Merlyn sat in the Trinity Public Library, reading through the book Lucas had borrowed her from his own personal Library. Although Merlyn liked to believe she was not scared of anything, she did not want Matt to find her with this book as he would be suspicious of where she had gotten it. It was only a book; however, she suspected that Matt would take it that she had succumb to Lucas' charms.
'Well haven't you done just that Missy?' Lucas asked sarcastically, as he sat down beside her.
Merlyn rolled her eyes and closed the book carefully. 'I most certainly have not...What do you want?' she asked abruptly.
Lucas sat back in the chair and feigned a hurt look. 'Can't I just be checkin' up on a member of our family?'
'I ain't your family and you ain't mine, you wanna try again?' she said forcing a sweet tone.
Lucas reached for the book and opened it carefully. He was impressed that she had managed to get so far through it, considering to old style language it was written in. 'You know, there's plenty more where this came from should you require'
Merlyn shook her head in irritation. 'I don't require anythin' of you Lucas, now what are you botherin' me for?'
Lucas laughed and placed his arm around her shoulder. 'I'm not botherin' Merlyn Ann...like I said, I'm just checkin' up on you. Where's your mentor?'
'Which one?' Christie asked, as she approached the pair and placed her bag on the table.
Merlyn sensed Lucas' distrust of Christie and smiled, he should be distrustful with the secret meetings Gail and Christie were having recently.
Lucas put on his best southern gentleman smile and stood up to meet Christie. 'I was only aware of one Reporter coachin' our little M here, has Gail decided to join in?' he asked casually.
Christie laughed and put on her best warm smile. 'I wouldn't know what my friend is doing. We work for separate Newspapers, haven't you heard?' she asked sweetly.
Lucas noticed a new wave of confidence radiating off Christie and he began to wonder what she was up to. It was a good job he had accounted for Christie in his plans of late. 'I'm assumin' my love is hidin' herself away in our home, considerin' she's the talk of the town' Lucas shrugged.
'Now why would Gail be the talk of the town? The news of her having your baby has died down'
Lucas smiled devilishly and closed the distance between them. 'I'm sorry, I thought she would've confided in her best friend about the rock I got her' Lucas answered smugly.
'Excuse me?' Christie asked confused.
Merlyn had not thought about Christie after the happenings on Valentine's Day, she assumed Gail would have given her the heads up. 'They're engaged Christie' she said, not being able to stand Lucas' smugness.
Christie stared at Lucas with annoyance, Gail had chosen to leave that detail out and if his smugness was to be believed, it appeared she was the only one who was not aware of the news. Christie shook her head in irritation and stormed out of the Library.
'It appears my loves friendship may be under strain' Lucas laughed, then winked at Merlyn as he left her alone to her book.
Merlyn watched Lucas leave and let out a long sigh, she could not believe Gail had left herself open for him to attempt to drive a wedge between her and Christie. Merlyn closed the book and carefully put it into her bag, she needed to find her cousin before this got out of hand.
Gail sat on the Riverbank where Betty Maine's lifeless body had been dragged out of the water. She had attempted to go into town to continue her investigation into Walter's past; however, everywhere she went there was a resident who wanted to congratulate her and this was the only place she had found she could be truly alone.
Lucas had clearly worked this out so his townspeople would tie up her investigation, she could get no work done when the people she talked to only wanted to discuss her engagement and this was beginning to cause her frustration. Gail praised his cunning, his plan was working well and the engagement tied her to him officially; however, she could still use this to her advantage, she just needed to figure out the right way to go about it.
Gail had realised that Lucas was very much like her, he knew what he needed and would not stop until he found a way to get it. As soon as she had given herself over to him, she had realised her name could further his already powerful standing in this town. She was not naive and she would stand by her choices; however, she would not allow herself to be used as a pawn to further a mans standing, at least not without it benefiting herself.
She would play happy family while it suited her, there was no way of getting out of that as she was the mother of his child; however, she would not succumb to his ways and if he believed he could control her by making her his wife, Lucas had another thing coming.
A rustle of the trees in the clearing behind her caught her attention and she turned around to see Merlyn watching her. 'I want to be alone' Gail said and shook her head when she sensed Merlyn coming closer.
Merlyn sensed her cousin's frustration and had managed to pin point her location. It had taken her a while to get here; however, she was happy that her connection with Gail was still strong and she had found her. 'Are you alright?' she asked, as she sat down beside her cousin.
Gail laughed at Merlyn's inability to sense her intrusion and took a deep breath. 'I was' she sighed.
