Part 23 - Chapter 1 - Compromise

No matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did to try and distract himself, Justin couldn't get Lucy and the kiss out of his mind. It was obvious that he and Lucy weren't going to be able to keep things between them strictly professional. His common sense was telling him he should start looking for another job, but at the same time he couldn't just abandon Lucy like Mrs. Burgess had.

Realizing he was daydreaming again, Justin turned to the task at hand, straightening up his desk. As he flipped through the stack of envelopes, deciding which to keep and which to throw away, he came across a Christmas card from Audrey.

Inside she had written him a long note about how well things were going for her and Chad. They were renting a small house in the city. She was working at another real estate agency and Chad had found a job with another company. It sounded like everything was going well for the both of them. He was glad that she was happy at least.

She ended the note by inviting him to spend the holidays with them. As she put it, she hated the idea of him spending Christmas all alone. He hated it too, but unfortunately he was much too busy with the holiday events at the country club to go out of town right now. And he knew it was impossible for Audrey and Chad to come back to Bay Pointe to spend time with him.

Just because he couldn't be with family, didn't mean he had to be all alone. He picked up the phone and dialed Vanessa's number. They might not be a perfect match for each other, but they could both use a friend to spend time with.

"Or maybe not," he thought as he hung up the phone. There was no answer.

"Something smells good," Vanessa remarked as she walked into the kitchen. "Are those omelettes?"

"Yes. Have a seat, they're almost ready."

"Is there anything I can do to help? I feel like I should be making breakfast for you and Ed after all you've done for me."

"You don't have to do anything for us." As Alma set the breakfast things out on the table, she glanced at her watch. "But if you really want something to do, you can help with the dishes. I don't think I'll have time to do them before I leave for work."

"Don't worry about that," Edward said with a wink as he walked into the kitchen. "You're our guest and I believe it's my turn to clean up the kitchen. I'll take care of it."

"I really don't mind," Vanessa insisted as they sat down at the table. "I have to thank you both again for letting me stay here last night. I did not want to stay at that apartment all night by myself and I didn't know who else to call."

"I'm glad you didn't stay there," Alma said. "It's too dangerous. Whoever broke in might have come back."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Vanessa replied. "I suppose I'll have to see what the police have to say before I decide when to go back home. If it's not safe for me to stay there yet, I'll have to stop by to get some of my things at least."

"We want you to know that you are welcome to stay here as long as you need," Edward said.

"Oh no, I don't want to intrude on the two of you. You're still newlyweds after all. I can go to a hotel or maybe I'll see if Cassie and Serena have any extra room at the house."

"You aren't intruding," Alma insisted. "It's really not a problem."

"Thank you," Vanessa gave in. "I appreciate it and I'm so grateful to have you both in my family."

They turned their attention to their breakfast and ate in silence for a moment before Vanessa added, "I do have one condition to staying here, you'll have to let me help out. I'll take my turn at cooking and cleaning the kitchen."

Lucy was sitting in the living room reading a magazine when she heard the front door open. As she rose from her seat to see who was there, Craig walked into the room.

"Hey, babe. Surprised to see me?" he greeted her cheerfully. He leaned in to kiss her, but Lucy pulled away and slapped him across the face. "What was that for?" he exclaimed in shock. "Don't tell me you're still mad about that argument we had over the phone."

The way Craig walked in without a care in the world, as if everything was fine, made Lucy angry enough, but for him to pretend that nothing had happened, only made her more furious. "No, I'm not. That's not what I'm mad about, Craig, and you know it."

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't try to patch things up before now. But when I called you right back after our argument and you didn't answer, I thought maybe we both needed a few days to cool off."

"Cooling off, is that what you call it?" Lucy scoffed.

"Yeah . . .what are you talking about?"

"I actually started to feel bad about our argument later that night and I called back to apologize, but you didn't answer the phone, some woman did."

"A woman? Craig repeated. For a moment he looked confused. "Oh, that must have been Delilah."

"I don't care who she was. I can't believe you would do this to us. I can't believe you would have another woman in your hotel room-"

"Woah, babe. Hold on a second. Delilah is my manager. She was only at the hotel to talk about my touring schedule. There wasn't any funny business going on at all." He paused a second, trying to read Lucy's expression. He couldn't tell if she believed him or if she still had doubts.

