Kindly faced and somewhere past middle aged, the doctor facing Sable Colby had the look of someone who'd broken bad news plenty of times and still didn't know quite how to do it. He had that sort of expression on his face now; tired, uneasy, and like he'd rather be almost anywhere else.

"Is he---" Sable started to ask, but he cut her short in a gentle voice.

"I'm sorry," he exhaled, flashing a quick glance at Monica where she stood just behind Sable as though ready to catch her if she collapsed. "The fall...his neck was broken." He shook his head apologetically. "He was conscious for a time, but there was nothing we could do." He swallowed hard, gnawing on his lower lip and looking away. He would have paid to be anywhere but here. Strange how it never got any easier.

Her hands were shaking, Sable realized in a disjointed rush. She concentrated on making the trembling stop, but couldn't will it away. She couldn't escape the ugly reality that Dex was gone. The image of his expression as he realized he was falling played over and over in her mind. She couldn't escape that picture in any corner of her own head. She stared down at her hands again: still trembling.

The doctor took a breath and started to let them know about the dead man's final words, only to have the words die unspoken as he realized how shaken the woman in front of him was. "Mrs. Colby?" he questioned, his tone worried. Time to concentrate on the living. The dead could wait. No one ever took this kind of news well, but some took it worse than others. In his time, he'd seen disbelief, collapses, screaming, thrown punches, even a heart attack or two come out of bad news. Considering the woman's condition, there was every reason to be cautious.

She looked up to find a pair of hazel eyes peering at her worriedly. Her jaw worked soundlessly for a moment, and she barely felt Monica arm slide across her shoulders and tighten comfortingly.

"Maybe you should sit down," the doctor suggested. He curved a hand to her elbow, urging her into a nearby couch. Sable sank down as her knees buckled. She was barely aware of her daughter's presence as she exhaled, "He's gone."

The doctor crouched down in front of her. "There are legal matters, Mrs Colby. I need to know if Mr. Dexter had any family."

Sable shook her head. "I...uh...his father's still alive, I think." Dex had said his father lived in Montana, hadn't he? Suddenly she wasn't sure. She was just paralyzed. At some level, it occurred to her that she should be crying, but tears wouldn't come.

"Do we really have to do this now?" Monica inserted. "My mother doesn't have any legal ties to Mr. Dexter. She can't sign anything."

The doctor pulled up short. "I...uh..." He'd simply assumed a more formal relationship all things considered. He noted Sable's pallor. "Are you all right, Mrs Colby?"

A tiny, half hysterical sound escaped her lips. All right? Hardly. Massaging her temple with a trembling hand, she used the small gesture to buy an extra moment's time as she struggled to clear her thoughts. "Dexter," she mumbled after a moment, "Alexis...Mrs. Colby," she added to clarify herself, "she'd probably know more about any relatives...his next of kin." Hate Alexis though she might, she'd been married to Dex. She was the most likely source of information. Then another thought occurred to Sable. "Or is she---"

"No," the doctor quickly broke in. "Mrs. Colby is very much alive...though she's still unconscious and ... well...there are injuries..." He carefully didn't specify what they were.

Good, Sable thought with some venom. Alexis deserved any pain she got. She just hoped it was severe. Despite any temptation to ask, she held her tongue. She supposed even Alexis ought not be mocked while possibly lying on her deathbed---though if anyone did deserve that fate, it was Alexis. Unfortunately, that still left Dex without anyone who knew anything about his family. "Blake Carrington...I think he knows about Mr. Dexter's family as well," she added as she remembered that their fathers had been friends. "Actually, now that I think about it, Mr. Carrington might be a better source of information." Her eyes slid closed, the thought of Blake dealing with Dex's personal matters oddly comforting. They'd been friends. He'd see to it that Dex's wishes were observed. He'd take care of him. "Definitely better," she added weakly as the initial adrenaline rush slid on past, leaving her light headed and dizzy.

"Mother?" Monica whispered worriedly as she rested her palm on a slender hand, startled by the chill of the fingers under her own. Knowing about her mother's pregnancy, she couldn't help but fear for her health under the current stress.

