Breaking Ties: An Ensemble Story (Read 239,351 times)

[André DiMera]

I’m not surprised that probation is hard on Hannah, Trenton’s been looking for a reason to arrest her since the start. Hopefully Hannah talking to J.J. won’t make things worse for her.

Wonder who Horowitz thinks might be behind the murder.

Glad Gabi is finally free. It’s not surprising that she’ll have a hard time adjusting to life on the outside. Hopefully Sonny will eventually learn to trust her.

Glad Vicki doesn’t let Allie go alone, and tries to talk some sense into her. Wonder who catches them outside of school.

Can’t wait for J.J.’s meeting, as well as hearing about Philip’s dream for Charley! Cole needs to go away!

Thanks for the previews, heroicmuse!

[heroicmuse]

Week 332 - 1

Hannah’s eyes darted around the park wildly. Part of her wanted to just give up, put her hands behind her back and tell them to arrest her since they wanted to do it anyway. But that wasn’t going to do her any good. They would just do it and that would be that.

“Look,” she said, “I wasn’t trying to get away with anything. If it was you and you’d just been raked over the coals for something serious you didn’t do, wouldn’t you need a little time to get yourself together after before you could even think about calling your probation officer or anything else? And if I was trying to hide from you, you think I’d be dumb enough to sit out here in the open? Uh uh. I’d be holed up somewhere hoping you couldn’t find me.”

“You’d be surprised,” Officer Trenton said. “Some people don’t think too good when they know they’re doing wrong.” He sat down next to Hannah. “Look, I don’t get my jollies from getting you in trouble. But rules are rules. If you have a police contact, I wanna hear it from you, not from the cops.”

“I understand.” Hannah stared straight ahead, not wanting to look at Officer Trenton’s face cause it might be written all over it that he was about to revoke her probation. “You’re gonna do what you’re gonna do,” she said, “but can’t you have just a little bit of compassion? Today’s been the day from hell and my brain isn’t exactly firing on full cylinders. Day started out with me having to go to court and hope the judge didn’t let the guy out who kidnapped my boyfriend to get to me and it ended with someone losing their patience and shooting him in the back so I had to fight for my freedom, to convince the cops I had nothing to do with it. And no sooner do I get out the courthouse but you come along and tell me you might take me right back cause I didn’t call you yet. Does that make any sense to you? Cause it doesn’t make a single bit to me. Maybe I didn’t call like I should have, but I'm here and you’re here and I can tell you the whole story now. So you really gotta do me like this, have me dragged off in cuffs for something we can fix this easy?”

Officer Trenton sighed. “It’s not about that,” he said. “I keep telling you, I’m not looking to get you locked up for fun. Thing is, this isn’t the first time you and me have had a problem. I had to write you up before for not blocking these yo-yos’ numbers from your phones, remember? And I told you then you’d better watch your step cause you were headed toward revocation. And now you’re telling me this police contact was real serious, that you were being questioned in regards to a murder. Now I get you being upset, but upset or not you gotta do what you’re supposed to do.”

Hannah’s eyes narrowed and she made herself breathe deep before she said something she was going to regret. “Serious?” she said. “It’s not like I got let go three days ago. It’s been maybe an hour.”

“Still should have called me right away. Rule is you call ASAP after a police contact, not when you get around to it.”

Hannah swallowed hard. “So this is it, then? I’m under arrest cause you came along five minutes too soon and I didn’t get a chance to call you yet?”

Officer Trenton hesitated. Again. “Didn’t say that,” he said. “Tell you what. If you let these officers escort you across the street, we can finish this meeting in my office and I’ll decide after what I’m gonna do about this violation.”


Horowitz and Prescott came into the lobby of the gun shop, holding up their badges as they pressed the buzzer for entry. The dealer let them in and they came up to the counter, where he was talking to Nan. Nan had a lockbox sitting on the counter, and it was open, so they could see the gun inside.

“This settles one thing,” Horowitz said under her breath to Prescott. “If that’s Kenneth Hansen’s gun, he was telling the truth about having it in a lockbox.”

Prescott nodded but said nothing. Horowitz said, “There a problem here, ma’am? We heard raised voices as we were coming up.”

“You’re damn right there’s a problem!” Nan said. “My son bought this gun when he knew damn well he had no permission to keep it at the house and now this excuse for a man won’t take it back.”

“You heard it right from her mouth,” the dealer said calmly. “This isn’t her gun. She stole it from her son. I was going to call you guys, but since you showed up now, it saves me the trouble. Arrest her.”

Nan’s eyes widened with fear.

Horowitz said, “I don’t think so. But what we do need to do is ask you a few questions. Come with me, Mrs. Hansen. Prescott, while I’m settling this, talk to our friend over here about the other matter.”

“Am I in trouble?” Nan asked. “I was just trying to protect my children. I don’t want a gun in the house, especially not with my daughter living there. I love that girl with all my heart and she is a brilliant child, but for all her brains she doesn’t have the sense God gave a goose and if she were to stumble across a gun in her brother’s room…”

“I understand,” Horowitz said. “You’re not in any trouble. The problem is, there was a shooting at the courthouse this morning. Marcel Simmons was killed.”