"Did you really think I would be with another woman? Baby, you know you're the only one for me. You know our marriage means more to me than that, don't you? I would never even think of cheating on you, just like you would never think about cheating on me. Right?"

Lucy looked away feeling thoroughly embarrassed that she had jumped to conclusions. "Right."

"Good," Craig replied. "Now where's that little boy of ours? I can't wait to see how much he's grown."

"He's upstairs in the nursery," Lucy replied.

"Coming up?"

"I'll be there in a minute." She sat down on the couch as Craig went upstairs. She knew it would be easy enough for him to be lying to her about what happened, but somehow she didn't think that was the case. She believed him. He had been true to her while she was the one who was unfaithful to their marriage. She had never felt more guilty.

Part 23 - Chapter 2 - Compromise

"What's going on here?" Andrew asked as he walked into the break room where Hector was sitting alone at the table circling ads in the classifieds.

"Don't tell me you're looking at the want ads."

"And make your dream come true? I don't think so," Hector replied. "Actually, I'm looking at the real estate listings. I'm planning on moving."

"Far?"

"You're just dying to throw a going away party for me, aren't you?" Hector said as he folded up his newspaper. "I bet you have the party streamers bought and the invitations all ready to be sent."

"If I did, you wouldn't be getting one. The party doesn't begin until you're out of here for good."

Hector just laughed and walked out of the room.

Amanda passed Hector going out as she entered the break room. She hesitated a second, seeing Andrew and then turned away and went about her work.

Andrew sighed. Amanda had barely said two words to him all day. He couldn't really blame her for being cold towards him. He hadn't been a very good husband lately and he needed to make up for that.

"You look nice today. Did you do something different with your hair?"

"No, it's the same as always."

He tried again. "I was thinking, why don't we take a long lunch today and go out somewhere nice to eat?"

"I'm not hungry."

"Amanda." He sighed again. "I'm sorry about last night. I'm sorry I walked out instead of talking to you, but I just couldn't stand having the same argument again."

"I'm tired of it too, especially when there's really nothing to discuss . . ." she trailed off for a moment, then decided to speak her mind. "It's just me, really. I wish I could be happy with what we have, like you are, but I just can't stop thinking about the things we don't have."

"Like what?"

"Like a house, a baby. Don't you want those things too?"

"Sure I do."

"You don't act like it sometimes." As Amanda spoke she heard someone the front door open. "I have to get back to work."

He knew Amanda nagged him a lot, but he didn't realized these things bothered her so much. He had to do something to make it up to her.

Edward was greeted by Amanda at the reception desk. When he told her he was there to see Lawrence, she called back to the office.

"Mr. Arrendale will see you now. Go right on through, Dr. Wilton."

When Edward walked into the private office, Lawrence rose to greet him with a handshake. "What brings you here, Edward? Good news, I hope."

"Yes, I think it is good news. I have an idea for our project that might make everyone happy."

"Have a seat," Lawrence said. He was very interested to find out what Edward had come up with.

Zara knocked on the partially opened door to Thomas' room. "Hey, I heard you wanted to talk to me."

"I do," Thomas said as he turned to face her. "I did a little research on Lawrence Arrendale and found an interesting story about him. It seems he had an uncle who went by the alias Sebastian Barrett. Does that name sound familiar to you?"

Zara looked away a moment. Her secret was out. "Yes, he's my father."

"So that would make you and Mr. Arrendale . . ."

"Cousins," she finished his sentence.

Before she could explain, Thomas continued. "Then it is true. So is that why I saw him at your house? Is that the real reason why you've been dragging your feet on this project?"

"No!"

"So why didn't you say anything before?"

"Because, I didn't think it mattered." She continued quickly before Thomas could object. "I barely know Lawrence. I only found out about him and my dad's real identity recently and I haven't had much contact with him since. The reason I've had reservations about your plan is because I don't like the idea of blackmailing anyone, even if it is for a good cause ultimately."

"We'll never get anything accomplished by thinking that way."

"I think we can," she insisted. "I promise you I am devoted to protecting Autumn Bay and I am totally against the building project no matter who is behind it or how they might be related to me. But I also believe in doing the right thing always and I'm not going to compromise that."

Part 23 - Chapter 3 - Compromise

"Eileen, come in. It's good to see you," Cassie greeted Eileen at the front door and let her into the house.

