Previously...

Brooke and Ethan argued over her inability to commit to him.  She later shared drinks with David, who kissed her.  Heather informed an ecstatic Brett that she was pregnant.  Jordan proposed to Alex, who told him that she couldn't give him an answer yet, believing her involvement with Seth Walker to be too dangerous to get Jordan involved.  James had Stormy and Eddie hijack the truckload of weapons from Costa Mesa and replace it with an empty one.  When Seth learned that the shipment was missing, he threatened Leigh, telling her to make James release it or else he would kill him.  Solmenly, Leigh went to James the evening of the Filmmaker Awards and told him that she was Seth's partner and that he was in danger if he didn't do as the Congressman asked.  A hurt James sent Leigh away.  Stormy and Eddie were arrested when police inspected the truck and found the illegal weapons in the cargo.  Desperate to protect James, Leigh called Seth to her penthouse and pulled a gun on him.  After wrestling the gun from her, Seth shot Leigh twice in the chest. James arrived seconds later after reconsidering taking to Leigh, and Seth shot him too.  

Episode 73

"Under the Gun"

A cool breeze blew in from the balcony in the penthouse at Hotel Terranova.  A fast-busy tone emanated from the phone which hung carelessly off the cradle, dangling to the floor.

“Housekeeping,” called a voice from outside in the hall.  “I have your dry cleaning, ma’am.”

Another knock and no answer.  The maid entered the suite with a stack of garments in her arms.  She made her way to the bedroom and placed them accordingly before returning to the front door.  She paused before leaving, hearing the sound of the phone laying off the hook.   Frowning, she rounded the corner and entered the living room.  There she saw two bodies slumped on the floor, blood spilled everywhere.

"Santa Maria," she uttered in horror, backing up with her hands over her mouth.  Her scream was heard throughout the entire hotel, echoing up and down the corridors and resonating off the walls.

Searchlights cut through the night, circling the Los Angeles Theater in downtown L.A. where fans and paparazzi lined up behind the velvet rope for a glimpse of their favorite star or their hottest story.  The red carpet was peppered with celebrities, waving to the cameras and posing for photographs.  The 35^th Annual Filmmaker Awards were in full swing, moments from the opening monologue inside the elaborate theater.

Inside the foyer, Alex and Renee stood in their regalia, dripping in diamonds and covered in Chloe and fur.  Their faces wore smiles, but inside they were in constant turmoil.  Neither of them had spoken to James since earlier that evening when he confirmed that the shipment of weapons to Panama had been hijacked by Stormy and Eddie.   The gravity of the situation hadn’t escaped them, and going to the Filmmaker Awards was the last thing on their minds.  But it must be business as usual, as James had insisted.  So here they were, along with their trusted bodyguards who were always a step away.

“Why haven’t we heard anything?” Alex asked under her breath.  “James was supposed to be here by now.  Stormy too.”  A gasp escaped her throat and she turned toward Renee with wide eyes.  “What if something happened?”

“Like what?” Renee asked.

“I don’t know.  I just have a bad feeling.”

Just then, Miranda and David approached with Sierra.  Miranda kissed her mother on the cheek and gave Renee a quick squeeze before putting an arm on Sierra’s shoulder and smiling cheerfully.  “Look who I found,” she said. 

“Sierra, where have you been?” Renee asked and looked with concern at her daughter.  “I don’t want you going off on your own tonight.  These Hollywood types can be very precarious.”  A quick glance in Alex’s direction before she added off-handedly, “no offense.”

“None taken,” Alex said with a snarl. 

“Mother, please don’t treat me like a child,” Sierra said with a pout and folded her arms across her elegant silver gown.  “I feel like I can’t breathe around you ever since-“   She paused, glancing at Alex and then shaking her head in dismissal. 

“I’m sorry, Darling,” Renee said and put a hand on her shoulder.  She turned to Miranda and David again.  “You both look very nice.  David, how nice to see you again.”

“You too, Renee,” he replied.

“Miranda, I thought you were coming with your father,” Alex said, determined to get James alone so she could find out what the hell was going on with the Costa Mesa operation.   The only reason she felt safe going out tonight at all was because she was at a crowded theater with hundreds of other people.  And of course Cliff, her burly bodyguard.  Who knew what kind of state of mind Seth Walker was in.  Even in the midst of all the chaos he could still prove to be dangerous.

“He said he’d meet up with us later,” Miranda replied, thinking about James and wondering if he had decided to talk to Leigh about whatever it was they argued about.  She hoped so.  The more cemented their relationship, the less likely her father was to get back with Brooke Taylor.

