The Next Morning: 10 a.m.: Crane Industries

Theresa picked up the ringing phone in her office. "Hello?" she said expectantly. 'Please let this be the call I've been waiting for'. she whispered to herself.

"Hello, Mrs. Crane, this is Rosalie. The flyers will take a while longer, considering you wanted it translated into so many different languages, but the photo has been generated and I'm sending it to your e-mail now. I thought you'd like to see it."

"Excellent, Rosalie, I'll check for it now. Thank you for all of your hard work." Theresa replaced the receiver and then dashed over to her computer, scarcely able to breathe; she was so excited. She'd been in touch with the experts who did age enhanced photos of missing children-the best in the country-and asked them to generate a photo of Sarah Winthrop as she might look now, at age five. Theresa's fingers shook as she tried to type in her password. 'I can hardly wait to see it.' She whispered to herself. 'And if I'm this excited, imagine how Gwen and Ethan are going to feel. They are finally going to see their daughter's face. If this doesn't change Gwen's mind about accepting my offer, I don't know what will."

The few seconds it took to download seemed like an eternity but suddenly the pixellated images cleared and the faces popped on her screen-a smaller photo each of Gwen and Ethan, the photos that had been combined to create Sarah's picture, and in the middle, nearly filling the screen, Sarah's image looked back at her. Theresa traced the impish smile gently-Ethan's smile, completely. She had his chin too, his face structure-but her skin, eyes, and hair were pure Gwen. 'This has to be what she looks like.' Theresa whispered to herself. 'This is who we're looking for, and I swear, we're going to find her. Whatever Alistair did to her, he won't get away with it.'

A knock on the door broke into her reverie. The door opened before she could answer. "Valerie.." Theresa thought to herself. Lately her assistant had been getting very presumptuous and her attitude left a lot to be desired.

She opened her mouth, ready to chew the woman out for coming in without waiting for a response, but then stopped in surprise. It wasn't Valerie-it was Ethan.
"Ethan, what are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. The memory of last night came back to her. They had done nothing more than stay in each other's arms for hours but it was almost more intimate then-well...she wouldn't think about that now.

"I just wanted to thank you, Theresa. For last night. I appreciate you being there for me the way you were."

"Yes, well..." Theresa couldn't think of anything else to say. Feeling suddenly shy and awkward, she busied herself straightening papers on her desk. "You're welcome."

"So, where's Jared?" Ethan asked, unable to control the disdain that crept into his voice whenever he said the other man's name.

"Oh, he's around. He's going over some paperwork with Chad. I um...I'd better get back to work. Thanks for stopping by." It was too hard to be around him. Last night had been an exception-she just couldn't help but respond to his pain, but in the clear light of day, her armor was back up. She wouldn't allow Ethan to hurt her anymore.

"Ok then." Ethan looked disappointed that he couldn't get her attention. "I guess I'll go." He turned to leave but suddenly a gasp escaped his lips and his face went white. "Theresa..what the hell is that?" He was pointing at her computer screen-at Sarah's picture.

Looking like someone had punched him in the gut, Ethan walked over to the monitor, staring as if he'd seen a ghost. "Is this...my God, Theresa, is this Sarah?"
"Ethan, I was going to tell you. It's a computer generated photograph of what she could look like now. Police have been using them for years to find missing children, and their accuracy can be amazing. I'm having flyers printed up. I thought-"

"Theresa, how the hell could you do this?" Ethan thundered. Theresa paled as Ethan came towards her, looking angrier then she had ever recalled seeing him. "Do you know what it would do to Gwen to see this? She's trying to accept Sarah's death all over again. And so am I! My God, can't you just let it go?"

"Actually, it was Gwen who inspired me to do this!" Theresa fired back, her temper rising as Ethan glared at her. "She was waiting for me when I got home last night, Ethan. She asked me to help her. She believes that Sarah is still alive, and so do I."

"Gwen came to you for help?" Ethan stared at her in sheer disbelief. "I don't believe it, Theresa. I thought she and I had talked about this. I thought she was ready to move on. Clearly, I was wrong. Well, that's it, Theresa. Have the photograph erased and the flyers cancelled. My daughter is dead, do you hear me? I've had enough of these games!"

"This is not a game!" Theresa cried, tears springing to her eyes. "Your daughter could be alive, Ethan, and she needs you. You and Gwen. I want to help you, both of you. We can find her if we work together!"

"Stop it!" Ethan's hands balled into fists and to Theresa's shock, he picked up the computer monitor, throwing it full force against the wall. The screen shattered as it fell heavily to the ground, blue sparks shooting upwards. The force left a large dent in the plaster. Theresa, stunned at the force of his rage, could only stand there as he turned back to her, breathing heavily.

"Maybe in your own deranged way, you actually believe you're trying to help. But chasing ghosts is not going to help any of us. It could even cost Gwen her sanity. Let it go, Theresa, I'm warning you. As for Gwen, I'm going to talk to her, right now. I'm going to put a stop to all of this, for good." He turned on his foot and left the office, slamming the door so hard behind him that the doorjamb cracked.

