The sun's rays peaked over the horizon casting an orange glow to the morning mist. The safe house was still in the morning hours. The only sound was that of the television. It's low monotone signal echoed throughout. Michelle had drifted off to sleep while watching Holly's show on the Santos family. She wasn't even sure she could call it sleep though. The slumber had been fitful at best. Mick's shadowy figure plagued her. With each toss and turn she made in attempt to move away from him sneer, only served to bring him closer to her.

The tide lapped at the edge of the beach. Somehow, some way her dreams had transported her back in time. There she was again standing on the beach alone......or so she thought. She had gone there to put order to her thoughts. To make sense out of the things that Jesse had just told her. How could she have been so blind as not to see the growing attraction between him and Drew? Had she really thought that she had a lock on Jesse's heart? Apparently someone else had a key as well. She shouldn't have been so shocked. Drew made no attempt to hide her feelings for Jesse. As a matter of fact she had done the exact opposite. She used every trick in the book to push her way in between Jesse and Michelle. All the while Michelle thinking that the love that she and Jesse shared was the truest form of emotion. What a joke she thought to herself now as the tears trickled down her face.

Jesse did his best to spare her feelings, but no matter the words he used it all came down to the fact that he didn't love her anymore. The mere thought sent pain radiating through her chest. She vaguely wondered if this was what a heart attack felt like. The worst part of it all was that Drew hadn't even had the decency to leave them in private. In a way it was though she was afraid to leave Jesse alone with Michelle. Like somehow Michelle would pull him back to her if she wasn't there to keep reminding him that he had a new life now. A life that wasn't to include Michelle Bauer in any way shape or form. The smug expression that Drew wore was too much for Michelle to take. The fact that Drew was taking pleasure in her pain sent Michelle running from Millennium without a further word to either of them.

There she was on the beach standing before the lighthouse. Their place. A place where she had given herself to the man that she fully expected to spend the rest of her life with. Now that illusion had been shattered into a million pieces.

"Looks like you lost your protector!" a low voice startled her.

"Mick," She whispered turning to see him towering behind her. The chills rippled through her as she stared into his black eyes devoid of all emotion.

Mick Santos had dogged her from the minute that he walked into Millennium. He had set his sights on the beautiful blonde bombshell that wanted nothing to do with him. Mick was used to getting what he wanted and didn't take kindly to Michelle's rebuff of his affections. He had started out as smooth as any other man who was looking to score, but the more Michelle protested.....the more Mick dug his heels in. Nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. Certainly not a little thing like her 'love' for Jesse Blue. When his charms wore thin, Mick fell into mobster mode. He would muscle his way in if necessary.

"Yes Michelle, it's me," he laughed, "So it looks like you and me have some unfinished business." his hoarse whisper sent chills down Michelle's spine. "Where's Jesse now?" he cackled knowing full well the answer to his own question. The sight of Drew snuggled in Jesse's arms assured him that Michelle would be ripe for the plucking.

She turned to run but he was too fast for her. Mick's stride was nearly twice hers. Before she knew what was happening Mick had his body over hers pinning her against the wet sand of the beach.

The entire scene was something out of a really bad movie. In a way she felt as though she was standing outside of herself watching what was happening to her. She could see his eyes traveling over every inch of her body. She watched him lick his lips with anticipation. She could sense him spreading her legs apart letting his manhood come to rest against her most feminine spot. The tears welled in behind her soft brown eyes. This was some horrific dream that she would have given anything to wake from. She felt him run his hands along the soft curves of her body all the while his eyes starring at her like a lion about to pounce. Michelle watched herself screaming and crying but there was no sound that she was able to hear. The scenes continued as he brought his mouth down hard on hers forcing his tongue to part her lips. In a brief moment of clarity she gained what little senses she still possessed and bite down solidly on his tongue. She could taste his blood. In that instant she had the upper hand. While Mick was caught off guard she reached for the closest thing she could find. The rock felt heavy and cold in her hand. Before Mick had the chance to lunge for her again, she landed it hard against his head. The thud was deafening.............................

"Miss Bauer," the agent's touch caused Michelle to wake with a start. Her heart raced until she understood that she wasn't on the beach as she had thought. The she was safe and sound and about to embark on a whole new existence.

"I didn't mean to frighten you," he continued, "We need to be going soon. If you need to get ready, I think that you should get started.

