It was eight a.m. when the guard let Christopher into Karen's cell. As he entered, Karen sat up on the cot. Chris sat next to her. "Morning, I didn't mean to wake you, but I wanted to talk to you before the trial started again today."

"It's all right, it's not like I was sleeping. I couldn't stop thinking about today… and about Austin. How is he?"

Christopher looked at Karen. "It was in all of the papers. But at least he isn't in school right now, so there are no problems there. He's really fine." Christopher then looked down at the dirty cement floor, he didn't want to lie to her, but today wasn't the day to tell her how much Austin was missing her… that he awakened in the middle of the night last night crying for his Mommy. He took her hand. "Karen, I'm really here to try and talk you out of this. I know you feel you owe it to Eric, but you are putting yourself in more danger on the stand. You are opening yourself up to all kinds of questioning by the prosecutor. Let Eric take the stand in his own defense if he needs to." Chris thought, let him act like a real man instead of hiding behind the woman he claims to care so much about!

Karen turned to him, "I have to do this. Please understand. I need your support today, not your disapproval." Her eyes were pleading with him now. He looked away again. "I'm not just doing this because of Eric. Even Adam agrees that telling my side may be my only chance."

Christopher squeezed her hand and nodded. "Karen, you don't have to worry, you have my support. I just wish you didn't have to go through this, that's all." He looked into her eyes. "And I want you to know that no matter what happens, I'll be here for you." She had looked away as the tears threatened to fall again…

"Christopher, this probably isn't the best time to say this, but I've had a lot of time to think about this while I've been in here, if I'm convicted, I want you to divorce me. I don't want you tied down to me. You deserve so much better…"

Christopher reached out and put his hand on her chin, he gently turned her head until she was facing him. He kissed her tears away and then looked into her eyes. "… Until death do us part. I love you Karen. I'm not going anywhere, and don't forget it!"

She nodded, relieved. Deep down, she was hoping he would refuse to let her go. But she had to give him the chance. He put his arms around her and they sat together until the guard came to get her to take her away to the courthouse.

Dallas Courthouse, later...

Karen looked around the courtroom, it was filling up fast; it looked even more crowded than when Austin testified. The reporters were out in full force today; the rumor was out that Karen Ewing would take the stand. She was nervous. Adam had warned her about the things to stay away from… Mr. Marshall couldn't question her about anything that she didn't bring up in the direct testimony. Adam had taken great pains to explain how the prosecution couldn't "go beyond the scope" of the direct examination and that the subjects they discussed during the direct "opened the door" to questions from the prosecution on cross-examination. She had been so sure that this was the right thing to do, now as she sat there, she wasn't so sure. But she knew that even if her testimony did nothing for her, she had to take the stand to clear Eric; she owed him that much. A newspaper reporter yelled her name and she looked up in time to see a camera flash in her eyes. In no time, one of the bailiffs had the cameraman by the arm leading him out of the courtroom. This was all so crazy; when was the press going to get tired of this story? Just another one of the benefits of being a 'Ewing in Dallas'. Almost as if on cue, Christopher strode into the courtroom and quickly took his seat just before the bailiff called the court to order.

Judge Moore emerged from his office doorway, just behind the bench. As he sat, he had to admit that he was relieved that this case would soon be over; two more days, three at most. He was looking forward to a break from all of the media attention. They had been hounding him from the first day of the trial. The bailiff told everyone to be seated.

Judge Moore asked Mr. Marshall to call the state's next witness. Clark stood and responded, "Your Honor, the state rests." Clark would have liked to say that he was relieved too, but the truth was that even though he was done presenting witnesses, the hard part was just about to begin. Cross-examination was truly an art, and it was never easy. Still, he felt comfortable with the case he had presented. To Clark this was an open and shut case. Karen Ewing was guilty, surely the jury would see that; yet he felt uneasy. He sat back in his chair and anxiously awaited Adam's next move.

