Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 240,725 times)

[André DiMera]

Thats an interesting thought, Marlena. Wonder what Roman thinks about it.

Som the warden is trying to hide something. Not sure Hannah should have taken the deal. We’ll see what happens.

If Ciara doesn’t drop this attitude, her punishment’s only gonna get worse. If she wants to show she’s good, now’s the time to do it. The suspension teacher’s right, 14 days is better than what she could have got.

What a time for Rafe and Johnny to come back, just as Allie was about to open up. I hope she does, eventually.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

Roman if he's such a cop if it is part of his identity...Roman can always transfer departments and work elsewhere or Roman can always go back to working for the ISA but here's another thought...why not work with John and Steve at Black Patch?

Hannah taking a deal...I wonder if this deal will have any impact on her sentence? Or if she will be given release?

I mean Allie was about to open up but looks like that isn't gonna happen now...Johnny will find out and then blackmail her all over again

[Kpatch]

Marlena may be onto something.

Dang, I wanted to hear what Allie was going to tell Sami.

[heroicmuse]

Week 230 - 3

Aiden, Justin, and Berger were meeting in the meeting room. “So,” Justin said. “What’s our next step?”

“Well,” Aiden said, “I guess you’d better go up to Statesville and give Gabi the bad news. And honestly, if I were you, I’d be careful about alienating a judge like Thorpe. He’s pretty tough, he’s not gonna go for threats.”

“Plus,” Berger said, “Paige Larson called me earlier to give me a heads up about Hannah Martin. We would have discovered this anyway while prepping for her case, but she and her boyfriend beat us to it. Judge Thorpe was the one who sentenced Ms. Martin to the maximum possible jail time on that unopened container in the first place. Ms. Larson thought it was an awfully big coincidence that both she and her friend were sent to jail unnecessarily and that we should be concerned about bias when it comes to him. So the last thing we need is to antagonize him."

Justin’s eyes narrowed. “Is this judge a serious threat?” he asked Aiden. “Or are some of our clients just being paranoid?”

Aiden frowned. “Hard to say. I’ve dealt with him a lot of years and I’ve never once had doubts about him. Up til the thing with Paige I respected him and thought he was fair, and I’d like to think his poor ruling there was an aberration.”

Berger’s phone rang. “It’s Salem City Jail,” he said. “May be Hannah Martin. Excuse me.”

Berger answered his phone. “Martin Berger.” He frowned and said, “This may be a new client, we’ll see,” then uncovered the phone and said, “Yes, I accept.”

“Hello?” The caller spoke with a slight Hispanic accent. “This is Tweener’s lawyer, yes?”

“Yes, who is this?” Berger said, guardedly, aware that Tweener was the nickname Paige had got in jail but not sure who this person was.

“This is Angel,” the person said. “I call using Squeaky’s code so I can get through to you.” Angel’s voice shook. “She’s in a trouble, if it wasn’t the guards were messing with her we would be playing basketball still.”

Berger stiffened. Under his breath, he said, “Either of you speak Spanish? It seems our client is in trouble and her friend’s English isn’t great.”

“I do,” Aiden said.

Berger nodded. “I’m going to let another lawyer help us,” he said to Angel. “He speaks Spanish so you can tell him more easily what happened. I’ll be on the line too, I’m just going to put it on speaker.”

“Bien,” Angel said. “But don’t let it take too long, the phone is only on for a short time.”

“I’m doing it right now,” Berger said. He pressed the speaker button and put the phone between them. “Her name is Angel,” Berger said. “I don’t know the last name.”

Aiden nodded. He said, “Hola Angel. Me llamo Aiden Jennings.” Then he asked her in Spanish what was going on. Angel responded in a long string of Spanish. Aiden looked more and more upset as he listened, interrupting periodically to ask her questions. When she was done, he responded in Spanish, “Don’t worry. We’re going to get this straightened out and we’re not going to let anyone get away with any nonsense.”

After they hung up, Berger said, “So… what was that about?”

“I want to know that too,” Justin said.

“What it’s about,” Aiden told them, his face grim, “is that someone up at that jail is playing games with our client’s future. I don’t know why, maybe someone got wind of her trying for probation, but from what this Angel says, some guards planted a crack pipe on Hannah Martin as a pretext for hauling her away to solitary three days before she’s due in court. So now we gotta get an emergency hearing to get this straightened out and hope the judge doesn’t let them get away with this.”


