“Are you sure?” Stefano asked, his face intense as he leaned against the desk.

“No doubt about it. The Brotherhood was responsible for the hit on Roman,” John said with assurance. Sitting crosslegged in the leather armchair, he lit a cigarette and washed the first drag down with a swallow of bourbon. He smiled to himself, relaxing into the hunt. He had a target now the rest would follow.

“Will you put that damn thing out! It reeks,” Stefano snapped in irritation. The old man bit back further comment as he caught a glimpse of John’s face.

“John,” he warned. “You do not need to do anything hasty. We will wait, identify all of the members of the group. Then we will decide how best to deal with them. There is no need to rush this.”

John looked down at the drink in his hand and took another drag off of the cigarette. He raked his fingers through his hair, an indicator of his agitation. “Yea, Stefano, there is a rush. Marlena’s in danger. She told a director at the ISA that she could identify the members of the Brotherhood. That she’d seen the pictures of them. If there is a leak, anywhere along the line, they’ll know she’s a threat.”

Slugging back the remainder of the bourbon, John stood up and tried to gather his thoughts. “We have to do something, Stefano. Right now. We have to do something,” he almost whispered.

Dimera knew the man was right. If the Brotherhood was aware that Marlena could identify them, they would not hesitate to eliminate her, just as they had Roman. That left only one option. Fortunately, it was an option he liked. He gave John a lopsided grin and shrugged. “Our response is obvious, John. You go get Marlena and bring her to one of our compounds. We can protect her until the problem of the Brotherhood is solved.”





“She won’t do it, Stefano. There is no way Marlena will come away with me. If there is one man on this earth she trusts less than you, it’s me.”

“I wasn’t suggesting that you deliver her an invitation, John. I was telling you to go get her. Bring her in so that we can protect her. Her willingness to be protected isn’t relevant to that mission.”

“I thought we were clear on this, Stefano. I will not hurt her for you.”

Annoyed, Stefano rolled his eyes. “Stop being naive, John. I trained you better. Our first priority is to protect Marlena. The men after her are professionals. They will tear through anything the Salem P.D. can put in their way like it’s tissue paper. You know that. The only way to be sure she is protected is to do it ourselves. Do you disagree with that assessment?”

John grimaced, rubbing at the back of his neck. He had never meant to suggest that Stefano’s analysis of the situation was lacking. Dimera’s planned response would no doubt be the most logically viable approach. John knew the man far too well to underestimate his abilities when it came to strategy. However, the thought of delivering Marlena once again into Dimera’s hands seemed a cure that was worse than the disease.

“Stefano, there has to be a better way. To do this right, we have to take not just Marlena, but the children too. If they’re left exposed, they can be used against her. She’d do just about anything to protect her kids. So, we do it right, and we endup trying to keep four people, three of whom are rebellious teenagers, contained. And we don’t want to hurt them, or even restrain them if we can help it. On top of that, we have to do it while keeping professional hitmen from getting to them. This is not what I would consider a sound approach. There has to be a different tact.”

Stefano grinned, almost amused by his recalcitrant agent. “And just what would you suggest, John? I am always willing to consider a creative alternative.”

John smiled coldly back, the idea coalescing quickly in his mind’s eye. “It’s easy. I kill the ISA.”

“Well, yes John. That would be my preference too. I will see the men who killed my daughter destroyed. The problem, of course, is that we do not know who the members of The Brotherhood are. Only Marlena has seen the pictures. Only she can identify the members of the group. We need to get her to a safe house so we can have the time to go through our files, have her identify the faces she recognizes. That was rather the whole point of bringing her in.”

John shook his head, his grin turning predatory. “You misunderstand me. I don’t mean I kill The Brotherhood off. I mean the whole ISA or at least all of it that we have identified in our files. I can organize it tonight. By tomorrow morning, any ISA agent still alive will be too busy running to worry about Marlena, regardless of what she knows about the Brotherhood. We have enough agents in place Stefano. I could pull it off. It would be a pleasure.”