Karen was nervous. She and Adam had spent a lot of time going over her testimony. The direct examination would be easy. He told her to simply tell the truth. It was the cross examination that worried her. She knew that Mr. Marshall would try to twist the facts to make her look bad.

Judge Moore addressed Adam, "Mr. Demerest, is the defense ready to present its first witness. Adam's voice startled Karen out of her thoughts. "Ready?", he gave her no time to answer, "Here we go!"

Karen was sworn in and sat down in the witness chair. Christopher was watching her closely for signs of distress. He knew she had to be nervous, but she looked calm and cool.

Adam stood. "Mrs. Ewing, I'm going to let you tell your own story, but just a couple of preliminary questions first. Would you please state your name for the court?"

"Karen Ewing."

"And where do you reside?"

"Southfork Ranch, just outside of Dallas."

"And are you currently employed?"

"Yes, well, not a job exactly, before everything happened, I did some volunteer work at the local hospital, working with children."

"All right, now, I want you to tell the court in your own words exactly what happened. And why don't you start with the first time you had the idea to go to Pennsylvania..."

The Clifford Group

"That's right…I can assure you that the Clifford Group's latest project is one-hundred percent environmentally safe and there's absolutely nothing for your organization to worry about…alright, thanks for your concern and if I can be of any further assistance, then please contact me."

John Ross had been standing outside the doorway and he stepped inside her office when Pamela Rebecca hung up the phone. The large window behind her showed a dark Dallas skyline and John Ross wondered why she was keeping such late hours at her new job.

"John Ross…hi."

"Hey. Are you busy?"

Pamela Rebecca stacked up several loose papers and stuffed them into a folder, which she then locked up in her briefcase. "I was just finishing up for the day. Why?"

"I talked to Melissa earlier today."

Pamela Rebecca's blood ran cold and her tongue turned into a dry lump in her mouth. "About?"

"I don't know exactly how to say this, so I'll just spit it out. She said she overheard you telling Eric that you'd switched the paternity results…and that Megan wasn't really my daughter. Tell me Pamela Rebecca. Is that true?"

"I…I…I mean, that's ridiculous! I'm stunned beyond words that she would even suggest something like that! To think that I'd screw around with my daughter's life like that? Confusing her like that? John Ross…YOU are Megan's father and she knows that. You and I know that too."

John Ross was silent.

"You do believe me don't you? You have to…I would NOT lie about something so serious. I know I've done some pretty rotten things, but I'd like to think I've changed for the better."

"I believe you…I don't know why, but I do. Melissa is so angry with me and I think she'd lie about something like that just to get back at me."

"I wouldn't put it past her. I'm sorry John Ross. Sorry that she'd say something so awful and I'm glad you believe me." Pamela Rebecca embraced John Ross and thought about the current situation. He believed her, but she would be a fool to think that Christopher ever would. She had to stop Melissa from telling him.

Dallas Courthouse

Karen took a deep breath, Here we go. "Well, actually, I guess it all started at the hospital. I was working with a little boy there, Cole. He was really cute and he was five years old." She looked away for a moment, she hadn't thought about Cole in so long, she hoped he was okay. "Anyway, he was there for a long time, so I saw him a lot. I really got attached to him."

Mr. Marshall stood, "Objection Your Honor. I don't see the relevancy of this, the defendant is not on trial for kidnapping Cole." Judge Moore looked over at Adam.

Adam was happy to reply. "Your Honor, due to the conspiracy charge, Mrs. Ewing's state of mind is an issue and specifically whether or not she formulated a plan for the supposed kidnapping."

Judge Moore nodded, "Very well, I will allow it, please continue Mrs. Ewing."

"Seeing Cole made me start thinking about the child that I had given up for adoption. He would have been about the same age as Cole."

Adam broke in, "and when you were thinking about him, what kinds of questions were going through your mind?"

Karen blinked, "well, Cole's parents had abandoned him. I guess I began to worry about what kind of people had my baby. You know, if they loved him and were taking good care of him; but mostly I was just curious. I wondered what he looked like, what color his eyes were, that sort of thing."

