EPISODE 17

THE HEAT IS ON

A car park in Dallas

Bobby stood in an empty car park with another man, he handed over an envelope which concluded their business together.

"So that's it we are done, a job well done I think you will agree."

Bobby nodded in reply to the other mans words and both men turned to go there separate ways. Bobby hesitated for a moment and then turned round.

"By the way did you find anything at all that could have proved their innocence?"

The other man shook his head "No Mr Ewing none at all, if I was you I would thank your lucky stars that Jeremy Wendell was killed. It made it easy for me to frame him for what happened, but make no mistake, he may have been one mixed up man but he didn’t kill your nephew or Miss Smithfield."

"But will the evidence withstand?"

"Yes, I have done a thorough job. With the receipt for a gun the same model as the murder weapon and the 'eye witness' who saw him leaving Barnes Oil on the night of Anita Smithfield's murder that firmly puts him in the picture for that one. Then with tapping in to his email and leaving a string of communications that show Wendell hiring someone to tamper with the helicopter that caused Jonh Ross's death, the case is sign sealed and delivered. The fact that your wife has been released shows that everything has worked successfully. Trust me Mr Ewing as far as the world is aware Wendell is the murderer it's only you and I know who know other wise."

ROLL CREDITS

Gainesville, Texas

Miss Ellie and Mavis sat in the foyer of a hotel just outside of Gainesville waiting for their rooms to become available. Mavis was quiet, deep in thought, as she had been for much of the day. Ellie touched her on the arm to bring her back to the present.

"Are you okay?"

"I am fine Ellie, I was just thinking how strange it is that your whole life can change beyond recognition in a moment. I still feel in a state of disbelief I feel like I will wake up and the last 6 weeks will have just been a dream."

"I know, not how you feel but how I felt when I lost Jock and Clayton. It's so hard."

Mavis's eyes welled up which instigated Ellie to become overcome with emotion and the old friends hugged for a moment.

"What scares me is how quickly life moves on and it carries you away with it. I feel like everyone and everything should stop now that Punk is gone, how can normal life carry on?"

"It does though and believe me it is a good thing. The only way you can get through this is to carry on and it's what Punk would have wanted, for you to live your life and not live in mourning for ever."

"I know your right Ellie, however quite what he would have thought of this little visit of ours is another matter."

Ellie laughed, "I can imagine what he would have said, much the same as the rest of the family, but it's something I need to do. I want to visit were Amanda has been laid to rest say goodbye to her on Jocks behalf."

"I was thinking more about how crazy he would think the idea was of us taking to the road and travelling all the way to Arkansas."

"Well if our rooms aren't ready soon then I might just begin to feel the same way. Anyway this is an adventure, and we can take it at our own pace like today and see some of the sites on the way. It is good to get a change of scenery. "

"I agree, this will be fun and just what I need and I promise that I will be more talkative tomorrow."

"You be however you want to be, you don't need to put on a front for me."

The two women smiled as the receptionist called for there attention to tell them their rooms where now ready.

Southfork Ranch

JR knocked on the door of Sue Ellen’s room

“Come in!” she said

JR entered the room and looked at her. She had spent two weeks in the hospital after the bomb explosion, and was still looking a bit tired but he was just grateful that they had both got out of there alive.

“How are you? JR said

Sue Ellen looked at him, the first thing she had seen when she woke up in the hospital had been him, he had stayed by her side all the time that she had been unconscious. Surely this meant something?

“I’m fine,” she said “Still feeling a bit tired though”

“You just need to get plenty of rest,” he said

"I am JR but I can't stay in bed anymore I need to get back into the land of the living, I have things I need to do."

"Is this about Washington?" JR asked

"Well sort of, I need to arrange things in mymind."

"So you are still thinking of leaving me then?"

"I was never leaving you JR, I was just moving on with my life and that’s what I still intend to do. But no I am not leaving Dallas I am going to stick around and see what develops between us, but at the same time I want to move on with the rest of my life as well. I am not ready to sit and play backgammon on the veranda for the rest of my days. There are things I still want to achieve and one of them is to get involved with the environmental group, I m going to see donna about setting up a committee here in Dallas."

JR rolled his eyes and Sue Ellen caught his expression and raised her eyebrows at him. Without words a warning was heard and JR raised his hands in the air in defeat.

"Okay, okay, whatever keeps you in Dallas is fine with me, just don't expect Ewing Oil to be first in the queue to go all green."

