Part 26 by Princessr9
As the hooded man lead John out the back door, Anna walked toward the front door. She paused to take a few deep breaths and to quiet the thoughts racing through her head. Her mother's plans were obvious and she clearly had no conscience about killing people that got in her way.

The question and the temptation was, help her mother and take what money she could and run, or stop her and get revenge for her beloved father. The answer was there burning bright inside of her. Anna would avenge her father and Sara too, for their deaths were unfair and unnecessary. She took another deep breath and reached for the door.

"Hello Mother."

Anna's mother stood in the doorway, "I suppose you've figured it out. You always were a smart girl. I hope you don't think you're going to get in my way. I need that pin and you can't keep me from what is mine."

"How can the money be yours? You're not the real Sara. Besides, I don't have the pin. I haven't had it for some time now and I don't know where it is."

"Oh come now dear Anna, do you take me for a fool? I've been watching you. I saw that sweet little girl. It would be terrible if she got hurt."

"You wouldn't do that, she's just a little girl!"

"Wouldn't I?" Anna's mother removed the small gun from her coat pocket and leveled it at Anna. "We are going to go get that pin now aren't we? You're going to help your mama just like a good little girl and no one else will get hurt."

Anna's eyes filled with tears and she shook her head. "I won't let you do this."

"Oh poor Anna, I think you will." Sara reached for Anna's hand.

Just as Anna started to pull away a police cruiser pulled into the driveway.

To be continued . . . .

PTI: Part 25? By Bubba
"This is all some kind of crazy joke, isn't it? I mean it has to be," Anna cried.

"To be, or not to be...that is the quartet of merry making and pancake flipping..." At that point John began to ramble on in a quiet voice. "This guy isn't all together there anymore," Anna thought to herself.

"I know what you're thinking," said the hooded man. "And your right, he's not all together there."

"How did you know...?" Anna began before being cut off.

"I'm paid to be intuitive. Listen, some of the stuff he just told you is true. The rest was made up in his head to fill in the pieces he couldn't solve. He's been trying to figure this thing out for years and it, along with dementia, has driven him a little batty."

"Thank God! I was this close to puking my guts out at the thought of having to go on Jerry Springer and tell the story of my inbred primate family," Anna sighed and looked over at John who was counting the flowers on her living room curtains while singing "Lady Marmalade" in French.

"Sorry, I like to let him finish before I tell it like it is. Here's the truth, or at least the truth so far as we found out. Can I get you anything before I start a cup of tea maybe?"

"Who's "we"? And why the hell are you still pointing a gun at me?"

"I'm sorry, my manners are bad, I'm used to busting knee caps and making people dig their own graves. Not so used to being around ladies. "We", is the umm, how do I put it, "private agency" hired by Mr. Luc to figure out who killed Rose, who the body was left by her side, and where Sara and Anthony are. We've been looking for the answers for decades." The hooded stranger got up, put a kettle on the stove, and sat back down across from Anna.

Anna realized, for the first time in days, that she had no idea why any of this was so important. "Great, but why?" Anna asked in her best hoity voice.

"What do you mean why?"

"Why is all of this so important? What's the importance of this stupid pin? It's just a pin once owned, or not owned as it now seems, by a dead lady."

"Because that crazy old man counting flowers is worth half a billion dollars, and who ever is related to him, inherits all that. Whoever has the pin has the prize. The pin rightfully belongs to Rose's heir, and we're just trying to figure out if there is still an heir."

The kettle whistled, which startled them both. The hooded stranger laughed, and then got up to make them tea. "He's making me tea," Anna thought to herself, "There's a hired killer in my kitchen making me tea."

"You mean, my mother is going to inherit half a billion dollars?" Anna yelled into the kitchen. When he didn't answer her she started to think about her mother having half a billion dollars to do with as she pleased, and it pissed her off. She had never really gotten along with her mother; in fact, she hated her guts. She blamed her mother for her dad's death and for making her childhood seem to last a century. They had what the southerners call "a tolerable relationship." Anna had grown up in a small town about thirty minutes away from Opelika. When she had discovered that her mother was having an affair with the county sheriff, she told her father. He had simply folded up his newspaper and said, "Your mother has a great many secrets and she is not the kind of woman whose secrets you want to get involved in." And that was that! He never mentioned it again. He just lived his life normally, until he died unexpectedly six months later. On the day that he died of an unexplainable stomach ailment, he said to Anna, "I married a ghost." Anna was twelve at the time, and the day after the funeral her mom sold everything and took Anna across country. She would pick up and move after picking up a new boyfriend, using him, and then leaving abruptly.

