"I'm going to my friend Eileen's. I'll be back later," Cassandra called out as she hurried downstairs.
"Wait a minute," Sebastian met her at the landing.
"I don't want you going to her house. In fact, I don't want you around her or her friends at all."
Cassandra was shocked. "What?"
"I mean it, Cassie."
"But why?" Her father had always been a little strict at home, but he had never told her who she could or couldn't spend time with. She couldn't believe he was trying to start now.
"I don't need to explain my reasons. You're forbidden from seeing her again."
Cassandra opened her mouth to protest. She wanted to tell him that she was an adult and he couldn't control her life, but thought better of it. If he didn't realize that, she wasn't going to point it out to him. Finally she blurted out, "That's not fair!"
"I know what's best," he said sternly.
As Cassandra stormed back upstairs, Vanessa appeared from around the corner. She had just come in from her morning jog. "What's bothering you, hon?" she asked with concern. Her husband hadn't seemed like himself all week. He had been nervous and fidgety and now he was fighting with his daughter.
"Nothing," he said sharply, without turning to look at her.
Vanessa sighed. When he was in one of these moods, she knew there was no getting anything out of him.
She was about to go to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee, when he said, "What do you think about leaving this town and starting over somewhere new?"
Vanessa stopped in her tracks. He seemed serious. "Do you really want to do that? I mean we're just starting to do so well. The bar's doing great business and we finally paid off the mortgage on the property, so it's all ours now. Isn't that what you wanted?"
Sebastian frowned and didn't answer immediately. "I might have to get away from this town."
"Alma," Amanda called out as she saw her sister waiting at the outdoor cafe where they agreed to meet for lunch. "It seems like I haven't seen you in so long. I'm still not used to not seeing you every day."
Alma nodded, "It's been a change."
"Let's get a table. And you can tell me about what you've been up to."
After they sat down and placed their orders Amanda said, "You know I tried to call you last week, but Bernice told me you were out on a date."
"Oh, that," Alma said, casting her eyes down towards the table. "Yes, I did go out to dinner with Dr. Wilton last week."
"And?" Amanda prompted. "Did you have a good time?"
"Yes, I did. I had a very nice time."
Amanda smiled, "So when are you going out with him again?"
"I'm not," Alma replied flatly.
"Oh . . ." Amanda said with pity. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Alma snapped. "I'm not. He wanted to see me again, but I wasn't interested in what he had in mind."
Amanda's eyes grew wide, "What happened?"
"He told me that he's ready to get married and have children, but I'm not. For the first time I'm finally able to live my own life. I'm not about to give up that freedom yet."
Amanda stared at Alma like she was seeing her for the first time. She was beginning to realize how little she really knew about her sister.
"Anyway, what's new in your life?"
"Andrew and I finally found an apartment. It's small, but it's nice. You'll have to come over some time soon. You could have dinner with us."
"I will," Alma promised.
"It's strange to think of the old house sitting empty," mused Amanda.
"Has there been any word on. . ." Alma trailed off, not sure what to call their unknown half-sister who had inherited everything from their mother.
Amanda shook her head, "No, they're still looking."
That afternoon, Blaine had a few free hours after his classes so he decided to take a walk along the bay.
When he had first moved to Bay Pointe to go to college, there had been few shops in this area. Since then, new buildings seemed to be going up everyday.
He was just wandering along when he saw a sign that caught his attention, "Barrett's Boardwalk Bar and Grill."
He stopped and stared at the name for a moment before walking up the steps to the bar. Unfortunately it was closed. He took note of their business hours, then went downstairs to find a pay phone.
He called Reese at her office. "Guess where I'm at."
"Blaine? Where are you?"
"Standing outside a bar on Third Street."
"Ok?" Reese said slowly.
"It's called Barrett's Boardwalk."
"Oh!" Reese exclaimed, making the connection. "Do you think it's the same Barrett the McAllistars mentioned?"
"I hope so," Blaine replied. "The place is closed now, but we should check it out when they open."
"I have a lot of work to do tonight," Reese said with regret. "But what if we meet there tomorrow night?"
"Sounds great. I'll see you then."
As instructed, R.J. was waiting at the docks at midnight. He still didn't know who he was supposed to meet, but to him it didn't matter. If this person thought they could blackmail him, they had another thing coming.
At precisely midnight, R.J. heard footsteps. He looked up to see a young woman approaching. Even with her dark sunglasses on, he recognized her. He rose from his seat on the park bench. "So it's you? What do you want?"
Lauren stood facing him with her hands on her hips, "I want you and your friend to back off and stop coming between me and Lawrence."
R.J. laughed out loud. "Is that it? You dragged me out here in the middle of the night for that? It's nice that you have the time to waste," R.J. laughed again and started to walk away.
Lauren dodged in front of him and with an angry stomp of her foot she shouted, "This is serious! I want you to keep your pal, Audrey, out of my way from now on. Or are you forgetting what I know about you?"
R.J. stopped, stood with his arms crossed over his chest and waited for her to continue.
"I'm sure Mr. Townsend would like to know that one of his employees filed for bankruptcy not too long ago for a company that never even got started."
R.J. called her bluff, "Bankruptcies happen. It's not a crime."
"Maybe not, but when the company never got started and both the money and the partners seem to disappear for awhile, it looks a little odd. Especially when you and your partner and your mutual friend, Miss Jordan, all show up at once in the same town," Lauren paused for a moment. By the surprised expression on R.J.'s face, she could tell she had hit on something. "Considering the last guy who got fired from the Stuart-Townsend Corporation was fired for stealing from the company, I don't think Mr. Townsend will think it's no big deal."
"How do you know all of this?"
"I have my sources."
R.J. thought a moment. If she was that good at digging up information, she might be useful to him. Audrey certainly hadn't been any help. "I think we can work something out."
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