An impassioned smile crept over his face as looked beside him at her typing away at the
laptop on her desk. He was the shy Clark Kent musing over Lois Lane all over again, like the
many times he had wandered into the police station and beheld her, mirage that she was in his
life. She had that spark of determination in her eyes as she always did, but this time, it was
for a mission he never expected either of them to be carrying out in this lifetime……
The arrest of her husband…his brother…..a smiling ghost in the realm of this station, and in all
of their minds…it was almost unreal. Well, almost as unreal as the amorous scenes that played
over and over in Antonio Torres’s mind--of his surrender to her tonight--of her words, before,
after, within its breathless duration…which were all the truth. Regrets? Zilch. There was no
time in this world left for talking things to death, for deciding what was “best” while feeling
the worst…..there was only time to save this precious love from the darkness cast over it by the
shadows of the towering cross, by transparent hopes in a loft, by the sting of denial.
He thought of this, and remembered their hands twisting together in what he believed to be
his last moments…and knew he needed that horrible scare to realize what he didn’t want to
leave the world without.
[And it wasn’t one last walk down that velvet-carpeted aisle alone.]
Shyly, he found himself reaching for her shoulders beside him.... and as he rolled slightly
closer, his chair trundled out from underneath him, sending him straight to the floor with a
noticeable thud.
Gabi: (trying not to giggle) ...Are you OK?
He looked up at her, blanketed under a pile of papers with a lopsided half-smile, his
eyebrows caving terribly.
Gabi: Alright, see, you can't blame me for laughing when you look at me like that. Here,
c'mon....(helps him back into the chair)
She wrapped her arms around him and sighed.
Antonio: Would it be an overtly dumb statement if a made an observation of how long a night
this has been?
Gabi: Believe me...I noticed.
Antonio: Gabi, if you don't want to track him down anymore... just say the word.
Gabi: No. We need to do this...it's the only way to set ourselves free once and for all...
Antonio: I just hope we know what we're getting ourselves into.
Gabi: (wryly) Well, we might be one hell of a fearless duo, but I give Maria far more credit
for staying with Carmen tonight.
Antonio: True. I don't know if Mama will ever come to grips with Ricardo, Gabi...but we can.
I know we can do this....we have to.
Jude hustled over amidst the blizzard pace in the station, bearing coffee.
Jude: Eyelid lifter, get your eyelid lifter!
Gabi: Jude, you're a saint.
Jude: Trust me, only by name. (looks at computer screen) Whoa...that's incredible!! Gabi,
you just hacked into data I thought only my best tech support could!
Gabi: What can I say? It’s my specialty.
Jude: The reason why you sort files all day is beyond me. Have you ever considered
undercover work?
Gabi: Oh, I...dabbled in it before....as a temp thing…..
Jude: Well, didn't it get you anywhere?
She made an obvious glance towards Antonio's blushing face and felt an evil smile taking
over.
Gabi: Well....you might say that.
Jude: Ohhhh-ho.......sorry, didn't mean to open up a can of worms there!
Gabi: (looking at screen confusedly) ....Don't worry about it...I think I just opened up one of
my own!
Antonio: What is it, Gabi?
Gabi: I logged into the bank's mainframe. I know Ricardo wouldn't try to hitail it out
of the state leaving all that money behind. It says...he put in a call to the telebanking
system...3:06 a.m.......ten minutes ago?? He tried to transfer all the money in our account to a
branch in Miami!
Jude: Tried?
Gabi: (types)....The transaction was denied.....but why?.....Omigod....he can't access
any of that money, you guys!
Jude: Say what??
Gabi: I-I just remembered, I changed the password yesterday and never told him about it!
Antonio: You're kidding!! What made you decide to do that?
Gabi: Premonition, maybe?? Well, that might be pushing it a little...it was mainly because I
was just sick of what it was.
Antonio: What was it?
Gabi: 'Little Gabi.' That's what it's been since we set up the join account before the
wedding. So liberating, huh?
Antonio: What did you change it to?
Gabi: (looks down, smiling)........'Strong.'
Jude: Damn straight you are, Gabi. He won't be going anywhere without all that cash. He
couldn't have gotten far!
Gabi: But where did he make the call from?....
