Part 29 - Chapter 1 - Suspect

"How is the investigation going, Varner?" Lieutenant Kauker asked as he walked into the office.

Logan stepped back from the evidence board he had been studying closely. "Take a look at this, sir. Does the wording in these messages seem similar to you?"

The lieutenant looked over the tacked up notes Logan had added to the evidence board. "Somewhat. Do you think it's the same person?"

"That's what I suspect," Logan replied. "The lab checked out the suspicious fan letters and the McAllistar's ransom note and the type of lettering and paper used matched. We're fairly certain they came from the same person. All the evidence points in that direction."

"What about this?" Lieutenant Kauker asked, pointing to the third group of messages.

"Those are transcripts of the phone messages I found on Ms. Summer's answering machine. Obviously, we can't compare them the same way as the paper messages, but something about the wording strikes me. It sounds like the same person to me."

The lieutenant read the papers again. "Could be. It's hard to tell. Do you know who left the phone messages?"

"Yes, he left his name and we found his information in Ms. Summer's address book."

"I think it's worth looking into at least. Even if he isn't our man, he might know something about Ms. Summer's disappearance."

"I'll look into it immediately, sir."

Justin sat on the sofa staring blankly at the window. He felt so foolish, letting himself give in to temptation only to see the woman he let himself fall for go back to her husband. He didn't know how he let himself get into this situation.

Tired of being alone with his problems, he crossed the room and picked up the phone.

"Audrey? How are you?"

"Justin? Hi! I'm doing great. How have you been?" When there was a pause on the line, she asked less cheerfully, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything's fine, not great, but alright."

"What happened?"

"I don't want to go into the details, but I've resigned from my job at the country club and I don't have my job with Mrs. Burgess anymore. She's leaving town to visit her relatives. And . . . well, let's just say other things haven't been going as I'd hoped. I'm at a loss at the moment."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I just wanted someone to talk to."

"This might be a crazy idea, but since you aren't working right now, why don't you come stay with me and Chad for awhile? We really like it here and it might be good for you to get away for awhile and sort things out."

"I might do that. Thanks." Justin looked up when he heard the doorbell ring. "Can I call you back later, Audrey? There's someone at the door."

"Sure. Give me a call anytime. Let me know what you've decided, ok?"

"I will," he promised, before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.

When he opened the door he was surprised to see a police officer standing in the hallway. "Hello. Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Justin Jordan."

"I'm Justin Jordan."

"I'd like to ask you a few questions, Mr. Jordan. Would you mind coming down to the station with me?"

Part 29 - Chapter 2 - Suspect

Amanda rapped quickly on the office door before entering her husband's office. "Are you busy, honey?"

"No, not at the moment," he said moving the papers on his desk aside. "What's going on?"

"Well, I was just looking up some information and making a few phone calls and I found out some really exciting news. I probably should have waited until the end of the day to tell you, but I just couldn't."

"What are you so worked up about?"

"Adoption. I checked into a few agencies and with our backgrounds and our salaries, they're sure we would be approved. We would just have to go through a quick review process, but it sounds like we could have a little baby in our arms anytime we wanted."

"Adoption? I thought you were dead set against adopting. I thought you wanted to have our own baby or nothing at all."

"I did and I still do, but I was thinking this could be our backup plan if we find out we can't get pregnant. By the way, I'm going to make appointments for us with a fertility specialist and see what other options we have. I found out there are some very good specialists in the area." Noticing Andrew's confused expression, she asked. "Is that ok? You do still want to have a baby, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm just a little caught off guard. Why the sudden change of heart?"

"I was thinking it over and a lot of things Vanessa and Alma have said really make sense. Maybe I was being too narrow minded and not really looking at our other options."

"Vanessa? She's the reason you're thinking about adoption and special doctors?"

"Yes, a big part of it anyway. We had a really good talk when we were at the spa. If it's ok with you, I want to go ahead and set up a few appointments."

"Fine. Go ahead. I'm fine with whatever you want."

Andrew watched skeptically as Amanda skipped out of the room. Something seemed odd about this situation. All along Amanda had been adamant about getting pregnant on their own and this sudden complete turn around in her attitude made no sense to him, especially since the advice had come from Vanessa, who she had never thought much of. She had been acting odd ever since Vanessa's disappearance, he thought. Not at all the way he would have expected someone to act in this situation.

