Written by: Dallas Walsh

Sabine Andrews quickly opens the front door of the Rockwell mansion and scurries inside. She has been feeling faint most of the morning and then she realized that she was late with her period. Immediately, she rushed to the drug store to buy a home pregnancy test and now, she is about to go to her room to take the test.

"This can't be the reason that I am feeling lightheaded," she whispers as she walks up the stairs as she moves closer towards her bedroom that she shares with Nathan Lockhart. Her mind has been racing about the idea of being pregnant because she knows that she also slept with MacKenzie Rockwell the night before her engagement party with Nathan. If she is pregnant, she fears that she will have no idea who the father of her child is.

"There must be another explanation for why I am feeling under the weather," she tells herself. "The last thing I need is to be pregnant and not knowing who the father is."

***

Quinn Cunningham paces back and forth in an office in Blackmore Ltd thinking about what she just witnessed: in the main office of the Lexington Rockwell knocked out Houston Blackmore and whispered that he was going to kill his half-brother. Quinn knows that Lex is only behaving this way because Mateo Santos has been gaslighting him with his voice in the office advising him to kill Houston. Quinn has been helping Mateo as he is blackmailing her; Quinn, however, is scared about what Lex is actually going to do to Houston. The last thing the wants is for something bad to happen to Houston, as she has grown fond of him, even though she was only growing closer and flirting with him to keep him from learning that she was helping Mateo.

"What the hell am I going to do?" she asks herself in a panic. "Lex has completely lost his mind, which is exactly what Mateo wanted. But, seeing him knock Houston out … my God, I didn't think it would go this far."

She pauses and realizes that she must help Houston, despite what that means between her and Mateo. He still knows her darkest secret, which means he might reveal it if she tries to help Lex or Houston. "I have to help Houston," she says as she rushes towards the door of the office. "I have to make sure Lex doesn't hurt him."

She races down the hallway and she opens the door to the main office when she arrives but she looks around in shock. "Lex and Houston are gone," she whispers to herself. "Where could Lex have taken Houston? And what am I going to do now?"

***

Mateo stands on the small boat, Silver Lining, that he is staying on in the marina with binoculars to his eyes. He is looking at another boat that is relatively close to his; he can see Lex pulling an unconscious Houston on to the deck of the boat. Mateo gets a grin on his face as he lowers the binoculars.

"You've finally listening to what I've been telling you," Mateo whispers to himself as he chuckles to himself. "You will kill Houston and then spend the rest of your life behind bars!"

Meanwhile, on the other boat, which is called Blue Belle, Lex grabs Houston's legs and drags him on to the deck of the boat. Lex arranges his half-brother's body, so he is sitting down. Lex, still in a trance from all the whispering words to him from the main office of Blackmore Ltd., then ties his brother up so Houston won't be able to escape when he comes too from being knocked out.

Lex looks at Houston more closely as Houston starts to moan in pain. Lex gets a sly grin on his face as he can still hear Mateo's voice in his head. "You need to kill Houston," the voice says repeatedly.

"I need to kill you," Lex hypnotically replies to Houston, who continues to groan in pain.

***

Mac Rockwell walks down the stairs of the country club hoping to grab a quick drink at the bar as he continues to think of ways to regain control of Rockwell Mining from his half-brother, Nathan Lockhart. After Nathan initially took over, Mac was down and feeling depressed about his situation; now, with his son, Cole Rockwell's, help, he has realized that he must take action to ensure he can get the company back.

As he moves towards the bar, he can't help but see Deacon Cooper sitting by himself with a drink in front of him. Mac arches his eyebrow as he recalls how he asked Deacon if there was anything the government could do to help him get the company back. Deacon agreed to investigate it for him, so Mac is curious as to what he has uncovered.

"How is the whiskey sour?" Mac asks Deacon as he sits next to him. "I was thinking of having one myself."

Deacon picks up the drink and has a sip of it. "It is pretty good," he chuckles to him. "Have one with me and we can talk?"

"I was hoping you'd say that," Mac says before he looks over at the bartender and orders a drink. "I've been curious to know what you have uncovered since our last conversation."

Deacon nods back to him. "Well, I've put in some requests for information from some of my peers," Deacon reveals to him. "I haven't heard back yet, but they did indicate that some states have laws against going to a board behind the CEO's back; if anything, you should have been at the meeting to plead your case."

"That's exactly what I needed to hear," Mac uneasily smiles back to him. "Listen, I need you to keep me posted, Deacon. As soon as you find out anything, you will call me?"

