Part 3 - Chapter 1 - Past and Future

Friday night, Craig returned to his hotel room after his latest concert. The set had been a good one and the audience loved the show, but Craig had a few ideas he wanted to bounce off James to improve their next performance.

He had only been in the room for a few minutes when he heard the sound of the door being unlocked followed by high pitched laughter. James had come back, but not alone.

"Hey, there you are," James greeted Craig as he walked into the room followed by a pair of groupies. "I've got someone here who wants to meet you. This is Cassie, Zara's sister," he said gesturing to a young woman in a blue striped shirt and fitted jeans who smiled at Craig when he glanced at her. "You've met Zara, right?"

Craig nodded and said, "Hi."

"So, the girls were just telling me about this great bar just down the street. We were about to head over, but the girls thought we'd better come and get you first," he joked.

"Thanks, but you should have gone ahead without me," Craig declined.

The others fell silent and unusually serious. The two women exchanged confused looks as James pulled Craig aside. "Are you kidding me?" he asked with a nod towards the two women in the room. When Craig didn't respond he tried begging, "Come on, if you won't go along for yourself, come along as a favor to me at least."

Craig sighed and gave in, "Alright. I'll meet you in the lobby, ok. I've got to make a phone call first."

"Thanks," James said with a smile. Then he went back to the girls. "Ok, he's in."

Craig waited until the group left the room before picking up the telephone and dialing. He waited, listening to the line ring until a groggy voice answered, "Hello?"

"Lucy?" Craig asked. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yeah, but it's ok," she said, sounding more alert. "It's good to hear from you. How's the tour going?"

"It's great. We just finished a show . . .I should have looked at the time before I called. I'll let you get back to sleep."

"No, it's no problem really. I'm glad you called," Lucy assured him. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just missed the sound of your voice."

"Aw, that's so sweet. I miss you too, Craig," she replied. She sounded as if she were about to say more, but stopped short.

"Listen, I've got to go. James is waiting on me. I just wanted to say goodnight."

"Goodnight, Craig."

Since Craig had left on tour, Lucy had been working on getting her life in order again. She started by taking Craig's advice and decided not to take on everything all by herself. She realized that she did need to ask for help.

Arthur assured her that he could manage the company's business and he would keep her informed if there was anything she needed to be aware of. Likewise, Reese informed her that the lawsuit was being taken care of and they would let her know about anything new that came up. The only thing left to worry about was the house and the country club. She contacted a couple of hiring agencies looking for a reputable person to coordinate events and manage the household and started interviewing.

The best applicant she interviewed that Saturday morning was a man named Justin Jordan. After greeting him at the door, they settled into the dining room for the interview.

Mr. Jordan's resume was impressive. He had been a butler all of his adult life and had worked in homes of the culturally elite. He left all of his jobs on good terms and his references were impeccable.

After discussing his work history and references, Lucy moved the resume aside and just talked with him, person to person. They talked about their tastes in music, style and other aspects of entertaining. Lucy was surprised at how many things they agreed on and at how well they got along together. Her other applicants had been either stern and difficult to talk to or they had strange tastes in style. But she and Mr. Jordan agreed on everything. He seemed almost too good to be true. She hired him on the spot.

After settling things with Andrew, Amanda shared their plans for the future with Alma. "After the wedding, I think I'm going to quit my job," Amanda began and Alma looked up with interest. "Andrew makes enough money to support us and I want to stay home when we have kids anyway. I was thinking that I might as well take care of the house and mother and give you a chance to do what you want for a change." She gave Alma a sideways glance waiting for her reaction, but the elder sister was struck speechless.

Alma barely had time to get used to the idea of how things were going to be when Amanda stunned her again, this time by asking her to be the maid of honor in her wedding. Alma was about to flatly refuse, but their mother answered for her.

"Of course she will. She's your sister and this will probably be her last chance to be in a wedding." As always, Mother had the last word.

The three women headed to the mall on the following Saturday to shop for dresses. Amanda was very excited about the excursion and happily sorted through racks of formal dresses, occasionally pulling one or two out to try on or to have Alma model.

