- Gideon, Daphne and Greta Wilkinson watched the hospital tapes which revealed Rodney Burnett’s accomplice.
- Terrified of what Rodney would do, Helen Schmidt, tried to keep her family safe.
- A surprise wedding took place between Greta and Miles Fowler.
- Rodney revealed that he held most of the Wilkinson family hostage...
[.....]
[.....]
Scene One:
549 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Wilkinson Cottage]
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home
Pushing through the crowd of people, Marina Thurlow, made her way to the home she used to play at as a child. Once it became local news that Rodney Burnett was inside the Wilkinson home and holding some members of the family hostage, she knew she had to get down there. There would be a story to cover and something like this in such a small city would blow-up and become a cover story. She pushed past a thicker crowd of people and finally found her way to the front of the crowd, being held back by a man-made barricade.
“Who’s inside?” Marina shouted to one of the officers, but he simply ignored her. Marina turned around to find Ryan Bauer sifting through the crowd to reach her, she had forgotten that he was tagging along with her. With one hand she reached for his free hand and helped guide him to her. “I can’t see anything from here.”
“Are you sure you want to?” Ryan asked, his voice grim.
She thought about the question before she stood on her tip-toes, “I need to know what is going on, I’ve known this family my entirely life and quite honestly this is a story of a lifetime, Ryan... I mean, I want them all to be safe and I prayed on the way here for nobody to be harmed-”
“I get it.” He replied, he took a hold of her left hand and squeezed tightly. “Let’s just see if we can get any information out of one of the reporters, I’ve learned that you can’t get shit out of the men in uniform... but reporters have loose lips,” Ryan turned back to her, “No offense.”
But Marina was already ahead of him, “None taken, oh holy genius.”
Catching sight of the person she wanted to see, Marina pushed past some more people and with Ryan following behind her, found herself the right reporter. “Olivia!”
“Marina?” Leia Joplin called, she turned and spotted the other woman. “Did you just hear about the situation? Seth and I were at the office finishing up tomorrow’s front page story when he got the call... he sent me out here, I hope you’re not mad.”
Marina shook her head. “I just need to know who is inside.”
Leia bit her lip, she stole a glance at her shoes and then at the Wilkinson home before looking back at Marina. “Cassie and Lucian are inside the house... they were abducted from their home earlier this morning. Look, Marina, I can’t stress enough how deadly this situation is-”
“She can’t be in there!” Marina shouted, she shoved Leia out of the way and found herself up against another police barricade. “You have to be mistaken!” She called back to her rival and then to the cops in front of her, “Move out of my way!”
“Marina!” Ryan shouted, pulling her back by her waist.
The girl swatted at Ryan’s hands and turned around. “What the hell are you doing? My best friend is in that house! I can’t just sit out here and play the fucking reporter!” The tears began to cloud her eyes, she turned back towards the police officers. “Oh my god, Ryan...”
“Cassie is going to be alright.” He promised, he held her in his arms as Leia stepped back and gave them room. “We just have to let the police officer’s do their job. I’m sure Chief Wilkinson is around here somewhere and he has a plan, Marina.”
Marina turned back to the house. “I can’t just wait here!” She shouted and took off towards the house again, but this time Ryan had Leia’s help in holding Marina back. “God damn it if you ever want to be my friend let-me-go Olivia!” She shouted.
“This is me being your friend, Marina!” The other woman shouted back.
Untangling herself from Ryan and Leia, Marina pulled her hand up and slapped her; a red bruise left on Leia’s light mocha skin. Marina folded her arms over one another, she turned her head and shed a few tears. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright.” Leia retreated, she held her face and faded away into the crowd.
[.....]
Scene Two:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Thurlow Cottage]
James & Caitlyn Thurlow’s Home
“We brought coffee and donuts.” Kirsten Sutton greeted when her father answered the door, holding the box of donuts in her right hand she wrapped the left around her father’s neck and then kissed his cheek. She made her way into the house and turned to watch as her father greeted Charlene Nelson and picked up his granddaughter, Megan. “Is Caitlyn home?”
James nodded his head. “She’s in the living room, I was able to get her to come down. I think she understands the importance of having the entire family close today -- plus I think looking out our bedroom window and seeing the police cars and crowds of people over at the Wilkinson home is a little disheartening.”
“I’m going to place these in the living room and go say hi.” Kirsten said, she moved past her father and Charlene and entered the living room with the food.
“Thank you for letting me come over.” Charlene spoke once Kirsten was gone, she lingered in the hallway with James and Megan. “I know that my husband -- ex. husband -- I’m still getting used to that. Not that I’m terribly sad that we finally decided to move on... The point being, thank you. You’ve been more than honorable to my son and granddaughter and nothing like Patrick has been.”
James smiled, he hugged Charlene once again. “You’re part of the family -- if not through this little girl right here, then through my friendship with Frank. You’re always welcome in this house Charlene. By the way, I hired Reichen Calbourne, officially.”
“He’s a good man.” Charlene spoke, a hint of attachment to the words.