Dimera was impressed, he had thought he had corned the market on hubris. Yet John’s ego appeared to know no limits he was willing to go to war with a government agency just to draw attention from Marlena and her family. And a war would ensue, there was no doubt of that. Even if John obtained optimum results, the structure of the agency would remain and new personnel would replace those killed. Given such a vicious attack, other enforcement agencies would be drawn in. Dimera would be lucky to stay alive, much less maintain his empire. Once he went outside of the rules of the game, he knew there would be no holds barred on either side. Though the very audacity of the plan did have a certain appeal, the potential costs were simply too great. Almost regretfully, Stefano shook his head.

“I’m afraid not, John. Though I would dearly love to observe the carnage that would result if I unleashed you on them, the risk to my empire is too great. The best approach is to stay within the confines of the law. Well, the loose confines, anyway. Bring Marlena and the children to the Blue Ridge compound. I’ll meet you there. Once we have the members of The Brotherhood identified, we can turn the information over to someone we can trust. I’m sure Bo Brady would like to know the identities of the men who killed his brother. If you’re very good, I may even let you take them out yourself. Either way, the first point of business is to get Marlena under our protection. Once we know she’s safe, we can take our time. It’s the only way to be sure, John. You know I’m right.”





John reluctantly nodded, admitting to the wisdom of the plan, if not its ethics. “I’ll gather the men and equipment. I should deliver the family to the Virginia compound within 48 hours.”

The smug grin on Stefano’s face irritated him almost as much as it worried him. Stepping forward, John leaned in close, his eyes icy. “Don’t get cocky, old man. You will not so much as touch Marlena or her children. If you lay a hand on her, it won’t be the ISA who will bring your empire down Sir.”

The utility van parked across from the Brady house had been there for hours. Except for an occasional trip into the manhole, little actual work had occurred. In this sedate neighborhood, however, the sewage workers and their equipment drew little attention and even less suspicion.

Within the shrouded confines of the van, there was a flurry of activity. “Mr. Black?” a man in a gray jumpsuit said urgently into a radio. “The car is on the move, sir. They headed west, just as you expected. There’s no sign of a tail car, but Dr. Evans did have a driver. Plain clothes cop if I had to bet. Do you want us to maintain our current position?”

Several blocks away, John sat in the passenger seat of a dark green Jeep. As he had half expected, Marlena was going to drop the kids off at Bible school herself. With only a single officer to watch over them, they would be vulnerable. Clicking the mike he held in his hand, he issued the orders that would put his plan into action.

“Mom, Bible school is stupid. We are way too old for you to be forcing us to go to some youth group. In fact, I don’t see why I should go to church at all,” Eric complained, slamming the car door shut behind him. Sami sat listlessly in the seat next to him, removed from her surroundings as she had been much of the time lately.

As officer Williams pulled the car away from the curb, Marlena turned in her seat. “You know how important church is, Eric. Especially at a time like this. Everybody needs someone to lean on, in the bad times most of all.” She looked worriedly at her only son, but he refused to meet her eyes. When John had left, and Roman tried to take over as head of the family, Eric had bristled. He had seen it as his place to watch over his mother and sisters, not trusting anyone else to do the job. However, with Roman’s death, feelings of responsibility had changed to feelings of rebellion. Right now, Eric was angry angry at everything and everyone around him. Marlena no longer knew how to reach him.





He refused to look at her, staring blankly out the window. Wondering how she was going to hold her family together when it was all she could do to make herself get out of bed in the morning, Marlena was taken by surprise by the sudden squeal of brakes.

Williams yanked hard on the steering wheel, the sedan coming to a sliding stop less than 10 feet from the 18wheeler blocking the roadway. “Everybody okay?” he called, already reaching for the radio.

Marlena managed to catch her breath, her attention on the kids in the backseat.

“That was too close,” Eric gasped, looking young and vulnerable.

“We’re fine,” Marlena stammered, still trying to figure out the cause of their nearaccident. The truck had been hidden by a bend in the road if Williams hadn’t been paying attention....

She heard the officer’s voice, calling for backup, even as she noticed the reason for the tractor trailer’s precarious position. The rear of the rig had fishtailed and a small passenger car was wedged between it and the guardrail. A man in a jeans and a baseball cap could be seen furiously working with a crowbar to get the bashedin door open. Marlena was halfway out the door before a firm hand grabbed her arm, dragging her back into the car.