"Thank you," Michelle said throwing the blanket back against the sofa. She padded across the room to get ready for her final hours as Michelle Bauer still wondering if she was doing the right thing.

Danny listened as the phone rang a dozen or so times. He was beginning to lose faith in his resolve. His uncle Albert was the only person he knew that had removed himself successfully from the family business. He wanted to be the next in line for that notable title.

His uncle had walked away at the height of his greatness. Watching his son die in his arms was the last straw in the line of many things that Albert Santos could no longer tolerate. Danny's father had understood. Saying that in the same situation he had no idea what he would do as well. Miguel arranged for "the Commission" to allow Albert a peaceful exit from the only life that he knew. Danny's father carried the clout to make that happen. It wasn't an easy task to accomplish. Trust even among 'la familia' was not a given. Each head of the respective family sought to look out for their own best interests. And having a man like Albert Santos walk away with the knowledge he had was a great risk for them to take.

Albert had agreed to live by the same code that they had done for generations now, the only difference for him would be that he would no longer possess the power he once had. In the beginning the code of honor served those before him well, but now it had become a twisted representation that only served whoever sat at the head of the table. Danny had to remember that that person now was his mother. And her's was the most twisted agenda yet. Danny knew in his heart that his uncle would understand his need to be free. He just wondered if he would be willing to take the risk necessary to be the one to give him that freedom.

"Hello," the soft voice spoke.

"Jenny?" Danny returned searching for his voice, "Aunt Jenny, it's Daniel could I please speak to uncle Albert?"

"Daniel? What is it? Are you all right?" She was completely taken aback by his call. She and her husband had not seen or spoken with anyone from that world since Miguel's funeral. A sense of fear encompassed her. As much as she was certain that her husband had left that life many years ago there was always the gamble that something or someone could force his hand and bring him back to the center of the distraction.

"I've been better," Danny sighed. "Mick's dead, Jenny."

His words bounced off her ear drums. This is what she feared most. That Daniel was seeking retaliation and enlisting his uncle's help.

"And what do you expect Albert to do for you?" she returned harshly. She fully intended on protecting the life she now had. She wasn't about to send anyone else she loved to slaughter.

"I need his help. Please can I speak with him?" it was difficult to miss the desperation in his voice. Yet Jenny wasn't about to back down.

"What so you can get him killed too?" she spat the anger from all those years ago getting the better of her.

"Of course not!" Danny defended his actions.

"Then what do you need him for other then to help you avenge Mick's death since your own father isn't around to help you," her tone was icy.

"I need his help......his help to....break free," he whispered fearing the walls around him would tumble.

"What?" those were not the words she had expected to hear.

"Jenny, who are you talking to?" Danny heard his uncle's voice in the background.

"Let me speak with him," Danny pleaded once more his idea was waning fast. The tone in Jenny's voice led him to believe that he wouldn't be welcome in their home.

"It's Daniel," she returned to her husband.

"Well give me the phone then," he ordered. He may have left the family business but he had not left the family. "Yes, Daniel what is it?" he questioned full of concern.

"Mick's dead." the statement of fact rolled off Danny's tongue without much thought. He had said it over and over so many times now it may as well have been recorded.

"What?!?!?" Albert fell back into the chair along side of the credenza.

"Mick was kill about a month ago. I don't really know why and right now I don't even think that I care."

Albert heard the all too familiar sound of defeat in Danny's voice. It was the same sound that he heard echoing in his mind in the weeks after he had buried Richard. The need for power and money had overstayed it's welcome in his life and now it appeared to be doing the same for his nephew.

Miguel had wanted great things for his son's, especially Danny. Unfortunately it looked as though Danny had other plans. He had known that his brother's youngest son would not be the man that he had envisioned. Danny was far too in tune with the humanity of life to feed off it's misery like the others. For that Albert had been grateful. He was sorry though that Mick's death had been the catalyst to force Danny to his breaking point.

"What can I do?" he asked.

"I want to come and stay with you. I want to be part of something more then what I am here."

"Meaning?"

"I want to help you run and expand your business," Danny said firmly.

"Expand the business?" Albert repeated while Jenny stood on the sidelines vehemently shaking her head no.

"Yes. I have a portfolio full of business deals that I put together for Sancorp. Great money making ventures that Carmen chose to artfully ignore," the disgust in Danny's voice was evident.

"I see," Albert rubbed his chin making Jenny all the more nervous.

