"Dad," Cassandra called out as she ran to meet Silas on the sidewalk.
"Cassie!" Silas called back with surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I-" Cassandra started, trying to think of a good response.
"Vanessa told you where we were, didn't she? I told her not to call anyone."
"She only called because she was worried about us."
"You didn't tell anyone you were coming here, did you? You weren't followed?"
"No, and I only told Zara that I was going. I-I came because I wanted to go with you. Zara shouldn't have spoken for me."
Silas sighed. "Let's find Vanessa. We need to move on."
Silas started towards the diner, but Cassie held him back. "She's not in the diner. I've been there for the last 20 minutes."
Silas looked Cassandra in the eye. When she shrugged, he turned back. "Maybe she's back at the hotel by now.
Back at the table, Reese was putting away her briefcase while Blaine went to the counter to pay the bill and Vanessa excused herself from the table to visit the ladies' room.
After the check was paid, Reese joined Blaine at the end of the counter. "Well, it looks like we have everything settled."
"Not everything," Blaine objected. "We still have to get Sebastian. He can't get away with all he's done."
"What should we do?"
"I'm going to get Vanessa to someplace safe from Sebastian. Meanwhile I want you to call the police.
Vanessa stepped out of the ladies' room just in time to hear the end of the conversation. She was torn. She knew her husband wasn't a good man, but she hadn't meant to turn him in when she agreed to this meeting.
Before she could be spotted by Blaine or Reese she turned and started out the back door of the diner.
Silas paced nervously around the hotel room, carelessly packing odds and ends into suitcases and muttering under his breath.
"Where is she? She said she was just going down to the drugstore. I knew I shouldn't have trusted her!"
"I'm sure she'll be back in a minute. Try to relax a little," Cassandra said calmly.
"Don't tell me what to do," Silas snapped. "especially on matters that you know nothing about." Silas opened the door and stepped out in the hallway.
"I know more than you think," Cassandra snapped back, unable to hold her temper, as she stormed after him.
"What?" Silas scoffed. "What do you know?"
"That you've lied to me my entire life! My mom was never crazy. You sent her to that place to get her out of the way when we needed her!"
"I see they've poisoned you against your own father. I'm getting out of here. As for you, ungrateful girl, if you feel that way can stay behind with your stepmother."
When Silas turned to leave he found himself face to face with his long lost nephew.
For a moment the two men stared at each other intensely. Finally Silas broke the silence, "So it's you after all. You've finally caught up to me." When Lawrence looked perplexed, his uncle continued, "I knew you were after me."
"I thought you were dead," Lawrence replied. "All these years - if I had known . . ."
"What? What would you have done?" Silas taunted, his courage growing. Now that they were standing face to face he wondered why he had been afraid of his weak nephew. "You wouldn't have done a thing and you won't do anything now."
As Silas started to walk away, Lawrence stood in his way. Furious, he lashed out at Silas. "The hell I won't! You took everything I had and left me with nothing. You ruined my life and you're going to pay for it!"
When Lawrence poked his finger towards his uncle's face, Silas slapped it away and then started to push past the younger man. Lawrence grabbed Silas by his collar to hold him back, but lost his grip when Silas punched him in the jaw.
Before Cassandra knew what was happening the two men were fighting. "Stop! Stop it!" she screamed, but neither paid her any attention.
"Eileen!" Hector smiled brightly when he saw who was standing on the other side of the door. "What a pleasant surprise!"
When he reached over to hug her, Eileen backed away and asked, "Can I come in?"
"Sure," Hector said and stepped aside. "I'm so glad to see you. It seems like such a long time since we've spent any time together."
When Eileen said nothing and walked directly to the couch, Hector frowned. He had known for awhile that something was wrong. He was afraid to ask, but he knew something had to be said. "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" Eileen repeated in distress. The way he sounded so light-hearted when he asked the question, made her furious. "You murdered Clifford Stuart, that's what's wrong!"
Hector sank down into his seat on the sofa, like his legs had given out underneath him. He just stared at Eileen, suddenly at a loss for words.
