Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 249,005 times)

[heroicmuse]

Thank you André DiMera, Kpatch, and tghca for your comments this week! 

I'm excited for what's coming up. There's going to be more drama, more big decisions, and maybe even some danger as these stories move forward.

Here's a sneak peek.

Coming Up on Breaking Ties...[/i]


Aiden instructs Berger to go to the jail and talk to Hannah. Berger is nervous and his nerves are not helped either by Justin’s offer to help or Aiden’s explanation that if Hannah is being mistreated significantly in jail, he is not afraid to sue.

The meeting is cut short when Hope arrives to talk to Aiden about Ciara, giving Berger a rare opportunity to give Justin, who wishes it were Adrienne coming to reconcile with him, some advice, but will Justin take it?

Later, Berger heads up to the jail, where the night warden can’t explain Hannah’s circumstances to him but refuses to contradict the warden’s instructions to leave Hannah in solitary for a couple days. Berger gets nowhere with her, but he does get to see his client, and Hannah is not in good shape. She feels hopeless and believes the warden has too much power and can do whatever she wants to her, so it’s best for her to keep her head low and not even tell her lawyer what’s going on. Berger eventually gets some information out of her and tells her he still intends to fight for her to get probation, but she needs to fight for herself too. In fact, Berger thinks she may need to testify about the way she’s been treated in jail. Will Hannah be willing to do that?

Meanwhile, JJ and Alison’s investigation continues, with Sally’s help. They discover something interesting in Hannah’s case file on top of confirming that the blackmailer lied about Hannah’s behavior in court. But JJ isn’t sure he wants to keep going forward with this because he’s afraid the blackmailer will make good on her threat. He decides to go see Dr. Blanton for help -- and hopefully information about what Jack would have done in JJ’s shoes.

Dr. Blanton encourages JJ to keep moving forward with the story despite the blackmailer’s threats. JJ resolves to do just that and heads home to spend time with Paige, who is proud of him after watching Nicole’s segment on the S-Mart manager. After briefly discussing a plan to protect themselves as JJ moves forward with this story, the two decide to cuddle and JJ puts his phone away so it won’t disturb them. But while the young couple kisses on the couch, someone sends JJ a threatening message about Nicole’s broadcast. Could it be the blackmailer, and if so, does she have the power to make good on her threat?

Across town, Hope and Aiden discuss what to do about Ciara. Aiden doesn’t think keeping Ciara out of the wedding is a good idea and suggests an alternative punishment. Meanwhile, Horowitz does her best to get through to Ciara about how serious a crime her behavior was. Ciara seems to finally get it, but does she really or is she just telling the cop what she wants to hear?

And finally, Victor and Maggie arrive just as Sarah is getting good and drunk, Abigail and Jennifer wrap up their therapy session, and Emily has some more information for Alison about Hannah’s case.

[André DiMera]

I hope Justin listens to Berger’s advice. And that Hannah agrees to testify about the appalling way she’s being treated.

Glad J.J. is talking to Dr. Blanton. I just hope he doesn’t give in to blackmail.

I assume Ciara’s probably just telling Horowitz what she wants to hear.

Glad Maggie walks in on that. Can’t wait for the rest of the therapy session! Wonder what info Emily has.

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 231 - 1

Wolfe wriggled. “With all due respect, Agent Maxwell, you’re picking up on something that’s not there. I told you everything I know about Hannah Martin’s arrest.”

“Maybe,” Agent Maxwell said, “but I am very good at my job, Officer Wolfe. VERY good. And I can tell that there’s something you’re not saying. Now you said Officer Stone did most of the talking during this arrest. Why was that?”

Wolfe shrugged. “Stone knew what he was doing. He saw the suspect before I did and he knew how to handle her.”

“Handle her. What does that mean?”

Wolfe stared down at the table. “She was running her mouth a little, trying to talk her way out of trouble. Stone knew how to get her to settle in to the fact that she was going to jail and there was nothing she could do about it.”

“I see.” Agent Maxwell tapped her pen on the table. “Is there a reason you’re not looking me in the eye?”

Wolfe made himself straighten up. “Just I feel bad I didn’t notice the other girl standing there, that’s all. I keep going over it in my head, asking myself, did I ignore that girl cause she wasn’t as dark as the other one?”

“And? Did you?”

“Not on purpose,” Wolfe said. He shook his head slightly. “I never went for all that racism nonsense, thinking some people are better than others just cause of how they look. I’d be the first to stand up to anyone who called someone a name cause of the color of their skin and if someone committed a hate crime… hell, I’d be proud to help take them down. But this time… this time I helped lock up the darker skinned girl while the lighter one got away with doing something 10 times worse. What’s that say about me?”


“So what’s our next step?” Berger asked Aiden.

“Well,” Aiden said, “First things first. We gotta find out Hannah Martin’s status. I haven’t heard anything about the DA filing charges against her, but I want to know why we had to hear from another prisoner that our client was re-arrested while in jail. Hope you’re good on gas, Berger, cause you’re gonna need to go back up to the jail. Talk to Hannah and get her side of what happened straight from the horse’s mouth and also find out if she demanded her attorney when the guards arrested her. Soon as we have that information we can go to court to get her out of solitary. I’ll call Walston, see how soon we can set something up. It’s more important than ever we get her sentence converted to probation cause someone’s playing games and she doesn’t need a more serious record than she’s already got over this nonsense with the beer can. And make sure you document everything best as you can.” Aiden stood, straightening his tie. “I successfully sued the cops on JJ Deveraux’s behalf and I’m not afraid to go up against this jail either. Make that clear to the warden.”

Berger looked nervous, but he nodded.

“Want me to go with you?” Justin asked.