She and Albert had moved to Texas fifteen years ago. They had even gone as far as changing their names. Albert had done everything in his power to disassociate himself with his former life. It appeared now that with one phone call from Danny they were about to be embroiled in the thick of it again.

"You think you can help me franchise my restaurants do you?" he laughed at his nephew's vigor, "That's a tall order from a man who's never stepped foot in the state of Texas."

"Isn't Texas the state where bigger is better?" Danny joked enjoying the easy manner that his uncle had about him.

"Rightly so," he conceded.

"Are you interested in my offer?" Danny questioned tentatively waiting for him to ask the obvious question.

"And your mother? She's all right with this arrangement?"

"Don't worry I can handle Carmen."

"No one handles Carmen, Daniel!" Carmen Santos and Albert were by no means friends. He had even gone as far to steer his brother away from this leech that had attached herself to his side. Carmen saw Miguel as a means to an end. He had the power that had always been just out of her reach. No matter what he had done to enable his brother to see the light Miguel continued forward with blinders on.

"I don't think I'm leaving her with much choice. I'm leaving!" Danny was surprised by his own forcefulness.

"I have worked very hard to make a life for Jenny and myself here. I don't want 'la familia' running rampant through our life again," he stated firmly.

"I promise you that won't happen. I am not looking to hurt you uncle Albert. I only want a chance to be me....whoever that is. The one person I know that that isn't is the one that Carmen has in mind for me."

"Good for you son. But it's not going to be as easy as you think."

"Albert I have more then enough on my mother, and I use that term loosely, to bury her if she doesn't go along."

"Daniel you know what you are saying? You are implicating yourself as well."

"Understood. It's a risk I am willing to take and one I know she isn't!"

"You are more then welcome in our home. For as long as you like. You would be a nice addition to my operation. I look forward seeing you, Daniel."

Danny replaced the receiver in it's cradle, he only hoped to be as powerful when he addressed Carmen.

The ride to Ben's office was a quiet one. Michelle wished that Ross had been the one doing the driving. The agent well meaning as he was kept droning on about something she didn't really give a rats ass about. Nothing he said drew her thoughts from what lay ahead of her. The warriors for the war that waged in her mind marched on. Each side fighting for their position. The logical side of her brain weighed the consequences of her staying while the irrational side ranted and raved about being forced to leave the only place she had ever lived. There was no winning this battle. Either side of the coin left her on the losing end. If she stayed to fight for her life.......it would be just that a fight for her very existence. Michelle knew deep in her heart that she couldn't hide from people like the Santos' forever. Springfield wasn't that large of a community. Sooner or later they would piece together the fragments of what happened that night on the beach. It would only be a matter of time before she met with an untimely little accident or worse yet disappeared all together. The very thought left her reeling. There was no way she could do that to Rick and Abby. She couldn't have them waiting by the phone for some news on what had happened to her. She couldn't take the chance that they would be left to pick up the pieces without her. At least Ross's way would give them the comfort of knowing that she was safe where ever it was she was going to be.

Yet that side of the coin had it's downside as well. She may have been alive but Michelle wasn't sure if you could call it living. She was still trying to imagine turning herself into a completely different person. How was she supposed to turn off Michelle and metamorphose into a new person. That concept baffled her.

The car came to a halt at the curb of Ben Warren's office building. She swallowed hard around the lump in her throat as the agent led her to the elevator. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ross standing by Ben's doorway. In a brief moment of panic she thought that he had left her too. That was a scenario that Michelle was all too familiar with. And one right now that she wasn't able to deal with.

"How are you?" Ross asked softly.

"Better now that you are here," she smiled.

"I told you that I would be with you every step of the way through this. Are you ready to go in?"

"It's now or never," Michelle sighed while Ross was sure she was about to bolt any minute.

"Michelle.....counselor," Ben said in his usual egotistical manner. The slap on the wrist had done little to tone down his opinion of himself.

"Ben," Ross returned devoid of any feeling.

"Let's get started shall we?"

"Yes, let's get down to business," Ross concurred.

"Michelle, again I must ask....are you certain this is the path you wish to pursue? I have to make it perfectly clear to you that after you step out of this office the person you are right now is virtually dead." Ben enjoyed the anguish in her soft brown eyes. He was the master of inflicting pain on those around him. He felt it was his just desserts for all the pain that he had endured growing up. It gave him great pleasure to watch those around him squirm.

