MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

Felicia Bale yawned as a nurse pushed her out of her hospital room in a wheelchair. The previous night had been horrible, but now Felicia was being released after her doctor, Simon Holden, allowed her to leave.

She had tests performed on her and she would get the results later, but Felicia just wanted to get home and rest in her own bed. Even if she would be confined to a wheelchair. As she was pushed out to the receptionist's desk, she was handed a clipboard she needed to fill out.

"Here you go, Mrs. Bale," Kimberly Black said, giving her all the necessary information she needed to fill out. "But if you ask me, you should really stay here in the hospital. I mean, you were hit by a car yesterday."

"And not a scratch on me," Felicia said. "Okay…well, there are scratches. But I'm just ready to get home."

"Maybe you should listen to her," Robert Bale, Felicia's husband, said as he approached the desk.

"What are you doing here?" Felicia demanded. "I asked Alec to pick me up."

"He's got some thing to do for stage crew," Robert explained. "Don't worry, I'm fine."

"Could you excuse us, Kimberly?" Felicia asked.

"No problem," Kimberly said, putting on a set of headphones and returning to her work.

"That's not exactly what I…never mind," Felicia muttered.

"Let's get you home," Robert said. "I don't want to do this in the hospital."

"I don't want to do anything with you at all," Felicia snapped. "I still want a divorce, Robert."

"I'm aware of that," Robert said. "And don't worry. I'm not going to fight it."

Felicia frowned. That wasn't exactly the reaction she was hoping for, but it didn't matter. She still wanted a divorce, and now it looked as if she was going to get one.



EMERALD HEART

Melissa Maddock awoke in the driver's seat of her car, which was parked in the lot outside of the Emerald Heart motel. She had followed Hugh Rogers there the previous night, after finding him in her cousin's penthouse. She had been too afraid to confront him then.

But now, she had to. She fell asleep in the car and was tortured by nightmares of Hugh coming back into her life and taking away everything she held dear. She wouldn't let him harm her daughter, or her new relationship with Robert.

"Dammit," Melissa said, wiping away tears that were still in her eyes. "Damn you to hell, Hugh."

Melissa climbed out of her car and stalked over to the stairs outside the motel. She climbed the stairs to the second level and walked over to the room Hugh had entered. Then she banged on the door and waited for him to answer it.

Taking a deep breath, Melissa prepared herself for coming face to face with Hugh, someone she hadn't seen since she graduated from law school years ago. When the door opened, she found Hugh standing in his room with a bathrobe on.

"Melissa Maddock," Hugh said, smiling. "What a pleasure it is to see you again."

Melissa slapped Hugh across the face. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Hugh grabbed Melissa by the arm and pulled her into his motel room. He slammed the door and then pressed her against it.

"All right, I see pleasantries will be lost on you," Hugh said. "But if you know what's good for you, I suggest you don't try that again."



MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Vanessa Phillips and Michael Hanley stood next to Detective Joel Kincaid's desk, waiting for him to return from the interrogation room where he was talking a suspect in one of his cases. After Vanessa arrived in Michael and informed him of everything that happened in California days earlier, they headed over to the police department to file formal charges against Ryan.

"I'm not sure we'll even be able to file charges," Vanessa said. "I think I'll need Alexis to actually do that."

"I'm Michael Hanley," Michael reminded her. "If I want files brought against Ryan Phillips for statutory rape, then Ryan will be arrested the moment he returns to Marquette Cove. Just let me handle everything."

Vanessa nodded. "Thank you so much, Michael. I always knew that I could count on you."

"You know I'll always be here for you," Michael said. "I regret the way I treated you when I found out that Ryan was the father of your child."

"It's okay," Vanessa insisted. "I mean, you thought that it was yours. But then it turned out to be Ryan's…it threw us all for a loop. And now, Eamon's father is a rapist."

Michael gave Vanessa a hug to calm her down. As they embraced, Joel returned from the interrogation room with a cup of water for Vanessa. She thanked him for the water.

"So, what can I do for you?" Joel asked.



