Eric Stone Neil Lancaster Jillian Renfro Cole Fowler Justin Harper Rex Wentworth Iris Wentworth Theresa Jack Ewing Barbara Safi Valene Ewing Gary Ewing Sly Lovegren and Dominique
Craig Byrne and Justin Stiles
Jesse Murray and Justin Stiles
Kristin Cashmere Chad Cox Karin Schill and Andy Smithers
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 The Barnes Residence: The Guesthouse
Taking out the small bag of pills, Dominique set about in her work to give Cally's favorite meals an extra ingredient.
Fear set in, then panic. She felt as though she was becoming unglued. The combination of everything….the paintings, the food at Thanksgiving, her purse, the incident with Miss Ellie….it was all building up. Now it was happening again. What would Miss Ellie think? Sue Ellen? After the incident with the car, Cally had tried hard to make herself appear as competent as possible to Miss Ellie. They had gone out to lunch together, where Miss Ellie seemed to be very concerned for Cally, asking roundabout questions regarding how much sleep she had been getting and how well she had been eating. Cally felt just fine, and was fairly sure she convinced Miss Ellie that she was doing great. But now she was starting to feel funny again. “Cally, what do you think I should get Melissa for Christmas?” Sue Ellen asked. “What?” Cally was slipping into her own world. “What do you think I should get Melissa for Christmas?” “I'm not sure….” Cally's voice started to trail off. She was thinking about Justin…..he'd gotten so big….becoming a man…..he can't be like J.R…… Miss Ellie heard the distance in Cally's voice. “Cally, would you like to get something to eat?” She reasoned that food would perhaps make Cally better. Food. Maybe she had eaten something bad, Cally thought to herself. All she had eaten was some granola before she left to go shopping though. Cally's thoughts started to drift toward food, and then her farm back in Haleyville. Miss Ellie looked at Sue Ellen. Without speaking, it was clear what she was communicating. Her eyes were filled with both concern and confusion. Sue Ellen knew that this must have been how Cally was acting the other day, a frightening mixture of lethargy and incompetency. “Why don't we sit down for a minute. I'm sure getting tired with all these bags!” Sue Ellen suggested this in hopes of a distraction: perhaps if Cally sat down she'd feel better. Cally began to have the feeling of floating again, but part of her was cognizant enough to know that if she sat down she'd fall right asleep. She couldn't risk making a fool of herself again in front of Miss Ellie or Sue Ellen: What would they think? She had to get home and get her head on straight. “I actually….I….should get going,” Cally managed to piece together. “Are you sure?” Miss Ellie asked. “Yes ma'am. I'm not….feeling too well.” That was it. She'd blame it on being sick. “Want us to walk with you to the car?” Sue Ellen asked. “No…..no, I'll be OK. I'll talk to you later. Thank you.” Cally gave a quick smile, and then made her best attempt at power walking away. She did so rather haphazardly. Miss Ellie and Sue Ellen watched her walk away. After a minute, Miss Ellie spoke. “Do you see what I meant? She's acting so strangely. Now I'm worried Sue Ellen.” “Now I am too.” “What should we do? I want to get her help, but I don't even know what the problem is. Do you think this is the sign of some sort of depression?” “I'm not sure what it is Miss Ellie. But I think we should talk to Cally---I'll talk to Cally. I know this is upsetting to you, but I have a suspicion that some of this might have to do with J.R. being back in Cally's life. I know she wouldn't want to upset you with any of that.” “Do you really think that's it?” “I'm sure it's nothing major. We all go through times when we seem a little crazy. I'll talk with her.” “Let me know if there is anything I can do, when you do speak to her.” “I promise I will,” Sue Ellen smiled. There was something wrong with Cally. Sue Ellen definitely knew that. But she was more inclined to believe that it had more to do with their ex-husband than she was letting on to Miss Ellie. Still, she did not want to worry her until the situation with Cally was completely understood. She still couldn't shake that nagging feeling that J.R. had his hand in all this, somehow.
