The Night the Lights Went Out (In Georgia) by Reba McIntire

Originally performed by Vicki Lawerence

He was on his way home from Candletop

Been two weeks gone, and he'd thought he'd stop

At Web's and have him drink 'fore he went home to her

Andy Wolloe said hello, and he said hi, what's doin', Wo?

'Said " Sit down I got some bad news, and it's gonna hurt"

He said "I'm your best friend and you know that's right

But your young bride aint't home tonight

Since you been gone she's been seeing that Amos boy Seth"

Now he got mad and he saw red

Andy said "boy don't lose your head

Cause to tell you the truth I've been with her myself"

Chorus:

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

That's the night that they hung an innocent man

Well don't trust your soul to no back woods southern lawyer

Cause the judge in the town's got bloodstains on his hands

Well, Andy got scared and left the bar

Walking on home cause he didn't live far you see

Andy didn't have many friends, and he just lost him one

Brother thought his wife must've left town

So he went home and finally found the only thing

Daddy had left him and that was a gun

He went off to Andy's house

Slipping through the back woods quiet as a mouse

Came upon some tracks too small for Andy to make

He looked through the screen at the back porch door

And he saw Andy lying on the floor

In a puddle of blood and he started to shake

The Georgia patrol was making their rounds

So he fired a shot just to flag 'em down

A big bellied sheriff grabbed his gun and said

"Why'd you do it"

The judge said guilty in a make believe trial

Slapped the sheriff on the back with a smile and said

"Supper's waiting at home and I got to get to it"

Chorus:

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

That's the night that they hung an innocent man

Well don't trust your soul to no back woods southern lawyer

Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

Well they hung my brother before I could say

The tracks he saw while on his way

To Andy's house and back that night were mine

And his cheatin wife had never left town

And that's one body that'll never be found

You see little sister don't miss when she aims her gun

Chorus:

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

That's the night that they hung an innocent man

Don't trust your soul with no back woods southern lawyer

Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia

That's the night that they hung an innocent man

Don't trust your soul with no back woods southern lawyer

Cause the judge in the town's got blood stains on his hands

<HR>

After finding out the truth, Alexis and Sam had agreed to try to be civil to one another, and perhaps even begin to form some type of relationship. Alexis knew it would take a lot for them to ever feel like mother and daughter, but she had to try. She had agreed to meet Sam at Kelly's for coffee and to talk. Alexis had arrived early and had sat down at an open table. Mike brought her the cup of coffee she ordered as she waited for Sam. She kept checking her watch, it had seemed Sam was late for their meeting. Alexis collected her thoughts about what she was going to say to Sam once she had arrived, she knew anything related to Manny would spark an argument and she wanted to avoid another battle with Sam. As she sat in thought, Sam walked into the diner and approached her.

"Hi ....." Sam greeted and Alexis invited Sam to join her.

"I'm glad we could meet and talk about this." Alexis replied as Mike approached to take Sam's order.

Mike left the table, leaving the two women hesitating to start a conversation.

"Sam, I know the subject of Manny is a delicate one and we don't necessarily agree about him or what I had to do for him, but I need you to be careful. I fear Manny is still a threat to a lot of people."

"You don't have to worry about me, Alexis. I can take care of myself."

"Well, the situation between Jason and Sonny has made things a lot more volatile and with Manny still out there ...." Alexis replied implying that Manny could make his move against Sonny and Jason at any time, being their vulnerable right now, due to the situation their in.

"I'm sure Jason has a handle on Manny." Sam replied confidently.

"I'm not sure he does. There have been times that I have the feeling Manny is lurking about and he's coming up with a plan. One that's even worse then the previous ones he's come up with."

"Jason has bodyguards on anything that moves, I'm sure he's ready for anything that Manny has planned."

"Someone should be doing something ...."

"Alexis, what are you suggesting?"

"I'm not suggesting anything, I'm just saying that Manny is a threat to all of us, and until he's stopped, we are all targets of his psychotic behavior until that happens."

As Alexis and Sam talked, Ric walked in the door and approached them. He leaned down and gave Alexis a kiss hello and then acknowledged Sam. Feeling it was time to make her exit, Sam stood up from her seat and left Ric sit down.

"Thanks Alexis for the coffee and the talk." Sam said politely.

"You're welcome, Sam. I hope we can do this again sometime." Alexis smiled.

"Yeah, me too." Sam replied as she left the diner, leaving Ric and Alexis at the table alone.

"So it went well?" Ric questioned as he removed his jacket and got comfortable.

"Yeah I think so. I mean Sam and I aren't going to become best pals overnight. It's going to take some time to work things through, but I think we have a good shot."

"Well, good. I hope you can."

Alexis noticed that Ric seemed a little distracted. "Are you all right?" she asked as she noticed he looked a little flushed.

"Yeah I'm fine. I got a pile of files on my desk at the office, that's all."

Alexis sipped her coffee not believing his excuse but didn't press the issue. If Ric wanted to tell her, he would.

*******************************

Sam left the diner and took the shortcut through the park as she headed back to the penthouse. Her thoughts on what Alexis had said about Manny and how he was a threat to everyone until he was stopped. Because of Jason, she knew Manny was no longer living at Kelly's, but had moved to a room over Jake's. It was on her way home, she decided to stop and have a chat with him.

