Dark Light -- 13

Subj: Dark Light -- 13
Date: 5/7/99
From: Flashman

Chapter 13-Repercussions

"Police still have no clues in the mysterious attack upon a young girl in the Point Lester section of Springfield. Nancy Diaz, age 19, was found lying unconscious in an alley by three youths. She was suffering from an acute loss of blood caused by two puncture wounds in her neck. Though she is now conscious, Miss Diaz has been unable to remember any details about the attack. Miss Diaz has had two previous arrests for prostitution....."

Blake Marler turned off her radio. How horrible. Point Lester was a blight on Springfield's good name. So many awful things happened down there. And so many awful people. Why the three hooligans who had torched Reva's house in December of 1997 were from there.

It was 6:45 a.m. Blake had arisen early because she had some work to get started on at the office. Got to keep ahead of the game. A good PR woman's job was never done.

She grabbed her materials for work, put on her coat, and headed out the door for her job at Lewis Oil. As she walked toward her car in her driveway she looked at the house across the street. Her jaw dropped open. Wasn't that Cassie Layne's car parked in front of Mr. Collins's house? Cassie Layne, who was her brother's fiancee. It was her car. There was the personalized license plate: CASSIE. What in the world was she doing over there at this hour? Blake was sure as hell going to find out. No way Cassie could be two-timing her brother, could she? They were so much in love. The perfect couple, she had always thought.

Blake Marler stormed across the street. As she got to the sidewalk Cassie walked out the front door with a smile on her face. All right Missy, you've been caught, thought Blake. You owe me an explanation. Nobody two times my brother.

"Cassie, what the hell are you doing coming out of this house at almost 7:00 a.m. in the morning?" she demanded.

"Well Blake, if you can't guess, I'm certainly not going to tell you," responded Cassie.

She sounds different, thought Blake to herself. A little weird. Like she was in a haze. In a world of her own.

"You didn't spend the night here, did you? You haven't been seeing Mr. Collins behind my brother's back, have you?" Blake wanted answers.

"I just met Mr. Collins or Barny, as I call him, last night. We spent the night together. It was wonderful. He's opened my eyes to a brand new world. I want to stay with him forever. He said that I could as long as I'm a good little girl," answered Cassie.

"Cassie, you're engaged to my brother. You've been together for a long time. I can't believe you'd throw it all away because of a one-night stand." Blake knew all about throwing things away for a one-night stand. She didn't want it to happen to Cassie too, even if it was her brother she was cheating on.

"I'm driving out to the farm and breaking it off with Hart right now. Barny Warny said I could move in with him right away. I'm going to sell the bar. I don't want anything to cause me to lose time away from him. I'll give Hart the money since he bought the place for me," said Cassie.

"Cassie, you're out of your mind and I'm going to give Mr. Barnabas Collins a piece of my mind."

Blake stormed past Cassie before Cassie could make any attempt to stop her. She opened the door and was met there by Fran Ridgkins.

"Where's Mr. Collins? I want to speak to him," demanded Blake.

"He's not here. He's already left," was the reply.

"I'll just bet he's not here. Get out of my way. I want to see him."

Fran blocked Blake's path. She was determined to stand her ground.

"Get off these premises at once or I'll call the police and have you arrested for trespassing," Fran warned.

Cassie grabbed Blake's arm from behind.

"Come on, Blake. No need to cause a scene. Everything's going to work out. I never meant to hurt Hart. I just found someone better. Hart and I have been having problems for a long time." Cassie's voice sounded normal now. Gone was the ditsy twang she had spoken in when Blake had first confronted her.

Blake reluctantly moved away. No need to cause a scene. She'd talk to Reva at the office. Maybe Reva could talk some sense into her sister.

Blake crossed the street to her house, started her car, and drove off to work. Cassie and Barnabas Collins moving in together after meeting the night before. It didn't make any sense. There was something very strange about this Barnabas Collins. Deep down, Blake was also angry because she had wanted a chance at him, too. She could see how someone as vulnerable as Cassie was right now could fall prey to his charms.

