Fretful sleep finally ended the next day as Nola woke up to a typical foggy London morning. Nola did not look forward to the long flight home nor to saying goodbye to her friend. Effie had prepared some fresh English scones for breakfast, and the delicious aroma filled the small flat. Effie had always been an excellent cook, and Nola had appreciated her scones with cherry marmalade ever since they met that first time in London at the late Professor Taylor's home.

"Nola, how did you rest?" Effie inquired as she scurried about the kitchen getting their tea ready.

"Oh, not very well, I was thinking a lot about what you said about Silas and then about . ."

"About Quinton?" Effie responded with heartfelt sympathy, knowing her friend very well.

"Yes, and then about our baby girl . . ." Nola's voice trailed off in sadness.

"I'm so sorry, Nola. I know how much you wanted little Beatrice. I don't ask you about it because I know . ." Effie interrupted herself, not wanting to upset Nola.

"It's ok really. I have to talk about it you know. I spent too much time not wanting to talk about it and then taking it out on Quinton."

After the baby died, Nola desperately wanted to try to have another child. She single-mindedly attempted to get pregnant again, but to no avail. The doctor assured her that there were no physical problems resulting from the loss, and there seemed to be no explanation for their infertility. She had gotten pregnant so easily previously. While she was no longer in her 20s or early 30s, there were plenty of women older than she having children. She went to the best and most famous fertility specialist to help her have the child she so desperately wanted. She tried everything, and her obsession with having a child began to create a rift in her marriage. Quinton was much more willing to accept that it might not have been meant to be and felt his privacy and family were being somewhat violated by the intrusive procedures. This angered Nola, and she felt betrayed by her own husband. She thought he was giving up and that he did not really want to have another child.

Summer 1999, Santa Barbara

Quinton went along with all the procedures for close to three years to make Nola happy. But as time progressed, hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent, and Nola became more obsessed and then depressed when month after month she was not pregnant; he had to finally say that enough was enough. This devastated Nola. She felt a failure as a wife and a woman. She so badly wanted to give Quinton another child and have another baby for herself.

"I'm the one going week after week to the doctor and getting shots and tests and exams,” Nola spat one morning at Quinton, as she briskly walked the beach in front of their dream house. Quinton had followed after her in an attempt to get to the bottom of this latest disagreement.

"Nola, you don't have to do this. I have told you I don't want you to go through this."

"You just don't understand, Quinton, what it’s like to be poked and prodded and to see the pity in the nurse's eyes month after month."

"We already have a wonderful family. Why are you so . ."

"Dammit Quinton," she screamed not being able to listen one more time to his resignation. "I want to have another baby. I wanted our baby daughter so badly. I felt her inside me, and then it was like she was ripped out of me, and I don't understand why I can't have another baby. I may never have another. Why did this have to happen? You just don't understand because she was not inside of you." Nola desperately tried to hold back the tears that were choking her. The sorrow and pain made her want to fall to the ground and die.

"Now, I wanted her as much as you did and you know that. I was devastated just like you were. But it happened for a reason, Nola."

"Yes, it was all my fault wasn't it?" Nola defensively fought back. Swallowing back her tears she stormed away from Quint.

"Dammit, I have NEVER said it was your fault. The doctor never said it was your fault. Stacey and AJ never said it was your fault. Only YOU blame yourself."

"Oh, you don't have to say it. I saw the look in your eyes at the hospital that night. I saw it. I know you, and I know that look."

"Nola, what you saw was my sadness and disappointment. That's it." The pounding of the waves on the beach seemed to intensify along with their difficulty in containing their volatile and destructive emotions.

"Now I’m trying to give us a second chance, and you don't even seem to give a damn." Trying her hardest to hurt him, she used her words as weapons, as she lashed out at him, "I get on that table at the doctors office, and I spread my legs while he jams his hands and instruments up my crotch month after month, and all you have to do is jerk-off in. . ."

