White light blinded her. Operating tools hitting the metal pan they had been picked up from felt like symbols crashing in her ears.

"She's awake!" a female voice cried.

"No need to panic. We used a local anesthetic. She'll be fine," a calmer voice answered.

Where am I?

Abby's eyes settled on a man wearing blue scrubs and a facemask who she quickly identified as a doctor.

Okay, I'm in the hospital. How? Why?

She took another look at the doctor hoping her memories of what landed her in the hospital would return. A sheen of perspiration covered the exposed bit of his forehead as he continued focusing on her arm.

She could hear her heartbeat quickening on the monitor attached to her body. Hospitals always meant nurses with judging eyes and social workers with statements like, "Tell me again. How did you get those double black eyes and broken ribs?"

They didn't really care. It was their job to ask. To report. Abby was tired of the judgment. If she had truly felt strong enough to leave Bryce, she would have. She knew that deep in her gut just as she knew that choosing to stay with Bryce would eventually be the death of her.

"Don't panic," the calm voice told her. "We're almost done stitching your arm. You have a nasty cut but you'll be as good as new in just a bit."

Flashes of Bryce illuminated in her mind; disappearing as quickly as they came. Bryce yelling at her. Bryce shoving her. Bryce angry at her.

"Bryce?" she whispered, her tongue flexing across her bottom lip, tasting blood.

"Do we need to inform the officer outside?" the nurse asked.

"Let's allow the police to do their job after we've done ours," the doctor said as he continued to work on her arm.

What happened to Bryce?

Abby couldn't help but wonder if Bryce was locked up again for hurting her. She tried to remember what had set him off this time but couldn't. Everything was a blur.

Later, she would awaken to a pair of detectives waiting for her to answer questions. She remembered apologizing to them and asking them to be lenient with Bryce. She remembered the look they shared before one of them asked her if she recalled what had happened the night before.

"You really don't remember any of it?" the detective asked, disbelief evident in his voice.

Abby shook her head only to have him frown and jot some notes down in a black pad he was carrying. The other detective cleared his throat and broke the news to her.

Bryce was gone and she had killed him.

Years later, a feeling of déjà vu coiled itself around Abby as she stared at Alex Carter. This wasn't real. It couldn't be. That day in the hospital she had thought the detectives were playing some cruel joke on her to teach her a lesson. Her mind tried to convince her that the text message was also some unfair jest. She swallowed the bile that pushed itself up her throat and tried to take a deep breath as she felt her sanity floating away like a balloon caught in a strong gust of wind.

In the past, the detectives hadn't been lying though and the phone with the text was still in her hand. It was all...real.

Alex Carter was a liar. He betrayed her. He used her. She clutched her stomach as a wave of nausea steamrolled its way through her.

She touched her blessings bracelet but it seemed to suddenly have lost its power. The beads were now cold...lifeless.

She stared at Alex struggling to explain away the text message.

"What is this?" she asked, not really needing an explanation.

"It was because of Wally," Alex said before taking a cautionary step closer to her, hands outstretched. "I know it sounds crazy but I did it because of Wally."

"What does Wally have to do with you telling reporters where to go in this cabin to catch us having sex?"

Please let this be fake. Please let him have a good excuse.

Abby tried to ignore her thoughts. She felt like an onlooker rubber-necking the ugly collision between two people that had no business spending the night together.

"Abby, I need you to listen to me. I sent that before I realized you and I would get involved. I didn't know we were going to spend the night together," Alex explained. "I told you I don't trust Wally. I needed a reason to have him stay here. I didn't send that knowing you and I would spend the night together. Think about it. Why would I do that?"

Abby felt her hand digging the beads of her bracelet into her arm.

I am strong. I am strong. I am strong. Why isn't this working anymore?

"This was the only thing I can think of. Abby? Do you believe me?" Alex asked, his eyebrows drawn together and his lips pursed together as though he were holding his breath. "Please, baby. I need you to believe me."

