Chapter 9
"Don't you think Hope is acting strangely?" Bo asks Roman across the desk at the precinct. Roman looks up, and puts down his pen.
"Strange how? She has been under a tremendous amount of pressure..."
Bo frowns, rubbing his face.
"Yee-ah.... I know, but..." he sits forward prompting Roman to do the same, "...she came home this morning around three, and she smelled like she had been drinking, and... and... I smelled mens cologne on her clothing."
Roman frowns, then shakes his head.
"This is Hope we're talking about, she's not gonna sneak of with some man, I'm sure it's work related. Undercover work, or perhaps trying to just hold her own with the big boys. I wouldn't worry about it."
The both sit back, Bo still frowning.
"Yeah, your probably right."
Gina stifles another yawn, writing her final report on the drug bust the previous week. She should've came in a bit later, sleep in a bit, but then again, the quicker this report is handed in, she can start looking for a more interesting case. She smiles to herself, then stifles another yawn, being on this side of the law can be fun when you know every trick there is.
Then the phone rings.
"Commissioner Brady."she sings into the receiver.
"Gina, I need you over here. Now!"
"Steffi? Is something wrong."
"No matter. Just be here." Click.
Gina stares at the receiver then replaces it, rolling her eyes.
"What ever can be wrong now?" She grabs her jacket and sends the report through to filing. Then she heads out, not even looking in Bo and Roman's direction, looking very annoyed.
"See what I mean.. Pressure, that's all it is." Roman states.
Gina rings the doorbell at the Dimera household, and almost immediately the door opens. Nicole and EJ looks startled to see her.
"Hope? Is there any problems."
She shakes her head.
"No, well, not yet, we'll still see.."
"Well, see you." Nicole hastily pulls EJ after her. "We're late for a doctor's appointment..."she calls over her shoulder.
Gina rolls her eyes, then enters and closes the door behind her, as she walks into the living room she takes off her jacket, to find John and Stefano glowering at one another.
"There is nothing you can do John. Half of Dimera shipping is now yours. Legally, the only way you can get rid of it is to sell, and I doubt you'll be able to find a seller." Then Stefano looks up, looking pleased.
"Ah, our new Commissioner, you are just in time to know that your investigation will now include our dear old John here. So if I go down, you..." and he turns to John, "go down right along with me."
Gina lifts an eyebrow and decide to do a Hope Brady impression of note. Steffi mustn't know that John is aware of her...situation.
"Of course John has to be included in the investigation, after all the drugs were on his ship at the time..."
"Who do you think your fooling Gina?" Stefano walks forward, looking menacing.
Gina takes a step back, he knows? No, he is trying to get her to betray herself. He couldn't know.
She does her best shocked impression.
"Really, Stefano, I think you are suffering from delusions. Gina is dead."
"Nonsense." Stefano raises his voice. One way or another Gina will get closer to John and play into his hands, and if she decided to be a good girl and stay away from John, he will just have to enlighten John to the situation, and have them work closely together, making it impossible for Gina not to have an affect on him.
"You tipped him off, didn't you? That is why John so conveniently signed his part of the company over to me."
"You have no idea what you're talking about Stefano... I had no idea John wasn't part of the company anymore."
John walks over until he is about midway from both of them. The one good thing about not having any facial expressions, is you don't need to know how to act.
"What the hell is going on here."
"Please, John... You can drop the act."
"What act. And why are you calling Hope Gina?"
Stefano raises an eyebrow. "You truly have no idea?"
John swings to him – "How am I supposed to? You made sure that I have to learn everything from hearsay and other people's memories." The accusation hangs thickly in the air between them.
Stefano shrugs, then offers John a cigar. Then to Gina.
"No thanks, I'll stick to my own. You've really done it now. You might as well tell him." Gina frowns as she lights up a cigarette. Things aren't going her way at all. Now things will just go back to how it was all those years ago, back under Stefano's control for both of them... Then again, they never really escape it, did they?
"Here is the deal – the short version, I'll let Gina fill you in on the details, Hope is gone, the woman standing in front of you is Princess Gina von Amberg, and she is the only person who can save us now, so I suggest you help her with anything she needs to get this operation looking as legit as is possible."
John takes a pull from his cigar.
"Another brainwashed victim of yours? Figures. What do you need?" he directs the question to Gina.
