Author's Note: Sorry about the lateness of this chapter. Chapter 11 will be out sometime next week.

Chapter Ten

A Thief to the Bitter End

Chloe was with Philip in his office waiting for him to finish working so they could go to dinner with her parents'. Over the past few weeks as they had gotten closer, Philip had begun to spend more time with her family. Resigning to himself that at least he was apart of a family and cared about as a member of it. Not just included simply because he was Chloe's husband. Everyone in the family accepted him without question. All his life he'd looked for a family to call his own and now finally he had that.

A few weeks had passed since Brady's true colors had been revealed to Chloe. And although they hadn't talked about the event since then, there was a change in their relationship because of it. It seemed as if seeing Brady in a new light had unlocked several doors in their relationship and brought them even closer. Philip was now even freer and more comfortable revealing things about his life - past and present – that Chloe hadn't known before. And for Chloe, she fell in love all over again with this Philip and with this renewed intimacy that they now shared which was undeniable.

"Come on Philip, you need to get changed for dinner. Or did you forget that you wanted to go out tonight with my parents?" Chloe asked.

"No I didn't forget. I just choose not to remember." Philip answered smirking without looking up from his computer.

"And the difference would be?" She asked walking around the desk to stand behind Philip. Her hands gently clasping his shoulders as she leaned down to see what he was doing. "You're not even working Philip. Don't you think you should at least be doing some actual work if you're going to slack off." She exclaimed playfully squeezing his shoulders as she peered into his game of pyramid solitaire.

Laughing, Philip took her hands as he turned his chair around and pulled her into his lap. "There are a lot of things I could be doing now that wouldn't include, my slacking off as you call it. But, somehow, I'd doubt you'd be willing to do them." He replied repositioning her legs across his lap.

"You never know, I could be persuaded to do the other activities." Chloe told him saucily as her hands moved out of his to caress the back of his neck. She leaned down for a kiss.

"Mommy, what are you doing on Daddy's lap?" Lily asked from the doorway, her face contorted in confusion as she stared at her parents.

Chloe smiled as she started to stand up but Philip held her in place. "Philip, why don't you explain to your daughter what I'm doing in your lap."

"She's helping me work, pumpkin."

"But, aren't you supposed to play solitaire alone?" Lily asked as she walked into her father's private office and climbed into a chair.

"Technically yes, but this game is one that I'd prefer not to play alone." Philip answered as Chloe removed his hands from around her and stood.

"Your father wanted to play a different kind of game." Raising her eyebrow at Philip as she straightened out the winkles in her silk pants and fixed her gaze on Lily, raising her brow yet again. "I thought you were getting dressed Liliana. You know we're leaving in half hour for dinner."

Lily sighed. She hated when her mother used her full name. That usually meant that she was in some kind of trouble. "I know Momma but I wanted you to help me. You said you would help me fix my hair and stuff." She said moving back against the couch and prompting her most pitiful look.

Philip smirked as he watched his daughter in action. She was a con artist in the making. He pitied the person who ever tried to con her. "You know Chloe you should go help her because we all know how lost our daughter would be without your guidance."

Chloe gave him a scathing look for encouraging their daughter's illegal tendencies before she walked around the desk. Holding out her hand she waited on Lily. Lily jumped up, grasped her hand and they headed out the office. "By the way, Philip, if you expect me to help you with any games tonight you'll be dressed and ready to go in thirty minutes." His laughter followed her as she and Lily walked down the long hallway to the staircase.

Chloe was just putting the finishing touches on Lily hair when Mimi appeared in the doorway suddenly. She was dressed to kill in an all black ensemble of tight black riding pants at matching long-sleeved top that encased her attractive figure perfectly and knee-high pair of black leather boots. The outfit was rather oddly reminded Chloe of a jockey outfit a friend of hers wore to a Halloween party the previous year.

"What's with the outfit Meems?" She asked amused.

"I'm going on a stakeout and thought this would be the best to dress inconspicuously."