"Baby? Don't you dare start using endearment on me. You want me to believe you. How can I?"

Alex cursed before asking, "Why else would I send them that message? It's not as if it does me any good to be caught making love to my assistant!"

"Making love? Is that what you call it? You used me. I feel so...so dirty. This is one of the worst things anyone's ever done to me." Abby fought the tears begging to escape. It suddenly hurt to breathe.

Alex scoffed. "Considering your background, I find that hard to believe."

It would've hurt less if he had slapped her.

She inhaled deeply as though a bucket of cold water had been tossed over her head before turning her back to him and rushing out the door.

"Shit. I didn't mean that. Abby!"

She ignored his cry as she ran down the stairs and out of the cabin. It was no longer raining but the ground was still soggy. Her footsteps sunk into the ground which felt like it was pulling at her, trying to hold her place.

Sherbert-colored clouds streaked the sky as the sun began to rise. Abby could still hear Alex calling out her name as she rounded the corner of the shed. She had nowhere to go.

A low growling sound caught her attention, paralyzing her in place. Abby slowly turned to see a large dog facing her, fangs bared.

It was one of the dogs from before.

"You aren't real!" Abby shouted.

Her legs sprinted forward. She could hear the animal close behind her, gaining speed. Abby tripped and fell forward, her palms catching her fall. The dog was barking and nipping at her wrist, its teeth catching on her blessings bracelet and snapping it apart.

Abby screamed, covering her face.

"Abby?"

She felt arms cradling her.

"Abby, what the hell happened? Are you alright?"

Abby began fighting him, still screaming, arms flying.

Alex caught her against him and held her tight.

"Shh...it's okay. I've got you, baby. I got you."

Abby was sobbing as Alex rubbed circles into her back. He delicately moved her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. "It's okay. I'm here now. No one can get you, Abby. I swear I'll make this up to you and those aren't just empty words."

Abby's sobs turned into slight hiccups. Alex looked around them, certain no animal was nearby. He had heard her screaming. He had even seen something chasing her but whatever it was; it was gone now. He continued to eye their surroundings when he noticed them. Several of the beads to her bracelet were on the ground slightly glimmering in the morning light. He felt her pull herself out of his arms and take a step backward.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Alex asked.

Abby nodded, sniffling. "I'm fine. It bit me on my wrist, but I'm okay."

Alex pulled her wrist up and inspected the scratch. She had been lucky it wasn't deep. His eyebrows knitted together before he looked back at the beads on the ground. He bent down and began picking up the beads before pulling her open hand towards him once more and exchanging the beads from his hand to hers.

"What are you doing?" Abby whispered.

"These beads are from that bracelet you're always wearing," Alex said softly. "Aren't they important to you?"

"Why would you think that?"

A slight smile played across his lips. "You're always touching them."

"You noticed that?" Abby asked, wiping her eyes.

Alex gave a slight shrug. "I think you should hold onto the things you feel are important. That goes for people too."

Abby felt a fluttering in her stomach that felt like she had consumed too much champagne.

"Abby, I really didn't send that message hoping those reporters would catch us together. I just wanted a reason to have Wally stay in the cabin. I knew if I asked him for help on your behalf, he would do it. I wanted...no I needed to keep an eye on him. I had asked him to work for me even before I interviewed you but he declined. Any excuse I could think of to find out more about him was denied."

"Why?" Abby asked. "Why did you want him to be in the cabin if you don't trust him?"

"Even before I didn't trust him, I wanted to get to know him," Alex answered. He waited for a few moments before adding, "For years reporters have been trying to get stories about a woman in my life. A serious woman. I've never had one for them to report on. So after you were hired I came up with this plan. It was after I found out that Wally was heading to the cabin to help you."

"How would you know that?"

"My secretary Felicia checked in with Zachary Caldwell to discuss the tab that you were running. She wanted a detailed list of what you had purchased."

