The phone ringing awoke Marlena, who found her path to the phone impeded by two sets of legs strung over her. Carefully, she extracted herself from the tangled mess and softly answered the phone. "Hello?" The dead air wafted through the phone, causing a shiver to run up her body. "Hello? Is anyone there?" A click severed her connection and she worriedly looked at the receiver before setting it gently in its cradle. Lying back on the bed, she rubbed her forehead in worry. Her thoughts were broken by the feet coming to rest on her stomach again. Placing her hands on them, she smiled and couldn't help but to think what a perfect little family this was. "Good morning." John turned on his side to see both of his children taking up the middle section of the bed, lying perpendicular to their parents. "Good morning. I guess Belle got lonely last night." Marlena grinned and scooted toward her husband to give him a morning kiss, which was broken by the stretching child between them. "Ahh, foiled again." John looked down between them, eyeing the two sets of blue eyes trained on their parents.
Marlena grinned brightly toward the children and stretched her arms out for them to come to her. Brady vaulted from his spot on the bed into her waiting arms, while Belle crawled quickly to her fathers arms. Marlena kissed Brady's cheek and hugged him tightly to her. "Did you sleep okay?" "Yeah, I didn't have no more nightmares after I was in here with you." "Well, I'm awfully glad to hear that. Now, why don't you and your sister go get ready and we'll go have some breakfast." Brady jumped up, grabbing his sister's hand and crawling off the bed. Once they bolted out the door, Marlena turned her attention back to John. "So what do you think was up with him last night?" Marlena shook her head, wondering that herself. "I just don't know, he's had these nightmares before but they are getting worse. Maybe he should talk to someone." John's brow furrowed in worry. "Do you really think he's that bad?" Marlena straightened herself in the bed and looked John square in the face. "John, it's not a matter of bad, it's a matter of I'm afraid it's going to get worse. He can't talk to us about it. He's hiding something from us; something he thinks is going to hurt us. If he can't talk to us then maybe he can talk to a child psychologist? I just know I don't want to see him hurt anymore." Her eyes filled with fearful tears for her son.
Lying back down she let them trail out of the corners of her eyes. John leaned over her and caught a few stray tears before they darkened the pillow. "Doc, what ever you think is the best we will do. I don't want to see him scared and upset either. You get it scheduled and I'm along with ya." He kissed the side of her face and scooted over toward her wrapping his arms about her shoulders.
Stefano paced the floor, awaiting the arrival of his lackey. Bart strode in, Walkman in hand and music blaring into his brain. Stefano halted his steps and stood in front of the man, who was so obviously involved in his tunes, he never saw the towering figure approach him. Carefully, Stefano pulled the headphones away from Bart's ears and waited for the man to come to his senses. Slowly, he opened his eyes, waiting for the sonic boom that was sure to explode at him. Stefano simply took the contraption from his head and placed them on the CD player, gingerly taking it out of its owner's hands. "Bart, Bart, Bart. You know this kind of... garbage will rot your brain. Now, let's talk." Stefano motioned for the shaking man to proceed before him, a sign Bart did not like. Walking before him, he felt the wind wiz past him as the electronics hit the wall, smashing them to tiny pieces. "Now, where were we? Ahh, yes. Did you do as I instructed you to?" Stefano pulled the door shut behind him, making sure no one heard their conversation.
"Uh, yeah boss. I followed that creepy guy. Ya know he really needs a life, all he did was call some people and then he met up with this chick." Stefano turned to Bart and tapped his finger to his mouth, pondering what the man had just said. "Bart, where did he go with this young lady?" Stefano continued his stroll about the room, crossing his arms and strumming his fingers on them. "Well, I kinda lost them from there. See there was this really hot chick and she came to the car, and…" Bart's story was silenced by Stefano rubbing his temples; an action Bart always knew was trouble. "Bart, I told you to track him, all of his moves and report back to me immediately!"
The quivering man moved around the couch, putting as much distance he could between him and the impending volcanic explosion. "Bart, I suggest you leave now, if you don't I'm not sure how you'll leave in a few minutes." Bart clasped his hands in a thankful gesture and ran out of the room. "Now, is not the time to worry about the insignificant. What is Orpheus up to, and better yet, who is his friend?" Stefano sat back at the chessboard and pondered his move before gingerly picking up the knight and jumping it over a pawn. "You had your move, now I make mine."
The day started out as wonderful as any day could possibly get. The penthouse sang with laughter, as its inhabitants ate breakfast and went off into their days. Marlena strode into her office with a hop in her step and a jubilant smile on her face. "Hello, Shae-Lynn. Isn't it a wonderful morning?" Shae-Lynn couldn't help but take on Marlena's joyful countenance. "Why, Dr. Evans, it's a GREAT morning!" She handed Marlena her messages and hoped the rest of the day would be this happy. Marlena closed the door behind her hanging her purse on the coat rack and sliding her briefcase across her desk. Hopping up on the edge of the desk, she perused her pink slips of paper. Coming to the final one, her breath caught in her throat. 'I haven't forgotten about you O' Her feet reached the floor and carried her to the door. "Shae-Lynn! Who left this?" The shocked secretary jumped up from her post and rushed to her boss' side. "Uh, Dr. Evans, I have no idea. I didn't take this message." Marlena put her hand to her forehead and stared at the ominous letters on the small page. Shutting the door, she hurried to the phone, dialing John's number, just as the knock on the door sounded.