Anna sat lips pursed and forehead furrowed thinking over her past, and somehow she slipped out, "He married a ghost." The hooded man set two cups of tea on the coffee table between them and looked at her confused. She glanced at him and said, "She's not Sara, is she?"

"You mean your mother? No, we found Sara in 1960. She was dying in a hospital in Lawrence Kansas. She had run away after her mother's death because she was afraid of the killers. It seems that she was in the house at the time of the murders, saw everything, and left before they could find her. When we told her that she was the daughter of another man, she just smiled and said that she had always known that she couldn't have been the daughter of such an evil man." As he talked, Anna noticed that he flipped the safety switch on his gun on and off, over and over. He seemed nervous, and kept looking out the window, as if he was waiting for something to happen.

"But how did my mother get into this mess?" Anna said, hoping to distract him from his nervous habit.

"Sara had been living in an apartment in Lawrence with a young woman who happened to look almost exactly like her. They became very close, so close, in fact, that Sara finally broke down and told her roommate the entire story...the murders, the money, the involvement by both the police and the bank, and of course the story of the pin. She had never known the true story of the pin, or the fact that there was a copy, but she knew that it was the only way she could prove herself as being Rose's daughter. She could perfectly describe the pin that her mother loved so much."

Anna began to feel a sickening feeling in her stomach; she knew how the story of the real Sara would be finished. She didn't want to hear the ending, but she couldn't move her lips to speak.

"Sara came down with a horrible case of the flu, at least that's what the doctor's back then thought it was. They couldn't figure out how to treat it, and she just died. We thought that that was the end of it, Sara was gone. But then in 1982 we hear about a woman whose husband died unexplainably from a stomach problem, and that her name is Sara. Mr. Luc knew that there was going to be trouble. He hired a doctor to figure out how the real Sara had died. He came back with an answer...ricin poisoning. We then found out by shear luck and a good paper trail that Sara's friend from Kansas had ordered a large amount of castor beans shortly before her husband's death. Ricin poison can be made from castor beans."

"My mother killed my father," Anna whispered.

"Yes, and Sara. And, we think she got Mark at the Opelika Inn since that is where she's been staying. We don't know why she killed him, but he probably stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time and saw the person she's been working with."

"What about Lily? How does she fit into this?"

"She's eight. Easy to bribe. She'll probably just sell the pin on EBay."

"Oh, my god! The pin is gone! I didn't even think about it!" Anna scrambled to find her keys and jacket, and then realized there was no reason to go get the pin back at that moment. Since she knew exactly where it was, it was safe. Everybody else thought that she was in possession of it, and in the meantime, she could just use the fake pin that was resting in the pocket of a man pretending to fly fish on her Persian carpet. Lily could hold on to the real one for now, Anna had bigger fish to catch. And fake bait, if well presented, is just as tasty. Anna sat back down, and rested her head on her knees. All at once, she had a whole new bag of questions she needed to open.


"Why did you shoot Kaelin?"

"Hey, you're intuitive too. Maybe you should ask yourself why he keeps following you around like a puppy." As the thoughts began racing around Anna's head like a dog on a track, she noticed that they had been talking into the evening, and that the headlights of a car had pulled into her driveway.

"I think it would be a good idea if you and Captain Cuckoo left out the back door."


Too be continued...

Today's Entry
As we are without a PTI entry today and are being denied access to our What-I-Would-Do-If-I-Ran-Fox entries reserve, we have appropriated a picture worth at least a few hundred words from the current entry in whaler Gus Openshaw's blog. We didn't exactly get his permission, but it looks like he won't be around to compain about it:


http://blubberybastard.tripod.com

Have a better weekend than Capt. Openshaw is having,

A.S.


Administrative Note:

Bubba's turn at PTI is in, terrific, and will be posted Monday.

Oops I Pooped In Your Bed
A heartwarming tale to tide you over until the next installment of PTI is off the presses...

Cheers,

A.S.


