Drama Darker Tides ~ A Soap Opera

Riverview Medical Center


Amy rose from her chair in disbelief. She had been napping, trying to waste time. She had felt her son stir. Unable to grasp what was going on, she opened her eyes to see her son's frightened face looking to her. She couldn't speak for several seconds. Xander asked her something, but that was lost in her mind. Her son was alive. He had survived the car accident that had nearly killed him.

"Xander!"

She boohooed in his shoulder as she held him akwardly. She leaned back and smiled at her soon. Tears were gushing from her eyes as she smoothed his soft brown hair.

"I'm so glad. . ." Amy wandered away from her son, rushing out the door. If Xander even attempted to rise from his hospital bed, he would realize that he couldn't move his legs. Below the waist he was numb and stiff. "I swear doctor! He just opened his eyes and starting talking to me-"

An older man in a white coat and a clipboard entered the room with Amy tailing him.

"How are you doing, son?" The doctor checked some of the vitals and scribbled them down. "You were in one mighty fine wreck."


TAG: CPL

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Riverview Police Station?Matthew Clinton?s House

Those police officers that had remained at the station all morning greeted Kareen and Robert when they came in. Kareen nodded to some of them, and when she saw Elizabeth wave to her, she stopped to pull the other woman aside. ?Lizzie, can you pull security tapes from the airport? I want all the footage from the night Heather Casper supposedly left town. And get someone to start calling hotels in Hawaii--we've got to find Heather. She's the only lead we've got on Natalie's killer."

Kareen then took Robert's arm and pulled him to his desk, sitting him down in his chair. "Robert, are you up to this right now, or do you think you need the rest of the day off?"

?I?m over it.? He tried to give her a smile. ?It just came and went. It?ll be okay.?

"Okay. Lizzie's on the airport tapes, and she's going to have someone start on the hotels.

"Do you think any of the family would know where Heather might be staying? Or at least how to get in touch with her?"

?Cellphone, maybe? Though I don?t believe she owned a cellphone.?

"Yes, she does," Kareen suddenly remembered. Lowering her voice so that their colleagues wouldn't overhear, she explained, "Sunday night, when she threatened to expose my affair with Patrick, she said her friend was waiting outside with her phone."

?Good! Call someone in the family. Maybe they?ll know the number.?

Kareen took out her own phone, pausing for a moment to decide who to call, before dialing Natasha's number. "Natasha, this is Detective Gillis, I was wondering if you happen to have your mother's cell phone number?"

?Oh, here it is.? Natasha listed the number to Kareen.

"Thank you, Natasha," Kareen hung up, then dialed the number Natasha had given her.

The phone beeped like a busy signal, and then it came on that the number had been disconnected.

"Damn," Kareen swore as she hung up. "Disconnected," she told Robert.

?Who would?ve guessed? That?s not a good sign.?

"No, it's not." Now they would just have to wait for the security tapes, or for someone to find out what hotel Heather was staying at.

Elizabeth came from the back room.

?Nothing on the hotel records. No Heather Casper has checked into a hotel. Now. . .? Elizabeth waved them towards the room she had come from. She had the security footage pulled up. ?Here?s the interesting stuff. I found Heather Casper in the footage. . .or at least someone who is impersonating Heather.? Elizabeth pointed to an older woman strutting down the walkway, her face turned away from the camera.

Whenever the woman?s face was in a direct line of the camera, she kept her head down and her large hat covered her.

?This woman could be a lot of women. Now, Heather could?ve checked into a hotel under a different name, but I wondering why all the trouble? Why would you go to Hawaii a day after your step granddaughter?s death, not look at the cameras, and then put down a different name at the hotels. Also, I checked to see where Heather?s family lives. She has an aged aunt living in Wisconsin, and some cousins in Florida. She also has a half-sister that lives in France. So none of her close family lives anywhere near Hawaii.?

Elizabeth looked up at Kareen.

?Does that help at all??

"Yes, Liz. Thanks." She dismissed the woman with a wave.

"If she's not in Hawaii, where is she? Why in the world would she leave town the day after Natalie's murder?" Kareen?s voice dropped again. "She threatens me, warns me to stay away from her family, then she doesn't bother to stick around to see if I don't? I saw almost every member of her family yesterday, and she doesn't have a thing to say about it?

"It doesn't add up."

?You don?t think. . .? Robert wished he didn?t even have to mention it, but it was a possibility. ?that she was murdered too, do you??

Kareen thought about it for several moments before answering. "I think if she were dead, we would have found her body by now. But I am beginning to think something has happened t

 

The Woods



[image=http://allwomenstalk.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/9-fall-date-ideas/woods-walk_9-fall-date-ideas.jpg]

Mr. Clawthorne Rockford rocked his daughter's body in his arms.

