"Whatever you're 'bout to ask me to do - don't. "

Game days were his time, free from the manipulative and deceitful life he led the other days of the week. Bum crammed a handful of nuts into his mouth, washed down by a bottle of beer. On the television above, the official intervened in a hostile interaction between a Dallas Maverick and L.A. Laker on the court.

Eleanor hopped onto the barstool beside him and placed her purse on the bartop. "Miller Lite," she slid a false identification card forward to supplement her order. Bum's mouth curled into a smirk, as the bartender placed an ice cold bottle in front of Eleanor. "I need a favour," she stated, more of a demand than a request. She liked Bum. He had an approachable demeanour about him, more so than the likes of Harry McSween who her father used to rely on for undercover work.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Miss Henderson, " Bum sarcastically drawled her alias. "I work for your daddy, not you."

"Daddy says you're the best and I need the best," she sandwiched her request with a genuine compliment. He appeared unswayed but Eleanor seized the opportunity left open by his silence. "This is a list of Denault Inc. shareholders," she carefully placed the folded white piece of paper on the bartop. "I need you to dig up whatever dirt you can find to guarantee their loyalty." Since her appointment with Cliff Barnes had been unproductive, Eleanor had resorted to plan B. "I also need you to keep this strictly between us."

Bum sniffed, feigning disinterest, before he unfolded the piece of paper and studied the list of seven names. "What makes you so sure I won't call J.R. as soon as you walk out of here?"

"When you come up with results, I'll consult J.R.," Eleanor promised. If she were to reclaim her father's favour and win back her position at Ewing Energies, she would need to prove herself capable of his level of ruthlessness. She had watched her father meticulously execute the art of blackmail many times. "I need information first. Please, Bum," she flashed him a hopeful smile but her tone relayed the seriousness of her request.

"If I say yes, will you stop hangin' out in bars?" His wisecrack held a little more humour than intended, owed to his deadpan expression. "Does this have anythin' to do with your brother?" The Ewing children were always on his subliminal radar and he often fed back snippets of information to J.R.; some stones, however, were best left unturned - especially where J.R.'s son was concerned. Bum only wished John Ross weren't so careless. He had cleaned up a multitude of messy situations out of loyalty to J.R., who was ironically one of the easiest clients Bum had ever worked for. Like Bum, there was no line J.R. wouldn't cross.

Eleanor skirted over his concern. "Will you help me or not?"

Bum tucked the envelope into his jacket pocket. It went against his better judgement but he also suspected that Eleanor would only seek help from less reliable and honourable sources than him if he were to deny her request. "Whatever I find, you take to your daddy - that's the deal," he confirmed his only condition. "I hope I don't regret this."

"Go Mavericks," Eleanor cheerfully knocked the neck of her beer bottle onto his.

"Miss Ewing," an unfamiliar voice beckoned her as she surfaced onto the downtown Dallas street from the dive bar that was Bum's favourite watering hole. She swirled on her feet, unwelcomed by the vision of Casey with a lecherous smile on his face. "Casey Denault, we met at the barbeque." His words were slick with an eerie attempt to charm her and Eleanor held firm, as if his invasion of her personal space didn't bother her.

"I remember," her eyes travelled him from head to toe in discomfort. She wondered how accidental his presence in the vicinity was and skittishly played with her car keys. "What can I do for you, Mr. Denault?"

"Call me Casey - your brother does." Eleanor awarded him with a waspish pout and he chuckled, "No need to look so sour, little lady. Hell, I ought to be mad at you. You almost cost me a very important business partner."

Eleanor sported a wry smile as she walked onward, "That so?"

Casey wrinkled his nose in a playful fashion and followed her path. "That's okay. I did have you in trouble with your daddy for a while, didn't I?" His reconciled relationship with Lucy had offered insider information in the latest troubles that brewed at Southfork. "So, by my count that makes us 'bout even, wouldn't you say?"

"Not even close," she hissed.

"You know John Ross profited real well from our little deal - we both did. I'm prepared to offer you the same," he hunted Eleanor as she abruptly hotfooted it along the sidewalk. Unlike her brother, she had learnt from their fathers lessons and followed his example; there was no secret or shame Casey could exploit.

"Stay away from me, stay away from my brother," Eleanor continued her effort to escape her second shadow. "In fact, stay away from my whole family - that includes Lucy, or I'll do more than ruin your little friendship with Cliff Barnes."

Casey howled in amusement. "Say, I like you. You're a lot more like your daddy than your brother. Now, why d'you think that is?" He pondered aloud, "Lucy seems to think it's because you have more to prove what with your mama bein' who she was and all." Eleanor screeched to standstill and Casey downplayed his elation. "I don't mean nothin' by it," he raised his hands in a protest of innocence. "I just think it's a damn shame that you'll always be second fiddle to John Ross in your daddy's eyes. He don't have that killer instinct you do, know what I mean?" The faint lines of her forehead as her brow furrowed into a scowl indicated otherwise.

Eleanor lost patience with his subtle inferences. "What do you want?"

"To make you understand I don't have to be the enemy," Casey petitioned. "Lucy's told me all about the way your daddy treats you. He doesn't appreciate you or your potential."

Her lips broke into a wide smile that ridiculed his attempt to appear relatable. "My cousin has a big mouth. You're wasting your time and mine. There is nothing you can say that would ever turn me against my daddy." She had always been acutely aware of her father's sexist, traditionalist views but her loyalty to him was unshakeable.

"You sure 'bout that?" Casey sniffed in contemplation, as Eleanor turned from him a second time. "I'll bet your daddy never told you the real reason your mama was all the way out in California when you were born, did he?" Eleanor automatically unlocked her red Mustang parked on the road but didn't reach to open the driver side. "You ever want answers, you know where to find me."

Eleanor blocked his snide voice from her head and climbed behind the wheel.