“Dr. Evans, you and your family need to stay put until I can check this out. Ambulances are already on the way and will be here shortly. All of you need to stay in the car. I’ll be right back.”

Reluctantly, Marlena settled back into the car seat, willing to wait at least until a patient had been freed from the wreckage. Nerves tense, she watched as Williams jogged toward the mangled car, his hand held firmly on his weapon. He slowed as he reached the man working on the door, then staggered back, clasping at his chest. Marlena was shocked, not at the sight of the detective dropping unconscious to the ground but by the figure that stood beside the downed officer. She would recognize that body, that stance, anywhere. Fighting the urge to panic, she scrambled into the driver’s seat and fumbled with the keys as John Black sprinted toward the car.

John hit the hood of the car and rolled across it as the engine roared to life. Right on cue, the black van squealed around the corner, coming to a stop directly behind Marlena’s car. John watched as she shifted into reverse anyway, the car leaping away from him. The sound of grinding metal filled the air as she tried to ram her way free. Crap! One hard swing with the crowbar he still held, and the side window shattered. Marlena ducked away from the glass, giving John the time he needed to reach through and grab the key.





“God, you’re stubborn!” he muttered, popping the lock and dragging her from the car. Once she was secured, the kids would be more willing to listen to reason. She jerked against his hold, not done fighting, and he pulled her close, trying to ignore the heat of her body. Completely preoccupied, John was an easy target for Eric’s swinging fists.

“Get your hands off of her, you bastard. You have no right,” Eric yelled, charging John with utter recklessness. One wild shot took John square on his lip, snapping his head back just as one of the men from the van grabbed Eric and shoved him back against the car.

John pushed Marlena into the waiting arms of one of the troops, turning to help with the still struggling Eric. He was too late to stop the damage, watching helplessly as Eric dropped like a rock.

“No!” John’s vision blurred, the fury blinding him. He lashed out, his fist catching Eric’s assailant in the neck, stunning him. One swift kick and the man’s knee buckled. The unfortunate soldier tried to crawl under the car and John dragged him back by his belt, intent on stomping the life out of the man who had hit his son.

The sound of distant sirens echoed through the air, stirring the milling men to action. “Sir! Mr. Black we have to go!” yelled Simon Bryce, John’s appointed second in command.

The sirens brought him back and John stepped reluctantly away from the body on the ground. “Is the boy okay?”

“He’s fine, sir. Just a punch to the gut. But we gotta go now!”

“Get them in the back of the van and tape them up. And nobody had better a lay a hand on them. Am I understood?” John asked, glaring around at the forces surrounding him. Nodding briefly at the bloodied man at his feet, he ordered “Clean this mess up and let’s get out of here.”

Marlena and the now gasping Eric were quickly carried toward the van as John opened the rear door of the car. Sami sat huddled and unmoving, clutching her knees to her chest. Despite the need for haste, John tried to keep his voice gentle. “Sami? Samantha, come on out. It’s going to be okay.”

She didn’t respond, not even to look up. Unable to waste any more time, he gathered Sami into his arms and carried her to the waiting van.

Sami’s arms wrapped tightly around him, her words muffled by his chest. “Daddy, I missed you so much. Please don’t go away again. Please, don’t go away again...”

Closing his eyes, he rocked slowly from side to side. “Shhh...I’ve got you Sami. You don’t have to be scared. I’ve got you.”

As Sami’s sobbing eased, John opened his eyes, taking stock of the back of the van and its occupants. The only source of light was the dome, burning brightly in the center of the ceiling. There were no windows, the van heavily padded in order to muffle any sound from reluctant passengers. When he ran out of other places to look, he forced himself to meet her angry gaze. As ordered, Marlena was bound hand and foot with duct tape. Lying propped against the opposite wall, her mouth was taped shut, but her eyes were fixed on John and her daughter. If looks could kill, he’d have already been dead.

Gently disentangling himself from Sami, John shuffled across the lurching floor of the vehicle. With one quick jerk, he tore the tape from her mouth, cringing at her muffled cry.

Gingerly, almost fearfully, he laid his hand on her back to steady her. “Take it easy, Marlena. Everything is going to be okey. We’re here to protect you, not harm you.”





“Where are you taking us? John, please don’t do this to me again. Don’t do this to the children!”