Finally Quint started to lose his temper, "Why do you have to be like this? I care God dammit, but these drugs you’re on are making you crazy. I have gone along with this for years now and have had to deal with you when you are like this and strung out on hormones and fertility drugs. Enough is enough, Nola. I am NOT doing it anymore. You . .I mean THIS is tearing our family and our relationship apart."

These last comments enraged Nola, "If you for one second gave one shit about me and our family and not just about what you are comfortable with or what suits you . . "

She ripped off her wedding band and flung it into the sand and ran away down the beach. She wanted to run away from Quinton, but more than anything she wanted to run away from her hurt and feelings of failure. Much later after calming down, she regretted having taken off her wedding ring in her fit of anger. That ring had barely ever left her finger since Quinton first placed it on her finger over 16 years before on June 24, 1983. She tried to apologize later to Quint, but she saw the hurt in his eyes, and she felt deep down that maybe she had really destroyed something between them by her impulsive act and her harsh, hurtful words. At first Quint did not admit that he had found the ring, and let Nola spend several hours on the beach one day looking. He did finally tell her that he had found the band, and then he took several more days to give it back, and when he did, he did it hesitantly. Slowly things seemed to settle down between them as Nola agreed to stop her visits to the fertility specialist, but there was a distance between them that they could not seem to close. It was something that had never been there before, and as much as they loved each other they could not seem to overcome it.

The symbolic gesture of Nola tearing off his ring and carelessly tossing it into the sand, to be possibly lost forever, wounded Quint more than he thought possible. He tried to convince himself that it was not his beloved Nola that did such a thing, but her hurt and disappointment, and those damned hormones that for years had at times almost turned her into another person. He remembered how he had to search in the sand for hours to even find the ring while somewhere off in the distance he knew she had probably found a spot to collapse into uncontrollable sobs, just as she had done many times since the devastating event almost three years earlier. It was an event that marked the end of one of the happiest times in their married life, and the beginning of a period of time that both of them never imagined could be part of their charmed life together. After all the wonderful years together and all the obstacles for them to be together, how could something that was a mutual tragedy for them and a time for them to maybe even grow closer, if that was possible ,actually trigger their growing apart. He tried to understand why she had become so obsessed with another child when they already had two beautiful children. But as much as he partially understood what the lost baby girl and the unsuccessful attempts at another child meant to Nola as a woman, wife and mother, he also couldn't help, but think that her extreme reaction was selfish. “Selfish” was never a word he would have ever used before to describe Nola, especially with regard to him or to their family.

That day after the argument when he searched for the ring on the beach, he never felt more alone, and at that moment he even hated that house and hated how the vast ocean that spread before him reminded him of his loneliness. Finally as the sun hit a certain angle overhead in the sky, the tiny encrusted diamonds in the band caught the light and sparkled enough to catch his eye. He thought it ironic how they sparkled in the face of all his sadness, and he recalled putting that very ring on his beloved's finger all those years before, at a simpler time, when the obstacles they faced were with others getting in their way. Now, they were seemingly creating their own obstacles. He worried what Mrs. Renfield and the children were thinking back in the house. Finally Rennie called to him from the verandah. There was slight comfort in knowing she was there. Perhaps she could make some sense of this. He headed back to the house as he carefully slipped the ring into his front shirt pocket. He would not even be able to tell Rennie about Nola throwing her wedding ring.

As soon as Mrs. Renfield saw Quint, she knew that something very bad had happened. "Quinton, are you all right," she inquired.

"Not really. It's Nola. We had another argument."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"I just don't know what is going to happen. This whole thing is getting so out of control."

"You know that difficult spells are a normal part of any marriage, Quinton."

"Yes, I know that, but just how difficult is too difficult. I just can't seem to get through to her lately."

"Just try and be patient a little longer. I have talked to Nola about this, and I think she feels she let you down. She wanted to give you another child."

