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Blake claims to not have killed Aaron Maddock, but there was gunpowder residue on his hands after the murder and his fingerprints were found on the gun. Not to mention the fact that Darren found Blake and his best friend Vince in hushed whispers at the police department last night.
He's sure that Vince knows all about Blake's affair with Aaron, the fact that he slept with the man on the eve of his wedding. And he's not all that sure that Vince wasn't a motivator for Blake's bad behavior. Vince might act like the perfect citizen now, but Darren has seen first-hand the kind of damage Vince can inflict on others.
He could be up to his old tricks again and bringing Blake along for the ride.
"Darren."
Speak of the devil.
Darren turns to face Vincent Moore as he strides down the hallway toward him.
"I'm glad you're here," Vince says. "Blake needs all the support he can get."
Darren folds his arms in a standoffish stance. "I think he's gotten enough of that from you, don't you think? Whether it will do any good is an entirely different manner."
"You know, Blake loves you. I thought you loved him," Vince snaps. "I don't see why you're being such an asshole."
"If he loved me so much, he wouldn't have cheated on me with Aaron!" Darren insists. "He wouldn't have lied to me about where he was going every night for the past year!"
Vince is blunt, "you two weren't dating."
"Well, which is it?" Darren demands. "We weren't dating, or I owe him?"
"I don't see how those two are mutually —"
"Darren Reynolds," Constance Lake, the District Attorney, approaches Darren with all the guile of the devil ready to make a deal with Faust.
Darren has gone up against her in court several times. And he's lost every single time. The woman is a shark. "What can I do for you?"
"I hear you're out of work these days. How would you like to come work for the District Attorney's office?"
Vince cuts in, eyeing Constance suspiciously. "And exactly what would his first case be?"
Constance's grins the widest Cheshire grin that Vince and Darren have ever seen. "Prosecuting Blake Thomas to the full extent of death row."
And with her best friend off to school in Seattle, she's found herself latching onto her old relationship with Matt. Not that she wants to get romantically involved with him again. She is done with guys for a while. Not in a weird, lesbian for the weekend sort of way, but just done with the bullshit that guys always bring.
She finishes adjusting her make-up, then turns to head toward the elevator before she bumps into Denise Robertson carrying a set of groceries. Nearly knocking the groceries out of Denise's hands, she makes sure that she hasn't damaged her Marc Jacobs bag before checking on Denise's status.
Akilah breathes a sigh of relief, "whew, I'm okay,"
Denise rolls her eyes. "I'm very glad that you're okay, Akilah."
Akilah grins. "Thanks. You need some help with those groceries? I wouldn't want you miscarrying my little brother or something. You know, you really need a personal assistant or something. You're living in the Emerald Plaza, you can't afford an assistant?"
"I'll write that down in my planner." Denise hands off one of the grocery bags and leading the way to her suite.
"Planner? You need a Blackberry," Akilah laughs. "You're so two thousand and late!"
Denise does her best to ignore Akilah as she heads to her suite, sliding her key in the door and pushing it open. "Well, thank you for your help. I think I'll be fine from here."
"No problem," Akilah says, handing the second bag to Denise. "And remember, get on hiring that assistant —" The door swings shut before Akilah can continue. She shrugs her shoulders and turns back toward the elevator, but notices a maid exiting her aunt's suite. "Hey, you!"
The maid turns in surprise. "Yes?"
Akilah pushes past the maid. "Leave the door open, that's my aunt's room."
"You can't just..."
Akilah slams the door. She takes in the fresh scent of cleaning supplies and gives the suite a quick survey. There's no sign of her aunt anywhere. "Did she have a meeting or something?"
Upon further inspection, she finds that several of Yolanda's clothes are missing, as are all of her suitcases. She must have left on a trip... but she didn't tell anyone. "This is so weird..." But she loses her train of thought when she notices the bag resting on the floor near Yolanda's bed.
Akilah picks up the bag and rifles through it, discovering an entire set of Yolanda's credit cards. She also finds several stacks of dollar bills and a checkbook. Christ. Only her aunt could go on a trip without taking a stack of credit cards and probably still have enough money to get by for several months.
"I doubt she'd even notice if I bought some new school clothes," Akilah wonders aloud, falling back onto the bed in elation.
MARQUETTE COVE COURTHOUSE
"Are you kidding me?" Vince demands, being the first to break the ice between himself, Darren and Constance.
Constance is nonplussed as Darren and Vince both take in her suggestion. Neither of them can even tell if she actually meant it, but the smirk on her face reveals that she's at least getting enjoyment out of their reactions.
"Of course I'm joking," Constance says. "Lest you think I'm some sort of opportunistic bitch who would try anything to win a court case... this is pretty much a slam dunk. We've got motive, opportunity, a murder weapon and fingerprints."
Darren can't stand being bested. "I never liked you."
Constance balloons toward the door to the courtroom. "Feeling's mutual."
"Bail is denied."
And just like that, Blake is sentenced to a veritable jail sentence as he awaits a murder trial. Vince watches as the bumbling court-appointed attorney anointed for Blake's bail hearing tries to gather up the contents of his briefcase. Then he turns his eyes to Darren, sitting silently in the corner of the courtroom.
