Albert's surprise at the voice that met his ear was written over the features of his face. Quickly he did his best to hide his astonishment knowing full well that the rules of this game had been changed forever by Michelle's admission of her part in Mick's death. The once skewed image now had the clarity he needed. His only concern at the moment was how much did this person know and how was he to stop the domino effect of events that was certain to unfold.

"Hey, are you still there?" the voice on the other end of the line questioned.

"Yes, yes I am here. What is it you want?"

"A clear conscious." Albert had a difficult time believing those words. They were such the opposite of all the things he knew to be true.

"Some how I doubt that," he countered, "What's this really all about?" Albert asked again.

"I hear you have had some trouble in your neck of the woods," the voice said stating the obvious.

"Depends on how you define trouble," Albert returned not letting himself be baited into this apparent trap.

"It's all over the news that Danny's been shot," he answered putting the first layer of his blueprint in motion.

Albert felt his mouth go dry at that admission. Right now he needed to bring his plan of action into focus. If news of Danny's shooting had reached him then Albert was certain the others wouldn't be far behind.

He looked at Michelle as she stood quietly looking out the window. His thoughts were drawn as to how to protect her and his wife from the mass destruction that was soon to follow. Fifteen years to be out of the business was a long time, and at the moment the things that had been instilled in him long ago were not readily returning at the pace he had hoped.

"Did you hear me?" the voice prodded.

"Of course I heard you! So what if it has?" Albert barked.

"Just thought you might need some help."

"Not from the likes of you," he shot back not caring what his brother had said about this man. Albert hadn't trusted him all those years ago and he had no intention of starting now.

"Don't be so quick to cut me loose," the voice offered sensing Albert's hesitancy.

"What is it you think that you can do for me?" Albert scoffed.

"As well as you can do for me," he countered.

"I should have known."

"In exchange for the information that I have. Information I might add that you would find very useful in your upcoming battle," the voice said in an all-knowing tone, "All I want is for you to make me disappear."

"OH I CAN MAKE YOU DISAPPEAR ALL RIGHT!!!!" Albert remarked in a foreboding manner.

"That's not exactly how I meant it," the man countered reading the signals in Albert's voice.

"Then what did you mean?"

"I was thinking a nice little island in the tropics and enough money to live out my golden years in the style to which I have grown accustomed to…………….."

"Excuse me?!?!?"

"That's right, I will fade into the hoards of tourists and become nothing more then a face among the crowd."

Albert looked over again at Michelle knowing that she thought she had been doing the very same thing, yet he was more certain than ever that you can't escape no matter how hard the attempt may be.

"And exactly how do you plan on doing this vanishing? You of all people know that you can't just walk away!"

"Oh, but I can," the voice countered confidently.

"How so?" Albert asked.

"The information that I have to offer will ensure that I walk away unscathed."

"Over confident aren't we?" Albert joked thinking to himself that this man had truly lost what little marbles he had to begin with. When you were dealing with Carmen no one walked away unharmed; not her family and certainly not some hired hand.

"I would have to disagree. If you understood the weight of the information I have then you would not doubt me so."

"Then for god sakes let's have it!!!" Albert growled tired of this conversation. If it hadn't been for this nagging voice in the back of his mind he would have ended this some time ago.

"Not so fast my friend……….."

"Let's get one thing straight," Albert forced, "I'm NOT your friend!"

"Fine but there is still the matter of my terms for my knowledge."

"And what makes you think that I even trust you? How do I know this isn't some elaborate ruse to destroy Danny's life further?" Albert wasn't about to put anything past this vile group.

"I have been a loyal employee for years…………."

Albert cut him off, "Loyal to no one but yourself! I was the only one that you couldn't fool. So forgive me if I am having a hard time believing you are now thinking about someone other then yourself! Besides you don't give a damn about Danny!"

"That's not true!" the voice countered.

"ENOUGH!!!!" Albert's voice rose in caliber catching Michelle's attention. She turned to watch him as he continued speaking into the phone, "I don't give a damn what it is you think you have that could be of some help to me. I don't want help from the likes of you……….."

"Not even if it concerns your son and brother's murder?"

Albert was stunned into silence. The words son and brother's murder bounced about his mind.

"What?"

"I thought that might get your attention. So you ready to deal or not?" he asked realizing he finally had him right where he wanted, needed him to be.

"What is it you want?" Albert whispered still uncertain of the believability of it all.

"Some fake ID papers and enough money so I never so much as have to think about the Santos family again."

"And if I don't agree?"

"Then seems to me that murder of your brother and son will forever remain a mystery," the voice cackled.

Albert lowered himself onto the stiff vinyl sofa and thought about the pact he was just about to make with the devil's advocate. Once more that nagging voice at the back of his mind came forward. It was a feeling that he couldn't shake; a sensation that he needed to find out what this man had to tell him. That somehow, someway it would be the key to some of the many gates that imprisoned all of them.

"Tell me what you know."

"Not until we negotiate a deal," the man said not ready to divulge anything without a guarantee for himself that he would get the things that he wanted, hell needed to stay alive..

"THE ONLY DEAL YOU ARE GOING TO GET IS THIS!!" Albert roared, "You will get nothing until I am assured that this so called 'information' that you claim to have is real."

"Oh, it's real all right!"

"Not a cent until then. Now start talking or the deal's off!"