"But she gave me two beautiful children. What more could I want?"

“I think sometimes she thinks she only gave you one, and that it isn't enough."

"That is just ridiculous. I love Stacey, as much as if she was biologically my own."

Mrs. Renfield's visit quickly came to an end, and she went back home to Scotland. But for the short time she was with the Chamberlains, she was a huge comfort to the family. Stacey and Nola both cried as she left, always afraid that they might never see her again, as she advanced in years. After her departure, Quinton turned to his work to escape the pain when it was clear that the emotional distance was not going to easily subside.

Looking down at her wedding band which she had been wearing on her right ring finger, Nola recalled these painful events years earlier.

Back in California, Quint remembered them too as he tossed and turned in bed, worrying about Nola, not knowing where she was, and not knowing if it was actually true that Silas Crocker was out there somewhere alive. He had thought they had both finally come to terms with the loss of baby Beatrice. He had thought that he and Nola were finding their way back to each other, when suddenly she started becoming irrationally jealous about Helena Manzini. She seemed to intentionally initiate arguments, and then up and left one day to live with her mother in Springfield. The house seemed so terribly empty without Nola, Stacey and AJ. It made him wish he was back in the house in Thornway Road, the place where he and Nola fell in love; the place he never wanted to leave from the beginning. That old house did not overlook the Pacific Ocean and have many of the amenities that people seemed to want these days in a house, but it had their history, and he wished he could be back to that time and place so that he could be with his precious Nola again. Nola meant more to him than anything in the world, and he wanted her back, and he wanted her safe in his arms.

As soon as the morning arrived, and it was not too early to call his son, Quint dialed AJ's cell phone. AJ's phone began to ring in his unkempt dorm room at Tulane University. AJ was still sound asleep as the sun streamed through the broken blinds. Two other male and two female students were also still asleep, crashed under blankets and pillows spread on the floor. AJ groggily went for the phone checking the caller ID, "Hey dad."

"Did I wake you up?"

"It’s Sunday morning Dad, and it’s only 11:00, so yeah you did."

“I'm really sorry, but I needed to ask you something really important."

"What's that?"

"Have you talked to your mom in the last few days?"

"Nope, haven't heard from her. Is everything ok?"

"I hope so."

"What do you mean, you hope so? Is mom ok?" this last comment seemed to revive AJ out of his sleepiness

"No, I’m sure she’s fine, but I haven't been able to reach her, and the message on her cell phone said she was out of the country."

"Out of the country? Did she go see Stace?"

"That’s what I'm hoping, but I haven’t been able to get in touch with Stacey either."

"She’s probably spending the weekend with studly old Seamus," AJ joked.

"Don't say that."

"Come on dad, you're going to have to snap out of it. Stace is not a kid anymore."

"Well, this is not about Stacey. Please, if you hear from your mother let her know that I must talk with her."

"Dad, you make this seem so serious."

"I’ll be honest with you that this could be. There is this man from your mother and my past that we thought was no longer a threat, but may now be again. And I need to warn your mother"

"What are you talking about? Warn mom? Is this another whacked drama from your Indiana Jones days?"

"I suppose you could say it was."

“If someone even tries to hurt mom, I’ll kick their ass."

"I know you would son, I have no doubt, and so will I. But I don't think we’re to that point yet."

"Dad, you and I have to go to Springfield and get Mom. I don't care how much she bitches about it."

"That may not be a bad idea."

"So what's this old guy's name?'

"Silas Crocker."

"What kind of crazy ass name is that? Sounds like one of your Indiana Jones deals. Why did you think he wasn't a threat all these years?"

"I thought he was dead."

"And now he is back from the dead? Oh sweet, life is never boring in this family."

