"Sae, who is he?" Rahne asked with a smile as she pumped Celeste for information.

Celeste stood with her back against the wall, keeping one eye on the fuming Matt and the other on the partygoers. She had a private goodwill mission to keep Pete and Kitty away from Emma tonight. If Emma spilled the beans about her and Pete's past, there would be a cat fight to end all cat fights. Luckily, Pete was still stuck in the corner, talking to the woman wearing too much perfume and too much jewelry. Sam was walking around the room, looking for Ange and Paige. Tony caught her eye, and lifted a glass to her. She returned the salute. "That's a good friend," she said with a smile.

Rahne nodded, she and Sam had been friends for years before getting together. All she could hope was that Celeste and the mystery fellow would get together. Something in the way the other woman's eyes sparkled when she looked at the Native American was too wonderful to be missed. Celeste continued, "So, how are you and Sam doing?"

That was enough to bring a smile to Rahne's face. "He's bringing me home to meet his mum on Thanksgiving!" Celeste hugged the smaller woman as she continued, "A'm hopin' he'll propose on Christmas Day- he's been droppin' hints about how much A'll love his gift."

"WONDERFUL!" Celeste lit up when Rahne added the last part. "I'm so happy for you." Kitty walked over to join the two.

"Rahne, have you seen Paige?" Sam had stopped her a moment ago, he was starting to get worried.

Rahne shook her head no. "Angelo just came in, so she's not with him." She pointed out the teenager who was talking to Mateo and Hayley.

Come to think of it, Celeste had seen Paige follow a red-headed female outside about ten minutes ago and they hadn't come back in. Something was wrong. "Emma's chief of security is here. Rahne, can you go just wolfen enough to sniff around a little and see if Paige is still here?"

A slight shimmer was the only outside sign of the internal change, and then Rahne shook her head. "No, she's not." That was worrisome.

Kitty tried to joke it off. "I told Sam that she was trying to hide from Timmy." The young man had developed a crush on her and Paige didn't like it. Rahne nodded, buying the most palatable reason.

Celeste was prone to agree but Paige was Emma's most promising student, and as such, given special protection. She scanned the room, looking for her friend. She found him in time to see him bump into Angelo.

***

Sam wasn't that worried, yet, just concerned that his sister had drifted away from the group. He trusted her and she'd never let that trust down. In fact, at that moment, he was grinning at Matt's back, a perfect idea formulating in his mind.

"Hiya, Matt," Sam grinned at his prey as he put a jovial arm around the shorter man. "Enjoyin' the party?" Back when the town's teenage boys had ideas as to what kind of woman Li'l Bit was, Sam had learned to protect his female friends. After listening to Matt put Celeste down, he had remembered a few of his favorite tricks.

Matt nodded. "Be better if Celeste was at my side." He wanted to be seen with the woman.

Carefully, Sam increased the pressure on the man's shoulder, finding the sensitiva nerve in his neck. As he squeezed it, he went on in the same happy tone of voice, "She's busy. Shame she has to have a date and work at the same time." Matt tried to wriggle out of the grip as Sam continued, "It would help matters iff'n ya left and let her catch a ride with Emma in the morn'."

Matt nodded, furious at the southerner. "I'm leaving, but Celeste--"

Sam shook his head. "Celeste will do as she wants." He added enough pressure to the nerve to nearly bring Matt to his knees before warning, "And ya won't say another word ta her that isn't out of love and respect." He let go, satisfied the man got his message. "Ah do so hate it when Ah lose muh temper."

He grinned as the man scampered out the door. Emma, who had been watching the exchange, made her way over. "Nice work," she complimented him. "Won't leave a bruise, but he'll remember the pain for a long time." Wasn't her style, but it worked.

Sam nodded. "Thanks." He started to make an escape but Emma grabbed his arm.

"How's Paige?" she asked, worry filling her eyes. "I stayed away from her as you asked, even though I could have helped her with Teddy." Paige was her favorite student at the school.

Sam was surprised to see the heartfelt emotion. "She's better. Therapy's helping her learn how to relax." Emma smiled at the news. "Celeste says ya have changed. Is it true?" Try as he might, he still didn't trust Celeste's opinions about Emma.

"I'd like to think so." Emma took a sip of her wine. "I'm working on it, but it is hard to do." She had made peace with her past, had gotten to know her daughter, and started her first healthy dating relationship with a man. "You won't forgive me, will you?"