“Edward Bottger?” Eric asked when a greeting was offered from the other line. “Speaking,” the man replied. “Hello. My name is Eric Stone. I'm Marilee Stone's son. She gave me your number along with a glowing recommendation. I was wondering if you would possibly be interested in doing some work for me.” “Well hey, it's nice to meet you. I've seen your picture on your mother's desk plenty of times.” Eric couldn't believe his mother actually had a picture of him on her desk. He believed that Edward was probably lying, just to gain brownie points. “Thanks,” Eric tried to sound pleasant. He really just wanted to get to the point. “As I said, my mother raves about the work you've done for her. I was hoping you'd do the same for me.” “Sure, I'd be happy to. What can I help you with?” “I need information on someone. Any and all information that you can get me.” “OK, hold on one second, let me just grab a pen.” Edward put the phone down for a second. A moment later, he picked it up. “Shoot.” “The man's name is Todd Foster. He lives here in Dallas, and is the president of April Oil company. I don't know too much about him, but I do know that he was adopted, and his birth mother is April Stevens Ewing. She's dead now, but she was married to Bobby Ewing before she died. I'm not sure if you know the Ewings, but they own Ewing Oil and are pretty big here in Dallas.” “Oh I've heard of them, working with your mother for so long,” Edward laughed through the phone. “Great. So is this something you could do?” “No problem,” Edward responded. There was a brief silence while he tried to formulate exactly how to say his next question. “Is there something in particular you're looking for?” Edward had worked with Marilee long enough to know how these things worked. “Anything and everything,” Eric quickly responded. “But with particular emphasis on the things that Mr. Foster doesn't want others to know about.” “I understand. I'll start right away.” “Thanks, Edward. This will all be worth your while.” Eric gave him a cell phone number to reach him at with any developments. Hanging up the phone, Eric Stone smiled. His plan was in motion.
“Southfork, here we are!” she yelled. “Anybody home?” Jillian heard them from the next room and ventured in to see who it was. “Hi.” Lucy beamed. “You must be Jillian! Miss Ellie told me about you!” Lucy extended a near frozen hand and shook Jill's. “I'm Lucy an this is my husband Neil.” Jill smiled. “Okay, so you're Bobby and Pam's daughter, right?” Lucy laughed. “Close. But no, I'm Gary and Val's oldest. Betsy and Bobby's older sister.” “I am so sorry. But yeah, now I remember Betsy mentioning she had a sister. “Well, looks like the two lovebirds have finally landed back at Southfork. I was hoping you two would find your own perch somewhere.” J.R. walked down the staircase and came to a stop before them. “J.R.,” Lucy retorted, “You're one to be talking. After all, isn't it Bobby who owns Southfork?” J.R. flashed a fake barracuda grin. “Yes, I guess you're right. Neil, how're you doing boy? Marriage to Lucy still what it was the day you married her?” Neil frowned. “Very much so J.R. And, it's going to stay that way.” J.R. couldn't resist throwing in one more punch. It was what inspired him to do his best throughout the day, other than his Daddy's legacy of course. “Funny, I bet Mitch also said that a time or two—or three. Now, enough about you two. How is my favorite daughter today?” Jillian smiled. “I'm fine. I was hoping you would come have breakfast with me this morning Daddy.” “Well, I was kind of in a hurry. Hey, don't you have school today?” “Nope. Today is the first day of Christmas vacation! There's this really neat restaurant that I saw in Dallas a couple of days ago that I've just been dying to try out.” J.R. laughed. He'd missed out on fifteen years of this girl's life and he had no intention of turning her down. “Then let's get going. I'm starving.” Lucy rolled her eyes as Jill and J.R. left the house. “Neil, I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the day here at Southfork with you.” “Lucy…actually, I have something really important I need to take care of in town today.” “Oh.” “It's a surprise I'm working on for you.” Lucy smiled and kissed him. “If that's what it is, then go right ahead. Oh hey, I just thought of something.” “What?” “Is Tiffany staying with Kimberly for Christmas? Or, did you ever get a chance to call her?” “Didn't call her yet, but most likely she'll come home to be with us.” “Great. I'm really looking forward to spending Christmas with my husband and—my daughter.” Neil returned the smile that spread across his wife's face. “I'm glad you're thinking of her as a daughter. That's the way I want us all to be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take care of this surprise.” “Alright. See ya.”