"Okay whatever you say Meems." Chloe winked at her and caught Mimi's side nod. "Lily go put on your outfit for dinner." She said shooing her daughter in the direction of her bathroom. Lily went to the bathroom to put on her skirt and top set thinking that once again she was missing out on the good stuff. Once Chloe was sure Lily was out of hear sight she turned to Mimi and spoke. "So what's really going on?"

"Remember how I told you there was a pattern to how the money was taken out the accounts?" Chloe nodded. "Well, assuming the pattern was correct there is a withdrawal due to made tonight. In the next few hours to be precise."

"Are you sure?" Chloe asked.

"I'm absolutely positive."

"Well then let's go tell Philip so he can get the police down there and handle the problem and catch the felon in the act."

"No, we can't tell Philip."

Chloe her arms over her chest, "And why not? I thought the whole point of this little investigation was to catch the criminal and let Philip and my grandfather enact a little ruthless payback."

"Oh come on Chloe you know as well as I do that Philip seems dead set on blaming Brady for this. Even when he knows that there is no way Brady would be so stupid as to do something like this. I can't let him take the blame for this especially when I know he didn't do it. Not even you want Brady to be held responsible for this."

Chloe arched a perfect brow in challenge to Mimi's statement. "While that may be true, Brady's not exactly my favorite person at the moment and I'm not inclined to do anything to help him."

"Regardless of that, you aren't going to let him get accused for a crime he didn't commit, now are you?"

She sighed, uncrossing her arms. "You know I won't but I still don't understand why I can't tell Philip about the withdrawal happening at Titan tonight and let him catch the guy."

"Well I figured that it wouldn't help just to see the money taken out again. On the other hand, it would be worthwhile to actually catch whoever it is in the act. So I thought, I could go to Titan and catch the person, a midst of all the action."

"And you need me for … ?" Chloe nodded, hoping this wasn't going where she thought it was.

"Well, I have a key and the codes to get into Titan but not the private elevator­­­­­­––," Chloe interrupted her.

"Wait a minute, you want me to help you sneak into Titan through the private elevator don't you?" Mimi nodded biting her lip in hesitation. "Oh Mimi, I can't. Besides the fact that I'm not a private investigator, I'm supposed to go out to dinner with my parents. Not to mention Philip would kill me."

"Okay I get all that. But, wouldn't it be great if it helped Brady get off." At Chloe's frown Mimi continued. "Okay so that wasn't a good selling point. But, think of it this way – think of how much crow everyone would have to eat when they found out that one of their own was the real culprit."

After a few moments of thinking to herself Chloe reached her decision. "I'll do it but I have to change first." She said as she looked down at her elegantly tailored lilac pants suit. "If I'm going to catch a criminal I ––,"

"We're catching a criminal?" Lily asked as she walked back into her dressed and ready for dinner with her grandparents. "Oh wait until I tell Stacy." Mimi and Chloe shared a look of uneasiness.

"Oh no sweetie you're not. You are going to go to dinner with your Daddy and I'll meet you both there."

"But, why can't I go with you? I want to help Momma. And I promise I'll be good. I promise." Lily pleaded not wanting to be left behind again. Chloe kneeled down before her.

"I'm sorry Lily but this is very serious business and you cannot come."

"But––,"

"No buts, you are not going and that's final. Do you understand me?" Chloe waited until her daughter nodded understanding what had to be done. "Alright, I'm going to leave Daddy a note and then I'm going to go. And you Liliana Jade, will wait for your father and go to dinner." She kissed Lily's cheek and rose. "Come on Meems, I need to get changed before we go." Chloe and Mimi left Lily's room walked down the long corridor to her bedroom.

Lily waited until she saw her mother enter the bedroom before she turned back into her room and pulled on her tennis shoes. "Mommy and Daddy are always going off and having fun without me. Well not this time." Running down the hallway she quietly snuck down the stairs and out the door where she slipped into her mother's car ensuring once and for all that she wouldn't be left again.