Alison met Kelsey in the parking garage underneath the building where the DA’s office was. “I can’t stay long,” Kelsey said, taking the flash drive out of her pocket and giving it to Alison. “Spota’s on some top-secret video conference call and he expects me to be doing receptionist duty til he gets off.”

Alison raised her eyebrows. “Any idea with who?”

Kelsey shook her head. “No, and I don’t know how to find out. He’s holed up in there. I figured my best bet was to try to listen at the door and pretend I needed something if I got caught, but that isn’t really a great idea. He’s got a thick door and anyway, he told me he didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Maybe Rubin would know,” Alison suggested. “She used to work for him.”

“Good thought,” Kelsey said. “I just need to figure out how to get ahold of her without Spota knowing. Anyway, that file should be everything we need to help JJ’s cousin. It’s everything Spota had on her case.”

Alison nodded. Kelsey turned to walk away and Alison said, “No hug or anything?”

“Sorry,” Kelsey said. “This thing has got me so wound up that all I’m thinking about is getting back there before I get caught.” She hugged Alison and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Hopefully soon all this will be over and we can get back to normal.”

“I hope so,” Alison said, but she was talking mostly to herself because Kelsey had already walked away.


JJ looked up as Daniel and Paige came back in the living room. “Everything okay?”

Paige nodded. “Daniel just wanted to talk to me about my internship. I’m going to be working with him.” She made herself smile. “I just need to give my therapist this form tomorrow and we’re good to go.”

“YAY!” JJ jumped up and hugged Paige. He frowned. “You don’t seem happy.”

“I am,” Paige said. “I just… I have a lot on my mind, that’s all.”

“Yeah. Me too.” JJ squeezed her hand. “Tell you what. Let’s order in some Chinese or something and talk.” He turned towards Daniel. “We’d invite you to stay but we kinda need some alone time.”

“No problem,” Daniel said. “I gotta get Parker anyway. But hey, let’s catch up soon, all right?” He shook hands with JJ and said to Paige, “And you. Hang in there.”

“I will,” Paige promised.

Daniel patted her shoulder, then he left. JJ locked up behind him and then said to Paige, “So, what’s up? Really?”

“A lot,” Paige said. She bit her lip. “I’m excited to be working again, it’s just I have to let Kayla talk to my therapist about what I can handle if I want the job at all and I hate that, you know? But that’s the least of our problems right now.” She crossed her arms. “I know you’re doing the right thing, trying to expose how unfairly Squeaky was treated, and I’m really proud of you. But I’m also afraid and I wish I wasn’t. I don’t want you to stop, at all, but I keep thinking that if this woman threatened you before you even really got started on this story, then she’s desperate to keep something hidden, and I’m scared of what else she might do.”

“She’s all talk,” JJ said, even though he wasn’t sure. “We don’t even know for sure she’s got anything to do with Thorpe. She wouldn’t give me a name or anything, who the hell knows who she is or why she wants to mess with us.”

“Right,” Paige said. “Just… I keep thinking of that video your dad made for you, how he said he had to go to Afghanistan when you were just a child so the people he was investigating wouldn’t try to kidnap you. People who are desperate to keep things secret do crazy things, JJ, and I want you to stand up for Squeaky but the idea of losing you…”

JJ hugged her. “Hey. You’re not losing me. Remember what we learned from all those self-defense lessons your grandpa had us take, okay? All we gotta do is keep paying attention and not let fear get the better of us.”

“That’s easier said than done,” Paige said. “Since jail I’ve kind of been scared of my own shadow.”

JJ frowned. “You? No way.”

“Yeah, well, jail changed me in a lot of ways.” Paige bit her lip. “Let’s talk about something else. Um, what’s this about a contest? Do you have a second chance at the one Peter ruined?”

“Kind of. I missed the last one but I got til the end of next month to submit something for the new one. Dr. Blanton was thinking me and Alison could submit the thing we helped Nicole with about you getting arrested but honestly, that was more Alison’s than mine and I don’t feel right putting my name on it.”

“You should though,” Paige said. “You helped, didn’t you? Besides, something positive should come from me spending three months in jail over nothing.”

