Caroline froze, staring at the young man. Then she advanced toward him and he backed up. "Hey," he said nervously. "What's the matter with you?"

"Give me the phone," she said. She got closer and closer to him and then he let out a squeak, dropped the phone and ran away. Caroline looked down on it, and picked it up. "Jack," she said, "If this is you, I don't want to talk to you at the moment. Klaus and I are busy and if you'd like to speak with us about something, even though we have no desire to speak to you, you can call us when we come back to the house in a few days. Goodbye." And she turned off the phone before Jack could do more than gasp in surprise.

"I wonder what he wanted?" Caroline said. "He's probably no different from my relatives. He heard that his selling it didn't make me miserable, so now he wants to take it back." She looked at Klaus. "Well, we won't let him, will we?"

Klaus shook his head. "Hell, no."

Sarah held out her hand. "I'll just go hang that up for you, shall I? She asked. "And if he calls again, I'll make sure that whoever answers the phone tells him you're not available."

Klaus nodded. "That would be nice. Thank you, Sarah." She nodded and left them alone.

"So," Caroline said after a moment, "What do you think Jack wanted? Do you think I should have talked to him?"

"No," Klaus answered immediately. "You were right the first time. Whatever he says can wait until we get back home. Heck, maybe we don't have to talk to him even then. Maybe I'll just get Daniel to talk to him for us. I went to all that work to compel them to be our workers. We might as well get some use out of them."


"So what did she say?" A woman asked Jack when he returned to the the table on the terrace where he and the woman had been sipping white wine.

"Just what I suspected," he said. "She wouldn't talk to me."

"Well, damn," the woman said. "All that effort to find her and you don't even get anything in return."

"I wouldn't quite say that, Melinda," he said to the woman. "She told me that she and Klaus are on vacation and will see me when they get back. It means I have a chance still."

"I don't know," Melinda said. "Maybe I should go instead of you. She is my best friend, after all, and you are her ex. Now, if you were her, whom would you be willing to see?"

"You have a point," Jack said. "Why don't you go? They won't even see you coming."

Melinda nodded. "Sounds like a plan. So, when do I leave?"

"Caroline said that I could come by in 'a couple of days', so let's say that means four just to be safe," Jack told her. "This is Tuesday, so you'll be meeting them on Saturday."

"Right," Melinda nodded. "And what is it exactly that you want me to do when I see them? Try and get the house back?"

"Essentially yes," Jack nodded.

"But why?" Melinda asked. "The whole reason why you sold it to Klaus in the first place was that it was a just a big mess. Why the change of heart?"

"It seems like two relatives of Caroline's went to the house to try to get it back from Klaus, since he doesn't actually own it, and they haven't come back yet," Jack said. "That's the seemingly innocent excuse you're going to use to get yourself in there. And then, I want you to do something else for me: I want you to find out exactly what they plan to do with the house, okay? Once you find out, call me and let me know, all right?"

Melinda nodded. "All right, Jack."


"Do you really think Jack would really try to get the house back after he sold it to you?" Caroline asked as she and Klaus sat on one of the balconies of the castle having an aperitif. "It really surprises me. I thought no one saw any value in it except me."

"To tell you the truth, I never thought much of your ex-husband," Klaus said. "He always struck me as sort of a weasel."

"Just how did the two of you meet again?" She asked and took a sip of her wine.

"We're business acquaintances," Klaus said. "He, as you know, is in real estate and I, when I'm not dreaming about what it would be like to own a hotel with someone as delightful as you, own a real estate furniture business."

"Meaning what?" Caroline asked.

"I buy furniture from the houses of people who have passed away and I sell it to other people," he said.

"So when you bought the house from Jack, you had the same plans for it that he did basically?" Caroline asked. "You were gonna take all the furniture out and then what were you planning to do with the house?"

"I wasn't planning to sell anything from the house actually," Klaus said. "Like I told you, I was planning on living in it and having a rather placid existence until I found you handcuffed to my front door."

"Well, all right then," Caroline asked. "I just asked cause I was curious. I wasn't trying to bite your head off and I'm sorry if it came out that way."

"Has being here given you any ideas about what you want to do with our little place?" He asked her.