“Well, yeah. This is kind of a teenage hangout. Hope you didn't mind.” “No, not at all. Not if you didn't mind bringing me here.” “Are you kidding?” Jillian took J.R.'s hands in hers. “I'm proud of my new Dad and I want everybody to know it.” J.R. laughed. “Glad you feel that way.” He took out the folded up newspaper he was carrying and unfolded it. J.R. was looking for a very important ad. Finally, he found it. It was a full-page ad for the houses Gary and John Ross had up for sale. J.R. smiled. “Gary, you'd spare no expense to make this damned little project of yours work. Too bad it's not going to.” J.R.'s eyes scanned over to the opposite page. In full color, there was a notice informing the public of Dallas that the land beneath the Ewing & Ewing houses wasn't stable and that anyone living there would be at risk. Jillian noticed the grin on her father's face and she took the paper away from him. “What are you reading that's making you so happy?” J.R. attempted to get the paper back, but Jillian had already seen it. “Hey, that's Uncle Gary's ad. That's so cool—he's going to sell.” Jill then saw the next ad. “Oh my God. Is this true?” “Yes, apparently so. At least somebody was kind enough to warn people about buying those houses. Looks like my idiot brother has screwed up again.” Jill frowned. “Daddy, did you have something to do with this? John Ross told me how you felt about Uncle Gary and this construction company.” J.R. sipped his coffee. There was no use lying to the girl. He would just have to trust that she knew where her loyalties lay. “Let's just say by tonight, Lucy should be well on her way out the door of Ewing Oil and Gary and Val will be packing their bags for California.” Jillian was deep in thought. “Wow, how did you manage this?” “You're not upset?” “Not at all. I think it's really cool that you're so powerful. Imagine that…my Daddy can do something like this? I mean…most kids' dads are policemen, doctors, accountants, and crap like that. But you run this like…huge oil company. I can totally understand why you'd want to protect it by getting Lucy out of your hair.” J.R. was shocked. He had no idea she would be proud of him. He began to laugh. “Oh, it was no trouble. I just bought off the geologist who did all the site work. Had him draw up fake reports saying the land was good. See, I knew all along that land wasn't worth crap—but Gary didn't know that. Now, he's put all his money into this venture and just look at the paper. Nobody's gonna touch his houses with a ten-foot pole.” Jill was amazed. “How will that get rid of Lucy?” “Gary owns 7.5% of Ewing Oil. Lucy is controlling that. When he can't sell his houses, he'll have no choice but to pull that out from under her and sell it to me to get the money.” “How do you know he'll sell it to you?” “He'll do it—right there on the spot.” “Wow, I can't believe this. You are so cool.” J.R. laughed. “Well, maybe I can teach you a thing or two about…” J.R. hesitated. “Being cool.”
She smiled. “Santa wouldn't dare forget to stop by the hospital and you know why?” “Why?” “Because you're here and Santa never forgets little boys who have been good all year.” Cole smiled. “I hope so, but I haven't been all that good all year.” There was a knock at the door. Nona, one of the nurses came in. “Karen, there's an umm…package here for you. Actually, it's for the hospital, but it said to deliver to you.” “A package? For the hospital?” Karen was perplexed. “I'll be right out.” “Can I go too Karen! Please?” “Sure.” Karen helped Cole out of bed and the two walked out of the hospital room. “Oh my God.” “Coooool! It's a Christmas tree!” In the lobby, a deliveryman had brought in a large Christmas tree along with several boxes. Karen approached him. “Who is this from?” The man checked his clipboard. “No name.” Karen thanked him and he left. Everyone in the lobby had stopped to marvel at the accumulated boxes and the tree. “Guys, it looks like somebody has donated the hospital a tree and some decorations.” Nona walked to her. “No name?” “Nope. Whoever this mysterious benefactor is, he…or she, apparently wants to remain anonymous. But, let's not worry about who sent it because we have this huge tree, all these boxes of decorations, and a big empty spot over there in the corner.” Cole hugged her. “We're gonna set it up and decorate it??” “You bet. Why don't you and Nona go round up all of the kids and we can all decorate it?” Cole eagerly nodded and grabbed Nona's hand, dragging her with him. Karen turned to Glenda, who was working the front desk. “Glen, how about some Christmas music? We're going to turn this hospital into a place these kids might not mind spending Christmas in.” As Karen began unpacking the boxes, she had a memory of her son.
“God Zack, he's so beautiful. What if we had decided to go through with the abortion? Our baby might not be there right now.” Karen stared into the hospital's nursery.“Karen? You okay? Snap out of it.” Eric Stone jerked Karen back into reality. “Eric? What are you doing here?” “I thought I'd come by and ask you out to lunch—as friends. I know what you said before, but I didn't think it would hurt to try.” “No. I can't go to lunch with you.” “Okay then. I understand. Hey, you guys about to trim the tree?” “Yep. Somebody sent all of those to the hospital.” “Hey, would you mind if I stayed and helped out? I don't have anything else to do this afternoon.” Karen reluctantly agreed. “Sure. We could use some extra help I guess.” Eric smiled. 'Tis the season for miracles and he knew of one miracle he would be hoping for this holiday season.
