Previously...

Fed up with Gwen's blackmail attempts, Brett took money from a Sunset Studios account and bribed the prison warden in Paraguay to lock her up for the remainder of her sentence.  After the incident on the pier, James and Ethan learned that Winter hadn't kidnapped Michael at all, but was delusional enough to think she had.  Winter was taken away to a mental institution, and James had to break the news to Brooke that they were no closer to finding Michael.  Heather asked Miranda to help her break into Will's house to steal back the videotape of her night in Joel Armitage's office.  While snooping around the estate, they discovered a set of tunnels that connected Will's house to the Blackthorne mansion. Samantha, the woman Stormy had had an affair with while on tour with Lauren, came to L.A. and told Stormy that Janet Harper had taken photographs of them together in Denver. After spending a night with Ethan, Janet packed her things and went back to Denver.

Episode 40

"The Fallmonts" Part 1

Stormy Blackthorne stood on the balcony that jutted out from Samantha’s suite at Hotel Terranova, breathing in the fresh morning air and stretching languorously.

Suddenly a pair of hands slipped around his waist and he smiled, turning around just as Samantha ran her hands over his smooth, bare chest.   “Well good morning,” he said and kissed her warmly.  “I was wondering when you were going to wake up, sleeping beauty.”

She smiled sheepishly and kissed his neck with her moist lips.  “I have to get ready for my flight back to Denver,” she said, then wrapped her arms around him tightly with a slight groan.  “But I don’t want to leave.  I wish we could stay here in this hotel room forever making love and ordering room service.  We’d never have to leave.”

Stormy grinned mischievously.  “Sounds good to me.”

“But I have to get back to the reality that I call my life.”  She turned and sauntered back inside the suite where she picked up a few articles of clothing strewn haphazardly across the floor.   “I told my husband I was visiting my mother.  He knows I can’t handle more than a day with her so if I don’t get back soon he’ll get suspicious.”

“Are you sure going back to him is what you want?” Stormy asked and nuzzled himself against her back.   “He doesn’t own you.  You could stay here with me.”

Samantha gave him a sorrowful but stern look and shook her head.  “I already told you it’s impossible, Stormy.  I have my reputation to think about.”

“Don’t you mean your husband’s reputation?” he corrected her bitterly.  “Who is he, anyway?  You still haven’t told me.”

She shook her head again and pulled on a beige silk skirt.   “It’s better that you don’t know,” she replied.  “I don’t want to complicate things more than they are.”

Frustrated that she was adamant about staying with him, Stormy sat down on the edge of the bed and folded his hands between his knees.  “What about the pictures?  What if Janet Harper has already sent copies to him?  Then you have no reason to stay with him.”

Samantha sighed and looked at him with pleading eyes.  “Don’t make this any harder than it is.”

“I’m just trying to be realistic,” he replied.  “She obviously wants something from you.”

“Or not.  Like I said, she’s probably just taunting me with the fact that she has dirt on me.  It’s the nature of our relationship.”

Stormy grew into a daze as he tried to think of a way to help.  “She might still be in town,” he said.  “We could confront her.”

Samantha laughed.  “And fan the flames?” she asked.  “No, that’s definitely not the way to handle Janet Harper.  Listen, I’ll deal with her soon enough back in Denver.  I really just wanted to prepare you in case those pictures hit the media.”

But Stormy wasn’t satisfied.  He was determined to track Janet down and find out exactly what she’d been up to.  He got up and quickly pulled on his clothes. 

“Listen, I have to go,” Samantha said and grabbed her purse from the nightstand.

“Well let me take you to the airport.”

She shook her head.  “No, I’ll get a limo.  I want to make this short and sweet.”

He glared at her in spite of himself.  “You mean like us?  A few quick rolls in the hay and it’s over?”

“Stormy-“ she begged, wishing he would understand.  “I don’t want to end this on a bad note.”

He sighed and nodded glumly.  “Okay, okay.  We’ll play it the way you want.” 

“Good,” she said and grabbed her fur coat from a chair.

Stormy leaned in and kissed her, determined that it wouldn’t be the last time.

Downstairs in her office, Miranda paced back and forth across the luxuriously decorated room, pausing to pluck a few leaves from a fichus tree in the corner.  A knock at the door sent her spinning around with a start, her hand clasped tightly over her chest.

