Cole snuck out of the bed and pulled on his pants. Caitlin lay on her stomach, asleep. She was still in her clothes. Considering how late they had finally gone to bed, Caitlin would easily sleep most of the day. He had a couple hours to search the house in peace. As he collected his tools from bottom of his suitcase, Cole contemplated his new relationship with Caitlin Richards.

She was sweet, he thought as he watched her sleeping. Incredibly sheltered and innocent, she was also unbelievably trusting. The poor girl had obviously never been out of her father's sight. She probably didn't even know how to breath without Gregory's advice.

Caitlin had never been part of the long-term plan. She was just supposed to get him into the house. He should have been gone with the jewels last night. Would have been if it weren't for Gregory's paranoia. Mr. Richards was proving to be a more compentent adversary then the last business man he had squared off with. Then there was the girl.

She really was lovely, shy yet eager to please. She would have bedded him had he pressed the issue, but Cole preferred a more gentlemanly approach. In time, he could make Caitlin his as well as the jewels. Wanting for a strong male figure would certainly drive her into his arms if Gregory continued down the path he was blazing.

According to Caitlin, her father was distracted lately. She had even accused him of no longer paying attention when she talked to him, citing an incident with a dress Caitlin had insisted on showing him. Gregory was supposed to care about everything she did, and now that care was slipping. It fit with the information he had gleaned from Ethan.

From the Baxter boy's insight, Cole had leanred the head of the Richards clan had new plans for his family and Caitlin only played a minor role. Leaving her free to make his stay in Sunset Beach tolerable if he couldn't procure the jewels in a timely manner. Cole had certainly been with less interesting women for jewels that weren't worth a fraction of his current project.

Closing the door quietly behind him, he tiptoed through the empty hallway. The son, Sean and his friend Tiffany were both out. Something about the Deep, or the beach. He hadn't been paying exact attention, but he was certain he could trust them to be gone for at least an hour. Careful on the staircase, he didn't make a sound as he crept back into Gregory's darkened study.

Cole shut the door behind him and locked it. Using a tiny pliers wrapped in electrical tape to muffle the current flowing through the tiny tripwire, he opened the painting without tripping the alarm. He smiled at the grim black safe. "Gotcha."

He leaned his ear into the side of the safe and twisted the combination lock. Listening to the soft clicks of the mechanism he interpreted the sound and chose his tools accordingly. After that, it only took a few minutes of tinkering to swing open the safe.

The safe was a disappointment. Papers, neatly put away in manila folders. Stock and bond papers, copies of birth certificates, four passports in a neat bundle and the marriage license. He picked up the license and gave it a cursory glance, nothing extraordinary. Gregory Alan Richards, Olivia Isobel Blake, November 22nd, 1975. He peeked at the passports, solidifying the faces of the Richards family into his memory. Cole had learned from experience never to pass up free information about anyone.

Gregory looked stern, no trace of a smile touched his photograph on his passport. His eyes were cold as well, calculating and reptilian. He was a challenge, a man used to ruling all that he saw. A man imbued with a self-confidence that made him seemed carved out of stone.

Olivia was just the opposite. She was flesh and blood, her eyes echoing a tulmultuous life. Her smile was melancholy. If there were any cracks in Gregory's armor, they sprung from her.

Placing everything neatly back into the safe he shut it and replaced the painting over it. After resetting the tripwire, Cole left the study door slightly open, as he had found it. Where else would they keep the Deschanel jewels?

The master bedroom was an obvious choice, so he headed back up the stairs. Growing bold, he didn't bother to lock the door to the bedroom as he searched. After all, it would be hours before anyone would notice him.

The jet circled the runway at Sunset Beach's private airstrip, waiting their turn to land. Gregory ran his hand softly down Olivia's shoulder, wondering if the altitude change had woken her up. Roger looked down at her from across the cabin and shook his head.

"Still out." Seeming entirely innocent as he studied Gregory's new financial projections, Roger looked over the tops of his reading glasses and smiled naughtily. "Maybe you should have let her get some more sleep."

Nonplussed, Gregory took a long sip of coffee. "It's not always my idea."

Roger didn't look up as he grabbed the thick stack of personel files. "So it's Olivia's fault she's tired? I didn't see you as the type to make her do all of the work."

Raising his eyebrows, he chuckled as he took out his yellow legal pad with his free hand. "Maybe you should get remarried. Spend some time worrying about your own intimacies for a change."

Tapping a pen on the files, Roger conveyed his disagreement with a snort. "Where's the fun in that? I say Richards, who do you think I am?"

"I thought you were the one who told me marriage was the thing you missed most about Lillian." Gregory replied dryly.

"Lillian is the one thing I miss most about marriage." Roger corrected. "The dates, the dinners with other couples- all of that's just a window dressing for the simple pleasure of crawling into bed next to a warm, lovely woman."

Smiling to himself with amusement, Gregory continued condensing his arbitration for Monday. However, he was making more headway with the notes in the margins then his legal work. Pick up Olivia's necklace. Make sure the masks arrive on time from the artists. Have Alice's watch cleaned. Send out best suit before Friday. He should have been focusing on work. Roger certainly wasn't having in trouble falling into the business of Sunset Beach.