Across the room, they were being watched.  Seth stood behind a palm tree, sipping a glass of champagne and eyeing Alex carefully.  All he had to do was wait for her to go off by herself and his opportunity would present itself.  Then he’d find out what happened to his missing truck and get it on its way to Panama.  The sooner that happened the sooner he’d get his money.  He’d be on the way to the Cayman Islands a very wealthy man. 

Reaching into his tuxedo jacket, he secured the pistol he’d confiscated from Leigh. 

When Brett and Heather arrived in their formal attire, Miranda turned to them and forced herself to come off as anything but a bitter divorcee.

“Heather, you look gorgeous,” she said and kissed her on the cheek.  She turned her attention to Brett and gave him a quick, next-to-no-contact hug.  They’d shared a recent mutual loss, after all, and she’d barely seen him since.  He deserved compassion just as much as she’d received from others.  But there were limits, after all.

“I guess we should go in and sit down,” David said when the lights began flashing in the foyer.  He put his arm around Miranda and led her to the entrance of the theater.

“I can’t believe Stormy’s not here,” Miranda said, glancing around the crowd as they walked.  “Where on earth could he be?”

The guard made his way down the cell block at the police station several miles away.  He paused at each set of bars and peered inside, inspecting the prisoners and ensuring they were all accounted for.   After he’d walked by, Stormy approached the bars separating him from Eddie and gripped the cold steel with frustration.

“What is taking my dad so long?” he asked.  “I left him a message over an hour ago.  He never goes this long without checking in.”

Eddie sighed and hung his head between his legs as he sat on the cold concrete bench.  “I don’t know, dude, but I’m about to freak out.  I’m claustrophobic, you know.  The walls are closing in on me.  I can't take it.  I can't stand being locked up like a caged animal.  Stormy, if I don’t get out of here soon I’m going to explode!”

Stormy gave him a wry expression.  “We’ve been in here for fifteen minutes, Eddie," he said patronizingly.  “Pull yourself together.”

He groaned and drug himself to his feet.  “I can’t help it.  Do you realize what kind of trouble we’re in?  Parking a semi trailer full of machine guns and grenades at a truck stop isn’t exactly a traffic violation.”

“My dad will get us out.  He’ll explain everything to them.  Don’t worry.”

“Do you honestly think they’re going to believe anything he has to say?” Eddie demanded.  “It’s his company that owns Stratotech, remember?  We’re here for the long haul, and we’ll probably wind up being somebody’s bitch.  I know how things work in prison."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Am I?" Eddie exclaimed.  "Am I?"

Sighing, Stormy plopped down on the floor and tucked his knees under his chin.  He couldn’t understand what was taking James so long.  He should have been there by now.

Miranda was incensed to find Brooke and Ethan sitting two tables away from theirs.  She had half a mind to walk up and throw a drink in the woman’s face.  The nerve of her to show up at a function that she knew James would be at.  She was flaunting her relationship with Ethan.  It was tasteless.

Alex sat down at the table, scouting around the room for any sign of James.  She was beginning to get worried.  She still hadn’t heard from him or Stormy, and the fact that she hadn’t seen or heard from Seth since the night before was also troubling.  He must be planning something, she thought to herself.   She had to be on the lookout for anything suspicious.

When Jordan arrived her troubles seemed to fade momentarily.  She watched as he kissed Sierra on the cheek and greeted Renee with a surprisingly civil hello.  He looked so handsome in his tuxedo, she thought.  His proposal the night before stuck in her mind.  As much as she wanted to be with him again, she couldn’t commit to anything with all that was hanging over her head.  It was no longer a matter of proving a point, it was for his own safety.  She couldn’t get him involved in the trouble that she’d caused.

Brooke sat rigidly next to Ethan at the nearby table.  His hand rested gently on her leg, which she didn’t mind so much.  At least he wasn’t forcing her to make a commitment that she wasn’t prepared for.  Since their blowout the other day they’d resumed a half-way normal existence.  If denying the source of the problem was normal. 

To her own detriment, she couldn’t help but glance over at David.  She felt a shortness of breath and didn’t know why.  Possibly because of the kiss they shared and the fact that she hadn’t been able to think of anything else since.  What was wrong with her anyway?  When he returned her secret stares she quickly turned away, forcing herself not to react.

At the next table, Brett placed an arm around Heather when he noticed that she looked a little green.  Leaning over, he whispered softly into her ear.   “Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded, placing a hand on her stomach.  “I’m fine.  I just feel a little nauseas, that’s all.”

“Morning sickness in the evening?” Brett asked.   “Is that normal?”

