Author's Note: Hey I'm back now and will be updating this story and SOTH more often so I hope you keep reading. The next chapter of SOTH will be up sometime in the next two weeks, so look out for it. Here's the next installment of SR …
Chapter Five
Philip arrived home to find that neither his wife nor his children were anywhere in sight. He was immediately concerned, especially after discovering the photos someone had taken of them, plastered all over the archives. As he stormed into his bedroom, began to take off his travel clothes to get into something more relaxing. While he pulled on a pair of pants, he pressed for the speakerphone and dialed the number to Chloe's cell phone, which presumably was always on when she was out of the house. It rang only once before she answered.
"Hello… Philip, is that you?" She asked adjusting the earpiece in her ear.
"Yes—,"
"Oh good, you're home earlier." She interrupted again as she flipped through some of the lavender shirts on the rack for one in her size.
"I need you to come home, now."
Half listening to Philip, she pulled the correct size off the hanger just as Lily came up and showed off some sandals she was trying on. Nodding to Lily she was caught off guard by Philip's brisk tone. "Why? Did something happen at that girl's apartment?"
"I'll tell you when you get home. Are Nicky and Lily with you?" He sat down on the bed as he laced up his boots and stood.
"Lily is but Nicky's at the park with Lisette and Alex. We're going to meet them in an hour." Chloe promptly answered placing the shirt on the rack as she flagged Lily and Mimi over to her.
"Go ahead and come home with Mimi and Alex, I'll grab Lisette and the boys."
"Philip is there something I should —," Chloe started wanting to know why Philip was so anxious for everyone to come home.
"I don't think this is something we can talk about over the phone. Just meet me back here as soon as possible; I'll fill you in then."
"Okay, we'll see you soon." No sooner had she said she was coming than he hung up. "I love you too." She said smarting from his abrupt departure. Frowning, she pulled the phone earpiece out of her ear.
"Mom what's up? Is Daddy home?"
"Yes, he wants us to come home."
"Why?" Lily questioned as she put her sandals back on.
"I have no idea. But, more than likely something happened at Titan, Philip sounded urgent."
"I wonder what it could be. You know that reminds me, neither Sami nor Belle got back to me yet." Mimi added as they headed for the exit of the Saks Fifth Avenue store.
"Well Philip said he wants to wait till we get home, so we'd better get a move on. He's going to meet Lisette with the boys and bring them to the mansion." She turned and headed toward the exit. " It's just as well, there's nothing I'd like more than to go home and relax considering how I've been dragged around shopping for the last four hours." Chloe declared.
"Funny, Mom, real funny." Lily replied saucily as she followed her mother and Mimi out the shop.
* * * *
When Chloe arrived home she saw Philip hadn't arrived back yet. But, Rex's car was parked outside the mansion.
"I guess Rex is waiting for us as well." Mimi added as she followed Chloe and Lily into the mansion with her bags.
"I'm gonna go put my bags away Mom." Lily said as she started toward the direction of the stairs.
"Here sweetie, drop this in my room." Chloe held her purse and keys out to Lily as well as her small bag from a store. Then Lily continued on her way up the stairs. "Did Rex tell you anything more than Philip told me?"
Rex had called Mimi and relayed the same information that Philip had to Chloe. "Nope, not a word. I don't know what he had to tell me but it must be something big."
"Knowing Rex and Philip, I'd say that you're probably right. Eileen, have you heard from Philip?" Chloe asked her assistant when she entered the office.
"No. He waited for Rex to arrive then, Philip said they were going to get the boys and they'd be right back." The petite redhead answered.
"Okay, thanks Eileen. We'll be in the lounge waiting for them. You can go ahead and take off; unless there's anything else we have to clear before the interview."
"Nope, nothing at all, really. I'll just touch base with the tonight show host and check on your scheduled interviews for next week before I head home." Eileen added as she when back around the desk to look for a number. "That should be it."
"Great. Just let me know if you need anything." Eileen nodded before Chloe and Mimi walked onto the lounge and sat down.
Once Chloe was settled in her seat she reached back and gently released the clasp that held her hair. Running her fingers through her hair she let it tumble down her back as she shook it out.
"When Rex called me last night he said that there'd been a break in at Titan. Was it high security or just a minor breach?" Mimi asked just to be sure she had all the correct details.
