|
|
Now that she's out of prison, the harassment has stepped up.
So it is with great reluctance that Kristin answers her phone now as it begins to ring. "Hello, Valerie?"
"Today is the day," Valerie says in a hurried tone. "Robert and I are ready to move forward."
"I know," Kristin says. "I already called Simon and told him there was an emergency at the lab. He's on his way."
"Good," Valerie says.
"But there's... there's one thing I want to mention," Kristin says, taking a look at the file folder before her with Felicia Bale's name written across it. She removes the x-ray of Felicia's that reveals a tumor. An x-ray she has kept from Simon since they updated Felicia's and everyone else's medical files for the new free clinic.
If she were to show Simon this x-ray, it would ruin Valerie's plans. Knowing that Felicia has a tumor in her brain would certainly trump the insanity and chaos that her sister cooked up.
"Yes?" Valerie demands impatiently.
"Nothing," Kristin says, tossing the x-ray into the nearby trashcan. "I'll let you know once Simon's here."
"So it's true," Vanessa says. "You had an affair while you were married to my sister."
Marcus turns away from Vanessa, not wanting to face her.
"Yes," Marcus says. "I was... I was having an affair."
"With Francois' wife?"
Marcus nods.
"On the night that my..." Vanessa can barely manage to get the words out. "On the night my sister was murdered." She slams her hand down on the table in anger, glaring at Marcus with the fiery intensity of a Greek goddess scorned. Sean wraps his arms around her, attempting to calm her down.
"Vanessa, you were never supposed to know about that," Marcus says.
"As if that's any excuse?!" Vanessa demands. "Is that why you stayed here? So silent?"
"I deserve to go to prison," Marcus says. "I wasn't there for my wife in her final hours... I deserve this."
Vanessa wipes tears from her eyes. "Yes, you do. But Nikki would never forgive me for letting you spend the rest of your life in prison."
"So we need you to tell us how to contact Francois' wife," Sean says. "We need to get her name, her contact information..."
Marcus shakes his head. "No, you can't. After that night... she dropped off the face of the earth."
ST. THOMAS CHURCH
Aaron Maddock stands in the church, waiting for the first of the guests to arrive. He's sure that Rebecca is already inside, getting ready for the ceremony, which means that Felicia should be here as well. But Simon is gone, and his cousin Kyle has yet to arrive for the ceremony.
"Wouldn't it be a wonder if no one showed up?" Aaron mutters aloud.
Not as if he could blame anyone. He doesn't even want to be here himself.
As he passes by the statue of a cherub, he smiles and rests his hand on one of its wings. The cherub's sweet, innocent face reminds him of Blake and how he slept peacefully this morning once Aaron left him. As soon as this wedding is over, Aaron will track down Blake and they can make love again.
It will be all he can do to wipe this horrid memory from his mind.
Aaron is startled as he feels something wet on his palm. He turns toward the wing, removing his hand slowly. There is a sticky, red substance on the palm of his hand. "What the hell?"
The substance rolls down the statue, dripping onto the floor. The deafening sound of the dripping blood echoes in his ears as he realizes that he is staring at blood. And as the blood begins to leak from the cherub's eyes, Aaron's mouth drops open into a terrifying scream.
