Scene 1:

Jory loosened his tie and headed straight to the kitchen. John Stafford's funeral had been a surreal affair filled with every clichéd image of death he had ever heard of: the crying wife throwing herself on the casket, strong daughter who pulled her back, distraught friends all appropriately shocked. He pulled the fridge open and rooted around for a moment until he found what he was looking for: a plate of cold fried chicken and a cold beer. He settled down at the table and helped himself, realizing exactly how hungry he was after the ceremony and small get-together at the Stafford house. He'd left that after an hour of wandering around, trying not to sound too caustic in his comments about the whole thing.

It wasn't that he didn't feel for Barbara or Kelly but where the hell was Dinah in the whole thing? Left out, that's where. Almost every person outside of his own family had unanimously blamed her for the death of her father. Truthfully, Jory decided tearing into a piece of chicken, Dinah had caused some trouble in her life but the death of her own father? That was a lot to lay on her shoulders. Especially when you considered that he was the one who drove her to do exactly what she had done in the first place. Even if no one else could see it, Jory saw it and believed without a shred of doubt that John Stafford had pushed his daughter to extremes just as he had pushed Kelly and even his own wife.

So no, he hadn't really liked John Stafford. The thought hit him sharply winding him for just a moment and playing on his conscious. It wasn't good to think of the dead that way. But wasn't it worse to lie to yourself? Yep, he thought taking a drink of beer, it was a good deal worse to lie to yourself. He had known that for most of his life. Be true to yourself....and your school, he added mentally with a small chuckle. His siblings were just starting to get it.

Luke...well he had realized it right around the time of the fire but he was losing it again. He had watched Luke arrive at the funeral, alone, and take a seat next to him only to get distracted by Liza's appearance with Dane Lennox. Hallie's appearance five minutes later on the arm of Stephen Roth barely registered. He had spent the whole time ignoring what was going on and staring, quite obviously if Jory was completely honest and he was always honest, and Liza Gennaro. He couldn't blame his brother of course. Liza was stunning even in a morose and sad setting like a funeral. But the fact that she was with another man and quite plainly ignoring him should have clued Luke in a little.

He should have stopped him when Luke got up to approach her only to be rebuffed. He should have stepped in and said, "Come on Luke. Not the time nor the place." But he hadn't. He'd let Luke make a fool of himself while he was distracted by Gina's sudden and annoying chuckle that was totally inappropriate and out of place. His insides turned cold just at the memory of it. She had her hands on Kevin's arm and was giggling at a funeral! He remembered turning a cold stare at her that was met by his father's own expression. Jory could have sworn it was happiness in Kevin's eyes. Was he that unaware of how inappropriate Gina really was?

Jory sighed and swallowed another mouthful of beer, letting the bitter taste slide down his throat. He couldn't do anything about Luke even if he had wanted to. Luke seemed determined to win Liza back despite her obvious lack of interest. Maura, on the other hand, looked as radiant as anyone should be allowed to look at a funeral.

She wore black, like everyone else, but her face was soft and gentle as she took her seat. Jory watched her with a knowing eye, remembering the last time he'd seen her look so at ease was before their mother's death. Jude Fontaine took a seat next to her and slid his hand into hers, entwining gently, almost as if their hands were part of a whole. When she turned to look at him, Jory felt an unfamiliar stab of jealousy spike his chest. Jealous. Of what, he asked himself, knowing what the answer was. He was jealous of that peace she seemed to have found in Jude.

Piper had arrived shortly after that looking sad and impossibly young as she clung to Noah's arm. She avoided Kevin even though a day like this should have made her go straight to him and embrace him. The hurt on Kevin's face was immeasurable. He had had his say about Piper's life though and she had had hers. So far it looked as if she was winning this battle but only time would tell. Jory hoped it wouldn't be too much longer for both their sakes. Piper was still the baby and Kevin was still her father. They needed each other whether they would admit it or not.

There was a conspicuous absence amongst the Conlan clan though. The one that Jory had needed to see the most, Jillie, was nowhere to be found. He was almost angry with her for skipping out on this occasion. Then again, he reminded himself, that scene was not Jillie's at all. She would hate every thing about it and worse she would let him know how much she hated it. Still, where the hell was she?

He finished off the beer and stared blankly at the plate in front of him. He had come to the realization in the past month since leaving the hospital that he couldn't help his family the same way he had always done before. Somehow, they had learned to deal with their own issues or found someone else to help them along. That was definitely not something he liked either. His place in the Conlan family had disappeared without so much as a thank you, goodbye, and good luck.



