Alex considered his options very carefully. He had the wrath of two very powerful men on his head, and Jamie hadn't reported back in days. His name had already been splashed on headlines too many times. He had started replication for advancements, to help people. But it had only caused him trouble. He had so badly wanted to be recognized. His father had practically disowned him when the first controversy had splashed its way across the headlines. He could only imagine what his father would do if this made it out. Alex's father was a strong willed man, with even stronger beliefs. Marcus Schuster was a man who had expected quite a lot from his children. Alex's older brother Derek had already become a successful defense attorney in his early twenties. He had his own firm and was known as being one of the best. The irony was that Alex might need to use his brother's services some day.
That thought seethed within Alex. His brother had been the one to help him change his name, and become a doctor here in Flowerbud. His older brother just loved to rub things like this in his face.
Lost in thought, Alex jumped when Vaughn burst through the door of the Sanatorium. He had the new stranger in town, Jack, in town. Alex groaned. Undoubtedly this would be more of Vaughn's hired muscle.
"What are you doing here?" Alex asked. "Vaughn it's late." The silver haired man looked angry. Alex suddenly realized his mistake. To the town he was known as Mark.
"You are an idiot!" Vaughn snarled. He threw his rucksack on the table.
"Shhh," Alex warned. Gina had been staying in the Sanatorium as of late. He didn't want her to wake up. The last thing he wanted to do was put a girl like her in danger. She certainly did not deserve it.
"You tell no one my real name!" Vaughn admonished Jack. Jack nodded casually.
"Understood," he replied. Vaughn seemed placated for the moment. He pulled out a picture from his vest, and passed it to Jack.
"We're looking for this girl," Vaughn replied. Jack took the picture gently. He stared at the girl looking back at him. She was pale and dressed in a hospital gown. The poor girl looked terrified and in pain. Jack memorized everything about her face. This information would be helpful.
"What's her name?" Jack asked.
"She doesn't have one Vaughn replied.
"Rachel," Alex stated simultaneously. Vaughn sneered. Alex had insisted on naming her. Even though she was only going to be used for harvesting organs.
"How can she not have a name?" Jack asked pretending to be confused. It sounded like Gwen's human replication theory was not so far off.
"That's not important," Vaughn snapped. "What's important is finding her." Vaughn snatched the picture back.
"Mysterious is not my thing," Jack replied. He was trying to pry more information out of them.
"Oh for Goddess, sake!" Alex sighed. "She's a human replica. I created her and named her." Jack did his best to look confused. Gwen had suspected this from the start. Gwen had always been good at putting the puzzle pieces together.
"I don't understand," Jack said.
"Look all you need to know is that my sister is dying, and her life depends on us finding this girl!" Vaughn shouted.
"Shhh!" Alex warned. Vaughn sighed and settled into a chair.
"So what do I need to do?" Jack asked.
Gwen found herself sinking even further in despair. She hadn't been allowed to work on Kurt's case. The work that used to fulfill her, felt stifling. Kurt had been her everything, her dose of fresh air. Now he was gone. She couldn't get involved in his case. It hadn't stopped her from looking into the case as much as she could. She knew it had to be Vaughn who killed him. The shrill ring of her home phone jolted her out of her thoughts.
"Hello?" Gwen asked. Very few people would call her at this time of night. Most people in Flowerbud didn't even use their phones.
"Gwen, I'm in!" Jack stated.
"Really?" Gwen asked. "What did you find out?"
"A lot, you were right about your hunch about the doc. But I think there's more to it than that, I need to investigate this more," Jack replied.
"Keep me updated," Gwen stated. She wrapped up the conversation. She didn't feel like talking anymore. Her whole body ached with pain as a result of her heartache. Having a conversation about this was not something she wanted to do. She was angry that Kurt had gotten caught up in all of this. Gwen sighed. She vowed to get revenge one way or another.