She walked into Jake's, Coleman behind the bar cleaning glasses and he nodded a hello as she walked by. She headed up the stairs to the rooms above the bar and knocked on Manny's door. No one answered. She reached for the doorknob and turned it, hoping it was open, perhaps she could do some snooping if he wasn't there. Sam opened up the door and saw Manny lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. She stepped closer to him, not taking notice she had left her footprint in the stream of blood. She could see he had been shot in the chest and his body lay lifeless. Leaving the door open, she quickly ran down the stairs and out the back door of the bar, ending up in the alley. She took a moment to calm herself before going back to the penthouse. Her mind racing of thoughts of who she saw and what she did over the past few hours, she knew Durant would point the finger at her or Jason. After all Manny had done to her, she knew she'd be on the top of the suspect list.

As she ran down to the end of the alley, she could hear sirens in the distance. She quickly ran away from the scene and reached the penthouse in record time. As she rushed in the front door of the penthouse, Jason was waiting for her on the couch. He noticed something was wrong and began questioning her. She explained to him what she had found and that soon Durant would be at their door. Jason quickly tried to think of what to do next. It didn't take long before the PCPD was at their door asking questions and wanting to take them both down to the police station for further interrogation.

*********************************

Alexis and Ric still sitting at Kelly's in conversation was unaware of what was going on but was soon alerted as Alexis' cell phone rang. She flipped it open and answered it.

"Sit tight, I'm on my way." she said and then flipped it closed again.

"What happened?" Ric asked as Alexis gathered her things and than jumped from her seat.

"I'll tell you on the way ... let's go." Before he could even get his jacket on, she was out the door.

By the time Alexis and Ric arrived at the police station, Durant had Sam in handcuffs and she was being interrogated about Manny's murder. Alexis stepped up and took Sam's case without even thinking twice about what she was doing. Her daughter was in trouble and it was the least she could do after all that had happened between the two of them.

She rushed into the interrogation room and put a stop to the questioning immediately. "My client has nothing more to say." she announced as she barged into the room.

"But ..." Sam began.

"No buts ... Mac, please can I have a few minutes with my client."

"Sure ..." Mac replied and then left the room.

"I didn't ask for you to come down here." Sam said sternly as Alexis took a seat across from her.

"I know you didn't. Jason did. He's worried about you and he asked me down here as a favor."

Sam looked up and saw Jason looking through the glass window of the interrogation room. She noticed the worry in his eyes and complied to having Alexis as her attorney.

"Tell me what happened."

"Durant says they have enough evidence to arrest me for killing Manny."

"What kind of evidence?"

"Apparently they have my fingerprints and foot prints at the scene or something."

"Or something?" Alexis started to get worried herself. It was getting grim as Sam continued to tell her story.

Alexis sat and listened to Sam, she knew she had to do something, or Durant would pin this murder on Sam, regardless if Sam was innocent. Alexis excused herself from the conversation and walked out into the squad room. Durant and Mac were huddled together as they discussed their next move. Alexis approached them and took a deep breath. She had to do it, they had enough substantial evidence to arrest her daughter for something she knew Sam wouldn't do. There was no time to think about it, she would do it for Kristina or Molly, she had to do it for Sam.

"You have the wrong person in handcuffs." Alexis said calmly. Ric standing in close proximity he heard what she had said to Durant and Mac, and quickly reacted.

"Alexis, no! You can't do this!" Ric bellowed as he rushed to her side.

"I have to, Ric. I have to tell them the truth."

"And what might that be, counselor?" Durant asked as Alexis wrung her hands as Ric stood by her side and worry came over him.

This was not what he had planned, not at all. It wasn't suppose to happen like this. But what was he suppose to do. His wife about to confess to a crime she didn't commit to save her daughter who had been arrested for the same crime. He couldn't let Alexis do this, she had to think of Kristina and Molly. He had. Manny was a problem and he had to protect his family.

"I killed Manny." Alexis blurted out.

"Oh really." Durant said, not believing Alexis' abrupt confession.

"Alexis think about what you're doing!"

"Yes Alexis, think about what you're doing." Mac agreed.

"I know what I'm doing. I killed Manny. I had no choice. He threatened my family, my children. I had to do something."

"Well, Alexis, I don't believe you. You're covering for Sam. Any parent would. Their child is in trouble and their first instinct is to help them any way they can. Isn't that right?"

"No, I'm not covering for Sam. I did it! I shot Manny in the chest! I killed him!" Alexis shouted wanting them to believe her.

"Okay, okay. If you did it, where's the gun?"

"The gun?" Alexis had to think quickly. She had to think of something to tell them about the gun. She stammered as she thought of a good story to tell them about what she did with the gun.

"Yes, the gun. We didn't find one at the scene. It's the only key piece of evidence missing from the crime scene."

As Alexis thought of a story, Ric could do only one thing. He left her side and laid his briefcase down on the desk next to him. He opened it up and his eyes quickly looked down inside the case, a 9mm staring up at him. The weapon the police were in search of, the weapon that he used to kill the bastard that was threatening his family. He stood in front of this briefcase for what seemed like a very long time contemplating on what options he had. He could only think of one.