Cole laughed. "You think I'm going to confess to a bunch of crimes on tape just because you have some official reporter badge? I might not have a mommy who pays for a fancy lawyer to get me out of trouble, but I'm not stupid, JJ."

"I don't think you're stupid." JJ's eyes narrowed. "But I know you, Cole."

"Do you now?"

"Yeah. I do. I know you can't pass up any opportunity to rub something in my face. So let's go. What the hell did you do to Paige?"

"All right," Cole said. "You're right. I do have something to say."

JJ switched on the tape recorder. Cole leaned against the bars. "I'm not the monster you think I am, JJ. I just went along with Jeff's plan, and when Bev got hurt I couldn't let anything happen to her. I didn't do anything to your precious girlfriend; that was all Jeff."

"Fine. What did he do to her?"

"Things you don't want to know." Cole laughed. "I didn't see it, but he did what a real man does for a woman, if you know what I mean. He knew the right places to touch her... I could hear how good he was making her feel. Guess you couldn't do for her what he could, huh Deveraux?"

JJ's eyes flashed. "You'd better be glad there's bars between us, man," he said under his breath. "Cause you knowing about it, you laughing about it, that's just as good as you doing it to her."

Cole giggled. "I didn't do anything to her. I was busy with my own girl. But if I were you I'd stop making threats while you have that thing running. It might come back to bite you, know what I mean?"

JJ's arm throbbed. He bit his lip to hide the pain and said, "Fine. Here's a question for you. You're so innocent in all this, why the hell did you get involved with Jeff in the first place?"

Cole shrugged. "He was a cool dude to smoke with, that's all. At least at first. One day we were high and we were talking about that job-you know, the one you stole out from under him-and laughing about how there's no news to speak of in this stupid town, right? And I said, why don't we make some? I was joking, man, but he came up with this whole plan… and all I had to do to get my cut was just give him some names. I didn't know he was gonna go crazy...by then I was in too deep and so was Bev."

"Yeah?" JJ's anger was rising. "Was Paige the only one he did that to?" Cole shrugged and JJ came closer to the bars. "Tell me!" he demanded. "Did he do to Marissa what he - "

"How the hell should I know? He didn't like me to ask questions and I didn't particularly want to hear the answers. I'll tell you one thing, though. Taking your girl in every sense of the word, that was just the beginning. See, Jeff, he was smart. Way smarter than me and definitely way smarter than you. I don't know exactly what else he had in mind, but I can guarantee you he put stuff in motion before he died. I'd tell you to watch your back, but it's useless. It's already done, and he's gonna get you."

"Yeah? Like what stuff?"

"I have no idea. But it'll happen, you'll see." Cole turned his back to JJ. "Now go home. I don't want to see your ugly face anymore."

"Cole - " JJ began, but Cole ignored him. He switched the tape recorder off and stared at Cole's back before turning and stomping away.

When they got to Jill's room, the OBGYN-Eve never did get her name-turned to face Eve, her arms crossed. "I'm going to repeat in front of you what I said to your daughter so that maybe you can help her understand what we need to do."

"My...my daughter?" Eve glanced at Jill, who shrugged. She pressed her lips together, annoyed.

"Jill won't allow us to give her any medication to try to stop the labor." The OBGYN's voice was cold. "I've tried to explain to her that we have to hurry here but she - "

"If my baby's ready to come out, I'm ready for her," Jill objected.

"No you're not," Eve snapped. "We don't even have a crib yet." She turned towards the doctor. "Are you saying there's a way to keep that baby inside her for just a little while longer?"

"There might be, and if we can, I'd recommend it. You see, your daughter is only 27 weeks along. She's nowhere near full-term."

Jill winced with the pain of another contraction. "But she wants to come now."

"Shush!" Eve told her. "If you can't stop the labor," she asked the doctor, "is that little baby of hers going to live?"

The news was on as Mr. Adkins folded his clothes and put them back in the suitcase; his wife sat on the edge of the bed, holding a photo of Jeff and staring at the TV without really absorbing it.

"Hey," he said, sitting down on the bed next to her. "Don't do that… don't torture yourself."

