Chapter 54

It had been the right thing to come home. Ciara had rushed into his arms, weeping for her mother, shaking Bo to his very core. No matter what, he had to take care of Ciara. He knew that's what Carly would want him to do.

"I miss Mommy."

Bo clutched Ciara tightly to his chest. "I miss her, too, Little One."

Ciara buried her face in his neck, her tiny body wracking with the sobs that she produced, and Bo was helpless to comfort her. He settled for rocking back and forth with her, patting her back and whispering that he loved her, all the while wishing for Carly.

It had taken over an hour for Ciara to cry out her feelings, and it was now full dark. Bo listened to the others in the house, moving quietly around Ciara and him. All of his family was there – Shawn, Belle and Claire; Chelsea and Jack, who'd flown in from New York; Nick and Carys; Phillip and Melanie. Even his mother and Victor had planted themselves in his and Carly's house indefinitely.

John and Marlena were also there, and Roman, too. The only one missing was Carly. And she was the heart, of both their home and family.

Another wave of despair washed over his soul, but Bo dug down deep inside and held on.

I will find you, Princess. I swear I will! I won't let Lawrence hurt you, not this time. I swore I'd protect you, and I WILL find you. I will bring you home, safe and sound.

Ciara raised her head and placed her tiny hands on either side of Bo's face. Her fingers found tears that Bo wasn't aware of shedding. "I know you will."

Bo pulled in a shuttering breath. "What, sweetheart?"

"I know you'll find Mommy and you'll bring her home to us. I heard you, you were whispering to her. I think she can hear you, too, Daddy."

"I hope she can, Little One."

Chelsea watched the interaction between her dad and her baby sister, fighting back her own tears. Her grandmother had dispatched her to try and entice her dad to come and eat. Pasting a smile on her face, Chelsea bounded in the room, trying to convey a happy, peaceful attitude.

"Hey, Shortcake, Grandma's saving you a big piece of her Butterfinger Cake! What do you say? Should we go nab it before Shawn can eat it?"

Ciara looked between her father and her sister, clearly torn, but Bo nodded encouragingly. "I wouldn't mind some of Grandma's cake. Will you share yours with me?"

Ciara's mouth turned up in the hint of a smile, and Bo stood to carry her downstairs. His phone, still clipped to his belt, vibrated suddenly and scared him half to death. He almost dropped Ciara.

"Daddy?" Her little brows furrowed in confusion as Bo fumbled, one-handed, to grab his phone and while shifting Ciara with his other arm.

"Dad, who is it?" Chelsea walked back to look over Bo's shoulder as he stared at his phone.

"It's a text message, from Carly."

"Oh, my God! What does it say?" Chelsea could scarcely believe it.

" 'Quinn's working for Lawrence.' That's all it says. But she just sent it, Chels, just now! The state troopers, they said they didn't find Carly's cell. They couldn't find it because she has it with her."

"Dad, if her phone is on, we might be able to track the signal."

"Does that mean we can find Mommy?" Ciara asked, tugging on Bo's arm.

Bo crushed Ciara to him and felt the faintest flicker of optimism ignite within him. "That's exactly what it means, Little One. Come on, we've got work to do!"

Bo took the stairs as fast as he could with Ciara in his arms. Chelsea was right on his heels. The rest of the family was in the living room, and Bo handed Ciara off to his mother. He grabbed Roman by the arm, and John, Nick, Phillip and Jack joined the two of them.

"Carly sent me a text, just now." Bo was nearly breathless in his excitement.

Nick grabbed the phone out of Bo's hand to see for himself. "Quinn? He took Mom? He's been working for my father this whole time?"

Bo nodded, not liking the murderous glint in Nick's eyes. "It looks that way, son."

"He's a dead man."

It was unclear as to whether Nick meant Quinn or Lawrence, but Jack, who knew Nick better than anyone, figured it was a safe bet that both of those men were about to meet their maker.

Bo clapped a hand on Nick's shoulder, forcing the younger man to make eye contact.

"That can all wait, Nick. The important thing is that we know your mom is alive right now, and she's given us a big clue as to where she is. Now, can any of that fancy equipment you brought in help us find out where your mom's phone is?"

Nick closed his eyes for a moment, tamping down his rage for his father and those who were aiding him. Then his green eyes reopened and met Bo's, full of steely determination. "Yes, it can tell us exactly where Mom's phone is."

Neither woman spoke.

They both stood stock-still, Carly in front of the divan and Hope against the doorframe.

Though a thousand thoughts raced through her mind, Carly was determined to make Hope go first. She knew Hope was impatient, and she planned on using that to her advantage. Hope was the only one, after all, who could tell her where Lawrence was. He was the real threat.

Finally Hope stepped fully into the room, allowing the door to close behind her slowly with an eerie creek. She leaned against the wood, hands in her pockets, and stared so intently that the action made Carly's skin crawl. Still, Carly held her tongue, and she could see the mounting frustration her silence caused in Hope.

"Surprised to see me?" Hope asked. She'd expected Carly to cower in fear or at the very least, begin crying.

Carly only shrugged.

"Aren't you going to ask me what I'm doing here?"

"Hadn't planned on it, no."