Berger glared at Justin. “I can handle it.”

“Of course you can,” Justin said. “I just thought maybe you needed some moral support.”

“You and I have things to discuss about Gabi’s case,” Aiden told Justin. “Besides, it’s time for the training wheels to come off. Martin’s perfectly competent, let’s build up his confidence instead of tearing it down, huh?”

Just then, the receptionist came in. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “Mr. Jennings, your fiancee is here. She says she has to talk to you right away.”

“Tell her I’ll be out in a sec,” Aiden said. The receptionist left. Aiden said, “I’d better get out there. Justin, you and me’ll talk. Martin, get going, you’ll be fine.”

Berger nodded. Justin said, “Don’t worry. I’m sure Hope just wants to go over wedding plans with you.”

“I wish that’s all it was,” Aiden said. “But I know her, she wouldn’t interrupt me at the office for something that wasn’t life or death. And with her being a cop…” He paled. “Let’s hope my son wasn’t in an accident.”

“You’d know if he was. You wouldn’t first hear it from Hope.” Justin’s voice was gentle.

“Yeah, well, things are going too good for me and the future Mrs. Jennings,” Aiden said, playing with his tie. “Something has to mess that up. Excuse me.”

Aiden hurried away. Justin sighed deeply as he watched him go.

The receptionist came into the meeting room again. “I’m sorry again. Now your wife is here too, Mr. Kiriakis.”

“Sorry to leave you alone,” Justin said. “I’d give you a pep talk before you go to the jail but since Adrienne’s actually willing to talk to me…”

“Of course,” Berger said. “Go. I’ll be fine.”

Justin stood but Adrienne came into the conference room before he had a chance to go to her. She was wearing his favorite dress, the flowered one that showed off her gorgeous figure and complimented her eyes so nicely. “Sorry to just barge in,” she said, “but I couldn’t wait another minute. I was wrong to get so mad at you. I know it tormented you to be away from me for so long and I shouldn’t have pushed you away when you came back. Can you ever forgive me?”

“Wishing it was your wife out there?” Berger asked, interrupting Justin’s fantasy.

“Yes, actually,” Justin said, “but you don’t have to smirk about it.”

“I wasn’t, believe me. It’s not like I have a partner to miss. Anyway, did you talk to her?”

Justin shook his head slightly. “Last time I went to see her, I couldn’t even get past the front door. She says we have nothing to say to each other and she just wants me to sign the divorce papers. So we’re at a stalemate. I don’t want to give up and she doesn’t want to keep going.”

“Maybe you should sign the papers then.”

“I can’t do that. Adrienne isn’t just my wife. She’s the love of my life. We had four children together. And now because I spent a couple of years working in another country she wants to throw all of that history away like we were nothing and if I sign those papers… no. I won’t do it.”

“Up to you,” Berger said. “I’m not the best one to give advice. The last time I was in a serious relationship was law school and some other guy ruined that. But for what it’s worth, I’ve seen lots of relationships improve after divorce. I’m not saying you’ll get back together with her but sometimes knowing that you’re willing to let the other person go helps them leave some of the animosity behind so that you can start to be friends again.”

“Friends,” Justin said, his voice full of pain. “I don’t want - “

“She’s not talking to you at all right now,” Berger pointed out. “Anything has to be an improvement over that.” He stood. “I’d better get to the jail before anything worse happens to my client. Think about what I said.”

Berger patted Justin on the shoulder before he left.

Justin opened his briefcase and took out the envelope with the divorce papers in it. He took out the papers and stared at them, shaking his head sadly.


Jennifer’s face trembled. “Maybe you’re right,” she said, “but I think that’s a question for another time. I’m glad to schedule a private session with you to talk about how my mother’s mental illness affected me, but right now my daughter and I need to work things out. A lot of things. Not just this question of whether she’s ready to date - “

“T said he wants to take me to…” Abby interrupted. She stared into space. “You know, a place where you sit together at a table and order food. Right after this. So that’s what we’ll do.”

“Just a moment, Abigail,” Dr. Asher said. “We can talk about how you and your mom might handle you dating in a minute, but right now I want to focus on her because we’re getting to the heart of why it’s so hard for her to give you more space.” He turned towards Jennifer. “You were saying that you feel there’s some truth to what I’m saying but you’d rather focus on working things out with your daughter. But Jennifer, if I’m right and this all stems from what happened to you as a child, it’s going to be very difficult for you to give Abigail any space at all no matter how rational it seems to do so.”

“Right,” Jennifer said. “I understand that. It’s just that there’s a lot of decisions we have to make and it seems like we’re talking about everything except what we came here to talk about.” She blinked hard. “I understand that my natural tendency is to hold on too tight to my kids and I can see now that that comes from a place of pain but that doesn’t change the fact that my beautiful daughter is disabled. Two months ago, Marlena was taking her to tour residential rehab programs but Abigail suddenly refused to go, she suddenly decided that she’d rather go to this day program here at the hospital and that is such a big decision and it’s far from the only one that you’re telling me to let my daughter make when she might not be capable - “

“I KNOW WHAT I WANT!” Abby said. “I wish, you know… JJ told me why I can’t live with him but I forgot and I wish whatever it was wasn’t happening because it would be easier.”

Jennifer’s face crumpled. Dr. Asher said, gently, “Abigail, do you really want to live with your brother or did you say that because you’re angry at your mom and you want to hurt her feelings?”

Abby’s mouth opened and closed without her saying anything. “I… love my mom,” she said at last. “But this is… you know, when you do something that’s pointless and you can’t get the time back. That’s what this is.”

“You feel this is a waste of time. What makes you say that?”