"We made a mistake, sending him to Salem University." Mrs. Adkins' voice was flat. "He wanted to do that writers' colony for a year, remember, and we vetoed it? Maybe if we hadn't…"

"And maybe if you'd listened to me when I told you way back when he was a freshman in high school that our son needed help - "

"He was getting bullied daily! Wouldn't you be angry too if people were scrawling nasty words on your locker and pushing you down when you were just trying to mind your own business and get to class? That damn school was doing nothing, they were blaming him, and obviously he eventually snapped!" Mrs. Adkins hugged the photo of Jeff tightly to her chest. "I still want to see those girls they say he hurt. I want them to know that that wasn't really who he was, that he was sick. I don't want them to hate his ghost for the rest of their lives."

"Rhonda, we've talked about this. We can't - "

"I know you think it would upset them. But in their minds he was just a monster… and he wasn't really. He was our son, and we failed him, but he wasn't a monster. He was just a boy."

Mr. Adkins sighed. He took his wife's hand. "I hate what Jeff did," he said, his voice cracking. "And I hate that it ended the way it did. I would give anything to see him again, even if it meant going to some damn jail where we have to be patted down and treated like criminals before we can even say hello for a minute. But he's not in jail because he's dead, and he did that to himself. We can't undo this, Rhonda, we can't undo any of it. Not his death and not what he did to those girls. So leave them be, will you? Don't poke at their wounds."

"What am I supposed to do? My son is dead. What am I supposed to do?"

"We go home." Mr. Adkins gently took the photograph away from his wife and put it in the suitcase. "We leave this town behind and we go home where nobody knows yet what he did or how he died so we can grieve without people's opinions about our son getting in the way." He took the remote and shut off the TV before zipping the suitcase and standing it up.

Mrs. Adkins played with her phone while her husband took the suitcase out of the room. I may be going home for now, she thought, but this isn't over.

After leaving Cole, JJ started walking without knowing where he was going. He found himself in the secluded area of the park, glaring at the park bench. In his mind he saw Jeff on top of Paige, holding her down while she struggled the way JJ had struggled to get away when Jeff tried to force him into the back of his car…

"That bastard!" JJ shouted aloud. He lunged at the trash can, knocking it over. Images of what he thought Jeff had done to Paige kept flashing through his mind. He threw himself at the park bench and began kicking and beating it the way he wanted to beat Jeff up for hurting Paige that way. His arm hurt like hell but he kept going.

Rafe came through the gate just then, but JJ was so engrossed in attacking the bench that he didn't see him.

.

"HEY!" Rafe shouted, but JJ didn't seem to hear him. He ran forward and threw his arm over JJ's chest, pulling JJ towards him. JJ started to fall backwards towards Rafe and automatically grabbed onto the bench for support. Rafe grabbed JJ's wrists with his other hand and pulled them behind his back, then hugged him tight as JJ tried to push against him, pinning his arms.

JJ struggled to get out of Rafe's grip. He was in the parking lot, fighting Jeff for his life all over again. "Get off me!" he said.

"Stop, JJ!" Rafe said. "Right now! Come on, next step is I cuff you and throw you in a cell til you get ahold of yourself. Take some deep breaths and get back in control or that's exactly what's gonna happen."

JJ stopped struggling. "I'm cool," he said, gasping for breath. "I'm cool."

Rafe said, softly, "I don't wanna have to arrest you, not after everything you've been through. So have a seat and answer a few questions for me and then hopefully I can let you go with a warning." He let JJ go so he could sit down.

"That's fair." JJ's voice was flat. The pain in his arm that he'd been ignoring hit him all at once. He winced as he rubbed it. Rafe glanced at him, looking concerned. "You need medical attention for that arm?" JJ shook his head.

"What set you off and made getting into a fight with a park bench that weighs a lot more than you do seem like a good idea?" Rafe asked.

JJ looked down at the ground. "I… I was right about what he did to Paige, man. He… he… I can't even say the word…" He blinked hard. "He… he hurt her in the worst way and Cole… Cole thinks it's funny."

"Cole told you this?"

"I got it on tape." JJ's voice was flat.

"Mind getting me a copy?"

"Why? It's not like you can do anything to make Jeff pay."

"No, but we got Cole as a co-conspirator. I know it doesn't fix what Jeff did to Paige, but there's a chance the DA'll go for charging Cole with felony rape cause he helped put Paige in that situation and did nothing to stop it."

JJ was quiet, thinking about it. "I gotta talk to Nicole first," he said at last. "She sent me to interview Cole."

Rafe nodded. "I'll leave you to it. Try to get back to me pretty quick though. The DA's gonna move fast on this whole thing."

"So I can go now?" JJ asked as Rafe patted his shoulder.

