There was a knock at the door and Kendall slowly got to her feet and made her way to the door. As she opened it she was surprised to see Erica on the other side of it.

"I didn't expect you to show up."

"You were expecting me? Why is that?" Erica asked as she let herself into the apartment.

Kendall closed the door and followed Erica into the apartment. "I wasn't sure you'd even listen to Greenlee." "Greenlee? What are you talking about?" Erica moved a magazine from the couch, sat down and put her purse on the coffee table. "I came here on my own. I haven't talked to Greenlee since I saw her at the hospital."

"Oh, okay, well then, why are you here?" Kendall asked as she sat down across from Erica.

"To see how you were doing of course." Erica said in matter of fact way as if Kendall should know why she does things. "You were stabbed and I'm your mother and I'm here to make sure you're okay and see if you need anything."

"Come on Erica, let's not go overboard." Kendall laughed, but had to grab her stomach as soon as she did. "You're hardly little miss homemaker and you certainly aren't here just to me, so again I ask, why are you here?"

"I see some things never change. You are always so suspicious and defensive and it's no wonder I can't get through to you. Fine, I see this was a bad idea so I'll just go." Erica got up in a huff and walked towards the door.

"What, you expect me to get all weepy and beg you to stay? Is that it? Not gonna happen Erica." Kendall folded her arms and stared back at Erica. "Okay, let's try this again, I'm glad you came to check on me, but is there anything else you wanted?"

Erica walked back to the couch, sat down and the slightest of smiles crossed her face, "Just because I was going to ask you something doesn't mean it's the only reason I came here. I could've just called about the business part, now would you stop being so argumentative and get me some coffee please."

"Hello, I'm the injured one here, get your own coffee." Kendall said as she grabbed her stomach and winced as she looked over at Erica. "Oh and could ya get me a cup to, thanks so much."

"You are a piece of work, I'll give you that." Erica stood up, walked into the kitchen, poured two cups of coffee, brought them back and sat them on the table. "There you go Kendall dear."

"Thank you mommy." Kendall said as she grabbed her cup and took a sip. "Now that we have the childish stuff out of the way, I'd like to make you a proposal." Erica said and then took a folder out of her purse and sat in on the table and pushed it towards Kendall.

"What's this?" Kendall asked as she picked up the folder and started looking through it.

"Once you read it you'll see, but it's basically a proposed merger between Enchantment and Fusion."

Kendall's eyes popped out of her head and not in a good way. "Are you insane? How many ways is this a bad idea?"

"I figured that would be your initial reaction, but instead of trying to think of sarcastic retorts, why don't you actually read the proposition and think about this in an objective and rational manner." Erica stated as she calmly drank her coffee. "You can bet I'll read this from cover to cover and magnify all the small print to find what the catch is." Kendall sat back and began reading the proposition as thoroughly as she could.

It was lunch hour and Joni was waiting for Laurie at their usual spot at the far end of the cafeteria. As Laurie walked into the room and saw Joni both girls faces lit up with big smiles as Laurie sat down across from Joni, sitting her books in the chair beside her to keep it from being used. "I've been going crazy all morning wondering how your talk with JR went." Joni asked as she opened up her lunch.

"I guess it went pretty much like I thought it would. He was surprised, confused and upset." Laurie took a drink of her orange juice and sat it back down, "Listen, right now I want to talk about us okay? Have you got any of your college applications back yet?"

"Actually I did, but I wasn't sure it was the right time to bring it up." Joni said as she reached into her backpack and pulled out a handful of papers. "I'm not sure where you applied, but I sure hope you got into one of the places I did."

"Well, I wouldn't have got into any colleges if it hadn't been for Adam. As much as I hated accepting his generous offer, I knew I could always pay him pack once I got some great job later on." Laurie then pulled out her acceptance letters. "Okay, let's go one at a time here. I know we never really talked about this before, but I'm positive this will work out somehow. Anyway, my first one is Yale."

"I have Princeton."

"Okay, I have Cornell." Laurie said, still waiting for the elusive match. "I have University of Pennsylvania." Joni added, her eyes hopeful of a match each time she said a name.