"It's good to see you too. It's been too long since we've had a chance to get together and talk," Eileen replied as she took a seat on the couch. "I've been busy lately."

"Me too," Cassie replied thoughtfully before quickly turning the subject back to Eileen. "What have you been up to?"

"Well, things are going really well with me and Lawrence, even though he's been busy with work and we don't get to see each other a lot. I just started looking for a job, but I really haven't decided what I'm looking for yet . . ."

"Have you been keeping up with the psychic studies?"

"No, not really . . . I've been kind of afraid to try after what happened last time."

"Yeah, that was wild," Cassie said, thinking back to the night they found out that Hector had murdered Clifford Stuart. "At least it worked," she mumbled.

"But what good did it do? We found out the truth, but nothing's been done about it. I went to the police and no one believed me. I just don't know what to do."

"Neither do I." Cassie shrugged. "The psychic stuff hasn't been going well for me either."

"Why? What happened?"

"There's this guy that I really like. I mean, every time I see him, I just get this feeling that we're meant to be together. Do you know what I mean?"

When Eileen nodded, Cassie continued, "The problem is, this other girl keeps getting in the way. To make a long story short, my mom came up with this idea to make a love potion. I was going to take it, but it turned into this huge disaster. Either the potion didn't work, or maybe it might be working subtly, I'm not sure, but either way I haven't seen any results yet. Nothing's changed."

"You actually made a love potion?" Eileen asked in disbelief. "Isn't that kind of extreme?"

"Maybe," she reluctantly admitted. "But wouldn't you do the same if it were you and Lawrence?"

"No, I wouldn't," Eileen insisted. "When I first told Lawrence how I felt about him and he told me he had a girlfriend, I backed off. I didn't try to do anything to make him want me... Have you just tried telling this guy how you feel about him?"

Cassie shook her head. "That wouldn't be a good idea. He has a girlfriend and they're living together now. It seems pretty serious."

Reese walked towards the entrance of the coffee shop. She was starting to feel bad about telling Blaine that she was too busy to meet him for lunch. She wondered if she should call and ask him to meet her, but she decided against it. Living together was a huge change for her and what she wanted most was a little time alone. Besides, she was only picking up something to eat, then it was straight back to the office.

As she walked opened the front door, her ears were filled with the sound of live music. She didn't recognize the song, but somehow it sounded familiar. When she looked around she was startled to see James performing in front of a small group of people. Next to him was a table that displayed a poster of himself and a stack of albums.

He looked up at the doorway just as she was coming in. Recognizing her, he smiled and winked hello as he finished the song he was playing.

Reese tried to looked past him as if she didn't notice him and turned her attention to the menu behind the counter.

Behind her she heard James strumming the strings of his guitar, adjusting the tuning, as the few people listening applauded politely.

"I'm going to change things up a bit. You won't hear this song on my album, but it's an old favorite of mine and I have a feeling some of you might enjoy it as well."

Reese stared forward waiting for her order as James began to play. She was doing her best to ignore him, but she couldn't help hearing the song and recognizing it. It was the same song he had played at Cassandra's party when he was trying to guess her taste in music.

Reese looked up and slowly turned her head, trying to look over her shoulder without actually looking like she was looking at James. When she saw that he was looking directly at her as he sang, she snapped her head forward quickly, her cheeks flushing a deep pink.

She focused her eyes on a particular spot on the counter until the barista returned with her order. Eager to get out of the coffee shop, Reese fumbled with her money as she quickly paid for her purchase and made a beeline for the door, refusing to look at James on her way out.

Part 23 - Chapter 4 - Compromise

"Is there any news on who broke into my apartment?" Vanessa asked eagerly as she showed Officer Varner into her sister's apartment.

"Not yet. I just need to ask you a few questions. Are you sure nothing was missing from the apartment?"

"As sure as I can be. I didn't notice anything gone."

"What about money? Valuables?"

"No. Except for the cash I carry with me, I keep all of my money at the bank and my valuables in a safe deposit box."

"It looks like the culprit was looking for something specific. Do you have any idea who might have broken in or what they might have been looking for?"

"No, none at all. I told the other police officer all of this last night," she answered impatiently. Talking to the police made her feel like she was going around in circles. They kept asking her the same questions and never gave her any answers. "Isn't it the police department's job to answer those questions?"