Oops I Pooped in Your Bed: The Beginning

by Bingo the Monkey



Maybe I should start at the beginning. Not the "my mommy shot me out and the sun burned my eyes" beginning. The beginning of my being in the music industry. For me, it really is an industry, child labor laws don't apply to monkeys. I arrived in Los Angeles with the hopes of being in movies, or at least animal porn. Either way, people would know me, people would love me. And, I'd finally lose my virginity.

But I soon found that the mean streets of LA are even meaner to out of work monkeys. I couldn't find work anywhere! I applied for the "monkey needed ASAP" gig at the zoo and they told me that I just wasn't what they were looking for. Apparently there's this other monkey named Marcel that fucked it up for the rest of us trying to make it big. "Your too old, your too young, your too monkey-like," this were just a few of the rejections I got along the way. I felt like the Debra Winger of the primate world. I couldn't find work. But I could always find a tall drink of banana malt liquor.

My nights were spent dancing naked for change on Sunset Blvd, right next to a nice lady with a face hairy then mine who called herself "Honeydew". She let me keep 70% of everything I made. Then, everyday I'd drag myself into whatever dive I could find, throw my 35 cents onto the counter and say, "A thimble of banana malt." I'd be wasted before the first thimble was drained, and telling wild jungle stories before I puked in somebody's shoes, which happened every night.

On my sixth day in LA, and after my first shot, (man, those are big!) I was doing my "This ones for my homies" routine, which involved peeing on the floor and yelling "Biiiaaatchh," as loud and incoherently as I could. It made everybody laugh, until the door opened up and let the light in.

"My eyes!! Mommy my eyes!!" I cried out, or at least I think I did. It could have been Stutters the homeless guy that lives under the bar.

"Oh my god, I am like so sorry, I didn't even think, like ever." The voice was coming from the most beautiful looking man I had ever seen. He reminded me of Honeydew, strong, blonde, and wearing practically nothing.

He went on to say, "Yeah, like I'm doing a lip synch, I mean routine on MTV and it's like going to be totally wild and stuff cause like I'm going to wear this like amazing piece of cloth and like my hair is going to be soo totally awesome and like the dancers are going to be doing this thing and whatever, and like I decided all by myself that I'd be holding this big ass snake and than, my manager said why not find a monkey to be in the background?"

I couldn't understand a word of what he was saying, I could only hear the sound of gum being chewed as loud as possible, and this high pitched squealing noise that sounded like a chipmunk dying. I was too drunk too care what he said, so I just reached up and said, "When I drink too much I get diarrhea."

"Oh my god you are like soo fucking cute! Wait until JT hears what you said, he'll like totally fucking die." And with that I was lifted off my chair by some giant dude with a name like "Skinny" or "Puppy" and thrown into the back of a white limo....

Pardon The Interuption Part 24. By T Rex
In the darkness, as the random thoughts and paranoid delusions began to magnify in the commotion of the power outage, Annabella felt a hand at the back of her head and a cloth with the unmistakable smell of chloroform being pressed to her face. As she lost consciousness she felt herself being lifted and carried away.

When she awoke, Anna was lying on a couch. She looked around the opulently appointed room. The lights were low and her head was aching from the chloroform. Her eyes rested upon a hooded figure in a jogging suit. She couldn't see his face, but she could see the cold blue steel of the 9mm pistol in his hand, pointed in her direction and resting on his knee.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"You're safe as long as you keep your seat and listen." He responded in a deep and soothing voice.

"Uh, no problem. Who are you?"

"I'm sorry to have had to collect you the way I did, but I was instructed by my employer to bring you in. I had intended to bring you in earlier, but you were with the policeman and that would have complicated things."

"You were the one, who left the voodoo curse on my door, weren't you?" Anna demanded.

"No. Someone else left that. He was just a messenger. You don't have to worry about him anymore. I took care of him for you. But there will be others." The jogger said, without a trace of excitement. "My employer has instructed me to protect you and that is what I will do."

"But who are you?" Anna asked again.

"I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you and that would defeat the purpose.' He replied matter of factly.

"Well then, who is your "employer?"

"I am." A frail voice from the other side of the room replied.

Anna turned her head to see an impeccably dressed old man entering the room. Though he walked with a cane, she could see remnants of the powerful presence he once commanded.

"My name is Jean Luc, but you can call me John."

Anna's mind raced. "Where... who..."

"I'm going to put part of this together for you and in turn, you're going to help me finish it" he said as he took his seat. "It isn't going to be easy for you to hear, but for the sake of the salvation of humanity, you must hear it." He said, as he lit his cigar.