“I told Caitlyn that Megan is here to see her,” Kirsten walked back into the hallway and looked at her daughter in her grandfather’s arms, she opened hers and Megan switched hands, “So I think it would be nice if a little someone would go sit with her and watch TV.”
Megan nodded her head. “Okay.”
“How is she doing?” Charlene asked, she held onto the coffee.
This was something that James Thurlow had noticed and asked if he could put the container in the kitchen. She agreed and let the man relieve her from the hot liquid. “Caitlyn... is she up for anymore visitors?”
Kirsten nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m sure she would love it if you came in and spent some time with her... Honestly, I think the more people here the better. With everything happening out there... I can’t wait until Charlie, Aidan and Marina get here as well. I can’t even imagine what Gideon and Greta are going through right now with their family in that house with that... ”
“Lets go occupy our time with Caitlyn,” Charlene spoke, she held her daughter-in-law’s free hand, “we can all pray for the hostages as well. I’m sure anything we can do would be appropriate. My son won’t be long, he knows his place is here with his family.”
“Alright.” Kirsten nodded.
Before they could head into the living room her father re-entered the hallway. “I just got off the phone with Ryan Bauer, apparently your sister is down the street trying to bribe police officers to let her into Gideon’s house...” It was a statement that didn’t surprise Kirsten one bit. “I have to go really quick and stop her, would the two of you mind staying here with Caitlyn?”
“Not at all.” Charlene spoke up.
Kirsten nodded her head in agreement.
[.....]
Scene Three:
Stone Creek; Cuttlebone Lake
The Lakeside Inn; Charlie Sutton’s Office
The brown hues of the room did nothing to warm Charlie Sutton up and distract him from his worry. After getting everything in order for the day he jumped out of his chair and grabbed his coat, meeting Aidan Jurado half-way out of his office. “Are you ready to go to your uncle’s house?”
“I’m not going.” Aidan replied, he rested his hands on his hips. “There’s still way too much to get finished here and I think you need someone other than your staff to keep watch over the Inn. So you go for the both of us and spend time with the family, I will stay here and take care of things.”
Charlie shook his head. “You don’t have to.”
Pulling his coat on, Charlie patted Aidan’s shoulder. “So are you coming? I know you’re still new to the whole Thurlow family clan -- not trying to insult you are anything,” Charlie tilted his head, “But they’re really big on the family coming together during crisis like this. The Wilkinson family means a lot to them, especially James... I’m really thankful to have you here, but don’t stress too much about the Inn.”
Aidan nodded his head, taking the advice in. “I think I’m going to stay put.”
They lingered in silence for a couple minutes, “Alright.” Scooting past his friend, Charlie turned back to offer, “I’ll tell the family that you have a couple things to take care of. Just do me a favor and even if you’re not a very religious man... could you say a prayer?”
“Of course.” Aidan replied, he watched Charlie leave the office and then looked around. It wasn’t that Aidan didn’t want to be a part of the Thurlow family. He very much wanted to -- but he felt this is how he would do it. By proving that he was trustworthy again. Aidan exited Charlie’s office and walked down the hall towards his.
There definitely was a few things he wanted to get done at the office, he slipped into his own and flipped the TV on to the local news station. The news was already spreading fast about the Wilkinson hostage situation and he felt extremely bad about it. He just found there was nothing for him to do for the family, so he had to focus his attention elsewhere, where he was needed.
Aidan drifted off and smirked as his thoughts manifested into thoughts about Taylor Kern. He decided that he would call Taylor and set-up a meeting, maybe for that afternoon so that the two of them could talk.
He started to dial the other man’s number.
[.....]
Scene Four:
Stone Creek; Now Town
HEAT Magazine Headquarters; Helen Schmidt’s Office
Helen Schmidt finished dialing the man’s number and placed the phone to her ear. After having heard about the hostage situation at the Wilkinson family home she couldn’t bear to be alone while Rodney Burnett was out there in Stone Creek. She counted the rings as they lasted longer. “God damn it -- Patrick!”
“Oh, Patrick!” She greeted once he answered his cell phone. “Have you heard about Rodney Burnett? There’s no way that I can be alone right now with him out there so I was packing a few papers at the office and headed to yours. I’d rather be with you right now.”
Patrick chuckled on the other end. “Helen, please calm down you’re going to work yourself into a coma. I figure you’ll come over anyways even if I told you not to...”
“So you don’t want me there?” She asked, hurt. There was no way that she could be alone right now. The last time that she seen Rodney Burnett was in a court room and he was being tried for the rampage he went on nearly two decades ago.
“It’s not that, I just have a lot of work to get done.” He said.
Helen shook her head in aggravation. “Patrick, you’re not the CEO of Sutton Enterprises anymore. So I doubt you have that much work to worry about. Besides I’ll probably be doing my own work for HEAT,” Helen explained, “I just need to be around someone I feel safe with right now. This isn’t me nagging to be your girlfriend and to spend time with you... this is life or death.”
“You’re being a tad over dramatic.”
She stopped pacing around the room. “You’re not being dramatic enough. My children are probably at their father’s saying prayers and gathered around the TV like a good little family and we all know my husband would probably send me into the Wilkinson house with a bow on my head.”