Sam thought about that. He wasn't as forgiving as Rahne yet he was willing to let bygones be bygones. "I'll have ta try, or seein' Paige at the Academy will be real hard."

Emma nodded, "Thanks Sam."

***

Quite by accident, Angelo bumped into Tony. Quite deliberately, Celeste started cussing in three different languages as she made her way over to the two former friends and gang members. Thankfully, the men walked outside before the unpleasant confrontation started.

They were staring each other down as Angelo hissed, "Yes, I do have a problem with you beating my brains out."

"You slept with Torres," Tony spit out as he took off his coat. Celeste doubled her pace as she saw him start to reach for his gun. Whatever the history between the two, it was enough to cloud Tony's thinking.

"Going to take the cowards way out?" Angelo asked as he took off his coat, "Or going to go mano-a-mano?" Tony started to move in to fight with his fists.

Celeste quickly reached the two and pressed a hand on each one's chest, forcing them apart. "You'll do nothing of the sort," she ordered and then lapsed into graphic Spanish as she described what would happen if the two men did not start to get along immediately. The two then turned to her and looked her up and down, as if assaying her ability to deliver on her promise.

"You don't have the balls!" Angelo challenged and tried to make her back off.

Celeste had grown up around her second cousin, Mike, and his guy friends. In Hollywood, her friends had mostly been male. She learned not to be imitadated easily. She glared at him and promised, "I'll have yours." At that moment, she was a credit to her mentor, Emma.

Tony gulped, knowing she would do what she had said if she had to. He had taught her to be able to do no less. "Cease fire?" Celeste then turned to Angelo who grudgingly accepted Tony's outstretched hand.

"Good," she told the two of them. "Paige and one of her friends have disappeared." It gave the two of them something to work together on, which might help them get along.

"What?" Both men asked. Tony quickly moved them to where they couldn't be heard by people walking in and out of the party. The three started to take a walk along the lake as Tony got more information. "What happened?" he asked.

"It's most likely nothing," Celeste explained. "Paige has been gone for a few minutes....." In the distance, they could see Paige walking out of the boathouse, closely followed by a red-headed girl and an older man. Tony pushed them into the bushes as they watched the three make their way down to where the cars were parked.

Paige saw her friends and briefly nodded to them. She tightened her fist and quickly shot her fingers out at an angle, indicating that they should follow her. They did so at a discreet distance until the man she was with pushed her into his car.

"Do you know him?" Celeste whispered as she climbed into the back seat of Tony's beige car. Tony slowly nodded.

"Baby, change clothes. It's going to be a long night." Celeste got out his gym page and pulled out his sweats. From the set of his jaw and the fact he only called her baby when he felt protective of her, she could tell that it wasn't a good idea to ask any more questions.

Ange picked up on the behavior change in Celeste and stared at his oldest friend. Tony had a way of simply getting what he wanted done done. It was what made the man a good leader and paved his way for success, first in the gang, and later in the Network. They started to follow Paige.

***

Paige nodded as she saw the car carrying her rescuers behind her. As long as she had a guarantee that her back was covered, she felt no need to panic or do anything that might endanger her cover. Laura was pleading with Jim to let her go. "She doesn't know anything about the pictures..."

They were on the outskirts of Pine Valley now, and Paige tried another track. "How are you goin' ta kill us?" She nodded as she heard her southern accent grow. It made her sound like she was under a lot of pressure. "They find our bodies and Ah can guarantee that Emma Frost will make it her business ta find out who killed us." She was trying to get him to act wildly, without thinking things through. Once Jim stopped the car, there would be at least a minute before Emma's security man could get to her and the best thing to do was to get him to attack her physically.

In the circles that Jim slithered in, the name of Emma Frost held some weight. He turned around to face the girl as she continued, "Emma's muh old teacher and she's promised me a job when Ah get out of college." The threat was understood. "Ah'm not one ta forgive an' forget either, so ya better do it right."

Laura turned to her. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"Jist makin' sure Jimbo knows what he's doin'. He kills us and Emma finds out about it, he's dead meat." Jim bit his lips and made a left.

***

"Should we call the others?" Celeste asked as she leaned forward. Poor Ange, she thought. His first date with Paige was when Omega Red tried to attack the school. His second date, Paige gets kidnapped. If those get married, I don't want to hear about the honeymoon. The bed would break or something... Bad dates must run in the family.

