A/N: I know that this chapter is short, but hopefully the next one will be longer.

Chapter Five: Flashback

Kendall's heels were clicking loudly on the concrete as she walked briskly through the casino parking lot. She was there looking for Zach; he'd been ignoring her calls all day so she had decided to go for a more direct method of contacting. He had to come back to his office sooner or later, and she would be there waiting for him; then they would discuss this.

Yes, she hated his helping Julia; yes, she just plain hated Julia. Yes, she was afraid for him; yes, Julia was probably going to get him killed. All of these things were still true, but she'd thought things over after their last fight, and she was ready to accept the fact that it was his choice. If he wanted to throw his life away for that whiny little bitch, she really didn't have a right to criticize. After all she hadn't listened to his opinion when she put her life on hold for Greenlee – of course, Greenlee was her best friend while Julia was practically a stranger to him, but that wasn't the point. Kendall was going to prove to her husband that she could be mature about the whole situation. And once he knew that she wasn't trying to interfere anymore maybe he would stop dodging her phone calls.

"Mrs. Slater," Kendall turned instinctively when she heard someone call her name.

She saw two men approaching and frowned in irritation. What did they want? "Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?" she asked forcing herself to smile. She owned half of this casino she reminded herself. They might be customers after all and casinos after all were a business in which customer relations were paramount.

"Your husband has been getting involved in things that don't concern him, Mrs. Slater," one of the men said, holding her attention while a third man crept up behind her.

"I don't know what you're taking about," Kendall answered swallowing nervously. She glancing over her shoulder at the third man and wished that the parking lot weren't so deserted. Keeping her eyes on the man in front of her she fumbled in her purse looking for her cell phone.

"I think you do," the spokesman replied. "Now how about you tell us where your husband is hiding Julia Keefer?"

The three of them surrounded Kendall now, clearly threatening. Her eyes darted around trying to watch all of them and find a way to escape at the same time. She looked over her shoulder at the casino, but it was still too far away for her to have any hope that she would be heard if she were to scream. "Listen," she said placatingly. "I really don't know what you're talking about. I don't keep tabs on what Zach's doing."

The man studied her for a moment before coming to a decision. He shook his head grabbing her arm, "Maybe you don't know anything, but that doesn't really matter at this point. Your husband needs to learn to mind his own business."

"I'll be sure to pass that along next time I see him," she snapped trying to pull away from him.

"I think we'll send that message our own way." he replied revealing the gun that had been hidden underneath his jacket. He allowed her to break free from his grasp but she'd only gotten a few steps before she heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire and felt a burning pain in her back.

Kendall cried out, falling to the pavement. "Hopefully, this will remind your hubby that he should focus his interests closer to home from now on. If not, well, he's next."

Crying in pain Kendall watched as the three men returned to their car and drove away. She struggled to rise, knowing that she needed to find help, but she couldn't seem to make her legs work. Finally, she managed to pull herself as far as her fallen purse. She dug through it pulling out her cell phone and tried to call for help. Nearly incoherent with pain and blood loss, she could only focus on one idea. "Zach," she whispered the name like a talisman. He'd help her, if she could just get him he would save her. Kendall's vision had already begun to go gray at the edges when she pressed the send button praying that he would answer while she was still conscious enough to tell him where to find her. The phone rang and rang, finally she heard his voice mail pick up just as the phone fell from her nerveless hands. Everything went dark.

Zach brought Kendall's twitching hand to his mouth, pressing a kiss to it as he wondered what she was seeing. The first time she had started to move that way he had summoned the doctor immediately, believing it was a sign that she was waking up. The doctor had denied it, warning Zach that Kendall's return to consciousness would be a slow process, and that in the meantime she might move around or even call out. At this level, he said, her comatose state was similar to a deep sleep, and as with sleep she might start dreaming.