Merlyn glanced out into the water and felt sorrow at what had happened here. 'This truly was awful' she whispered.
Gail turned towards her cousin and caught a glimpse of innocence on her face. 'There's worse things, at least it was quick' she reassured her.
Merlyn nodded and thought of the poor boy who had drowned. She had been so busy trying to help with the story that she had not actually stopped to think about the tragedy.
'Sometimes it's better to throw yourself into work, dwelling on what happened isn't going to help anyone' Gail advised, reading her mind.
'How do you stop yourself from dwellin' on it?' Merlyn asked.
'I don't' Gail shrugged and thought back to the dreams of Betty that plagued her every night.
Merlyn sensed her cousins sadness and placed her hand on her shoulder. 'Christie's pissed at you' she said, thinking a change in subject might help.
Gail narrowed her eyes at her curiously. 'At me? Why?'
Merlyn let out a long sigh, then forced a smile. 'I'll give you one guess'
Gail rolled her eyes and shook her head. 'What's he done now?'
'It's what you didn't do' Merlyn said.
Gail continued to look at Merlyn confused, then the realisation hit her. 'That son of a bitch' she laughed in disbelief, then got up.
'Where are you goin'?' Merlyn asked, as she watched Gail pick up her back and head for the clearing.
'We're going to find Christie' Gail said and signaled for Merlyn to follow her.
Lucas sat in his office, sifting through incident reports. He had assured Ben he would take the information he had spent an inordinate amount of time on very seriously; however, he could not care less about parking tickets, or the odd resident speeding. His mind was preoccupied with how his plan was working, he was proud of himself for doing something Gail had not expected and now he wanted to witness the repercussions of his actions.
Lucas continued to glance over the incident reports, then moved them to one side and got up from behind his desk. He opened his minds eye and sensed Christie sat with Billy at the Coffee Shop across the road; therefore, he decided a coffee break was needed. Lucas left his office and signaled for Ben to follow him. 'Come on friend, we need some fresh air' he smiled wickedly and laughed when Ben rolled his eyes at him.
Ben followed obediently, not wanting to give Lucas any reason to teach him a lesson. He was unsure whether he liked the good mood Lucas appeared to be in and realised he did not, when he saw Billy sat with Gail's friend Christie across the street. Ben wanted the ground to swallow him up right now, he did not want any part in what Lucas was up to and had a bad feeling about how this was going to play out.
'Don't be so worried Ben...' Lucas reassured him amused, then pulled up a chair at Billy's table. '...Fancy seeing you good people here'
Christie glared at Lucas with irritation, then chose to ignore his presence and just smiled at Billy.
Billy shook his head at Lucas' interruption and took a sip of his black coffee. 'Haven't you got work to do?' Billy asked, hinting for Lucas to leave.
'Haven't you got a girlfriend?' Lucas asked sarcastically and smiled when Christie nearly choked on her cappuccino.
'Is there a law against talking Sheriff?' Christie asked defensively.
'There's a moral law against poachin' another woman's man...Don't you women have some sort of code when it comes to these things?' Lucas mocked.
'Depends on the other woman' Gail chimed in as she approached the group, then stood protectively behind Christie.
Christie was about to regard her friend, when two women from inside the Coffee Shop rushed over and grabbed Gail's left hand curiously.
'Oh dear that is beautiful, have you two set a date yet?' the older of the two women asked.
Gail instinctively ripped her hand free and shot Lucas a look of anger, when he just smiled smugly at her she put on her best smile and regarded the women pleasantly. 'Give us a chance' she forced a laugh and signaled for them to return to their table.
Lucas laughed as he stood up and pulled a chair beside him, then tapped it expectantly.
'It appears your fiance is summoning you bestie' Christie said sarcastically and smiled at the annoyance on her friends face.
Gail felt all eyes on her in the Coffee Shop and decided the best course of action was to play along; therefore, she forced a smile and went to sit beside Lucas, allowing him to place his arm possessively over her shoulder. 'I was going to tell you' Gail tried to explain.
'When? After the ceremony?' Christie snapped, irritated.
Gail rolled her eyes at her friends overreaction, then spotted Ben stood a short distance away from their table. 'You just going to stand there all afternoon?' she asked in frustration.
Ben knew Gail was projecting her irritation at him and grabbed a chair obediently, to join sat with the group. 'I guess I should congratulate you'
'I swear to God I'll punch you if you start too' Gail warned, then shot Ben an apologetic look when she realised she was taking her mood out on him.
Lucas took hold of Gail's left hand and kissed it softly. He was happy to perform for the gossiping biddies and this would all go in his favour.