"Hold up another second. The deal was you get a warning." Rafe crossed his arms. "You're lucky it was me who came across you taking out your aggressions on that bench. I know what happened to you the other night. I was there. The next cop who sees you acting like that, they might not care. So find someone to help you get a handle on what happened to you out there in that parking lot before you end up behind bars."

"I don't need - "

"Damn it, JJ, you do. Doesn't what just happened out here tell you you gotta do something? You don't wanna talk to a shrink. I get that. But there's a whole lot of people who'd be more than willing to help you through this if you'd let them, and I'm not just talkin' about Daniel." JJ shrugged again. Rafe sighed and said, "Look, I know you think cops are the enemy, but believe it or not, I don't want to see you get in trouble. And I'm telling you, JJ, if you're losing it out here over something Cole said that might not even be true, sooner or later you're gonna end up doing something you can't take back. The last thing I want to do is to lock you up, but if you keep going like this, me or some other cop's gonna end up doing just that. Now you're a good kid who's got a lot going for you, and it would be a shame to throw it all away just cause you're too proud to ask for help."

JJ's eyes widened, but all he said was, "Can I please just go?"

Rafe nodded. "Yeah, go. But JJ, this is your only warning. If there's a next time - "

"There won't be."

"I sure as hell hope not, cause like I said, I don't wanna have to haul your ass to jail."

JJ got up. "I get it!" He walked off. Rafe sank down into the bench, tapping his phone against the palm of his hand as he watched JJ go.

Hope glared at Rodman. "I've worked with lots of cops over the years, including the man I was married to for over 30 years, and I can tell you that Rafe is one of the best. He's meticulous, he's thorough, and he's completely dedicated to getting bad guys off the street and behind bars where they belong. So if your agenda is to dig up dirt on him by talking to the people who know him best, you're going to have to look elsewhere."

Rodman smiled briefly. "I have no agenda, I assure you, except for finding out what went wrong in this investigation and catching whoever is leaking info to the press. I don't know why you and your partner are so paranoid, if neither of you did anything wrong."

"I'll tell you why," Hope said evenly, ignoring the implied accusation. "Our jobs are harder than most people realize. When a perp we've been trying to tie to a wave of violent crime gets brazen enough to grab a girl off the street, we not only have to race against the clock, but against our own consciences asking us whether we really did everything we could, whether we missed something that could have got this lowlife locked up before he had the opportunity to hurt her. Most days, we put up with the self-doubt because we know we make a difference, that we help make Salem a safer place. But when we have to deal with you questioning us on top of the questions we ask ourselves every moment of every day, it makes it look like that voice in our head was right and that we aren't doing enough to protect the people who live here. And that's not something Rafe or I-or any good cop really-wants to live with.

"I'll tell you something else, too. We put our lives on the line at that abandoned motel just as much as JJ Deveraux did, and we'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Really? So there's nothing you'd do differently if you had to do this investigation all over again?"

"You mean besides find some excuse to arrest Jeff and get a confession out of him before he could hurt Paige Larson?"

"That's it? There's nothing else you could have done better?"

"I know what you want to hear. We should have arrested JJ Deveraux the second it became clear he was conducting his own investigation on the side. Believe me, it crossed my mind. In fact, I told him that if I caught him withholding information again, he was going to jail for interference."

"Really? So then when he showed up at the crime scene, why did you not follow through?"

"It was too late by then. We were already in a hostage situation and we couldn't be distracted booking an innocent kid for caring about his ex girlfriend. Anyway, he was right. Jeff's attack on Paige Larson was all centered around his hatred of JJ, and that made JJ the only bargaining chip we could possibly use to bring Paige safely home. Do I wish he had left it to us once he made that call offering to sacrifice himself for Paige? Absolutely. But I don't regret allowing him to put his foot in the door so that we had a chance of getting Paige back."

"I see." Rodman leaned back. " The question is, though, Detective… why did you need to resort to getting help from the press to figure out where the girl was being held in the first place? If JJ Deveraux was so vital to this case, and if he was so busy conducting his own investigation that you apparently couldn't stop, why did nobody, Detective, think to ask him if he recognized where his ex-girlfriend was being held prisoner before he got his hands on those photos some other way?"

At the Horton house, Ciara was sitting on the couch, glaring at the TV. She kicked her shoes off; they flew across the room, making a loud noise.

Abigail came down the steps. "Hey! Ciara, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Ciara said, scowling. "Mommy went to work, so I bet she'll be gone all day."

"Oh." Abby bent down to pick up Ciara's shoes. "Where's my mom?"

