. Dead and it was most certainly her fault. He had been there because of her. The police had fired because she and Tyler had run. She squeezed her eyes shut, shaking Galen's hand away. He was dead and it was her fault. And it wasn't her mother telling her either. It was Galen. Because Galen was the only one who could face her.

"Dinah? I'm sorry. I know he didn't treat you the way you wanted him to, but he would never blame you for this," Galen told her. "He wouldn't."

Dinah's eyes opened and she stared at Galen in horror. "Then you didn't know my father. He would blame me. And he would be right. This...everything... it's my fault. I can practically hear him telling me that."

"No, Dinah...."

"It's nice that you want to believe I'm an innocent in all of this," she said softly, choking back tears. "But let's face it. I might as well have pulled the trigger. If I was so innocent, where is my mother?" She waited but knew Galen wouldn't be able to respond without lying. "See? You can't deny it. Maybe you should go and tell her that I know it was my fault. She doesn't need to come and tell me. Not that she will...."

She turned away from him, squeezing her eyes shut again. She bit the sobs back but the tears came anyway, staining her cheeks and the pillow beneath her. Might as well cry, she decided. Though whether she was crying for herself or for her father, she didn't know and didn't care. She waited until she heard the door close and Galen was out of the room to let the torrents of tears escape. It wouldn't matter what happened to her or Tyler now, she thought weakly between ragged sobs. The damage had been done at last.
 

On the next Episode of Secret Horizons...