Tony and Anna's Penthouse
one hour later
"What I'd like to know is how the hell he found out she was going to be back here in town this morning."
Eugene Bradford waved the telegram at the table where his wife and Tony sat, Calliope drinking juice and Tony on his second cup of coffee. They were out in the small greenhouse off the kitchen, waiting for Anna to reappear so they could go to breakfast.
"I'll bet you this whole thing was set up by Rafe," insisted Calliope for the third or fourth time. "He still has contacts at the bureau."
"I'd imagine the last thing anyone at the bureau wants is more of Hernandez embarrassing them publicly," said Tony and Gene nodded.
"They're now a laughing stock in several South American countries thanks to that clown."
"Okay, but he could have heard it from Roman," said Calliope who felt she was on the right track. "Shane knew, right?"
"About us coming home?" Tony shrugged. "Yes, but I can't see Roman telling Rafe now that he's heard the whole story. "
"He ought to arrest the creep."
Tony smiled to himself and took a swallow of his coffee. Once he set his cup down, he glanced up to see both of his friends staring at him. "What?"
"Well, is he?" asked Gene.
"Arresting him? I hope not," replied Tony with an air of innocence that made his old friend nearly laugh out loud.
"Plans of your own, eh?"
"My only plan at the moment is figuring out who wants me to think my wife is a bigamist."
Gene sighed and looked back at the telegram in his hand. "There is the obvious one."
The lines around Tony's mouth hardened at the suggestion though he knew Gene was right. It was possible. "Stefano."
"Course, that would mean he's been aware your death was a charade all along," piped up Calliope.
"And he still tried to kill Anna?" Even Tony felt horrified at this idea. "I don't want to go there yet and besides, this," he pointed at the paper in Gene's hand, "seems extremely petty for a man who's wrapped up in a new marriage, busy molding his grandchildren, and let's not forget, meddling in golden boy's love life."
"What if he assumed you still have the plans to develop the fuels project?"
The question brought a satisfied grin to Tony's face and he sat back. "I must admit that is an announcement I can hardly wait to spring on the old bastard." He picked up his cup and raised it to both his friends. "Here's to a Bradford-DiMera partnership. I hope he chokes on it."
Gene smiled back and Calliope returned the toast with exuberance.
"Except that's all the more reason he could be the one behind this," said Anna from the door leading into the kitchen. "To distract us, or worse, it could be some sort of public relations maneuver to damage the new firm's credibility."
"It's about time you showed up. I'm starving," said Calliope who was out of her seat in a flash. "Come on, we can discuss this over breakfast."
"International finance and intrigue at the Brady Pub?" Tony couldn't help but snicker.
"Oh, let's go somewhere else," said Anna.
Suddenly the idea of running into her former in-laws or discussing this fiasco with any of them hanging about made it harder to face.
"I know." Gene's face lit up. "After all, this is the first time we're all out together again in Salem so why not breakfast at the Salem Inn?"
"With the ghost of Alex Marshall?"
Perhaps because they were all a little on edge, Calliope's deadpan question had them bursting into laughter as they traipsed through the kitchen and made their way to the elevator.
Salem Inn
"Yes, Alex's ghost is definitely is still running things. This menu hasn't changed since the last time I ate here twenty years ago," she complained, practically the minute they were seated.
"Believe it or not, the food tastes better," Anna assured her.
"You've been eating here?"
Calliope's shock was more than a tad sarcastic and Anna had to control the urge to kick her under the table. "Yes, we were living here before we bought the penthouse."
"Staying here, I understand, but the two you eating here?"
Anna glanced sideways at Tony and found him biting his lip to keep from laughing. "You're as bad as she is," she muttered at him.
"Perhaps you'd rather I ply you with questions about Raoul." When he got the r in the man's name, he rolled it just like his father would have and Anna was not amused.
"No, I'd rather we figure out who the hell is doing this to me."
"Well," said Tony as he perused the menu, "there's always Samantha."
"Give me a break. The girl has got four kids and a DiMera she can't quite decide if she wants on a leash or not…"
"And Rafe so desperate, he's thrown away his career and common sense," put in Calliope which got a chuckle out her husband.
"I doubt Hernandez ever had an abundance of that."
"Rafe again. Lord," sniffed Anna. "Can we change the subject before I lose my appetite?"
"Okay" said Gene, laying his menu aside and picking up the telegram again, "Refresh my memory, Anna. The restaurant where your friend Raoul says he'll meet you. The Penthouse Grill..."
"There is NO Raoul but the restaurant is on the top floor of the Titan Building."
"I thought it might be that one." Gene glanced from her over to Tony. "Titan, as in Victor Kiriakis."
Silence descended at the table and there was a chill to it that raised the hairs on the back of Anna's neck and it didn't go away, even when the waitress arrived to take their order. In fact the more she thought about Philip and Victor, the easier it was to imagine they had their own plans for Tony. Unpleasant ones.
"Neither Victor or his son would be pleased if we develop the fuels project," she said finally.
"I doubt they'll be pleased to see me at all."
