Caleb surveyed his surroundings with innocent curiousity. He had never been outside of Trinity before and although Thomasville was only the next town over, he felt like he was embarking on a new adventure.

The drive over here was not as long as he initially thought it was going to be and they had managed to park the car securely, to enable them settle in a park by midday. This meant they had a few hours to spare before having to head home and Caleb wanted to take full advantage of this time.

Gail watched Caleb's wonder of everything around him, as she sat on a swing slowly moving back and forth. She remembered when she first began to explore different places and she had developed a real love for travel. It appeared that her cousin had the same interest as her, it was just a shame that his father would not allow him to go far. 'I wish I could run us over to Nashville, you'd love it there' Gail smiled.

Caleb glanced at his cousin affectionately and smiled back at her. Being out here with her made him realise how much he loved her and although Luke was in the buggy next to them, all of her attention appeared to be on him for a change. 'I'd love to go there with you cous', maybe next time we can all go' he suggested.

'All?' she asked, as she opened a bottle of Lemonade for them to share.

'You know, Lucas too' he shrugged and sat on the swing beside her.

'What makes you think he'd want to come with us? He seems very happy in Trinity' she said, as she watched Caleb begin to swing more forcefully than she was.

'He gave you that ring didn't he?' Caleb asked knowingly.

Gail stopped swinging for a moment, then regarded her cousin suspiciously. 'You knew about this?' she asked.

Caleb stopped swinging and turned towards his cousin. 'I helped him pick it out, he wanted to get you something different'

'Do you know what this signifies Caleb?' Gail asked curiously. She had not expected Lucas to involve Caleb in this and it had taken her by surprise.

Caleb inhaled deeply, then shrugged. 'All I care about is our family, if that thing keeps us how we are then it's fine by me'

Gail laughed in disbelief and shook her head. 'What if I told you that someone in our family did a bad thing to someone else, what would you think then?'

Caleb thought for a moment, he knew she would be referring to Lucas and he was not blind to what Lucas sometimes did to people; however, as long as it was no-one he cared for in the firing line, he did not really care. 'Did the person deserve it?' he asked, before answering fully.

'What does that matter? People got hurt'

'Maybe he got hurt first' Caleb shrugged and his eyes started to wander around his new surroundings again.

Gail narrowed her eyes at Caleb for a moment, then something within her mind clicked and she let out a small laugh. If Lucas targeted Walter, the man must have done something to him first.

She had been on the receiving end of one of Lucas' deals and the pressure to pay up became uncomfortably intense at one point. He never forced her will, he was very careful about that; however, she had this almost supernatural desire to pay what she owed, until she felt as though she was ready to explode. She wondered whether Walter was also on the receiving end and maybe he did not pay, that would go against Lucas' rules and he did not react well to insubordination.

'I love you' she said subconsciously to Caleb, then leaned over and gave him a big hug.

Caleb wrapped his arms around Gail and squeezed her tight. 'I love you too cous'...Now what are we doin' next?' he smiled.

Gail rustled his hair, then pulled him up off the swing. 'You know, I'm sure we can find a hobby store here to get you some new gear and a stretch of water, to allow you to test it out' she suggested.

Caleb's smile grew wider and he went to Luke. 'Fishin' somewhere other than the Trinity River? I'm in!' he said excitedly and followed Gail while pushing Luke's buggy.

Lucas paced around Billy Peele's office in Juniper House, waiting for the man to arrive back off his long lunch. He had returned to the Sheriff's Station after his visit to the Elementary School, expecting a call from Gail to confirm the whereabouts of his family; however, he had not heard a thing and he was beginning to get anxious.

Lucas knew Billy had started to become friendly with Christie, he also knew that Christie would not think twice about using the man if it meant she got access to Walter Maine. Lucas would usually step in and ensure Billy was sticking to their agreement; however, he was too focused on his missing family and his interest in Christie was for something else.

Billy entered his office laughing with Christie, then his laughter stopped when he saw the serious look on Lucas' face. 'Jesus man, is everything alright?' he asked concerned.

'Where is she?' Lucas asked Christie, ignoring Billy.

