Salvatore Barzini is annoyed, very annoyed. Where is Vinny? He isn't there for the early morning war-room meeting, which this morning is being held with 50 blazing votive candles covering the long mahogany table.
He yells at Benny, "Where's that no account Vinney?"
"Uhhh, maybe he couldn't get here on account of all that ice on the street, Boss!" Benny hopes that explanation is good enough, because he has no clue where Vinny is.
Big Spike enters the room, throwing mail on the table, which Sal looks through, then holds up one letter and rips it open. Scanning the single sheet of paper within the envelope, he yells, "OK, this is another blackmail letter from 'shoulders,' and this time," looking at Benny threateningly, "you'd better nab him!"

MEANWHILE:

Celeste parts the curtains and looks through the window. The view is a wonderland of ice; very beautiful, but deadly. She turns on her bedside lamp to find it still doesn't light, which is no surprise. She can see some of the same power lines draped across the road that were there the night before.
She pulls on her robe and belts it, wondering if Rose has heard from John, and also how on earth she's ever going to be able to access the Story with the power off. In desperation, she goes to her crystal ball, hoping it will be more cooperative this time. She pulls off the black cloth and puts her hands above it to warm it, which is no mean feat her hands being as cold as they are. Still, she tries. It takes longer than usual, but a picture begins to form in the ball. She looks at it intently, asking, "Where is John Gwinett?" The picture begins to form. She's hoping for the best, and is again disappointed to see the crystal ball offer up an irrelevant picture, this time of the Coronation of Elizabeth II. "BLAST!" she yells at it as she covers it up again.

MEANWHLE:

Holly pads into the kitchen looking around for a way to make coffee. Every way requires electicity. She turns on the tap, yanks it to the left to see if there might be any hot water. At best it runs tepid, but she spoons two teaspoons full of instant into a cup and runs the water on it. Stirring vigorously, most of the coffee crystals are still floating on the top of the liquid. She drinks it anyway for the caffeine rush. She shudders at the taste, but at least she's now awake!
The TV won't work, the radio won't work, oh just a minute, I have a battery operated one, she thinks, running back into the bedroom, hauling the radio out into the kitchen, turning it on. It blasts forth with rock music meant to awaken the dead. Whoooops, she turns down the volume as she sees Tiffany coming out of her room looking grim.
"Thanks a lot, Hol!" she grumbles as she also tries to figure out how to make a cup of morning coffee. Holly makes a cup just like the one she just drank, passes it to Tiffany, who holds her nose, puts the cup to her lips and chugs it down.
"This could be the day!" Holly says cheerfully.
"The day?"
"Yeah, the day Barzini gets our letter and puts a quarter mill in bills in a box and delivers it to the post office!" Holly can't believe Tiffany could have forgotten something so exciting.
"HA! and how, pray tell, are we to get to the post office in this glare ice?"
Holly reaches down, opens a cupboard door and brings out a box of Morton Salt. "VOILA!" she exclaims proudly.
Tiffany has to laugh, "Sure, sure, Hol, we spread that over the road..........are you out of your mind? What we really need is a truck spreading salt and gravel or whatever, and from the looks of things out there, it may be a long wait!"


____________......by Terri

John pulled the wool blanket closer to his head and over his ears. He shivered. There was a small space heater but it was immaterial because there was no electricity. Frost covered the windows. John pulled his shoes on and stood on the cot to look outside to get his bearings. The frost covered the window inside and out. He pulled his jacket on and took his sleeve and pulled it over his hand and started to scrape on it. He breathed on it to melt some of the frost.
Looking outside, he saw tree branches totally encased in ice. Powerlines were precariously hanging in their ice prison. He scraped away until he could see out a spot as big as a moonpie.
He saw nothing familiar, only woods and a barn in the background. He sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling the blanket around him. Oh, Rose..if I could only let you know..
The door swung open and Vinnie came in, bringing a bagel with cream cheese on a paper plate and a styrofoam cup with hot coffee.
"Hey, I brought you something to eat."
John looked at it and said, "Right. Like I am supposed to eat this. How do I know you aren't trying to poison me?"
Vinnie broke out in laughter. "HA! Tell you what..break off a piece of that bagel and I'll eat it. and pour me some of that coffee in my cup."
John did as Vinnie suggested and Vinnie scarfed them both down.
"Now--if it was poison, would I eat it?"
John said, "Guess not." He ate the bagel which was good since he hadn't eaten anything since the plane. The coffee sent a flood of warmth through him.
Vinnie threw a towel and a bar of soap at him. "You may wish to wash up."
John asked, "What is the deal here? Am I being held for ransom?"
"Ransom? Don't think so. Someone wants to keep you here. Some sort of punishment."
"WHO?"
Vinnie grinned. "That's for me to know and you to find out!"
He closed the door. John threw his styrofoam cup at the door. He laid back on the cot and put his arm over his eyes. Why does crap always happen?

Rose woke up that morning and felt the spot next to her. Empty. Her eyes filled with tears and her stomach fell to her feet. The baby started to cry. She got out of her warm bed, changed the baby and fed her. She went downstairs with Jenna. In the living room, curled up on the couch, was Julie. She was sleeping on the couch with Daniel. Rose couldn't help but smile but her smile turned bitter when she thought, she should be curled up there with her daddy. Rose reached over and pulled another blanket over them. Daniel woke up and said sleepily, "She was crying and I guess you were too sound asleep to hear her. So I went in and she was crying for her daddy. She thought I was him. So I just took her downstairs and let her cuddle up next to me. Glad she had these fleece sleepers on. She was like a hot water bottle."
Rose walked over to the window and peered out.
"It's like a winter wonderland out there. So beautiful.."
Her voice started to break. Daniel got up carefully so as not to disturb Julie. He tentatively touched Rose's shoulder. "Honey, I'm sorry. I wish I had some answers for you. But I don't."
Rose could only nod. She whispered, "Daniel..about last night.."
Daniel said, "You fell asleep on the couch. I carried you upstairs and put you to bed. You were so tired."
"I wondered. I was on the couch talking to you and then I wake up in my bed with my sweatshirt and jeans still on."
Daniel laughed. "Well, I couldn't very well take them off now, could I?"
She said, "Thank you."
Daniel sighed, "Yeah. Noble. That's me. Ain't it a bitch?"


GOING FOR IT!.........by Coralynn

Holly yells, "Tiff! A sand truck is coming down the road! Look!"
Tiffany also looks out the window and sees a truck spewing sand and salt out the back, and cheers, "Yes! Give it a few minutes to start the ice thawing and we are...."
"On our merry way!" Holly finishes the sentence.
Making up a couple more cups of tepid instant-coffee, they each grab a frozen bagel and chip away on them slowly. Tiffany throws hers down and states, "This isn't worth it, Hol. Tell ya what, if we can get into town, we'll stop and had a real breakfast at a restaurant."
"But they don't have electricity either!" Holly for once makes sense.
"After we check out the post office we can drive over to the hospital and eat in their cafeteria. Hospitals have backup generators so they'll have bacon and eggs."
"YUM!" Holly responds as they both don their warmest winter coats, gloves, hats, and even boots with traction soles.
After they spend some time scraping the ice off the car and running the windshield defroster, they get in and head for the post office.
Parking in the back lot, they run into the place, hoping it's operating, storm or no storm. It's cold inside, but a battery run lighting system is keeping it lit.
No one else is there, just the man working the counter, who looks up when they come in, then continues his chores.
Tiffany glances in their p.o. box and sees no notice of a package and grimmaces, "Nothing yet, Hol, but this might be a good time to ask them to bring it to our condo."
She approaches the man working the counter and asks if this is possible. He nods his head and shoves a form across the counter at her. She fills it out and turns to Holly, "Let's go."
As they leave the place they hardly notice the two men going in carrying something under one of their trench coats.
Benny places the package on the counter. The post office employee weighs it and asks for the amount, which is proffered quickly. The p.o. man sees the box number, compares it with the form the two women just filled out, and tosses it into the correct delivery route bin.
Benny and Spike are pleased. This is just what they'd hoped for.
Soon the drivers arrive and pick up their mail and packages, loading them into their delivery trucks. Bennie and Spike, who are by now getting the fish eye from the man behind the counter, note which driver picked up the mail containing their package, hopefully headed for the residence of 'shoulders.'

MEANWHILE, at the HOSPITAL:

Tiffany and Holly enter the lit, warm hospital cafeteria and toss their coats onto chairs. Going to the line, they grab trays and ask for extra large helpings of scrambled eggs and bacon, which sit invitingly in trays, warmth and steam rising from them. Their mouths water as they proceed back to their table and dive into their breakfasts.
"Never knew warm food could be such joy!" Tiffany smiles, "and this coffee.....ahhhhhhhh."
"I second that!" Holly's eyes sparkle.
They linger over an hour in the paradise that is the hospital cafeteria, then reluctantly leave and get back into Tiffany's car for the ride home. "When does the mailman usually come?" Holly asks.
"Late morning as a general rule. We'll have to be on the lookout..."


