Chapter 28

August 28, 2003 - Pine Valley, Pennsylvania

Kendall sat next to her sister, growing more and more worried when she didn't wake up. On the other hand, she was afraid to force her to wake up and face the awful scene before her. After awhile she heard a soft knock at her front door. Kendall eased up and quickly went to answer it. Boyd stood there, his expression concerned. She waved him inside and closed the door. "Before I take you back there, I think I better tell you what happened first." She filled him in on the events of the night.

Boyd gathered her into his arms. "Kendall! Oh my God! Why didn't you call the police?"

She pulled away from him. "There is no way in hell I'm letting Bianca go to jail for killing that asshole. I called you here, Boyd, because I need you to help me cover up his death. If you can't be a party to that, leave now."

Boyd lifted his chin. "What should we do first?"

She gave a short nod. "The first thing we need to do is get Bianca out of here. I'm not sure where to take her that we won't be discovered." Kendall saw movement outside the condo. "Hold on."

She crept over to the window and peeked out. To her astonishment, she saw Erica and David standing outside Michael's condo. They were breaking inside. She didn't even want to contemplate what they were up to. She turned to Boyd. "We're taking her to my mother's penthouse. She's not there right now, so we should be fine." She led the way into her bedroom. Boyd paused as he saw Michael's body, and the extensive amount of blood.

Kendall leaned down next to Bianca. She was still out cold. Waving Boyd over, they gently lifted Bianca off the ground. With Bianca draped over Boyd's shoulder, Kendall led the way, making sure they didn't encounter anyone. They put her in the SUV and drove over to Erica's building. Miraculously, they were able to get her up to the penthouse without detection. Boyd placed Bianca on the bed in the guest room. Bianca finally began to stir. She opened her eyes, and when she saw Boyd's tall form in the darkness, she screamed.

Kendall put her arm around Bianca. "Shh! Shhh! Its okay, Bianca. That's just Boyd." She turned on the bedside lamp. "See? He helped me to bring you here."

Bianca blinked and looked around. "I don't understand. Why am I here? Why are you two here? What happened?"

Kendall rubbed Bianca's shoulder. "We thought it was best to get you away from my condo as soon as possible."

Bianca frowned. "Your condo? I was there? Why would you want me away from there?"

Kendall stared at her. "Binks, you don't remember? Michael..."

Bianca blinked. "Michael? He was there? Oh, you mean across the courtyard. I think its coming back to me. I came over to suggest that you move in with me and Maggie for awhile. I was worried about you, being across the courtyard from that monster. How did I end up here with you and Boyd? Did I faint?"

Kendall looked over at Boyd in amazement. She didn't remember. Looking back at Bianca, she stammered, "Um...yes, yes you did faint."

Bianca's cheeks went pink. "Oh dear. Mom's gonna kill me. I haven't eaten much today, I've been so stressed out. But, Kendall, why did you bring me back here? Wouldn't it have been less trouble if I had just crashed on your bed?"

Kendall swallowed, unsure whether to tell her the truth. Looking at her sister's sweet face, she couldn't do it. She couldn't tell her that she just killed a man. "Um...well...I had promised Boyd I'd go out with him...and, I uh, didn't want to leave you there alone with Michael across the way...so we brought you here."

Bianca looked sheepish. "I know I should have called before coming over. Who knows what I could have interrupted." She chuckled. Kendall wanted to vomit. She really did have no clue what happened.

Bianca leaned over and whispered in Kendall's ear. "I guess this means its truly over between you and Zach?"

Kendall fought the tears that came to her eyes. "Yes, Binks. Its truly over." Taking a deep breath, she stood up. "How about I make you a snack before we go?"

Bianca waved her hand. "No, no. I can do that. You two go and have fun."

Kendall put her hand on Bianca's shoulder. "Bianca, if you...if you start to feel faint again or need any help at all...please call me."

Bianca smiled. "Of course."

