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He was supposed to hit Aaron Maddock. He was supposed to kill Aaron. But instead, he ended up hitting… Alexis Lopez. She lies in the middle of the street, unconscious. Her clothes and face are splattered with blood. So much blood.
It makes Billy's stomach turn.
He thought that killing Aaron would be easy, but this is... this is painful. But it's Alexis. That has to be the reason. That has to be the reason he wants to vomit. Because she's an innocent victim. One of Aaron's latest victims.
"I'm sorry, Alexis," Billy whispers, cradling her head in his arms. Her heaving bosom informs his unconscious mind that she is still alive, yet he still can't seem to compute the fact that she isn't dead. Not with so much blood. And there's so much blood.
He glances around the street, making sure that no one can see him. Once he's sure the coast is clear, he scoops her near-lifeless body up in his arm and staggers toward the row of bushes surround the Maddock mansion. Billy tosses Alexis into the bushes, shifting them slightly to conceal her.
However, now his clothes are covered in blood.
Freaking out, he hurries back to the car and jumps inside. He speeds away without giving a second look to Alexis... who hangs on for dear life, unable to cry out for help.
All he knows about her is that her real name isn't Rebecca. She swooped into town pretending to be the wife of Dr. Li, the chief of surgery at Marquette Cove Memorial Hospital. Then she tried to steal a seat on the hospital board. Once Aaron figured it out, he became involved in her to take control of the board seat.
Now he regrets that involvement.
It wasn't until he got involved with this woman that his life began to swirl out of control. His relationship with Blake, his job security, the rumors about his sexuality... it was as if someone was attempting to systematically destroy his life.
Aaron knows he's being paranoid, but with good reason. The threatening phone call he just received, warning him that he'd be dead before the ceremony finishes... it has put an entirely different spin on the proceedings. Someone is targeting him. And whether the threat is real or false, the question of who still remains.
"There you are," Simon Holden says, entering from the rear of the church. "I've been downstairs waiting for you. What took so long?"
"Traffic," Aaron mumbles.
"You ready to get started?"
Aaron nods, still feeling numb.
"It's the end of your life as you know it," Simon jokes, leading the way downstairs.
As Aaron follows, he is unable to laugh at Simon's joke. Because unintentionally, he may very well be speaking the truth.
MARQUETTE COVE POLICE DEPARTMENT
"Blake, what the hell is wrong with you?" Vincent Moore demands, following his best friend down the steps outside the Marquette Cove Police Department. "Get back inside."
Blake spins around, a cold blank stare on his face. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Well obviously, someone needs to!" Vince insists, grabbing at Blake's arm. "You can not let Aaron get away with this. He's a monster for what he did to you. What he probably did to Alec."
Vince's accusation stings. Blake hadn't really thought to process that, but now it makes sense. Robert's insistence that he never molested his son, that there had to be something more to Alec's therapy sessions with Aaron... they all make sense now.
What Aaron did to Blake, he had to have done to Alec. And he can't imagine how Vince feels now, knowing that this man has irrevocably damaged two of his friends. But at least Alec is dead. He doesn't have to live with the constant pain every single day the way Blake will have to.
"I'm sorry," Blake says. "But I... I just can't, Vince."
Vince shakes his head angrily. "Stop being weak. You're an adult. You need to stand up and —"
Blake shoves Vince away from him. "Stop talking to me like that! I'm not weak! If anyone's to blame here, it's you."
"Excuse me?" Vince demands.
"You can't just ignore me for a year and then try and swoop in to save me," Blake says. "It's not fair to me."
"I'm not trying to save you," Vince snaps. "I wish I could save you and tell you that everything's gonna be alright, but I can't. But I do know that things are going to get worse if you don't step up and do something about this right now."
"Go to hell, Vince," Blake says, mustering all of the hatred he can in order to get Vince to leave him alone. He doesn't feel this way toward his friend at all, but it seems to be the only way they can communicate with each other. Through anger.
Vince might not like the message, but he gets it. He lets his hands fall to his side in defeat as Blake hastens down the steps and disappears out into the crowd.
FARRAH LOUIS' APARTMENT
The sound of running water awakes Farrah Louis from her nap. Cradling Alec's son, Phillip, in her arms, she climbs out of bed and goes to the living room. She is met with Alec as he emerges from the bathroom, a towel wrapped tightly around his waist.
Farrah stands, waiting with bated breath for an answer as to where Alec has been. He never leaves the apartment, ever. And now that he's returned, she can see in his eyes that something is very, very wrong. "Alec?"
"You need to start packing," Alec says, going toward her and taking his son from her arms. "Right away."
"Packing?" Farrah asks. "There's something... something I need to tell you."
Alec smiles at Phillip, kissing his head. "What is it?"
"The money, I didn't get it," Farrah says. "Kane screwed things up for me and..."
"God, you stupid bitch," Alec snaps, almost ready to punch her in the face if he weren't holding his son. But he instead looks into Phillip's eyes and allows them to soothe his rage. He returns his gaze to Farrah. "Sorry, honey. I didn't... I didn't mean that. But that screws things up."
"I'm sorry, maybe we can sell my car if we ever get it fixed," Farrah offers. "I really don't know what else to do."
"The car is fixed," Alec says ominously, turning away from Farrah to set Phillip on the couch. "We're going to use it to skip town."
"We're leaving so soon?"
"Tonight," Alec says. "We're leaving tonight. I'll get the money we need somehow... but there's no way we're going to still be in Marquette Cove come morning."