"Shae-Lynn, I can't see anyone right now. Please ask them to reschedule." Her thought was marred by the shaky voice of a young man. "Dr. Evans, I think I really need to see you today." Eldredge James stood before her, his hands dyed with the red that only comes from one thing… blood. Marlena clicked the phone off and swallowed hard. Shae-Lynn looked at the man, shocked and not knowing what to do. "Shae-Lyn could you please allow Mr. James some privacy." Her voice was professional, but her eyes told the frightened young lady to be prepared for anything. Shae-Lyn nodded her head and closed the door, never breaking her sight from the view she'd just seen.
"Mr. James, is there something you need to tell me." Eldredge nodded his head, and lowered his eyes to his stained hands, his body violently shaking. "Mr. James, please, if you need to use the restroom, to, ah, clean up..." She looked toward her bathroom, thinking of what to say. "Mr. Ja..." Eldredge put his hand up, showing her the red in a clearer light. "Dr. Evans, please call me Eldredge." Marlena couldn't help but to feel a strong pull to this young man, looking so scared and vulnerable. "Certainly, Eldredge." She smiled and felt some of the previous fear wan. Eldredge sat on the edge of the couch careful not to touch the pure fabric with his tainted hands. Marlena carefully approached the chair that sat at the corner of the couch. "Eldredge, can you tell me what happened?" She leaned forward, hoping to catch the young man's attention. His voice was tempered with the tears that bolted out of his eyes. "No, no I can't." Marlena's heart ached for the young man, but she proceeded to question him. "Can you tell me why you can't tell me?" Eldredge clasped his hands together and looked toward the ceiling before making eye contact with Marlena. "I can't tell you why, because I don't know why. I don't remember this, I don't remember anything." He waved his hands in front of himself to emphasize his point. Marlena sat up straight, feeling uncomfortable with the way he stared at her. "I need your help Dr. Evans. I can't remember anything, and I don't know why I woke up this morning with blood on my hands. I have tried and tried to get it off, but it won't come off." Eldredge rubbed the giant red blotches that covered his hands, trying to remove them. "I know I haven't known you for a long time, but you are the only one I can seem to trust. Will you help me?" His eyes trained on Marlena's, once again making her shift in her seat. "Dr. Evans, please, I don't know what's happening to me." The tears brimmed in his fearful eyes, breaking Marlena's heart and pulling down her last reserves. "Mr. James, I will help you on one condition. You say you trust me, I need you to be honest with me and tell me everything you know."
Her mind played out the previous night's conversation with her husband. She had the protection, now she just needed to get the information. Something in her heart told her to help the troubled young man. She rested her head on her fist and looked Eldredge in the eye, waiting for his response. "I will be truthful with you, just please help me find out if I hurt someone.
Orpheus waited in the darkened study for Stefano to enter. His arrival was announced by the creaking of the heavy wood door. "Ah, I see you have been waiting for me." Stefano never looked up to make eye contact with his partner. "Yes, for quite sometime. I saw your henchman tailing me. I don't like that. We will trust each other, or we will die from suspicion." Stefano raised his eyebrow in amusement. "You see, Orpheus, since you made your first move, which by the way, was a throw away, I too have decided to move a piece. The game is on. Are we to play against each other, or shall we take the opponents down?" Stefano moved to the study chessboard, identical to the other 4 in the house. Taking the Knight once again, he jumped the pawn back to its beginning place. Orpheus nodded his head in agreement and accepted the challenge.
John sat at his desk, absently flipping his pencil between his fingers, clicking it on the desktop. The hard pound on the door broke his stupor and brought him to his feet. Dom pushed the door open and was in before John could answer it. "Man, we've got trouble." The contents of his folder spilled out onto the desk, revealing the gruesome pictures. "What the hell is this?" John picked up the photos, the shock absorbing into him with the realization. "This just came in." John looked in horror at the black and white pictures, not knowing what to make of it. "When... what... how?" "Happened last night around midnight. He was strangled with a scarf. There's no fingerprints, no evidence. The only thing the culprit left behind was found at the morgue." John questioned his partner with his eyes. "John, we found the oddest thing. A strawberry was forced down his throat. I'm not sure what that meant." John sat dumbfounded. Tarrington had been the longest and most hated ISA head. He had recently been dethroned and replaced at the ISA by unknown forces, which had cleaned up the agency and restored it to its original glory. Not much had been heard about or from him, until now.
His death pictures glared at John. Dom clapped his partner on the shoulder, causing him to jump. "Whoa, buddy. Take it easy. I think we've just got ourselves a new case. Who knows maybe we'll get lucky and the two will go together." John halfheartedly smiled at his friend, wondering why this all plagued him so. "Guy, are you gonna be okay?" "Yeah, I guess I've just been out of the business too long. I need to get my shell back up." He stuffed the pictures back in the folder and pushed them to the side. "Okay where do we start?" Dom pulled the pencil from behind his ear and hopped into the chair facing the desk. "Where we always do... from the beginning."
To be continued...