Antonio: I'm gonna take a wild guess he used his cell phone. That's the only jewel of
information we'll find out if we trace it.
Jude: Au contraire, kids.......see, one of the perks of the F.B.I. thang is that they hook me up
with plenty of toys....(types) my tracker software hooked up to the computer will alert us when
he uses the cell again and pinpoint his exact location. We'll know if he's in a Kmart parking lot
in Culver City!
Gabi: So I guess all we have to do is wait.....
Suddenly, a harsh voice assaulted their ears, a woman glowering at them with disdainful
eyes.
D.A. Steele: Agent Cavanaugh. I'd like to speak with you in the interrogation room a moment?
Jude: (walks there with her) Uh...sure, Patz, what's up?
D.A. Steele: (slams door) What do you think you're doing? Why are Antonio and Gabi here?
Jude: Weellll, you know, since they were just rescued from the woods after fleeing for
their lives from our favorite fugitive, they just uh, decided to hang around here and do some
trading on e-bay! Helloo?? They're tracking down Ricardo?
D.A. Steele: Ohhh-ho-ho, noo they're not. And I'm removing you from this case for allowing
it.
Jude: What??! After all I've done for you, you're shutting ME out? Are you nuts?? We're
closing in on him! You can't do this!
D.A. Steele: I can, and I will.
She left the room abruptly and approached Antonio and Gabi.
D.A. Steele: This ends NOW.
Gabi: What??? What are you talking about??
D.A. Steele: Last time I checked, neither of you are authorized to be part of this
investigation. And even if you were, given the highly personal nature of it, you would be
barred from the case anyway! I really don't consider your own little vengeance scheme a due
process of law for our suspect at large.
Gabi: OUR scheme?? We almost got killed tonight!! What about our due process of
law???
Antonio: We want my brother found, alright??? We have to confront him for what he
did to us!! What part of that don't you understand??
Jude: They've made more progress tracking him down than any of your AUTHORIZED crew
has, oh Supreme Ruler of the Universe!
D.A. Steele: Enough!! You might have precedence over my officers, Jude, but you have
none over me. You're dismissed. And remove your red-headed floozy and the
disgruntled Torres entourage from the station too. We'll handle it from here.
Annie stormed their way, stomping towards the feisty district attorney.
Annie: WHAT did you just call me, lady???
D.A. Steele: By your proper title, MS. Douglas-Richards!
While they were squabbling, Gabi's narrowed eyes moved slowly to the laptop screen. The
cell phone tracer had picked up a reading.
A tiny map of Sunset Beach appeared....with crosshairs over the location of 253 Seaside
Avenue.
Oh my God.....he's here......in Sunset Beach.....the loft!
She wanted to scream it out....but didn't. Silence took over as her eyes darted about. No.
She was going to find closure tonight, herself.....without the SBPD's help. It was all in her
hands now, and they were going to play it her way tonight.
Gabi:.....Come on guys, let's go.
Antonio: (whispers) Gabi, no....!
She met his eyes with an unusual glance, nudging him subliminally with raised brows, trying
not to look suspicious. He felt the signal and gave her a half-nod.
Antonio: ....A-alright......we're out of here......
Jude: (gruffly, to the D.A.) This isn't over.
D.A. Steele: Defy my orders and you WILL be, Agent Cavanaugh!
They trudged out of the station into the darkness of the early morning hours. The sky was
still black above the palm trees that encircled the building.
Jude: I don't believe this. I don't BELIEVE THIS!!!
Annie: I know! How dare that bitch call me a floozy!
Antonio: She's protecting him, from US?!! How can she---
Gabi: Guys, guys!!! Listen to me!! I know where he is!
Antonio: What??? How--where???
Gabi: .....The cell scanner had a reading. He's here, in town, he's at the loft!
Annie & Jude: What??!
Antonio: Gabi, why didn't you say anything in there?
Gabi: Why? So the D.A. can give him a presidential arrest and he never has to face us?? No,
I won't! We have to do this our way.
Jude: Man...to think he had the guts to come back to Sunset Beach! He's gotta know his face
is plastered all over the news by now...I dunno, guys...it might be too dangerous to bust in on him
at the loft. If only there was a way to lure him to us !
Gabi:.....What if there was...what if we could lure him right here to the station..?
