Episode 94

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Episode 94

Scene 1:

Dinah knew every step on the stairs that squeaked. She stepped on every other one, first on the right and then on the left, avoiding the loose boards when at all possible. All for nothing, she realized getting to the top of the stairs and coming face to face with her father who was quite possibly as angry as she had ever seen him. With the exception of the day Galen came to tell them that Kelly had left and that Barbara had encouraged it. She met his steely gaze with a weary but defiant one of her own.

"Where have you been?" John demanded almost immediately. "You've had your mother worried sick." Dinah nodded, folding her arms. This was the beginning of the good cop/bad cop routine her parents usually played with her. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Not much," Dinah shrugged. "What would you like me to say?"

"Don't press your luck," John responded with a hiss. "Tell me where you were this instant and maybe I'll rethink taking your car from you for the rest of the year."

Dinah rolled her eyes. "You know Dad, I'm eighteen now. If I wanted to, I could move out and you wouldn't be able to stop me. So go ahead and threaten to take my car. I'll just leave."

"Oh really?" He folded his arms over his chest. "It seems to me, Dinah, that you've become quite independent in the last few weeks. You like that independence don't you?"

She narrowed her eyes, wondering what the trap was, answering him anyway. "Yes..."

"Of course you do," he nodded. "Let's talk like adults shall we? What is it do you think lets you have that independence? Your job at Connie's? Your car perhaps?"

"I don't know..."

"Of course you don't. Let me explain something then, Dinah. I pay your bills. I pay for your car, I pay for a roof over your head. I pay for your schooling which I might add you seem to have forgotten about. I pay for your credit card that buys your clothes. I pay for your food that you eat under my roof. Am I making this clear?"

"Crystal." Barbara came out of the bedroom fully dressed, almost on cue.

"You move out, you don't have any of that. Do you understand? You can do what you like, but I won't be there to help when you get yourself in a bind. And don't even think that your mother will help," he added glancing over his shoulder.

"Well, how could you help me when your resources are obviously tapped what with paying Kelly's bills and all," Dinah snapped back. She wasn't oblivious. She saw the mail when it passed through the house and there was always an odd bill here and there. Bills that she hadn't incurred and bills that she knew her mother hadn't incurred. It only stood to reason that they were helping Kelly but keeping it a secret. From the look on Barbara's face, she was right too.

"Dinah!" Barbara exclaimed sounding wounded. "We were worried sick about you! That Jones boy went missing and we thought he had kidnapped you or something worse!"

"It's not like he could have done much to me, Mom. The guy was hooked up to a machine the last time I saw him," she added quickly. John's brows pulled together in a suspicious gaze. "Look, you want to know where I was? I'll tell you. I was at Noah's okay? Call him and ask if him if you don't believe me."

"You spent the night with him?" Barbara asked.

"Not that way, Mother. I was mad yesterday, so I went to Noah's to get away from....him." She jerked her thumb at her father. "I stayed because his sister died in that fire. He needed a friend to be with him. Oh and Piper was kidnapped by that lunatic Chase. So, he was a little distraught. Okay? Satisfied. Now, if the Spanish Inquisition is over, I'd like to get some sleep." She made a move towards her room, but John held up his hand, stopping her. "What?"

"If you don't mind, I think I will call Noah. You wait here," he ordered walking to the hall phone. "What's the number?"

"555-8412." She stood staring at the ground knowing full well that Noah would indeed tell her father that yes, she had been there. Yes, she'd been a great help after hearing about my sister. No, he didn't know she was supposed to be at home. Yes sir, he was awfully sorry to have caused any trouble. She head John mumble a thank you and hang up. "May I go now?"

"No. It's a good thing Noah Wallace is an honest young man. Otherwise I would think you put him up to that," John began. "Tell me what you know about Tyler Jones."

She couldn't help the short laugh that bubbled out. "I'm sorry, it's just what I know about him is next to nothing. Oh wait. I do know one thing. He managed to escape from your prison after you put an armed guard outside his room. So, I know he's a great escape artist. May I please go to my room now?"

"You can go, but don't think you're going anywhere anytime soon. Barbara, call Maura Conlan and tell her that Dinah won't be able to work this week." Dinah started to protest but he held up her hand, silencing her. "You are coming with me to the hospital so I can keep an eye on you. Until the police find Tyler Jones, I don't want you out of my sight. Do you understand?"

That ruined everything! She opened her mouth to protest but snapped shut again. That would do no good, she realized. Instead, she stamped her foot angrily and stomped to her room, slamming the door hard enough to shake the walls. He could only run her life for so long, she reminded herself. Besides, there were ways to get even. One specific way indeed.

Scene 2:

"Miss Marek?"

The name was repeated once more for she was not familiar with it.

"Hm?"

"We're entering the Glen."

"The Glen?"

"Conlan's Glen."

"Oh yes," Vivian Marek answered with a shake of her head in hopes of shaking away her continuous thought flow.