"She and JJ both went to work too. I don't care about JJ, he's not interesting anymore now that he decided to be good." Abigail handed Ciara her shoes and Ciara said, "You can go back upstairs. I'm not a baby, I don't need to be watched."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Abigail sat down on the couch. "I know your mom's been working a lot - "

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. As soon as this case is over she'll spend more time with me. Until she gets another case."

"How about we call her and see how soon she's coming back?"

"Usually when she leaves, she's G-O-N-E gone for the day. But usually she just leaves me with Aiden or with Mrs. O'Neill next door. She doesn't go to all the trouble of taking me here so that I can watch Jennifer go to work too. We were supposed to make great grandma's donuts, but I knew it wouldn't happen."

"You know," Abigail said, "my mom's not the only one who can bake."

"Oh, I know. When she used to live here Allie told me that you came over to bake cupcakes for Johnny. But that's not the only reason, right? How did you get EJ to like you, anyway? I mean, you're not as pretty as Sami and you don't have as much money."

Abigail bit her lip. "Let's talk about something else."

"Like what?"

"You ask an awful lot of questions about boys. So who do you like?"

"Nobody."

"I think you do." Abby had a glint in her eye. "You know, when I was your age and I had a secret I didn't want to tell, my grandma always got it out of me when we did something together. So how about you and me go in the kitchen and you can help me mix some batter."

The doctor sighed, giving Eve a sad look. "Well, don't give me those puppy dog eyes," Eve said. "If there's bad news, I want to hear it, and I'm sure Jill does too."

"There's good news too," the doctor said, "so let's start there. Jill is carrying twins." Eve's mouth dropped open. "I'm guessing she didn't have good pre-natal care or her doctor would have discovered that a long time ago."

"What does it matter what she did or didn't have in the past?" Eve snapped. "Clearly something is the matter or you would at least make an attempt to smile. Let's have the bad news."

The doctor sighed. "At 27 weeks the babies are viable, but barely. If your daughter - "

"Stop calling her that!" Eve said. The doctor looked surprised. Eve recovered, quickly lowering her voice. "I mean, she has a name, and it's just rude to talk about her as if she doesn't, don't you think?"

The doctor gave her a puzzled look. "Anyway," she said, "if she will let us stop the labor that would be better for everybody. Babies born this early often have a lot of delays. We're talking about mental retardation as well as problems with the lungs, heart and other organs. So let's try to keep them inside for a little longer, okay?"

Eve glanced at Jill. "Can you give me a minute to talk to her? I'm sure I can make her see reason so we can do this."

"We don't have a minute," the doctor snapped. "If we don't administer these drugs right away, those babies are coming. It's now or never. Jill, what do you say?"

Sally was in the office by herself when JJ came in. He glanced at Nicole's empty desk, then at Miles' door, which was closed. "Don't worry," Sally told him. "Miles isn't here so whatever happened, you're safe."

"Where's Nicole?" JJ asked.

"Not here either. She went to the hospital to get some one-on-one time with Daniel and his little boy while she could."

"Oh." JJ looked at the floor, not wanting to think about his earlier conversation with Daniel.

Sally said, "Anyway, I can tell something went wrong with the story you're trying to get. Now, I know I'm not Nicole, not by a long shot, but how about you tell me about it so I can see what I can do to help?"

"Yeah, okay." JJ kicked out the empty chair next to Sally's desk and plopped into it. "I… um, what do you do if you get something that's, like, totally what Miles wants on the air but there's no way in hell you're letting that happen?"

"Uh oh. You'd better be a little more specific."

JJ played with the strap on the tape recorder. "Cole told me… um…" He swallowed hard. "Look, can I just play it for you?" Sally nodded. JJ pressed the button on the tape recorder.

I didn't see it, but he did what a real man does for a woman, if you know what I mean. He knew the right places to touch her... I could hear how good he was making her feel. Guess you couldn't do for her what he could, huh Deveraux?

JJ pressed the "stop" button as hard as he could. He stared up at Sally. Her eyes were wide as she said, "Is he saying what I think he's saying?"

JJ nodded. "It's not like it's a surprise," he said, his voice thick with pain. "He was all over her and she… he had her tied up so she couldn't do anything to make him stop." He meant to stop talking but the words flowed out by themselves. "He had a knife to her throat, Sally, the whole time. He made me watch while he… while he had his tongue in her ear, and she couldn't stop him and neither could I. Cause if I made one false move, if I didn't just stand there watching, it was all over for her, and I couldn't… I couldn't risk it. Sally, he was hurting her and I knew it and I had to just let him cause if I didn't, her blood was on my hands." His shoulders began to shake and he swallowed hard, trying to control himself.

