Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="CeeCee72" data-source="post: 211878" data-attributes="member: 5055">I don&#039;t own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended..This is a &quot;What if?&quot; fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode &quot;Top Gun&quot; Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO?***What IfPart 6***&quot;Dammit!&quot;JR slammed the phone down hard on it&#039;s cradle and pounded his fist on the desk. The police were getting nowhere finding out what caused the rig explosion or who had broken into Southfork the night before.&quot;Useless bastards,&quot; he growled. He pushed the intercom button forcefully, &quot;Sly,&quot; he barked, &quot;get Harry McSween on the phone!&quot;&quot;Right away, JR,&quot; came Sly&#039;s reply.JR sat back in his chair and rubbed his aching temples. He was no closer to getting answers today than he had been last night. The explosion was bad enough, but knowing someone had broken into his home and threatened his family was chewing him up on the inside. What kind of a man couldn&#039;t protect his family in their own home?His family… he frowned when it occurred to him that soon his family would be leaving Southfork for good. Harv Smithfield had called him earlier and told him Sue Ellen&#039;s lawyer had accepted the separation agreement and he expected to have the signed papers delivered to his office later today.Sue Ellen…What he had said to her last night was true. He really never believed it was possible for him to lose her for good. All his schemes, all his affairs...she&#039;d always taken him back. When he took up with Kimberly, he&#039;d only done it to get back Ewing Oil. Oh, he&#039;d promised Kimberly he&#039;d divorce Sue Ellen and marry her, but he&#039;d never intended to follow through. Even when he set Sue Ellen up to catch him in bed with Kimberly, it was only to make her mad enough to leave him temporarily. He&#039;d always planned to win Sue Ellen back once he&#039;d gotten everything he wanted from Kimberly.&quot;The best laid plans,&quot; he.mumbled to himself.&quot;JR?&quot; Sly poked her head into his office, &quot;Detective McSween is on line three, and Ms. Cryder is here. She doesn&#039;t have an appointment, but she said it was important.&quot;What does that awful woman want with me, JR thought to himself. &quot;Give me a few minutes to talk to Harry then send her in,&quot; he instructed. Sly nodded and disappeared.JR snatched up the phone, &quot;Harry? You find Lisa yet?&quot;JR had asked Harry to track down Christopher&#039;s biological paternal aunt. She was at the top of his list of suspects for last night&#039;s break in.&quot;You&#039;re sure?&quot; JR snapped. &quot;Alright, fine. Any luck locating that crazy Wentworth bitch?&quot; Pam and Cliff&#039;s little sister also had a motive for terrorizing Christopher. &quot;Right. Well, keep trying, Harry.&quot;JR hung up the phone just in time to see Kimberly Cryder sashay into his office. &quot;Did I catch you at a bad time, JR?&quot;&quot;Anytime I have to deal with you is a bad time, Kimberly. What the hell do you want?&quot;&quot;Oh come on, JR,&quot; she laughed, gracefully sitting in a chair across from his desk, &quot;I seem to recall the two of us having some good times...some VERY good times.&quot;&quot;They weren&#039;t that good,&quot; JR snapped. &quot;I was only with you because I wanted your daddy&#039;s company.&quot;&quot;Oh, I know, JR,&quot; she laughed bitterly. &quot;You never really intended to marry me. How ironic it is that after all your scheming it was your wife who gave you control of Weststar and not me?&quot;JR said nothing, letting his stony silence speak for him.&quot;How is Sue Ellen, by the way?&quot; Kimberly asked sweetly. &quot;Or do you not know? Rumor has it you moved out of Southfork and filed for divorce.&quot;&quot;Sue Ellen is fine,&quot; JR shot back, not wanting to give Kimberly the satisfaction of knowing the truth, &quot;I was with her last night. And I haven&#039;t filed for divorce, regardless of what you&#039;ve heard. Now, I&#039;m not going to ask you again. What do you want?