Blake arrived at the Lewis Oil Building and parked in her designated spot in the parking garage. Director of Public Relations. That's what the space said. She took the elevator up to the floor where Josh and Reva had their offices. Blake's office was on a lower floor. She hoped they would be in on time. They had a tendency to lay in bed all morning making love. Sometimes they wouldn't show up until eleven or twelve. Blake hoped Josh and Reva would keep their hormones in check this morning.

Blake simply waited. Wanda, the long-time Lewis Oil receptionist, arrived at 8:15. Josh and Reva entered thirty minutes later.

Upon seeing Blake standing in the lobby Josh Lewis said, "Blake, what brings you up here this early? Any problems we should know about?"

"As a matter of fact there is," replied Blake.

Blake then told Reva and Josh the entire sordid details about what she had witnessed earlier in the morning. They both looked dumbfounded. You have to be mistaken, Reva had said. No, replied Blake, it's true. Your sister is moving in with a guy who's just hit town a few days ago.

"All right," said Reva. "I'll call Cassie right now and find out what's going on." She knew Cassie was still distraught over her daughter's death. Maybe this was just a one time thing. She'd surely have to check up on this guy Barnabas Collins though. Blake had stated that he was going to start working at Spaulding. She'd call Phillip Spaulding and see what he knew about the man.

"One more thing, Reva," said Blake. "He has a housekeeper living with him, too. It's Fran Ridgkins."

That news hit Reva like a blow to the head. The nurse who had artificially inseminated Annie Dutton. Annie Dutton, who'd done everything to keep Reva and her beloved Bud apart. Now, one of her cronies was working for a man who'd just slept with Reva's sister if what Blake had said was true. Could Annie be back in town somewhere? Hiding out. Not possible, thought Reva. Annie was too reckless. If she was back in Springfield the first thing Annie would do would be to come after her and Josh like a bull in a China shop. It had to be a coincidence that Fran Ridgkins was working for this Barnabas Collins.

That had better be the case. And Barnabas Collins had better back off of Cassie. Nobody messes with Reva Shayne's family. She would destroy anyone who tried to hurt her family. Just ask Annie Dutton. She was Reva Shayne. Nobody messed with her. Nobody.

Billy Lewis, Josh's older brother, and Reva's first ex-husband wasn't at the office this morning. He hadn't been at work for several weeks. Billy had fallen off the wagon upon hearing the news that his son, Little Billy, was gay and had moved in with his college psychology professor. Billy Lewis was in the Betty Ford Clinic in California undergoing alcohol rehab. I don't want a fruit section in my family tree, he had said one night while drunk.

Wanda turned on the radio at her desk. She liked to listen to the country music station in Springfield while she worked. Nobody minded. All of the Lewises loved country music. Suddenly, a news bulletin interrupted the music:

"We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to bring you this special news bulletin. In a press release just announced today, Alan Spaulding, Chairman of the Board for Spaulding Enterprises, announced that he is stepping down from his duties there due to stress, ill-health, and nervous exhaustion. The release further states that Mr. Spaulding has given power of attorney over his business affairs to one Barnabas Collins, whom Mr. Spaulding states is a long-time business associate and friend from his prep school days. More on this story as it develops. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming."

You could have heard a pin drop in the Lewis Oil Building.

You could have heard a pin drop in Ross Marler's office too. Ross couldn't believe what he had just heard. He had assumed that last night's meeting with this Barnabas Collins had been a practical joke. Maybe Nola had put the guy up to it. Nola loved practical jokes and fun. It was one of the reasons Ross had married her.

Ross buzzed his secretary, "Rose, see if you can get through to Spaulding. Find out what in the world is going on over there. Never mind if the line's busy at first. Keep trying until you get someone."

Approximately twenty minutes later he got a response from his secretary.