Scene 2:

Piper nervously bounced her leg as she waited for the officer to allow her to see Tyler. She didn't have much of plan, she just knew she should see him. She knew that it was time for her to get over her grudge and speak to Dinah, especially now when Dinah needed someone more than ever. But, Piper figured Dinah wasn't going to accept her with open arms, so she would have to bait her. Piper wasn't necessarily the sweet girl everyone thought she was. She knew how to be manipulative. And she had nearly stabbed the heel of her show through Chase's eye. In her opinion, that didn't classify as demure.

He could see the blonde through the glass and looked over his shoulder at the cop for assurance. "You sure she's here to see me?" He asked again remembering her briefly from their meeting at Noah's apartment. Noah's girlfriend hadn't liked him much then and seeing her now was a jolt that he didn't like.

"I'm sure, now get in there. You have 5 minutes," the cop replied shoving him through the door a little rougher than Tyler thought necessary. He stumbled forward and looked at her trying to read her but not getting anything from her expression. He sat at the table opposite her, aware of the partition that separated them and the fact that his hands were still in the cuffs they had put on him when dragging him out of his cell that morning for his meeting with the DA, an unpleasant experience at best.

"Hi," he offered sounding uncertain.

Piper caught a brief glimpse of Tyler's cuffs. "Hi, I'm sure you didn't expect to see me of all people," Piper said softly.

"No, not at all actually," he replied warily. "Nice to see someone who doesn't want me tarred and feathered though," he added as an afterthought.

"I know you didn't do it Tyler even if I was wary of you when you showed up at Noah's apartment. I know Missy, she's a bitch, tried to say Dinah stole a bracelet from her once when we were kids. She's always been that way," Piper assured.

"Wish I'd known that before I made my mistake. But thanks. That means a lot to me."

Piper nervously ran her hand through her long, blonde hair. "I'm sure you want to know why I'm really here. Dinah's in the hospital. She just found out about her Dad, and I'm sure she's worried sick about you. I just wanted to be able to play messenger," Piper admitted. Yes, it was partially for selfish reasons.

"You'd do that?" Tyler asked raising his eyebrows incredulously. "I mean, that would be terrific. I'd really appreciate it. Have you seen her? Is she all right?" He went on hurriedly hoping for some morsel of information that Nicky hadn't wanted to give him.

"Yes, my reasons are partially selfish though. I was scared as hell when I heard Dinah was in the hospital and I know she's not going to welcome me with open arms, but she's going to want to hear any news of you she can get," Piper admitted, before quickly hurrying on. "Galen told me that she thinks her father's death is her fault, and knowing Dinah, I'm not surprised she believes that."

"It wasn't her fault. It was mine. I dragged her into this whole mess and she's done nothing but help me," he said with a small shake of his head. "Tell her that. Tell her I said it was all my fault. Tell her..." He trailed off not caring what Piper's reasons were for wanting to be a go-between. He was just glad someone wanted to help Dinah. So far no one else had been interested. "Tell her I'm sorry."

"Tyler I don't think Dinah regrets helping you in the least," Piper assured. "Is there anything else you want me to tell her?" Piper asked as she realized their time together was nearing an end.

Tyler nodded slowly, trying to think of how exactly he wanted to say this. In the end, he settled for the simple. "Tell her I said thank you." He heard the door open behind him and the guard cleared his throat.
"And Piper? Thank you. Come back and see me again. Please."

Piper nodded, "I will, Tyler." More than likely she would end up playing the go between for the two, but she didn't mind. She gave the guard a small smile, which surprisingly the gruff man returned, before leaving.


Scene 3:

Professor Leo Kingston was a nervous wreck.

Drumming his fingers atop his cluttered desk, he stared at a small collection of artifacts mounted on his wall. All had been properly catalogued and filed. All sat innocuously out of harm's way. But his attention was focus solely on one crudely fashioned knife. It seemed to mock him with its rugged blade and stone handle.

The last time he'd seen it, it had been lodged between Professor Adams' shoulder blades.

When he'd anxiously come into work a few days ago, he'd expected the campus to be swarmed with police. When he'd seen no one, his imagination had run wild on him. It was a big sting operation. Everyone he saw had the potential to be an undercover officer. Would they be waiting to ambush him once he stepped into his office? All day long, he'd waited for the other proverbial shoe to drop, fall out of the sky and crush him. But it never had. And the biggest surprise had been what he'd found when he'd finally worked up the courage to venture to Professor Adams' office.

Nothing. That's exactly what he'd found. There was no body, no sign of blood, no proof that the room had been ransacked. And the knife that had been used to kill his friend was now back in its proper place. On Leo's wall, directly across from his desk, where he could not ignore it.

It made it virtually impossible to breathe a sigh of relief. There had been a murder, of that Leo was certain. But obviously Hunter had cleaned up after himself after sharing the message. And supposedly Hunter thought the message had come across loud and clear, because there had been no more threatening phone calls in the last few days.