“Ms. Grant, I really don't feel good,” Justin said, still clutching his stomach. He felt like he was going to vomit. “Uh-Oh. I bet it was that pizza in the cafeteria. You're the third student this afternoon that's complained of stomach problems.” “Do you---“ before he could get midsentence, Justin ran into the bathroom and vomited. A moment later, when he came out, Ms. Grant looked at him. “Want me to call your mom to pick you up?” Justin just nodded his head. Ms. Grant told him to lie down, and went into the main office. She pulled Justin Harper's file, and looked at the emergency contact sheet. His mother, Cally Harper, was the first name on the list. Ms. Grant placed the call. Immediately, the phone started to ring in Dominique's phone room. Dominique quickly raced over to it. It was the incoming line from Cally's house. Seeing the caller ID indicate that it was Justin's school, Dominique knew that this was probably something that she should intercept. Picking up the line, Dominique dropped her French accent and tried to take on a country twang. “Hello?” “Ms. Harper?” “Yes?” Dominique found it semi-exhilarating, imitating Cally. “This is Ms. Grant, the nurse at your son's school.” “Oh my Stars, is anything wrong?” Dominique tried to do her best Cally imitation. “Oh no, Justin just has a little bit of an upset stomach. I think its best if he spent the rest of the day at home. Would it be possible to come pick him up?” “I can be there in ten minutes. Thank you.” Dominique hung up the phone. Of course she had no intention of showing up. Cally Harper would not be there to pick up her young, sick son and would look like a horrible mother. J.R. would love it. Dominique smiled as she looked at the phone she had just hung up. What a wonderful invention! A friend in the espionage world had just introduced her to it. It cost a pretty penny, but J.R. was providing her with ample funds. It was such an amazing invention: it actually diverted all incoming calls from Cally's house to Dominique. With a caller ID attached, Dominique could pick up any calls that came into Cally's house, if she so choose. If she didn't respond within two rings, the call was automatically bounced back to Cally's. Dominique then had the option of listening to any calls that Cally received. It was a wonderful invention that Dominique was sure some government had paid millions to invent. But now she had it, and it was going to make Cally look like a horrible mother.
She was now happy to be alone, relaxing in the warm atmosphere of Southfork. The doorbell rang and she was relieved that Theresa was there to get it. Seconds later, Theresa entered the living room. “Miss Pam, you have visitors.” “Visitors?” “Yes.” Pam deposited the magazine on the coffee table. “Show them in.” Theresa disappeared and when she returned, Rex Wentworth and another woman were with her. Pam stared, wide-eyed and surprised. “I take it you are surprised to see me Pamela.” “What are you doing here?” “Curiosity. I wanted to meet the rest of my Dallas 'relatives'. And I also wanted to apologize for my behavior last week. I didn't mean to snap at you—I was so upset over Katherine. I hope you can forgive me and I hope you won't mind directing me to where she is buried.” Pam was in awe. Why was he really here? She knew one thing and that was that this guy wasn't to be trusted. “Why didn't you call first? I wasn't expecting you…obviously.” “I'm sorry. I always prefer the element of surprise.” Pam cast a suspicious glance at the brunette standing behind Rex. Rex noticed. “Oh, where are my manners. Pamela, this is my wife, Iris.” Pam smiled and shook the woman's hand. “Nice to meet you Iris.” “And it's nice to meet you too,” she smiled. Pam immediately noticed that Iris was nothing like Rex. She appeared to be warm and open. Pam also noticed that she spoke with no accent. Theresa returned. “May I get anyone anything to drink?” Rex didn't look at Theresa. “I'll have a coffee. Black.” “Nothing for me thanks,” Iris smiled. Rex surveyed the room. “Pamela, this is a nice little place you have here. Do you and Bobby live here alone?” Pam frowned. This man was slowly but surely beginning to grate on her nerves. “No we don't. We live here with the rest of Bobby's family.” “Ah, I see.” Iris turned to Pam. “Do you know of any good hotels in Dallas? Rex and I would like to find a place to settle in tonight.” Pam had an idea. “Nonsense. We have plenty of extra rooms here at Southfork. There's no use in your finding a hotel room.” “That would be delightful,” Rex smiled. “Fine. I'll have Theresa prepare a room for you. You two have a seat here in the living room and make yourselves at home.” Pam was almost mechanical with her orders. She knew the best way to find out what Rex was up to would be to have him stay right here where she could keep a close eye on him. Katherine had almost destroyed her life once. Pam wasn't about to let Katherine's brother do the same.
