JJ picked up the phone again, thinking about how he had stormed out of Kurt's apartment. Hopefully Rory was so wasted at the time that he wouldn't remember, because JJ needed him now. He sighed and touched Rory's photo in his phone to dial his number.

It rang four times. JJ was about to hang up when he heard, "Rory's phone."

"Kurt?" JJ was confused.

"JJ!" Kurt had obviously continued drinking after JJ left. "Glad you called, dude. Rory's partied out but we saved some stuff for you in case you decided to break up with that frown and come chill with us."

"Thanks, man, but I can't. I got pulled in to work."

"Bummer."

"Yeah." JJ sighed. "Listen, Kurt, you know that haunted house Rory wanted to go to last Halloween?"

"Haunted house? Dude, it's the wrong time of year to be messing with ghosts." Kurt laughed.

"Yeah, do you know where it is?"

"Do I! Listen, I'm too… I don't think I can drive. Maybe tomorrow. It's like, down this super windy road off the expressway. It's all dark and curvy and it's like you're gonna fall off the world, man, like driving down there is half the fun. And dude, you're gonna feel like you're not in Salem anymore cause you pass that sign saying city limits, but it's lying, you're still there, just on the edge." Kurt giggled. "I don't think you can ever get out of Salem, not even if you go all the way to Chicago."

"All set up?" Hope asked the tech guy, who was sitting at a computer on the other side of the station.

"All systems go." The tech guy pressed a button on his headset.

Hope called Jeff's number. "Mr. Adkins," she said, making sure to give him the respect he thought he deserved. "This is Hope Brady from the Salem police department."

"I hope you've got something new on that stoner who attacked me in the woods," Jeff said. "I'd hate to have to write a story about how the police are on the side of criminals and thieves."

"Actually, I'm afraid I'm calling about something else. We caught someone breaking into your apartment earlier tonight."

"Was it Rory still trying to wreak havoc with my life? Or his friend JJ? I know JJ's your cousin's kid, but you really need to look closer at him. He has a real violent streak in him, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was behind the disappearance of that girl over in the dorms tonight."

Hope bit her lip. "We do have a suspect in custody, but they're not talking. So we were wondering… do you mind coming down to see if you recognize the person who broke into your place?"

There was a pause. "Jeff?" Hope asked. "Are you still there?"

"Sorry. I don't get good reception here. I, uh, I happened to go out of town earlier today. It's a long trip...can this wait until tomorrow?"

"We can only hold them for 24 hours unless you press charges."

Another pause, then Jeff said, "I guess I'll try to make it in the morning then." He hung up before Hope could say another word.

Hope glanced at the tech guy. "Please tell me this wasn't a total bust."

"I was able to ping his phone a couple times," the tech guy said. "He was moving, probably driving someplace. Give me a few to analyze the coordinates, and then I can give you a general location."

Hope nodded. You're too smart to come to us, she thought, but we're going to come get you.

JJ had done a Ewe Search based on what Kurt had told him. The first couple of links had been busts, but now he'd found an article about last Halloween.

Teens' Halloween Trick Leads to Arrests, the headline read. JJ noticed with some pride that Nicole had written the article. He scrolled down quickly, trying to find out where the place was. "Abandoned motel off of route 6," he read. "City wanted to condemn the building but it's a historical landmark… last open in 1953... " He scrolled past the story of what had happened there before to find out that it was very easy to break into because it was so old, and that it was way on the outskirts of town, where nobody would know what was going on unless they happened to be on that road.

He picked up his phone, thinking. Nicole probably knew exactly where this place was, since she did the story. He was afraid she was gonna go cover it herself and leave him out so that he could stay "safe", and there was no way he was going to sit in Daniel's apartment while Paige was being held captive just a few miles away. On the other hand, he had no plan yet, and no time to come up with one.

Maybe he should tell the cops after all.

He dialed Hope's number. "Hope, listen - "

"Your mom's worried sick about you, JJ. Please tell me you went back home."

"I'll call her. But listen, I have - "

"I only have a second, but as long as you're on the phone, I want to tell you that you were right to have us check up on Marissa. She's not in great shape, but we got to her in time. She's in the hospital, and you'll probably be able to visit her tomorrow."