Nan gasped. “My boy was down there. Was he… oh God, he wasn’t hit by a stray bullet, was he?”

Horowitz shook her head. “He’s fine. But he is under investigation for the murder.”

Nan’s eyes got wide again and she said, “No. You have it wrong. I know my boy and maybe he did something as stupid as buy this gun, but he didn’t go using it on anyone. Besides, I found it in his room after he went to the courthouse.”

“That’s the thing,” Horowitz said. “He tried to show us his gun so that we would know he wasn’t involved, but it was gone so we didn’t know whether he was telling us the truth. Would you mind if I took a look at it?”

“Take a look? You can have the damn thing for all I care.” Nan handed the box to Horowitz, who waited until she’d put on gloves to take it.

“Did you touch the gun at all, ma’am?” Horowitz asked as she picked up the gun and turned it over in her hands. The gun was identical to the one found in the courthouse, down to the fact that the serial number had been scratched off.

“No, ma’am,” Nan said. She shuddered. “Being in the same house as that thing gave me the creeps.”

“So if we dust it for prints, we won’t find yours?”

“Only on the box,” Nan said. “Kenneth thought he was clever, locking that box with a combination lock, but of course his father gave me the combination years ago when he bought it. So I opened it right up and saw what was in it.”

“And then what? Did you drive straight here with it?”

“I didn’t know what to do with it, to tell you the truth. I put it in my car and drove around and around. Was going to go talk to my brother -- he’s the principal at Salem High -- but I couldn’t go on school grounds with a gun in my car so I drove on past and then I thought, let me just return it.”

“Okay,” Horowitz said, writing that down. She opened the gun and checked it. “Five bullets,” she said, “but this gun takes six.”

“Don’t look at me,” Nan said. “I don’t know anything about that.”

“Okay,” Horowitz said. “This is what we’re going to do. I’m going to take this gun back to the station and have our forensics team run tests, see when it was last fired, all that, as well as compare it to the gun we found at the courthouse. If it all checks out, Kenneth will be off the hook for this murder.”

“It’ll check out, all right,” Nan said. “What are you gonna do with the gun after?”

Horowitz sighed. “It’s his gun and if he bought it legally he has the right to have it back.”

“But I don’t want it in my house.”

“I understand, ma’am, but he has a legal right as long as he hasn’t used it on anyone. If you want it gone, you have to work that out with him.” Horowitz patted Nan’s shoulder as she went to put the gun in her squad car.

[Kpatch]

Horowitz is the best cop on the force.

[André DiMera]

Despite what Trenton says, it certainly feels like he’s looking for a reason to get Hannah arrested again. Hopefully their talk will go better than I think it will.

So glad Horowitz and Prescott are looking into whether the two guns are similar! Hopefully things will start to look up for Kenneth, but Nan is gonna want to have a long talk with him. I don’t like the idea of Kenneth keeping it.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[lumiforeverandalways]

Interesting

[heroicmuse]

Week 332 - 2
“Talk about throwing you in the deep end!” Harriet told JJ when he came upstairs. “I didn’t expect you to be covering a shooting in the courthouse on your first day.”

JJ shifted his weight. “Yeah,” he said. “About that…”

Harriet held up her hand. “First things first. Before we talk business, are you all right?”

JJ swallowed hard. “Not like it’s the first time I’ve been around the wrong end of a gun. Or the cops having wrong ideas. First thing they did was mistake my phone for a gun and work me over real good. Told me not to take photos of crime scenes again if I don’t want to go to jail. But don’t worry. They didn’t intimidate me.”

“I’m sure they didn’t,” Harriet said. “The law’s on your side, anyway.” She clapped her hands. “Okay. We have a show to put together. Were you able to get anything?”

JJ sighed. “I wish. I don’t wanna let you down or anything, but after the shooting no one was talking. Best I could do was the photos I got before the cops jammed me up. They took me in for questioning and let me go real quick but they wouldn’t say a word.” He sighed. “My buddy got jammed up worse. Cops have some stupid idea he’s the shooter. You want me to see if I can get an interview with him?”

“Go for it. Use those connects. In the meantime, get me those photos. If nothing else we can use them as backdrop over your narration.”

“You say ‘your narration’ or ‘our?’”

Harriet smiled. “Yours. You were there, that gives you a perspective we don’t have. So what we’ll do is have you narrate over these photos and then if you can get some interviews with some other witnesses, we’ll splice them in when you’re done.”