Tony shook his head no, but stopped. "Her brother was there, wasn't he?" Ange nodded. "Call him and tell him to get the others to Emma's suite and stand by." Family was the most important thing to the orphan. "We can handle it without letting the girl with Paige know that the X-bunch are in town."

Luckily, Celeste remembered Sam's cellphone's number. Back at the party, he looked down in surprise as his chest started to ring while he and Rahen were dancing. Rahne reached in his jacket and handed Sam the phone. "Hello?"

The car ahead of them made a sudden left, which Tony quickly copied. Having turned off his car lights a while back, he ran off the dark road trying to follow Paige. "Eyes on the road, careful!" Turning her attention to the phone, Celeste tried to explain what was going on, "Sam, Paige was just taken from the ball. Get everybody and meet back in Emma's suite at the Valley Inn. I'll explain later." She didn't want him trying to find them so she quickly turned off her phone.

***

"Where are we?" Paige asked Laura as the car slowed down.

"I think we're at the old oil refinery," Laura said, fear making her voice hoarse. Jim slammed on the breaks and turned off the ignition. "You wanted to make sure that we were never found."

Times like this, Paige was glad she knewthat she knew that she had backup. No matter what, she could depend on Angelo to be there for her. It was a simple fact of life. He was in the car behind her, even if she couldn't see him. All she had to do was wait.

Jim motioned with his gun for the two to get out. Paige started to get ready to shift to a stronger, metallic form as he led them deeper into the abandoned oil refinery. Finally, he stopped.

"Locks here are tricky— two girls could get themselves accidently locked in when the wind knocks down the hatch." Jim's face grew darker. "They can't get out. They die. Twenty years from now, someone finds their bodies."

Clearly, Paige realized, Jim ain't playin'-- isn't playing-- with a full deck. She felt Angelo's eyes on her and relaxed a little. "Jist be sure ya got a good story ta tell Emma," she warned. "Miz Frost ain't gonna like it none when Ah disappear." Jim pushed the two into the tank and closed the hatch.

***

It was funny the way that Angelo could still understand what Tony was thinking. If they rushed Jim now, he could lie about why he took the girls. But by waiting and watching him, they gave him enough rope to hang himself.

He looked on as Paige backtalked the maniac and smiled. That was his country mouse alright. Sassy until the end.

***

Sam quickly gathered the other mutants in the room and relayed Celeste's message. Leaving Bobby behind to cover Emma's absence, they made their way to Emma's suite.

"So how much time will a family crisis buy you?" Pete asked Emma as they walked into the living area of the three-bedroom suite. Looking around, he noted that Bobby's suitcase was on the same bed as Emma's stuff. A pair of sweats had been laid out in another room, evidently intended for Angelo. Tony's duffle bag was sitting on the bed in the third room and, much to Pete's amusement, he could tell that Tony had packed for Celeste also. Evidently, Emma intended on resolving the feud between Ange and Tony, using Celeste as a buffer.

Emma sat down in the chair, glad to be away from so many minds. Remembering how much she liked it, Pete handed her a cup of nearly frozen water from the fridge. "Thanks," she told him as she took some aspirin. "I'll have as long as I need to get my student back. Bobby will cover for me until then."

Kitty watched the exchange with a frown on her face. She didn't like Emma, and she didn't like the fact Pete knew her. Trust Pete, she reminded herself. Wait until we get Paige back before killing Emma.

From the moment that they had entered the suite, Sam had started to pace between the couch and a chair. Finally, Rahne pushed him down into a chair where she could massage his back. It was a quick and simple way to get him to stop annoying the group. "Why didn't she let us handle Paige's kidnappin'?" he wondered out loud.

"Tony can do the job just fine," Pete spoke up for his friend. "He's been in worse spots." He smiled, remembering a situation, one of the few times they had worked on the same side, where he and Tony had managed to win a fight at the Princess Bar outnumbered ten to one. "In a case like this, we're just excess baggage."

"And Celeste is becoming a very skilled fighter," Emma noted with a smile. "Tony taught her to defend herself in case Matt tried something. She did break your nose, after all." A small chuckle escaped Kitty's lips at the expression on Sam's face. "Angelo can take care of himself, as can Paige." The older woman was trying to reassure Sam as well as herself.

Sam started to get up and resume pacing, so Rahne sat in his lap. >From the expression on Pete's face, the Englishman would conduct a small experiment to see how good Sam's healing factor was if he dared to pace the eight steps it took to get from the chair to the sofa and back to the chair. "Can Ah just worry about muh sis?" Sam whispered to his girlfriend.