"To make sure I wasn't buying unnecessary items and lying about it?"Abby's eyes narrowed.

"It's not as though I wouldn't have noticed it if you had been. No, she wanted to settle the account when Mr. Caldwell had advised her that Wally, who had handled your transaction, was delivering a generator and was willing to assist you with organizing the cabin before I returned."

"Wally told me you two had discussed him handling the cabin's furnishings beforehand," Abby said.

"I had asked him but he declined. Why would he suddenly have changed his mind?" Alex asked.

"I don't know. Why do you think he did that?"

"To sabotage this place," Alex answered. "Either way, I needed him here. So after I learned he was willing to help you once...why wouldn't he help you out a second time? Reporters threatening to publish lies about you warrants an escort, doesn't it? Please believe me, I would never have sent them that message if I had known what would've happened between the two of us."

"Why did it happen?" Abby looked up from the muddy patch of ground she had been staring at. "You don't even like me. You've said so enough times. That and the fact that I'm not your type."

"You're not my type. I told you, you're too complicated to be my type."

"So why?"

"I'm not sure. There's something about you. Perhaps it's the fact that you're still standing despite everything you've been through that tells me underneath all of your apologies you're a fighter. Or maybe it's the fact that you're still suffering from some bad decisions you made years ago. Or maybe it's because you're so damned beautiful, I have to snap at you to keep you at a distance."

"Bryce was more than a bad decision," Abby corrected him. "You think I'm beautiful?"

"Bryce is gone but you continue to dwell on the past," Alex said slowly. "And of course you're beautiful. Don't you own a mirror?"

"I don't dwell on the past," Abby denied but the beads she clutched were proof she was lying. "I had to take a life. That doesn't exactly leave you. It stays with you for the rest of your life...weighing on you. Sure, there are going to be times...moments...that you forget. Then the guilt of what you did-intentional or not- comes back to haunt you. I'm not dwelling on the past. I'm just trying to live with it."

"Fine." Alex sighed. "Either way, I want you to believe me. I didn't purposely seduce you hoping those reporters would catch us. I just wanted them to show themselves enough so that Wally would believe them and feel obligated to accept my request to stay in the cabin with us. I'm sorry if you feel hurt but that wasn't my intention. I would never have sent the message had I known there was a possibility that you and I would've ended up in bed together. I'm usually much more in control of my actions."

She didn't answer. Instead, she felt her hand tighten around the beads he had picked up from the muddy ground. "You think I'm beautiful."

"Yes." He stated it as if it was an obvious fact she should've accepted long ago. "Abby, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. Will you please forgive me?"

She took a startled breath before tilting her head to one side. "You're apologizing? Is this really the Alex Carter I know?"

He bit back a smile. "Of course it's me. Why would you ask that?"

"Because the Alex Carter I know is normally an arrogant ass."

Alex chuckled. "She's back. The feisty woman from the interview is back. I like her, you know."

"I'm sorry." Abby covered her mouth when she realized what she had just called him.

"Don't be." Alex pulled her close. "I'm starting to get used to your multiple personalities."

"I don't have multiple personalities!"

"Shhh...don't fight it. I'll tell you what. You keep showing your feisty side and I'll keep hiding my arrogant ass side."

"I don't think that's possible," Abby whispered.

"Sure it is. I'll be sweet to you and an ass to everyone else. You okay with that?"

Swirls of those champagne feelings enveloped her. She wasn't sure what to believe when it came to Alex Carter. She wanted to believe him. She wanted to believe that he used her presence and the reporters to help get Wally in the cabin. She didn't want to think about the possibility that he became intimate with her for reasons other than mutual attraction.

"Abby...do you see that?" Alex was pointing to their left.

So engrossed in her own thoughts, Abby hadn't noticed that Alex wasn't talking any longer. She looked up to see the translucent young girl she had seen earlier.