&quot;&quot;I just wanted to see if you were enjoying sitting in my daddy&#039;s chair, and to tell you not to get too comfortable there,&quot; she replied cooly. &quot;I still own a large chunk of stock in this company and so does Jeremy Wendell.&quot;&quot;So?&quot; JR replied, &quot;between my stock and Sue Ellen&#039;s I control more than enough shares to keep the two of you from causing me any trouble.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s true, JR,&quot; she conceded, &quot;but the key is Sue Ellen, isn&#039;t it? I&#039;m guessing it won&#039;t be too long before you cross her again, and when you do, who knows what she&#039;ll do with her Weststar stock? Honestly, JR, I&#039;m surprised you&#039;re okay with any woman - even Sue Ellen - holding that much power over you.&quot;&quot;Sue Ellen already proved where she stands on this, and it&#039;s by my side.&quot;&quot;Yes...for now…&quot; Kimberly stood up and moved toward the door. &quot;Just remember, JR, women are unpredictable. You never know what they&#039;re going to do and when they&#039;re going to do it. Oh, one other thing, JR, as a major stake holder, I expect you to provide a full report about Sunday&#039;s rig explosion. We lost three men, a lot of equipment, and a lot of money. The board expects to know what happened and how you intend to ensure it doesn&#039;t happen again. You&#039;re not running a small independent oil company anymore, JR. You have stockholders to answer to, and we won&#039;t look the other way on your incompetence.JR watched her leave his office and close the door behind her. &quot;Bitch,&quot; he growled, turning back to the phone on his desk. He picked up the receiver&nbsp; and violently punched numbers. &quot;Harv Smithfield,&quot; he growled. &quot;I don&#039;t care how busy he is. You tell him JR Ewing wants to talk to him right now.&quot; He had to wait only a few seconds before Harv came on the line. &quot;Has Sue Ellen&#039;s lawyer sent the signed papers over yet?&quot; JR paused as he listened to Harv&#039;s response. &quot;Good. Don&#039;t accept them. I want some changes made. How quick can you get over here?&quot;***&quot;Sue Ellen? Sue Ellen?&quot;Sue Ellen snapped out of her daze and looked up to see Ray standing over her. &quot;I&#039;m sorry, Ray. What did you say?&quot;&quot;I said&nbsp; the locksmith is done changing all the locks. Here&#039;s your new key.&quot;&quot;Thank you, Ray,&quot; she reached out and took the key from his outstretched hand.&quot;You get the new code for the alarm?&quot; he asked.&quot;Yes, thank you, Ray. Clayton gave it to me this morning.&quot;&quot;Good,&quot; Ray replied. He lifted his hand and moved his hat further back on his head. &quot;You know Sue Ellen, I sure would feel a lot better about things if JR was staying here at night.&quot;Sue Ellen looked up at him and shrugged. &quot;JR is free to come and go as he pleases.&quot;&quot;Can I sit down?&quot; Ray asked her hesitantly.&quot;Of course,&quot; Sue Ellen smiled, gesturing to a chair across from her at the patio table.&quot;Listen, Sue Ellen,&quot; Ray began cautiously as he took a seat, &quot;I don&#039;t want to get into your personal business, but Miss Ellie said JR wasn&#039;t staying here because you asked him not to.&quot;&quot;When have you ever known JR to do anything simply because I asked him to?&quot; Sue Ellen asked. &quot;It&#039;s true I told him I didn&#039;t want to live under the same roof as him, but last night I asked him to stay. Truthfully, I&#039;d feel better if he were here too.&quot;&quot;Good,&quot; Ray nodded. &quot;I&#039;ll give him a call and tell him he needs to come home.&quot;Sue Ellen laughed.&quot;Something funny?&quot; Ray asked harshly.&quot;Just that you think JR will come home just because you call him.&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t think he&#039;ll come home because I call him, Sue Ellen. I think he&#039;ll come home because he loves his family and wants to keep them safe.