“You’ve got a point there.”
Helen smirked. “I’m being over dramatic, aren’t you?”
“You are.” He replied, his voice lingered. “Okay, I’ll clear my schedule for the day. Maybe having you around the office can be of some use... we could find someway to occupy our time? Just be careful on your way here, I don’t need to hear that you got yourself into a car accident driving like a maniac.”
“I will.” Helen ended the call. She grabbed her things and exited her office, headed towards the elevator and found herself in the parking garage after a couple of minutes. Having Patrick Sutton back in her life had given Helen a new view at things. Sleeping with Patrick Sutton had helped boost her confidence again.
With her thoughts so stuck on Patrick she hadn’t noticed she passed Melinda Lombardi’s car on the way to her own, nor the fact that the woman was still in it and poised to follow Helen wherever she went.
[.....]
[.....]
Scene Five:
549 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Wilkinson Cottage]
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home
Rodney Burnett leaned against the wall with the gun at his temple, he scratched severely and tried to think of a new plan. Then he took the barrel of the gun and pointed it at his son, Callum Lakhani. “Take the gags off of them, I think the whole point of keeping the silent has worn off at this point. Remind me to thank your husband for calling the whole damned police station!” 
He looked at Daphne and tolled his eyes in annoyance. “So tell me, what are we going to do from here on out?”
The woman licked her lips, she caught Callum’s eye as he began the process of removing the gags. He started with his sister Cassie first, which Daphne knew was more of a move of favoritism than anything. But she couldn’t blame him, instead she locked her eyes on Rodney Burnett.
“You sick bastard!” Daphne could hear Cassie curse, the girl weeped softly. “Lucian is staying with me and there’s nothing I will let you do about that! How could you be on his side Callum? I don’t even understand when the two of you could plan this...”
Cassie held her son in her arms, trying to calm him down. But Lucian was too disturbed by the noises around him to calm down and he belted out a series of cries.
“How about you let the children go.” Penelope Wilkinson spoke up, her gag already around her neck. Her hands were tied behind her back and although they ached she didn’t pay them any mind. Instead her eyes locked with Rodney’s dark brown eyes. “Just let them go -- they have nothing to do with this! For heavens sake, they weren’t even born the last time you came here.”
“So it’s true?” Cassie weeped.
Penelope turned to Cassie and pulled her and the baby into her arms. “You just stay calm and try to keep your baby from making too much noise, alright?” Then to Rodney she continued, “Bentley has nothing to do with any of this Rodney.” Saying his name gave her chills, her voice cracked.
But Rodney didn’t agree. “He has everything to do with this!”
“You’re going crazy!” Cassie spit. “How could you do this to our family? Does mama know about what you’ve done in your past? I can’t even believe you were able to keep this secret life away from all of us for so long! When did you tell Callum about this? You brainwashed him!”
She pulled from Penelope’s grasp and got a hold of her brother's arm. “Callum, you can stop this! You can make all of this go away by just letting us go.”
“I’m sorry, Cassie,” Callum slipped his hand out of hers, “He won’t hurt you, he promised me.”
Cassie leaned back against Penelope and tried to keep Lucian’s cries down. “So what are you going to do now Rodney? Are you going to kill your daughter and take your grandson?” Penelope barked. “You might as well start there, just show the world how truly heartless you are. Show your son the cruel man you’ve become!”
“Grandma!” Bentley shouted.
Daphne began to whimper loudly. “No! You’re not going to kill anybody... Rodney, just let them all go and you can have me. I don’t want them to get hurt, they don’t deserve to be here with us right now. That gun... I can’t let you use it on anybody else because of me!”
“Silence!” Rodney roared.
After a couple of minutes, he paced around the room with the sound of the crowd outside and Lucian’s cries to keep him company. Rodney stopped pacing and pointed the gun at Daphne’s face. “I loved you and I would have loved you forever if you just fucking let me! You were my Corazon.”
“I thought that was my mother.” Cassie seethed through gritted teeth.
He turned to his daughter. “I will forever be grateful for your mother, she took me in and she showed me that someone could care for me. But she was never what I truly wanted -- that woman was too fragile for me. So willing to please me after I confessed my true feelings.”
“Don’t talk about her that way!” Cassie leaned forward. “You’re a pathetic excuse for a man! You think because you could manipulate our mother into your bed of lies! You’re just scum! A scared little man who couldn’t face the rejection of a fucking woman!”
Rodney pulled the gun on Cassie.
“Rodney don’t!” Daphne screamed.
Before Rodney could pull the trigger, Callum Lakhani rushed his father and both men tumbled to the carpet. Everyone in the room screamed as the two men wrestled with a gun between them.
[.....]
Scene Six:
549 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Wilkinson Cottage]
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home
Outside the Wilkinson home, James Thurlow caught his best friend’s eye and jogged over to him. The two men had been through so many triumphs and turbulences together every since grade school. So knowing that his family were being held hostage only made James worry just as much as Gideon. “Have you heard anything from inside?” James asked.