"Locals affectionately call it the Glen."

She nodded with an attempted smile in the direction of the chauffer. He returned her attempted smile with a small, warm one before focusing his eyes back on the road. Vivian leaned forward, peering out the darkly-tinted windows at her surroundings. It was similar in it's quaintness to Hope's Cove except it had less of a beach feel. The ride up to Virginia had been long and heinous, but only because she
couldn't stop thinking. She kept wondering, too. Wondering if the way she had left had been too rash, but the more she thought about it the less she regretted it. Vivian Marek tried not to regret anything because life was far too short for regret. She knew though that she regretted not telling the only important person in her life the truth. She regretted not telling him how she felt and not allowing herself to rely on him.

Of course, she had left before she could allow herself to do any of that. Besides what else did the sleepy, Florida town offer? Nothing. She now had a fortune to her name, a last name that most everyone knew, and finally, a decent future. Love couldn't give you everything. It never had before. This was a good decision. Her life would be much better...even stable. So if all that was true than why did she feel nothing, but regret.

"Miss Marek?"

This time she responded after the first two times.

"Yes?"

"Welcome to Wooded Acres."

"Wooded Acres?"

"Yes, Augustine's name for the house."

Vivian leaned forward, leaving her regret behind. "Reid," she asked, using the chauffeur's name, "please call me Vivian."

"Augustine didn't like for us to call him Mr. Marek-"

"Well, I don't like to be called Miss Marek, why don't you give me the low down on this place?" she asked, her voice drifting as she peered out the windows. Sasha, her German Shepard had suddenly launched herself upright from the floor of the limousine to look at the windows as well.

Reid nodded with a smile, "well, the home itself is something reminisce of an extremely large, log cabin set in the Colorado mountains. It has five bedrooms and six baths. A heated pool. My wife is the cook and I'm also the butler. There's about fifty acres of land, a pond which is close to the cottage my wife and I live in. A small, golf course...Augustine loved golf and a small stable, though he never got the chance to put horses in it. A couple other guest houses, Augustine threw excellent parties-"

All the while, Vivian's eyes widened at the decadence Reid was explaining to her. "Who was his idol, Jay Gatsby?" The allusion addressed more than Augustine Marek's decadence.

Reid chuckled good-naturedly at the comment. He eased the car to a stop. Vivian turned in the opposite direction to see the house and her mouth dropped. She swallowed the regret in her throat. A heated pool, a golf course (not that she played golf), what else could a girl want...and if she wanted anything else she could buy it. Sure, it wasn't the best philosophy, but it was the only thing that could keep the regret down in her stomach.

Scene 3:

"Who was that?" Tyler asked, watching his new roommate hang up the phone. Noah seemed all right, a little depressed right now, but then he had a lot to be depressed about.

"Dinah's father," Noah replied, dropping back into the chair he'd been dozing in when the phone rang.

"Oh yeah, him. You were way too nice to him. He's a dick if I met one," Tyler retorted, shaking his head. Noah grinned, shrugging his shoulders. "Well, come on...the guy practically played judge and jury with me. If he'd had his way," Tyler continued, "I'd be rotting in a prison right about now."

"Dr. Stafford is just over protective," Noah tried in his the man's defense. Tyler quirked his eyebrows in disbelief. "Okay, so he's a little bit of a jerk too."

"A little bit? Oookay."

Noah flipped the television on, absently changing channels. Dinah had told Tyler before she left about Noah's sister. He felt for the guy, he really did. But he didn't want to get too involved. When he was better, he was out of this town. He'd come here just to get away from his past but it seemed like his future was just as bad. Noah paused the television on a baseball game, staring at the screen blankly.

"God I hate the Braves," Noah muttered. Tyler stared at the screen a moment longer before shifting uncomfortably on the sofa. "You know...if you don't mind that my...sister's stuff is still there, you could sleep there."

Tyler nodded grateful for the comfort of a real bed. "Thanks...you don't have to help me, but I really appreciate it man."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave the hospital? I mean, unless you were..."

"Guilty?" Tyler cut in adding the word for him. "I didn't rape that girl," he said quietly. "That's all there is to it. But her father is determined to make sure I go to jail. And I can't go to jail. Okay?"

"Fair enough. But you don't know if you will or not. Sounds to me like it's your word against hers," Noah advised.

"Or my word against her fathers. And her father is pretty powerful. He's a congressman, you know." He sighed, closing his eyes. He'd gotten himself into a world of trouble all right. Thankfully, it was his own problem to deal with and no one else's. So far. "You may be right but I think if I just disappear for a while, Missy will forget and maybe her father will too."

"That's wishful thinking, my friend. I think you're making a mistake but since I promised Dinah I would help it isn't really my place to judge you."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question? What is up Dinah? I mean, she's been trying to 'help' me since I woke up. I mean, I get that she was the one that called 911 and gave me CPR and all that. But she's fighting with her father over me. What is her deal?"