“Jeez, you’re jumpy this morning,” Heather said as he walked into the office.

“It’s about time you got here,” Miranda screeched, racing across the room and closing the door behind her.  “What took you so long?  You were supposed to meet me here at eight.”

Heather flipped her long brown hair over her shoulder.  “I’m only ten minutes late,” she replied.  “Why did you insist that I meet you here, anyway?  We should be at home telling James and Brooke about what we found.”

Miranda shot her a look of warning and sat her down on the sofa.  “That’s the last thing we want to do,” she insisted.  “If we tell my father that Will Thomerson could have kidnapped Michael, he would go ballistic.  He’d kill him.  I know he would.”

“He’d have to get in line,” Heather said wryly under her breath.  “I still can’t believe that the tunnels run all the way underground to the Thomerson estate.  How easy would it have been for him to sneak into the house when everyone was out that night?  He could have taken Michael back through the tunnels and no one would have seen him.”

“But we have to get proof first,” Miranda cautioned.  “After all the false leads, the last thing we need is another red herring.  It won’t do anyone any good until we find out for sure if Will has my brother.  I don’t want my father being sent away to prison for murder because of our suspicions.”

“So how do you suggest we find out the truth?” Heather asked.  Since their discovery in the tunnels the night before, she had temporarily forgotten about the videotape and the urgency she felt to find it and destroy it.  Michael was more important right now. 

Miranda paused and looked at her with determination   “We have to go back and search that house until we find something.”

The severity in her voice sent chills down Heather’s spine.  She dreaded going back to Will’s estate, but for the sake of James and Brooke she knew they had to.

Across town at the Blackthorne mansion, Leilani opened the front doors and greeted Alex Reynolds, who rushed inside in a panic.

“Leilani, I must see James.  Is he here?” she singsonged. 

“He’s in the library, Miss Reynolds.”

Quickly, Alex rushed down the hall and barreled into the library where James sat across from Jack Fallmont.  She looked at them both and huffed with frustration.  “Jack Fallmont, I should have known you’d be here, you low down, dirty, no good...“

“Nice to see you too, Alex,” said Jack with a chuckle.

“Don’t patronize me,” she lamented, bounding across the room and turning to James with a scowl.   “Do you have any idea what he’s done?”

“I think I know what this is about,” James said and stood up from his chair.  “And it’s not Jack’s fault, Alex.”

“Not his fault?” she gasped and threw her mink coat onto the sofa and fixed herself a drink.  It was only eight thirty in the morning but after the week she’d had she needed it now more than ever.  “His bleeding heart tree-hugging family has filed an injunction against us!”

“That’s why I came here this morning,” Jack announced.  “I heard about my nephew’s decision to block drilling on your land in Colorado.  I thought maybe there was something I could do to help.”

“You can start by telling your good for nothing nephew to butt out of our business,” Alex said in a rage.  “What right does he have to stop us from drilling for natural gas on our own land?”

Jack chuckled again.  “Well for starters, he is a Colorado state senator.  And secondly, that land has been environmentally protected for years.  Timothy isn’t the only one who’s upset about the pipeline.”

“Ugh, more heartfelt sap from the Sierra Club, no doubt,” Alex spat.  “James, we stand to lose everything if this injunction goes through.  We’ll be as worthless as that land if we can’t drill there.  Is that what you want?”

He shook his head.  “Of course not.  But if you’ll stop and listen to Jack, he’s offering to help us.  Maybe he has some influence over Senator Fallmont.”

“He is my nephew,” Jack said.  “He’s following in my brother’s footsteps.  I have a feeling he’s doing a little grandstanding in order to pave his way to Washington.  He wants to run for the U.S. Senate this term.”

“And he’s making us his example,” James said and shook his head.  “Well Jack, I hope you can do something to help.  The last thing we want is to wind up in court battling this thing out for the next two years.”

Just then, Brooke entered the library, her long face pale and indolent.  Her eyes were red and puffy and she wore no makeup.  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize we had guests,” she said, looking around the room.

James jumped up and approached his wife timidly.  “Darling, I didn’t realize you were up,” he said, stroking his hand down her limp hair.  “You should go back to bed.  You tossed and turned all night.  Did you get any sleep?” 

She shook her head solemnly.  “Has there been any word from Detective Baines?” she asked.

