Chapter One - Lies

"Well, I haven't exactly been honest with him either, have I? We're a great group, you know? Brian lying to me, me lying to him, you lying to Wendy AND Suzi..." - Kristin to Warren (late December 1983)

Characters in this segment- Kristin, Brian, Wendy, and Warren (Suzi is mentioned)

Kristin -

She told many lies. Her life had been a string of one lie after another, but when she met Brian, Kristin Carter changed for the better. She became softer; sweeter. She finally met someone who made her happy, because he loved her for her true self. Everything could have been perfect, if it wasn't for Suzi. Yes, she blamed Suzi when deep in her heart, she knew she had dug her own grave. The only man she'd ever really loved might walk out the door, never to return if he ever learned what she had been hiding. She might lose a wonderful man if Brian found out that she had lied to him.

She wasn't the first woman in Brian's life. His first love had been Suzi. All of that changed when Kristin and Brian slept together and Kristin found out she was pregnant. Suddenly, Brian was put in the position where he felt he had to marry her, because he wanted to do the right thing. Brian proposed even though he couldn't hand Kristin all of his heart, because part of it belonged to Suzi. Kristin wished she could stamp Brian's first love out of his heart forever.

It wasn't long after Brian proposed when Kristin ended up losing the baby. Knowing that Brian had only proposed because of her pregnancy, Kristin took a trip to New York to recover. She came back and didn't tell Brian about the loss of their child. They got married instead. No one was the wiser.

A month later, Kristin had no other choice but to fake a miscarriage of the child they'd already lost. Brian was devastated, but by then he was so deeply in love with Kristin that he had forgotten all about Suzi. Kristin was more in love with Brian than ever before and desperately didn't want him to know of her deceit.

She went to her brother Warren, heavy guilt burdening her soul. She was crying so much that she was nearly incoherent. Warren wrapped his arms around her lovingly. "What is it, Kris?" he asked as he held her. "The baby? I know it's been rough on you with everything you've been through..."

"You don't know the HALF of it, Warren. I lost my baby TWO months ago!"

Warren pulled away, staring at his sister in shock. "I thought you just had the miscarriage a couple of weeks ago."

"I lied!" Kristin exclaimed. "I lost the baby before the wedding... and if Brian ever finds out, I'll lose him. I'll lose him forever; I know it! I love him. I can't lose him. I already lost our baby."

Warren tenderly caressed his sister's bright red hair. "Don't let the guilt tear you in two," he said. "You made a mistake, but Brian loves you. Everything will be alright."

Tears rolled down Kristin's pale cheeks. "I love Brian so much. It's going to break his heart if he ever finds out I lied."

"Nobody knows but you and me."

Kristin shook her head. "Suzi knows. She saw me at the hospital that night- the night I lost the baby."

"I'll talk to her, Kris. She'll never tell."

"Suzi hardly ever tells a lie. She's not like you and me."

Warren sighed. "You're right. She's not like me. Not at all."

Brian-

Everyday of his life, he was telling lies. But he was doing it to protect the ones he loved - Kristin, Wendy, and Suzi. He had to keep them safe from the biggest threat he'd ever known - Kristin's brother, Warren Carter. During his investigation on the police force, he learned that Warren was involved in suspicious activities. Gun running was one of his many crimes. Brian was just beginning to find out exactly what made Carter tick.

He didn't want anyone to get hurt - not his little sister Wendy, his first love Suzi, or the woman who had his heart, Kristin. They all believed Warren Carter's lies, and he told so many of them. He had them all stacked up like puppets on a string. Eventually, someone he loved was going to suffer from one of Warren Carter's crimes.

He told his beloved Kristin he was quitting his job on the police force due to a disagreement with Detective Bowman. In truth, Brian had become an undercover cop. Then he lowered himself to ask his brother-in-law, Warren Carter for a job at the club. He told himself he had to do it. His little sister was already working for Carter, right under his thumb.