____________......by Terri

Sonny pulled up to the warehouse and went inside the office. Vinnie was sitting there eating Fritos and drinking Yoohoo and watching The Three Stooges. Sonny shrugged himself out of his cashmere coat and put his leather gloves on the table.
"Vinnie, no wonder you are getting a pot belly! How's the uh..guest?"
Vinnie said, "Seems nice enough. Still doesn't know why he is in here. You want I should whack him with a blackjack again?"
Sonny said, "No. Enough is enough. I talked to Dad. He's being blackmailed by a two-bit hustler and plans on chucking him in with Angela's loverboy. Spike and Benny will be here to relieve us. As soon as the guys nabs the blackmailer, Loverboy will have company!"
Vinnie crumpled his bag and made a basket. "You want to go talk to him?"
"Yeah. In a minute. Trying to warm up. Wish the damn electric would come on."

John sat on the cot with nothing to do. He tried to figure out why he was stuck here. He counted the cracks on the ceiling. He mentally went over his budget. He wondered if he would ever see his wife and kids again. How long it would be until he (a) froze to death (b) got shot (c) made an escape (d) ate lunch.

The door swung open and John looked up. Sonny stood in the doorway and looked speculatively at John. He came in and closed the door.
Sonny said, "So. You are Gwinnett. I'm Sonny Barzini.
John gave him a blank look."
Sonny hesitated. "Barzini."
John looked quizzically at him. "Yeah? So...?"
"Name doesn't ring a bell?"
"Not really--oh, wait! You own that little Italian bakery that my wife likes to get cannolis from!"
Sonny said, "No. Not hardly. You playing cagey?"
John shook his head no. "I was on my way home and I just want to go home to see my wife and kids. You holding me for ransom? If so, have you called Rose yet? Please let em talk to her!"
Sonny shook his head no. "Can't do it."
"But if I don't show up, she'll be out of her mind with worry!"
Sonny said, "Sorry. Should have thought of that before."
"Before what?"
But Sonny had shut the door.

Rose wandered around the house, picking up the children's toys and trying to keep her sanity. Daniel was playing a video game on a battery-run system. She said, "Daniel, don't you have to go into the fitness center?"
Daniel shook his head. "No sense opening it in the ice storm, chicky. How are they going to work out when there is no elec----GOTCHA, BOY! YAY!"
Rose picked up the baby. "Tomorrow John should be getting home. If he comes home, I'll know he's having an affair. And he's still my husband. But if he doesn't come home, then he's bolted."
Daniel said, "You pretty well have your mind made up about this, don't you, Rose? I mean, maybe there is a logical explanation for it."
Rose glared. "Well, I could do with a laugh!"
Daniel said, "I'm glad you have the fireplace. We can at least cook hotdogs on it."
Rose said, "Daniel, you don't really have to stay. I will be alright. I am sure my errant husband will be home tomorrow. I can deal with it."
Daniel said, "You don't want me to stay?"
She said, "I didn't say that."
Julie toddled over to Daniel and put her arms around him. He picked her up and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll be here as long as you need me, Rose."


ON THE LOOKOUT........by Coralynn

Benny and Spike follow the mail truck all over the route it takes, which takes longer than normal on streets that are patchy, some salted and sanded, some not. The mailman has to walk very carefully, too, as the sidewalks are treacherous.
"OH, is that the package he's carrying out?" Spike gets excited when the mail truck parks at Camelot Condos and the mailman carries what appears to be 'the package' up to someone's door.
"Looks like it to me!" Benny replies, driving the black car closer to the place where the box has been left.
After Benny turns off the engine, they see a man come out of the condo to collect his mail and his package. They quickly exit the car, rush, slide, rush, almost fall, rush over and grab him, pinning his arms behind him.
"Now we've got you, 'shoulders!'" Benny yells as they succeed in dragging the hapless man over to their car, and shove him into the back seat, package and all.
"What in hell are you doing?!" the man yells.
Spike reaches back and grabs the package, which he then sees is addressed to Mr. Howard Appleton, plus it's postmarked Minneapolis. "Uh oh," he gulps and tosses it back to the man.
"You're free to go now," Benny tells him politely, "we're doing research for a new TV show called 'nab your neighbor.' It's going to be hilarious."
"I am not amused!" Howard Appleton says angrily as he gets out of the car and, going around behind it, copies the license plate numbers before he again enters his condo.
"OK, so we try again!" Spike tries to keep upbeat.
"Look! that mailman is delivering another package and that one is IT!" Benny turns on the engine and they glide down the street toward another target.


ON THE LOOKOUT........by Coralynn

Benny and Spike follow the mail truck all over the route it takes, which takes longer than normal on streets that are patchy, some salted and sanded, some not. The mailman has to walk very carefully, too, as the sidewalks are treacherous.
"OH, is that the package he's carrying out?" Spike gets excited when the mail truck parks at Camelot Condos and the mailman carries what appears to be 'the package' up to someone's door.
"Looks like it to me!" Benny replies, driving the black car closer to the place where the box has been left.
After Benny turns off the engine, they see a man come out of the condo to collect his mail and his package. They quickly exit the car, rush, slide, rush, almost fall, rush over and grab him, pinning his arms behind him.
"Now we've got you, 'shoulders!'" Benny yells as they succeed in dragging the hapless man over to their car, and shove him into the back seat, package and all.
"What in hell are you doing?!" the man yells.
Spike reaches back and grabs the package, which he then sees is addressed to Mr. Howard Appleton, plus it's postmarked Minneapolis. "Uh oh," he gulps and tosses it back to the man.
"You're free to go now," Benny tells him politely, "we're doing research for a new TV show called 'nab your neighbor.' It's going to be hilarious."
"I am not amused!" Howard Appleton says angrily as he gets out of the car and, going around behind it, copies the license plate numbers before he again enters his condo.
"OK, so we try again!" Spike tries to keep upbeat.
"Look! that mailman is delivering another package and that one is IT!" Benny turns on the engine and they glide down the street toward another target.

Tiffany and Holly have been taking turns watching out the window for the mailman. When Holly yells, "He's here!" Tiffany rushes into the living room and sees the mailman place a package on their doorstep. She also sees a black car cruising nearby.
"I don't like the looks of that black car!" she tells Holly as she opens the door, scoops up the package, slams the door shut, locks it, bolts it, and puts on the safety chain. She carries the box into the kitchen, grabs a knife and slices it open. This time it's full of boxes of Puffs tissue.
"Very funny!" she says grimly as she rummages around for the phone number at Salvatore Barzini's house, punching it into her cellphone.
"Hello," a very meek mild voice is heard.
"Mrs. Barzini? Mrs. Salvatore Barzini?"
"Yes....."
"I have bad news for you..."
"Oh no! Don't tell me he's dead!" the woman panics.
"No, but......this is even worse. He's having an affair with the woman who manages the Camelot Condos."
The woman laughs weakly, "That nice young lady? Oh no, no, no...."
"Oh yes, yes, yes!" Tiffany insists, then hangs up.
"OK, you did it, you told him you'd squeal, and you did." Holly says victoriously.
"That woman is so addled I doubt she even believes me, though," Tiffany says, "But it'll start her to thinking, looking, checking...."

MEANWHILE:

Mary Margaret Martha Barzini hangs up and quickly dials another number, and when the person she called answers, she simply says, in a no-nonsense voice, "Get him! He's cheating on me! Get him!"

BACK IN THE BLACK CAR:

"That's the place all right. Did you see who got the package?"
"A woman," Spike answers, "Must be 'shoulders' wife. She could be in on the scheme, in fact of course she is. What're we going to do now, Benny?"
"The next person who opens the door of that condo gets rushed......"
"We break down the door?"
"We rush in and............"
"Do we shoot anybody?" Spike is getting excited.
"NO! What good would that do? We want 'em alive! We grab 'em and take 'em to the warehouse!"


BANG! BANG!.........by Coralynn

Ms. Young puts the last paper in the correct file and shams it shut, wondering if the electricity is ever going to come back on. It's cold, and her fingers are red and stiff.
The office door opens and an older woman enters, asking, "Are you Ms. Young, the manager of Camelot Condos?"
"Yes, I am, how may I help you?" she inquires.
"The woman having an affair with Salvatore Barzini?"
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh....."
The woman reaches into her handbag, takes out a small revolver and, before Ms. Young has a chance to get out of the way, fires two shots right into her head. Ms. Young drops to the floor like a stone.
The older woman carefully replaces the gun into the handbag, walks out, gets into a green Lincoln and drives away, even putting on her left hand signal indicator as she makes her turn, heading home.