Wondering if a second perspective would help him make sense of this, he picked up the phone and called the one person who knew Amanda as well as he did, her sister, Alma.

Justin sat nervously in the uncomfortable metal chair across from the two police officers in the interrogation room. He wanted to ask them what this was all about and why they had brought him here, but he thought it best to wait for them to speak first.

"Mr. Jordan. Can you tell us about your relationship with Vanessa Summers?"

"Vanessa? We met at a country club function. I was the events coordinator at Pheasant Run and she was starring in a play that was hosted there. We tried dating, briefly, but when we realized we didn't have any romantic chemistry, we decided to remain friends."

"When was the last time you saw or spoke to Ms. Summers?"

"I don't recall," Justin said, thinking back. "We didn't keep in touch often. The last time I tried to call her there wasn't an answer. I left a message on her answering machine, but she never returned my call." Unable to hold back his curiosity any longer he asked, "What is this about? Has something happened?"

The police officers looked at each other, before Logan answered. "Ms. Summers was reported missing and is assumed to be kidnaped. She's had threatening notes sent to her, her apartment was broken into, and a ransom note was delivered to her family."

"I had no idea."

"The reason we brought you here is because we discovered your message on the answering machine in her apartment and some of the speech patterns we noticed in your message were similar to the notes we found. We're going to need a sample of your handwriting."

"You think I might have had something to do with her disappearance?"

"At this point we aren't ignoring any possibilities. Where were you on the evening of the 16th?"

"I, um," he hesitated as his mind went back to that evening.

"Mr. Jordan, everything will go more smoothly if you give us your full cooperation."

"I was at Pheasant Run with Mrs. Sexton, looking over job applications for a new events coordinator. I've resigned from my job there."

"What time were you there exactly? Was anyone else there to verify your whereabouts?"

"We were the only ones there. We met about 5:00 or 5:30 in the afternoon. My job with Mrs. Burgess kept me a little late that evening."

"And what time did you leave the country club?"

"Late. Shortly after midnight, I believe."

"That's a long time to spend reviewing applications."

"We got off task and um, discussed other matters."

"Thank you, Mr. Jordan. Could you wait here a moment, please?" the Lieutenant asked as he and Logan left the interrogation room. "So what do you think?"

"His story seems a little sketchy to me."

"I think so too. Let's follow up on it and see what this Mrs. Burgess and Mrs. Sexton have to say."

Part 29 - Chapter 3 - Suspect

"Hi," Zara said as she greeted Blaine at the front door. "If you're looking for Cassie, she's not here. She's at the hospital with Mom."

"That's ok. I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I'd drop by. I wanted to see how your mom was doing."

"Oh, that's nice of you. You can come in if you'd like," Zara said as she stepped aside and invited him to have a seat in the living room.

"So your mom is still in the hospital?"

"Yeah, they want to keep her under observation for awhile before they send her home. I don't think she'll be there much longer."

"That's good. It must be hard for you and Cassie, not knowing for sure what's wrong or what's going to happen."

"It is, but it's not anything we weren't prepared for. I think Cassie's been in denial about it because she's always wanted Mom back home so bad and she's convinced that it's all Dad's scheming that got her committed in the first place. But I think we've both kind of been watching out for her, trying to make sure she's really ok."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I don't think so, but thank you for being there for Cassie at the hospital and helping her take Mom to the emergency room. That was so kind of you. We really appreciate it."

"It's the least I can do. Cassie's been a good friend to me, offering me a place to live when I lost my apartment and being there for me when Reese and I broke up. I just want to return the favor."

"So where are you living now?" Zara asked, changing the subject.

"I found a little apartment to rent. It's really small, but it's only temporary. What I really want is a house of my own someday, a place that would be good for when I eventually get married and start a family. It might take longer than I thought, but I'll get there someday, I hope."

Zara couldn't help smiling as Blaine shared his dreams of a future. She could see what her sister saw in him. "I'm glad you got your living arrangements sorted out. I know it's tough when a relationship with someone you're living with goes sour. I've been going through that myself lately. How are you doing otherwise with the break up?"

Blaine opened his mouth to speak and then hesitated. "I'm not sure. I'm doing ok, I guess, but sometimes I don't know. Even though we seem to want different things, I still wonder if I gave up on the relationship too soon. I've thought about going back to Reese and try talking it out and see if there's anything we can do, but after talking to Cassie, I'm afraid it probably won't do any good to try."

