Chapter 46

Same Day

EJ arrived at his destination as per the announcement of the car's GPS system, although he was still a long driveway's length away from the house where Nicole and the children were being held, IF Kristen was even telling him the truth. Who knows what really awaited him inside, if he even made it that far. For all he knew there were hitmen hiding in the trees, waiting to take him out the moment he stepped out of the car. It was a possibility for sure, but when he thought about it, it wasn't Kristen's style. That was way too unimaginative for her. She loved toying with her victims probably more than their father did. It would be more her MO to lead him to Nicole just so she could lock them up together and leave him to watch her die, then she'd kill him.

It probably took no more than thirty seconds for him to reach the house but to him it seemed to be more like thirty minutes. He flew out of the SUV, deliberately declining to close the door behind him for fear it would slow him down too much. He quickly glanced at his surroundings and found that, wouldn't you know it, there were indeed men staked up in the trees, at least two of them. Joining the party were his escorts to this location who had just pulled up and parked behind his SUV though for the time being they remained in the car. EJ flew up the front steps of the door and tugged. It was locked.

He remembered the keys and withdrew them from his jacket pocket. With his other hand, he armed himself with his gun before even attempting to try the key in the lock. There was only one logical choice of which key to try first based on size and shape and sure enough, with just an effortless twist to the left, the lock unhinged itself cleanly and allowed him to pass through.

"Nicole?"

His eyes scanned the dark, musty room intently as he searched for some sign of Nicole and the children. Daylight was passing rapidly and the only light left illuminating the home was what was left of the natural lighting filtering in through the sheer curtains on each of the windows.

"Belle? Dez? It's daddy, sweethearts. Are you here?"

Nothing. He recalled the photo of Nicole. The ground beneath her had been made of concrete. If she was indeed here therw was only one place she could be: the basement.

He hurried throughout the house, gun outstretched in front of him, ready to fire if necessary as he began to check every door in his path for access to the lower level. He found the dark stairwell leading into the basement and searched with his spare hand for some type of light source and located a switch. He wasn't expecting to get a result for flicking it to the 'on' position but lo and behold, there was light. He was able to move more swiftly now that he could watch for obstacles, and had made it about half way down when he spotted her feet.

He jumped the rest of the way down and was by her side in seconds. Tears immediately began to spill from his eyes as he saw her lying there terrifyingly still. She was in the same position as the photo he had seen, flat on her back with her arms outstretched at her sides. Her blouse had been ripped open to expose her chest and although her bottom half was completely covered, he was quick to notice that the yoga pants she'd been wearing were on backwards. His desire to punch something, anything was overshadowed by his need to help her, but not before he removed his jacket to cover her, even if it was only the two of them in the room. His hand reached for her cheek. Her face was completely devoid of color aside from the slight, bluish tint to her lips. She didn't appear to be breathing, at least he couldn't see her chest rise and fall, but there was only one way to tell for sure and he was almost too afraid to try feeling for a pulse for fear of what he might discover.

"Please god," he prayed continuously as his fingertips pressed into the vacinity of the jugular vein in her neck, desperately seeking the life-affirming confirmation he needed. Although he wasn't immediately met with the pulsing sensation he desired, he could still feel her body heat. Finally his fingers were able to pinpoint the precise location of a faint but steady pulse, causing him to breathe a deep sigh of relief. As he leaned down to plant a kiss to her forehead, he could feel her soft exhalations blowing against his cheek. He was overwhelmed by how precious the sensation felt.

"It's going to be alright, sweetheart, I'm here. I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to get you help."

She remained unresponsive to his interactions. From the amount of blood pooled beneath her head, he knew she had suffered a serious head injury. To try to move her himself would be a huge mistake. And there was another problem. There was an iron shackle secured around her ankle. How the heck was he supposed to get her out of there if- The key. The other key was tiny enough to fit the miniature padlock securing the cuff. He reached into his pocket to retrieve it when he was caught off-guard by the cold, hard steel of a gun barrel being pressed into his forehead.

"Step up and get away from her, you son-of-a-bitch!"

EJ immediately recognized the voice as Brady Black's. He turned his head carefully in Brady's direction to get visual confirmation and saw that Kristen was at his side grinning like a Cheshire cat. It was all beginning to make sense now.

"Brady, don't even try to reason with him. I'm telling you, he's insane! Just shoot him, Just shoot him and get him out of the way so we can get help for Nicole."

"Don't do it Brady," EJ shouted defiantly as he tossed his gun to the ground and backed away from Nicole. "Don't listen to her, I'm-"

"SHOOT HIM," Kristen screamed, her voice crackling from the demand she was putting on it. "Look what he's done to her already!"

EJ threw his hands up in surrender in further attempt to prove to Brady that he was not a threat. "I didn't do this to her Brady, you know I couldn't. Don't believe her!"