"Worry, yes. Pace, no," Rahne told him as she firmly wrapped herself around him. He slid his arms around her and held her.

"Ah jist wish that Ah could be out there helpin'," he whispered as he buried his head against her neck. He wasn't one to take inactivity lightly.

***

"Laura, calm down!" Paige commanded as the door closed. "It's going to be okay."

"Okay?" Laura parroted. "Jim has locked us in this old oil tank to die- die! And Janet said there's no way out of these things." She tried to find Paige in the dark.

"When was Janet locked in one of these?" Paige asked as she waited for Angelo to come get her. If push came to shove, she could break them out of the tank herself.

"Trevor kind of lost it and kidnapped her a couple of years ago. He locked her up because he thought she was stalking his family." Laura found a wall and slumped against it. "Not the most promising start to a relationship..."

Trying to keep her friend from worrying, Paige smiled. "I wouldn't say anything. A friend of mine was kidnapped by this guy and nearly killed herself trying to save herself- and I'm kind of hoping the two will get together." She laughed, realizing not only how bad that sounded but how much she sounded like her friend Jubilee. "In fact, I'm kind of planning on it..." She smiled in the darkness.

"He kidnapped her and she nearly died trying to escape and you want them to get together?" Laura let herself become distracted for a second, but quickly remembered why they were there. "How can you be so calm?"

"Easy," Paige answered. "Those two and Ange followed us here."

That helped Laura relax. "At least he didn't throw us down the mine shaft or lock us in the wine cellar or drug us in the church..." In a town full of hiding places, Jim picked the dumbest place to stash her and her friend.

"I don't know," Paige laughed. "I'd kind of like the wine cellar, myself." Laura laughed at the mental picture of the two of them as drunk as can be, waiting to be rescued. Sounded like a fun way to pass some time.

"The next time I get kidnapped, I'll ask for it," Laura promised.

***

The three hid behind a building as Jim locked the two girls in the abandoned oil tank. "I want to see where he's going," Tony explained as they watched the man drive off. "Call Pete and Sam and have him meet me at Jim's studio. The other will go to the party to see if he returns. Get Emma to pick you up here."

Studio? Celeste wondered. Why would Jim go to his studio? Deciding to ask questions later, she picked up the cell phone as Angelo went to the pick the lock on the oil tank.

***

"Bingo!" Nate Summers exclaimed as he hung up the phone. He was happy to be practicing law again, especially since it could help a couple of friends of his.

"What?" Domino was getting a drink out of the fridge when she heard Cable's exclamation.

"Remember how Moira asked me to find out how hard it would be for her to legally adopt Rahne?" She nodded. "That was Jackson Montgomery, the town's district attorney- seems he thinks he owes Sam a favor since Sam's friend helped his niece- and he got a judge to agree to sign the papers first thing in the morning. And what's legal in Pine Valley is legal in Scotland."

Domino paused, trying to figure out the confused chain of male logic, before smiling. "And Moira's on her way?" Cable nodded. "How's that other case, the one that you took because Trev's too busy?"

"Merrick is trying to prevent Maddie from getting a DNA test...." he smiled as he continued. "But I'll think he'll change his mind tonight."

Knowing the way her partner thought, she smiled. "Tell Trev and Pete hello for me. I'll try to get over to see them next week." Cable nodded before going out the back door. Domino took a drink and sighed. The last time she had seen Trev was at his last wedding and it was time to see him again.

***

"So they are okay then?" Kitty asked as she turned on the speaker phone. Emma had left the moment Celeste gave her directions.

"Angelo is getting them out as we speak," Celeste said. "Tony wants Sam to go to Jim's studio and Pete to go back to the party to see if he shows up there..." She paused, hoping she understood her partner right. If not, it was best that Sam, who couldn't hide his emotions easily, was at the studio while Pete, who could blend in anywhere, was among people.

"Why didn't you just grab him at the tanks?" Rahne asked as Sam raced out the door. Pete adjusted his tie and picked up the car keys.

"Until we get the girls out, we don't know why he did what he did. If the girl with Paige even wants to talk about it," Celeste explained. "He's going to either return to the party and get an alibi or he's going to — Kitty, go to his room and search it, will ya?"

Kitty nodded. "Sam and Pete's have already gone, and I'm leaving." Jim was staying in the Valley Inn, and she could just phase in there and check the place out.