For her part, Alma kept quiet and did as her sister asked without comment or complaint, but only begrudgingly. Even though they had worked out how things were going to be after the wedding and the arrangement suited Alma fine, she was still jealous that Amanda was the one getting married first and she wasn't.

Only Mrs. May noticed Alma's mood and kept a close eye on her oldest daughter to make sure she didn't ruin this for Amanda. But everything went fine. Amanda picked out the dresses she wanted for the wedding and was so happy that she was oblivious to any negative feelings around her.

They were just leaving the mall, purchases made, when Amanda saw something that completely ruined her happy day.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of the mall was Andrew, flirting with a busty blonde. Amanda gasped, dropped her shopping bags, and ran for the car, sobbing.

Next

Part 3 - Chapter 2 - Past and Future

Eileen was running late on the evening of her next psychics meeting and was the last one to arrive for class. The group leader, Madame Frederika, nodded at her as she entered and remarked to no one in particular. "It looks like we're all here except Cassandra."

"Cassandra's not coming tonight," one of the women in the class spoke up. "She's out of town, visiting her sister, I think."

"All right," Madame Frederika replied. "Then let's get started, shall we?"

As the group started to settle in for the beginning of class, Bella Goth turned to her husband. "Oh, Mortimer, what do you think of the name Cassandra for our baby?" she asked in a whisper as she laid a hand affectionately on her protruding stomach.

"I think it's a good name, Bella. But not for our baby."

"Why not?" Bella asked sharply. The idea had come to her on a whim, yet she already had her heart set on it.

"Because my psychic powers tell me this baby is going to be a boy," Mortimer stated confidently, but with a teasing look in his eyes.

Bella smiled cryptically at her husband. "We'll see."

The group pushed the classroom desks and chairs aside, as they usually did and sat in a circle on the floor.

"Tonight we are going to continue our focus on past lives," Madame Frederika announced. "Last time I explained to you the significance of understanding former incarnations, but tonight we are going to attempt to read them first hand. We'll start with me and move around the circle. Now just relax and remember to focus on my energy."

Madame Frederika chanted in a steady soothing voice, lulling the group into a semi-hypnotic state.

Eileen tried to focus, tried to come up with some sort of image. She wanted so badly to see something, but nothing was coming to her. Not for Madame Frederika or for the two women after her. By the time it was her turn, Eileen was feeling discouraged.

"What do you see for Eileen?" Madame Frederika asked.

"I see a tall, dark, stranger," Clara replied and the man sitting next to Eileen snickered.

"Yes, Clara, good," Madame Frederika responded. "But he's no stranger . . .not to Eileen. What else?"

"He seems sad," Clara said in a whisper.

Suddenly a vision came to Eileen, not just an image as she expected, but an experience that overtook all her senses. She was someplace far away, near the sea, she could feel and smell the sea air. She sensed two men near by. Her vision seemed foggy and she couldn't make out their features. But she could tell that one was the sad man that Clara saw and the other had a different type of darkness about him. She could feel it all around him.

As quickly as the vision came to her it vanished and Eileen found herself once again in Madame Frederika's classroom. She looked up and caught a glimpse of recognition and understanding in the master psychic's eye, before the reading moved on to the next student.

Eileen had lost her focus and didn't even try to make a reading on the next student. She regained her nerves long enough to try again when the Goths' turns came, but like before her startling vision, everything was blank.

Eileen waited until class was over to talk to Madame Frederika about her experience, but before she could speak, the teacher pulled her aside.

"There's something we need to talk about Eileen," she began hesitantly. "Your class fees were due two weeks ago and you still haven't paid them.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Eileen said, startled. "I meant to, but my father's been trying to get me to cut back on my spending."

"I understand, but I need you to pay your tuition before class next week or I won't be able to allow you to stay for class."

Eileen was alarmed. "But I've been making so much progress, Madame. Just tonight-"

Madame Frederika patted Eileen reassuringly on the arm. "You'll find a way to pay the fees before next class, don't worry."

Eileen nodded solemnly and headed out of the classroom. She had wanted to talk to Madame Frederika about the vision she had experienced and find out if the older woman could make any sense of it. But after the talk of unpaid tuition, she lost interest.

