KYLE MADDOCK'S CAR

Soon, Robert Bale will be dead. Lying in a pool of his own blood, a fresh bullet wound in the back of his head. Or maybe a knife wound in the back. Or death by strangulation.

The next victim will be Alec Bale. Perhaps he'll be killed with the same gun he used to kill Melissa.

Kyle's sister.

The sister he wanted to desperately tell he was alive, but couldn't. Because she was dead. And now, Kyle is on his way to her funeral instead of to her home to have a reunion. A reunion that was owed to them.

"I'm going to kill them," Kyle says, staring out through his windshield as his car whips down the highway.

The sooner he gets to the church, the sooner he can make his grand entrance. Everyone will be shocked.

Just like Valerie was, when he called her and told her that he was back. That he was ready to be reunited with their family. Unfortunately for Valerie, the news caused her to freak out and get locked in solitary for a good two weeks.

Which is all Kyle needed.

Valerie should be out of solitary confinement soon enough, assuming she's been on her best behavior. But by the time she has a chance to tell anyone about Kyle's return, everyone will already know.

"It's good to be home," Kyle says, whistling a showtune as he turns toward the highway exit. "The sooner I get to the church, the sooner I —"

Without warning, another car cuts off Kyle by switching lanes. Kyle clutches the wheel and attempts to swerve to the right, avoiding an impact. Unfortunately, the car veers wildly out of control and slams into a wall...

...crashing Kyle's car and his plans for a grand entrance.



ST. THOMAS CHURCH

Father Thomas Grady stands stunned, watching as Sydney Melrose descends from the pulpit and returns to her seat in the church. She sits with the rest of her friends, all assuredly ladies of the night, each with a different story to tell about the "good old days" they had with Melissa, when she herself was a working girl.

Normally, Father Grady would have found it in poor taste to bring up Melissa's past. But it was certainly something that had been tabloid fodder for a good few years, and so it wasn't as if it was news to anyone here.

Besides, Melissa near the end of her life, certainly never shied away from her past like she did when she first returned to Marquette Cove. Such incredible growth and strength in a person was rare, but Melissa Bale was nothing if not extraordinary.

"Would anyone else like to say a few words about Melissa?" Father Grady says, staring out at the crowded room.

After a few quiet, nervous moments, Aaron Maddock rises to his feet. He gently touches Felicia Bale on the shoulder to give himself enough strength to approach the pulpit.

"Thanks, Father," Aaron says, taking the podium from Father Grady.

Aaron clears his throat and stands silent for a few moments, unable to think of anything to say. He could tell the truth about his relationship with Melissa. That it had recently been shot to hell when she discovered he had lied to her for years about the child she "lost" almost twenty years ago.

That even helping her discover that the lost child was Alexis Lopez didn't help Melissa come around to accepting Aaron back into her life. But how would that make him look to everyone else? How would that reflect on the event? It was a time of remembrance. Of good times, not the bad ones.

And so, when faced with the option of telling a roomful of friends and strangers the truth about his relationship with his cousin...Aaron chose to lie.

"I was the only family Melissa had for some time," Aaron says. "And right up until the day she died, I always considered her to be like a sister. And I know that she thought of me as a brother..."



"Melissa was a great friend," Joel Kincaid says. "I think the first time we met was in court, and she was interrogating me. She hated me on sight."

There is a slight chuckle from the audience. It gives Joel the strength to soldier on.

"But eventually, she realized that my façade as a jerk was...no mere façade. But she was a good enough person to see past that..."



Felicia grips the podium, her eyes red from the tears she'd shed earlier. Some of them for Melissa, most of them for what Alec was going through. As a parent she felt more than a little responsible.

"It's no secret that Melissa and I have had a rocky history," Felicia says. "But I'd like to believe in the end, there was a mutual respect between us. I mean, we did both go through the ordeal of being married to Robert Bale...no easy task in itself..."



CHURCH COURTYARD

Simon Holden watches as Robert sits on a bench in the courtyard, face buried in his hands. He doesn't exactly know how to comfort Robert, in light of the accusations that have been made against him by his son.

Simon wants to believe there's more to the story. He hasn't exactly been friends with Robert over the years, but they haven't exactly been enemies either.

"Do you want to say something?" Simon says.

Robert raises his head. "Huh?"

"Do you want to say something about Melissa?"

"That's stupid."

"It's not stupid if you cared about her," Simon says.

Robert remains silent for a moment, until he finally stands up and looks toward the church. Through the stained glass windows, he can see the funeral in progress...his ex-wife is currently at the pulpit.

