CHAPTER 1

Bo looked up from the file he was perusing. 'Yes?'

'Someone here to see you, boss. He said it's very urgent.' the uniformed sergeant said.

'Who is he?' Bo asked, impatiently.

The sergeant handed him a business card which read: Omar Naveen; Attorney At Law.

'Let him in.' Bo put the file down, closing it.

Omar Naveen was a handsome, distinguished looking man, late -sixties thereabouts. He walked in and the sergeant shut the door behind him.

'Commissioner Brady,' Naveen shook hands with him. 'I'm glad you're able to spare the time to see me.'

Bo waved him to a chair opposite him. 'You have me at a disadvantage, Mr Naveen. What's this urgent business?'

'Carly Manning.'

His dead fiancée's name jolted Bo but immediately pulled himself together.

'Carly's been dead for years, what is this all about?' he asked warily.

Omar Naveen's face was serious. 'This will come as a shock to you, Commissioner, but Dr. Manning is very much alive and has been all these years.'

Shocked was an understatement, Bo was stuck speechless at the lawyer's statement.

'What are you saying? I saw Carly's body, I was at her funeral, and I watched her buried!' Bo snapped, half buried bitter memories resurfacing. The waves of grief from their family and friends as the glossy casket was lowered into the grave. He'd cried and cried; letting his pain, grief and anger out- trying to visualize the incredibly lovely face he'll never see again, the soft body he'll never hold in his arms again.

'She's alive, Commissioner. Or barely alive right now.'

'What's happened to her?'

'It's a very long story.' Omar straightened himself in his chair.

'Yes, that fateful day she was in the casket. Except she wasn't dead…'

'Dr. Horton examined her, he couldn't have made a mistake like that!' Bo snapped- as if Naveen was insinuating his old friend had been inept. At the same time, a nagging thought came to mind. Holding her hand at the funeral, he'd noticed it had been unusually warm and she'd been dead for a week. Everyone, including Tom Horton, had thought he was crazy out of grief.

'If you'll let me explain, sir.' Naveen gently but firmly admonished.

'Dr. Manning was assumed dead because she was injected with potent Chinese herbs. She woke up in the casket, long after every one had left the cemetery.'

The idea of his beloved waking up to find herself buried alive and no one around to help her sent a very cold chill through Bo.

'Who did it and why? Who injected her with those herbs?' Bo asked, anger prompting him to break his silence. A thought occurred to him and his anger rose. 'Lawrence Alamain! It was him- wasn't it?!'

'Actually, it was Vivian Alamain. Remember that day, when Dr. Manning was found in Mrs Brady's room, unconscious?'

Bo nodded, his face hard.

'She'd walked in to find Vivian just about to inject Mrs Brady with…'

'Washing detergent,' Bo finished, shocked. 'It was Vivian! She pretended to be paralyzed!'

'She had an herbalist on her payroll, he gave her herbs to heal her injury, secretly. Then she had her henchman…'

'Ivan Marais?'

'Yes, to steal Dr. Manning's diary and went about killing her patients in order to frame her. Her last victim was to be Mrs Brady.'

'But Carly came in… saw her and Vivian attacked her instead?' Bo deduced. He shook his head. He never believed Carly would kill anyone; much less his own mother- now he finally knew what had happened that fateful day.

'Yes, and gave her doses of the herbs until her entire system was shut down temporarily, enough to fool your Dr. Horton. She conveniently volunteered to arrange the funeral, to avoid suspicion, planting an oxygen tank in the casket.'

'Why the hell did she carry things to that extent?' Bo snarled. 'I wasn't the only one who was devastated; our family, our friends! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to drive over and tell my son he'd lost another mother? Why did she do it, to keep Carly from talking and sending her to jail?'

'More than that, to punish her for taking Nicky from her. Vivian kept tormenting her while she was in the casket, via a walkie-talkie- asking her to sign parental rights over to her or she'll leave her there. The whole plan was because of Nicholas.'

'How come Larry allowed this to happen?' shouted Bo, his rage rising per second. 'He didn't even send Vivian to jail for stealing his son in the first place!'

'He didn't know, at first. It was Ivan who told him, an hour after Carly ran out of oxygen; I suppose he had some shreds of conscience. He and Lawrence dug her out. She was very ill from the herbs and lack of oxygen. Under oath in a signed affidavit, Ivan said she was unconscious for two weeks and delirious- she kept screaming your name.' Bo was even more shocked.

'Why didn't they take her to the hospital?' Bo managed to ask, visualizing Carly's agony.

'Orthodox medicine would have killed her, according to the herbalist. He gave her antidotes and she woke up, with long-term memory loss. Lawrence took advantage of it, he convinced she was Katrina Von Leuschner, they had a son and they were engaged to be married- brainwashed her to fall for him. He and Vivian made sure to burn all the photos she had of you.'

Bo gritted his teeth, hatred for Lawrence and Vivian Alamain at boiling point.

'He smuggled her out of Salem, collecting Nicky from boarding school and they got married in Paris. But then things came to a head.'

'She suddenly remembered me?' Bo jumped in.

Naveen shook his head. 'Carly found out she was two months pregnant.'

'What?' Bo gasped.