"So what did you decide to do about your curiosity?"

"I decided that I wanted to find him."

"And what did you intend to do when you found him?"

Karen shook her head slightly, "nothing, I mean, I didn't plan to do anything. I just wanted to see him."

"So what did you do?"

"I decided to take a trip to Pennsylvania and see if I could find him." Karen looked up and when Adam nodded, she continued. "But I didn't want to go alone. So I called a good friend of mine, Eric Stone."

"And why did you want Eric to go along?"

"Just for the moral support and the company, I guess. Like I said, he was a good friend."

"Did you tell Eric why you wanted to go to Pennsylvania?"

"Yes. I told him that I wanted to find the son that I had given up for adoption. He was really supportive and helpful."

"What do you mean by 'supportive and helpful'?"

"He understood that I was curious about my baby and he even had a friend of his do some detective work and find out where Austin lived."

"So you both arrived in PA, what did you do next?"

"I rented a car."

"I assume that was where you met Pearl, who testified earlier?"

"Yes. So we got the car and we went to the hotel and checked in."

"Karen, when you checked in, how long did you plan on staying?"

"Well, our plan was that we would go and see Austin, well I didn't know his name then, but we were going to go and see him and then Eric was going to go back to the hotel and I was going to go and visit my family that lives in Philadelphia."

"So how many days did you initially plan on needing the hotel room?"

"One for me and Eric and then one or two more days for just Eric. Then we were going to fly back to Dallas."

"Oh, so you already had airplane tickets back to Dallas?"

Karen looked confused, "Well… yes, we bought round trip tickets, we made the reservation for the return flight when we bought the tickets."

Adam Demerest held up a sheet of paper. "Your Honor, I would like to have this marked as defense exhibit A." Judge Moore nodded. "Permission to approach the witness?" Judge Moore simply nodded again. "Mrs. Ewing, is this a correct copy of the itinerary of the trip that you booked for yourself and Mr. Stone before you left Dallas?"

Karen took the paper. Now she understood what Adam was doing. How could they say that she and Eric planned to kidnap Austin when she had booked return tickets for them? "Yes, this was our original schedule."

Adam said, "Your Honor, the defense would like to have this admitted into evidence." He showed the paper to Clark, who reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"So entered," Judge Moore muttered.

"Alright now Karen, you said that you checked into the hotel, what did you and Eric do next?"

"We went to the address that Eric's friend gave us." Karen paused and took a deep breath. Up until now it had been easy to maintain her composure, but she didn't know how she was going to get through talking about meeting Austin for the first time and seeing the bruises without breaking down.

"When we got there, we just sat out in front of the house for a minute. I didn't really know what to do. I hadn't thought about how I would approach his family. But then one of us, I don't' really remember which one, noticed the 'For Sale' sign in front of the house and so we thought that the easiest way to get to see Austin was to pretend to be looking to buy the house." Karen was talking faster now as she relived the story.

"Jan Anders, that's the lady that adopted Austin, let us in to look around the house." Karen had tears in her eyes as she remembered the first time she ever saw her son. "We went up to Austin's room and he was there watching TV. Jan introduced him and he looked up and said 'hi' and I remember thinking, 'this is my son - his name is Austin.' She was so involved in the recounting of the story she wasn't even aware that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "And then we left and went back to the hotel, but I couldn't get him off of my mind. So I went back to the house."

Adam interrupted her. "Back up just a minute. Why couldn't you get him off of your mind? Why did you need to go back to see him?"

"I just wanted the chance to talk to him. When we were there I just got a strange feeling that something wasn't right. I can't really point to anything in particular, call it intuition, I guess."

"Okay. What did you plan on telling Jan when you went back, you didn't know that Austin would be alone, right?"

Karen sat back, the truth was that she really hadn't thought it out even then. She hadn't known what she was going to say up to the minute that Austin opened the door. "I don't know. I didn't really think about it. I guess I would have said that I wanted to have another look at the house or something."

"So why didn't you take Eric back with you?"