Despite how he might feel about Blake, the fact that he didn't even try to help him... it speaks volumes to how much Darren was actually hurt by Blake's affair with Aaron. Which, rape not withstanding, still occurred for two years prior to this.
Vince is reminded of his own past, when he did more than his share of selfish things in high school to keep his Alec away from Jessica. He recognizes the anger and the hurt in Darren's eyes, and he wishes that he could tell Darren the truth about what happened to Blake. Maybe then he would understand... understand what would drive Blake to try and kill Aaron.
But even then, with everything else, why would he believe Blake's story that someone else came along and finished Aaron off? It's a bit hard to swallow, even for Vince. But he trusts Blake enough to know that he's telling the truth. He has to be. Blake isn't a murderer. And killing someone close range, execution-style in the head like that, it's something Blake could never do.
As Blake is ushered away by police officers, Vince focuses on Rebecca Maddock and her son Kane, watching the proceedings like vultures. Everything about them screams phony. They couldn't care less that Aaron is dead, or that Blake is going to get hauled off to prison for a murder he didn't commit. He can practically see the dollar signs floating in front of them.
He got the same sense from Kane at the hospital when he and Jessica arrived to visit Alexis. Something about the entire situation just seemed... off. But he wasn't going to confront Alexis about it with Kane there. He could sense that she seemed afraid of him, somehow.
Vince checks his watch, making sure that Jessica's shift at Mata Hari's has already begun. With her at work and Kane here with his mother, now is Vince's chance to get to the bottom of things. Casting one last glance at his best friend, hoping that whatever he discovers about Kane could also help Blake, Vince slips out of the courtroom.
MARQUETTE COVE FREE CLINIC
"Thanks for the ride," Felicia Bale says as Ariel Hanley parks just outside the Marquette Cove Free Clinic.
"No problem, Aunt Felicia," Ariel says, turning off the ignition. "Or, I guess... it's just Felicia now?"
Felicia frowns, reaching for her umbrella underneath the seat. "Let's just stick with Aunt Felicia for now."
The idea that she's no longer a Hanley is still jarring to her, and something she won't be able to fully grasp until she goes into Simon Holden's office and looks at the blood test results herself. She'll even have him run the test on her again, giving a new blood sample if that what it takes to ease her mind.
She knows that her mother Rhoda had an affair with Kevin Hanley, she admitted as much to Felicia. It's the very reason that Kevin's wife, Daisy, in turn had an affair with Alan Maddock that produced their son Kyle. But she'd always been told by Kevin that she was his daughter. Perhaps he was lying to torment Daisy, perhaps he had other motives...
But whatever the reason, she is now just another in a long line of Kevin's victims.
"It's a good thing I'm here anyway," Ariel insists. "I need to pick up some new birth control pills."
Felicia nods knowingly, putting two and two together in her mind. When she discovered Riley in one of the spare rooms the other night, and an open condom wrapper on the floor, he must have just finished up with Ariel. That seemed to be the only other explanation. She smiles and decides to keep this nugget of information to herself as she climbs out the car.
As they enter the clinic, Felicia immediately heads toward Simon's office. But before she can reach for the doorknob, a familiar voice calls out her name and stops her.
"Robert," Felicia says, turning to face him. "What are... what are you doing here?"
"Alexis is in the hospital," Robert says. "With Aaron gone, I wanted to visit her."
Felicia nods. "Oh, of course. How is she?"
"She was hit by a car," Robert says. "But it's not as serious as..."
"The time I was hit by a car," Felicia cuts in. "After I found you and Melissa having sex in your office. Alexis' mother. The irony isn't lost on me. If that's even irony."
"Why are you here?"
"I wanted to see Simon about..."
Robert understands what she means before she finishes. He glances nervously toward Simon's office, then back at Felicia. "That's actually why I was here too. That's how I found out about Alexis."
"What do you mean?"
"I had Simon run the tests again," Robert says. "I watched him do it. You're not Michael's sister."
Felicia frowns. "Well, at any rate..."
"You know this is a great thing," Robert insists. "You can stay out of Michael's life for good. That family is poison, Felicia. And you know it."
"I can't... I can't deal with this."
Feeling a strong headache coming on, she rubs her forehead gently and turns away from Robert. She flies toward the front door, not bothering to look back.
EMERALD PLAZA HOTEL
Herald Robertson glances up from his newspaper as he watches Denise place groceries into the fridge. As his cell phone sits next to him, quietly vibrating, he's dripping with anticipation as he waits to answer it, but knows that he can only do so when Denise is done with her business. The call, coming from Depeche, the man currently holding Leslie Moore hostage, is not someone that he speak freely with while his daughter is in the room.
"Are you staying in, sweetie?" Herald asks.
"No, Pappa," Denise says, shoving a carton of milk into the fridge and exiting the kitchen. "I've got some more errands to run."
"Stopping by to see the doctor?"
Denise shakes her head. "No, my appointment isn't until next week. Maybe by then... never mind."
"Never mind what?"
"Nothing," Denise insists.
"Are you still worried about that goddamn Sean Moore?" Herald demands. "I want you to get over him."