"Of course, I will," Deacon nods back to him, as Nathan Lockhart stands behind them and wonders what the two men are talking about so intently.

***

"Thank you for coming over today," Lucinda Rockwell says to Mac, who walks into the living room of the Rockwell mansion. Lucinda knows that she and Mac have been estranged since the truth about his paternity came to light; she can understand how and why Mac has been so upset since he believed Mortimer was his father, not Dane Ashby. She just hopes that they can start to put their relationship back together and, maybe, try to end the feud between her two sons.

"It's not like I had anything better to do," Mac quips back to her. "You know, since I'm not running Rockwell Mining anymore."

"I thought that you were going to try to work together with Nathan? Whatever happened with that?"

Mac uneasily chuckles back to her. "Well, he accused me of killing Slate, that's what happened. Apparently, he has some video footage of Slate punching me the night of the engagement party. I got up with a clenched fist and the video cut out; he didn't see me walk away from Slate and so your son thinks that I killed his son."

"Nathan mentioned that to me," Lucinda admits to him as she shakes her head back to him. "I told him that you would never take another life, yet alone Slate's."

"And? Did he listen to you?"

Lucinda bites her lower lip. "I don't know," she reveals to him. "I think he's so consumed with his grief that he isn't thinking clearly."

"Well he damn well better that idea out of his head before he starts spreading it around," Mac spits back to him. "Because I will sue his sorry ass for slander if he continues with this."

Lucinda sighs heavily. "Oh MacKenzie," she whispers back to him. "Please, don't do anything foolish, okay? The last thing this family needs is for more chaos."

"You need to remind Nathan of the exact same thing," Mac looks back at her with intent. "Because I refuse to let him walk all over me. That is going to end, and it is going to end now."


***

"I hope you're not leaving on my account," Nathan moves up to the bar in the country club just as Deacon is setting some cash down to pay his tab. "I was hoping you and I could have a moment?"

Deacon uneasily looks back at Nathan. Since he was just taking to Mac about Nathan and Rockwell Mining, he finds the timing of Nathan reaching out to him very ironic.

"I don't have a lot of time, but I can hear you out. What's going on, Mr. Lockhart?"

"I happened to see you with my half-brother a short time ago," Nathan reveals to him as Deacon smirks. "I am hoping you can fill me in on what the conversation. You see, Mac, is trying to get away with something and I can't allow him to do that."

Deacon arches his eyebrow back to him. "Get away with what, exactly?"

"He killed my son, Slate," Nathan reveals to him as Deacon's eyes open wider in surprise. "My fiancé, Sabine, and I, we have been devastated."

"Sabine," Deacon whispers back to him. "You know, her and I go way back, right?"

"Really?" Nathan looks back at him. "She hasn't mentioned you, at least not that I recall."

"We were partners together on a project a while back," he cryptically tells him. "And now, I'm actually with her daughter, Quinn."

"Ah," Nathan nods back to him. "You're the father of her baby, I take it?"

"I am," Deacon replies to him quickly. "Small world I guess."

Nathan chuckles back to him. "It means, Deacon, that you are and I are practically family. That's why I need your help when it come to Mac. You have to tell me what he's up too."

Deacon takes a deep breath, thinking about the comment about being family. "Okay," he says back to him. "I'll tell you everything."

***

Quinn quickly rushes up to the front door of the guest house that is on the Rockwell estate. She starts knocking hoping that her cousin, Stacey Rockwell, is at home. After she realized that Lex took Houston somewhere, she decided that Stacey might be able to help her figure out where Lex took Houston.

"Quinn, hi," Stacey opens the door and sees her cousin looking panicked. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Quinn moves into the house and turns to face Stacey. "I hope this is a good time?"

"Yes, it's fine," Stacey replies to her. "The nanny is just putting the children down for their naps. What is going on? You don't seem yourself, Quinn."

Quinn takes a deep breath. "I…I think Houston is in trouble Stacey and I have no idea what to do about it."

Stacey looks back at her in surprise. "Houston? In trouble? What kind of trouble, exactly?"

"I, uh," Quinn stutters her words. "I think he could die; I think Houston could lose his life."

***

Meanwhile, on the Blue Belle, Houston's eyes slowly start to open as he is coming too after Lex knocked him unconscious. He can feel a slight breeze on his face as he groans out in pain as his head is throbbing. Slowly, his eyes open completely and he looks around, trying to figure out where he is. He then goes to speak but realizes that his mouth is tied with a gag. He looks down in horror and sees that he is also tied up. He starts to groan as he tries to wiggle out of the ropes, to no avail.

