Episode 10: Uninvited Guests

Episode 10: 

UNINVITED GUESTS

In St. Louis, Faraday's House

"You got a job as a what?" Hope Faraday shook her head hoping she hadn't heard what she just thought she'd heard.

Glory giggled. "A tarot reader. Isn't it fabulous?" The middle Faraday sister looked as happy as a lark. "And anyway, it's not like it's a full time job. Half the time I'll be pouring lattes. It is after all the Gypsy Coffee Circus."

"That's where these crazy ideas have been coming from, right? Your new friends have convinced you that your sister's husband is a killer?"

"Maybe not a killer," Glory admitted. "But there is definitely something suspicious about him. I can just feel it in my bones."

"Your bones? Now your bones have feelings too? Lord help us all." Hope was now more skeptical than ever.

"Madam Dunlop said I had a gift. That I should listen to my instincts. That's all I'm doing."

"You're just listening to your instincts?"

Glory nodded.

Hope didn't know how to break the news to her sister. "Madam Dunlop has a gift too, I'm sure. A gift for bull crap!"

Glory was not dissuaded by Hope's negative attitude. "You should try listening to your instincts once in awhile. Maybe then you wouldn't be letting off all this hostile, negative energy."

She had had about enough of this. "Sure, Glory. Whatever you say." She put her hands to her head and hummed a few ‘oms'. "My instincts are telling me to leave Honor and Austin alone before one of them becomes suspicious.

The purple harem pants Glory was sporting looked out of place with the scoop necked green top. But that didn't stop Glory from sashaying into the next room.

"Well, you have your instincts and I have mine. We'll see who is more clairvoyant."

***

In London, Mila's cottage

Joe "Bluesman" James had been feeling more blue than ever lately. He had tried and tried to convince Mila not to run away from her problems, but that didn't seem to stop the young lass from packing her bags and giving him a goodbye speech.

"Now girl, I don't know if this is the right thing to do. You have a decent job here and people who love you." Joe had been trying to convince Mila for the last hour to stay in London and reconsider going home to America. "You don't want to ruin what you have here by running home to mama."

Mila had cried all the tears she wanted to shed. "I can't stay here any longer, Joe. Rayna's insults have only gotten more nasy even though I know Mrs. Ambrose asked her to be nicer to me. Working here is just not worth it any more. Mama said they had an opening at the Forsythe mansion. The maid ran off with her boyfriend to parts unknown. It's the perfect opportunity. Then I'd be able to see Mama and Piper all the time. I even hear my brother Gage lives in town now too."

"Now, missy, what am I going to do here without you? Who is gonna make up lyrics to my tunes and then help me sing when the song is done?"

"I'm sorry, Joe. I enjoy doing that with you so much. But I just can't live here any longer." Mila picked up her suitcase and dragged it to the doorway placing it along with the others. "I know this is the coward's way out. And maybe deep down, that's what I really am – a coward. Please don't think any less of me for doing this. Remember, I really do love you." She hugged the black man one last time, then ran for the door, beyond which the cab was waiting.

***

"That's it. She's gone. Now see what you've done? When Stone finds out how you've been tormenting and taunting her these last few weeks, he's bound to never speak to you again." Prudence steered her wheelchair toward the front room away from the foyer.

"Stone will never know. Who is going to tell him? Mila? That lame excuse for a girl wouldn't have the guts to tell him about me. After all, she is the one running away, is she not?" Rayna Ambrose smirked her best wicked grin of triumph.

"Do you not understand what this means? He only comes here to visit Mila, now that she's gone..." Prudence let her thought linger to make Rayna's brain kick into thinking mode.

Rayna quickly grasped the concept of Mila's retreat. "Oh, no!" she gasped. "What have I done?" She shook off the sudden self loathing and squared her shoulders. She wasn't going to let some scrawny Cinderella in ragamuffin clothes get the better of her!

***

Lucky Faraday couldn't believe what he was seeing. First, he watched Diana Forsythe and Piper Ferguson get into an elevator that could take them to their death. Then minutes later, while trying to prevent a tragedy, Lucky could have sworn he saw Michela out of the corner of his eye. A moment she was there, and then she was gone. Like a whisper in the wind.

He shook his head. That had to be his over active imagination. There was no way so many of his friends could be unfortunate enough to make a trip to ForeCross tonight.

He raced up the side stairs, taking the steps two by two. He had to stop Diana and Piper from getting captured by Carlos's men.

***

Diana rooted through her purse for the key card that would automatically open the doors to the executive suites in ForeCross's tower.

"Don't tell me I left that damn thing in the car again." Diana continued to peruse her belongings.

"What are you looking for?" Piper felt the small hairs on her neck stand on end. For a moment, she had the impression that someone was watching her.

Little did she know that Carlos Santini and his group of henchmen had control of the security cameras as well as the power to the elevators.

"Looks like we have a few uninvited guests, my love" Carlos smiled at Michela Forsythe. He turned to his men, "Please make sure our two guests don't disturb us tonight."

Diana and Piper didn't know what was happening when the lights turned out and the elevator abruptly stopped moving.

"Damn." Diana felt along the wall for the phone.

"What happened?" Piper asked.

"Looks like the power is out. Either that or the elevator is broken." She lifted the receiver to the emergency phone and received only silence. "Nothing. Phone is out too."