Eileen loitered in the hallway for a few moments instead of going straight home. She didn't know why, but she was half-hoping to run into Lawrence. She wasn't thinking of asking to borrow money from him; she didn't know him nearly well enough to ask him for something like that. And she wasn't planning on telling him about her experience in class either. He was too logical and serious, like her father, to put any faith into the supernatural.

She wondered if she was looking for him to get her mind off of her class, but in any case, she didn't see him and decided to leave.

At home, Eileen took a seat next to her bedroom window and relaxed, trying to clear her thoughts. But when she closed her eyes, she kept thinking of the image of the past, of the two men in her vision. They seemed so familiar to her, like she knew them, but she couldn't remember who they were.

She tried to concentrate. If she could recall that one moment from a past life, surely there must be more that she knew. She struggled to remember, but couldn't find what she was looking for. Instead, her mind wandered to the past that she already knew.

As usual, Eileen's thoughts went back to her mother.

Even though her mother had died when she was very young and Eileen had very few memories of her mother, she thought about her often. She remembered her as a beautiful and elegant woman who swept in and out of the house between charity work and parties. But no matter what else was going on, her mother always had time for her to tell her how much she loved her and what a special child was.

Eileen remembered clearly, how much she had missed her mother after she died from a terminal illness. For years after her death, Eileen dreamed about her mother at night and longed so much just to see her and talk to her again.

That was what originally fostered her interest in the supernatural. She had heard stories about people who had contact with spirits and the dead. She learned all that she could about it, hoping that she could make that connection with her mother, but she had never been able.

Letting her mind wander, Eileen remembered one summer when she was about 12 years old. She had been at an age where everything seemed childish or boring to her and she couldn't wait until she was older.

Her favorite thing to do that summer was to wander around the neighborhood. She especially liked to linger around the Burgesses' house where their son, Hector, and his high school friends liked to hang out. The older kids were always nice when they talked to her, but since she was so much younger than them, they usually ignored her. But she didn't mind that she wasn't a part of the group, she was happy enough to observe from a distance.

Thinking back now, she suddenly remembered one boy in particular. He always seemed a little apart from the others. There was a sadness about him that the others couldn't understand, but that Eileen knew all too well.

Eileen wasn't sure why she was thinking about these things at the moment, but she had a nagging sense that everything somehow fit together. She tried to figure out how, but thinking about it only gave her a headache.

Giving up, she glanced at the clock and was surprised at how late it was. She rose from the sofa and went to get ready for bed. As she finished dressing for bed she paused to look at the old portraits of her mother and father that were hanging on the wall. Her mother had been the reason she took up the interest in psychic phenomenon in her first place and her father was the reason she had to keep that part of her life a secret.

She sighed and then reached to turn out the light. How was she supposed to think seriously about other lifetimes when she couldn't get beyond her past in this lifetime?

Next

Part 3 - Chapter 3 - Past and Future

On Monday morning, Andrew started to greet Amanda with a kiss on the cheek when he walked into the office, but she pushed him back. "Get away, Andrew," she scolded him. "Don't you touch me!"

Andrew was taken aback. "What's the matter?"

"Who is she?" Amanda demanded.

"Who's who?" Andrew asked, puzzled.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me. I know there's another woman."

"Amanda," Andrew sighed. "I honestly don't know who or what you're talking about."

"Fine, then I'll spell it out for you," Amanda said, trying not to get upset, but failing. "Who was that woman you were with on Saturday afternoon, in front of the mall?"

Andrew frowned a moment as he thought back. Finally, it came back from him. "Oh, you mean Vanessa. She's just a woman I met once and happened to run into on Saturday. I barely know her."

"That's not what it looked like from where I was standing," Amanda said. "It looked like you knew each other very well."

Andrew shrugged. "She's an actress. She's very expressive."

Amanda threw her hands in the air and said sarcastically. "Oh, great. That makes it so much better."

"Honestly, Amanda. You're getting upset over nothing."

Amanda turned away, but Andrew followed after her. "I swear, there's nothing to be upset about. I met Vanessa at a bar that night after you and I had a fight and we talked . . .well, more like I babbled on and on about you and she listened, but that was it. I never saw her again, until we happened to run into each other downtown and said hello to each other. I told her that we'd worked things out and that the wedding was back on and she was just congratulating me, that's all."

