Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 240,936 times)

[Kpatch]

I hope JJ is right, but he doesn't really know for sure.

Looking forward to Jeremy and Chanel scenes.

[heroicmuse]

Week 487 - 1
Gabi was taking a tray of tamales out of the oven to bring over to the kitchen table when Rafe’s phone rang.

“Hernandez,” he said. He sighed. “No, I’m aware I’m still suspended. Just answering that way out of force of habit when I saw your number. Look, did you call to ride me about my phone habits or did you have a reason? I see. No chance I could actually be un-suspended so I can help out with this case, is there? Right. I understand. Yeah, I’ll keep my ears to the ground and anything I find out, I’ll send Cooper’s way. Thanks.” Rafe hung up and sighed deeply.

“Que pasa?” Gabi asked as she put the tray down, and added in English, “These are hot so be careful.”

Rafe sighed. “Nothing I didn’t expect, really. That was my boss over at the FBI. He can’t unsuspend me til my case is dismissed, which hopefully will be soon, but I’m not holdin’ my breath.”

“He called just to tell you this?” Gabi said as she used a spatula to put the tamales on three plates. “And if not, hurry up and tell me before Will gets here with Arianna.”

“He was calling,” Rafe said heavily, “to tell me about a case I can’t participate in. See, there’s been some gang activity in Salem recently. Abe Carver’s got every cop in Salem on it, but he needs all the help he can get so he wanted to call in a favor with the FBI to get me back on the force temporarily. But Agent James can’t do that cause of my situation. So instead, he’s lending him Cooper.”

“And he needed to tell you this why?”

“Cause. Even though I’m suspended, my eyes and ears still work and he thought I might have heard something, especially cause one of the people the Fire Lions are messing with is Allie Horton.”

“Allie?” Gabi said. “As in Will’s sister?”

“You know another Allie Horton?” Rafe crossed his arms. “She was my stepdaughter, for God’s sake, and I can’t freakin’ help her cause of Melinda Trask and her nonsense.”

Gabi put her hand on his wrist and said a few reassuring words in Spanish. Switching to English, she said, “Maybe after the hearing tomorrow it will be over and you can get back to doing what you do best.”

“I hope so,” Rafe said, “cause seems to me that Allie could be in trouble.”

Gabi’s eyes widened. “You mean…” She made a cutting motion across her throat.

“Could be,” Rafe said. “She grabbed the gun from a Fire Lion who was trying to kidnap her and Vicki Hansen. In gang culture, that’s a cardinal sin. Now someone’s sending her anonymous messages trying to lure her to the park tonight, and I don’t know if they’re planning to finish what they started the day they tried to drag her away at gunpoint or what. But what I do know is I’m handcuffed. I can’t carry a gun, I can’t go back to work, I can’t do a damn thing to keep her safe.” His eyes narrowed. “If anything happens to Allie, far as I’m concerned, Melinda Trask and that joke of a lawyer she hired have blood on their hands.”

“Si,” Gabi said. “I’m glad that Dario is still in Bayview because knowing him…”

“If he was here, he’d join the Fire Lions in a heartbeat,” Rafe agreed. “That does give me an idea.” He stood. “Listen, I think you should have a talk with Ari about gangs. I don’t wanna scare you, but the Fire Lions are actively recruiting kids to shore up their numbers.”

Gabi scowled. “I’d hope my daughter would know better than to join a gang. She’s not Dario. She has common sense.”

“I know that,” Rafe said. “But I also know she’s had some problems these last couple years, and that makes her vulnerable. The last thing we need is for some gangbanger to convince her the solution’s to join the Fire Lions and make her point with a gun.”

“All right, all right, I’ll talk to her,” Gabi said, “but only if you stay for dinner before you rush out to wherever it is you have it in your head to go. Por favor? I can’t talk to Ari about this alone and I promised her a dinner with me and Tio Rafe.”

Rafe held up his hands. “All right, all right. But as soon as she’s tucked into bed tonight, I have to take off.”

“Do I want to know where you’re going?”

“No place crazy. Well… comparatively speaking. I’m — “

There was a knock on the door and Will called, “Gabi? We’re here.”


Eric took Julie’s hands in his. “I would be honored to do it for you. But first, what help do you still need? I need to contact Father Joe and reserve the church grounds, which means you will need to decide on the exact date for the funeral.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Julie said. “Doug was buried already -- we couldn’t wait too long, you know -- so it’s just a memorial service. Let me call Hannah and see when she’s free. Hope had an idea about having a camera set up for people to film their memories of Doug and I’d like her to handle that. After that I’ll give you a date.”