"This is getting tense here, okay, I have Columbia University." Laurie said and then watched as Joni jumped out of her chair and handed Laurie her Columbia acceptance letter and rushed over and gave her a big hug as the two enjoyed the elation of where they'd be going to university in the fall.

"I can't believe it, we really will be going together. When are your final's" Joni asked as she pulled away and sat back down in her chair.

Laurie sat down as well. "Next week and I'm done by Friday. I am so looking forward to summer vacation."

"I was going to ask you about this, but wanted to wait until it was the right time, but my mom and dad have a little cottage up by Maine and well, they are going to Europe for the summer so we can have it all to ourselves if you want." Joni watched closely to see how Laurie would react.

"I'd love to." Laurie said with a big smile, "I haven't been on a summer vacation in so long, I can't think of anything I'd like better."

"I'm so happy you like the idea. You'll love this place." Joni said as her voice picked up as she began to describe the place to Laurie. "It's so beautiful in the summer. The tree's are all so green and the water by the lake is warm and perfect for swimming in and the best thing of all is that it's away from all the distractions of Pine Valley and we can just relax and enjoy being together for a change."

"You make it sound amazing. This is going to help make all this studying worthwhile." Laurie laughed as she put her hand over Joni's and held it close.

Mia, Simone and Greenlee were in front of Carlos's apartment where there was the traditional police tape all around it.

"Okay, now what?" Simone asked, thinking their search had come to an end.

"What do you mean?" Greenlee asked as she stepped over the yellow tape and put a glove on as she inserted a key into the door, twisted the knob and pushed it open. "I thought we'd just go in and have a look." Greenlee said with a proud smile.

"You are something else Greenlee." Simone said as she stepped inside the apartment. "Oh well, I've been in jail so much what's another trip"

"Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean, isn't it illegal to do this?" Mia asked, while she nervously looked around.

"Get in here Mia. This is an all for one situation and we aren't going to get caught." Greenlee said while motioning Mia forward.

"Oh god, fine, but I don't like this." Mia added as she made her way inside the apartment.

"Good, I feel better knowing you're here." Simone said and then gave Mia a quick kiss.

"Cut it out you two, this isn't a make out party." Greenlee said rolling her eyes, "Now, since I knew neither of you would be prepared, I brought you each a pair of gloves to wear. That way you won't leave your fingerprints over everything." Greenlee said sharply, then handed them each a pair of surgical gloves.

Simone nodded as she took the gloves from Greenlee. "Thank you little miss criminal mastermind."

"Yes thanks, but you're a bit too calm for my liking." Mia added as she slipped on the tight gloves.

"Well, I've learned to be calm from doing things like this so much." Greenlee said as she started walking through the apartment.

"What are we looking for?" Simone asked as she flipped through some papers on a desk.

"Look for anything that seems out of place, a name that doesn't belong or any financial records or business cards, just something that has a name attached. We need to find as many people as we can that Carlos had contact with since he's been here. More importantly will be anything we can find that is recent. I can't imagine Carlos having enemies, but someone wanted him dead and that's what we're here for."

All three girls went off in different directions and began searching the place for anything they could find.

Tad Martin walked out of his meeting with Jack with a frustrated look on his face, but he wasn't about to let that stop him find what he was looking for. He went outside, got in his car, grabbed his cell phone and placed a call.

"Hello?"

"I need to talk to you now. Meet me at Drummond Road and bring your little medical bag of tricks to, I might need them." Tad said quickly then turned off his cell and drove off.

"Hello? Tad are you there?" David said into the cell before realizing Tad had hung up on him. "What an ass you are Martin," David added to himself as he walked over to his desk, picked up his bag and coat and took off out the door.

Maggie was happy to hear the bell ring to end the very long and boring class she was in and she happily picked up her stuff, walked back to the main lobby and had a seat.

Bianca spotted Maggie and quickly made her way over towards her, "Hi, can we talk?"