“As of lately, yes,” she replied with a grin.  But as soon as she said it, she realized it was no laughing matter.  Jumping to her feet, she covered her mouth with her hands and darted out to the restrooms in the lobby. 

“What’s wrong with Heather?” Jordan asked as he looked around, eyeing Brett suspiciously.  He was waiting for the right time to confront his new son-in-law, and naturally give him the obligatory don’t hurt my daughter or else speech.  Perhaps tonight was just the night to do that. 

“She’s feeling a little…under the weather,” Brett replied, respecting her decision to wait to tell everyone about the pregnancy. 

Across the table, Alex leaned in to Renee and whispered in frustration.  “I can’t handle this anymore.  I’ve got to get a hold of James.”

“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” Renee whispered.  “If anyone gets wind that you’re walking on eggshells they’re going to ask you what’s wrong, and knowing you you’ll spill the whole thing and get us in even more trouble.  Just let James handle things.”

“I can’t wait for that,” Alex hissed.  She stood up and raced down the aisle and out to the lobby just as the awards presentation began. In the commotion, Cliff lost sight of her and became stuck behind a bottleneck of stampeding celebrities rushing for their seats.  

Eyeing her from the corner of the room, Seth discreetly followed her.  The lobby was nearly empty now.  He had a clean shot at her.  Calmly, he followed her into the restrooms, locking the door behind him and pulling the gun from his interior pocket.

As she pulled her cell phone from her purse, Alex heard someone enter the bathroom.  She looked up and froze, paralyzed with fear at the site of Seth standing there with a gun pointed directly at her.

“Where is the truck?” he asked simply.

Her mouth dry, Alex tried to speak but no sounds would come.  Her first instinct was to run but she couldn’t will herself to move. 

“I’m only going to ask once more,” Seth repeated.  “I know that your ex-husband switched the trucks.  My contact in Panama received an empty shipment today.  All I want is the truck with my cargo on it.  After I have it you can go about your evening.”

Still, Alex couldn’t speak.  This was it, she decided.  This was the moment she'd been dreading.  Seth was going to kill her.  She shook her head as furiously as she could in response to his question.

“Where is it?” Seth demanded and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet.

“I don’t know!” she cried.  “He didn’t tell me!  I swear!”

Frustrated, Seth realized he was running out of time.  By now someone would have found the mess he’d left in Leigh’s hotel room.  The authorities were probably already on to him.  Getting that truck delivered to Panama was no longer a reality.  His best hope now was escaping with his life and his freedom, and with enough money to make up for his losses.

“All right, come on.  You’re coming with me.”  He pulled her toward the door.

The sound of a stall door moving caught his attention and he stopped dead in his tracks.  Someone else was in the restroom.  Swiftly, he tried each of the doors, pushing them open until he found her.  He came to a door that was locked and he forced it open with all his strength.  The door sprung open and he found Heather cowering against the wall in fear.  Gritting his teeth, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out.

“How fitting,” he said, relishing the idea of Brett Armstrong’s wife being at his mercy.  It served his blackmailing PR man right. 

“Heather!” Alex cried when she realized the she was there and in the same danger she was. 

Heather swallowed hard, praying that someone would come in and see what was going on and call the police.  Why was Congressman Walker holding them at gunpoint?  She sensed that Alex knew why and that only frightened her even more. 

Seth grabbed hold of them both by the arms.  “Come on!” he yelled, forcing them toward the door of the powder room, the gun still aiming directly at them.

“What are you going to do?” cried Alex, who was almost afraid of the answer.

Seth slowly opened the door, peering out into the lobby to make sure the coast was clear.  As soon as he was sure no one was around, he pushed Heather and Alex out into the hall.  “Come on, you two are my ticket out of here.”

Alex resisted, trying to pull herself away from him as she twisted in his grasp.  Seth pulled her back toward him and slapped her as hard as he could.  Her hair whipped around and covered her face as she recoiled from the numbing blow.

Back inside the auditorium, Victor Distefano had just finished his opening monologue when a spine-tingling scream erupted from out in the lobby, causing the crowd to suddenly quiet and turn in their chairs.

Brett stood up from their table, immediately alarmed.  He looked toward the doors to the ballroom and then back at Miranda, panic showing evident on his face.

“That sounded like my mother,” Miranda said, following his lead and rising to her feet.

They bolted up the aisle with Jordan, Renee and David fast on their heels.  Ethan saw the commotion from his and Brooke’s table and ran after them, certain that something terrible was happening.  They all raced into the lobby and stopped in their tracks, horrified by the scene.

