MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Chris Server walked through the corridor leading to Blake's holding cell, with Kelli Anderson behind him, as well as Blake's lawyer, Robert Bale. After finding out from Kelli about Blake getting arrested, he had to wait to see him until he could find a lawyer to represent him.

Luckily, since Blake's brother, Michael Thomas, had been one of Robert's son's close friends, Robert was more than willing to take Blake's case. Robert had also been able to cut through some red tape to allow Chris and Kelli both to visit Blake with him.

As the approached Blake's cell, Blake glanced up from his cot and noticed his friends approaching him. He forced a smile across his face and stood up to meet them.

He croaked a greeting. "Hey guys. Hey Mr. Bale."

"Blake, what the hell happened?" Chris demanded, grabbing the bars of Blake's cell.

"They think I killed Damon," Blake said softly.

"Did you?" Robert asked.

Blake waited a moment to respond, but before he could, Chris spoke up. "No, of course he didn't!"

"What he said," Blake replied

"So, you're going to help him, right, Mr. Bale?" Kelli asked.

"I'll certainly do my best," Robert said. "But I'm going to need Blake to tell me everything."

"I will," Blake said quickly. "Everything you need to get me off."

"Please, Mr. Bale, you have to get Blake out of here," Chris said, taking Blake's hand in his own through the cell bars. "I love him."

Blake smiled, trying hard to fight back tears.



MOORE HOME

Leslie Moore stepped out of the cab parked in front of her home, beaming from ear to ear. She was incredibly happy for the first time in days, now that Robert had been able to pull some strings to get her out of the Sacred Heart Rehabilitation Center.

She was currently at home on a probationary release, and Leslie was going to make sure that things went differently on her third go-round. Leslie knew the truth about her brother-in-law, Derek Moore, and now she would be able to rebuild her family from the ruins he had put them in.

Leslie walked to the front door, removing her extra set of keys as she set her small suitcase on the ground next to her. As she prepared to unlock the door, someone else opened it from the inside.

"Mom?"

"Hey honey," Leslie said, smiling as she saw Akilah at the door.

"Oh my God, what are you doing here?" Akilah cried. "I thought you were —"

"Surprise," Leslie said. "I worked extra hard to come back to you. And now I'm here."

"For good?"

"For good," Leslie promised.

Akilah laughed. "You've got to stop doing this surprise return thing," Akilah said, without realizing how bitter her comment came out. "Oh, God…I'm sorry."

"No, don't you worry about it. You're right, we've got a lot to talk about, as a family."

"Speaking of family," Akilah said, her expression changing to a somber one. "I was just on the phone…I was talking to the funeral home about Uncle Derek being cremated, and —"

"I'll deal with that," Leslie insisted. "I don't want you thinking about him anymore. I don't want you or your brother to worry about that."

Akilah nodded, not noticing ignore the anger in Leslie's comment.

"Now, where is that son of mine?"

"Probably at his second home," Akilah muttered.

"What?" Leslie asked. "He's with Alec?"

"No," Akilah said. "Michael Hanley's house. Vince is living there now."



BLOOD HOME

Quentin Blood returned to his living room and closed the French doors separating the room from the foyer. His new guest, Duncan Kincaid, was seated on the couch. "May I offer you a drink?" Quentin asked, approaching the table where his bourbon glasses were.

"No, thank you," Duncan said. "I don't drink, actually. I'm in AA."

"Oh, yes," Quentin said. "Must have slipped my mind. Is your sponsor here in Marquette Cove?"

"She actually passed away, I'm afraid," Duncan replied. "I suppose I'll need a new —"

"The pleasure would be mine," Quentin insisted.

Duncan smiled. "Wow, you've really done so much for me already. You've helped me get my case reopened and you got me released from jail…you've arranged for me to get a job at the paper…you even got me my car back."

"Like I said, I've been reading up on your case — your brother, Joel, is an acquaintance of mine."

"Then I'm really confused now. Joel hates me."

"But only because he assumes the worst about you," Quentin said. "You're a free man now. You're innocent in the eyes of the law."

"Yes, but my brother and I have a rather Cain and Abel relationship."

"I don't read the Bible," Quentin said, dismissing the comment. "But you…you've obviously changed since you were falsely imprisoned."

Quentin noted Duncan's overall appearance — he was wearing sandals, tattered jeans, and a hemp necklace. The only thing expensive about his appearance was a pink collared shirt Quentin recognized from a trendy store at the mall, and silver watch Duncan had around his left wrist.

"I've taken the liberty of providing you with photographs of your family members, for your own reference, obviously."

Quentin picked up a folder from the coffee table and handed it to Duncan. Duncan opened the folder and removed photos of his brother, an older woman, and a teenage girl.

" Anna, his second wife," Duncan noted, referring to the photo of the older woman. "And this gorgeous young lady must be Julia, my niece."

"You've missed a lot of time with your family," Quentin observed. "Joel and Anna are divorced."

"Wow," Duncan said. "But all three are in Marquette Cove?"

"Yes," Quentin answered. "And now, you as well."

Duncan sighed. "The Kincaid family…back together again."

Vanessa Phillips emerged from the bathroom, drying her hair with a towel. Ryan had been asleep when she awoke, so she decided to take a shower and get her day started early. But since she was on vacation, most of Vanessa's "day" consisted of sightseeing.



YORK HOTEL
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

"Alright, Eamon, let's wake up your daddy," Vanessa said, speaking to the child she had been carrying for nearly eight months.

