Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 240,722 times)

[heroicmuse]

Apr 10, 2019 19:05:56 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

I hope Parker is okay. Daniel's comment about a confidence boost worries me.

Daniel meant Kayla could use one about her ability to make this decision. Sorry if that was unclear.

[heroicmuse]

Week 227 - 4
“So?” Eric said to Paige. “What do you think of these choices?”

Paige played with her necklace. “I’m not sure. I mean, I still want the Rape Crisis Unit job but my therapist already told me I’m not ready for it yet so I don’t think that’s happening.”

Eric patted her hand. “Be patient. Perhaps God will use this other internship to get you where you are most meant to go.”

“Which might not be there.” Paige stared into space. “Do you think I’m really meant to work in Rape Crisis or is that something I just decided because of Jeff?”

“There is only one person who can answer that, but it’s not me. What makes you ask that?”

Paige shrugged. “Before Jeff, I wanted to be a heart surgeon. It was sort of a dream of mine since I was 12, maybe younger. I had this crazy idea I could invent a heart device that would cure heart disease forever. No more heart attacks, no more strokes, no more death. Even when I got old enough to know that was impossible, I still had this… this longing to go into cardiology and to find some way to help people with heart disease. Until Jeff. Then I didn’t want to be a doctor at all until you convinced me I was lying to myself, and when I finally went back to medicine I was determined to work in the Rape Crisis Unit. Only I was arrested before I could get started.”

“And now that you’re free again, what do you think?”

“I don’t know.” Paige bit her lip. “I sort of want to work with rape victims but I also…. Lately I’ve been thinking about heart surgery again, and Kayla told me that when I’m well enough to do it she’ll introduce me to someone she knows who can help me become a cardiologist.” She swallowed hard. “It’s like I have two paths, and they both feel right. How do I know which one I’m supposed to take?”

“Prayer helps,” Eric said. “God will make things clear when you are ready to hear His voice.”

“I guess,” Paige said. She pushed her hair behind her ear. “Maybe this is why the judge wanted me to be in therapy, huh? I mean, I didn’t kill Jill, I would never do anything like that, but if I don’t figure my life out I could get in more trouble and the last thing I need is to go back to jail for doing something stupid.” Her phone rang. “Oh,” she said. “Speaking of, that’s one of my friends who’s still behind bars. Do you mind if - “

“Of course,” Eric said. “I’ll be here for a little while.” He patted Paige’s shoulder.

Paige walked off a little bit to answer her phone.

“Tweener?” Hannah said.

“Oh my gosh,” Paige said. “Squeaky! It’s so good to hear your voice.”

“Same here.” Hannah sighed. “I might be coming home soon but I’m not sure yet. You were always carrying around that law book, so I thought you might know what I should do.” She lowered her voice. “I’m whispering so nobody hears since we get no privacy around here. That lawyer you got me said he might be able to get me probation instead of jail. But I'd still have a record and everything and the cops could send me back to jail for any stupid little thing til I'm off it. You think I should tell him to forget trying to get my charges dismissed and just go for this?"


“Thank you both for coming in,” Dr. Blanton said. “I can see from the looks on your faces that you’re worried about why I requested this meeting. Don’t worry. You are not in any trouble -- in fact, this is something positive.” He turned his computer screen around. “I don’t know whether you saw that the same competition you entered last year is open again.”

“Yeah, but it’s gotta be a piece from this year,” JJ said, “and with Paige being locked up over nothing all winter I haven’t been able to keep it together enough to do anything worth entering.”

“I’m afraid I have to disagree with you about that,” Dr. Blanton said. “I saw the piece that aired on Nicole Walker’s show the night before your girlfriend was released from custody, the one exposing all the mistakes and missteps that led to her unjust incarceration. I have no doubt that story helped secure her release, and I also have no doubt that Ms. Walker did not get that story without the help of her interns.”

JJ bit his lip. “That was all Alison. I had to step back, Dr. Blanton, I was way too close to it.”

“It was not,” Alison said. “You got the cops to show you her arrest record, and you uncovered what Martinez was up to that made him look like a bad star witness against Paige.”

“Yeah, cause he was trying to get me locked up after he tried to kidnap me!” JJ turned to Dr. Blanton. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. If Peter hadn’t ruined it, maybe I’d have made it all the way to New York last year. But if I’m gonna try again, it’s gotta be something I took the lead on and it definitely can’t be something I was doing to save my own ass. If I won this year, it would be a lie. Alison did this story, not me, and I’m not gonna pretend it’s different so I can ride her coattails to first prize.”

Dr. Blanton frowned. “I admire your sense of integrity, JJ. I hope you know I would never ask you to do something unethical, especially not in order to further your own career based on lies. Are you absolutely sure that you did not do enough on this story to qualify for the contest?”

“I think he did,” Alison interrupted. “JJ, last year you did 99% of the work and you put me and Kelsey as co-authors on your entry just because we were there when you shot the story. Why can’t you let me put you as a co-author this time?”

“That was different,” JJ said. “You did the re-enactment and Kelsey did the camera work. What’d I do besides give you a couple leads and look over a police report Abe gave me? If you make it to New York, go ahead and invite me and Paige as your guests. If she’s up to going we’ll be there to root for you. But don’t share the prize with me, not when I barely did anything to help you.”

Alison’s face fell, but she said to Dr. Blanton, “Does the piece have to be broadcast already? JJ’s working on something else, maybe he can enter that instead.”

“But then I’d be competing against you,” JJ objected.

“I don’t care about that,” Alison said. “You’re the most talented of all of us, JJ. You already had a bunch of stories under your belt before you even came to school and you introduced me to Nicole and let me be your unofficial assistant on God knows how many stories. You deserve this prize way more than I do.”

“No,” JJ said, “I don’t. Not when you did the work. Besides, I’m probably not eligible. Am I, Dr. Blanton?”

“It depends on when it airs,” Dr. Blanton said. “This year, all entries must be published or broadcast by the last day of May. Do not rush your story, of course, but if you are able to broadcast it before then, you will still be able to enter.”


Kim stood over Andrew’s shoulder as he sat at his desk, reading over the contract Victor had given the Bradys. “Well?” she said. “What nefarious conditions has he sneaked in?”

“It’s hard for me to tell with you blocking the light,” Andrew said. “Please stop hovering, Mom. I will let you know my opinion as soon as I’ve finished reading, I’m not going to leave you hanging.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Kim backed up a step. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, of course I do. It’s just that Kayla and Roman are both ready to sign on the dotted line and everyone’s looking at me like I’m a piece of gum jamming up the works when I’m just trying to protect this family.”