Across town a figure entering the office where they had been visiting every couple of weeks to access the accounts to steal money. "This will be the final nail in Brady Black's coffin all thanks to me."

Little did the figure know at that exact moment their plans had begun to fall down around them, one by one all the key players in this investigation were about to catch a criminal.

Meanwhile, Philip was just starting to wonder where Chloe and Lily had gone. Just as he was about to leave the room to go find them Brady Black arrived in the doorway of his office. "What the hell are you doing here Brady?"

Brady wasn't in any better mood than Philip. He'd arrived home to find a message from Mimi telling him that she was going to prove his innocence once and for all because by tomorrow morning the real culprit would be found. Not wanting Mimi to get hurt for his sake he'd gone to her apartment to stop her only to find that she had already left and he was too late. So that brought him here, to the Kiriakis Mansion to find out what the hell Philip had let Mimi go off and do. "I'm not here because I want you to be believe me. What I am here for is to find out why in the hell you let Mimi go off and find the real criminal and you're not."

"What are you talking about Mimi isn't working tonight, she has the weekend off." Philip to stand by his desk.

"Well, apparently you forgot to inform her of that because she left a message on my machine telling me that she was going off to capture the real criminal, tonight." Philip frowned as he noticed a piece of paper folded with his name on it. He picked up the paper and read it.

"Son of a bitch." Philip swore walking to the doorway.

"What is it a letter from Mimi?"

"No, Henderson is my wife at home?" Philip replied as he asked the old butler walking down the stairs.

"No, Philip she left the house about thirty minutes ago with Miss Lily and Ms. Lockhart." Henderson replied and then continued his trek down the stairs.

"Damn," He swore again and then walked back into his office and picked up the phone. He dialed his in-laws number. "Hey Nancy you wouldn't happen to have Lily there with you, would you?" He waited a few moments and frowned at her response. "No, no that's alright she's with Chloe then. Listen we're going to have to cancel dinner tonight, something came up … alright bye." He hung up the phone.

"What's going on?" Brady asked anxious to know what had Philip looking so perturbed.

Philip looked at him hesitantly for a moment before answering. "Well, apparently Chloe and Mimi had to run an errand but she didn't mention where. And it would seem that Lily has gone with them. So if Mimi is going to find the criminal and Chloe went with her—,"

"Then they are working together." Brady finished.

"And that means that wherever they are they're in danger and they have Lily we with them. So we need to find them now."

"We?" Brady asked incredulously.

Philip barely spared him a glance. "Yes, we because it's your ass they're trying to save. Besides, you're a Black aren't, you're natural glory hog, I'm assuming you are coming with anyway, are you not?" Brady nodded.

"Of course, I am and proud of it Kiriakis don't you ever doubt that. So where are we headed?"

Philip thought about all the places they could be and then looked down at his desk. The files they had weren't there, that meant they, the files, could only be in one place … Titan. So that was where he and Brady were going to go. "Titan. So let's head out." Philip and Brady left the Kiriakis Mansion post haste in their cars unbeknownst to them that was exactly where everyone was.

Chloe and Mimi arrived at Titan about ten minutes after they left the Mansion. They had entered the building and were surprised to find that they were not alone.

"Did you hear that?" Mimi asked as they walked down the hallway toward the private executive elevator.

"What?' Chloe replied.

"That noise, like someone's following us." Mimi whispered looking around. When she didn't see anything she resolved, "I must be hearing things. By the way, don't you think you are a tad underdressed for a stakeout."

Chloe looked down at her outfit of black jeans, a black shirt, and jean vest over her upscale black three-inch boots and her long brown hair was pulled in a low ponytail. She looked at least ten years younger. "Well, I can't exactly pull off that jockey chic look as well as you." They rounded the corner where the elevator was. "Here's the elevator." She said as she pulled the key card out of her back pocket and punched in the five-digit code to open the elevator. "After you," she gestured for Mimi to walk in.