“Something is,” JJ said. “You’re helping get Squeaky out too.” He squeezed Paige’s hand. “If I can get it done in time I can submit the story on her,” he said. “T-that’s not why I’m doing it but…”

“Of course not,” Paige said, “but you’re working really hard to get the truth to people, you’re getting blackmailed over it and everything. So you deserve to get something out of it too.”

“I guess,” JJ said. His phone buzzed. “Now we’re getting somewhere,” he said. “Kelsey gave Alison all of Spota’s notes on Squeaky’s case. She’s heading to Nicole's office to go over it with her and Sally. You mind if I - "

“I guess,” Paige said. She pushed her hair behind her ear. “I don’t want to be selfish, but you’ve been working on this all day and I kind of wanted some time alone with you.”

“I want that too,” JJ agreed. “I just… the sooner we uncover enough to get her out, the better so I don’t wanna waste a minute. N-not that you’re a waste of time, that’s not what I meant at all.”

“I know,” Paige said. She bit her lip. “Go ahead, but hurry back, okay? We’re going to have a date night tonight if it kills us.”

[André DiMera]

So glad Angel called the lawyers and told Aiden what was going on!

I hope they can get back to normal soon, too, because it seems like this undercover job is taking up all of Kelsey’s time.

And it seems like she’s not the only one who’s being consumed by this case. I hope J.J. and Paige get to have that date night.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

"We're going to have a date tonight if it kills us." That's a pretty fun line.

Interesting that Thorpe was involved with all these cases.

[tghca]

JJ and Paige date night I hope it happens but JJ is too into this case...maybe JJ should be a cop instead of being a reporter

[heroicmuse]

Week 230 - 4
“Look,” Sally said to Nicole. “We have a show to put on tonight, so let’s not waste any more time on nonsense.” She clicked her mouse.

“You know me, the only nonsense I have time for is my own,” Nicole said. “But Sally, you’re my best friend and if what I said about the cops offended you - “

“It didn’t.” Sally sighed. “You just can’t understand what it’s like to have look over your shoulder all the time because it’s never happened to you.”

“Never?” Nicole said. “Sally, my father was a pervert who pumped me full of drugs to get rid of any inconvenient ability to resist being pimped out for the world to see on porn videos. If that’s not paranoia inducing, I don’t know what is. And that’s the least of all the things that have happened to me in my life.”

“Right,” Sally said. “That was terrible, but that’s not what I meant. Where I grew up, if you were someone like me, you were supposed to keep your head down and your mouth shut and if you forgot your place someone would put you back in it. And for me it was twice as bad cause I like women. Now, Salem isn’t nearly that bad, but that doesn’t mean the problem’s just gone away. You think Hannah Martin’s the first black girl to ever get followed around in a Salem store cause of the color of her skin?” She blinked hard. “You know me, I don’t go around complaining, I just try to live every day to the fullest and let it roll off my back when things like this happen. And I know it’s not everybody, I know you don’t think any less of me than you do of anyone else in your life because of the color of my skin and neither does JJ or any of his friends, and that probably you’re right that those cops had good hearts and didn’t realize what they were doing to that poor girl when they swooped in on her and ignored her friend who was causing all the trouble. But it still hurts to hear it happened to another person like me, especially after what happened to Alfie, and even though I’m glad for you that you’ve never experienced that kind of prejudice, sometimes I wish you could understand what it’s like for that to be my reality day in and day out.” She sighed. “And now that I’ve made my big speech that probably made you uncomfortable, let’s get back to work.”

“It takes a lot more than being accused of not understanding to make me uncomfortable,” Nicole said. “Look, Sally, you’re my best friend, and I don’t want this to come between us. This may surprise you, but I’m actually capable of empathy, and just because I’ve never been followed around a convenience store except by my own guilty conscience when I buy too many snacks doesn’t mean I can’t understand how it feels to know that someone else was just because her skin is like yours. Besides, you’ve spent countless hours listening to me whine about men and the bad luck I somehow make for myself in that department, or did before Rafe, and you’re not even into them. So the least I can do is hear your latest story about some small minded person who couldn’t see past their own prejudices and missed out on knowing someone amazing.”