"Look, it's none of my business, but I think talking things through is always a good thing, even if it doesn't end up changing anything. It's up to you though. You have to do what seems right to you. If you want my advice, don't make your decisions based on what Cassie says. You don't want to let anyone interfere with your relationships."

"And especially not my sister," Zara added silently to herself.

Cassie watched wordlessly as the nurse left the room after checking on Serena and making note of her vital signs. Her mother's blood pressure was still higher than it should be and Cassie could tell that her mother was under a lot of stress.

"You need to try to relax, Mother. Otherwise they're going to keep you here even longer."

"I can't. I need to figure this out," Serena insisted. "I was so sure I had it before when I was at the house, but I can't remember now. It just has to come back to me and soon."

"I know, but maybe you're trying too hard. Maybe if you stop trying, you'll remember."

"I wish I could, but there's no time. Lives could be at stake."

"Shhh," Cassie said, looking around her nervously. "You have to be careful what you say around here. If you start talking about premonitions and things like that, the doctors are going to want to have you committed. I don't want them to take you away again, not when we finally got you back in our lives."

Serena leaned back and nodded. Her facial muscles relaxed and she seemed to take her daughter's advice to heart. "It's up to you then, Cassandra. You have to figure out where this . . . evil is coming from and stop it before it reaches anyone else. You have the gift. I have faith in you."

Part 29 - Chapter 4 - Suspect

Alma frowned as she hung up the phone. She had thought Amanda had acted odd about Vanessa's disappearance, but chalked it up to her imagination. Now Andrew's phone call had her wondering again.

"Was that Andrew on the phone?" Edward asked as he entered the living room. "Is there news about Vanessa?"

"It was Andrew, but he didn't have any news. He just wanted to talk with me about Amanda."

"What about her?"

"Do you think she's been acting odd about Vanessa?"

"Not really, but I don't know her as well as you or Andrew obviously. Odd how?"

"All along she's hated having Vanessa in our lives until suddenly her bad feelings seemed to vanish and they're spending the day together at a spa. Then, just as they're getting along, Vanessa is kidnaped and Amanda . . . I don't know, she's had a strange reaction to the whole thing. I'm not sure what to think."

"I think the two of you are making something out of nothing. I don't think you need to worry."

"I hope not . . ." Alma replied thoughtfully.

"I'm sure it's nothing. You've been so worried about Vanessa, I'm sure you and Andrew are just letting your imaginations get carried away with you. I think you need to take a break. Let's get out of the house for awhile. I'm sure it will do you and the baby some good."

"Do you think I should? What if there's news while we're out?"

"If there is, it will wait until we get back," Edward assured her. "I have a surprise for you and I'm sure Vanessa doesn't want you to wait around worrying about her in the meantime."

"Ok . . . as long as we aren't away for too long."

"Lucy, we need to talk," Craig said boldly as he walked into the kitchen.

"Is there anything left to say?" she asked calmly as she set a bowl of dry cereal onto the highchair in front of Stuart. "I really don't feel like getting into another shouting match with you today."

"I don't know. I just know that something is going to have to change if we're going to make this work. You're going to have to try to work with me and start putting at least half of the effort you spend on your country club and your charities into our marriage."

Lucy took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before she snapped at him. "The same goes for you. Ever since we got married it's been more about your music career than it has been about us. You say I'm the one who's always too busy, but you don't seem to realize how much I've sacrificed for this family. I gave up career, my chance to finish medical school and live my dream of becoming a doctor to manage this household and raise our son, who you're never around to even spend time with."

"And who's fault is that? You know how much I want to be with you and Stuart. You know I spend as much time as I can with him when I'm home. Our family means everything to me and it kills me to be away from the both of you, our little boy, especially. Every time I come home he's grown so much and I feel like I'm missing out on everything in his life. What gets me the most is that it doesn't have to be like this. If you would just work with me, we could all be together like a real family."

"And what? Live a life on the road? That's not going to work. You know that. We've talked about this a million times."

"So what are we going to do then? I go my way and you stay here and try to do it all on your own. I know you don't want that."

"No, but at this point, if it's going to be like this all the time, with us having the same arguments over and over again, I'd almost rather not have you around."

Before Craig could reply, there was a knock at the front door.