"Sure, let's go to my room." Maggie said as she led the way through the many hallways until they were at her room. She stopped, unlocked the door, ushered Bianca inside and then closed the door behind her.

"Okay, now I feel dumb." Bianca said, then flopped down on Maggie's bed, "I can't talk abut what I want to talk about because it's a big secret. I hate secrets. Even if this did explain a whole lot about Lena's behavior lately, I can't even talk to anyone about what I know until this whole mess is over. God, I need a drink."

Maggie smiled at Bianca's situation and walked over to her cooler. "You don't drink Bianca; but how about a sparkling fresh bottle of water? I have lots of that." "Yeah, I guess I'll have that for now." Bianca grabbed the bottle, spun the lid off and had a nice cool drink. "Ah, that is fresh." She said, twisting her head like one of those TV ads.

"You bet it is." Maggie agreed with a big smile then sat down beside Bianca. "Now, I wish I could help with what you're going through, but I'm not sure I can. I gather she explained why she was with your mom though?"

"Yes, but her explanation just created a whole new set of questions." Bianca said as she shook her head at the frustration of it all.

"Well, I think what you need is something to take your mind off all this." Maggie got up off the bed, paced back and forth for a couple minutes then stopped and looked over at Bianca. "Hey, how about you and I catch that new Angelina Jolie movie tonight?"

Bianca didn't need to be asked twice, "Oh that sounds like a great idea. I could use a good distraction. Thanks Maggie."

"Don't mention it, that's what friends are for." Maggie said, just happy to see Bianca smiling again.

"I have to talk to my mom later on but we could meet here around 6ish, grab something to eat and catch the late show." Bianca said as she stood up and handed Maggie her empty water bottle.

Maggie reached out to grab it and put her hand over Bianca's as she did. She was about to pull it away, but Bianca squeezed her hand and smiled back at her.

There was an awkward pause for way too long when Maggie finally broke the silence, "I wanted to tell you something. I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've come to the conclusion that..." just then there was a knock on the door.

Maggie let out a loud, "Who is it?" without letting go of Bianca's hand.

"It's Henry."

Bianca pulled her hand away instantly and Maggie's face sunk just as fast.

With a few short steps, Maggie walked over and opened the door, "Henry, I wasn't expecting you."

"Oh, did I come at a bad time?" he asked as he waved to Bianca.

"Well actually Bianca and I were in the middle of something." Maggie said delicately, trying not to sound dismissive.

"No, it's okay Maggie, I have to go anyway. I'm supposed to meet mom back at her place so I'll see you tonight then." Bianca picked up her purse and walked past Maggie, "It's nice to see you again Henry."

"Yes, nice seeing you to Bianca." Henry said as he let Bianca past and then let himself into Maggie's room.

Maggie watched Bianca walk out of sight and then turned, closed the door and looked over at Henry, "What brings you by?"

"I was hoping you could help me with this paper I'm supposed to do on the internal organs and their multiple functions. It shouldn't take long." He said as he put his books down on the desk.

"I think we need to have a talk." Maggie said as she watched Henry make himself at home.

Lena pulled her car up about a block away from where Carlos lived, got out of the car and started walking towards the apartment when she spotted two men walking into the house. Inside, Greenlee was searching through some files she found in the bedroom while Mia and Simone were going over his phone bills and other statements as they continued to look for anything that might help them.

Mia stopped when she heard someone turning the lock on the door, grabbed Simone by the arm and led her back into the bedroom where the found Greenlee and all began searching for somewhere to hide.

Greenlee slid under the bed and Mia and Simone squeezed into a small closet.

The two men were now inside the apartment, with the man with the gun pushing Michael into the living room.

"Do you know what this place is?" The man said as he glared at Michael.

"It's someone's apartment. So, why did you bring me here? I've never seen this place before." Michael said as she looked around the room.

"I don't suppose you have. I'm sure you don't bother yourself with little details like who it is you are having killed."

"What are you talking about? Who are you?" Michael asked again, while staring back at the barrel of the gun.

