"What's that, Rick, someone inviting us someplace?" the younger Simon asked, seeing the note in his brother's hand.

"Don't know…" Rick ripped it open, then scanned the printed card inside. "Hmm, it says a surprise reception has been arranged for tonight at 7pm for Doug Sherman. It asks us to come early "for fun and surprises".

"Where is this Gingham Estate, up in the hills here?" A.J. wondered, flipping the card over only to find it blank.

"Doug said it's in the Mission Point area….about 20 minutes from here. Maybe Rudy and Oscar can ferry the girls to the hotel tonight, then we can join them afterwards."

"That'll work …..I've got my suit in the car, we can change here and have plenty of time to get there." Rick nodded. "Good idea, let me tell Laurie."

"Okay, I'll find Linda." A.J. started, then snickered as his wife came up behind him and put her arms around his waist.

"That was fast!" Rick smirked, then saw Laurie through the kitchen doorway. "You got yours, I'll get mine."

As Cecilia's party broke up, Oscar and Rudy insisted on treating everyone for breakfast.

"We'll meet you all in the Mission Room at the hotel, then we can go to the beach while the guys spend time at their reunion." Oscar explained. At that Andy and Lala cheered, "The beach, yeah!", causing their parents to laugh.

"That figures..all the great things in San Diego to do and see, and you two want the beach!" Robbie chuckled.

"Well, son, just proves they're Simons, after all." Rick came into the living room, earning wolf whistles from Laurie and the other women. At once he pretended to model for them, then A.J. came up from behind and snapped his suspenders.

"A.J….you're not too old to pants!" Rick yelled, chasing his brother around the room.

"Guys, stop that…I want to take a picture before you get all mussed up." Cecilia ordered, making Oscar laugh with her no-nonsense tone.

"Yes Mom." Rick and A.J. stopped in their tracks and instantly posed next to each other. After a couple of pictures, Rick saw it was 6:30, and nudged A.J. "Come on, time to go."

"Okay, Mom, guys, be good for your mom. I'll call you on my transmitter when we're on our way to the hotel, Linny." A.J. kissed her cheek. Noting her look of puzzlement,

Laurie explained, "There's no phone service in the main house, just an intercom system. Doug Sherman told us the owners keep the place exactly as it was during the 1920's."

"Ugh…no thank you." Linda made a face as Laurie turned to Rick. "You be good now, no drinking your brother under the table!"

"Hah! That'll be the day." Rick elbowed A.J.. "Let's make tracks before she finds out about the stripper…."

"You…" Laurie giggled as he kissed her, then put his hat on and followed A.J. out the door.

"That was the last decent moment of this weekend." Rick thought, then a faint voice echoed in his head.

"Rick…darling…find us please…"

"Laurie!" he called back…then he felt terror…real terror coming from his wife. She faded as fast as he sensed her. "Laurie!"

Nothing. As he reached for her, he kept looking out the window of the mansion, now a house of terror for him, his family and……

"Wait a minute…..the one person who could have done all this….never saw him, never talked to him….." he thought, then tried to recall, who met them when he and A.J. arrived….

"Wow….looks like a small version of the Del…" A.J. remarked as Rick pulled up to the estate's entrance. Beside the massive wrought iron doors, a discreet plaque said "Gingham Estate-Built 1920".

"A.J., look for a small button, supposed to press it and announce ourselves." Rick said, then almost jumped as a hollow voice came out of nowhere.

"Good evening gentlemen…."

"What….uh, good evening. We're Rick and A.J. Simon, we're expected."

"One moment." The eerie voice faded, then slowly the iron gates creaked open.

"You have got to be kidding me, this is something like out of the Addams Family…" Rick snickered, turning down the driveway and driving past a series of hideous gargoyles. As he approached the house, a man in a uniform stepped out of the shadows, then pointed toward a building next to the drive, where a garage door instantly popped open.

"I don't believe this place…."A.J. shook his head as they drove into the garage. Locking the car, they found their way out of the building, then walked along a marble pathway to the front door. As they climbed the steps, the glass door opened, and a familiar looking blonde-haired woman stood there.

"Betty? Betty Rogers?" Rick asked, then smiled as she came forward and hugged him.

"Rick Simon, you bad boy….and little A.J….I hoped you guys would come…..get in here and fix me a drink!" She dropped her arms, then linked arms possessively with Rick as they entered an opulent entryway.

A.J. hid a smirk and filed the moment away to tease his brother. "Betty, you look great…how long has it been?" He glanced around then followed them into a small parlor with a wet bar set up.

"Too long, you guys…did your wives come with you?" she asked, then looked disappointed as Rick cleared his throat.

"Sure did, honey. Laurie and Linda will be glad to meet you Sunday at Doug's reception. Say, what time does the guest of honor arrive?"

"I don't know….I thought we were supposed to be here by 7…so Bob won't know it's a surprise!" Rick looked at A.J. then said, "Uh, don't you mean Doug?"

"No…I got an invitation to come early to surprise Bob Clayton." Betty pulled out a cream-colored card identical to theirs.