"From what Philip said it was a high security breach. Some girl who was working there hacked into the system and bypassed the new security walls and passwords to access old files still on the data base. He said they didn't know what she was looking for because Victor apparently handled those accounts privately; no one else had access to them. He was supposed to call me back today after they checked the girl's apartment out but he never did. So I'm assuming that's why he wanted us back so soon because they found something they weren't supposed to. We're just going to have to wait and see though." Chloe answered as she thought about all the possible reasons they'd have for calling their wives home in such an abrupt manner.
The front door buzzed open, with a small ring to let Chloe know that Philip and Rex were home. Philip held Nicky in his arms, his son wasn't happy to say the least and had his little arms crossed in defiance. Philip placed the child on the ground and was given the same silent treatment. "Nicky, I'm sorry about cutting your play date short. But, I have something really important to tell Mommy and I wanted to see my big boy before that."
"It's not fair. I wanna go back to play with Julie and Adam." Nicky plaintively replied as he tried to pull away from his father's kneeling figure in a fit of anger. "Momma said I could."
"I know and I'm sorry I made you leave but you can go play with them tomorrow—,"
"No, I wanna go now!" The child replied sternly.
"Tristian Nikos Kiriakis, I said you could go tomorrow. And I promise you'll get to stay but, you are not going anywhere today and that is final. Do you understand me?" Philip asked his son not allowing any chance for the small child to interrupt by raising his voice slightly to make his decision more pronounced.
Nicky, who knew he was behaving badly, nodded as his eyes filled with tears. Never before had his father ever raised his voice like he had, at least not to him. He silently swapped his tears away as his father watched on.
Philip felt uneasy. Nicky was always the easy going child never stirring up trouble unlike his older sister who seemed to live for making her parents crazy. He felt horrible as he watched his son silently wipe away his tears that he almost apologized but reasoned that if it had been any other time he would have but now-- especially now-- he had to be careful, and keep his family close.
"Nicky, what's wrong?" Chloe asked frowning as she noticed the tear tracks on his face as she and Mimi arrived on the scene. Nicky saw his mother and ran to her open arms. Chloe lifted him up into her arms as she pierced her husband with a questioning gaze. "What happened?"
"He's upset that I took him from his play date. That's why I promised to take him tomorrow but…"
"Yes well, he's wanted to go since my Mom brought him home." She answered as she rubbed Nicky's back, Philip sighed uneasily. "Sweetie, calm down, it will be alright." She shifted Nicky back a little in her arms so that she could see his face. "I'm sure Lissette can take you to the play date tomorrow."
"No she can't," Philip interrupted as he took Nicky from his mother's arms. "I need to talk to Mommy for a minute so I want you to go play with Alex." He handed his son to Lissette who took Nicky and Alex's hand as she walked down the aisle to the children's playroom.
"Okay, what's this all about Philip?" She crossed her arms over her chest.
Grasping her arm he pulled her toward his office. "I'll tell you in a minute, where's Lily?" Rex and Mimi followed her into the office.
"Upstairs I'd imagine. Now what's going on with you and why are you being such a prick about letting our son go to a play date?" Chloe asked as she walked into the room and sat down.
Philip closed the office door and moved to stand by his desk. "I'm not…" He started but paused for a breath "I have a good reason for taking him from his play date."
"That's good, but what does this have to do with Rex and I? Is it either necessary for us to be here as well?" Mimi asked still not clear as to why she was even there.
"This concerns us too Mimi." Rex answered.
"Fine, then quit with the big mystery already and enlighten us."
"Fine, straight to the point then. You're here because we've found that you're being followed. And from Rex and I have been able to dissertain the pictures have been taken over the span of days, weeks at the most."
"But that's nothing new Philip. The paparazzi have been following me for weeks." Chloe replied thinking her husband was a tad misguided.
"These aren't common, run of the mill photos from the paparazzi. They are up close and personal with photos that show your every move. If this was just the average photos by the paparazzi I'd be mad, pissed even but never so much to feel the need to assure that my family is all in one place. Think Chloe. Do you think I'd be this upset over some ragtag media photos?" He turned and picked an envelope off his desk. Taking the package the turned back around and handed it to Chloe.
"What's this?"
"Open it and see." Chloe compiled and opened the envelope. She pulled out a folder and out came a bunch of photographs. Taking the photos in her hands she thumbed through the photos. Mimi walked over and looked through them with her. Philip standing against his desk with his arms crossed defensively. "Those are only a fourth of the pictures we found there and at the home of our mysterious employee."