Albert listened intently to the tale that was laid out before him. He felt the bile rise in his throat as the horrific information was told to him. He reached for the arm of the sofa to steady himself as tremors of anger over took his body. He heard of how he had been robbed of first his son and then his brother. The finely woven web was mystifying but in an odd way so believable. All his life he had been taught to believe in a system, a code and in one sentence all that had been shattered. Absently he wondered if his father had been rolling over in his grave all this time at the mockery that had been made of an institution that he had held sacred in his day.

The story that had just been laid before him would have never been in the days of old, when men like his father and the father's of the other men that now sat in their seats at the table ruled supreme. This debauchery would have been cut at the knees before it had ever gotten so far.

"Well?!?!" the anxious voice on the other end of the phone prodded.

"I need more then just your word of this. I need proof."

"I am your proof. I was there. I was witness to it all."

"And now you expect to be rewarded for your efforts?!?!" Albert raged thinking that the blood of his son and brother were on this man's hands as well.

"I just want what is coming to me."

"And so you shall have it." Albert said making a mental note that he was still a Santos and all those years of dispensing Santos justice were quickly returning.

"So then we have a deal?"

"I want proof first."

"I don't have proof per say. Just my word."

"A smart man like you must have some proof or you wouldn't have put yourself out there like this. I WANT IT!!!!!" Albert seethed.

"Well there might be some," the voice relented knowing that he wasn't going to get what he was after without making this concession.

"I WANT IT!!!"

"And what…..you want me to walk it on over to you?" the angry voice countered.

"Use the wonders of modern technology man."

"Huh?"

"Fax them to me."

"You are kidding right?" the voice laughed, "You want me to just walk in and say here's these papers with information regarding two mob murders could you please send them out?"

"EXACTLY!!!"

"You are nuts you know that?"

"JUST DO IT OR THE DEAL'S OFF!!!!"

"What about my money and papers?"

"You will have that but not until after I make sure that you aren't trying to pull a fast one."

"But…….."

"And if you aren't then you have nothing to worry about, right?"

"Where should I send the papers too?"

"981-555-1498, that's the fax in my club office. You call me on this same number the minute that you have sent it and we will then discuss your monetary arrangements. Understood?!?!"

"Fine," the voice said reluctantly.

Albert ended the conversation before the man could say anymore. He leaned back in the sofa running his hands over his stubbled face. If what he had been told was in fact true then all those around him were in danger.

"Albert?" Michelle questioned as she came to sit beside him, "Is everything all right?"

"It will be. I need you to stay with me or Joe at all times. Do you understand?"

"What's the matter? I thought you said I would be safe with you?" Michelle picked up on his fear instantly.

"You are, but for the time being I need to be sure that it stays that way."

"Albert, you are scaring me."

"I don't mean to, but right now we can't take any chances."

"What's going on?"

"ARMAGEDDON!!!!"

Michelle starred intently at his eyes blazing with fury. The security that she had felt just a half-hour earlier was now evaporating like the morning haze in the heat of the rising sun.

Albert motioned to Joe as he and Michelle entered the room. Danny had said all along he had felt a kinship to this man and Albert was about to test that.

"Yes," Joe said as he came to stand before him.

"Can I trust you?"

"Of course."

"No I mean really trust you?"

"Yes," Joe said again perplexed at Albert's change in demeanor.

"Michelle and my wife could be in danger."

"Michelle?" Joe questioned unsure of who he was speaking of.

"Her," Albert pointed to where the girl Joe knew only as Melanie Branson stood.

"Melanie?" he quizzed utterly confused.

"Yes, but her name is really Michelle Bauer."

"Huh?"

Albert shook his head understanding Joe's confusion but not really needing it, "Michelle," he called to her.

"Michelle?" the group said almost in unison.

"Seems like I have some explaining to do," she said walking towards Albert.

"I think we both do," Albert added, "Please everyone," he motioned to the seats around the table in the corner of the room. Albert looked down at the half-completed puzzle and mused at how apropos the image was.

"Albert?" Jenny asked sensing the hardness that filled her husband's frame, "What is it?"

"Michelle, would you like me to try to explain all of this?"

"No I think that I better," she offered wanting all those around her to understand that she hadn't deceived them intentionally. She needed them to realize how much they had all come to mean to her. How they were suddenly more like family to her then those she left behind.

"Well then let me at least lay the groundwork," he said.

"Albert?" Jenny questioned as every hair on the back of her neck stood at attention.

"It's going to be all right," he assured, "I can promise you that."

He touched his wife's hand gently doing his best to allay her apparent fears. If the information he had just been fed was truly real then this was all about to be over.

"Could someone please tell us what the hell's going on here?" Matt asked. He had long grown tired of all of the confusion going on around them.

"We are just about to do that son," Albert said, "First let me say that this young woman sitting before you, no matter whether you think of her as Melanie or Michelle, there is no denying the wonders that she has brought to each of our lives since her arrival in Texas. And like she, Jenny and I aren't who you believe us to be. If you only think of a person by name alone."

"Come again," Matt countered feeling as though this was getting more convoluted rather then clear.

"My true name is Albert Santos. I was once part of a great crime family in the Midwest.........................."

"What," he heard Sarah gasped as she backed away from the table.

"Don't be alarmed," he said, "It's been a long time since I have had any contact with that way of life. After the tragedy of losing my son," Albert did his best not to choke on the words. Knowing now that his son's death was even more senseless then he had once thought, "Jenny and I left that way of life and came here to start over."