MEANWHILE:

"Tiffany! Did you hear that? It sounded like a gun firing!"
"Yes! It sounded like it came from that direction," she points toward where the office is located.
"My God!" Holly begins to freak out, "What could it be?"
"We'd better take a look," Tiffany says as she puts on her coat, Holly doing the same, exiting the condo, then everything goes black.

When Tiffany and Holly open their eyes they are in a dim room, not in their condo, not out in the parking lot, but some odd place neither has seen before. "What happened?!" Holly really freaks out now.
Spike is leering at them, "So, ladies, where IS shoulders?"
Tiffany glances around and sees another person, someone she's never seen before, sitting on a cot against the wall. She squints at him and asks, "Where are we?"
"I said where is shoulders?" Spike yells louder.
"I don't know anybody by that name," Tiffany yells back, then again asks the man on the cot, "Where are we?"


NEW BUNKIES......by Terri

John looked at his two new bunkies in their faux fur coats and said, " Beats the hell out of me. I just got here last night."
Tiffany looked at Holly and then John. "Oh, this is just GREAT!"
John leaned back and took a sip of his coffee that Vinnie had given him earlier.
"Nearest I can figure out, we've all been kidnapped."
"KIDNAPPED?? Tiff, are you believing this? I KNEW we shouldn't have.."
Tiffany drew her finger over her throat in a 'cut' motion. Holly shut up immediately. She turned to John and said, "So, are you some sort of CEO or millionaire that they are holding for ransom?"
John shook his head no. "I just flew in from Kansas City from a conference and trade show. I thought I would surprise my wife by coming home early. I stopped at Starbucks, the one by Beacon Mall and by the time I got to my car, everything went black and I woke up here."
Tiffany said, "Oh, this is just a fine kettle of fish!"
Holly said, "Yeah. You're married, huh?"
Tiffany glared. "That's not what I meant."
Holly said, "Well, what do you care? You've already got that cowboy guy on the line. Why shouldn't I look for someone?"
John watched them go back and forth like pingpong balls.
Tiffany got on the cot and tried to open the window. It wouldn't budge. She bounced up and down trying to get it open. John said, "You don't think I tried that already?"
Holly said, "Well, you look too cute to have any brains."
John looked at the two blonde ditzes and shook his head. Holly reached in her coat pocket and took out a nail file. "Here, Tiffany. Try this."
Tiffany took the nail file and said, "Thanks!" She tried to jimmy the window open with the file. "I saw this in a movie once.."
John said, "Ladies, you would need a crowbar. So unless you have one in your coat pocket--which I seriously doubt--you may as well save it for a manicure."
Holly said, "He's right, you know. Tiffany, you ALWAYS have such half-assed ideas! Why I ever listen to you..."
Tiffany snarled, "Hey, you added your two cents worth.."
John said, "What are you women talking about?"
"NOTHING!" they both said in unison.
John rolled his eyes. Oh, this is great! Romy and Michele's High School Reunion--the Sequel!


NICE TO MEET YA..........by Coralynn

Two more cots are hauled in by the big guy guarding them. Tiffany and Holly examine them with disgusted looks on their faces, "They expect us to sleep on those?"
"It's that or the floor," John tells her in a droll voice.
Holly picks up one corner of the charcoal grey scratchy wool blanket and sneers, "This stuff is wretched! Looks like it came from an old Army surplus store. I wonder if I requested better blankets....."
"Forget it!" John cuts her off at the pass, "Don't agitate these guys any more than they already are."
Tiffany sits on the cot assigned to her and sighs loudly, "I have a date tonight, too!"
"With Billy Bob?" Holly asks.
"Who else?!"
John pricks up his ears, "You have a date with who?!"
"You probably don't know him, he lives a few miles out of town.......has a horse ranch," and turning to Holly, "His name is Bill not Billy Bob, for the love of mud!"
"Montgomery?" John finds this intriguing.
"Yes, why, do you know him really?"
John chuckles for the first time since his abduction, "Yeah.....he used to be married....."
then stops. Why tell these women the history of his relationship with Rose?
"I heard," Tiffany continues the line of thought, "he was married to an actress who is now acting in dinner theater in Idaho, or at least that's what he told me."
"Idaho?!" John laughs out loud.
"Sure! Why not?" Tiffany replies defensively, "He said she stunk at it, too."
Holly gets into the spirit of the thing now that John has begun laughing and decides to keep it rolling, "He used to married to WandaSue, too, is that who you meant?" looking at John.
"Yes, yes, that's who I meant," he covers.
"She lives in our Condo complex! and she's going to be mayor of the town!" Holly brags.
John clears his throat, "I know. It was either her or that total crook who had the job....."
"You voted for her?" Tiffany asks.
"Yes, didn't you?"
"Well, yes, but that's because she said she could get us jobs with the city...." Holly blurts out.
"That figures. WandaSue, always playing the angles, but getting back to you......what's your name?"
"Tiffany......Tiffany Winthrop."
"Yes. Tiffany. How did you meet 'Bill' Montgomery?"
"I went out to his ranch to buy a horse...."
Holly interrupts, "WandaSue told her to!"
Tiffany shoots Holly a warning look. "He's quite attractive in a rugged cowboy way. You sure don't meet many of those around here!"
"Westchester county is probably the last place you'd expect to meet up with a cowboy," John states.
"I got sick of dating those blue-blood New England types, you know, the tall skinny ones with receeding chins, the ones who don't pronounce their 'r's....."
"To each his own!" John comments as he again tries to see out the window, to no avail.

So why did they kidnap you?" Holly is dying of curiosity.
"I have no clue, none at all!" John frowns, "why did they kindap you two?"
The two women exchange looks, then Holly starts in, "We were blackmailing Salvatore Barzini, the mob boss."
"You blackmailed a mob boss? Are you out of your minds?" John is aghast.
"Well, yeah, and we almost got away with it," Tiffany adds, "so you've probably been nabbed by the mob, too."
"I don't even know these people, much less have I done anything that would get me 'nabbed' as you put it."
"Well, you have to have ticked somebody off!" Holly is certain, as she climbs back up on John's cot, the one by the window, and looks out, "Hey! I think the sun is coming out!"
"And....." John says.
"And that means pretty soon it'll melt the ice on the window and we'll get to see out!" Holly answers, "and maybe we'll get to find out where in hell we are!"
"We're in hell alright!" John responds.


Ohh Baby, HOT, HOT, HOT!......by Terri

Holly turned to Tiffany and said, "You know, that guy in Las Vegas was right." Tiffany said, "Who? Mardio?"
"Yeah. The faro dealer. He said 'hell would freeze over.' Could it be that he was right, Tiff?"
Tiffany said, "Holly, it's just a figure of speech!"
Holly looked from John to Tiffany and then back again. John nodded in the affirmative. Holly shrugged and said, "Oh. OK."

Benny came into the room lugging a battery operated portable TV.
"Here. Vinnie wanted me to bring this in. He didn't want any..what did he say? 'dissention in the ranks.' "
Tiffany and Holly clapped their hands and said, "Oh! How wonderful!"
John said, "Yeah, OK. But I'm NOT watching any infomercials or that damned Home Shopping Channel!"
Benny plugged it in and adjusted the rabbit ears. "OK, you are all set!"
Tiffany looked at her watch. "It's almost 2:00 pm. Holly, you know what that means, don't you?"
Holly raised her hand in a fist and said. "Alright!! Bring it on!"

Tiffany changed the channels. John yawned and laid on his cot, arms folded behind his head. The girls were whispering among themselves. John said, "It's not nice to whisper in front of someone, you know."
Tiffany said, "Oh, we were just having a friendly little bet."
Holly said, "Yeah. Like 'does Daisy really leave Chuck and go back to Brad?' They are stuck together in a cabin during a snow storm."
John closed his eyes and said, "Yeah."
Holly and Tiff said, "Yeah. That's what we were wondering."
John shook his head, his eyes still closed. "No, I was telling you the answer. Brad and Daisy consummate their relationship in that cabin."
Holly said, "How did you know that?"
Tiffany crept closer to John, peered closely at his face and screamed to Holly, "OMIGOD!! THAT IS JOHN GWINNETT THE ACTOR IN THE ROOM WITH US!!"
She screamed it in John's ear and he jumped a mile off his cot.
Holly frantically searched in her pockets for a piece of paper and a pen. "I have to get your autograph! My mom isn't going to believe it! I've been kidnapped with John Gwinnett! She thinks you are the sexiest thing to wear pants! Mom always said, 'I wouldn't kick John Gwinnett out of bed for eating crackers, that's for sure!' "
Tiffany punched Holly in the arm. "Would you stop it! Hey! That means you are married to Rosamond Clifford!"
"Wow! Does she pad her bra? Does she have implants? Is that her real hair color?" Holly gushed.
Tiffany said, "SHHH! It's on now!"