"I'm all right," Sable exhaled, though she didn't sound terribly confident even to her own ears. Concentrating, she marshaled her reserves and opened her eyes. "I can give you Mister Carrington's contact information. I'm sure he'll help you any way he can to...to notify Mister Dexter's family."

The doctor offered an encouraging smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Colby. Anything you can do would be much appreciated."

Digging through her purse with shaking hands, Sable produced a business card and passed it over to the physician. "That's his office number," she explained. "He'll help you." She knew she was repeating herself, but it was the best she could do.

He tucked the card into the breast pocket of his labcoat. "Thank you," he said quietly, his tone sincere.

Sinking back into the couch, Sable shaded her face with one hand, so exhausted she could barely function.

The doctor flashed a worried look at Monica. "She shouldn't be alone," he murmured, nodding to indicate Sable. He didn't know the whole story, but what he did know indicated considerable care should be taken.

"Don't worry," Monica said as she nodded in agreement. "She won't be." Patting her mother's hand lightly, she turned toward her, watching carefully.

Sensing that careful perusal, Sable opened her eyes to stare at the ceiling with a bleary eyed intensity.

"Mom?" Monica's voice was gentle.

Sable turned her hand under Monica's and clung tightly. "I'm all right," she assured the young woman. "Just...very...tired..." They'd been waiting in the hospital for better than an hour, and suddenly Sable couldn't even think straight. Tomorrow, she'd cry. Tonight, she just wanted to crawl into a hole and pull it in after herself.

Monica wrapped a comforting hand around her mother's forearm. "Come on. I'll take you home."

Sable nodded slowly, looking far older than her years as she staggered to her feet. It still hadn't sunk in that Dex was gone. She hadn't planned on marrying him, but at some level she'd always realized she'd have to relent and allow him a place in their child's life. Now, the question would never arise -- Dex was gone.

"Mom?" Monica's voice broke into Sable's dark musings.

"I'll be fine," the woman lied, then sighed heavily. "Let's just go." There was nothing to be gained by staying here and she hated hospitals. Nothing good ever came of them.

Monica started to say something, then thought better of it and settled on the bland question. "Are you certain you're okay?" Maybe the stress would be bad for the pregnancy. Given how strongly she felt her mother should get an abortion, she didn't know how she felt about that idea.

Sable nodded, and attempted a reassuring smile. It wasn't a terribly successful effort. "I'll be fine."

Monica's car was parked just outside of the emergency entrance and the two women moved back through the antiseptic hallways, both struggling to ignore the sights and smells of injury and death that permeated the place.

Sable barely registered the sound of a siren as an ambulance pulled in, barely heard the voices of doctors and nurses as they struggled to unload a fresh patient. It was Monica who suddenly stiffened and jerked to a halt.

"Jeff?" Her daughter's voice held a rich note of disbelief.

Sable's head snapped up, instinctively knowing something was very wrong as she spotted the tall, angular form of her nephew entering alongside a gurney surrounded by doctors and nurses. His shirt was spattered with blood, his upper left arm wrapped in a pale bandage, and he looked like hell, but he was still struggling to keep up with the gurney. Dear god, who? The mere thought was enough to bring a wave of nausea. They'd already lost so much, she couldn't stand the idea of anyone else she cared for falling. Unable to see through the crush of bodies, she broke away from Monica, pulling alongside Jeff in a couple of strides to keep pace with the crew moving through the tight corridors. She curved a hand to the younger man's forearm, eyes locked on the gurney as she tried to get a glimpse of who it was, hunting for the answer to the sick feeling in her stomach. "Jeff, what's happened?" she demanded.

His eyes swung over to touch on her. "Sable, what are you--"

"Oh, God," Sable exhaled as a nurse stepped aside and she finally saw who'd been hurt.

Blake Carrington lay pale and unmoving, his shirt torn open and a bloody pressure bandage across his midsection. A clear oxygen mask covered the lower half of his face, the inside of the plastic tinted pink by a fine spatter of minuscule blood droplets.

Another nurse abruptly stepped in front of them as Blake was wheeled into a cubicle. "I'm afraid you'll have to wait out here," the woman instructed, purposely blocking their entrance.

