Chapter 2 – Brenda finds out about Brandon's girl and Dylan gets news about Kevin.

Dylan's House

'Dylan!' Erica cries out.

'Hey, little one, how are you?' Dylan says as he comes out of the kitchen.

'Good. We get to spend the entire rest of the day together!' Erica exclaims and bounces herself over to the couch.

Suzanne and Kevin stand just inside the doorway. "Okay, we're off. Thanks again Dylan. We should be back in a few hours,' Suzanne says.

'Okay, have fun.'

Suzanne and Kevin leave Dylan's house and get in the car. Kevin smiles over at Suzanne, who returns his smile fervently. They laugh a little as they pull out of the driveway and make their way to the highway.

They drive for a while then pull off the highway exit and stop at a large house with a wrap around porch. Kevin and Suzanne get out of the car and knock on the door. The door opens and there stands a tall man wearing a white tee-shirt and a pair of worn jeans.

'Kevin thanks for coming. I've got all of the paperwork you need inside.'

'Great,' Kevin says, as he leads Suzanne into the house.

The tall man shows Kevin and Suzanne several documents, including fake passports, deeds to properties, fake stock certificates, credit cards, and so on.

'So, this should be everything you need to disappear with after you get the money from the kid. Do you think you'll have any problems with him signing it over?' the tall man asks.

Kevin looks at Suzanne and then back at the tall man, 'No, I think he's convinced that the cause is good enough to invest in and I think he's successfully removed Jim Walsh from the puzzle. So, we shouldn't have any other problems from this point forward.'

'Great, because that's the last thing we need. Jim isn't a stupid man. If he catches wind that there is any sort of foul play going on, he'll nail us in a second. I know that he doesn't have the best relationship with Dylan, considering all of the stuff he went through with his daughter, but as we've seen in the past, he will defend the boy until the freaking cows come home if he believes Dylan is being threatened in any way.'

Suzanne stares at the tall man as he talks about Jim. She furrows her brow a little bit, and then straightens it quickly, hoping that Kevin didn't see it. How does this man know so much about Jim and Dylan? Kevin did not mention that this man was intimately involved in this scheme, just that he knew someone who could get us some fake documents to make it easier to disappear. She begins to feel extraordinarily uneasy and shifts in her seat.

'Okay, well, if I sense that Jim is not backing down as Dylan has asked him to, we'll regroup, okay?' Suzanne hears Kevin saying to the tall man.

'Okay, man, but keep your eyes open.'

Kevin picks up the fake documents and holds his hand out for Suzanne to get up. They make their way back to the car and take off down the road. They stop at a diner to pick up something to eat. While Kevin is talking, Suzanne's mind drifts to Dylan and Erica and the uneasiness grows in her stomach. She puts up a front so that Kevin doesn't start getting suspicious of her and begins to formulate an alternative plan.

Back at the tall man's house, Jim Walsh comes out from the back of the house. 'So, do you think we have enough to nail him yet?'

Casa Walsh

'Hello?' Brenda says, as she picks up the ringing phone.

'Bren! How the hell are you! Did you see it? Did you see me on TV?' Brandon yells with excitement.

'Brandon, you're insane. Yes, I saw, I saw you on TV. You looked great. Very professional as you were shaking the President's hand.'

'It felt great. Bren, there's something I have to tell you,' Brandon says, as his tone gets more serious.

'What is it?' she says, growing concerned.

'Well, I found someone at the hotel that I think I'd like to spend some time with and I wanted you to be the first to know.'

'Geez, Brandon. Why do I have to be the first to know about your girlfriends? Why do you feel the need to explain it to me every time you want to share some intimate moment with people? I'm not a shrink you know.'

'Brenda, please stop being so overdramatic. It's Kelly,' he states, 'She got on a plane and met me at the hotel yesterday. We had a great day yesterday, and she was in the audience when I met the President. We just sat down and talked about what this is and what we wanted it to be, and we decided that this is a perfect opportunity for us to explore the relationship that never was.'

'Wow. She must really have it for you bad, Brandon. She doesn't just hop on planes for anyone,' Brenda says.

'Yeah, well, I have it for her too. There is no denying that anymore.'

'Good for you Brandon. I am very happy for both of you. Maybe now you guys will be able to share in the happiness of a somewhat non-dysfunctional relationship.'

