Manny Vargas pulled his coat close to him and finally zipped it up. Normally, he didn’t like wearing his coat zipped; it made him feel almost claustrophobic, but today he welcomed the warmth it provided while he busily fed the horses.

He was relieved that it was Friday, which meant that Jillian would be in school until around three o’clock…which in turn meant that he wouldn’t have to see her today, at least for a while. He thought it best if they didn’t see each other again, if that was what she wanted.

A coal-black mare galloped into the stable entrance and Manny squinted his eyes to see who was riding it.

Lucas Krebbs barked a command for the horse to stop and tugged on the reigns before jumping to the ground.

“Man, what’re you doing riding in weather like this?” Manny wondered aloud. He walked over to the horse and rubbed her silky black nose.

“Not much else to do when you’re skipping school.”

Manny laughed and began to wipe down the horse, which was covered in beads of misted rain. “I know what you mean, I skipped every now and then too.”

“Hey…” Lucas followed Manny across the barn. “What do you think of Isabel?”

Lucas’ question caught Manny off-guard and he pondered if for several seconds. “She’s a nice girl…full of energy, that’s for sure.”

“Ok…” Lucas absorbed his answer while preparing his next question. “What do you think she thinks of me?”

Manny grinned. “Ohh, I see…you like her don’t you?”

“Hey, I didn’t say that…just answer my question.”

“Well, she sure was snuggling awfully close to you on the roller coaster at the carnival.”

“She was probably just scared.”

Manny laughed again. “Isabel scared? I’d bet she’s never been scared in her life. She was faking it just to get closer to you.”

Lucas’ face lit up. “You think so?”

“From what I know of Isabel, it’s a safe bet.”

The sixteen-year-old turned away from Manny and looked back out into the misty morning rain. “Is she working today? I mean, is she at Southfork?”

“Yeah, I think she is.”

Lucas smiled. “Thanks Man…I think I’m gonna go talk to her.”

Against Don’s better judgment, Bobby had decided to choose someone from outside of the company. Part of the problem with Wentworth was that it needed fresh, new ideas. He was hoping that hiring someone from the outside would help in that area. The only problem now was deciding between these two candidates. Both were so qualified, it was going to be hard to choose.

BUZZ. “Yeah, Sandra?”

“Mr. Ewing, you asked me to remind you about the party today for David Smith. It’s getting ready to start down in the main conference room.”

“Thank you Sandra.” Bobby got up and grabbed his suit jacket. Bobby didn’t know David very well, but he figured he should still put in an appearance since the guy was retiring from upper level management.

Bobby suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. He had just found the answer to his problem. He walked back over to his desk and grabbed a post-it. On one he wrote, ‘Vice President’ and on the other, he wrote ‘Upper Management, Dave Smith’s old job’. He happily walked to the outer office and deposited the files on Sandra’s desk asking her to type up letters for each of them containing offers of employment.

Bobby walked off down the hallway glad to have that decision out of the way. What he didn’t know was that one of the two ‘applicants’ knew Eric Stone very well.

“Oh Daddy! It’s beautiful…” Ellie ran her hand across the chest’s fresh-smelling wood and took a moment to admire the designs on it. “What do the designs mean?”

Aaron Southworth took a deep breath from his pipe. “It’s the Southworth coat-of-arms. See the cattle in it? And of course the S stands for Southworth.”

Ellie smiled and looked over at her older brother, who was admiring his as well. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they Garrison?”

“That they are Eleanor…” Garrison hoped to use his chest for traveling the world someday, but now that Emily had announced she was pregnant, he doubted he’d ever get to. Emily hugged him tightly and Garrison loosely returned the hug.

“These are the only two like them in the world,” Aaron added. “I had a Dutch woodworker make them and then had them flown over.”

Ellie hugged her father. “Thank you Daddy…this is the best Christmas gift anyone’s ever given me.”

As she slid it toward the attic opening, there was a nagging thought at the back of her mind. What ever happened to Garrison’s chest?

After opening it, Helen again pulled out the yellowed wedding dress and put it to the side. She delved deeper into the chest as the rain outside picked up, splattering against the window. She pulled out more old clothes and once they were all out, she saw the stack of papers and a tiny leather-bound book.