"The Santos family is from Springfield," Michelle added, "That's where I am from.................."

"Then you know each other?" Joe questioned.

"Not really. I didn't know any of them....well except for Mick."

"Mick?" Jenny found her voice squeak as she spoke.

"Yes," she said turning to look at Danny's aunt, "I was the one responsible for his death.........."

"What?!?!" Sarah gasped again.

Michelle turned to look at her friend silently praying to be given the chance to make this all clear finally.

Between she and Albert they intertwined the threads that made up this elaborate blanket of lies, while the group sat quietly their own thoughts running rampant.

"So you didn't know who Danny was?" Sarah asked as she tried to get a handle of the bizarre nature of this as a whole.

"No."

"That's unbelievable."

"I know," was all Michelle was able to offer. It was that, unbelievable. She hadn't believed in fate until now, but suddenly that was the only plausible explanation she could come up with.

"But who shot Danny?" Joe piped in.

"A federal agent assigned to protect Michelle. Apparently he believed she was in danger."

"In danger?" Joe echoed, "From who, Danny?"

"Yes."

"I don't get it. He loves her."

Albert shook his head at the little most people understood about the mob. Love played little or no role in the natural order of things. Danny's mother had been a true testament to that concept.

Albert had been witness to one event that would forever stand out in his memory, at times even more so then the death of his own son.

He watched as childhood friend Dominique Russo put a gun to his wife's head and took her out without a moments thought on his part. She had been disloyal to his family; had inadvertently said an innocent remark to the wife of a rival family in passing and Dominique's family had lost a vital territory. The young girl hadn't any idea that she was doing. To her it had been nothing more than bragging about the man she loved more then life itself.

Albert watched as the tears rolled down Dom's face as he pulled the trigger. In his heart Albert knew that he loved this beautiful creature; he had watched him pursue her relentlessly until she finally agreed to go on a date with him. He had been the best man at their wedding. He saw the love in their eyes as they exchanged vows that day. But none of that mattered. In the grand scheme of things loyalty was far more important them love, but how was he to explain that to this man.

"Some times that doesn't matter."

"So what you are trying to tell me that Danny would have killed her?" he said not believing the words as they fell from his lips.

"NO!!!!!!!" Michelle, Albert and Jenny said together.

"What then?"

"I don't know how to make you understand," Albert said honestly, "If circumstances were different, if Danny was a different man then I would say yes he would have avenged his brother's death by killing Michelle..................."

"That's barbariac!!" Sarah shouted.

"Yes it is," Albert offered, "But it's a way of life that has been instilled for generations now."

"Then what makes you think that Danny is any different?" Matt asked.

"He is," Jenny spoke up, "He came here looking to make a life outside of the violence that took his cousin, his father and brother. I can't explain why we know, we just know."

"So I have been working for the Mob all these years?" Joe asked.

"No!" Albert stated.

"My brother, Danny's father, let me walk away fifteen years ago when my son was killed. I came here looking for the very things that Danny did. I was lucky enough to find them. I just want Danny to have that same opportunity."

"He has," Matt said, "He's running the club, he has a beautiful girlfriend who loves him. He did it, didn't he?"

"Not quite. Certain things are expected of Danny back in Springfield. I don't need to go into all the details but let's just say that his unexpected departure has angered the powers that be."

"Are we in danger?" Sarah whispered.

The ringing of Albert's cell phone interrupted the conversation, "Excuse me. Hello.......yes.........I need a number where I can reach you.......not to worry......if what you have to show me is true.......I promise to handle this personally." Albert looked up to see all eyes resting on him. "I have to go to the club for a while."

"What?" Jenny said sensing immediately that Albert had been talking to one of them.

"I have something that needs to be taken care of. It won't take long."

"Albert?!?!" Suddenly Jenny's long standing order of burying her head in the sand was no longer an option. She sensed that their lives were about to change forever.

"Jenny," he took her hand in his, "I have to do this. Please understand."

"I want to............."

"Are we in danger???" Matt forced, "I think we have a right to know!!!"

"NO."

"Albert?" Jenny looked at him not believing him.

"If what I am about to uncover is the truth we won't be the ones in danger."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Matt questioned again not feeling that he was getting any answers though.

"Joe," Albert said addressing him again.

"Yes?"

"I asked you before if I could trust you. After all that you have heard can I?"

"Definitely."

"Then I need you to be on the look out for Danny's mother. Jenny knows who she is. I want you to be sure that you keep Michelle out of sight. I don't have all the answers yet but my gut is telling me that Carmen knows who she is and unlike Danny, she wouldn't hesitate to avenge her son's death."

"You can count on me."

"Danny told me that as well. The rest of you," he said turning to Matt and Sarah, "I know how much you want to wait for the outcome of Danny's surgery but I need the least people here the better. I have to be honest with you all, I have no idea what's going to happen and I don't want either of you to be caught in the middle of a war that you have no part of."

"But?" Sarah said her eyes moving towards Michelle. The story as unbelievable as it was didn't make much difference to her. The facts as she had heard them didn't negate what she felt in her heart about this person who had become her friend without much thought to it. And she couldn't bear the thought of leaving her alone to pace around this room waiting for word on Danny's condition.

"No buts. And I know you were staying at Michelle's apartment but given the circumstances I don't think it's such a good idea to go back there either," Albert said.

