The Fugitive (Read 9,013 times)

[Kpatch]

Chapter 24b


She returned to her room and paced around for a long time, not sure what to do with herself. But she knew she was just avoiding the inevitable.

So she fished her unfinished letter to Rafe from the pocket of the pants she wore when she arrived. Placing it on the dresser, she unfolded it and smoothed it out. “Time to finally finish this.”

She reread the portion she already wrote and even though she was no longer in prison, she intentionally chose to leave it as is. Then she added a few lines to give it closure.


Dear Rafe,

This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, and I know it will be one of the hardest things for you too, but I have to set you free. We both need to face the fact that I may never get out of prison. You know, prison’s not the worst place in the world. I’ve been held hostage many times, and in many ways, it’s not so different.

As I sit here in the prisoner’s break room, I’m learning to like the color grey. It’s peaceful and I have learned to pretend I’m on the Fancy Face II looking out at the sea on an overcast day.

Please go and be happy, Rafe. You deserve a good life. Find a woman closer to your own age, someone like Nicole or Sami or Jordan. Move to the country, raise a family, and be everything you and I could never be.

You will always be in my heart, but I’m setting yours free.

Love, Hope

[André DiMera]

That was a great way for Hope to end the letter! Loved the reference to the Fancy Face II!

[melly]

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fluffysmom]

Great letter! I like the reminder that Rafe has long wanted to be a dad.

[mae00]

I always thought Rafe and Nicole would have been good together.

I'd like to know how she's going to send this tho. As soon as Rafe sees the postmark, he will know where to start looking. If she relies on Aiden to mail it, there is no guarantee that it would actually get mailed. He may be afraid that Hope changed her mind about being with Rafe....or he may feel that the letter would start giving hints to their location and they would be better off if the letter was never mailed.

[heroicmuse]

Rafe and Nicole are a much better idea than Rafe and Hope. So glad she finished that letter.

[melly]

Will you be giving us previews, boss?

[Kpatch]

Thanks for reading and commenting all week, my friends. I have good news and bad news.

Bad news: I can’t post previews because …

Good news: It’s finale week!

[melly]

What? Already???

But...I’m gonna count that as a preview anyway... 😊

[fluffysmom]

Thanks for the info Kpatch.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 25


She was sitting at the dinette table playing solitaire with the playing cards she and Aiden used to play gin rummy while she was recovering from her head injury. From the very first moment she arrived at the cabin, Aiden had shown such concern and compassion. He came up with creative ways to take care of her and made it clear she was never a burden. He acted as if nursing her back to health was part of his normal daily routine. No, it was more than that. He acted like it was a privilege.

The sound of the front door opening and closing diverted her attention. She froze in her chair and without turning around she said, “Um. I have a letter I need to mail. Do you happen to have a postage stamp I can borrow?”

When he didn’t answer, she slid her chair out and got up as Aiden approached her in the kitchen. She felt apprehensive as she watched him loosen his tie, waiting for him to tell her where he’d been.

He couldn’t hide his smile. “I’ll drive you to the post office and you can mail the letter yourself.” Confused, she squinted at him. “You won’t believe this, Hope. You’re free.”

“Free? What do you mean?”

“I went to court to plead your case.”

“What??”

“I used the Doppleganger Defense.”

“That’s a thing?”

“It is in this state," he told her. "I’ve been doing a lot of research about Princess Gina.”

“Princess Gina?? I don’t understand.”

“As I was researching Dopplegangers, I came across a thesis that was written by Paige Larson when she was attending Northwestern University. It had case studies in which people were accused of crimes committed by their dopplegangers. I used that argument to get you exonerated.”

“I’m not following.”

“I met with the judge in your case and explained that it was Princess Gina who shot Stefano, not you.”

Hope gasped. “Wait. That’s not true. That’s not what happened. I shot Stefano and I deserve to be punished.”

“First of all, we know Stefano’s not dead but proving the body found in the warehouse wasn’t Stefano didn’t work for your original defense team. I had to come up with something else.” He gently grasped her arms. “Besides, from where I stand, you’ve been punished plenty and you can either stand by your admission of guilt and get a longer sentence for the bus crash, or you can go with my version of the story and get off completely.”

“But … but I can’t allow an innocent woman to be charged with a crime I committed.”

[André DiMera]

Oh, Gina’s not that innocent, Hope. There’s a number of crimes she’s committed and hasn’t paid for back when she worked for Stefano and wa in a relationship with John. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

[melly]

Aiden moves fast! Now, will Hope take advantage of what he managed to do or insist that she go back to prison?

[mae00]

Wait a minute. How did Aiden explain representing Hope when Hope is on the run? And he may have gotten the charges for the killing Stefano dropped, but what about the charges for escaping and supposedly bashing a guard over his head? He can't put those on Princess Gina. And just how does he plan on keeping himself out of trouble for aiding and abetting a criminal?

[heroicmuse]

Paige was at Northwestern? So is she alive in this story?

And this sounds like its a little too easy.