Episode 38

Startling Discoveries

Ellie Ewing Farlow

Christopher Ewing

Bobby Ewing

Sue Ellen Ewing

J.R. Ewing

Donna Dowling

Karen Ewing

Ray Krebbs

John Ross Ewing

Clayton Farlow

Pamela Rebecca Cooper

Afton Cooper

Pam Ewing

Lucy Ewing




Also Featuring

Mumarik Akbar

Janice Kelly

Doug Avant

Todd Foster

Scottie Demerest

and

Eric Stone


Featuring the Writing Talents of:

Jesse Murray

Justin Stiles


Dedicated to April (and no, not April Stevens!), a great friend and a wonderful inspiration! (And if anything happens that you don't like in the J.R./Sue Ellen scenes, you can bet that April inspired me to write it and you should complain to her!) Okay April, so maybe this wouldn't fit on the back of a bubble gum wrapper!

Episode 38: Startling Discoveries 



Pamela Rebecca peered out the window next to her at the azure waters below, with the occasional glint of sunlight reflecting back into her eyes. The plane lurched forward and Pamela Rebecca and John Ross braced themselves, both being leery of planes.

"Attention passengers, the plane has begun its descent into the Kahului Airport on the island of Maui. Please return your trays and seat backs to their upright positions and fasten your seatbelts for the landing."

John Ross and Pamela Rebecca scrambled to fasten their seatbelts and leaned back in their seats. "I'm glad you thought of this John Ross," said Pamela Rebecca.

"Yeah, me too."

They felt the plane touch down and it soon came to a halt. The signal was given to unload and John Ross and Pamela Rebecca stood, filing out into the aisles. A few seats behind, and across the row, sat a dark-skinned man wearing sunglasses and a Hawaiian shirt – Akbar. He followed the two out of the plane.

"Wow," exclaimed John Ross, shielding his eyes with his hand. The sun was bright and a hot breeze blew against him.

Getting over his initial surprise, he followed Pamela Rebecca into the terminal where they would get their luggage. Pamela Rebecca stopped by a woman selling leis and she gave John Ross an "I want one of those" look. Giving in, he took out his wallet and bought on for each of them.

"You know what they say," said Pamela Rebecca, "you haven't really been to Hawaii unless you've bought a lei."

John Ross smiled. He was glad to be there, but he could have chosen any number of people he preferred being with over Pamela Rebecca.


It was almost 4:30 p.m. in Dallas and Janice Kelly sat behind her desk, wracking her brain in an attempt to think of how she could correct her mistake. Due to her, John Ross would lose the Akbar deal as well as a lot of respect from J.R.

"Janice, I need to talk to you," called J.R. from his office.

Paranoid, Janice stood and hesitantly walked in. "Yes Mr. Ewing?"

"Janice, have you heard from a Mumarik Akbar? He was supposed to come in yesterday, but I haven't heard the first thing from him."

"Well, I think he came in yesterday, but I didn't know it was him."

"What? And you sent him away?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Hmm, that's okay Darlin'," said J.R. "There's something about that man that seems a little strange. I know John Ross had Melissa McSween check him out, but to be safe, I had my own PI do a little investigation on him. Now Judy called in sick today, so I want you to make sure to answer her phone. If a call comes in for me, send it through. I want to get all I can on this Akbar character."

"Yes Mr. Ewing, I'll do that," said Janice, tremendously relieved that J.R. wasn't mad. The phone rang, catching Janice off guard and she ran back to Judy's desk to answer it. "Ewing Oil, how may I help you?"

"I need to speak with J.R. please," drawled a man with one of the strongest Texas accents that Janice had ever heard.

"Who's calling?"

"It's Doug, he'll know me."

Janice transferred the call into J.R.'s office and J.R. put the call on speakerphone, leaning back into his chair. "Doug?"

"Yeah, it's me. I got that info you needed on that Mumarik Akbar fellow. I think you're gonna be pretty interested in what I have to tell you."

"Well, what are you waiting for, go right ahead," said J.R.

Janice stood next to the door, out of J.R.'s line of sight, but still within earshot of the conversation.

"J.R., your son has been had by this man. That field you wanted me to check out is nothing but a dry hole. I'd safely say that my mechanic has more oil on his overalls than that field has."

"I'll be damned," said J.R., leaning forward. "What else?"

"Akbar is flat out broke. He's in the red and I mean it's serious. I'd say this bad deal with your son is just what he needs to get a little cash fast. Nothing like an inexperienced oil man to swindle. Now you said Melissa checked this out and found it to be legit, but so did I at first. I checked a few more sources. Akbar apparently had those geological reports faked to make it look like that field was a gold mine."

"Is that it?" said J.R.

"No, there's more and this is what's pretty bad."

"Let's hear it."