Vanessa stopped herself for a moment, realizing that she rarely referred to Ryan in that manner unless she was being sarcastic. She didn't want to start doing it now either, not when she knew she had to be getting close to figuring out whatever secret Ryan had been keeping from her for the past year.

Vanessa looked at the bed and noticed that Ryan was no longer there. Vanessa swore under her breath and stalked over to the bed.

"Where the hell did you disappear to, Ryan?" Vanessa wondered aloud.

As if in response to her question, the door to their room opened and her husband, Ryan Phillips, walked inside. He smiled at Vanessa and spoke, "Hey honey."

"Where the hell were you?" Vanessa demanded, not bothering to respond with a similar greeting. "And what are you up to this time?"

Dr. Victor Collins sat in his office, attempting to sign a stack of forms that needed his attention for some reason or another. Most of the papers he could sign without looking at them, since the important files were in another stack at the edge of his desk. Right now, he was only concentrating on busy work.

But lately, it had become hard for him to focus on even simple matters like this. Especially now that Michael Hanley's plans for his adopted brother, Sean Moore, were finally moving into their next phase.

All of Marquette Cove still believed that Sean had perished after his car exploded over a year ago, but in actuality Victor was helping Michael program a very much alive Sean to do his bidding in whatever endgame Michael had planned.

Victor still didn't know what that was.

Before he could give it another thought, the phone in his office rang. Victor picked it up and found that it was Michael.

"Hello, Michael."

"Victor, how's it going?"

"Work is tedious at best, but I'm assuming that's not what you called for," Victor said.

"No, it isn't," Michael agreed. "I've called because I've decided to move ahead with the next part of my plan."

"The part that should throw your sister Valerie for a loop?"

"No, not that," Michael said. "I think that very soon, we'll be ready enough to alert Sean's presence to his surviving family members."

"An accidental reveal?"

Michael chuckled on the other end. "No. I want to them to hear it from me."



BLOOD HOME

"The Kincaid family is indeed back together again," Quentin announced, after closing the front door behind his exiting guest. Now that Duncan had left, Quentin could speak frankly about his latest plans.

Quentin was now ready to begin destroying the lives of the men he held responsible for attempting to bring their own type of destruction to his drug organization that had been operating in Marquette Cove for nearly twenty years.

Those men — Detective Joel Kincaid, Chris Server, Ricard Branch — they would all pay for their treachery. Not only that, but the people they cared about would as well.

Quentin laughed as he returned his living room, approaching a bookshelf in the corner. He opened a small cabinet in the bookshelf and stared inside. "Of course, none of that would matter if anyone ever discovered the truth."

Quentin closed the cabinet and made sure it was locked. No one could ever open that cabinet beside himself. If they did…it would sign his own death warrant.



MOORE HOME

"No," Leslie said, hoping she had misheard her daughter.

"I'm sorry, mom," Akilah said. "But it's true…Vince abandoned us to live with Michael Hanley, someone he hated up until you left."

Leslie cried out, falling back against the wall. "Oh God, this is my fault…this is all my fault."

Akilah frowned. "No mom, don't blame yourself."

"But how can I not?" Leslie demanded. "After your father died, I should have paid closer attention to him…to both of you. I'm so sorry."

"Mom, this isn't your fault," Akilah insisted. "Vince has turned into a jerk lately, it's all because of that Jessica girl."

"Jessica Reyes? His old girlfriend?"

"Yes," Akilah said. "She's a manipulator, mom. She's been trying to ruin Vince's life from day one, and now she's moved on to hurting Alec."

"What are you talking about?" Leslie asked, confused as to what Akilah had now changed the subject to.

Before Akilah could respond, the front door opened and Vince stepped into the house. He removed a pair of sunglasses and stared ahead at his mom and his sister.

"Mom!" Vince cried. "You're home!"

Vince rushed to his mother's side and embraced her, overjoyed to see her. Akilah excused herself, mentioning that she needed to stop by and see Julia about a school project, and said a quick goodbye before leaving the house.

Once Akilah was gone, Leslie closed the door. Then she turned around and slapped her son across the face.

"What the hell did you do that for?!" Vince demanded, reaching up to rub his jaw.

"That's a preview of what I have in store for you, young man," Leslie responded. "Unless you move out of Michael Hanley's mansion. Immediately."



YORK HOTEL
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ryan demanded. "I just went out to get some ice."

Ryan raised the container of ice to show Vanessa, which caused her to frown. She sat down on the edge of the bed and said nothing to him.

"Thanks for the apology," Ryan said, slamming the door shut.

"I'm not going to apologize to you, Ryan," Vanessa said. "Because you are hiding something from me."

Ryan set the ice down on the table near the door. "I thought we were over this, Vanessa. I thought that once we got married, we would be able to move on from all the lies and the mistrust. We're having a child together…I love you."

"We can't move on until you come clean," Vanessa insisted. "Things haven't been right since what happened with Samantha. Then there was Allison…and Alexis. I want the truth, Ryan, and I want it now."

"I can't give you what you want," Ryan said.

Vanessa cried out.

"Because there's nothing to know, Vanessa!" Ryan cried, thinking she was still arguing with him. "I've told you everything, and whether or not you're ready to believe that is up to you."

"Ryan…" Vanessa gasped, grasping her stomach.

"What?"

"I think…I think my water just broke," Vanessa said.