“Maybe if you stuck to being worried about this contract and stopped all this crazy talk about contesting Grandma’s will, people would be less impatient with you.”

Kim crossed her arms. “You’ll be glad to know you and your sister agree about something. She pretty much told me that if I move forward with questioning the will, I’ll become the family pariah.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Andrew said, “but it is a lost cause that’s sure to piss off a lot of people. Look, Mom, if you go to court over this, you’re going to lose. There’s no such thing as contesting a will because you don’t like it. You’d have to prove Grandma wasn’t in her right mind when she had it drawn up - “

“Which should be easy to prove. She had Alzheimers’, for God’s sake, how could any will she wrote be valid?”

“You’re assuming she didn’t write it before the Alzheimers. Besides, she made Aunt Kayla the executor of her will, which means you’d have to get her on board before you could contest anything and I can tell you right now, that’s going to be a hard sell. And even if you were to pull off a miracle, the fact is, Victor Kiriakis has a thousand times the resources we do, including access to the sharpest lawyers in the world. We’d end up with nothing. He’s willing to play nice and let us run the Pub, so my advice is, sign the contract and live with Victor being our boss.”

Kim made a face. “Do you have any idea the things that man did to this family? If your sister hadn’t come to her senses about Brady Black she would be living in that house and I guarantee you it wouldn’t be long before that dirty old man was having his way with her and forcing her to stay silent about it.”

“You really don’t know Jeannie at all, do you? If anyone tried something like that, do you think they’d live to tell the tale?”

Kim shuddered. “Paige behind bars was bad enough. I’m glad Jeannie got out of that relationship before she ended up in jail for cutting off Victor’s family jewels!”

“And now this conversation has crossed the line from ridiculous to uncomfortable.” Andrew pushed the contract away. “This contract is valid. The only condition he put in it is that you have to use his contractors if the Pub needs maintenance or renovations, and we could add a caveat that we get to vet those contractors and choose the ones from his list we want so that he can’t send any goons with ulterior motives to our business. But there is no reason not to sign it and absolutely no reason to alienate half this family by pursuing a fruitless legal action against him that will only delay the rest of our inheritances and put us at risk of losing the Pub altogether.”

Kim’s eyes narrowed as Andrew took a pen out of his pocket and handed it to her so she could sign the contract.

[tghca]

Question being will Kim sign the contract? Or is her hatred for Victor blinding her from doing what is right for this family? I mean if she contests the will she more or less will be doing it all on her own because Andrew her son the lawyer won't help her and good luck on trying to get Kayla on her side too because Kayla is the executor and Kayla more or less has final say on this matter and not Kim so...it pretty much leaves Kim with no other choice but to sign

It seems JJ is becoming quite the reporter now isn't he? I guess it comes with the territory when his parents are the legendary Jack Deveraux and Jennifer Horton who were not only Salem's best reporters but being damn good journalists at that too...I just figured JJ would follow in their footsteps and he more or less has. I mean JJ being a reporter sometimes he is over the hill or he goes above and beyond to get the truth no matter who he seems to hurt but it seems he's doing well for himself.


Even if Hannah gets out of jail...what is she gonna do with her life? Hannah more or less is gonna have a record being an ex-felon through no fault of her own...who would hire her? I mean if she is David and Valerie's daughter Julie's granddaughter Hope's great-niece then I am sure Hannah being a Horton she will probably end up with a job. But if she gets out of jail there are so many Hortons in town she is gonna have to meet like her Grandma Julie & Grandpa Doug, her Great-Aunt well her Aunt Hope, her Uncle Rory, her cousins Shawn Douglas, Ciara, Claire, JJ, Jennifer, Abby, Will, Allie, Lucas, Jennifer, etc.

[André DiMera]

So glad Paige and Eric talked! It’ll be interesting to hear what Paige has to say about Hannah’s question.

Wonder what J.J. is gonna do. Glad to hear the competition is back on.

It’s awesome that Andrew told Kim that she was being ridiculous about this and contesting Caroline’s will! I hope she listens!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Kim has grown so judgmental considering all the things she's experienced in her life. I'm disappointed in her. Andrew made a really good point about Caroline possibly leaving Victor the pub before she got Alzheimers.

[heroicmuse]

Week 227 - 5
Sarah blinked hard as a light fell over her face. She covered her eyes with her hand and groaned as she rolled over.

“Uh uh,” Melissa said, shaking her shoulder. “Up.”

“Melissa!” Sarah said. “I’m not a child, and I need more sleep.”

“What you need is to stop drinking,” Melissa said. “But whatever, go back to bed. Let Mom see all the empty beer bottles all over the house when she gets here.”

Sarah groaned. “She’s not coming til - “

“This afternoon,” Melissa said. “You’ve been on a bender since you found out she was coming, you pissed away all the time you had to get yourself straightened out. So you’re going to have to get up and start cleaning because I’ve had enough and I’m not doing it anymore.”

Sarah sat up. She moaned with pain and rubbed her temples. “Can’t you do it this one last time? Please, Melissa? I really overdid it last night and there’s no way I can - “

“Better find a way, then,” Melissa said. “I’m sick to death of cleaning up your messes and covering for you and I’ve got half a mind to tell Mom the whole truth about you the second she gets here.”

“You’d better not,” Sarah said. “Come on, Melissa, have some compassion for your only sister.”

“She’ll be here in about five hours,” Melissa said. “I’d get to work if I were you.” She walked off.

Sarah groaned again. “She doesn’t mean it,” she said to herself. “You’ve been down this road before, she acts like a bitch but she doesn’t follow through.” She put her head in her hands, hoping she was right.



Bev looked around nervously as she came into the room Mason’s preschool had set up for the mothers’ meet and greet. Most of the women were already sitting together at small tables and it seemed like everyone knew everybody else.

She didn’t belong here. It was obvious she didn’t.

Mrs. Lockridge came up to her. “Beverly! I’m so glad you were able to join us today. The buffet is open; feel free to take a plate and sit wherever you’d like.”

“Thanks,” Bev said. “So, um, do you have kids in the school too as well as running it?”

“Not anymore,” Mrs. Lockridge said. “My daughter just graduated from Stanford and my son is trying to decide which of the Ivy Leagues to apply to. I’m flattered you think I’m young enough to have a pre-schooler, though.”