“Because,” Abby said. She stared into space. “I don’t have the words I need,” she said tearfully. “But it’s like...you know, no matter what she says the same thing about me over and over and it’s wrong and you can talk until… I forgot how you say it but it means you can talk forever, anyway you can do that but it won’t change anything so why are we even here anymore?”

“I’m trying, honey,” Jennifer said. “You just can’t see it but I am.”

Dr. Asher held up his hand. He turned towards Abigail and said, “You’d like this all to be solved right now. I wish that it was that simple. But unfortunately, this is a complicated problem that’s going to take time to solve. Now, we can’t move all the way from the way things are now to perfection, but we can move a little bit closer to what you both want today. And in fact we’ve done that a little bit today.” He paused and waited for Abby to catch up. Then he said, “When you first came in, your mother wanted to talk about how to help you accept the needed for her to be appointed guardian. But now, you both see that that may not be the best solution and that you need to discuss your needs together. And your mother now also sees the need to let go of you more even if she isn’t quite where you want her to be.”

“It sounds like I’m doing all the changing.” Jennifer’s voice held a note of regret. “I guess that’s what I needed to do.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Dr. Asher said. “I’d say that Abigail has been able to express her frustration more openly today and get to a place where she is able to tell you that her feelings towards you are not all negative. And she has also accepted that she does have some limitations.” He turned towards Abby. “You said before that you think this is a waste of time. But now that I’ve laid it all out, would you be willing to come in with your mom, say, once a week so we can work on these things together?”



“On the surface, this is pretty straightforward,” Sally said, turning her screen so that JJ and Alison could see. “Here’s the original police report, you two can go through that and see if it matches what those cops told you about this girl’s arrest. After that, the DA’s office got the case and decided to press charges.” Sally frowned. “That’s strange.” She tapped the screen. “Look at this.”

JJ leaned forward and looked. “ADA Wendy Turner,” he read aloud. “Not Rubin?”

Sally nodded. “Now, there’s more than one DA working out of that office, so maybe this doesn’t mean anything. But maybe…” She tapped the screen again. “It means she didn’t agree with this nonsense so Spota assigned the case to someone else. Let’s finish looking through here and then the two of you decide which one of you’s going to find out which it is.”

[André DiMera]

Wonder what Maxwell is thinking about Wolfe. Not sure how she’s gonna answer his question.

Hope Justin listens to Berger’s advice. Can’t wait to see Hope and Aiden talk, as well as Berger and Hannah!

I hope Abby is willing to continue family counseling. I think it would be good for both her and Jennifer.

Well, that’s an interesting development. Wonder whether it’ll be J.J. or Alison that’ll find out what happened.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

It seems family counseling may be the only way Jennifer and Abby are able to work through their issues

[Kpatch]

Frankly, I don't see Jennifer "trying" either. I think she thinks she is, but she's not doing a great job of it.

[heroicmuse]

Week 231 - 2
“One thing’s for sure,” JJ said when they finished reading Hannah’s case file. “That clerk or whoever she is, she was lying about what went down in court.” He tapped the screen. “She didn’t say a word til the judge freaking said if she didn’t say something he’d assume she was pleading no contest and then he had to tell her to speak up. She was probably freaking petrified. And some lowlife tried to say she got the book thrown at her for being disrespectful.”

“Some people see what they want to see,” Sally said.

“And some people make things up out of whole cloth,” Alison added. “That was the first hearing, at the second her lawyer, if you want to call it that, did all the talking and it took about 30 seconds.”

“Was it Thorpe both times?” JJ asked, scrolling back. “I already forgot.”

“Yeah.” Alison frowned. “What I don’t understand is why he didn’t release her on her own recognizance. Josh got caught drinking on the street once and he didn’t have to pay bail. Did you any of the times you got caught with weed?”

“Uh uh. Only time I had to deal with bail was last year when they thought I went after a cop with a gun. Even that time I went nuts in the Square they didn’t make me pay bail, the judge just put me on notice I’d better not get in more trouble before he saw me again and sent me home.”

“Right. And that was worse than what your cousin did. No offense.”

“Not like I don’t know how bad it was, It took me a couple years to get it didn’t make me the world’s worst guy. Anyway, what the hell was the judge doing, charging her $1500 for a can of beer she didn’t even drink out of?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Alison said, “and the only one who can tell us is Judge Thorpe. You can’t let that woman blackmail you, JJ, we have to question him whether she likes it or not.”

“I said I wasn’t letting her scare me off this story! Just, we gotta do it in a way that makes sense, and not just cause of Hannah. She threatened Paige’s freedom and as much as Paige says she’d go back to jail if it meant we get the story, honestly, she can’t take it.”

“And neither can you,” Sally said softly. “But you can’t let people like that call the shots, JJ, you know that.”

“No, I know,” JJ said. He turned, his arms crossed. “This bastard messed up Paige’s life and my cousin’s too and people should know what he’s been up to, especially if he’s going around having his staff threaten innocent people with jail time to keep stuff from coming out about him. I just…” He bit his lip. “I get more than ever what my dad said on that video, how he wished every freaking day he’d never gone after those corrupt cops cause keeping me safe was more important.” He swallowed hard. “I wish he was here, he’d know what the hell to do about any of this.”

There was an awkward pause and then Sally said, “I know it’s not the same as having your dad here, but you have me and Nicole.”

“And Dr. Blanton too,” Alison added. “He has a lot of experience and he knew your dad, maybe he can guide you.”

“I don’t wanna bother him any more than I already have,” JJ said, “but I guess that’s what he’s there for.” He picked up his phone. “While I’m getting ahold of him, how about someone looks into who's working for Thorpe? Let’s see if this bitch even really works for him.”

“Good idea,” Sally said.