"Accounting books stretching the last ten years." Gina answers, a little unwillingly, then follows John who motions to her to follow him. She shoots a deadly look over her shoulder at Stefano.
In the study John switches on the computer, takes the chair behind it and pulls an ashtray closer. Gina goes to sit in the end of the desk next to him, able to see the screen clearly.
She stubs out a cigarette, frowning.
"Do you also get the sense that Steffi planned this?"
John looks up, waiting for the software to load.
"Off course he did..." then he sits back, deciding to let her in on what he has been over hearing, "he promised Blondie that she'll never have me, and decided that you are just the person to make that happen."
Things are starting to become clear. Stefano has been sending her over here at all hours, hoping for her to run into him.
"Well, we won't give him the satisfaction." she frowns crossly, her lips set in an angry line.
"Right, it'll be that easy." John's sarcasm brings a warm glow inside her. "You know what makes me feel like I can bash in his head, is that he knows exactly how to play with our minds. I know what his plan is, and the only way to defeat him is to get back the life he took from me, or at least to make it seem that way, and still I go... rendezvousing with you."
Gina leans over, a teasing look on her face.
"Oh, but your the king of self control, remember?"
"Well, that was the plan, but you just have a way of interfering with my plans." John accuses.
Gina sits back, an excitement bubbling inside her. He has had the guts to admit it to her face, but it cannot be. He is not her John. Her John is gone – and also he never was her John, he was the real Princess' lover, and she'll do good to remember that. Perhaps if she keeps reminding herself, they can still win Stefano at his own game...
"Yes, well, I promise to be a good girl from now on."
"You know how to do that?" Then John turns his attention back to the screen.
"We're using Accpac. Rolf has been doing the accounts all these years. I don't know how good his skills are at covering up things."
"Not very good, trust me on that. I know him well enough to know his little secrets..." Gina says it matter-of-factly as if it is nothing out of the ordinary.
The she pushes at his shoulder.
"C'mon, let me take over here, then you go out and go make like you are getting old life back on track. Oh, and John..." he turns back to her, his shoulders erect, his face unreadable, and she feels a stab of pain, it may only be the real princess' feelings lingering, but when he looks at her like that, she wants to just pull him closer, pull his face down to hers.... She dismisses the thought.
"You'll have to come for classes later to act more like the old John, that'll throw Steffi right over the edge.
"Sure thing."
Gina stares at the screen for another couple of minutes not seeing anything. Steffi will probably turn her back into Hope once he is done with her, unless he has another problem to solve. Perhaps pushing John into Marlena's arms, as painful as it may be, will keep her around longer, until Steffi gets fed-up and gives her orders to go after him point-blank... And if she succeeds, will he keep her around to ensure John stays away from Marlena? The whole concept is too painful to contemplate. She still wants him, for herself.... She still thinks back to the time when she tried so desperately to get him to remember her, or at least, the real Gina. She feels sympathy towards Marlena, she had been there before, she knows the desperation, the pain, the feeling of helplessness, thinking that the next thing may be the key, then trying something new. She shakes her head to get rid of the memories and emotions. She lost her head then, her perspective. She isn't the real Gina, and she will not turn out like her. Not because of a man. Even if it is John Black, now with an added Dimera edge....
Gina returned to the precinct at three in the afternoon, and by five when it was time for Bo to knock off she stopped him.
"Fancy face? Is everything okay?" he looks at her, and sees her tired eyes looking back at him.
"Perfectly fine, I just think all the late nights are taking there toll. I was thinking... what if we rather left my car at the precinct and I drive home with you tonight. If I need my car, it'll be here tomorrow." Gina's voice is tired, all she can think of is a hot bath and a good sleep. The late night with John left her slightly hung-over, her day with Steffi and John left her emotionally drained, and the fact that she had finally admitted to herself that no matter what she thinks or feels or remembers, biologically she is not, and will never be, Gina, also took it's toll. That, and she has to admit that she's not exactly getting younger...
"Of course, Fancyface."
Bo puts his arm around her, and together they leave the precinct.
A few minutes later Bo peers over at the passenger seat as he is not getting a response from her. Then he smiles. She's asleep. A little snore escapes as she breaths. Parking the car, he shakes his head, as he touches her hair ever so slightly. Then he gets out, climbs out and rounds the car.
John Black watches from the shadows as Bo carries his sleeping wife into the house.