Past and Present Danger: Chapter 6
by blueeaglex
 
 

Tabitha scurried along the road, Timmy at her side. She gazed up one street, looking for something, then, not seeing what she was after, ran on to the next street. Timmy did his best to stay with his Princess, yet always managed to remain several steps behind her.

""When...did...you...learn to...run like...that," Timmy said, gasping for breath as Tabitha stopped for a moment. "What's the hurry?"

"What's the hurry??" Tabitha stopped gazing around, turned towards her doll, and shook her head in disbelief. "What's the hurry? What's the hurry?"

"All that running's made Tabitha start to repeat herself," Timmy said, finally able to talk normally.

"What I was trying to say," Tabitha continued, "is that we're looking for Eve, and we can't waste any time."

"Which one?"

"The Eve from the past...the other went home to her loving hubbie. The other one went to the jazz club, but who knows where she's gotten to now."

"What would you do if I could tell you where that Eve is?" Timmy asked.

"What would I do?"

"Promise me a trip to Tahiti? A bucket of Martimmies?"

"Since when do I have to give you anything to get what I want? Now if you know something, Batting-for-brains, tell me and tell me now!" Tabitha paused and waited for an answer.

"A week of Fluffy locked up in the attic. That's my final offer."

"All right! All right!" Tabitha said impatiently. "No Fluffy for a week. Now where is Eve?"

"She's coming up right behind you."

Tabitha groaned, turning around to see the Eve from the past walking towards them. There was no mistaking her for Dr. Eve Russell: this Eve was wearing the same gaudy 1970 clothes she had worn the night before, with big hair which made her stick out from a mile away.

Timmy transformed back into a doll as Eve neared the duo. "Eve!" Tabitha said, grabbing at Eve as she was about to pass by. "It's so good to see you."

"Do I know you?" Eve asked, raising her eyebrows at this older woman. "And what's with your doll?"

"How could you forget your good friend Tabitha?" Tabitha poked at Eve good-naturedly.

"I seem to be forgetting a lot of things lately," Eve mused. "I went back to my old place last night and someone told me they'd been living there for over a decade. I ended up sleeping at the jazz club, but it was hell on my bac k!"

"I have a nice spare room you could stay in," Tabitha suggested. "And I have some clothes you can change into..."

"That would be nice, but can't you first explain how I know you?"

"All in good time, Doc--I mean, Eve. Now, come along."

Tabitha pointed the way, and Eve started walking forward. Tabitha picked up Timmy. "Taking Eve back to our place...is that a good idea? The Bennetts live next door! What if someone comes over and sees her?"

"That's just a chance we'll have to take," Tabitha whispered back. "Better she's with us than out on the town by herself." Tabitha shook her head just thinking about the possibilities. "Oh, no, that could be a disaster!"

**********

Julian burst through the door of the Crane mansion. He stopped briefly in the entrance as the new housekeeper, Mildred, passed by. Oh, how he wished for the days when Pilar was the housekeeper! Maybe Ivy and Pilar had always been talking about something or the other, but at least Pilar had been a looker...the elderly Mildred looked more like she belonged in a nursing home, Julian thought to himself.

Walking up the stairs, Julian thought about Pilar's exit from the mansion. After Ethan & Theresa, and Luis & Sheridan, had been married, Ivy refused to let Pilar work there as a servant any longer. Julian growled, recalling how Ivy had given Pilar the Book Cafe as a going-away present.

Strolling down the hallway towards his bedroom, Julian continued to think about the aftermath of learning that Ethan was his son. How he had wanted to kill Ivy! Or, at the very least, divorce her.

But Alistair's death had changed all that.

"If you divorce Ivy, or in any way leave her, you lose everything," Alistair's will had declared. So, Julian was stuck in a loveless marriage, for better or for worse. Ethan and Sheridan were going on a trip around the world with their new spouses...and he was stuck back at home with the old ball and chain, who wanted nothing to do with him.

Julian sighed as he opened the bedroom door. Stepping into his room, his sigh changed into a gasp. Ivy was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in a classy gold dress, an exquisite necklace around her neck.

"What are you doing in here?" Julian demanded, pointing towards the door. "It's been so long since you've been in here...do you even remember what this room looks like?"

"I'm not here about the room, darling," Ivy said, rising from the bed and moving towards her husband. Julian eyed her suspiciously as her hands moved over his chest...what was she doing. "I'm here for you."

"For me? Have you gone mad?"

"I'm tired of being in a loveless marriage, Julian. I want to go back to the way things once were."

"What about Sam Bennett? Isn't he the one who pushes your buttons?"