Mimi walked in and then she followed. As they doors were about to close they heard someone call out.

"Mommy, wait for me." Lily called out as she ran into the elevator much to her mother's shock and dismay as the doors were closing.

Chloe didn't even know what to say, she was so upset with her daughter. "Liliana Jade Kiriakis, what were you thinking?" She asked bending down so that she was level with her daughter. "It doesn't matter why you're here. You are going home young lady." She declared.

"Wait a minute you snuck into the car didn't you?" Mimi asked trying to figure out exactly how Lily had gotten there. Lily nodded.

"But, Mommy, I came to help you––," Lily replied but was interrupted by her mother.

"I don't care what your excuse is Liliana. You are in serious trouble. And when we get home you are going to be grounded." Chloe warned as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. They all stepped out. She was so mad she didn't know what to do. Lily needed to be punished. "Oh Lily you are so going to be punished," she said thinking of the appropriate punishment for her daughter. "Alright no TLC or Trading Spaces for a week, no two weeks."

"But, Mom there's a new episode Saturday and you said --,"

"No buts Liliana you are grounded." Taking Lily's hand she turned toward Mimi. "I'm sorry Meems but I can't stay here. I have to take my daughter," She fixed Lily with her sternest look. "Home."

"But, Chloe we're supposed to find the extortionist."

"I know but if Philip finds out that we came here to capture the criminal and that Lily is here with us he will have my head on a platter." She turned to press the down button for the elevator. Mimi walked over to her to wait for the elevator resigning to herself that they weren't going to catch the culprit that night. The elevator dinged and then the doors slid open. The elevator's inhabitants – two angry Kiriakis males - took both Chloe and Mimi by surprise.

"Daddy," Lily called out as she removed herself Chloe's now slack grasp and went to her father.

Both Philip and Brady were as surprised to see Chloe and Mimi as they were to see them. Philip leaned down and picked up his daughter as she ran to him, still dressed in her skirt and blouse for dinner with her grandparents with her favorite blue sneakers on. "Hi sweetie, what are you doing here?"

"Philip, I­­­­--," Chloe started as Lily replied quickly telling her father exactly what her mother has been up to.

"We're going to catch the 'sorter. Mommy said we couldn't though since you weren't here. But that you are we can."

"Is that right?" He asked and received her nodded reply. "Well, why don't you go to your uncle Brady for a second while I have a little chat with Mommy." He placed Lily in Brady's arms and pulled Chloe a few feet away from them.

"Philip I, already know what you're going to say. But, I was bring Lily home." Chloe started holding her hands up to stop him from talking first.

"That's not what I was going to say. But, since you brought it up what were you thinking bringing our daughter out with you when you play at being private investigator?" Philip asked livid that Chloe had placed not only herself but their daughter in danger by coming out on their own.

"It wasn't my intention to come out here with Lily. She snuck into the car and I didn't know until we were already in the elevator. If I had known she was going to do that I would of ––,"

"You would have what? Checked before you left the house? It's a great thought – too bad you didn't think of that earlier. Look, we'll talk about this when we get home." Philip said knowing that he was extremely angry but there wasn't anytime for that now. He took her arm and they walked back over to Mimi and Brady with Lily nowhere in sight.

On the other side of the room, Brady and Mimi had been having a conversation of their own.

"Uncle Brady I need to go to the bathroom." Lily informed her uncle so he would place her on the ground.

After he placed her on the ground Lily started to walk away with Mimi following her. But, before Mimi could turn the corner Brady was there grabbing hold of her arms. "Where do you think you're going Meems? We need to talk."

"Brady let me go I need to go make sure Lily's alright." Mimi jerked her arm out of his grasp.

"Oh now I think Lily can handle going to the bathroom on her own. Besides, we need to have a talk about what you think you're doing here?"