"Akbar was a member of a highly secretive terrorist group, but he was expelled after murdering one of the members. He fled, changed his name, and relocated to Saudi Arabia where he formed his oil company, but that soon went under."

"Oh my Gawd," drawled J.R., almost dropping the phone.

"This man is dangerous J.R. I'd watch out if I were you."

"It's not me I'm worried about Doug, it's my son. He went to Hawaii yesterday and left me to finalize the deal, but some wires got crossed in the process and it never happened."

"Just the kind of thing to make this Akbar character more desperate than ever."

"Oh no, do you think…"

"J.R.!" said Janice, bursting into the office. "John Ross is in danger, I know it. Yesterday when Akbar was here, he seemed really angry that John Ross "stood him up" on this deal. He asked where John Ross was and I told him, but I didn't know he was dangerous!"

J.R. was wide-eyed and leaned to the phone. "Doug, I am going to Hawaii. You stay here and keep in touch, just in case Akbar shows up anywhere in Dallas. You have his picture. I want you to assign as many men as you can get to find him."

"Will do J.R. You be careful. If you want me to go along, I'll be glad to."

"No, no, you stay here. I'll contact you when I get there." J.R. hung up the phone. "Damn. Did he and Pamela Rebecca take Megan with them?"

"They were going to, but…"

"Did they take her?"

"No. At the last minute they decided to leave her with the new nanny," said Janice.

"Ok. I want you to call Doug back, his number is written on my desk calendar. Tell him to assign a few men to keep an eye on Megan. You can't be too careful when you're dealing with crazy terrorists," said J.R., flashing back to his escapade with B.D. Calhoun.

"Ok, I'll do that. Anything else?"

"Yeah, call the airport and ask if anyone fitting Akbar's description has taken a flight within the last twenty-four hours. If so, then find out when he left and where he went. I'm going back to the hotel to pack up a few things. I'll stop back by here on my way to the airport."

Janice ran over to J.R.'s desk and found Doug's number, then dialed it. Meanwhile, J.R. waited impatiently outside the elevator door.


Bobby entered the restaurant and scanned the room. He saw Todd, sitting alone and smoking a cigarette, in a booth across the room. The two made eye contact almost immediately. Bobby walked over to the booth as Todd put out his cigarette.

"Hello Todd." Bobby said

Todd smiled as the waitress handed them their menus. "Thanks for coming tonight."

Bobby ordered a beer, while Todd just asked for water.

"I've read in the paper that you and your wife are expecting a baby. That's wonderful." Todd paused. "I'm sure you want to get home to her, so I'll say what I came to say."

Bobby didn't say anything. He was just listening. Todd began.

"Once upon a time, April Stevens got pregnant while she was still in high school and had a little boy---me. I don't know who my father is. For whatever reasons, my mother gave me up for adoption soon after I was born. I was placed in a Chicago orphanage for a few months until a couple, the Fosters, from Boston adopted me. I don't know whether or not your detective told you this."

"He did." Bobby replied. "What I'm curious about is why have you come to Dallas? Why now, so long after April's death?"

"Well, I found out only recently that April was my mother. In fact, it was not that long ago that I found out that I was adopted in the first place. As to my being in Dallas, that requires a little background information." Todd paused. "Some of the things I'm going to tell you I would normally not tell many people, let alone someone I met only recently. But it's important that you know, because it pertains largely to why I have come to Dallas, and why I sought out you."

Todd continued. "I had a very happy early childhood. My mother and father—my adoptive mother and father that is---were very loving. I didn't have any brothers or sisters, but it didn't matter. My mother was my constant playmate and best friend. But when I was seven, she got very sick. Cancer. She died a year later."

"I'm very sorry," Bobby said. It made him think of his own mother's breast cancer scare twenty years earlier, and how devastated he would have been had he lost her.

"After that, my father got very strange. He was supporting me alone, and we never had much money in the first place, so that proved to be a large burden. He would work all the time, and when he would be home, he would drink. Heavily."

"Was there anyone there for you, like Grandparents, aunts, etc?"

"Not really. I mean, my grandparents were alive back then, but they lived far away. That was the only other family I had. It was a slow process---my dad's drinking that is. Things really started to get bad when I was around ten. Then he started becoming abusive. Not physically, but verbally. Life quickly became unbearable. I swore to myself when I was eleven that as soon as I graduated high school, I would leave that hellhole. And I did. I moved out, got odd jobs. We couldn't afford college, but I took some business classes at the community center. I really didn't see myself going anywhere until six months ago. That's when my father told me about my adoption."

"What happened?"