Crystal.

Crystal was shrouded in soft reds and yellows as the sun was rising and beginning to share its light.

She crooked a finger as if beckoning them to follow.

"This is really happening, right?" Alex whispered.

Abby nodded against his chest, before standing up to follow the young girl. Alex was right behind her.

"We shouldn't be doing this," Alex muttered, grabbing hold of Abby's hand.

They trudged muddy ground as Crystal led them to the same circle of boulders she had taken Abby to before.

"Be careful," Alex called out to Abby who was still in front of him. "The rocks are slippery."

Crystal waited for them both to get a bit closer before pointing towards the bottom of the rocks.

"What's down there?" Alex asked as he tried to see what she was pointing at.

"I don't know but there has to be something."

A cloud moved to one side, freeing more sunlight. Abby saw it first. A slight flash of something reflecting light on the rocks

"Oh my goodness. Alex, do you see that?" Abby pointed towards the reflected light.

"Is that what I think it is?" Alex asked.

Abby nodded. "It's a knife."

Joyce Carter read the article that had been e-mailed to her minutes earlier followed by a text message.

"I just saw this. Have you talked to Mr. Carter?"

It was from one of the company's publicists.

She leaned back in her leather chair, her silk dressing gown wrapped around her as she tapped her manicured nails against the desk she was sitting behind in her study. Her lips were pursed as she thought the situation over, weighing the pros and cons of it all.

Finally, she stood up and marched to the bedroom she shared with her husband.

"Dalton. Dalton, wake up." she shook her husband's shoulder until he opened an eye.

"The house had better be on fire for you to be waking me up this early," Dalton groaned.

"Look at this." Joyce shoved her phone in front of her husband, who slowly sat up in bed.

"Did someone die?"

"No."

"Is this about some sort of strike at CallaTech?"

"No."

Dalton frowned. "Then what's so important to have you make me read an article this early in the morning?"

"It's about our son," Joyce said patiently.

Dalton cleared his throat and opened the e-mail while Joyce watched her husband's expressions change as he read the article and saw the attached picture.

His eyebrows rose in surprise then lowered in concern. Then one eyebrow remained raised as though questioning the validity of the article.

"What do you think?" Joyce asked.

"I think...that this article is horse shit."

"Dalton!"

"What? My son wouldn't hire someone based on whether he's dating her or not."

"This is the woman from Pathways," Joyce said quietly.

"The woman you made him hire?" Dalton asked. "She was a pretty little thing."

Joyce nodded. "She's not a thing, dear. She's a person. And I'm not sure what to think."

Dalton was quiet for a moment as he read the article a second time. He glanced up at his wife who was biting her lower lip and grabbed her hand before kissing her palm.

"Don't worry, wife. We raised him well. He'll do what he thinks is right and that's all we can ask of him."

"I know you're right but still...I can't help but worry. I didn't want him to go out to that stupid cabin, to begin with. Now, these reporters are out there following him and claiming he's in a serious relationship with a woman he just hired. You know he won't like that."

"A woman who murdered her ex-boyfriend," her husband reminded her.

"I only told you that because I wanted you to know about the woman that was our son's new personal assistant," Joyce muttered. "She did it in self-defense. It's not like Alex is going to hurt her."

"No," Dalton corrected her. "You wanted me to know all about her because it was your idea to hire her."

Joyce grinned. "It was my idea to hire her. I didn't expect this development though. I do believe I'll have to get involved again."

"No!" Dalton held his wife's hand tightly. "Our son can handle this. Don't involve yourself."

Joyce pulled her hand away and began walking towards the door. "Fine. I'll stay out of it...for now."

Dalton heard the last two words his wife muttered before slamming the door behind her. He chuckled at his wife's defiance before picking up his own cell phone which was lying on the nightstand.

He pressed a few buttons before speaking.

"It's me. A situation has come up in Bayless. I need you to step in."