"Are you sure he's still in Madison and didn't follow me to Genoa City?" Amanda Sinclair said trying to keep her voice low as she sat at a small table in a rather seedy neighborhood bar. The kind of small inconspicuous place she frequented since she partially lived in hiding these days. Hopefully if Ripley stayed in Madison, he'd leave her alone and she could start over again in Genoa City or somewhere else.

"I tracked all of his movements today via GPS," Josie Franklin said. "Unless he paid someone to drive to and from work, his local grocery store and the post office, then he's still in Madison. I'll take a drive by his house tonight to make sure he hasn't left the city.

"I still can't believe that I was disappointed that you decided to start your own security firm instead of going to law school with me. Little did I know that one day you'd be saving my ass from a psycho ex."

Josie chided gently, "I wish you listened to me in the first place. You never would have given that loser the time of day. I knew he was trouble. The first red flag was that he didn't like me, so you know he was tripping."

A statement like that coming from any other person but Josie would have sounded like conceit. But Amanda knew exactly what she meant and she agreed. She and Josie had been best friends since they were roommates their freshman year of college. While Amanda was focused and driven to succeed, Josie was friendly and popular. She was recruited by the most sought after sororities on campus and she was urged to run for homecoming queen, but she was far too modest. She came from a happy home where her father was a firefighter and her mother a homemaker. Josie had no ambitions beyond having what her parents enjoyed. A calm happy home. In essence she was a nice normal person, salt of the earth. Yet Ripley hated her and tried his best to destroy their friendship. Yes that should have been a red flag for Amanda, that and a dozen others she chose to ignore.

"Josie, I am so sorry I let that maniac come between us. I…"

"Don't worry about it. He had you fooled. The important thing now is to keep him away from you, and so far our plan is working."

"Yes, Thank God,"Amanda said and for the first time noticed a man sitting at the next table. A very handsome white man with dark brown hair. He was staring at her openly.

"Good Lord Josie," Amanda covered her mouth to muffle her voice as she spoke into the phone. "Is there no end to the creeps? I'm in a bar right now minding my own business and there is a man straight staring at me. He didn't even have the decency to look away when I caught him. And he's still staring at me."

"Oh what a creep. It's time for you to get up on out of there. Go to your hotel room. God knows your new client is setting you up nicely in that luxury suite. Why are you in a bar?"

"I don't know. I was walking around trying to get the feel of this town and I ran across this place. it reminds me of that spot near campus."

"The Avenue?"

"Yeah, that little hole in the wall."

"Well, be careful. You have your pepper spray right?"

"It's in my bag."

"Don't hesitate to use it

"Trust me, I won't."

Amanda ended the call and was digging through her bag trying to make sure she actually did have her mace. She might have left it in her other bag. As she rummaged, a shadow fell over her. Someone had approached the table. She sighed and looked up certain she was going to be looking into the face of the dark haired handsome guy who needed to learn how to keep his eyeballs to himself. She was surprised to find a short stocky guy holding a beer and wearing a flannel shirt with a dingy baseball cap.

"I've never seen you here before," the man said and had the nerve to reach out and touch her hair. Amanda was out of her seat in a heartbeat.

"It would behoove you to keep your hands to yourself," she said pointing a finger at the man.

"I was just trying to be friendly," the man burped and Amanda cringed."You're sittin' here alone. Look like you could use a friend."

"I came here to be alone," she said. "So go back to your table or better yet go outside and sober up."

"Now does that make any sense?" The man staggered. "You stay home to be alone. You go to a bar to make friends."

"I think it's about time you move it along,"

Amanda heard a deep voice from the table next to hers. And then the previously creepy, but admittedly sexy staring dark haired guy was there at her side.

The drunk guy squinted at the newcomer and screwed up his face. "This conversation was between me and (hiccup)the lady."

"The lady has no interest in talking to you. So I suggest you get lost while we're still being polite." To make his point, her staring but sexy knight in shining armor pushed the drunk guy's shoulder.

"I can handle this," Amanda intervened, not wanting the sexy staring guy to get into a fight on her behalf.

But there was no need, the drunk guy turned and stumbled away.

"Just so you know, I could have handled that guy myself," Amanda said. She didn't realize how tall the staring guy was when he was sitting. He had to be well over six feet with an athletic build. "I'm no stranger to handling drunks."

"Me either, so I thought I'd lend a hand, My name is William by the way. William Abbott, but my friends call me Billy."

Amanda examined him from head to toe. He was well dressed and had a casual laid back demeanor. He didn't seem drunk despite his staring problem. She concluded he was harmless. "I'm Kim," she said giving the stranger her "bar name," which was a step above f*ck off yet still several steps below here's my number.

"Forgive me for staring earlier, but you look exactly like someone I used to know. The resemblance is uncanny. Shocking actually."

Thank God, she'd given him a fake name. While this Billy Abbott was handsome and definitely chivalrous, he was trying to use the "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" pick up line. How lame!

"Oh really?" She feigned interest. Billy Abbott had very nice deep brown eyes, framed by spiky black lashes. "I'm not from around here." She figured it was safe to reveal this much about herself.

"Are you by any chance a relation to Hilary Curtis? She used to host a local talk show called The GC Buzz.

A saucy smile crept onto Amanda's face. "Oh and let me guess, you found this Hilary Curtis very attractive." She paused and narrowed her eyes. "Maybe had a crush on her?"

"Oh no," Billy said. "I mean yes, she was attractive, but I didn't have eyes for her. She was married."

"And why do you keep talking about this Hilary Curtis in the past tense, Billy Abbott?"

"Because," he paused and Amanda saw something strange flicker in his expressive brown eyes. "Kim, can I buy you a drink?"

Josie would have a cow if she accepted his offer. She was working overtime keeping tabs on Ripley. Amanda should do her best to not cause any more trouble for herself. Accepting a drink from a stranger in a low rent bar was not exactly the smartest thing she could be doing right now. "Sure, why not," Amanda found herself saying. "What are you drinking?"

Josie was going to kill her, but she had a big day tomorrow. She needed to let off some steam. A few drinks with a handsome stranger she'd never see again couldn't hurt anything if she was careful.

Once they were settled with drinks at her table, Billy sat back in his seat and said, "So what's a nice lady like you doing in a place like this?"

"Before I answer that question, would you mind if I see some ID?"

Billy frowned, "You mean like my driver's license?"

"Yeah."

"I was already carded when I first came in this fine establishment. I'm over 21, by a few years." He smiled and Amanda noticed for the first time, he had the nerve to have a dimple!

"I just want to make sure you are who you say you are. A girl can never be too safe you know."

"Ah, I gotcha." Billy reached into his wallet and handed her his license. "Does that satisfy you? Or do you need my social security card and fingerprints too?"

He joked but what he didn't realize is that she was memorizing his information and texting it to Josie who would do a full background check on him. Just in case she went missing, they'd know who to look for.

Amanda started to answer Billy's question when a thunderclap could be heard above the music and couple ran into the bar soaking wet saying a storm just came out of nowhere.

"Wow, I didn't even know it was going to rain today," Amanda said.

"Me either," Billy took another drink of his beer. "So Kim, you were just about to tell me about yourself," he said right before the lights flickered and then went out.