“Of course,” Bev said, and tried to smile. “Excuse me.” She went to get her plate before Mrs. Lockridge could ask her where she’d gone to school. “Just get some food and get through this,” she said to herself. “They won’t want someone like Mason in this school anyway, you’ll probably never have to see any of these people again.” She let her breath out slowly and got in the line to get food.

There was a section marked vegetarian and a small table where there were items that contained nuts, as well as another small table marked gluten free, plus a table full of food that wasn’t marked anything special. Bev was going to ignore the vegetarian section, but as she passed by she saw that there was a tray full of vegetarian egg rolls and something that looked like sesame chicken but clearly wasn’t.

“Tofu’s an acquired taste if you haven’t had it before, but I’m sure you’ll grow to love it,” a familiar voice said behind her. “In fact, I know you will. I made it myself.”

Bev turned, her heart pounding, to see Melinda Trask, the ex-DA who had wanted to come down hard on Bev when she was caught with weed once, standing there.



JJ and Alison had parked in the S-Mart lot. JJ leaned his phone on his ear. Paige’s phone went straight to voicemail. “Hey baby, it’s me,” he said. “I hope everything went awesome with your meeting with Aunt Kayla. I just got out of class, I’m gonna try to grab one more interview to get to the bottom of your friend getting arrested before I head home. Maybe we’ll do takeout tonight and finish watching that movie you fell asleep on, all right? Let me know. Love you.”

He sighed as he got off the phone. “I’d feel better if I could hear her voice.”

“Maybe she got started working right away,” Alison suggested.

“She would have texted me that, she’d have been way too excited to keep it to herself.” JJ bit his lip. “She keeps telling me I gotta live my own life and I get that, but I can’t shake the feeling something’s way wrong.” He sighed. “You hear anything from Kelsey yet?”

“Nope,” Alison said. “I’m tempted to head over to the DA’s office and see what’s going on myself, but mostly I think that’s a bad idea. She’s obviously not gonna do what I asked, so…”

“You don’t know that,” JJ said. He checked to make sure his keys weren’t still in the ignition and then double checked his pocket to make sure he had them. “Come on, let’s nail this asshole who called the cops on my cousin, that’ll make us feel better.”

“Let’s ask him for his side of the story, you mean,” Alison said.

“Right.” JJ got out of the car and slammed the door.

“Wait, JJ,” Alison said. She leaned against the car door, her arms crossed. “I hope you’re not mad at me,” she said. “I just think you need to come at this differently. If you go in asking pointed questions about this guy being a piece of crap, he’s going to shut down, you know? We have to make him think we’re on his side so he’ll tell us anything. Besides, there’s two sides to every story, isn’t it our job to get the whole truth?”

JJ bit his lip. “Yeah,” he said. “You’re right.” He made himself take a couple of deep breaths. “I wanna be the kind of dude who puts everything aside to do his job, but honestly, I’m pissed. Paige spent three freaking months behind bars for no reason and from what those cops told me, so did this other girl who just happens to be my cousin. Cops messing with me, that I get. I got a record as long as your arm and some of them think I never paid for any of it and dream of the day they can catch me doing something stupid to make up for it. But Paige, she’s never done anything wrong in her life, and from what my cousin’s mom said, neither has she. What the hell kind of town is this where people get locked up just cause someone doesn’t like them?”

“The kind that’s been run too long by idiots,” Alison said. “That’s why I wish Kelsey would hurry up and do what I asked her to. Someone needs to tell people what the so called criminal justice system’s doing to people around here and that someone should be us.”

“Yeah,” JJ said flatly.

“Come on,” Alison said. “Let’s see what we can get out of this manager. And JJ… if you get the story you’re after, you’d better not even think about skipping the contest.”

JJ bit his lip. “Thanks for the pep talk,” he said. “Come on, let’s get inside.”

“But Alison had a feeling he wasn’t really planning on listening to her as they headed for the S-Mart.


Claire sat on the edge of her bed in the hotel room, watching glumly as Belle struggled to zip a suitcase. “And that’s everything,” Belle said.

“Not exactly everything,” Shawn said. “There’s one thing I have to do first.” He glanced at Claire, then away. “Why don’t you go check us out of this room while I talk to her?”

“Oh,” Belle said. “Okay.” She kissed Shawn lightly and left.

Shawn sat down next to Claire, who ignored him. “Hey, Peanut,” he said. “I know you’re disappointed that we can’t stay in Salem for the next few months. I’m disappointed too, believe me.”

Claire shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not like there’s not a ton of family here that would actually want to take me in.”

“About that…” Shawn sighed. “I don’t know where this is coming from, Claire. Your mother and I love you very much and we’d be devastated not to have you around. Where did you get this idea that we’d be happier if you lived with someone else?”

Claire shrugged. “I hear things.”

“Like what?”

“Like Mom saying that going to law school would be a lot easier if she didn’t have to take care of me on top of it. Which I don’t understand because I’m 14, not 3, she doesn’t need to do anything for me. But anyway it’s obvious I cause her a lot of stress and she’d rather I be somewhere else.”

Shawn put his arm around Claire. “That was said in frustration, and she didn’t mean it.”

“Yes she did.” Claire looked down at the ground. “Mom is always complaining that I don’t do enough around the house. She thinks I’m lazy and that I’m a time-suck when she’d rather be studying. And neither of those things is true but it makes me SO mad anyway.”

Shawn sighed. “Your mom is under enormous pressure right now. She needs to graduate at the top of her class so she can get a good job, and she’s trying to be there for you on top of studying and applying for internships. Now would she do all that if she didn’t love you?”

“I guess not,” Claire said grumpily. “But I don’t see why we can’t stay here anyway. Can’t she do her classes online or something?”

“She wouldn’t be licensed in Hawaii if she did that.”

“Then we should move here permanently. Who needs a lawyer in Hawaii?”

“Lots of people,” Shawn said. “You’d be surprised. Now - “ His phone rang. “Who is this?” he said to himself. “Excuse me one second, Peanut, this might be work.”

When he answered, an automated message came on. This is a message from Salem Middle School. We are confirming that your child, Claire Elizabeth Brady, has been successfully enrolled in the eighth grade. Your child must report to the principal’s office tomorrow at 8:30 AM.

Shawn’s eyes widened as he listened to the message. Claire smirked. “Guess you have to let me stay now,” she said.



“Here’s that enhanced footage you wanted, sir,” a tech said, handing Abe a flash drive.

“Thank you,” Abe said. The tech left and Abe inserted the flash drive. He tapped a few buttons on his computer to display the body cam footage. He froze the image, zooming in on the girl behind Hannah who was on the phone.