Helen sifted through the papers until she found a framed photograph of a young redheaded man and she cradled it against her chest. “Oh Daddy…you might still be with us today if Ellie Ewing hadn’t caused you to leave.” Helen put the photograph to the side and pulled out the diary of her deceased mother—the diary that she hadn’t yet been able to allow herself to read.

Helen caressed the worn leather cover and once again contemplated opening and reading it, but she knew she wouldn’t—not today.

Again, Helen packed everything back, one by one, into the trunk with care and then she closed and locked it, pocketing the key.

Sighing, Helen left the room and flipped off the lights.

“Hey there Lucas.”

Lucas had never been at a loss of words before, but he’d always heard there was a first time for everything. He was taken aback by how beautiful Isabel was with her curly black hair tied loosely behind her head, a few strands of it straying down the sides of her face against her deeply tanned skin.

“Earth to Lucas!”

Lucas shook his head. “Sorry, guess I zonked out there for a second.”

Isabel batted her long eyelashes. “I guess I have that effect on men, don’t I?”

“Yeah you do.” Lucas tried to cover his mouth at the last second, but it slipped out, leaving them both in a very awkward situation.

“Lucas Krebbs, did you know you’re awfully cute when you’re embarrassed?”

Lucas’ already red face turned and even deeper shade of crimson. “God, I’m such an idiot sometimes,” he muttered under his breath.

“What’s that?”

“Isabel, I had a lot of fun at the carnival,” Lucas continued gazing at her.

“Yeah, me too. It was a blast!”

“So I was wondering, since we both enjoyed it…if you’d like to go somewhere with me tonight? Maybe dinner and a movie or something?”

Isabel decided to play this for all it was worth and stall a bit…just to make him sweat. “I dunno…I may have something else to do tonight.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’m supposed to mop floors and stuff.”

“Oh. Well…maybe we can go out some other time?”

Isabel smiled and nodded. “Sure, some other time.”

Lucas returned her smile and turned around and began to walk back toward the stables when Isabel called out to him.

“Lucas…”

Lucas turned around. “Yeah?”

“I’m just kidding. I’d love to go out with you tonight.”

“I need to talk to you.” Her tone was serious, yet JR sensed a subtle change. It lacked the confidence of the Sue Ellen he knew of the last fifteen years. Things had been strained between them since Arkansas. She obviously felt uncomfortable. It was hard for him to admit that he did as well.

“I thought you were at Barnes’s today. Did the idiot think it was Saturday?”

“I’m not with the Clifford Group anymore.” Sue Ellen didn’t want to mince words. Part of her was scared to admit to J.R. that she had decided to be at Ewing Oil fulltime now. But another part of her was excited.

“What?”

“I’ve told Cliff that I’m leaving. I want to devote my full attention to Ewing Oil. I was wearing myself thin.” She was sitting now, her posture erect. It was the pose of a confident and determined woman; she only wished she was as sure of herself as she seemed. God, why did she feel like a scared schoolgirl? J.R. never made her feel like this before. She was always so mad when she saw him, she could hardly remember a time when simply seeing his face hadn’t infuriated her. Dammit, why didn’t she feel that way now?

“Well you go right back there and you tell him that you’re coming back. Ewing Oil’s doing just fine with things the way they are.”

“It can do better. I’m not going back.”

’ “Yes you are. This is my company, woman. I don’t need you breathing down my neck every two seconds." J.R. was furious. But he was holding back. Why? What was wrong with him?

Now she was feeling it again, that anger. “Don’t you dare condescend to me. I own 50% of this company, ‘darlin’, so don’t go getting too comfortable ordering me around.” God, there was something about him! It was like she was drawn to him. She was so mad at him, but there was this spark that she felt too! What the hell was wrong with her?

“50% of MY company. 50% that you schemed and plotted to get, if I do recall.”

“Oh, sound like familiar tactics? I wonder why?”

“Don’t you go doing this out of some kind of twisted revenge tactic.”

“Revenge for what? Have you done something to me that I’m not aware of?” Her tone was thick with condescension.

“Arkansas. Don’t deny it honey. You’re ticked because you shot your mouth off and now you’re embarrassed.” He was mad at her, but part of him wanted to say that just to get it out in the open. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to know how she felt. J.R. was scared, but he was more scared to admit his fear. He was out of control. He didn’t know how Sue Ellen felt, but he knew how he did. Dammit, he was getting soft!