James took a deep breath and shook his head.  “I’m afraid not.”

“Well maybe he called and you were to busy to be bothered,” Brooke spat, eyeing him with watery eyes.  “Is your business meeting more important than finding your son?”

Hurt that she would even suggest it, James shook his head and reached out to comfort her.  “Darling, no.  Of course not.  Jack and Alex just came by to discuss the pipeline and-“

But Brooked pulled away, her eyes flooded with tears.  “I don’t care about the pipeline,” she cried.  “All I care about is finding my baby.  But it looks like you’ve given up and gone back to business as usual.”

“Brooke, no!” James exclaimed, but it was too late.  She was racing down the hall to the staircase in the foyer.

Ethan awoke in the room at Hotel Terranova with a start, glancing around and immediately realizing that Janet had left.  She said she was going back to Denver in the morning and that’s just what she did, even after the night of passion they’d spent together.

His feelings were mixed.  On some levels he’d used Janet as a crutch to get over Brooke, and to have someone to be intimate with when the nights got too lonely.  Last night was no exception.  But another part of him cared for her greatly.  She was vital and assertive, exuding a sense of confidence that he found extremely attractive, but deep down she was vulnerable and compassionate.

But now it was clear that he had been nothing more than a distraction for her while she was in L.A. working on a story that she had never fully availed to him. 

Rubbing his eyes and sitting up on the bed, he jumped at the sound of a loud knock at the door.   Housekeeping, he thought to himself.   He needed to get over to the mansion and find out if there’d been any word on Michael anyway.   Quickly, he reached for his trousers and pulled them on, zipping them up while walking to the door.

“Just a minute,” he said, running his hands through his hair and pulling open the door to find Stormy standing out in the hall.

“Ethan, what are you doing here?” Stormy asked, looking at his cousin, half-dressed and obviously having just woken up.  “I thought this was Janet Harper’s room.”

He nodded.  “It is.  Or was.   She checked out this morning.”

Stormy walked inside and surveyed the room.  “So what are you doing here?” he asked again.

“I spent the night.  When I woke up she was gone,” Ethan replied, going into the bathroom to splash some water on his face.  “I guess I was pretty wiped out because I didn’t even hear her leave.”

“I didn’t realize you and Janet had a thing going.”

Ethan emerged from the bathroom, his skin damp and his face sporting a two-day stubble.  “We’ve spent some time together over the past couple of weeks.  Is there a problem with that?  What are you doing here, anyway?”

Stormy realized he couldn’t divulge all the information to his cousin.  He owed Samantha that much respect.  “I just think it’s strange that she had such an interest in our family, that’s all,” he replied.  “Did you ever get the feeling that she was after something?”

The truth was, Ethan never really gave it that much thought.  “I don’t know.  She was working on a couple of articles for her newspaper.”  He frowned, his eyes narrowing on Stormy.  “You’re awfully interested in Janet all the sudden. “

Stormy shrugged and managed a smile.  “Not really,” he said.  “Are you headed back home?”

“Not just yet.   I thought I’d stop by the mansion and see how James and Brooke are holding up.   Has there been any word?”

“Nothing,” Stormy replied grimly as Ethan finished getting dressed.  “I’ll walk you out.”

Back at the mansion, James was leading Alex through the foyer to see her off just as the doorbell rang.  After handing her her white fur coat, he pulled the door open and Jordan rushed inside. 

“I want to see my daughter,” he said, then paused when he saw Alex standing there at James’s side.  His eyes narrowed on her and he raised an eyebrow with a smug look on his face.  “Well, isn’t this a surprise,” he said, his tone dripping in sarcasm. 

James sensed the tension and knew right away that he was about to be put in the middle of a sticky situation.  Their separation was the talk of Hollywood at the moment and he couldn’t help but hear that he was inadvertently the cause.

“Heather went out early this morning to have breakfast with Miranda,” James said and started to walk away.  “Alex, let me know when you’d like to get together with Senator Fallmont to discuss this problem.”

“I will, James,” she replied and offered him an apologetic tilt of her head.  “And please let me know if you hear anything at all about Michael.”

“Yes, please do,” Jordan said with a roll of his eyes.  “Any excuse to throw herself at you…”

“Jordan, stop it!” Alex warned him.  “How many times do I have to tell you-“

“That you have no feelings for James?” he finished for her.  “You can say it until you’re blue in the face and I won’t believe it.  Exactly how many times a week do you stop by for breakfast meetings with your ex-husband, anyway?”