Jeff looked as though he wanted to press past her, but Monica caught his good arm, tugging him back. "Let the doctors do their job," she instructed gently.

Sable stayed where she was, staring past the nurses at Blake as they started to work on him.

"Please, Miss," the nurse insisted and eased Sable back. "We need to keep the way clear for the doctors."

"Mom," Monica whispered, letting go of Jeff, to pull her mother out of the way.

Sable spun sharply on her heel, eyes going straight to Jeff. "What the hell's happened?" she demanded raggedly, her expression lost, not quite believing the sight before her eyes. Not this too. It was too damn much to contemplate. Like Dex, Blake Carrington was larger than life. That they should both be felled on the same day, at nearly the same time was simply more than she could conceive of.

Jeff swallowed hard, working a hand through his hair as he struggled to focus on his aunt. "It was Handler," he answered, his voice coming in rough pants. "The police captain....Zorelli's boss. He was after the art collection." Jeff rocked his head back, needing a moment to gather his thoughts before he continued. "Handler was working with Grimes' son. He has Krystina and Fallon somewhere in the tunnels under the mansion. Handler tried to use that to blackmail Blake into giving him the collection. Zorelli walked into the middle of it, and shot Handler, but not before Handler got off a shot at Blake."

"Dear God," Sable whispered, struggling to take it all in. "What about Krystina and Fallon?"

Jeff shook his head. "They're still missing," he admitted. Suddenly, he blinked, frowning at the two women. "What are you doing here?" It was too soon for anyone to have called them to come to the hospital, and besides it was obvious they'd had no idea about Blake.

Reminded of the events at the Carlton, Sable paled, hesitant to tell her nephew what had happened. There was nothing Jeff could do and she wasn't sure she was up to telling the story yet.

"There was an accident at the Carlton," Monica answered for her.

Jeff flashed a worried look over his cousin, hunting for any sign of damage as he asked, "What happened?"

"Dex and Alexis," Sable responded, her expression soft as she said the first name, lip curling with disdain for the second, "they fell off the second floor mezzanine."

The color draining from his face, Jeff peered at his aunt. "Dex?"

Digging her teeth into her lower lip to chase away the threat of tears, Sable shook her head. "He didn't make it," she whispered, the words coming unevenly as she forced them past the tightness in her throat.

"Ah, god, no," Jeff groaned as he ran a hand over his hair, not really comprehending what she'd told him beyond how it affected his current situation. Sorrow and regret would come later, but at that moment all he could think about was his ex wife and her young sister, trapped somewhere and in horrible danger and the fact that Dex Dexter had possessed the kind of knowledge and resources that might help save them. "I was going to ask him to help us with the sonar imaging equipment...I...Oh, God..." he repeated, struggling to clear his thoughts. Now with that hope dead, he didn't quite know what to do. "I--I should go back...and help...I've been in those tunnels, but Blake..." he stared back toward the room where his former father-in-law was fighting for his life, torn between staying and going. Someone needed to be here too. It wasn't right for the older man to be alone. Especially if—

He couldn't finish the thought.

Ironically, it was Sable who drew him out of his dark musings as her hand landed lightly on his forearm. "You need to get back to the house, then...and help with the search. Monica will take you. Her car is in the lot." Strangely, handed a problem to focus on, she managed to clear her thoughts and zero in on what needed to be done. There was nothing left that she could do for Dex, and it was far simpler to focus on tasks than emotions at times like this. Jeff's arrival had presented a series of problems that could be attacked, and she dove into that task almost gratefully.

"Blake?" Jeff whispered uncertainly, hesitant to leave the older man alone, some part of him afraid that if he wasn't there, the worst would happen.

"I'll stay here," Sable assured him, her voice low and surprisingly soothing considering their usual relationship---which could generally be described as horrid bordering on murderous. "I'll let you know if there's any news."

It was a testament to the seriousness of the situation that he was willing to consider trusting the aunt he loathed with such venom. "I..." he trailed off, running a hand through his already disheveled hair. He flashed a glance at Monica as it occurred to him that, under the circumstances, having a lawyer at the house might not be a bad idea, but was still uncertain. As bad as some things in his life had been, nothing had prepared him for this.

