Alexis waited for the door to shut before she exhaled. She was energized for the first time in weeks. It would have been unfair to say that none of it was due to Julian's arrival; their familiar rhythms and his physical presence would always form a connection that breathed life into her. But Alexis didn't *feel* like being fair to Julian: she attributed her boost solely to the adrenaline rush that accompanied defending her daughters.

She inventoried her current ensemble and quickly moved to her closet. For appearances sake, she'd need to appear casual—like they hadn't been expecting the police at their front door. And no mistake, they were coming. Well, they were coming unless they already had a suspect in custody, but Julian was fairly sure they hadn't. She briefly considered and rejected turning on the TV to the local news to confirm. But the last thing she needed was Sam walking in on the coverage and finding out about Silas that way.

Alexis settled on the smarter side of casual, something that provided a little reminder that she was the attorney who wiped the floor with PCPD evidence and cases on numerous occasions—that she was not to be trifled with. She figured she probably had about three more minutes of Sam questioning Julian before she emerged at the door. Makeup? Hair? Alexis looked in the mirror and opted for the latter. The conversation she was about to have with her daughter would ruin any mascara she may throw on. She would have to rely on her glasses to cover any evidence of crying.

As Alexis struggled with her hair, she shifted her thoughts to Silas. She couldn't believe he was dead, but she wasn't left bereft by his passing either. He had done some dishonorable things to her daughter: he had ripped Rafe from her and lied to her repeatedly throughout their relationship. Yet in spite of this, Sam restructured her life to help clear his name, using every tool at her disposal including her mother. And then when his wife came back mere hours after he professed his love for Sam, Silas cast her daughter aside like a mistress, a one-night stand. He chose the easy path instead of the hard one. It was reminiscent of Sonny and Ric, and Alexis was relieved that Sam and he split up. Her daughter deserved far better, a man with strength of conviction and character who would put her first and fight for her when things were hard. That was how Sam loved—why should her partner give any less?

But in spite of her feelings about Silas as a partner for her daughter, Alexis could not hate him or dismiss his passing for one incontrovertible fact: he had saved her grandson. Had he not seen the rash or run the tests or helped them find the right treatment the room down the hall would be empty, haunted by the absence of Danny. And this house was haunted enough.

Julian made his way downstairs and was confronted by a set of mini-Alexis twins complete with arms crossed and body language that flashed in neon "VERY VERY ANGRY." He stood at the foot of the stairs and was silent, waiting to see who would start first. Normally, he would have bet on Molly, but she would have started in on him by now. He guessed she was deferring to her older sister. Yes, the safe money was on Sam.

-"You've had your five minutes, now get out Julian." Sam's target of scorn smugly congratulated himself for selecting his daughter.

-"Your mother would like to see you upstairs, Sam." He reached into his back pocket to remove his wallet. "She asked me to stay here until you come down. And she asked me to give you this."

Sam looked at the dollar he had handed her. "What's this?"

-"Just take it with you. I'll be here when you're done."

-"I don't think I want you here, Julian. I think you should probably leave."

-"Sam, please," he looked at his daughter in the eye. "I know that you don't trust me, and I know that I've given you no reason to. But please trust your mother. She wants what's best for you, and she's asked that I stay until you both come downstairs."

Sam looked at her father. "Fine. I trust Mom." She added begrudgingly, "You can stay until we come down."

Molly stared at Sam, mouth slightly open, stunned by this turn in the conversation. "Sam. Seriously? How can you think this is OK?"

-"Molly, I'm doing as Mom asked," Sam sighed. "Look, I don't know what's happening and you don't either. Two people do. One of whom I trust implicitly."

-"This is ridiculous. Of *course* she's siding with Julian over your wishes. I'm not staying in the same room with him. I'm going to my room to work on my paper."

Julian raised an eyebrow at Molly and realized why Alexis had given him that little smile at the thought of him spending time with her youngest. Clearly this was a shared punishment.

-"Molly, your Mom asked that you stay down here with me until they both return," Julian stated flatly.

-"That's ridiculous." Molly rolled her eyes. "I have no intention of staying in the same room as the man responsible for my father's death."