“That sounds like a wonderful idea,” Eric said. “Now, I’m sure the Pub will donate food for the wake, and I’ll ask Maggie to do so as well.”

“That’s fine,” Julie said. She sighed deeply. “It’s funny. Doug’s been gone a while now but planning his funeral…well, that just makes it seem more real that he’s never coming home.” She blinked back tears.

[André DiMera]

It’s so annoying that Rafe can’t do anything to help protect Allie. Glad Gabi agreed to have a talk with Ari.

So glad Eric agreed to do the service! I’m sure it will be very nice, whenever it is.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Jeez Eric. You want your father to donate food? How about paying for it like most people do. Julie is not poor and neither are you.

They should definitely warn Ari. Now I'm worried about all the girls.

[heroicmuse]

Week 487 - 2
“Thanks for picking me up,” Dani told Sarah. Sarah had come to get her and take her to the coffee shop in the Square. “I know it’s probably stupid but I don’t feel comfortable taking the bus right now.”

Sarah patted her hand. “I’m glad to be able to support you in whatever way I can. What’s going on?”

Dani sighed. “I’ve been feeling like drinking for the last couple of hours so I figured I’d better call you to keep an eye on me before I do something stupid.” She stared down into her coffee cup. “I thought I was past this but…”

“It’s not the kind of thing you’re ever completely cured of,” Sarah said. “At least, not in the sense that the temptation goes away. But you didn’t give in. You called me instead. That’s like being willing to take medicine for your liver disease. It won’t cure it but it’ll protect you from really bad effects.”

“I guess.” Dani sighed deeply. “Don’t remind me about my stupid liver. I have an appointment next week.”

“Is that why you feel like drinking?” Sarah asked.

“That’s part of it.” Dani stirred her ice while she thought. “Um, we had this meeting at school tonight. There’s new security measures because of this gang they expect to cause trouble all over Salem.”

Sarah nodded. “The Fire Lions. There’s extra security at the Horton Center too. A lot of kids who got out of the gang life go there and we need to keep them safe.” She took a sip of her coffee. “Is that what triggered you? Feeling afraid of them?”

Dani shook her head slightly. “Not that exactly. I mean, I don’t know what’s safe and what’s not. I’d have rather stayed on campus but you’d have had to get a visitor pass which would have been a pain in the ass so I didn’t ask.”

“I wouldn’t have minded.” Sarah leaned forward. “Listen to me. Salem is not unsafe. This is all precautionary because of the trial that starts next week, and honestly I think it’s overkill. You can still go to your AA meetings without worrying you’re going to get shot. I promise.”

“Right.” Dani chewed on her straw, thinking. “They said Campus Police can randomly search us to make sure we don’t have drugs or weapons on us and I don’t know if that counts against my probation.”

“Neither do I, but you know who would know? Justin. Don’t be scared to ask him.”

“K.” Dani took a bite of the chocolate chip cookie she’d bought to distract herself from wanting to drink. “The real reason I’m feeling tempted tonight doesn’t have to do with any of that. I mean, it doesn’t help, but, the thing is…” Dani looked away, super embarrassed. “Um, my sex drive is going crazy lately. It’s like, as soon as I learned I can’t date, my body started noticing women and now I have two huge crushes. Neither of them is a possibility, really, and since even feeling attracted to the cop who did the security presentation makes me want to drink, obviously it’s a bad idea to even consider finding a girlfriend now.”

Sarah held out her hand and Dani broke off a piece of her cookie and gave it to her. Sarah ate her piece, trying to buy some time. Then she said, “Crushes can be fun. They don’t have to lead to anything.”

“I know, but I’m so obvious about it and I make such a fool of myself.” Dani sighed. “And especially with that redheaded cop… I look at her and I think about what might have been possible if I hadn’t started drinking and then all of a sudden I started wanting to drink til I pass out.”

“If-only’s will do it to you every time.” Sarah took Dani’s hands in hers. “When the time is right and you’ve had enough recovery beh ind you, you will meet a woman who is everything you dreamed of and then some. But in the meantime, a big part of your recovery is that you have to stop being so hard on yourself. What’s the First Step?”

“We accepted that we were powerless over alcohol and our lives had become unmanageable.”