"I'm sorry," Robert says, almost whispering. "I'm sorry, Melissa...I have no idea what else to say to you. I want to apologize for the way our relationship started in lies and deceit...and how, when we finally married each other and found happiness with Hunter...I left you time and time again to sleep with other women."

Simon raises an eyebrow at Robert's comment, not that he finds it all that shocking. He is Robert, after all. It's almost to be expected.

Robert continues, "And it may not sound like I'm sorry, but I am. I love you so much. And I'm going to miss you. I'm going to miss you until it kills me."



CHURCH NAVE

"I feel like the break room was our silent sanctuary," Darren Reynolds says, remembering his days at work with Melissa. "Whenever we both dealt with an extraordinarily irritating client, we'd find each other in the break room. Drinking the same stale coffee from two days prior. And we wouldn't say anything, we'd just sit there. Silent. But we the silence was all we needed..."

He stares out at Blake Thomas in the audience, and the combination of remembering his broken relationship with Blake and the memories he had of Melissa were finally enough to bring him to tears.

"When something is taken from you too soon, it always hurts at first. Eventually, you learn to cope. Hopefully. But you never forget the good times you shared. You don't even forget the bad times. Because even those are memories you wish were more than memories...you wish they were still here..."



"There's been a lot of loss in all of our lives," Leslie Hanley says. "I feel so horrible saying goodbye to Melissa when my own husband, as many of you probably know, has come back to my family. And there's always...always some prayer that someone you love will come back after they're gone. It's what you wish for in your dreams...even when you're awake..."

Leslie smiles at Aaron.

"But saying goodbye is something we all have to do, even when it hurts," Leslie says. "You can't pray for something better..."



"...it might not come," Blake says. "So you remember the good times. Melissa was always really helpful, especially when my parents died. She helped me get placed with the Andersons, and they were able to adopt me. And so I will always be grateful to Melissa for helping me find my family. It just hurts to know that she's been taken away from her family so soon —"

Blake stops speaking as a silver haired, burly man enters the church. The man's presence draws whispers and stares from the rest of the attendants. Blake barely recognizes the man, but he can tell from everyone else's reactions that most of the adults in the room certainly do.

"What are you doing here?" Aaron says, his whispers loud enough to barely qualify as whispers. He rises to his feet and moves into the aisle, as if he's ready to square off.

Hugh Rogers stares down Aaron. It's not an angry stare. It's a weary one. This day has taken its toll on him. Even Aaron can recognize this.

"Go ahead."

Hugh nods and goes to the pulpit. Blake wraps up his comments and takes his seat again next to Cyrus and Tina Anderson.

Hugh looks out at the audience, recognizing only a handful of people from his brief stay in Marquette Cove four years ago. He also recognizes Sydney and the rest of her cohorts.

"Melissa," Hugh says, speaking calm and directly. "You were one hell of a woman."



EMERALD CEMETERY

The wind whips tree branches back and forth as everyone attending the burial gathers around Melissa's grave. Alec stares at the coffin as it slowly dips into the ground.

Alec wipes away the tears streaming down his face and leans into his mother's arms, embracing her. He stares across the crowd and notices that Jessica and her mother are in attendance, though he hadn't noticed them at the funeral.

Jessica still wears her arm in a sling, a result of the bullet that killed Melissa initially passing through her own body. She makes brief eye contact with Alec, but quickly looks away. Natalie, on the other hand, stares at Alec intently.

Natalie probably hopes that the sooner Jessica and Alec divorce, the better. It's not something Alec is even sure he wants. While attempting to uncover the repressed memories from his childhood, he lashed out at everyone close to him.

It led him to abuse Jessica, the one person he had been able to count on most of his life. He treated her horribly even when he wasn't hitting her. He slept with Farrah Lewis and hid it from Jessica for months, and so for that, he absolutely deserves to be left alone.

But he still loves her. He still wants her in his life, and he hopes that Jessica feels the same way too. Once he deals with this murder trial and gets the justice he deserves for Robert's misdeeds, he can put his life back together again. And he wants Jessica to be there. He needs her to be.

As the first clumps of dirt are shoveled onto the coffin, Alec's eyes drift off into the distance. He sees someone lurking amongst the swaying trees, their eyes close on the proceedings.

It's his father.

And despite all of the hatred Alec feels toward his father and will continue to feel for what he did to him...for one brief moment, another tear rolls down Alec's face.

He feels sorry for Robert. He feels sorry for taking Melissa away from his father. And for that one, brief moment...Alec still loves him.