"Wonders will never end!" Exclaimed Jean. "Who would have thought Lucy would be dealing? Doesn't it surprise you, Gina?" She asked Rachel.
The two of them were in the living room. Mabel had left with the detectives for the station. Jean had talked nonstop, acting as if she were concerned. It was clear to everyone that she was enjoying the whole thing.
"Don't you find it surprising, Gina? I mean, Lucy has everything; why then get involved in such an act? Poor Mabel, I feel for her."
Rachel, who had sat white-faced and silent throughout, just stared at her, too weak to say anything.
"Perhaps it was peer pressure," Jean continued, not minding her silence. "I just hope she wasn't taking it."
"Lucy won't sell illegal things," Rachel finally said. "She would never do such a thing."
"But the evidence is glaring. It was found in her car and room."
Rachel kept quiet. She was thinking of Richie. She would give anything right now to wring his neck.
"You do realize this could affect you?" Jean asked suddenly.
Rachel started, "Affect me? How?"
"I know my sister; now that her baby girl is in trouble, she's going to want to be closer to her son. She'll see you as a rival and will do anything to send you away. You have to strike first. Now is the time."
Rachel was annoyed. "I've told you before that I want nothing to do with whatever that is going on with you and your sister."
"Don't be dumb," Jean said harshly. "This has nothing to do with me. It's for your own good."
"Now is the appropriate time to use what you have against Mabel, finish her completely before she turns on you!"
Rachel was about to scream at her when she heard the sound of a car pull into the driveway. Seconds later, Kingsley rushed into the room. Rachel jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.
"What's happening? Is mom back?" He asked anxiously.
"Not yet; they are still at the station," Jean told him.
"She called me to tell me what happened. I wanted to go to the station, but she asked me not to."
"Does James know?" Jean asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, dad is with her right now. I can't believe this!"
"Believe it. Lucy is a dealer," Jean announced with satisfaction.
"That's not true. Lucy would never do such a thing!" Kingsley said angrily.
"They found them in her car and bedroom." Jean pointed it out.
"She's being framed. Someone planted them to frame her, I'm sure of it!"
"I would believe that if it were just the car, but how do you explain the one in her room? Jean asked.
"I don't know and don't care! All I know is that my sister is innocent. She has enough money; why would she do such a thing?"
"Greed, peer pressure, or both?" Jean could barely suppress her glee.
Kingsley looked outraged. "Wait a minute, aunt Jean, you can't be—"
"Calm down, everybody, please," Rachel spoke up. "Let's wait till your mom and dad come back, then we'll have the full picture, OK?"
Kingsley nodded and hugged her again. They both sat on the love seat.
"Gina is right," Jean agreed, "we need to rest our minds. Let me fix us a drink."
She went to the bar and began fixing the drinks, humming softly.
"Are you OK?" Rachel asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, babe. I just can't believe Lucy is guilty. She's being framed! I'm sure of it."
"I believe that too. We'll get to the bottom of it. I'm sure of that."
Jean came over with the drinks.
"Here you are, drink up." She handed them each a glass.
The wait was painful, especially for Rachel, who wished she could find an excuse to go over to Richie's house and scream at him.
By evening, James and Mabel had returned. James's face was swollen with rage, Mabel's with tears.
"Mom, dad, what happened?" Kingsley inquired.
"Where is Lucy?" Jean asked.
"Still in there," Mabel cried, sinking into an armchair. "Our baby is still in custody!"
Kingsley sat on the chair's arm and held her.
"What about bail?" He asked.
"The bail hearing will be on Monday," James said heavily. "But the lawyer isn't hopeful. The mayor is tough on narcotics crimes, and since Lucy is from a wealthy family, they might want to use her as an example. The only hope we have is to keep the whole thing from the press."
"But she's innocent!" Kingsley protested.
"It doesn't look that way to most people." Jean put it in.
Mabel glared at her. "You are enjoying this, aren't you? I know you have something to do with this!" She accused.
Jeans rolled her eyes. "Here it comes, the 'blame Jean for all my woes routine'. Don't you ever get tired of it?"
She stood up. "I knew having you here was a bad idea! You're nothing but trouble! I'm sure you planted those stuff to get Lucy arrested! Just your way of getting back at me!"
"You are being ridiculous. If I were to plant narcotics on anybody, it certainly wouldn't be Lucy. It would be you!"
"Everybody calm down!" James interrupted, coming between them.
"I agree." Kingsley said. "Look, mom, I know you're upset, but blaming Aunt Jean isn't fair. This has nothing to do with her."
"Thanks dear. Your mom would blame me if the sun didn't shine. Look, I love Lucy. I'd never put her through an ordeal like this. I don't want to believe she's guilty, but we have to consider the possibility that she might be. We won't know for certain until the investigations are over. So until then, let's all chill. Driving ourselves crazy won't help."
"That's right; we have to relax, and hope for the best." Rachel said quietly, burning with guilt.
"I agree," Kingsley said.
James nodded in agreement.
"She didn't do this!" Mabel cried, sinking into her chair, "Someone is framing our daughter!"
"Who was it that tipped off the police?" Kingsley asked. "Any way to find out?"
"I doubt," his dad replied, "it was made anonymously.
"Now that we've agreed to calm down, how about some dinner?" Jean suggested, "Starving ourselves won't do anyone any good."
Mabel stood up. "I don't want anything," she said, heading upstairs.
"Me neither." James said, and followed his wife.
Kingsley stood up. "I'll have an early night."
"Oh no, you don't." Jean said it firmly. "Come on, you two! Be the voices of reason; hunger isn't going to help Lucy, and we need our strength. Let me order takeout, please."