Annie: (mutters) OH yeah, maybe he'll just shackle himself too!
Gabi: He must be tearing the loft apart looking for the new password to the account! If he
thought he could find it here, he'd take the chance....if the station was abandoned.....
Annie: And there'd be nobody here during a full-fledged manhunt for um, what
reason??
Jude: (glances to Annie) If someone who was quite talented at doing voices called in a bomb
threat.
Annie: (slyly) Well, so much for doing it the legal way, Cavanaugh.
Gabi sighed heavily, looking to Antonio with her lips curving into a semi-smile.
Gabi: ....I guess some rules need to be broken once and a while......
Antonio: ....I.....I have a bad feeling about this, Gabi......but it might be the only way.....you just
have to promise me that no matter what...we take whatever chances we have to together....
Gabi: I promise you....
Annie: ExCUSE me--hell-o--back on earth, children....how the hell are we gonna pull this off?
Gabi: I've got a plan....and he's walking right into MY web this time....
*Hello??? H-Hello, yes, this is Ricardo Torres again. I-I-believe I remembered the
password to my account...is it....'priest'??
Ricardo, still in frazzled black vestments, jabbed at the button on his phone and slammed it
into the dark loft wall.
Ricardo: Damn you, Gabi.....DAMN YOU!!!! What the hell am I gonna do.....how the hell can ya
start a new life under an alias without, (slams fist on the table) a damn, (slam) CENT!!! (SLAM!)
He started tearing through drawers all over again.
Ricardo: Where'd ya' hide it, huh?? In here??? What the hell's the BLOODY PASSWORD,
Gabi?????
He took a ragged breath and regrouped.
Ricardo: Listen to ya.....you're usin' British colloquialisms!! You really ARE goin' out of your
mind!! OK.....OK......it wasn't 'priest'....it wasn't 'mission'.....it wasn't 'Antonio' spelled
backwards.....I just know it's some hidden reference to that BASTARD...what is it????!
He nearly flew out of his skin when the loft phone let out a ring. He backed away with rigid
horror.
Ricardo: (whispers) ...What the hell....?
Answering Machine: (Gabi) *Hi! You've reached the Torreses, you know the drill!* ~BEEP!~
The quizzical voice leaving the message was one he'd never heard before.
*Yeello, Spence, Ruiz? This is Officer Cavanaugh. Guys, if you find this message when you
get back here to uh, tear the place apart again, do not report back to the station when you
complete the task, I repeat, do not report back to headquarters. Code blue. Some militant
Ricardo Torres supporter called in a bomb threat to the station.*
Ricardo: They cleared out the whole station...?? Who the hell is Officer Cavanaugh??--Holy
crap, they're comin' back here!!?!
He sprinted around, throwing things back in order sloppily.
*Before the threat was received, I cleared out Gabriella Torres's desk and left the items in
the evidence room like you asked. A bankbook and a few other items. Hopefully if that
anonymous nutjob doesn't blow the place up, we'll be able to look through it later for any
clues. She and his brother and still missing. Doesn't seem like this night will ever be over, huh?
Ten four.*
Ricardo:......Gabi's desk.......a bankbook.....oh MY GOD............it has to be....!
If there was one last chance of him escaping, he was sure as hell gonna take it. He dashed
for his keys and fumbled through them.
Ricardo: I'll just pay a little visit to my deserted former place of employment...hope to God it
doesn't explode...[although we all know how much of a blast explosions can be]......and see if I
can get one last shot to find that password...........and freedom.....
The words "still missing" rattled in the back of his brain as he abandoned the loft and
jumped back into the suburban. They gave him a deep chill as he drove away, the oozing fuel
dripping from the car with a greater intensity.......
Gabi and Antonio marveled at the dormant appearance of the abandoned police station.
They felt a tad bit guilty for sending the poor SBPD fleeing like ants from water....but needless
to say, it was the perfect setting for the trap.
Antonio: Wow.....Annie's bomb threat really must've sounded convincing.
Gabi: Yeah, the French accent was a nice touch, too.
Antonio: This is it. Moment of truth, huh?
Gabi: Not yet. There's something I want to show you.
He glanced nostalgically at the garments on the hanger in her hand that she had dredged up
from the lockeroom.