JJ squeezed his eyes shut. "Oh God. What did she - "

"I can't tell you any more than that, JJ, I'm sorry. But all you need to know is that she's safe."

"Thanks." JJ took a deep breath. "Listen, Hope, there's something I need to - "

"Hope!" Roman's voice was in the background. "Tech guy's got something for you."

"I gotta go, JJ," Hope said. "Call your mom, okay?" She hung up before JJ could say another word.

He sighed and stared at his phone. What'd I expect? he thought, pulling his jacket on. He had no idea what he was going to do, but he had to go to that abandoned motel himself. He texted Nicole, quickly. "Got a lead. Abandoned motel Route 6."

He paused at the door of Daniel's apartment. Maybe he should go to the hospital and see if he could get in to see Marissa. He shook his head. She'd still be there tomorrow, and if he could tell her that they'd caught Jeff, maybe it would make up for messing her up by making her go to Jeff's apartment by herself.

He pulled open the door to Daniel's apartment. His mother was on the other side.

Bev pointed the gun at Cole's stomach. "Sit down on the bed," she ordered. "Hands behind your back."

"You wouldn't have the guts to shoot me," Cole told her, not moving.

"Keep your mouth shut," Bev said, keeping her voice even, "and do what I say."

The door to the room creaked open. "Cole?" Jeff called. "Where are you, man?"

Bev put her finger on her lips but Cole called, "In here, dude." He turned towards Bev. "Well? Go ahead. Kill me if you want."

"Don't tempt me," Bev snapped. She poked the gun into Cole's stomach. "Be quiet and get on the bed. Now."

Cole's eyes widened. "Look," he said, "I know I did a lot of stuff to you, and that was wrong, but come on, Bev, you don't want to do this." Bev's lips thinned and he put his hands up. "Okay, okay, I'm getting on the bed." He sat down. "Is this really how you want to end this?"

"You know, there was a time I would have listened to you." Bev's hand was shaking and she wished it wouldn't. "I would have forgiven you anything, Cole, before all this. Even when Jeff wanted to keep me tied up in your apartment and you didn't defend me, I forgave you. But as soon as you shoved this thing in my side, you… you lost me, Cole. I can't forgive you anymore, no matter how much you swear you didn't mean it or that Jeff made you. We're done." She blinked back tears; there was no time to cry. "Where's the rope?"

"In my bag." Cole's voice was flat.

Jeff came in just as Bev was tying Cole up. "What the hell, Cole?" He glanced at Bev holding the gun and shuddered.

"No more games," Bev told him. "Untie Paige, then you can sit down next to Cole."

Jeff glanced at Cole. "I'll deal with you later for your stupidity." He knelt down by Paige, holding his hands up. "I'm going to untie her now, okay?"

Bev nodded, but she didn't lower the gun.

Jeff put his hands behind the post where Bev couldn't see them. Suddenly, he took out his knife and put it against Paige's throat. "This ends now," he said. "Drop the gun or I'm going to have to hurt Paige."

Bev looked back and forth from Cole to Jeff. "I mean it," Jeff said, "and unlike you I'm not just playing at being tough." He ran his free hand through Paige's hair. "She's such a nice girl, isn't she?" he said, his eyes blazing. "There was a time where I'd hoped… well, anyway. Don't make me hurt her. Drop the gun. Now!"

"You wouldn't." Bev's voice wavered. "You want her for yourself, you can't have her if she's dead."

"Want to test me?" Jeff tilted Paige's head up. Stroking her ear, he said, "She's so beautiful… I'd hate for anything to ruin that." He turned towards Bev. "You have three seconds. You can either shoot me or you can stop fooling around and put that gun on the floor. Otherwise Paige is gonna pay the price."

Bev looked back and forth between Cole and Jeff, trying to decide what to do.

"What've you got for me?" Hope asked.

The tech guy came in all the way. "We couldn't get an exact location off of Jeff's phone, as you know. But we got the general vicinity. He was on the expressway, headed north towards Chicago."

"Chicago? Okay, so has anyone contacted Chicago PD yet?"

"Towards Chicago," the tech guy said again. "Not in Chicago. As far as we can tell, he's still in Salem."

On the other side of the police station, Rafe was on the phone. "Nicole, listen. Are you sure? Oh. Yeah, you're right, that changes things.. Okay, I'm on my way." He called Abe over.