"Diana, you have to get me out of here." Piper's voice increased in intensity and fear. "I can't be stuck in this box!"

***

Lucky was halfway up to the third floor when he realized the elevator had stopped moving. He had been counting on the noise of the elevator to mask his movements. He now began to step quietly, not letting his foot falls echo down the stairwell.

As he neared the third floor, he could hear an angry commotion. The voice sounded familiar. He opened the door and discovered Carlos's men had placed both Quentin and Caine Forsythe in a windowless room under constant guard. Lucky wished he could call Harry and find out where that back up was, but he knew he was too exposed for such a conversation. He'd have to find another way to get them out of the building safely.

***

Piper felt the elevator start to slip. It was only maybe a fraction of an inch, but a fraction was a fraction.

"Did you feel that?" Piper cried. "We're going to fall."

Diana marched across the darkened elevator. "Cut it out! We're going to be just fine. I have my cell phone."

"You do?" Her voice and breathing quieted.

"Yes."

As Diana flipped the cell phone open, the dial tone, something that would normally go unnoticed, sounded ear piercing in the silent elevator. Before she could dial 911, the car slipped again, but this time it plunged toward the basement.

***

Austin McRae was tired of waiting. He had left Honor at home earlier tonight after learning that Diana was at ForeCross. He had to see her again. He was waiting outside ForeCross now for Diana to emerge.

He stomped the butt of his third cigarette with his foot. What was taking her so long?

Austin took a deep breath and weighed his options. Very soon now he would get what he wanted. He had already drained Honor's trust fund and spent all the insurance money he had acquired over the years. It was time for another death and a new score.

And he knew exactly who his next victim would be.

Diana Forsythe, daughter of multi-millionaire Quentin Forsythe. This was big money, bigger than he had ever gambled with before and the rush was thrilling.

Before he could contemplate further on his new life with Diana, the high-pitched whine of an ambulance pierced his ears. The emergency vehicle stopped in front of the ForeCross building.

It took only a minute for him to realize that one of the bodies lying on the paramedic's gurney was Diana Forsythe.

"No!" he cried. "You can't die now. It will ruin everything!"

***

The man lurking in shadows outside Honor McRae's house had received his instructions long ago. Kill Honor McRae. Tonight was the perfect time. It was a full moon. The wind whispered to him a haunting melody that only made him want to venture forward. Everything about the night was ripe with possibilities.

The little wife was vulnerable tonight. Her hubby had gone to play with his new conquest.

As he watched Honor walk the hallways of her house, he contemplated on how long he had wanted to kill her. It had been years ago. She had snubbed him once, but once had been enough to burn his anger brighter and brighter over the years.

Austin's plan was a perfect way for him to get retribution for past pain.

***

Honor McRae was scared. Since Austin had gone out, she had heard strange noises coming from outside. She had gone from her curiousness about the locked desk Austin would never let her touch to the fear slicing through her.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. Maybe it was Glory and her strange behavior tonight. Everything was making her jumpy.

Maybe a cup of tea would calm her down. She walked into the kitchen and found the back door open. The cold air gave the room a chill, and it inched up her fear factor two more notches.

"You're just imagining things that aren't there," she whispered to herself. The backdoor had a habit of coming open, but she could have sworn she'd locked it after Austin left.

Honor filled the teapot and drew a shaky breath. As she set it on the stove to heat, Mr. Fingers, her cat, scurried across her feet running toward the other side of the room. Her involuntary scream caused the cat to dart down the basement stairs.

"Oh, kitty. Don't go down there. It's too cold down there for baby kitty's." She called to him once more but it was no use. She had scared the poor thing out of its whits. She knew the feeling. She'd already done the same thing to herself.

As she reached for the light switch, she heard a movement behind her. At first she thought it only to be a draft from the basement, but the pressure on her shoulders convinced her otherwise. The unexpected shove pushed her off balance and Honor slipped down a few steps then tumbled down the rest, head over heel.

***

Stone Jacobs had been home from the airport less than three hours when he noticed and became suspicious of a figure lurking around the McRae house next door.

He wasn't Honor's biggest fan, but he did trust and admire her husband, Austin, especially after he saved Dom Martinez's life a few years back.

If the skulking figure made him suspicious, the scream that followed minutes later chilled his blood and threw him into action. He was never one to sit on the sidelines while others were in trouble. He didn't know what it was about protecting the innocent, but it was a rush he never tired of. It was probably one of the biggest reason's why he had come to work for the Knights Foundation as a rescue pilot.

Stone flew out of the house heading for the back door of the place next door. He was probably the only other person who knew about all the trouble the McRae's had had with their backdoor. That was why he went in that direction first.

A second scream and a horrible thudding had him forcing the door open. The intruder seemed to be waiting for him inside and swung a nearby coffee maker in Stone's direction. When he ducked that, the man body slammed him into the wall. He was momentarily winded, giving the assailant time to escape.

Stone thought about following him, but the horrible thudding made him think either Austin or Honor was in danger.

"Austin?" he shouted. "Honor?" He heard a moan coming from the stairwell to his left. Stone's body filled the doorway as he peered down the steep stairway. He could see a faint outline of a body sprawled at the bottom.

It was Honor.