"I know the truth. I know you were the one who went to see him before he died," Eileen said quietly. She tried to sound firm, preparing for his denial of her accusations.
"You're right. I did it," he said calmly and it was Eileen's turn to be stunned speechless. "I killed him."
"How- how could you?" Eileen asked with disgust. She had known that he was guilty, but she hadn't wanted to believe that it was true. Hearing the words from his own mouth, left her no doubt.
"I didn't mean to," Hector broke down. "I just went there to talk with him and I snapped." Shaking, he turned to Eileen with pleading eyes. He had to make her understand. "He had it in for me, Eileen. It didn't matter what I did, he was going to see to it that I never got anywhere. When I realized that . . .I just lost it. I don't know what came over me."
"Oh my god," Eileen muttered. She rose from her seat and started to cross the room, but Hector stood up and blocked her path.
"Don't go," he begged. "You've got to help me. I need you," he said reaching towards her.
"Stay away from me!" Eileen backed away and Hector stopped in place. "I can't - I can't even look at you." She pulled the engagement ring off her finger and threw it at him. "I don't ever want to see you again. Stay away from me from now on."
"Wait!" Hector stopped her from going towards the door. His demeanor had suddenly changed. No longer remorseful, his tone was almost threatening. "You can't tell anyone about this. I made a mistake, but it's over. No one else can know, do you understand?"
Eileen understood, but she was not about to be intimidated. "You can't threaten me. I'm not the only one who knows," she said defiantly and pushed past him towards the door.
A moment later Hector ran after her. He paused in the doorway as her car pulled out of the driveway. "Eileen! Eileen!"
Eileen was nearly shaking as she drove away from Hector's house. She thought she would have been relieved to know the truth and to stop wondering whether he was guilty or not, but Hector's confession had opened up a whole new set of problems.
"What do I do now?" she wondered. "I've got to make sure someone else knows the whole story," she concluded and headed towards Lawrence's apartment.
Eileen knocked on the door and waited. She knocked again and still there was no answer. Finally she gave up and turned away, "Lawrence, where are you?"
"Stop it!" Cassandra screamed in distress. She watched the fight helplessly, knowing there was nothing she could do to break it up. "You're going to kill each other!"
After several tense minutes, the dust settled with Lawrence knocked to the ground and Silas standing over him victoriously.
"Make me pay?" Silas panted, trying to regain his breath. He glanced down at Lawrence who was struggling on the ground. "You don't even know the half of it. Go home. You're too late. Years too late."
As Silas started towards the stairs, he ran into Vanessa was standing motionless on the landing.
"There you are," Silas sneered. "I'm surprised you dared to show your face back here. You turned me in.''
"I didn't," Vanessa insisted angrily. "But I should have. How could you have lied to me and to your daughters for all of these years? I find out that you had your ex-wife committed and then I come here to find you beating up your own nephew," she accused, motioning towards Lawrence who was being helped to his feet by Cassandra. Vanessa was appalled at what she had seen and ashamed that she had been so naive. "I can't believe I fell for you and your lies."
"And I can't believe I trusted you," Silas shot back. "You betrayed me. I won't forget that and I promise you'll regret it!" With that threat, he stormed past her and ran down the stairs.
Meanwhile, Blaine and Reese were entering the lobby of the hotel building, in search of Vanessa. When she had suddenly disappeared from the diner, they had suspected she had come back here. They were hoping to find her before she reached her husband. The police were on their way, but they needed to stall for time.
They had just walked into the building when Silas came running down the stairs. He pushed Blaine out the way and ran past them out the front door.
After Blaine regained his balance he ran after Silas. Reese hesitated a moment before running after them.
Reese paused at the front of the building as Silas and Blaine ran towards the street. Silas jumped into his car, parked on the curb in front of the building.
By the time Silas shut the car door and put the key into the ignition, Blaine had caught up to him. Blaine pounded on the side of the car and tried to open the door, but it was locked. When the engine started, he panicked and leaped in front of the hood.
Reese watched in horror as Silas put the car in gear and hit the gas. Paniced she screamed out "BLAINE!!!" but she was too late.
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