"The mob war seems to be escalating as time goes on, Zander. I don't know how much longer I can keep you out of the investigation." Ric said as Zander went to sit down in one of the wooden rockers.
"Who's asking you to, Ric? I know you have a job to do."
"You are my brother, Zander and I feel the need to protect you. I might not of been there when we were younger, but I'm here now."
"Look, you know this business, Ric ... it's dangerous and it's illegal, you could arrest me right now if you wanted to for all the things you know I've done, you don't need some mob war as an excuse."
"Is that what you want? Do you want me to arrest you and haul your ass in, leaving Emily and Devon here without you and unprotected?!"
"No I don't want that, Ric but I'm just saying that I understand if comes down to that. You know as well as I do, my family is in danger and in more danger now that things are out of control between Jason and I. And now that Sonny is free, all bets are off."
Ric looked at his brother confused by what he said. "Bets? What bets?" Ric asked and Zander realized now what he left slip.
"I'm just saying that things are about to get more out of control and I can't stop it even if I wanted to." Zander replied knowing now that Sonny was free, Jason wouldn't hesitate coming after him now.
"Have you seen mom lately?" Ric asked changing the subject.
"Not for a few days, why?" Zander replied with concern.
"I went to see her and I found her looking through some old photo albums, I mean some albums of when she was a child. It was odd, because she tried to hide what she was looking at, like it was some big secret or something."
"Now that you mention it, she had a strange reaction when she and I were talking about Emily and the Quartermaines. I got the impression she knew the family." Zander replied giving Ric what he thought about his mother knowing Emily was a Quartermaine.
"Did you ask her about it?" Ric asked
"No, I didn't ask her. I didn't think she'd tell me."
"Well, something is going on with her, she's being very evasive about things, especially about that album she was looking at."
Zander began to wonder himself about his mother and how she knew the Quartermaine family. He thought it was quite interesting that Ric had a similar experience. His mother never mentioned her childhood while he was growing up, which he thought now quite odd but at the time, didn't give it a second thought.
Elenore sat on the overstuffed couch with a photo album laying in her lap. She turned the pages one by one and looked at the old worn photographs that were pasted to them. She smiled as she looked down at a young couple and she rubbed her fingers across their faces. Tears began to well in her eyes as she turned back time in her mind, remembering those she had lost in her life.
As she turned the page, a family photo came into focus. A large family of sorts, three rows thick of members. In the center of the group sat an older couple and surrounding them were those they had created and their children. Elenore read the words underneath the picture ... "Quartermaine Family circa 1929" She sighed heavily as she studied each of the family members one by one, remembering what her mother had told her about them.
"I'm sorry Alex, but this is one secret you can never know ....." her words drifted off as she closed the book and held it to her chest hoping that her secret would be kept where it belonged ... buried deep in the past and in the far corners of her mind.