Will leaned his phone on his ear. “You don’t know how good it is to hear your voice, and not with those annoying clicks in the background from the jailhouse phone system. Well, Ari’s at school right now, but the good news is that you can call as often as you want now that you’re free and we can even call you too. So how about when Ari gets home, I call you back? She’s going to be so over the moon. Yes, I’m sure she’ll be happy. She’s only been asking for you for her birthday for the last three years and this time you’re going to be there. Oh, and did you know JJ and Paige are getting married? Next month. They talked to Ari about being a flower girl and I’m sure they’d love to have you attend too. Yes, let me get you Paige's number. I’m sure she’d love to hear from you. You’re her sister and she hasn’t had the opportunity to get to know you. Gabi. Paige has been in jail too. She understands. No, that’s true, she was innocent. But you were only defending yourself. Look, people aren’t going to judge you. Okay, some people might, but not anyone who’s important. Not me and Sonny and Ari, not Paige, not Rafe… we’re the people who love you and that’s what counts. Yes, we do love you, so very much and we’re thrilled you’re home. So you’re going to be staying with Rafe? Okay. Yes, we will as soon as we can.”

Will hung up and turned toward Sonny, who was standing in the doorway.

“So… Gabi’s free?” Sonny asked.

“As of half an hour ago,” Will said. “The judge ordered her released and apologized profusely for the injustice done to her. She’s going to be staying with Rafe for the time being but I thought maybe tonight we could bring Ari over to reunite with her.”

Sonny’s face fell. “Yeah, maybe,” he said.

“What?”

Sonny sighed. “This is a big adjustment. For Gabi, and just as importantly, for Ari. Her mom has been behind bars for as long as she can remember, and as much as Ari’s asked over and over for her to come home… she doesn’t really know her.”

“Gabi’s her mother,” Will said. “She has a right - “

“Of course she does. I’m not saying that.”

“Then what are you saying?”

“I just think we shouldn’t move too fast with this. When Ari comes home from school, we should talk to her and see if she wants to talk to Gabi on the phone. And then after she’s talked to Gabi a few times and gotten used to that, then try a visit.”

“You’re acting like she’s scared of Gabi,” Will said. “She’s not. And come on, Sonny, Ari and Gabi have been waiting for eight years for this. How can you - “

“Because it’s a big adjustment,” Sonny said, “and because I don’t trust Gabi to stay out of trouble for more than a few months and if she gets arrested again… I just don’t want Ari to get hurt.”

“She’s not gonna - “ Will began.

Sonny held up his hand. “Let’s just start with having Ari talk to her on the phone and then we’ll take it from there. Okay?”

It wasn’t, but Will didn’t want to fight with Sonny so he nodded.


Allie let her breath out slowly as Vicki came out of Mr. Wood’s office. “Thank God you didn’t get in trouble,” she whispered. “What was that about a gun?”

Vicki flinched. “What are you doing here?” she said. “Aren’t you supposed to be in class making sure Ciara isn’t plotting against us?”

“I was worried,” Allie said. “I had a bad feeling when you were called to the office even if Mr. Woods is your uncle. So I skipped class to come find out what was going on.”

Vicki frowned. “But what if I was? Wasn’t like you could do anything about it.”

“I thought if Ciara told a bunch of lies I could, I don’t know, make a dramatic entrance and tell Mr. Woods what the truth was.” Allie’s cheeks turned bright red. “I guess I’m more like my mom than I thought. Anyway, we’d better get to what’s left of English, I guess. But tell me on the way why he was asking you about a gun.”

“It wasn’t cause I have one,” Vicki said. “My brother was dumb enough to buy one and it disappeared. Uncle Malcolm wanted to make sure I didn’t take it. Can you believe that? Like I’d ever touch a gun.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Allie said. “I don’t trust myself not to lose my temper with Johnny.” She shuddered.

“Get this,” Vicki said. “That scumbag that kidnapped Ken and tied up my uncle got shot in the back and the cops think Ken did it when he never would, gun or not.”

“Oh no!” Allie said, her eyes wide.

“It’s okay. They didn’t arrest him. I don’t think.”

“That’s good,” Allie said. “B-but my mom and dad took Johnny to court today to teach him a lesson. What if…” She grabbed her phone and stabbed at it, but she got Sami’s voicemail.

“I can’t go to class now,” she said. “I have to check on my mom.”

“I’ll come with you,” Vicki said.

Allie shook her head. “You can’t. Your mom’s way stricter than mine and you’ll get grounded for a month if you cut class.” She turned. “Tell Claire I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Vicki watched her go, not sure what to do. Allie was right that she’d get in huge trouble if she cut class. But weren’t you supposed to stop your friends from doing something dangerous? Mom had drilled that into her head too. And what Allie was doing was dangerous cause she was wandering around all upset and half convinced that something happened to Sami. She could get hit by a car crossing the street without looking, just like Daddy getting smashed up by that train and killed. Or if not that, what if she crossed paths with whoever really killed Marcel and he forced her to come with him somewhere? No one would know for hours cause the adults would all think Allie was where she was supposed to be and not start looking til it was too late.

Vicki hurried to catch up with Allie, praying she could catch her before she got too far.


Hope and Abe had gone to meet with the forensics expert.

“Thanks for coming,” the forensics expert said. “I wanted to go over a few things with you related to this case. The ME is speaking with the doctor that attempted to save Marcel Simmons’ life to see if there’s any chance we can recover the bullet that went into his spine. But in the meantime, I do have some news for you.”