"You can't do anything here, for the moment," Sable reminded him. "If there's any chance you can help find Fallon and Krystina..." she trailed off meaningfully.

Jeff nodded slowly. She had a point. And Blake would want him to find his children more than anything else.

"Mom, are you sure..." Monica questioned worriedly.

"I'll be fine," Sable assured her daughter. "You two go on."

Monica finally nodded hesitantly. "I'll call to check on things and let you know what's happening."

The two started to leave, but Sable held them up just long enough to catch Jeff's hand in hers. "Whatever you think of me, Jeff, I hope you know my thoughts and prayers are with Fallon and Krystina."

He nodded, accepting her words at face value, then followed Monica out to her car.

Sable watched them go, then turned back toward the room where Blake lay surrounded by doctors. It might have been only minutes, but it seemed like years before one of them came out and spoke to her, his hospital blues streaked with blood. "I gather you're here for Mister Carrington?" he spoke quickly, his manner clipped.

Sable nodded. "Yes," she whispered, her voice sick with dread. "Is he..." she choaked off, and couldn't finish the sentence.

"No," the doctor assured her, his manner gentling somewhat as he recognized the panic in her eyes. "He's in serious condition, but we've got his blood pressure stabilized, and we're moving him into surgery."

"Will he survive?" she questioned.

The doctor glanced back over his shoulder, then at her again and shrugged. "I'm not a surgeon, Ma'am," he admitted and shrugged. "I just don't know. The wound's not as serious as it looks, but he's lost a lot of blood, and if the bullet's perforated the intestines...." He trailed off. If that had happened, the infection could be lethal no matter how well the surgery went. "We'll just have to do the best we can."

Sable's eyes slid closed and she mouthed something that might have been a prayer.

"If you'd like to wait outside the operating room, it's on Three-C."

Sable nodded her comprehension. "Thank you," she whispered huskily.

The doctor nodded and hurried away. Sable watched him go, then turned in time to see two orderlies move Blake out of the cubicle toward an elevator. She watched them go with desperate intensity, instinct driving her to memorize the glimpse she had of Blake's face in case she never saw him alive again. She stayed there, frozen in place until long after the elevator doors had closed on the group, then finally pushed to her feet, hurrying toward the elevators.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ /////\\\\\\ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Clinging to the hand that wrapped around hers, Alexis Colby clawed her way back to consciousness at the desperate urging of a familiar voice.

"Please, Mother, you have to wake up. I don't have much time and you need to know what's happened."

Adam, she realized as she blinked blearily up at him. "What is it?" she frowned, certain she was forgetting something important, something—

Her skull throbbed with such violence that she winced and nearly cried out.

"The accident at the Carlton," Adam said hastily and flashed a quick glance over his shoulder, leaving Alexis to wonder what he'd done this time. "You have to tell them it wasn't my fault."

"Them?" Alexis repeated, wondering what he'd gotten himself into this time. And at the Carlton, no less. God, doubtless that stupid cow, Sable, had managed to pull off yet another scheme. Good lord, would she never be free of the bitch?

"The police," Adam growled impatiently and flashed another quick look over his shoulder as though he expected them to come rushing in at any moment.

"What have you done now?" Alexis questioned, well aware that her son was every bit as rotten as she was. It was handy at times, and at other times, not so much. Actually, if she was honest with herself, she would have had to admit she didn't really like him much more than anyone else appeared to.

Adam did a doubletake that might have been comical under other circumstances. "What have I..." he began only to trail off. Lost in her own thoughts, Alexis missed the crafty look that momentarily ghosted across his expression before it was replaced by a calculated look of total devotion. "Don't you remember what happened at the Carlton...the meeting with Sable and Monica?"

Alexis frowned. Now that she thought about it, there was a hint of a memory there about some kind of face off between all of them. The hand unrestrained by tubes and wires floated up near her temple. "On the mezzanine," she exhaled after a beat, then her lips twisted in a hint of a triumphant smile as she remembered a key detail. "Dear Cousin Sable lost again."

Adam paled, terrified he'd unwittingly triggered her to remember what she might have otherwise forgotten. "Yes," he confirmed, "and that's why she had to strike back at you."