Christie regarded Lucas with confusion, then took a step back towards the door when she saw the strange look in his eyes. 'Where's who?'

Lucas laughed and shook his head, he was not in the mood for games. 'Don't play dumb with me, I know how close you two are and she wouldn't disappear without talkin' to you first...I wanna know where Gail is and I wanna know now' he demanded.

Billy glanced at Christie, who had backed up against his office door, then regarded Lucas cautiously. 'Christie has been with me all afternoon Lucas, she hasn't spoken to Gail' he advised, attempting to calm his friend down.

Lucas shot Billy a look of warning to keep out of this and was about to release his twin on Christie, when he heard her mobile telephone ring. Without hesitation, he approached her and reached into her jacket pocket, then pulled out her mobile. 'Where the hell are you?' Lucas demanded, when he answered the phone.

'Don't get your knickers in a twist...' Gail said sarcastically, unfazed by his tone. '...We're just out fishing'

'I won't ask you again Gail' Lucas warned calmly, disregarding the unimpressed look that Billy was giving him.

'I don't believe I appreciate your tone Sheriff' Gail mocked, then hung up the telephone.

Lucas stared at the mobile in disbelief, as he felt his rage rising within him. He knew they were not in Trinity, as he would have sensed them by now and this action of hers was going against the rules.

Lucas was aware that Christie was watching him carefully; therefore, he took a deep breath, forced a smile and then handed her the mobile telephone. 'That friend of yours has a death wish' he warned, then walked out of the office.

'Don't I know it...' Christie sighed, then turned to Billy. '...Is he always like this?'

Billy quickly closed the door when Lucas left, as though that would protect them from whatever was bothering him and ran his hand through his hair. 'The guy's a little intense' he shrugged, then held his hand out for Christie's telephone when it began to ring again.

Christie was not in the habit of allowing people to take her calls; however, she trusted Billy and was curious as to what had caused the town Sheriff to act in such an inappropriate way, therefore, she handed her mobile telephone to Billy.

'Wherever you are Gail, you need to get back here right now' Billy stated, as he leaned back on his desk.

'Oh Hi Christie, what a masculine voice you've taken...Put my damn friend on now!' Gail ordered impatiently, not happy that both Lucas and Billy had answered her phone.

Christie smiled when she heard Gail's demanding tone and took the telephone from Billy. 'He's only trying to help Gail, back off' Christie warned.

'Are you alright?' Gail asked concerned, she had not expected Lucas to be with Christie and she had reacted on instinct with him.

Christie laughed and shook her head. 'Apart from having an odd fear for my life from your other half, I'm peachy'

'He wouldn't dare touch you...'

'Should he be touching anyone?' Christie interrupted.

'Drop it...' Gail ordered and Christie could hear the frustration in her tone. '...I want you to meet me at Johnson's Bridge in 2 hours. Go find M and she'll show you the way'

'Why don't I just ask Billy' Christie asked and shot Billy a sweet smile.

'Oh come on, I know those hazel eyes aren't fooling you as much as you're pretending they are' Gail mocked knowingly.

Christie laughed and ran her hand through her hair. 'Alright bestie, I've got a few things I need to do first then I'll be there' she agreed and hung up the telephone, then perched herself next to Billy on his desk.

'Where is she?' Billy asked curiously.

Christie shook her head in a mock scolding gesture, then smiled. 'Hell if I'm going to tell the other side of the fence'

Billy smiled and nodded, he guessed he would be seen as an ally to Lucas Buck these days and did not blame her for being cautious. 'Alright, that's fair...I'm assuming you've got a bit of time before you have to rush off?'

Christie smiled, then shrugged. 'It depends, what are you suggesting?'

'Oh I don't know, I'm sure we can find something interesting to do in this small town' he laughed, then signaled for her to follow him back out of the office.

Lucas sat on his side porch, drinking a large glass of whiskey with his oldest friend Abe and staring out into his extravagant garden.

After he had visited Billy's office, his pent up frustration required a release and he had visited young Poppy Bowen with the aim of hurting his love; however, Abe had stepped in and ensured he did not do anything that would jeopardise his family.