In the midst of it all, Leo wondered where the body was located. Albert Adams deserved better than to be dumped in some river or buried in some unmarked grave. But if Leo alerted the police now, they would either think he was crazy or that he was the murderer. So there was nothing to do but wait....

That wait might not have been as long as Leo expected. There was a knock on the door, pulling him from his thoughts. With an absent invitation, Leo turned as the door was opened and an unfamiliar man walked in.

"Professor Kingston?" At Leo's nod, the man approached the desk and whipped out a badge. "I'm Chief of Police Troy Sloane. I was hoping I might have a few moments of your time to talk about Professor Albert Adams."


Scene 4:

Dinah flinched as the nurse changed the dressing on her shoulder but bit back the tiny yelp that threatened to escape. No need to cry about it, she warned herself. In the grand scheme of things it didn't hurt that much. Not compared to everything else. She glanced out the window at the drizzling rain and thought about her father again. He liked the rain, she remembered. She didn't know why. She'd always thought rainy days were depressing. But it was fitting that it would rain on the day of his funeral. Sighing heavily, she squeezed her eyes shut willing the tears away. She was tired of crying about it. She had cried when Galen had told her she wouldn't get released for it and there was no reason to be so upset. At least she had the benefit of not seeing him in his casket, he had said. And that had made her cry even harder.

A soft knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. She opened her eyes and wiped them carefully, not wanting Galen to see her that way. It had to be Galen after all, he was the only one who had bothered to come and see her during her time at the hospital. Not even Liza had shown up, though she was sure Liza had her own life to see to. Still, she wanted her mother and she wanted some comfort from someone.

"Come in," she called when she had collected herself.

Piper slipped through the door, a vase of lilies in one hand, she wanted to hang her head and avoid eye contact with Dinah, but she made direct eye contact with her instead. She couldn't chicken out now.
"Hi."

Dinah's eyes widened in surprise. Piper Conlan. They hadn't even spoken since... Since when, she wondered backtracking in her head for a moment. Oh yeah. Noah's apartment when Piper had freaked out thoroughly at Dinah's presence. And now here she was with flowers. She felt a fresh round of tears well up in her eyes at the thought of Piper coming to see her. It was impossible. A dream.

"Hi....what are you doing here?" Dinah asked in a stunned voice.

Piper saw the tears in Dinah's eyes and tears immediately begin to form in hers. She broke eye contact with Dinah to allow her hair to fall as a protective shield around her face. "I....uh...brought you some flowers."
This wasn't exactly how she had played it out in her head.

"Thank you," Dinah replied quietly. "The room is kind of bare...so you can put them there if you want." She motioned to the table at the foot of the bed. "I always liked lilies."

Piper did as she was told, surprised by the lack of flowers. She expected the room to be filled to the brim with flowers. That's what Dinah deserved Piper thought fiercely. "I...uh...talked to Tyler..." she began, so relieved that Dinah hadn't kicked her out of the room yet.

Dinah's head jerked up at that and she struggled to a better sitting position. She didn't care why Piper was here, she realized. She was just glad that someone was. Otherwise she would be legally insane by now. "You saw him? Where? Is he out on bail? No one will tell me anything. They won't even give me a remote to watch TV. Can you believe that?"

"Dinah careful," Piper chastised at Dinah's erratic movements, but quickly apologized. "Well, he's in jail basically. I saw him...he was in cuffs, oh Dinah it was awful," Piper admitted, quickly moving to Dinah's bedside, forgetting about their personal barriers.

"Handcuffs? I guess he didn't make bail after all then. How is he? You know he didn't do what they say he did, don't you Piper?" Dinah asked wanting desperately to believe that Piper had somehow managed to come back to her.

"I know Dinah. I remember when Missy accused you of stealing her bracelet when we were in junior high, the bitch," Piper explained quickly, almost reaching out for Dinah, but stopping herself.

"Thank you," Dinah breathed. "You know what? Tyler's brother got her to admit to it...on tape. But I bet the cops won't use it. They probably can't but I bet they don't even try to follow up."

Piper nodded, "I honestly don't know how any of that works. Tyler wanted me to tell you he's really sorry about getting you into this mess. And he thanks you."

"He didn't get me into anything. I wanted to help him." She turned her head away for a moment trying to remember why she had gotten involved. Because her father didn't want her to be, she thought and the thought made the tears well again. "Will you tell him that I'm all right? Tell him that as soon as I get out of here I'm going to make sure he gets out too."

Piper nodded. "He asked me to come visit again. I don't mind being the messenger girl at all. I just want to help you, Dinah," Piper admitted softly.

"Why?" She demanded suddenly. "Why do you want to help me now?"

Piper jumped back startled, by Dinah's sudden change of temperament. She briefly stammered, before finding her words. "Because when...I heard....about the wreck...and your dad....it just made me realize how petty I was. And I hate that it takes something like this to make me realize that, but it's true!" Piper professed, a little loudly at the end, she looked around self-consciously as though someone else were in the room.