Andrew waited for Amanda to say something, but she still wouldn't turn around and look at him. "Come on, Amanda. You're the only woman in my life and you're the only woman I want in my life. Our wedding's going to be in a few days, it would be a shame to call it off now."

Amanda smiled in spite of herself and when she finally looked at Andrew again, she couldn't stay mad at him.

"Hi there."

Hector looked up from his cubicle to see Eileen standing in front of him. He rose from his chair with a smile. "Well, hi yourself. What did I do to deserve this surprise?"

"Nothing. I just have some time to kill," Eileen replied coyly before giving a serious answer. "I dropped by to talk to my dad, but he's in a meeting with Reese and somebody named Keller, I think."

"Oh really?" Hector said, staring at the door to Arthur's office.

"That's what Amanda told me," Eileen shrugged. "So I thought I'd drop by your desk and see what you were up to."

Hector broke from his thoughts and turned back to Eileen. "I'm glad you did and you know there's nothing I would like better than to spend time talking to you, but I've got a lot of work to do right now."

"Sure," Eileen nodded as Hector started to excuse himself. Before he could walk away she asked, "Do you know if Lawrence is around?"

"Lawrence?" Hector repeated. "Uh, no. I think he went out on an errand . . .Why do you ask?"

"I just thought I'd say hello," Eileen shrugged.

"I didn't realize you were friends," Hector said. He tried to keep his tone teasing and light, but couldn't keep the suspicion out of his voice.

"I talk to him sometimes after my night class . . .Actually I was hoping to see him there after my class last week."

"Did you pick up some psychic vibes on him or something?"

"Something like that. Maybe."

"Was it good or bad? I'd like to know. Maybe I can get in on his good fortune or maybe I should stay out of his way."

Eileen smiled. "It was nothing like that. We were talking about past lives and something reminded me of him, I think."

"Oh, well. That's alright. As long as I'm the one in your future," he said with a wink before walking away.

In his office, Arthur was holding a private meeting with the company's legal representative, Reese Burroughs, and its accountant, Jerry Keller. It had been Jerry who had first noticed a discrepancy in the books and that a large sum of company money had seemed to vanish into thin air. But money didn't just vanish on its own. Further investigation would be necessary to find out what had happened to it.

If word of this was to get out, the company would be in serious trouble, so Arthur was determined to keep the investigation quiet, especially among his own employees. He asked Jerry to come in after business hours to look through the computer data and hopefully find a way to clean up this mess. Reese was asked to help as well to oversee any legal aspects that may create further difficulties. Blaine would be there to help with the computers.

"I heard it's easier to listen through doors if you hold a glass to your ear."

Hector turned quickly from Arthur's office door to see Lucy standing behind him with her arms crossed and an unamused expression on her face. He laughed and tried to sound casual. "You really think that I was eavesdropping?"

Lucy stared back at him, matching his hard stare, but not his light tone. "I know you were, Hector. I'm on to you."

Before anything else could be said, the office door opened and Arthur escorted Jerry and Reese out. As Lucy and Arthur greeted each other and Eileen made her way over to the group, Hector went back to his desk, glancing over his shoulder at Lucy until she disappeared into the office with Arthur and Eileen. "She doesn't know anything," he assured himself, before going back to work.

"Well, girls, what can I do for you?" Arthur asked.

Lucy and Eileen exchanged a look before Eileen started to speak. "We're kind of worried about you, Dad. You seem so tired and Veronica says you haven't been sleeping well-"

Arthur cut her off with a laugh. "It's sweet of you all to be concerned about me, but I'm perfectly fine.

"We think it's time you picked a new vice president."

When Arthur looked too confused to reply, Lucy spoke up. "I know if . . .things hadn't happened, you would have already promoted someone to the job and started your retirement. Giving someone else the job and the office won't be replacing my father."

Arthur sighed. "I know you're trying to help and I appreciate your concern, but I can manage on my own. The two of you shouldn't be worried about my job or about the company. I can take care of things just fine."

Eileen looked at Lucy and they both knew that he was just humoring them. "Ok," Eileen said with a shrug as she kissed her father on the cheek. "but don't forget to take care of yourself too."