Alexis shrugged, a hint of a smirk curving her lips. "She can try," she said disdainfully. "It's what she lives for after all, the silly cow...but I'll beat her just like I always do. She's weak." She chuckled softly. "Look how she had to give up her little effort to take my company."

Adam's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. "D-do you remember what happened after that?" he questioned, struggling to cover his nervous stammer. If his mother ever remembered what he'd done, he was under no illusions that she would forgive. Love him or hate him---and god knew, she'd done both---she'd considered Dex Dexter her personal property. She was the only with the right to kill him, and she was likely to make anyone who encroached on that territory as miserable as she knew how. And she knew how to make someone very miserable.

Alexis frowned, fingers fluttering near her temple again, while Adam flashed another quick look over his shoulder, fear glittering in his eyes.

"I don't..." Alexis began only to fall silent. She shook her head, struggling to form a jumble of images into something that made sense. It didn't work, but at the same time, she instinctively knew that something bad had occurred. "What is it?" she whispered after a beat. "What's happened?"

She didn't remember. If he handled things just right, he was safe. "It was her fault," he said in a rush. "She did it to get back at you...because she couldn't stand that it was you he loved and not her."

"She...what..." Alexis repeated on a dazed, confused note, brows drawing together in a frown as she struggled to put the puzzle together.

Knowing he couldn't afford to allow his mother to consider things too closely, Adam rushed ahead, "Sable," he gasped, "she pushed you both when he chose you over her." He tried to look appropriately outraged and as though Dex Dexter's death bothered him in some fashion other than the fear that he might be punished for it.

"Pushed?" Alexis whispered, her voice little more than a strained rasp as her skull began throbbing, the pain ratcheting up along with her growing fears. "Both of us?" Alexis flinched as the tiniest hint of memory of those final moments of the fall flashed behind her eyes, causing a bolt of agony at her temples. "No..." she gasped, followed by a single, tortured word, "Dex...."

"I'm sorry, Mother," Adam said with false sympathy even as Alexis crumpled.

"No," she gasped, her voice cracking mid-word. She shook her head back and forth, denying it even though she instinctively knew it was true. There was still no memory, but there was a sense of loss she couldn’t explain any other way. After all, Adam had no reason to lie to her.

"He didn't make it," Adam continued, his voice oozing understanding and compassion, though his eyes remained cold.

Lost in her own agony, Alexis never noted the disconnect between what he said and what he clearly felt. "Dex," she exhaled as she slowly shook her head back and forth in denial. "No...he-he can't be---"

"He's dead, mother," Adam clipped, his impatience coming through despite his intentions. Realizing his mistake, he caught her hands in his own before she had a chance to consider his tone. "And it's her fault...Sable Colby's," he added with a bitter sneer, knowing just how to deflect attention from himself. He took a breath, nerving himself for the ultimate lie that would start a war fully intended to avoid the consequences for his own actions. Not that it bothered him morally, but the knowledge of his mother's fury if she ever discovered his perfidy was almost enough to frighten him away from the scheme at hand.

Almost, but not quite.

"She pushed both of you over the balcony railing when he made it plain it was you he loved, not her. "She killed Dexter and she nearly killed you."

No, no, no, no! The denial ran over and over again through Alexis' head at screaming volumes even though no sound echoed from her lips. Dex couldn't be dead. It simply wasn't possible. And yet there was a sick, twisting certainty in the pit of her stomach, a sense of a limb lost even though she could still feel it. She wanted to push it aside, deny even the possibility, but then her mind served up the tiniest flicker of memory of frightened eyes staring up at her and a ragged voice whispering, 'I can't move.' It had been the voice of someone who knew they didn't have long to live.

It had been Dex's voice.

Oh god, it was true.

And then Alexis was screaming, the sound high pitched and gaining in volume with every second, broken only by the brief pauses where she gasped for a fresh breath. She barely felt the prick of the needle inserted into her arm, then the darkness swallowed Alexis whole, and she knew no more.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ /////\\\\\\ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

His head swirling with exhaustion, Jeff staggered slightly as he watched rescue personnel assess the entrance to the chambers under the mansion. More personnel milled in the driveway, waiting for their superiors to make some kind of decision as to what to do next.