With a curl of Cuban smoke rising in the air above him, he began. "In France in the 1920s, I was in partnership with the Union Bank, in a deal which was being directed by a young bank officer named Prescott Bush. Prescott liked to have leverage on people he dealt with. He found out that I had met and fell in love with a young American woman and had me followed to a jewelry store where I purchased a gift for her."

The pin and the matching pendant?" Anna asked

"Yes. Prescott knew that the woman I fell in love with was the daughter of a man who was deeply in debt to the bank, in a mortgage on his textile mill. With a twisted sense of humor, he had exact copies made, but with a different inscription. He gave them to the father of another man in the textile business to give to his son, with whom they had arranged a marriage to my beloved Rose. A marriage which would consolidate the textile industry in the southern United States and create enormous profits from the next war, which was inevitable.."

"Prescott Bush had the "Memento mori" pin made? That's where it came from?" Anna begged?

"Yes and the pendant as well. Perhaps now you can see how big this is, and how deep it runs. You know some of what happened in the years afterward. But what you don't know is that Prescott became a managing partner at a large investment banking firm, Brown Brothers and Harriman. In the years following Prescott began to have political ambitions and he began to back track and tried to clean up whatever loose ends he might have left, which could adversely affect the political dynasty he was intent on creating. What he found out was that his sick little joke had spun out of control and it had to be cleansed." He said, as he leaned forward in his chair.

Anna stammered. "Rose and Clyde?"

"Killed by Nazi agents at the direction of the Union Bank, which was then controlled by Brown Brothers and Harriman and made to look like a murder/suicide. But Anna, this is the part where you must be brave." He urged.

"When Anthony discovered the bodies of Rose and Clyde he somehow sensed that he and Sara were in danger. He convinced Sara to run away with him to Memphis Tennessee. In the course of the next few months, protecting and taking care of each other, they fell in love. Sara became pregnant with twins, but there was a problem. The twins were born with horrible primate like birth defects and almost completely insane. In the course of postnatal treatment the doctors discovered two things. First, that they both showed signs of Extra Sensory Perception, though it was unlikely that their brains would ever develop enough to harness that power. And second, that the birth defects were the result of an incestuous relationship. That Anthony and Sara were in fact, half brother and sister. You see Anna, Anthony was my son."

Anna felt faint. Her world was spinning as he continued.

"Stan and Sam were institutionalized by the State of Tennessee and Anthony and Sara, were unable to face each other. Sara changed her name and moved to New York where she met a man named Inigo Montoya"

"OH MY GOD" Anna screamed. "Do you mean to tell me that..."

"Yes Anna" he sighed. " Stan and Sam are your half brothers. And the pin found in Rose's body wasn't my pin which you now have, it was the copy.."

"But how could you know that? Anna asked cynically.

John pulled his hand from his right coat pocket and opened it for her to see. "Because I took it" he replied. "It was the only piece of evidence that pointed to the killer and I had to make sure it didn't end up in the wrong hands. I was determined to avenge her death myself, so to make sure that it wasn't lost or destroyed as a part of the conspiracy, I replaced it with the one that I had promised to give Rose all those years ago. I've kept it all this time. It was the first piece in a puzzle I've been putting together for over 60 years."

Anna couldn't feel her legs. She sat there completely numb.

"I need your help Anna. There are forces in the Bush family which command unspeakable power and they'll stop at nothing to bury the truth."


To be continued...

Party 23 by Luke
Anna finally gets a moment to ponder all that has happened. She takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, counts to 10, exhales, and when she opens her eyes she can see nothing but pure darkness. No alarm clocks, no bathroom lights, no little green flickers from her cable modem (yes they have them in Opelika), and no symphonic humming from the sounds of florescent lights mixing with the changing pitches of the laptop hard drive. Just silence and total darkness. She quickly realizes the construction sign she has been seeing for the last 2 days all over town:

POWER TO BE CUT TEMPORARILY ON JUNE 28TH FOR NEW CONSTRUCTION AT TIGER TOWN DEVELOPMENT

Isn't it funny how we block out the things we get used to seeing?