“Right. Those aren’t just words. I mean, great memorization, but think about what that actually means. Acceptance. Is beating yourself up because you’re not in a place to date a girl that you probably wouldn’t be able to date anyway practicing acceptance?”

Dani sighed. “I guess not.”

“That’s what you have to do, then. I’m not a psychologist or anything, okay, but I think it could be really helpful for you to journal about accepting that you have a disease and that before you began working on it, you made some messes that you have to clean up now.”

Dani nodded, but she had a faraway look in her eyes.


“That’s a tough one,” Justin said. “I’d have to do some research on international law and see what we can do to clear those warrants up. Do you know what they were for?”

Jeremy sighed. “I violated my probation by leaving Cape Town to come here, for one thing. And probably for the original c harge, which was I got caught stealing from a candy store and I tried to punch the store owner when he confronted me.”

“You punched a store owner?”

“Tried to.” Jeremy looked away. “I’m not the man who did those things anymore, Mr. Kiriakis. But now you know what kind of loser you have for a client.”

“Not a loser. Just a guy who got out of control,” Justin said. “Okay. And when was this, exactly?”

“Um, I ran away in 2021 but I think the original arrest was 2018. I”m not sure. I was drunk all the time back then so my memory’s kind of fuzzy.”

“I understand. I’ll start looking into this and see what we can do. With any luck, the Cape Town police will feel this petty nonsense isn’t worth pursuing all these years later and we can get this cleared up quickly.”

[André DiMera]

So glad Dani called Sarah instead of drinking! Sarah gave her great advice! I hope she listens.

Glad Justin’s looking into this for Jeremy.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Hopefully Justin can help Jeremy, but international law is so different. He needs a certificate of good conduct like JJ got.

[heroicmuse]

Week 487 - 3

JJ turned toward Harlow. “It was a long time ago and not really my story to tell, but yeah. But just so you know, I’ve done things I”m not exactly proud of too.”

“As have I,” Harlow said. “I mean, Paul Robinson is my grandfather, so I was bound to get the gene for dark and destructive somehow, yeah? Um, what did Jeremy do? No, actually never mind, I don’t want to know. All I need is to be reassured that he isn’t going to hurt any of us now and I’m fine.”

“He’s not,” JJ said. “He’s working real hard to turn his life around, trust me.”

“I believe you,” Harlow said. “As long as he stays turned around and doesn’t come after any of us, especially your little one, it’s ll good in my book.”


Jeremy was at the plaque of Alice and Tom, staring at it. “Growing up, dad sang your praises,” he said, “told me how kind and loving and accepting you were and how you stepped in to take care of him and Aunt Jennifer when they really needed it. I guess Aunt Jennifer takes afte ryou cause she took me in when I most needed it.” He sighed. “I hope you aren’t ashamed of me from up there in, you know, the Good Place or wherever. I made a big mess of things, but I’m trying to make it right.” He sighed. “I shouldn’t be so down. I’ve got a great lawyer and there’s still a chance he can do something for me, but I can’t shake the feeling the only way out of this mess is to go back to Cape Town and turn myself in. I don’t want to do that, but if I can’t get the job I want til I do, there’s no point, you know? I’m like a truck stuck in the mud and no matter how much gas you give it, it won’t do anything but make the wheels spin in place.”

Chanel came up behind Jeremy as his voice cracked. “I know you don’t know me that well, but could you put a word in for me with the big guy upstairs so I don’t have to go back to Africa?”

“You have to go back to Africa?” she said, blinking back tears.

Jeremy turned toward her. “I hope not, but I don’t have a lot of faith things are gonna work out right now.”

“Why?” Chanel said. “What did the lawyer say?”

“He’s gonna try to get my warrants vacated, but he doesn’t know if he can. S-so there’s a chance the only way out is to own up to what I did, and that means going back to Cape Town to turn myself in for violating my probation.” Jeremy blinked hard.

Chanel’s eyes widened. She didn’t know what to say.


Ari came running in as Gabi opened the door. “Ooh, you made your famous tamales!” she said excitedly, running past Gabi.

“Um, excuse me,” Gabi said, “but aren’t you forgetting something?” She held her arms out and said, “Dime un brazo antes de comer, por favor” [Give me a hug before you eat, please.]

“Sorry,” Ari said. “I was too hungry for hugs.” She gave Gabi one anyway.

Will was smiling, but then he turned toward Rafe and his expression got serious. “I feel like we walked in on something. What’s up?”