"Well, he was really tired and had already gone to bed; I didn't see any reason to wake him up. And I didn't think he would understand. I guess I thought it would sound silly… just wanting to see him again and talk to him. I didn't think he would understand."

"Alright, so you went back to the house, what happened then?"

"I rang the bell and Austin answered. He said that his mother was gone and he was the only one home. That scared me, that she would leave a five year old alone at night. I asked him if he was scared to be there alone and he said he was, so I thought I would stay until she got back. Austin and I started talking and he showed me his room." She paused to take a deep breath. "He went to get a toy out of his toy box, and when he bent over, I could see a horrible bruise on the back of his right leg. I hadn't seen it before because his shorts were covering it."

"I asked him about the bruise and he told me that his mommy hit him. Because I had worked at the hospital, I knew that often times, when a parent abuses a child they hit them where the clothes will cover it up. So I asked him...I asked him to show me his back and he did." Karen had to stop; the tears were falling freely now as she recalled the bruises on her son's back and legs.

"It was awful. The bruises...they were a bluish red color and one of them...was actually in the shape of a...hand." Karen stopped, unable to talk through the tears.

Adam stepped forward to hand her a handkerchief and said, "You're doing fine Karen, and can you tell us what you did next?"

"I just kept thinking that he was being hurt and I had to get him out of there." She sniffled, "I had to protect him."

"Why didn't you call the police?"

Karen took a deep breath and tried to calm down. "I have thought about that question a hundred times since that day, and all I can tell you is that I didn't think of it, I wasn't thinking about possible alternatives. I just knew that he was my son and I had to get him out of there before he was hurt again. So I told him that I was really a friend of his mother's and that she was going to Florida and asked me to come and get him to take him to her." Karen paused.

Adam said, "Why did you lie to him?"

"I regret that. I shouldn't have lied to him, but again, all I was thinking about was getting him out of there before Jan came back so I could take him somewhere where he could be safe." Adam nodded and she continued.

"It wasn't until we got into the car and I was headed back to the hotel that I realized what bringing Austin with me would mean for me and Eric. I panicked; I didn't know what to do. The only thing that I was certain of was that I couldn't let Austin go back to that woman so she could abuse him again."

"So I had him hide in the car and I went in and told Eric that I wanted to leave for the airport right then. When we left the hotel, a police car pulled out behind us and began to follow us. I figured they might be looking for Austin, so I told Eric not to pull over. That was when Austin woke up and I told Eric what had happened."

"How did Eric react?"

"He was upset. He thought I was crazy. I didn't want Eric to get into trouble but I didn't care what happened to me as long as Austin didn't have to go back to his abuser."

Adam knew that the answer to this next question almost amounted to an admission of guilt, but he also knew that when you had a weak spot in your case that you couldn't get around, it's best if you expose it before the other side does. "Why didn't you turn yourselves in to the police when you knew they were looking for you?"

"Mostly because I needed time to think. I didn't care if I went to jail as long as Austin was safe and I needed time to figure out how to get him to a safe place. In the end, I decided that if I could get him here to Dallas, there were lots of people that I knew would take good care of him for me while I was on trial, or," she added softly, "in jail."

Adam looked at Clark, "Your witness."

Rex's Penthouse

Afton looked out from the balcony of Rex's penthouse onto the Dallas skyline. The view still took her breath away. She wanted to give herself a pat on the back. Cliff dumped her and cut her off, but she still managed to survive. She was living in the lap of luxury with a man whose bank account made Cliff Barnes look like a pauper. She wasn't stupid. She had figured that Rex was interested in her only as a vehicle through which to get to Cliff. Her attempts at flirtation, let alone seduction, had failed miserably. Rex was not interested in her; he was interested in what she could give him. Unfortunately, now Afton found herself in a predicament.

Even though she had gone to visit Pamela Rebecca and attempted to look into the files that Cliff kept, nothing made sense to her. She felt like she was starting a book halfway through; there were so many terms, numbers and other things that she couldn't figure out. What was she going to tell Rex? She knew that he was an impatient man---would he cut her off too? He was Afton's only ticket into the big time. Sure, she made a respectable salary at Dallas Dish, but it was just a local talk show. She wanted more. Much more.