&quot;Sue Ellen shrugged her shoulders and turned away from him. &quot;Yes. He&#039;ll want to keep a close eye on John Ross.&quot;&quot;On John Ross,&quot; Ray agreed, &quot;and on Christopher and Miss Ellie and on you too, Sue Ellen. I know JR is a real bastard sometimes, but he DOES love you. And it&#039;s not like you&#039;ve always behaved perfectly in regard to your marriage vows either.&quot;Sue Ellen&#039;s head snapped around and her eyes jerked up to meet his.&quot;Don&#039;t worry, Sue Ellen,&quot; he laughed bitterly, &quot;I&#039;ve never told a single soul about that long ago night between you and me and I never will. I just want you to remember JR isn&#039;t the only one around here with a pile of dirty laundry.&quot;Sue Ellen was too shocked to respond. In all these years, neither she nor Ray had mentioned their night of wild sex. They both had moved on with their lives and their relationship as inlaws as if it had never happened.&quot;Hell, Sue Ellen,&quot; Ray sighed, &quot;I don&#039;t hold it against you. I know you were drunk and lonely and desperate for attention. I wouldn&#039;t be bringing it up now if I didn&#039;t think you needed a little shove in the right direction.&quot;&quot;What direction is that, Ray?&quot;&quot;The direction of letting JR live peacefully in this house until we catch whoever broke in here last night.&quot;&quot;So...you don&#039;t think it was Christopher&#039;s imagination?&quot; Sue Ellen asked, grateful for the chance to change in subject.&quot;No. I agree with JR. Christopher screamed and him and Bobby both got to his bedroom within seconds. There wasn&#039;t enough time for Christopher - or anyone else to have made that mess and get back in their beds.&quot;&quot;Maybe,&quot; Sue Ellen sighed, &quot;but how could an intruder get out of the house so fast? JR took off as soon as we heard the crash.&quot;&quot;Think about it&nbsp; Sue Ellen. All he had to do was turn and run down the stairs. He probably waited for JR and Bobby to get inside Christopher&#039;s bedroom then calmly walked out the front door.&quot;&quot;That&#039;s a terrifying thought,&quot; Sue Ellen chewed at her lower lip.&quot;Yeah it is,&quot; Ray agreed. &quot;And I&#039;ll tell you something else. Whoever it was has been in this house before. He knew exactly where Christopher&#039;s room was.&quot;&quot;Oh, Ray…&quot; Sue Ellen&#039;s&nbsp; hand flew to her mouth.&quot;Whoever it was didn&#039;t steal anything, didn&#039;t touch anything. Seems like he came in the house and made a beeline for Christopher&#039;s room. So do you understand why it&#039;s important for JR to come home?&quot;&quot;Yes, yes,&quot; Sue Ellen nodded her head. &quot;I promise I won&#039;t make any trouble.&quot;&quot;Good,&quot; Ray stood up. &quot;I&#039;ll call him now and tell him to get his tail home.&quot;***&quot;Don&#039;t worry, Christopher,&quot; John Ross said solemnly, &quot;you can sleep in my room with me until they catch the bad man.&quot;&quot;Thanks, John Ross,&quot; Christopher was trying hard not to cry. &quot;I wish my daddy believed me. He thinks I was having a bad dream.&quot;&quot;MY daddy believes you! And he&#039;ll catch the bad man. Uncle Ray believes you too.&quot;&quot;I promise I wasn&#039;t dreaming, John Ross. Somebody was in my room last night.&quot;&quot;I know Christopher.&quot;&quot;Do you think Aunt Sue Ellen believes me?&quot;&quot;Sure she does. Mama knows you wouldn&#039;t lie about it. She&#039;ll help keep you safe. She stayed with us &#039;til we fell asleep last night, holding your hand, didn&#039;t she?&quot;&quot;Yeah,&quot; Christopher looked down at the floor. &quot;I miss my mommy, John Ross,&quot; he whispered.&quot;I know. But I&#039;ll share my mama with you until your mama comes back, okay?&quot;&quot;You&#039;ll have to share her forever then, &#039;cause Daddy said my mommy is never coming back,&quot; Christopher&#039;s bravery failed him and tears rolled down his cheeks.