"They can't move too quickly," Zorelli muttered, reminding himself as much as Jeff, "or they might bring the whole thing down."

"I know," Jeff said tightly, but that didn't make it any easier to bear. He was still standing there, almost perfectly still, feeling more helpless than he ever had before in his life several minutes later when a small hand tugged on his sleeve. Tipping his head down, he found himself staring into frightened blue eyes. "L.B., what are you doing here?" Crouching down before the child, he glanced up and noted the nanny standing nearby, her expression worried and paled as he realized that nobody had contacted her to let her know not to bring the boy here after his after school program. Monica had offered to take care of a host of other practical concerns like notifying people and arranging for food and water for the workers, so he’d just never given anything like that a second thought.

"Mr. Colby," she said breathlessly, a guilty expression in her eyes, even though the oversight wasn't her fault. "The police officers almost didn't let us in. They said there'd been an accident?" she said, her tone rising in question at the end.

"They said that Grandpa was shot and Mom and Krystina are under the house," L.B. added, his voice thick with fear.

"Your grandfather was shot," Jeff confirmed, then reached out, clutching narrow shoulders in his hands. "But he's in the best of hands, and as for your mom and Krystina, yes, we think they're in the tunnels, but---"

The boy's eyes went wide. "The tunnels?" he repeated and turned his head to stare at the house with wide eyes. "But that means---"

"I promise, we'll find them," Jeff said, tightening his hold on narrow shoulders when the boy would have pulled away.

"We have to---"

"They'll be all right, L.B.," Jeff assured the child as the boy continued to pull against his hold as though he intended to go to the house where the workmen were trying to save his cousin and mother, "but right now, the best thing you can do for them is to---"

"You don't understand," L.B. broke in. "We've got to---"

Jeff barely heard the boy as he raised his voice just enough to override the child's. "But right now, I need you to stay back so that there's no chance of you being hurt." He glanced at the nanny. "In fact maybe Mrs. Timmons should take you to Delta Rho until this is over." If the worst happened, he didn't want L.B. there, and he knew Sammy Jo would look after him as long as need be.

"No!" the boy exploded and tore free of his father's light hold. "If they're in the tunnels, then I can help."

Feeling as helpless as he did, Jeff felt for the boy. It had to be scary as hell to know his mother was in danger. He could understand the need to help. Unfortunately, life didn't work that way. "I know you want to," he admitted sadly, "but right now you need to leave this to the adults." He pulled his son into a hug. "I promise you, I'll do everything in my power to bring your mom back. You've got to trust me."

"But---"

"But right now," Jeff insisted, his voice thick with emotion, "I need to know you're safe...so I need you to go with Mrs. Timmons and do what she says---"

"Please don't make me leave," the boy implored "I promise, I won't get in the way if you just let me stay."

Jeff took a deep breath, fully intending to refuse.

"Please," L.B. begged. "I'll be good."

Jeff snapped his mouth shut and glanced at the nanny, seeing the sympathy in her eyes. A muscle pulsed in his jaw. Even knowing it would be for the best, he suddenly found he couldn't send the boy away. "Don't let him out of your sight," he told the nanny.

"Of course not, Mr. Colby."

"And you," Jeff continued as he turned a serious look on his son, "you have to promise to do exactly as you're told."

"I promise," L.B. whispered tremulously.

"Okay, you can stay," Jeff allowed, then rose and nudged the boy toward the nanny. "Just make sure you stay back...and be careful." He flashed a glance at Mrs. Timmons, grateful for the sympathy in her eyes. "Just take care of him," he pleaded.

She nodded, her faint smile meant to be reassuring. "I'll do my best," she whispered and slid an arm across L.B.'s shoulders as she gently tugged him away.

Jeff watched them go, a poignant expression on his face as he found himself praying that he wouldn't have to break his son's heart.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ /////\\\\\\ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Mrs. Colby?"