Tony wore only a ghost of a smile but the look he exchanged with Gene after he uttered the comment was keen and more telling than Anna was ready for quite yet. She knew she hadn't heard the entire story. In fact part of her suspected the reason Gene and Calliope went to such lengths, nearly going to jail so they could fool Rafe involved a truckload of guilt for keeping her in the dark about Tony; that he was alive and they knew about it. Course, they'd also saved her life. And his. And if she could believe Tony, were about to help them turn the tables on her father-in-law once and for all.
And when it came to Stefano and the rest of Tony's family, Anna was practical. She was willing to overlook a few inconvenient, even potentially hurtful details if in the end she and Tony could be together.
"EJ told me," she explained, "that there's a truce."
"And what are the chances you think that Stefano will go and apologize to Victor for almost murdering his son," Tony asked her. "Or admit he was wrong?"
"To be honest, I see a potential for this situation getting out of hand pretty quickly," said Gene. "Victor will probably accuse Stefano of faking the entire thing all so that he could go after Philip, and Stefano, considering he's been in the dark about…well, your plans shall we say, will immediately turn around and point the finger at Victor and accuse him of helping you, maybe even suggest the two of you engineered the feud. Oh, and then," he added, motioning with the cup of coffee in his hand, "when both of them learn we're going ahead with the fuels project…"
"The effect will be like tossing gasoline on a bonfire," finished Calliope for him.
"Well, that was rather the idea in the beginning," Tony reminded them and in her current mood, that set off Anna's temper.
"What? To start a war?"
"No but we talked about this. Stefano won't sit quietly while we build a legitimate business with such potential. He was threatened by just the possibility."
"And there's Philip who thinks you stole it," Anna shot back. "He might wish to defend his honor, and his wife's."
"Philip got married?"
Anna looked back and forth at her friends. "You didn't tell him?"
But Calliope leaned her elbow on the table, her chin on her hand and smiled sweetly. "Anna, I hadn't seen Tony in over twenty years. You think I'd waste an opportunity like that to discuss the love life of anyone in Salem when I could reminisce with him about happier times?"
"Good point."
"And just who did he marry?" asked Tony, curious now and Anna told him,
"Melanie."
Tony stared at her, shocked. "Layton?"
Anna nodded, letting him digest what that could mean and after a moment, realized he was chuckling although it quickly grew until his laughter attracted the attention of diners at nearby tables and when she glared, he reached for her hand and squeezed it affectionately.
"You must admit, the irony…" another chuckle escaped him, " is sublimely vulgar, even for a Kiriakis. So, was he robbing the cradle to boost his ego or merely spit in Victor's eye?"
Anna choked on the coffee she was drinking. "Tony."
But he was still shaking his head in amazement. "With Katherine for mother I would have thought he'd have a few more expectations, but then…" a sudden wicked gleam lit up his dark eyes and with a smirk, he nodded in Gene's direction, "the poor boy has been seemingly deprived. He never had the opportunity to write in and ask for a bit of advice from the infamous Bettina Lovecraft."
Gene appeared to be amused at Tony's remembrance of his alter ego and his eyes twinkled. "Considering the state of romance in this town lately, perhaps Ms. Lovecraft ought to stage a comeback."
Calliope covered her eyes and groaned dramatically.
"Have you read the lonely heart's section in the Spectator?" he asked, ignoring his wife and Anna tried not to smirk.
"You read the personals?"
"No, Calliope reads them to me…"
"Of course."
"And the creativity in this town has sunk to an all time low."
"Creativity, in the personals?"
Instead of answering her, Gene turned to a table near them and politely asked if he could borrow the classified section of their Spectator and realizing what she'd done, Anna held up her hands in defeat.
"Oh Gene, no…look, I believe you…really…"
"Don't worry, I have no intention of subjecting us to what gets printed for the most part but someone did step up the plate, just to remind me why reading the lonely heart's section used to be so entertaining…let's see, it was...
"The twelfth one down," Calliope told him.
"Ah…here we go." He glanced at Anna momentarily, to make sure she was paying attention before he read, "Lonely squirrel looking for a lady squirrel to tend to his nuts, smokers need not apply. Ph: 555 7895 and ask for Cyril."
Anna didn't react at first, not until Tony and Calliope were both choking on their laughter, partially at the situation but also at the ad. Sitting back with her arms crossed, she eyed the two of them imperiously. "Who wants to bet that Cyril is a codename for Rolf?" which only made Tony laugh harder.
A few minutes later, breakfast arrived and the four of them continued speculating as to the whereabouts of Stefano's mad scientist, and if he wasn't dead, perhaps he'd been spirited away to work on raising other DiMera minions from their graves and then, obviously enjoying himself way too much, Tony suggested the possibility that Melanie Layton was one of Rolf's experiments as she'd be a more practical revenge on Victor than Stefano's other attempts to date.
"Except he has no excuse for revenge now," Calliope pointed out. "You're alive."
Which made Anna stare at her friend. "Like that was the reason in the first place…"
"Alright ladies, let's not argue about Father."
"Why not?"
"Because it's nearly ten o'clock and hubby is scheduled to make his grand entrance in an hour," said Tony with a wink at her. "Some digging seems in order." Unable to resist, Anna licked her lips and let her eyes slide from her husband's deep chocolate eyes to a part of his anatomy she was already missing.
"For nuts?"