Zach paced back and forth in the tiny cage that Albert had him and Tad locked in at the bank. For the past 3 hours he had listened to Tad argue with this idiot who seems to think he is in some sort of a game being played by Tad and Dixie. Realizing Tad was getting no where with Alfred, Zach grabbed a bottle of water and a candy bar and had a seat on the floor and began pondering the days events.

The day certainly hadn't gone as he expected it. First Kendall dropped a bombshell on him that he wasn't expecting . Today his wife told him that she might be pregnant with another mans child, and not just any man mind you , but Ryan Lavery. A man he hates more then he hates himself. The people of this town seemed to think of him as some sort of a God, who could do no wrong. 'If they only knew' Zach laughed to himself.

Zach had been so certain that he would be able to stop Kendall's insemination if he only had a bit more time to talk to her and hopefully get her to realize she wasn't the best person for the task at hand. He admired her courage to go through with it and was in aw at the loyalty she had for those she cared for.

Kendall certainly was more then he bargained for. She had dragged him into this mess between Ryan and Greenlee, the two people in Pine Valley who could hurt her the most, and had. Then Ryan had to go and fake his death, forcing him to go along with it. How he hated lying to her about that. 'Damn you Ryan' Zach said to himself. After finding Ryan hidden in the rocks , he hid him in one of the out buildings behind the casino. After making sure Ryan was safely locked away he went to Kendall and asked her if she thought Ryan could have been saved, unfortunately he gave her the answer he had thought himself, No she didn't think he could be saved. That left him with no other choice but to make sure Ryan got out of town, and away from Kendall, where he couldn't hurt her anymore.

Zach sat in silence thinking of how Kendall got dragged into this mess with Julia. He was hoping to keep her away from all of that and the danger it involved. However Kendall is more stubborn then a mule and there certainly is no telling her what to do. He understood why she went to the police about Julia, it was for him. She was scared he would get hurt or worse ………….. Dead. ' I never should of called Kendall a betraying bitch' he thought ' It hurt so much to say that to her, but what else was I to do. She just wouldn't stay away from Julia . The last thing I wanted was for her to get wrapped up in this. I only wanted to keep her safe. Once this is over I need to sit down and explain to her why I said what I did and apologize and hope she forgives me.'

Being married to Kendall brought complications with it he never expected, his attraction to her was growing stronger every day . He often found himself thinking of her during the day, the way she smiled, the intoxicating way she always smelled, and those eyes, it was as if they were calling to his soul, telling him it was ok to let his guard down with her. How he wished he could let his guard down with her. ' How do you tell someone you are falling in love with them when you agreed to be in a relationship to keep you from falling in love' Zach wondered ' What if I tell her how I feel and push her away ? Isn't it better to have her in my life this way then no way at all ? I thought I saw something in her eyes the past few times we talked, maybe its just wishful thinking on my part. But what about what Greenlee had said, she did say that Kendall had feelings for me. Who knows with Greenlee, she has been pushing so hard for us to get a divorce, maybe she just said that hoping that would scare me off and divorce Kendall. One thing is for certain, I am not going to get any answers sitting in this cage.'

Zach glanced at his watch, he had now been trapped with Tad martin going on 6 hours. He got to his feet and walked to the door of the cage.

"Why don't you let me handle this." Zach said to Tad

"Oh and you think you can do any better ?" Tad snapped back at him

"Well I see what a bang up job you are doing and hate to interrupt, but I would like to be out of here before Christmas" Zach said with a grin

"Sure be my guest" Tad said as he stepped away from the door

"Alfred" Zach said " I have had about enough of this. I don't know what Dixie has told you, but I can assure you that we are not here because of any game. A woman' life is at risk and the only thing that can save her is the information in the letter Dixie gave you. So I strongly suggest you hand it over right now and let us out of here, or you will leave me with no other choice but to notify Derek Frye, and the FBI, when we get out of here and inform him you are withholding evidence that could save someone's life."

The expression on Alfred's face suddenly changed and he got up, reached into his breast pocket and pulled out an envelope. He handed the letter to Tad and unlocked the door, releasing both men from their cage.

Tad shot Zach a nasty look as Zach just smiled at him.

"I hope you know I expect to know what's in that letter." Zach declared

"Yeah like that will ever happen." Tad shot back

"Listen Martin," Zach started "I don't like you and you don't like me. However we are both after the same goal here, to save Julia. Isn't that is what is important here ? You have contacts, I have contacts. As much as I hate to say this, we should pull together and help her instead of fighting each other. I know you don't want Dixie hurt, just like I don't want Kendall hurt. But as much as you try to deny it, Dixie is in this up to her pretty little neck, and if we don't stop fighting each other someone we care about is going to get hurt."

Tad just looked at Zach then let out a sigh "You sure picked one hell of a time to be all noble and make sense. What are you suggesting ?"

"Well" Zach started " its to late to get anything done tonight. I suggest we go home, get a good nights sleep and start out first thing in the morning. Now I don't trust you with that letter, and you don't trust me with it. How about we get Albert here to give us a safe-deposit box. We will stick it in there for the night. You take 1 key and I'll take the other. We will meet back here in the morning when the bank opens"

Tad agreed and the two men talked Alfred into giving them a safe-deposit box for the night, then handed each one a key. They parted ways after agreeing to meet back at the bank at 8:30 the next morning.