“That has nothing to do with this!” But did it?

“Oh I find it hard to believe that this company is coasting along with me you at the Clifford Group, then you up and admit you care for me and then you decide to devote all your attention to my company? Mad that I didn’t embarrass myself like you did?”

“You son of a bitch. This has nothing to do with Arkansas! And don’t you even try to make me seem like the bad party. YOU said just as much as I did!”

“You brought it up!”

“You kissed me!” She snapped back in defiance. She threw her hands in the air and got up, pacing the room. She reached her hands to her forehead, then threw them down in a wave of frustration. “This is ridiculous. We’re acting like third graders.” She turned to look at him. “We need to talk about what happened.”

“What happened was you went and tried to steal my damn company from me, and now you’re trying to do it again!”

“Will you stop that!” She walked right over to his desk and looked him in the eye. “This has nothing to do with Ewing Oil! This has to do with us!”

“Us was a long time ago, Sue Ellen.” J.R. stated with a bit more sincerity. He wanted to kiss her again, but he was fighting it.

“You told me that you still cared. You said you were sorry for hurting me. About Cally, the drinking---everything.” Her eyes were starting to well up. “You said you were sorry.”

J.R. was silent for a moment. “I didn’t want to hurt you.” He didn’t fight that. He meant it.

Sue Ellen looked at him. Neither of them knew how long the look lasted, but it felt like a million years. Each of them longed to feel the other one, to kiss them. They were scared though. There was too much history, and too much hurt.

“What’s happening to us?” Sue Ellen finally said. She didn’t even think about the words that came out of her mouth.

“You said you loved me.” J.R. didn’t either.

Reality suddenly hit her. She wasn’t going to let him have the upper hand, not again. “I was confused. The whole plane landing…it shook me up. And you kissed me!” She was quick to point out the latter, once again.

“Who’s playing third grader now?” J.R. shot back with a sly grin. A part of her wanted to slap his, but a part of her wanted to smile back, but she wouldn’t let herself. She took a deep breath. “We’re partners. That’s it. We are partners, and that’s how we are going to behave towards one another.”

She walked towards the door. She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. She couldn’t. “We’re not done, Sue Ellen,” J.R. called after her.

“Yes we are,” she said as she walked out, her voice a mixture of defiance and annoyance. She whispered to herself as she walked down towards her office, “We have to be.”

J.R. was left sitting in his office, trying to shake the sinking feeling of being alone. Very alone.

Pam smiled, “It’s not Chinese, that’s for sure. It’s Italian.”

Cliff scowled. “I don’t know what you have against Chinese food.” He picked up the menu and began to study it. After a moment, he tossed it back on the table. “All of these dishes look the same. You just order for me.”

The waiter appeared and took their drink orders. Pam put down her menu. “I think we’re ready to order our food now, too. We’ll both have the Chicken Parmesan.”

They handed their menus back to the waiter, who then disappeared.

Cliff sat glumly staring down at the table. “Cliff? Cliff?”

He looked up. “Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m sorry. Guess I’m not great company tonight.”

Pam smiled slightly, “Oh? You mean just because when you’re not complaining, you’re staring at the tablecloth?” She reached out and touched his hand. “Come on, what’s wrong Cliff?”

“You know me too well.”

“I’d like to take credit, but you’re not all that hard to figure out. So are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“It’s the business. You know that new drilling system I told you about?”

“The one that’s going to make off shore drilling faster?”

“Yeah, well, it seems there’s just one little problem. I put it out on one of our wells and it leaked.”

“Cliff, that’s awful!”

Cliff buried his head in his hands. “I know. I can’t believe it. All that oil, lost. And now they’ve shut down the well.”

“I’m sorry you lost some oil, but if it was leaking into the ocean, then they should have shut it down.”

“Pam! It wasn’t leaking that much. I need that oil… remember I have a contract that I have to keep. If I don’t deliver the oil, Rex Wentworth will own my company!”

Pam paused, there was no sense in trying to convince Cliff that the government had done the right thing in protecting the environment when all he could see right now was the effect the shut down was having on him personally. “I know you’re upset, but is there anything you can do about it that you’re not already doing?”

The waiter returned with their drinks and Cliff took a big gulp of his. “No. All I can do is sit and wait on them to clean it up and to work out the bugs in the drill. And I do still have a while before the next installment of oil is due.”