"Ben," Ross spoke up, "We have been over this time and time again. Michelle is well aware of what she is doing."

"Excuse me....big brother, but I am not asking for your opinion on the matter," Ben turned back to face Michelle, "Am I making myself perfectly clear? There can not be any phone calls to big brother Rick.....no letters with out of state post marks. Nothing that in any way could remotely be tied to you." his voice grew louder with each passing remark.

"Your point has been duly noted," Michelle said with more force than she expected. No matter what happened to her, she still had difficulty stomaching the man before her. He may have been working to save her ass but it was not without motive of his own. Ben Warren didn't do anything that didn't in some way benefit him. The only problem with this was Michelle had no idea what was in this for him.

"This isn't a game, Michelle," he was angered by her fire, "You can't just quit and come home when you are lonely. There's no going back once you start."

"What Ben.......do I look like a complete idiot here? Do you think that this was an easy decision for me to make? I know what I'm doing so please don't insult my intelligence by thinking otherwise." her nostrils flared with rage.

The pairs eyes locked across the table. Neither intending to look away first. Michelle wasn't about to give Ben the upper hand and he certainly wasn't going to let some teenaged girl get the better of him.

Ross watched from the sidelines trying his best not to chuckle. He thought he was witness to a very elaborate pissing contest. A contest that he knew that Ben would lose. Michelle was nothing if not persistent.

"Do you think that we could get on with this?" Ross finally asked after the showdown lasted more then ten minutes.

"Let's get down to business," Ben said as he moved behind his desk. The smile that ebbed it's way across Michelle's face caused Ben's blood to boil. Why was it that the Bauer's had a way of getting the best of him no matter what he did to stop it.

"I need your driver's license, social security, credit cards and any other forms that identify you as Michelle Bauer. As of this minute she is dead and buried," Ben couldn't resist the urge to twist the knife one last time.

Michelle did as she was told and emptied the contents of her wallet. In one quick slight of hand, Ben scooped up what was essentially her life and dropped it into the shredder. The sound that the blades made as they cut through the plastic documents might as well have been shredding her soul right along with them. A single tear wound its way down her cheek. She would save the sobs for later. When Ben Warren wasn't anywhere in sight of her. She wasn't going to let him see her cry. She wasn't about to let him enjoy her pain any further.

"Here." Ben handed her an envelope.

"What's this?" she questioned.

"You're new life," he stated.

Michelle turned the envelope end over end letting its contents spill onto the table. She ran her fingers through the items that made up the person she was to become. She looked at the credit cards, the University ID, her social security card and driver's license. The words were nothing more then a mass of letter's looking back at her. She wasn't able to make sense out of them. Or more importantly didn't want to. Since making sense out of them would acknowledge the fact that she accepted what was truly taking place.

Her words to Ben had been true. Yes she indeed did know what she was doing but she sure as hell didn't have to like it.

"All the provisions have been made for you. Your records have been transferred to the University of Texas. You can start attending classes once the new semester begins. We have also started a bank account for you. Here is the account information. There are instructions on how you need to access it and who you need to speak to at the bank."

Ben's words flooded her senses sending them into overload. There was so much information to process. She was going to Texas of all places. She wondered how and why Texas? It was futile to even ask the questions that besieged her. She had given up her right to question when she had agreed to this arrangement.

"You are booked on the twelve o'clock flight to Galveston. From there you will be taken to your apartment.............then you are one your own."

"On my own?" Michelle repeated.

"Exactly."

"What am I supposed to do?" she could hear the fear in her voice but couldn't put a stop to it.

"Whatever it is young girl do when they aren't accosting men on the beach," Ben jabbed again with a laugh.

"THAT'S ENOUGH BEN!!!!!" Ross interjected sensing the anxiety that Michelle was feeling.

"What...............?????" Ben feigned innocence.

"Michelle did you get all of that?" Ross did his best to be a comfort to her.

"Yes," she returned yet Ross didn't believe her. The look on her face was one of pure shock. All Michelle was able to do was sit and stare at her new identity. She was now to look in the mirror and see Melanie Branson......not Michelle Bauer. That was much easier said then done.

Danny wiped away the mist that had collected on the mirror during his shower. This was the first time in months that he saw the man behind the mask. The shroud had been lifted. The instant that Uncle Albert had agreed to Danny's request it was as if a thousand pound weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

He felt alive again and full of the potential that Carmen had once tried to box into what she had desired of him. He could have shouted it from the roof top that morning. Shouted that he was finally FREE. Unencumbered of all the trappings of this dark and dismal life.