"Sam?" Ivy gave a small gasp, as though she hadn't even considered him. "He is so last year, sweetheart. You're the one I want....and now I know you're the one I've always belonged with."

With a quick tug, Ivy ripped open Julian's shirt. "Are you mad, woman? I--" Ivy's lips were on Julian's before he could answer, and she pushed him back towards the bed. "What has gotten into you?"

Rather than speaking, Ivy answered by pulling at the back of her dress...which fell to the floor. Julian gaped, having not seen Ivy naked in a long time. "Make love to me," Ivy whispered, thrusting her breasts forward.

"I think I need a drink," Julian squeaked, unable to handle this.

Ivy pointed towards a glass of brandy she'd set out for Julian. Julian got to his feet and grabbed the glass, downing it quickly. Then, he stepped towards his wife. "You don't know how long I've waited for this," Julian said, licking his lips in anticipation.

"You're going to have to wait a long while longer," Ivy said. Before Julian could ask about what she meant, the drink kicked in...and he fell unconscious, dropping back onto the bed.

"Did you really think I was going to make love to you, Julian?" Ivy said with a laugh, as she put her dress back on. She returned a small bottle to her purse; minutes before, she'd added the bottle's contents to Julian's drink, and the drug had worked perfectly, taking effect before she was forced to do anything with her husband.

Now, Ivy removed a syringe from her purse. Smiling wickedly, she drew Julian's blood from his arm. "When you wake up, you'll have no idea what hit you," Ivy told her sleeping husband. "You got drunk, we had sex." Ivy recalled the three times before when she had used the same story...one for each of her children other than Ethan. "And I have just what I wanted."

Ivy stared at the blood she'd just drawn. "Chad's blood, Julian's blood...all I need now is Eve's blood, and then I'll have everything I need for my plan." Pushing Julian's body over, Ivy whipped out of the room, ready for the next step.

**********

"Did I just hear right?" Despite being in a hospital room, T.C. made no effort to keep his voice quiet. Eve braced for the worst, knowing all too well what T.C.'s temper was capable of.

Whitney said nothing. What was there to say? She had told the truth, and there was no going back now.

"I think what Whitney meant to say was that she loves Chad...as a friend. Isn't that right, Whitney?" Desperate to grab onto any possible explanation, Eve was stretching to find a possible answer.

"No, Mom." Whitney looked to her father, who only grew angrier by the second. "Daddy, I'm sorry it had to come out like this. Chad and I wanted to do this properly, but--"

"Properly???" T.C. was angrier than Whitney had ever seen him. "Properly? Just how do you tell your parents you've thrown away your tennis dream for a boy? What's the PROPER way to do that, Whitney?"

"I am not throwing my dreams away!" Whitney burst out, somewhat shocked by the intensity of her father's answer. "I still want to be a tennis champ. And Chad feels the same way about my dreams...he wants me to be happy."

Reeling from her daughter's revelation, Eve asked, "How long has this been going on?"

"We've...been together for six weeks," Whitney said, struggling to speak. "We wanted to wait before telling you, so that I could prove that I could be a tennis player and have a boyfriend at the same time."

"You've lost almost half your games in the past six weeks," T.C. snapped back. He rammed his hand down on the table by Whitney's bed, causing his wife to jump.

"The two things don't have anything to do with each other," Whitney protested. "I've just had a bad string of luck, that's all."

"Whitney, you know your father and I love Chad, but I thought you were going to wait until you'd made it big before you started anything?" Eve kept her voice calm, wishing to balance out her husband's angry temper.

"I asked myself the same thing," Whitney said, her voice breaking. Tears welled up as she continued to speak. "This isn't something that just happened. You have to believe me. It took a lot of convincing from Chad before we got involved."

"So you're saying Chad SEDUCED you?" T.C. again rammed his hand against the table, causing a small basket to go flying off. Whitney cringed, having never seen her father like this.

"No, Daddy, it wasn't like that at all!" Whitney protested.

"Then what was it like?"

Whitney searched for the proper words, trying to think of something her father couldn't twist against her. Before she could speak, the door opened. Oblivious to what was going on inside the room, Chad walked in, a bouquet of flowers in hand.

"Yo, what's going on in here?" Chad asked, looking at the angry T.C. and the teary Whitney.

"YOU!" T.C. stared at Chad, pointing his finger in his face.

"Coach Russell?"

"I told them the truth," Whitney whispered. "They know everything."

Chad looked back to T.C., who reached out for him. Chad dropped the flowers as T.C. grabbed him by the arm. T.C. squeezed, tightly, as Chad struggled to get away. What now?