"We're doing the best we can, ma'am. We have a lot of cases to handle and the more information you can give us the easier it will be for us to get to the bottom of this. Now, can you think of anyone who might have wanted to get into your apartment?"

"No, no one." As he scribbled in his notebook, she asked, "When can I go back home?"

"At anytime. We're done there."

"But is it safe? How can I be sure whoever broke in won't come back?"

"You can't be. This kind of thing could happen to anyone, at anytime."

"That's comforting! So you aren't going to do anything at all to protect me?" Vanessa was growing more frustrated by the moment. She couldn't stand Officer Varner's attitude. He was professional enough, but he acted like he didn't care about the case. She got a strong impression that he'd rather be somewhere else.

"If you think it's necessary we could send a police escort with you, have an officer watch the building for a few days, make sure there's no suspicious activity. With no suspects and no motive behind the crime, it seems overly cautious to me. If the person who broke into your apartment didn't find what they were looking for there, I doubt they'll come back."

"I think it is necessary. I would rather take the precaution."

"Right," Logan said as his pager went off. "I've got to get back to the station. If you insist on having an escort, come down to the police station and I'll have one of the other officers escort you back to your apartment."

Hector hung up the phone with a smile on his face. He had just received a phone call with the news he had been hoping for.

He slapped Andrew on the back as he walked past him. "Good news, Martin. You can get out those party streamers after all. I just got some good news to celebrate."

"What are you talking about now?" Andrew asked.

"You never were very quick, were you? I still don't get why they decided to promote you over me. I'm not quite sure how you won that one, but it's really not my concern anymore. Hopefully I won't have to put up with little twerps like you from now on."

"You're leaving?"

"Don't start the party without me," Hector said, leaving a dumb-founded Andrew behind as he headed towards Lawrence's office.

"It's good news, Lawrence. I just got the call from the building commission. They've listened to your new proposal and they've accepted the plan. You've got yourself a building permit."

"That's great news."

"So, it looks like you can start construction any time."

"We will, as soon as possible. Have you told Edward yet?"

"I was going to call him next."

"I'll do it. We need to discuss the next stage and plan the groundbreaking anyway. Thanks for all your help, Quentin."

Hector walked in just as Lawrence was hanging up the phone. "Hey, Lawrence. Have you got a minute?"

"I'm a little busy right now, Hector. Is it important?"

"Very important, but it won't take long for me to say what I need to say," Hector replied as he sauntered into the office. "I just wanted to tell you that I quit. I've just been offered a very good job from another lucrative company and it's much too good for me to pass up. I know it's customary to give two weeks notice, but I'd appreciate it if you could do me a favor and let today be my last day. They want me to start ASAP. The other employees can pick up the slack and I'm sure you can manage without me. You always seem to manage somehow," he ended with a sarcastic laugh.

"This is short notice," Lawrence said slowly, trying to decide if Hector was serious or if he was up to something. "It will take some adjusting, but if you have to leave right away, we can work it out. Congratulations and good luck."

"Thanks and the same to you," Hector replied. He hesitated a moment as he walked towards the door. "Who would have imagined when I found you working on that street corner that you would end up being the one with the corner office and the boss's daughter? It makes you wonder, where would we be now if I hadn't brought you here that day . . . guess we'll never know. Good luck, Laurie."

Logan knocked on the Lieutenant's office before entering. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Varner. Come in. I wanted to talk to you about your investigation of the Stuart murder. It's time for you to give up the case."

"But, sir. I can't give up the investigation now. I am so close to cracking this case. If you could just give me a little more time . . ."

"You have been working on this line of investigation since the murder occurred. Do you have the evidence to make an arrest?"

"Not yet, but I'm getting very close."

"Close isn't good enough. We can't stall any longer."

"We have to, sir. This could be huge. If we can get enough evidence to tie the murder of one of this town's most prominent businessmen to our suspects we could bring down their whole crime organization. We've been waiting for a case like this for years."

"We have, but trying to make an arrest without the solid proof to back it up isn't going to do any good."

"So they get away with murder yet again?" Logan asked. "I know there's a connection and I'll find the proof. I just need a little more time."

"I'm sorry, Varner, but we're out of time. We're making the arrest this afternoon and as of now you are officially off the investigation."