"I don't want to change a whole lot," Caroline said. "I mainly just want to do restoration and make it look like it did way back when, you know? I've seen pictures and it was just lovely."

"What else do you know about it?" Klaus asked. "We were talking about ghost stories earlier. Off the top of your head, can you think of anything that could work for our house?"

"Well, you've lived there for a couple of nights," Caroline said. "Have you heard any chains rattling or spooking wailing or anything?"

Klaus shook his head. "But come on. If the house is as old as you say it is, there has to be something, doesn't there? Things happen and when things happen, there's always a mark that gets left behind. We just have to figure out what it is." She paused. "I know we still have a couple more days here, but now there's a part of me that just wants to go back to the house and see what we can find!"

"Well, whenever you get too eager, remembering that Jack will be waiting for us when we get back will help you feel better about the present," Klaus said. "And remind you not to wish away good times."

"You have a good point," Caroline said and guzzled down the rest of her wine.


The rest of the trip went by way too fast and before either Caroline or Klaus knew it, it was the night before they were due to leave.

"I don't want to go," Caroline said as they lay in bed together that night. "This has been too nice. I don't want to leave here and go back to stupid Jack and all his bullshit."

"We can throw him out, remember," Klaus said. "The house is ours, so throwing him out is an option."

"Why did I even tell him he could come?" Caroline asked. "God, I am so stupid sometimes!"

Klaus winced. "Caroline, you're tensing up," he said. "You need to relax. Why are you still so scared of Jack, anyway? There's really no reason for that."

"I know," Caroline said. "But he just...he had power over me for the longest time and it'll just be a hard habit for me to break, won't it?"

"Not if you compel him to be the man who cleans the toilets," Klaus pointed out. "If you saw him with a scrub brush and some toilet cleaner, then how threatening would he be?"

"Not very," Caroline said. "But if we compelled everyone who stopped by to work for us, we'd get a reputation as the place where people go and don't come back."

"Hey, it worked for 'Hotel California', and it could work for us," Klaus shrugged. "I don't know. I kind of like it."

"No," Caroline shook her head and gave him a peck on the lips. "We're going to run a nice place, not a place that scares people away. I shouldn't have to say that. That should be obvious."

"You know what?" Klaus asked, moving her underneath him, "Why don't we stop talking about this now, and resume talks in the morning? How about that?"

"Well," Caroline pretended to think about it. "Okay. I guess I can deal with that." Then she kissed him and the world fell away.


"I'd say the place looks pretty good," Caroline said with approval a few days later. It was time for Jack to arrive and she had been scrubbing and dusting like a crazy person, making sure the place looked absolutely spotless.

Klaus came in from the yard. "I agree," he said. "We've done a wonderful job." Caroline looked at him. He was wearing a tight black shirt that showed off his muscles. It was covered in sweat.

"You know," Caroline said, "if it wasn't so close to the time that Jack's supposedly coming, I'd suggest we go to the bedroom and reward ourselves for working so hard, but-"

"Would you?" Klaus asked, looking intrigued. "I'm sure that Jack wouldn't mind sparing us a few minutes."

"Just a few?" Caroline asked. "Based on past experience, I don't think you're capable of doing 'just a few'."

Klaus grinned. "Well, it's not what I prefer of course, but if circumstances demand it, then I can make it quick."

"On second thought," Caroline said, smiling coyly. "I don't know if I'm up to it. I mean, look at me. I'm so sweaty and gross and I just-" She was cut off as Klaus sprayed her with the sprayer head for the sink. "There," he said. "Now do you feel cleaner?"

Caroline spat out water that got in her mouth and looked at him in shock. "How dare you!" She said. She then snatched the sprayer out of his hands and sprayed him with it. Water went everywhere and as Caroline ran to try and get out of its range, she slipped on a puddle and Klaus reached out to try and stop her from falling, but she landed on the floor anyway, pulling him down on top of her.

They looked at each other for a long moment and then she moved her head up and covered his mouth in a long kiss, which was broken by the sound of a voice.

"I'm sorry," it said. "I had no idea I'd be interrupting anything."

Caroline looked up at the smartly dressed redhead standing at the edge of the kitchen. "Melinda?" She asked in amazement. She motioned for Klaus to get off her and then ran over to hug her friend that she hadn't seen in years.