Lucy waited for Eileen to leave the office before saying, "Someone really should take over my father's job . . .but not Hector. There's something about him that makes me uneasy, and I know my father felt the same way."

Next

Part 3 - Chapter 4 - Past and Future

Amanda stood in front of her bedroom mirror, feeling butterflies in her stomach, as she studied the reflection of herself in her wedding dress. She couldn't believe that the big day had finally arrived and she wanted to make sure that everything was perfect.

As she primped in the mirror, she questioned Alma to make sure that every detail was in order, but she still didn't seem satisfied when an annoyed Alma assured her that everything was in place and ready to go.

"I'm sorry I keep bugging you about everything," Amanda apologized. "I'm just so nervous. If you're ever a bride, you'll understand . . .Oh, it's about time to go to the church. Is mother ready?"

"I'll go check," Alma replied through clenched teeth, eager for an excuse to leave the room.

After his horrible date with Lauren from night school, Lawrence reluctantly agreed to be set up on a double date with Hector and Eileen. The group met at Hector's house before the wedding and waited in the living room for Lawrence's blind date to arrive.

"She's a really cute girl. I just have a feeling the two of you are going to get along great," Hector assured Lawrence as the doorbell rang. Hector left the room to answer the door and returned a moment later with a smiling nurse Sal following close behind him. "Sal, I'd like you to meet Eileen and Lawrence. This is Sally."

"Hello," Sally waved. "It's nice to meet you."

"Lawrence has had a rough time with dating lately, but I don't think he'll have anything to worry about with a nice girl like you," Hector told Sal with a wink.

Sal's bright smiled faded into confusion. "What?"

"Oh, don't worry. It's not Lawrence's fault. He just hasn't been out with the right kind of woman. That's why I decided to set the two of you up. I'm sure, you'll get along great."

Sal was struck speechless by this turn of events. She had come here assuming that Hector was her date, not that he had only asked her out for his friend. "Oh," she finally managed to say and left it at that.

Eileen could tell that something wasn't right and when Hector left the room to get Sal a drink, she took the opportunity to question the other woman. "So, Sally, how do you and Hector know each other?"

Sal was feeling very uncomfortable and had been trying to think of a suitable excuse to get out of this awkward situation when Eileen asked her that question. The fact that this gorgeous brunette was Hector's real date only made her feel worse. "I met him at the hospital a few weeks ago. I work as a nurse there and he was looking for someone who could answer a few questions." Even as she answered, Sal felt a complete fool. How could she have misunderstood the situation so completely? There had to be a way to get out of this date.

Eileen wanted to ask Sally more, like what kind of questions had Hector been asking her. But Hector came back before she had the chance.

"We've got a few minutes before we have to leave. Why don't we sit down?" Hector suggested. Eileen started to follow Lawrence and Sally to the sofas, but Hector stopped her. "Let's give them a chance to talk, alone."

"Hector?" Eileen began. "Did Sally know that Lawrence was going to be her date."

"Of course not. It's a blind date," he replied.

"Did you tell her that?"

"Sure. What are you so worried about?"

"I don't think this is going very well," Eileen replied, glancing towards Lawrence and Sal. "We should have invited Lucy to come with us instead."

Hector frowned. He didn't want Lucy to go with them. It was bad enough that she would be there. "But what good would that do Lawrence? She already has a boyfriend. I'm just trying to help out a pal. I don't know why you have a problem with it."

"I don't," Eileen replied. "I just hope Sally doesn't have a problem with it."

On her way out the door, Lucy stopped to give Jordan some last minute instructions. She rattled off a list of things that needed to be done and was pleasantly surprised when Jordan told her that he had already taken care of them. "That's wonderful. I don't know what I would do with out your help, Jordan."

"Is there anything else I can see to, Miss Stuart?"

"No, you've done plenty. Why don't you take the rest of the afternoon off?"

"Thank you, Miss Stuart."

Lucy started towards the door, but then paused. She really hated that she had to go to this wedding alone. She glanced back at Jordan and had a crazy idea. "Jordan," she called out and he turned at her call. "Would you . . ." she started, but was interrupted by the doorbell.