-"Molly, PLEASE." Sam's raised voice stopped her younger sister dead in her tracks. "Julian is here. Mom asked him to stay. The one person in the whole world she LEAST wants to see except possibly for Helena. Something is going on. You just need to sit here. You can finish your paper at the table. Just keep your back to him and pretend he's not here."

For the second time in a day, Molly felt chastened by Sam's tone. "OK. I'll stay, but I'm not talking to him." That was as good a compromise as Sam was going to get. Sam walked to her sister and gave her a hug, whispering into her ear, "Thank you. I know it's hard, but it's only for a little while." Releasing Molly, Sam turned and headed up the stairs.

Julian waited until Sam was out of earshot before alerting Molly to her mother's next instruction. "One more thing, Molly: I'm the only one allowed to answer the door."

Sam knocked lightly on her mother's door, anxious about what awaited her on the other side.

-"Come on in, sweetheart."

As her father had been earlier, Sam too was shocked by her mother's appearance. Only this time Alexis was dressed as though she were heading out. Confusion set in. Was she going on a date with Julian? Did he talk her into this? Sam wasn't sure that the two of them sharing any time alone was a great idea at this point.

-"Mom? Are you OK? What's going on?"

Alexis smiled sadly at her daughter. "Did Julian give you something for me?"

Sam nodded, "I almost forgot, he asked me to give you this. Why didn't you just get it from him when he was here?"

-"We'll get to the dollar in a minute. But first I need to talk to you about something."

Alexis's tone electrified the hairs on the back of Sam's neck. "You're scaring me, Mom. Did something happen?" Her mother looked like she was trying to find the best way to share terrible news. The quiet was just making it worse. "Mom, just tell me."

Alexis put her hand on Sam's back and gently began stroking up and down; it was a maneuver her mother had used to soothe Danny multiple times. But right now it was anything but comforting—it was a bellwether of bad tidings.

-"Sam, Julian heard some news today."

-"OK. What did he hear?" Sam's voice was very small. Alexis edged closer to her daughter on the bed.

-"Silas died today, baby."

-"What?"

-"Silas passed away this afternoon"

-"What does that mean?" Sam's face contorted in puzzlement as she tried to reorder her mother's words in a way that made sense.

-"It means he's gone, baby. He's dead."

Sam shot up and started pacing. The pacing fueled the tears that in turn fueled a manic monologue of questions and exclamations.

-"That's not right. How is he passed away? That's ridiculous. He's healthy; he's fine. I mean he's a doctor for God's sakes. He WORKS in a hospital. If there were something wrong with him someone would have seen it. HE would have seen it. Remember how he saw Danny's rash and knew it was cancer?"

Alexis started to answer before it became clear that Sam's question was rhetorical. She continued to watch her daughter spin, looking for her moment to jump in.

-"So there's no way he's dead. Where would Julian have even HEARD that? Who would go to Julian? Why wouldn't anyone come to me?"

-"He heard from Kiki."

-"What did he hear from Kiki?"

-"He heard that Silas was dead. That he had been murdered."

Murder. And suddenly Sam believed her mother. She started pacing even faster and raged through her tears, "It was that bitch, wasn't it. That INSANE bitch he's married to. She did it, didn't she? She killed him?"

-"No, baby. I don't think she did."

-"Why would you say that, Mom? She had motive: her husband cheated on her 20 years ago when she entered her coma. And lo and behold, she wakes up 20 years later and he's cheating on her with someone else. Have you seen her, Mom? Talked to her? She's crazy. She's batshit crazy."

-"Baby, I'm not saying she didn't have motive. I'm saying she didn't kill him because Nina is dead, too."

That stopped Sam's pacing. "What?" she asked in a puzzled tone, her eyebrow raised in confusion. "How are they both dead?"

-"Someone killed them both, baby."

Sam collapsed on the bed and the tears started to fall. Alexis wrapped her arms around her daughter and rocked her, the tears streaming down her face and comingling with the ones on Sam's cheek.

-"Who would do this? Who would kill him? Oh God, Mom. Oh God, I loved him. How is he gone?" The sobs racked through her body as Alexis tried to absorb them.

-"I know sweetheart. I know, it's so unfair."