Gideon shook his head. “We know that they are all in the living room... but I don’t really want to discuss the specific’s in front of such a huge crowd of people. I wish that everyone would go home... but things like this... things like this don’t normally happen here in Stone Creek. Everyone wants to be a part of the scene.”
“I have the family at my place and they are praying for your family.” James admitted, he patted Gideon on the shoulder and both men looked at the Wilkinson home. So many times they had played football on the front lawn or thrown house parties in the den. Today would mark a new memory held within it’s walls and neither man was looking forward to re-living them.
“Have you seen Marina?” James asked, breaking the silence.
His friend smirked knowingly and nodded towards a police car. “I had to arrest her just to keep her from going inside.”
“You arrested my daughter?” James chuckled. He shook his head, silently thanking Gideon for being the best friend he knew he was. Although it was extreme, he knew that Gideon was only looking out for James’ daughter. “Is this going on her record?”
Gideon shook his head. “She hit one of my police officers and called another out on wearing women’s underwear...” James frowned, “But none of them are going to press any charges, I mainly just tossed her in the car because that was the only place I could put her and keep an eye on her.”
“And Ryan?” James asked, “Did you arrest him too?”
“Oh, no!” Gideon pointed to the man standing by the police officers and looking at the house. “Ryan helped me get Marina into the police car. So make sure not to go too hard on him in the future, he may have just saved your daughter’s life.”
James nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind. Can I get my daughter now?”
He just wanted to get Marina home to be with the family as quick as possible. Besides she was hindering Gideon and his officers being a hostage in their car. They would have to divide their time between her and the actual maniac with a gun.
Ryan joined the two men when they approached Marina in the car. “I’m going to let you out!” Gideon shouted through the thick glass. “But you need to promise me that you’ll go with your father and not try to attack my officers again, are we clear?”
“Yes.” Marina pouted, she folded her arms defiantly.
James held his hand out to Ryan. “I hear I should be thanking you.”
“I just wanted to keep her safe.” Ryan admitted. He knew he was in the hot seat with Marina -- even if he just cooled things down with her father.
[.....]
Scene Seven:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Thurlow Cottage]
James & Caitlyn Thurlow’s Home
Kirsten placed a cup of coffee in front of Caitlyn Thurlow and then lingered by her to see if she would take it. The woman smiled politely and drew her attention back to the television screen. Kirsten was sure there was a shot of her sister on the screen, but she held herself back from pointing it out.
Instead she went over to where her mother-in-law sat on a window seat with Kirsten’s daughter, Megan. The two women stared out the front drive and waited for the rest of the family to return. “She does so well with you,” Kirsten observed, when she accounted for Charlene’s attention, Kirsten continued, “I’m glad that you have been there when neither myself or Charlie could.”
“Raising a child is hard.” Charlene advised, she combed her hand through Megan’s hair, “But it doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. After the year I had, being with my son and your beautiful family -- Kirsten, I want to thank you for taking me into your home. You didn’t have too... especially with my accident.”
“I’d do it again,” Kirsten smiled, “Hopefully that doesn’t happen!”
They chuckled just as three people emerged from the street and walked towards the house. Kirsten sighed heavily when she noticed that it was her father and her sister -- along with Ryan Bauer. Although she didn’t know for sure if Marina was talking to Ryan or Ian, she knew the history that the two of them shared. “I’ll go let them in.”
“I’ll be right here.” Charlene said, her attention back on Megan.
Kirsten was able to reach the front door just as the three arrived on the doorstep, she let her father in first and hugged him. Her eyes fell onto Marina’s presence and cooly she greeted her sister, who seemed hesitant to talk to anybody. “Ryan,” Kirsten spoke, she shook the man’s hand. “Thanks for calling us about Marina.”
“I wasn’t going to cause any trouble.” Marina spit.
“Well, not anymore.” Kirsten quipped, she folded her arms.
James stepped between his daughters. “How about we move to the living room and wait for everyone else to arrive, shall we? You can join us if you’d like Ryan. After everything you’ve done today, I’m sure you could use a nice cup of coffee, a donut and a chair to sit on.”
“Thank you Mr. Thurlow,” Ryan said, Marina grabbed his hand and the three of them entered the living room. Kirsten lingered behind hoping not to cause too much stress within the family. She was irritated with her young sister’s bratty attitude.
The doorbell chimed, Kirsten spun around on her heels and went to answer it. “Oh, Emmet, thank god!”
“What’s wrong sis?” He asked, kissing her cheek and walking into the house. Behind him stood Iris Galloway. Emmet held out his hand for her and she entered as well. “Is everyone here?”
“Our father had to go rescue our dear sister from attacking a couple of officers.” Kirsten rolled her eyes, letting on to her annoyance. She looked at Iris and smiled firmly, she knew that things between Emmet and Iris were awkward following the truth about Lucy Hahn. There was no way to know where things stood between the two of them without pointing to the pink elephant in the room, so instead she greeted the woman and ignored the problem.
Emmet furrowed his brow. “Why would Marina be attacking officers?”
