Disclaimer : Once again, the great and wonderful Meg Cabot owns everything! Well, almost. The plot line is my friend and my idea and the characters of Anne, Adriaan, Alea and Denise are ours as well.

Alright guys...I AM SO SO SO SO SO SORRY!!!! Please forgive your striving writer for not updating as quickly as she said she would...she is very sorry. She being me of course. LOL. No guys seriously, I really am sorry...but guess what....to make it up to you guys I am going to update 2...not 1...but 2...chapters today. YAY! Go me right? Okay well...and by the way....I have the rest of the story finished so....be ready :) Here we go....
Jesse's POV:

My emotions were running so very high after that dinner that I did not know what to do…so I decided that I would go for a walk….try to clear my thoughts a bit. I sighed and went down the stairs and went to open the door.

"Where are you going?" A voice asked.

I looked over at Susannah's mother and sighed. "I decided that since it was such a beautiful night, that I would go walking for a bit. Acquaint myself with Carmel, California." I said, smiling…though I did not feel like smiling.

Susannah's mother smiled. "Okay dear…just be back soon." She said softly.

I smiled and then quietly walked out of the door and into my own world of thoughts and emotions that were tearing me slowly apart.

Susannah's POV:

I'd finished packing and decided that I couldn't even wait till tomorrow…even though it was sundown…I had to go…NOW. I didn't know what dad had meant when he said what he did about Jesse….but I really wanted to find out. I finished getting my things together and went down the stairs to say good-bye to everyone, although I don't think that Anne wanted to talk to me anymore. I grinned at the thought of what I'd told her and laughed as I went down the stairs quickly.

I saw Anne sitting in a booth beside the window and sighed and made my way over to her. "Hey Anne." I said softly, scooting into the other side of the booth across from her.

She nearly jumped out of her chair when she saw me. "Susan….get away from me…." She said, eyes wide.

I looked at her and laughed. "Susan…come on…I was just kidding." I said, laughing at her.

"No…I heard you talking to someone….and I…I…think…that I heard someone talking back." She said, her eyes wide and bloodshot.

I looked at her suspiciously. "Have you been crying?" I asked, looking at her.

"No."

"Oh okay." I said, shrugging my shoulders, just curious. I sighed and looked at her. I'd never told anyone my secret before…and didn't intend on starting with her. "I just wanted to let you know that I'm leaving tonight…I received news that…someone I care about very much…." I grinned, that was the understatement of the century, "….is in trouble and I need to go help them." I said, getting up. "I just wanted to thank you for everything Anne….you've been a great help to me and you've helped me out a lot. You took a chance on a stranger….that was VERY cool." I said, trying to sound reassuring…instead I just wanted to leave and find Jesse…wherever he was.

Anne looked up at me with wide eyes and then…suddenly…a smile spread across her face. "Thanks." She said, but she didn't get up or anything. Nope, she just stayed right where she was….staring at me.

"Thanks Anne." I said and then I turned around and went into the kitchen and found Adriaan.

"Hey babe!" Adriaan grinned and waved at me.

I smiled and shook my head and laughed at him. "Hey….Adriaan." I said, laughing. "I just wanted to come and tell you that I'm leaving."

He looked at me sadly. Wait…sadly? Um…okay…definitely not something I was used to anymore. "Really…you're leaving? Why?" He asked, wiping his hands on a dish towel and pulling a chair up to sit down.

"Well…because…." I decided to give him the same story that I'd given Anne…which wasn't exactly a lie either. "….because someone I really care about is in trouble back home….and I need to go help him." I said, smiling sadly.

Adriaan looked at me with one of those darned unreadable expressions. What was it with guys and unreadable expressions. Was it something that you were taught in school? Did they pull guys out of classrooms and put them in separate ones and teach them how to do these things? I sighed and watched him as he got up and put the chair back. Then he came over and stuck his hand out to me. "Well…it's been a blast." He said, grinning. "Come back and visit us sometime." He said grinning.

I laughed and shook his hand. "Sure…sometime." I said, grinning, though inside I was shaking like a leaf. I didn't know if I would even make it out of the fight with Paul…should he cross my path. I sighed and then after telling Adriaan good-bye one final time, I walked out of the kitchen and back up to my room…to await word from Maria. As much as I….wanted…to. Yeah…and with that…note the sarcasm.

Paul's POV:

Each step I take seems to bring some type of agony due to the injuries I sustained from the cowboy. Currently, I have taken to walking down the streets of Carmel in hopes that I would bump into Mr. de Silva. I smile smugly at this thought and continue walking.

"Boss! BOSS!" Someone yelled behind me.

I looked back. Bob is running quickly towards me and let me tell you that is a really….interesting sight to see. I turned around and waited until he caught up with me before I continued walking. The only reason he hasn't materialized in front of me yet is because I've told him to not do that since my little incident with de Silva, because if he did, I would do some serious damage.

"Boss."

"What?!" I asked exasperatedly.

"I just wanted to tell you that…." He stopped to catch his breath.

During his silence I calmly put my hand into my pocket and felt the cold metal of the knife I had recently bought in case…well, never mind. I pulled it out and began playing with it.

"de….de….de Silva….is walking through town right now. I'm sure you could…um…get some good use out of that knife now….."

My eyes snapped open wide at the mention of de Silva's name. "Where?"

"About a quarter of a mile away right now."

I grinned smugly and started flipping the knife in my two front fingers. So, de Silva is coming this way? Perfect, I'll be waiting.

….And I didn't have to wait long. As it turns out, Bob hadn't been as correct as he usually had been. De Silva had only been a few feet away just as Bob had been telling me everything that was going on with de Silva. I quietly slipped behind some boxes that lay stashed in a alleyway off of the street. De Silva began walking towards the alleyway, intent on going past it and entering into another section of town. I wouldn't let him get that far. He would pay. He would pay dearly for everything.

He walked past the alleyway and just as quickly I jumped behind him and tackled him to the ground. He was knocked senseless from the impact of the ground for a second before he jumped up and turned around swiftly.

"Slater!?? Tu asno!"

Though that's not all he said, let me assure you. But I won't mention them as they were…really quite horrible and long…and also because I don't even know a single WORD of Spanish.

I grinned at the obvious discomfort he was already feeling. Anger seethed through me to the point where all I wanted was revenge. If it took killing de Silva to squelch that emotion, I'd do it. Anything it took. I drew back a fist and thrust it hard into de Silva's face….He didn't budge…. Oh shit.
Okay...chapter 19 is now officially up. I hope you guys like this chapter.... Thank you SO much to all of my wonderful reviewers that has kept up with this story for so long...even through my seemingly endless weeks of writer's block. You guys are awesome and I hope that you enjoy this chapter! Stay with me....it's going to get good :) :)