Gabi said, “Um, Rafe, how about you take Will into the kitchen and give him a few tamales to take home for him and Sonny?”

Ari’s eyes narrowed. “But aren’t I going to get some first?”

“Yours are already on the table,” Gabi said. “I put them there earlier so they wouldn’t be too hot when you got here..” She sat down next to Ari and handed her her plate. “So,” she said as Ari cut into a tamale. “Tell me,mija, how’s school?”

“Something I’d rather forget,” Ari said as she bit into her tamale.

Gabi frowned. “Why? Are people bothering you?”

Ari shrugged. “The things they say are not worth repeating,” she said. “But it’s okay. Next year when I get to middle school, Parker will protect me.”

Gabi frowned, not sure she liked that idea. She wondered whether she should talk to Ari about gangs after all. If she was having serious problems with bullies, she might be tempted to join a group that would allow her to feel powerful against them.

Gabi cut her tamale in a hurry and took a bite, not wanting to think of what could happen if Ari started going down that path.


Meanwhile, Rafe put some tamales in a Tupperware container and handed them to Will. “There ya go.”

“Thanks.” Will put the container away in his backpack. “But now, how about you tell me what’s really going on here?”

Rafe sighed. “We’re worried about Ari, or at least I am. I heard through the grapevine a local gang’s causing trouble again, and one of the things the cops are worried about is them recruiting vulnerable kids.”

Will frowned. “And you think that’s Ari? No. Sonny and I made sure to get Ari everything she needed when Gabi was in jail and now that Gabi’s home, she has three parents who are showering her with love and punishing her when she does the wrong thing.”

“I’m aware. But Will, that might not be enough. Ari, she did some acting out last summer, remember? And despite coming from a home that’s filled with love, she’s got all sorts of tangled up feelings about her mom being in jail for the first part of her life that assholes like the Fire Lions know exactly how to manipulate to get her to do what they want.”

Will crossed his arms. “Don’t you think that since Ari grew up seeing her mom in jail, she wouldn’t want to do anything to land herself behind bars?”

“Yeah, I do. But she’s a kid and she already almost got arrested last summer stealing those pool keys from camp. Besides, the Fire Lions aren’t gonna come right out and say they want her to rob, steal, and kill. First they’ll puff her up, make her feel good while isolating her from her family. Then they’ll say she owes them and by then it’ll be too late to get out, she’ll be in too deep.” Will breathed in sharply. Rafe said, “Look, I’m not accusing her of anything, all right? I’m just saying, as the adults who love her, we need to make sure she’s aware what the Fire Lions are all about and what they might do to get a mixed-up kid in their clutches.”

“I guess you’re right,” Will said. He swallowed hard. “Okay. I’ll talk to her after she finishes eating.”

[André DiMera]

Glad Harlow believes J.J.

Seeing Jeremy talk to Tom and Alice’s plaque was nice. Wonder how Chanel will take what he just said.

Wonder what’s going on with Ari at school, if it’s bullying or more. Glad Rafe talked to Will about the Fire Lions.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I'm glad Rafe filled Will in.

It would be awful if Jeremy got sent back to Africa. I don't think that will happen. Worst comes to worst, he finds a different career path that doesn't have the requirements the electrician program has.

[heroicmuse]

Week 487 - 4

Ciara frowned as Allie showed her the messages on her phone. “You can’t be serious,” she said. “This person is even more obvious than the one who messed with Johnny. Trust me. You don’t want to get involved with someone like this.”

Allie swallowed hard. “I know what Johnny went through,” she said, pushing her hair behind her ear. “And I don’t believe for a second this person, whoever he is, is a good person. But like Johnny’s dad always said, ‘the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’ And Ruby is our enemy and this guy is hers so…”

“Maybe,” Ciara said. “I heard Ruby’s sister is out of jail. She’s even worse than Ruby is. She went to real jail, not just juvie, and my mom told me that she beat up a girl so bad after robbing her that the girl can never have babies.”

Allie breathed in sharply. “I wouldn’t want to run across her in a dark alley.”

“Me either,” Ciara said, “but she’s Ruby’s sister and Ruby probably came home from school with a sob story about how you were so mean to her when she didn’t do anything wrong. And one thing about girls like that, they stick together. If Jade thinks you were messing with Ruby instead of the other way around, she’d want revenge, and ending you meages like this to trick you into going to the park in the middle of the night would be one way to do it.”