Danny wrapped the towel around his waist and went to make the final arrangements for his trip. He wanted everything in place prior to speaking with Carmen. He had no intention of backing down from this.

He listened as the travel agent read back his itinerary. Everything was a go. It was hard to believe that in a few hours he would be on his way to Texas. On his way to a better life. That thought filled him with a hope that he had long since lost.

Those hopes were dashed the instant his eyes met Carmen's fiery stare. "Morning, mother," he said cautiously.

"Daniel, we must talk," she brought the porcelain cup to her bright red lips. Even in the morning's early hours, Carmen was dressed to the nines.

"About?" Danny asked foolishly.

"What's been done....or should I say hasn't been done to find your brother's killer." her tone was caustic, "I must say Daniel, I expected much more from you. Your father entrusted his legacy to you and this is how you repay him?"

"For God sakes mother, I was fourteen years old," Danny said exasperated. Carmen played her guilt card one too many times for him. "What is it that you want from me? I would have said anything to papa that night," Danny choked back the memory of his father's dying words. Miguel's raspy voice was an all too familiar sound. Each time that Danny wrestled with this decision that voice called to him from the grave.

'You take care of things now, Daniel. You are now the man at the head of the table,'

"I want you to find your brother's murderer. I want to you to cut them down in the prime of life. The same way that Mick was. It's a matter of honor!" Carmen stressed.

"Honor my ass!" Danny shot back, "What the hell's so honorable about this life of ours? From where I sit there isn't a damn thing honorable about it!"

Carmen eyed her son cautiously. She certainly didn't like the things she was hearing. The expression on his face was one that she was unable to read. That was troublesome to her.

"This life as you say with such distaste has made us a family of greatness. Those beneath cower before us," Carmen said with pride.

"Listen to yourself mother. You enjoy being feared? You take pleasure in the fact that when people look at us they see a family known for raping and pillaging those less fortunate. A family that exploits weakness and kills when we find it necessary. Well I don't enjoy that image. The last thing I want is respected that way. Wake up mother......it's fear that you are getting not respect. You maybe can fool yourself into thinking differently but I'm not that foolish!"

"You father was a wonderful man. He brought this family to the forefront with his vision.........."

"That was papa.......," Danny cut her off, "But under your leadership mother we have had nothing but turmoil. You are so power hungry that you led Mick to the slaughter just like a lamb. You fed every one of his insecurities. You knew what it did to him to know that papa expected me to take the reins of this family. You used that to make Mick into nothing more then a thug. He would have done whatever you told him to do," Danny cried.

"You give me far too much credit Daniel. If he had done everything that I told him Mick would still be alive don't you think?" she questioned without so much as a tear.

Danny hadn't witnessed one tear shed from his mother for her lost son. That amazed him. The idea that even her family was expendable was a driving force in his need to separate himself from 'la familia' and Springfield all together.

"You are one cold hearted bitch!" the words spilled from his mouth before he had realized what he was truly saying.

"Daniel!" his remark startled her, "I am certainly not accustomed to being spoken to in that manner," she retorted.

"Well you better get used to it. Better yet don't because.....I am on the next flight out of here," he dropped his bomb careful not to mention exactly where he was going. The last thing he wanted was Carmen descending on his Uncle Albert.

"WHAT?!?!?"

"I am certain you heard me," he returned.

"You are leaving? Just like that you are walking away from your responsibilities to this family?"

"FAMILY!?!?! What a joke. You throw that word around this house like it's supposed to mean something. It's been a long time since we have been anything that even vaguely resembled a family." Danny laughed halfheartedly.

"We are a family Daniel," she cupped his face in her hands. "You are my only son now. I can't accept that you are turning your back on what you know to be the right thing to do."

Danny pushed her hands away before speaking, "I hate it that Mick died the way he did. It eats away at me every minute of every day," his voice cracked as he did his best to hold the tears at bay, "But me going out and enacting our revenge won't bring him back mother. It won't return to me the Mick I remember. The brother that I loved. The Mick I knew lately was everything that I despised about this business. Everything that I despise in you," he whispered.

Danny's candor rendered Carmen silent. To hear those words pass from her son's lips to her ears was unbelievable. How was it that after everything that she had done to keep this family from falling apart that was exactly what was happening. Her husband was gone, Mick was gone, Pilar was gone and now Danny was threatening to go as well.