"Not to worry, that's the last place I want to be," Sarah offered as her mind brought back visions of Danny's blood pooling on the beige carpet.

"Okay, I really have to get to the club."

"Albert," Jenny's breath caught in her throat. Her eyes told him the words she couldn't bear to say.

"Jenny, I promise you that we will grow old together just as I know that Danny and Michelle will as well." He kissed his wife passionately on the lips and reached for Michelle's shaking hands.

Sarah glanced back over her shoulder to see Michelle stoically gazing out the window as the sun began its climb high into the morning sky. The facts as they had been presented were still circling in her head. Suddenly things that she had thought strange about her friend were now making perfect sense. All the times that she watched Michelle in public pace like a caged animal; the reason for it was now crystal clear. She lived in constant fear of being discovered. Sarah couldn't imagine what that must have felt like. She couldn't fathom the horror that Michelle must have experienced the night that Danny's brother attacked her. The final incomprehensible fact for Sarah was that Michelle, this loving caring wonderful person had killed someone. She just wasn't able to reconcile those two things.

When she looked at her friend, the only image that looked back at her was one of a sweet caring person who went out of her to make all those around her happy. To suddenly have the image changed was something that Sarah couldn't deal with.

"Let's go," Matt said tugging at her arm. He wanted to be as far away from this fiasco as he could be.

"Yeah," Sarah's voice trailed off as she hesitantly followed him. As scared as she was at all she had heard, that's how much she wanted to stay and support her friend.

"Can you believe all of this?" Matt asked as he slid behind the steering wheel of his car, "It's like we stepped into a scene from "The Godfather" or something," Matt added.

"It is kinda surreal," Sarah offered.

"Surreal?!?!?" Matt turned to look at her, "I would say more along the lines of terrifying. Do you have any idea what the Mob is all about? Do you know what Danny's family is going to do to her when they finally get her?"

"Albert is Danny's family and from the looks of it he intends to protect her," Sarah countered, "He has everything under control........."

"You're kidding right?!?!? Were you listening to him?!?!? Did you hear anything he said?!?!?!" Matt gasped cutting her off.

"Yes....yes I heard him," she returned annoyed by the fact that suddenly people who had been their friends hours ago were not to be thought of as the enemy. She had to admit she had some reservations but totally eradicating them from her life wasn't an option, "I saw a man doing his best to keep us all out of danger the best he knew how."

"Yeah like that's going to happen," he quipped.

"Matt what's your problem?!?! Danny and Albert are your friends. They have been good to you. Why all of the sudden doesn't any of that count?"

"Sarah, who has mobster's for friends?" Matt returned shaking his head.

"Sounds to me like you were the one who wasn't listening."

"How so?"

"Both Albert and Danny have walked away from that life."

"Come on Sarah," he sighed, "You don't walk away from that life you get carried away in a body bag!" Matt stated.

"That's a cruel thing to say, Matt. Especially knowing there a good possibility that Danny could die. Do understand what that's going to do to Melanie...I mean Michelle?"

"And that's another thing," Matt started.

"What?" she questioned.

"Your best friend killed a man!"

"In self-defense," Sarah countered with as much force as he had.

"Like that matters."

"Of course it matters! Did you by chance even hear the same story I did. I can't even begin to imagine what that ordeal must have been like for her. And then the icing on the cake is finding out that you are in love with the brother of the guy you killed."

"You really think that love makes a damn bit of difference? That's not the impression I got from Albert's account of what happened with his friend." It was obvious that both had only heard what they had wanted to.

"So you are trying to tell me that you think that Danny was really going to kill her?!?!" she gasped.

"I don't think we will ever know the answer to that question. But what I do know is that you don't kill one of theirs and not have to pay the price. And surely if Danny doesn't make it Michelle is as good as dead."

"Don't say that!" Sarah cried, "I can't lose her too."

"What on earth would you want a friend that has spent the entire time you have known them lying to you?!?" he questioned.

"That's all you can see isn't it?"

"It's difficult to miss."

"How convenient for you to so abruptly forget all of the things that Michelle, Danny too, has done for us," Sarah fingered the golden heart that hung around her neck knowing that it had been Danny who had helped Matt in picking out her gift. As much as she loved it, she yanked it from her neck breaking the clasp in the process.

"What......what the hell are you doing?!?!" he said flabbergasted by her actions.

"Returning this to you," she offered as she reached for the door handle.

"What the hell for?" confusion was getting the better of him again.

"It's obvious that we don't see this situation eye to eye and rather sit here and argue a point you are never going to understand, I feel my time would be better spent in serving my friend in her time of crisis," Sarah said removing her body from his car which was still resting in the hospital parking lot.

"I don't understand!!"

"It's simple really. I don't give a damn about who Danny's family is or isn't; I don't care that I now have to call Melanie Michelle; all I care about is the fact that a person who didn't even know me six months ago went out of her way to make my life better and I think it's time that I returned the favor! Good-bye Matt." That being said she left he alone holding the broken necklace in his hand and to think about her words.

Michelle watched as the morning wore on the streets below them came alive. The previous night's celebration had people moving in slow motion but she thought that they were at least moving. She felt like the hands of her clock had stopped the moment that Danny had been shot forcing her to replay the events over and over again.

Here she was again stuck in a horrendous nightmare with no hope of waking up to find it gone with the bright light of the day.