When she didn't resume her sentence, Jordan walked past her to answer the door.

"Is Lucy home?"

At the sound of his voice, Lucy hurried to the door and greeted Craig in a warm embrace. "Craig, what are you doing here?"

"I took the night off. I could tell how much you wanted me to be here to take you to the wedding."

"Oh, Craig, that's so sweet!" Lucy exclaimed and hugged him again. "We'd better leave now, if we're going to be on time."

"Sure," he said releasing her. "Wow, you look gorgeous."

She beamed at him as they started out the door. With a nod towards Jordan as she walked out, Lucy said goodbye.

"Were you about to ask me something, Miss Stuart?"

Lucy almost blushed, realizing how close she had come to making horrible, social faux pas. "No, just enjoy your afternoon."

The wedding was held that afternoon in a local church. The ceremony was simple and the guest list was limited to the bride and groom's family, co-workers, and close friends. Since her father was no longer around, Amanda asked Arthur to walk her down the aisle.

Amanda met Andrew in front of the altar where Pastor Felix was waiting to perform the ceremony. When he asked if there was any reason why they shouldn't be married, Mrs. May glared sharply at Alma. Alma held her tongue and the ceremony continued.

The vows were exchanged and Andrew and Amanda were pronounced husband and wife.

After the wedding, the party moved to the May's house for the reception.

It was a beautiful, clear evening, so the reception was held in the backyard. Amanda and Andrew started the festivities by cutting the wedding cake and dancing to the first dance, then mingled with their guests.

Alma was on her way to the kitchen for some ice when she ran into Dr. Wilton in the foyer.

"It was a lovely wedding," Dr. Wilton remarked. Alma mumbled in agreement and continued towards the kitchen. "And the reception has been very nice too. I can tell you put a lot of work into it."

That stopped Alma in her tracks and she said firmly, "I did."

"It shows. I know a lot of it must be due to you, considering your mother's health. It was very nice of you to put so much work into your sister's celebration."

"I didn't really have a choice," Alma mumbled as she walked into the kitchen.

Dr. Wilton followed, "Your mother told me that the new couple will be living here. That will be quite a change to your household."

"It won't be my household anymore."

"Oh?" he questioned.

"I'm handing it over to Amanda and going back to work."

"What kind of work?"

"Teaching elementary school."

"That's great, except that means I won't be seeing you at your mother's appointments."

"Amanda will take her," Alma replied shortly as she shut the freezer.

"Oh, excuse me," Lucy interrupted as she entered the kitchen. "I just came in for a glass of water."

Alma pointed towards a cabinet door before heading out of the kitchen with the ice. She left quickly, hoping that the doctor wouldn't follow her, but when he didn't, she felt oddly disappointed.

"Hello, Miss Stuart. How are you?" Dr. Wilton asked.

"Fine and yourself?" Lucy replied tensely as she poured the water from the tap. Given her pending lawsuit against the hospital, she had a feeling that she shouldn't be talking with the doctor alone.

"Fine. I heard from a friend at the university that you recently enrolled in the medical program. Congratulations."

"Thank you," Lucy said graciously and started towards the door.

"I know it can be a challenge. I've mentored new students in the past, so if you have any questions or want to talk to someone in the field, you're welcome to drop by my office sometime and we can chat."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Dr. Wilton," Lucy declined before walking out of the room. "Unless Arthur or our lawyers come along."

Dr. Wilton called after her, "I'll give you a call in a few days, in case you change your mind."

Eileen spent most of the evening mingling with the other guests until she noticed Lawrence standing alone. "Hi, Lawrence. What happened to Sally?"

"She said she had a headache and had to go home."

"That's too bad," Eileen replied, not the least bit surprised. Lawrence's date had spent more time chatting with other guests and hitting the champagne than spending time with Lawrence. What had Hector been thinking?

"You know, I just realized something the other day," Eileen said, changing the subject. "We've met before."

"Yes, you were on your way to a concert."

"No, before that. Years ago, when you were in high school, you used to visit Hector's family in the summer, didn't you?"

"Yes, once," he replied thoughtfully. "but I don't remember you there."

"You wouldn't. I was just a little neighborhood kid who liked to tag along."

