Chapter 6
Greenlee slowly opened her eyes and was immediately confused. Where was she? She sat up in bed. When she saw the picture on the nightstand of Anna and her late husband, Robert Scorpio, she remembered. She was in Robin's old room. Anna had invited her to stay the night while they waited for Aidan to arrive. Greenlee hadn't wanted to wait for Aidan. She wanted to head to Thailand right away. But Anna said it would take time for her contacts there to get back to her, so they might as well stay put. Greenlee sighed. She wasn't very good at staying put. Greenlee noticed a second picture of Anna with another man that must be Duke Lavery, her other late husband. She was surprised to see that he bore a striking resemblance to Dr. Madden. Anna told her once that there was supposed to be a family connection between Ryan's Lavery clan and Duke's Lavery clan. Add that to the fact that Greenlee and Anna used to be sisters-in-law before she divorced David - her and Anna seemed destined to be connected through their marriages.
Shaking off her musings, Greenlee flung aside the covers and got dressed. When she headed for the kitchen, she heard voices. Thrilled that Aidan was already here, she rushed into the kitchen. "Thank God, Aidan! I am so ready to go find Kendall." She stopped short when she saw that it wasn't Aidan. It was Ryan. Anna gave her an apologetic look. Greenlee folded her arms. "Why can't you leave me alone? You were doing such a good job of it a couple of months ago." Ryan looked at her with tortured eyes. "I don't want to keep hurting you, Greenlee. I was planning to back off. I honestly didn't know you would be here. I came to see Anna." Greenlee looked over at Anna. She shrugged. "I was just telling him about Kendall in Thailand." Ryan nodded. "I want to help in any way I can. Figures that Zach Slater is the cause of another mess that needs cleaning up."
Greenlee stabbed Ryan in the chest with her finger. "Hey! While you were off reliving your past with your precious baby sister, Zach was in Pine Valley being a rock to Kendall. He may be a wierdo, but he stood by Kendall, even though she made a decision to do something he absolutely hated. He thought she was crazy, but he supported her." Ryan gritted his teeth. "Well, their marriage is a business arrangement. He can afford to be supportive without being personally involved." Greenlee smirked. "Its not a business arrangement anymore. She's having his baby." Anna chose this moment to escape, while Ryan processed this information. "I can't imagine he's too thrilled with that. He denied his own son rather than have him be subjected to his cursed genes."
Greenlee threw her hands up. "Here we go again. Cursed genes. Sounds like a new brand of designer denims. It certainly shouldn't serve as the excuse for fucked up men to get out of having children. Well, maybe Zach will get lucky like you did, and Kendall will have a miscarriage. You certainly dodged a bullet. Your cursed genes didn't contaminate our little baby for more than a few weeks." Greenlee was unable to say anything else because her throat closed up. She walked out of the room. She saw Anna opening the front door. Aidan walked in, followed by Bianca, Maggie and Miranda.
Everyone started talking at once, so Anna raised her hands to indicate everyone should listen. "Lets take this into the living room. I will do the talking, and unless I solicit opinions, everyone keeps their mouth shut. Understood?" Without waiting for agreement from anyone, Anna marched into the living room. Everyone followed and sat. Anna regarded them all. "I heard from my contact an hour ago. I know where Tad, Zach and Kendall are being kept. Aidan and Ryan, I'm going to need your help. Greenlee, I know that you and Bianca want to go to Thailand. I will only agree to it if you promise to stay in your hotel rooms. You absolutely cannot come on the rescue mission."
Bianca's eyes popped out. "Rescue mission? Is it that serious? Is Kendall really in danger?" Anna shook her head. "Don't worry, Bianca. She has been put into a women's detention center. I can probably grease a few palms to get her out. It's not a pleasant place, but she's relatively safe. On the other hand, Tad and Zach are not so lucky. They are being held in a private prison. The kind where someone can pay lots of money to have people disappear who are causing them trouble. They pride themselves on keeping prisoners there as long as the customer wants. There'll be no greasing of palms. We'll have to break them out. We're meeting a friend of mine there. His name is Sean Donely. Sean, Aidan and Ryan will bust out Tad and Zach. I'll go and take care of getting out Kendall."
Greenlee stood up. "Wait, you can't go get Kendall alone. You don't think there'll any trouble, but anything could happen. You need someone to have your back." Anna shrugged. "The other team can't spare anyone. They need three people – two to carry Zach and Tad if necessary, and one to cover them." Greenlee folded her arms. "Who cares about the men. I'll go with you. I'm determined to get Kendall out of this. You need my help." Bianca stood up, too. "If Greenlee goes, I should get to go. She's my sister." Maggie shook her head. "No, Bianca. I heard what Anna just said. She said Kendall was 'relatively safe,' not completely safe. I don't want you getting hurt."