"Good morning," Rex said unenthusiastically as he stepped out onto the balcony.

"Hi," Afton turned around, trying to flash her best smile.

"Was your trip successful?" Rex did not mince words.

"Well…….yes." Afton tried to cover herself as best she could.

"Elaborate, please."

"He has files piling up to the ceiling."

"Paper means nothing. It's what's on it that counts. Now what did you find?"

"Well, that's my point. I found a lot, but I didn't make much sense of anything."

"What were you doing there all of that time, then?"

"Trying to find something," Afton jumped on the defensive. "And I found a lot of things. It's just that none of it made sense."

"So go back there and bring them to me."

"Are you kidding? Cliff notices if the silverware is out of place. He's too cheap not to."

"So what are you planning to do about this?"

"I'm not sure. What do you think I should do?"

"If you want to continue living here and spending my money, I strongly suggest that you get me copies of those files."

Afton wanted to throw him a sarcastic smirk, but she controlled herself. "Fine. I will try to get them copied. It will take some time, though. I can't be obvious and Cliff can't be there. You never know when he's going to show up, though."

"Afton, you're an intelligent woman, I'm sure you can think of something, especially when so much is at stake." Rex turned around and abruptly walked back into the penthouse. Afton turned around and stared back out at the Dallas skyline, the wind blowing her hair all around. She definitely had the upper hand----Rex needed HER. But how could she keep it that way?

Rex, on the other hand, had already deemed Afton worthless. He would give her a little while longer. Then he would dispose of her.

Dallas Courthouse

The courtroom was silent. Karen's testimony had been heart wrenching, but Clark was feeling confident; after all, she had practically as much as admitted guilt.

"Mrs. Ewing, isn't it true that you took Austin Anders from his home without his mother's knowledge or even consent?"

Karen looked pained, but didn't turn away from the truth. "Yes."

"You fled from the police when you knew they were pursuing you, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"In fact, you even assaulted a police officer, did you not?"

Karen's voice was quiet and full of regret. "Yes." "Mrs. Ewing, was Mr. Stone with you when you went to Philadelphia and when you fled from the police with the boy?"

Karen hated admitting that most of all. "Yes."

Clark sat down smugly. "No more questions Your Honor."

Judge Moore looked up at Adam, "Any rebuttal questions for this witness, Mr. Demerest?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

Adam stood. "Karen, why did you take Austin from Jan Anders' home?"

"He was being abused."

"How do you know that?"

"I saw the bruises. He told me she hit him."

"When you went to Philadelphia, did you plan on taking Austin from Jan Anders' home?"

"No, I had no reason to. I didn't know he was being hurt until I actually saw the bruises and talked to him."

"Karen, why did you hit the officer?"

Karen's face showed her shame. "I panicked, I thought that if they arrested Eric that they would surely find me and Austin. Then they would take Austin back to Jan. I couldn't let that happen. I had to keep him safe. But I'm not justifying what I did. It was a mistake and I regret it."

"Karen, I want to ask you one more question and I really want you to think about your answer…. Except for the officer, because you've already said that you regret that; If you had it to do over again, would you? In the same circumstances, knowing no more than you did at the time, would you do it? Would you go to jail again, just like you have all of these weeks?"

Karen didn't know Adam was going to ask that question, but she didn't need to think about the answer. She looked Adam squarely in the eyes. "Yes, I would. I would do anything within my power to keep my son safe." As the tears streamed down her face, she added, "I love him." The answer was not defiant; it was sincere and heart felt. Adam had just given the jury the key to setting Karen free; he hoped they would use it.

Southfork Ranch

“That is right…Bobby Ewing is giving Southfork back to Mrs. Farlow…I overheard them talking about it in the living room…I hope that could be of some use to you…good…what about my money?…gracias…I will be in touch.” Raoul hung up the phone, proud of his accomplishment. Twenty years of serving the Ewings had gotten him nowhere, but betraying them could very well insure that he never had to work again.