“No, not yet Justin. I'm sure she'll be here real soon.” Ms. Grant tried to reassure him, but she wasn't sure where his mother was. She had spoken with her over an hour ago, and there was still no sign of her. School was going to close soon. Justin needed to go home. Ms. Grant went over to get Justin's file again. His father, J.R. Ewing, was listed as the second emergency contact. She dialed the home number left. “Southfork Ranch,” the woman on the other end of the line answered. “Hello, this is Susan Grant. I'm the nurse at Justin Harper's school. Is Mr. J.R. Ewing there?” “No,” Theresa responded on the other end of the line. “He's at his office right now. Mrs. Farlow is here, however. She's Justin's grandmother. Would you like to speak with her?” “Could I?” “Hold on one moment, please.” At Southfork, Theresa put down the phone and went into the living room. Miss Ellie was sitting there with Clayton and Sue Ellen, who had just arrived home from work. “Mrs. Farlow. The nurse from Justin's school is on the telephone,” Theresa said. “Is everything alright?” Miss Ellie was alarmed. Why were they calling Southfork? “I believe so.” Miss Ellie quickly got up and went into the hallway. Clayton and Sue Ellen followed. “Hello?” Miss Ellie asked. “Mrs. Farlow? This is Susan Grant. I'm the nurse at Justin's school.” “Is everything alright?” Her voice was filled with concern. “Justin seems to have a bit of a stomach bug, and needs to go home. I called his mother, and she said that she would come and pick him up, but that was over an hour ago. School is closing soon, so I thought it would be wise to try to reach his father.” “Well, he's at his office right now, but I'd be happy to pick Justin up.” Where was Cally? Why would she say she was going to pick Justin up, but then not show up? Miss Ellie hoped that there wasn't an accident. “I should be able to be there in a half hour,” Ellie said. “Thanks. Have a good day,” Ms. Grant hung up the phone. “What's wrong?” Clayton asked as Ellie hung up the phone. “Justin's fine. He's just got an upset stomach.” Ellie looked at Sue Ellen. “The nurse called Cally, though. She spoke with her, and Cally said she'd be there right away. That was over an hour ago.” “Call Cally,” Sue Ellen responded. “Maybe something happened.” This wasn't right. Something about this wasn't right. Miss Ellie picked the phone back up. Cally answered on the second ring. “Hello?” “Cally?” “Hi Miss Ellie.” After leaving the shopping plaza yesterday, Cally came home and took a nap. When she woke up, she felt as though nothing was wrong. She still didn't understand why she had another “spell” like the one she had in the car with Miss Ellie, but she tried to justify it by saying that something didn't sit well with her stomach. She threw out all the food in her kitchen, and had just returned from grocery shopping. She was determined to go see a doctor, and figure out just what was going on. She needed to get in control of her life again. “What's wrong? What happened?” Her voice was filled with alarm. “With what?” Cally was confused. “Why haven't you gone to pick up Justin?” “I was going to leave in a minute. School's not over yet.” Why was Miss Ellie sounding so upset? “Justin's sick though. The office called you.” “What? Is he OK?” “He just has a upset stomach,” Miss Ellie quickly said. “Cally, the nurse said that she called you. She spoke with you.” “I just got home from shopping. I wasn't here.” “How is that possible?” “I'm not sure, but I didn't pick up the phone.” Cally looked at her machine. “There aren't any messages. I wasn't here, Miss Ellie. Maybe the nurse had the wrong number.” “She said she spoke with you.” What was going on? Cally was sure she hadn't spoken with anyone. Had she? Could she really be sure of herself, with everything that had been going on: the paintings, the food at Thanksgiving. She needed help. “Cally, I think we need to talk about how you've been feeling.” Miss Ellie was calm, but firm. Cally tried to hold back the tears. “I'm fine. I'm really fine. I've got to go, Miss Ellie. Justin's waiting. I'll call you tomorrow. I'm….I'm so sorry.” She hung up the phone. At Southfork, Miss Ellie slowly put the handle back in its cradle. “What did she say?” Sue Ellen asked. “She said she didn't receive any phone call. But the nurse swore she spoke with her. Based on Cally's behavior of late, I'm inclined to believe the nurse.” “Oh dear,” Clayton piped in. Miss Ellie turned to Sue Ellen. “We've got to do something. We've got to talk to Cally.” “Let me talk to her Miss Ellie. I'll talk with her and we'll figure something out.” “Something needs to be done, Sue Ellen. Now I'm frightened.” “I promise. I will.”
“Damn. That must have been so hard for you Karen.” Eric gave her a sincere look of compassion. “Eric, thanks for listening to me. It helped to tell someone about that. Christopher doesn't know and he doesn't need to know. He'd be upset that I never told him already.” Eric sensed that Karen needed a hug so he took his chances and embraced her. To his surprise, she returned the embrace. “I'm here if you need to talk again.” “Sorry for falling apart like that. It's just Cole, the little boy I've been counseling, he reminds me of what Austin would be like now.” “Don't tear yourself up like that. It's in the past and it can't be changed.” “I know.” “What the hell are you doing?” Christopher walked into the lobby with a fierce look on his face. Karen could immediately tell he had been drinking. “I was just talking to Eric.” “Talking? You've got your hands all over each other.” Christopher grabbed Eric's shoulder and pulled him away forcefully. “Look you bastard…you almost screwed things up with us once and I'll be damned if you're going to do it again. If I EVER see you near my wife again, I'll kill you. Is that understood?” Karen noticed that everyone in the lobby was staring. She felt so humiliated. In a firm whisper, she spoke to her husband. “Christopher, get out of here. Now. You're drunk and you're embarrassing the hell out of me.” Christopher was hurt. “So you're going to take his side over mine again?” “That's NOT what this is about,” Karen argued. “Go home. We'll talk about this later.” Christopher's eyes met hers for a moment, then he left. “Karen, I'm so sorry,” Eric apologized. “I didn't know he was coming…I didn't mean to set him off like that.” “Save it Eric.” Karen turned and went directly to her office.
