Chapter Thirty

To Kendall's extreme consternation, she found J.R. waiting for her when she returned home. He was sitting in her condo as satisfied as a big spider that'd just finished putting the finishing touches on its masterpiece of a web.

"Don't tell me. Your old buddy the guard let you in," Kendall said wearily to him. "Enjoy your stay. I'm going in to take a nap, and don't even think about joining me because I'm putting Miranda's crib against the door. I'm sure you already know she won't be using it any time soon."

J.R.'s face assumed a pious expression. "I would never do that, Kendall. Sorry about dropping in on you so unexpectedly, but my pal said you were out and I was afraid you wouldn't let me in when you came back. I seized the opportunity to wait and offer my condolences."

"Well, J.R., good for you. Condolences received. Now why don't you seize yourself by the dick and follow it out of here since it's the only part you think with," Kendall retorted rudely. "I'm already having a shitty day and you're making it even worse."

Though the expression slipped a little, it still held. "I understand that times are tough, Kendall, so I'll ignore the phraseology. In fact, it gets crudely but effectively to the heart of the reason I'm here."

"Sorry, I'm not and never have been interested in your dick. Now get out before I call the police and have you arrested."

"Why bother when we both know it won't stick?" J.R. asked reasonably. "Just like my parking and speeding citations got dismissed."

Kendall frowned. "Then just say what you came here to say and get it over with, J.R."

This was clearly the moment J.R. had been waiting for and he didn't waste the dramatic potential. "It's very simple. I have a deal for you, Kendall. Give me what I want and I'll give you Miranda."

"I need to sit down for this one." Kendall took the chair opposite J.R. "Are you serious, and just how do you propose to do that? Greenlee and Ryan have Miranda under lock and key and soon, custody order."

J.R. smirked. "So what? What's a little thing like a court order to a Chandler? They're like laundry tickets to us."

Beginning to feel as though sticky, sneaky filaments were creeping across the floor toward her, Kendall shook her head to clear her vision. "I wouldn't think it's a little thing when the order belongs to friends of yours, and you were certainly friendly with Greenlee and Ryan the last time I saw you with them. How do you think they would they feel about this?"

"Oh, I'm sure they'd understand when I admit to being mistaken about all the times I saw you with Slater—that it was all innocent just like you said. That I never saw the two of you together in your nightclothes, and that it wasn't really you whom I saw going up to Slater's room at the casino and not coming down until the wee small hours."

"You don't think they can tell when they're being bullshitted, J.R.?"

He shrugged. "If Ryan and Greenlee claim to be your friends, they should be glad I can clear your good name. They shouldn't want it to be sullied any more than I do."

"My good name, huh?" Kendall repeated. "I'm so touched by your concern for it, J.R. Okay, let's say you buy me a court order, all dressed up with retractions of your lies, and I get Miranda. Do I even need to ask what you get out of this?"

"Me," J.R. said promptly. "You know I've always wanted you, Kendall. And I'll make it worth your while, both yours and Miranda's. I was a good father to her when my whore of an ex-wife pretended she was my child. I'd be good to you both."

Kendall heard herself laughing cynically. "I don't look good in blackmail, J.R."

"Don't think of it as blackmail, Kendall," he urged. "It's not that at all. Think of it as—inducement. We both get something we want and Miranda is the biggest winner. She gets you for a mommy, she gets me for a daddy, and she even gets a baby brother in Adam Chandler the third. And after I adopt her she also becomes co-heir to my share of the Chandler estate."

"So…'Unto her that hath, shall be given.' Doesn't the quotation go something like that? I'm not really up on the bible. But Cambias and Chandler—Miranda really hits the jackpot."

"Something like that. And trust me, Kendall—I'm not stingy."

Kendall paused. "But that's the problem, J.R. I don't trust you. I don't trust you at all. Let's just discuss what happens if I don't agree to your little plan, shall we?"