"Mr. Marler, from what I was told the report on the radio is true. Alan Spaulding is stepping down and has given power of attorney over his affairs to Barnabas Collins. Everyone there is just as baffled as you are. No one's ever heard of this Barnabas Collins. Nobody knows just who he is."

"Thank you, Rose," replied Ross Marler.

That crafty devil, whoever he was. He had done it. Just like he had told Ross last night. The guy must have something real bad on Alan Spaulding for Alan to have done what he did. There had to be some logical explanation. The report on the radio had stated that Barnabas Collins was a long-time business associate and prep school friend of Alan Spaulding but the man Ross had met last night had stated he had never even met Alan.

All the Lewis Oil crowd decided to rendezvous at the Springfield Country Club for lunch. Josh, Reva, and Blake had been on the phones all morning. Josh finally got through to Phillip Spaulding. According to Phillip the news was correct. Alan was stepping down from all of his duties at Spaulding Enterprises. However, Phillip had been assured by Alan that Barnabas Collins was going to have nothing to do with the day-to-day operations there. He was simply going to handle Alan's personal affairs while Alan recovered. No, Phillip had said, he knew nothing about Barnabas Collins.

Reva had tried to call Ross Marler to see what he knew. Ross had refused to take her call. That was all that bimbo Nola's doing. Reva despised Nola. On the day Ross and Nola had gotten married, Nola had thrown Reva out of the wedding. You're not going to ruin my wedding the way you did Annie's, she had said. That slut, Nola. Coming between two people who belong together the way Ross and Blake did. She'd show Nola. She was Reva Shayne.

"According to Phillip, Alan simply had a nervous breakdown. This Barnabas Collins is probably going to be just a conservator for Alan's affairs until he recovers," stated Josh.

"Does Phillip know anything about this Barnabas Collins?" asked Reva. She was Reva Shayne and this guy was beginning to look like an enemy.

"I probably know as much about him as anyone does, except maybe Cassie," said Blake. "He told me he moved to Springfield from Bangor, Maine, and that he grew up in Collinsport, a small town near there."

"All right, that's a start. I'm calling up Harley. I'm going to have this guy investigated and then run out of town." She was Reva Shayne and she could do it.

"Now Reva, there's no need to do that just yet. We really don't know if he's friend or foe. Besides, now that Alan appears to be down for the count, maybe we can all have a little sanity restored to our lives," said Josh.

Reva had to agree. At least Alan appeared out of the picture for now. If the police would only track down Annie Dutton. Reva had contacted the producers of America's Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries about doing a show on Annie. Neither seemed interested. How could that be? She was Reva Shayne.

"I guess there's nothing to do now but wait," said Blake.

Suddenly, Cassie came strolling into the country club dining area. Reva was glad to see her sister because she hadn't been able to contact her all morning. She had gotten through to Hart Jessup, though. Hart had been very distraught. Cassie had just informed him she was leaving and moving in with Barnabas Collins.

"Hi everybody," greeted Cassie.

"Where have you been all morning, Cassie?" asked Reva.

"Oh, back and forth. Moving all of my stuff from the farm into Barnabas's house," was her answer.

"Cassie, have you lost your mind? Throwing away a relationship with a great guy like Hart and moving in with someone you just met." She was Reva Shayne and she couldn't believe this was her sister talking.

"Hart is a great guy. I've just found someone who pleases me better, that's all. By the way, he's invited you all over to his house tonight at 7:30. Barnabas, that is. He's looking forward to meeting all of you," said Cassie.

"Tell him we'll be there, Cassie," replied Josh.

"Oh goody. You guys are going to love him."

Cassie the departed. Reva and Josh couldn't believe what had come over her. She was acting like a ditzy schoolgirl with her first crush. Barnabas Collins sure must have had some kind of effect on her. Maybe they'd get some answers tonight. Thank God for the new nanny, Reva thought. She could watch over Marah and Shayne. Boy, that Laura sure was something. The best nanny they'd ever had. The kids simply adored her.