Alex glared at him angrily.  “We had to make some decision on how to handle this injunction,” she insisted.  “I don’t think I have to explain myself to you, Jordan.”

Jordan looked at James and chuckled heartily.  “Don’t be surprised if she turns out to the one who arranged for this convenient injunction on the pipeline.  Any excuse to spend more time with you…”

“I don’t have time for this,” James said and started up the stairs.

Watching him go, Jordan clenched his fists and turned back to Alex.  “You are so transparent,” he said.  “You really are a desperate has-been, Alex.  Your career is over, you have two failed marriages.  What’s next?”

Alex raised her hand to slap him when he stopped her mid-air.   “Nice try, sweetheart, but I’m not falling for that twice.”

Shaking her arm free, she stood back and took a deep breath.  “I’m sick of this, Jordan,” she said.  “I’m going to my lawyer today and filing for divorce.  And I’m moving back into my house in Malibu so you can have your shack in Beverly Hills.  I don’t want to be around anything that reminds me of you.”

With that, she turned and stormed out of the house.  Jordan stood back and watched her go.  Why did she have to be so damned stubborn?  He loved her so much but he couldn’t stand the way she constantly insinuated herself into James’s life.  That was enough to make him walk away from her forever.

Brett sat in his office at Sunset Studios when the door opened and Stormy walked inside with a scowl etched across his face.   Brett looked up at him and sighed with irritation.

“Can you knock?” he asked.  “Just because your father put us both in charge doesn’t mean you can come into my office whenever you want.”

Ignoring his petty complaints, Stormy presented the expense log and gestured to a blank line in the spreadsheet.   “I’ll knock if you tell me what this is all about,” he demanded.

Without so much as breaking a sweat, Brett glanced at the log and shrugged indifferently.  “What are you talking about now, Stormy?”

“I’m talking about this fifty thousand dollar check you made out to cash,” Stormy said.  “What was it for?”

Brett stood up and adjusted the collar on his blazer.  “Please don’t tell me you’re going to monitor every cent that goes out of this studio, because I certainly don’t have to answer to you.”

His reaction cemented Stormy’s certainty that he was hiding something.  “When it’s an unaccounted for expense then you’re damn right you do,” he said.  “Now tell me what you used the fifty thousand dollars for.  Or do I have to get my father involved?”

Scoffing at his immature antics, Brett crossed the room and poured himself a glass of bourbon.   “Are you actually threatening me with going to your daddy?” he asked.  “When are you going to realize that you’re nothing but a spoiled rich kid who hides behind his family’s name?”

“My father put us both in charge of his studio,” Stormy argued.  “I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you destroy it.”

Confidently, Brett turned and leveled his eyes on his brother-in-law.  “If anyone’s going to destroy your father’s studio, it’s going to be you,” he said.  “You’re the one who used his entire trust fund to start up a record label, and then threw it all away and lost everything because of a woman.  If I were James, I would think twice about entrusting anything with you, Stormy.”

Brett’s jab sent contempt coursing through Stormy’s veins and he fought like hell to keep from punching him square in his pretty boy face.   “You smug son of a bitch.”

Happy that he’d sufficiently dodged the question of the missing fifty thousand dollars, Brett went in for the kill.  “Sooner or later you’re going to mess up again, Stormy, and when that happens, I’m going to be there to clean it up.  Then I’ll be the one going to your father and recommending that you be tossed out of the business.  If you can’t handle a measly recording studio then how the hell are you supposed to run Sunset Studios?”

Stormy decided to let Brett have his moment.  He had other things on his mind than battling it out with him over control.  “Just watch your back,” he said before turning and leaving the office.  “I’ll find out where that money went.  Don’t you worry about that.”

After he’d gone, Brett swirled the dark liquid around in his glass and swallowed it with one gulp.  He smiled, satisfied with his victory.  There would be no way Stormy or anyone else could trace the money he’d paid to the prison warden in Paraguay to incarcerate Gwen for the remainder of her sentence. 

That evening, Ethan found Brooke in the conservatory sobbing quietly into a handkerchief.  He paused in the doorway and felt his heart breaking for her.