MISSING SCENE 4: A Death in the Family

Description: Set in Feb. 2005. Tracy informs Ned and Dillon of AJ's death.

A somewhat distraught Tracy bolted into L&B Records that cold, February day. Upon entering, she encountered Ned and Dillon.

"Oh thanks goodness I found you two here!"

"What do you need, Mother?" Ned asked, annoyed.

"We're not interested in you telling us what to do," Dillon told her.

Tracy replied, "My presence here has nothing to do with this music nonsense. I came here because you boys need to know something."

Dillon became anxious, "Mom, what's going on?"

"Well, I don't know how to tell you boys this, but—"

Ned was also concerned. "Mother, what happened? What did you do?"

"It's not about me," she stated softly. "It's AJ."

"What did Junior do now?" Ned asked.

Tracy whispered, "He's dead."

Ned's mouth opened and eyes widened. "Dead? How…I…Are you sure?"

"Yes," she nodded. "He…," she sighed. "He was found stabbed to death in a hotel room. In the Bahamas."

Dillon was shocked, "I…Who…I…He was murdered?"

Tracy nodded.

"Mother, pardon me for saying, but you seem a little more broke up over his death than I would have imagined. You didn't appreciate AJ when he was alive."

"Oh, leave her alone," Dillon defended his mother.

"Thank you, Dillon, but Ned's right. I never liked the little weasel. Damn boy got to be CEO of ELQ before I ever had the chance, but you know what? As much as I despised him, I could never argue the fact that we were most alike. AJ wasn't Jason. I wasn't a man. We couldn't win with this family…," she trailed off.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Dillon told her.

"Don't be," she snapped. "This isn't about me. AJ is dead. My BROTHER is grieving. And…I," she swallowed. "I cannot take his pain away. I wish I could, but I can't."

Ned responded, "Well, you are right. This isn't about you, Mother, but it isn't about AJ either. This is about Alan."

"So what?" Tracy asked. "It's not like the rest of you care if AJ is dead or not. You didn't like him any more than the rest of us."

"Um, I really don't think this is the time to be arguing," noted Dillon.

"I do agree," Tracy said. "Which is why I want to ask you two to support the family. Your uncle Alan in particular."

"Uh, yeah, sure, you got it," Dillon answered.

"Ned?"

"Fine."

Tracy nodded in approval. "I'll, um, let you get to back to um…this ridiculousness."

Tracy left Ned and Dillon alone.