Sally leaned over and pushed the office door closed. "Oh, JJ," she said softly. "I'm so so sorry. I can't even imagine how I'd feel if my love for another person was used against me like that." JJ didn't seem to hear; he was staring straight ahead. "You know," Sally said, "that doesn't make what he did to her your fault."

JJ shrugged. "He only messed with her cause of me.".

Sally shook her head. "You're taking on way too much guilt, JJ. You're not the one who hurt your girl. The only thing you did was love her."

JJ bit his lip, not wanting to talk about this anymore. "You see," he said, keeping his voice even, "why I can't let Miles run this. I… she shut down when I saw her, okay. I can't even tell her I know what he did to her cause that would make me… it would be like doing it to her all over again. And if I put something that private on the air... I can't do that to her. I won't!" JJ glanced back at Miles' closed door. "I know he wants a story but - "

"Forget him. Miles may be our boss, but he's not what's important here. There's more than one story that can be made out of this, I'm sure. You don't have to tell the one that messes with Paige's head if you don't want to."

"Yeah." JJ's voice was flat. "If… if I have another story, but I kinda didn't get it the right way, can we use that?"

Sally looked amused. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"I… when I went to see Cole, the DA was in his cell, okay, and I figured there might be something to it that she didn't want me to hear."

"So you were spying." Sally's smile got bigger. "Did you turn up anything good?"

JJ nodded. "The DA, she wants to make a deal with him where he says Bev wanted to help him and if he does it, get this: he's gonna get away with less than a year in jail." JJ pushed his chair out and started pacing. Laughing bitterly, he said, "If Daniel hadn't taken the fall for me, I could have got 10 years for making sure Theresa Donovan didn't die from her own stupidity. Cole, he helps Jeff hurt Paige the worst possible way and he nearly kills Bev and he's gonna get less than a year and screw her over at the same time. We can't let them get away with it, Sally." JJ's eyes were blazing. "We gotta run this story somehow."

"Hold on, hold on." JJ kept pacing and Sally crossed her arms. "Stop all that crazed movement and look at me, JJ," she said firmly, "so I can make sure what I'm saying doesn't go in one ear and out the other. We're gonna get these bastards, make sure the world knows how justice goes down in Salem. Don't you worry about that. But we gotta do it the right way. Now you remember what Nicole told you your very first day about not tipping your hand?"

JJ nodded. "Sometimes you gotta be patient," he said flatly. "I get it. But - "

"But nothing. What we have here is just the beginning of the story. Nicole's probably gonna get back just in time for the broadcast tonight, so we'll use the vague copy I already wrote for her about Paige's kidnapping cause there's no time for anything else. But tomorrow, or maybe even later tonight depending on her mood, she'll put you to work on finding out exactly what's what. At the end of this, you'll have a much richer story to share with the world, and you'll be able to back up every last word of it, too."

"So what are you saying?" Anger crept into JJ's voice. "You want me to, what, go home? I can't, Sally, not while - "

"Tell you what. If you're really gung ho to stick around this office, I'll give you some busy work to do til Nicole gets back, but otherwise… you go get that rest that you haven't got since everything went down. In the meantime, I'm gonna call my contacts on the entertainment side and we'll see about getting you on stage with your guitar."

"Don't bother."

"What? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now."

"It's not that." JJ rolled his sleeve up all the way. Sally's eyes widened when she saw his bandage. "It's… I'd be wasting their time, Sally, cause… cause right now I'm under doctor's orders not to play til this heals up."

"I'm sorry. How long is that gonna be?"

"I don't know, okay?" JJ's voice was louder than it needed to be. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I don't mean to take it out on you, Sally. It's just, Daniel said…" he swallowed hard. "He said I might never be able to play again." His voice wavered. Again. He shook his head, not sure how much longer he could hold back his tears.

Sally silently got up and put her hand on JJ's shoulder. JJ blinked hard, then looked at the ground, embarrassed.

"Look," Sally said, "I don't care what any doctor says, not even one as good as Nicole says Daniel Jonas is. You're gonna play again, and I'd bet anything you'll be better than before."

JJ shrugged.

