Chapter 36

October 20, 2003 – Pine Valley, Pennsylvania

Zach read the e-mail from his mole in the police department. The cops received some evidence from Michael's condo, however no one but Derek Frye knew who was the source. Zach suspected it was Ryan, though why the man was sticking his nose in the investigation was anyone's guess. Ryan's self-importance seemed to rival even Alexander's ego.

Zach read more. A couple of days ago, Frye arrested David Hayward for Michael's murder, but Hayward was quickly given an alibi by none other than Erica Kane. She claimed they were making love all night long.

The cops had narrowed down the day of death to the 28th of August. That was the night that Zach left town with his father's body to see to the old man's funeral. He stopped by Kendall's condo that night, and she had arrived with Boyd. Much as he hated the possibility that they might have spent the night together, it would certainly be a convenient alibi for her.

Ryan walked into Zach's office. "I just wanted to let you know I scheduled a meeting between us and JR Chandler. I think we should offer him a job as CEO to Chandler Enterprises."

Zach gave him an incredulous look. "Or….we could sell Chandler back to Adam, and let him decide whether he wants his son to be CEO."

Ryan shook his head. "I don't see the point. With JR running things, it will still be in the family. You don't know Adam like I do – he deserves to be cut off at the knees."

Zach leaned back in his chair. "You're right, I don't know Adam as well as you do. Which is why I can remain impartial."

Ryan sat on the desk. "No, I believe I'm the one who's impartial, here. Chandler Enterprises makes a very nice addition to Cambias Industries, and selling it makes no business sense at all. You're the one who wants to play Mr. Fixit and undo everything that Michael has done."

Zach said quietly, "I can't undo everything."

Ryan waved his hand. "Exactly. So just leave Chandler and Enchantment alone. They are fine where they are."

Zach narrowed his eyes. "You want to keep Enchantment as well?"

Ryan shrugged. "I was all set to give it back to Erica, but she decided she wants nothing more to do with the company. She said it was time to move on to something else. Start fresh, a new beginning. I admire her spunk. The world is her oyster and she is determined to experience it all."

Zach cleared his throat. "You were all set to give it back to her? I thought your role was to approve or disapprove my transactions, not initiate ones of your own."

Ryan shook his head. "My impression from Alexander was that it would be more of a two-way street. Obviously I can't finalize anything without your approval."

Zach gazed at him coldly. "So you see it more as a partnership rather than owner-trustee?"

Ryan beamed. "Exactly. If that doesn't sit well with you, I'm sure it would be no problem for you to step down. I bet Kendall is champing at the bit to get her hands on all that money. Plus, we've established a new rapport with each other. After that asshole, Justin McCoy hounded her the night of the Fusion party, I convinced her that I'm there for her, no matter what. I think she trusts me again, it's a good sign."

Zach cocked his head. "I guess you left out the part where you handed over evidence on Michael's murder to the police, and that is the reason they are hounding her."

Ryan shrugged. "Look, I want Kendall's name to be cleared, and the only way that is going to happen is if the real killer is found."

Ryan's assistant, Barbara walked in. "Excuse me sir, here is a message that I just received. I thought you might want it right away." Glancing at Zach, she diffidently handed a note to Ryan.

Ryan read the contents, and his eyes widened. "Oh my god. Greenlee and Carlos were in a car accident. They're alive, but in bad shape. I have to go." He stood up and strode out the room.

Kendall curled up into a ball on her bed. She didn't want to go to work today. Too many things kept turning up that moved everyone closer and closer to the truth about Michael's death. Aidan and Mia, the interfering shits, had quizzed Maggie about her statement that she saw something the night of the murder. She remembered seeing two people carrying a large heavy sack through the courtyard, and realized one of them was Kendall. Kendall managed to convince Maggie, at least, that the other person had been Michael and that they were carrying a lot of stuff for Michael to travel with as he made his escape out of town. She didn't think Aidan bought it. Why wouldn't he leave it alone? Ryan, too, for that matter.

After Kendall was pounced on by Justin the night of the Fusion party, Ryan had come after her and convinced her that he was there for her, and only wanted to help. He just didn't seem to understand that the best way to help was to leave her the hell alone. Things were spinning out of control. She should have burned Michael's body along with the mattress and sheets, but she had wanted to do that research. She just never got around to it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Well, if worse came to worse, she'd do the time for her sister.

At least Erica didn't hate her anymore. Probably because she was convinced Kendall offed Michael and she considered that a good deed. Kendall and Bianca were bonding as well. Kendall found it hard to take solace in all this. Everyone was being affected by the murder investigation. Erica told the police she was making love with David the night of the murder. That had to have killed Jackson. Soon there would be more suspects, and people's lives or reputations could be ruined by it. Not that Kendall really cared what happened to anyone else, as long as Bianca was protected. Bianca and Zach.

She hadn't seen Zach since the night of the Fusion party. When she came back from her tete a tete with Ryan, he was gone. From what she heard, he spent all his time at the new Cambias offices. God, Zach, why can't you just walk away from it? It was because of the damn clause in the will that said if Zach turns down the inheritance, it would go to her. If Bianca had decided to keep her baby, it would have gone to the little one. Kendall wasn't sure whether that would have been a good or bad thing. It seemed odd that Alexander put that extra clause in his will. It wasn't as if he had known Bianca was pregnant. Was he that optimistic that Zach or Michael would have had children one day? Well, Michael was dead, and Zach had such a doomed outlook on his future that he didn't seem to want to even get married, much less have children.