Allie bit her lip. “You could be right. But…” She sighed. “If what you’re saying is true, and this Jade is out of jail and looking out for Ruby, how are we ever going to get revenge?”

“We have to be sneaky,” Ciara said. “That’s where I come in.” She frowned. “Claire’s taking an awfully long time with those candy bowls. Maybe we’d better find out where she got to.”

“You don’t think she’s telling on us, do you?” Allie said. “I mean, she’s a really good friend and everything, but she doesn’t approve of these revenge schemes so…”’

“I hope not,” Ciara said. “Stay here, I’ll go check.”

Ciara tiptoed out to the top of the stairs.. She saw Claire standing at the bottom, holding the bowls and facing Horowitz.

She ran back inside. “The cops are questioning Claire,” she whispered.

“About what?” Allie’s eyes were wide. “Us?”

“I don’t know. Shawn must have called them, but why? He didn’t even do that the time I stole his alcohol, so there’s no reason he’d call his cop buddies on us now.” She paced back and forth. “We’d better hope Claire has enough sense to keep her mouth shut about our revenge plans since that’s, you know, kind of illegal.”

Allie swallowed hard but said nothing.



Downstairs, Claire crossed her arms. “Of course Allie and Ciara aren’t doing anything stupid. I hope not, anyway.”

Horowitz raised her eyebrows. “What does that mean?”

“Nothing!” Ciare pushed her hair behind her ear. “Why are you interrogating me? I’m like, the least likely person in the world to do anything illegal.”

“I’m not trying to.” Horowitz’s voice was soft. “You’re not in trouble, Claire, and right now your friends aren’t either. But your dad’s worried about that message you told him about. We don’t want Allie to get hurt.”

“I told her to block that guy,” Claire said. “And she even said he seemed like a weirdo. After what happened to Johnny, she’s extra careful with people online. I thought she was, anyway.”

“But this time?” Horowitz said gently.

Claire swallowed hard. “She didn’t block him and now I left her up there alone with Ciara.”

“And you think Ciara will encourage her to contact this guy or otherwise do something stupid?”

Claire turned her back on Horowitz. “I don’t want to think it. I mean, Ciara’s my aunt and she’s my best friend. Most of the time, anyway. It took a long time to get back in my good graces after she went through that bullying phase, and even after she was robbed Allie didn’t want anything to do with her. So I don’t want to think they’re up to no good now.”

“I don’t want to either,” Horowitz said, “but if there’s something going on I need you to tell me.” She lowered her voice. “Claire, there’s a dangerous gang in Salem and we have reason to think they’re trying to recruit kids to do their dirty work.”

“Ciara wouldn’t do that, not after Ruby robbed her to try to get into a gang,” Claire said, “and that same gang tried to kidnap Allie and she shot Ruby trying to escape.”

“Which means the Fire Lions probably want to get revenge on them,” Horowitz said. “That message could have been a trap, meant to lure her to the park to do God knows what to her. Are you absolutely sure that she isn’t considering going?”

Claire shook her head slightly. “I’m like 90% of the way there, but…”

Horowitz nodded. “I think you’d better take me to her and Ciara. It’s time I made 100% sure they stay home tonight.”

[André DiMera]

Personally, I think Ciara and Allie should drop this revenge idea, but that’s not likely to happen.

Horowitz makes a good point, it is likely the Fire Lions are trying to get Allie out so they can have revenge. Hopefully Horowitz and Claire can talk her out of going.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I hate how disrespectful Claire is being to Horowitz who is trying to help them.

[heroicmuse]

Week 487 - 5
Will’s phone buzzed as he headed toward Ari’s room. He glanced at it, then forwarded a text to Sonny before he walked in.

Ari was sitting cross-legged on her bed, dancing to music only she could hear through a pair of purple headphones. Will smiled slightly to himself as he watched her. Then he sighed deeply and tapped her on the shoulder.

Ari jumped. She pulled off her headphones and put them around her neck; Will could hear the music blasting from them.

“YOU DIDN’T KNOCK FIRST!” Ari said, screaming in order to be heard over the music.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW WITH THIS MUSIC BLASTING LOUD ENOUGH TO HEAR ACROSS THE WORLD?” Will said. “TURN IT OFF, PLEASE, SO WE CAN TALK.”

Ari’s jaw tightened, but she turned the music off. “Ugh,” she said. “Now my ears are ringing.”

“Looks like we have to have a talk about how to listen to music without destroying your ability to hear,” Will said, “but not now. I need to talk to you about something else.”