Lex, then, appears from the lower deck of the boat and looks over at his brother. "You're awake," he whispers to himself. "Good, I'm glad. I was beginning to worry about you, Houston."

Houston groans back to him as Lex moves up to him. "I'm going to lower your mouth gag, but you have to promise me not to make any sound," Lex says as Houston nods back to him. "If you do, I will kill you," he whispers as he reveals a gun in his other hand, causing Houston's eyes to open wider in shock.

Lex slowly removes the gag from Houston's mouth and gives him some water to drink. Once he's finished, Houston looks at his half-brother. "Why…why are you doing this Lex?"

"Because," Lex replies to him quickly. "I have to kill you. Mateo, he told me to do this. I have to listen."

Houston's eyes open wider in horror. "You're hearing Mateo? Lex, he's dead! Please, tell me you remember that Mateo is dead!"

"Too much noise!" Lex shouts back to him as he starts to put the gag back on Houston's mouth, who starts to groan back to him again. "There," Lex says as he finishes re-gagging his brother. "Now I have silence to think. I need to think!"

Houston looks on in horror wondering how he is going to get out of this mess and how he can make Lex realize that he is not actually hearing Mateo's voice.

***

"I'm sorry that we are interrupting your wedding night," Stacey says to Kent Blackmore as he opens the door to the penthouse. Stacey recalls how just a few hours earlier, Kent was marrying her mother, Lydia Rockwell, in a simple ceremony; the ceremony was difficult for her to get through because before the ceremony, she and Kent made love, which had been building for what seems like weeks. So, now that she is showing up at Kent's door when he is likely romancing his new wife is somewhat awkward for her.

"Stacey, Quinn," Kent says as he lets them into the penthouse. "Please come in. I must admit this is a surprise, but Lydia just stepped out as she went to the country club to pick up some takeout and a bottle of champagne. You have my attention, at least until she gets back."

"It's about Houston," Stacey quickly replies to him. "We think that he's in trouble and we need your help."

"Houston?" Kent looks back at her in concern. "What has my son done now?"

"It's not his fault," Quinn replies to him. "It's…it is Lex. He is the one that did this to Houston."

"Lex?" Kent asks quickly. "What does he have to do with this?"

"It's a long story," Quinn admits to him. "The short end of it is that he has been brainwashed to think that he needs to kill Houston. We have to find them and we have to find them before Lex can actually hurt Houston!"

***

Lydia Rockwell whistles a tune while she moves into the country club. She had ordered some takeout dinner for her and Kent since neither one wanted to cook on their wedding night. And, she thought while she was out, she would grab a couple more bottles of champagne since she wants to celebrate her marriage to Kent in style.

"Yes, I'm here for my pick up," Lydia tells the bartender. "It's under Blackmore, Lydia Blackmore."

The bartender turns to get her order while Lydia looks to her left and sees Marat Kafelinkov sitting alone with a drink in front of him. "Marat," Lydia says as he moves over to him. "I am surprised that you're not with Stacey; after all, you were her date to my wedding earlier."

"I needed a drink," Marat admits to her. "It's been a hell of a day."

Lydia arches her eyebrow back to him. "Now, why would you say that? Today I married Kent, that means that you and I, we officially have everything that we have ever wanted; I have Kent and you can be with Stacey."

Marat slowly takes a sip of his brandy and then looks back at Lydia. "That's what I'm not so sure about Lydia," he reveals to her. "I don't think we have anything at all."

***

"Well, look at what the cat dragged in," Nathan announces as he moves into living room of the Rockwell mansion and sees Mac finishing a drink. The last person that Nathan expected to see in his living room was his half-brother, yet along helping himself to his alcohol. "What brings you by, MacKenzie?"

Mac sets his glass down on the bar cart and looks back at his brother. "Lucinda called me over to have a talk," Mac reveals to him. "She was feeling tired and just went to lay down."

"Ah," Nathan nods back to him. "Did you tell her how you killed my son? Or how you're trying to regain control of Rockwell Mining?" he says as Mac looks back at him in surprise. "Yea, that's right, brother, I know that you're looking at trying to get back in the CEO seat. But, you need to know, that will never happen. You will never take that company away from me!"

Mac uneasily chuckles back to him. "I wouldn't be so sure about that, Nathan. If I can give you a piece of advice, it would be to watch your back. Because, I'm coming for you and when I do, you will have no idea what hit you."