&quot;Hey, don&#039;t cry,&quot; John Ross moved to awkwardly hug his younger cousin.&quot;You two okay in here?&quot;&quot;Christopher&#039;s upset.&quot;&quot;I don&#039;t blame him,&quot; Lucy said, moving from the doorway into the room. &quot;Last night was really scary.&quot;Lucy sat down on the floor and held her arms out. Christopher let go of John Ross, climbed into her lap, and let her wrap her arms around him. &quot;Everything will work out,&quot; she promised, stroking his hair.&quot;Thanks, Lucy,&quot; John Ross said.&quot;Hey, no worries&quot;&quot; she winked at John Ross. &quot;Us cousins gotta stick together.&quot;***&quot;I have several of the hands watching the house,&quot; Ray said, coming into the living room where the rest of the Ewings had gathered for pre-dinner drinks. &quot;I think we have all our bases covered.&quot;&quot;Thank you, Ray,&quot; Miss Ellie said. &quot;Will you be staying for dinner?&quot;&quot;No, Miss Ellie, I better get on home.&quot;&quot;Did you talk to JR?&quot; Sue Ellen asked.&quot;Yeah. He should be home any minute.&quot;&quot;Just great,&quot; Lucy rolled her eyes. &quot;I was enjoying the break.&quot;&quot;Lucy!&quot; Miss Ellie gasped.&quot;What?&quot; Lucy asked innocently. &quot;Come on. I&#039;m sure I&#039;m not the only one!&quot;Clayton burst out laughing, then cleared his throat and looked away from Miss Ellie&#039;s disapproving glare. &quot;I didn&#039;t say a word,&quot; he told her.&quot;Good evening,&quot; JR said, sauntering into the room and heading straight to the bar. &quot;How&#039;s everyone doing tonight?&quot; He addressed the question to the whole family, but his eyes were fixed on Sue Ellen.&quot;Everyone&#039;s fine, JR,&quot; Bobby told him. &quot;Was your guy able to find out anything?&quot;JR finished making his drink and shrugged. &quot;Lisa is still in California. Her presence last night is accounted for. No luck finding Katherine, but he&#039;s still trying.&quot;&quot;Any other suspects we should know about JR?&quot; Ray asked.&quot;No, no. None that I can think of.&quot;&quot;Just asking. It&#039;s not like this would be the first time you brought a dangerous problem home from the office.&quot;&quot;Now Ray,&quot; JR drawled, never taking his eyes off Sue Ellen, &quot;if I thought what happened last night had anything to do with my business, I&#039;d say so.&quot;&quot;Sure you would, JR,&quot; Ray said sarcastically.&quot;Well, I have to wonder if we all aren&#039;t over reacting,&quot; Bobby said. &quot;It&#039;s very possible Christopher dreamed the whole thing.&quot;&quot;He didn&#039;t dream that mess in the hallway, Bob,&quot; JR replied, sipping on his drink.Sue Ellen suddenly became very aware that JR was staring at her intently. &quot;Something wrong, JR?&quot; she asked breathlessly.&quot;No, no,&quot; JR answered sheepishly, &quot;just wonderin&#039; how your day went.&quot;&quot;It was fine, JR.&quot;&quot;Did you go to the office?&quot;&quot;No. I thought it would be best to stay here for Christopher.&quot;&quot;Fine, fine,&quot; JR said distractedly. &quot;You certainly look lovely tonight, Sue Ellen.&quot;&quot;Thank you, JR,&quot; Sue Ellen blushed and looked away.Ray cleared his throat to remind JR there were other people in the room. &quot;Well, now that you&#039;re home JR, I&#039;ll be heading back to my place.&quot;&quot;Oh, I&#039;ll walk you out Ray,&quot; JR said, &quot;I want to talk to you about the new security system.&quot;Sue Ellen felt a little dazed. Why had JR been watching her so closely? Was he worried she would make a scene about him being back at Southfork? She was snapped out of her daze by the sound of a ringing phone.&quot;Excuse me,&quot; Teresa appeared in front of her. &quot;Miss Sue Ellen, there&#039;s a call for you.&quot;&quot;Thank you, Teresa,&quot; Sue Ellen stood up and glided gracefully to the phone in the foyer. JR watched her from the corner of his eye while he and Bobby and Ray talked about security. He saw her eyes narrow and her back stiffen and he tensed his body for the scene he knew was coming.Sue Ellen slammed down the phone and turned her angry glare on him. &quot;How dare you, JR!