“Thanks,” Sally said, blushing a little, “but not now, not unless we want to see if you staring blankly into the camera will be a ratings hit.”

“It’ll be an improvement over what Miles thinks makes a good news story,” Nicole said, smiling slightly. “Where are we with the story on Hannah Martin?”

Sally’s phone buzzed. “JJ’s on the way up,” she said. “He says he has something to tell us that he can’t say over text.”

A few minutes later, JJ and Alison came in. JJ said, “Bad news first: that source from before, she’s BS. Thorpe sent her to try to blackmail me, not that it’s gonna work. She said she was working alone but she had to have come from him, she gave me a nonsense statement about how he’s a good guy who had to punish my cousin for acting up in court and said if I don’t drop the story she’ll make sure Hannah never gets out of jail and maybe get Paige sent back there too.”

“Well, she came to the exact wrong place, then,” Nicole said. “I assume you told her in your head to go to hell while pretending you were going to be a good little puppet and let her pull your strings?”

“Course,” JJ said. “I wanna know who she is and what Thorpe’s got to hide that she’s already so desperate. Only… I gotta make sure she’s lying before I call her bluff. Paige’s first starting to snap out of what jail did to her, we can’t risk her freedom.”

“Of course not,” Nicole said. “First things first, did you get the court transcript and see what did happen?”

“Better than that,” Alison said. “My girlfriend came through.” She handed Nicole the flash drive. “This is a copy of the DA’s file on Hannah Martin’s case.”

“Good,” Nicole said. “I have to go on the air in an hour, so we won’t have time to put the whole story together tonight. I’ll just go with the statement you got from the store owner and state we couldn’t talk to Hannah about it yet and that this story is unfolding. And JJ…”

“Yeah?” JJ said.

Nicole smiled. “I hope you and Alison are ready for primetime. If this story is as big as I think it is, when we’ve put all the pieces together I’m going to talk Miles into letting us do a special on all the ways prejudice and corruption got this girl locked up.”

JJ’s mouth dropped open. “You really think it’s worth all that?”

“Could be,” Sally said. “Let me just get this spreadsheet ready to send over to Nicole and then we’ll take a look at that file and see what we can find out.”


“No,” Agent Maxwell said, coolly, “I am not particularly interested in Commissioner Brady. What I am interested in is who sanctioned the use of the term ‘crossover’ and how it affected your behavior on the evening of September 12.”

Wolfe shrugged. “I’ve been hearing it long as I’ve been a cop in this department. Stone told me what it meant the first time I heard.”

“I see. Let’s get back to the night in question. I’ll be listening to the dispatch call later but for now, what exactly did you hear over the radio, to the best of your recollection?”

“It’s like I said, any available unit needed at the S-Mart at Walnut and Main to deal with a disturbance. Perps were described as two African American females, approximately 18 years old, one wearing a blue headscarf. I radioed that we were on the way and we headed over.”

“What happened next?”

Wolfe fidgeted. “It’s just like you’ve seen on the tape.”

“I want to hear it in your own words.”

Wolfe swallowed hard. “When we pulled up there was a girl matching the description standing just outside. She was black and wearing a headscarf just like the description said and she had some kind of can in her hand. We got out and I could see what she was holding was a beer and I remember thinking, what a damn shame it was such a nice-looking girl was getting caught up in some crap.”

“I’m going to need you to give me the play-by-play.” Agent Maxwell’s voice was neutral. “As best as you can remember, what did you say and do once you arrived at the scene and what did your partner say and do?”

Wolfe rolled his eyes towards the back of his head, trying to remember. In his mind’s eyes, he saw him and Stone pulling up and seeing the perp standing on the sidewalk, but it was fuzzy.

“Okay,” he said. “Best as I recall, we pulled up and I said, ‘Think that’s one of them’ and pointed towards the girl we ended up arresting. Then Stone said we’d better check our guns just in case. He said you never know what one of these punks from East Salem’ll do. So we did and then we walked up to the perp.”

“Did you notice anyone else on the sidewalk?”

“N-no, ma’am. Or at least, I didn’t. I mean, there were people around and I kind of saw them then forgot them the next second. I was focused on the girl with the beer can in her hand.”

Agent Maxwell made a note. “Did you notice a girl on the phone behind the one you eventually arrested?”