He heard the door open and he immediately went paranoid, but he was relieved to see that it was just Theresa.

“Raoul, is something wrong?”

Raoul quickly shook his head. “No, everything is fine. I was just on my way upstairs to do some work.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I have some wonderful news!”

Raoul forced a smile. The only wonderful news he was interested in was how many digits would be on his paycheck for the information he'd just given. “Oh?”

“Si…my niece Isabel is coming to work at Southfork!”

Raoul's eyes bugged. “Que!? Theresa, April Fool's Day was over months ago, please stop the jokes.”

Theresa giggled. “I'm not joking. Isabel is coming to Southfork.”

“But Theresa…Southfork was just re-built after the explosion…she will surely tear it down board-by-board. That girl is a firecracker! And then the worst part…remember she fell madly in love with me when we last visited her in Mexico.”

Theresa tried to suppress a laugh. “And she almost tricked you into marrying her! I will never forget that.”

“And that is exactly why she must not come to Southfork! I know she wants me to be her little round Romeo…”

“Relax Raoul. That was two years ago and she just had a silly childhood crush and I am sure she has long since grown out of that. Now come…forget about what ever work you must do upstairs. Mrs. Farlow has requested a meeting with us about the barbecue.”

Raoul threw is hands up in the air. “Oy! Not another one of those! I can think of nothing more miserable than wearing this monkey suit out in the summer heat and forcing myself to smile at everyone who asks me for another drink. And all those wealthy ladies wearing their low-cut tops and short dresses! Ohh, what they do to me! But none give me a second look other than to say 'Raoul, would you please hand me another roll' or, 'Raoul, please refill my glass…no, three ice cubes, not two'. I know I am handsome studbucket, yet, I attract only the affections of your niece…love is unfair…or love hurts, as some song once told me. And you know…I think that if I never see another Ewing barbecue again, it will be too soon!”

Theresa rolled her eyes and grabbed Raoul by the arm. “Come…we don't want to keep Mrs. Farlow waiting.”

Cliff's Guesthouse

"Mama! Mama!" Justin's excited screams threw Cally back into the real world. Her art had become her escape in the last few years. It was always jolting to make such a return.

"What? What happened?" Cally knew that nothing was wrong; she could tell by her son's tone of voice.

"I got it! I got it!" Justin was waving around a piece of paper.

"Got what?"

"The school at sea program! I got in!"

Cally had to admit; she was shocked. Not by her son's achievement, but by the fact that he actually went through with it. Justin was impetuous, always acting on a whim. She was impressed: he must have really wanted it.

"Can I see that?" she asked, and Justin stopped flailing his arms long enough to give it to her. Cally took the form from him and quickly scanned it. Justin had indeed been accepted, and from what the flier hinted at, it was a very impressive program. Justin and numerous other students, ages 10-12, would board a massive ship, equipped just like an ocean liner, and travel to various ports of the world. They would take all basic academic classes, with the addition of a World Cultures class that would focus on the various cultures visited through the different ports. The trip would be a few months, but looked to be not only educational, but also a chance of a lifetime.

"Can I do it mom? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZE?"

Cally looked at her son for a moment, and then looked at the second piece of paper, stapled to the first. It had a breakdown of pricing information. Her eyes bulged at the total cost of the trip. She looked over at Justin, whose eyes were huge with innocence and excitement. He had been through so much. So much of it was her fault. She wanted to give this to him.

But how was she going to afford it?

Melissa McSween's Apartment

Melissa's anxiety soared as she anxiously awaited her two guests. Her parents were out for the night and that was just what she wanted. Her doorbell rang and she sprinted over to answer it.

Pamela Rebecca stood in the doorway and she pushed her way past Melissa and took a seat in the living area.

Melissa clasped the doorknob and turned around to Pamela Rebecca. “Well…please do come in.”

“What's this all about?”