Blood oozed from her wounds and dripped onto the ground. Puddles of it surrounded Clawthorne. She was his lamb. All lambs deserved sacrifice in the end. He petted her hair as he kissed her cheek. He did love his daughter. Each bruise and cut on her body was a wound of love. God ordered it. He was the Father's warrior.

Clawthorne laid his daughter on the ground and stood from the leaves. Cassie's chest went up and down feebly. She wasn't dead yet, but she would be soon. His mission was complete. He leaned over and picked up his bloody kitchen knife. His wife had been the first sacrifice. She had fought it though. She had fought destiny. He had lavished in the moment when he had hit skin. And then Cassie. His prize. She had struggled, but in the end she had realized it was all over. She had given in.

Clawthorne twirled the knife in his fingers.

In a swift strike, the knife was jabbed into his chest. He stumbled backwards before falling onto the soft ground. He fell away. As he lay there, his final breathe creeping from his mouth, he felt of his daughter's hair. She opened her eyes, only a little. She saw the knife and smiled.

"I love you." He hissed as his lungs decompressed for the last time.

"Rot in hell." With that Clawthorne died.

Cassie laughed. But it hurt too much. Her stomach was covered in knife wounds. She was dying. But she knew at last that she was free from her devil of a father.



~End of EPISODE SEVEN - RUMOR HAS IT~

 

IC: Rom De Luca
Courtyard, Sylvester Inc.


?Rom!? She cried out and waved at him. ?Come here!? She waved fervently, with a big grin on her face. But really, she was worried. People who were out there also stared at the young woman with contempt at messing with their nice lunch. Vanessa paid no attention to any of them. ?Rom!?

Rom heard his girlfriend calling and turned back towards her. He walked over and put his arms around her waist. "What's up? Miss me already?" He grinned. "Something wrong?" he glanced back at the man, who was absorbed in his newspaper. "Listen, I wasn't going to call him out or anything. If he was really watching us, he would've called me out when I passed." Rom smiled down at her.

TAG: Spycoder

 

EPISODE EIGHT - BETTER? WORSE?

Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.
- Will Rogers

---

[image=http://www.massachusetts-prenuptial-agreements.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Sunset-1.jpg]

Things always get worse before they get better.

The assault on [b]Cassie Rockford[/b].

The disappearance of [b]Heather Casper[/b].

The car accident of [b]Xander York[/b].

The oncoming custody battle of [b]Alex Crane[/b].

And the growing number of bodies.

All of this was caused by [b]Natalie[/b].

Remember, things always get worse before they get better.

 

Sylvester Incorporated


?I just don?t want you to get hurt.?

Her bright smile kissed him once more.

?You know what?? Vanessa remarked. ?I love you.?

She wrapped her arms around him one last time, sneaking a glance at the mystery man. He was getting up, putting his jacket on, and throwing his lunch away.

?He?s leaving.? She whispered in Rom?s ear. ?Told you I was crazy.?



TAG: Bish

---

[b]OOC:[/b] Sorry for the slow down. Working with Han and Anne on different stuff. Waiting on CPL. Tjace reported in: expect a return after Christmas, hopefully. [face_grin] All good news. I hope everyone had an AWESOME Thanksgiving. In-game, Thanksgiving is only a week away. Again, sorry for the wait, Bish. [face_happy]

 

IC: Xander York
Riverview Medical Center

Xander?s head was still spinning. Everything was coming back to him in waves of pain and numbness:

He was going to propose to Natalie.
She was later found dead in the park.
It was then revealed that she had a child when she left him several years ago.
His mom then told him that Nat had been cheating on him.
He then recklessly drove his racecar and rolled it down the back straightaway of the speedway.
Then Natalie visited him in a ?dream? telling him that she was sorry and that Alexander was their child.

When his mother left the room to retrieve the Doctor, he tried to reposition himself in the hospital bed and was unable to move his legs. This along with the numbness and stiffness of his lower extremities sent him into a brief state of panic.

The Doctor asked him how he was doing and Xander wanted to say ?Well let?s see here doc, my girl was cheating on me and now is dead, I might have an illegitimate son, I just rolled my racer, and I might be paralyzed. How do you think I?m doing?!?? Instead he simply asked, ?What?s going on with my legs Doc? I can?t move them.?

TAG: spycoder

 

OOC: Part of combined post with GM

IC: Kareen Gillis
Matthew Clinton?s Residence

The door opened to a large foyer. Coming from behind the door, a petite brown haired woman with a cute smile looked in confusion from Robert to Kareen.

"Um. . .I'm guessing you two are here for Mathew?" Two small children ran around behind the woman, chasing each other. "He's not here. Working at the office." The woman looked as if she wanted to add something else. A snarky comment dealing with his long work hours.

"Can I ask what this about?"