“And I’ll go sit in his courtroom the next few days,” Alison said, “and see if he does anything else weird.” She patted JJ’s hand. “We’re all in this together, JJ, we’re not going to let Paige get hurt but we’re also not going to let anyone get away with trying to intimidate you.”

JJ nodded. “I’m not the kind of guy who gives in to this kind of crap,” he said. “Usually it’d make me wanna try twice as hard to get the goods on someone. But with Paige vulnerable…”

“It makes you vulnerable too,” Sally said, “and Thorpe’s clerk or whoever this woman is knew it and tried to use it against you.”

“Right.” JJ swallowed hard. “When we did that self-defense training, first thing we learned is don’t let anyone threaten one of us to get the other to fall in line. I told Paige that too but it’s way easier said than done.” He sighed. “Guess I’d better stop wasting time and call Dr. Blanton. And then after that I think I’m gonna call it a night cause I wanna go home and hold my girlfriend while I”m lucky enough to have her.”


“Warden Jefferson is gone for the night,” the night warden told Berger, “so I can’t really tell you what happened with this prisoner other than what is in her file, which is that she was found to have contraband on her person during a routine search and is now being held in segregated housing.”

“I see,” Berger said. “That’s a little short on details.” He crossed his arms. “Ms. Martin was represented by counsel at the time this happened. Now, the moment she was taken in handcuffs to a segregated housing unit, she had a right to counsel just like she would if she were arrested on the street. So I’d like a better explanation as to why I was not contacted immediately.”

“And Warden Jefferson will have to explain that,” the night warden said. “I can have your client brought to you if you’d like to speak with her but that’s all I can do.”

“Please do.” Berger crossed his arms. “I suppose only Warden Jefferson can make decisions about when prisoners are returned to general population.”

The night warden’s eyes narrowed. “I’m empowered to do that. But if you’re asking whether your client can be returned immediately… well, Warden Jefferson ordered her sentenced to 48 hours in segregated housing and I’m not about to go against her decision.”

“Of course not.” Berger hoped the sarcastic tone in his voice helped more than it hurt. “Let me talk to my client and we’ll take it from there.”


“Oh, thank God,” Hope said when Aiden came out into the waiting room, which was empty right now because he’d blocked out two hours for his afternoon staff meeting. She ran to Aiden and practically fell into his arms.

“Not that I’m not glad to see you too, Detective Brady,” Aiden said, “but what’s wrong?” He played with his tie. “It’s… you’re not coming here to deliver bad news about my son, are you?”

“Our son, and no,” Hope said. “He’s not the one I’m worried about. It’s Ciara.”

“CIara?” Aiden raised his eyebrows. “What - “

“I just came from a meeting at the middle school,” Hope said, “and it was a mistake not to insist you be there because the way that principal was talking, Ciara probably should have had a lawyer.”

Aiden frowned as he put his arm around Hope, leading her to a seat. “I think you’d better begin at the beginning.”

“Right.” Hope sighed. “Apparently Ciara decided that the way to help Claire stay in Salem was to hire some kid that she says is a creep to help her break into the school’s computer network and illegally register Claire for classes. Shawn got a call, he called me, and we all ended up in the principal’s office where the principal threatened to have Ciara expelled, if not arrested, but ultimately settled on a two week suspension.”

Aiden let his breath out slowly. “You weren’t kidding when you said she needed a lawyer. Where is our little hacker now?”

“Being babysat by an officer I trust,” Hope said. “I was hoping to scare some sense into her because she doesn’t have any understanding of how serious this is. In fact, she’s acting like she’s the victim here.” Hope crossed her arms. “I told her she might lose the right to stand up for us at our wedding.”

Aiden frowned. “In most cases I’d stand behind any sentence you want to hand out to either of our kids but not this. It punishes us more than her to do that. We agreed we wanted the kids to participate in our special day and if we take that away… well, our wedding memories will always be tainted by the fact that Ciara was excluded, and I want that day to be the most special day of our entire lives together.”

“You’re right,” Hope said. “I’m just desperate to get her off this path. Maybe I’m overreacting because I’m a cop and I’ve seen too many people ruin their lives doing stupid things and not caring about the consequences, but Ciara was so defiant and so insistent that she was the wronged party when what she did…” Hope shook her head. “What if that principal had called the police? What if I had to deal with my own daughter being brought into the station in handcuffs? As it is I had a hell of a time convincing the principal not to expel her and then Ciara wouldn’t cooperate and nearly sealed her own fate…” Hope shook her head. “I watched my cousin Jennifer go through this with JJ and I thought, if it was my child I wouldn’t freak out and yell and make empty threats but now it is my child and all I can think is that we dodged a bullet this time and she doesn’t understand that.”

Aiden took her hand. “We will straighten her out together,” he said. “When Chase was stealing, taking him to juvie for a sneak peek of what was in store if he didn’t cut it out worked wonders. Maybe Ciara needs something similar.”

Hope hesitated. “Chase was a lot younger and easier to make an impression on. Ciara’s acting like she doesn’t give a damn where she’s headed. Although…” She tapped her phone against the palm of her hand. “Maybe she could use some advice from someone she looks up to. Someone like Paige who’s been in jail and can tell her exactly what she’s in for.”

“I don’t know that Paige’s up for that,” Aiden said. “But we gotta do something, that’s for sure. While she’s home we gotta run a real tight ship, make sure there’s no fun and games involved in her being suspended. When we both gotta work we’ll have to get her a babysitter since she can’t be trusted to follow the rules on her own and when we’re home the focus is on chores and schoolwork, no screen time or anything else she wouldn’t be getting to do if she was at school like she’s supposed to be. That sound like a fair sentence?”