"Veronica and I are taking off now," Arthur said to his hosts. It was getting late and the party was starting to break up.

"Thank you so much for coming. I can't tell you how much it means to us," Amanda replied.

"It's my pleasure," Arthur replied. "I want you to know how happy I am for the both of you. Enjoy your honeymoon and when you get back there will be a bonus in each of your paychecks." Before heading to the car, Arthur patted Andrew on the shoulder, "I always like to have a family man in the business."

"I can't believe they had to drag the poor little flower girl down the aisle kicking and screaming like that. I don't know why they didn't just leave her out of the ceremony if she didn't want to participate. Don't you think so?" Veronica said to Hector, grabbing his attention..

Hector had been more absorbed in the conversation between Arthur and the Martins than the gossip of the boss' wife and he didn't like what he was overhearing. "Yes, I totally agree," he nodded.

Next

Part 3 - Chapter 5 - Past and Future

The next morning, Craig and Lucy had to say goodbye again. He had managed to take one night off but he couldn't miss another concert on his tour.

Lucy hated to see him go and reluctantly walked him to the door, trying to spend every second possible with him.

"I wish you didn't have to go already."

"I know, but this tour will be over soon and I'll come back to you as soon as I can. Will you wait for me?"

"Of course I will."

"Great, because you're the only woman I can think about."

Lucy stood at the door looking out until Craig was out of sight. She wiped the few stray tears from her eyes and then walked back into the house to handle the rest of her day.

She found Jordan waiting for her in the dining room. "You have a call, Miss Stuart, from Dr. Wilton at the hospital. He wanted to make an appointment with you."

Lucy sighed, "Not him again."

"What should I tell him?"

Lucy took a moment to think it over before finally answering, "Tell him I'll meet him this afternoon."

"Are you feeling alright, Dad?" Eileen asked a weary looking Arthur as he joined his family for breakfast.

"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Or the night before. Or the night before that . . ." Arthur's wife, Veronica, spoke up. "I really think you should see a doctor, Art."

"I know you do, but there's nothing wrong with me. I've just been a little concerned about a few things at work. It's nothing to be concerned about." When the two women exchanged doubtful looks he added, "I know what you think and I don't want to hear it."

"It's not that, Dad," Eileen said, changing the subject. "I need to ask you something, but I don't think this is a good time."

He sighed and asked sternly, "What is it?"

"I need another advance on my allowance. It's for school."

"What happened to the money I gave you a few weeks ago?"

"It's already gone, Daddy. I didn't know I would need it for this."
Arthur used his lecturing voice. "You really should budget your spending, Eileen. That's why I'm monitoring your spending now." When Eileen nodded in agreement, he gave in. "Bring the bill to me and I'll take care of it this time."

Eileen frowned to herself. That wasn't going to work, but she only nodded again and said, "Thanks."

When Lucy arrived at the hospital, she was immediately admitted to Dr. Wilton's office. She still had her doubts about this meeting, but decided it might be best to just hear him out.

Edward welcomed her warmly and invited her to have a seat. Lucy was wary as he started the conversation out with small talk and about medical school. Finally he came to the point of the meeting.

"Well, Miss Stuart, you sound like a very promising student. I would be willing to offer you an internship here, but our situation at the hospital is a bit doubtful right now. We've been working on a proposal to add a new intensive care wing to the hospital, but, unfortunately, we don't have the funding to build and staff the new wing and pay for malpractice suits.

Lucy had heard enough and she pushed back her chair as she rose to her feet. "Then maybe you should look after your patients better."

Dr. Wilton moved from his seat to and hurried to the other side of the desk before she had a chance to leave.

"You're a smart woman, Miss Stuart, and a medical professional yourself. Surely, you can see that the hospital wasn't to blame in your father's death. This lawsuit isn't going to do your father or anyone else any good. Can't you see that it's only going to prevent us from providing better health care to other patients?"

"We shouldn't be talking about this. Not without my lawyer present."

"I'm prepared to make you an offer," Edward said quickly. "Drop this lawsuit and I can guarantee you an internship in any department you chose. And if the new wing gets built, I'll try to talk the board into naming it in memory of your father, if you'd like."

Lucy was struck speechless, unable to believe what she was hearing.

