Chapter 21

Meanwhile outside The Wings, Melanie was introducing her brother to Brady; explaining Brady's relationship with Bo and their mother.

'Black... are you by any chance related to John Black?' asked Nicholas.

Brady raised his eyebrows in surprise. 'He's my Dad. You know him?'

'I met him a few times here as a boy. My... Lawrence told me he was his brother.'

'What?' Melanie exclaimed in the greatest amazement. 'Mum never told me that!'

'Not blood brothers.' Nicholas corrected. 'John was given up for adoption to my grandparents, Leopold and Philomena Alamain; he went by the name Forrest Alamain before losing his memory and once he found out, the court ordered Lawrence to hand over his share of the estate Leopold left to him in his will.'

Melanie gaped at Nicholas, speechless.

'Wow. Yeah... Dad told me ages ago his birth mum gave him up to some rich family but never told me their name.' Brady was as stunned Melanie. 'Then I guess we're sort of connected.' He held out his hand, which Nicholas grasped firmly. 'Pleased to meet you, man.'

'Likewise. Now if only Shawn Douglas was here, it would make this whole reunion complete. Shall I can call him over to join us?'

'He moved to Chicago ages ago with his family so sorry man, you're stuck with us.' Brady replied, pleased to see that Nicholas Alamain wasn't what he'd pictured him and best of all, he and Melanie seemed to be getting along very well, considering the years not knowing about each other.

'Well, let's go in and wait for Mum; I don't think she'll mind you having lunch with us.' Melanie, glancing at Nicholas for approval.

'Yes; join us.' Nicholas put a comradely arm round Brady's shoulders. ' Maybe you'll be able to fill me in more about Shawn D while we wait.'

Flashing a grin at Melanie, Brady allowed himself to be led into the restaurant.

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Carly felt like she'd been driving for hours; acutely aware of the gun levelled at the back of her head. Whatever terror Ciara was feeling she was doing a good job of hiding it; not a tear or a whimper, just occasional glances at her along the drive. As for the kidnapper, Carly had a feeling he was uneasy about something; he kept fidgeting in his seat, despite holding the gun steady.

'Pull over.' He said suddenly. 'Get out of the car but leave the keys in the ignition. And no tricks; move around the front and stop where I can see you both.' Carly obeyed his instructions silently, wondering if he was going to kill them now; she was more than prepared to plead for Ciara's life. Who was this man and why was he doing this?

Ciara clung to Carly as they stood in front of the car. 'What is he going to do to us?' she whispered.

'I don't know, but no matter what I'm going to protect you, okay?' Carly whispered back, watching the man as he pulled out her cell from his pocket and dialled, the gun in his other hand still aimed at them.

'It's me.' She heard him say. 'Yes, there's a fucking problem; she's got a kid with her. I don't bump off kids; that's not my policy.' A pause as he listened to whoever was speaking to him.

Carly held Ciara tighter in her arms as the man suddenly fixed his eyes on the little girl. 'What's your name, brat?'

'Ci... Ciara.' She stammered.

'She says Ciara.' He snapped into the phone. Another pause, longer this time. Carly's eyes narrowed in suspicion then berated herself for being so stupid; who else except Vivian would pay some goon to kill her? It was just terrible bad luck that Ciara happened to be with her right now, what were Bo and Hope going to say if anything happened to their daughter?

'No, man; tell your boss I ain't going to do it, not kids!' he barked. Then listened again in angry silence. 'Make it ten. Ten or they go free.' Carly held her breath, hoping against hope Vivian will say no but her heart sank in despair as he grunted with satisfaction.

'She's got to write that first? Yeah, whatever. Deal.' He hung up.

'Listen to me.' Carly said steadily as the assassin walked up her, the gun still aimed at her. 'I'm a very rich woman; whatever Vivian Alamain's paying you I'll double it, treble it if you want; if you'll just let us go.'

'Will you go snitch to the commissioner before or after you sign the cheque?' he asked mockingly. 'You're Bo Brady's bitch,aren't you?'

Ciara winced while Carly longed to punch him out for using that kind of language in front of a child. Gritting her teeth she replied calmly, 'We're not together anymore, not that it's any of your business.'

'Then why's his kid with you then?' he looked down at Ciara. 'Babysitting for your ex, or what?'