EMERALD SQUARE

Dressed in black, the man picked up a newspaper from the stand he was next to and scanned it for a name to use. Coming across an article, he found the name Larry and decided that it would work for him.

"I've found names for you two," Larry said, turning to face his associates. "Your names will be…Moe and Curly."

"Which one of us will be Curly?"

"You," Larry said.

"All right," Curly said, waving his hand over his head to give himself curly hair. "Will this work?"

"It should work just fine," Moe said. "We only need these names for as long as it takes to retrieve the princess and return her home."

"She goes by a different name here as well," Curly said.

"I know of this name," Larry said. "Ariel Hanley."

"Just make sure you do whatever's necessary to make Sara fall in love with me," Ricard Branch said, standing in Quentin Blood's office.

He had returned to visit Quentin after finally coming to a decision about his offer. Ric was in love with Sara, he knew that he couldn't stop thinking about her. And if Quentin knew a way to get her to notice him, then he would take all of the help he could get.

"And you're aware of what that entails?" Quentin asked.

"Yes," Ric said.

Ric knew that by accepting Quentin's offer he would have to go back to work for him. But Ric figured that another couple of drug deals would pale in comparison to dating the girl of his dreams. It wasn't as if he were signing over his life to Quentin anyway.

"Then I believe we have a deal," Quentin said.

Quentin extended his hand for Ric to shake it. Ric shook Quentin's hand, then nervously pulled it back. He felt an odd chill run down his spine. Ric shrugged off the feeling and said goodbye to Quentin before leaving.

A few moments later one of Quentin's employees, Sark Welles, entered the office. "I take it you got everything you needed?"

"Yes, I did," Quentin said, removing a concealed tape recorder from his desk. "I have Ricard on tape hiring someone to get rid of his competition…Erin Maddock."

"Then you want me to take care of her?" Sark asked.

"Of course."



MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT

Joel hung up the phone at his desk and turned back to Michael and Vanessa. After they filled him in on the entire Ryan situation, he did some checking with the airlines to see when Ryan would be returning to Marquette Cove.

"Looks like Ryan is arriving back in town today," Joel said. "I'll have some officers pick him up when he gets home."

"I think we should be waiting there when he gets back," Michael said. "Let's go, Vanessa."

Vanessa and Michael started toward the exit, but before Joel could call out to them and stop them, he received another call on his phone. Sighing, Joel picked up the phone and demanded to know what the person on the other end wanted.

"Detective Kincaid, there's someone here to see you," the receptionist said. "His name is Gregory Black."

"Thanks, Sheila," Joel said. "Send him to my desk."

Joel sat on the edge of his desk and waited for Greg to find him. Once Greg walked over to him, Joel asked him to take a seat.

"Thanks for coming," Joel said.

"No problem," Greg said. "Although, I'm not sure what I'm here for."

"Your sister is Kimberly Black, correct?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"She lives in the Emerald Heights apartment complex?"

"Yes," Greg said. "Is there something wrong? Did something happen to Kim?"

"No, nothing like that," Joel said. "I'm just wondering if you've met her new roommate."

"Yeah, I think his name is Duncan or something. I haven't really had a chance to talk to him yet."

"Are you aware that your sister's new roommate is a convicted rapist?" Joel asked.

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" Greg demanded.

Joel picked up a folder from his desk and handed it to Greg. The folder featured several pieces of information on Joel's brother, Duncan.

Joel smiled. "Here's everything you need to know."

"How did you…why did you —"

"I'm just a concerned citizen," Joel explained. "Besides, it's my job."

"As a police detective?"

"No," Joel said. "As the rapist's brother."



EMERALD HEART

"I'm…I'm sorry," Melissa said, attempting to squirm out of Hugh's grasp. "It's just so surprising to see you here in Marquette Cove…what are you doing here?"

"I've come to visit an old friend of mine," Hugh said.

He released Melissa and walked over to the television set in the room. He turned off the television and turned back to look at her.

"Somehow, I doubt that," Melissa said. "But then again…you're not exactly living it up now like I'd expect you to be."

"Keeping a low profile," Hugh explained. "As one often does in my line of work."

"I don't know what you want from me."