"Just think it over and give me a call when you've made your decision."

Next

Part 3 - Chapter 6 - Past and Future

Hector loitered at his desk long after it was time to go home. Since he had overheard Arthur congratulating Andrew after his wedding reception, he had felt that sense of desperation return, the one that he felt whenever he feared he might be losing the upper hand. He knew it was time to take action again. He wasn't sure what that action was going to be, but he knew that he couldn't do anything until he was alone at the office. He glanced at his watch again. It was nearly 5:30 and still the office wasn't empty yet. He decided to see what was going on for himself.

Casually, Hector walked past a cubicle where Blaine, Jerry, and Reese were working at one of the computers. "Hey, guys. I guess I'm not the only one working late tonight."

Jerry eyed Hector and silently turned his attention back to the monitor. Blaine turned around to chat with Hector. "Yeah. Mr. Townsend asked us to come in late and look up some information."

Hector nodded. "Special project, huh? What is it this time?"

Blaine started to reply, but Jerry spoke up first. "I think if Mr. Townsend wanted you to know, he would have told you."

Hector made a show of backing off. "Fair enough."

Blaine, wanting to make peace asked Hector, "So the boss has you working late too?"

"No, I'm just getting caught up on a few things," Hector replied, glancing over Blaine's shoulder, trying to get a peek at the monitor. If Reese was gathering any information about the lawsuit, he wanted to know what it was. Hector turned back to Blaine and tried to keep the conversation going, while he stole glances at the monitor.

"I think that's it," Reese said a moment later, as she backed away from the computer.

Blaine turned back to the screen to check for himself. "Great. Go ahead and shut it down and we can get out of here for tonight."

Hector frowned as the screen went black. He still hadn't seen what they were working on. "Hey, I'm headed out too," he said. "Since we're all leaving now, why don't we go out for a drink or something?"

"Sounds good to me," Blaine agreed and then turned to Jerry and Reese, awaiting their answers.

Jerry shook his head. "I've got to get home. The wife will be waiting for me."

"Reese?"

She shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

Hector picked out a little pub not far from the office and the group settled in at a corner table. Hector tried to steer the conversation towards the work they were doing in the office and the lawsuit, but Reese was very closed mouthed on both topics and Blaine seemed clueless. Hector was starting to feel like he was on a completely different wavelength. Finally he gave up. Reese and Blaine were set on having their own conversation and they weren't saying anything that was useful to him.

"You know, it's later than I thought," Hector said as he rose from his seat. "I should get home. I'll see you both at the office."
Hector walked away from the table, leaving Blaine and Reese feeling suddenly awkward, now that it was just the two of them.

Instead of going home, Hector went back to the office. He was determined to find out what the others had been working on, so he went back to the computer they had been using and tried to see what he could recall.

He tapped away at the keyboard for several minutes before finding the screen that Reese had been working on. He studied the screen and realized that he was in the company's financial records. Immediately, he was relieved that the secret after hours investigation had nothing to do with Clifford's murder, but then he became curious and browsed through the information, seeing what he could find.

Hector was just starting to make sense of his findings when he thought he heard a noise. He sat still for a moment, listening. When he heard another bump, he carefully reached over to turn off the monitor, but he couldn't reach it in time. Someone was leaving Arthur's office.

It was Eileen.

Eileen turned from closing the office door to see Hector sitting behind one of the computers. The light from the monitor cast his face in a sinister glow and for a brief second she actually felt afraid of him. For a few moments neither of them moved or spoke. Finally Hector made the first move and moved quickly towards Eileen. He grabbed her gently by the arm. "Eileen? What are you doing here?"
Eileen didn't want to answer that question, but for some reason, she found herself unable to lie and the whole truth came out. "I'm short on money since my dad has limited my allowance, so I'm borrowing some from his petty cash to pay for my psychic class. I've got a job and I'm going to pay him back as soon as I can. You won't say anything will you?"

A wide grin spread over Hector's face. "Of course not. I promise, you can count on me to cover for you."

Eileen tried to smile back, but did a poor job of it. She felt bad enough about what she had done, but now Hector's support, which should have been reassuring, only made her feel even more uneasy.

Next Part