She was a very light-skinned black girl with blond highlights in her hair.

Abe pressed a few more buttons and the image was displayed side by side with the image from the store camera of the girl who was buying beer. There was no doubt about it. They were the same person.

Abe sighed deeply, remembering Wolfe telling him that Roman had said he didn’t need to check the footage when they were talking about such a minor crime and JJ saying that Roman did everything in his power to be able to arrest Paige but didn’t double check the arrest of another innocent woman.

He rubbed his temples as he glanced down at an open file on his desk. The file was marked HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION: JANE DOE AKA JILL LARSON

He flipped through the pages, shaking his head, then closed the file and stared into space, remembering all the times he and Roman had worked together over the years and all the ways they’d been there for one another. He remembered his first day on the police force, remembered riding with Roman when they were both patrol officers before they made detective, remembering congratulating Roman when he became commissioner. He remembered Roman comforting him when Lexie died and Roman at his bedside when he was recovering from that eye operation. He remembered Roman promising he’d do his best for Lani when Abe asked him to give the woman he thought was his daughter a chance.

Then he looked again at his screen, and at his file. “Gotta do it, old friend,” he said to himself. “You’re not going to like this and it might well cost me the remaining years of friendship we might have had but in the end, justice has to come first.”

He picked up his phone. “Roman. It’s Abe. Do you think you could meet me for lunch? There’s something I need to run by you.”

[tghca]

Either way Roman if he ends up losing his job as Commissioner he can always go back to the ISA and work for them or Roman could always end up running the Brady Pub...he doesn't need this job anymore especially considering all the grief he continues to get from Salem's hypocrites so yeah Abe can fire him all he wants but it is not gonna matter especially because Roman is set either way

I wonder if Shawn and Belle will figure out or at least suspect that Claire may have had something to do with her own enrollment? Not just her but Ciara, Shawn's sister may have actually had a lot to do with this

Sarah is an alcoholic...it seems her alcoholism is getting worse but how much worse can it get? I mean does she not realize that by being an alcoholic she is doing more damage to her liver especially to the point that she might even need a liver transplant one day because that could very well happen where she could end up needing a liver transplant to live or she could get into a car one day wasted and completely drunk and drive and she could get into an accident or she could get so drunk behind the wheel that she could hit someone with her car and seriously injure them or even kill that person. Melissa is at least trying to save Sarah from herself. But I can also see where Sarah is coming from seeing as I know a lot of alcoholics most in my own family and with Sarah she more or less drinks because of her mother Maggie. However, Victor is a contributing factor. Sarah hates Victor with a passion...she hates her step-father hates him so is it really a good idea for Victor to come to Nashville? If Sarah sees him there...that is just like putting gasoline into the fire because she'll drink even more and with drunks when they drink they get violent and that is what could happen with Sarah especially if she sees Victor. Probably better for Maggie to go alone.

[André DiMera]

I really hope Melissa does follow through this time. Sarah needs tough love, whether she likes it or not, and Maggie is the perfect person to tell about this.

Oh no! Trask being there is not a good thing!

Hopefully J.J. will listen to Alison. Glad they’re trying to get info from the manager of the S-Mart.

Wonder how Shawn’s gonna react to hearing that!

I’m sure this is gonna be hard, but Abe is doing the right thing.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[heroicmuse]

Thank you André DiMera, Kpatch, and tghca for your comments this week. I'm glad everyone is so engaged with this story! The most rewarding part of writing is reading comments and seeing that people are enjoying, discussing, and debating what's going on in my story.

I'm excited about what's coming up next week. A few stories are coming out of JJ's investigation into his new-to-him cousin's arrest, plus there's plenty going on elsewhere.

Check out this sneak peek and tell me what you're most excited for this week.

Coming Up on Breaking Ties...



Abe meets Roman for lunch and for what is sure to be a difficult conversation. The two make small talk and Roman tells Abe that he is hoping to get Max and Chelsea to run the Pub before they turn to the matter at hand. Abe tells Roman about Hannah’s case and asks him if the uniforms’ claim that Roman skipped checking security footage is true. When Roman confirms it, Abe is upset and tells him that he may have put the department in a bad light by not double checking behavior on the part of the police that could be interpreted as racist, especially because he can’t expect the cops’ mistake to stay out of the news indefinitely.

Roman is aware that between Paige and Hannah's unfair incarcerations, he screwed up bigtime, but he doesn’t believe it when Abe gently suggests that perhaps his mental abilities are declining too much for him to continue being Commissioner. Roman says that that’s not the issue -- these mistakes occurred because he was under a lot of pressure from the Mayor’s office to close Jill’s case. He feels bad about what happened to Paige and Hannah because of his errors, but he is nowhere near ready to retire. Will Abe have to take further action, and if he does will it ruin a 30-year friendship?

And Roman isn’t the only one worried about what this mistake means for his career, as Wolfe worries when he sees Agent Maxwell arrive at the station. Wolfe takes Duncan aside, hoping that she’ll tell IAB that he has never been racist towards her, which irritates her because she feels she is being singled out as a black member of the department. However, Wolfe also has another question for her: does she think it’s possible he did act out of bias against black people without realizing it when he failed to notice Hannah's friend standing nearby during Hannah's arrest?

Meanwhile, JJ’s investigation into Hannah’s arrest reveals that there is at least one person involved in this who definitely was prejudiced: the S-Mart manager. The manager reluctantly grants JJ and Alison an interview in which he claims that he believed Hannah and her friend were gang members who were intent upon robbing his store and that they intimidated him into selling them beer when they were underage. His attitude upsets JJ, who has a hard time staying calm and professional, while Alison takes a softer approach, but eventually the manager ends the interview and implies that he will sue for defamation of character if they brand him as a racist on the air.

JJ thinks their next step is to get Hannah’s side of the story, but he’s frustrated when he learns from Dr. Blanton that the warden has to give permission for reporters to speak with prisoners. Sure the warden will not grant any such thing, he and Alison head off to Nicole’s newsroom for help with the story. On the way, Alison suggests that JJ look up what judge sentenced Hannah and JJ is shocked to find out who it is.

Meanwhile, Paige is worried after talking with Hannah that her friend may still be getting bullied in jail even though Hannah denies that anything is wrong. After the conversation ends, Paige heads to the news station too, hopeful JJ or Nicole can get to the bottom of what’s going on with Hannah so the jail will be forced to protect her, but is there really a problem or is her PTSD making her paranoid? She arrives just in time to hear JJ and Alison asking Sally what to do about getting an interview with Hannah and wonders if she can do it for them when she goes to visit as a friend, but that won’t work as only reporters are allowed to bring materials into the jail to record sources’ statements and her word about what Hannah says isn’t going to help without proof her friend said it.