'Twenty million dollars.' Carly said coldly, hating him and Vivian with all her heart. 'If you just give me my cell I'll have it wired to your account if you have one.'

The goon hesitated as though thinking deeply but he shook his head. 'Sorry. You think your boyfriend's just going to go out like that... hell no, he won't stop hunting me down and what's the use of all that money when I land in jail?'

'I guarantee you'll end up in a place far worse than jail if you harm us!' Carly snapped. 'Twenty five; take it or leave it!'

He smirked. 'I choose to leave it, doc. No hard feelings. But first...' he threw the cell phone at her and she caught it. 'Ms. Alamain wants you to send a farewell text to Brady. And this is what you're going to write.'

Carly's eyes widened and Ciara gasped as he told her what she was to write. 'No!'

'You ain't got much of a choice. Write it.'

'You can tell Vivian to kiss my ass.' She threw the phone on the ground. 'I won't do it!'

His face contorted with rage, he stepped up to her, wrenching Ciara away before viciously backhanding Carly across the face. Ciara screamed as Carly fell on the dusty ground. 'Carly!'

'Shut up!' he snarled, holding Ciara by the hair and kicking the cell at Carly. 'Write it unless you want to watch her die!'

Dazed, Carly rose to her knees, the corner of her mouth bleeding.

'Write it!' He aimed the gun at Ciara's neck. 'I'm not playing!'

Trembling, Carly reached for the phone, using her thumb to wipe the screen. He stood behind her, still holding a terrified Ciara. 'Get to it!'

With shaking fingers, Carly wrote the text; silently cursing Vivian.

'Good girl. Now send it.'

Carly suddenly had an idea. 'I changed my number after we broke up, Bo's not going to know this is from me.'

'Put your name and be quick about it!' he snapped. Carly typed it quickly, praying with all her heart that Bo's quick mind would immediately analyse the situation. She sent the message.

Please Bo, figure this out.

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Vivian was trembling, with manic excitement. It was far better than she ever planned; Carly dying along with Ciara Brady. With their mutual disappearance and the text message Carly would send to Bo, no one in Salem would doubt for a minute that Carly had kidnapped Ciara; an action born from a grieving, twisted mind. Then afterwards... her body would be discovered along with Ciara and Bo will have no choice but to rule it as a murder-suicide. This was definitely killing two birds with one stone- not only was she avenging Lawrence at long last she was also having her revenge on Victor for the way he'd shabbily treated her; choosing goody goody Maggie Horton over her and condoning Brady keeping her prisoner for so long. And in a way she was punishing Bo Brady as well... for his insolence. She'll never forget that day... both of them slobbering over each other like teenagers in a drive-in and then he'd had the audacity to threaten her to her face ; she the rich and powerful Vivian Alamain threatened by a low life like Bo Brady. Well, he was going to pay; he and Victor for the injury they'd done to her.

Gus however was looking uneasy. 'And what is the matter with you?' she snapped.

'With all due respect Madame; trying to kill Ms. Kiriakis is one thing but Miss Brady? She's only a child...'

'She's of Kiriakis blood,' was Vivian's harsh response. 'Victor and his son need to be punished as well for the way they treated me. When Vivian Alamain makes a promise she fulfils it! And that damn family's going to shed tears of blood by the time I'm finished with them...especially Bo Brady. It's partly because of him my nephew is dead, that bitch never really forgot him; that's why Lawrence was always so unhappy, don't you see Gus? That's what really made him ill and Carly took advantage of it!'

Gus listened in silence as she rambled on. 'If she hadn't slept with Daniel Jonas, she would've slept with Bo Brady at the first opportunity and heaven knows she would've killed Lawrence... make him die from a broken heart because she never really loved him, it's always been about Bo Brady! But now I'm finally getting even... Carly will die and he's going to lose both his whore and little brat!'

Meanwhile there was already an uproar over Ciara's disappearance. When Maggie Horton came downstairs and found Ciara gone, she first searched the house and the garden frantically before calling Hope and Bo. Bo was in the hospital with Jennifer asking Maxine where Carly was when he got Maggie's call.

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When Carly didn't show up at the restaurant, Melanie called her cell four times but it kept ringing with no answer. She called Maxine who told her Carly had left the building ages ago and Daniel was in surgery. Trying not to give in to the sudden dread in the pit of her stomach, Melanie dialled the loft but the machine picked it up and then she called Dario at The Cheating Heart. Carly wasn't there.