Without looking at her husband, Lucy lifted Stuart out of his highchair and went to see who was there.

"We aren't done with this discussion, Lucy," Craig called after her as he followed her through the house. "We need to sort something out."

He stopped in his tracks when he saw a pair of police officers on the porch.

"Mrs. Sexton? We need to ask you a few questions. Starting with your whereabouts on the evening of the 16th."

Part 29 - Chapter 5 - Suspect

Edward unlocked the front door and let Alma into the new house. "So this is it? What do you think?"

Alma was speechless as she took in her new surroundings. The rooms were bare and some still in need of finishing touches, but already she could see a finished home taking shape.

"It's all finished," Edward continued. "except for the decorating and that's up to you. Just tell the builders what you want and they'll make it happen or we can hire a designer to help make the decisions. Whatever you want to do. This is your home and I want it to be exactly the way you want it."

Alma stepped cautiously into the front room, taking it all in.

"Oh, there's something I want to show you."

Edward led Alma through a door at the side of the room. "This room will eventually be my study, but for now it's all set up as a nursery. This room is right next to the master bedroom, so I thought it would be a good room for the baby. He or she will be close to us at night and close to the rest of the house in the daytime. When the baby gets a little older, it will have one of the bedrooms upstairs."

Alma blinked a few times as she tried to keep her emotions under control. As it was, she was too overwhelmed to speak. She couldn't believe this house was her home, this room was where her child would sleep and play and grow for its first years. Even after all the planning they'd done on the house and preparing for a baby it had never seemed so real until now.

"What do you think?" Edward asked expectantly. "Is it ok? Do you like it?"

"This . . ." Alma began, struggling to find the words. "This is more than I'd ever imagined. I never even hoped for this much. For the longest time I never thought I'd ever have a home or a family of my own. I can hardly believe this is really happening to me."

Edward put his arms around Alma and held her close. "Me neither. I've waited such a long time for this and it was all worth it."

Eileen parked the car in the driveway, exhilarated after her little shopping trip. None of the bargains in town were very exciting, but after walking past a few shops downtown that were for sale, she started to wonder what it would be like to own her own business, maybe a little boutique. She wondered how hard it would be to manage a small shop and if she would be up to the job. Fortunately, she knew just the person to talk to find out.

Lawrence knew a lot about business. He could tell her what she needed to know and how to get started. By the time she got home and out of the car she had made up her mind to ask for his advice.

Just the thought of Lawrence made her smile. They'd been spending so much time together lately and he'd been over to the house nearly every evening since her parents left, to have dinner with her. It was wonderful, almost like they were a married couple.

As Eileen walked up the steps to the front door, her packages in tow, thinking about the evening ahead, she noticed that the door was slightly ajar. She stopped suddenly in her tracks, her mind racing as she tried to remember for sure if she'd shut the door and locked it before she left.

When she assured herself that she had, she backed away from the house and went straight to the neighbors' to call for help.

Part 29 - Chapter 6 - Suspect

Eileen hurried across the yard to greet Lawrence with open arms as soon as he arrived at the house.

"What's going on? Are you ok?" he asked. She had sounded so panicked on the phone that he had trouble following exactly what she was trying to tell him.

"I came home from shopping and the door was wide open. I know I locked it when I left. I'm certain."

"And you called the police?"

"Yes, they checked the house and no one was there. I didn't notice anything missing. They're taking another look around to make sure they didn't miss anything the first time."

"Miss Townsend?" one of the police officers called out as he and his partner came from around the corner of the house. "We had another look around and nothing looks disturbed. We did find some footprints around the house that we'll make imprints of, but everything looks ok. We'll keep an eye on the house and around the neighborhood for suspicious activity, but there's not much else we can do at this point."

Eileen sighed. She wasn't sure if she should be relieved that the police didn't find anything or more unnerved at their lack of answers. "Ok. Thank you."

As the police were leaving, Lawrence turned to Eileen. "Even with the police keeping an eye on the neighborhood, I don't think it's a good idea for you to stay here alone."

"Me neither. I don't know if I would be able to sleep tonight if I was here all by myself after this." She looked around nervously before turning to Lawrence. "Would you stay the night with me? I know I would feel safe with you here."

"The evening of the 16th?" Lucy repeated as she led the police officers into the house. She remembered that night very well and couldn't see any reason why the police would want to ask her about it. "Why do you need to know?"