Hope's mouth turned in a nasty smirk, but Carly didn't budge. She'd perfected her poker face over the years, and it was firmly in place. Hope exhaled sharply, her eyes narrowing.

"Aren't you at least afraid?"

Bloody terrified, thank you very much, but I'll be damned if I let you see it!

"Not of you, Hope. There's nothing you could possibly do to me that is worse than what Lawrence has already done."

"See, Carly, that's where you're wrong," Hope countered, pleased with the confusion gathering on her enemy's face. "Lawrence may have hated Melanie and loathed your betrayal of him, but at the end of the day he had some twisted need to keep you alive, to see you suffer."

Hope closed the distance between them in a few steps until she stood within a hair's breath from Carly. "I won't have that problem. I'm going to enjoy seeing you dead almost as much as I will, killing you."

"What…" Carly abruptly broke off her question as a contraction rippled through her womb. She hissed out a breath, nostrils flaring, and counted to forty-five before her belly loosened, and she could speak again.

"What in the hell are you talking about, Hope? Lawrence may have used you to get to me, but he won't stand by and let you kill me." Not when he'd rather have that honor himself…

Hope smiled then, but it was shadowed in madness. Clapping her hands in childish glee, she replied, "I'm afraid he'll have no choice in the matter, Carly. Dead men aren't able to exact revenge, now are they?"

Carly's green eyes glowed with sudden understanding, all the events of the past weeks falling neatly into place. "It was you."

Hope grinned smugly.

"You sent the letters, the flowers, all of it. Lawrence is really dead, and this has been nothing but a ruse on your part to make us think he was alive."

"You have to admit it was a brilliant plan." Hope gave herself a mental pat on the back, and Carly got the feeling that Hope was waiting for her to acknowledge this self-proclaimed brilliance.

"Uh, yeah, way to go," Carly muttered mentally chanting don't upset the fruitcake, don't upset the fruitcake. "You really had us all fooled."

Hope tossed her head regally, her hair swinging out behind her. "It was really quite simple. At first, I'll admit, I was just going to hire someone to kill you. That seemed the most direct route to getting what I wanted."

As she spoke, Hope began to pace, dishing out the details of her plan as though she and Carly were old friends catching up over lunch. "But then I realized that your sudden death would inevitably point to me, and that was a risk I was unwilling to take. I needed a villain, someone else to take the fall. Vivian was no longer an option, tucked away in Chesterwood, but Lawrence, well, he was another matter entirely. After all, the dead coming back to life is getting pretty commonplace in Salem, wouldn't you say?"

"Oh, yeah, it happens all too often for my taste," Carly quipped. Her verbal jab wasn't lost on Hope, whose expression darkened considerably.

"Anyway, I knew I needed a way to convince you that Lawrence was alive, so I decided to send the letters. I'd heard about the journals your son brought with him from Alamania, the ones that Lawrence kept. But how could I get my hands on one of them?"

Because Hope seemed to expect it of her and because, quite frankly, she wanted to know, Carly asked Hope how she had accomplished that task.

"It was no trouble at all. I've had a PI following you and Bo for ages, and your routines are boringly predictable. One morning when you were all gone, I broke in and stole one of the journals. Then it was only a matter of reading them and piecing together enough information to create credible letters. I hired the best forger I could find; the man wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny, don't you think?" Hope gave Carly a conspiratorial wink.

Then another contraction sent her doubling over, and she braced her hands on her knees, doing her best to breathe through the pain. She wanted to cry out, but she bit down hard on her bottom lip to silence herself. She would not give Hope the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

"That's, what, two contractions in the past five minutes or so?" Hope inquired. "I wonder how long your baby will live in your womb once your heart stops beating?"

When the contraction ended, Carly stood straight once more and met Hope's cold, appraising gaze. The hate radiating outward from Hope was so strong it was almost a physical force. But Carly had withstood more formidable apponants, and the steel core that had seen her through the worst moments of her life hardened within her, lending her the strength she would need to survive this, too.

In that moment, Carly was certain of two things.

One, and the most important, she was definitely in the early stages of labor.

Two, Bo was on his way. She could feel his approach just as surely as she could feel her heart beating inside her chest.

She only had to stay alive until he got there. Then you can be born, little girl, Carly assured her baby. But you are NOT coming before Daddy gets here and the crazy lady is gone, all right? Just stay put until then.

Carly chose to interpret the kick from her daughter as a nod in the affirmative.

Hope noted the change that swept over Carly, and for the first time, she began to doubt the ease of this particular road down which she was traveling. She was still going to kill her, certainly, but it suddenly occurred to her that Carly might fight back. Oh, well, I might have to use more than one bullet, then.

"You know that I'm going to kill you, right?" Hope asked.

"I know that you're going to try."

"You deserve to die, Carly, for what you did to me."

Just gotta keep her talking. "And what is it that I'm supposed to have done to you?"

Hope rolled her eyes. "Are you kidding me? Don't think you can play your little victim routine with me, Carly. You know exactly what you did. You stole my husband, my children, my life, you bitch, and now I'm going to steal yours."

Fast as lightning, Hope drew a .45 out from under her shirt and leveled it at Carly. "You're done taking things from me, Carly."