'Nick, something's wrong; I can feel it.' She rose from her chair.

Her brother got up too. 'Let's not jump into conclusions now; maybe she's got a flat tire somewhere.'

'Come on... if it something like that, she'll call us to come get her; how do you expect me not to worry?' Melanie demanded.

Nicholas frowned and bit his lower lip, wondering what to do next. 'I say we go to the apartment. She probably stopped there to drop her things and lost track of time... probably took a nap or something.' It wasn't a plausible suggestion, even to his own ears but he didn't want Melanie to freak out. He turned to Brady. 'You coming?'

Brady accompanied them but Carly wasn't there, nor her car at the parking lot. Before Melanie could think of what to do next, Brady got a call from Victor. 'Aww shit, again?' he listened in silence. 'Yes, okay; I'll be there.' He hung up, turning to Melanie and Nicholas. 'Ciara's missing.'

'Oh no! Did she run away again?' Melanie exclaimed.

'Who's Ciara?' asked Nicholas curiously.

'She's Bo's daughter and she's been kidnapped before, another time she ran away with the Mayor's son. Oh no... not again!'

'Grandpa says Bo dropped her off at Maggie's hours ago; Maggie left her in the kitchen drawing and went upstairs. When she came back she was gone. I'm going over there now.'

'Wait up, I'm coming too!' Melanie turned to Nicholas who shrugged followed them.

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At Maggie's house, Bo's men had already ascertained from the little evidence that there was no forced entry and only Ciara's finger prints were on the doorknob, so she had apparently walked out on her own. Her pink backpack was however still on the kitchen counter and her drawings and pack of crayons on the kitchen table.

'She's run away again,' Hope sobbed in Maggie's arms. 'and why else would she run away , it's not like she's been having stability in her life!'

All eyes turned to Bo; silent accusations heavy in the air. But Bo refused to rise to the bait; after the heart to heart he'd had with Ciara at the park nothing could convince him his daughter had run off ; not with the sincere look in her eyes when she'd said she wanted to hear him laugh again. So glaring back at them, he replied in a tight voice, ' We don't know for certain she ran away, let's find out more before jumping into conclusions.'

'Easy for you to say Bo, you're the reason why Ciara's a child from a broken home.' Victor said harshly.

'Victor!' Maggie admonished.

'No Maggie, I'm not afraid to say it if everyone else around here is! Instead of Bo settling down and rebuilding his home he went on lusting after that whore of his and broke up his marriage over her; now my granddaughter's run off to God knows where because he can't provide her with the security of a happy home!'

Roman and Steven just managed to prevent Bo from punching Victor out by grabbing his arms.

'Bo, don't!' Caroline begged.

'No, let him go ahead; like he's man enough to attack his own father!' Victor jeered. 'This has been coming to him for a long time so you go ahead and do your worst!'

'Oh, I'm going to do my worst, right here and now.' Bo raged, shaking himself free ; full of anger at the great insult on the woman he loved more than any insult levelled on him. 'I'm going to find my little girl safe and sound, you all can bet on that. But don't ever count me as your son, ever again because I don't regard you as my father from now on. Like I actually ever did.'

Victor stiffened. 'Bo,' Caroline began.

'No, you aren't in a position to lecture me Ma; you brought this snake into our lives in the first place; Pop would never say all the things he just said, especially about Carly!And the rest of you can blame me for as long as you want; I don't give a damn. The only thing I did wrong was going back to a marriage that was no longer the same and hurting the only person who never blamed me for anything, who was actually there for me when you were all too worried about my so called wife's feelings than my own!'

'You can tear each other's throats; kill each other for all I care, I just want my daughter back, I want her back!' Hope shouted, infuriated. 'So just put this stupid fight aside and help me find her! And what the hell do you want now?' she added, glaring at Melanie who just walked in. Everyone except Jennifer stared hard at Nicholas who was at Melanie's heels; he looked too much like Lawrence so it wasn't at all difficult recognising him.

'Hello Nicky. Long time no see.' Bo greeted without warmth. Once upon a time he'd tolerated and even grown fond of the pampered boy for Carly's sake but after the way he'd turned a blind eye while his father had abused her, he felt nothing but deep contempt for Carly's son.