Paige and JJ come up with a crazy plan to get around this, but Sally puts a stop to that. JJ also fills Paige in on who sentenced Hannah. Paige wants to call Berger to make sure he isn’t going in front of the same judge to ask for her sentence to be converted to probation, but before she can someone calls JJ. This someone is an anonymous source who claims to have info about the judge in question, but is this a real source or has someone set a trap to try to derail JJ’s story before it airs?

Elsewhere in Salem, Sydney feels left out when she’s not allowed to go to lunch with Rafe and Johnny and wishes she could at least have lunch with Nicole. Sami returns to the house with news just as Sydney is sulking about this: she has got all the materials to homeschool the kids so they can stay in Salem til after Hope and Aiden’s wedding! Meanwhile, Johnny initially thinks Rafe is only taking him to lunch to get out of him what happened in LA, but later Rafe gets him to open up a little bit, though he can tell his former stepson is holding something back.

Claire doesn’t fare so well, as her parents are angry at the trick she pulled and warn her that she will be punished when they get home. While trying to get out of her why she’s acting out like this, Belle realizes that Ciara was behind the trick and Shawn goes to call Hope. While he’s gone, Belle and Claire have an honest conversation and seem to finally be making some progress, but then Shawn returns with the news that they are all going to head to the school to talk to the principal -- could Claire and Ciara be in huge trouble?

And finally, Abby is thrilled when T asks her to go out to eat after she is finished running errands with Jennifer, but she may not be so happy when she finds out where Jennifer is taking her, and why.

[André DiMera]

Of course Roman’s not gonna want to hear that it’s time for him to go. I bet Abe will have to take extra steps for this.

That’s gotta be annoying for Duncan. Whether he meant to or not, Wolfe was racist against Hannah.

That one comment alone shows the S-Mart manager is racist. And can it really be defamation if they heard him admit it? Glad J.J. and Alison are investigating.

Sounds like it’s Paige’s PTSD again. Glad Sally puts a stop to whatever crazy plan J.J. and Paige come up with. Wonder who the call is from.

Glad Rafe gets Johnny to open up a bit, and that Sami and her kids are staying for a while!

I get why Claire wants to stay. I just hope she and Ciara don’t get in too much trouble.

Wonder where Jennifer is taking Abby.

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I hate seeing Roman getting thrown under the bus. Great job finding that old photo heroicmuse!

Sarah is a mess. I hope Maggie has a plan to help her daughter straighten up.

[heroicmuse]

Week 228 - 1

“I dunno what a couple of college kids want with me,” the S-Mart manager, Jimmy Peterson, said, leaning back in his chair. “We don’t need any more clerks, so if you’re looking for a job - “

“We’re not,” JJ said, pulling out his press pass. “We’re reporters for WXIR News and we want to talk to you about something that happened at your store a couple months back.”

Peterson frowned. “Reporters, huh? You gonna put me on TV or something?”

“Maybe,” JJ said. “We wanna ask you about those girls you called the cops on back in September.” He showed him a still Abe had given him from the security tape of Hannah and her friend walking into the store. “This is them, in case your memory needs refreshing.”

Peterson’s smile faded. “I remember,” he said. “Those two little gangbangers would have robbed me blind if I hadn’t thought fast. As it was, they scored some beer they had no right to, coming in here with a fake ID and intimidating me into letting them buy it.”

JJ scowled. “Seriously?” he said. “You’re gonna - “

Alison put her hand on his wrist. “What my colleague means,” she said, “is what made you believe they were going to rob you?” Peterson’s eyes narrowed and he said nothing. “Please, Mr. Peterson,” Alison said. “I’ve been robbed too, they held a knife to my throat and they beat me unconscious after. I know how scary it is. But one of the girls you had arrested is claiming that she wasn’t doing anything wrong, and if you don’t tell us what really happened that’s the only story anyone is ever going to hear.”

Mr. Peterson looked from her to JJ. “Okay, fine,” he said, “but only if I’m gonna get a fair shake. I know what you kids are thinking. Some little punk tells a sob story making herself the victim and you figure that’s the way it’s gotta be, that it can’t be the one in jail’s the villain here. That’s the way it seems to be nowadays, the bad guys are all victims and the cops are all evil, but I’m telling you, you got it backwards and I just pray someday when you’re older you understand that.”

“We’re not here to make anyone the bad guy,” Alison said. “We just want the truth. And we’ll be fair, won’t we, JJ?”

“Yeah,” JJ said, but his arms were crossed and he couldn’t help the fire in his eyes. “We will. So how about you start at the beginning?” He took out his phone and pressed a button. Mr. Peterson frowned and JJ said, “Just recording this if that’s okay with you.”

“Why not? I got nothing to hide.”

JJ said into the tape, “This is JJ Deveraux and Alison McCarthy interviewing Jimmy Peterson, the manager of the S-Mart on Walnut Street in Salem.” He turned towards Mr. Peterson. “You called the police on two teenage girls on the evening of September 12, 2019. Why was that?”

“Cause they were nothing but trouble, that’s why!” Mr. Peterson crossed his arms. “I could tell from the minute they walked in here that things were gonna end badly. It happens every once in a while, little punks from East Salem making their way to stores in this part of town to steal whatever they can get away with or worse. Some of them are just troublemakers and the rest of them’s in gangs or trying to get in them.”

JJ made himself breathe deep and say, his voice even, “Back up a sec. How’d you know these two girls were from East Salem?”

“I been around. I know half the people who come in this store and the other half I can tell are legitimate customers. These two girls didn’t look like they belonged here and they sure as hell looked like they thought they were going to get away with something.”

“Don’t beat around the bush,” Alison said to him. “Go ahead and say it. What did they look like that made you think East Salem?”

“I really gotta spell it out, huh?” Peterson’s chair squeaked as he leaned back. “Look, you kids probably think I called the cops on those little punks because of the color of their skin. I didn’t. I got nothing against black people, not ones who know how to act right. Commander Carver and his family come in here, I’d be honored to have them. But East Salem’s a whole other matter. The kids in that neighborhood are raised with no sense of right or wrong, with the belief that if you want something you just take it and if someone doesn’t want to give it to you, you put a gun to their head. And when two black girls come in here wearing gang colors and talking loud enough you can hear them a block away, that gives them away as being from East Salem and I’m not having that in my store, not after the last time I got held up.” JJ scowled but Mr. Peterson looked at Alison. “You were mugged, you understand how it is. Don’t you?”

