Dean took the whole trip with questions in his mind and more and more questions on top of those.

He would have to resort to the only ones who could help him sort this out.

Ring…Ring…

"Hello?"

"Hey Bash man, what's up?"

"Portman, it's been a long time, what's up."

"Oh nothin'."

"You liar.  I know the sound in your voice, something is up."

"Ok, fine, geez u r such a girl sometimes."  Dean said mockingly.

"Hey I resent that!  Besides you are the one who calls me to gossip about stuff, so who's the girl?"

"Hahah ok, busted, shut-up, but first we gotta call Charlie, I want both of you guys to hear this at the same time."

"Okay."

Ring…Ring…

"Hello?"

"Oh Capitan, my Capitan."

"Portman, what's up!"

"Charlie, what's up man!"

"Oh nothing, me and Guy and Connie are just watching a movie."

"On the real?"

"Yeah."

"Hey you got speaker phone or something."

"Yeah, why?"

"Put them on too, might as well you are gonna tell 'em anyway."

"What's going on?"

"That's what we're hoping to find out."  Fulton chimed in.

"Fulton is that you?"

"Yeah.  What's up Charlie?"

"Where are you?  In Chicago?"

"No, I'm at, heh, home in Anaheim."

"Home…right, anyway, tight.  Uh oh, if we're on 3 way, then somethin' must be up."

"Hey Connie and Guy what's up?"

"Nothing, what's up with you is the question."  Connie said.

"Yeah," agreed Guy.

"Ok, ok.  You guys I saw Julie."

"What?

"Oh my god!  Where?"

"Who with?"

"What was she doing?"

"What did you say?"

"What did she say?"

"Geez one at a time pleeeze.  Bunch a girls, I tell ya."  Dean said mockingly.

"Hey!"  Connie yelled from the background.

"Ok here's the deal.  I saw her in Paris.  Paris of all places.  We were both there on business, and there to meet with the same person no less.  I found out that her company is competition to my company here in Chicago."

"Wow." Said Connie.

"Yeah, now it gets interesting."

Dean took a breath and began to tell the story.

"Ok first of all, I didn't even know she was there until I was outside the office and my partner said that the person we were meeting with is in a meeting with our competitor.  Gaffney.  I didn't say anything and when we went in to present, she was already gone."

"So when did you see her?"  Asked Charlie.

"At the airport, but I'll get to that in a second."

"Oh ok."

"Ok, so, I go to lunch with Long, my business partner, and talk about the presentation.  I come to know that he knows everything about her dad, and the company and her.  He said he hadn't worked with her, but he used to work for her father, but he fired him for some reason.  Anyway, that's not important.  James her father he what he said quote ruthless end quote, he said that he will stop at nothing to get what he wants.  When he found out that Julie announced our wedding in the paper, he went ballistic.  Even to the point of making the paper print a retraction or correction or something saying that we weren't to be married.  That was before he came to tell me that she was breaking up with me.

Now Long said that she has a weak heart which is a condition she got after she was told that I was killed in a car accident."

"But you were never in a car accident not to mention not dead!"  Charlie said.

"But she doesn't know that.  She thinks I am dead and had to go to the hospital.  She quote died end quote till she came to the family's firm."

"None of that makes sense."  Guy said.

"I know they are too different stories."  Said Connie.

"Why would she dump you and then stop living if she found out you died?"  Asked Charlie.

"And why would she announce your engagement, if she was going to break up with you?"  Asked Connie.

"Her father."  Said Fulton

"Exactly what I was thinking."

"So you think that Jim came and said she was going to break up with you-" Connie said.

"And went home and told Julie you were dead so she wouldn't try to defy him-" Charlie continued.

"In order to get you out of her life because he was against it from the beginning." Finished Guy.

"Bingo!"  Agreed Dean.

"Why would he go through all that trouble?" asked Connie.

"Because he is ruthless and will stop at nothing to have his way."  Said Fulton

"Even to the point of almost killing his daughter?"  Asked Connie.

"I wouldn't put it past him."  Said Dean.

"What a jerk!" 

"I was thinkin' something else."

"For real."

"So then what?"

"Then I saw her at the airport, I had bought a dozen roses for her and a stuffed kitten and a card and put 'to my duchess' on it."

"Awwwww how sweet."  Cooed Connie.

"Ssshhhhh." 

"Geez you are a bunch of girls."

"Go on Dean."

"I didn't give them to her, because I didn't know how she would act, so I gave them to a flight attendant to give her.  She looked confused, then she started to cry, and then this guy came up behind her, she started hugging him and talking to him, and then she left with him."

"Who was he?"

"I don't know, I couldn't hear them."

"Boyfriend maybe?" asked Charlie

"Close friend?" asked Guy

"In Paris?"  Portman asked.

"True."

"Did he take her bags?"  Connie asked.

"Yeah so.  Any gentlemen would have."

"What was he wearing?"  Connie asked.

"A black suit.  So?"

"Hat?"

"…Yeah."

"White hankie?"

"Yeah, what are you getting at?"

"It was probably her driver.  Or someone from there that she knows well."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because remember when we went to spend the summer at her place?"

"Yeah."

"That's how the drivers were dressed both there, and in Jamaica."

"I would have never noticed that."

"Ha!  See not as girly as you think."  Connie said with smile.

"So she was probably explaining to him what happened?"  Asked Charlie.

"Yeah probably, if I was her, I would have."

"Hum, that makes sense."  Said Dean.

"So Portman, what are you gonna do?"

"I'm not sure yet.  I don't know what to do."

"Are you going to try to find her?"

"No, not yet."

"Hey guys I have an idea."  Said Fulton with a grin.