"Michelle," Jenny's soft voice came from behind as the woman gently rested her hands on her shoulders. Easily Michelle reached to return her touch never turning to meet her eyes. There was still a part of herself that feared, not them as people, but the reaction to her for the pain that she had caused them.

"Would you like some coffee?" Jenny asked.

"Sure," Michelle returned.

"Joe, would you mind going to the snack shop and get us some coffee?" Jenny asked the man who had never moved away from the door since Albert's departure.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Albert told me not to let the two of you out of my sight."

"I understand that and grateful for it as well, but I think we will be fine," Jenny said wanting some time alone with Michelle.

"I really think Albert would be upset to know that I........"

"Joe, you let me worry about my husband's reaction. One cream and two sugars for me, Michelle?" she questioned.

"Black."

"Thank you Joe." Jenny added as the man stood before her looking hesitant to leave them.

"You have them page me if you need me. I will be back in a few."

"We will be fine," Jenny offered, "Michelle, come sit please."

Michelle did as she was asked but still found the words eluding her.

"I want you to know something. I want you to know in your heart that Daniel loves you. Know that he struggled with telling you who he was. It was Albert and I who dissuaded him from doing so. We naively thought that the past was just that......"

"That was until my past was added to the mix," Michelle said.

"Yes," Jenny slightly smiled, "That was quite a bomb that you and Albert dropped on us."

"You have to understand that I didn't lie to you intentionally," Michelle cried, "I was doing what I was told to do. I hated it. It was like I was walking around in a costume that I couldn't get out of........"

"Until you met Danny," Jenny interjected.

"Yes," Michelle whispered.

"I don't know all the details and frankly I don't want to. What I do know is that my nephew is head over heels in love with you........."

"That was then and this is now," Michelle said not believing that after all he knew about her that that sentiment would still ring true.

"Nonsense! Love isn't something you can turn off and on like a faucet. When you have feelings, deep-seated feelings like the ones I know that run through both you and Danny there isn't anything that you can't conquer together."

"I MURDERED HIS BROTHER FOR GOD SAKES!!!!" Michelle's voice echoed off the walls.

"Yes, yes you did."

"I highly doubt that that will something that Danny is so willing to forgive."

"Don't be so sure about that."

"You are kidding right?" Michelle gasped.

"No. As Albert said, Mick was a loose cannon and all those around him knew it, including Danny. Danny is loyal but he is not so naive to be oblivious to the things that his brother was capable of."

"That still doesn't mean he has to accept it, accept me...." she whispered.

"Michelle," Jenny reached for her hand, "Danny does more then just accept you.....that boy is love with you."

"Was in love with me," she corrected.

"That's where you are wrong. He still is very much in love with you."

"Jenny you didn't see him. You didn't see the look in his eyes or hear the sardonic tone of his voice when he asked me if his brother suffered. His days of loving me ended right then and there."

"I doubt that."

"Why is it you are so confidant that I am wrong and you are right?"

"Because," Jenny sighed, "You and Danny are a mirror image of Albert and I. And I know that given everything that we went through during Richard's death and the years following it, it was our love. No matter how hard we tried to deny it or bury it our love held us together when we should have self-destructed."

Had Jenny had to say these things even three or four weeks ago, she doubted that she could. Yet she knew that even in the darkest hours of their marriage it was the threads of love that kept them going just as the seeds that Danny and Michelle had sown would as well.

"Maybe so," Michelle began, "But Albert wasn't the person responsible for your son's death."

"Yes ultimately someone else fired the shot that killed my son, but it was Albert's need to bring his son into the fold; his need to teach him what had been being taught generation after generation that had enabled it all to take place. So for a long time I held my husband accountable for my son's death. It wasn't until I understood that Albert did as well that we finally were able to break through the barriers that caged us."

"So then how do you think that this great love that you talk about helped?" Michelle questioned.

"Underneath the rage and maybe even hate that I felt for Albert's part in Richard's death, there was the love that I couldn't deny. Every time I looked into his face I could still see the man that I fell in love with....................."

"You knew then?"

"If you are asking if I knew what the Santos Family was all about before I married Albert, yes...yes I did."

"Then why did you still marry him?"

"You know the answer to that question already."

"What??"

"Have your feelings for Danny changed now that you know he is Danny Santos rather then Sampson? Does that suddenly negate the things that your heart holds dear about him. You of all people should understand that your name doesn't define you."

Michelle mulled over the words. They reminded her of the things that Ross had said so many months ago. As true as she knew them to be she didn't know if any of it would make a difference where Danny was concerned.

"Michelle, know this," Jenny began, "In life you don't get many chances at love. And those you do get you need to grab and hold on tightly no matter where the ride takes you. I promise you this; the end result will be worth any potholes you encounter."

"I hope you are right."

"I know I am."

"Hello Jenny," a voice permeated their private conversation.

As he continued in his forward motion all the while in his mind thinking he was standing still, caught in some bizarre time warp. Albert had been tossed back to a place that forced him to transform into a man he hadn't been in years. The sudden ease of it all shocked him. It was as though the past fifteen years had only taken the matter of a blink of his eye to pass rather then the long slow healing process it had truly been. The wheels in Albert's mind were turning formulating his plan of attack if indeed all he had been told were true. Deep down there were no doubts about its authenticity. Again the anger seized him making every muscle in his body taught. He took a ragged breath as the car came to a halt in front of The Two Step. The past twenty-four hours had been nothing like any of them expected; most certainly not for Danny. He couldn't even begin to fathom the range of emotions that must have been present in him. The idea that the girl who owned your heart and soul killing your brother and having your mother wanting revenge none the less. It was surreal.