Melissa began to close the door, but someone stopped it. She pulled it back open to find Christopher standing there. “Melissa, hey. What's up?” He had been so tired when he'd finally gotten home after the trial, but when he'd received Melissa's message, he'd come right over.

Melissa hugged Christopher. “Thanks for coming. I'm sure you'll be glad you did. Remember when I told you in the hospital that I had good news?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you're about to find out what that good news is.”

Pamela Rebecca went white when she saw Christopher. Melissa invited him in and they both took seats across from Pamela Rebecca, who decided to play innocent. “Okay guys, what's this all about?”

Melissa shot her a triumphant grin. “Oh, I think you already know.”

Christopher was confused. “Well I don't…so would somebody please clue me in?”

“I'd be glad to Chris. It seems that Pamela Rebecca has pulled another one of her schemes.”

“What kind of scheme?”

Pamela Rebecca was quiet.

“I don't have the little details, but she screwed around with the paternity test results last year. Megan's paternity test results. Christopher…she made it look like John Ross was the father, but he wasn't. The truth was, you are Megan's father.”

“That's a lie!” Pamela Rebecca screamed. She turned to Christopher and her face was splashed with a pleading look. “She's lying…she just wants to hurt John Ross and take Megan away from him.”

Christopher's lips didn't move and he looked toward the floor.

“You have to believe me Christopher!”

Melissa spoke again. “You know she's perfectly capable of pulling a nasty stunt like this…it's perfectly within her realm. She thought that if Megan was John Ross' daughter, she could use her to get him…and it almost worked.”

Christopher finally looked at Pamela Rebecca and the confusion that had been present in his eyes had now turned to hatred and disgust. “You pathetic bitch…”

“Don't listen to her Christopher…”

Christopher stood up. “You are a sorry excuse for a mother…and a human being. Megan deserved to know who her father was…I deserved to know that she was my daughter and now look at how much of her life I've missed out on…ALL BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOUR SELFISH MOTIVES!” Christopher went silent to regain himself and he wiped away a tear that trickled down his cheek. “Losing Megan was one of the big things that drove me to alcohol…and now I know that was your fault. You are scum Pamela Rebecca. Scum. You don't care who you hurt or whose lives you destroy, as long as you get your way.”

“I'm sorry Christopher…I didn't mean for this to go on for so long…”

“Like hell you didn't! I would have never known the truth if it weren't for Melissa! Megan would have grown up with John Ross as her father, when in reality, it was me all along. You don't deserve custody of Megan. You're incapable of being a loving mother. So you might as well go ahead and kiss Megan goodbye, because you're about to lose her.”

“You don't mean that…”

“Oh, I do. I mean it.”

The room went silent and Christopher stared into Pamela Rebecca's eyes—his own eyes filled with anger. Finally, he broke eye contact and walked to the door, slamming it behind him.

Cattlemans Club

Harry McSween walked into the club for the first time since it re-opened. He'd spent the past year traveling the world with the funds he'd made from years of working for J.R. Ewing. He'd been very surprised when he returned to Dallas to learn that his niece Melissa was pregnant and had given birth to a son. Now his brother Trevor and sister-in-law were back in town too—which was why he was here now.

Trevor waved to him from a table near the wall and Harry made his way through the crowd and took a seat across from his brother. “Well Trevor, it's great to see you again! It's been a while.”

Trevor smiled. “It's been too long. How was your trip?”

“I enjoyed it, but it's good to be back in Dallas. When can we go see little T.J.?”

“We will…soon.” Trevor leaned forward and took a sip from his beer. “But first, I need your help.”

“With?”

“I want to know everything you know about J.R. Ewing—every rotten thing he ever did.”

Harry was momentarily quiet. “What on earth for?”

“J.R. is a threat to the well-being of my daughter. She doesn't want John Ross to be a part of T.J.'s life and neither do I. Angela overheard John Ross talking to Melissa earlier today and he swore that he and J.R. would take T.J. away from us. We can't let that happen Harry…John Ross wouldn't even have anything to do with Melissa until after the baby was born. She had to support herself through her pregnancy with no help from him…he doesn't deserve to be a part of T.J.'s life.”