“More than fair. I’m so glad I have you on my team, Mr. Jennings.”

“Same here, Detective Brady.” Aiden kissed the top of Hope’s head as he hugged her.


“What?” Ciara slumped down in her seat.

“Sit up straight,” Horowitz said. “I’m not putting up with disrespectful attitudes.”

Ciara’s eyes snapped but she sat up. “God, why do you have to treat me like I’m a murderer or something?”

Horowitz crossed her arms. “You think I’m being a hardass, you should see how I treat actual criminals. Now look, I was once a 14-year-old with an attitude too and I know where that got me. In the back of a cop car in cuffs, going to juvie for shoplifting. I thought I was being cool, but I was just being stupid.”

“I’m not the thief,” Ciara said. “Chase is. Or he used to be.”

“You stole someone’s credentials to get in that computer,” Horowitz pointed out. “Anyway, point is, I didn’t go to juvie that night. Instead the cops who arrested me let me cool my heels in a holding cell while they processed me and then they gave me a choice. I could keep the attitude up and go to juvie for the night or I could drop it and get a second chance. Guess which I chose?”

“Second chance, duh. You’re a cop, you must have.”

“We’re gonna get that obnoxious tone out of your voice one way or the other,” Horowitz said. “Now, listen up. You know a girl named Joy Wesley? Just a few years older than you with a mess of red hair?”

“Kind of. She’s a cousin or something. Why?”

“Cause a couple years ago, she was sitting right where you were sitting and i made her an offer like the one the cops made me. I told her she could come help me out with paperwork and if she got her act together maybe ride along with me and Duncan sometime. She never ended up doing it but she got her act together. So how about I offer you the same thing? Once you’re done with this suspension, if your mom lets you you can come help me out.”

[André DiMera]

Glad J.J. isn’t giving in to blackmail, and that Sally and Alison are so supportive. Calling Dr. Blanton was a good idea.

I hope Berger gets to talk to Hannah soon. The night warden clearly has no interest in helping outside of letting them talk.

That sounds like a pretty fair punishment. Hope it works.

Not sure Ciara’s gonna listen or want to do what Horowitz is asking.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

JJ is an idiot because by not giving into the blackmail...he is essentially signing Paige and Hannah's lives away because the blackmailer will make good on her threats and Hannah stays in prison...Paige will go back to prison

[Kpatch]

Ciara needs to take this whole thing way more seriously. I hope Horowitz gets through to her.

[heroicmuse]

Week 231 - 3
Squeaky’s eyes were so big they hid the rest of her face as a guard brought her in. The guard took off the cuffs and said, "Have a seat. And if you're thinking about doing anything stupid, don't. I'm not going any too far."

"I-I won't," Squeaky whispered, so low Berger had to strain to hear her. She sat down and stared into space.

The guard left. Berger said, gently, “Rub your wrists, Ms. Martin, you need to get some circulation going.”

“Right. Okay.” There were tears in Squeaky’s voice. She rubbed her wrists.

Berger said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to help get you out of trouble. With any luck we’ll get this nonsense reversed and then go to court and get you probation like we planned.”

“I hope so,” Squeaky said. “I can’t…” She didn’t go on.

Berger frowned. "What have they been doing to you, Ms. Martin?" His voice was soft. Squeaky shook her head and he said, "If they're abusing you, I can help you."

"T-they're not." Squeaky's voice was flat. "There's no one around to mess with me. The guards come around mealtimes for a minute but otherwise I'm alone, except..."

"Except what?" 

"E-except the warden came to see me. and..." Squeaky swallowed hard. "a-and she said I have to stay in there two days." Her eyes flitted towards Berger, then away. "But she said she's not calling the DA. That's good, right?"

“Better than you going to court over this,” Berger said. “I wish I'd been there to witness it and make sure your rights were protected, though. If she approaches you again, tell her you want your lawyer."

“I did!” Squeaky’s eyes flashed and she showed a spark of life for the first time since she’d been brought into the room. “She said since she wasn’t pressing charges I didn't have a right to any lawyer."

“She did, did she?” Berger frowned. “What else did she say?”

“N-nothing. I swear!” Squeaky grabbed onto the underside of the table and her eyes got even bigger.

Berger said, softly, “Ms. Martin. I know you're afraid. But don't be. Locked up or not, everything you tell me is 100% confidential. Now I'm positive I can help fix this situation. But the only way I can help is if you talk to me."

"Nobody can help me. Not a lawyer, not anyone." Squeaky sighed so deeply her whole body shuddered. “The warden, she can do anything, and if I don’t watch my step…” She bit her lip. “Do I look to you like I’m on drugs, like I even know what to do with a crack pipe?”

“No. You don’t."

"Doesn't matter to her, though, does it, not any more than it did to the cops." Squeaky blinked back tears. "I'm only locked up in the first place over a beer that wasn't mine. And now the warden put me in solitary two days over a crack pipe I’ve never seen before. You think anyone cares I'm in here when I didn't do anything wrong?”

Berger leaned forward. “I care.”

“Not like you can do anything about it.” Squeaky twisted a lock of hair around her finger. “The warden wants me in solitary so that’s where she put me and she can do that to me any time she feels like, all she’s got to do is have a guard make some excuse to pat me down and plant something on me just like she did this time.”

Berger raised his eyebrows. “Is that what she told you?”

Squeaky wriggled. “Not in so many words. She…” She didn’t go on.

"She threatened you?"

“No! I mean… maybe, I don’t know?” Squeaky blinked hard. “She comes to see me, right, and she says she’s not pressing charges this time but then she says there’s a reporter waiting to talk to me and she hopes I won’t say anything about how Tiana almost stabbed me that day Tweener went home. I said I wouldn’t but she still won’t let me out for another two days! And then she said if she was me she’d practice refusing to talk to reporters while I’m locked up by myself.”