Sympathetically, Kirsten replied, “Cassie’s inside the Wilkinson home.”
“Oh. Wow.” Emmet looked between the two women and then let out a breath of air as the situation seemed to get thicker by the minute.
[.....]
Scene Eight:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Stone Creek Memorial Hospital; Miles Fowler’s Hospital Room
In the corridor a nurse leaned against the counter at a nurse’s station and watched the television screen intently. Down the hall -- where her patients waited eagerly for her return, Officer Sasha Pierce, stood guard outside Miles Fowler’s hospital room. She had been in the same position for hours, only rarely did she sit down or excuse herself for a bathroom break.
Sometimes she would enter Miles’ room and sit down and talk with both the patient and his new wife, Greta Wilkinson. But they sat in the room alone as of now.
Miles Fowler strummed on his guitar. Between the chaos of the last couple of hours -- for whatever reason, although he was sure it was to keep him occupied and calmed, Greta went to their apartment and retrieved his guitar so that he could teach her another song. But they lingered around the room, silence evolved from the adrenaline rush they had received when they said their vows.
“Maybe you should turn the TV off,” Miles stopped strumming and watched his wife as she didn’t tear away from the TV. He sighed, placed the guitar to the side and leaned up in his bed, “Greta, can you come over here for a second and just sit with me?” He asked.
She turned to him and smiled weakly. “I just... My family is in that house right now.”
“I know that. But sitting here and just watching and wondering isn’t going to do anything for your own sanity. At first I thought that maybe watching the TV would help you but to tell the truth it is only driving me insane! I want to be there and I know you wish you could too...” He patted the bed beside him.
Greta moved closer to him. “They’re going to be okay, right?”
“Absolutely.” He declared, his face softened into a smile. “But how are you doing? We haven’t said a word to each other for the last four or five hours.” He brushed the long locks of black hair out of her face and rubbed his hand along her cheek. “You’re now my wife.”
The word fit just right in his vocabulary.
She chuckled, placing a hand on his as it rested against her cheek. “You’re now my husband.” She chimed. Greta lowered her head and rested it against his hand. “It is eating me that my brother and Emily weren’t able to say those words to describe each other. I don’t know how to tell him about us getting married.”
Miles thought it over. “Maybe we should just focus our thoughts on getting them out of there first? We will take things from there... together.” He took her hand in his and slid his fingers across hers, taking her pink with his own pinky. “we won’t face anything alone from here on out.”
“Okay.” Greta breathed, it seemed for the first time. She turned her attention to the TV once again, but this time she crawled into the bed with Miles and laid down, resting her head on his chest. He pulled the guitar from the side of the bed and began to strum it again. Greta placed her hands on the neck of the instrument.
They played together.
[.....]
Scene Nine:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Sutton Enterprises; Patrick Sutton’s Office
“I still have to find myself a photographer,” Helen Schmidt insisted as she looked over the pictures, “The guy I have doing the shoots now should go back to shooting for Walmart catalogs. At least when I had the emotionally scarred model and her pal, frisky Freddy they could come up with stunning pictures.”
“I thought his name was Oliver.” Patrick chimed in, stuck on his work to look up and make eye-contact with Helen. “Besides I don’t see why you don’t just keep your hands out of all aspects of the magazine, aren’t you supposed to hire models from another company and get photographers from the street...”
She sighed, then drew her attention back to her pictures. “I should just start the hiring process from Instagram...”
Patrick looked up, “You’re joking, right?”
“You know what that is? The infamous Patrick Sutton always seems to surprise me.” She spoke with a wry smile, then placed the pictures down and away from her. “Okay, enough of all that stress! Besides you know how controlling I can be. Why would I listen to anyone else on how good their models are. I’d rather hire my own walking eating disorders. Makes me sleep easily at night.”
Helen lifted herself from the desk and moved over to the huge window view. Being around Patrick had calmed her nerves to the point that she couldn't even remember the name of the madman with a gun. She turned back to Patrick. “It’s nice to be here and not in my stuffy building.”
“It’s nice to have you here.” Patrick replied.
“Have you heard anything from Ryan about Clifton Briggs... or Damien Crenshaw?” She asked, knowing the answer to her question before he could even reply. Helen shrugged, “They’re going to mess up, just look at the way Damien flaunted Clifton at the press release. Obviously he’s not thinking clearly.”
“But that doesn’t give us enough evidence that they’re working together,” Patrick replied, “It’s no secret that Clifton has been trying to get into the City Council for sometime now, he even cleaned-up his business-”
Helen scoffed. “What did he do? Move naked poker night to Sundays? Please, that man could never clean-up his act. The only thing he has going for him is his constant donations to the city. If it wasn’t for his money we would have disposed ourselves of his crummy hands years ago.”
“Either way, I think cracking Clifton will be our best bet at bringing down Damien. When I had Ryan go intimidate the man, he nearly cracked. We almost had him... then Damien went and offered him a seat on the City Council, a move he will soon regret. That only puts more attention on him as Mayor.”
“Then let us shine more light on them.” Helen said.