Sue Ellen rubbed the back of her neck. Cally was preoccupying her thoughts, translating into tension. “I'm worried about Cally,” she blurted out. “What's up?” Jack responded. “She's been acting strange lately.” “How so?” “Distant. There's something not right.” “Elaborate, Sue Ellen. I hardly know Cally.” “The other day, I went over to Cally's.…we were going to have breakfast together. We had talked the night before, and she told me how she had painted five new paintings. She was so excited. When I went over there the next day, she was just getting up. When she went to show me the paintings, she got hysterical. She claimed that they weren't the same ones she painted.” Sue Ellen took a sip of her water “Is she delusional?” “No. I don't think so. I'm not sure. That's not the only thing, though.” She let out a sigh. She went onto explain the incident in the car with Miss Ellie, the other day shopping, and finally what happened with Justin at school. Jack looked shocked. “I think you need to get her some help.” “Miss Ellie said the same thing. But there's something else going on. This isn't right.” “It sounds like Cally's not right,” Jack said sarcastically. “Jack, this is serious,” Sue Ellen's voice commanded. “No, it's just that this isn't like Cally. She's always been one of the most together people I know---which is not easy when you live at Southfork. Let alone be married to J.R. She's a good mother to Justin, and she is competent. This behavior is not like her at all.” “Do you think maybe its stress? She just moved here, Justin started a new school…. “ “That doesn't make sense with the behavior she's been displaying. But I think you've hit on the common denominator.” “What's that?” Jack asked. “J.R.” “What's he got to do with anything?” “Everything. Think about it. He pops back into Cally's life, she ends up having to move back to Dallas, and Justin joins the Ewings. Then he tries to get custody, and now look at Cally. This is too suspicious, and reeks of J.R.'s doing.” “What do you think he's doing? He's not making her act so, I don't know, out of it.” “I don't know. But this is just all too convenient, don't you think?” “You've got a point there. How do you think he's involved?” “I don't know. I mean, I don't know if he's involved. I'm sensitive when it comes to him---anything that ever goes wrong, I tend to blame him.” Sue Ellen laughed. “Is there anything I can do?” Jack asked, reaching across the table to grab her hand. “Anything to make you feel better?” “Just keep your eyes open. And your ears.” Sue Ellen Ewing said.
“Who the hell is that?” J.R. responded. “She says she's with Cliff Barnes's drilling team. She'd like to talk to you.” J.R. wondered what this was all about. Barnes had his drilling halted. Was she here to cause trouble? Better to have an idea if Barnes was up to anything. “Send her in,” J.R. said. He'd give her five minutes. Barbara Safi followed Sly into the office a moment later. Sly closed the door as Barbara took a seat. “How can I help you?” J.R. asked, not particularly very polite. “We have something in common.” “Oh really? And what's that?” “A common enemy,” Barbara responded. “Donna Dowling.” “Excuse me?” Where was this woman coming from? “Talk of the town is you're not very fond of her.” “Is that a fact? And what's your problem with her?” “Thanks to her, my husband doesn't have any work. He was the head of the drilling team for Cliff Barnes.” “So you hate her because of that?” J.R. asked, a little confused. “When you've uprooted your life thanks to your husband's job, only to have it disappear, you get pretty angry.” “So what can I do for you?” “I have some information on Ms. Dowling, that I'm sure a man of your influence could use to both of our advantages.” “And what advantage is that?” “Ruin her,” Barbara answered stoically. “Go on.” Now J.R. was intrigued. So Barbara told him. Everything. And after she was through, J.R.'s jaw dropped. And then he smiled. Donna was finished. One problem down, one more to go.
“Well, hello Jill.” “Hi Aunt Val. Get any last minute shopping done?” “Are you kidding? Downtown Dallas is an absolute mess. The stores are crowded and the lines are a mile long—not to mention the traffic.” “I know. Dad and I were out in it this morning, but he brought me back home before going into the office.” Val was still uncomfortable when it came to any talk about J.R. What he did to her all those years ago was completely unforgivable. “What else have you been up to today?” Jillian stared at the floor. “Aunt Val, there's something I need to tell you.” Val looked concerned. “What's wrong honey?” “Come sit down in the living room.” Val nodded and followed her, wondering what she needed to talk to her about that was so important.