Before Mimi turned to follow Lily she looked back at Brady. "What do you mean what do I think I'm doing here. I'm doing my job which, for the moment is saving your ass from being wrongly convicted of a crime you didn't commit."

"Look, Mimi while I appreciate your efforts, I don't need you interfering and putting your life in danger to save mine. I can't believed you actually think I'd let you––,"

Mimi interrupted him. "Let me? You don't let me do anything Brady I am a grown woman. And if I want to save your ass by catching a criminal than that's exactly what I'll do." She replied as Chloe and Philip walked over to her and Brady.

"Where's Lily?" Chloe asked looking for her daughter.

"She went to the bathroom." Brady answered as Philip walked over to the private bathroom and knocked when he got no response he opened it, Lily wasn't there.

"She's not here. Are you sure she said she was going to the bathroom?" He asked as he went back to Chloe.

"That's what she said. But, Philip she didn't go in that direction. She went that way," Mimi pointed toward the opposite end of the corridor.

"Oh my goodness Philip, she went in the direction of the offices. Whoever is stealing the money is in one of the offices on this floor. What if they do something to her?" Chloe replied unnerved at the thought of her daughter roaming around the floor with an unknown criminal with her.

"What?" Brady exclaimed.

"That's why we came here tonight we figured we could catch whoever is stealing the money in person." Mimi explained biting her lip.

"I can't believe you'd do something so dangerous," Brady started only to be interrupted by Philip.

"Look we could talk about this later, right now the important thing is to find our daughter. So you and Mimi go that way and Chloe and I will go this way," Philip directed at the doorway taking two opposing directions. "Whoever finds her first will call the other. Deal?" Philip asked as he took Chloe's hand. Brady and Mimi nodded in agreement and then took off in search of Lily.

Lily walked down the dark corridor looking for the hallway she'd came from. When she'd left the corridor she had intended on going back. But, when she came out she couldn't remember the way she came. So now she was wondering aimlessly down the hall searching for her mother or father. "Mommy … Daddy." She called out as she turned the corner. "Where are you Mommy?" Then she saw the office with the light on at the end of the hallway."Mommy and Daddy must be there." She reasoned and then walked to the office.

She turned the knob opened the door. "Mommy I'm sorry I got lost," She started then she saw someone sitting behind the desk and it wasn't her mother or her father. "What are you doing here?"

Chloe and Philip began searching every office on the floor looking for their daughter. "Where could she be Philip?" She asked as they exited another office.

"I don't know Chloe she's probably just lost or something. We'll find her." He told her stopping briefly to kiss her cheek comfortingly. As he looked pass her he saw a glimpse of something blue as a door to another office opened. "Chloe I think I see her, look down there." He nodded pass her to another office but this one had a light on.

"Let's go check." Chloe said as she and Philip headed toward the office with a light on. On the opposite side of the hall Brady and Mimi had also seen the light at the end of the hallway and headed that way as well.

Lily was surprised to see that person there. But before they could tell her why they were there, her parents called her.

"Lily," Chloe called out a few feet behind her. Lily turned around and saw her mother and father walking to her. She walked a few feet and met them; Chloe pulled her up into her arms. "Oh sweetie, you can't run off like that again okay."

"I'm sorry Mommy, I had to go to the bathroom and then I couldn't find the way back. So when I saw the light on I thought it was you and Daddy." Lily told her mother as Chloe kissed her cheek. Philip patted her head and his eyebrow rose at her last admission.

"You mean you didn't turn the light on?" He asked to which Lily shook her head.

"Nope, it was already on when I got there." She answered.

Chloe looked at Philip and immediately knew what he was thinking. If Lily hadn't turned the light on then that meant someone else had. And the only person that could be was the extortioner. They had come to find the person responsible for the crime and they had. As they walked back toward the office they met up with Brady and Mimi. Once they got there Mimi and Chloe gasped. The person in the office, the person who had set Brady up was none other than ... Shawn Brady.

Please tell me what you think.