He looked at Rachel, who shrugged weakly.
"Ok, aunt Jean, just a little. I'm not really hungry."
"Yes!"
"Want me to get it?" He offered.
"No, don't worry; I'll do it. You've had a long day. Give me your keys; I'm sure I'll be able to find a burger joint. Would you like fries?"
"No, thanks, only burgers."
"How about you, Gina? ....Gina?"
Rachel startled. She hadn't been listening. "What?"
"Would you like fries?" Jean repeated.
"No, just burgers, please."
He tossed her his keys, and she left. He sat down next to Rachel.
"Are you okay, babe? You look tense. Don't worry. I'm sure all this will be resolved in no time."
Rachel smiled weakly. Her mind was on Richie and what she'd like to do to him.
Mabel sat on her bed and buried her face in her hands.
"Honey, you need to relax," James told her.
She glared at him. "Relax? When our daughter sleeps in a cell, how can I relax?
"Our daughter is strong; she'll be okay. We'll make sure of it. I promise."
"Jean is behind this, I'm sure."
"Stop it, honey. I know you're upset, but stop. Jean would never hurt Lucy or KK, just as you'd never hurt Paul. Whatever Jean may have done previously, she's innocent of this. It wasn't her."
Something in his tone made her look at him; he looked uncomfortable.
"What?" She demanded.
"Maybe, like Jean said, we should consider the possibility..."
She jumped up. "That what? Our daughter is a dealer? I won't! It's not true; she's being framed."
She walked towards the window, furious with her husband for daring to suggest such a thing. She looked at the cars double-parked along their street, and in one of them sat Richie. He'd been there all afternoon and had watched the police arrive at the house and leave with Mabel. He'd laughed, seeing how devastated she'd looked. It was almost 8:00 p.m., and he was about to call it a night when he saw Kingsley's car driving outside, with a strange woman at the wheel.
This looks interesting; could this be Mabel's sister?
He started his car, and followed her into town. She stopped at a burger joint, and he watched her go in. It was the first time he had seen her. She looked nothing like Mabel, although Calisa had said Rachel told her they were half sisters. He liked what he saw, deciding she'd make a willing ally. She came out with some bags of takeout and got into her car. He guessed she was heading home and didn't bother to follow her; instead, she drove to a wig shop.
The next morning, he was woken by a furious pounding on his door.
"Coming!" He called out, pulling on his trousers. He guessed who it could be.
He opened the door to a furious Rachel, who stormed in, calling him every unprintable name she could think of.
"Are you done?" He asked her when she had run out of names.
She glared at him, breathing heavily. "How could you? You liar! You lied to me! You used me to achieve your selfish goal! I trusted you! You said you were my fami—"
"I am your family!"
"Yet you used me; you used me to hurt an innocent person!"
Richie scoffed. "Innocent, my foot! No, Mitchell is innocent. They and their friends are out to destroy your life! I'm trying to help you. Why can't you see that?"
"Because you are a liar!" She shouted angrily. "Get Lucy out of jail now!"
"I won't do that."
She was shaking with rage. For a second, Richie thought she was going to hit him.
"You're evil! All you want to do is destroy my happiness! Well, I won't let you! You hateful son of..."
"I want to destroy your happiness. Funny, because I'm not the one hiring PI to go digging into your past!"
She reeled back as if struck. "What did you say?" She asked hoarsely.
"So you can speak softly? Wow, that's a relief. My eardrums were about to explode from your yelling." "Franca Mills has a PI in Silvertown, nosing around as we speak. She already knows you are Rachel Kas."
Rachel turned chalk white. It felt as if her legs had melted. She sank into a nearby chair.
Richie went into the small kitchen and came back with a bottle of water.
"Here, drink this."
"Now if you've calmed down, we can talk."
She accepted the water, and took a long drink. Richie sat on the arm of her chair, gently stroking her hair.
"One of my pals in Silvertown told me a PI was there asking questions about you; it seems he was in Littletown first. I did some digging of my own, and found out Franca Mills sent him, and Lucy knows about it."
"Then she knows the truth," Rachel was agitated. "She'll tell KK! My life will be ruined!"
"Calm down. The only information Franca has is your name. My pals will see to it; he doesn't learn much. Now who has your best interest at heart?"
"But she could tell Kingsley. He'll know I lied about my name."
"So? People change their names all the time; it's no crime."
They were silent, which helped Rachel get over the shock of the information.
"You know I'll do anything to protect you." He said, putting his arm around her shoulder.
Rachel shook him off. "But framing Lucy is wrong! She could spend years in prison for what she didn't do. Please, Richie, you have to end this!"
"Haven't you been listening to what I've been saying? They were plotting against you, she and Franca. She's out of the way. Now it's time to teach Franca some lessons."
"No!" She jumped up, "no more! I'm not going to help you hurt anyone again!"
Richie rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this. Once you calm down, come over, and then we'll talk."
"Never, I want nothing to do with you!" She declared, and stormed out.
Richie shook his head, then glanced at his clock. Almost 9:00am. He was late. He'd planned to be outside the Mitchell mansion by 6:00 a.m. so he could watch their coming and going and see if he could get a chance to talk to Jean. He decided to go ahead with his plan. He headed for the bathroom.
Rachel entered the house with her feelings in turmoil. The knowledge of a PI hired by Franca, of all people, was digging into her past unnerved her.
When she got into the living room, she froze at the sight of a woman standing at the bar, pouring a drink, with her back to Rachel. It was the woman she'd seen with Dr. Mills!
The same height and size, wearing the same purple silk dress. Then she turned, and Rachel's jaw dropped. It was Jean!