Gary wished John Ross was here, but J.R. had sent him to New Orleans to take care of a business deal. Of course…Gary now realized that J.R. had wanted John Ross out of the way when he did this. Gary clenched his fists and threw on his coat, almost running out of the office. He was going to find his brother and make him pay for this.
She couldn't believe what Jillian had told her. J.R. was actually going to attempt to sabotage Gary's construction project. Gary had worked so hard and put up so much money for it! If he wasn't able to sell those houses, there would be no way they could climb out of bankruptcy without anyone's help. Val now regretted the day they ever set foot in Dallas. She then grinned, almost madly. No…J.R. would regret the day he was ever born. She would make sure of that. But first, she had to get to Gary and stop him. She could NOT let him sell his 7.5% of Ewing Oil to J.R. Val pressed the accelerator almost to the floor and the car sped away.
Sly stood up as he walked to her desk. “Sly, is J.R. in his office?” “Yes, but he's left specific instructions not to be disturbed.” Gary was furious. “SCREW his instructions.” “You can't…” Sly threw her arms up in exasperation, knowing it was futile to attempt to stop Gary. J.R. was caught totally off-guard when his door came slamming open in full force. “Well, hello Gary. What brings you to Ewing Oil today?” “You know damned well why I am here J.R. You're not going to get away with it. You have sunk to an all-new low…” “What do you mean?” Gary threw the paper onto J.R.'s desk and J.R. tried to suppress a grin. “Why Gary, I don't know what on earth you're talkin' about.” Gary took the paper and opened it to the ad. “Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't put that ad there.” J.R. feigned innocence. “Gary Gary Gary…you honestly think I'd do something like that? I really could care less about your little houses. Now I don't know why you felt the need to storm in here like that, but I suggest you get out before I have you thrown out.” “You've ruined me J.R. RUINED me. Your son is going to lose a LOT of money from this too. How could you do that to him?” “I'd never do that to my son.” “I'm absolutely bankrupt.” Gary didn't even know why he was telling J.R. this—he was so furious. “Everything was going fine and you had to rear your ugly head into my business!” “Gary, despite how I feel about you, I would never do anything like that to you, simply because of the effect it would have on Momma. Now, if I can be of any help to get you out of this, I'd be more than happy to.” Gary was weakening. He DID need help—but not from J.R. “I don't need you.” “Then just how do you think you're gonna get out of this financial hole you're in? You've got all those houses out there and nobody's gonna buy them.” “I'll get out of it. I still own 7.5% of Ewing Oil remember. It's just a matter of time before that pulls me out of this.” “Gary, as much as I hate to say it, but seven and a half shares of this company are not gonna do much for you for a good while.” Gary knew he was right. It would be months before that percentage would make him back the money he lost—maybe even years. What could he do now? He wouldn't even be able to afford a plane ticket to get his family back to California. Sure, he had business ventures going out there, but they were all minor ones—nothing that would make him a substantial profit. “J.R., you are a bastard.” “Gary, that hurts me—deeply.” J.R. gave his brother his most sincere look. “I've tried my best to patch things up between us—God knows that would make Momma happy. And I know she doesn't have long and that's why I'm sincerely trying to help you—it would make her happy.” “If you didn't run that ad, then who did?” J.R. marveled at his own craftiness. “I'd say your culprit is Druthers Construction.” “Who?” “That's the one difference between us Gary. I always know who my competition is. Druthers Construction was building a subdivision nearby, but they weren't quite ready to start selling of their houses and lots. It would make perfect sense if Druthers tried to sabotage your project. That way, they'd have the edge on the market.” “How do I know you're not making this up?” “Tell you what. Just so you won't hold this against me, I'm gonna call up the paper and find out who ran that ad.” J.R. pulled up the number from the electronic organizer and switched the phone to speakerphone. “Hello, Dallas Daily…” “Yes, this is J.R. Ewing. I need some information on an ad that was in the paper this morning. It was the one warning against buying houses from Ewing & Ewing Construction due to the land being unstable or some crap like that. Could you tell me who called that ad in?” “Sure,” said the woman. “Just one moment.” The sound of the woman typing could be heard and seconds later, she was back. “It was called in by a Shelley Warren, on behalf of Druthers Construction.” “Oh, is that a fact.” J.R. shot Gary a reassuring glance. “Well, thank you then. That's all I needed to know Honey.” J.R. hung up the phone. He would have to remember to send his contact at Dallas