The Sherwood Diner, 1a.m.
The diner is a little crowded for it being a late night, due to the buzz on Main Street. Dorothy and Larry are behind the counter serving coffee and pastries and Deanna Thorpe is helping waitress. Paul Harper, his wife Tess, and Ingrid Grimes enter and quickly grab a table by the counter. Deanna walks over to them.
"I see you've decided to join the party," she remarked dryly. She shook her head. "Some party."
"I couldn't sleep," Tess said. "We heard about the murder on the radio. Paul was up doing some work on the computer, and I was reading."
"I was up too," Ingrid replied, but for an entirely different reason. The shocking news about her brother would not let her rest.
"So, it looks like a serial killer is in Breckenridge," Paul surmised. "I swear this town has had more crime in almost two years than LA and DC combined. We're giving New York a run for their money."
Deanna shook her head again. "Well, Suzanne's murder has really shaken Mom to the core," she said referring to Eliza Braxton. "I'm afraid she's gone back to her old ways again."
"Old ways?" Tess asked, a little confused.
Deanna sighed and pulled up an empty chair next to Tess. "Before we came here, we lived in Philadelphia," she began.
"Larry did tell us that," Tess broke in.
"Yeah, but what he didn't tell you---and what I wanted not to be made public---is that Mom liked to party. Actually, she was an out an out tramp." The others winced at her bluntness, and she noticed it. "Sorry, but that's what she was. She had me when she was nineteen years old, and even after that and marrying my dad, she still wouldn't stop screwing around. That's why Dad divorced her and left and never looked back." She bit her lip, fighting back tears. "And last night," she continued, "she went to some bar in Baltimore and brought this guy home. While I was asleep! So I wake up the next morning and go out in the hallway to the bathroom, and there they are, up against the wall just pawing each other like animals."
She looked away, her face turning red with anger and frustration. "I know she's an adult, but she has a baby to think about---and she hasn't even attempted to go back to work. I feel like I'm the mother now. And if Lance found out, I know he'd be concerned for Melissa and might even try to sue for sole custody." She put her head down on the table. "It's such a mess," she mumbled sadly.
Larry jogged over and bent down over his girlfriend, his hands massaging her hair. "I guess she told you what's been going on," he said quietly.
Tess stood up. "Larry, I'll take over for Deanna. Why don't you take her home?" she offered.
Paul also stood up. "Lar, I'll help out too. You can go home with her."
"You guys would do that for me?" Larry asked.
"Of course. We're family," Paul replied brightly.
Ingrid smiled mournfully. Family, she thought wistfully. I wish mine wouldn't be so dysfunctional---or so incomplete. I wonder where my brother is. Does he even know about Kane and I?
As if on cue, Alex Perrini enters the diner. He had been woken up by the noise outside his apartment on Main Street and decided to see what the commotion was all about. When he learned a policewoman had been brutally slain in the alley. He was a bit taken aback.
You never think something that terrifying could happen in such a peaceful looking community like this, he mused to himself. In the few months he'd been living here, he grown to like Breckenridge. No wonder Kane and Ingrid settled here, he thought. A lot of the town is so quaint.
His light blue eyes scanned the room. Then he spotted her---his sister Ingrid sipping a glass of orange juice Dorothy had brought her. He stood there frozen like a snowman. He couldn't come right up to her and blurt out he was her brother. Did she even know?
When he realized he was being conspicuous, he quickly hurried to an empty stool at the counter and slid into the seat where Paul Harper was waiting for him.
"Can I help you?" Paul asked cheerfully.
"Uh, I'll just have some coffee," Alex replied, still distracted by the sight of his sister. "Black."
"Sure," Paul said. "I've never seen you here before," he began conversationally, as he pulled out a cup from the bottom shelf and placed it on the counter in front of Alex. He got a pot of coffee and poured it in the cup.
"Thanks." Alex grabbed it with both hands, blew into the cup, and sipped slowly. The hot brew felt good in his mouth and he smiled.
Paul watched him smile. "You know, you look a lot like my dad when he was younger."
Alex sat his cup down and looked at Paul. His eyes were practically the same color as his. His adrenaline started to pump. Could they be related?
"Really?" Alex asked nonchalantly. "What's your dad's name?"
Paul poured another cup of coffee and handed it to another customer sitting next to Alex. "His name is Kane."
Alex almost fell out on the floor. He tried hard not to scream. He was looking at his nephew. Now he had three newfound family members.
Loretta Sherwood ran into the diner. She spotted Tess walking over to Paul behind the counter and ran to them. "Tess! Paul!" she said frantically.
"Mom, what are you doing up so late?" Tess wondered. "Don't worry, we're taking care of things here."
"It's not that!" Loretta almost cried. "I just heard the most awful news!"
"We know," Paul replied. "The killer struck again."
"No, not the killer!" Loretta responded hurriedly. "Quentin Michaels has escaped!"