Sue Ellen replied with a chuckle in her voice, "that’s fine JR as long as you don't expect me to treat Ewing Oil with kid gloves either, we may be all about the love in this room but outside it's no mans land."

"I wouldn’t have it any other way, which reminds me” JR said “Why are you alone in this room? We’ve wasted so much time being apart, come and share my room.

“I thought we were taking things slowly,” She said

“We are, I mean if….if that’s what you want, it’s just I spent so much time with you when you were unconscious in the hospital, thinking about the past and how much time we have wasted. If we are going to be together then we can’t do that if we’re in separate rooms. It seems as though you don’t trust me enough to take that one step," JR said

Sue Ellen stayed silent for a while. Moving into JR’s room would finally make all of this real and the thought scared her and excited her at the sane time.

“Your right I guess, okay” she said

“Really, when? He asked

“I guess there’s no time like the present” she answered

“Hang on a minute, won't we need a removal van to move your things into my room” he laughed

She gently hit him, and then putting her arms around him,holding him tighter, she kissed him.

Breaking off from the kiss JR looked at Sue Ellen, “you are as sexy as the day I met you."

They kissed again and this time it was Sue Ellen who broke away.

"Before we get to carried away with our 'happy ending' there is one thing we have been avoiding speaking off.” Sue Ellen said

Downtown Dallas

Charlie and Lucas walked along Trinity Boulevard in the heart of the Metroplex in downtown Dallas.

"It feels so weird been back here walking through the city, it feels familiar to me yet at the same time different." Charlie said

"I know what you mean, it will be strange going back to Southside High it's been a long while since I have done a full semester."

"At least you will have Margaret there."

"That’s true but to be honest that’s another strange one. I know we are supposed to be as good as sister and brother but we really don't know each other at all. It's odd I feel homesick now that I am supposedly home."

"It's just with everything that’s happened we are all feeling a little of kilter at the moment. Maybe now that your dad is home from the hospital we can all start to get in to some kind of normality."

"Mmm maybe, he just seems so distance though, loosing his leg seems to have really knocked the stuffing out of him, I've never seen him like this before."

"It will take time but he's a fighter and with Donna by his side he is good hands."

Lucas's face darkened at the mention of Donna and this wasn't lost on Charlie.

"Donna is a good women Lucas and if anyone can pull Ray through this it will be her.”

Lucas shrugged his shoulders and half hearted kicked at stone on the path.

“It just seems like I have gone away and returned into an alternate universe. Margaret and Donna have moved into the ranch and the three of them are all playing happy families. I am just not sure where I fit into all this, I mean at the end of the day there is nothing that ties me to that 'nuclear' is there. Hell if we are been honest here it should be Southfork that I am returning to not dad’s place. That’s if ‘HE’ had ever shown any interest apart from a birthday card each year.”

Charlie stopped walking and took hold of Lucas’s arm. Where is all of this coming from? I though that you’d made your peace with this long ago.”

Lucas shrugged again, “I guess it’s like you said, being here is kind of strange and it's messing up my head. I just keeping thinking about mum, she should be with Dad not Donna, or at least if not with dad then… like you said all she ever wanted was to marry Bobby and live happily ever after, it just seems like the Wades weren’t good enough for Bobby Ewing not mom and not even his own son.”

“Lucas, its complicated, but it’s not all Bobby’s doing and if you look at it, it’s not as if you got a bad wrap. Ray has given you a great upbringing, your lucky a lot lucky then most.”

“I know, I know, there is always someone worse off I get it, but I still feel lousy, but it’s nothing that a good drink won’t solve.” Lucas winked and smiled at Charlie.

“Were not in Europe know you know, you’ll get me arrested if I got caught getting you alcohol in a bar.”

Lucas looked at Charlie with a hound dog expression on his face, which made Charlie laugh.

“Okay come on then one beer won’t do us any harm, that kind of links in with why we are here anyway. Charlie waved her arm at the building she had stopped in front of. “Ta darr. ”

“Club Dada, is this supposed to mean something to me?”

“Well no not now but it will, I just signed the lease papers yesterday and now this club is all mine.”

“What? When did you do all this?”

“ This last couple of weeks, I loved this place when I was younger, it was were Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians got started back in the late 80s. I use to hang here for a while when I was doing my teen rebellion thing, and when I saw that it was up for sale I though what the hell. I mean I love you little bro but I needed more then just you being here to keep me in Dallas and now I have it. I am going to run this bar and make it the hottest spot in Dallas’s nightlife. I am going to bring a little bit of Europe to this Texan backwater whether they like it or not!”

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