“We’re all ears,” Abe said. “We’re interested in two things. Were you able to prove that this gun was the gun used in the murder, and do you have any idea where the shooter was sitting or standing based on your analysis?”

“Well, as I said, we’re still waiting to see if we can get the bullet. We would need to be able to match it to the gun to prove conclusively that it came from that weapon. But what I can tell you is that this gun was fired recently. It holds six rounds and there are only five in the chamber, and preliminary tests showed that the metal was still warm enough to suggest it had been used within the past few hours.”

“So this was likely our murder weapon,” Abe said.

“Correct.”

Hope asked, “Were there any fingerprints we can use to identify who it belonged to?”

The forensic specialist shook his head. “Nothing clear enough to make out. There were too many sets of overlapping prints. That gun’s changed hands at least three times.”

“Probably stolen,” Abe said, “judging from the scratched off serial number. All right. Can you tell us anything about where it was fired from?”

“We’ll know more after the ME looks at the body. Things like the size and shape of the bullet wound and exactly where it entered the body can help us determine where it came from and how fast it was traveling. But we can still get somewhat of an idea.” The forensic specialist typed something into a computer. It showed a computer-simulated re-enactment of the shooting. “As you can see, the decedent was standing at the side door, here, when he was shot. He was facing the door and his arms were shackled behind his back. There was an officer standing on either side of him and holding his arms. The ME needs to confirm exactly where the bullet hit him, but my guess is that it was in the center of the back, because as far as we know there were no injuries to his arms, which means it had to be higher than where he was cuffed, and there were no injuries to the officers escorting him, either.”

Hope nodded. “So either our shooter is an expert marksman or very, very lucky.”

“Right,” the forensics specialist said. “And nobody else got hit. Not the judge, not the attorneys, and no spectators. So either the shooter had a very clear shot, which meant he was near the front of the room, or he would have had to have aimed in such a way that the bullet would go over the heads of those seated in front of him yet find its target. Not impossible, but difficult.”

“So most likely in the front row,” Abe said. He glanced at Hope and said under his breath, “Where Kenneth was sitting.” Aloud, he asked her, “Do you have any more questions?”

Hope shook her head. Abe thanked the forensics specialist and then he and Hope left.

“So?” Hope said. “What do you think?”

"I don't know what to think," Abe said. "I still don't beliege Kenneth Hansen was lying to me when he claimed to be innocent."

"You don't want to believe it, you mean," Hope said. "But the evidence is adding up, Abe. The shooter most likely was near where he was sitting. The gun was found under his seat. He bought it illegally - "

"If that was his gun."

"All right, fine, he bought A gun illegally. That's the only sticking point, if you want to call it that, but it isn't reasonable doubt. He had motive. He had means. He had opportunity. Why in the world haven't we arrested him yet?"

"Because he's been harassed by the police before!" Abe snapped. "And perhaps you don't understand this,  but I took over this department to put an end to the vilification of certain people, to make this department respected instead of feared. Didn't you just ask me what we can do to protect Hannah Martin from yet another unfair arrest? There is one thing that Hannah and Kenneth and I have in common that you do not, and that is the reason that both of them are always in trouble."

Hope stared at him. "I'm not going to pretend that I'm an expert on racism," she said. "You're the one who experiences it, not me. But is it possible, Abe, that you're going too far the other way, that you're reluctant to arrest a suspect when more and more evidence points toward his guilt because of the color of his skin?"

Abe's eyes narrowed and he said quietly, "I do not think that is the case. And I do not think it is appropriate for you to..."

"Maybe not," Hope said, "but 99% of our evidence screams guilt and you're not doing anything about it. Don't you always say to follow the evidence?"

"I suppose you have a point." Abe sighed. "All right. I'll tell you what. We'll take it to the judge. If Judge Walston thinks we have enough for an arrest warrant, then we'll have no choice but to follow through on it."

[André DiMera]

Glad to see Harriett isn’t disappointed that J.J. didn’t get much other than photos, and that she was more concerned for his safety.

Interesting that Sonny doesn’t trust Gabi. Glad Will tried to assure her that he, Ari and her family are there for her.

I get Allie being worried about Sami. but I don’t think this is a great idea. Nor is Vicki going after her.

Someone should probably tell Abe and Hope that Kenneth’s gun has, in fact, been found. Either way, I’m glad they’re talking to Judge Walston. Hopefully they’ll find out the news before they get there.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

Sonny is right. This is a big adjustment for Ari, but I don't think Gabi will be willing to wait.

I like Harriet's plan!

[heroicmuse]

Week 332 - 3
Abe picked up his phone and said heavily, “I would be lying if I didn’t say that I hope he turns us down.”

“I understand,” Hope said. “I don’t want to think it either. Kenneth’s my cousin’s boyfriend and I can see how good he is for her and that he’s a good person in general. If he did shoot Marcel, he probably needs help more than he needs time behind bars, and I’m sure Aiden’ll work something out for him. But we can’t turn a blind eye when all the evidence adds up, not if you want to restore this department’s reputation.”