Daisy: "Brad, the snow is coming down harder."
Brad: "Daisy, the door is stuck shut. The snow piled up. We just have to do with what we have."
Daisy: "But it's freezing in here. OH, why did I have to follow you up to this cabin? I very well could have told you off when we were in the lodge."
Brad: (taking a step closer to Daisy) "Why did you come, Daisy? Is it because Chuck isn't satisfying your every needs?"
Daisy raised her hand and struck Brad across the face. Their eyes locked. Daisy and Brad flung themselves in each other's arms.
The camera then panned to the trail of clothes that led to the bedroom, traveling to the foot of the bed...
"Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, tomatoes on a sesame bun,...."
"I AM STUCK ON BAND-AID, 'CAUSE BAND-AID'S STUCK ON ME!"
"OH, I WISH I WAS AN OSCAR MEYER WEINER..."

Holly and Tiffany booed the TV. "That always happens during the best scenes!"
Holly said, "Hey, John--if I may call you that--what happened next?"
John yawned and said, "Daisy and Brad were into fantasy role-playing. He used handcuffs and cuffed her to the bed. Then he got into a Superman outfit, got on the dresser and took a flying leap. He missed, hit his head on the corner of the dresser, and bled to death. Since Daisy is out in the middle of nowhere, cuffed to the bed, she slowly starved to death. They found their skeletons during the spring thaw."
Holly and Tiffany looked at each other and said, "NAWWW....!!"
John laughed and said, "Really got you on that one,. didn't I?"
Tiffany and Holly said, "Shhh!! Commercial is over!"
They both sat there and watched the rest of the scene with their mouths open. John sat there, his face turning red. The two of them turned to John, a new look of admiration in their eyes.
He shrugged and put his palms out to them. "Hey..it was just acting, alright?"
Tiffany said, "If that's acting, it's pretty damn fine acting."
Holly fanned herself. "Yeah. Tiff? Is it hot in here? Or is it just me?"
Tiffany said, "You aren't alone! It's hot, hot, hot! And it's not just us, either!"
John just groaned to himself. Yeah. Kidnapped with Romy and Michele.


WE INTERRUPT...............by Coralynn

Tiffany and Holly are deeply enthralled with the daily installement of "As the Planet Turns," and groan when suddenly a different screen appears, an announcer's voice saying, "We interrupt this program for breaking news!"
"Oh swelllll, and it was just getting good!" Holly grouses.
The screen shows police and firemen carrying a body out of a building wrapped in a bodybag.
"A murder has been committed at the Camelot Condos..." the voice continues, "the manager of the condo complex, Ms. Gwendolyn Young, was found shot twice through the head...."
"WHAT?!" both Tiffany and Holly yell simultaneously.
"Her body was found by a worker for the utility company sent to restore the power. There was no witness and no suspects at this time. We will bring you updates as they occur." then the screen goes back to showing the end credits for "Planet."
"Well, rats! Now we missed the last scene, the one where something really exciting happens!" Holly says bitterly.
"Hol, that was Ms. Young who they found murdered!" Tiffany tries to bring reality into play.
"Who cares? She was fooling around with Barzini, ask me if I care!" Holly is not to be pacified.
"There's that name again," John comments, "What do you two know about Barzini? You said something about blackmail?"
"Yeah. We knew he was having an affair with Ms. Young," Tiffany says in a low voice so Vinny can't hear, "and after telling him to put a quarter million in a box and mail it to our p.o. box, he sent shredded newspapers and Puffs tissues, three times. Three strikes and you're out! So I phoned up his wife......"
John shakes his head, "No wonder you were kidnapped!"
"Yeah, well, you heard that goon ask us where 'shoulders' is...........it's a long story, but they think a guy was blackmailing them, not us!" Tiffany explains.
"A guy named 'shoulders'".......John muses.
"Right! They must think we're in on it with him," Holly whispers.
"So what happens now?" John asks.
"Well," Holly tells him, "they either figure it's not us and let us go or they kill us."
"OK, I get it, but why did they kidnap me? They didn't accuse me of being this 'shoulders' man."
"Ahhh you must have pissed someone off! Have you ever dated Barzini's daughter, Angela?"
"NO! I'm a happily married man," John replies, "I never heard of her."
Both women give him a dubious look, "You're also a major hunk! And famous! Maybe she has a crush on the guy you play on "Planet," maybe she's one of those celebrity stalkers."
"I just want to go home, Rose must be frantic by now," John states.
"I just want the damned electricity to come back on!" Holly says, rubbing her hands together to promote circulation. "I feel like a hundred pound popcycle!"


MOVIN' IN ON THE TERRITORY.....by Terri

Daniel was helping Will make a model car. They sat at the table glueing it together. Rose tried John's cellphone. Somewhere in the parking lot of Starbucks, a cellphone rang and rang on the front seat of a black Corvette....

"Hello?"
"Rose, it's Celeste. Have you heard from John yet?"
"No. He's probably shacked up with that tramp from Lifestyles."
"Rose, don't be ridiculous. He would never do something like that!"
"Oh, no? Then why did a woman answer his hotel phone and say he was in the shower? This was 10:00 PM at night, too."
"Rose, there has to be a logical explanation for it. This is so out of character for John."
Rose said, "Then why hasn't he called me? You think he'd be mildly curious to see how his children are doing, especially with the ice storm. For Pete's sake, Celeste! Kansas City DOES get the weather channel and news. You think he'd call to make sure we are allright. I am beginning to think he is thinking with his...."
"Rose! You know that is not true! You and the kids mean everything to him."
"Well, I am beginning to wonder if..."

"Rosamond? Do you have any nail polish remover? Will seems to have glued his fingers together."
Rose covered the mouthpiece of the phone.
"It's in the medicine cabinet in my bedroom."
Celeste said, "Rose? Is Daniel still there?"
Rose got defensive. "Yes, he is. He's been terrific, helping me keep the children entertained. It's been hard with the electricity off. I can't do this by myself."
"Why don't you come over here and stay?"
"Because this is my home now. The kids have their own rooms and it is easier. I have the dogs to take care of. Don't worry about me, Celeste."
From the background was heard, "Rose, do you want me to take these hotdogs and cook them in the fireplace for lunch?"
Rose covered the phone again and said, "Yes, thanks. I appreciate it."
Then back to the phone. "I'll keep you informed, 'Mom'. Everything is OK over here. I've got to go. I'm needed."
CLICK!

William was sitting in his chair reading the latest Robert B. Parker book. Celeste kicked his footrest and sent his chair flying forward.
William sputtered, "What in blazes was THAT about, Celeste?!"
Celeste glared at him. "It's bad enough that John is MIA. But now Daniel is moving in on her and the kids. And I don't like it! The boy had better get back her ASAP or he won't have a home to come home to!"


MISSING PERSONS.......by Coralynn

Billy Bob Montgomery, who Tiffany insists on calling 'Bill" because she thinks it's classier, arrives outside her condo a bit early. Hope this doesn't make me seem eager, he thinks, but I can't wait any longer. It's been a long time since a woman interested me as much as she does. She has beauty, brains and breeding, something I've come to value almost as much as my mother does. Can't wait to introduce the two of them, my mother will be overjoyed that I've finally found someone in our social class....
He parks and walks to her front door, ready to ring the bell, but notices the door is slightly ajar, so he pushes on it, calling out, "Tiffany?"
No response.
He wonders if she could be in the shower, and decides to wait. There's no sound of running water, though, besides with the electricity out her bathrooms must be pitch dark inside unless she has battery operated light sources. He looks around the condo to see what light she could be using, but only finds burned down to the quick candles and several tap lights whose batteries have expired.
He wonders if she could have stepped out for a minute and will return shortly. If so, though, why didn't she lock the front door? This is odd. She's too intelligent a woman to run out of her place without locking it up, he's sure of that. He reaches into his coat pocket for the small flashlight he carries, and let's the light sweep over the kitchen and living room. There's an opened box on the kitchen table. He walks over to examine it and finds loose facial tissues, half still in the box, the other half strewn out all over the table. Examining the outside of the box he finds no return address, just that it was mailed right here in town. Then he spies a half sheet of paper which he immediately trains the light on......a phone number. Not one he recognizes, but then she must have a lot of friends he doesn't know. The name scrawled on the paper looks something like 'Barzini'.......yes, that's the name, but no first name.
Where have I heard that name before? he searches his memory, something in the news last year was it? What? ohhhhhhh, yeah, now I remember......had to do with a mob boss called up on racketeering charges. Don't recall if he was convicted or aquitted, but that name sounds right. Now why would she be calling him? Surely her social circle doesn't include mafia types! Hardly!
He calls out her name a few more times before he goes into each of the rooms and looks around, his flashlight sending a beam onto every part of each room. Nothing out of order, the beds are made, the place is clean and tidy.
Returning to the kitchen, he spies two bagels laying on the counter near the sink. He picks up one of them and examines it. A few teeth marks, nothing more. Why two, though? Ohhh didn't she say she shared the place with a friend named Holly? I think so. But why did they leave the bagels on the counter, and why did they leave without locking up?
He shines the light onto his watch and sees that by now the hour of his previously arranged arrival has passed by five minutes. She's too organized at least I think she is....not to be here at the agreed on time!
He decides to check out the condo office, so he leaves Tiffany's place, leaving the door slightly ajar the way it was when he arrived, and walks over to where the 'office' sign is displayed. "Holy s*$&!" he exclaims as he sees the crime tape stretched out all over that part of the building. He peers inside the condo office and sees nothing but an empty place, the rays of the sun going lower and lower so that details are hard to see clearly.
Returning to Tiffany's condo, he begins to formulate a theory about what might have happened, why she isn't there........he thinks, 'A criminal must have broken into the office, and Tiffany's condo, OR, she went to the office to find a crime in progress and was assaulted or kidnapped.....OR.........he runs out of potential scenarios.
He again picks up the paper with the phone number on it and dials it on her land phone. It rings but twice before he hears a woman's voice answer, "Snake, did you get him? I want him killed, you got that? Don't call again till you can tell me he's dead!" then clicks off. WHAT?!" Billy Bob is shaken by what he's just heard, so immediately phones the police station.
"Police Station, Travis McGee here!" comes a voice trying very hard for a British accent.
"I wish to report a missing person.......persons....." BB begins.