-"I thought it would be fine. He's a doctor, Mom. How does someone murder a pediatric oncologist? I can't believe this is happening again. AGAIN. He was the safe one, how is he murdered? Who would do this?"

Alexis continued to rock her until the spasms reduced to manageable levels. Sam lifted her tear-streamed face from her mother's shoulder. She wiped her nose on the back of her hand. "I'm sorry. I just…ugh I don't have a kleenex. Do you have one?"

Her mother jumped and grabbed the box of tissues from the bathroom. Sam's breathing was evening out.

-"I'm asking you who would do it, and the obvious answer is Ava, right? I mean she loves him. She was his mistress." Sam sighed, and added in a softer, thoughtful tone, "but Julian wouldn't be here if Ava did it. Well, he may be here, but he wouldn't have barged in. And he wouldn't still be downstairs."

Alexis stared at her daughter, content to let her finish her train of thought.

-"And look at you. I thought you and Dad were going on a date. I was afraid you were giving in," Sam laughed a little sadly. "But you're not dressed up for Dad, are you?"

Alexis shook her head slowly.

-"No, you're dressed up for someone else. Julian's downstairs because we're expecting company, aren't we?"

Alexis nodded her head.

-"Ava isn't the only mistress that Silas had that loved him. That dollar? That was your retainer, right?"

-"Yes," Alexis whispered.

Sam broke out into fresh sobs. "Mom, I never would do this. I would never kill him."

-"Of course not, baby. I don't think that. Your father doesn't think that. But we don't know details and until we do, we have to think like the police. And right now, you're a very easy suspect."

-"I know."

-"Sam, honey, there's a good chance the police are coming tonight. I'll be here with you, but I have to ask you a question, OK."

-"Ye- Yes" a new series of sobs blubbered out of Sam.

-"Baby, what did you do today?"

-"This morning, I met with Pa- Patrick, to see if we could brainstorm who could have forced Rafe into running them off the road."

-"When you say this morning…"

-"I'm s-s-sorry. I know you need a timeline." Sam sat up and took a deep breath. She peered through her swollen eyes at her mother and extended her hand towards the tissue box, wiggling her fingers. Alexis handed her a kleenex. Sam blew her nose.

She took a second deep breath. "I left this morning at around 8. Patrick and I met for breakfast at Kelly's. We were there until about 9:30 when we left to investigate a couple of potential leads in Patrick's case."

-"OK. Did you go to Silas's?"

-"Not today. But I was there yesterday." Alexis made a mental note to explore that avenue later.

-"So what leads were you following today?"

-"We were trying to find Rafe's dealer. At around 2, Patrick went to pick up Emma from camp. I got back here around 2:30. I played with Danny until about 3:30, then I put him down for a nap." Anticipating her mother's next question she added, "Molly was home around 3. She played with the two of us for a bit before she went to do her paper. I was bored in the house and Molly was here in case Danny woke up, so I left."

-"OK. Where did you go?"

Sam was quiet and she looked up at her mother. "I went for a drive. I thought about going to the mall, but it was a beautiful day today. It wasn't too humid, and it wasn't too hot, you know?"

-"Yes. It was lovely, especially for August."

-"Right. So I went to the lake."

Alexis looked at her. "You mean you went to the lake house?"

-"Yes."

-"OK. What time did you get there?"

-"I don't know. Four maybe?"

-"Did anyone see you, Sam?"

-"No, Mom. No one is out there. No one saw me at all."

-"OK." Alexis knew she had to hide the uneasiness she was feeling. "What time did you leave."

-"I came straight home, so I don't know. Maybe 6?"

Alexis looked at her daughter. "Honey what did you do at the lake for two hours?"

-"I had the files for Rafe's case. I looked at those for a while. And then with whatever time was left, I kind of zoned out thinking."

-"OK, sweetheart. That's enough for now. This is what I want you to do. I want you to go and lie down for a bit. I need to talk to your father for a few minutes, and then I'll come up and sit with you if you want."

-"But what if the police come?"

-"You're not in any shape to talk to them right now. Why don't we see how you feel when they get here? If you still can't talk to them, I'll make an appointment for the morning. Now you just lie down."

Sam looked up at her mother and threw her arms around her neck. "Thank you, Mom."