Patrick shrugged. “We need a scandal.”
“Once Rodney Burnett gets a bullet to the head then we can move forward with our plans for Damien and Clifton... how much damage control do you think Damien is going to be doing after this thing wears thin?” She asked, crossing back over to Patrick and falling into his lap.
He brushed a hand across her cheek. “Not as much as we will do after this thing settles down.”
Patrick leaned in and kissed Helen passionately, his hand lowering down to her blouse.
[.....]
Scene Ten:
Stone Creek; Now Town
Sutton Enterprises; Parking Garage
“They’re having an affair.” Melinda Lombardi spoke into her phone as she crossed over the parking garage. Her heels clicked against the cement floor as she searched for her car. She could hear the denial in her clients voice as he replied to her statement. “David, I understand if you’re in shock-”
“I’m not in shock.” He retorted.
Melinda stopped and pressed the clicker to her car, in hopes to find it. “Okay, sorry, those were poor word choices. But we have to go to Helen with what I have found out today. Your wife had been spending a lot of time with Patrick Sutton and I am sure that something is happening between the two of them.”
“But you’re not sure?”
His words were enough to tell Melinda he didn’t want to go down that road. “No, I’m not sure.”
The parking garage was filled with cars that looked just like her’s and for the first time she felt like she made the wrong choice when picking her new car. Melinda pressed the clicker once again -- only this time she could hear her car blaring in the distance.
“What’s that?” David asked.
“I couldn’t find my car.” Melinda mumbled.
“Where are you?”
She rolled her eyes, walked up to her car and pressed the clicker once more. The doors unlocked and she slid into it with ease. “I was following Helen and she led me here to Sutton Enterprises. Listen, I know you wanted to play things safe David, but I think we can blackmail Helen into giving us the house over this.”
“But you said you weren’t sure.”
Melinda pinched the bridge of her nose. “I know I said that, but all we have to do is bluff. Helen might be a vicious competitor but there’s one thing I know about her. Your wife can be a pushover once she feels like she’s lost. That’s her only weakness. That woman needs someone to shove a boot up her ass -- but for now I’ll settle for blackmail.”
“She wasn’t always like that.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Melinda started her car, “Listen, I’m goin’ down to my office to figure out a new plan. Just stick to working and taking care of your daughter... let me take care of Helen. I know I can do this for you, the house will be rightfully yours once I get done with her.”
There was hesitation on the other side of the line, but Melinda knew she sold him.
[.....]
Scene Eleven:
Stone Creek; Cuttlebone Lake
The Lakeside Inn; Main Ballroom 2
“This looks incredible.” Taylor Kern stated once he entered the ballroom, his companion, Aidan Jurado entered closely after him and beamed. “Really Aidan,” He turned to the man, “This looks like a haunted ballroom, this is going to be amazing once the party guests start showing up on the day of the party.”
“I was invited,” Aidan added, “If you’d like to go?”
Taylor shook his head. “That would be nice.”
The two of them admired the room in silence, Aidan made his way to the center and did a quick spin -- he paid attention to the detail and made sure everything was in place. When Taylor was in his view, Aidan couldn’t help but smile. “So... you didn’t answer my invitation.”
“I would love to come.” Taylor smiled, he joined Aidan in the center of the room. “So why did you want me to come up here on such short notice? Not that I really had anything else to do. My days have been pretty boring... I was thinking,” He stopped speaking and replied bashfully, “I’m rambling.”
Aidan chuckled. “I wanted to talk to you about the other night, actually.”
This got a gleam from Taylor. “What about it?”
“I... I had fun.” Aidan admitted, he could feel the heat rise and the tension between the two of them began to build. How he would maneuver from here on out would determine how things went for the rest of the day. Aidan moved closer to Taylor. “It’s sort of crazy.”
Taylor brushed the back of his head with his hand. “I thought so too... but I have to admit-”
“Admit what?” Aidan asked, nervously.
The other man chuckled. “Are you always this tense?”
Aidan tried to relax, he faced away from Taylor and tried to calm his nerves. When he turned back to the man, Taylor had grabbed from Aidan’s hand. He pulled away instinctually and found himself at a panic, unsure if he should apologize.
“That answers that,” Taylor teased.
He put his hands at his side, but Aidan reached out and took Taylor’s hand instead. He rubbed his hands along the man’s knuckles and interlocked his hands with the lighter skinned fingers. The freckles and light hairs on Taylor’s hand were a vast difference from Aidan’s tanned hairless hands. But the touch felt nice.
Comforting, almost.
“So what exactly did you want to talk about?” Taylor asked, he searched for Aidan’s attention.
Aidan, on the other hand was still looking down at their interlocked hands. He followed Taylor’s hand up his strong arms and to his chest, “About last night.” Aidan followed the collared shirt to Taylor’s face and smiled bashfully. Taylor smirked with confidence. “The last time I was interested in another man...”
“You what,” Taylor spoke, then teasingly added, “caused global warming?”
“Things were complicated, I kept him a secret from my family.” Aidan admitted, he furrowed his brow. “There was a lot going on then too. But right now, I have these feelings for you... I don’t want to scare you off.” Aidan pulled away slightly.