Heather and Alex stood across the lobby, frozen in fear as Seth held the gun to their backs.  The panic and confusion in his eyes told them that he was a loose cannon waiting to explode.  One wrong move and he could shoot them both without hesitation.

“Heather!” Brett yelled, his heart pounding at the sight of his wife being held captive by the maniac.

Renee gulped, panic-stricken, and instinctively grabbed hold of Jordan’s hand without realizing what she was doing.  “Oh my God,” she exclaimed, fearful for Heather and Alex’s lives.

“Let them go, Walker!” Brett yelled as he stepped forward.  He knew he had to remain calm and try to reason with the man but seeing Heather in peril was killing him.  He had to think of a way to get her away from him.

“No way,” Seth insisted, pulling the women closer to him.

Jordan moved up alongside Brett and watched helplessly.  His mind raced in a thousand directions, desperate to think of a way to save his daughter and Alex.

“Our deal has gone bust, Armstrong,” Seth remarked.  “I’m sorry but you won’t be getting anything from me after all.  And unless you want a couple of dead women on your hands, somebody’s going to get me fifty millions dollars.  It’s a fraction of what I would have gotten, but it’s better than nothing.  And I’m not leaving this building until I have it.”

Brett shook his head back and forth.  “There’s no way!”

“Find a way!” Seth yelled. “Get me the money and a helicopter on the roof in an hour.  If somebody doesn’t come through, your wife and the scream queen here will be splattered all over the street!”

Brett looked at Jordan in a panic as they watched Seth pull Heather and Alex down the hall and through a door leading to the stairs.  He started after them, intent on catching up with them and stopping Seth before he could do something to hurt them.  Jordan and Miranda both grabbed his arm and held him back, their eyes pleading.

“Brett, don’t!" Renee yelled.  "You heard what he said!  He'll kill them!"  She knew that it was true.  If he had been willing to kill Adrienne Fallmont and Logan Mackenzie, he wouldn't hesitate to kill anyone who got in his way.  

Brett looked at her and angrily hit his fist against the wall.  He turned to Jordan and looked at him with terror in his eyes.  "We have to do something," he said.  "Call James and get him down here."  He turned around and looked distantly in the direction of the stairwell.

Miranda watched helplessly as Jordan went to make the call and Brett stood in a bewildered daze.  David came up and grabbed her hand, squeezing it and offering her a comforting smile.  Her cell phone rang and she fished it hastily from her purse.  Flipping it open, she answered curtly.

“Miss Miranda, you have to get to the hospital.  It’s your father.”

Frowning, Miranda turned away from the commotion of the crowd.  “Leilani?” she asked.  “What’s wrong?”

“It’s your father.  He’s been shot.  Please.  Come to the hospital right away.”

Standing in awe, Miranda slowly closed her phone and stared at the floor in a daze.  She couldn’t believe this was happening.  First her mother and her step-sister were taken by a madman with a gun, and now she finds out her father has been shot.  It was too much to take in.  She felt numb.

“Miranda, what is it?” David asked as Brooke and Ethan came up behind her. 

She turned to him with watery eyes.  “I have to go.  It’s Daddy.  He’s in the hospital.”

In the stairwell, Seth ran up the steps, the gun held firmly in his hand as Heather and Alex trotted along several steps in front of him.  They looked at each other in terror, afraid of what was going to happen to them if Seth's demands weren't met.  Even if they did get him what he wanted, who was to say he wouldn't kill them anyway?

Heather cried silently, believing she would never see her husband again, or that something would happen to her baby.  She didn't know what the Congressman was talking about when he mentioned a deal with Brett.  Something inside told her that her husband had been up to no good again.  Now she and their baby were paying for it.  

Sobbing, she tripped on a step and fell on the landing, too tired to continue.  Seth picked her up and set her back on her feet.

“Get moving!” he yelled, pushing her up the stairs to a door marked Roof Access.

Marilee covered her mouth with her hands, horrified by the details of what had transpired while she sat naively in the auditorium waiting for her husband.

“What is he thinking?” she gasped and turned to Renee.  “What’s going on?  Why is my husband taking hostages to the roof?”

“Your husband is a maniac,” Renee said quietly.  She felt for the woman, realizing that she was totally blind to what her husband had been up to for the past several months.

“We can see that, Renee,” Jordan said with irritation.  “But would somebody care to explain it to me?  How are Alex and Heather involved with that guy?”

Brett rubbed his face with his hands, terrified by the prospect of his wife and child in danger.  “It’s my fault,” he said softy.

“What?” Jordan asked.