Anna raised her hands again. "What did I say about opinions? However, Greenlee is right. I shouldn't go in alone. But! I'm not taking you with me. You have no experience with this sort of thing. I'd be too worried about you to concentrate." Greenlee pointed her finger at Ryan. "He has no experience, and you're letting him get involved in a mission that's even more dan…" Greenlee paused and looked at Ryan with a startled expression, "…even more dangerous than yours." Greenlee ran out of steam and sat down, trying not to contemplate the feelings that just came over her. Anna gave her a sympathetic look and continued. "I'm going to go call another friend of mine who may be able to help. I suggest you all get packing." Anna grinned. "Our private jet is fueling up as we speak."
Zach forced his eyes open. Physically he felt stronger than he did before. Mentally…he felt like he was walking through Grand Central Station at rush hour. Crowded, rushed, easily disoriented. Zach stared ahead and saw bars. When did he have bars installed in his condo? Zach closed his eyes. Focus. He wasn't in his condo. He was in jail. Why was he in jail? Oh, that's right. Ethan claimed to see him murder Edmund. And he went along with it. So they put him in jail. Zach started laughing. He found himself mumbling out loud. "I let them think I killed Edmund. That should have made them happy. It just pissed them off even more." He laughed uproariously. It was the funniest thing ever. "No one is pissed at Ethan for saying he saw me do it. Oh wait. Kendall was pissed. So pissed, she married me." None of this was funny, yet somehow he was doubled over in laughter. As he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes, he heard a voice. "Pissed. Pickled. Tanked. Shnockered. Blotto. Kendall definitely had to have been drunk to marry you."
Zach looked around the cell, trying to find the source of the voice. Every time he moved his head, he felt dizzy. Finally, he saw Tad sitting in a corner. He blinked. "Why are you here? Do they think you killed Edmund, too?" Tad rolled his eyes. "Oh boy, you're in la la land again. Quiet down, I'm trying to concentrate." Zach blinked again. "On what?" Tad tapped his finger against a bar. "Rutabegas. Turnips. Artichokes. Brussel sprouts. Any vegetable that is so unappetizing that it makes me forget my hunger." Zach was making a habit of blinking. "Beets. In that disgusting cream sauce." Tad burst out laughing. "Thanks, I think that did it."
Zach leaned his head back, trying to keep it from spinning. "Was there a little girl in here, or did I dream that?" Tad glanced at him, frowning. "No, thank God. You must have dreamed it." Zach took a deep breath. "Just trying to figure out why I would dream about a little girl." Tad gave him a contemplative look. "When Dixie was pregnant and living in Europe, I would sometimes have dreams about our little girl. I often thought it was because we had a connection. Even while she was still in her mother's womb and living so far away." Zach returned his look with one of incredulity. "A connection? You were probably thinking about her a lot, so naturally you dreamed about her. There's no more to it than that. I'm not thinking about any real daughter of mine. Kendall is carrying Ryan and Greenlee's child. I don't even know what gender it is, and I don't care. I try to avoid thinking about their baby whenever I can." Zach turned over to face the wall. Tad stared at his back, and thought about Kendall's announcement that she was carrying Zach's child. For the first time ever, Tad felt envious of Zach.
Kendall yawned and stretched her arms. When her hand hit the concrete wall of the cell, her eyes flew open. Her waking nightmare. She sighed and put her hand on her abdomen. She glanced over and saw two of the prisoners staring at her and talking to each other. Nodding firmly, they got up and walked over to her. "We think that you are carrying a baby. Is this true?" Kendall frowned. "Its none of your business." The women whispered to each other. "If you are carrying baby, that is very bad for you. Pregnant women do not do well in here. It takes up too much of your energy. Childbirth will be hard and unsafe. Baby will be taken away. Nothing good comes of it. Better to get rid of it, right away, or it will hurt worse later." Kendall felt a stab of fear. "I'm not pregnant. Your warnings are meaningless. Leave me alone." She turned over on her side. She heard them whispering again, but couldn't make anything out because they were walking away.
Author's note: As an intermission of sorts, I have done a slideshow of Rylee and Zendall. I plan to do another later, showcasing the story of The Big Twist. Right now, this one just highlights the four major players and their respective relationships up to now. Click on my profile and you will see the link.