Part 23 - Chapter 5 - Compromise

"Hi," Reese said. As she walked into the house, she noticed the room had been changed. "You've moved the furniture around."

"Yeah," Blaine said, looking up from the book he was reading. "I needed to make room for some of my stuff. You don't mind, do you?"

"No," Reese answered quietly. She wasn't happy about coming home and finding that things had been rearranged, but she didn't want to make a big issue of it. It was just another change she had to get used to. "You live here too."

"If you don't like it we can move it back."

"It's fine," she said, looking around. It was different, but she could get used to it.

Reese wandered around the room aimlessly, not sure what to do with herself. She finally sat down on the couch next to Blaine. Part of her felt like she should be playing hostess and seeing if he needed anything, but she realized that was silly. He had been here all day with out her and obviously didn't have any problem making himself at home. Oddly enough, she seemed to be the one who was having trouble making herself at home in the house she had lived in for years.

She felt ridiculous for being so nervous about this. She tried to convince herself to act normal, to do the things that she would usually do without being so concerned about whether Blaine was there or not. She tried to think about what she usually did after work. Sometimes she liked to unwind by listening to the radio, but Blaine was sitting next to her reading. He seemed very into his book and she didn't want the noise to disturb him.

Feeling unsettled, she stood up. "I think I'll go change," she announced and went into the bedroom where she would at least be alone.

She had barely walked through the door before Blaine got up to follow her.

"Before you do, what do you want to do about dinner tonight? Do you feel like going out or staying in?"

"I don't feel like going anywhere, but you can go out if you want to."

"I was only thinking about going out if you wanted to. If you want to stay in, I'll cook something for us here."

"Ok," Reese replied as she headed towards the closet. She thought that was the end of the conversation and that Blaine would go into the kitchen to start dinner, but instead he lingered in the bedroom.

"I got some good news today. One of the companies I sent my resume to called back. They want to see me for an interview this week. The job is full time and working with computers. I think I have a really good chance of getting it."

"That's great."

"I know . . ." he replied. He was surprised that she didn't seem as excited about the news. "Is everything ok?"

"I'm just tired."

"Oh, ok. Are you sure that's it? You've been acting a little different since I've moved in. If you aren't comfortable with me living here, it's ok for you to say so."

"I guess I am a little uncomfortable," Reese admitted. "But it's not because I don't want you here. I just . . . I'm not used to having a roommate, especially not one that I'm involved with. I'm really just . . . not sure how to act."

"Just be yourself, do the things that you usually do. It might take some time, but we'll figure it out."

"I'll try," she promised, but not feeling as sure as Blaine.

"Go ahead and change or do whatever you were going to do and I'll see what we have for dinner."

"I wish I had some career advice for you," Cassandra said to Eileen. "But if I did I would have a better job than waitressing at a diner. What happened to your last job, working for the psychic hotline? Did that not work out?"

"My dad found out about it and made me quit. It was kind of dumb anyway. They told me to just make things up and tell people what they wanted to hear."

"That stinks. You know my mom has started doing readings out of the house. If you had a real gift for it, you could try going into business for yourself. She's been trying to talk me into joining her, but I think at least one of us should have a steady income."

"I don't think I do have a gift for it," Eileen said with a sigh. "I really wanted to though."

"Because of your mother?"

"Yeah. I was really young when she died and . . . I just wished I could see her again, talk to her again. I feel like there were so many things she never got to tell me before she died."

"Maybe it's not too late. You know, my mother can communicate with the dead."

"Really?" Eileen asked cautiously. She was curious but didn't want to get her hopes up.

"Yes. I saw it myself. We were right here in the living room when she saw Reese's dead mother. She was able to tell Reese her mother's name when they had been searching for ages and hadn't been able to find it."

"Do you think she could talk to my mother too?" Eileen asked nervously.

"Let's find out."

Eileen nervously followed Cassandra upstairs. She felt a little ridiculous for trying this, but she really wanted to believe that it was possible. Her wanting for this to work overcame her fear of what she might be getting into.

They found Serena in her bedroom, her arms wrapped tightly around her as she stared out the window.

"Mom."

At the sound of her daughter's voice, Serena jumped.

"We were wondering if you could do a reading on Eileen. She wants to communicate with her mother."

Serena shook her head. "I'm sorry, I can't do it now. Maybe another time," she said, turning away.