But Taylor pulled him back, a sly grin still on his face. “Then stop trying. I don’t want you to tell your family... I don’t want to know when you were in love with another man. I just want you to let me stand here and enjoy your company. That’s all I’m asking for.”
Aidan bit his lip and nodded his head. “Okay.”
“Eventually... If that day does come, I’d like to meet your family.” Taylor added, there was an uncomfortable feeling coming from Aidan. “But right now, I just want to kiss you.”
“Then do-”
Taylor leaned into Aidan’s lips.
[.....]
Scene Twelve:
549 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Wilkinson Cottage]
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home
Cassie turned to Penelope and placed her son in her arms -- at least, as much as possible. She made a note to untie the older woman’s hands once she had a grasp on the situation at hand. “Get off of him!” Cassie shouted, she got to her feet and collapsed on the floor.
Her legs still tied together.
She was able to drag herself to her brother’s side as he lay on the ground, bruised and bloodied. Her father had overpowered Callum and bashed him in the head with the gun -- he got a couple kicks to his ribs before Cassie spoke up.
Rodney and his gun moved away from the scene and leaned against a wall.
“You need to calm down!” Daphne shouted, she had her arms around her son Bentley who had become a slobbering mess at this point. She could hear him mumbling something about Emily, but there wasn’t time to comfort him in his thoughts. They needed to get control of the spiraling situation.
“Daphne, I need your help.” Cassie called, with her hands free, she began to untie her legs and was able to get up and rush to the doctor’s side. But Rodney must have gained his composure because his gun was at the back of Cassie’s head in an instant. “Please, just let me... just let me untie her.”
Rodney pushed the gun further, causing Cassie to wince. “I don’t trust you!”
“Then trust me!” Daphne shouted, she pulled away from her son. “Rodney, let me help your son... you beat him pretty badly and I just want to make sure that he is alright. I’m a doctor...remember, if anyone could help him...” She began to panic. “Just let Cassie untie me.”
“He rushed me!” Rodney defended. “That was not my fault.
Cassie lowered her voice and cursed under her breath. Daphne was the only one aware of the younger woman’s anger. She looked up at Rodney and pleaded with him. “We are wasting time just sitting here. I know that your son means a lot to you or you wouldn’t have taken him with you when you left your family... You don’t want to lose your son as much as I don’t want to lose mine.”
He nodded his head, Rodney pulled the gun away from his daughter’s head and moved away. He looked at his grandson in Penelope’s eager arms, somehow the little boy was able to calm down.
When Cassie was able to untie both Daphne’s hands and feet, the doctor moved over to Callum’s side. She was able to detective a couple of cracked ribs and some swelling in his abdomen. “I need to get him to the hospital,” Were her next instructions.
But Rodney denied them.
“He’s going to die!” Daphne shot back.
Rodney leaned over Daphne’s shoulder, he placed the gun at her back. “He shouldn’t have turned against me!”
In the commotion, Cassie Lakhani was able to observe her surroundings. She knew that if she were to run out the front door there was no telling what could happen inside or outside the house. So she stood still, looking around for a way to get a hold of the situation.
Quickly she found a solution.
[.....]
[.....]
Scene Thirteen:
Stone Creek; Cuttlebone Lake
The Lakeside Inn; Main Ballroom 2
When they broke from the kiss, Taylor Kern had a look of satisfaction on his face. “Where do we go from here?” He asked his companion as they continued to hold hands.
Aidan took a deep breath, he didn’t even know if he had wanted to kiss Taylor at first. But during the kiss he felt like things were going exactly how they should have. There was a time when he fell into a relationship with a man because he had wanted to do something out of his controlling father’s expectations. Now he just wanted to kiss Taylor for his own selfish wants.
“We can go on a date?” Aidan suggested.
Taylor chuckled. “I feel like we’re teenagers again.”
“I didn’t date when I was a teenager... not until I graduated High School.” Aidan admitted, he turned his attention to Taylor who looked at him stunned. “I was trying to follow in my father’s footsteps. There wasn’t time for dating or having fun for that matter... But enough about that. We can save that for later.”
Aidan bit his lip again. “Lets go on a date.”
“Where to?” Taylor asked.
“My house?” Aidan suggested.
But the other man shook his head. “So we could go and have sex on every surface in that place? No thank you... I might have seemed a little whorish when we did it the first time, but I’m a real romantic at heart. I don’t want our relationship to be just sexual.”
“Relationship.” Aidan spoke.
Taylor looked down and smirked. “Am I moving too fast again.”
“A tad bit. But then again, you’re right we sort of jumped the gun the other night... Okay, how about this,” Aidan smiled, “How about I take you on a date on the lake soon? It will be really cool, we have a couple boats... maybe throw in some candles.”
“No candles.” Taylor quipped.
Aidan nodded his head dramatically. “Nix the candles. Bad idea. You’re totally right.”
They both smiled at the other’s reaction. “A lake date does sound intriguing.” Taylor replied.
