"Samantha!" Marlena screeched out, not sure what to say next. "What are you doing here?" Sami twisted her face as she walked into Marlenas apartment and looked at Will with a disappointed look.
"Well, I was meant to see these two and little Ari late this morning but when I showed up no one was home. What gives guys? Why weren't you home to meet me? What's all this cloak and dagger that I'm sensing?!" Sami replied as she slung her handbag over her shoulder and stood to face Will and Sonny with one hand on her hip. The boys both looked to one another for help and then to Roman.
"Uhhh. Sami. Oh god, OK look". Roman interjected as he turned on his heel and walked across to the fireplace resting his hand on the mantel. He knew if there was a time when Sami would have to find out about all this it looked like it was going to be now. Sami looked at her father, then her mother and then back to the boys. Clearly starting to worry and now feeling just a little ticked off that she's been kept in the dark about something she took a seat and stared vacantly at everybody in the room.
"OK. I'm waiting…." She said, her tone now clearly frustrated. Will stood up and walked over to the window leaning against the window ledge and started to sweat a little. The skies outside were starting to darken with a deep blue haze. Of course Will wanted his mom to know what was happening. He didn't want to keep her in the dark on purpose. It was her possible – no – her guaranteed reaction that he was worried about.
"Mr Bra .. Roman, are you sure now is the time?" Sonny managed to get out as he stood up and walked across to Roman.
"Sonny!? What? OK, one of you better tell me what's going on or I swear to god I …" Sami was cut short by Will who had spun around with his hands on his hips and his head cocked down toward the floor.
"Ari's gone mom! Gabi and Nick have taken her. They've run away with her. We didn't tell you coz'…. Well they disappeared sometime yesterday. Grandpa … can you ….I can't ….?" Will was shaking his head and couldn't piece together his thoughts enough to explain everything that had taken place up until this point. True to form Sami was up and out of her chair and manically making a beeline to Will but changed course to her father when Will asked Roman to help him tell her.
"Dad? What's he talking about? Where is the baby?!" Roman grabbed Sami by her upper arms gently but firmly in an effort to calm her down. Marlena decided to take a back seat and made her way over to where Will and Sonny were standing.
Roman spent the next several minutes explaining exactly what had happened – at least what they thought had happened, so far. Will and Sonny stood next to Marlena nervously. Will was still sweating and his Grandma was trying to calm him by whispering to him quietly and rubbing his back. Sonny was too nervous to look in Samis direction as he knew last thing that this situation needed was Samantha Brady going off her head.
Roman summed up his outline of events with the link between Sonnys club being robbed and Nick being positively identified as the intruder. Sami spun around toward Marlena and the boys. She was about to shoot her mouth off at them for not telling her and give Marlena a good piece of her mind too but when she made contact with Wills eyes and was about to open her mouth she stopped herself. All she could see was her heartbroken and frightened Son. His blue eyes floating on a small pool of lingering tears. She ran to him and wrapped her arms around him so tight he couldn't breathe. This was not what Will was expecting and he found himself confused. Confused and struggling for air. Sonny smiled slightly at this gesture as he was relieved she had decided to take this approach. Sami was managing to keep her tears at bay purely by the anger that was boiling up inside. At the moment Romans phone started to ring and he answered it.
"We're gonna fix this Will, I promise! We're gonna get your little girl back! Right, Dad? Dad?" Sami released Will who now started to take air back into his lungs. Roman was clearly in a very intense and important call. He looked at the others and held his hand over the mouth piece of his phone.
"I've got to take this … I'll be right back" His voice determined and stern.
Roman exited the apartment quickly and Marlena, signaling Sami and the boys to take a seat on the couch left for the kitchen to make some tea.
"Mom I'm sorry we didn't tell you right away. This all happened so quickly and Sonny called Grandpa Roman immediately. He uhh … he kinda advised us not to tell you straight away." Will raised one eyebrow and looked apologetic. Sami smirked and rolled her eyes.
"Hey it's OK, Will! That little bitch! That bastard! How could they do this….She just …" Sami was again cut off, by Sonny this time.
"Sami .. we know, we know OK! That kind of talk is not going to help anything right now" His expression was almost teacher to student like. Sami closed her mouth immediately like a threatened clam on the seabed, nodded in agreement and looked at the coffee table where Marlena had reentered with a tray of cups full of tea. 'Wow, that worked!' Thought Sonny to himself. Marlena raised her eyes in astonishment and a sense of pride in Sonny, thinking the exact same thing. Will looked over to Sonny with a look of 'Oh my god did you basically just tell my mother to zip it?'. There was silence in the room for about ten seconds and then Sami continued on.