Her eyes blazed, the mixture of fear and anger more than he could stand. “Marlena, calm down. This is the only way to keep you safe. The men who are after you are professional assassins. They killed Roman because they knew he would bring them down. They will kill you for what you know. We have resources the cops don’t have. We can help you identify the men in the Brotherhood. We can stop them.”

Marlena shook his hand off of her shoulder. “And who is ‘we’, John? Are you taking me to Stefano? Are you taking me back to your ‘master’?” she hissed, her face twisted in fury. “I would rather die than go back to him, John!”

John’s face hardened and he crawled away from her. “Your death is not an option, Marlena. You, and your children, will stay at one of Dimera’s compounds until this thing is resolved. After that, you will be free to go. You have my word on it.”





“Your word, John? Your word means nothing to me. Now, if you care about us at all, you will let us go. Right now, John. You will let us go.”

“That’s not an option, Marlena,” John said wearily, leaning over to pull the tape from Eric’s mouth. “Now why don’t you both get some rest. We have a long drive ahead of us.”

Settling back against the wall, he stared into the single light and attempted to make his mind go numb. Zoning out, he felt Sami relax against him, fading into sleep.

As the time ticked by, he felt his mind drift into the nothingness, only to be jarred back to the present by Eric’s voice.

“Does it hurt?”

With a start, John looked over at him, the boy’s level stare disconcerting.

“Your lip. Does it hurt?” Eric repeated.

Gingerly, John touched the dried crust where his lip had split and started to swell. “Of course it hurts.”

“Good.”

With an almost sigh, John leaned his head back against the wall and again sought the nothingness.

Dusk was falling as the helicopter landed in the open field. Peering out of a side window, Marlena saw only virgin forests and the lights of one large home flickering in the distance. She wasn’t even certain what state they were in anymore. After hours in the back of the van, they had transferred to the helicopter. They could be a thousand miles from home and the landscape below gave no hints of where they were.

The blades of the chopper began to slow and she was brought back to the reality of her captivity as John reached forward to grasp her hands. Before she had time to be afraid, a sharp knife sliced through the tape that had bound her wrists.

“Sorry about this, but I didn’t want you two thrashing around in the chopper,” he said, as he efficiently freed Eric’s hands in a similar manner.

“And now you don’t have to worry about us trying to escape?” she asked, trying to elicit at least a little information about their current conditions.

“Subtle, Marlena. Very subtle,” John replied, stepping down into the tall grass and helping Sami from the plane.





Brushing past his extended arm, Marlena jumped lightly down, moving away from him and studying the surrounding woods.

He gave a small sigh, the only sign that her anger bothered him. “If it makes you feel better to know, we are in Virginia in the heart of the Blue Ridge mountains. There isn’t any sign of human habitation for at least 20 miles. That’s 20 miles of rugged country, Marlena. You can shout all you want and no one will ever hear. The only realistic way in or out is by helicopter, and last time I checked, you weren’t a pilot. My advice is too simply sit back and enjoy the scenery, because you aren’t going anywhere until this whole mess is resolved.”

“When I want your advice, I’ll be sure and let you know. Now, if you would care to lead us to our cell, the children and I are tired and hungry.”

The look he flashed her suggested he’d much rather be fighting a pack of rabid dogs than dealing with her. The insight made her feel marginally better.

They emerged from a small stand of trees and Marlena momentarily forgot her fear and anger. The lodge stood before them, glowing warmly in the floodlights. It was a massive structure, built entirely from oak heartwood. The giant trunks were notched to fit snugly over each other, the smallest of the logs at least two feet in diameter. It was an environmentalist’s nightmare but one couldn’t help but be impressed.

As John opened the doubledoors of the entry, the true beauty of the place struck her. Standing in the doorway, she looked across to a sunken great room that stretched half the width of the house. Opposite the entry, a wall of glass surrounded a fieldstone fireplace that towered upward, disappearing into the dim recesses of a cathedral ceiling. Rounded beams of wood bisected the roof, the exposed rafters bearing the load of the immense structure. It was like walking into the world’s largest tree house.





Hesitantly, she stepped forward. The slate of the entryway was hard and cold beneath her feet, and she thought to herself that this was definitely a man’s domain. From the heavy leather furniture to the elk head hung above the fireplace, it appeared to her the epitome of a hunting lodge. Massive of scale, designed and decorated with no expense spared, but a hunting lodge nonetheless.