"Oh, you can call it a proposal, not a plan. To recap, if you agree, I would make you Mrs. Adam Chandler, Jr. No one would be able to touch you then. Except me," he smirked again. "Mr. and Mrs. Adam Chandler, Jr., and their little girl, Miranda Chandler. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"

How could I have ever thought J.R. was a nice boy, Kendall asked herself in wonderment. Between him and Ryan and Ethan my judgment must completely suck. Maybe I should stick with men from now on. "If I don't agree? If Miranda remains Miranda Montgomery and I remain Kendall Hart?"

"Then I must regret to inform you that Miranda turns into Miranda Lavery. You see, Kendall, if you marry me, you both win everything in the jackpot. If you don't marry me, then I'll have no choice but to put my former daughter's welfare first and back up the Laverys' suit."

"And, not incidentally, stick it to me."

"Come on, Kendall. If I were asked, how could I deny my concerns about Miranda living with an unmarried woman who entertains male visitors overnight in her home, who's liable to just go off and spend the night with a man in some hotel whenever she feels like it? Could I deny Miranda wouldn't be better off in a traditional family values home with married parents—even if it wasn't my home?"

"Bianca proved just how possible it was to be a successful single, career-oriented mother. So you could deny it. You just won't."

"Very true and you catch on fast. But let's face it, Kendall, Miranda was Bianca's baby to begin with. But if she weren't—well, Miranda's mother had a spotless personal record. She didn't keep going around shacking up with the first available man, either."

Kendall was galled almost beyond words by his insensitivity. "No shit, J.R. But neither have I, despite what you keep trying to imply—"

"Two words, Kendall," J.R. interrupted. "Zach Slater." He leaned back against the sofa cushions, raised his arms above his head, and stretched lazily before relaxing his body. "At least, that's what I'd be obligated to tell the court if I was called to testify and I could probably arrange it so I was called. Especially since I've gone to all this trouble gathering evidence."

"Probably you could," Kendall agreed, feeling completely shafted yet determined not to let J.R. see how accurate his aim had been. "Well, thank you for spelling it all out so succinctly. Now we know exactly where we stand, don't we?"

J.R. nodded sagely. "I hope, Kendall, we do know exactly where we stand now, and exactly where we'll be sitting and lying down—together. You see, I'm confident you'll accept my offer. It's a win-win deal for both of us. You get what you want, I get what I want, and nobody loses."

"How long would you give me to think about it?" Kendall asked curiously.

Glancing at his wrist-watch, he replied, "It's almost noon. I prefer not to dawdle but I'd hate for you to feel rushed into anything either, so…I'll give you until noon tomorrow, Kendall. Twenty-four hours."

"How would you want me to deliver my answer? Signed in blood or will ink do?" Kendall asked with sarcasm she was unable to conceal.

A calculating smile split the lower half of J.R.'s face. "As long as you sign your name to the answer I want, I don't care what you use, Kendall.

Shefelt as trapped and helpless as a fly about to wrapped in layer upon layer of deadly strands of white silk. "If that's all the time you'll give me, then you'll have my answer then. Just one question though—what if I go to Greenlee and Ryan and tell them you're blackmailing me and screwing them at the same time?"

"That makes me so sound so dexterous! Dad would be proud," J.R. said fondly. "Tell them, I don't care. There won't be one fucking thing they can do about it."

Livia, Kendall was thinking, I've got to tell Livia about this. But her next thought was a deflated, Why? What can she do? It's my word against J.R.'s. All the ammunition he'd use against me is the same ammunition Greenlee and Ryan would use. He's only upping the stakes, for his own gain.

"So, Kendall, you're silent; what's it to be? Shall I expect to be made a very happy man when I receive your assent to my proposal sometime within the next twenty-four hours?" J.R. leaned forward. "Or would you rather end the suspense for both of us and give me a 'yes' before I leave?"

"No way," Kendall said without thinking. "No flipping way."

J.R. climbed to his feet and headed to the door. "I'll be back for your final answer. I'm sure you'll come around to my way of thinking. Kendall, think of it this way: I'm your only chance to get custody of Miranda. That should help you make up your mind."