Angelo had managed to nearly get the rusted lock undone. "Rahne, we need you to man the phones and let us know who finds what where, okay?" Celeste asked.

Rahne hated the passive mode but she nodded, realizing she was the only one left. "Anything A need tae do?"

The door finally opened and the girls stumbled out. Celeste placed one hand across her stomach as she closed her eyes, trying to block out the pain from her cramps. "Have Pete bring my purse back with him, okay?" She needed her pain pills. After a moment she added, "Here's Paige."

***

Pete smiled as he danced with Brooke English. "Jim's been very helpful since the plane crash," she was telling him. Already, her eyes were bright from the gin and tonics she had drunk. "He's been the best friend and, one day soon, Jamie's going to love him."

It was a long shot to expect the photographer to come back here, but this way he could keep an eye on the people at the party. No matter what, offin' your girlfriend's daughter was one heck of a way to kibosh the foreplay, he thought, smiling as he used a Trevor word. Wonder wot Kitty's going to do tonight when I finally tell her the full story about me and Emmie? Talk about kiboshin' the mood.

***

Kitty carefully started to go through Jim's stuff, looking for anything that might give her a hint as to why he had decided to abduct Laura. She slammed the top dresser drawer and sighed. Nothing.

I guess I kind of knew that Pete and Emma had a past- why else would he ask her to start a takeover of Merrick Enterprises- but I'm still mad that he didn't tell me. She and Emma had a long and bitter history together. It was hard to name just one thing she was mad about, although Emma's tricking her mother and father into making her join the Hellions topped the list.

If she hadn't played with their minds, then my parents would still be together! It surprised the woman to be thinking that. Mom and Dad must have had problems beforehand, I guess. Two people just don't decide to split up overnight.

Kitty started to go through Jim's other drawers as she thought, Emma says she's trying to change. Rahne agrees. And it's not like Pete hasn't tried to bring up Emma. She picked up the dust ruffle to his bed and stopped.

Under the bed were several locked boxes. Phasing her hand, she reached in and found that the boxes contained file folders. Opening the first one she pulled out, she discovered a picture of a young woman with butterfly wings. Looking at the top, she noticed the name "Li'l Bit Walton" and smiled. They had proof linking Jim and the blackmail attempt against Sam's friend.

***

Laura sat in the backseat of Emma's limo and silently started to sob. Celeste, who had been sitting next to her, wrapped her arms around her. "It's okay," she whispered. "Tears help, tears mend." She motioned the limo to stop and the others to get out as she continued to comfort the girl.

Emma, feeling that she lacked the motherly instinct, agreed. The three made their way inside the Burger Barn. "You okay?" she asked Paige for the third time.

It was a little chilly and Paige shivered. Emma took off her coat and wrapped it around her student. The darkness hid Paige's surprise. "Sure. All Jim did was lock us in the tank." Ange slipped an arm around her, and she leaned on his shoulder. "Is Laura okay?"

Emma did a light mental probe of the teenager and nodded. "Celeste is talking to her. She'll be okay."

"Did that guy say why he grabbed Laura?" Angelo asked.

Paige shook her head. "Evidently he took some pictures of her- I think porn- and she was going to tell the police tomorrow." She shook her head. "I just hope that they catch him."

***

Jim wasn't just a kiddie porn producer, Tony knew, but a porn distributor. So, after leaving Celeste with Angelo to get the girls out of the tank, he drove across town to the small studio. Celeste was going to be extemely angry with him when she discovered why he left her there but it would be worth it.

Jim was the last person in the world to sell a copy of a tape that was made one night in Texas when two of Tony's men decided to earn some quick money using the drugs that they had smuggled in, as per his orders. They selected a beautiful blonde actress and slipped something in her drink and then raped her, using the Network's equipment to produce a film. Nine months later, the woman gave birth to a little girl. Four years later, Tony met the woman who had made the Network several thousand dollars and discovered that nothing was worth the pain he had indirectly put her though.

Sorry was too weak a word to say to someone who trusted him so much. Suddenly, he saw her face every time he tried to sell a porno film or arrange for a shipment of drugs. He saw the human side of his actions and didn't like seeing who he was. Every tape he sold was of someone's pain, every drug shipment he okayed was someone's death.

So he tried to climb higher into the Network, removing himself from the human aspects of his actions. He tried to guarantee Celeste's safety. But it wasn't enough. Tony couldn't earn redemption as much as he wanted to be able to.