***

Cole steps off the elevator at Rockwell Mining and makes a beeline for main office. After attending his mother's wedding to Kent, he realized that he had to get back to the office to try to prevent Celeste Baldwin from revealing that he is actually Richard Coleman; he knows that if Nathan realizes that he has been spying on him and Rockwell Mining for Mac, all hell will break loose. And, he is still trying to ensure that he can help Mac get the company back. If Nathan learns the truth, Cole realizes that it could hurt his chances of getting the company back for his father.

He opens the door to the main office and sees Celeste standing behind the desk. "Hey, I'm glad I found you, we have to talk," Cole says as he closes the door behind him. "I didn't like how we left things earlier."

Celeste slowly sets some files down on the desk before she puts her hand on her hip. "You mean, when I told you that I couldn't lie to Nathan? I meant it Cole; he has to know the truth. I hate that I am lying to him."

"I know you do," Cole moves closer to her. "But, you know how much my family means to me. You know how much this company means to my family, especially my father. And, I know that on some level, you have to still care about Mac. You two have been through so much together, Celeste. Just like you and I have."

"We have all been through a lot together," Celeste nods back to him. "But, that's why I have to tell Nathan the truth. Can't you see, Cole, I'm trying to be a better person? I don't want to be the old Celeste; I want to be a good person."

Cole moves up to her and looks deep into her eyes. "You are a good person, Celeste," he says as he licks his lips. "It's why, I still love you. It's why, I can't stop thinking about you. Tell me that you feel it between us too, still?"

Celeste is about to say something but Cole leans in and kisses her passionately on the lips. Celeste responds to the kiss and draws him in closer to her, their lips never leaving each other.

***

Sabine moves to the bar in her bedroom of the Rockwell mansion that she shares with Nathan and is about to pour herself a brandy when she realizes that she can't have a drink. She puts the top back on the decanter and pours herself a cup of water instead. She takes a large sip of it before she sets the glass back down.

"Well, that didn't calm my nerves the way a brandy would have," she whispers to herself. "God, these are the longest ten minutes of my life."

She looks to the door of the adjacent washroom that is in her room when she hears the alarm going off on her phone. She shuts it off and takes another deep breath.

"Okay, here goes nothing," she says as she moves back into the washroom. She slowly picks up the small pregnancy test and looks at it. She then grabs the box and looks at the directions. "Two blue lines means I'm … pregnant," she says as she feels the blood drain from her face. "This can't be happening."

She closes her eyes and thinks about the number of times she and Nathan have slept together; then, she remembers the night before her engagement party when she and Mac ended up in bed together.

"I'm pregnant," she opens her eyes and looks back at the pregnancy test. "And I have no idea who the father is."

***

"Damnit," Kent whispers as he runs his hands through his hair as he scans the dining room of the country club. He then turns back to Stacey and Quinn, who just finished talking to the bartender. The three meet again near the staircase that leads to the second level. "Lex or Houston are not in the dining room."

"The bartender also said that he hasn't seen either of them today," Stacey replies to him quickly. "Which means, Lex didn't bring Houston here. He must have taken him somewhere else."

"But where?" Quinn asks them. "I just have a bad feeling about this…"

"No, don't say that," Kent quickly tells her. "We have to stay positive. We have to find my boys."

On the staircase, Carmen Santos freezes when she sees the Kent, Stacey and Quinn huddled around together. She manages to hear Kent say that he has to find his boys. Immediately, she grabs her phone and starts to type a message to Mateo.

"We might have a problem," she types before she pushes the send button.

***

Nathan sits behind his desk at Rockwell Mining and is reviewing the files that Celeste left for him earlier in the day. He knows that he has a lot of work to do, especially because he realizes that he needs to stay on top of things if he is going to keep Mac from regaining control of the company. Ever since Deacon admitted to him what Mac was up too, Nathan has been thinking non-stop about how he can prevent him from getting the company back.

"Ah, I wasn't sure if you were still here or if you had went home for the night," Nathan says as he sees Celeste move into the office.

Celeste sighs back to him as this is the first time she has seen Nathan since she learned the truth about Cole spying on the company. She can't, however, get it out her mind that she and Cole just shared a kiss in this very office a short time ago.

"I had a few things to wrap up before leaving," she replies to him quickly. "What is your excuse for being here so late?"

Nathan chuckles back to her as he moves over to the bar to pour himself a scotch. "Can I get you a drink, Celeste?"

"Sure, that would be nice."

Nathan pours a second drink and then passes it over to Celeste. "I am here because I have a million things to do," he reveals to her. "It turns out that Mac is working overtime trying to regain control of this company and I have to do everything in my power to ensure that doesn't happen."