Alison said, “The girls who mugged me were from right here in Salem proper. And they were white.” She crossed her arms. “What do you mean, these girls were wearing gang colors?”

“The darker girl had a blue handkerchief covering her hair and both of them were wearing the same silver chains around their neck, with some kind of charm on the end that looked like a teardrop. I figured it was some sort of gang identifier. Plus, they came in here like they owned the place, like I said they were real loud and obnoxious, for all I knew they were drunk already.”

“Yeah?” JJ said. “Then how come you sold them beer?”

Mr. Peterson shifted his weight. “I didn’t know what they might do if I told them no. You never know with people like them. So I figured the best thing to do was go ahead and ring them up and call the cops after, report them using a fake ID as well as generally disturbing the peace around here and scaring legitimate customers off.”

JJ crossed his arms. “I read the arrest report, man. You know what they found on Hannah Martin when they arrested her? Nothing. No drugs, no gun, not even a freaking pocket knife. What do you have say about that?”

“Who? Is that one of those two troublemakers?”

“Yeah, it is,” JJ said. “Just so you know, she’s related to the Hortons, she’s Julie Williams’ granddaughter. And she’s got a mom who’s a surgeon over at East Salem Med and who’s heartbroken her kid’s in jail. Still think she’s a gang member?”

“I don’t care what family she comes from, she came in my store acting like a little punk and she got what she deserved,” Mr. Peterson said. “And if that’s true about her mom, well, I feel sorry for the lady. Breaking her back trying to help people in that God awful hospital in that God awful neighborhood and instead of being grateful her daughter goes around taking things that aren’t hers and not caring who she hurts.”

JJ’s eyes flashed. Alison patted his wrist as she turned towards Mr. Peterson. “Did you catch her trying to steal anything from your store?”

“Which one was she? The light-skinned or the dark?”

“The darker one,” JJ said, “and the only one who got locked up over this bull. She’s doing a year in jail for having an open container on the street, you happy now?”

“JJ,” Alison said quietly. “That question’s not exactly professional.”

JJ’s eyes flashed, but he knew Alison was right. He crossed his arms while he made himself breathe, trying to be the dude he most wanted to be even though he felt like jumping across the desk and punching this asshole in the face.

Alison turned towards Mr. Peterson. “I’m sorry about that. But let’s stay on track. Did either of the girls - “

“You know what?” Peterson said. “That little bitch got off easy, if that’s all she was charged with. Maybe she didn’t have a gun, maybe I was wrong about that part of it, but she was trouble with a capital T and a year in jail isn’t nearly enough to teach her her lesson.”

“Mr. Peterson,” Alison said, quickly, trying to make sure JJ didn’t explode again. “Did either of these two girls try to steal anything from your store?”

“They couldn’t get away with it. I had a clerk following them, making sure they didn’t try anything like that.”

“What about when they went their separate ways?” JJ asked. “We saw the tape, man, we saw they were on opposite sides of the store and the only one getting followed around was the one with skin too dark to be mistaken for white. You wanna tell me there was some reason for that other than her being black with a blue handkerchief in her hair?”

“There is actually.” Mr. Peterson had sweat on his brow but he looked more angry than scared. “The other girl was right by the counter. I could keep an eye on her from the register. But the dark one was snaking through the aisles and I couldn't see what she was up to. She was acting like she was looking for something, but it was obvious she just didn’t want me to be able to see what she was doing so she could slip something into that huge purse she was wearing. That’s why I had a clerk follow her, to be my eyes and ears since I couldn’t leave the register. Now I’m sorry if that interferes with your precious little belief that little punks like her are the real victims and that I’m the big bad racist, but that’s not what it was. I have a store to run. I can’t let people get away with stealing, no matter what the color of their skin is. And you’ve wasted enough of my time with this nonsense, so this interview is over. But just remember there’s still laws against lying about people in the press, so if you’re going to paint me as something I’m not, I’d be very careful if I were you.”


Trask’s smile faded as Bev stammered nervously, “Ms. Trask, hi. It’s been a while, huh?”

“You can say that,” Trask said. “I guess your father is trying to buy your way into this school just like he bought your way out of those weed charges when you were a teenager.” She crossed her arms. “I read all about your latest legal problems in the Salem Spectator. I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“Then you also read that the charges against me were dismissed,” Bev said. “Now if you’ll excuse me - “

“I will not,” Trask said. “You got away with helping to kidnap Paige Larson, but it wouldn’t have happened if the voters hadn’t been stupid enough to vote for Spota instead of me in the last election. I have to wonder, does Mrs. Lockridge know that she’s considering admitting the child of a violent felon into this school?”

Bev crossed her arms. “I wouldn’t worry about it,” she said. “She admitted your child, so her standards can’t be all that high.”

“I’d watch my tone if I were you,” Trask said. “Mrs. Lockridge thinks very highly of me and if I don’t think you and your child are the kind of people I want to expose my Haley to, she will not admit you. So you need to be on your very best behavior during this luncheon because I’m watching you very carefully.”


Abigail was brushing her hair when her phone buzzed. She looked at it, but the letters swam in front of her eyes, making it impossible for her to read. She sighed deeply and pressed a button.

A robotic voice read the text to her: "Text from Tuh. Hi Abigail! Do you want to go out to eat tonight?"

Abby smiled to herself. She stared at the phone, looking for the microphone button and forgetting what she was looking for, but even that didn’t upset her. “Oh,” she said to herself, and pressed the button. “I have to… I forgot where my mom said we were going but I have to do it first and then I want to… you know, what you said.” She thought she sounded stupid but she doubted she could do any better so she sent the text.

“Abigail!” Jen called. “Are you ready, sweetheart?”

“Coming, Mom!” Abby said. She ran her brush through her hair, smiling widely.

[André DiMera]

If Peterson’s trying to prove he’s not racist, he’s doing a terrible job of it! Glad Alison is trying to keep J.J. calm. I know I’d be upset, too, if I heard the stuff he’s saying.

Oh geez. Trask is as bad as ever.

Wonder where Jennifer is taking Abby. Can’t wait to see more of her and T!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

Yes I too wonder where Jennifer is taking Abby

Trask...I wonder if she is still DA? If she is then that makes sense but Haley is a character in this too...that makes sense but Haley I don't know why you would make her a child in this when on the actual show she is like pretty much the same age as JJ

[heroicmuse]

Week 228 - 2
Shawn frowned. “It means no such thing. In fact, not only are you coming home, but you’re going to be punished.”