“Only for a second, then I forgot about her til the reporter kid asked me about it.”

Agent Maxwell nodded. “That girl was also African American and the description was two black girls. So why on Earth did you not consider her a suspect?”

Wolfe was quiet for a second. Then he said, “When they said African American, I guess I expected both girls were gonna look like the one we arrested. She was pretty dark. The other one… well, she was very light and I guess she wasn’t what I thought black looked like.” He bit his lip. “That sounds terrible, doesn’t it? I don’t mean it like… you know.”

There was a pause and then Agent Maxwell said, “Moving on. So you approached Hannah Martin. What happened then?”

Stone’s hand was on the butt of his gun as he slammed the cop car door shut. “Looks like we got one of them,” he said. “People like her are so stupid, they don’t think they’ll get caught if they hang out right at the scene of the crime.”

Wolfe made himself smile at that even though he thought Stone was being ridiculous. Stone said, “Follow my lead.”

They went up to Squeaky. “Salem PD officers, Miss,” he said. “Show us that can.”

Squeaky’s eyes widened. “It’s not mine, I swear. My friend gave it to me to hold for like one second and I told her - “

“Shut up!” Stone said. “Did I say run your mouth? The more you play games, the worse it's gonna be for you. Now show us the damn can.”

Squeaky’s mouth closed. She scowled but she turned the can around.

“Just what I thought.” Stone fingered the butt of his gun. “Standing here drinking a beer and I bet she’s not even of age.”

“I wasn’t - “ Squeaky began.

“No one told you to talk.” Stone grabbed Squeaky by the wrist, making the beer splash out of the can. “You’re under arrest for underage possession of alcohol, using a fraudulent ID to purchase alcohol, having an open container of alcohol on the street, and disturbing the peace.”

“What peace?” Squeaky snapped. “I wasn’t - “

“She’s resisting,” Stone said to Wolfe, tightening his grip on Squeaky’s wrist. “Anything goes down, you saw it.”

“Right,” Wolfe said flatly. He tried to catch the girl’s eye. “Stop fighting us. You’re going to have to come with us to the station and that’s the way it is.”

Squeaky’s shoulders deflated and she let the cops drag her over to the cop car. Stone took away her purse and gave it to Wolfe, then said, “Hands on top of the car. Right now."

“Come on!” Squeaky said as she slammed her hands down. “Why you gotta be like this? Can’t you write me a ticket or something?”

“We could have,” Stone said. “But you decided to be a little bitch and give me attitude, so now your ass is going to jail tonight." He began patting her down, being rougher than necessary, and Wolfe was sure it was on purpose.

Wolfe stared down at the ground now, ashamed because he’d said nothing when he saw Stone messing with that girl, but not wanting to badmouth his partner either. “Stone did most of the talking,” he said. “We confirmed that she was holding a can of beer and then proceeded to make the arrest. She tried to fight being arrested and I told her she was making things worse for herself. Stone then proceeded to add a charge of resisting arrest to the list of offenses we arrested her for and we then made the collar and transported her to the station without further incident.”

“You’re sure that’s all that happened?” Agent Maxwell asked. “It seems to me you’re holding something back. What is it?”

[André DiMera]

So glad J.J. told Nicole what happened, and that Nicole and Sally talked.

It seems like Stone was the one who did most of the talking, but there’s still something about Wolfe that I don’t like.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

JJ talked to Nicole of course but it is not like JJ, Nicole or anyone else can do anything about this because if the source knows what they are up to or what they are planning...the source can make good on her threats to not only make sure Hannah stays in prison on some trumped up charges but she can make sure Paige goes right back to prison. The source she's not lying clearly and they have no way of proving who this mystery woman is as the source but also they have no way of knowing just how dangerous she is.

[Kpatch]

JJ hasn't had a lot of on-air experience yet. Hope he's ready.

[heroicmuse]

Week 230 - 5
Judge Thorpe sat in his study at home. He’d taken both Hannah Martin and Paige Larson’s case files with him and was rereading them, trying to convince himself he’d done nothing wrong.

“I came to you because I trust you,” he’d told Judge Walston, “and because I know you’ll tell me the truth. Do you think this could be the end of my career?”