The telephone rang. Kendall sighed deeply and ignored it. The answering machine came on, and it was Ryan's voice telling her to pick up. He sounded pretty insistent, so she reached for the telephone. "Could I possibly charge you with harassment?"

Ignoring her, he told her there was bad news. Greenlee and Carlos was in a car accident and were in bad shape. She quickly sat up. Shocked, she told him she would go right to the hospital. He told her he was already there. She flew around the room, getting dressed. Oh Greenlee! What else could go wrong?

She flung open her front door, and was surprised to see Zach there. He saw her stricken face. "I guess you've heard about Greenlee? I'm here to take you to the hospital."

She flew into his arms. "Oh, Zach, thank you so much for coming! How did you hear the news?"

He wrapped his arms around her. "Ryan was in my office when he was told. I know you and Greenlee are friends, so I decided to come here."

She sniffled. "We're not exactly friends right now, but I still care about her a lot."

He squeezed her shoulder. "Come on, I'll drive you to the hospital."

She clung to him as he walked her to his Jaguar. She had her hands on his arm as he drove to the hospital. Then she clung to him some more as he walked her into the ER. She was so scared about the whole murder investigation, and now Greenlee was hospitalized, she felt on the verge of a breakdown. Zach was like a lifeline and she never wanted to let go.

Ryan came up to them. He narrowed his eyes momentarily at her and Zach together, but his obvious concern for Greenlee overshadowed any comment he would have made. He told them that Greenlee was in a slight coma. If she woke up in the next few hours, she would be fine, so they were hoping for the best.

Kendall's grip on Zach's arm tightened. Then she caught sight of Derek. At first she wondered why he was there, then she remembered that the cops were involved because it had been a car accident. But the reason didn't matter – if he saw her and Zach together, he might get suspicious about their relationship and start formulating motives.

When he turned in their direction, Kendall acted on instinct. She pulled away from Zach and flew over to Ryan. Throwing her arms around Ryan, she moaned. "Oh Ryan, I'm so worried about Greenlee. What if she doesn't wake up?" She pulled back and took his hands in hers. "We have to go see our friend. Will you take me to her?"

Ryan was clearly not thrilled with her act, but he apparently decided it wasn't worth calling her on her bullshit. He gave her a rueful smile and pulled his hands out of hers. "She can only have one visitor at a time, and I was planning to be next. You can go right after me, though."

Kendall put her hand on his arm. "I'll be right behind you." He nodded slowly, then turned and went down one of the corridors. Kendall was relieved to see that Derek was now gone. She pivoted and saw Zach standing there, an unreadable look on his face. Oh god. He probably thought she was a first class bitch, always running hot and cold. Unable to face him, she went over to a waiting room chair and slumped down in it.

The temperature in the room was frigid. Kendall rubbed her hands on her arms. She felt something being draped over her, and looked up to see that Zach had put his suit jacket around her. Her face crumpled. Why was he being so nice to her after she just snubbed him like that? He sat down next to her and put his arm around her as she broke down in tears. It was too much. There was so much she had to deal with, and the only person she could trust with her secret was Boyd. Boyd had done so much to help her, but he couldn't be her rock. She really wanted Zach to be her rock, but he was too close to the situation.

"Kendall!" She looked up. Simone and Mia had arrived. She stood up and they had a group hug. Simone gripped Kendall's arm. "I just got word about Carlos. He needs to go in for surgery, and the only one available to do it is Maria! She's an amnesiac, she's not qualified! What if she blanks out during surgery?"

Zach appeared beside them. "Maria is more than competent to perform the surgery. Her memory loss was about people and events, not medical details or motor skills."

Simone stared at him incredulously. "What the hell do you know about Maria?"

Zach cocked his head. "I spent some time with her in Nevada while she still had amnesia. I once watched her stitch up a gaping wound for one of my casino employees. It was beautiful work. I have faith that she will do very well."

Simone tossed her hair and looked at Kendall. "Why is he here? Does he even know Greenlee or Carlos? I thought you two had broken up."

Mia shook her head. "Are you sure they were ever even together?" Simone gave an exaggerated shrug.

Kendall folded her arms. "Whatever was between Zach and I is over. But he is still my brother-in-law, and was nice enough bring me here to see Greenlee. That's what family is for. Greenlee has probably mentioned that Ryan and I are rekindling our relationship. I'm very hopeful that this time around it will work out. That reminds me – Ryan is in with Greenlee now. I want to go see her."

She turned and, without looking at Zach, headed down the corridor. Simone, Mia, and Zach followed behind. Kendall opened the door to Greenlee's room, and froze when she saw that Ryan was sitting on Greenlee's bed, and Greenlee had her arms around him, kissing him. Simone and Mia crowded in next to Kendall, their mouths agape. Zach observed from the doorway.

Kendall felt a headache coming on. Under normal circumstances, she might have felt glad that Greenlee was awake. She also wouldn't have cared less that she and Ryan were kissing. But Kendall just got through putting on a charade – not once, but twice – pretending that her and Ryan were an item. All her desperate plans seemed to come crashing down upon her. Tears rolling down her cheeks, she turned and pushed her way past Simone, Mia and Zach.