“I knew he was dangerous and I did nothing about it,” Brett explained, sick to his stomach over the prospect.  “I blackmailed him, knowing he was a murderer.  Now Heather is paying for it.”

“A murderer?” Jordan demanded.

“Seth Walker killed Adrienne Fallmont,” Renee explained, offering an apologetic glance toward Marilee.  “He planned on selling illegal weapons to Panama, and Adrienne found out.  He’s done everything he can to cover up his ownership of Stratotech.”

Jordan paced around the lobby in bewilderment.  “How is Alex involved?”

“He tricked her into becoming his partner,” Renee replied.

Suddenly Jordan realized what had been going on.  It was Seth that had tried to break into Alex’s house.  He was the one she had been so afraid of.

“James tried to stall the shipment,” Renee went on.  “He had Stormy hijack the truck last night.”

Brett looked at her with alarm.  “That call Miranda got...  James is in the hospital.  Walker must have done something.”  He slammed his fist into the wall and pulled at his hair in frustration.  “Damnit, I should have stopped him.  If anything happens to James, Alex or Heather, it’s my fault.”

Jordan had no time for blame.  His main concern was getting his daughter and Alex to safety.  He would deal with Brett later.  He turned and headed off through the lobby, intent on taking matters into his own hands.

Detective Baines approached them from across the lobby and placed his hands on his hips.  "They're getting a chopper ready," he said.  "It should be here in thirty minutes."

"What about the money?" Renee asked.

"I’ll call my accountants," Marilee claimed.  "I’ll get the money. It’s my husband who's responsible for all of this.  If I hadn't restricted his access to my accounts none of this might have happened.   It’ll just take a little time to get the cash.”

"He's not going to give us time," Brett insisted.  "This guy is under the gun.  Don't you understand that?  What if he doesn't let them go?"

Baines didn't answer right away.  The truth was she didn't know what mindset the Congressman was in so he couldn’t give him an answer.  "We're going to do everything we can to get your wife and Miss Reynolds to safety."

"But what if he doesn’t let them go?" Brett demanded again, looking up at him with a tense, helpless look in his eyes.  He couldn't bare the thought of anything happening to Heather and their unborn baby.  After all the talk he'd done about changing and becoming a better person, his biggest mistake was blackmailing Walker.  Now the lives of his family were in jeopardy.  

Standing up again, Baines offered a dismissive shrug.  "I can't answer that until we get up on that roof and give him the money."

"Where did Jordan go?" Renee asked suddenly as she scanned the lobby.  He had been standing there moments earlier, and was now nowhere in sight.

Brett shook his head with a frown.  "I don't know," he said, wondering if Jordan was where he the thought he was.

Thirty stories above on the roof of the theater, Alex and Heather cowered in the corner, the wind blowing against them as they held on to one another in paralyzing fear.   They watched Seth pace back and forth, mumbling to himself as he held the gun out as a constant threat.

“Please just let us go,” Heather said, not taking her eyes off of the revolver.  “You don’t need us anymore.  They'll send the helicopter and the money.  Just let us go.”

Seth stopped pacing and walked over to them with a defiant look in his eyes.  “No.  You two are my insurance.  If I don’t get that money, you’re going to be the ones to pay the price."

Heather and Alex looked at each other, their eyes tearing as they realized they were doomed.  The police weren’t just going to hand that much money over to a criminal.  And then Seth would kill them just as he threatened to.  

Alex chewed nervously on her lip.  This was all her fault.  All because of her stupid rivalry with Renee.  If it hadn't been for that, Seth Walker would never have had the opportunity to come into their lives.  All she could think about now was Jordan and their turbulent past.  After their divorce, she yearned for him for a year.  Everything she did was to get him back.  The fact that she turned him away when he came to her and professed his love was the dumbest thing she ever did.  She'd give anything now to take it back and be warm and safe in his arms.

Jordan took the elevator to the floor just below the roof of the old building, then shattered a window near the fire escape.  He climbed the iron ladder on the side of the building, taking two rungs at a time as he quickly made his way to the top.  He paused for a moment when he felt his foot slip off the slick surface.  He looked down at the street far below and closed his eyes.

Regaining his balance, he took a deep breath and continued up the ladder until he got to the roof.   Once there, he paused and peered over the ledge to survey his surroundings.   He could see Heather and Alex huddled by the far corner of the roof and Seth pointing the gun at them. 

He looked around for something to attack him with.  There had to be a way to overpower him and get the gun from him.  One thing was for certain, he couldn't wait for the police to handle it.  Even with Detective Baines at the helm, there was no time to wait around any more.  They had to do something now.