Theresa sank into the office chair, her legs refusing to hold her up any longer. "Ethan, I'm so sorry that you're hurting. But you're wrong - Sarah is alive, and if you won't help Gwen find her, I will, behind your back if I have to."

Picking up the phone, she began to dial. She had a lot of arrangements to make, and very little time to do it in.

Winthrop Residence:

Gwen smoothed Jane's hair down and dropped a kiss on the sleeping toddler's forehead. "Sleep well, sweetheart." She whispered as she backed out of the room. Her heart swelled with love as she looked back at the child. "I love her so much." she whispered to herself. "How dare Theresa imply that I could replace Jane with Sarah? I could never give her up, not ever." She walked back to the living room, glad she had taken the next week off of work. She really needed time to collect herself, time to plan her next move. Time to figure out how she was going to find her daughter.

"Ethan!" Gwen said in surprise, staring at her husband, who was standing in the living room, his face a cold mask. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you at work?"

"We need to talk, Gwen. Sit down." Ethan indicated the sofa with a jerk of his head.

Gwen sat, feeling nervousness course through her. "Ethan, what is it? Did you find something else out about Sarah?"

"Yes, I did." Ethan held some papers in his hand. "I stopped by the coroner's office. The DNA results are in. The body in Sarah's grave is that of Shilah Landry, just like we thought."

Gwen nodded, eyes misting over.

"I also found out that you tried to recruit Theresa in some crazy scheme to find Sarah. Gwen, I thought we had talked about this. Sarah is dead. The baby switch was a horrible accident. I told you yesterday that I would do everything in my power to stop you from doing this to yourself, destroying yourself in a fruitless search for a dream. I meant it, Gwen. Either you give this up now, or... , please don't put me in this position." He dropped to his knees as he had the day before, taking her cold, shaking hands in his. "When Sarah died, I didn't know if you'd ever recover. Then, when we lost Nathan and you found out Jane wasn't biologically yours, you suffered a complete mental breakdown. You tried to kill Theresa, and you almost went to jail for the rest of your life. I'm doing this for your own good, Gwen, because I love you."

Gwen's mouth was dry. "Doing what, Ethan?" She managed. The look on his face-he was looking at her as if she were a stranger. He was so cold, and it was scaring her to death.

"I made some phone calls before I got here. I made arrangements for you to have a full psychological evaluation. The doctor that I spoke to is very good at helping patients deal with grief, Gwen. He wants to see you tomorrow, but from I told him...he feels that a short hospitalization is what's best for you at this time, to help you deal with this delusion that Sarah's alive."

"WHAT?!" Gwen pulled her hands out of Ethan's and stood up, the blood draining from her face. "Ethan, you want to lock me up? Are you kidding me? Ethan, why can't you trust me? I'm not crazy!"

"Don't think of it that way, Gwen. No one is trying to lock you up. We just want to help you. I want to help you. Gwen, I'm doing this for you, I told you I wouldn't let you go down that road again, and I won't, even if you hate me for it." Ethan's eyes were wet. "I don't want to do this, Gwen, but I can sign you in against your will if I have to. Please don't make me. Please do the evaluation tomorrow. If you can show you're stable enough, maybe outpatient therapy will be enough. But if you won't even try to deal with reality, then I have no choice. I will have you hospitalized."

"Ethan, my God...how could you do this to me? I don't even know you any more-you're scaring me." Gwen whispered.

"I'm doing this for you." Ethan repeated firmly, stubbornly. "I just don't want to see you go through any more pain."

"How can you believe your actions aren't causing me pain?!" Gwen raged. Unable to continue, she turned and began pacing the room, her mind working rapidly. Ethan's expression was unmovable. She'd never seen him like that before, so cold, so untouchable. 'He's really going to do this. He's going to have me institutionalized if I don't stop looking for Sarah.'

Thinking quickly, Gwen stopped pacing and turned to face Ethan, allowing her tears to show. "Maybe you're right, Ethan. I'll do the evaluation tomorrow. I know I've been acting irrationally, and I'm so sorry. It's just that I miss her so much, and I wanted so badly to believe she's alive. But it's really not possible, is it?" She buried her face in Ethan's chest, crying, hating herself for the show she was putting on. But she couldn't let Ethan lock her up. Sarah was alive and she needed her mother. Nothing was going to stop Gwen from finding her daughter, not even Ethan.

Ethan looked relieved as he pulled Gwen back to look in her eyes. "I knew you'd see reason, Gwen. Thank you. We're going to get through this, OK?" He ran a hand through his hair. "I've got to get back to the office, but I don't want you to be alone. Let me think of who i could call..."

"Call Sheridan." Gwen said hurriedly. Ethan raised an eyebrow at her easy compliance.

"I mean, you're right." Gwen continued, giving Ethan a weak smile. "I don't feel like being alone right now either, and I'd really like to see her. Could you call her, please?"

"Of course, sweetheart. You just relax. I'll stay here until she shows up." Ethan patted her on the head as if she were three, and then left the room, dialing his cell phone as he went.