"Come on," Sally said. "Giving up at the first sign of trouble… that's not you, JJ. Now, I saw a boy walk in here a couple weeks ago who was going to do whatever it took to uncover who framed his friend for robbery, and then when Paige went missing… that boy wasn't going to let anyone stop him from getting her home safe. Not his mom, not Nicole, not even the cops. So don't you dare give up on your dreams just because of a bump in the road, JJ. You fight for yourself just as hard as you fought for your friends."

"How?" JJ asked.

"Well," Sally said, "you can start by lifting your head up off the ground, cause the JJ Deveraux I've come to know doesn't go around staring at his feet like the world's too heavy for him. Give me the tape recorder; I'll transcribe what Cole had to say so that Nicole can separate the hot air from anything worth reporting on, and we'll pick that up tomorrow. In the meantime, you go home and do whatever you need to do to get yourself back in shape, cause tomorrow's another day and I don't want to see that bad attitude coming through the door when you come back."

JJ nodded. "Thanks, Sally," he said as he handed her the tape recorder. "You sure there isn't anything I can do to help tonight?"

"That's more like it," Sally said. "But no. Go home for now."

Sally watched the door close behind JJ. And they think I don't notice anything just cause I'm always backstage, she thought, shaking her head.

"You're right," Elizabeth told Daniel. "Parker does need to be both of our priorities here." She glanced at her watch. "I take it you saw the specialist. What's the verdict?"

Daniel sighed. "Pre-ops tomorrow, surgery the next day. I, um, I told Parker what they're gonna do and that it won't hurt. He seemed okay but he was talking to me through his thumb in his mouth. He just looked so… so small."

"I think sometimes it's harder on the adults than on the children when something like this happens," Elizabeth observed. "For very small children like Parker, it's all about whatever the adults in their lives tell them is happening next. Everything's fairly new for him so this is just another experience; he doesn't realize it's anything out of the ordinary."

"Yeah, but it's gotta be scary for him. I mean, one second he's going to preschool, the next he's in a hospital hooked up to all these machines. He seemed like he was okay but I just don't know."

"I'll drop by sometime this afternoon and make sure he's all right."

"That's all I ask. Thanks." Daniel stood.

"I hope I'm not overstepping your boundaries," Elizabeth said, "but Daniel, you've talked about wanting your son to be okay, so I have to ask… are you okay?"

Daniel crossed his arms. "I'm fine. Really I am. I've got plenty of people to support me through this, and I know the risks are negligible… my focus is Parker, that's all."

Elizabeth was silent for a moment, thinking. "It's okay for you to not be fine, you know. Your son is having major surgery, and being a surgeon yourself doesn't make it any less scary or overwhelming."

"My focus," Daniel said again, "is my son. So right now, I'm gonna get out of here so I don't keep his mother waiting any longer."

Hope crossed her arms. "That's not exactly a fair question. It's true that nobody asked JJ-or any other student-about the photos, but someone took that opportunity from us before we could. Had we been able to continue our own investigation, I have no doubt that we would have utilized the knowledge of people who knew the victim better than we did."

"Mmm." Rodman leaned back in his chair. "JJ Deveraux was, at one time, a suspect in this case, was he not?"

"Not really. We knew he was a previous boyfriend of one of the victims, so we had to interview him, but nobody really seriously thought he had anything to do with the crime."

"He is also your cousin, correct?"

"That didn't stop me from placing him under arrest when he threw a chair through the window of the Salem Square Bookstore," Hope said, her voice hard, "and it didn't compromise this investigation either."

"I see. So you had a suspect with a history of violence, and according to your notes, was very late arriving home on the night of the crime… yet you didn't pursue his alibi very far, nor did you show him the photos to gauge his reaction."

"What exactly are you saying?"

"I think you know." Rodman played with his pen, clicking the top over and over. "You botched this investigation, Detective Brady. You didn't investigate this suspect thoroughly, which I'm sure Mr. Adkins' defense team would have brought up in court had he lived to face his accusers. Nor did you use your connection with the Deveraux boy to find out if he knew anything that could be helpful. Maybe you and your partner didn't physically provide the photos to the press, but your unwillingness to compromise your personal relationship with this suspect to get answers led to somebody feeling that the only way to rescue this kidnapped girl was to violate a direct order and go to the press. Have you even considered asking young Mr. Deveraux where he got the photos from?"

"I'm sure his boss has taught him about the importance of keeping sources confidential."

"That's what I thought." Rodman shook his head.

"We've gone far afield of your stated purpose," Hope said, crossing her arms. "I'm still working on some things related to the Adkins case, so unless you have anything else relevant - "

"Just one more question." Rodman leaned back in his seat. "Who had access to the photos that Detective Hernandez put on the secure website?"