“I know that!” Abe said. He let his breath out slowly. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I look at Kenneth and think, what if it were Theo who stood accused? Would I have the strength then, the fortitude, to let the evidence guide the investigation? I’m not saying that I consider Kenneth to be my son but Theo could just as easily become the victim of bias in policing, just as easily be arrested because the evidence seemed to point a certain way even if it was something that he was not capable of doing to another human being.”

Hope patted his arm. “If Theo is ever under investigation, we will be fair to him, just as we’re trying to be now. How about I tell Aiden that we may be moving forward with the case against Kenneth so that he can begin preparing for it?”

Abe nodded. “Do that. In fact, let him know that if we do get that arrest warrant, we’ll want him to bring Kenneth in to surrender at the station. I don’t want a media circus surrounding this arrest.”

Horowitz came up to them just then. “Sir, we - “

“Just a minute, Horowitz,” Abe said. “I need to call this judge about a possible arrest warrant in the Simmons case .”

“If it’s for Kenneth Hansen, you need to wait,” Horowitz said. Abe turned toward her, surprised, and she said, “Sorry. I don’t mean any disrespect. But before you make any arrests for Simmons’ murder, you’ll want to see this.” She put the lockbox on a table in the hall and opened it. “This is Kenneth Hansen’s gun,” she said. “He was telling the truth about it being locked in this box. His mom found it and tried to sell it back to the dealer cause she didn’t want it in the house.”

“That explains why it was missing,” Abe said. He put his phone down. “Where is Prescott?”

“He’s talking to the dealer and hoping to get something useful out of him,” Horowitz said. “Anyway, I’m about to take this gun to forensics to run some tests. There was a bullet missing, but if it hasn’t been fired recently, Kenneth is in the clear.”

Abe sighed. “So we still don’t know for sure, then.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Horowitz said. “Seems like an awful lot of trouble for someone to go planting a lookalike gun if this is the murder weapon. Unless…”

“Unless what?” Hope asked.

“This sounds stupid, ma’am, but I can’t help thinking…” Horowitz sighed. “”We caught Nanette Hansen red-handed with this gun. She said that she found it in Kenneth’s room and took it cause she didn’t want it in her house. But now I’m thinking, what if temptation was too great once she had it in her hands? She could have gone to the courthouse, fired off that shot herself, and then taken the gun to the dealer to try to dump it.”

“Seems kind of far-fetched,” Hope said. “Besides, it doesn’t explain how that other gun ended up under Kenneth’s seat.”

“Even so,” Abe said, “we do have to investigate it. So right now we only have two leads, and unfortunately one is Kenneth Hansen and as of this minute, the other is his mother.”



Vicki hurried to catch up with Allie, who was running through the Square. “Allie!” she said, gasping for breath. “Wait up!”

Allie turned. She had a crazy look in her eye, or at least, crazy for her cause Vicki had never seen her like this. “I told you not to come with me. You’re going to get in trouble for skipping school.”

“And you’re not?” Vicki said, crossing her arms. “You can’t walk all the way to your house from school. We take the bus cause it’s more than 2 miles for both of us. And now no one knows where we are and if someone was gonna pull something like that guy did to my brother…” She shuddered.

Allie’s eyes widened. “You sound like me,” she said. “I didn’t think you panicked like that.”

“I don’t, usually,” Vicki said. “Not about normal things, anyway. Something like school having pizza for lunch on the day they usually have burgers throws me off, though. But when you walked away like that for some reason I started thinking, what if the person who really shot that guy is hanging around looking for easy prey or something?”

Allie froze. “He’s probably long gone,” she said. “If he didn’t shoot my mom and brother too.” Her shoulders slumped.

“I’m sure he didn’t,” Vicki said, even though she wasn’t. “He just wanted Marcel. Can’t say I blame him either.” Her eyes widened and she remembered hiding in the closet. “He broke in my house and tied my brother and my uncle up and I had to hide and be real quiet cause if he’d got me too I don’t know what he would have done to me. Cops want to lock Ken up for it but if you ask me, they should just be glad he’s gone.”

Allie put her hand on Vicki’s shoulder. “I didn’t realize it affected you so badly when that guy took your brother. I mean, I should have known. I was nervous just reading about it in the newspaper.”

Vicki pulled away. “I’m fine. Except if Ken goes to jail, I don’t know what I’m going to do. He gets mad sometimes cause I’m in the way of what he wants to do but at the same time, he’s always got my back.”

Allie sighed. “Maybe we need to find out who really did it, then. Have his back like he always has yours. Come on. There’s a bus stop across the street that goes right past my parents’ house. So let’s stop there and make sure my mom’s alive and then we’ll figure out our next step.”

“Don’t we have to go back to school, though?” Vicki said.

“Yeah, you do,” a voice said behind them. The girls turned around and Vicki gulped when she saw Lucas standing there, his arms crossed.


Across town, Nicole came in with a box full of clothes. “Here you go,” she said to Gabi. “The Horton Center always has donations. Of course, if Julie had been there instead of Maggie, we might had had a fight on our hands… anyway, Maggie was more than happy to give you a full wardrobe.”