“We can have lunch on the shore and take a boat out to the middle of the lake and just talk, get to know each other beyond the attraction... I would like to get to know you Taylor,” Aidan lowered his voice to a loud whisper, “I am really nervous, but I’m learning to control that.”
Taylor looked around and turned back to Aidan. “Why are you whispering?”
“He’s listening to our conversation.” Aidan motioned towards a skeleton beside them, then he grinned sheepishly as they both became aware of their non-human companion. Aidan leaned into Taylor and they rested their heads against each-others. “Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.” Taylor breathed.
They locked eyes. “Do you always smell this good?”
[.....]
Scene Fourteen:
505 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Thurlow Cottage]
James & Caitlyn Thurlow’s Home
Charlie finally arrived at the Thurlow home and kissed his daughter on the head, after greeting everyone Charlie walked over to his mother. “I’m glad that you were able to come over with Kirsten, it means a lot to know that you can come here and try to be part of the family.”“I made a lot of mistakes,” Charlene admitted, she took her son’s hand. “I did a lot of things for your father’s benefit that I am not proud of Charlie. There’s a lot that I know I have to make up for... but I will get there, the meetings are helping me finally conquer my addiction to alcohol and my depression.”
He smirked. “You’re stronger than you think, mother.”
Charlie turned towards the living room and searched for the man he wanted to introduce to his mother. “I actually brought you a present.” He said, catching the man’s eye he motioned for him to join them. When he did, the three of them shared a knowing smile. “I found Mr. Calbourne’s number at home and thought that he should be here too. Since he has been a big part in your recovery.”
‘Thank you’ Charlene mouthed, she stood up and hugged Reichen.
“You’re son insisted that I come.” Reichen beamed. “I’m glad I did.”
After he was done conversing with them, Charlie headed over to kiss his wife and shook his brother-in-law’s hand. “So, your father told me that Marina had a brush with a cop car earlier... what is that all about? Did the journalist in her get overpowered by the superhero?”
“That was a lame attempt at humor.” Marina snipped, a smile emerging under her frown.
The others chuckled. “She was doing more reacting than thinking.”
Marina eye’d her sister, Kirsten, when she spoke. But Charlie was able to counter the argument and bring Marina into a hug. “Well next time, do some thinking... this family needs you around more than you think. Who else is going to be the fun aunt?”
“I just hope everyone is alright.” Marina stated, grimly.
“Lets say a prayer?” Kirsten spoke up, they all agreed and lowered their heads as Kirsten began a verse. Sending their positive energy to the Wilkinson family, the Lakhani’s and anyone else who was alone and scared going through any traumatic events.
[.....]
Scene Fifteen:
549 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Wilkinson Cottage]
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home
Things began to happen quicker than Cassie could make sense of them all. When she spotted the vase on the side table she locked eyes with Penelope who instinctively nodded her head and shielded both Lucian and Bentley as they sat with her. Cassie grabbed the vase and slammed it over her father’s head.
It shattered into hundreds of pieces and he lost the grip on the gun; sending it sliding across the floor. Rodney turned around, dazed but still in control of his actions, he swung at Cassie and knocked her onto the floor where she braced her head from hitting the carpet without any damage.
Then she watched as Rodney made his way towards the gun. Cassie tried to move her body but she was in pain, the blow had stung her harder than she had imagined it to. She caught a glimpse of Daphne Wilkinson moving after her father and a fight between the two followed.
“Don’t!” Cassie breathed, she coughed and got to her feet. There wasn’t time to try and calm down Lucian who had began crying once again. Nor did Cassie have time to go to her brother’s side as he began to cough and moan in pain. Instead she shuffled towards her father and Daphne.
The two fought hard, Daphne scratched Rodney’s face as he kicked her off of him in a panic.
Rodney tumbled over to where the gun was, but Cassie managed to get to it first. She aimed it at him and prepared to shoot him, but the safety was still on. Rodney jumped on his daughter -- grabbed a hold of the gun and pushed her to the ground. He took the safety off and prepared to shoot her but was struck down by a flying picture frame.
Cassie looked up from fear to see Daphne leaning against the couch and a missing picture frame from the wall behind her. Gratefully she crawled to the gun and took a hold of it. Her father pulled on her leg and knocked her into the carpet. She rolled onto her back as he climbed on top of her.
Both holding onto the gun.
[.....]
Scene Sixteen:
549 Auburn Rd., Stone Creek. [Wilkinson Cottage]
Gideon, Daphne & Penelope’s Home
Outside the house, Gideon Wilkinson was explaining his next plan to move forward to a group of his officers. He was happy to get most of the crowd away from the area just in case the hostage situation took on a different route. Instead his focus was now on getting to his family safely.
A shot from inside the house alerted him to the dyer situation and before he knew it he was ordering his police officers into the house to contain the situation.
[.....]
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves
+The aftermath of the Rodney Burnett rampage is revealed.
+Ryan Bauer and Marina Thurlow re-evaluate their relationship before she goes undercover.
+A wrinkle in his relationship with Aidan Jurado has Taylor Kern questioning the longevity of it all.