The situation seemed truly hopeless. J.R. had her over a barrel. Kendall could come up with no way around his terms, other than letting the Laverys keep Miranda. "Oh, Bianca," she cried, burying her head against he back of her chair. "What should I do? What would be best for Miranda? How can I raise her under the Chandlers' roof? I mean, that's why you refused to throw the book at Babe for stealing Miranda in the first place—you knew if J.R. got custody of his own son by it, he would destroy that baby's soul. You wouldn't want Miranda raised in the same environment! But…at least I'd be there. If Greenlee and Ryan get Miranda, then I'm not there at all. I'd never have any say again in what happened to her."

Each time she didn't think it was possible to feel any more alone, Kendall found out that it was very possible indeed. It was not only possible—it was inevitable. Just how much more was she supposed to endure before whatever cruel hand kept piling it on decided that she'd had enough?

And then, it was almost as if Kendall could hear her mother's voice in her ear, "Stop sitting around feeling sorry for yourself, my girl! You're a Kane woman. Use it! Adam Chandler never got the better of me. Don't let his son get the better of my daughter. J.R. may think he's a big catch, but Pine Valley is a very small pond. You must think beyond its shores. There's a great big ocean out there, Kendall. Spread out and start fishing!"

The voice could have been that of Erica's spirit, or it could have been that of Kendall's own higher spirit, drawn to the edge of her consciousness by Kendall's acute need, speaking to her in her mother's voice, a voice it knew that Kendall would heed. Whoever's voice it was, it had the desired effect.

"You're right. I'm a Kane woman. I've got to start acting like it," Kendall told it with growing energy. "When you're as low as you can go there's only one direction left and that's up. If I give up now I'll never be worthy of the Kane name again. In twenty-four hours J.R. comes back expecting me to roll over in his direction and beg. If I can't find a better solution than his for getting Miranda, then my name isn't Kendall and if you rearrange the letters in my name they spell Kaned-All." Warming to her theme, Kendall continued heatedly, "Greenlee and Ryan think I'm not fit to raise my own niece. J.R. thinks that makes me ripe for the picking. Fuck them all! They're about to have a rude awakening, and I mean that literally."

Some things you couldn't stop and think about before you did them. When they were purely gut-driven, then philosophical analysis was their natural born enemy. Kendall instinctively knew that if she stopped to think about what her inner Kane was motivating her—not in so many words, but in a higher power communication she understood on a visceral level—to do, the moment and the chance would be lost. All false pride must be shelved—dull, uninspired logic—and every last shred of dignity. All were luxuries she could no longer afford.

Reaching for the phone, Kendall punched in Myrtle's number. The instant the other woman answered, Kendall asked breathlessly, "Myrtle, is Zach still there?"

"Why, Kendall!" Myrtle sounded concerned. "Honey, how are you? We were worried about you, the way you tore out of here!"

Kendall seethed with impatience, though she tried to hide from Myrtle. "I'm fine. Sorry I worried you. I just need to talk to Zach. Is he there?"

"He left right after you did. You know, Kendall, I really think you should give Zach a—"

"Do you know where he was going?"

There was a light pause at the other end of the connection. "Kendall Hart, just what the dickens are you up to?" Myrtle demanded. She didn't sound angry, though. She sounded delighted.

"I promise I'll tell you when I have time, Myrtle. Just tell me where Zach is now if you know, please."

"He said he was on his way to his casino, Kendall."

"Okay. Then I am too. I'll call you later, Myrtle—bye!"

Less then an hour later, Kendall stood outside Zach's office door, with little memory of how she had arrived there, so focused on the journey's end had she become. This was no time to have an attack of the vapors. She grasped the knob and pushed her way inside.

Seated behind his handsome desk, engrossed in the spreadsheet displayed on his sleek laptop monitor, Zach finally looked up at Kendall's unannounced intrusion with a typically controlled expression on his face. But she seemed to feel the heat from his piercing, inquiring hazel gaze.

"Can I help you, Kendall?" he questioned.

Kendall exhaled. "Yes, you can, Zach. Will you marry me?"