MEANWHILE:

WandaSue is walking her newest acquistion, a rottweiler she's named 'Sick-um', when she sees Billy Bob's car parked out front of Tiffany and Holly's condo.
"He must be there to pick up Tiffany for a date," she tells the ugly dog, "I'll wait till he's gone, then go talk to Holly about it, after all she's not going on the date, and I haven't heard from those two in awhile. Wonder how they made out with their blackmail scheme. If they followed my advice they should be rolling in the green stuff by now!"
She then sees Billy Bob leave the place and get into his car. When he's safely out of sight, she proceeds onward toward the condo. "I'm going to tie you up out here," she tells Sick-um, "You understand. Or even if you don't, this is where I'm parking your ugly carcass!" as she ties him securely to a fence post and walks to the door, which, she finds to her surprise, has been left ajar.
Stepping inside, she yells, "Hey Holly! You should lock your door!" but there is no response, in fact, the place has an empty feel to it. She walks through all the rooms. Nobody. Hmmmm, now where could Holly have gone off to?
She spies the box of Puffs tissues on the kitchen table and examines it. Could this be Barzini's idea of a joke? She hauls out her very large flashlight and trains the beam onto a piece of paper. "Aha! Barzini's phone number!" she is putting two and two together as best she can. Just for the hell of it, she dials the number and, after someone answers it, hears, "I told you before, Snake! Only phone if he's dead. Now, is he?"
WandaSue is intrigued, and lowers her voice as much as she can, growling gutterily into the phone, "Yeah! Dead as a doornail!"
"Good job! There'll be a half mil in your Christmas stocking!" the hard-edged woman's voice says as she clicks off.
WandaSue is really intrigued now. So Barzini's wife, if that's who answered the phone, sent out a hit man to kill some guy? Not Tiffany and Holly, but some guy? No sense me contacting the police on this one, it's not hard enough evidence. Still, I wonder.......
"Could this be written in that Story I found out about? The one online? Should I chance it and go to the Library and see if I can access the dumb thing? I haven't been able to use mine because that witch Celeste put a curse on me that made me fall on the flooor when I got within ten feet of a computer. Besides I need electricity to use it. How about the library? Wonder if they have power, and I also wonder if the curse has worn off yet. Well, I'm going to find out."
She returns to her condo, puts Sick-Um in the basement, and gets in her car. She sees the roads have been sanded and salted and has no trouble driving into town. Parking at the library, she notices that it has the electricity back on. This is what she'd hoped for.
She sees the bank of computers and slowly and carefully approaches them. At twenty feet she is still standing, at fifteen feet it's a 'go'......at ten feet, to her surprise and delight, she has yet to be knocked to the floor, at five feet she's doing fine, and when she sits in front of one of the computers, nothing awful happens. Letting out a huge sigh, she turns it on and tries to find it via the Google search engine. Now what words bring it up? she tries to figure out. She types in 'royal story' and gets ten thousand hits. No good, too many to search through. She types in "rosebud" but gets a hundred hits about that old Orson Welles movie. She types in "rosetramp" and to her delight, up comes a page with several links to the Story. She click on one and finds at the bottom of that page a link to the table of contents. She goes there, and sees that there is a table of contents2. Sheeesh, she thinks, they sure don't make it easy! When the contents2 page comes up, she clicks on the last section that's been posted, and sees the title "Stranger Danger," which sounds interesting to her, so she starts reading.............


REVELATIONS.....by Terri

Holly started to jump around to get the circulation back in her legs. BOUNCE! BOUNCE! BOUNCE!
Finally John yelled, "WOULD YOU QUIT THAT? You are making me a nervous wreck!"
Tiffany nodded in agreement. "He's right, Hol. You are driving me nuts!"
Holly stopped in mid-bounce. "Yeah, well, I have to keep the blood flowing!"
John flopped back on his cot. "Oh, this is just great! I was fifteen minutes from home. I just want to get back in my own house."
Holly said, "How many kids you got, John?"
"Three. A boy and two girls. The youngest is only 6 weeks old."
Holly said, "Ooo-wee! Ain't you the stud!"
Tiffany shot her a look. "I can't believe it! I have a date and here I am stuck here!"
John said, "So Montgomery is dating you."
Tiffany sat on her cot and started to file her nails. She held her hand in front of her and observed her nails. "Yes. You said you know him. Are you friends?"
"No. Not exactly. Our paths have crossed occasionally."
Tiff said, "Yeah. Can you imagine he told me his first wife was an anthropologist living with the aborigines? And all the time I knew it was Wanda Sue! Hey, wait! You said you couldn't wait to get home to your wife 'Rose'. And Bill was married to an actress that he tried to tell me was named Rosalind."
John just shrugged.
Holly said, "Well, slap me upside the head and call me stupid, but I'm beginning to think this Rose and Rosalind are the same person. What do you think, Tiffany?"
Tiffany laughed. "Looks like your paths crossed a few times more than once! Bill and I were at the Firenza Gardens on a date a few days ago and two of your wife's friends stopped by to say hi. They told me all about it! I must be having a blonde moment! I totally forgot about it! Hey! You were the guy she was having the affair with! You broke up Bill and Rosamond's marriage!"
John's face turned red.
Holly sat next to John and Tiffany sat on the other side. Holly patted John's arm and said, "I wouldn't worry, John. After all, that old saying, 'once a cheater, always a cheater' applies only to men."
Tiffany said, "Of course! I mean, who wants a woman with three kids?"
John said to himself, 'I can name at least one person...'

Rosamond came downstairs after getting the children into bed. Daniel put another log on the fireplace. She sat down on the couch and Daniel handed her a wine glass.
"We seem to be going through the wine, Daniel."
He smiled and said, "Keeps the circulation going. And red wine is good for the blood."
She said, "I'll know tomorrow what is going on. Whether he comes home or not."
Daniel started to rub Rose's neck. "The muscles are really tight, hon."
She closed her eyes and murmured, "That feels so good."
Daniel moved his hands down to Rose's shoulders.
"Feel good?"
Rose murmured, "If I was a cat, I would purr!"
His arms moved down to her upper arms. Her eyes flew open and she caught his hands.
"No, Daniel."
"No--what?"
"Just----no. I'm not replaying a fond memory of yours."
Daniel whispered, "Do you ever think of..us?"
Rose's face turned crimson. "No. No, I don't. Ever."
She stood up. "I think I am going to bed now. The spare bedroom is aired out. You are welcome to use it. Unless you find the couch more to your liking." Daniel sat there and poured himself another glass of wine. "Thank you. Yes, I think I will use it. The couch is rather over-stuffed."
Rose turned to go up the stairs. "You will find fresh towels in the bathroom. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Rosamond."
Rose got into bed and tried to sleep. She punched the pillow. If he thinks lightning is going to strike twice in the same place, he has another think coming! I'm older and wiser. And I am still in love with my husband, fool of all women that I am. What will happen tomorrow? Will John come home and act like nothing happened? Will he even come home at all?
She heard Daniel's footsteps coming up the stairs. Quickly and quietly she slipped out of bed.
And locked the door.

Daniel gently turned the knob. Locked.
He knocked softly on the door.
"Rose?"
She laid there in the silence.
"Rose? You still awake?"
She held her breath. He tried to turn the knob once more.
He said softly, "I was just checking to make sure you are OK."
The footsteps retreated down the hall. Rose let out a pent-up breath she didn't even know she was holding. She punched her pillow once more and said softly to no one, "Damn you, John. Why aren't you home?"
She pulled the covers up and slipped into a restless sleep.