&quot; she hissed. She stalked over to him and before he had time to react, lifted her fist and socked him right in the jaw. JR cried out as he lost his balance and tipped over, landing squarely on his backside right at Ray&#039;s feet.&quot;You bastard!&quot; Sue Ellen screamed, kicking him in the shin for good measure before turning to run up the stairs.&quot;What the hell, JR?&quot; Ray asked, too shocked to give into the laughter he felt bubbling up in his throat.&quot;Well,&quot; JR grinned in spite of the situation. He rubbed at his jaw where Sue Ellen had punched him, &quot;I guess her divorce lawyer finally got around to calling her.&quot;&quot;JR, what did you do?&quot; Bobby growled.&quot;Nothing that didn&#039;t need doing, Bob,&quot; JR said ruefully, &quot;nothing that didn&#039;t need doing.&quot;***</blockquote>

[QUOTE="CeeCee72, post: 211878, member: 5055"] I don't own any of the characters in this story and no copyright infringement is intended.. This is a "What if?" fanfic. What if in the season eleven episode "Top Gun" Sue Ellen had changed her mind at the last possible moment and instead of teaming up with Kimberly and Wendell to beat JR she voted her Weststar shares to make him CEO? *** What If Part 6 *** "Dammit!" JR slammed the phone down hard on it's cradle and pounded his fist on the desk. The police were getting nowhere finding out what caused the rig explosion or who had broken into Southfork the night before. "Useless bastards," he growled. He pushed the intercom button forcefully, "Sly," he barked, "get Harry McSween on the phone!" "Right away, JR," came Sly's reply. JR sat back in his chair and rubbed his aching temples. He was no closer to getting answers today than he had been last night. The explosion was bad enough, but knowing someone had broken into his home and threatened his family was chewing him up on the inside. What kind of a man couldn't protect his family in their own home? His family… he frowned when it occurred to him that soon his family would be leaving Southfork for good. Harv Smithfield had called him earlier and told him Sue Ellen's lawyer had accepted the separation agreement and he expected to have the signed papers delivered to his office later today. Sue Ellen… What he had said to her last night was true. He really never believed it was possible for him to lose her for good. All his schemes, all his affairs...she'd always taken him back. When he took up with Kimberly, he'd only done it to get back Ewing Oil. Oh, he'd promised Kimberly he'd divorce Sue Ellen and marry her, but he'd never intended to follow through. Even when he set Sue Ellen up to catch him in bed with Kimberly, it was only to make her mad enough to leave him temporarily. He'd always planned to win Sue Ellen back once he'd gotten everything he wanted from Kimberly. "The best laid plans," he.mumbled to himself. "JR?" Sly poked her head into his office, "Detective McSween is on line three, and Ms. Cryder is here. She doesn't have an appointment, but she said it was important." What does that awful woman want with me, JR thought to himself. "Give me a few minutes to talk to Harry then send her in," he instructed. Sly nodded and disappeared. JR snatched up the phone, "Harry? You find Lisa yet?" JR had asked Harry to track down Christopher's biological paternal aunt. She was at the top of his list of suspects for last night's break in. "You're sure?" JR snapped. "Alright, fine. Any luck locating that crazy Wentworth bitch?" Pam and Cliff's little sister also had a motive for terrorizing Christopher. "Right. Well, keep trying, Harry." JR hung up the phone just in time to see Kimberly Cryder sashay into his office. "Did I catch you at a bad time, JR?" "Anytime I have to deal with you is a bad time, Kimberly. What the hell do you want?" "Oh come on, JR," she laughed, gracefully sitting in a chair across from his