'Very funny, Brenda. Okay, well, I have to go now. I'll be home tomorrow afternoon. When are you leaving?' he asks.

'Saturday night.'

'Okay, well, I'll see you tomorrow.'

'See you tomorrow, Brandon. Tell Kelly I said congratulations and that it took you guys long enough! Love you and have a safe trip back,' Brenda smiles as she hangs up the phone.

Washington, D.C.

Brandon hangs up the phone as Kelly comes out of the bathroom.

'Hey, you,' he says.

'Hey. Who were you talking to?' Kelly asks him.

'Brenda. I wanted to make sure that they knew that I wasn't come back until tomorrow. I hope you don't mind, but I was so excited about our relationship, that I, well, I told her,' Brandon says, as he winces a little bit.

'Brandon,' she says as she sits down next to him on the bed. She puts her hand on his upper arm and strokes him gently. 'It's okay. She was going to find out anyway. It makes me feel so good that you are excited about us. I wasn't sure how you were going to react to me showing up expectedly.'

He caresses the side of her face and kisses her gently. She raises her eyebrows and wraps her arms around his neck.

Casa Walsh

Jim comes through the door, greeted by the sight of Cindy and Brenda in the kitchen laughing and talking while setting the table for dinner. He smiles a little to himself and hopes that he is finally doing the right thing where Dylan is concerned.

'Hi Dad. Brandon called he's coming back tomorrow and guess who he's bringing with him?' she smiles.

'Oh, God, who?' he says, as he looks over a Cindy. She smiles at him and says, 'Kelly. She jumped on a plane and met him out in Washington D.C. Isn't that romantic?'

'Wow, didn't see that one coming. I thought Kelly and Dylan were still dating?' he says as he looks over at Brenda.

'Nope, apparently, they broke up a little while ago,' Brenda states.

'Well, that's interesting,' Jim says. He makes his way upstairs to change out of his suit before dinner. He looks at himself in the mirror, wipes his forehead and picks up the phone.

Hearing the answering machine, he lets out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. 'Dylan, its Jim Walsh. Give me a call when you get this message. I have some interesting news for you.'

Dylan's House

The answering machine beeps. Dylan and Erica are in the living room with the stereo blasting. Erica is holding a hairbrush and dancing in the middle of the floor while Dylan is seated on the couch clapping his hands and cheering for her. She lip syncs to the song on the radio and he laughs at her performance. Neither one of them hear the phone ring or the beep of the answering machine.

Suzanne and Kevin pull up to Dylan's house. He turns off the car and looks at her. 'Okay, so a few more days and Dylan should be ready to go and get the money for us. Then we pack Erica up for our fake honeymoon and get out of here for a while.'

She nods and fake smiles, 'Right, okay. Let me go up and get Erica. Hide those papers because if she sees them, she'll clue Dylan in to what's going on. I know she will.'

'Right, of course. I'll do that while you go and get her,' Kevin says.

Suzanne gets out of the car and walks up to the door. Standing on the other side of the door, she hears very loud music, clapping, and cheering. She smiles to herself and the pit in the bottom of her stomach gets heavier. She opens the door and sees her daughter singing into a hairbrush.

'Mom!' Erica says, as she runs to hug her mother.

'Hey, baby, nice singing.'

'Thanks!'

'Thanks so much for watching her Dylan. I appreciate it,' Suzanne says.

'No problem. See you tomorrow probably,' he says.

Suzanne nods and picks up her daughter's jacket. 'Come on, kiddo, let's go.'

'Bye Dylan,' Erica says as she hugs him.

They leave the house and get in the car with Kevin. Dylan shuts the door and turns to go into the kitchen, when he sees the answering machine light blinking. He presses the button and listens. 'Dylan, its Jim Walsh. Give me a call when you get this message. I have some interesting news for you.'

Dylan looks puzzled at the machine. What could Jim possibly need to tell him? As far as he was concerned, there were no new developments in the project to invest in Kevin's ideas. 'Maybe it has nothing to do with Kevin. Maybe Jim wants to talk about something else. Nah, that can't be true.' Dylan contemplates what Jim could possible want, and then realizes that if he goes over there instead of calling, he may get to see Brenda again before their semi-date on Friday. A smile creeps across his face as he grabs his jacket and leaves the house.