Daily a very nice bonus. “God J.R., I don't know what to say. I just assumed you had done it.” J.R. smiled. “Gary, that's perfectly understandable. We've had quite a history of fighting and backstabbing, but like I said, I want that all behind us—for Momma's sake.” “Well, what now? So Druthers ran the ad—I'm still ruined.” J.R. grinned. “No. I wouldn't say that.” “What can I do?” “How much money did you invest in this project, altogether?” “I have no idea. I'd have to check.” “Well, how about this. I'll give you whatever you invested, plus 15%.” Gary was dumbfounded. “I don't want a handout J.R.” “Oh, it's not a handout. You'd be giving me something in return.” “What?” Gary said nervously. “Your 7.5% of Ewing Oil.” Gary was silent. He knew that's what J.R. had been implying. He began to weigh the pros and cons. First, he'd get all his money back, plus more. He'd also be out of Ewing Oil—something he wasn't sure about. That could be considered a pro or a con…but that percentage was being controlled by his daughter. If he were to take that away… J.R. sensed what Gary was thinking. “And don't worry about Lucy. Remember, she still controls John Ross' 25%. That 7.5% would be nothing to her.” “You're right…what choice do I have. I could sell that percentage of Ewing Oil to anybody, but I wouldn't get near the profit you're giving me.” Gary was almost thankful that J.R. was doing this for him. J.R. unclasped his hands. “Wonderful. I went ahead and took the liberty of having the papers drawn up. Sly showed me that in the newspaper today. I knew you'd be by here to blame me…and I wanted to help you.” “Thanks…I don't really want to do this, but I don't really have a choice.” Gary took a pen from J.R. and leaned over to sign the papers. J.R. watched on, his evil grin spreading across his face. “Just sign there.” Gary began to scrawl out his signature. The door of the office suddenly burst forth and Val was standing there. Gary reeled around to see her. “Val? What are you doing here?” Horrified, Val saw that Gary might have already signed the papers. “Gary, don't waste another drop of ink on that.” She stormed across the office and rocked J.R. with a stinging slap across the face. J.R. touched his lip and there was blood on his finger. “Val, what the hell was that for? Here I am trying to help the both of you and this is the thanks I get?” “Help? HELP? The day you EVER try to help us will be the day I become a nun and move to Europe. I know all about what you did, including putting that ad in the paper, just so you could get us out of town and get that piece of Ewing Oil back from Lucy.” J.R. was shocked. She knew—but how? “What are you talkin' about?” Gary asked his wife the same question. “Val? How do you know this? J.R. called the paper and found out who placed that ad. It wasn't him.” “J.R. paid someone off to say that. He also paid off the geologist who performed the tests when you first got that land. The land was never worth anything—J.R. knew that all along. But once you invested all of your money, J.R. would pull this trick, leaving you in a financial hole—fully expecting for you to sell to him.” “But who told you this Val?” Gary asked. The answer came from behind them. “I did.” Jillian walked into the office, her arms folded across her chest. “Daddy, I told her everything. There was no way I was going to let you hurt my Aunt and Uncle like that—they didn't deserve this.” “Jillian…why…but you said…” J.R. was nearly speechless. “Trust me. I didn't enjoy pretending to be pleased about your plan. But, I was interested—interested in putting a stop to it. What you have done is cruel…” Gary turned back to J.R., and then ripped up the contract that he had nearly signed. “Oh J.R., you bastard.” Gary had never been a violent person—he'd been the most mild-mannered of all the Ewing sons, but right now, he could have killed his brother. “Gary, this is a mistake. They're all lying.” “Like hell they are.” “Now come on…even if they're not lying, that doesn't change the fact that you're bankrupt. I can still give you my offer.” “When hell freezes over.” Another surprise visitor joined them in the office. “Gary, would hell have to freeze over before you would sell to me?” Sue Ellen stood in the doorway, clasping her purse. A sly, but subtle grin was spread across her face. Gary was relieved. This would be the ultimate revenge on J.R. “Sue Ellen, I'd almost give you that 7.5%” Sue Ellen smiled and shut the door. “What was J.R.'s offer?” “Whatever I lost, plus 15%.” “I'll top that. Make it your loss, plus 50%.” J.R.'s jaw dropped. He couldn't believe this was happening—he had it all planned out so well. But Jillian had ruined it—his own flesh and blood—his daughter. Gary was awestricken. “I'll…I'll take that Sue Ellen…gladly.” Sue Ellen grinned like only she could. “Well Gary, we need to get going so we can have those papers drawn up and signed.” Gary nodded and he, Valene, and Jillian left the office. Sue Ellen lingered behind for a moment longer. "And J.R..." JR looked up. "What?" "Merry Christmas."
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