Ari swallowed hard. “Is it about Mr. Williams’ funeral? Nell wanted to send a card but I didn’t know when it was.”

“It’s tomorrow,” Will said, “and yes, we are going.” He squeezed Ari’s shoulder. “But that’s not the main thing I wanted to talk to you about. Your Uncle Rafe just told me something very disturbing.”

Ari held her hands up. “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it, I swear.”

“You’re not in trouble,” Will said, “though your reaction makes me wonder if you should be.”

Ari rolled her eyes. “I was just joking.”

“Good. Keep it that way.” Will patted her knee. “No, what Uncle Rafe told me is that there’s a gang called the Fire Lions that’s wreaking havoc in Salem and that they’re trying to recruit kids your age. So I wanted to talk to you about the kind of things they might do to trick you into joining them.”

Ari’s eyes got very narrow and Will couldn’t tell if she was afraid or annoyed.



Chanel put her hands on Jeremy’s shoulders. “Don’t give up,” she said. “Maybe the lawyer’ll pull a miracle out of his hat. You never know. And if not, well… wait until after this stupid court case so I can go with you. Maybe I can convince a Cape Town judge that you deserve a second chance. I mean, I’m gonna be real good at taking the stand by the time this stupid trial’s over, so…”

“That’s sweet of you,” Jeremy said. “But let’s just hope that it doesn’t come to that. Or that Stephanie Johnson doesn’t get wind of it and jump on a plane to Cape Town to tell them what a horrible person I am.” He sighed.

“Hey.” Chanel took his hands. “That was all in the past. It shouldn’t count now.”

“It shouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean it won’t. I can’t escape what I did no matter how hard I try.” Jeremy shook his head sadly.

His phone rang. He glanced at it. “Speak of the devil. It’s my dad. N-not that he’s the devil, which I’m not even supposed to believe in, but the timing is weird.”

Chanel squeezed his hands. “Talk to him, okay?”

Jeremy nodded. He answered the phone. “Hey, Dad, what’s up?” He raised his eyebrows. “Really? How soon?”



In the hotel room she was hiding in, Nat talked to her contact on the phone. “Did you do what I asked?”

“I did,” her contact said, “but I doubt it’ll work. Allie Horton’s a lot of things, but she’s not stupid enough to respond to a random DM after what happened to her brother.”

“Of course not. I don’t expect her to.” Nat laughed. “And I don’t really expect Ruby to show up either. The little snitch is too scared of her own shadow.”

“So then what was the point?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Nat smirked. “I bet every cop in Salem is busy watching the park, trying to catch someone taping papers to the bottom of that bench. Maybe they’ll get lucky and catch a low level dealer or something, someone we can afford to sacrifice for a good cause. That’ll keep them busy awhile.”

“And?”

“I really have to spell it out?” Nat rolled her eyes. “If the cops are in the park, they’re not elsewhere. That leaves our enemies vulnerable.” She rubbed her hands together. “Hannah is probably a lost cause. We’ll have to find a way to shut her up permanently, though once it’s only her word against mine, her record just might make a jury believe she’s lying. So maybe I’ll leave her alone since we were friends once. But if they had two witnesses against me, even if they’re both shady, that would be more difficult. So. While the cops are distracted, we make our move. And yes, by we, I mean you.”

“W-what do you want me to do?”

“Well, we can’t have Chanel Dupree testifying against me.” Nat’s eyes were narrow. “She keeps insisting I ordered her to kill my own brother and there’s something about her that people find endearing when she’s not all messed up on crack. So… we have to make sure she doesn’t take the stand. And you’re in the best position to do that.”

“Do I have to kill her?” The other person’s voice was quiet, fearful.

“Not unless you want to. But you do have to shut her up, and you have to do it in a way that doesn’t make anyone suspicious. So make her disappear and make everyone believe she relapsed and then ran away.”

“How am I supposed to — “

“That’s for you to figure out. But do it tonight, because unlike you, I’m not scared to take someone’s life and if you don’t come through for me, you’re dead.”

Nat hung up.

In a room at the Salem Inn, Molly, the girl who had disappeared from the halfway house where Chanel lived too, hugged herself, her eyes wide with fear.

[André DiMera]

Glad Will’s trying to talk to Ari about this.

Wonder why Mike is calling. I’m guessing it’s about Doug’s funeral.

Oh great. So this is all a distraction, and Molly is in league with Nat.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!