Harry clenched his fist. “Damn J.R. He won't take that baby away from Melissa…not if I can help it.”

Southfork Ranch

The room came into view as Ellie opened her eyes and she could vaguely make out the dim outlines of the furniture in her room. Eventually her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness and she sat up in bed and looked over at the alarm clock. The alarm clock read 11:47 p.m. At first she thought the sound she'd heard had been part of a dream, but soon it sounded again and she knew it was no dream.

Her curtains danced ethereally as the gentle night breeze blew through her opened windows. The sound came again, this time more loudly and Ellie stepped out of bed and walked over to the large glass doors that led out onto her balcony. She opened them and stepped outside into the night and cocked her head to the side as the sound drifted over the ranch once more.

The sound was hideous and whatever was making it seemed to be in a great amount of pain. Ellie's first thought was that it might be one of the cows having difficulty giving birth to a calf. But then she heard it again and it was coming from an entirely different direction. Soon, several of the sounds were being made in unison and coming from different directions.

From farther off she heard another sound—one that she instantly recognized as the yelps of a pack of coyotes. Their catlike cries mingled with the other sounds and it sounded like a chorus straight out of hell.

Ellie quickly walked back inside and made her way to the phone, where she dialed the new foreman's bunkhouse. After several seconds with no ring, she surmised that Wade must have switched the phone off before going to bed.

Ten minutes later she had left the house and was standing outside, near the pasture, clenching a rifle in one hand and a flashlight in the other. The sounds came again and Ellie shined the light across the pasture. Several pairs of green eyes reflected back at her and she continued her walk to the bunkhouse.

Wade Sawyer was jolted out of his sleep when he heard the knock at the door and he quickly scrambled out of bed and pulled on his jeans. “I'll be right there…” He buttoned his jeans and pulled open the door to find Miss Ellie standing there. “Well, howdy Mrs. Farlow…what on earth are you doin' here at this time of night? Is somethin' wrong?”

Ellie nodded. “I tried to call…”

“Oh, I'm sorry. I switched off the phone so I could get some sleep.”

“There's something going on outside. For one, there's a pack of coyotes nearby and then there's something else that sounds like it may be a cow, but I'm not sure. Whatever it is, there are more than one.” Ellie went quiet as the sound came again.

“Well, there's no doubt about that…it's a cow, but it sure ain't a healthy one. I've never heard a cow make a racket like that unless she was at death's door.”

“I'm going back out to find out…”

Wade grabbed Miss Ellie by the shoulder as she turned to leave. “Now wait just a minute Mrs. Farlow. I can handle this…that's what you hired me for.”

“Fine then, you come with me.”

Wade grabbed his rifle and pulled on his boots before following Ellie out into the darkness. Up ahead they saw a form and Wade raised his rifle, but put it down when he saw that it was Manny.

“What the heck is that?” Manny asked. “Oh, Mrs. Farlow, I didn't know you were out here. Hi.”

“Hello Manny.”

Wade broke away from them and disappeared into the darkness. Up ahead, he kneeled down next to something on the ground—a cow. Her side was heaving and she was breathing in shallow, laborious breaths. Wade turned back to Miss Ellie and Manny. “It's what I thought…this one ain't in good shape.”

Manny ran over to the truck and pulled out a spotlight, which he directed across the pasture. The light revealed more of the same thing. He counted ten or twenty dead and dying cows. Several coyotes had moved in for a midnight feast and were eagerly tearing away at the flesh and bone.

Ellie saw a young calf standing next to its dead mother and three coyotes circled around it, about to move in for a kill. She raised the rifle and fired it at one of them. A loud yelp and a thud told her that she'd hit her mark. Both Manny and Wade exchanged startled glances.

“I'm no vet, but I'd say something…or somebody's poisoned these here cows.”

From afar, a figure watched them through a pair of night-vision binoculars.

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