Nola rested comfortably in her first class seat, dozing off from time to time as her plane flew back to the states over the Atlantic Ocean. Somewhere back in coach, Silas Crocker was planning his next move. When the plane landed at Newark Airport, his connection would be to New Orleans for a little partying Mardi Gras style and a chance meeting with the single “evil spawn”. Toward the end of the flight, he took the opportunity to make a visit to first class. He made his way through the cramped aisle in coach and pushed the curtains aside to make his way into the roomier first class section; he hoped the flight attendants would not notice. He made it right up to Nola's seat where she quietly napped. The flight attendant noticed Silas and politely remarked , "Sir, I'm sorry the restrooms in this section are reserved for our first class passengers."

"Yes, of course," he responded in a quiet voice. Silas knew how to appear genteel and polite when it suited his purpose.

The flight attendant, not sensing any urgency or need for alarm, turned away from him to deliver the mimosas she had prepared for other passengers. Silas quickly slipped a folded note into the paperback novel that Nola had placed in the seatback compartment and returned back to his cramped coach seat for the remainder of the flight. Nola slept right up until the plane was making last preparations to land in Newark. She collected all of her things and prepared to get quickly off the plane, as she did not have much time to go through immigration, customs, and make her connection to the puddle jumper to Springfield. She hated those puddle jumper planes, but that was one of the problems of living in Springfield. Silas watched her from afar, as they both went through immigration. He observed carefully to see if she would find the note, or if there was any sign that she had already seen it. Her behavior was such that he assumed she had not. She seemed to be checking voicemail on her cell phone, then impatiently waiting for her chance to get through immigration, and checking her watch from time to time. Finally, she was called up to an available booth, presented her passport and quickly passed through with a smile from the officer. Silas had not seen Nola up quite this close in over 20 years. He thought that she looked good for a woman her age, but that time marches on for everyone. He had taken great care to sufficiently disguise his appearance in the event that she had discovered the note on the plane. And then there was the small issue of all the years that had passed since she last saw him. He was not worried about an encounter on the plane. Of course, if she had asked about a Silas Crocker on the plane, she would have been told there was no such person on the manifest. For years, he had traveled under the identity of Ryan Wayne. Silas watched as Nola disappeared into customs. He always felt a degree of attraction to Nola and fantasized of a sexual affair with her, but mostly because he was thrilled by the idea of how it would destroy Quinton for him to steal away his precious Nola. McCord must miss banging that sweet ass, he thought. Now you go home to Thornway Road little Nola. I have other plans for now. But don't worry, because Silas will be back, so no need to shed any tears saying goodbye.

Nola settled into the connecting flight which was a far cry from the large and luxurious 777 she was on between Heathrow and Newark. As the plane was taking off, she pulled the novel she was reading out of her purse. She opened the book and then noticed a folded piece of paper that she had not remembered putting there. She turned the paper over and "Nola Reardon" was clearly printed in distinctive handwriting. She slowly opened the note, confused as to what this was, especially since she had not used her maiden name for years. Had Effie left her a note before she left?

Dear Little Nola,
So good to finally see you after all these years. Do you remember me? I wish we could have chatted, but you were sleeping so sweetly that I decided not to wake you. I have a quick connection to New Orleans for an important meeting so won't be able to chat with you when we land, but I am sure we will meet again. Yours truly, Silas Crocker

Nola's hands began to tremble as she finished reading the note, frightened how close he had gotten to her. Now there was no doubt that Silas was still alive, and Effie was right. Her next thoughts were of her son who didn't even know about Silas, nor how dangerous he could be. Nola had learned long ago that nothing was a coincidence where Silas was concerned, and his going to New Orleans could only be for one reason. She had to tell Quint right away, and they had to protect AJ.

Just before Silas' flight to New Orleans was to board, he found an available pay phone, dumped a handful of change in and started to dial. When Quinton answered the phone, Silas hesitated a moment, having a difficult time hearing the voice of his most hated nemesis after all these years.

"Hello?" Quinton nervously responded again.