Antonio: (sighs) I never thought I'd see those again.
Gabi: Will you wear it? It seems appropriate for our mission, don't you think?
Antonio: For shock value?
Gabi: You could say that.
Antonio: Will do. But first I've got something a little shocking of my own to show you.
Gabi: (smiles) What? Pictures of Ricardo impersonating me, maybe? Now this I've
gotta see.
He shyly pulled something out of his pocket that glimmered brightly....well, in its own gaudy
way inside the plastic bubble.
He opened it gingerly and pulled out the plastic ring with the giant plastic diamond.
Gabi: (laughs) WHAT is that?
Antonio: I uh....I got it in the gumball machine in the Outreach Room. It's...it's obviously not
meant to be.......you know...but.....what it stands for to me is real.....
Gabi: Antonio......
He took her hand, moving his fingers slowly across hers long enough to make her heart
stumble forward a little, and slid the ring on her finger.
Antonio: Gabi....I love you more than anything in this world....and I'm not afraid of being
struck down for saying it anymore....I want to....to devote my life to something my heart is in
completely, totally....a-and not a lie......some empty charade, when my whole soul is full of
us...
Gabi:......................
Antonio: I could never, ever erase this night....never bury it...never say how weak I was when
I never felt stronger in my entire life........and................I don't know how this night is gonna
end...but I only know...I want to end it with you, Gabriella......
Both their eyes spilling with mist, she looked at the ring adoringly, then into the soft eyes of
its giver. It was almost an instinct deep inside him to fall to one knee, and he did.....
Antonio: Gabi....once all our, um...necessary paperwork is done...(laughs) will you do me the
honor of marrying me?
She wanted to give him a wordless, yet conventional answer.
He didn't even have to ascend from his kneeling stance. She fell to him and extinguished his
burning question with the fire of her own mouth, and they exchanged a long, hectic re-
enactment of the genre of endless kisses that had dominated their passionate trysts of love,
every kiss they had lived and breathed and longed for in one. She emptied her whole life to
this single kiss, until her every dream and memory was inside him....this man....this gentle man she
had always known was perfect for her, even when he was blockaded by a pulpit--he challenged
her, she checked him, he made her laugh, bawl, creep from her house to her true home...he was
her soulmate in every sense of the word. They pulled softly away, their eyes like olives
pressed together, floating ecstatically together.
Gabi: If you say, 'I'll take that as a yes,' is it alright to laugh at you?
Antonio: (slyly) You'd like that, wouldn't you?
Gabi: Oh, don't act like such a stoic, now, I could tell you were really nervous!
Antonio: No, really?? I just proposed to you with a ring that cost a quarter! I'm chewing my
heart like gum!... My God.....if anyone ever told us this a year ago.....
Gabi: ...That the priest I was secretly in love with would propose to me in the police station
we had evacuated to set up my current husband?? I'd say it was just another day at the Beach.
But....there's something I want you to know.......
Antonio: Hey.....if you're not sure.....I'll give you as much time as you want. I'll just be
hanging around your door everyday.....ringing the bell incessantly until you're ready.
Gabi: (smiles) That won't be necessary, really...but....I have to make sure you'll still want to
marry me....if I join the police academy.
Antonio: Seriously?
Gabi: I know it must sound crazy....completely insane, considering we, kinda sorta did
something semi-illegal tonight....
Antonio: That's a kind wording of it, really.
Gabi: Well, I know I won't be a conventional officer...not like Paula, for sure. And
definitely not the D.A.'s right-hand woman, either. But I just want to be
something...something HE never thought I could be.....strong.
He took a pondering breath, and her hand.
Antonio: Well, I'd be worrying night and day, you know.....
Gabi: (sadly) I can't say I'd blame you for that....
Antonio....worrying night and day.....that I was keeping you from going after your dreams.
Her lips quivered into a sighing smile.
Gabi: I love you, Antonio.
Antonio: (kisses her hand) I love you too............and God, I wish we didn't have this one last
thing to do......
Gabi: Seconded.
Antonio: I'd better go dress for war, right?
Gabi: Not war, Antonio.......peace at last.
He held her hand for as far as his arm length would allow as he exited the room, smiling at
her, Jude and Annie entered, prepared for whatever was ahead.