"What's up?"

"Long story. I'll tell you in the car. But we gotta get out to the abandoned motel off of Route 6."

"Was that a tip on where Paige Larson's being held?"

Rafe nodded. "And not just that. There may be more than one life hanging in the balance here."

Paige's eyes popped open as Jeff began counting backwards. "What - "

Jeff put his hand over her mouth. "Ssh, sweetheart. It'll be over in a second." He glanced at Bev. "Well? What's it gonna be?"

Bev stared down at the gun in her hand. She put her finger on the trigger, but her hand was shaking too much. She couldn't risk hitting Paige. She tossed the gun onto the floor.

"Good girl." Jeff smiled an evil smile. "Now untie Cole and get on the bed." He took the knife off Paige's throat as Bev complied. "On your stomach, that's right." He got on the bed and stroked Bev's hair. "Should I get call Cole over?" he asked seductively. "Or should I deal with you myself?"

Bev said nothing. Jeff laughed again. He kissed the back of her neck before getting up. Glaring at Cole, he said, "Handle your girl if you have any hopes of getting back on my good side." He gestured towards the gun. "There's your toy."

Cole got up slowly. He picked up the gun and stared at it. Then he got on the bed with Bev. Poking the gun into her back, he said in a low voice, "That little joke you just played is going to cost you. I don't want to hurt you, Bev, but now I don't have a choice. You have to be punished. Lie still."

Cole lay down on top of Bev, pinning her hands behind her back. He reached underneath with his free hand and began unzipping her jeans.

Bev arched her back, knocking him off her. Cole was so surprised he dropped the gun. Bev dived for it. This time she wouldn't be afraid to shoot the bastard. Cole's hand shot out, grabbing her wrist. They began to roll over and over, fighting for the gun.

"Mom," JJ said, surprised. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"I've been debating whether to come get you or leave you alone for the last hour," Jen told him, "and it looks like I decided just in time. Where do you think you're going?"

JJ crossed his arms. "Mom - "

"Don't Mom me." Jen started to come in.

JJ blocked the door with his arm and said, "Daniel said not to let anyone in here."

"He didn't mean me, and you know it. Wherever you were going is going to have to wait a few minutes, because you and I need to talk." Jen took JJ's hand off the doorway and came in. "What else did Daniel tell you? Did he tell you not to go doing the cops' job for them?"

JJ glared at his mother. She looked back at him, and for a second he thought they were going to have another huge argument. Then Jen said, softly, "I've made a lot of mistakes, honey, and the last thing I want to do is push you away. But if you think you're going to go put yourself in harm's way for Paige's sake… I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I can't let you do that."

"Mom," JJ said, keeping his voice even, "I don't have time for this, okay? I know where Paige is and if I don't hurry up and get there - "

Jen held up her phone. "There;s this new invention called the telephone, and it even dials emergency services."

"I tried that. Hope wouldn't listen to me, and I'm not wasting another minute trying to get her attention." JJ zipped his jacket up. "I don't know how, okay, but somehow I'm putting a stop to this."

Jen moved to block the door. "I'm not letting you do this. You can't - "

"Lock up when you leave." JJ pushed past her.

"Jack Deveraux Junior!" Jennifer yelled into the hallway. "Come back here right now or… or when you come back you're grounded!" She got no answer, though she heard rustling behind some other doors and was sure all of Daniel's neighbors were listening and laughing to themselves about how pathetic she sounded.

Jennifer closed the door and sunk into the couch. If you come back, she thought, blinking back tears.

Philip leaned on his elbow, watching Chloe sleep. She was lying on her side, breathing softly in and out. Philip thought she looked more beautiful than ever. Even when she was asleep, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He reached out to stroke her hair, wanting to wake her, but changed his mind. Instead he sat up and took out his phone. He flipped through some photos of Chloe and Parker that she had sent him a couple weeks ago, before Parker had gotten sick. Parker was almost too big for Chloe in these photos. His eyes were sparkling and he had a wide smile. He just seemed so full of life-how could his body have been harboring the secret that his heart was about to give out?