It is amazing what a little reflection time can cause. In this darkness Annabella is forced to deal with her inner thoughts, her deepest self, her very core. The distractions of the world are temporarily out of order, and in this moment of clarity it dawned on her. Something else was at work in this little town. (insert scary music)

Dan, the owner of Dealer Dan's Pawn, used to have the phone number 334-887-6777. It worked the first time Anna called it, but when she called Dan back the following day someone from "TRIMART" answered. Out of confusion Anna asked to whom she was speaking and where they were located and it turns out TRIMART was at 2040 Lee Road 137, Auburn, AL 36832. Anna discarded the info, until now, when it randomly came all flooding back to her in the midst of the silence.

Nothing is random. Everything happens for a reason. She didn't see it until now, but oh is it so very clear....

(334) 887-6777 now connects to 2040 Lee Road 137, Auburn, AL 36832

TRImart. Google it for yourselves, it's the truth.

Adding up the digits of the phone number (334) 887-6777 we get:

3+3+4+8+8+7+6+7+7+7 = 60 = 6+0 = 6

2040 Lee Road = 20+40 = 60 = 6+0 = 6

137, Auburn, Alabama 36832 = 1+3+7+3+6+8+3+2 = 33 = 3+3 = 6

3 numbers all adding up to 6. 6-6-6! TRImart. 666. Opelika shows its horns. (I can't help but thinking: What is next? Fall festivals 5 days early, and 5 haunted hay rides?!?) And finally... It all makes sense.

When "Momento Mori" and "Onia Vincit amor" are combined they provide the letters :

M o m e n t o m o r i o n i a v i n c i t a m o r

The statements were only elaborate red herrings crafted to throw the adults off the trail. The letters are an anagram for:

I'm an over common intimate minor.

It seems our 8 year old Lilly is up to something..

What Anna doesn't know yet is that she doesn't even exist. She is merely a collage of melded thought fashioned from another place and time. Lily is both her mother, and her creator. Sounds odd, but watch: Lily is actually the daughter of Rance, a love child from a crazy and wild trip to Cuba. She was born on Thursday, October 14th at 11:54 AM, to a woman Rance only knew as "numerals". Cubans were known for their workmanship with leaves (particularly their cigar rolling) but Nums' specialty was working with the Mediterranean evergreen tree. To this day if Rance smells the berries or leaves of the Laurus nobilis he is overcome with memories of Nums and his adventures in Cuba.

In order to quell his young daughter's boredom, Rance has commissioned her services as a script writer for his next project. Lily is no ordinary 8 year old as you will soon see. She is unchallenged with the nonsensical and futile efforts of the world as we think we know it. The specialists all told Rance she was "autistic", but growing up with so much social contact she quickly adapted to her environment and overcame the odds. Rance needed something new, something fresh, something not tainted by time's teeth, something coming from "elsewhere", something not apt to cave into all the societal conformities..... thus enter his 8 year old genius and her script ideas!

Annabell was picked by Lily as our lead out of spite. Wait till you see what happens to her at the end! Rance met her at a 5k run/walk event and was impressed by her time of 30:01. Lily didn't like the competition with her daddy, nor did she like the fact that Annabell's anagram was "Loony Mean Anal Bat". You see, there could be many anagrams for any given name, some positive, some good, but Lily seemed to stick with the first that came to mind, and she judged others according to her anagram "first impression". Lily didn't like loony mean anal bats. Come to think of it, I am not sure I do either.

Enough about Lily.... Something evil is about to awake in sleepy Opelika.....

Ps. Don't respond to the email titled "Re: llufy rag". He's the one behind the deception.

Pss. Oh ya, I almost forgot. Anthony, the gardener was only pretending to be Anthony. He was indeed having a love affair with Rose that dated back before Rose was even married! Anthony is John!!!..... (it took him years to perfect his broken English and yard work skills, but Clyde was easy to sell.)

Psss. Rance tends to spill anything and everything he eats, thus Lily depicted him with tobacco spit stains. It was a subtle punch that she knew only he would see.

Pssss. The journal entry: "February 16, 1927... Leaving today to be with my beloved John down in Chalmette.." ended so abruptly because at the moment Rose penned it she was swept off her feet with another one of John's surprises. The film "Marquise" was premiering in London and only the very wealthy could afford to see it. John had 2 train passes and tickets to the London premier! It was one of John and Rose's many spontaneous romantic getaways.