“Well then, you have to stop worrying about it. What you need is another project that will keep your mind busy.” Just then the waiter reappeared with their food. Both plates looked wonderful. The tender chicken was covered in a rich tomato sauce and lots of cheese with Fettuccini Alfredo on the side.

Pam picked up her fork, “This looks delicious.”

Cliff looked doubtful. “So this is the way it’s supposed to look?” He took a bite. “Well, it’s no egg roll, but I guess it’s okay. You are paying, right?” They both laughed.

Lucas couldn’t believe it either. How could he have been such an idiot on his first real date? “I didn’t think about it.”

“Obviously not!”

Isabel scanned a nearby parking lot and watched as lady in her seventies stepped out of a car and hobbled up to a convenience store. “What’re you looking at?” Lucas asked.

A small grin spread across Isabel’s face. “Maybe all’s not lost…I think we can still have some fun tonight. Come on…”

Lucas shrugged and followed Isabel, but he stopped when he saw what she was about to do. Isabel pulled open the door to the old lady’s car, which was still running, and climbed in. “Isabel!”

“C’mon!” Isabel gestured to the passenger door.

“No way! We could get in serious trouble for this,” Lucas protested.

“Relax…we’ll take the car for a little ride and then leave it on the side of the road…no one will ever know it was us.” Isabel shifted the car into reverse and began to pull away. She glanced into the side window of the store and her heart jumped when she saw that the old lady was in the process of paying for her jug of milk and bag of cat food.

“It’s now or never Lucas! Are you with me or not?”

Lucas stood steadfast in the parking lot, but a shout sent him running around the car, where he hopped into the passenger’s side. “What’re you kids doing to my car!” the woman shouted, shaking her fist. Isabel stepped on the gas pedal and they took off. The old woman dropped her cat food and jug of milk and ran after them as fast as she could, but only made it to the edge of the parking lot where she almost doubled over, panting to catch her breath. “You kids’ll be damned to hell for this!” she shouted after them malevolently.

Lucas clenched the door handle and finally slammed it shut before sinking deep into his seat. “What’ve we done…?” He wasn’t at all amused when he saw that Isabel was smiling.

“What a rush…”

“We stole a little old lady’s car.”

“Little old lady? Crabby old bat was more like it! Did ya hear the way she was yelling at us?” Isabel turned up her lip and began to imitate the old lady. “You kids’ll be damned to hell for this!”

Lucas snickered and tried to turn away to hide it. He didn’t want Isabel to know that he found her funny—not after what they had just pulled.

“I heard that…you’re enjoying this too.”

“No way, I’m scared to death.”

Isabel turned to look at him. “Fraidy cat. Don’t worry, everything’s gonna be al…oh shit!”

Isabel pulled hard on the steering wheel and she screamed as she saw the eighteen-wheeler’s headlights blaring at her from a frighteningly close distance.

Suddenly, the phone rang, giving Val a start. She quickly answered it. “Hello, Lancaster residence.”

“Hello Val!”

“Yes, who is this?”

“Ha! I knew it wasn’t Lucy, so it had to be you!”

“Yes, it’s me, but who is this?”

“Aw, you mean you don’t know my voice? I’m truly hurt.”

Val wasn’t in the mood for games. But she had figured out who the caller was. “Thank you for that little diversion, Cliff, now if you’ll excuse me…”

“No! Wait, wait! I have something serious to talk to you about.”

Val didn’t try to hide the impatience in her voice. “Cliff, I didn’t think it was possible for you to be serious.”

Cliff ignored that comment. “I had dinner with my sister last night and she had a great suggestion.” There was silence on the line. “Hello? Are you still there?”

“I’m still here, but only because I like Pam, though I often wonder how she got you for a brother.”

Cliff smiled; he liked Val’s feistiness. “Just lucky, I guess. Anyway, I’ve been having some problems at work lately and she suggested that I get involved in a new project to get my mind off of them. That’s where you come in! Together, you and I are going to write a best seller. Remember – The Cliff Barnes Story?”

Val was speechless. This man had no shame. “Cliff, I already told you that I don’t write comedy.”

Cliff chuckled, “Look, I’m serious. It’s perfect for both of us. You need some inspiration, which I’m full of, and I need a writer. And best of all, you can name your price.”