“I certainly hope not,” Judge Walston said. “You have long had a reputation as a tough but fair judge, and when the time comes for your retirement, I hope that you will go out on a higher note than this."

“You’ll keep my secret, then? Please, Henry, I really don’t think it had any bearing on why I made the choices I made here, but now reporters are sniffing around and I’m pretty sure that JJ Deveraux would love to paint me as some corrupt judge who sent his girlfriend to jail in order to benefit himself.”

Judge Walston sighed. “I have always been a man of integrity, as have you. If you tell me that you made these decisions independently of - “

“I did.”

“In that case, I will keep this to myself for now. I have already told Mr. Deveraux that I will not comment on your case decisions and I will continue to do so. But Alan, if I have any reason to suspect that you have allowed someone else to corrupt your otherwise impeccable reputation, I am honor bound as an officer of this court to speak up. I cannot allow a travesty of justice to continue, regardless of our long friendship.”

Judge Thorpe leaned forward and glared at what he was reading. “I made the right decisions. I know I did.”

Just then, a key turned in the lock. A minute later, there was a knock on his office door.

Judge Thorpe hurried to hide the files under some papers. “Come in,” he said wearily.

A woman came into his home office. “You look awfully tense, sweetheart,” she said. “Why don’t you put your work away and let me help you relax?”

Judge Thorpe turned towards his girlfriend as she put her hands on his shoulders.

Then he let the warden of Salem City Jail kiss him.


Hope held Ciara tightly by the hand as if she were still a little girl and walked her into one of the interrogation rooms. “Officer Horowitz is going to watch you until I get back from Aiden’s office. Have a seat.”

“Geez, Mom,” Ciara complained. “Way to overreact, it’s almost like you changed your mind about arresting me.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Hope said. “Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in?” Ciara crossed her arms and glared at her but Hope said, “I SAID SIT DOWN!”

Ciara gulped as she obeyed. Her mom had never treated her like this in her life, ever. The only time she’d seen her this mad was when she’d been caught blackmailing Chase about that bracelet he’d stolen from Jennifer, and even then Chase had got the worst of it since he was the one who’d stolen something.

“Look at me, CIara Alice,” Hope said quietly. “If your brother hadn’t convinced Mrs. Smith not to, you and Claire would have both been escorted out of school in handcuffs and we’d be having this conversation at juvenile hall. Do you understand that?”

Ciara’s eyes narrowed. “Stop talking to me like I’m a criminal.”

“What you did was a crime!” Hope snapped. 

Ciara wriggled uncomfortably. “Okay, okay, I get it. It was against the law blah blah blah. Can I go home now?”

“No,” Hope said. “I just told you, you’re going to sit here with Officer Horowitz while I talk to Aiden about whether or not you’re going to be allowed to be part of our wedding. I suggest you use this time to seriously improve your attitude if you hope for the next two weeks to be anything but miserable.” She threw a paper on the table. "You wrote all the right things when you were in the suspension room. You impressed the teacher with how much responsibility you wanted to take for what you did. But that was just words, wasn't it, Ciara Alice? Just what you thought she wanted to hear so you could get out of trouble. Well, you'd better start meaning it because if you don't, you're going to end up in juvenile detention and trust me, that's not someplace you want to be."

Ciara looked away. "I know that, duh."

There was a hard knock on the door. Hope pulled it open, hard, and Horowitz said, “She ready for me?”

“She’s going to have to be. If she gives you a hard time, let me know.” Hope stood. “Feel free to do whatever you need to to get through to her. I’m not having my daughter end up in jail a few years from now.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Horowitz said.

Hope left. Horowitz pulled up a chair across from Ciara. “So I heard you decided rules don’t apply to you. Want to tell me what happened?”

“Not without my lawyer,” Ciara said. “My stepdad’s one, I know my rights.”

“In that case, we have two choices,” Horowitz said. “You can sit and listen to me while we get a few things straight, or I can take you downstairs for a tour of what the holding cells are like. See, I was once like you. I was a good kid who did something stupid and short-sighted. Only unlike you, I didn’t get my second chance when my mom walked me into the police station to spend some time with a cop. Uh uh. I was brought in in handcuffs and by the time I got to the friendly cop wanting to give me a lecture I was more than eager to hear it cause it meant I might get to go home. So what do you say? Ready to sit up properly and listen to me?”