Albert swallowed hard around the lump that sat in his throat and did his best not to think the thoughts that had formed a parade in his mind. The thought that there was a strong possibility he could lose Danny in the same way he had lost the others. And just when his nephew had everything within his grasp. It was all unthinkable to him.

Albert turned the key on the door and entered the club. The remnants of a celebration that never came to pass looked back at him. Before he knew it a wave of tears and then full-blown sobs overtook him. This had been the first time since this entire ordeal began that he let his emotions run free. Knowing how frightened his wife was Albert couldn't afford the luxury of breaking down in front of her, or Michelle for that matter. He needed to appear strong and in control even if inside he was anything but.

Absently he tipped over a party hat on each table as he made his way to the office. There were still several missing pieces to this puzzle. There was the question of just how Danny found out who Michelle really was. There was no doubt in his mind that Carmen had somehow been the one able to deliver the news. Even though Albert hadn't any idea just how she had managed that feet. Had she known just what Michelle had come to mean to her son; had she once again found a way to test his loyalty? Loyalty.....Albert did his best not to snicker at the word. Carmen Santos hadn't a loyal bone in her body unless you counted the ones were reserved for herself. In that aspect she had plenty.

Albert flipped the light switch on the wall and looked at the mess around him. Suddenly images emerged in his mind's eye of Danny's reaction to the news. His erratic departure made perfect sense now. He was a man on a mission. One to prove that his mother was doing her best to dupe him again. Unfortunately what he found was for the first time in his life, Carmen had been telling the truth. What a sobering fact that must have been, to all of a sudden have everything in your life that you knew to be true thus far; have it turned upside down by one awful truth you wanted to be false, Albert thought as his eyes came to rest on the photo of Danny and Michelle that sat on the corner of the desk.

He stared intently at the happy couple that looked back at him. He wasn't about to give up on this. He wasn't going to let the monster Danny had for a mother stand in the way of something he knew in his heart was unstoppable.

In the months that he had come to know Melanie....Michelle, whatever her name was, he had also watched his nephew transformed into a full and rich person. That in and of itself was a great blessing. Albert was thankful that Danny had been taught what real love was and found the half that would make him complete. Those weren't things that came easy in this life. And Albert knew from his own experience that if you were lucky enough to find that person, the one who completes you, well then you hold on for dear life no matter the hellish ride.

He and Jenny had done that. Lucky for them rather then leading lives on two parallel paths, the roads converged again offering them the opportunity to walk hand and hand again. He wanted that for Danny and Michelle. He didn't want Mick's death to be a chasm that they couldn't bridge. Albert's only wish now was that Danny would pull through this and he would have the opportunity to make him understand it all.

Finally Albert looked in the direction of the fax machine that sat quietly on the credenza all the while holding the facts that would make or break him. Slowly he reached for the pieces of paper that lay within the tray. His hands shook slightly as he brought the text into focus. Fingers gripping the bright white sheets of paper before him, Albert's breaths came out in hard bursts. The tale he had been told earlier was now starring at him in black and white. His eyes widened as he continued reading, each page more horrific then the last. There was no way for Albert to wrap his mind around the facts before him. As much as he knew the answer all he could do was repeat why.....why......why......over and over. How had this all happened right under the others noses, and even his own for a while without it ever being detected?

Albert reread the things about Richard. He seethed seeing the intricate detail that went into the plan to rob him of his only son. All these years he had been punishing himself for his own greed and that hadn't been the case. Someone else's need for the brass ring had been to blame.

Albert's tortured screamed echoed throughout the empty club. Those images of Richard bleeding, dying in his arms that had been so neatly tucked away in the outer corners of his mind descended on him as if floodgates had been opened releasing their pent up waters.

In all reality his son had been needlessly sacrificed. Albert felt his fingernails digging into his flesh as his hands clenched into tight fists. The only thought he was able to focus on was revenge. The sweet taste of it filled him. In all the times prior his had done what needed to be to preserve 'la familia', this time was different. It was much more personal. So much so that he would take pleasure in the pain he would bring down upon the masses.

Albert toyed with the idea of what exactly to do with the individual who had furnished him with this information. Knowing the role he had played in this all made it so easy to add him to the fiery depths of his mind. There would be no mercy for there had been none for his son nor his brother and in the end none for Daniel either. For Albert this was where the destruction was about to come to an end.

"Hello?" he questioned gruffly into the mouthpiece of his cell phone.

"Did you find everything to your satisfaction?" the shaky voice answered still unsure he hadn't thrown himself in the lion's den.

"Quite satisfying," Albert said through a clenched jaw.

"Well then I expected to be handsomely compensated for my efforts," the voice said gaining some strength.

"And that you will," Albert said holding his voice even as not to reveal his true agenda.

"Glad to see that we are understanding one another."

"Oh yes, I am finally understanding everything."

"So we have a deal?" the man asked.

"Deal, well you could call it that................."

"I provided you with the proof you wanted and now I expect you to hand over the money I want!"

"Greedy...greedy aren't we? I am a man true to my word. I assure you that no one from the business will be able to find you. That's what you wanted isn't it?"

"Yeah......." the man hesitated unsure that he and Albert were on the same page.

"Where are you?" Albert inquired.

"A small dive hotel outside of Tucson."