Philip shook his head and closed the phone, not wanting to think about Parker's illness, or all the time he missed, or how he'd felt like his wife and child had been stolen from him the second he got the news that Parker was not his little boy, not biologically. Chloe had said to him, "I think Parker's parents should be together, don't you?" and he had nodded, not realizing that she meant Daniel now, not him. But even after he understood that she meant to leave with their - no, with her son, Philip had not said a word. He'd just retreated deeper into his suddenly too-large and too-empty apartment and looked for ways to forget.

That was then, this was now. He had Chloe back, at least, and soon he was going to be a part-time parent to Parker, if everything went well. Don't get ahead of yourself, Kiriakis, he thought. You haven't seen the little guy since he's been able to talk… and play… and form memories… you don't know that there's even going to be a connection with him tomorrow. He sighed deeply, then glanced over at Chloe, who was sleeping so peacefully despite everything that was happening.

Philip picked up his phone again. "Room service?" he said quietly. "We need a bottle of wine and some fruit, whatever you have in season. Yeah, grapes and pineapple is fine. Thanks." He hung up the phone.

Chloe reached for him in her sleep. "Philip?" she mumbled. "Who's on the phone?"

"Nobody important," Philip told her. He laid back down, cuddling her and running his fingers through her hair. "Ssh… go back to sleep… I was just setting up a surprise."

"No more surprises," Chloe mumbled, but she went back to sleep. Philip allowed himself to kiss the back of her neck before letting the room service person in to deliver the food.

Across town, Victor was telling Henderson, "I'll take care of the candles myself. You just concentrate on the meal."

"Very good, sir." Henderson left the dining room. He went into the living room, where Maggie was working on a crossword puzzle. "Mr. Kiriakis requests your presence in the dining room," he announced.

Maggie looked up. "Does he, now?" she said, a slightly annoyed tone creeping into her voice. "I hope he hasn't roped you into some crazy scheme to get me to forgive him for going over Daniel's head. He should know by now that I just need time to get over it whenever he pulls one of his little tricks."

"Would you like me to relay that message to him?"

"No, no, I'll go see what he wants."

Maggie came into the dining room and stood in the doorway while Victor lit two long candles in the center of the table, using a silver lighter monogrammed with his initials. She came all the way in and said, softly, "I thought you liked to leave the dirty work to others."

"Eh, I'm an old softie, and romance is best left to the lovers themselves." Victor turned towards Maggie, smiling slightly. "Besides, I learned a long time ago that as a man, it's my job to offer an elaborate apology, even when I don't have any idea what the hell I did wrong."

Maggie crossed her arms. "You know, Victor, you don't have to go overboard trying to win my heart. You already have that, even if sometimes I wonder how I missed that I was marrying a fool."

"Maybe you're the fool for putting up with me." Victor put the lighter away. "Maggie, I'm grateful every day that you're in my life. I don't have to ask you if I say it enough because I know the answer is no. Now I'm not a man for whom the words 'I love you' come lightly, but that's exactly what I'm trying to say."

"Oh, I know." Maggie came all the way into the room. "And I hope you know that I love you too, Victor." She put her arms around him. "I wasn't really angry at you, you know. I understood that you were trying to do what was best for Parker, and hopefully Daniel knows your intentions were good too now. I just wish you'd waited five minutes for him to come around."

"I took a calculated risk. Anger blows over eventually, but Parker's health may not be reversible if we wait too long. I didn't have the time to wait for Daniel to come to his senses. Now family is everything to me, Maggie, you know that. In fact, that's probably why you married me."

"Oh, I do," Maggie said. "I just hope you and Daniel can smooth things over, because it would be such a shame for two good men who want the same thing to be at each other's throats."

"Daniel will get over it." Maggie gave Victor a look and he said, "Fine. I'll swallow my pride and apologize to him too. But not tonight." He ran his hand through Maggie's hair. "This house has so many rooms but no place to hide. Let's take advantage of the fact that for once we have this entire place to ourselves."

Roman met Rafe and Abe outside of the abandoned motel off of Route 6. "Whatcha got?" he asked.

Abe shook his head. "Not much yet. This motel has, what, three floors of rooms that have been untouched since the 1950s?"

"Yeah," Rafe said. "Last Halloween we chased a bunch of kids out of all fifty rooms. It's a drug hangout; from time to time we get calls of kids breaking in, and we come clear it out when we have nothing else to do. Got a call a few days ago, actually, but it turned out to be nothing."