Celeste slowly takes a sip of the scotch and looks back at her. As she looks at Nathan, she can't help but think that he is looking very handsome tonight. She knows, however, that she can't have those thoughts as he is engaged to Sabine and she is back involved with Cole. She also wonders if she should tell Nathan the truth about Cole and how he has been snooping around as he is pretending to be Richard Coleman.

"I see," Celeste finally replies to him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Mac does love this company; he worked here for so long. In fact, he was the one who gave me my first job here many years ago. I can tell that you won't be happy if Mac takes over the company again."

"Don't you worry about that," Nathan grins back to her. "Mac will not take over Rockwell Mining again. Because, you see, I am always going to be one step ahead of him. My brother has finally met his match in me; I will come out on top of this war, I have no other choice. He killed my son! I will not let him take this company back. It will happen over my dead body."

***

"I'm glad that you're here," Cole says to Mac as he moves into his father's suite at the country club. "We have to talk, Dad."

Mac looks back at Cole with urgency. He is hoping that Cole has been able to give him more information on how Nathan is ruining Rockwell Mining; the more evidence he has against his brother, the easier it will be to have him removed as the CEO of his company.

"Please tell me that you have more information on Nathan and Rockwell Mining?" Mac replies to his son. "The longer that son of a bitch is in control of my company, the more damage he is going to cause."

"I don't have any more details for you," Cole admits to him as he sighs. "But, I can't continue on as Richard Coleman. Celeste knows that I am Richard, Dad, and I have to admit that I am not sure that I have convinced her to keep quiet."

"Damn it!" Mac huffs back to him. "That woman has been a thorn in our side for years! What the hell are we going to do?"

"I don't know," Cole tells him. "I've been trying anything and everything I can think of to make her realize that she can't tell Nathan the truth but she seems to think that she owes him for giving her this second chance."

Mac groans out in frustration. "If Celeste says anything to Nathan she is just going to be throwing more gas on this fire," he tells Cole. "You have to do something, anything, Cole to keep Celeste from talking."

***

Carmen rushes on board of Silver Lining, the small boat that Mateo is staying on. Once she is on the deck, she stops to catch her breath as she raced over to see her brother after she saw Kent, Stacey and Quinn together at the country club.

"Mateo?" she calls out. "Mateo? Where are you?"

Mateo, then, emerges from the lower deck of the boat and looks at his sister with concern. "Okay, you have my attention," he crosses his arms over his chest. "Your text made it seem like the world was ending. What is going on?"

"You won't believe what is happening," Carmen replies to him. "I saw Kent, Stacey and Quinn together."

"So?" Mateo shrugs back to her. "They are all family, practically."

"There's more," Carmen explains to him. "Kent said that his boys are in trouble, meaning Lexington and Houston. He knows that something is wrong. He knows that something is going on with Lex and Houston; I think they are close to finding out what we've been up too."

"How is that possible?" Mateo grits his teeth back to her. "Unless Quinn said something?"

"I don't know?" Carmen replies to him quickly. "She was with Kent and Stacey though; maybe she is leading them in the wrong direction?"

"She damn well better be," Mateo glares. "Because if she's betrayed me, she will live to regret it."

***

"Okay, we have to put our heads together to figure out where Lex and Houston could be," Stacey tells Kent and Quinn as they continue to stand in the foyer of the country club. She knows that if Lex is going to hurt Houston, they have to find Houston before its too late. Every minute that passes means that Lex could hurt Houston.

"When you went to Lex's condo earlier, there was no sign of him or Houston?" Kent looks over at Quinn.

"None," she admits to him. "It looked like Lex hadn't been there since this morning. What about Houston's mansion?"

"I called the staff," Kent replies to her. "They haven't seen Houston since this morning. And Vivian is still out of town."

Stacey looks back at Kent as she gets an idea in her head. "A few years ago, Lex got it in his head that he wanted to learn how to sail," Stacey replies to them. "Mac ended up buying him a boat, the Blue Belle, that he keeps at the marina. What if he is there?"

"It's worth a shot," Kent nods back to her. "And if that fails, we'll go to the Rockwell estate and search the grounds. He might have taken Houston to the stables, like when he was being drugged by Odette Williams and he thought he was seeing Toby Sinclair, which was a figment of his imagination."

"Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time," Stacey says with some urgency. "But, at least we have some ideas as to where they could be."