Claire crossed her arms. “That’s all you do. Punish, punish, punish. You should be happy I took some initiative, Mom’s always saying she wishes I would.”

“Not like this,” Shawn said. “Whatever you did is probably illegal. You should be glad we’re going to take care of this our way and not by letting you sit in a Salem jail cell.” His phone buzzed. He glanced at it. “Did you get the same call I did?” he asked. “Apparently our daughter here thought if she somehow faked us registering her for school here we’d just give up and leave without her. Have you checked out yet? Good. Come back up and let’s figure out what to do about this.”

“What you’re going to do is let me go to school tomorrow morning like the message said!” Claire said. “I’m already registered, why can’t you - “

“Because we don’t reward this kind of delinquent behavior,” Belle said, coming into the room. “What you did is potentially very serious, Claire. Not only did you undermine our authority, but you somehow forged documents to make it look like we registered you for school here. Did you know that Daddy and I could get in trouble for that? That’s right. We could go to jail for listing a false address so you could go to school someplace you don’t live.”

Claire’s face trembled. “No,” she said. She recovered quickly, adding, “But it doesn’t matter, because all you have to do is let me live with Grandma Hope and then it’s not fraudulent or whatever.”

Belle frowned. “This is so not like you, Claire. What has gotten into you?” Her eyes widened. “Wait a second. I should have known. Ciara was behind this, wasn’t she?”



Abe adjusted his tie nervously as Roman came into the club. “Thanks for meeting me,” he said as Roman sat down.

“No problem. Always got time for you.” Roman smiled. “I’m guessing you wanna go over a couple things before I get back to work.”

“You could say that,” Abe agreed. “Let’s order first. By the way, what’s happening with the Pub? I assume your family is going to be reopening it.”

“That’s the plan. I’m gonna talk to Max and Chelsea tonight. I’d love for them to stay in Salem long-term and I think running the Pub might just be the ticket to doing that.”

“Good,” Abe said. He called the waiter over and said, “Could I have a cup of coffee please?”

“I’m more of a beer guy, but since you’re on the clock, what the hell, I’ll have coffee too,” Roman said. “With cream and about a dozen sugars, please.”

The waiter looked shocked but he said, “Very good, sir,” and walked off.

Abe smiled slightly. “After all these years, you still drink coffee the same way you did when we were on patrol.”

Roman shrugged. “Old habits die hard. So, what you got for me? I miss being down at the station more than you know, I can’t wait to get back to it.”

“Right.” Abe swallowed hard. “We had to reopen an old case this morning,” he said. “It was a minor crime but apparently the officers missed something that should have been right under their noses.” He paused to try to read Roman’s face, but it was blank. Abe said, “Dispatch got a call last September about a disturbance at the S-Mart on Walnut. Manager said two girls were causing trouble and that one of them bought beer using a fake ID. Wolfe and Stone were dispatched to the scene, where they saw a teenage girl standing on the sidewalk by the bus stop holding an open can of what turned out to be beer. They approached her, there was a brief confrontation, and then they arrested her. Do you recall this case?”

Roman frowned. “Sounds familiar. September, you said?” He thought for a second. “We’d have been in the middle of the Jill Larson investigation, that would have taken precedence over a tiny little thing like this.”

“I’m sure it would have. That’s what the uniforms said too. You see, the girl they arrested was in jail with Paige and she apparently told Paige she was pressured to plead guilty when the beer wasn’t hers. So when Paige got out, she asked JJ to look into it and he did. In the course of that investigation, he spoke to the arresting officers and they became aware that the other girl involved in this, the one who was with her in the store and bought the beer using a fake ID, was standing right next to the one we arrested, yet they never gave her a second look.”

Roman frowned. “You confirm they didn’t just get squirrely after talking to JJ?”

“I did. I looked at the security footage from the S-Mart and their body cam footage and sure enough, the girl who actually bought the beer was standing right there on the sidewalk making a phone call when our officers rolled up. Their error led to one girl being sentenced to a year in jail for underage possession while the other got off scot-free for purchasing it with a fraudulent ID. Because of that, I have to call IAB in to make sure that our officers didn’t deliberately target only one of the suspects they were called to the scene about while ignoring the other. But before I do, I need to know something.”

Roman laughed nervously. “Why do I get the feeling I’m on the hot seat?”

“I’m hoping you won’t be.” Abe sighed. “The uniforms said that they’d never seen the security footage before and that you told them that there was no need to look at it. Is that true?”



JJ leaned his phone on his ear while Alison started the car. “You sure there’s no way around that? All right. Thanks, Dr. Blanton.” He hung up. “Damn it!”

“What’s wrong?” Alison asked him. “Besides the fact that we both probably need showers after talking to that asshole.”

“Dr. Blanton said if we wanna talk to a prisoner we gotta get approval from the warden.” JJ’s eyes flashed. “There’s no way she’s gonna give us permission to get Hannah’s side, not when she knows we’re also looking into how she runs her prison. Besides, you think she wants a prisoner talking about being railroaded into pleading guilty? They let Hannah out, that’s one less bed she’s got filled and I bet you anything that loses her money.”

“You don’t know that,” Alison said.

“Yeah, I do. Remember a long time ago that source in the DA’s office said look into who gets paid when innocent people go to jail? That’s gotta be what it means.”

“I think,” Alison said, “that you need to calm down. I get that this girl’s your cousin you never met, but you can’t get this wound up about it, you’re going to ruin your story.”

JJ’s eyes flashed. He stared out the window, his voice thick with pain. “I told you. It’s bad enough Paige lost three months of her life to this crap but my cousin too… you know her mom thinks she’s guilty?” He shook his head. “Abe took me to see her down at East Salem Med and she said she didn’t pay Hannah’s bail and she didn’t get her a real lawyer cause she wanted her to learn her lesson. She let her kid stay locked up for months on end all cause she believed a bunch of lies when the real reason she’s in jail’s cause someone didn’t like the color of her skin. What’s that gonna do to their relationship once she comes home?”

Alison was quiet for a sec. “That sucks,” she said. “My parents didn’t even do that with Josh and the cops said he could have killed someone.”

“Yeah,” JJ said. “Paige’s mom would have paid for a lawyer too if we didn’t have the funds, she wasn’t gonna let her daughter go down for a murder she didn’t do, but Hannah’s mom, she practically disowned her cause she was arrested for a beer that wasn’t even hers. How can she do that to her own kid?”