"Anyway," Abe said, "at this point we don't know exactly where Paige is being held, and I think it would be ill-advised to conduct a full search. If the guy we're thinking of is behind this, he's definitely armed, and who knows what he'll do if he realizes we're closing in on him."

Roman nodded. "Are you absolutely sure the girl's even in there?"

"As sure as we can be," Rafe said. "We got a tip on the photo - "

"A tip?" Roman was puzzled. "I thought I told you that those photos were for our investigation only, not to be shown to anyone outside the precinct."

Rafe shrugged. "Apparently not everyone can follow instructions. Anyway, does that really matter now? The point is, someone was able to ID this place from looking at the photo. Plus, if you think about it, this is a perfect hideout for a kidnapper. It's out of the way, abandoned… nobody's gonna come down here and discover he's hiding some girl in one of these rooms. So the only question is, how do you want us to go about getting her safely out of there and bringing this creep to justice?"

"Okay," Roman said. "We're gonna go on the assumption that the girl's in there along with her captor. That makes this a hostage situation. I want barricades up around the perimeter of the motel so that nobody goes in or out without us knowing about it. Our first priority is the girl's safety, and our own. I'm going to get some more bodies down here to help. Once they're here, we can do a search if we need to. In the meantime, we need to find a way to communicate with the suspect so we can establish rapport and hopefully end this peacefully." Roman started to walk off, then turned back. "And Rafe, we're gonna deal with this photo leaking thing later. If it was you who passed those photos to your friend Nicole Walker - "

"It wasn't."

"I hope not, for your sake. If it was you, you'd better have covered your tracks enough that I never find out about it."

Bev and Cole rolled over and over, trying to get control back of the gun, while Jeff stood frozen, staring at it. Bev got the gun and laid down on top of Cole, pointing it right in his face. She started to pull the trigger…

...and suddenly Jeff tackled her, grabbing her wrist and twisting it behind her back. The gun went off as it fell, shooting a bullet into the bedspread.

Bev struggled to get away from Jeff. He hugged her against himself and said to Cole, "Soon as I get her tied up, you know what you have to do. Your girl's a liability. End it for once and for all."

Cole picked up the gun while Bev struggled to free herself. He stood still, staring, then pointed it at Jeff. "Let her go," he said huskily.

"Cole, come on, man. I know you love her but she's nothing but trouble…"

In front of them, Paige's eyes popped open. Her head was pounding and the room felt like it was spinning a little. She thought she might throw up, but took a deep breath to make the sensation pass.

As the room spun around her, she got more and more scared. She was tied tighter than ever to the bed post; struggling made the rope dig into her wrists.

As Paige began breathing heavily, trying to control the panic growing inside her, she heard the gun go off right near her. The bed bounced, forcing Paige forward so that her wrists hurt even more. Then Cole said, "Oh, God…" and it was silent.

Behind Paige, on the bed, Cole stared at the gun in his hand as Bev fell backwards onto the bed, clutching her shoulder.

"Oh my God, Bev," he said. "It was an accident, I swear… I didn't mean…"

Bev took her hand away from her shoulder. It was full of sticky, red stuff. "I'm bleeding," she said, sounding dazed. "You shot me, Cole, and now I'm going to die."

Jeff, who had ducked down behind Bevr to avoid getting hit, stood, crossing his arms and glaring at Cole. The bed banged against the floor as Paige struggled to get free of her bonds. "Do something!" Cole screamed at Jeff.

"You do something if you want to," Jeff said. "I told you, she's a liability. If you hadn't been fooling around trying to shoot at me instead of her, none of this would have happened."

"You do something," Cole said, "or you'll be sorry. I didn't want to shoot anybody, but now that I've done it once - "

Jeff's eyes snapped. "I'll do something all right," Jeff said. He hurried through the curtain, grabbed a towel from the bathroom, and ran back to toss it to Cole. "Drop your stupid gun and put pressure on her wound or something. Maybe she'll stop bleeding."

"We gotta get her to a hospital." Cole said, but he put the gun down.

"We can't do that without getting caught, and I told you, we're not getting caught. You try to help her since she's so much on your conscience. I gotta get Paige calm before something worse happens. "

Cole took Bev's hand gently off her wound so he could cover it with the towel. "It's okay," he said, pressing on the wound to try to control the bleeding. "You're going to be okay. God I'm so sorry..."