"Daniel," she began.

"Save it mother. It's old news to me. The lectures and speeches they don't' work on me anymore. I don't want to end up the way papa and Mick did. I want more from my life then to die with a bullet in my back."

"That won't happen. I won't let it happen to you. I love you Daniel."

"I'm sure in your own way that you do. But that's not enough for me anymore. I won't continue to live this life. Nothing you can say will make me change my mind."

"What you think that you can just walk away?" she laughed the edge returning to her tone, "You know far too much for the other families to accept you bowing out now. You may have been successful in never getting your hands dirty Daniel but that won't matter to them. You are as much a part of this organization as I am!" Carmen sassed as she played what she thought to be her trump card.

"I am well aware of all that mother. But here's a tidbit that you neglected to think about. Yes I know it all. Dealings that range from merely suspect, those that are highly questionable and those completely criminal. I know where all the bodies are buried...literally. I have enough information on our family as well as the others to send you all away for a dozen lifetimes."

"Exactly what is it that you are trying to say?" Carmen questioned doing her best to keep her anxiety in check. She certainly didn't want to show any fear even to her own son.

"You figure it out," Danny quipped.

"I can't believe that you would even think that. You would be sending yourself to jail right along with us."

"That's a risk that I'm willing to take."

"This is ridiculous!" she bellowed in true Carmen Santos fashion.

"Maybe......but I will do whatever it takes to get the hell out of this life. Even if that means going to jail," Danny said firmly.

"So what am I supposed to tell the others? How am I to explain that you just vanished?"

"I guess that's your problem. I don't care what you tell them really. Just remember that if anything.....I mean anything happens to me I have enough information to bury you and the others."

"You really think that I would let them hurt you?" Carmen gasped in disbelief.

"I wish I could say that I know you would protect me with your life, but I can't. The only thing I knew for sure you would die protecting was this way of life. And you proved me correct."

"Daniel, where will you go?" she asked reaching for his arm.

"That's not important."

"What if I need you?"

"Don't need me mother!" he countered.

"But Daniel........"

"You have Dietz mother. He enjoys doing your dirty work.....so let him do it!"

Without another word Danny picked up his bags and walked away from his mother. His emotions mixed. He was elated to be free but he was mournful as well. What he mourned for though were days that had long since passed. The days when Carmen was his mother first and Mob Boss second. It had been years since that had been the case but it was still something that he wasn't sure he would ever truly get over.

Michelle sat quietly as Ben and Ross continued on with their conversation. She looked down again at the pile of identification before her. She whispered the name once more....Melanie Branson.....Melanie Branson. She looked at her reflection in the mirrored wall to her left. She didn't look like a Melanie and she certainly didn't feel like a Melanie.

Even though she had no intention of letting Ben Warren see her cry, there was little to be done about the floodgates that had just been opened behind her eyes. She watched as the tears rolled down her cheeks. No amount of wiping them away stopped them. Right now Michelle had the most overwhelming sense of loss. It was indescribable. Indeed she was very much alive, but she felt as though she was riding in a funeral processional of a dear and trusted friend. She had had no idea that this is what it would be like.

In fact all of Ben's taunting had been truthful. She was witness to the death of Michelle Bauer. In one fail swoop she had been buried under a pile of shredded documents. It was funny to imagine that it was that simple. But indeed it had been. All those things tangible things that make up a person's life were so easily stripped from them.

"Michelle, I will give you one last chance to back out of this deal. Seems to me that you aren't as sure of your conviction as you led me to believe," Ben said pointedly watching her wipe away the remnants of her tears.

"Not a chance!" she said voice strained trying to hide her emotions. She didn't want to give Ben anymore ammunition than he already had.

"Suit yourself then," he quipped all too sure that Michelle/Melanie wouldn't last a week alone in the big state of Texas. It wouldn't be long before she slipped up giving herself away. Then it wasn't his business if she met with an accident or two.

"Ben, enough with the game of cat and mouse," Ross stated firmly having had just all about all he could take of his 'brother's' sarcasm.

"This is by no means a game counselor," Ben countered. "Think it's your client that you should be explaining that to."

"How so?" Ross was sorry the minute he asked the question. It only served to give him a forum to continue with his barrage against Michelle.