"You know, just a few months ago you was too busy telling me all about how he's the perfect man," Denise says. "You sure changed that tune quick."
"That was before he left for Paris with that... that woman of ill repute."
"Ill repute? You sound like one of them church ladies," Denise says, laughing. She picks up her purse from the table. "Make sure that you call the rental car company and switch to the other credit card. You said you were discontinuing the Visa."
Herald nods. "I'll remember. Have a good day, sweetie."
As Denise goes out the door, Herald immediately picks up the phone and dials Depeche back. "What is it?"
Depeche clears his throat before speaking on the other end. "Boss, we've got a serious problem."
MARQUETTE COVE FREE CLINIC
Vince is startled as he opens the door and Felicia Bale rushes past him, out into the pouring rain without an umbrella. He turns back to say something to her, but she's already out of earshot by the time it registers in his brain. Giving up, he goes into the clinic and makes a beeline toward Alexis Lopez's room.
She lowers the magazine in her hands and glances up at the front door, a smile forming on her face when she sees who it is. "Vince, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here because I'm not an idiot," Vince says. "We never had some conversation at Ryan and Vanessa's wedding. I was pretty much too busy skulking around thinking of ways to kill my uncle. You know, before he actually did die."
Alexis narrows her eyes toward the door. "Did you tell anyone else?"
"No."
"Oh thank God," Alexis says, ushering him toward the bed. "All of this pretending to have amnesia crap is driving me insane!"
"Is it because having amnesia for the past few days is just... weird?" Vince asks. "Who the hell would fake that?"
"Me. Especially after what I saw."
"What?"
"Kane and Rebecca. Having sex."
Vince doesn't fully take that in. "Excuse me?"
"I saw them having sex," Alexis repeats.
"How fucking hard did that car hit you?" Vince demands.
"I'm not joking! The reason I got hit was because I ran outside after seeing the both of them... ugh, it's just disgusting thinking about it."
"Okay, seriously Alexis? You're delusional, girl. You're losing your mind," Vince says. "Is another trip to the psych ward in order?"
"Vince, think about it," Alexis continues. "That twisted relationship between them... don't those sound like the kind of freaks that would kill someone? Like Aaron?"
Vince covers his mouth in disgust. "Oh God... you're telling the truth, aren't you? Kane was... fucking his mother?"
Alexis nods. "I certainly wouldn't put murder past them."
"Oh, you're completely right," Vince says. "I don't think anyone who has sex with their mother gets the benefit of any doubt."
OUTSKIRTS OF MARQUETTE COVE
Leslie Moore is awakened by the sound of rain slamming against the warehouse windows. She has been in and out of consciousness since she was first kidnapped, and she has no idea how long she's been there. Only a couple days could have passed, but for Leslie it feels like it's been over two months.
A few feet away from her, she can hear her captor on the phone. She's only ever heard his voice while he's on the phone with someone else. She has no idea who he is. Or why he's keeping her here.
Not that she even has the strength to ask him.
He's kept her drugged, injecting her with something so horrifying that it reminds her of the time that Derek Moore kept her drugged up in the basement of her home, tormenting her and planning to have her sent back to rehab so she couldn't tell anyone he was plotting to kill her husband.
But with his back turned, and the door cracked to let in some of the cool air... he would never notice if she crawled out of the warehouse and...
But she barely has the strength to open her eyelids.
"We've got a serious problem. I don't think she's woken up in the past few hours... she's pregnant, and I'm worried about..."
She is pregnant. She's carrying a child. An innocent child that deserves to be brought into this world. And then there's Vincent... and Akilah... she's already been away from them before. She can't leave them again.
But she doesn't have the strength…
Or does she...
EMERALD PLAZA HOTEL
"Stop worrying about whether or not the bitch is pregnant," Herald snaps, almost hissing into the phone.
"But Boss..."
"You goddamn idiot! You're going to kill her anyway, what the hell does it even —"
Herald is interrupted as the door to the suite flies open. Denise bustles back inside, look frazzled. "I forgot my damn umbrella. I'd forget my own head if it wasn't attached. Is that the rental car company?"
"Yes," Herald says quickly. "Just having a bit of difficulty..."
"Oh, did you tell them it's the name I had when I was married to Sean? Or thought I was, at least? Tell them the name is Denise Price, that should take care of it."
OUTSKIRTS OF MARQUETTE COVE
Depeche doesn't see it coming as Leslie grabs his leg, pulling him to the ground. The cell phone tumbles from his hands, skirting across the floor. Leslie musters all the strength she can to bite his arm, sending a burst of paint through his body.
"Ow, you stupid bitch!" Depeche cries.
Leslie grabs the phone, hoping she can dial 911 before he's able to recover. Lying on her side on the warehouse floor, she pushes against the ground and hoists herself up. She raises the phone to her face, she hears a voice she recognizes on the other end. "Tell them the name is Denise Price, that should take care of it."
"Denise?" Leslie gasps, nearly dropping the phone in horror.
"Put down the phone!"
Before she's able to react, she notices the steel barrel of his gun first. And by the time she's able to open her lips to respond to Depeche's warning, he pulls the trigger.