Lena quietly opened the front door and walked towards the two men, pulled out her gun and aimed it at the man holding the fun on Michael. "Put the gun down and turn around, slowly."

The man lowered his gun and did as he was told and as he turned to face Lena she let out a relieved sigh, "It's you."

"That's right, I told you I was on my way to Pine Valley." He said as he again lifted his gun and pointed it at Michael.

"Yes you did, but I didn't know you would be here so soon." Lena said as she walked up beside the man. "It's good to see you again Juan Pablo. Is everything in place?"

"It is now." Juan Pablo said as he looked over at Michael. "It's time for Michael Cambias to die."

David Hayward was scouring the scene of the accident, constantly pushing Tad out of the way so he could do his job.

Tad was off on his own for the moment, digging around at the top of the cliff. About 20 feet behind the original scene of the crime were more footprints along with an empty coffee cup and a small slip of paper.

"Hayward, get up here." Tad yelled down towards David as she looked around for even more clues.

"What do you want this time?"

"Just get up here; I think I've found something." Tad said as he stood beside the possible evidence. "Okay, I'm here, so what's the big emergency? Did you forget where you were? Awe, poor Tad, getting senile already." David said as he walked up to Tad.

"Keep your day job Hayward, your humor is third rate, then again so is your medical license. Who'd you bribe to get it back this time?" Tad said, as he pointed down to the ground. "You spilled your coffee and need help picking it up? Oh, let me help with that. First you..."

"I don't know why I asked you to come here. You're completely incompetent." Tad said as he took out his cell and called Jack.

"Montgomery speaking."

"Hi Jack, it's Tad. I'm down at the accident scene and I think your detectives may have missed some evidence. Could you send a unit up here and gather a couple pieces?" Tad asked as he motioned for David not to touch the evidence.

"Oh shut up Martin, I know enough not to mess up a crime scene, so just talk to Jack and don't talk to me anymore." David said with a snide little tone as he knelt down and looked at the piece of paper on the ground with a magnifying glass.

"Tad? Who's there with you?" Jack asked, thinking for sure he hurt Hayward's voice.

"It's the mad scientist." Tad said as gave David a wry smile, "Anyway, once Dr Jekyll does his thing we'll leave this to your people. I'll try and keep Hayward in line though." Tad added another jab at David as he shut his cell phone off.

"Is he sending someone or not?" David asked with an irritated tone. "Did you even ask in the midst of your anti-David tirade?"

"Yes, he is sending a unit and yes I will keep an eye on you so you don't mess up." Tad said as he stepped over David and took a look at what he was doing. "Now, what's that piece of paper say?"

"Not that I should tell you a thing, but it's part of a diary log. There's also a portion of a bill under it, but I can't make it out without touching it, so we'll have to stay close to this so we can see what it says as they work on it." David walked around to the other side of the crime scene, pointing at the footprints on the ground. "They both appear to have been ripped out of a book and as I look around there may have been a struggle for this book. There is definitely more than one set of footprints here."

"Well, let me take a picture of that piece of diary and I'll do my best to find out what else is on these items from Jack or well, whatever means is necessary." Tad said with his trademark smirk.

Kendall finished reading Erica's proposal and began laughing hysterically, "Are you out of your mind?"

"On the contrary Kendall, I've never been more serious." Erica said as she stood up, gathered her coat and purse. "This is one time offer Kendall, so please discuss this with Greenlee, Lila and those other two girls before you make some rash decision."

"Rash decision? You're crazy. I don't have to discuss this pathetic offer with anyone. I reject it outright." Kendall said, her face turning red with anger. "Why might I ask are you acting so insulted? I offered you twice the going rate for Fusion. I also doubled all your salaries and kept the control of the company in your hands." Erica threw her hands in the air in disbelief.

"Yes, that's all true, but what you didn't mention is that you want to buy Fusion and put it under the Enchantment name. You want to have 50% of Fusion all to yourself, giving you enough power to veto or stall any plan we put forward. I mean, if I had made this offer to you I guarantee you would have reacted the same exact way. To repeat, NO your proposition sucks." Kendall added emphatically as she ushered Erica towards the door. "Oh, but you can be sure I'll show this to everyone so they can laugh at it with me. Do not come to me with anymore offers unless it's to sell Enchantment to us and make me CEO."