Eric and Sami gathered at her sides, no one willing to break the almost eery quiet. It was only when he stood up from the wingback chair that she noticed him, but once she did, it was as if the very air of the room carried his stench.

Her breath caught in her throat, her hands twisting themselves into knots as Dimera approached. She felt an involuntary surge of relief when John stepped through the open doorway and planted his body in front of her. She could see the corded muscles of his back through his Tshirt, could sense the tension in his pose. There was a threat in his stance, and Marlena knew that Dimera could see it too. She let out a long shuddering breath, wondering what would happen next.

Stefano tore his eyes from Marlena. “Ahh… I see the mission was a success.”

“Of course,” John replied shortly. Maintaining his position between Dimera and the family, he tried to convince himself that this whole thing would be for the best. Fighting back the urge to simply take Marlena and the kids and leave, he instead asked, “What about Carrie. Have the men assigned to her reported in?”

Dimera noted Marlena’s sharp gasp at the mention of her other daughter, but ignored it. “Yes. They are on the way in right now. They picked her up off campus, she’s already on the plane. ETA’s in approximately two hours.”

Her concern for Carrie breaking her from her trance, Marlena stepped forward to stand beside John. Focusing on Dimera, she asked coldly, “What have you done with my daughter?”

“Marlena it is such a pleasure to see you here. I hope you’re feeling better?”

“My daughter, Stefano. Where is she?”

“Carrie is fine. We just thought it best if the entire family were present for this little vacation. Of course, the children being here that was John’s idea.”

Her startled eyes darted toward John’s face, but he ignored her unasked question. With a light touch on her elbow, he shifted her toward a curving stairway set to the right of the doorway.

“I’m going to see Marlena and the children to their suite. We can compare notes when I get back,” John said, walking stiffly away.

“There are three bedrooms and a bath off of the sitting room. I thought Sami and Carrie could bunk together. There are two beds in one of the rooms.”

“The prison is well appointed,” Marlena replied, looking over the large room. A sofa and two overstuffed chairs took up half the room, a card table and small bar occupying the other half.





“I’m glad you like it,” he muttered, irritation creeping into his voice. “I’ll have Jensen bring up some dinner for you. As soon as Carrie arrives, she’ll be brought here. Why don’t you all try and get some rest, we can discuss the situation in the morning.” Backing toward the open door, he sought quick escape from the glare of their accusing eyes.

“John, why are we here? What do you want from me?” Marlena asked, cutting off all hope of a painless retreat.

He repressed a hysterical laugh, buried his urge to admit that he had no idea what he wanted from her anymore that his life was so screwed up at this point, he no longer understand who he was, much less why he did the things he did. He opted for the easy answer. “Marlena, I have already told you this is for your own protection. The children’s protection. And now is not the time or place to get into it,” he said with a nod to where Sami and Eric stood uncertainly behind their mother.





“Why not, John? After all, it’s your fault the children are here. It’s your fault that Roman their father isn’t!” she snapped, wanting him to deny it. Wanting him to make her believe.

“I didn’t kill Roman!” he shot back, taking an involuntary step toward her. He resisted the urge to shake her, shake her until she admitted that everything he did, he did for her. “I have told you already, I would never have endangered you and I did not kill Roman. Are you just going to believe Jameson when he tells you that I did it? That the Brotherhood was not involved! I will not let you endanger yourself or our children with your stupidity!”

She should have been afraid. After everything she had seen, after everything she had learned, she should have been very afraid. Instead, she was mad furious at the thought that he had delivered her, and her children, to Dimera. “You took my daughter, John,” she hissed, slapping him across the face.

The sound of her hand striking him echoed in the small room. It froze them both in place, making clear how very far they had fallen. Their eyes locked and for a moment they shared the agony of everything that they had lost. John broke first, dropping his head, no longer able to face her.

Marlena gathered the shreds of her dignity, wishing that she had never been brought to this, wishing her children had never had to witness it. “I cannot believe you would give me to him. I can’t believe you would do this to me to my children.”

“I know you can’t,” he replied. Walking from the room, he left them to the silence. 

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