desk, "I seem to recall the two of us having some good times...some VERY good times." "They weren't that good," JR snapped. "I was only with you because I wanted your daddy's company." "Oh, I know, JR," she laughed bitterly. "You never really intended to marry me. How ironic it is that after all your scheming it was your wife who gave you control of Weststar and not me?" JR said nothing, letting his stony silence speak for him. "How is Sue Ellen, by the way?" Kimberly asked sweetly. "Or do you not know? Rumor has it you moved out of Southfork and filed for divorce." "Sue Ellen is fine," JR shot back, not wanting to give Kimberly the satisfaction of knowing the truth, "I was with her last night. And I haven't filed for divorce, regardless of what you've heard. Now, I'm not going to ask you again. What do you want?" "I just wanted to see if you were enjoying sitting in my daddy's chair, and to tell you not to get too comfortable there," she replied cooly. "I still own a large chunk of stock in this company and so does Jeremy Wendell." "So?" JR replied, "between my stock and Sue Ellen's I control more than enough shares to keep the two of you from causing me any trouble." "That's true, JR," she conceded, "but the key is Sue Ellen, isn't it? I'm guessing it won't be too long before you cross her again, and when you do, who knows what she'll do with her Weststar stock? Honestly, JR, I'm surprised you're okay with any woman - even Sue Ellen - holding that much power over you." "Sue Ellen already proved where she stands on this, and it's by my side." "Yes...for now…" Kimberly stood up and moved toward the door. "Just remember, JR, women are unpredictable. You never know what they're going to do and when they're going to do it. Oh, one other thing, JR, as a major stake holder, I expect you to provide a full report about Sunday's rig explosion. We lost three men, a lot of equipment, and a lot of money. The board expects to know what happened and how you intend to ensure it doesn't happen again. You're not running a small independent oil company anymore, JR. You have stockholders to answer to, and we won't look the other way on your incompetence. JR watched her leave his office and close the door behind her. "Bitch," he growled, turning back to the phone on his desk. He picked up the receiver and violently punched numbers. "Harv Smithfield," he growled. "I don't care how busy he is. You tell him JR Ewing wants to talk to him right now." He had to wait only a few seconds before Harv came on the line. "Has Sue Ellen's lawyer sent the signed papers over yet?" JR paused as he listened to Harv's response. "Good. Don't accept them. I want some changes made. How quick can you get over here?" *** "Sue Ellen? Sue Ellen?" Sue Ellen snapped out of her daze and looked up to see Ray standing over her. "I'm sorry, Ray. What did you say?" "I said the locksmith is done changing all the locks. Here's your new key." "Thank you, Ray," she reached out and took the key from his outstretched hand. "You get the new code for the alarm?" he asked. "Yes, thank you, Ray. Clayton gave it to me this morning." "Good," Ray replied. He lifted his hand and moved his hat further back on his head. "You know Sue Ellen, I sure would feel a lot better about things if JR was staying here at night." Sue Ellen looked up at him and shrugged. "JR is free to come and go as he pleases." "Can I sit down?" Ray asked her hesitantly. "Of course," Sue Ellen smiled, gesturing to a chair across from her at the patio table. "Listen, Sue Ellen," Ray began cautiously as he took a seat, "I don't want to get into your personal business, but Miss Ellie said JR wasn't staying here because you asked him not to." "When have you ever known JR to do anything simply because I asked him to?" Sue Ellen asked. "It's true I told him I didn't want to live under the same roof as him, but last night I asked him to stay. Truthfully, I'd feel better if he were here too." "Good," Ray nodded. "I'll give him a call and tell him he needs to come home." Sue Ellen laughed. "Something