Antonio Vega punched the punching bag with all his might. He looked at it, but in his rage, all he saw was RJ. He slammed into it four more times. Sweat dripping down his face, he turned to grab his water bottle.
"Jessica," he whispered. She was walking towards the sauna. "Jessica!" he called, chasing after her. She turned.
"Hey Antonio," she said awkwardly.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing," she answered quickly. "It's just- I'm in a towel."
"I've seen you in less," he said, smiling wickedly. She was not amused.
"I better go," she said. "I just wanted a quick steam before I met Natalie for lunch." Antonio grimaced. "What?"
"Natalie," Antonio answered. "She's been pretty crazy lately."
"Are you insulting my sister?" Jess asked, warningly.
"No," he said quickly. "But she said some obnoxious things to me the other day."
"Well she has a lot on her mind," Jessica rationalized. "Ace, Kevin, Cris."
"What about Cris?" he asked.
"I didn't want to say anything yet," Jess told him. "But I talked to Cris and he was saying all sorts of weird things."
"Like what?"
"Like, he said nice things about Will," Jess rushed. "He talked about Megan with no compassion in his voice, showed no emotion, no rage, no sadness, when discussing Jen."
"So?"
"He didn't know who Roseanne was!" Jess exclaimed.
"That doesn't mean anything."
"Antonio," Jess lamented, "she was his oldest friend, his wife, the bitch who kept us apart," she finished off contemptuously. Too contemptuously in Antonio's opinion.
"Jess, do you-"
"I have to go," she said quickly.
------------------------------------------
The doorbell rang. Kelly looked at it dubiously. Not again, she thought. Finally, with reluctance, she opened the door.
"Blair," she stated, surprised.
"Hey there Kelly," Blair drawled, swing her purse, as she pushed past her cousin.
"Look Blair, if you're here to yell at me, I don't think I can handle it," Kelly whined, following her cousin into the living room.
"Kelly, as much as you probably deserve it, I can't yell at you," Blair said, twirling around to face her cousin. "I'm too happy for that."
"They found Todd?" Kelly asked. Blair beamed.
"I'm so happy for you," Kelly said. They hugged.
"I know you are," Blair whispered, hugging Kelly closer. "We may fight and scream and squabble, but Cramer women are there for each other when it really counts."
"Yes we are," Kelly replied. "I know I haven't been that good at it lately but-"
"It doesn't matter," Blair told her, breaking away from the hug. "I know you realize... it doesn't matter. I'll always be there for you. It's why I'm here now." She poured herself some juice. "I hear Natalie came over."
"Starr told you."
"With great enjoyment," Blair said ruefully.
"it seems every time I open the door, there's another person who hates me," Kelly whined. "Not that I don't deserve it but- Natalie, Joey-"
"Joey?" Blair asked incredulously. "He's here?"
"Yep," Kelly replied. "And he hates me."
"Because of Ace?" Blair asked delicately.
"Because of Kevin," Kelly told her, a sad smile on her face. "I can't really blame him."
"That's ancient history," Blair exclaimed.
"Don't you still hate me?" Kelly asked. "At least a little? I killed your son."
Blair faltered. "it still makes me sad," she started slowly. "And I did hate you for a long time, but … you're family."
"That's what Joey said," Kelly informed her, a bit bitterly. "About Kevin."
"Don't worry about Joey Buchanan."
"I have bigger worries," Kelly sighed. "Everyone knows about Ace. I could go to jail."
"It all depends on Baby-stealer Chandler, right?" Blair asked.
"Babe Chandler," Kelly corrected her. 'And yes. And God knows what she'll say."
---------------------
Bo Buchanan drove through the quaint Pennsylvania town, not all too different from Llanview. He turned down Elm Street, and pulled into the PVPD.
"Bo Buchanan?" a tall black man asked him as he walked inside.
"Derek Frye," Bo greeted him, shaking his hand.
"Follow me," Derek instructed him. "We're holding Ms. Chandler, and her accomplices David Hayward, Krystal Carey, and James Martin in separate cells. Id've sent her to you, but she's facing pretty much every charge there is for these two kidnappings. Ms, Chandler has however, agreed to cooperate with your investigation."
"Thank you," Bo said.
"She's in the interrogation room," Derek informed him, pointing the way. Bo nodded, then entered the room. A pretty blonde was sitting at the table.
"Babe Chandler?" he asked.
"I prefer Babe Carey now," she told him.
"Okay. I'm Bo Buchanan," he informed her sitting across from her. "police Commisioner in Llanview."
"You related to Kevin Buchanan?" she asked.
"He's my nephew," Bo informed her.
"So he's even more connected than JR in his town," Babe stated, a hint of disbelief and fear in her voice.
"I'm not going to fix anything for Kevin if he did something wrong if that's what you mean," Bo told her. Babe shook her head.
"He didn't," Babe replied. "He and Bianca- they're the only innocent ones in all this."
"And Kelly?" Bo asked.
"She didn't kidnap my son," Babe lied. "Paul Cramer told me that much. And when she realized I was his mama, she let him go without a fight."
"So Kelly and Kevin are innocent in all this? To your knowledge, they did nothing wrong?"
"Yeah," Babe replied sullenly. "You want proof?"
"You got it?"
"Just my word," babe replied. "Word of a kidnapper. Is that enough?"
"Well, your story corroborates Kelly's," Bo told her. "And the part of Kevin's that isn't hearsay. And I've known them both for years. Plenty of character witnesses to testify to them being upstanding citizens."
"Good," Babe whispered. "At least I didn't totally screw up everyone's lives." Bo gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Good luck Ms. Carey."
"Thank you."