Rachel settled herself into the bedroom Sanjay had offered her. Amir was away visiting his country. Rachel was a bit relieved as Amir often made her very uncomfortable. For some reason his blatant flirting made her feel quite self conscious. It was possibly enhanced due to her feelings for Sanjay. Rachel wanted to be careful though. She was not sure what it meant to be a replication of another human. If she were, there could be ramifications about it. She didn't want someone to get involved with her before she knew more about herself. There was a light knock at Rachel's door.
"Come in!" Rachel called out lightly. Sanjay opened the door. He had a tray in his hand.
"I figured you are probably chilled to the bone being outside in the cold Autumn rain," Sanjay replied. I've brought you a tray with some chamomile tea and some pastries." He sat on the edge if the bed. Rachel flushed at being waited on. She hadn't expected this kind of treatment.
"You didn't have to do that," Rachel stated.
"I wanted to," Sanjay said. Rachel picked up the cup of tea, there was a hint of lemon and honey added. It was a nice touch.
"How did you become a servant and friend to a prince?" Rachel asked.
"Ah yes, that is quite a story," Sanjay stated. "My father was a body guard to the King, Amir's father. He saved his life, by taking a bullet for him. With his dying breath, he asked the King to take care of me. So I moved to the castle, and when Prince Amir was born became his steward."
"Wow," Rachel sighed. "That is quite a story." She took another sip of her tea. She felt comfortable, warm, and tired. A yawn slipped out of her mouth.
"How rude of me keeping you awake," Sanjay said.
"Not at all!" Rachel insisted. "Thank you for the tea."
"You're welcome, fair lady," Sanjay replied. He gathered up the tray. "Sleep well."
"You too," Rachel replied.
Henry stood begrudgingly in Dunhill's house with the money he owed. He had wanted to buy a tractor to make working the fields easier, but he saw that wasn't going to happen any time soon. He was more upset about Felicity walking out on him. It was true that he was not as loving and accepting as his wife, but he had always wanted to protect and take care of her.
It infuriated him how everyone in town seemed to want to protect her. They knew nothing about her. For all they knew she could be lying and be dangerous. And now because he had exercised some caution, he was being punished.
"Mr. Jones," Dunhill stated. He was all business. There was no tone of friendliness that Dunhill typically adopted. "Just need the money, and for you to sign here." Henry looked at Dunhill to make sure he was being serious. There was no humor in the man's expression. Henry sighed and handed over the money. Grabbing the paper her signed hastily.
"Are we done now?" Henry asked.
"Quite," Dunhill replied. Henry nodded and left the mayor's house. He glanced over at Chez Clement where Felicity was sure to be working. He sighed. Even though he wanted to see her, he knew right now it would be better to give her some time. Instead he turned down the path toward his home.
Jamie finally felt good enough to leave the clinic. He was still a bit fuzzy about what had happened, but apparently somewhere between the last town and this one, he'd been injured, that was evident, but everything else was unclear. He made his way for the mayor's house. If anything the Mayor would know if a strange girl had passed through. He saw the old man out in front of his lawn raking up leaves.
"Hello!" Jamie called out. The man looked up. He stopped working and made his way over to Jamie.
"Nice to see you awake young man," Dunhill replied. "I'm the mayor of this town, Dunhill, what can I do for ya?"
"Name's Jamie, I am currently looking for my sister," he pulled the picture out of hi pocket. "There's been some kind of accident and she's been missing for weeks!" Dunhill tried to look sympathetic. The first time this'll had come into town he had claimed that he was looking for his wife.
"Gotta picture?" Dunhill asked. Jamie nodded and produced a photos from his wallet. Dunhill accepted knowing that it was going to be a picture is Rachel. He had seen it when Jamie had first come into town. Dunhill looked at the photo stunned. Rachel appeared to be in fear and pain, when that photo was snapped.
"Have you seen her?" Jamie asked.
Nope," Dunhill answered nonchalantly. Jamie sighed. He really was getting no where and fast. But he did not want to come back to Vaughn empty handed. Not after what had happened to Kurt.
Jamie walked to the town's small inn feeling dejected. He was growing impatient with this entire situation. He was regretting getting involved, even though the money was good. It wasn't worth the hassle and the danger. It hadn't helped that he had stupidly fallen for the girl