Kareen wondered for a moment if she should even bother asking this woman--she assumed her to be Clinton's wife--but she decided to take the chance. "We understand that Matthew picked up Heather Casper from the police station Sunday night, after Natalie Crane's murder. Did he happen to mention anything to you about what happened afterward, or where he took her?"

"Sunday night. The night Natalie died." The woman nodded her head. "I remember him getting up to leave, and then coming back in later. I asked him where he had been. He said something about Mordecai Casper. I didn't know anything him dropping Heather Casper off, but he did mention Mordecai."

Okay... "What exactly did he say about Mordecai?"

"Don't know exactly. Like I said, it was the middle of the night. And I am a deep sleeper. But I know I heard Matthew say Mordecai. Maybe it helps, maybe it doesn't. Like I said, you want to speak to him, you go to his office." Something fell over and crashed in the house. "Trevor, Hunter! Stop running in the house!" She looked back at the two of them. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to go."

Kareen nodded in understanding. "Thank you, ma'am." After the woman closed the door, she and Robert headed back to the cruiser. "Doesn't tell us much, if all she remembers is hearing Mordecai's name."

"She's probably lying. She's the wife of our town's best lawyer. She knows what she's supposed to say and what not to. Her husband has probably told her some of the dirt on Mordecai, and told her not to tell."

Kareen shrugged. "We'll get back to her if we have to. Matthew's the one we need anyway."

To be continued...

 

OOC: I have been sick. Sort of out of it, so an update could come tonight, but it?ll probably be tomorrow before I can get it up. Enjoying everything so far, and good luck to our nominees in the Awards.

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Matthew Clinton?s Office

Matthew Clinton's office was set in the middle of town. Across the street from Little Ester's, actually. A pleasant secretary asked them if they had an appointment. Robert told her a little too sternly that they needed to speak to him. She nodded and knocked on his office door. Matthew opened it. He smiled at the two of them as he gestured them into his office.

"I'm guessing you're here about Sunday night?"

"Yes," Kareen nodded. "We know that you picked up Heather Casper from the police station that night--where did you take her?"

"To meet her husband, of course. He was going to take her home?" Matthew feigned puzzlement. "Are you saying she is missing?"

Kareen considered for a moment before she decided to say it. "Yes, it seems that way. Where exactly did you leave her with Mordecai?"

?Don?t exactly remember. Near the park, actually. Mordecai just met us and I dropped her off.?

"So you don't have any idea where she might be now?"

?None whatsoever.? He moved towards the door. ?Now, if you would. I have many clients to attend to. I was asked by Mordecai to meet him with his wife. I left and went home. My wife can confim that. Why don?t you just ask Mordecai??

Matthew sure seemed in a hurry to run them off. "Mr. Casper has left town--last night, I believe."

?He what?!?

Kareen raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised. "You didn't know?"

Damn. He scratched his chin. ?Of course I knew. I just. . .forgot.?

She frowned, casting a dubious glance towards Robert, wondering if he was thinking the same thing she was. "Uh-huh. Now why don't I believe that?"

?Get out of my office. You?ve stayed long enough.? Matthew put his hand on Robert?s shoulder. ?I have more important matters-?

Robert pushed Matthew?s hand away. ?Let go of me.?

Kareen stepped between the two men. "Never, ever, touch a police officer, sir," she directed firmly. "Please step back.

"Mordecai Casper is one of your highest-paying clients, I believe. How could you possibly have something more important to attend to than his granddaughter's murder? Than his wife's disappearance?

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're trying to hide something.

"Why would you be so concerned that Mordecai left town? You obviously didn't know. Why is it such a big deal?"

?Why the hell do you think? He up and gets out of town a minute after he gets custody of his great grand kid. Without telling his lawyer. And by other things to attend to, I mean to start on this immediately. But instead, the two of you stand right in my way. Now, I mean, who do you think you are? Just a police officer wannabe who likes to sleep around with a married man. Yeah, I know about you and Patrick. I know just about every frickin? thing to do with the Casper family.? He opened the door wide. ?Get out of my damn office.?

Kareen could have slapped him. But she wasn't playing this game again. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her into walking away without the information she wanted. "If something has happened to Heather, and you knew about it without telling us, then we can arrest you. Now, you'd probably get yourself some kind of deal, being a lawyer, but it would still go on your criminal record--and it will follow you around for the rest of your life.

"Yes, I had an affair with Patrick. Someday, it'll probably get out. And yes, people will talk--but eventually they'll get tired of it. They'll find something else to gossip about. Someday they might even forget all about it. I'll move on with my life. So will Patrick and Katherine. But something like what you may be up against can haunt someone for a very long time. People don't forget something like that.

"Last time, then I promise we'll leave. Do you know anything about where Heather Casper is?"

?No. I have no idea what happened to Heather. I have not seen heads nor tails of her since Sunday night.?