Jude: You ready, Gabi?
Gabi: As I'll ever be.
Annie: God, I hope he shows up after all this.
Gabi: He will. You can bank on that.
Jude: Annie, take post. I'll be right there, alright, Red?
Annie: A-HEM?
Jude: Whoops! Sorry! Obligatory post-taking farewell kiss?
Annie: Get the hell over here, pretty boy.
After a luscious smack, she was gone. Jude placed a tiny electronic bug in Gabi's hand.
Jude: This'll be your hookup to us, Gabi. When you think it's safe, give us the cue word and
I'll bust in and make him sorry he ever wore vestments. (slyly) What?....what's this ring
you're wearing, if you don't mind me asking?
Gabi: Um....if you don't think a marriage proposal is completely ludicrous under such
extenuating circumstances....Antonio asked me to marry him.
Jude: Hey, after tonight, I don't consider a priest proposing to his brother's wife with a
Cracker Jack prize crazy in the least. He's a resourceful guy, huh? (she laughs) Hey, you
deserve to be happy--believe that.
Gabi: Jude?
Jude: Yep?
Gabi:.....I might not seem like the greatest judge of character right now....but I can tell
you're a wonderful man. Annie's lucky to have you.
Jude: Yeah? Everyone thinks I'm crazy to be with her. There are things she's done that
would blow your mind. At one point, she was so consumed with getting back at the Richards
family it took her over. But as many loose screws as that clan had, they were a family--
she idealized that all her life. And all the scheming, the backhanded things....it didn't get her
anywhere but down.
Gabi: I've been down that road. I did those exact things. I knew revenge, Jude. But
I'll never let the guilt from my past make me believe that I don't deserve to judge Ricardo for
what he did to me, to Antonio. I'm not that woman, that girl anymore. People change....and I
have.
Jude: I know Annie has too. Makes me believe I have a future with her. A real one....but....
Gabi: But?
Jude: How did you realize.....you know....that he was the one you wanted to be with?
Gabi: You'll just know. You'll know it if one night, you're dancing with her, and all of a
sudden there's nobody else in the room.....in the world....it's just the both of you in each other's
eyes, and you can't escape it.
Jude: You know, skeptical bachelor I am, I would've normally thought all that to be a load
of romantic shlock, but with her.....ahh, you never know.
Gabi: Just one piece of advice?
Jude: Yeah?
Gabi: If you propose to Annie, don't make the ring anything less than at least a cubic
zirconia.
Jude: Ha!! She wouldn't hesitate to kill me for anything less than the Hope Diamond!
Gabi: Speaking of which, I hate to get corny, but this little gem of a plan will never work
unless we get moving.
Jude: I second that. Hey--be careful, watch each other's backs...and be prepared for
anything.
Gabi: I've learned that well.
Jude took his place in the shadows outside, and Gabi slipped on the black leather jacket,
pensively guarding the dark weapon in its pocket with her hand as she marched to the evidence
room.
He darted behind a palm tree, trying desperately to control his raspy breathing as he eyed
the empty station.
Ricardo: Here goes nothin'.
He ducked in every eclipse made by the trees, the building......as he dashed for the door, his
shaking hands twitching for every key until he found the right one, barely able to find the lock.
Ricardo: C'mon, c'mon...........
*CLiCK.*
He inched into the darkened main room of the station, shivering with every speculation of
the slightest hint of a noise, a movement.
Ricardo: (whispers) Evidence room......get Gabi's stuff and get the hell out of here....
He turned the knob ever so slowly.........and froze stiff at what he saw illuminated before him.
There was no light, except for a small lamp on a desk that filled the room with a ghostly
glow.
There was someone sitting at the desk.
Back turned to him.
An 'X' was formed on their back, a dark contrast to the obnoxiously bright color of the shirt
they wore.......a florescent neon green.
The chair spun around.
As Ricardo's eyes burst at the sight of the man before him in his suspenders....his chartreuse
shirt and yellow tie.
Antonio............ Click here for the end of the dawn...
Chaos, as it has a habit of doing, had given way to love.
The man's eyes grimly glossed over Ricardo's holy apparel as if observing something
familiar.
Next....the two part conclusion.