funny?" Ray asked harshly. "Just that you think JR will come home just because you call him." "I don't think he'll come home because I call him, Sue Ellen. I think he'll come home because he loves his family and wants to keep them safe." Sue Ellen shrugged her shoulders and turned away from him. "Yes. He'll want to keep a close eye on John Ross." "On John Ross," Ray agreed, "and on Christopher and Miss Ellie and on you too, Sue Ellen. I know JR is a real bastard sometimes, but he DOES love you. And it's not like you've always behaved perfectly in regard to your marriage vows either." Sue Ellen's head snapped around and her eyes jerked up to meet his. "Don't worry, Sue Ellen," he laughed bitterly, "I've never told a single soul about that long ago night between you and me and I never will. I just want you to remember JR isn't the only one around here with a pile of dirty laundry." Sue Ellen was too shocked to respond. In all these years, neither she nor Ray had mentioned their night of wild sex. They both had moved on with their lives and their relationship as inlaws as if it had never happened. "Hell, Sue Ellen," Ray sighed, "I don't hold it against you. I know you were drunk and lonely and desperate for attention. I wouldn't be bringing it up now if I didn't think you needed a little shove in the right direction." "What direction is that, Ray?" "The direction of letting JR live peacefully in this house until we catch whoever broke in here last night." "So...you don't think it was Christopher's imagination?" Sue Ellen asked, grateful for the chance to change in subject. "No. I agree with JR. Christopher screamed and him and Bobby both got to his bedroom within seconds. There wasn't enough time for Christopher - or anyone else to have made that mess and get back in their beds." "Maybe," Sue Ellen sighed, "but how could an intruder get out of the house so fast? JR took off as soon as we heard the crash." "Think about it Sue Ellen. All he had to do was turn and run down the stairs. He probably waited for JR and Bobby to get inside Christopher's bedroom then calmly walked out the front door." "That's a terrifying thought," Sue Ellen chewed at her lower lip. "Yeah it is," Ray agreed. "And I'll tell you something else. Whoever it was has been in this house before. He knew exactly where Christopher's room was." "Oh, Ray…" Sue Ellen's hand flew to her mouth. "Whoever it was didn't steal anything, didn't touch anything. Seems like he came in the house and made a beeline for Christopher's room. So do you understand why it's important for JR to come home?" "Yes, yes," Sue Ellen nodded her head. "I promise I won't make any trouble." "Good," Ray stood up. "I'll call him now and tell him to get his tail home." *** "Don't worry, Christopher," John Ross said solemnly, "you can sleep in my room with me until they catch the bad man." "Thanks, John Ross," Christopher was trying hard not to cry. "I wish my daddy believed me. He thinks I was having a bad dream." "MY daddy believes you! And he'll catch the bad man. Uncle Ray believes you too." "I promise I wasn't dreaming, John Ross. Somebody was in my room last night." "I know Christopher." "Do you think Aunt Sue Ellen believes me?" "Sure she does. Mama knows you wouldn't lie about it. She'll help keep you safe. She stayed with us 'til we fell asleep last night, holding your hand, didn't she?" "Yeah," Christopher looked down at the floor. "I miss my mommy, John Ross," he whispered. "I know. But I'll share my mama with you until your mama comes back, okay?" "You'll have to share her forever then, 'cause Daddy said my mommy is never coming back," Christopher's bravery failed him and tears rolled down his cheeks. "Hey, don't cry," John Ross moved to awkwardly hug his younger cousin. "You two okay in here?" "Christopher's upset." "I don't blame him," Lucy said, moving from the doorway into the room. "Last night was really scary." Lucy sat down on the floor and held her arms out. Christopher let go of John Ross, climbed into her lap, and let her wrap