Disclaimers: see chapter 1
A/N: It pains me A LOT to use Ethan - I swear, if could shove him and Ryan through a hole in the ice, I would do it in a heartbeat, but I needed to use him for the sake of the story, but Zach does get to lay into him a little bit, which was nice to write. Also, am I a little twisted if I admit to LOVING writing Michael! I really miss that wicked SOB!

It had been a week – the longest week either one of them had experienced in the longest time. It had been seven days since Michael had walked out of Zach's office. He managed to ditch Zach's PI the next day and no one had seen or heard from him since. Myrtle and Beverly had gone back to the Fargate House after two days, since Michael seemed to have fallen back into whatever hole he had crawled out of.

Zach was reviewing the overnight financial reports when Edie stuck her head in the door. "Zach, you have an unscheduled visitor." His head shot up and his eyes got wide, but Edie shook her head. "No, it is Ethan Ramsey." Zach just shrugged his shoulders and waved at Edie to show him in. Zach put the file in his desk drawer as Ethan walked in.

"Thanks for seeing me" Ethan said, sitting down in one of Zach's chairs.

"No problem. What's going on?"

"Well, I got wind of something this morning and I wasn't real sure where else to go. Well, the CFO came to me this morning. It seems there has been an exorbitant amount of shares being bought and sold in the last couple of weeks. Anyway, my man did a little more digging and found out that one man has been buying the Cambias shares away from the other shareholders and…"

"What's this man's name?" Zach growled out, knowing he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Well, the name we found was Mike Alexander, but we think…"

"SON OF A BITCH" Zach screamed, pounding his hands down on the desk. Ethan leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "Care to share?"

Zach closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "I'm going to kill him myself this time" Zach said quietly.

"What was that? Zach, you really need to tell me…"

Zach's eyes shot open and he stared at Ethan. "It's your formerly departed uncle, Ethan. It's Michael."

Ethan's eyes got wide and he shook his head slowly. "Michael who?"

Zach lowered his head into his hands. "Cambias. He's back."

"How in the hell is that even possible?" Zach launched into the story, flooring Ethan at every turn. "But, why is he even bothering with Cambias?"

"I don't know Ethan. I would say he's trying to suck me back in, trying to get me to bit at his bait, seeing what I do."

"So, what do we do?"

"What do you do about what?" Kendall asked from the door, smiling. "Can't say this is a meeting I ever expected you to be taking" she said, walking over and giving Zach a kiss on the cheek.

"Where are the kids?" Zach asked, grabbing onto her hand.

"Beverly took them over to the studios to watch mother film today. She's doing a kids' show and…" She stopped as Zach pulled the phone out of the cradle and dialed.

"Lou, have the guards on my kids… ok, make sure they stay put until Kendall and I get over there. Yeah, you could say there's been a development." He slammed the phone down and ran his hand through his hair. He turned to his wife, who was staring at him with wide and scared eyes.

"It's Michael, isn't it" she said in a whisper. Zach just nodded. She turned to Ethan. "Something to do with Cambias?"

"He's buying up all the Cambias shares. Give him a couple more days and he'll be the majority shareholder."

Kendall just nodded and turned back toward Zach. "Well, then… there it is."

"So, where either one of you going to tell me that Michael was alive?" Ethan demanded.

"It isn't like we were planning on keeping it a secret" Zach said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "My security lost him. I was trying to figure out what he was up to…"

"Well, now we know" Kendall said, as she collapsed on the couch. Zach walked over to her, pulling her into his body, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He placed a kiss on her cheek. "We need to go get the kids and go home. You need to call Bianca and we need to tell Erica and Jackson sooner rather than later." Kendall nodded slowly, hating that she had to do this to her sister.

"And what about my Cambias stock?" Ethan said from across the room. Zach walked back over to his desk and pulled out a card from the top drawer. "Give this to your CFO and tell him to call this guy. He can find out what Michael is up to, now that we know what he's focusing on." Ethan grabbed the card from Zach and looked at it. "Well, I'm not sure that…"

Zach sighed loudly, growing impatient with the man standing in front of him. "Look, Ethan, do whatever you want. I don't have time to worry about my family AND help you save your ass. You want to try to fix this, have your CFO call that man. If you don't, well then, have fun working for your uncle." Zach glared at Ethan as he looked at the card again and nodded. He turned away silent, heading out of the room, nodding at Kendall as he did.

Zach held Kendall's hand as she explained to Bianca exactly what was going on. Zach had to take the phone a couple of times as Kendall became to upset to talk. Zach promised her security and protection until they dealt with Michael. Zach had sent some of his men to Paris as soon as Ethan had left his office that afternoon. Kendall finished combing her hair when they heard the doorbell.

"Erica and Jackson are here" he whispered into her ear, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"This is going to be hard" she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"Yeah, but we'll get through it and we'll all deal with it. I promise you that." Kendall nodded and took a deep breath. Zach laced his fingers through hers and they headed downstairs.

Kendall opened the door and tried her best to smile normally at her mother and Jackson. Erica gave Kendall a hug. "Dear, are you alright?" she asked, looking at her daughter. Kendall nodded. "Yeah, mother, I'm fine. Just c'mon in." Jackson and Erica walked past Kendall and Zach. They smiled at each other. Zach dropped her hand and walked into the kitchen as Kendall pushed the door shut, failing to notice that it didn't latch completely.

"Does anyone need anything else?" Zach asked, sitting down in his chair. Erica and Jackson shook their heads, but then Erica noticed she needed to refill her water glass. "I just need more water" she said, pushing herself out of her chair.

"Mother, here, I'll get it" Kendall said, reaching out her hand.

"Nonsense. I'll get it" Erica said, smiling as she walked over to the refrigerator. Her glass was half full when she heard a strange voice from behind her.

"Got room for one more?" Erica glanced over her shoulder and saw the look of horror on the faces of her family. She slowly turned the other direction and stopped. Her glass shattered on the tile floor as she came face to face with a smirking Michael Cambias, leaning against the wall in Zach and Kendall's kitchen.

TBC….