"Well, looks like someone's having fun with us." Rick recovered, giving her a wink while jerking his head at A.J. "Go have a seat, Betty, and I'll mix you a Sea wave."

"A Sea Wave..ooh, is that a Marine drink?" she simpered, and A.J. rolled his eyes.

Just then there was a knock on the front door, then a timid voice, "Any one here?"

"Oh great, it's Melvin!" Betty dropped the coy tone from her voice and stood up.

"Melvin, stop pussy-footing around and get in here…A.J. and Rick Simon are here!"

A.J. winced as Rick cleared his throat, then handed the half-filled drink to his brother.

"Fix her a Blue Hawaii…she'll never know the difference." he hissed, then went to the parlour door. "In here, Melvin." He called, then came back with a timid, balding man wearing glasses and a bowtie.

"Hey, Rick, A.J….glad to see you guys, hi, Betty." He stammered, then sat down on the sofa next to her.

"Hi, yourself….you worm. You never signed those divorce papers, you know." She yelled, then caught herself. "I mean, Melvin Davis, how can I get my check without your signature?"

"Wait a minute, you guys were married?" A.J. handed her the blue concoction as the other man blushed.

"Yes, we got marr…ied about ten years ago..but…but..it didn't work out. I'm sorry, Betty, I did sign the decree….but I forgot to bring it when I got the invitation to surprise Tim Ski."

"Tim Ski?" A.J. turned to Rick, who explained "Tim Ski is Tim Selenski…he was our star baseball player. He became a pro scout until he came back to coach at SD."

"Yeah…he was always nice to me, like you Rick." Melvin announced diffidently. "Who else is supposed to come?"

"I don't know, isn't Doug in charge of this?" Betty asked, downing her drink in one gulp.

Rick felt a cold sensation in his stomach. "I don't know, I never asked. He was the one we were supposed to RSVP to…"

"Well….look at this lot….what a dump!"

Betty Rogers made a face as Rick laughed. "Arlene…that is the oldest line…come on in!"

A statuesque brunette came in, then both brothers gasped. "Well, don't just stare, ask me what happened?"

In front of them, instead of the girl Rick once dubbed "Queen of the stage", stood a tall, dark-haired man in a silk shirt, wool slacks and loafers.

"Uh, Arlene, I mean, what do we call you?" Melvin stuttered, rising to his feet.

"Artie…I'm just Artie now. Rick, I can't believe you didn't know!" "Artie" pouted.

Swallowing hard, Rick started, "I , well, I did hear you had a messy breakup…" Suddenly A.J. began to laugh.

"Artie, I remember now….you helped bust a phony modeling agency, then you disappeared. You always did things with style."

"Thanks, little A.J….well, not so little now." He winked, then Rick broke up.

"This is too much, okay Artie…who do you think we're surprising?"

"Well, my invite said "Arlene", so I came to see who else was in on the joke." He held out his card, and now Rick saw something was up…

"Well, if whoever planned our reunion, decided to surprise us big time!" Rick forced a smile. "Well, Artie, can you mix some drinks while A.J. and I try to reach Doug?"

"Sure, Mr. P.I….by the way, is that sweet girl you married coming..I really want to talk to her about her books…" Artie grinned, then went behind the bar.

"Thanks..Betty, you and Melvin sit tight." Rick retraced their steps to the entry, then opened the door. As he looked out, he saw another car come through the gates.

"Hopefully that's Doug…if not, we need to get a hold of Laurie and have her call him." Rick told his brother. As the car stopped, then drove into the garage, Rick hit the send button on his transmitter.

"Laurie, darlin', it's Rick."

"Hey, Rick…is everyone there?" she asked.

"Not everyone…as a matter of fact, something funny's going on….hang on a minute." Rick replied, as a stocky man approached.

"Rick?"

As he came into the light of the entry, Rick burst out, "Danny? Danny Martin!"

"Hey, it is you! And…is this A.J.?" the pleasant faced man responded, holding out his hand.

"Yes, it is…how are you?" A.J. stepped forward and shook hands, then saw his brother engulfed in a bear hug.

"God, I hoped you'd be here….I don't usually come to these things..but I had to, just in case my old buddy was here." Martin told them enthusiastically.

"Well, I'm glad you're here, Danny…but I need to know, who did your invitation say was going to be surprised?"

"Why, it says Margaret….don't tell me someone's spoiled the surprise!" he grinned.

"Uh, no…but of everyone else who's here, everyone's cards have a different honoree." Rick said, then showed him their cards. At once Danny shook his head.

"I don't know about this, Rick…..sounds like either a dumb joke..or…."

Just then the lights went out, and immediately Rick heard his wife's voice, "Rick?"

"Sweetheart, something's wrong…I'll call you back." He replied, then put the emergency light on his watch. "Follow me, maybe I can find the breakers…" he began.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

A piercing scream sounded from inside, and the three men fumbled their way into the pitch-dark house. As they came down the hallway, every lamp came back on. A chorus of excited voices greeted them as Rick led the way into the parlor, where he froze in his tracks.

Melvin Davis lay on the rug, blood on his shirt front. Beside him stood Betty Rogers, a poker in her hand.