“Gracias,” Gabi said distractedly. She sighed. “I can’t believe I’m living on donated clothes. Me. I was an up-and-coming designer til Nick Fallon ruined my life.”

“You’ll get there again,” Rafe said. “Just be grateful you’re out of jail, will you? I know I am.”

“Oh, I am,” Gabi said. “I just… I guess I don’t know what I expected.” She sank down onto the couch. “I had this dream for so long,” she said tearfully. “I would get out and Arianna would run into my arms and me and Will and Sonny would be this big happy family like we were before I was arrested. Only the world moved on without me and Arianna was in school and the best Will could do was promise he’d have her call me when she gets home. And walking into this house with nothing, it just hit me hard that reality is nothing like my fantasy. And I just wonder… will Ari even want to see me or is she going to be ashamed to have me as a mother because after eight long years when I finally come home to her I don’t even have clothes or money or a job or anything?” She covered her face with her hands so that Rafe wouldn’t see her cry.

“Hey,” Rafe said. “Just cause you’re way down now doesn’t mean you can’t get back on your feet. Nicole and me, we’re gonna help you, okay?”

“Rafe’s right,” Nicole said. She sat down next to Gabi. “I’ve come back from nothing more times than I care to admit,” she said softly, “but look at me now. I’ve got a good job and your brother’s pretty good to me. And you’ll get there too.” She put her hand on Gabi’s shoulder. “Don’t ever think Arianna will be ashamed of you. She’s your daughter. She’s connected to you for life no matter what. Trust me.” She glanced at Rafe. “That’s why I need to get up to Maine. Because my son and I have it too.”

“If he is your son,” Rafe said. “But we’ll talk about that later. Let’s keep the focus on my sister, huh?”

“Sorry,” Nicole said. “You know me, can’t comfort someone without talking about myself. Anyway, Gabi, the point is, there’s no shame in wearing donated clothes or letting Rafe put a roof over your head for now. You’re not in prison anymore. You don’t have to follow anyone’s rules about who you should be or what you should do.” She squeezed Gabi’s shoulder.

“Right,” Gabi said. “I’m not in prison anymore. My head knows that but I still feel like I’m about to be late for afternoon count.” She sighed. “At least I still have this phone, even if it is old by now. So Ari can get ahold of me anytime she wants.” She bit her lip. “I just hope she does want,” she said sadly. “It’s 3:02 and she hasn’t called yet.”

“She’s probably first getting out of school now,” Rafe said. “Give her a chance to get home and get the good news. In the meantime, you got anything in storage you want us to get for you?”

“Maybe Sonny and Will put my things in storage for me?” Gabi said hopefully. “I didn’t think about it at the time. I turned myself in so WIll wouldn’t go to jail for something he didn’t do and after that I was locked up and there was no time to ask anyone to do anything for me.”

“I’ll call Will,” Rafe said, “and let’s see what we can do about that.” He turned, then turned back and hugged Gabi. “You don’t know how good it is to have you back.”

Gabi clung to him.


Hannah sank down into her seat in the probation room, aware that the cops had followed her to the office and were standing just on the other side of the door. One word from Officer Trenton and they’d come in here and arrest her.

“So,” she said, clasping her hands in front of her on the table, “what do you want me to say?”

Officer Trenton raised his eyebrows. “I want you to lose the attitude,” he said. “Now look, I could have had you arrested there in the park, but I’m giving you one last chance to get things straight for once and for all. So stop acting like I’m the enemy.”

“Sorry,” Hannah said. “I’m anxious is all. Every time I come into this room it feels like I’m gonna lose my freedom as it is and this time… I didn’t do anything wrong but after getting held for questioning in a murder... “I didn’t kill Marcel. Never even dreamed of it. And I didn’t fail to call you on purpose. My head was spinning after everything that happened today and that shouldn’t be a crime.”

“If I’m hard on you it’s cause I want you to stay on the straight and narrow,” Officer Trenton said. “That’s the point of this, to make sure you’re not going back to doing wrong. Now, you’ve been on the right path since the last screw-up and I’m gonna take that into account, but you’d better start from the beginning. You were in court when this shooting went down?”

Hannah nodded. “My lawyer said I should be there so the judge would think twice about letting Marcel out on bail.”

“Okay. And you went there sober?”

Hannah glared at him. “I’m always sober.”

“Had to ask.” Officer Trenton crossed his arms. “Let’s get to the important point. Tell me about the police contact. When did it start?”

“After Marcel was shot, they took all the women to a big room in the back of the court and this cop said since I was on probation she was gonna question me first. Patted me down and everything but they didn’t find anything cause there was nothing to find and then she took me to the judge’s chambers to ask me some questions.”

“All right. So when they took you, did they have any suspicion you did this thing?”