"He was drunk. I broke off most contact with him, but we would see each other, every now and then. He really mentioned it—the adoption that is—in passing. Later I confronted him when he was sober, and he confirmed it. So I did some investigating. I hitchhiked to the orphanage, and traced my birth to find out who my mother was. I got a job in her hometown, and eventually found out that she married a Jack Ewing, divorced him, and then went to Dallas, where she got rich. So I made my way to Dallas."

"And that's when you found out about April's activities here." Bobby questioned.

"Yes. You Ewings and those associated with you lead public lives Bobby. I was staying with a friend down here, and through old newspapers, and just talk about town, I learned everything about my mother's five years here. I know that she got 5% of Ewing Oil back in 1987 as part of her divorce settlement from Jack Ewing, and she sold it to J.R. Ewing for one hundred million dollars. I know that with that money, she bought herself a restaurant, an oil company and invested it in various ventures. Regardless, this is all stuff you know."

"What I still don't know is why you're here, talking to me."

"Because I want you to help me get my mother's money."


"Sue Ellen?" J.R. tapped on her hotel room door. "Are you there?"

"Coming," came her voice. The door opened a few seconds later. "Well, if it isn't J.R., that wonderful ex of mine. What brings you to my little corner of the world? I don't think I've laid eyes on you since Pam and Bobby's wedding."

"Sue Ellen, I don't have time for your nonsense. Our son is in danger and I thought you might care to know," said J.R. seriously.

"What? John Ross?"

"Yes, John Ross."

"What's wrong? Where is he?"

"Well, if you hadn't been off with your saddle tramp, then you'd know that he and Pamela Rebecca took a little trip to Hawaii!"

Sue Ellen felt a terrible wave of guilt, both at her not being with Dusty when he needed her most and the same with her son. "J.R.! Dusty is dead! I had to go be with him in Venice because I knew there was something terribly wrong with him!"

"Oh Sue Ellen, I didn't know."

"Never mind J.R. Our son is the most important thing right now. Fill me in…"


"Well Christopher," said Scottie Demerest, "these papers all look legit to me. Seems like Kaitlin was telling the truth in that letter."

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely. I've read all the fine print and there's nothing there that suggests otherwise."

Christopher smiled, thinking about what J.R. would think of his huge holdings in West Star Oil. "Mr. Lauder is out in the lobby waiting. All he needs is my signature."

Christopher stepped out into the lobby and Lauder stood. "Well?"

"Mr. Lauder, I'm ready to sign."

"Good," smiled Lauder, "It's what Kaitlin wanted for you. And I dare say that you'll be the wealthiest, maybe even the most famous twenty year old in Dallas, if not all of Texas."

There was a glint of satisfaction in Christopher's eye as he signed the papers before him. Behind that glint of satisfaction was another glint, one that was most often seen in the eyes of J.R. Ewing himself—a glint of lust for power.


Karen and Eric walked into the Oil Baron's Club together. The place was crowded with the upper crust of Dallas society and its oil business.

"Are you sure that its okay we're here Karen?" Eric asked. "I know the last dinner you had here did not turn out the way that you expected." Eric smiled at how wonderfully he had arranged it so Carla exposed Christopher's extra-marital tryst with Karen present.

"Its no big deal Eric. If Christopher was here, then things would be different." Karen gave a nervous laugh.

The two took their seat as Eric said, "Have you spoken to him lately?"

"He's called," Karen said. "I'm not ready to talk to him yet. I'm still really pissed."

Eric tried to suppress his smile. "You have every right to be. I mean, he got that stripper pregnant!"

Karen quickly turned on Eric. "That stripper? Eric, you were here with her that night. You still haven't told me why."

Eric had rehearsed what he was going to say. "Well, first of all, I had no idea that Carla was a stripper. Do you think I would have brought her here if I knew that, let alone gone out with her? She told me she worked at an insurance company." He paused. "I met her at some business function my mother threw at the house. She was there with an older man, one of Stonehurst's associates. I never thought much about it then, but I bet that he was one of her clients. Anyway, she flirted with me a lot that night, and she was the one that asked me to go out. She seemed nice enough, so I said yes. I really had no idea until afterward that she was a stripper, and I certainly did not know about her and Christopher."

"What a witch," Karen replied. "Are you looking for a girlfriend Eric?"

Eric had to think carefully about what he was going to say to this one. "I'm lonely. I'd like to find someone, but it's really hard." He smiled.

"Well, you shouldn't have any problems. I mean, you're rich, attractive and you are really a wonderful friend. This was incredibly sweet of you Eric. I have been bitching about Christopher the whole night and you've listened. That means a lot to me."

Eric smiled at her, and brushed Karen's bangs out of her face. "I do it because I really care about you Karen."

Karen smiled back at Eric, and found herself a little scared when she started to think, "He's awful cute."


"Oh my God J.R.! How did our son ever get tangled up with a man like that?"