Roger didn't have his wife asleep in his lap. Olivia's head was heavy and his legs had been threatening to fall asleep for the entire flight. Having her close was worth the discomfort. Gregory didn't know when he wanted to let her out of his sight again.

Startled as he realized Roger was trying to talk to him, he caught his friend mid-sentance. "-public relations director for the new university hospital."

"I'm sorry Baxter, I missed what you just said."

Roger set down the files and caught his eye seriously as he repeated himself. "We don't have a public relations director for the new university hospital. Are you promoting someone from Liberty?"

"Not exactly." Gregory replied thoughtfully. "I have an idea I've been toying with." He set down his pen on the seat next to his legal pad. "Ethan's on a successful career track. Do you think it helped Ethan's motivation to see both of his parents working?"

Following Gregory's train of thought brought a lines of thought to Roger's forehead. "Most likely. He knows who his real role model is. My ex's a pillar of the community at home. I'm just an old country doctor to him. Why?"

"I've put a great deal of thought into this, and I'm going to ask the board of directors to appoint Olivia public relations director for the hospital project."

Roger leaned back into the seat and shook his head in awe. "Set an example for your trust-fund babies by putting your dear wife to work?"

"I'm just giving her the responsibilites I know she can handle." He explained with a wicked smile. "We need someone we trust to run the communications for the university."

The doctor raised an eyebrow. "And what about her maternity leave?"

"Assuming your clomiphene powder did its job-"

"Which we'll know a month." Roger finished.

Gregory waved off the concern. "I'll get her a capable assistant. She won't be away from her work long. She has more drive then I give her credit for. Liv might even enjoy the challenge."

"You'll enjoy having her in an office down the hallway," Roger read Gregory's motives expertly. "Think of all those business lunches you'll be able to put to better use with your wife in the business."

With a smile still teasing the corner of his mouth, Gregory went back to his arbitration. "Simply a side benefit."

"Tell me where to sign up for those kind of benefits, won't you?" Roger teased as he picked up his pen and filled the empty blank of public relations director with a flourish. Olivia Richards.

The plane touched down to the runway with a gentle bump. Gregory's coffee didn't even move from its cupholder. Olivia sighed in her sleep, but stubbornly refused to awaken. Wishing he could share her sleep, Gregory yawned and looked out the window at the bright California sunshine. "Tell me again why we had to leave Wisconsin at dawn?"

"Someone is impersonating my son. I want to catch him in the act." Roger explained simply as he started tucking away his papers into his briefcase. "Don't you want to know who spent the night in your house, with your children?"

"I could have known that if you let us call the police." Gregory had to work slowly to replace everything into his briefcase with only one hand.

"There's something fishy about this entire situation." Roger thought out loud. "I'm trying to think of everyone who knew Ethan was coming to Sunset Beach without me."

"And?"

"And it's a short list." Roger said grimly as he tried to retrace his steps.

Joe Murray's gleaming white smile peered into the cabin. "Gentlemen we have arrived in Sunset Beach. The car will be pulling around to collect you and the lady in a just a moment." The pilot announced as he opened the hatch for the door.

Steps met the side of the plane and Joe headed down to get the luggage from the cargo compartment. Roger grabbed both cases and Olivia's purse as he went to the door. "You've got her?"

Gregory nodded, his face taking a gentle light. "I've got her." He extracting himself from beneath her head carefully, brushing a hand across her forehead in an attempt to wake her. Olivia only stirred slightly. "You're going to make this difficult aren't you?" He whispered ruefully. "I suppose it's my own fault for keeping you awake all night."

Coaxing her up to the sitting position and then to her feet was actually easier then he expected. Though she was determined not to wake up, she put up very little resistance as he picked her up and cradled her to his chest. "You're going to send me back to the gym if we do this more often sweetheart."

Cautiously finding his way down the steps, Gregory surprised himself with how quickly everything came back. Carrying Olivia up to bed when she fell asleep waiting for him to finish his work. Listening to her explain how lonely their bed was without him and trying to fight the desire to leave everything undone and crawl into bed with her.

At first, he lost to that desire, but then, slowly, work won out again and again. Until she stopped confessing her loneliness and went quietly to bed without him. How many times had she done that before she started to doubt her own importance? Before she stopped believing.

Roger opened the door to the limousine and helped him get Olivia buckled in. "You're rather gallant today."

"Momentary weakness, I assure you." Gregory defended himself weakly as he made himself comfortable next to her in the car.

Roger's disbelief made him chuckle. "You're going to have to admit it eventually- She makes you soft in the head. A real nutter."

Gregory's lack of response only encouraged him.

"Oh she's got you, brain to bollocks, the full monty wrapped around her little finger."

The look in Gregory's eyes had meant death to lesser men.

Roger only raised his eyebrows innocently. "I'm just calling it as I see it Richards. Didn't learn a bloody thing in psychology."

Gregory had to change the subject. "Just what do you intend to do with our imposter?"

"Kill him, toss the body in the ocean." Roger shrugged. "I suppose whatever his crimes merit. Maybe he just wanted to see the house, meet the lovely Caitlin."

Neither of them had a real answer as they pulled into the driveway.