Val was annoyed, but found herself smiling just a little bit. This guy just didn’t give up. “How many times do I have to say this? I’m NOT writing your biography! You couldn’t pay me enough to do it!”

Cliff wasn’t giving up. “Come on Val, everyone has a price.”

Let me put it in simple terms, “As long as I’m living, you will never see your name next to mine on the cover of a book. And that’s final.”

Cliff laughed, “Okay, okay, but don’t be so quick to say no, Val… I’m a pretty charming and persistent guy and you ain’t seen nothing yet!”

When Val hung up the phone, she was surprised to hear herself laughing out loud. He was right about one thing; he was persistent. But she would never believe the charming part! But Val should have known to never say never.

As soon as the car stopped, Lucas unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over to check on Isabel, who was conscious, but shaken. “Isabel? You okay?”

She touched a bleeding gash on her forehead and noticed the blood on her fingers. “Am I alive?” she asked, half comically.

Off in the distance, a police siren wailed and Lucas’ eyes widened. “Oh crap…that lady must’ve called the cops.”

“C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

Lucas pushed on the door, but it slammed against a tree, leaving only a six-inch opening. “Try yours…”

Isabel jiggled the door handle and after several attempts, it gave way and the door swung open. Isabel climbed out of the car and Lucas followed her and they both stood on weak knees as they contemplated their next move.

Isabel put her fingers to her throbbing temples. What had they gotten themselves into? Her eyes wandered over to the dark patch of woods that faced the highway. “This way…”

The police siren grew deafeningly loud just as they reached the cover of the forest and Lucas slid down to his feet and rested on the moss-carpeted forest floor. “I can’t believe what we’re getting ourselves into!”

“Hey mister, you’ve gotten yourself into some other stuff before! Aunt Theresa told me about all the trouble you caused in Donna Dowling’s mayoral campaign last summer! Vandalizing posters and buildings?”

Lucas grinned sheepishly. “Okay, so maybe I have had run-ins with the law before, but never over stealing an old lady’s car, wrecking it, then running from the police!”

“No time to talk now, they’ll be searching the woods just as soon as they find out we left the car…come on.” Isabel all but jerked Lucas’ arm out of the socket when she pulled him deeper into the forest. Back on the highway, a car door slammed.

“Eric?” The voice whispered.

“Yeah, it’s me. Where are you?”

“I’m in. I can’t believe I got the job, but I’m in.”

“I can believe it. I told you it was right up your alley. You’re over-qualified for it, at least you are on that fake resume we had fixed up for you!”

“Ok, look, I only have a minute. I’m heading down to the security department now. I need to ‘secure’ one of the badges to gain clearance into the labs. Wish me luck.”

“Don’t worry about luck, just be sure you get the right software.”

“I don’t bungle jobs, you just get ready with the money. Bye.”

Eric hung up the phone. Everything was going just as he planned and somewhere at Wentworth Tool and Die right now, someone was stealing a security badge and breaking into the research lab. And if all went well, tomorrow afternoon, The Clifford Group might be announcing it’s brand new technology to the world. Eric could just see the proud look on Cliff’s face.

A wave of nervous dread and anticipation flooded Neil’s body as Dr. Everett walked to his bedside. “Good morning Lucy, Neil.”

Neil wasn’t interested in casual greetings. “What did you find doctor?”

Dr. Everett looked at Lucy and then Neil before sighing and licking his lip. “I’m afraid the news isn’t good.”

Lucy’s face fell and her body tingled. “Tell us…”

“Neil, you have cancer of the lymph nodes…in advanced stages.”

“No…Neil…” Lucy buried her face in Neil’s chest and sobbed.

Neil, who was taking the news better than Lucy, began to fire questions at the doctor. “Are we sure about this?”

Dr. Everett nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

“But it’s treatable, right?”

The doctor hesitated. “Well, it would have been, had we caught it earlier. Even then it would have been hard to overcome…but now…”

“What?” Neil asked. He ran his fingers through Lucy’s blonde hair. “Are you saying that I’m going to die? That there’s absolutely nothing we can do to beat this?”

“Yes Neil…that’s what I’m saying. The cancer…it’s developed and spread so much.”