'And do you really think Sheridan's not going to understand where I'm coming from, Ethan?' Gwen whispered to herself. 'After all she went through with Marty and Luis? Yes, she's exactly the person that I need-the person who may be able to help me get out of this mess and find my daughter.'

Sitting back down, she plastered a tearful, regretful expression on her face as Ethan re-entered the room. "She'll be here as soon as she can." He sat down next to Gwen. "You're handling this so well, sweetheart. Thank you again for being so reasonable." He took her hand in his. Gwen let him caress her fingers, scarcely unable to contain her desire to grab something heavy and hit him over the head with it. How could her own husband be so pigheaded, so completely unmoving? How could he have so little faith in here? Well, if Ethan thought she was just going to sit around and let everyone patronize her like she was crazy, he was the one who needed hospitalization.

'You just don't know me at all, do you, Ethan? Because nothing will stop me from finding our daughter, and once I do, you'd just better hope I forgive you for trying to stop me in the first place.'

One Hour Later:

Sheridan sat, stunned, on Gwen's couch, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. "Let me get this straight. Sarah's body is gone. No one can verify what happened to it. No one can even verify that she was ever given an autopsy. And Ethan-he doesn't think something is very wrong? He thinks you're crazy? He wants to hospitalize you?" Her voice was filled with indignation. "What the hell is wrong with him? Oh, if he was here I'd smack some sense into him." She shook her head in bewilderment, her heart aching for her friend. "Gwen, I'm so glad you had him call me. I do understand what you're going through. I just can't believe that Ethan is being like this!"

"I can't believe it either." Gwen stood up, arms crossed over her chest as she stared morosely out the window. "I just-I need him, and he's so far away. Even when he's here, he's not here. He's been gone for a long, long time, and I don't know how to get him back." Her voice broke. Sheridan hurried over to put a comforting arm around her friend, but Gwen shook her off gently.

"No, Sheridan. I don't have time for more tears. I have to plan. There's no way I'm going to that evaluation tomorrow. I can't allow anyone to interfere with my search for Sarah. That's why I need your help. Sheridan, I'm going to Prague. Tonight."

Outside the Winthrop residence, a car sat across the street, the windows darkened. Inside, a man picked up a phone and began to dial. "Mrs. Crane? This is Fred. Yes, Ms. Winthrop is still at her home. There's no sign of activity as of yet."

"Good." Theresa breathed a sigh of relief. "Just stay on her, ok? I don't want Gwen to make a move without me knowing about it." She hung up the phone. 'I know you're not going to let this go, Gwen. But you need my help-you can't do this by yourself. And I need my daughter just as much as you need yours. Before this is over, you're going to give her to me.'

She turned to Valerie. "Have you made all of the arrangments?"

"Er.." Valerie studied her nails. "Most of them."

"Valerie, what am I paying you for?" Theresa lost all patience. "You are getting on my every last nerve. You may be Julian's favorite, for reasons I don't even want to imagine, but I'm in charge here. You have five minutes to set everything up just the way I asked you to, and if you don't, consider yourself unemployed. Now get the hell out of my office and earn your obscenely large paycheck."

Valerie gave her a furious look but seeing the fire in Theresa's eyes, hurriedly left the room.

"Ugh!" Theresa sat down, shielding her eyes. "The minute I get back, that worthless woman is so fired. There's something about her that makes my skin crawl-I can't believe I didn't notice it before."

"Hey, Tess." Jared was in front of him, setting down a container filled with Starbucks cups. "Everything ok?"

"Jared." A smile lit up Theresa's face. "And you come bearing large amounts of caffeine. What would I ever do without you?"

"Let's not ever find out, ok?" Jared winked at her as he passed her a cup.

Looking at him, Theresa felt a wave of guilt. Several weeks ago, she'd tried to break things off with him. Knowing she'd betrayed him with Ethan, knowing that she still loved another man, was too much guilt for her to bear. When she'd told him it was over though, Jared had completely surprised her. "It's my fault, Tess." He'd said, looking into her eyes. "I knew about Ethan. You told me how much you had loved him, and I've been pushing you and pushing you. I should have known you weren't ready to be intimate with me so fast. Let me make you a deal. If you can honestly say that you don't ever see having a future with me, I'll walk away right now. But if you think that someday you could love me, really love me, I'll wait-for as long as it takes."

'And who could turn down an offer like that?' Theresa thought to herself now. Of course, he didn't know she had cheated on him. And he didn't know that last night Ethan had turned to her again, and she'd been unable to walk away. Nothing had happened physically between them, but she doubted that would make Jared or Gwen feel better if either one of them were to find out. The guilt tasted bitter in her mouth. 'Well, it's over now.' Theresa thought to herself. 'I've given up on Ethan, but I do owe him one more favor. Him and Gwen. And that's to find their daughter and give her back to them. In return, I'll have my daughter back and it will finally be over. The war and the triangle-it will all end.'

But deep down, she knew it wouldn't be that simple...

To Be Continued...