***

Ariel sat down at Matt's table and looked at the brown paper bag he placed before her. His back was turned to the wall as he muttered about some nonsensical stuff that might have happened at the gala tonight. She didn't even care what he said, not after finishing off the drink he bought her.

There were times that she wondered what happened between the time she passed out and the time she woke up on Matt's couch, which happened a lot when Celeste was out of town. She didn't really care. What she cared about was the drink in front of her.

He handed her another bottle of vodka and leered at her. It wasn't true that she didn't care anymore about anything- she cared more about the contents of the cup before her than about her sister's love, her personal self-esteem, or well being. And so she drank.

***

Not much happened at the dance after Emma left, Pete noted. Kevin gave a speech talking about his personal experiences with a psychologist -- one, who if Emma's organization had been around, might have been stopped. Adam made an apology for Emma's absence "due to a family emergency", and Bobby collected the heathy donation from Liza.

Scott and Brooke, Laura's adoptive mother, had been informed that Laura had taken Paige home, and weren't that worried about her. Dimitri Merrick, after noting Jim's absence, grabbed his wife and left soon after the ceremony. Shortly afterwards, the party broke up, with Jake and Allie making a quiet disappearance, Trevor and Janet making a noisy announcement about their upcoming engagement, and Gillian going with two college men to their dorm room.

"Any luck?" Bobby asked Pete as they walked out to their cars.

"Jim didn't return here." Then where was he?

***

When the DuBois sisters moved to the school campus, Tony had relaxed security around them. He hadn't let it disappear. Tonight, like nearly every night, Forrest Carter watched over Ariel. As usual, Matt allowed her to stay at his place. But unlike most nights, he seemed to linger around the teenaged girl and no one else was around, not Matt's younger roommate or any of Ariel's friends, which triggered a mental alarm to the teenaged boy. He didn't know what happened before Ariel arrived, but he didn't like what was happening now.

He slipped on the letterman's jacket that he kept in the backseat of his car and went up to front door. When Matt answered the ringing, Ariel staggered behind him. Forrest smiled as he saw her. "Just comin' to get my girlfriend," he explained as he slipped an arm around her to steady her. "I don't mind that she drinks but I do mind she was here alone." Truth was, this was the first time he had found her drunk.

That was followed by a glare at the older man, one to let him know that he was out of his league. "I don't want to ever find her this drunk or at your place alone, man." Matt made a motion to speak but wisely shut up as Forrest continued, "If this ever happens again, it will be for the last time." He helped Ariel to get into his car before the older man decided to challenge him on that.

It is a pity, Forrest thought, that this girl wants to hurt someone so bad that she doesn't care about herself. Ariel smiled slightly as she tried to speak. "Matt doesn't really like me, does he?" Her words slid together as she said that. The light of truth pierced her foggy mind, but would be forgotten when she sobered up.

"No," Forrest answered bluntly. "He's using you because he wants to keep Celeste." That much was transparent to an outsider.

"Oh," the girl said as she leaned her head against the window. "Sure should stop drinkin', shouldn't Ah?" Everything revolved around her older sister, Matt using her to control Celeste didn't surprise her.

"It might help." Tony had taken the young man under his wing from the day that the Network had discovered him hiding in one of their warehouses. He had learned to avoid alcohol from the older man.

"Don't tell Celeste..." Ariel pleaded. "She might get mad." One thing her sister had forbidden was alcohol in her house.

"I won't, for now," Forrest promised. He wouldn't tell Tony about her being alone with Matt tonight. "But you might want to stop drinking before you can't stop." Easier said then done. "Or something happens that I can't stop."

***

"Do you want me to call someone?" Celeste asked after she and Laura talked. "If you want to press charges, you might want a friend or family member with you." Laura thought about it. "I'll stay in there with you, Derrick and I know each other, but it might be easier for you to have someone in town to help you." She had met the head of police when a person from Pine Valley had been accused of rape.

Laura looked at her torn-up kleenex and nodded. "Brooke can't stand the truth right now, I wanted to tell Scott privately, and Myrt is going to want to go to bed." She sighed as she wondered out loud, "Maybe Janet could help...."

"I'll get my phone from Emma," Celeste promised as she stepped out of the limo. "Won't be gone but a second." Once outside the car, she nodded to Emma to erase Tony's and Angelo's presence from Laura's mind. Finally, they had the goods to nail one person in town.