"McCord, it's your long lost friend," Silas snarled, "and I just saw your hot little wife here at the airport in New York. She has aged quite nicely I see. Mmmmmmm I like mature women and what I wouldn't do to her." With a laugh he taunted him, "Ciao McCord."

The phone went dead.

Nola was frantic the whole two hours of the flight. As soon as she deplaned, she found a private place in the airport and called Quinton. She prayed that she would catch him right away. Quinton, knowing that Nola was now back in the States, was waiting impatiently by the phone, willing it to ring. When it did and he saw Nola's number on the caller ID, he was filled with relief.

"Nola?" he adoringly used her name.

"Yes, it's me."

"Are you all right? Oh Nola, honey, thank God you called."

"I'm fine,” she stammered, “ but there is something terrible I have to tell you. Silas is alive."

"Yes, I know. How’d you find out?"

Nola proceeded to tell Quint the whole tale about how Effie had heard that he was alive right through getting the frightening note and how he must have been on the same flight. In turn, Quint explained to Nola about the strange phone calls he had received.

"Quinton, the note said that he was going to New Orleans. I’m scared he’s going after AJ."

"Now Nola, I want to make sure you’re okay. I want you to go stay with your brother Tony at their lake house. There is no way Silas could know where that is. I’m going to go out to New Orleans and make sure everything is ok with AJ. In the meantime, I will call and warn him."

"I want to go down too, Quinton."

"Nola, I won't allow it,” Quint firmly stated. “As much as I would have done absolutely anything to see you before this, it’s just too dangerous. I know that AJ would agree."

"But Quinton, I have to be there for our son," Nola pleaded.

"It’s safer for you with Tony. I spoke with AJ this morning and he partially knows about Silas. I called him asking if he knew where you were so I told him part of the story. Listen, Silas is not a young man anymore, and there is no way he could take AJ if it came down to it."

"I know, but if he had a gun. Oh Quinton, what if has a gun?"

"I’m going to go down there and everything will be fine. I'll make everything okay. I promise. AJ is our boy, and we’re not going to lose him, Nola."

Nola was crying at the other end of the phone. Hearing her tears made Quint want to reach through the phone and comfort and console her. "Nola, please don't cry honey. AJ is going to be ok. I just can't believe that after all these years Silas is back. I just don't know how he made it out of that cave alive. Everyone said he was dead. I believed it."

"I know. OK, I will go to Tony's," Nola sighed with resignation.

"It’s going to be safer for you there than with your mother at the boarding house."

Nola thought she should tell Quint about Thornway Road, but there was no point, and this was definitely not the right time.

"All right, but please call me when you get down there. Also please let me know when you have spoken with AJ, so I can at least know he was warned. It’ll be better for you to tell him. I think I would just break down and worry him too much."

"I will, sweetie. Nola, I’m so glad you’re ok. I was sick with worry when I heard about Silas and couldn’t reach you. I miss you so much."

"I miss you too," Nola whimpered.

"I hope it is all right to say this, Nola, but I love you. I love you so much."

Quinton was unable to get a flight to New Orleans until the next morning. He left an urgent voicemail for AJ to call him, but it was getting late, and he could not seem to get AJ on the phone.

AJ and one of his buddies, Eric, were finishing up the perfect weekend of partying in the French Quarter of NOLA. He found it ironic that the nickname for the partying city of the USA was his mother's name; just as if it was meant to be. He prided himself on being a party animal. Anthony James Chamberlain was a smart, charming and fun-loving young man of 21 who was finally able to drink legally, not that it ever stopped him before. He was in his senior year at Tulane University, majoring in English. He was famous among his classmates for not studying at all and still managing to pull a B or better. Quinton always knew that his son could do better than the B's he would bring home and would get on him about applying himself. When he was given an IQ test in sixth grade, Quint felt validated. AJ tested with an IQ over 160, even higher than his own, but yet his son did not bring home genius grades. AJ knew how smart he was, and he knew how good looking he was, so he knew there was practically nothing he couldn't get away with. As soon as he was old enough to be interested in girls, he always had a cute little girlfriend and lots of other young girls that would call looking for him. Barely a girl alive seemed to be able to resist his big brown eyes and naturally athletic build. This included his own mother who allowed her son to get away with far more than she ever should have. AJ had Nola wrapped around his little finger. AJ was, however, an unconditionally and fiercely loyal son. He adored his mother and respected his father. Like any young man of his age, he would give his parents a hard time, but in the end he was a good son.