Kareen frowned, but gave no further argument as she started out of the office. Even if Matthew was lying, there were

 

Riverview Medical Center

Xander York?s Room


?Your legs. Yes, you probably would like to know about those.? The doctor with the nametag saying: Dan Reid nodded at Xander. ?Nothing serious. They were broken in the wreck. We had to put them back, and numbed ?em up.?

He smiled at Xander while looking to Amy.

?I?m more than pleased at how you have come out of this so quickly. Your survival chance was less that 5%. You?re the luckiest kid I think I have ever seen.?

?A fighter,? Amy cut in. ?He is one hell of a fighter.? She kissed Xander?s forehead once again. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

?Just like his momma, I bet.? He winked at both of them before turning to a more serious discussion. ?Now, first and foremost, what do you remember? Of the accident, I mean??


***


Emergency Room


Once the ambulance arrived at Riverview MC, they let Christopher stay in the ER Waiting Room. Cassie cried out for him as he was taken away. He would be able to tell in her eyes that the pain was taking over. She was losing the battle.

About this moment, as Christopher waited for news of what was to happen to Cassie, officers Kareen and Robert pulled up. They would be able to see Christopher through the windows which showed the waiting room.

?Here we go, I guess.? Robert sighed. ?After we get done talking to him, maybe we can go up and see Amy??

They walked in and approached Christopher.

?I?m leaving this one to you.?



TAG: CPL, Anne, Han

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Riverview Medical Center

?Here we go, I guess.? Robert sighed. ?After we get done talking to him, maybe we can go up and see Amy??

Kareen nodded. ?Works for me,? she said. When he turned over the questioning to her, Kareen shifted her attention to the man they were there to see. ?Chris Nichols,? she addressed him, indicating the chairs nearby and taking a seat across from him. ?We just want to ask you what happened tonight. Officer Reid said you found the girl??

TAG: Han

 

IC: Rom De Luca

?You know what?? Vanessa remarked. ?I love you.?

Rom was still nervous, looking in the direction of the man, but he murmured, "Yeah. . . I love you too." He smiled at her.


?He?s leaving.? She whispered in Rom?s ear. ?Told you I was crazy.?

Rom looked at the man, walking away. "Yeah." he looked back at her. "I guess so."

he kissed her again, then smiled. "You don't want to be late for work, do you? I'll wait for you."

TAG: Spycoder

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Riverview Medical Center

??He was already dead when I got there.?

Kareen assumed ?he? was Mr. Rockford, the girl?s father. And as far as Reid calling Chris asking for help, that could be checked easily enough. ?Reid told us that she had been staying with you?may I ask why? And if so, how did she end up in the woods??

Personally, Kareen thought it a little strange, that a young woman that age would be staying with the Nichols?s, but she was not going to jump to conclusions. There was probably a perfectly good reason for it, and Chris had a right to explain it.

TAG: Han

 

IC: Xander York
Riverview Medical Center

?Pretty much doc, all I remember from the crash is driving fast out of the second turn, feeling the back end start to slip out from under me, tapping my breaks to get it back under control, and then rolling sideways down the back straight away. Once the roll started to happen I just relaxed my body the best I could to prepare myself for the inevitable impact, which I never felt. Everything went black and then I woke up to find myself her.?

Xander decided to leave out the part about talking to his dead girlfriend and promising to raise their illegitimate son. He looked down at his legs once again. ?So how long will I be off my feet? When can I get out of here and start rehab?? Xander was anxious to get down to the business of finding his son and finding his girlfriend?s killer.

TAG: spycoder

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Riverview Medical Center

?Do you know kind of problems, what might have led to that falling out? Did she give you any details?? Kareen asked. Domestic homicides usually stemmed from deeper issues within the family?stressed marriages, ugly divorces, abuse?she?d seen it often enough to know that things like this didn?t happen in happy families.

TAG: Han

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Riverview Medical Center

Kareen glanced to Robert, thinking that they probably weren?t going to get anything else useful from Chris in regards to the Rockford case, but there was still the matter of Heather to address.

?All right, I don?t think there?s anything else we could add to that case, but there is something else that we?d like to ask, while we?ve got you here.

?Have you seen or heard from your mother-in-law, Heather, since Sunday night??

TAG: Han

 

IC: Kareen Gillis
Riverview Medical Center

Initially, Kareen thought Chris was strangely casual about the possibility of his mother-in-law going missing, but when he explained a little, she felt that she could forgive his lack of concern. After all, her own concern about Heather wasn?t based on any liking for the woman, but solely on the fact that Heather had information that she needed.

?We don?t know,? she admitted quietly. ?We originally heard that she went to Hawaii yesterday, but we now believe that she never left town. She has information about a person of interest in Natalie?s murder, but?we can?t find her to ask her.?

TAG: Han