"That's ok. I should get going anyway," Eileen replied. "Give me a call sometime, Cassie, and we'll get together again."

"Ok. It was good to see you." Cassie said goodbye to Eileen and turned back to her mother once they were alone. "Is something wrong, Mother?"

"Don't you sense it too? There is a great evil near and it's getting closer. I don't know what is going to happen."

Part 23 - Chapter 6 - Compromise

Lucy stood in the doorway watching as Craig and Stuart sat on the floor of the nursery playing with a toy xylophone.

Craig looked up at her. "He's good. I think this little guy is going to grow up to be a musician like his daddy."

"Maybe," Lucy answered with a smile. "Can we talk, Craig?"

"Sure." Craig patted Stuart on the head before standing up to face Lucy. "What is it, babe?"

"I just wanted to apologize. I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions. I should have trusted you and I do, but we just had that fight and being away from each other so much has been hard for me. It's easy to start to wonder."

"I know. I know. I start thinking that way too. I know I can trust you, but I still miss you. That's why I wanted you to come with me. You and Stuart both. I can't believe how much he's grown since I've been away."

"We miss you too and it's been so hard for me to be away from you. I hate being here on my own. I'm starting to think that maybe you were right. There isn't anything so important here that I can't have someone else take care of for awhile. Maybe we should go with you."

"Is that because you want to or because you don't trust me?"

"Because I want to and because I miss you."

"In that case, I would love for you to come with me," Craig said seductively as he put his arms around Lucy's waist.

He was about to kiss her, when the phone downstairs rang.

"I should answer that," Lucy said as she moved away from him.

"Hurry back," Craig called after her. As she left the room, Craig bent down to pick up his son. He glanced out into the hallway and asked, "What has your mommy been up to while I was away?"

"I have some bad news," Thomas announced before the group of environmentalists. "The building commission has approved construction for the Arrendale-Wilton housing division near Autumn Lake."

When the others around him voiced their disapproval, Thomas motioned for everyone to be quiet. "Yes, it looked like the corporate big shots used their money and influence and power again to get what they want."

"How?" Zara asked, barely making herself heard over the rest of the group.

"What was that?" Thomas asked.

"What did they do to influence the decision?"

"They went to the board with their idea of a compromise. They've agreed to keep a certain amount of land, including part near the lake itself, undeveloped. Apparently that justifies the other acres of habitat that are going to be destroyed in order to build and landscape their big mansions."

Most of the others around her seemed defeated or discouraged, but Zara didn't think the proposal seemed unreasonable. She was relieved that Lawrence had kept his word about doing everything honestly and at least the compromise showed that they had some concern and awareness about the environment. Their protest hadn't stopped the building project, but it had encouraged them to set aside land that might have been completely developed.

"Don't worry, this isn't over yet," Thomas was saying to the others as Zara started to walk away. "This isn't over until we put an end to this development. I promise, I won't let this go through without a fight."

As the group started to disperse, Thomas went after Zara. "Hey Zara, I want to give you one last chance to prove yourself. If you're interested, I have a plan."

"That's the last of it," Hector thought to himself as he closed the doors to his empty closet. He had packed his bags, booked his airline ticket, and was about to leave Bay Pointe behind him forever.

Life had been good here, for awhile. He'd had friends, a promising career, a beautiful girlfriend, but that was all gone now and he knew life would never be that good again if he stayed here.

Sometimes he wondered when the exact moment was that his future began to unravel. Was it when he found Lawrence standing on that street corner handing out fliers? Was it when he went over the edge in Clifford's hospital room? Or was it something else? Whether it was one moment or a combination of events, didn't matter now. He was off to a new job in a new town to start a new life and he was going to put everything what had happened up to this point behind him forever.

Hector had just brought the last of his suitcases downstairs and was going to do a final check around the house before leaving for the airport, when he heard a knock on the front door.

"Hello. Can I help you with something?" he asked the two police officers standing on his front step.

"Are you Hector Burgess?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"Hector Burgess, you're under arrest."

Hector swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. He couldn't believe this was happening. Not now. "What for?"

When the police officer answered his voice seemed very far away, over the ringing sound in his ears, Hector managed to pick out the words, "murder" and "Clifford Stuart." He saw the glint of handcuffs as the officer read him his rights.