"Fine Kendall, play the spoiled brat, but this was a fair and generous offer and I'm disappointed you didn't accept it. That's your loss, but don't say I don't try and make things right between us." Erica walked out the door and was out of sight Kendall slammed the door and walked back to the couch.

"It seemed like I interrupted something. Why did Bianca run out of here so fast?" Henry asked as he opened up his notes.

"She had to meet her mother and well she hates being late." Maggie said, telling half the story, but still not lying.

"Okay, did you want to get started then? I need this paper done by tomorrow morning." Henry said as he handed Maggie his assignment.

Maggie looked it over and handed it back to Henry, "This is the same one you started last week. Why aren't you finished?"

"I've been practicing with the band almost every night and just haven't had the time." Henry took out another piece of paper from his bag and handed it to Maggie. "This is the song we've been working on. What do you think?"

"I'm sure it's great, but you must know that spending this much time on your music is going to make it impossible to get the grades you want in school." Maggie was still unable to sit down and continued pacing as she tried to talk with Henry.

"I want to do both and you can help me." Henry said with a smile and then stood up and moved closer to Maggie, "Come on, it's only one paper. You don't want to see me fail do you?"

"Only one paper, this is the 4th one in two weeks." Maggie said, reminding him of the other papers she'd all but written for him. "Look, I'm glad you are having fun with the music, but sooner or later you'll have to make a choice."

Henry smiled through it all and tried to put his arms around Maggie, but she wasn't having any of that.

"What's wrong? You used to want to help me out, now it's like some kind of chore. If you want out of this then just say so." Henry said as the smile left his face.

"I don't know what I want, but I know I can't keep doing papers for you. That is not some bad thing. If you cared about me, you wouldn't put me in this position in the first place. I wish you could see that I'm not your enemy here." Maggie added softly hoping something she said might sink in.

"Well, I see this was a bad idea. I won't bother you again. I'll find someone else to help with the papers, someone who might want me to have a music career and a medical career." Henry said as he began putting his stuff back into his backpack.

"That's not fair and you know it." Maggie stated firmly, but quickly softened her tone. "I've tried hard to help you as much as I could, but I'm not sure I'm helping you by doing your work."

"I don't know what you want but it's not me. I think I knew it from the start, but I tried to make it work and I can see it was doomed to fail. That's fine, I'll find someone else and I hope you do to. Well, I guess you got your wish. Bye Maggie." Henry said as he walked out the door.

Mia, Simone and Greenlee had all gathered at the door and were listening intently to the conversation going on in the living room.

"Wait Juan Pablo, you don't want to kill him. He's not worth it." Lena said as she moved closer to Michael, aiming her gun at him as well.

"Oh but I do want to kill this sorry excuse for a human being." Juan Pablo said as he stared directly at Michael.

"No, you can't do this. It won't bring Carlos back and you will be the one rotting away in prison instead of this creep. That's now how it should be." Lena said as she put herself in between Michael and Juan Pablo.

"You should listen to her, she's telling the truth. I'm not worth it." Michael said calmly, "Besides, I have no idea why you want to kill me for anyway. Who's Carlos?"

Juan Pablo took a few steps towards Michael and Lena again tried to get in his way. "Okay, I think we need to cool down here. You remember what happened in Monte Carlo in 2000, you don't want a repeat of that." Lena pushed the barrel of Juan Pablo's gun downward, and then turned to face Michael. "That was nicely done Lena, now give me his gun and let's get out of here." Michael said as he moved towards Lena.

"Stop right there you pig." Lena snapped as she aimed the gun at Michael's head. "You really have no idea what's going on do you? You're so used to being in control you have no clue that the tables have been turned. Juan Pablo is with the CIA. You've just killed his brother and that and a long list of crimes that could fill this room."