"You owe me, Melissa," Hugh snapped. "You skipped out of Atlantic City before you could repay the debt you owe to me, and I'm here to collect."

"Why can't you leave me alone?" Melissa demanded. "It's been over fifteen years!"

"What better time to start?" Hugh asked. "I didn't even add interest."

"I'm not paying you a single dime," Melissa insisted. "I want you to get out of town. Now."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that…if I were to leave, I might have to leave behind the pictures I have of…well, of you on the job."

Melissa's face went white. "You're…you're lying."

"No, I'm most certainly not," Hugh said. "I have pictures of you sleeping with men. For money."

"You took pictures?!" Melissa cried. "Why would you do this to me?"

"You owe me, Melissa," Hugh continued. "And these pictures aren't going away until I get what I deserve."

Melissa tried to slap Hugh again, but he grabbed her arm and caught her. Then he retaliated by slapping her himself. Melissa reached to her face to rub her cheek, while Hugh opened the door to his motel.

"I've already called your office and left you a number where you can reach me," Hugh said. "I'll be expecting ten thousand by the end of the week."

"Why are you doing this to me?" Melissa cried.

"I'm attempting to keep this blackmailing cordial," Hugh said. "Please don't make me change my mind."

Rather than try to plead her case once more, Melissa dejectedly left the motel room. Hugh slammed the door in her face, leaving Melissa alone on the balcony outside of his room. She gripped the railing and tried to fight back her tears, but she couldn't.

Hugh watched Melissa from the window in his room, smiling. He knew she would end up paying for the photos to be returned, but that wasn't the only reason he was smiling.

He was smiling because the photos were far from the only dirt he had on Melissa's past.



MARQUETTE COVE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL

"Good," Felicia said. "I want to do this as soon as possible."

Robert nodded. "Agreed."

Part of him knew that he wanted to work things out with Felicia, but right now he couldn't let her see that. He had to go along with her plans and pretend as if he was the one pushing for this divorce. He wasn't going to let her win, not after what she had done to him with Michael Hanley.

"I've already got divorce papers in the car," Robert said. "You can go over them at home, I'll give you enough time to do so. We can talk out the logistics later."

"Well, then…thank you," Felicia said, attempting to hold back tears.

"I'm moving in with Melissa," Robert said. "So, you can keep the house. You'll have enough money for the mortgage for about two years, but after that you'll need to actually get a job."

"I have a job," Felicia snapped.

"Of course you do," Robert said. "We should get going."

Robert walked around Felicia's wheelchair and grabbed the handles. Then he started to push the wheelchair toward the elevator. Neither was able to speak to the other. There was nothing to say.



PHILLIPS HOME

As Ryan Phillips's taxi pulled up to his house and parked, Ryan dug into his pocket to find enough money to pay him. He had hurried back to Marquette Cove as soon as Vanessa left with their son, Eamon. That is, once he was able to ditch Alexis.

Ryan was already thinking of ways he could convince Michael to kill Alexis now that she had her memory back, and most of them involved Ryan watching as she took her last breath, just to make sure the bitch was really dead.

She had attempted to ruin his life before, but Ryan would be damned if he would let her win this time. Not when he had finally built the perfect family with Vanessa and Eamon. Never mind the fact that Eamon wasn't really Ryan's son.

Ryan loved Eamon as much as he would love his own son, and the fact that Michael didn't want him told Ryan that he was doing the right thing. He had just gotten a lucky break by the fact that Eamon didn't look as if he were the son of a white man and a black woman. At least, not glaringly so.

But either way, Ryan had altered Vanessa's paternity tests months ago to make her think Ryan was the father. She wouldn't question the veracity of the test. Ryan was home free.

He paid the driver and climbed out of the cab, carrying his suitcase. As Ryan approached his house, he found Vanessa standing on the front steps. Standing next to her were Michael and Detective Kincaid. That's when Ryan noticed the squad car next to his house.

"Vanessa, what the hell is going on?" Ryan demanded.

"Ryan Phillips, you're under arrest for statutory rape," Joel announced, removing a pair of handcuffs from his pocket.