"Nobody," Hope said, "because Rafe wasn't the person who did that. He just downloaded them onto a thumb drive from Eve Donovan's phone. The tech guys did the rest. But I'll save you a question and tell you that once they were up, every cop in the department, from Commissioner Brady to the cops working the streets that night, had access so that they could assist in bringing Paige Larson home safely." She got up. "And now if you'll excuse me - "

"Of course."

Hope left the room. Rodman wrote something down on his notepad. "You've been very helpful, Detective," he said under his breath, "more helpful than you think."

JJ was glad his mom wasn't home when he came in. He saw a light on in the kitchen and figured Abigail and Ciara were in there; he grabbed his guitar and hurried up the steps before anyone could realize he was home.

In his room, with the door locked, JJ stared at his guitar. His arm hurt as he put it across his chest; he bit his lip and said, "All right. Let's beat this thing." He closed his eyes and began to strum, trying to pour his feelings into his playing like he always did, but the pain in his arm got in the way and made him clumsy, the way he'd been when he was six years old and playing for the very first time.

JJ opened his eyes and put the guitar down onto the spare stand in his room, almost slamming it before he caught himself. His phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at it. It was a text from Daniel:

Sorry 4 the delay. Call Anita Granger, 555-2876. She will fit u in.

JJ stared at it. He started to text Daniel back, then shook his head. Instead he called the number he'd been given. "Dr. Granger? Daniel Jonas gave me your name. Um, it's JJ - uh, Jack Deveraux Junior. Um, how soon can you see me?"

Jennifer was about to head for the ICU to see Parker when she saw Eric sitting in the waiting room, his head in his hands. "Hi," she said softly, sitting down beside him. "You seem like you're having just as rough a day as I am."

Eric shrugged. "I'm all right," he said, "but thank you for caring, as always. I was just asking God for clarity on what to do about something, but sometimes waiting for His response can be frustrating, even for me."

"This doesn't have anything to do with Eve Donovan, does it?"

Eric's head shot up. "Please, Jennifer," he said, his voice strained. "I know you mean well, but my relationship with Eve needs to be between me and God. I know that many people have a low opinion of her, but right now I'm trying to decide who I think she is, and everyone else's opinion just muddies the water."

"All right. I won't say another word about Eve." Jen crossed her arms. "I'll just say that I care about your happiness, and when I see someone interfering with that, I have to tell you what I really think. I'm sorry for your sake that Eve did whatever it is she did to you, but I'm not surprised-though I thought she'd wait a little longer to show her true colors."

"It's nothing she did. Not to me, anyway." Eric shook his head. "Earlier today, Eve asked me to accompany her to the hospital. The young girl that's staying with her went into labor and she didn't want to deal with it alone." Jennifer's lips thinned but Eric said, "Let me finish, Jennifer, please. You see, Eve confessed something to me, and I am sure she did it in the spirit of wanting to be completely honest. I appreciate that. Yet at the same time, her confession impacts you, or more precisely, your son. I don't want to break her confidence, at least not until I've had a chance to talk to her more and find out all the details, but I will say that I think that absent her influence, your son and her daughter would still be dating."

"I knew it," Jennifer said. "From the beginning, Eve couldn't stand how much Paige was in love with JJ. She kept pressuring Paige to break up with JJ, and when that didn't work, I'm sure she turned to some scheme, because that's what Eve does. Now you have to tell me, Eric, what exactly did she do to my son?"

"I don't know. Maybe nothing. As I said, I don't have the details, mainly because I allowed myself to react in anger to her heartfelt confession. I do think that the reason she told me is that she intends to turn over a new leaf, and if so, how can I judge her for her past? And yet after what Nicole did, how can I continue to be attracted to someone who was willing to engage in devious behavior, even if it was only a misguided attempt to protect someone she loves?"

Jennifer shook her head. Eric said, "I know what you think of her, but this is again why it has to be between me and God. Only He can tell me whether or not to give Eve a second chance." He sighed deeply. "Another thing, Jennifer. Jill told Eve that the baby she's carrying is your son's. Now I have no idea how much truth there is to that but - "

"There's none. I know you don't want to hear this, Eric, but Eve is putting her up to saying that. It's all a lie designed to extort money from me and my son on top of what Eve has done to him already."