Right away, he started to suspect that his sister was doing much more than working for Carter. He caught tiny bits and pieces of conversations and saw the looks of longing that passed between them. Brian seethed inside. Warren Carter was married to Suzi, Wendy's best friend.

As Brian was doing his investigation, Warren was doing one of his own. He didn't trust Brian. He knew that he was being watched. He told Kristin that her husband had been lying to her - that he was still a cop.

"Brian wouldn't do that. He'd never lie to me. I am the one who has been telling lies," Kristin said in Brian's defense.

"Ohhh no, not your guilt again. Kris, he's working as an undercover cop. He's been watching my every move. He thinks he has something on me," Warren said in a growl.

"What?"

"You took a photo of me... with some customer here at the club. He found the picture and he's trying to tie me to that creep, even though I am completely innocent -."

"Are you... innocent?" Kristin asked her brother with a raised brow.

"Of course. He's the one who is a liar, saying he quit the police force when all he's been doing is hanging around here, spying on me."

"You better hope he doesn't find out what you've been doing. He's not going to take it well... if he finds out about you and Wendy."

"I've taken care of that," Warren said confidently.

"Ohhh sure you have. She's in love with you. She thinks you're going to marry her."

"Stop turning this conversation around on me. It's your husband who has been telling lies. Ask him if he's still a cop."

"Okay, I will," Kristin said before she walked out.

Warren sat down at his desk and let out a heavy sigh. He was knee deep in shit at the moment with all the lies he had been telling. He took a photo out of his desk and stared at it. "Dammit, Ringo, this is all your fault," he grumbled. "You're the one who hired Vargas, that psycho freak who kidnapped Suzi's Aunt Jo."

Warren -

He started lying to his wife first. He never should have married Suzi. They just weren't suited for one another. She spent all of her time with her nose in a book, studying. When she wasn't concentrating on her college courses, she was working at the studio. He was lonely. He craved something more.

The club and all of its action provided him with the adventure he needed. When he wasn't at the club, he wanted to hang out with Henderson's high society at fancy restaurants and elegant parties. None of that was Suzi's scene. She was about as exciting as a limp rag.

As they were growing apart, he and Wendy were getting closer. Wendy too was lonely. She had split up from Keith and she was missing Suzi's friendship. When Suzi couldn't accompany him to a party at the Fishers, Wendy agreed to go in Suzi's place. From that moment on, something changed. Warren asked Wendy to help him at the club. She jumped at the chance. It started with him spending every waking minute with her. Eventually, the attraction couldn't be denied. They had a steamy affair, right under his wife's nose. Suzi was too busy with college and work to even notice that her husband was sneaking out at all hours and sleeping with her best friend.

After their lovemaking, Warren always held Wendy in his arms. He snuggled her close as though he never wanted to let her go. Always, after the passion ended, she'd feel incredible guilt for betraying her best friend. She'd cry and he'd tenderly kiss away her tears.

"We can't keep doing this, Warren. It just isn't right," Wendy said.

"It IS right. I don't know anything more right than this. How I feel about you, Wendy - there just aren't words to describe it."

"What are you saying?"

He took a deep breath. "I care about you. Deeply. I have never felt this way before... about anyone."

She searched his eyes as if she were looking for more. She needed to hear more and he knew that. She deserved so much more than he was ready to give.

"Honey, I promise you... I am going to find a way for us to be together. We just have to be careful. I don't want Suzi to get hurt."

"It's too late for that. Someone's going to get hurt," Wendy said tearfully. "And if you stay with her, it's going to be me."

Warren gazed into Wendy's eyes as he caressed her hair. "I can't let you go, so I have to find a way to get out of my marriage to Suzi."

"It can't wait forever, Warren. We're going to get caught."

Warren sighed as he tugged Wendy closer, burying his face in her dark hair. *I'm not in love with Wendy. I am NOT in love,* he told himself, but it was lies.

The biggest lie Warren Carter ever told was to himself when he vowed he'd never fall in love with Wendy. Now it was too late. He was so deeply in love that he was caught in his own game.

It was time to stop lying and deal with the consequences.