Curled into a waiting room chair, a dog-eared magazine clutched unread in one hand, it took Sable an extra beat to climb up out of the daze she’d sunk into while waiting for some word on Blake’s health or the situation at the house. Looking up, a hint of a frown creased her brow as she stared at the tall, hard-eyed figure standing a short distance away. "You’re the detective from the hotel, aren’t you?" she questioned at last.

He nodded and stepped forward, extending a hand. "Detective Jarod Larson. I’d like to hear your version of events at the Carlton if possible."

Dark eyes fell away as Sable flinched. "Of course." She’d almost managed to put that particular nightmare out of her mind, but the reality that she’d have to talk to the police sooner or later had settled like a lump in the pit of her stomach. "Please," she said, gesturing for him to take the nearest chair. "I’ll do anything I can to help." She paused, swallowing hard as the nightmare vision of Dex’s final moments flashed in her head.

"I’m glad to hear it," the detective murmured, his voice low and sympathetic. "If you could just tell me what you remember."

Sable nodded, wondering if anyone outside of the participants had witnessed events on the mezzanine or if the only version the detective had heard so far was Adam’s. Under different circumstances, she might have tried to lay it on extra thick. Anything to hang her cousin and her snake of a son. At that precise moment, however, she didn’t much care.

"Mrs. Colby?" Jarod prompted when Sable still hadn’t spoken a long moment later.

Sable took another deep breath and focused on her tightly clenched hands as she hunted for the right words. "I was there for a business meeting with Alexis Colby when Dex—Mr. Dexter—arrived...." And then it all came spilling out of her; the jealousy, anger, hurt, the brief love affair—everything except the news of the child she carried. Finally, she just stopped, out of words and too emotionally spent to even babble while Larson sat staring at the notes he’d made in a small notebook.

"Detective?" Sable murmured when he still hadn’t spoken a long moment later.

He looked up and drew breath to speak only to be interrupted by the electronic ring of his cell phone. Retrieving it from a jacket pocket, he glanced at the caller I.D. "I’m sorry, but I need to get this," he murmured, and rose, already answering the phone as he exited the waiting area.

He was gone long enough that Sable was getting antsy by the time he returned, grim faced, his head down as he reread his notes.

"Detective Larson?" she said on a questioning note.

A long moment passed, then finally he looked up, his forehead creased in a hint of a frown. "Thank you for your time, Mrs. Colby."

It wasn’t what Sable expected. "Will you be arresting Adam Carrington?" she questioned, a wave of guilt sliding through her as she considered how much it would hurt Blake when he found out what had happened.

He shook his head as he quietly explained. "At this point, despite some substantial differences in the details, you and Adam Carrington both indicate that it was an accident."

Sable’s jaw dropped. "An accident?" she repeated. "But Adam pushed Dex—"

"You said yourself that he wasn’t trying to kill him though...that he just lost his temper—"

"But he hit Dex from behind."

Jarod snapped his notebook shut and tucked it into an inner jacket pocket. "Unfortunately, there were no witnesses outside of the participants...and according to the preliminary reports, there’s no evidence of foul play---"

"So that’s it? Just shuffle it under the rug as though nothing happened?" Sable demanded.

Every muscle in his body stiff, Larson took a deep breath and tamped down the temptation to lose his temper. "The call I just received was from the governor," he explained coolly when he finally spoke. "Apparently Adam Carrington has already been in contact with his office...he’s using what happened to his father—threatening to sue and claiming the police are out to get anyone named Carrington."

Sable flinched back as though struck. "And you’ve been ordered to back off," she said with sudden understanding.

"That’s right," Larson confirmed. "Otherwise I can pretty much kiss my job goodbye."

A muscle pulsing along the line of her jaw, Sable uttered a curse under her breath. "This isn’t right," she muttered.

"Maybe," Larson admitted. "But there’s no proof, just conflicting claims...and the governor’s scared spitless of the Carrington lawyers." He shrugged. "I’m sorry," he apologized quietly, "but there’s nothing I can do unless you have some kind of hard proof."

Her throat tight, Sable shook her head. "Other than my word...nothing."

"Okay," Jarod sighed sadly. "In which case, I need to go now, but if you think of anything..." He passed her a business card, "give me a call anytime."

Sable nodded silently.

With nothing further to say, the detective turned to leave only to turn back as Sable spoke up.