Lucy pulled away from Neil and her eyes were red and puffy from crying. “Don’t you know who I am!” she snapped. “I am a Ewing…I can afford the best treatment there is. Neil will not die.”

“Lucy, you are welcome to select a path of treatment for this, but the chances of Neil making a recovery are slim to none.”

“Then I’ll find a new doctor…we’ll go to Europe and find a specialist there! People overcome cancer everyday. This is the year 2000 for crying out loud!”

Neil, who was now in a state of shock, remained silent.

“As I said Lucy, you can try treatments…and you’re most welcome to get a second opinion on this.”

“You are damned right I’ll get a second opinion! And I’ll get a third…and a fourth if that’s what it takes!” Tears streamed down Lucy’s face and she made no attempt to wipe them away. She turned back and looked at Neil, who seemed to be staring off in space at nothing in particular. To Lucy, at that moment, he seemed to look so pale…so sick. How could they have not known about this sooner? Could Lucy have noticed the signs if she’d stuck by his side instead of moving out?

Eric jumped up out of his chair. He hit the intercom button. “Great! Send him in.” He walked across the room and opened the door just as ‘Ace’ was getting ready to knock. Eric grabbed him by the hand. “Ace, buddy! How ya been?”

“I’m cool, man, I’m cool.” Ace walked in and began to look around Eric’s office. “But look at you, man. Big fancy desk, leather chairs,” he walked over to the window. “Great view.”

“Like it here, huh?”

Ace stopped and looked at Eric. “Yeah, well, you know, it’s cool for a guy like you, but for me… I can’t be tied down to no desk.”

Eric chuckled, same old Ace. “I know but I’ve got a proposition for you.”

Ace smiled, “Any proposition that involves me and a desk is getting you nowhere, my man!”

“Just hear me out. Have a seat.” Ace eyed all of the expensive furniture and took a seat on the floor. Eric just shook his head, before stiffly bending over to join him there. “Okay. I need someone who can come in here and take over in the research department as a new ‘hot shot’ engineer. You’re perfect for it. I know you don’t like the idea of working for big business, but it’ll only be for a little while.”

Ace leaned back on his elbows. “Man, why would I want to do that? You know, if I wanted a job like this, I could put on an expensive monkey suit like you and have any job I wanted.”

Eric nodded vigorously, “I know you could. You graduated at the very top of our college class. And that’s my whole point…”

“No, man, that’s my point. I don’t want that. I’m happy, carefree and independent. Now why would I want to ruin that?”

“For an old friend.” Ace shook his head ‘no’. Eric stood up and suddenly got very serious. “Well, there is the matter of some old video tape that I own.”

Ace sat up. “Hey man! That stuff was taken just for fun! You said you were gonna burn it.”

“And I will, just as soon as you do me a little favor.”

Ace just stared at him.

“All I want you to do is work here for a little while. And when a friend of mine brings in some software program, I need you to look at it and tell me if it’s good, if it’ll work…and then I want you to take credit for inventing it.”

“What? No way, man! You’re out of your friggin mind. You’re talking about corporate espionage, here. I’m not doin that, I’ll end up back in jail.”

“Ace, I need you. I need a guy who’s bright enough to pull it off – that’s you. And, of course, if you don’t do it, there is the little matter of the tape.”

Ace sighed, “All right, man, you’ve got me. I guess I do have a price. But when this job is done, you’re gonna burn that tape right there in that expensive ashtray.”

Eric laughed, “It’s a vase.”

Ace was completely serious. “Whatever, man. As long as that thing burns.”

Rex was holding a meeting in his study. He didn’t hear Afton come in.

“You’ve been screwing up continually,” Rex was saying.

“I’m sorry, sir,” a man replied, “but she’s not exactly a sitting target.”

“I hired you because of your expertise at hitting the bulls-eye,” Rex said.

Afton ducked into the kitchen to make herself some lunch. A moment later, she heard footsteps. As she turned to look into the hall, she saw Rex with a man with a tattoo and a beard.

“I’ll give you one last chance,” Rex was saying.

Afton quickly returned to the kitchen. An image of the night of her attack came flooding back to her once again. This time, the image of the man who attacked her flashed a bit more clearly, and something seemed eerily familiar. Afton quickly turned to get another glimpse of the man, but he was already gone, and Rex was headed back into his study.

Afton still didn’t know what the hell was going on, but now she was determined to find out.