(to be continued)

Part 22 by Leibniz
for otis, the boredom had begun to settle in earlier than usual. he had driven this route before, and every bump and subtle swerve seemed to enjoy reminding him of it. "things could be worse," he reminded himself, sighing gently. it came as no surprise, then, that he felt a surge of interest at the crackle of the dispatcher's voice: a domestic disturbance at the opelika inn - not uncommon on auction weekends. still, it offered something other than the rather insipid routine of his beat.

the scene at the inn was rather gruesome - out of character, even for this side of town. as the first responding officer, his first obligations were to secure what was obviously a crime scene, and to request additional help. and so, waiting for assistance, he began to piece together those details he could gather.

there was a woman - no one he recognized, though that was not unusual on weekends such as this. she had obviously been involved: her tussled demeanor showed that clearly. the hotel clerk seemed to think that she had been in the room, though she had not checked in and had not been seen entering.

mike lay just outside the room in the hallway. otis had known mike only cursorily - booked him once on a possession charge. lying there,though, he looked so innocent. "wrong place at the wrong time, poor bastard," he mumbled to himself, noting the hole through the paper thin wall. it seemed clear to him now: someone had tried to prevent her from leaving; someone who was, perhaps, not the best shot.

according to raymond at the front desk, the room was registered under the name smith; an elderly gentleman, snappy dresser, big tipper. despite the fact that he kept mostly to his room, mr. smith was nowhere to be found, and otis made note of the rather conventional ring to his name. reporting his initial findings to deputy kaelin, he offered to help the coroner's assistant with the body, after which he returned upstairs to locate the woman. with time, she had begun to calm down enough to talk.

no sooner had he asked for her name, though, than his radio come alive with the hysterical shouts of a familiar voice. the woman's response had come slowly, and the intermixing of the two threw otis into momentary confusion. "excuse me, ma'am," he queried. "did you just say that your name is daisy montoya?"

"yes, i... anna? officer, is that my daughter's voice on your radio? what's going on?"

it did not occur to otis to answer the question as he stood trying to make sense of it all. realizing quickly that actions, not answers, were what the situation demanded, he set out for the hospital, mrs. montoya in tow. at the hospital, the pair found deputy kaelin in surgery; otis then led them to anna's room, where he found her trembling from the shock of recent events. offering her his handkerchief, he broke the silence. "i guess this has been quite an evening for you. is there anything i can get you?"

"i just need some answers..." replied anna as she raised her head. her eyes coming slowlyinto focus, anna gasped and then dropped the handkerchief as she recognized the disheveled figure behind otis's lanky frame. "mother?!? what are you doing here?"

otis tried to make sense of the rapidly developing conversation, though the two were obviously quite conscious of his presence. it seemed as though they were discussing the old canter murder/suicide case, but the intricacies of the discourse just didn't make sense to him.

"no, no, anna, you're wrong. clyde didn't kill my mother. he loved her, and she loved him... in her own way. you have to remember - this was a long time ago. she loved john deeply, but stayed married to clyde for a reason," daisy revealed with a sigh, a single tear sliding down her tired face. "i'm so sorry that i never told you... my mother and clyde had an... an agreement."

"it doesn't make any sense, mother. why would she have stayed with him,when she really loved john? and, if what you're saying is true, who killed them?"

"ask yourself this, anna: why was there never a decent investigation? who had access to the crime scene photos you mentioned finding at your home? who do you think tried to kill me earlier, and probably tried to kill kaelin tonight to stop this investigation?"

anna's confusion was obviously mounting. "i have no idea. what aren't you telling me, mother?"

"anna, rose wasn't the only one having an affair."

(to be continued)

Part 21 by Mystery Guest Blogger
Anna and the Deputy stepped into the 7-11 and marveled at the convenience of food, drink and lottery tickets.

"Have you ever won?" asked Anna.

"It's said that you can't win if you don't play" remarked the deputy.

The two laughed and returned to their journey. Driving along the highway, a thought suddenly occurred to Anna and she discretely looked at the Deputy's left hand which was resting on the steering wheel. She discovered no band on his wedding finger and found herself surprisingly pleased.

In order to look casual, she glanced out the passenger window and but it was not long before she had to turn and look back at the deputy. She noticed that the Deputy had taken off his hat and he had a softer look about him. He was no longer just an officer, he had become her friend.

"Will we be long at the hospital?" she asked.

"No. These things are usually quick. If you are still hungry, there is a cafeteria and we could get something to eat there once I'm finished."