"Brady, shoot him now or he'll turn on you in a second."

"Brady, I am not moving from this spot right here, I-"

"SHOOT HIM!"

Brady glanced back and forth skeptically between EJ and Kristen, Kristen and EJ and all the while, although his words were directed at him, EJ hadn't taken is eyes off Nicole. He was concerned, panicked, he could see that. But he didn't need EJ's words to tell him that he hadn't been the one to hurt Nicole. One of the first things he'd noticed when he glanced at her motionless body was the shiny, gold hoop earring peeking out through the fingers of her tightly clenched hand. In one swift move that surprised them all, even himself, he grabbed Kristen in a headlock and pressed the nose of the gun cruelly into her temple.

"Brady, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"HOw about for once Kristen, you tell me exactly what you think YOU'RE doing?"

"Brady, please, I told you don't listen to him, I-"

"No, you know what, Kristen? I think I do want to listen to him because the only thing I've been getting out of you for the past eight months is lies."

"I'll tell you everything you want to know," EJ offered sincerely. "But first you need to make a call, Brady. We need to get Nicole help."

Brady nodded agreeably, retrieving the cell phone from Kristen's pocket and opting to pass it EJ's way instead. "You've had time to evaluate her, I'm assuming. "You'll be more help to her than me."

Once the paramedics were officially on their way, EJ ended the call and approached Brady and Kristen with a manical look in hs eye which caused Brady to cower away although he could clearly see his intense starte was intended only for Kristen.

"I know you have a lot of questions, Brady, but trust me. You'll learn a lot just from listening. He got right up in Kristen's face and grabbed handfuls of her hair on either side, using the tether to keep her gaze fixated on him. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY CHILDREN?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, you crazed lunatic!"

"No, you don't know? Or you just don't want Brady to know how when our father died, he left everything to Nicole's and my children, and he left you nada, nothing!"

"Eeej, you and Nicole don't have children, baby. I tried to tell you that, I-"

"No, I suppose on the record Nicole and I don't have children, but that's the way our father wanted it, isn't it?"

"EJ, presenting Nicole with these fake children is not going to help you win her back."

"Brady, it's true. I don't have time to go into details but our son and our daughter are alive and she has them. And she has your son too."

"What," Brady asked, looking at EJ as if he'd just told him he was a father to a baby he didn't know about.

"When Nicole came away with me, we didn't know it at the time, but she was pregnant. She gave birth to your son three months ago." He couldn't help but smile at the mention of the baby boy who had brought them all so much joy. "His name is Sawyer."

"You know, I've heard some doozies in my time Eeej, but-"

"Oh shut the hell up, Kristen," Brady snapped, tightening the grip around her neck. "I've seen all those pics you've been hiding from me, I've seen their kids, ok? Give it up already and tell us where they are."

"NEVER! THOSE BABIES ARE MINE! ALL OF THEM!"

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Shane Donovan said, making a grand entrance into the room followed by his usual entourage of subordinates. "The agents assigned to surveil the DiMera enterprises jet spotted the three children being carried onto the plane. Since this was inconsistent with the passenger list filed with the jet's flight plan, we were able to keep the plane gounded to investigate. After our agents got shot at we were able to go in and take possession of the children."

"Thank god," EJ said as he rushed to Nicole's side and dropped to his knees to lean down and kiss her forehead once more. "You hear that, darling. Our babies are safe."

"Well, I hate to put a damper on the situation for you, Elvis, but for starters, you should know that all three of the children have been taken to the hospital for evaluation. The little girl and boy were unconscious and paramedics were not able to wake them. They have reason to suspect Kristen administered some kind of drug to them."

"The baby. What about the baby," Brady demanded as he finally was relieved from his duty guarding Kristen when an agent stepped in and cuffed her.

"The baby seems fine, but given his condition and no one around with the knowledge of how to properly care for him, he's being cared for in the hospital NICU."

"He was born very prematurely," EJ piped up to explain, stroking Nicole's cheek softly with his hands as he spoke. "He was on a ventilator for quite some time which did damage to his lungs so he is on oxygen at all times. He also has mixed apnea so his breathing has to be monitored constantly, but he's going to be fine. They say he'll grow out of it in a couple of years, as his lungs mature."

"Well. Aren't you quite the expert on my son. Just do me a favor and stay the hell away."

There it was. The brief moment of male bonding brought on by cooperatively saving the life of the woman they both loved was brought to a screeching halt by one half of the party asserting himself. It was only a matter of time.

"Brady, I don't want to get into this with you right now but there is nothing you can say or do to keep me away from Nicole and the children."

"Well, maybe he can't, but I can," Shane Donovan said, stepping in front of him with a victorious look on his face. "This is the other piece of your bad news. EJ DiMera, you are under arrest."