***

A few minutes later, Cole enters the country club and moves towards the bar. He was hoping to find Celeste at Rockwell Mining to make one last ditch effort to try to convince her not to say anything to Nathan about him posing as Richard Coleman. He is desperate to make her realize that would be the worse possible move she can make.

As he sits at the bar and orders a Manhattan, he pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through his various social media feeds, hoping to find some inspiration somewhere to help him with Celeste.

"Cole, fancy meeting you here," Celeste says as she pulls up a chair next to him at the bar.

"Celeste," Cole looks over at her. "I was just thinking about you, actually."

"Good thoughts, I hope."

He chuckles back to her. "Of course," he replies to her quickly. "I was just wondering what else I can say to get through to you about not telling Nathan the truth."

Celeste takes a sip of her vodka martini before she looks back at him. "I just saw Nathan at Rockwell Mining."

Cole feels the blood drain from his face at the idea of Celeste telling Nathan the truth; everything that he has worked towards with helping Mac might be down the drain now.

"You did? Tell me, Celeste, did you tell him the truth?"

"No," Celeste admits to him quickly. "I was tempted but I didn't say anything to Nathan."

"Really? You did that for me?" Cole asks her. "You know, I've been thinking too," he tells her. "I meant it when I said that this could be our chance to be together, Celeste. So, to prove it to you, I will stop pretending to be Richard Coleman; I won't snoop around for Mac anymore if it means that you won't say anything."

Celeste reaches over and grabs his hand. "I think that's a very good place to start."

***

In the dining room of the country club, Lucinda picks up her brandy and takes a long sip of it. Her mind is racing about how she can prevent Mac and Nathan from continuing this feud; she is worried that the longer it goes on, the higher the chances that they will hurt one another and that is the last thing she wants.

"You look a million miles away," a voice calls out at her table.

Lucinda looks up and sees Dane Ashby standing in front of her. "I suppose I do have a lot on my mind."

Dane sits across from her. "I suppose you are thinking about Mac and how he is dealing with everything?"

Lucinda sighs back to him. "Mac and Levy are both going through a lot right now," she replies to him quickly. "And, they have such hatred for one another. I am scared about where this is headed, Dane."

"You don't think that they would actually harm one another, do you?"

Lucinda shrugs back to him. "I hope not but if things continue this way, I don't know what to think."

Dane moves his chair over to her and grabs Lucinda's hand. "If you need anything, I am here for you Lucinda. I won't let go through this alone."

Lucinda looks back into his eyes. "I appreciate that, Dane."

Dane leans forward to her and kisses her forehead. "You know that I'm here, Lucinda. I always have been."

***

Houston continues to groan in pain and wiggle around in the ropes that have him tied up. He is desperate to try to get free so he can try to knock some sense into Lex. He has no idea how or why his brother is hearing Mateo's voice, but he knows that something is not right.

Houston's eyes open wider in surprise when, suddenly, Mateo jumps on to the deck. Mateo looks at Houston and grins back at him.

"I see Lex has done a good job, huh?" he walks over to Houston and kicks his leg. "This is just the beginning. I'm here to make sure Lex finishes the job that I had him start."

Suddenly, Lex reappears and freezes at the sight of Mateo. "What…what is going on?"

"I'm here," Mateo whispers to him in the same voice that he used in the bug devices he was using in the office to get Lex in his trance. "I'm here to make sure you kill Houston, Lex. You had to do it, you have to kill Houston."

Lex nods back to him before he looks at Houston. "I have to kill Houston," Lex repeats Mateo's words. "I have too."

***

An uneasy Sabine slowly moves down the stairs of the Rockwell mansion as she heads towards the living room. She is still on edge as she can't believe that she is pregnant and that she has no idea who the father is: Mac or Nathan. She realizes, however, she can't say anything to anyone about the baby until she figures out what she is going to do and how she is going to figure out who the father is.

She moves into the living room and sees Nathan pouring himself a drink at the bar. "Nathan, you're home. How was your day?"

"It was long," Nathan replies to her as he takes a drink of his scotch. "Mac is up to his old tricks again, and I won't let him get away with it."

"What do you mean, he's up to his old tricks?"

"He's trying to take back control of Rockwell Mining," Nathan reveals to her. "And, he has another thing coming if he thinks he's doing to do that. The fact remains, he has to pay for killing Slate. And, I know exactly how I am going to do it."

Sabine nervously looks back at him. "Nathan, I don't like your tone. What are you going to do."

"It is easy," Nathan looks back at her. "I'm going to kill someone Mac loves. I'm going to kill Cole."