Jail time

Scott greets Domino as he gets in the house, picking her up to give her some loving. Cuddling her close, he turns and parts the horizontal blinds with a finger, just far enough to see Hope's car drive away. Thinking for just a moment, he kisses Domino's head before setting her down. "Come on, I'll let you outside." On the way to the back door, he looks up at the security camera and waves. He knew Hal was on the other end. Soon... soon he would feel comfortable without that security.


The morning dawns gray. Storm clouds were on the horizon. The warm, humid air felt stale, and a breeze blew chilly in stark contrast. But no matter the forecast of rain, the world had to move on...


Carson busies himself with preparations in the kitchen. Aerith would be there any minute, but he'd already been there for an hour. He'd hardly slept at all the night before, but unable to keep his eyes closed any longer, he'd gotten up anyway. His mind was still reeling from everything going on. Mackenzie. Heather. Alec. The restaurant. The peace he wanted just wasn't coming, and the stress was just building higher and higher. Keeping busy was the only thing he wanted to do right now.


Scott's fingers click along the keyboard, his eyes scanning the information that was coming up. Thought Dalton was only feet away, Scott didn't care... no one was looking over his shoulder to tell him that he wasn't doing TJY work. Not to mention, he'd just hacked through several barriers. But it had been worth it. He picks up the phone.


Carson sets a pan down and wipes his hands on a towel before reaching for his phone on his belt. "Yeah, hello?"

"Carson? It's Scott."

"Hey. What's up?"

"Found some stuff you might want to see."

"About the social services in Arizona?"

"About Miss Jones herself."

Carson quirks an eyebrow. "Think you could manage to bring it down to the restaurant sometime today?"

"Um... yeah... sure. I gotta go downtown today anyway."

"Great. Thanks a million."

"Yeah, sure." Scott hangs up the phone and continues to look at the computer screen.


Bret hangs on the jail cell bars, his head cocked toward the hall. He could just hear the officer making the phone call, asking Charlotte to come pick him up. He groans and sinks down on the hard bench. And elbow from Landon though, creates a grin on his face before both of them are laughing again.

"You're gonna have heck to pay you know that," Landon chides, wiping his eyes as laughter still comes.

"Yeah, yeah." Bret stifles another laugh. "I'm sure she'll forgive me."

"You maybe, but what about Kirk?"

"Now him we might have to work on."

"We?"

"Well I certainly wasn't driving two cars!"

"But it was your idea!"

Bret shoots Landon a look, but both crack up again. It was only mid-morning, but both had been at the track two hours earlier. And then... the bright idea had turned into something neither had bargained for. But neither would say they hadn't been having fun, despite their position now.

"Maybe she won't even come." Landon's eyes widen. "I don't have anybody to call."

"She'll come." Bret looks at his watch. "First off, she won't know why I'm here, and second, she starts work again today, but not until the afternoon. So we're good."

Landon eyes him skeptically. "Alright. If you say so."

His statement wasn't even funny, but both men start laughing all over again.


"I told you to put her on the bus for that fieldtrip with the other kids!"

"I couldn't find her!"

"That's the way she does it, you know that!" Heather sets her hands on her hips, glaring at Tony. "You're an idiot."

"Look, it's not my fault," Tony defends. "Besides, you said it wouldn't matter if that lawyer saw Mackenzie anyway."

"That was a last resort."

"Well you realize she's going to show up any time."

"I know, Tony, I know!" Heather aims for her door. "Tell Patricia to bring Mackenzie to the dining room. There's something I need to tell her."