"Don't you look good!" Melinda remarked. "It's like you haven't aged a day! You have to tell me what sort of stuff you're using and where I can get my hands on it."

"I'd be more than happy to show her," Klaus said.

Caroline gave him a look.

"And who are you?" Melinda asked. "Don't tell me you're the Klaus Jack told me so much about."

"We were expecting Jack, actually," Caroline said. "He called a few days ago and said he wanted to talk about something, presumably wanting to buy the house back? We planned on telling him no."

"Why?" Melinda asked. "Are you planning on doing something with it?"

"Well, yes, as a matter of fact," Caroline said. "We're planning on making a business out of it. So anything Jack was planning to do will have to wait." She paused. "Wait a minute," she said, her eyes narrowing. "You and Jack are seeing each other. I remember that. It was one of the main reasons for the divorce. Did he send you in his place? What does he want?"

"No he did not send me!" Melinda said defensively. "I came because I wanted to see you and apologize for all the trouble I caused. Is that so unbelievable?"

"Yes," Caroline nodded. "And you can tell Jack that whatever we plan to do with the house is our business and not his, so he can keep his big fat nose out of it unless he wants it broken."

"Well, fine," Melinda told her. "But l just want to let you know that I'm a little hurt. I wanted to make things up to you and be part of your success, but I guess there's just no room for me in your life. And really, things aren't going so well for Jack and me. I lost my job and so I'm dependent on him and I have to do whatever he says or he'll toss me out into the street. You have no idea what that's like!" She burst into tears.

"Come now, love," Klaus said, putting his arms around the distraught woman. "We can make it so you're free of Jack and have a job."

"Really?" Melinda asked, looking up at him.

Over her shoulder, Caroline was shaking her head, her eyes wide. "Don't do it," she mouthed. "Don't do it."

But Klaus ignored her. "Really," he said looking at Melinda and pushing hair away from her face. "All you have to do is look into my eyes..."


"You didn't have to do that," Caroline said.

"Yes, I did!" Klaus said. "Jack sent her to spy and if I just let her be, you would have told her everything!"

"I would not have!" Caroline burst out. "I am actually very good at keeping quiet when I want to be."

"Jack got very sneaky there," Klaus said. "Sending someone to spy on us instead of coming himself. But why? Why would he suddenly be so interested in a house that he sold me for next to nothing?"

"I don't know," Caroline said. "But there has to be some reason. How about you check the basement and I'll check up in the attic and we'll see if between the two of us, we can't come up with just one thing that would make this house interesting to Jack."

"Are you sure you want to be up in the attic alone?" Klaus asked her. "Remember, there are mice up there."

"Well, all right," Caroline said. "You can come up with me. I don't want to be alone with rats."


"So what is it that we're looking for again?" Klaus asked when he and Caroline reached the attic.

Caroline shrugged. "I don't know. Letters, diaries, a treasure map, anything that would explain why this house would suddenly be interesting to Jack again."

They looked around attic, checking every nook and cranny, but found nothing until Caroline knocked over a small clock. "Oh, my god," she said, picking it up. "I hope I didn't break it."

"No, you didn't," Klaus said, looking it over. "It seems to be pretty solid." Just then, something fell out of a compartment in the back. "What's this?" Caroline asked. She picked it up. It was a yellowed piece of paper. She opened it slowly, so that the brittle edges wouldn't crumble too much and squinted at the faded, loopy writing.

"It's a note!" She exclaimed.

"What does it say?" Klaus asked.

Caroline cleared her throat.

"Victoria,

Take this and keep it close to your heart. If my family knew that I was giving it to you, they would disinherit me for sure, maybe even kill me. But Grandfather left me all his treasures because he knew that I would appreciate them for more than their monetary value, unlike the rest of my family, who are all vultures, I'm afraid to say. This is just the first of many things I will be sending you. Since you live in the servants' quarters, Mother and Father will never think to look for something so valuable there, although you know I would. Because that's where you are. And you are more valuable to me than anything in the world. As I said, I will be sending you Grandfather's pieces one by one and when they are all out of my family's grasp, we can elope.

Until that day, remember I love you dearly,

Theodore"