The two boys sauntered along Bourbon Street of the French Quarter drinking beers out of big plastic cups. AJ tried a few times unsuccessfully to get his cell phone to turn on. "Dude, Sarah is going to freak out on me. My cell phone battery is dead, and she’s going to think something is up."

"No poon for you, dude. Better get drunk, so you forget about how good a friend you’ll be with your hand for a few weeks," Eric joked.

"I can't believe you’re such a loser and don't have a cell phone," AJ shot back.

"Dude, you’re not engaged to this girl. Far too soon to be pussy-whipped," Eric remarked.

"Please, I’m not pussy whipped. At least I get some, which is more than you can say."

"Yeah whatever," Eric lamely retorted.

They spotted a familiar bar with girls in lacey bras and thongs dancing in the window in front of heavy drapes. They chugged the last of their beers, tossed out the plastic cups and pulled out their ID's to show to the bouncer, who patted them on the back and let them in without even glancing at their proof of age. The cashier allowed them to pass by with a friendly wave without paying the cover charge. The bar was very dimly lit and smoky, and the girls danced topless up on the stage, and several circulated on the floor. A few minutes after they entered, a single man entered. The bouncer did not request to see ID from him and directed him inside. He had thinning light brown hair and was dressed unusually warmly for this time of year in New Orleans. He paid his cover charge and scanned the crowd, until he noticed the two young men sitting at the bar. He had trailed them all the way from the campus and was not quite sure yet which one was Quinton and Nola's son. The two guys ordered drinks, and AJ pulled out his credit card to pay. Silas moved toward the bar and sat down a few stools from them. The music was very loud as the girls gyrated to the music. Silas ordered Jack Daniels up and then turned to watch the girls. He allowed some time to pass, as he watched the guys drink more and more. He carefully watched them, trying to figure out which one was the Chamberlain. One of them leaned over to the bartender and pulled out a wad of cash. Within a few moments, a very sexy Pam Anderson-type large breasted blonde dancer approached the one with the cash and started dancing in front of him, and then she gave him a lap dance. Silas watched with interest as the kid got really into it. With a smile, AJ freely forked over several large bills to the girl, as she finished and then ordered himself a Jack Daniels up.

"Jack Daniels up . .a man after my own heart." Silas said out loud trying to get AJ's attention.

"Yeah it's the only way to go, dude," AJ replied.

"They sure have some hot girls in this place. I might have to cough up the dough and get myself a dance too." Silas remarked trying very hard to get a conversation going.

"I highly recommend it. They have the best girls here. We come here all the time."

"I would think a guy like you wouldn't need to pay for lap dances."

"Just a lot less strings that way, my man. A lot less strings." AJ confidently joked.

"Yes, I know what you mean. Are you guys students at the University?"

"Yeah, we’re both seniors at Tulane."

"I did my undergraduate work at Tulane too, but that was quite some time ago."

"Really? Cool."

"How does a poor college student have the funds to come into a place like this and pay these drink prices and then fork over big bucks for a lap dance," Silas inquired.

"Props to the parental unit, man," AJ boasted.

"Ahhhh. So where are you from?" Silas continued to draw the conversation out wanting to hear more.

"I’m kind of from all over the world, but lately we have been living in Santa Barbara," AJ bragged.

"Beautiful place. What’s your quiet friend's name?

"He's Eric. He gets drunk and then doesn't have much to say. I'm AJ." Eric shrugged and stared down into his drink, as the bartender brought him another vodka tonic.