'It's Nicholas now; Commissioner.' Nicholas inclined his head formally, still trying to digest what Melanie had told him on the way over. If it wasn't for the leather jacket Bo had on, he would never have believed this was the same Serpico-like, motorcycle riding cop his mother had preferred over his father; now the Police Commissioner. 'Mrs. Brady.' He nodded at Caroline respectfully.

Caroline coughed uncomfortably, pushing down a sudden surge of guilt . 'Uh... Nicky, I mean Nicholas, good to see you but we're in the middle of a family crisis right now.'

'I asked him to come with me.' Melanie said coldly, pretending not to have heard Hope's hostile greeting. 'We were with Brady when Victor called him. Any leads right now?'

Hope opened her mouth to say it was none of her business but Bo, anticipating her, swiftly cut in. 'Nothing so far, Mel; I've already ordered a search.'

'Any indication she was kidnapped again?' asked Brady.

'According to what we've found, both doors and all windows weren't forced, so no.' Roman replied. 'So... what we feel is she may have walked out on her own.'

'But why?' Melanie wondered.

Hope glared at Bo who ignored her. 'We don't know. It's still a theory for now.' He looked at Melanie intently, her worried green eyes reminding him of Carly's. Where was she? He wouldn't feel so lost and worried about his daughter if she was here consoling him. She'd been a mother to Shawn Douglas so definitely she would share his pain wholeheartedly.

Jennifer, realising his dilemma, moved forward, taking Melanie aside. 'Mel, where's Carly? I wanted to talk to her about something.'

Melanie shrugged. 'I have no idea.'

'What do you mean?'

'She was supposed to meet us for lunch but she never showed up, Nick, Brady and I were at the apartment looking for her when Victor called Brady.'

'And you didn't try her cell?'

'No answer; I don't understand it at all.'

Jennifer suddenly felt a sense of dread. 'You don't suppose Vivian...'

All heads turned to Bo as his phone made a sound, indicating a new text message. They surrounded him as he clicked on it. 'What does it say?' Caroline said excitedly.

Bo's hand shook as he read it. It couldn't be...

Hope snatched the phone from him for a closer look before he could stop her. Her face blanched as she stared at it. Then she flung herself at Bo, slapping his face several times before she was restrained. 'This is all of your fault! You and that that bitch- I could kill you both!' she yelled as Maggie and Jennifer pulled her away from Bo. She glared at Melanie and Nicholas, 'I will make her pay if she harms my child, I swear it!'

'What are you insinuating?' Nicholas shouted, bewildered.

Roman walked to him, soberly giving him Bo's phone. The message read: "You killed my child, now I'm going to kill yours.''

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Ciara flung herself at Carly, hugging her fiercely after the man released his hold on her. 'Good. Now on to the next order of business.'

'She's an innocent little girl, you can't do this!' Carly hissed, as the man walked round to face them, gun raised . 'Twenty five million then if you're so heartless! I tell you, I will give you the money...'

'Shut up! Step away from the brat; I'm doing her first.'

'No!' Carly cried out in agony as he fired a shot on her arm; forcing her to let go of Ciara who screamed in fright.

'You don't talk to me like that, ever!' he shouted, his eyes flashing as Carly clutched her wounded arm, tears of pain and anger falling down her cheeks. Facing Ciara who was weeping helplessly, he aimed. Carly braced herself to jump between them. Ciara was a part of Bo and she loved Bo with all her heart; dying to save his child was a sacrifice she was willing to make.

What happened next was mind boggling. As the assailant pulled the trigger, a flash of light appeared between him and Ciara. It was his turn to scream in fright and fall to the ground, frantically scrambling away from the woman in white glaring at him. Ciara ran to Carly again, who staggered to her feet, eyes wide with shock and amazement. 'Oh my God!' she whispered, recognising the curly haired woman. 'Izzy...'

'Stay away from me!' he yelled at the apparition. 'Get away!' he raised his gun but his hand was shaking too much to fire. The ghost of Isabella turned to her and Ciara who buried her face on Carly's stomach, filled with terror. 'Run. Both of you...run now!'

Galvanized into action, Carly grabbed Ciara and ran to the car. Pushing the girl into the backseat, she slammed the door, gone in, started the engine and immediately drove off; leaving their terrified captor and a lot of dust behind.