"Well you sit tight there. I will make sure you get what's due to you. Just remember one false move and the deal's off! ARE YOU UNDERSTANDING ME?!?!?"

"Don't make me wait forever!" he countered.

"Not to worry. I plan on making this all swift and painless," Albert ended the conversation without leaving room for the man to react to the remark.

"One down......one to go," Albert cackled in a manner he hadn't in quite some time, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT NOW!?!?!" he growled into the ringing phone again.

"Albert," Joe's voice met his ear as his mouth suddenly went dry terrible thoughts firing rapidly in his brain, "I think you need to get back here pronto."

Carmen was still sitting perplexed blankly staring when Ben entered the room Kraft of champagne in one hand and two crystal glasses in the other.

"I thought you wanted to celebrate?" he said gathering from the picture before him the tide had changed but again, "Carmen!" his voice resonated in her ears but never elicited response.

Suddenly the harsh reality of Jenny's words were ringing true. Danny had been shot; Danny could die, a single tear made a track down her cheek. Ben stood in awe of the first true emotional display, other then rage, that he had been witness to. An immediate wave of cold fell over him. He couldn't place the change but this was different and he couldn't help but wonder just what it all might mean for him. He had wormed his way into the belly of the beast so to speak but abruptly he wondered if he would be its final meal.

Carmen sat silently wringing her hands, knowing that Ben sat on the edge of his seat wondering and waiting for her to speak but her mouth was too dry to do so. This was not the way things were to have played out.

The sweet tones of her once mothering voice took up residence in her brain. Magically she found herself thrown back in time, to the day Danny had been born. In slow motion she played frame after frame of his childhood. How inquisitive he was as a toddler always searching for something or wanting to learn something new. She had never been able to keep up with him. Carmen recalled how proud he was of himself the day he had won the elementary school spelling bee. 'Mama, mama! I beat them all even the sixth graders!' Carmen heard his voice as plain as if he had been standing right beside her now. 'I know mijo, you are my smart one. You are going to grow into a smart handsome man one day,' Carmen even saw herself leaning in to kiss his head full of chocolate curls.

Where had that adoration she felt for him changed? Where did she suddenly see all her children as a means to an end? At the moment she couldn't put her finger on it. It had just happened. She wanted to delude herself into believing it had taken place without her knowledge but even in her altered state her head and most definitely her heart wasn't buying it.

"Carmen," Ben's voice again pricked at her.

"Yes?" she returned.

"What happened?"

"Daniel's been shot." The calm way she spoke startled him. There were no hysterics, no tears nothing. Her words were so devoid of any and all emotion that Ben found them eerie.

"Shot?"

"Yes."

"By who?"

"I don't know."

"Carmen," Ben said the panic that should have been Carmen's was now his.

"What?"

"Is he alive?" Ben choked on the words.

"For now."

"What are you going to do?"

"About?"

"ABOUT!?!?!"

"Yes?" Carmen said still lost in her dream state of days of yore. The frames had now toggled to scenes of her and Miguel bringing Pilar home and how much Danny loved his baby sister. She was still so desperately searching for the point in time when she ceased being a mother.

"DANNY'S THREAT!!!!" Ben's voice rose an octave imagining how the fall out from all of this would ultimately effect him.

"What about it?"

"WHAT ABOUT IT!?!?!?!" Ben placed his face in hers probing her eyes for the remnants of the woman who only moments before had been Carmen Santos. Whoever had now taken up residence in her body didn't understand the gravity of the things going on around her.

"Yes?" she said as she continued to watch the rerun of her life play out in her mind.

It was then that the scene she had waited for scrolled forward. It should have been an unheard conversation, however that hadn't been the case. She had listened to Richard arguing with his father. Unhappy about the place that both men possessed within the family ranks. She heard the young man's angry voice rattle off things like they should have been more then just killing machines; Miguel was using them to do his dirty work; why wasn't it his father who had the power. Carmen could see Richard's face as plain as day. At that moment in time was when she envisioned a threat to her family. And threats weren't something that Carmen took lightly.

"CARMEN!!!!!!!!!" Ben's angry voice forced her to stop reliving things that she had no control to change any longer.

"WHAT?!?!" she spat the Carmen that Ben knew had returned front and center.

"What the hell's going on in that head of yours?!?!"

"Damage control."

"Are you sure? For a minute there it looked like you were lost in a purple haze."

"I was waging my plan of attack."

"That means you have one?" Ben wasn't so sure he was buying this just yet. Minutes ago she looked like a woman shell-shocked and now she was again the commander in charge. Ben felt as if she was walking the razor's edge of sanity.

"Don't I always?" she countered.

Ben raised his brows but said nothing. In the months that he had come to be a part of this organization, he had serious doubts about Carmen and her abilities. There were times he even found himself wondering if the others on the commission had the right idea about her from the get go, but for now he played along.

"That you do," he smiled at his own private thoughts.

"We need to get to Texas right away."

"But I thought you said........."

"Forget what I said," she cut him short, "The rules have changed again," she sighed, "I need to see my son."

"More damage control, I take it?"

"Yes. I most certainly can't have Daniel die," Ben waited to hear any remorse at that word, but there was none, "without gaining control of the information I need."

"What are you expecting to happen when you get there?" Ben questioned.

"I will get the information I need to put a stop all of this once and for all!"

"Oh really?" Ben suppressed a laugh.