WANDASUE TO THE NON-RESCUE.......by Coralynn

By the time WandaSue finishes reading "Stranger Danger," she can see it's dark out and feels a cold draft down around her ankles. Yet she feels warm inside because, as she thinks, 'I know what nobody else does, and I'm not going to lift a finger to help.'
She goes to check on a certain part again but the website won't appear. "Show up, dammit!" she yells at it, which brings icy stares from the Librarian. She tries again and gets a page that says "Rootsweb freepages is updating it's servers, and is currently not available. While you wait, try our valuable sites like Ancestry.com."
"In a pigs eye!" WandaSue spits out, disgusted.
As she puts on her thick winter coat she reasons, 'John Gwinett, the rich snob, is getting his just desserts and I love it. As far as Tiffany and Holly go, hey, I told them I was going to have to distance myself from them because, after all, they're blackmailers, and I'm not gonna let that crap splash all over me too, not now, not so close to being mayor of the town. They must have botched it, so......oh well, good luck, ladies!'
As she drives home and pulls into the condo complex she notices the crime tape still draped around the office. I coulda told her she would be bumped off, that Ms. Young, but hey, she was livin' the high life as the mistress of a mob boss. Anybody so stupid who doesn't know that's a good way to die young deserves what she gets. Salvatore Barzini's wife did it, I think that's classic. I may squeal after I'm put in as Mayor. I may, I may not. If I make Travis McGee the police chief I could put a bug in his ear. Or not. These people don't matter to me, no how, no way!'
She parks her car and is surprised when all the lights suddenly go on again in the lot.
"WOW! Lights! maybe even heat!" she cheers as she enters her condo, flips on the lights and they actually work again. "But, Celeste will be able to read the Story, too.......oh maybe not, not if that rinky-dink 'server' they call it is being updated. Let's hope they update it for the next whole week!" she tosses her coat toward the couch, it falls on the floor; she opens the freezer compartment of the refrigerator and sees about fifty HungryMan dinners all thawed and ooozing out, dripping their liquids down the front of the fridge.
"*&$$%%!" she yells as she gets out a huge plastic garbage bag and shoves the entire contents of her freezer into it, the strawberry ice cream making an interesting pattern against the tan gravy as they both race for the floor.

MEANWHILE:

The lights go on in the big house. "Hallelujah!" Celeste exclaims as she runs into the room where she keeps her computer. William just smiles. He's done his part, after all.
Celeste has the URL for Content2 memorized, and quickly types it in, calling out, "Marilyn! Eleanor!"
By the time Marilyn and Eleanor are in the room, though, Celeste looks grim. On the screen is a page that states, "Rootsweb freepages is updating it's servers, and is currently not available. While you wait, try our valuable sites like Ancestry.com."
"RATS!" she yells. Marilyn and Eleanor just stand there thinking, 'what else can go wrong?'

MEANWHILE:

Lardbut Leroy dashes into the Barzini mansion, yelling "Boss! Boss!"
Salvatore Barzini comes out of his den wearing a smoking jacket, a pipe in his mouth, a quizzical expression on his face, "What is it, Lardbut? I thought I told you guys to never just enter the house like that....."
"Sorry, boss, but this is big, this is big and bad!"
"So?"
"So.....Vic Sabatini's car just rolled into town! It was him! It had the license plate "Mob Boss #1" on the back, and you know how proud he is of that license plate!"
Salvatore gets a grim expression and says, in a soft but intense voice, "I married Sabatini's ugly daughter to make peace. I even had two kids with that trainwreck of a woman, and now you say he's rolled into town, into my territory, something he said he would never do?"
"Right! Right!" Lardbut is so petrified he's having trouble drawing breath.
"Call a meeting of the 'family'.........in the war-room........for twenty minutes from now. Right now I have to pay a visit to my devoted wife."
Lardbut gets on the phone right away as Salvatore walks up the stairs in a fury.
He flings open the bedroom door to see Mary Margaret Martha Sabatini Barzini sitting at her dressing table brushing out her salt & pepper hair.
She glances up, "Oh Sal, I didn't know you were coming to bed!" somehow her tone is even less friendly than the usual icy voice she uses when speaking to him.
"What's the Sabatini gang doing in town?" he demands.
"Who?"
"You know full well! What have you been up to, Mary Margaret Martha?"
"Who, me?" she adopts her innocent wimpy voice.
"We had a deal, your father, your brother and I.....we were to stay out of each other's territory, and if we saw each other it was to be only Christmas and birthdays and even then, we agreed to call ahead so......."
"You haven't been watching the news tonight, have you, dear?" she goes for her honey coated voice.
"No. I have too much on my mind to waste time on the drivel they call the news...."
"I suggest you turn it on at 10pm, then, I strongly suggest you do so."
He looks at his watch and sees that it's 9:50, turns, walks out, goes downstairs and flips on the television, which is warming up as he mixes himself a drink from the bar in the den.


THE LADY IN RED......by Terri

Angela Barzini opened the door to the warehouse and called out, "Sonny? SONNY!"
Sonny came out of the office. "It's about freakin' time you got here, sis."
Angela stomped the snow off her boots. She took off her fur coat and hung it up.
Sonny looked at her dress and said, "What's the occasion?"
Angela twirled around in her red dress and reached into a bag and pulled out a pair of red stiletto heels. She leaned over, shucked her boots and slipped the heels on her feet.
"I remember how he loved my red dress."
Sonny said, "He has no idea why he is here, Angela. You sure we got the right guy?"
Angela was peeved. "His name is Gwinnett, right?"
"Right."
"And he was in a black Corvette?"
"Yeah."
"And he was going into Starbucks?"
"No."
"What do mean, 'NO'?'
"He was coming OUT of Starbucks."
Angela shot him a dirty look. "Where is he?"
Sonny nodded to the hallway. "Second office to the right."
Angela started down the hall. "But he's not alone." Sonny called after her.
She skidded to a stop. "What do you mean, NOT ALONE?"
"Not alone. As in 'not by himself'. 'More than two'. 'Unsolitary confinement.' ...."
Angela said, "I get the drift. So who is in there with him?"
Sonny said, "Well, it's like this...turns out Dad was being blackmailed. So he had the guys pick up the two culprits."
Angela said, "So he's bunking with two guys. So what?"
"Angela, it's not two guys. Those are two ditzes in there."
"DITZES?"
"Yeah. You ever see 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'?"
She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah.."
Sonny said, "Well, you got 'em in there."
Angela pulled out her cigarette case and picked one out. She deftly flicked her lighter and took a long drag on her cigarette.
"Get him out here and into this office. And leave us alone."
Sonny said, "Hell, Angie, that's too cruel!"
She blew smoke in his face. "Get him NOW!"
Sonny sighed and went down the hall.

Sonny unlocked the door and shifted his gun to his right hand. He walked into the office where the three kidnap victims were residing.
He waved his gun at John. "Come on, Gwinnett."
John tried not to show any alarm. "You letting me go? Rose paid a ransom?"
Sonny said impatiently, "No. On both questions."
John tried to put on a brave front. "Are you intending to take me out back and execute me?" Sonny said, "NO. But after this, you may be begging me to."

Sonny gently pushed John into a second office and then quickly shut the door. John's eyes were trying to adjust to the darkness. Suddenly a battery-run lantern like you use camping flooded the office with a beam of light. Shadows were cast on the wall.
He shielded his eyes against the bright light shining in his eyes.
"Hello? Who's here?"
Angela stepped out of the shadows. "Hello, darling. Remember me?"
John shook his head. "Should I?"
Angela stepped closer. "How can you pretend you don' t know me?"
John reiterated, "I'm sorry. But I've never met you in my life, ma'am."


ON THE RUN..........by Coralynn

Salvatore Barzini is in shock as he assembles his 'generals' in the war-room. My God, he thinks, 'shoulders' told, he squealed, she knows! No wonder she told me to watch the news. Poor Gwendolyn Young is lying dead in the morgue and the Sabatini gang is in town, all the doings of that miserable wife of mine, that ugly, bitter, vengeful witch.
But, as he looks down the long table at the men assembled, he decides to simply stick to discussing their most immediate threat: the Sabatini gang.

"I assume by now that you've all learned that the Sabatini gang has rolled into town," he begins, but is interrupted....
"We had a truce! Why are they here?" Knickers Corleone yells out.
Salvatore doesn't want to waste time on long explanations, "They broke the truce. Now, we have to get out of here before their hit men find us. The bunker down by the river should do it. I don't think they know we have it, so let's load up into three cars and go.......now!"
There is the sound of chairs being pushed back, and the men finding their designated drivers, a scenario well rehearsed over the last few years for just such an event as this, though they never seriously thought they'd ever have to use it.
Sal is the last one out of the room, and, going outside, sees his car, driver warming it up, the five guys assigned to it all inside. He walks rapidly toward it when the sound of a rapid-fire machine gun slices through the night air.........and he falls on the ground, his face coming to rest on the cold ice.


HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A WOMAN DUMPED...........by Terri

Angela lit her cigarette and said, " 'Never met me!' "
She shook her head. "You are incredible. Just incredible. You think by denying it, you can get rid of me! Trying the old amnesia routine."
John said, "Is this why I am here? You think we were a...couple? You are sadly mistaken!"
Angela blew the smoke in John's face. He coughed slightly.
She said, "Really? Then how do I know you live on Winding Willow, you have a wife named Rose and three childen? You cheated on me in Kansas City. You cheated on your wife too!"
"How--how did you know I was in Kansas City?"
She continued to blow smoke, some of it forming into rings. "Oh, you are SO naive! Be a shame if something happened to your family. Nice little wife, she could meet with an unfortunate accident..cut herself all over, particularly those nasty knife wounds on the throat. Or your house could burn down. Just hope you can get the children out first.."
John jumped up, fists doubled at his side. "You leave my family alone! Anything happens to them, I'll burn your wolrld!"
Angela motioned him to sit down. "Haven't decided what to do with you yet."
"Do? What's to do? I don't know who you are."
Angela pulled out a gun. She held it level to John's chest. "Sit down."
He sat. She walked over to the phone and picked it up.
"One wrong word or sound out of you and I won't hesitate to use this. Your life won't be worth jack squat. Now you do as I say."
She dialed a number and put it on speaker phone.

RING!! RING!!!
A sleepy voice answered, "Hello?"
"Hello, Rosamond. This is your husband's lover."
John started to jump up and Angela clicked the gun. He sat down, white-faced. There was no response on Rosamond's end.
Angela barked, "Are you there, Mrs. Gwinnett?"
A voice said, "Yes. I'm here. Is--is he with you?"
"Yes, he is."
Rose said in a small voice, "Is he alright?"
Angela answered, "Oh, yeah! He's more than alright! He's terrific! Would you like to speak to him?"
She waved her gun at John and whispered, "You make this conviincing or I will send Spike over there to pay your little wife a visit. And you won't like what he does. She'll either be dead or wishes she was."
She handed John the phone.
"Rose?"
"JOHN!! Oh, thank God! You're alright!"
John said, "Yeah. I'm alright."
"John, what is going on? Who is this woman?"
Angela waved the gun at him with a 'get on with it' motion. John took a deep breath and shut his eyes. He mustered up all the courage and strength that he had.
"Rose, I'm leaving you. I've fallen in love with someone else."
Rose's voice was trembling. "Someone else? Who?"
"You don't know her."
"Someone from the gym?"
Angela nodded.
John said, "Yes. She's--she's an aerobics instructor that I've known. I'm sorry."
Rose tried to keep the tears out of her voice. "Will--will you be back to pick up your clothes?"
Angela shook her head.
John took a deep breath. "No. I think you should just give my clothes to charity. It's better that we don't see each other."
"But--but what of the children? How can you turn your back on the children? Foar God's sake, Jenna is only six weeks old!"
John said, "I guess they will have to deal with it. I'm sorry to hurt you this way."
"Do you want a divorce? That is what you are telling me?"
Angela shrugged.
John said, "Do what you feel is best."
Rose started to cry but forced the words out. "I'll see Patrick O'Malley in the morning."
Angela nodded again.
John said, "OK. That's good. The sooner the better."
Rose said, "John? I still---"
CLICK!!
"------love you."
As Angela pressed the speaker phone button off, John said tightly, "You *&^%&^&*!!!!"
Angela leveled the gun at him. "Oh, now, let's not get nasty! I at least let you talk to her one last time."
John shook his head. "There has to be a mistake. I don't know you."
Angela said, "No mistake."
John said, "Then you must be delusional. A stalker. A psychopath!"
Angela fired the gun at a spot above John's head. He ducked and turned to look at the bullet hole in the wall.
"Don't piss me off. Now get back to your 'room' and we will discuss this later."
She waved the gun and walked out of the room with him.
Sonny met her at the door. "He's all yours, brother!"

Rose hung up the phone and sat up in bed. She tried to stem the tears but they flowed. Her breath was coming in gasps. After a half hour, she finally was all cried out. She put on her robe and headed downstairs. Her hand trembled as she opened up the whiskey bottle and poured a drink. I know it is not a good idea, being a nursing mother..but I need something for my nerves. She sat in front of the fireplace and watched what was left of the flames burning. She got up and put another log in it and gazed at it as the fire leaped to life again.
She sipped her whiskey, her mind a void. She couldn't even begin to think of what to do. What to think. The staird creaked. She turned around, half expecting Will. Daniel stood there at the bottom of the stairs in his sweatpants and sweatshirt.
"Rose? Shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"
She still stared at the fire. She said in a quiet voice, "I found out where John is."
Daniel walked over to her. "He's coming home, isn't he?"
Rose shook her head no. "No. He's left me for another woman. He said to give all his clothes away and to see Patrick O'Malley about a divorce."
"Did he say who she was?"
"Some little tart instructor he knows. He neglected to tell me her name."
"Where is he?"
"Damned if I know."
She pushed her hair back out of her eyes. She laughed bitterly.
"What goes around comes around, doesn't it, Daniel? Here I thought I had found the love of my life and he dumps me for another woman. If I hadn't heard from John's own lips, I gues I never would have believed it. Now know how Billy Bob Montgomery felt when he found out I was cheating on him. He thought he had found the love of HIS life. And I took that love and stomped on it. Now here I am. A soon to be single mother with three children. And no father for them. And one of them a new-born baby. How am I going to deal with that?"
Rosamond burst out in a fresh round of sobbing. Daniel sat next to her and enfolded her in his arms. He stroked her hair and said soothingly, "It will be alright, Rose. I'm here. I won't leave. I promise you that."


SECOND 'DATE'............by Coralynn

Since the electricity has been restored, the inhabitants of the big house on Winding Willow are in exceptionally good spirits. Bess is standing in front of a heat grate, sighing, saying "It feels so good!" while the others start hanging up the coats and jackets they'd been wearing around the house to keep from freezing.
There is still a good sized fire in the fireplace, which William replenishes with logs. As he puts a few more on, then stands, he sees out of the corner of his eye a woman descending the stairs wearing a blue wool suit with a fur collar. Oh no, he thinks, not again!
"I'm off to the opera!" Celeste announces, adjusting the fur around the cuffs of the jacket, admiring her reflection in the hall mirror.
"Awfully late to be going out isn't it?" he harumphs at her.
"Bruce and I will catch the second half at least. He phoned and said he's on his way," Celeste tells him as she puts on her coat, "don't wait up! And I mean that, don't wait up!"
Eleanor and Marilyn, standing in the hallway near the dining room, laugh as quietly as they can. If William only knew how nonthreatening Bruce really was, but why tell him? Watching him torture himself with jealousy is too much fun!

Bruce rings the doorbell and Celeste immediately goes outside. Trying not to be too obvious, William turns his head toward the window where they can be seen getting into a limo, this time a red one. Dark red. "Conspicuous consumption!" he comments to what he considers an empty room. Eleanor and Marilyn cover their mouths and run into the kitchen before busting out laughing.

MEANWHILE:

Alan Carson wants to go home, especially now that the electricity has been restored. He's right in the middle of a riveting murder mystery and is eager to finish it, but.......with Travis McGee prancing around like the most important member of the police force, he decides to stay and talk some sense into the guy.
"You need to take forensics with you if you're going over to the condo those missing women live in, Travis. If you go alone you'll contaminate the evidence." he informs him for the third time.
Travis pulls on tight-fitting leather gloves and flexes his fingers dramatically, "Not with these on I won't. No fingerprints!"
Alan's eyes bulge, "That's if you are committing a crime, Beavis, not trying to solve one!"
Travis does not capitulate. "I'll crack this case tonight, just you wait and see! I'll find the women, track down the kidnappers and earn another citation for bravery!" he fingers the mail-order medals he has pinned on his uniform.
"Wait until morning!" Alan goes to the front door of the station and puts himself right in front of it, impeding McGee's progress.
"No can do!" Travis tries to push Alan away, but after ten years of daily workouts and weight training, Alan is like an immovable rock.
Alan takes Travis by the arm and flips him on the floor on his back. Travis gets a 'betrayed' expression and yells out, "What was that for?"
"For not obeying orders, now get in that cell over there because I want to go home and I won't breathe easy till I know you're locked up."
Alan tips his head to one of the other officers, who joins him in heaving Travis off the floor, marching him across the room, pushing him into the cell, then closing the door with a clang, locking it securely.
Alan thanks the other officer, smiles with satisfaction, puts on his winter coat and leaves, with the sound of Travis' voice saying, "but I can solve it, I can, I can, I can.........." getting fainter and fainter as he walks away from the station toward his car and the second half of that riveting murder mystery.