It was a shame that his old friend had not been around when he visited Ernie Brown's farm earlier, the unfortunate tractor accident may not have occurred if his friend had recognised that he had needed supervision due to his bad mood. Oh well, Ernie was never the brightest of the bunch and the consequences of his rage being released could have been much worse. Ernie was lucky it was just a leg that he lost and the accident was not more fatal.

'I'm proud of you boy' Abe sighed and took a long sip of his drink.

Lucas turned towards Abe and narrowed his eyes at him. 'I'm not sure I've done anythin' worth that statement today' he advised.

Abe laughed and shook his head. 'You coulda blown what you got, but you didn't. I'd say that's progress' Abe shrugged.

Lucas smiled devilishly, thinking back to Ernie; however, he chose not to tarnish Abe's opinion of him today. Before he had a chance to comment, he heard the unmistakably loud engine of Gail's Mustang as it pulled into the driveway and saw Caleb rush through the gates.

'Lucas, guess what I did today?' he asked his Father excitedly.

Lucas forced a smile and glanced towards Gail, who was slowly approaching with Luke in her arms. 'Well you certainly weren't in school' he said unimpressed.

'We went fishin' in Thomasville and I caught some bass for dinner!' Caleb continued proudly, not catching on to Lucas' bad mood.

'Thomasville?' Lucas asked and shot Gail an irritated look.

Gail handed Lucas the baby, then bent down and placed a soft kiss on her Uncle Abe's forehead. 'Thank you for keeping out of it' she smiled and helped him out of the chair.

'You knew?' Lucas asked angrily, carefully standing up whilst holding Luke.

'It weren't my place...' Abe shrugged apologetically, '...Just like it wouldn't be my place to tell her what you got up to'

Lucas let out a long sigh and shook his head. He had not considered that Abe had been keeping something from him and he felt his rage begin to rise within him again.

Gail sensed the change in Lucas immediately, then took Luke from his Fathers arms and passed him to Abe. 'I need a word with my fiance...If anyone feels the need to get some fish carcasses out of my very expensive car, it would be much appreciated' she smiled sweetly, then took Lucas by the arm and led him around the back of the property.

Lucas could feel his twin clawing to be released and for the life of him he could not think of a reason not to adhere to it's wishes at the moment in time. He felt betrayed by his oldest friend and also by his senses, for not realising Abe would know the location of his family. He was not used to this feeling and he did not like it. The sound of Malcom's laughter ringing through his ears did not help the situation and he felt as though he was ready to explode.

Gail heard Malcom's laughter and sensed how angry Lucas was; however, she was still proud of her actions today and had never actually believed she would have gotten out of town with the children unchallenged. This gave her faith that she was not fully his yet and she was still able to present a challenge.

She had no doubt that her actions would cause him to retaliate on some poor soul and she did not want his focus on anyone close to her; therefore, she chose to do the one thing that he was not expecting her to do, in an attempt to calm him down.

Lucas was about to release his twin; however, he stopped when Gail knelt down in front of him, unzipped his pants and placed his manhood in her mouth. Lucas was taken aback by the quick action and let out a loud moan when she began to suck.

Gail smiled when she felt him relax and stroked her free hand up his stomach. Malcom's laughter ceased instantly when she ran her tongue up his hard manhood and nipped at his tip, in the way that he loved. She savoured the taste of him in her mouth and began to suck faster, the sound of his hoarse breath turned her on and she craved him inside of her; however, this act was just about him and she had no doubt she would have her turn later.

Lucas tangled his hands in Gail's hair and watched as she took him with her mouth, his ill feelings began to melt away and all that was left was his desire for her. As his climax rose within him, he continued to watch her. When the intense please became too much, he called her name as he exploded within her mouth and smiled when she swallowed his liquid. He pulled her up to him and kissed her passionately, ignoring the taste of himself on her lips.

Gail could barely breath from the force of his lips on hers and she took a deep breath when he allowed her to break free from the embrace. 'Better?' she asked mischievously.

'For now' he warned, then led her back to the front of the house and away from the lively spirits of late.

-To be continued-