Kendall reluctantly left the room, trailed by Boyd. They left the penthouse and took the elevator back down to the parking garage. "I don't believe this. She doesn't remember?"

Boyd shrugged. "It was too much of a shock to her system. She's temporarily blocked it out."

Kendall shook her head. "I suppose that works to our advantage right now."

They got into the SUV and headed back to her condo. Kendall told Boyd about the refrigerated storage unit she had recently rented with the idea of storing cosmetics for Fusion. "We can keep his body in deep freeze until I am able to research the best way of disposing of it. When I do get rid of his body, I don't want it ever found or identified."

Boyd parked the SUV and they went over to her condo. Kendall stopped short when she saw someone standing at her doorway. She was horrified to realize it was Zach. Had he already been inside? Had he seen his brother's body? Kendall stood paralyzed. Zach caught sight of her and came over. "Kendall, I'm glad to see you're okay. Michael's guards called me a little while ago to tell me that they lost him again. Have either of you two seen him?"

Relief flooded Kendall's body. She shook her head. "No, we're fine. So's Bianca - we just left her. She's in no danger from Michael."

Some of the tension eased out of Zach. " I also came to let you know that my father's body has been released from the morgue. I'm heading to New York for the funeral."

Kendall bit her lip. "Oh. Um...have a safe trip."

Zach looked over at Boyd, and then back to her. "May I speak with you alone for a moment?"

Taking a deep breath, Kendall handed her key over to Boyd. "Here, you go ahead inside and make yourself comfortable. I'll be there in a moment."

Boyd took the key and went in. Kendall waited for Zach to speak, concentrating on not throwing herself into his arms. When he spoke, his voice was gravelly. "We didn't really say goodbye the other day. When that reporter called with the news...I left without saying anything. I wasn't capable of it at the time. I couldn't...I couldn't say the word 'goodbye.' I would have choked on it."

She closed her eyes. "Zach, the whole afternoon was one long goodbye. Words weren't necessary."

He reached out to touch her shoulder, but hesitated. Dropping his hand, he said, "I will be back when Michael goes to trial for fraud charges."

Without thinking, she shook her head and murmured, "That trial is never gonna happen."

Zach frowned. "What do you mean?"

Horrified that she had said that out loud, she scrambled for something to say. "Um...I just find it unlikely that Michael will stick around long enough for that. Even without the Cambias billions to back him, he's going to find some non-extradition country to make his new home. Hopefully sooner rather than later."

He looked over at Michael's condo. "Kendall, I'll do everything in my power to make sure that Michael is put in jail for the rest of his life."

Kendall almost broke down and told him, right there. He didn't deserve to be put in limbo like this. He was going to try and find his brother, and never would because his brother was dead. Zach had hopes of putting his brother in jail, and was sacrificing his life to make sure if it. If Michael had been telling the truth about stealing the new will, Zach would soon find out he didn't inherit his father's empire. And if Kendall's plan went smoothly, Zach would believe that his brother did leave the country, and had no intention of coming back. Maybe that would give him peace. Kendall hoped so. She also hoped he wouldn't hate her too much when he found out the big news she was planning to spring on everyone. Kendall tossed her hair, striving for nonchalance. "Well, I'm sure you'll try your best. I won't hold my breath, though." She injected what she hoped was the right amount of careless indifference.

She walked over to her door. "A word of advice. If Michael does decide to skip the country...just leave well enough alone. I don't really care if he's off sipping tequila sunrises on a beach, somewhere, just as long as he doesn't come near my family again. Good luck with your father's company." She slipped inside and closed the door, unable to maintain her cool facade a moment longer.

She leaned against the door. Boyd stood by the window. She whispered, "Is he gone, yet?"

Boyd stared out into the night. "He's leaving now. I don't know what you said to him, but he looks like he's been knifed in the gut."

She straightened up. "Maybe so, but at least I didn't kill him. Two dead Cambias men are enough for one week, don't you think?" Taking a deep breath, she turned to go into the bedroom and start the grisly process of covering up murder.