Hannah shrugged. “I told them I wanted my lawyer so they made me sit there a while and then Hope Brady came in but her questions weren’t about me, really. They were about my boyfriend, did I know if he had a gun, that kind of thing.” Hannah’s voice shook involuntarily as she thought about Kenneth having bought that gun and put her probation at risk, but she knew if she told Officer Trenton that it was all over. “Anyway, I didn’t know anything so they let me go.”

“Back up a little,” Officer Trenton said. “Your boyfriend’s a suspect in this?”

Hannah hesitated, not wanting to give away that Kenneth had a gun. That could get them both in trouble. “They think he did it,” she said, “but they’re wrong.”

“Guess they have a reason.” Officer Trenton leaned forward. “Your boyfriend have a gun, Ms. Martin?”

Hannah looked away, not knowing what to do. She couldn’t lie, cause she’d already given away the truth with that nervous look. But she couldn’t tell the truth either cause that would get her probation revoked for sure.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Officer Trenton said.

“I-I just found out today,” Hannah said. “That’s why I was in the park trying to get my thoughts together when you came up.”

“I thought you’d just got out of court.”

Hannah held her hands up, aware she was digging herself into a deeper and deeper hole. “He called me when I was leaving court. He was all freaked out cause the cops came at him pretty hard too. So I went over to find out what was what and he admitted he broke down and bought a gun but he swore he didn’t shoot Marcel and I believed him. I mean, I would have known if he did. I was sitting right next to him.”

“Guess that’s true,” Trenton said. “But Ms. Martin, you’re not allowed to be around someone who’s armed, and you lied to me just before about why you hadn’t called in the police contact. That’s not the kind of impression you want to make when you’re trying to stay out of trouble.”

Hannah’s eyes flashed. “You gonna arrest me?” she said. “Cause if you are, just do it. Stop torturing me with this will he won’t he nonsense.”

“One more outburst like that and I’ll have no choice.” Officer Trenton’s voice was quiet. “Let’s try this again, and I want the truth this time. Why didn’t you call me the second you were released from police custody?”

[André DiMera]

Glad Horowitz brought in Kenneth’s gun.I very much doubt that Nan is the killer. That seems like a bit of a stretch.

Makes sense that what happened has had an effect on Vicki. Wonder what Lucas is gonna do with these two.

This is all a huge adjustment for Gabi. Glad Rafe and Nicole are there for her.

Trenton really is fishing for a reason to arrest Hannah. She literally just explained why she didn’t call the second she got out of court!

Great chapter, heroicmuse!

[Kpatch]

I'm glad Nicole is being so good to Gabi. And I'm glad Rafe kept Nicole on topic.

[lumiforeverandalways]

Poor Vicki.
Wonder how Lucas will handle this and if he will keep it from Sami.

[heroicmuse]

Week 332 - 4
Hannah started to cross her arms, then thought better of it. For all she knew probation would make up some dumb story about how she was threatening them if she didn’t keep her hands on the table. She said, being careful to keep her voice calm and even, “I haven’t told you a single lie.”

“Really?” Officer Trenton said. “Let’s go over the timeline again then. You got taken for question, you got released, then what?”

“I went and told my mom I wasn’t locked up,” Hannah said, “and my boyfriend called and was all upset cause he got raked over the coals too so I rushed over to talk to him.”

“And you didn’t think to call me on the way?”

Hannah’s eyes narrowed. “If you’d just been held for questioning for something you didn’t do and were all worried about the person you love most in the world getting accused too, would your first thought be to call probation before things were even settled?”

“Yeah, actually, it would. Cause after being questioned by the cops, the last thing I’d want is my ass hauled back to the station for something dumb. You gotta start taking responsibility, Ms. Martin. Don’t give me this ‘I didn’t get to call you yet’ BS when the truth is you chose not to do it.”

Hannah glared at him. “The whole time I was being grilled, I was worried about Kenneth. I knew they’d look at him real close cause they’ve harassed us both before plus Marcel grabbed him out of his own yard at gunpoint and tortured him. And then when I got out and I couldn’t get him on the phone I panicked. So yes, when he called he was my first priority, not you. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t gonna call you. It was less than an hour between when I got out and when you found me in the park. I had a phone in my hand and you don’t know whether I was going to call you or not cause you were too quick to start talking about taking me to jail. So let’s not pretend this is anything other than what it is. Since the minute the judge gave me probation, you’ve been hoping and praying to find a reason to send me back to jail and now you think you’ve found one. So do what you’re going to do. It’s not gonna look real good, you locking me up on a nonsense violation when my lawyer’s already looking into whether we can sue the cops for the way they do me all the time. But if that’s what you want to do, go for it. I’m done apologizing for taking a whole half hour for myself before contacting you when it’s a lot of nothing and you know it.”

“You done ranting?” Trenton said. “Cause I got something to say and you’d better listen.” He crossed his arms. “I told you I don’t know how many times that this isn’t about wanting to see you back in jail. That’s not it at all. People like you, they can go two ways. You can either get your act together or you can head further down the wrong path and end up doing serious time, in and out of jail for one thing after another, maybe even end up in Statesville next time. I don’t want to see that happen but if you don’t get with the program that’s what it’s gonna be. So if I were you, I’d learn to shut my mouth and open my ears.”