'Yes. Lawrence was shocked too but convinced her it was why she'd been ill. However, he fell very sick himself and the disease made him sterile. From then on, he mistreated her and the child, made them prisoners in their own house.'

'Carly and I … have a child?' Bo said faintly. When they'd been together, Carly longed so much to have a baby with him but had been told the chances were very slim. He'd consoled her, assuring her truthfully his love for her would never waver. Vivian and Larry had not only taken Carly away from him, they'd stolen their child, his child.

Naveen nodded. 'A girl. Her name is Olivia Gwyneth, she's fifteen now; tough, mature and very devoted to her mother- considering what they went through all these years- beatings, verbal abuse, Carly receiving more of it; Olivia was home schooled by private tutors. Like I said, Lawrence kept them incarcerated, watching their mail, monitoring calls via recordings…'

Bo felt he was about to burst. For sixteen years Carly and their daughter were at the mercy of that monster...

'Two years ago,' Naveen continued, 'Carly was sorting out a few things in the attic and found this in the pocket of an old sheepskin jacket.' From his briefcase, he handed Bo a crumbled photograph. It was of him, Carly and Shawn-Douglas, taken by Alice Horton on the Christmas of 1991. Bo's heart tightened as he gazed upon the lovely, serene face for the first time in years, her Nile-green eyes looking at the camera. With an effort, he looked at the older man. 'Please, go on.'

'It began in bits and pieces at first, but she finally remembered who she was, what had happened that night and she remembered you. Naturally, she confronted him and demanded for a divorce. Lawrence refused and tightened security around her and Olivia, cut access to her personal fortune in case she tried to run away. He even threatened to kill Olivia in her presence if she dared try it.'

Naveen sighed then continued. 'However, a scullery maid who had a cousin who dealt in second hand electronics smuggled her a Blackberry. She used it to contact me, via text messages. I advised her to contact you but, Lawrence being a powerful man; she was terrified for you and your family's safety- besides Olivia's. She wanted to find a way to them both out of the country but also wanted to arrange something for Olivia in case anything happened to her. At her instructions, I managed to track down Ivan and then the herbalist, who both signed affidavits. The maid, Sarah, smuggled out Carly's own written testimony.'

'Does… does my daughter know about this?' Bo asked, trying to imagine how she would look like. A child born from their love.

'Yes, Carly told her but warned her not to let Lawrence know. Meanwhile, Carly had Sarah smuggle out some jewellery to me to sell, to obtain cash for passports and their upkeep once they escaped. It took a long time for Carly to find a way to escape but found it. Lawrence found out somehow and flew into a rage when he discovered what she was planning to do. He beat her into a pulp…'

'And?' Bo asked coldly, vowing to kill Larry Alamain first chance he got.

'According to Sarah and Olivia, he was ranting and raving about how he'd kill her before he allowed her humiliate him; he dragged her by the hair to the balcony and threw her…'

'SON OF A BITCH!' Bo snarled, rage and fear finally erupting. 'Is she dead?'

'No. she's alive, but barely.' From his brief case, he handed Bo a folded newspaper. 'If you plan on killing Alamain, I'm afraid you're too late.'

The headlines announced, STATESMAN LAWRENCE ALAMAIN DEAD. It was a month old.

Bo looked at Naveen. 'What happened?'

'While the servants ran down to see to Carly, Olivia flew at him, screaming at him and he hit her. Sarah ran in to rescue her and got hit too. Then Olivia noticed a dagger on his desk, picked it up and stabbed him in the heart.'

Bo buried his face in his hands. All these years he'd blocked Carly from his mind, she'd been the prisoner of a deranged man and their daughter driven to murder. Vivian Alamain had a lot to answer to!

'Olivia called me and I arrived there, with two of my associates. Carly's currently in a private nursing home in Paris. I showed the affidavits to a judge who is an old friend of mine and he placed Olivia under my care. At Olivia's instructions, my associates and I fired Lawrence's men, filed a restraining order against Vivian. According to Lawrence's will, Nicholas is heir to the estate, with the proviso it goes to his sibling or siblings, if he died unmarried. Nicholas was killed in action in Iraq three years ago- so Olivia is the principle heir. Carly's access to the Von Leuschner fortune has been unblocked now that Larry can no longer control it.'

'Is Carly going to be okay?' Bo asked anxiously. 'How badly hurt was she?'

'The doctors had to operate on her, but they're certain she'll regain full use of her legs. But she's in a coma for now. She instructed I contact you should anything happen to her so Olivia won't be alone.'

'Where's my daughter now?' Bo demanded.

'In Paris, with her mother. I told her I was coming here; she asked if you would accompany me back. She's anxious to meet her father; she said Carly told her a lot about you.'

Bo couldn't believe it. Three weeks ago, he was licking his wounds over the end of his marriage and Ciara taken from him. Now he's just discovered Carly whom he'd long thought dead was alive and a long lost daughter.

Olivia Gwyneth Alamain. What was she like, him or Carly? He couldn't wait to find out.

Bo accompanied Carly's lawyer to Paris two days later, via the Alamain Private Jet. In a few minutes, he is going to meet his daughter, Olivia.

(I am not a fan of 'Guiding Light', the soap Crystal Chappell starred in so picking the name 'Olivia' was pure coincidence!)