"Nice to meet you AJ, I'm Ryan. So you say you are from all over the world. Does that mean you travel a lot?"

"Yeah my father is an archaeologist, and my mom is one of sorts too, and we have been everywhere."

"An archaeologist?? That sounds really fascinating." Silas looked carefully at AJ then, noticing the absolute resemblance to Nola. His eyes and nose were a perfect masculine replication of his mother. Anyone could easily see it. But then when he smiled or spoke, all he could see or hear was Quinton. It was a more subtle resemblance, but it still made Silas' blood boil to be so close to the spawn of the man who ruined his life. AJ seemed to have the same cocky I-am-better-than-and-smarter- than-and-better-looking-than-everyone attitude that Silas always accused Quinton of having.

"It was definitely cool to see all those places, but it’s kind of nice to be in one place for awhile too."

"You know I have an interest in archaeology and have read some books about it. What’s your father's name?"

"He used to publish under the name Quinton McCord, but now he uses Quinton Chamberlain. Long story."

"Hmmm, Quinton is not a name you hear too often, but it’s not ringing a bell. But now, Chamberlain is a name I’m familiar with."

"My Grandfather, Henry was a famous businessman."

"Henry Chamberlain, yes I’ve heard of him. Now I understand why a young man like yourself is carrying around such a big wad of cash. How is Henry?"

"Not so good anymore; he died a few years ago."

"Sorry to hear that. Is your mother Vanessa Chamberlain?" Silas continued to play dumb.

"No, that’s my aunt. My mother's name is Nola. You wouldn’t have heard of her."

"How interesting, your mother's name is Nola, and now you are going to school in NOLA. Quite a coincidence."

"Yeah, and this town is wacky just like my mother, but I love her."

"I bet a boy like you would."

"My parents are real good to me. They get on my case at times, but there isn't anything I wouldn't do for them. Where are you from?"

"All over the world just like you, but I don't settle anywhere, and I like it that way. It must be nice to have rich parents that give you unlimited cash. Not too many kids have that or have parents that are even still together."

"Well yeah, my parents are not exactly together right now."

"You made it sound like they were."

"No, my mother kind of wigged out on my dad. Something stupid about some ex-girlfriend in Italy. I mean there were other things, but it's ridiculous cause this Italian chick is like a million years old, and my dad is just nuts over my mom. Always has been. It used to embarrass my sister and I when we were kids how . . . into each other they were. Man, I don't know why I’m telling you this stuff."

"You must need someone to talk to. Better to have parents that are getting busy than are always busy," Silas joked trying not to let on how completely fascinated he was by the conversation.

"Yeah, but dad is gonna get her back, so it will be cool. He's got a way with the ladies and especially with mom."

"Apple must not fall far from the tree then."

"Guess not."

"So what were those “other things” you mentioned about your parents?"

"Dude, that is pretty personal. Let's just say it wasn't supposed to be just me and my sister." AJ realized that the Jack Daniels was making him say more than he should.

"Fair enough."

"So are you here by yourself?" AJ asked trying to change the subject.

"No, I’m traveling with a friend. My buddy Silas does not like socializing that much." Silas dropped the “bomb” waiting to see if there was a reaction. He hoped AJ knew the name “Silas” and would report the conversation and encounter to Quinton and Nola.

"Silas, that’s a strange name." AJ recalled his dad earlier talking about a guy by the same name, and suddenly it started making sense why this guy was so interested in him. "Listen dude, I really gotta get going. Hope you have a good time in the Big Easy." With that AJ laid a bunch of cash on the bar, grabbed Eric by the collar, and yanked him out onto the street.

Silas sneered to himself, "So, the old man told you about Silas Crocker, huh?"

Outside the strip bar, AJ anxiously commented to Eric, "Dude, we gotta get out of here. That guy in there’s creeping me out. Let's go."