"Dinah's got a big heart. And she wants to go into medicine. I guess she just wants to help," Noah pointed out. "Besides, she is helping you at the risk of screwing up her own life. I wouldn't question it too much." He looked down at his watch, yawning as he did so. "Okay, I think it's time for me to get some sleep. Want some help getting to the bedroom?"

Tyler shook his head. "Nah, thanks for the offer though. I think I'll stay here and watch the game. I kind of like the Braves."

Scene 4:

"Dead, hmmm? Well, that certainly sounds like something Phoebe would want me to believe," Ryan muttered. He pressed rewind on his answering machine and let the tortured message from Rick Upton play over again.

"Mr. Corday, this is Rick Upton at the Observer. I'm not sure if you've been notified yet but Phoebe was in the Mason building when it collapsed. The police believe she is dead. I'm sorry." There was a short hitch in the man's voice as if he were actually upset by her demise. "I was hoping you would be able to contact her family. She really never talked much about them and I have no record of any living relatives. But surely she must have some... I'm sorry. It's been a long day. You can reach me at the Observer until later tonight after that my cell phone number is 555-9472."

Ryan didn't really care that Phoebe was gone. Sure, it was an inconvenience to show concern for his dead ex-wife, but after a week, people would forget that she was ever in Conlan's Glen. He drummed his fingers on his thigh, thinking. He could call Phoebe's mother but that was likely a job best left to Upton. He might be able to capitalize on this a different way though. Without pausing, he snatched up the phone and dialed the number to Jamie Mason's home.

After four rings, the answering machine picked up. "Jamie," he began, careful to put just the right note of sadness in his voice. "I hate to do this to you, but I think I may need a few days to myself. I just found out my ex-wife..." He let his voice tremble getting into his role as the grieving ex. "She died and I just need some time to take care of things. I hope you don't mind. You can reach me on my cell if you need me." He hung up, smiling at his own performance. Now there was just one more person who had to see him upset.

He'd had dinner with Jamie's sister, Ellen, exactly once. But it had been a comfortable evening and he had decided his initial impression of her was correct. Ellen Mason was a woman who didn't feel as if she belonged to her own family. An outsider looking in, he had thought at the time. She was vulnerable and lonely; a perfect path to a piece of the Mason pie.

He called Four Winds and asked for her but was told she was at the hospital visiting Hallie. Even better, he decided heading out the door. He hadn't decided on a game plan exactly. He was certain he wanted some of the Mason fortune though and he was certain Ellen Mason was the ticket to it. They had plenty and he had always had just enough to get by. Even when he and Phoebe were just married, they had scraped by barely. Getting Jamie Mason as a client had been the luckiest break of his life so far. If he played his cards right, this might all play out to his advantage. Aside from gaining control of some of the Mason money, there was Ellen to consider. She was certainly nothing to sneeze at.

The hospital was quiet again, now that the drama of the previous day had ended. He could see the exhaustion on a few of the doctors and nurses, but still it was quieter than he had expected. He stopped at the information desk, asking for Hallie's room number and directions, all the while planning out his speech to the Masons when he found them.

Hallie Lennox-Conlan was on the eight floor. He took the elevator, riding in silence with another man who most certainly had to be a cop judging from the gun strapped to his side and the confident swagger as they stepped off the elevator at the eighth floor. Ellen Mason emerged from a room, her dark hair pulled away from her face in a casual pony tail. She spotted him right away, holding up her hand in greeting.

"Hello," she said as he approached. "What are you doing here? Looking for Jamie?"

"Well yes and no," Ryan replied shaking his head. "I had something else here I had to see to. But I thought I would come up and see how Jamie was holding up. And how his family was doing."

"Thankfully, none of our family was hurt that badly. Well," she said as an afterthought. "Luke, Hallie's husband? His brother is pretty bad. In a coma, I guess. But other than that...at least we didn't lose anyone."

"Right," he nodded, dropping his eyes, and shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"Is there something wrong?" Ellen asked, sensing his discomfort immediately.

"It's just that...my ex-wife was in the building. She didn't make it out. I had to come by and see if I could identify her." He kept his head down but glanced up at her surreptitiously. Her face changed to a look of grave concern, her hand touching his arm gently in comfort.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ryan. Is there anything at all I can do?"

"No," he replied shaking his head slowly. "It's all right. Really. You have enough to worry about with your family." She nodded, her hand falling away. "I should find your brother. I think he might have to make do without me for a bit."

"I guess you'll need some time away then, hm? Well, I tell you what. You go on and go do what you need to do. I can tell Jamie you're taking time off. It's the least I could do," she smiled. Ryan raised his eyes, nodding gratefully. "And if you need someone to talk to, you can always call me."

"All right, thank you Ellen," Ryan replied forcing the satisfied smile into a mournful frown. So, there it was. So easy. He could see the rest of his plan spreading out ahead of him now. So easy indeed.