Simone, Mia and Greenlee all looked at each other and said "Brother?" at the same time, then as they realized how loud they'd said it they stumbled trying to get back to their hiding spots and ended up falling out into the living room.

Greenlee smiled up at everyone, "Hi, we were just leaving."

Lena walked over to the girls, "What are you three doing here? This is a crime scene.

"Um, we were just in the neighborhood and thought we'd have one last look around. Carlos was a good friend to all of us and we just wanted to help out." Greenlee said as she tried to sneak past Lena and Juan Pablo.

"Not so fast ladies." Juan Pablo said as he put his arm in front of the three women, "We're going to need to talk to all of you. If you have any information that can help us, we need to have it."

"I don't know that we have much to tell." Simone said as she looked at her two friends, "Aside from the fact he was a jerk to Kendall and was trying to take over our company, I don't know what more we can add."

Lena put the handcuffs on Michael just as Jack and Derrick walked into the crowded room, "Hi Jack, we're going to have to take Cambias back to headquarters and interrogate him. I know you want to talk to him, but we have jurisdiction. I'll let you in on all the details when we're through with him."

"Fine, as long as we get to prosecute him for the two murder's he committed while in Pine Valley."

"That's for the lawyers to work out." Lena said as she took Michael away. "Who are you?" Derrick asked as he walked up to Juan Pablo.

"Hello, my name is Juan Pablo." He said as he shook Derrick's hand, "I work for Interpol and have been working on a joint investigation with the CIA, FBI and many other organizations, into the many crimes of Michael Cambias for the last 2 years. I have been working with Lena for the last year and only wish we could have stopped him before he killed by brother."

"Your brother? Who is your brother?" Jack asked as he stepped in front of Juan Pablo.

"Carlos Reyes was my brother." Juan Pablo said softly, "He's dead because I couldn't stop Cambias in time." Greenlee rushed forward, "You can't blame yourself for the actions of a sociopath."

"I am to blame." He said loudly, "I wanted the case to be airtight. I kept putting off arresting him until we got that one piece of evidence that would nail him. Even though everyone felt we could convict him on some of the charges back in Europe, including the murder of Chris Stamp, I pushed to hold off because I felt we were getting close to breaking him for good."

Everyone in the room stood in silence, feeling the pain of Juan Pablo as he mourned the death of his brother and had to deal with the overwhelming anxiety of blaming himself for it.

Juan Pablo put his gun back in his holster and quietly left the room.

"That's so sad." Mia said as she put her arms around Simone.

"I know; it's terrible." Simone agreed, "I can't imagine what he must be going through."

Greenlee put her arms around both women and led them out of the building, "I need a drink, do you guys want to come back to my place and say hi to Kendall? I know she'd be happy to see you."

"Sure, but I have a meeting later on tonight, so I can't stay long." Simone said as she looked over at a surprised Mia.

"You do? I didn't know you were going out tonight." Mia asked, trying to sound calm about it.

"It's nothing major and I was going to tell you about it." Simone said with a guilty grin, "My dad wanted to see me and I wasn't even sure I was going to go."

"Oh, I hope everything is okay." Mia asked, letting out a sigh of relief as she slid into the car. "Did you want me to come with you?"

"I think I should do this alone. He said it was about my favorite uncle dying." Simone said, slipping into the back seat beside Mia and gave her a big kiss.

Greenlee sat down in the drivers seat, looked back at the two girls kissing, "Okay, this isn't the sexmobile."

"Sure, like you wouldn't be doing the same thing if you were back here with Kendall." Mia said as she continued kissing Simone with Greenlee looking on.

"I would not." Greenlee denied the accusation immediately, "Well, if we were back there, we'd be much more discreet about it.

Simone and Mia burst out into laughter at Greenlee's comments and Simone couldn't stay quiet any longer, "Oh right, you and Kendall don't know the meaning of discreet. You'd both be naked and doing it before the doors closed."

"Very funny." Greenlee rolled her eyes, smiled and drove off as Simone and Mia continued to kiss in the back seat.

End of Chapter 6.

Any comments and feedback are always welcome at buffyfaith19@yahoo.com.