The police car pulled up to the emergency room entrance. Deputy Kaelin shifted it into park and told Anna "Sit tight. I'll get your door."

He stepped out of the car and as he rounded the trunk he heard it. POP POP! Then he felt it. Twice. He heard the running of footsteps as he hit the trunk before he hit the ground.

"Oh my god!" screamed Anna. She ducked down in the car, grabbed the police radio and screamed into it "Officer down! Officer down! Deputy Kaelin has been shot outside of the hospital!".

She jumped out of the car and ran to the deputy's side.

"Anna get back in the car! The area is not secure." he said as he tried to reach for his gun.

"Oh my god, you are bleeding" she gasped.

By that time the emergency personnel, who had heard the shots, were surrounding the couple.

"Let's get him on a gurney"

"Let's get her out of here."

Anna and the Deputy were rushed into the emergency room. As he was rolling along on the gurney he called out to her "Anna...don't leave without me..there's something I need to tell you!"

Anna was taken to a private room by a nurse who treated her head wound. After she was cleaned up and bandaged, the nurse told Anna to wait and that they would give her news on the Deputy's condition as soon as they could.

Anna sat on the edge of the hospital bed and looked down at her shoes. She saw a drop of water land on the toe of her black boots and realized that she was crying.

"What I am a crying for?" she thought.

For an evening that started so simply?

For a pin that cannot disclose it's past?

For a family she never knew?

For a lunatic and his twin?

For a missing little girl with a longing to connect her past?

For the gruesome crime scene photos?

For the body in the bag now at the morgue?

For the fear that was gripping her chest?

For the hunger that was gripping her stomach?

For the pain that was gripping her heart?

For a man she'd only spent an evening with?

For whatever it was he needed to tell her?

Anna was in shock and full of emotion. Her hands trembled as she raised them to cover her face. She tried to control her sobs but they leaked out, much like the tears from her eyes.

Suddenly a hand was in front of her, holding out a perfectly folded handkerchief.

"I guess this has been quite an evening for you. Is there anything I can get you?" a voice asked.

"I just need some answers" replied Anna while dabbing her eyes.

"Well you are in the right place at the right time Ms. Montoya."

Anna looked up to see who the voice was coming from.

She gasped and then dropped the handkerchief...

(to be continued)

Pardon the Interruption Part 20 by Lisa Marie
An executive producer, a lovely young woman, who had gotten lucky on a screen play out of college that won her an Oscar and much respect in the industry looked out the window of her Los Angeles office. Noting that the sky was it's usually smoggy gray.

"Rancette, I am a bit disappointed that the casting has not worked out on this film. And I have decided that maybe we were too hasty in letting you go several weeks ago." I said in a stern voice. Not happy about how the situation had progressed. Looking down at the list and shaking my head.


CAST LIST

DEPUTY KATO KAELIN ... Kato Kaelin [crossed out] Brad Pitt [crossed out] Rance [crossed out] Kevin Bacon

ANNA MONTOYA ... Anna Paquin [crossed out] Jennifer Lopez

SAM ... Matthew Settle

STAN ... Marton Csokas

ROSE HAYGOOD ... Connie Nielsen

CLYDE CANTER ... Paul Bettany

MR. BUD ... John C. Reilly

LILY ... Perla Haney-Jardine

SARA ...Drew Barrymore

JOGGER ... Kevin Spacey

BILL ... David Carradine


"We have gone through 3 different leading men, and now we are up to Kevin Bacon. And are you really sure that Jennifer Lopez is right for the role of Anna?" I turned around and looked at the young, well dressed brunette who sat uncomfortably in the chair facing my desk. I loved that my office was so intimidating to most of Hollywood.

"LM, look you know that when this started we wanted Kato Kaelin for the lead, and you and the producer decided not to go with him. Brad Pitt was clearly out of your price range and Rance backed out when Paquin turned down the role and you cast J-Lo." Rancette said firmly, not as intimidated by the office and the power of the entertainment executive that stood starring out the window. She was excited that she was back on this film. To hell with what her agent told her, she was destined to cast this film.

"Lets not even go down the path of how wrong a choice J-Lo is going to be." I shook my head, J-Lo, please.

Rancette crossed her legs and held back a look of disgust how badly the situation had deteriorated since she left. "Well who would you suggest for a leading lady? We need to get Kevin Bacon locked in for this, I think for it to be successful we need to have a name on this film."