Eric sighed. "I know you and Eve have a history, but underneath it all I think she does care about you. She told me how concerned she was that you might be blind to JJ's problems - "

"My son is fine!" Jennifer snapped. "Yes, he used to have serious emotional problems but that's all in the past, and yes when Paige broke up with him he was devastated. But I am telling you right now, Eve is filling your head with lies about him and the last thing he needs is someone like you, someone who is good and kind and a respected member of the community, believing that he is as horrible as she's made him out to be. So please, Eric, before you start throwing accusations around, at least get to know my son so that you can see who's the one who's really blind."

Eric was quiet for a second. "You're right," he said. "I don't know JJ as well as I should and perhaps after Jill is out of the hospital and life returns to normal I can correct that. In the meantime, perhaps you should get to know Jill. She too could use a strong, stable influence in her life, and on the off-chance that you're wrong about the paternity of her child…" Jennifer shook his head and Eric said, "I don't mean to offend you, Jennifer. Let's just drop this for now. No matter what you and Eve think of each other, you and I are friends, and so are… so are she and I."

"You're going to go back to her, aren't you?" Jennifer's voice was sad, but there was no judgment in it.

"I don't know," Eric said. "But it's becoming more clear to me what I need to do right now." He got up and walked away, leaving Jen to stare sadly into the space he'd just left.

"What kind of question is that?" Chloe asked Nicole. "The Nicole Walker I remember went after what… I mean who… she wanted, chance or no chance."

"Yeah, well, I've decided to be like a thousand dollar bottle of wine and get better with age."

"And be out of most men's reach," Chloe remarked dryly. "Seriously, Nicole, if you want Daniel, what's stopping you from going after him? It's not me, cause even if I could get his attention for more than a second, I'm long over him, and anyway I have a boyfriend I'm totally head over heels for, remember?"

"It's not you. And it's not Jennifer."

"You're not holding out hope for Eric, are you? Because honestly, Nicole, if you had to shred evidence to keep that man's attention, he wasn't right for you to begin with."

"It's not Eric either. I've learned my lesson about cheating on God-even I can't win against Him." Nicole took a sip of water, wishing it was something stronger. "No, it's Daniel himself. I guess when someone slams the door closed enough times, even I give up. Whatever attraction Daniel ever had for me is long gone, and for once I'm not forcing my way into a relationship with a man whose dream girl is someone not named Nicole Walker. He's made it clear: we're friends and that's all we are. I'm lucky to have that much with him."

Chloe shook her head. "I don't think he's really over you, not by a long shot. Daniel is a master of putting up walls, and with Parker's illness he's twice as guarded. But trust me, whenever I mention your name I can see in his eyes how he really feels. Don't give up just yet. Just - "

Daniel came into the cafeteria just then. "Sorry I'm running so behind," he said, "though I'm glad to see you had Nicole to keep you company." He sat down. "I stopped to check in with the pediatric counselor about Parker's surgery. She's gonna stop by a little later, so just let Philip know. I'm trying to steer clear of him for the time being."

"Do you need a minute alone?" Nicole asked. "I mean, I'm really enjoying the power of invisibility, but if you'd rather talk without me in the room instead of just acting like I'm not here..."

"I do, actually," Daniel said, "but not yet. I gotta clear my head from all the poking around inside it Elizabeth tried to do. So how about you two fill me in...what were you busy gossiping about when I got here?"

Victor was sitting in his favorite recliner, enjoying a glass of wine before Maggie came home, when his phone rang. "Yes? What? No, if I planned to send a proxy to the next hospital board meeting it would be my grandson Brady. Why on earth would I send Philip if he's not even in Salem? Oh. I see. Thank you for telling me. No, it doesn't change anything."

Victor hung up. He got up and stormed over to the mantle, barely controlling his anger, and picked up a photo of his son. "So you thought you could hide forever from me, did you? I'm sure I taught you better than that, even if you haven't had the sense to live a life worthy of a Κυριακής

since the day that miserable hag traded you in for Daniel." He paused, something dawning on him. "You've lost your damn mind again, Philip, haven't you? Well, I'm not going to stand for it. I've always stayed out of your affairs and clearly that was a mistake. You're way too old to be mistaking puppy love for the real thing or to play house with - "

Maggie came in just then. Unbuttoning her shawl, she said, "I see I got back not a moment too soon, Victor. What's going on?"

NEXT WEEK

- Victor confronts Philip

- Hope tells Bev's father about Bev's injury

- Elizabeth isn't sure Paige is ready to leave the hospital

- JJ gets support from a surprising source

and more...