"Seems perfectly clear to me that Miss Bauer wants it all. And unfortunately she just can't have it," he grinned, "In this life you can't have your cake and eat it too......."

"I KNOW THAT!!!!" Michelle yelled letting Ben get the best of her.

"You could have fooled me a minute ago. I watched you crying your eyes out. So what's it going to be? You stay here and hide in the shadows for the rest of you miserable little life or become Melanie Branson? The choice is yours. Either way after today I don't really give a damn!" That was the first honest thing Ben had said throughout this whole thing.

"THAT'S ENOUGH BEN!!!!!!" Ross's harsh voice bounced off the walls of the office.

"Not nearly," he countered.

"I have a news flash for you Mr. Warren," Michelle seethed, "Take the way you feel about me right now and magnify that a thousand times and you will begin to imagine just how much I despise you!!!! The contempt I feel for you is immeasurable. Not only what you have done to my family but what you have done to Ross's as well. I actually feel sorry for you."

"Sorry......for me? Just why is that?" he questioned curious of her response.

"Everything that could have been good in your life has turned to stone. And there is no one to blame for that but yourself. You came to Springfield with an agenda. You set out to destroy good people....hell you even took down a few in the process that you didn't even know. They just happened to be on the wrong side of your opinion."

"You mean like you sister-in-law?" Ben added smugly.

"Most definitely! You let her sit in jail for months knowing damn well that she acted in self-defense in killing Roy. But what did you do about it? Not a damn thing. You toyed with my family and you loved every minute of it. If that video from WSPR hadn't fallen into the right hands Abby would still be rotting in jail you bastard!" Michelle stood taking stance to slap Ben hard across the jaw.

"Now....now Michelle," Ben reached for her hand before she could make contact, "This little masquerade that you about to embark on could be stopped dead in the water if you aren't careful."

"I don't give a damn. Do what you want Ben.......it would only serve to confirm my opinion of what a lowlife you truly are."

"Enough.....both of you!" Ross shouted yet silently he was cheering Michelle on. She had been able to say so many of the things that he hadn't been. Things that had been welling in him for sometime now, "Are we finished?" he asked.

"NOT BY A LONG SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Oh what you want more?" Michelle began not knowing where all of this rage had come from. It was as if all her pent up feelings for everything that had gone wrong in her life, feelings that she had pushed to the background for so long now were springing forth. Ben was baring the brunt for it all.

"Ross......you either get your client under control or this discussion is over!" Ben said straightening his suit jacket.

"Michelle, enough. Do you understand me?"

"What do I have to lose now?" she countered turning to Ross eyes blazing.

"YOUR LIFE!" Ross said soberingly, "Is that what you really want? Do you want to be thrown to the lions? He can still do that you know.......but he wouldn't dare!" Ross looked his brother directly in eye as he spoke.

"Just get her out of here. If I never see her again it will be too soon."

Ben watched as Michelle and Ross exited the room. The fury the bubbled beneath the surface was like a wildfire out of control. If it wouldn't have gotten him disbarred, he would have went straight to Carmen Santos with the information on who killed her son and exactly where it was she could find her. Right now though he cataloged the information in the recesses of his mind for safekeeping.

Danny rested his body against the cold surface of the door. The reality of what he had just done hitting him square in the face. He had actually walked away. The ties that bind were no more. It would take some time to sink in.

At this moment in time he wanted to feel joy....relief...anything but it was a hollow victory. All he felt was a deep-seated emptiness in the pit of his stomach. Where was the elation that he had expected. Why wasn't he doing the dance of joy on his way to his car? NOTHING......absolutely no feelings what so ever.

There wasn't even anger or rage for a life lost. A life that had been stolen from him at the tender age of fourteen. He had never gotten to experience what it was like to be a normal child with a simple life. Carmen had deprived him of those things that most children take for granted.

He wanted to be furious but couldn't.....wanted to be delighted but wasn't. Right now he couldn't muster but one emotion. All he was was numb. That numbness was little consolation at the moment.

Doing his best to shake off this cloud that encircled his head, Danny walked towards his car. This was the last time that when he turned the key in the ignition that he would fear it exploding. The last time that he would spend his drive time checking the rearview mirror time and time again to see if he was being tailed. All those things that Carmen got a charge from would be no more in the world that Danny would create from himself. A world where being a Santos wasn't such a bad thing.