"We're investigating a missing persons case and one of our suspects gave your name as an alibi."

"Oh." Suddenly she wasn't hesitant to tell the police what they needed to know, even with her husband there. "I was at my country club with my assistant, Justin Jordan. We were looking at applicants for his replacement."

"And what time were you there together exactly?"

"We met about 5:00 and stayed late, until midnight or so I think."

"Thank you for your help, Mrs. Sexton. That's all we needed to know."

"Is Justin still a suspect?" Lucy asked anxiously as she showed the two men to the door.

"We don't want to rule anything out prematurely, but since his alibi checks out, it doesn't seem very likely he's the man we're looking for."

"I'm sure he's not," Lucy said. "We've worked together for a long time and I'd be willing to vouch for his character if necessary."

When Lucy shut the door after showing the officers out and turned around, she found Craig standing close behind her, waiting.

"What?"

"Isn't it about time you admitted what's really going on between you two?"

"What are you talking about? We were just working late."

"Sure," Craig scoffed. "If that's what you want to call it. I've known for a long time that something was going on. Do you think I'm blind or totally stupid? I see the way you two flirt with each other constantly and I notice how you're always making excuses to keep him around. Why else would you meet him at the country club at night when you know no one else is going to be there and meet him up in that cushy little private room too? Just to look at resumes? I don't think so."

"You're crazy. I wasn't trying to plan some kind of rendezvous. It was just a comfortable place to meet."

"Maybe you didn't try to plan it, but it certainly happened, didn't it?"

Lucy paused as she realized something. "How did you know where we met in the building? I never mentioned what room we were in." Suddenly she remembered all the times when she thought she was alone, but felt like she was being followed. "We're you spying on me? Have you been having me followed while you were out of town?"

"It's a good thing I did, isn't it? Now I know what kind of lying tramp of a wife I married."

"Oh my God. I don't believe you. How could you do that to me? How could you completely invade my privacy like that? Did you have no trust in me at all?"

"Why should I trust you? You've obviously given me good reason not to."

"Well, it looks like I can say the same for you. If we can't even trust each other, what is there?" she asked. "Just get out. Get your things and get out of my house. I'm through. I don't want to see you again."

"Hi, I'm home," Cassie announced as she walked through the door. When she saw Blaine sitting in the living room with her sister, her face lit up. "Hey Blaine. What are you doing here?"

"I just came by to see how you and your mother were doing, but I should get going."

"Are you sure you can't stay? I wish I would have gotten home sooner."

"I'm sure. How's your mom?"

"She's doing ok. Pretty much the same, but they might let her come home by tomorrow."

"That's good. If you need anything, just give me a call."

"I will," Cassie promised.

Blaine turned to Zara before heading for the door. "Thanks for the talk and the advice. I'm going to go over to Reese's now, so wish me luck."

"Good luck."

Cassie frowned at the mention of Reese's name, but managed to muster a smile at Blaine as they said goodbye. As soon as he was out the door, she turned to her sister. "What's this about Reese and you giving advice to Blaine?"

Zara knew this wasn't going to go over well with Cassie, but she had to be direct. "We were just talking and Blaine told me that he had mixed feelings about breaking up with Reese. He was afraid he had been too hasty, so I told him he should talk it out with her, either try to work things out of get some closure."

"Zara, how could you?" Cassie sighed. "What have you done?"

As Blaine drove towards Reese's house, in his mind he was rehearsing what he wanted to say to her and he began to feel more optimistic about salvaging their relationship. Maybe they weren't as far apart as they seemed. If they really wanted to be together, there must be some sort of compromise that would make them both happy.

If she didn't want to give up any time from her career, maybe they could adopt a child. She wouldn't have to go on maternity leave, he wouldn't mind staying home with the baby, and a child in Reese's situation would have a family. Or maybe he could just spend time volunteering with kids, like a big brother. Maybe that would be enough or maybe in time Reese would even change her mind about wanting a family. Surely one of those options would work for them. Breaking up couldn't be the only solution.

As he approached the house, Blaine noticed someone in front of Reese's house and he slowed down, squinting ahead to get a better view. When he could finally make out the figures in front of him, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was Reese with Cassie's friend James. He was holding her in his arms, their faces pressed closely against each other.

Unable to watch what was happening in front of him, Blaine put the truck in reverse, turned around, and drove away from the scene as fast as he could.