"He was mislead Sue Ellen. But that's not important. I'm going to Hawaii on the next available flight. My son needs me. He has no idea that…" J.R.'s cellphone let out a shrill ring, interrupting him. "Hello?"

"Mr. Ewing, it's Janice. I just got off the phone with a clerk at the airport. A man meeting Akbar's description, only with the name of Howard Farris, boarded the same flight that John Ross and Pamela Rebecca took."

"Thanks Janice. You take the rest of the week off." J.R. flipped his phone shut. "Well Sue Ellen, Akbar is in Hawaii. I've got to go."

"J.R., I'm coming with you, he's my son too."

"No, you don't know what kind of person Akbar is."

"You tried to leave me behind last time, remember?"

J.R. grew quiet. "Ok, suit yourself Sue Ellen. If you're coming, then hurry up. The sooner we get there, the better."


"Wait a second. You want me to help you get April's estate?" Bobby was shocked.

"To be honest, yes. I don't know how to say it any better than that." Todd replied.

"OK, first of all, I don't have any control over April's money. You know that right? Everything went to Michelle."

"My aunt. Yes, I'm aware who holds all of my mother's estate. But I think you can help me get it," Todd paused. "You are prominent in the Dallas community, you are respected, and you know Michelle. She might listen to you and offer up some of April's estate before any legal matters would have to be introduced at all."

"You don't know Michelle too well. That doesn't even matter though. What claim do you have to her money? She only included Michelle in her will."

Todd thought about what he was going to say carefully. He could feel himself losing Bobby. "I know. I realize that I probably seem completely unjustified in what I am saying, but I feel that if my mother knew my situation now—what my situation was for so long, with my father's drinking, and the abuse--she would have allocated her will differently."

"Todd, wait a minute. I don't mean to be insensitive, but April never mentioned you to anyone. Why would she want you to have her money?"

"Because I feel like I deserve it. I'm not saying I want everything, lock, stock and barrel. I would just like enough to live comfortably. Bobby, let me ask you this. I didn't know my mother at all, but through all the research I've done, I think I've got a good idea of the kind of woman she was. If she were with us today, and I asked her for money, having explained my background, do you think she would refuse me?" Bobby was silent. Todd continued—he knew he was getting to Bobby. "I do NOT want to portray myself as greedy, and perhaps I'm coming off this way, but I feel like I have an opportunity here to get myself some security, and perhaps some happiness. I feel like my mother would want me to have that."

Bobby remained silent. He was still thinking.

"So will you help me Bobby?"

After a long pause, Bobby spoke: "You have a point. This is just a lot for me to absorb right now. Let me do some thinking, and get back to you. I have your number."

Bobby got up, and left the restaurant. Todd smiled as he lit up another cigarette. He was confident that Bobby Ewing's sympathy would ultimately make him a millionaire.


"Sir, can I help you?" asked a young Polynesian man.

"Yes, I need something and you have it."

The young man laughed. "Well my store has lots of things that people want. What is it exactly that you want?"

"I need a gun," said Akbar.

"Well, there's a waiting period."

"No one will ever know."

"Yes they will. If I do that, I could be shut down."

"Okay, I understand," said Akbar. He walked over to the counter and rested his pet carrying case on it. Quickly, he opened the cage door and pulled out the snake.

"What the hell are you doing man?" said the storekeeper, backing off. "That is a freaking cobra!"

Akbar smiled. From the checkout counter, the cobra lunged forward toward the storekeeper's neck and the young man fell to the floor, flailing his arms wildly through the air. Akbar walked over to the case where the guns were kept and took the ring of keys from the desk. One by one he tried them until one opened the case. He looked through it and took out a small, concealable handgun. Akbar then found the proper ammunition for it and stuffed them all into one of his bags. The snake hissed as he lifted her and put her back into her carrier, but she made no effort to bite him. He stepped over the storekeeper, who was gasping for breath and beginning to twitch. The deadly neurotoxins from the snake were already taking affect and soon, the man would be dead. "Come Esmerelda. We have a date with the Ewings."

Screen freeze on the cobra


Tomorrow night on Return to Southfork...

"Whoa. The Ewings are constantly surprising me, but that one's a doozy. I'm Karen Ewing. Bobby's son, Christopher, is my husband. Although I'm really not sure for how long."

"Well Karen, my name is Todd Foster. It is a pleasure to meet you."


"Back off J.R. Remember what I told you. You wouldn't want to have a free skydiving lesson, minus the parachute now would you?"


How well do you really know your wife?
YOU have to make her come home to Paris.
You need to know the truth about Pamela's missing years, Mr.Ewing
YOUR wife is NOT as truthful as she appears.


Pamela Rebecca was going to let out a scream, but he clasped his hand over her mouth, muffling the sound.


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