FLAME ON!.......by Terri

Sonny unlocked the door and gently pushed John into the room, locking the door after him. John slumped against the wall and looked white. Tiffany and Holly were watching "Funniest Animal Videos" and looked up.
Holly said, "Hey, you look as white as Casper the Ghost! What happened?"
John sat down on his cot and put his head in his hands.
"I can't understand it. That Sonny guy? His sister was the one who had me kidnapped."
"What??" Tiffany said.
"Oooh, way to go, John! Kidnapped by a woman! I'm getting more and more impressed with you all the time!"
John shook his head, trying to clear it. "She's acting like I am a guy she had a 'relationship' with. She's threatening to hurt my wife. And my kids."
"Wow, you're a real heart-breaker, John!"
Tiffany said, "Yeah! You got yourself a real 'bunny boiler' there. Did you see 'Fatal Attraction'?"
John said, "Every man in America saw that movie. And it scared the crap out of all of us. Made monogamy a household word."
Holly said, "Hey, how come you rate a private conference and we are stuck in this room? I need fresh air!"
John said miserably, "I'm scared for my family. This woman is definitely unhinged. I've seen her at the gym. Seems like everywhere I turned, she was there."
"Oh, a definite stalker!" Tiff said.
"She pulled a gun on me and shot the wall. Then she called my wife and held the gun on me and forced me to tell Rose I was in love with another woman and I wouldn't be back."
Tiffany said, "OH NO!"
John nodded as if in shock. "I think she plans on killing me."
Holly put her arms around John and said, "We won't let her!"
Tiffany glared and knocked Holly's arms off John. She then put her arms around him to comfort him.
"Hey, John, if we get you out of here, what will be our reward?"
John said defeatedly, "You can't. This is hopeless. If you get out of here and I don't, would you please tell Rosamond what happened? That I died loving her and only her?"
Holly's eyes filled with tears and she burst out crying. "Oh, that is so beautiful!"
She dabbed her eyes with the corner of her scratchy blanket.
Tiffany jumped up. "Would you give us a discount at the fitness center?"
John said, "Hell, honey, you get me out of here, you have lifetime passes."
Tiffany and Holly's eyes locked. A scheme formed.
Tiffany said, "Holly, do you remember when we were locked in that garage when we were 13?"
Holly's eyes began to gleam. "You don't mean...?"
"Yes, I do mean."
"But, Tiffany, we have no gasoline or matches."
John jumped up. "Wait a minute! You aren't going to incinerate us, are you?"
Holly said, "Of course not! Tiffany.....are we?"
Tiffany rummaged around in her bag. "Of course not. We're just going to uunstick that window that's been painted shut so we can escape.....now where is that stuff...should be in here somewhere...."
She pulled out a can. Holly took it out of her hand. "White Rain? Oh, Tiffany, you can do better than this!"
Tiffany rummaged some more. Her head practically disappeared in her purse. She emerged victorious.
Holly breathed, "THAT'S IT!!"
Tiffany held up a can of Aqua Net. "The finest lacquer that a beautician could ever hope for! Guaranteed to give you 'helmet head'!"
She pulled out a lighter and while Holly sprayed a gentle mist, Tiffany set the lighter to it.
"It may not be the atomic hydrogen blowtorch--but you can bet the farm--or fitness center--that this baby will get the job done!"
Holly gave a rebel yell and shouted, "FLAME ON!!"

Sonny walked into the office where Angela was sitting in the chair, chain-smoking and drinking a white wine, most likely a Chardonnay.
He sat opposite her and said, "Angela, what do you intend to do with said gentleman?"
Angela snorted, "Gentleman? That, dear brother, is the man who used me and threw me away like a used Kleenex. I've made a few decisions concerning him."
Sonny stood up and said, "OK--I'll tell him he's free to go now."
Angela jumped up and the chair toppled over.
"Free? Are you crazy? Oh no--he's going to die!"
"WHAT??? Are YOU crazy? He's a nice guy with a family--probably got a dog, too."
Angela cried, "Who's the one with the guts in this family anyhow, Sonny? I think Daddy may reconsider handing the torch over to you. You don't have the stomach for it!"
Sonny said, "It's not that I don't have the stomach for it, it's just kind of pointless."
"OH! Doing what he did to me is 'pointless'? What of the Barzini honor?"
"What of it? Oh, hell, Angela! I thought you were just going to have a little fun. You know, like taking his clothes and dumping him naked in the middle of Main Street at high noon! Didn't think you hated him enough for whacking!"
Angela said, "Let's get real, Sonny! You think a man like that isn't going to report this?"
"Well, we could reason with him..."
Angela whipped her gun out. A .38 Special. "Nope, he's got to go. I plan on letting him sweat it out until tomorrow night. Maybe force him to call the little woman a few more times. Maybe force him to describe what he's been doing.."
Sonny began to realize that his sister was very unbalanced. And it began to worry him. A great deal.

John exclaimed, "Are the two of you out of your minds? I mean, I thought you guys would have thought of something like faking a sickness and then I could karate chop whoever opens the door."
Tiffany explained, "When Holly and I were thirteen, we snuck in her parents' barn-actually, it was a stable--her parents own Green Meadows Thoroughbred Farm in Louisville, Kentucky. Anyhow, we went in there to smoke some funny cigarettes that we found in her brother Joshua's bedroom. We took a Bic lighter and smoked away." Holly said, "Oooh, was that some good stash! Anyways--"
Tiffany looked annoyed. "Do you mind, Hol? I'm telling the story! Anyways, we discovered we were locked in. So we took some lacquer thinner that was in a spray can and then took our lighters and made a little torch and melted the paint that was keeping the windows shut. It worked, didn't it, Holly?"
"Sure did! We were able to get the window open and crawl out. Mumsy was none the wiser."
"Yeah. Until Josh found his pot missing!"
Holly said, "I had one left over so we fed it to the dog. So he would have 'pot breath'."
Tiffany said, "Hey, if only you had a 'pot'-bellied pig..."
They started to laugh.
John said, "Look, I don't mean to be pushy, but I think I am living on borrowed time here. Let me get this straight. You plan on torching the window?"
Holly said, "Exactamundo, Mr. Gwinnett!"
Tiffany picked up the can. "You know, it would be great if we could get that stuff called 'Sudden Beauty' hair spray. My mom used to use it by the case when she was a teenager in the '50s. That was when they had those bee-hive hairdos."
Holly chirped up with, "Ewwww! Remember that story about the high school student who had the beehive hairdo and never washed her hair? Let's see if I remember it correctly. A teen-aged girl tired of spending hours carefully "ratting" and spraying her hair to attain an extreme beehive do. She washed her hair in sugar-water, allowing it to harden in the style she wanted. At night, she carefully wrapped a towel around it and slept on a special half-pillow designed to not disturb the hair. One morning, she failed to come down for breakfast. Her mother went to her room only to find her dead in bed. When the towel was removed from her head, it was discovered that she had been gnawed to death by rats or bugs — I heard both versions."
Tiffany said, "Oh, that's nothing! Remember this one? This guy had this date with this really cool girl, and all he could think about all night was taking her out and parking and having a really good time, so he takes her out in the country, stops the car, turns the lights off, puts the radio on, nice music; he's really getting her in the mood, and all of a sudden there's this news flash comes on over the radio and says to the effect that a sex maniac has just escaped from the state insane asylum and the one distinguishing feature of this man is that he has a hook arm, and in the first place this girl is really, really upset, 'cause she's just sure this guy is going to come and try and get in their car, so the guy locks all the doors and says it'll all be okay, but she says he could take his arm and break through the window and everything and she just cries and cries and goes just really frantic and the guy finally consents to take her home, but he's really mad 'cause you know he really had his plans for this girl, so he revs up the car and he goes torquing out of there and they get to her house, and he's really, really mad and he's not even going to get out of the car and open the door for her, and she just gets out on her own side of the car and as she gets out she turns around and looks and there's a hook hanging on the door."
Holly said excitedly, "Oh! And remember THIS one---?"
John interrupted with, "I'm begging you, girls. If you can just get this window open and dispense with the campfire stories for now, I'll take the two of you on a camping trip if we get out of here.."
"With marshmallows? And hot dogs?" Holly asked.
Tiffany said, "Holly, he's being sarcastic."
To John, she said, "Alright, we'll excuse you because I guess you would like to live. Here goes!"
Tiffany handed Holly the spray can. "OK..when I say, 'Go!' you give a nice steady spray. I'll flick my Bic! Hey, stud-muffin! You keep a lookout!"
Holly sprayed the Aqua Net towards the window. Tiffany flicked the lighter. And voila! A chick blowtorch!
They grinned at each other and the paint started to melt. The girls grinned at each other.
"HEY, TIFFANY! WATCH WHAT YOU ARE DOING! THAT'S MY HAND!"
Holly dropped the can of hairspray and the flame followed down. It ignited the blanket that was on the cot.
All Tiffany could say was, "OOOPSIE!"