"Hmmm that is a good question. Not that I have a thing against Jennifer, I just think that this role might need a little more, substance. And I am fine with Kevin, you are right about us needing some star branding on this film." I sat down at my desk and rubbed my eyes. I could feel a migraine starting and this was just the beginning of the day.

"Well you know I have two thoughts, maybe we swap Drew Barrymore into the role of Anna and put in maybe a Jennifer Gardner into the role of Sara." Rancette suggested.

LM looked at the casting director and decided that maybe it was a mistake firing her a few weeks back. "That has possibilities. Make some phone calls. Hey do you think if we get rid of J-Lo we could possibly get Rance?"

Rancette shook her head sadly, "No, I think that we might have burned that bridge LM"

"Well that is probably for the best, he would probably want to take over the script anyway. Thanks Rancette." LM said, clearly dismissing the casting director.

Rancette got up from her seat and took her exit from the office. She had quite a few phone calls to make. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to give Rance a call. And oh how much fun is it going to be to pull the rug out from underneath J-Lo.


......



I watched Rancette walk out, glad to have someone finally working on the casting for this film. It had barely started and it was clearly looking to be severely over budget. Rance...pffft, fat chance we will get him back after the Jennifer Lopez blunder.

Time for the next problem, picking up the phone and quickly dialing.

"Hello, yes this is LM. ... No I haven't read the latest draft of the script... Yes I think we will keep the PG-13 rating, but I don't know if we start getting to graphic....No I don't think we will get any full frontal, but if our leading man changes we might have to consider that....Alright, I will ignore the last draft and wait for the next script. Okay, thanks RDD" I hung up the phone and smiled, thank god that RDD was on this film, otherwise it has zero hope of getting completed.


(to be continued)

PTI Part 19 by MsLauren
Anna watched them load the gurney into the back of the
ambulance, her mind racing from everything she'd been
through since the auction.

"What if..." Anna said out loud to herself, looking back
at the file and the pictures again.

She looked at the photos, doing her best to clear her
mind of everything but what she'd been told about
Clyde, Rose and Sara. What if the dead man in the
photos was John and not Clyde? What if Clyde had
killed Rose and John and staged it all to look like a,
his, murder-suicide and then had taken off with Sara?
Anna's mother had always been very vague about her
past. Anna knew next to nothing about her mother's
family. She'd never met her grandfather on her
mother's side of the family, and most definitely not
her grandmother on that side of the family.

Anna allowed these thoughts to fester in her mind as
she watched the deputy walk from the Inn back toward
the car. It didn't explain everything, but it would
certainly explain a few very important details. Anna
also found herself wondering....what if Sara wasn't
Clyde's child either? What if Sara was also the
product of Rose and John's elicit affair? What if
Clyde knew what was going on all along? What if....

Anna's reverie was broken by the snap of the deputy's
fingers in front of her face.

"Hey, you okay? You with me?" the deputy asked,
concerned that Anna's head wound was more serious than
he'd initially thought.

"I'm...I'm better," Anna replied, surprised to find she
actually meant it.

"Would you mind terribly coming with me to the
hospital to talk to the coroner? I'd rather not leave
you alone again, given everything that's happened,
and, well...your head looks like it needs to be attended
to."

"That'd be fine," Anna answered, realizing that
although she was starting to feel better she was still
suffering from a nasty headache, "But I'm starving, so
we need to stop off at the nearest convenient store
for me to get some snacks so I don't pass out from low
blood sugar."

"Sure thing," Deputy Kaelin replied as he started up
the car.

"You know, this is all Aaron Boone's fault," Anna
said, laughing.

"I'm sorry, who?"

"You don't follow baseball, do you?"

"No, I'm sorry, I don't."

"My divorce. The straw that broke the camel's back
between me and my husband, Ben, was game 7 of last
year's American League Championship Series."

"You got divorced over baseball?"

"No, we got divorced for many other reasons, but when
I had to throw him out of the house over his temper
tantrum when the Red Sox lost to the Yankees yet
again, I knew it was time. I guess that's what I get
for marrying an irrational Red Sox fan."

"And now you're knee deep in a murder mystery," Deputy
Kaelin said, pulling into the parking lot of the local
Seven Eleven.

"And now I'm finding out that sometimes life can turn
out like an episode of `Twin Peaks.'"