Hannah’s eyes flashed. She didn’t appreciate being talked to like this, not one bit. But she knew from her year in jail that if you stood up for yourself to people who had all the power, you got thrown in the hole for nothing, if not in the infirmary or the grave for disrespecting the wrong person. “I’m not trying to be disrespectful,” she said quietly. “I’m just frustrated cause it seems to me you’re grilling me harder over the timing of a phone call than the cops did over a murder.”

“I’m doing what I gotta for your own good,” Trenton said. “Sooner or later you’re gonna learn your way doesn’t work and make a change, and whether you learn that on the outside or in your next stint in jail’s up to you.” He leaned back in his seat. “I’d be within my rights to have you taken in on a violation and let you cool your heels behind bars, see if that teaches you your lesson. But I guess I got a soft spot for you cause I’m gonna give you one more chance.” He reached for his tablet. “I’m writing you up for failure to report a police contact in a timely manner. That makes two write-ups. You give me cause for a third one, you’re leaving in cuffs. We understand each other?”

Hannah’s eyes narrowed. This was unfair, but what could she do? If she argued over it anymore, probation would probably go ahead and have her arrested. Better this than getting written up for being around Kenneth and his gun, she guessed.

“Yes, sir,” she said quietly, seething inside.

“Good,” Trenton said. “I suggest you spend some time thinking about how you’re gonna stay out of trouble, cause to tell you the truth, I think it would be a damn shame if I had to have you locked up again when you got such potential for a better future.” He handed her the tablet. “Sign this, please.”

Hannah signed it while Trenton texted the cops waiting outside to tell them that he was releasing her. Then he told her she could go.

Hannah shuffled out of the room, barely able to hold in her annoyance. When she got clear of the building, she pulled out her phone, planning to call Eric like she was going to do before this started. But then she had another idea.

She called JJ. “You still need a story? Cause I got one for you. Probation just messed with me for the last time and I want all of Salem to know how they did me.”


Vicki turned toward Lucas, her heart pounding. “M-mr Horton,” she said, then stopped, not knowing what else to say to get her and Allie out of trouble.

“Yeah, that’s my name,” Lucas said. “How about you two tell me something more substantial. Like, I don’t know, why you’re in the Square in the middle of the school day.”

“It’s my fault,” Allie said. “Don’t be mad at her.”

Lucas looked her up and down. “I’m not mad at anyone. I’m grateful that I found you before your mom did. That gives you a fighting chance at getting out of this in one piece. Now, since you’ve found your voice, how about you tell me what the hell you think you’re doing.”

Allie looked away, “I thought Mom got shot.”

“She didn’t, right?” Vicki said before Lucas could respond. “Cause Allie heard about the shooting at court and she came running out here trying to look for her mom and I followed her and tried to tell her we can’t walk to her house from here.”

“Cause all that makes a ton of sense,” Lucas said. He sighed. “You think there was a better way to handle this, Allie? Like, I don’t know, maybe calling me?”

“I tried to call Mom, but I got her voicemail.”

“That’s cause she has her phone turned off,” Lucas said. “She doesn’t want to hear from any reporters.”

“Reporters?” Allie repeated.

Lucas nodded. “We were all in that courtroom. We were all questioned and thankfully, let go. Including your brother. Your mom doesn’t want reporters asking her what she saw, what it was like, all those things that are nobody’s business til reporters make them everyone’s business, especially not while she’s still dealing with Johnny. The whole reason we took him to court today is to show him where he’s heading if he doesn’t change his ways, and getting questioned by the police herself has got your mom all wound up and even more determined to make him understand. Anyway, it’s not going to help anything if she turns that phone on and gets a call from your teacher that you weren’t in class. So let’s go. Both of you. My car. Now.”

“But - “ Allie began.

“No arguing,” Lucas said. “And be glad I caught you two and not the cops. Truancy is against the law, you know. Now let’s go.”

“We are in so much trouble,” Allie said under her breath to Vicki. “Or me, anyway. Mr. Woods is your uncle so I’m sure - “

“He doesn’t give me special treatment,” Vicki said, “no matter what Ciara told you.”

“Like I’d listen to her,” Allie said. “I just thought maybe you could put a good word in for me with Mr. Woods. I’ve never even had a detention and cutting class is supposed to land you in in-school suspension for a week.”

Vicki swallowed hard, not sure what to say. She was relieved that just then, Lucas said, “Hurry it up, girls. I need to get back to Sami before she comes up with any other brilliant ideas for Johnny.”

Allie’s eyes were wide with fear as she hurried to catch up with Lucas.

[Kpatch]

Lucas handled the girls really well.

[André DiMera]

Trenton is clearly more interested in making Hannah afraid to return to prison than actually listening to the truth, no matter what he says. Though I’m not sure how Hannah telling J.J. what happened in an official capacity is a great idea.

Glad Lucas was the one to find the girls, and that he explained to them why what they did was wrong.

Great chapter, heroicmuse!