"You're right, Sonny. Sorry, Will. So they can't exactly leave the country .. or Canada or wherever they are now because Ari no longer has a passport right? That's good. It's a start. Let me call EJ right away!" Will eyes widened like dinner plates and began shaking his head. "What, Will!? It's EJ! He can help!" Roman, hearing this barged quickly back into the apartment.
"NO! NO EJ! Sami, do not call him! Do you hear me?! No god damn Di Mera interventions here" Roman focused his attention to Sonny and Will. "You two … we have something! Oh boy do we have something. Roman made his way over to where everyone was sitting and took a seat next to Will.
"The Canadian Border Control have been working around the clock analyzing check point CCTV footage to identify all vehicles that have passed through within the last 48 hours. They have positively identified Nick in a vehicle with untraceable plates with what seems to be a young woman matching Gabis description and what looks like a car seat with an infant in the back seat passing through late yesterday afternoon. So that means they must have left at approximately midday if my calculations are correct. Does that sound right? Timing I mean?" Roman asked. He was now smiling a little.
"Uh, yeah I guess. Yesterday morning I had class and Sonny was at the club all morning from about 8am. I Went straight there after my lectures and met Sonny for lunch and and that's when Justin called us after midday to tell us Mom had been released and we went straight to the Di Mera mansion from there. I sent a text to Gabi and she replied saying that Ari was asleep so we decided to leave her there sleeping. She hasn't been sleeping well lately so we thought that would be for the best". Will said to Roman a little confused about this large smile Roman had planted on his face and wishing they hadn't left Ari sleeping at home. "What's with the smile … is there more?" Roman went on.
"Oh yes, there's more!" Roman clasped his hands tightly. "My 2IC received an anonymous and untraceable call from a young man about thirty minutes ago. Now, this man told my 2IC that he was the accomplice in the burglary of the club. He said that Nick had promised him a large chunk of the proceeds made from the robbery and also made a promise of more financial rewards in the coming weeks. Foolishly it seems that Nick, who clearly isn't as smart as he thinks he is made the mistake of telling his anonymous caller about his plans to take his wife and 'his' daughter out of the country via Canada and then fly overseas. The caller went on to say that Nick had planned to take Gabi and Arianna next week, not yesterday. The young man told my 2IC that he was to meet Nick at his apartment yesterday afternoon to debrief about the robbery as they had had no face to face contact since that night and get further details on his cut of the money from the club and details about the other financial arrangement Nick had promised. When he turned up at Nicks apartment he saw through the windows it as pretty much empty. He put two and two together and realized that he had been double crossed by Nick and was clearly not getting anything for his efforts. Now, this is the best part. Nick, the not so smart idiot made one BIG mistake" Everyone was looking at Roman in shock and desperate for more information. "At the beginning of all of this Nick told the man where they would be laying low for a day in Canada before they were going to try make a run for it through the airport. Later in the week the man asked Nick again where he would be lying low in Canada should he need to contact him and Nick responded that he didn't need to know that and would have already been compensated by the time that would eventuate. Nick clearly, in his haste of planning forgot that he had already told the accomplice where he was going to be earlier on. This put the accomplice on edge and he started to not trust him. The man said that he would not let Nick get away with trying to rip him off so decided to turn the tables and turn him in. Then he hung up". Everyone was speechless. Except for Sami.
"So where are they! And where ever that is are they there now?!" Sami began to move in her seat awkwardly. Will and Sonny had still yet to pick their jaws up off the floor and Marlena had just managed to pick hers up.
"Yes, Roman! Where!?" She asked.
"OK. The man said that they would be staying at the Benson Motor Inn in Sault Ste. Marie which is just off the I75 across the border. We have our team heading there now via helicopter and the Canadian Police are closing in on the motel. They've been advised to keep their presence unseen until we get there." Roman looked happily at Will and Sonny who were both still struggling to take this information in. Will finally picked his mouth up off the floor.
"WE?" He asked, loudly.
"Yes, we! You, Sonny, myself and my team. There is a car waiting. We've been cleared to fly across the border by the authorities on both sides of the line. Let's go!" Roman stood up and attempted to motion the boys towards the door.
"Just you? What about us? We're coming too!" Sami yelled as she grabbed Marlena by her coat arm and tried to yank her across the living room. Marlena jolted and looked at Roman.
"No, Sami! Just us. Stay here with your mother! I will call you as soon as I can! NO BUTS!" Roman made for the door. Will and Sonny stood looking at each other and after a brief and rushed hug of hope they joined Roman and made there way out of the apartment.
"Marlena! Do not let Sami call EJ! I mean it!" Roman barked from the hallway.