"Dex’s father," she asked, "has he been notified?" She didn’t know the man, but she couldn’t envision anything worse than losing a child.

"I think they’re still trying to locate contact information," Larson admitted.

"Is there any way I could..." Sable trailed off, uncertain what she was even asking for.

Jarod’s expression was almost gentle. "I’m afraid there’s really nothing you can do...but try not to worry. We’ll contact the police wherever his father lives...they’ll be there...and usually they try to make sure a friend or family member is present as well." He was silent for a moment. "They’ll make sure he’s not alone."

Grateful for even that small solace, Sable nodded. "Thank you."

The detective looked like he wanted to say more for the briefest second, but finally just shook his head and slipped out.

Torn between relief and unresolved fear, Sable was just as glad to see him go, but worried about what the future might bring. God only knew what Adam or Alexis might do next. Alexis particularly was likely to be after revenge. Remembering the child she carried, she experienced a bolt of fear that it might well become one more weapon to be used against her. God knew, Alexis wasn’t above even that. She’d proven that already in her efforts to hurt Monica. Nothing was beneath the woman.

Not even hurting a child if she thought it would help her achieve her ends.

That thought still running through her brain, she didn’t realize a doctor had entered the waiting room until he spoke. "Mrs. Colby?"

She jacknifed upright, nearly coming out of her chair, fear written in every line of her expression. She’d already had one bout of bad news in twenty-four hours and she was terrified she was about to get a second. "Is it Blake—Mr. Carrington," she clarified.

"Easy," the doctor soothed and curved a firm hand to her shoulder. "I just wanted to let you know that Mister Carrington's out of surgery and we’ve moved him to post-op."

Relief surging through her, Sable gasped for air. "What's his condition?" He was still alive which meant there was still hope.

The doctor took a seat next to her. "He was lucky. There was a lot of internal bleeding, but the bullet didn’t do as much damage as we feared." He paused for a moment. "He’s in critical condition...and it’s going to be a slow road...but I think he’s got a shot."

She let out a breath she hadn't even been aware of holding. "May I see him?" She knew that Jeff had left orders that she was the family liaison—though it had no doubt galled him to do so—but lord only knew how far that might extend, or even if immediate family would have been allowed to see him.

The doctor patted her hand gently. "We’ll be moving him to I.C.U. within the hour. I’ll leave a nurse instructions to let you see him for a moment once he’s stabilized there." He gave her a hard look, "But you’ll need to be quiet...and nothing that might be upsetting. He’s still sedated, but he may have some consciousness by then...patients often report having heard things said in the room when we thought they were sitll under...and the last thing he needs is any stress."

Obviously he knew about the situation at the mansion. "Don’t worry," Sable assured him. There was nothing Blake could do for his daughters now. "I promise, won’t say anything that might cause a problem."

"Okay," the doctor murmured, then offered an encouraging smile. "I just wanted to make certain you understood the rules."

"Of course."

They spoke for several more minutes while the surgeon explained Blake’s condition and what had been done during the operation as well as the most likely post operative scenarios and dangers. The situation was serious. He wasn’t a particularly young man and the bullet had done considerable damage, but Blake was otherwise fit and the doctor kept stressing that he’d come through surgery better than hoped. Finally after he’d answered Sable’s questions to the best of his ability, he left her to call the mansion. Since Jeff was busy with the rescuers, someone connected her to Monica and she asked about the search, then laid out the situation at the hospital. After several assurances on both sides that calls would be forthcoming if anything changed and a few quick words of support, mother and daughter both hung up and moved to see to their respective duties.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ /////\\\\\\ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Trapped in darkness and surrounded by rough stone on all sides, Krystina whimpered softly, her tears leaving muddy streaks on her face. Terrified, she shook her older sister in an effort to wake her, but Fallon remained unmoving. She pressed a small hand against Fallon’s chest. Was she breathing or not? Krystina couldn’t tell and it seemed as though the tiny space they were trapped in became even smaller as she begged her sister to wake up over and over.

"Please, Fallon," the child sobbed at last, "don’t be dead."

But Fallon showed no sign of hearing her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ /////\\\\\\ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~