The heavy iron gates closed behind him for the last time. He looked as the home he had grown up in vanished into the horizon. "Good-bye, mama," he whispered to the woman he once loved.

Danny had sometime to kill before he had to make his flight, before he knew where he was headed he had parked his car before his family's crypt. Today was the time for farewells.

The marble building stood ominous before him. As much as he wanted to be there that was how much he hadn't a clue why. The man he remembered being his father was so far removed from the man he actually had been. The years since his death had proven that fact.

Miguel Santos led a double life. The mask of mobster was left at the door to his study each night. His two worlds were to never meet. He could be ruthless and heartless when necessary but his children never saw that side of the man they called papa. Danny had always felt protected when his father had been alive. That nothing bad could touch them.

That illusion had been shattered the eve of his fourteenth birthday. The world as he knew it was about to come screeching to a halt. Slowly Miguel had been bringing Danny into the business. He felt the younger he learned the better it would be for all concerned. His eldest son didn't have the cool headed temperament that his younger one possessed. Miguel was certain that Mick would be more of a liability then anything else. Yet at seventeen it was hard for Mick to understand his father's wishes. All he saw was that what was rightfully supposed to be his was being snatched out from under him.

That evening Miguel had taken Danny with him to conduct a business transaction. Mick flamed at the doorway as he watched the limo pulled out of the drive. Before he knew what he was doing he found himself jumping behind the wheel of his 911 Porsche. Dietz had alerted Miguel via the driver that Mick was hot on their tail. Danny could still his father's words.......'I have got to do something with him before he gets us all killed.'

Danny wouldn't know until later how true his father's statement would be. He was nervous as he looked on to see the other limos driving up to meet theirs. At the time, Danny didn't know how to describe the feeling he was having but many years later he understood it to be fear. The fear that on that night he was about to lose his father.

'You stay here son. I will have Carlos bring you to me when it's time for you to be introduced.'

Danny recalled nodding. He watched his father make his way to the circle of men. It wasn't difficult to tell that Miguel Santos was the man in charge. Each of the others bent to kiss his hand. At that moment Danny had been proud that Miguel was his father, not knowing truly what this world was all about.

Danny heard the shots ring out through the night air. The scene played out in slow motion before his eyes. There was his father lying bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. To this day when Danny looked down at his hands he imagined the faintest stain of his father's blood still present there.

He remembered Carlos trying to hold him back but his adrenaline forced him from the man's strong grasp. Danny was on a full tilt run to his father's side.

At fourteen Danny could have cared less who was standing around him. He didn't understand what his father's death meant to these men much less did he care. All the mattered was that his father lay dying in his arms.

He cried papa...papa.....papa over and over until his mouth was too dry to speak any longer. There they were his father's words again as Danny ran his fingers in the script of his name on his burial marker..........'You care of things now, Daniel. You are now the man at the head of the table'.................

"I'm sorry to disappoint you papa. But I can't do as you asked," he choked on his own words, "Please forgive me. Try to understand. What I am willing to do is a disgrace to you. For that I am sorry....but this isn't the life that it once was. It has turned into a blood bath. Long gone is the honor that you and Uncle Albert lived by. It's nothing more then a circus and pony show only serving to be a farce. I can't be this....I won't be one of them," he sighed doing his best to regain his composure, "Papa, Mick is dead. You are dead. And mama is someone I don't even recognize," he gasped those feelings from earlier rushing forward to claim him. Tears filling his dark eyes, he turned his gaze to the marker that belonged to Mick. "I loved you man. I loved you with everything that I had to give. I didn't give a damn about this business. I never wanted any of it. I'm sorry that that got in the way of us. It should never have. I know you are more then likely spitting on me from the afterlife. Seeing as how I can't find it in my soul to do what you would be doing right now if roles were reversed. That doesn't mean that I am disloyal Mick. I am fiercely loyal Mick. I miss you man........" Danny's voice trailed off covered by his tears.

Danny stood up and took one final look at the two men he had grown to look up to in his life. But now that vision was a bit skewed. It was time for him to forge ahead and do what he knew what had to be done for him to survive. It was the only way he say himself coming out of this mess a whole person again.

"Good-bye.........I hope when we meet again you will understand," Danny turned away and headed for his car feeling more somber now then he had before.

There was one last stop to make before he headed to the airport. He patted the thick envelope that was hidden in the inside pocket of his leather jacket. That was his insurance policy and he was about to deliver it to a man that Carmen would never suspect.