Roman made himself laugh. “Depression, huh? Figures if you go to a shrink, you get all sorts of labels put on you that don’t fit.”

“Roman,” Marlena said, “there is no shame in it if that’s how you’ve been feeling. In fact, it’s good news, because depression is far more easily treated than whatever type of cognitive decline you fear may be at the root of this.”

“Yeah, well, doesn’t really matter, does it?” Roman said. “You think IAB’s gonna be thrilled if I screwed up people’s lives cause my mom was dying? Either way I’m out the door.” He sighed. “I knew the day would come when I’d have to give up my badge but I never figured it’d be like this. I figured after years of service I’d be ready to retire with honors and live out my golden years with my kids and grandkids. Also figured I’d have a good woman by my side by then and the closest I came was those years I thought you might actually choose me after John. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, he’s a good guy and the two of you got something that I guess you and me just never did. But here we are with me on the hot seat and about to lose my job and you living happily ever after with someone else and that’s just not how I pictured it when it all began.”

“I know.” Marlena’s voice was soft. “I am sorry. But Roman, I really wish you would consider letting someone evaluate you for depression. No matter what happens with your job or anything else, you still have a lot of good years left and I’d hate to see you spend them suffering in silence when you could have so much more.”

“Thanks,” Roman said. “But I’ll be fine. Fact, I gotta meet Max and Chelsea and something tells me they got good news to share.” He made himself smile. “No one’s said anything so keep this to yourself but I’ve had a feeling for a while Chelsea might be pregnant and I’m hoping she confirms it after what I got to say to the two of them.”

“That’s wonderful if it’s true,” Marlena said, “but do you really think it’ll be enough to - “

“Thanks for the talk,” Roman said. “I’ll get out of your hair now.” He turned and walked away before Marlena could say another word.



“Okay,” Sally said, putting the flash drive into her computer. “First thing we’re going to do is check this for viruses. We don’t need Spota hacking into our computers and spying on what we’re doing.”

“Yeah, especially with all the blackmail going around,” Alison said. JJ raised his eyebrows and Alison said, “I thought I told you what Spota told Kelsey, but I guess not.”

JJ shrugged. “I might have forgot cause of my ADHD.”

“You wouldn’t have forgotten this,” Alison said. “Remember how upset I was she switched her major without telling me? It was because Spota said if she didn’t get me to back off the story when we were trying to get Paige out, he’d press charges against her for fraud, so she hurried to prove she was what she said she was.”

JJ’s eyes narrowed. “You’re right, I wouldn’t have forgot that. So, whichever way you slice it, Thorpe’s in some deep crap. Spota’s trying to blackmail Kelsey over it and some bitch’s trying to blackmail me, that’s an awful lot of trouble to go to to cover for a judge who’s totally clean.”

“We don’t know that what Spota said had anything to do with Thorpe, though,” Sally pointed out. “We’ve known forever he’s dirty, we just need Kelsey’s help to prove it.”

“Right,” JJ said, tapping his phone against the palm of his hand. “So we got a dirty DA who goes around blackmailing people and a judge who sends people to jail who don’t belong there. And that other source in the DA’s office who said a long time ago that all of it has to do with money. So how the hell do we put those pieces together?”

“That’s what we need to figure out,” Sally said, “but maybe this will help. Our virus and malware scan’s done and we can take a look at Hannah Martin’s file.”

[André DiMera]

Ah, so that’s whats going on! I have a feeling, since the warden is dating Thorpe, she’s the same woman who threatened J.J. earlier.

I hope Horowitz can get through to Ciara. Either way, she needs a good, harsh dose of reality. She’s not taking this seriously at all. If she doesn’t want Hope to treat her like a criminal, she shouldn’t be doing illegal things just because she wants her best friend in the same school as her.

Of course Roman didn’t want to hear what Marlena was saying. I hope he reconsiders, eventually.

Can’t wait to see what’s in Hannah’s case files.

Can we please have previews, heroicmuse?

[tghca]

Well JJ doesn't know that his source is actually the Warden nor does he know that the Warden and the judge are connected to one another

Ciara will get out of this I mean she always does

[Kpatch]

It would serve Ciara right to be cut out of the wedding party.