“There’s a word for that,” Berger said. “Blackmail. And it’s illegal.”

“Like that matters!” Squeaky jumped up, then threw herself back in her seat, afraid the guards would come rushing back in. “I got the message, Mr. Berger. She’s got all the power and I got none, anytime she wants she can have me thrown in the hole for something serious. So I gotta keep my head down and do what she wants til I get out."

“No. We’re not putting up with this. If the warden wants to play games she’s going to have a fight on her hands.”

“You don’t understand.” Squeaky’s voice broke. “My own MOTHER believed the cops over me the first time. She thinks to this day I let Nat talk me into buying a beer and drinking it on the street and if you asked her she’d say I got just what I deserved, being locked up for a year over it. And now you’re telling me some judge’s gonna take my word over the warden’s? It’s not gonna happen. She’s holding all the cards a-and if I fight her she’ll make it worse for me and there’s not a damn thing anyone can do about it.” Squeaky’s shoulders shook but no tears came.

Berger leaned across the table, trying to channel what he thought Aiden would do. “Look at me, Ms. Martin,” he said. Squeaky raised her head despite herself. He said, “It’s not going down that way, not this time. I know you’ve got a bad deal up to this point. Your public defender didn’t do a damn thing to help get you out of this mess and now you’re deeper in it and scared of what the warden wants to do to you. But things are different now. She can't get away with it anymore. You know why? Cause now you have a lawyer who’s going to fight like hell for you and who isn’t going to give up, ever. Now, it’s not going to be easy, I’ll give you that, but the warden scaring the hell out of you to cover her own behind stops here. We’re getting an emergency hearing with a judge and we’re getting this crap off your record and while we have his attention we’re going to get him to convert your sentence to probation before the warden can do anything else to you."

“Yeah, right,” Squeaky said. “The second he looks at me he'll find some reason to keep me locked up, say I'm looking at him weird or something else stupid, and that'll be that."

Berger looked her up and down. “Listen to me. We can win this and we can get you the hell out of here. We can. But you know who needs to be part of it? YOU. I need you to be strong, Ms. Martin. I need you to stop thinking that no one can possibly be on your side and trust that your lawyer is going to get the judge to see how unfair this all is."

"I'm trying." Squeaky sniffed. "I'm not usually like this, I swear. But this is too much. My mom always used to say once is a mistake, twice is on purpose and they did it twice.  I've never done anything to hurt anyone my whole life, but they're out to get me anyway."

A tear rolled down Squeaky's face.

Berger patted her hand. "It's not your fault. And it's going to stop. But you need to know this is unfair, that you're not the one who did something wrong here. When we go to court I'd like you to tell the judge what you’re being threatened with, without fear of retribution, so that we can get you out of this nightmare.“

“T-testify? No. I can’t. If we lose…”

“We won’t lose,” Berger said. “Hold tight to your faith in God or whatever you believe in, because if you don’t let the warden scare you out of it, we can get you out of here and get you some real justice for the first time since this all started.”

Squeaky blinked hard. “Long as you’re working miracles, can you make my mom see I wasn’t wrong?”

“I can’t promise that,” Berger said, “but I know we can get you out of here, and once you’re released you’ll be free to try to fix things with her. So what do you say? Ready to keep fighting for that day?”

"I guess so. I just hope..." Squeaky grabbed tight to the bottom of the table. "I hope I don't end up going away for way longer cause of standing up to the warden."


Emily raised her eyebrows as Alison came into their dorm. “No Kelsey?”

“She's still at work. So am I, technically.” Alison threw her bag on the bed. “You get ahold of that public defender by any chance?”

“I wish.” Emily sighed. “Her name's Rebecca Dawson, I got that far. She hasn't returned any of my calls. But I'm not surprised. I looked her up and check this out.” Emily picked up a stack of papers. “Sorry I killed so many trees, but I wanted you to see for yourself.”

“See what?”

“Her caseload. I got the public records for all the cases she appeared on.”

“Ever?” Alison asked, glancing at the first page.

“Nope. This is just today. She spends about 30 seconds in front of the judge, more often than not pleading guilty for the client, then onto the next.It's like speed dating only in court.”

Alison frowned. “Are you saying she's doing the bare minimum?”

“No. I'm sure she’s doing the best she can. But she has so many clients she can’t possibly do more than she's doing.”

Alison nodded. “We have the transcript from Hannah Martin's hearing. It was just like you said. 30 seconds and then Hannah went to jail and Rebecca Dawson moved on to the next case. We have to find a way to talk to her and get her perspective on her workload so that we can start to get to the bottom of this.”


Dr. Blanton smiled as JJ came in. “I'm glad you called,” he said. “I was thinking about you and that contest. I really hate how you were cheated out of participating last year and I strongly encourage you to enter this year.”

“Thanks.” JJ said, “but can we table that for now? I got a bigger problem and if I can't figure it out there's not gonna be a story for me to enter.”

Dr. Blanton frowned. “This sounds pretty serious.”

“It is. I'm being threatened, man. Or Paige is, anyway.”

A shadow crossed Dr. Blanton's face. “Threatened how?”

“Some so called source says she works for this judge I'm looking into and she pretty much said if I don't drop the story, Paige is going back to jail.”

“I see. I take it you haven't got the police involved?”

“Uh uh. I don't have any proof, the bitch - sorry, the woman - she wouldn't let me record her, and she said if I try to expose her she'll drag my name through the mud and make it look like I'm making stuff up to get ratings so my career's over before it starts.”

“So she's doubly blackmailing you.”