her arms around him. "Everything will work out," she promised, stroking his hair. "Thanks, Lucy," John Ross said. "Hey, no worries"" she winked at John Ross. "Us cousins gotta stick together." *** "I have several of the hands watching the house," Ray said, coming into the living room where the rest of the Ewings had gathered for pre-dinner drinks. "I think we have all our bases covered." "Thank you, Ray," Miss Ellie said. "Will you be staying for dinner?" "No, Miss Ellie, I better get on home." "Did you talk to JR?" Sue Ellen asked. "Yeah. He should be home any minute." "Just great," Lucy rolled her eyes. "I was enjoying the break." "Lucy!" Miss Ellie gasped. "What?" Lucy asked innocently. "Come on. I'm sure I'm not the only one!" Clayton burst out laughing, then cleared his throat and looked away from Miss Ellie's disapproving glare. "I didn't say a word," he told her. "Good evening," JR said, sauntering into the room and heading straight to the bar. "How's everyone doing tonight?" He addressed the question to the whole family, but his eyes were fixed on Sue Ellen. "Everyone's fine, JR," Bobby told him. "Was your guy able to find out anything?" JR finished making his drink and shrugged. "Lisa is still in California. Her presence last night is accounted for. No luck finding Katherine, but he's still trying." "Any other suspects we should know about JR?" Ray asked. "No, no. None that I can think of." "Just asking. It's not like this would be the first time you brought a dangerous problem home from the office." "Now Ray," JR drawled, never taking his eyes off Sue Ellen, "if I thought what happened last night had anything to do with my business, I'd say so." "Sure you would, JR," Ray said sarcastically. "Well, I have to wonder if we all aren't over reacting," Bobby said. "It's very possible Christopher dreamed the whole thing." "He didn't dream that mess in the hallway, Bob," JR replied, sipping on his drink. Sue Ellen suddenly became very aware that JR was staring at her intently. "Something wrong, JR?" she asked breathlessly. "No, no," JR answered sheepishly, "just wonderin' how your day went." "It was fine, JR." "Did you go to the office?" "No. I thought it would be best to stay here for Christopher." "Fine, fine," JR said distractedly. "You certainly look lovely tonight, Sue Ellen." "Thank you, JR," Sue Ellen blushed and looked away. Ray cleared his throat to remind JR there were other people in the room. "Well, now that you're home JR, I'll be heading back to my place." "Oh, I'll walk you out Ray," JR said, "I want to talk to you about the new security system." Sue Ellen felt a little dazed. Why had JR been watching her so closely? Was he worried she would make a scene about him being back at Southfork? She was snapped out of her daze by the sound of a ringing phone. "Excuse me," Teresa appeared in front of her. "Miss Sue Ellen, there's a call for you." "Thank you, Teresa," Sue Ellen stood up and glided gracefully to the phone in the foyer. JR watched her from the corner of his eye while he and Bobby and Ray talked about security. He saw her eyes narrow and her back stiffen and he tensed his body for the scene he knew was coming. Sue Ellen slammed down the phone and turned her angry glare on him. "How dare you, JR!" she hissed. She stalked over to him and before he had time to react, lifted her fist and socked him right in the jaw. JR cried out as he lost his balance and tipped over, landing squarely on his backside right at Ray's feet. "You bastard!" Sue Ellen screamed, kicking him in the shin for good measure before turning to run up the stairs. "What the hell, JR?" Ray asked, too shocked to give into the laughter he felt bubbling up in his throat. "Well," JR grinned in spite of the situation. He rubbed at his jaw where Sue Ellen had punched him, "I guess her divorce lawyer finally got around to calling her." "JR, what did you do?" Bobby growled. "Nothing that didn't need doing, Bob," JR said ruefully, "nothing that didn't need doing." *** [/QUOTE]

Verification

Who played JR Ewing?