"So...you forgive me for the whole Noah thing? Is that what this is?" Dinah asked warily, toning her voice down a bit. Piper just nodded her head slowly. "Oh. So we're friends again?" She choked out not sure if she really believed it or not. God, it would be so nice to have Piper back. Especially now.

"Well, I'd really like to work on that, I mean if you want to," Piper responded meekly, nervously wringing her hands.

Dinah smiled, for what seemed like the first time in ages, through her tears. "I do want to. You have no idea how much I want to be friends again. I've missed you Piper."

The tears immediately flowed freely. "Oh, Dinah, I'm sorry for being so stupid," Piper said through her tears. "I needed you so bad when it all happened with Chase. And I know I've got my new friends, but they aren't you."

Dinah laughed a little and stretched out her hand. "At least you made new friends. Look at me. I lost all of them, Noah included and made one friend all summer. I don't want to start school this year without you."

Piper gently took Dinah's hand and gave it a squeeze. "Well, your summer wasn't like most college kids," she laughed gently.

"Not at all," Dinah agreed laughing again. God, she prayed desperately, please don't be teasing me here. I lost my dad, I lost Noah and Tyler, please don't take Piper too. She glanced over at Piper and grinned. "So, tell me all about your summer."



Scene 5:

Jillie pulled her fingers through her still-wet hair, silently fuming. After a hard workout at the gym down the street from the apartment, she'd taken a long, hot shower -- and even that had failed to relax her tense muscles. For the last few days, she'd heard barely more than a few words from Leo. Not that she wanted to hear from him at all, but they were stuck in a rather deep predicament.

The autumn air was drifting in, causing a few green leaves to fall from their branches. As she walked the sidewalks of the campus, Jillie tried to figure out exactly what she wanted to say to Leo. Well, she wanted to ream him a new one. But that was out of the question. All he'd deigned to tell her the day after their "discovery" was that they didn't have to worry about the police and that she just needed to stay out of it and away from him.

Like hell she was going to accept that. She was a part of this just as much as he was. Well, maybe not just as much, but she was a big part. He owed her a real explanation. She could go to the police at any moment and tell them everything she'd seen. Hadn't he thought of that? She could be a threat. Or what if the real killer knew she'd been there? What if he tried to come after her? Didn't Leo care if his little business dealings got someone else killed?

Taking the stairs two at a time, Jillie made her way towards Leo's office. It felt weird being in the building again. She half expected dead bodies to start falling from the ceilings. But that, of course, was silly.

She slowed as she neared his office door, which was ajar.

"We're investigating his disappearance. It's been over twenty-four hours since he was last seen. His wife says he never arrived home the night of that big charity function. He was supposed to pick her up at seven and he never showed."

The voice wasn't Leo's.

"I...don't know what to say. The last time I saw the professor - "

"Leo!" The men turned as Jillie sauntered through the door, giving her hips a little extra swing as she passed the cop. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I just got a little out of sorts when you missed our lunch date." She smiled brightly at him, a warning in her eyes, before she shifted her attention to the other man. "I don't believe we've met."

Leo smiled tightly, motioning to the woman perched lightly against the edge of his desk. If he hadn't known better, he'd swear the look in her crystalline blue eyes had turned pointedly flirtatious. "This is Jillian Conlan. Jillian, this is Troy Sloane. The Chief of Police," he added meaningfully.

Her eyes widened almost inconspicuously. But instead of fear, Jillie pulled off awe quite well. "The Chief of Police," she echoed, a breathless quality turning her voice a little huskier than usual. "I certainly wouldn't mind having you protect and...serve."

Troy smiled fleetingly. "Conlan," he said thoughtfully. "That's a rather auspicious name around these parts."

"It's both a blessing and a curse," Jillie told him.

He nodded, making a mental note of her and her sudden appearance in Kingston's office. "So, you haven't seen Professor Adams recently? Can you recall the last time you did see him?" he asked, turning back to Leo.

"Last time I saw him would probably have been the day of the charity Ball. We presented a joint lecture on ancient Sumerian texts."

"I see. At no point after that did you see him again?"

"No. I left early that afternoon. Went home, graded a few papers, got ready for the Ball and the rest is, as they say, history."

"Well, thank you." Nodding to them both, he found his way to the door. "If I have any further questions, I'll be sure to let you know."

"Please do," Leo remarked. "I only hope Albert is found sooner rather than later. He was a close friend."

Jillie waited until the door was shut and Troy Sloane was halfway down the hall before she rounded on Leo. "You're so going to Hell. Now, I want the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And I'm not leaving till I get it."
 

On the next Episode of Secret Horizons...