“Pretty much. Tell me the truth, Dr. Blanton. You see any way out of this so I can keep going with this story without risking everything?”


Sarah had drank about half the bottle of vodka. ”Crap,” she mumbled, struggling to put the bottle down and get up. “I overdid it a little.” She giggled. “What was I doing, anyway? Oh yeah. I was cleaning. But who cares?”

Sarah stumbled towards the fridge so she could put the bottle away.

Victor's voice came through the walls. “I can't imagine why you would want us to stay in a hotel given these luxurious accommodations Melissa and Sarah have here.”

“Oh, Victor,” Maggie replied.

Sarah froze. “Crap. If my judgmental excuse for a mother sees me like this…”

The doorknob turned. Sarah stared at it.


[André DiMera]

So glad Berger is gonna fight to get Hannah out of jail, and that he told her that what the warden is doing is illegal.

Glad Emily found all that stuff. Hope she and Alison find a way to talk to Rebecca.

Can’t wait to hear Dr. Blanton’s advice.

Looks like Victor and Maggie are about to walk in on Sarah drunk. Can’t wait to see how this goes!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[tghca]

Well no way of proving that what the warden is doing is illegal...no proof no nothing to back up any story...no way of connecting the Warden to this mystery woman either

So Hannah is gonna have to stay in there and if JJ goes ahead with this he can kiss his career goodbye and his girlfriend goes back to prison and his cousin Hannah stays in there even longer

[Kpatch]

Well, what was Sarah expecting?

Good idea for JJ to speak with his mentor.

[heroicmuse]

Week 231 - 4

Dr. Blanton said, “This is a difficult question. Now, as you may recall from our history class your first semester, journalism is often a risky career precisely for this reason. After all, you’re shining the light of truth on secrets that some people would prefer stay hidden. In fact, some would say that being threatened in this manner is a rite of passage, proving that you deserve to call yourself a journalist, and there are many who have faced death threats on a regular basis.”

“Can you do me a favor and skip the history lecture? I just wanna know what the hell I’m supposed to do.” JJ crossed his arms. “I’m not a coward, okay, I’ve stared death in the face more than once. I let a dude hold a knife to my throat so he’d get it off Paige’s, and somehow we survived. And then when those corrupt cops messed with me, Rafe wanted to put me and Paige in protective custody but I wasn’t having it and I stared those cops right in the eye and let them try to grab me so they’d end up in jail and I got tased and almost died. But now… now knowing that Paige’s freedom’s at stake and my cousin’s too… if I call this woman's bluff and she’s not bluffing…” JJ shook his head. “I know people can make all kind of threats they’re not gonna follow through on but my dad, he ended up losing everything trying to go after a story and I don’t want to make the same mistake.”

“That’s what makes this tough,” Dr. Blanton said. “You can go after the story and not let someone intimidate you out of it, but there’s no guarantees you can protect yourself and your loved ones if you do. The question you have to ask yourself here is whether this story’s worth the risk. I believe strongly that journalists have a moral obligation to tell the world uncomfortable truths that would otherwise remain hidden, especially when people are being hurt by some illegal or immoral act on the part of those in power. But only you can decide whether that risk is worth it. May I ask, what is the story you’re pursuing?”

“Paige had this cellmate or something in jail, she said she thought she was arrested unfairly and she asked me to look into it. Turns out this girl’s my cousin but anyway, when I looked into her arrest..." JJ turned his head away, not wanting to look Dr. Blanton in the eye. “I found out most of the reason she’s locked up is cause some people couldn’t see past the color of her skin. If you watch Nicole’s show tonight you’ll see the interview I did with this asshole who runs the S-Mart. He freaking called the cops on her just cause he didn’t like people like her coming into his store and when the cops got there all they needed was to see a dark-skinned girl standing on the street corner holding a beer and out came the cuffs. Her friend, the one who bought the freaking beer in the first place, she got off scot-free. They didn’t even look at her long enough to get she needed to be questioned. But my cousin, she’s locked up for a year cause she was holding an open can she wasn’t drinking out of, and far as I can see, there’s no other way to spin it except a whole lot of small-minded people thinking she’s a criminal cause of her skin color.” Dr. Blanton was quiet for a second and JJ was sure he was upset. "I-I hate to bring it up."

"No," Dr. Blanton said. "I'm aware things like this happen. In fact, I've lived it, and being a professor at a university doesn't always protect me from people's attitudes. But this isn't about me. It's about the story, and it's one I think it's important to tell, important for people to know about. But what does this judge have to do with it?"

“He’s the same one who sent Paige away,” JJ said, thickly, “and he threw the book at Hannah too, gave her a year in jail over a beer she didn't take a single sip from."

“I see. So we’re talking about big issues here. Racism and potential corruption in the justice system. As you well know, people in power in these types of situations may abuse that power to try to keep you quiet. Yet at the same time, we know of at least two miscarriages of justice thanks to this judge. Your girlfriend and this other young woman. If this judge’s behavior remains underground, how many more people could suffer the indignity of having their freedom taken from them when they did nothing to deserve it?”

“Right.” JJ bit his lip. “But this girl’s my cousin, man, the woman who threatened me said if I don’t drop the story she’s gonna make it clear I got an ax to grind and ruin my reputation.”

“Let her try that. Maybe some people will believe it, but not everyone, and you’ve certainly faced worse and come out on top. You were falsely arrested yourself and suspended from school pending a hearing on the matter, yet you’re still here. You’re still a journalism student with a bright future ahead of you. And if you pursue this story, you could even play a role in changing some things that are extremely unfair, not just for your cousin, but for many people here in Salem. So I strongly encourage you to keep at it, threats or not threats.”