Christie watched Lucas in disgust, then turned her attention to Gail. 'Seriously, what is this? You don't do marriage'
Gail let out a frustrated laugh and shook her head. 'Apparently I do now'
Christie regarded her friend suspiciously and guessed this was some possessive play made by her partner. She had sensed he was dominating and controlling; however, she never believed she would witness Gail being taken in by it. 'We're leaving, now!' she ordered Gail, then stood up and dragged her out of the Coffee Shop.
Lucas watched amused as the women left, then waved playfully at Merlyn who was waiting in Gail's Mustang.
'Did you have to drive her away?' Billy sighed.
'If I were you Billy-boy, I'd hope Selena doesn't stumble across your extra-curricular activities of late...That woman is all kinds of crazy' Lucas warned, then signaled for the Waitress to serve them.
Christie sat in the drivers seat of the Mustang, cruising down a long stretch of road. She had banished M to the back seat and wanted her friend up front with her.
Gail sat silently in the front passenger seat, Christie was the only other person she allowed to drive her car and the woman only took control when Gail had really screwed up. 'Christie I...'
'Shut up and let me think' Christie ordered and allowed her instincts to guide her. She loved this picturesque town; however, there was something rotten here and she could not shake the feeling that her best friend was allowing herself to be tied to it.
Merlyn watched the two women carefully, she had never witnessed Gail being controlled so easily and she was curious about the hold Christie had on her.
'Never you mind' Gail said to Merlyn, reading her mind and then glanced curiously around the large parking lot they had pulled into.
Christie got out of the car and slammed the door hard, then waited for Gail to follow her. She would deal with what was going on with her in time; however, right now she was sick and tired of this story dragging out.
Gail cringed when the door of her Mustang slammed hard and pushed down her instinct to lash out. She regarded Juniper House with disdain, then got out of the car and went to stand with her friend. 'You don't think I've tried several times to penetrate this dingy place?' she asked sarcastically.
'Why is it so hard to get in and look around?' Christie pondered out loud.
'What, your seduction methods on Billy haven't been working?...' Gail mocked, '...This place is like a fortress when they know who you are'
Christie nodded and leaned against the Mustang. 'I've been pulling out all the stops to get Billy to allow me to see Walter Maine, but they aren't working'
'At least you're having fun trying' Gail smiled knowingly, then pondered for a moment.
She sensed the men were still together in town. Lucas thought Christie had dragged her away to argue and knew his belief that he had won would buy her some time, before he sensed her presence here. Juniper House was unprotected by it's usual guards; however, there were still plenty of orderlies that were aware of who she and Christie were.
They could not just waltz in and make there way to Walter, especially with the gleaming rock on her finger getting everyone's attention. She could summon Gideon, and he would find a way in undetected; however, a dog could not ask the questions they required. There had to be another way, something she had not thought of. Suddenly it hit her and she turned her full attention to her cousin.
Merlyn paced behind the car, surveying her surroundings. She knew people did not like it here; however, she had felt at home here when Matt was locked up. This place was were people got discarded and she truly felt for them. Suddenly a strange feeling hit her and she turned around, to find Gail smiling at her. 'What?' she asked confused.
Gail's smile grew wider, an innocent girl like this wandering around the halls of Juniper House would not be challenged like her and Christie would be. She glanced around the parking lot and spotted Gideon skulking behind a tree, this was truly perfect. Gail nudged Christie and signaled for her to follow, then linked Merlyn's arm and led her towards Gideon.
'What's goin' on Gail?' Merlyn asked concerned, when she spotted Gideon.
'You've been shadowing Christie long enough, it's about time you got your hands dirty...You've got 5 minutes to regroup with Christie, then you're going in there with Gideon' she advised, then began routing in her bag for her notepad.
Christie smiled at the young girl and nodded. 'That would work, they'd never suspect a pretty little thing like you...How would she know where Walter is?'
Gail leaned down and stroked Gideon affectionately. 'My trusted companion will lead her right to him, won't you boy?' she asked and smiled when Gideon nuzzled into her neck playfully.
Merlyn shook her head in disbelief. 'I ain't goin' in there on my own...Lucas will seriously kill me!'
Christie did not like the genuine concern in the girls voice and turned towards Gail.
Gail stood up and placed two hands on Merlyn's shoulder. 'Over my dead body...' she reassured, '...Besides, Lucas is going to be busy'
'Busy with what?' Christie asked curiously.
'It's better if you don't know' Gail sighed and began to write in her notepad.
-To be continued-