"Either way I intend on remaining in my rightful place at the head of the table. Now pack your bag and be ready to leave for the airport in the hour!" she ordered.

"What about having someone stay behind to mind the store?" Ben said half-joking half-serious. Texas was the last place he wanted to be.

Carmen hadn't divulged much of the story as to how Danny ended up getting shot in the first place. He couldn't squash the feeling that the information that he had provided Carmen about Michelle Bauer had something to do with it all. He certainly couldn't take the chance of showing up there and having her recognize him. That would lead to his head being on the chopping block as quick as hers. That was even if she was still alive.

"If we don't get to Texas now!" she barked, "There won't be a damn store to mind."

"But Carmen what about what you said about Bernardo and the others. Don't you think that it will raise their suspicions if both of us go? I mean we both know very well that none of them respect me. Wouldn't it be better for me to stay behind?" Ben was pulling out all the stops. He would say just about anything not to have to go to Texas with her.

"Nothing will look out of the ordinary. For god sakes my son has been shot. He could die!" This was the first time that Ben heard her voice falter when she said that word. "I don't think any of them would question my taking you with me. Now go get packed. We don't have much time!" she ordered again.

Reluctantly Ben made his way out of the room feeling sicker to his stomach with each step he took.

Jenny looked up and was shocked at the faces that looked back at her. They were faces that she had never seen more then once or twice at meetings of the respective families that were passed off as family gatherings.

"Hello Jenny, you remember my son Nino?" Bernardo asked coming forward.

"Yes," she said hearing her voice shake as she spoke.

"We heard the news about Daniel. How is he?"

"In surgery. Everything is pretty much still unknown at the moment."

"We understand that Daniel was here because of some family business." Bernardo would have preferred to speak with Albert but from the look on her face he knew that time was of the essence.

"Excuse me?" Jenny suddenly felt the panic rising into her chest.

"Carmen said that Danny's here looking for Mick's killer." Nino spoke before forgetting that they were not alone in the room. The adrenaline that coursed through his body got the better of him as it always did.

"Nino!" his father growled looking directly at the timid girl who was now cowering behind Jenny.

"Sorry," was all Nino could muster.

"Where is Albert?" Bernardo asked cursing himself for bringing his son in the first place.

"He had something to attend to at the club," Jenny said squeezing Michelle's shaking hand. She had no idea how much these two knew about Michelle and her role in the whole mess, but it looked like she was about to find out. She gathered her strength and continued, "Bernardo, I would like you to meet Melanie Branson. She is Danny's girlfriend." Jenny held her breath watching and waiting for the man's reaction.

"Nice to meet you Melanie," he reached for her trembling hand, "Daniel is a strong man. He will pull through this," he said thinking that her tremors were more of fear of Danny's condition then what was truly behind them.

"Why are you here?" Jenny finally said.

"Many reasons," Bernardo began, "But the most important one is Daniel. I wanted to see him. Since his father died he has been like a son to me. I couldn't think of any place I should be other then here."

Jenny held her tongue. There were so many things that she wanted to say to this vile man standing before her, but she thought better of it. There were far too many variables and far too many lives at stake in this game.

Joe rounded the corner and nearly dropped the cups of coffee he was carrying. He knew in his gut he should have never left them alone. He had let Jenny talk him into believing that they would be fine in his absence. Currently from where he was standing that certainly didn't appear to be the case. Jenny was doing her best to be the strong one but it was the look on Michelle's face that troubled him the most. She was petrified. It was written over every part of her body. In haste he dropped the cups on the counter and pulled out his phone to call Albert. He didn't know what else he could do.

"WHAT!?!?!" Albert's voice barked at him.

"I think we have trouble," Joe said meekly in comparison to that voice that met his ear.

"Trouble??? What do you mean by trouble? Is Danny's mother there?"

"No, but there are two men here."

"Men?" Albert searched the archives of his mind to put his finger on who Joe could have been talking about. For at the moment he was so over wrought with the things he had just read he couldn't think straight.

"Yeah an older gentleman, well maybe not old. I would say about your age and a young guy's maybe a little older then Danny. Michelle looks like she scared out of her mind................"

"And Jenny? How is my wife?" Albert's words caught in his throat. The description was now bringing forth who was standing with Jenny and Michelle.

"She is holding her own. I just didn't know what to do."

"You did the right thing. I will be there momentarily. All I want you to do is follow Jenny's lead."

"Huh?"

"Joe, those men well the older one, is part of The Commission........"

"Commission?" Joe questioned.

"Never mind, all you need to know is that they are part of the world that wasn't too happy that Danny decided to form a life outside of the one that they wanted for him. Jenny knows these men, so trust me when I say follow her lead until I can get there."

"Whatever you say Albert. I will do my best."

"Good man, just be sure to let Jenny know I am on my way."

"Will do."

Albert sat back against the cool leather of his chair running his hands endlessly over his wary face. Why were Bernardo and Nino in Texas? He couldn't believe that they had come at Carmen's request. He wondered exactly how much they really knew with regards to Michelle and her role in the Santos family. Then there was the ever present question did Bernardo have any clue as to the things that he held in his hands. Had he been party to the things that Dietz had been?

Albert wouldn't entertain such thoughts. Bernardo had been like a brother to he and Miguel. He couldn't wrap his mind around such thoughts. It couldn't be possible. Bernardo would have never been party to such and act, but maybe his being in Texas would come in handy after all.