“She was doing what she thought she had to, I guess. My parents did too sometimes. Not with this, but with all the other crazy things Josh did… they would get scared and they would get tough, thinking that would straighten him out, but it only made him worse and then they’d back off again.”

“My mom too. But when it came to me getting arrested, she never batted an eye about getting me out no matter how guilty I was, and as mad as I was at her in those days, I couldn’t totally hate her cause she never gave up on me.”

“I don’t think Hannah’s mom is giving up. I think she’s trying to straighten her out, only she doesn’t know she didn’t really do what the cops said she did. That’s all the more reason we need to get this story out.”

“Yeah, but how? I already know Nicole’s gonna say right now it’s too one-sided and we gotta just run with the lot of nothing Abe gave me on the record cause we can’t get a statement from Hannah to contradict what that asshole we just talked to said.”

“Not necessarily. I vote for swinging by the news station and seeing what she says. And also, that manager only put things in motion, he didn’t ruin your cousin’s life all by himself. He called the cops on her and they could have put a stop to this by giving Hannah a ticket instead of arresting her for nothing. But since they didn’t, it became up to the DA and the judge. I’ll call Kelsey again as soon as we get to the newsroom, maybe she’ll be more willing to find out info for us on this than she was on the warden. Meanwhile, we can look up the court records and find out who the judge was who sentenced her so we can find out why the hell he accepted her plea and sentenced her to such a ridiculously long amount of time in jail for something so insignificant.” Alison looked over her shoulder, then changed lanes so they could head to Nicole’s office.

JJ’s eyes widened. “You’re right! This story goes way beyond one freaking asshole calling the cops just cause he didn’t like what two black girls were wearing. Maybe we can get something out of the judge.” He typed something on his phone, then scrolled through the results. “Where is...here it is.” He clicked on something, then stared at it, his eyes widening. “Holy crap,” he said. “Pull over so I can show you this.”

“Just tell me,” Alison said. “I want to get to Nicole’s before the cut off for tonight’s show in case she can use any of what we’ve got so far.”

“K,” JJ said. “Here goes.” He let his breath out slowly. “The judge that sent Hannah away was Alan Thorpe.”

“Thorpe? As in - “

“Yep. The same judge that had Paige locked up for no reason.”


Paige leaned her phone on her ear. “Probation. Wow. So you’d be coming home?”

“Yep,” Squeaky said. She sighed. “I sure hope my mom’ll have me. She was real mad when I was arrested, she wouldn’t listen any more than the cops did and she hasn’t ever been to see me, not once. We talk on the phone once in a blue moon but I can tell she’s still mad.”

“I’m sure you can straighten it out once you get home. My boyfriend talked to her, he’s looking into your case for his news show to try to prove it was unfair.”

“No way,” Squeaky’s voice was soft and she sounded like she was near tears. “He’s going to put me in the TV so my mom can see I didn't do anything?”

“He’s going to try to. Anyway, I guess we’d better talk about what you actually called for before the phone cuts off. What else did my lawyer tell you? Is there any chance he can get your case dismissed altogether?”

“He wasn’t sure.” Squeaky sighed. “I don’t think anyone really can, Tweener, all we have is my word and I already said I was guilty before.”

“Not if they find your friend, they could make her testify.”

“That’ll be the day.” Squeaky sighed. “Nat could’ve spoken up right then and there and she kept her mouth shut, you think she’s gonna save my butt now? Look, the cops were wrong. It wasn’t my beer and I didn’t have an attitude! But it’s my word against theirs, Tweener, and besides, your lawyer said it’s gonna be tough convincing anyone I shouldn’t be punished cause Nat’s beer was in my hand so that makes me guilty under the law. So maybe probation’s the best I can do to get rid of all this stupidity even if it does mean I’ll have on my record I’m guilty of having an open container when I’m too young to drink.”

Paige bit her lip. “Well, if probation’s really your best option, at least you’d be home. You wouldn’t have to put up with the guards and everything anymore. There hasn’t been any new Tianas bullying you since I left, have there?”

Squeaky hesitated. “Uh uh.”

“Squeaky,” Paige said quietly. “Is something happening you don’t want me to know about?”

“No!” Squeaky said. “I just miss you and Mama, that’s all. Angel got herself thrown in the hole for two days and I had to hold down that table all by myself but she’s back now, it’s no big deal anymore.”

“Angel went to the hole? What for?”

“Fighting, what do you think?” Squeaky sighed. “Don’t tell her I said so if you talk to her, she’s embarrassed.”

“No, I won’t.” Paige pressed the phone against her ear. “What happened to Gina? She said she was going to help look out for you, she couldn’t sit with you while Angel wasn’t there?”

“She’s gone,” Squeaky said. “They sent her to Statesville, part of some plea or something. Anyway, don’t worry, it’s really not that a big deal.”

“If you say so. But I think you’d better take probation if they offer it. That has to be better than this.”

There was a beep and the phone announced, “You have two minutes remaining on this call.”

Squeaky sighed. “I guess I’d better go. I’ll call again soon, okay? Love you, Tweener.”

“Love you too,” Paige said. She hung up. She tapped her phone against the palm of her hand, nervously, then went back to where Eric was sitting.

“Everything all right?” Eric asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I don’t know,” Paige said. “I think my friend Squeaky -- she’s Julie’s granddaughter by the way -- might need prayer too but she wasn’t really telling me anything.” She tightened the back of her earring, nervously. “Um, do you have time to drop me off at Nicole’s office before you go back to work? I think JJ might be there, and if he’s not, maybe Nicole can help me.”

Eric looked worried, but he nodded and said, “Let’s go.”


Judge Thorpe was alone in his office, listening to the message JJ had left him. Judge Thorpe, this is JJ Deveraux from WXIR. I’m calling to ask for your comment on a story I’m doing on Hannah Martin, a girl you sentenced to a year in jail for underage possession of beer back in October. I was wondering what your reasons were and if you regret this decision at all.

The judge took off his glasses as he rubbed his temples. “First Paige Larson, now this girl,” he said to himself as he flipped through Hannah Martin’s case file. “The press is really out to crucify me, aren’t they?” He picked up his phone. “Sorry to give you such short notice, but I’m going to need you to cancel or reassign all my cases for this afternoon. Something urgent’s come up.” He hung up, then sighed deeply, before calling another number. “I think I’m in trouble. Can we talk?”