Nicole opened the door to Daniel's apartment. "JJ?" she said. "I - " She stopped short, seeing Jennifer sitting alone on the couch, sobbing.

"JJ took off, didn't he?" Nicole put her hand on Jennifer's shoulder.

Jennifer pulled away half-heartedly, then looked up and said, "I know I look pathetic to you, but you have to understand… my son has always been my miracle baby… he wasn't even supposed to live and now… if I haven't lost him, I'm going to soon, because he just went to confront a madman on his own."

"Listen," Nicole said. "JJ's going to be fine. I - "

"Don't give me that. I know how it works, Nicole. I was an investigative reporter once too, remember? This is dangerous. You know it as well as I do. And maybe we could have handled it, but JJ… for all of the trouble he got into, my son can be so innocent… he thinks the world responds to honesty and goodness and it's hurt him before. And someone like this guy who has Paige- what's his name?"

"Jeff."

"Yes. Jeff. That boy doesn't have a shred of decency in him and I don't see how my son can possibly win against someone like that by himself."

"He can't. But he doesn't have to!"

"Who's going to help him? You?"

Nicole crossed her arms. "I know a thing or two about getting out of tight spots," she said sharply. "But in case my advanced degree in getting out of stupid situations fails to impress you, maybe the fact that I already gave Rafe a heads-up will." Jennifer's eyes widened and Nicole said, "I'm going to head over to where this is all going down so that I have a chance of stopping your son from doing anything like what I would do."

"W-What should I do?" Jen asked.

"Honestly?" Nicole's voice was soft. "Go home. It's bad enough JJ decided to jump in first and figure out the plan later; if you try to follow me while you're in this state, that's two people I have to help Rafe save from themselves.. So go pour your heart out to your husband's picture or pour yourself a glass of wine or do whatever it is you do when you're really upset, and just hang in there. I don't make promises very often because my reputation's bad enough without making commitments I can't keep, but here's an exception." She put her hands on Jennifer's shoulders. "I will bring JJ home in one piece when all this is over."

Next to the bed, Jeff knelt down by Paige, holding a bong. Her eyes widened. "No," she whispered. "Don't make it worse for yourself by forcing that on me I can help Bev, but I have to be sober."

Jeff smiled. "She was only hit in the shoulder so I'm sure even though there's a lot of blood, she's going to be fine."

"Getting shot in the shoulder sometimes requires surgery," Paige said automatically, remembering something Kayla had told her last time she was at her internship. "You can hit, like, all kinds of arteries and stuff."

Jeff bit his lip. For a second, Paige thought he might actually be scared. He turned away from her, saying, "Forgot you were pre-med. So, um, do you know what to do so she won't die?" Paige said nothing, thinking, and Jeff turned back towards her. "I know what I told Cole but I was just… I was mad, that's all, I didn't mean it. So please, Paige, if you can help her, I swear I'll untie you right now."

"I'm not a doctor yet, Jeff. We need to get her to a hospital."

"I can't… I can't do that." Jeff paced back and forth beside Paige. "If I try to take her anywhere, I'm gonna end up in jail. We have to find a way to save her, right here, right now. Cause I can't...I can't go to jail, Paige. That was never the point, and I never meant for any of this to happen, I swear."

"Then let me go. I'll take her, and I won't say a word about anything, I promise."

Jeff's eyes flashed. "You're lying. The second I let you out of here with her, you're going to go straight to the cops. You might be super smart, but I'm not stupid, Paige. Don't even try it."

"I'm not," Paige protested, her eyes narrowing.

Jeff glared at her but said nothing. Paige leaned back against the pole. Jeff turned away from her again, then back towards her. "Take one hit," he said, holding out the bong again. "It'll calm your nerves and maybe… maybe then you can look at Cole's girl, see if maybe there's something you can do that he's not already doing."

"Just untie me!" Paige said, ducking away from the bong. "Look, I can try to make a tourniquet to stop the bleeding. I saw Dr. Brady do it the other day."

"Okay." Jeff reached behind Paige to untie her hands. "I hope this isn't a trick, though. I really meant it when I said I don't want to have to hurt you."