"Got it!" Marlena yelled back grabbing onto and pulling at Samis handbag strap as Sami tried to follow the three of them out of the apartment. "SIT … DOWN … NOW, Sami!" She ordered. Sami looked frustrated but complied.
"I love you Will!" She yelled toward the hallway. But Will Sonny and Roman were already half way out of the apartment complex and couldn't hear her.
Half an hour later Roman, a team of tall, built looking policemen and Roman were inside a helicopter waiting to take off. Neither Will nor Sonny had really had time to take all of this in. They had been swept up by a tornado of information in such a small amount of time. Now Will was about to be swept up off the ground in a helicopter but yet, his fear of flying hadn't even come to the forefront of his mind. They were all wearing head sets so they could all communicate with each other over the roar of the chopper engine. Sonnys logic started to catch up on him
"Roman .. Roman!?" He yelled into the microphone on his head set.
"Yes, Sonny?"
"What if they're not there? What if they've already left?" Will didn't even think about that and now started to feel false hope creep up on him.
"Sonny, this is all we have to go on. It's going to be OK. I've just got a feeling OK?" Roman smiled back at the boys. The helicopter engine started to spool up and they all found themselves having to yell louder to one another to be heard. Will now chimed in.
"But you said that they guy said that Nick and Gabi were planning to leave next week? Why did they move their plans forward?" No one had asked that when Roman had told them about the anonymous phone caller.
"I don't know Will. Something must have spooked him? Sonny, you said you saw him in the square that day and it appears you were the last one to see him. Was there anything else about that conversation that makes you think twice now?" Sonny looked to Will and tried to remember what happened. He started to recall how he had outright blown up at Nick and told him he 'knew what he and Gabi had done in their home' and how he advised them to 'stay the hell away from us'. He started to deflate and a pained expression covered his face. Will, looking at Sonny saw his expression change.
"What Sonny? What is it?" Will rested his hand on Sonnys knee. Sonny put his hand to his face.
"Oh My God! This is all my fault! Will, I'm so sorry! I told Nick to stay away from us. That I knew what he and Gabi did. I got really savage with him. In fact I was pointing him in the face". Sonny felt terrible. Could it be him that had spooked Nick and encouraged him to bring forward his plans? A voice came through the headphones.
"Sonny, No! It's not your fault. This was going to happen no matter what. Look at it this way. If it was what you said to Nick that spooked him this might not have happened as early as it did – the anonymous caller wouldn't have realized that he was being ripped off when he did and he might not of made that call! If anything, you've done us all a favor. OK? Sonny?" Roman turned back to look at Will hugging Sonny.
"Babe! Look at me!" Will grabbed Sonnys face and gripped it firmly. "This is NOT your fault! None of it!" It was getting hard to hear Will through the microphone as the chopper was now fully fledged in flight and heading north. Sonny smiled and closed his eyes, signaling to Will he heard him and understood. He still felt like he might be a little bit to blame but he knew Will needed him to be strong right now. Strong for Will. Sonny leaned into Will and suddenly realized something.
"Will? WILL! WILL!" Will looked over to Sonny, only just being able to hear Sonny calling his name over the racket of noise that was surrounding them.
"What is it Sonny?" He yelled into the microphone.
'You're flying! My boy is flying! High!" Sonny managed a little smile and shifted his eyes from Will to the window. Will looked in the opposite direction and out the window. It was getting dark and he couldn't make out much from outside the window. He was grateful about that.
"No I'm not. Not flying. Not me. Nope. Uh uh." He affirmed defiantly as he looked back to Sonny. "Lets go and get our little girl, Sonny! That's all I'm thinking about right now!" He kissed Sonny on the cheek somewhat awkwardly as the microphones and headsets got in the way a little. Sonny beamed a warm smile back in his direction and nodded.
Will with one hand clasping onto his seat for dear life, with his other hand clasped onto Sonnys, his dear love. Roman continued to make hand gestures to the pilot pointing here, there and everywhere and carrying on a conversation that they couldn't really hear. Occasionally he looked backward to the delicate freight in the back that was Will and Sonny.
The helicopter flight was a little longer than they had expected. Thankfully that awful storm that had fallen upon Salem the night before wasn't chasing them making it turbulent. All the while thought they were both wondering. Were they about to get their Ari back? Was this nightmare about to be over? They both felt surges of hope running through their veins albeit tainted with doubt and uncertainty.
At the same time the helicopter switched from US to Canadian airspace, on the ground a series of quiet, unmarked Police vehicles closed in on and around the Benson Motor Inn in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario - like stealthy sharks circling their prey…