JJ nodded. “I want to, but…” He swallowed hard. “You knew my dad pretty well. What do you think he’d say?” He wriggled as Dr. Blanton frowned. “I-I know that’s a stupid question but he’s not here and I thought…”

“It’s not stupid at all. I just don’t want to presume to speak for your father, that’s all.”

“Gimme your best guess. Please?” JJ crossed his arms. “I could ask my mom but she’d freak out and as close as Uncle Steve was with him, he’s not a reporter so he wouldn’t get it. So you’re the only link I got to what he thought as a journalist and I need to know, would he have wanted me to do this or would he have told me to back the hell off?”

Dr. Blanton sighed. “No one can answer that with any certainty, but what I can tell you is that I had many conversations with your father about his own experiences in this area. He was very passionate about pursuing the truth, as I’m sure you know, but he also regretted deeply that his commitment to uncovering it at times came between him and his family.”

“So that’s a no. He’d want me to let this one go for Paige’s sake and Hannah’s too.”

“I didn’t say that. He’d be worried, I’m sure, and he would want to do everything he could to help keep you safe. But I think he would encourage you to stand up for the people who are being hurt by injustice, to not allow someone to scare you away from telling a story that needs to be told. I don’t know how he would resolve the conflict between wanting you to avoid the mistakes he made and wanting you to be the hero who brings the truth to light, but knowing him as I did I suspect he’d tell you to take measures to protect your family without backing off from the story. Does that help?”

“It does.” JJ smiled a sad smile. “I wish he was here to tell me himself but guess I’ll have to dream about him tonight. Thanks, Dr. Blanton.” He shook hands with Dr. Blanton, then said, as he was leaving, “This isn’t why I’m doing this, but if I manage to pull this off in time, you think it’s worth entering in the contest?”

“I have no doubt it is,” Dr. Blanton said. He patted JJ on the shoulder. “You have a brilliant future ahead of you. Don’t ever doubt it.”


Ciara raised her eyebrows. “Come work at the police station? The same station my mom works at? Hard pass.”

“Up to you,” Horowitz said. “I thought it might motivate you to get your head on straight, that’s all.” She sighed. “Look, Ciara, I know you’re a good kid, but right now you’re only so many bad mistakes away from ruining your life.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that? It’s not like I killed someone to get them out of my way, I just tried to help Claire out.” Ciara’s eyes widened. “Wait. Claire… she told on me! She had to have, otherwise they wouldn’t have been so sure. Geez, no good deed goes unpunished, huh?”

“You don’t know that,” Horowitz said. “Not only do you not have probable cause to think that, you have no cause.”

“Yeah, well, she’d better not have snitched,” Ciara said.

Horowitz raised her eyebrows. “Or else what?”

Ciara wriggled. “Or else nothing.”

“Better be. You were just telling me you’re a good kid who doesn’t hurt people.” Horowitz crossed her arms. “As for the rest of it, maybe you didn’t kill anyone but it’s not like that’s the only test of whether someone’s on a bad path. The fact is, you hired someone to break into a computer and mess around with contents that weren’t yours to mess around with, and that’s a crime too -- a bad one. If your principal had called us, you think your mom being a cop would have saved you? Uh uh. You’d have been dragged down here in cuffs and you’d be praying you didn’t get charged as an adult cause then you might be going away for a long time.”

Ciara bit her lip. “As an adult? Come on!”

“I look like I’m joking? You’re 14 now, Ciara, people aren’t always gonna dismiss the wrong you do as kids being kids anymore. You could go to juvie or even jail over some stupid misdeed you didn’t think through.”

Ciara swallowed hard. “Got it,” she said flatly. She rubbed her wrists, suddenly scared. “W-what’s gonna happen to Wyatt?”

“Who’s he? Your partner in crime?”

“Yeah.”

“Probably suspended too,” Horowitz said. “I doubt the principal’ll press charges against him cause then she’d have to explain why she’s not pressing them against you. But if she does, that’s his problem. You better think about how you’re gonna straighten yourself out so when you get back to school you stay out of trouble.”

Ciara nodded. Her face was pale and her eyes were wide with fear.


Abigail pushed her hair behind her ear. “I don’t want to… you know, what you said. At least, not all the time.”

“It might be helpful, honey,” Jennifer said. “I really want to try to get past this.”

“I know but it’s too much. Besides you should… um… when you meet without anyone else there so no one knows what you say.”

“Abigail has a point,” Dr. Asher said. “I do want to work with you one-on-one, Jennifer, I think talking about these issues from your past might be helpful for you.”

“Me too,” Jennifer agreed.

“And you’re seeing Dr. Evans regularly?” Dr. Asher asked Abigail.

“Not, you know, not every week. But when I need to.”

Dr. Asher nodded. “Okay. Why don’t we do this? We can alternate. One week I can see your mom one-on-one and the next week I can see the two of you together to talk about how things have been going. How does that sound?”

Abby took out her tablet. “I’m just putting it in… you know, that thing you look at that tells you what day it is and what you’re supposed to do.”

“Good idea,” Dr. Asher said. “So I take it that’s a yes.”

Abby nodded. Dr. Asher said, “Jennifer?”

“Anything that you think will help. I want Abigail to be safe and happy and I also want my daughter back.” Jennifer blinked hard. “I hate us being at each other’s throats like this, I’ll do anything to fix it.”

“Very good,” Dr. Asher said. “I’ll see you next week and I will see both of you in two weeks.”


Abe leaned on his phone as he put on his jacket. “If you wouldn’t mind picking Theo up from school and staying with him for a few hours, there’s something I need to take care of. Thanks. I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

He hung up and made another call. “Hi, it’s Abe Carver. Would you happen to be free to meet me for dinner? There’s something I’d like to tell you.”