Chloe's gaze snapped back to her husband's in question. "They were in the archives?" Philip nodded affirmative. "How is that possible? I thought there was no way for someone to penetrate the archives."
"So did I but apparently I was wrong. Our photographer friend found a way to hack into the system and override the codes. They know the system better than even I do apparently. So I'm now left with two breaches of security and photos of the entire family. Needless to say, I'm a little more than concerned."
"They were taken with a close range camera." Mimi said more as a statement than a question as she still flipped through the photos.
"From what we could tell with early analysis the pictures were taken with a close range camera no more than 15-20 feet away. That's why we can home when we did … well that and the message."
"What message?" Mimi and Chloe asked simultaneously.
Philip nodded to the last photo in the pile now tossed on the desk. Plucking it up he turned it over and showed both Mimi and Chloe the message written in blood red letters on back. Chloe took the photo and flipped it right side up for a minute so she could study it. Then, it hit her. "This was taken yesterday. Meems doesn't this look like the outside of Kaquistados?" She looked at Mimi handing her the photo.
"You're right it does look like us coming out of Kaquistados. I wonder how close they were when they took this because no one was outside when we left.
"Well judging by that fact that I can read the name of Nicky's Nikes they are too damn close for my taste." Philip added taking the photo back on top of the pile.
"So what does this mean?"
"It means that someone is out to get the Kiriakis family and they can get close to us before we even know it. This is why Rex and I came home so quickly, we need to take some precautions because obviously we have too many ways for people to get at us without even knowing." He declared.
Chloe frowned, "Exactly, what sort of precautions are you talking about?"
"Whatever it takes to keep you guys safe. But for starters, I'm sending Lily and Nicky away," Philip started only to be interrupted by his daughter opening the door to the office.
"The hell you are. You can't send me away Daddy." Lily declared defiantly as she stood by the door dressed in jeans and tank top holding hands with Alex and Nicky by her side as she face held the expression of anger and disbelief.
* * *
After dropping off her mother's bags in her parent's bedroom, she went to her bedroom to change. Dropping her purchases on the floor, she kicked her door closed. She went to her phone by her desk and dialed Kieran's number. She'd been waiting all day to call him but hadn't had the opportunity. But, to her dismay he wasn't home so she left a message entailing that she would call him later.
With the failed phone call attempt out of the way, she changed out of her sundress and into a pair of jeans and a tank top. She slipped on her moccasin slippers before leaving her room in search of something to snack on. She was on her way into the kitchen when she made a small detour when she heard the television on in the children's playroom. Walking into the room she took a seat by Nicky and Alex who were busy watching a Gargoyles cartoon.
"Nicky, when did you get home? I thought you had a play date at Adam's house." She said coming to sit down by her brother.
"I did but Daddy said we couldn't stay and he brought us home."
"Daddy's home?" Lily asked not realizing that her father had gone to pick up her baby brother, he usually just waited for Nicky to come home before seeing after he'd been away for a couple of days.
"My Daddy too." Alex added speaking for the first time that day.
Lily nodded. "Well I'm sorry about you two missing your play date." She ruffled Nicky's hair much to his annoyance as he tried to catch her hand mid-ruffle. "I'll make you a deal if you want, as soon as Mom says that I can go out with Kieran we'll take you both to the park and you can play with his dog. Would you like that?" She offered.
"Yeah!" Both boys exclaimed in unison.
"Good." She smiled as she stood up. "I'm going to fix me a snack do you guys want anything to eat?" She asked to which, both boys exclaimed yeah again. "Alright, then come on let's go see what we can find." She held out a hand for Nicky and Alex and they were off. As they walked down the hallway Lily decided to stop off and say hi to her father. So she arrived at her father's office with both boys in hand only to hear that her father wanted to send her away.
* * *
"Liliana," Chloe started not particularly surprised to see her daughter walk in at the exact moment the conversation turned to her. It was uncanny how that always seemed to happen.
"How can you even think of sending me away Daddy? I only just got back. Geez, this is a little much even for you, I mean sending me away because you don't want me dating."
Philip cocked a brow as he waited for his daughter to finish before speaking. "What no 'Hello Daddy'?" He replied sardonically.
"Not if you want to send me away when I just got back, I'm not. Seriously Daddy, you can't think of sending me away, not now." Alex pulled his hand from Lily's.
"I'm hungry; I thought we're getting a snack Lily." His green eyes implored her with silent dissension.
Lily looked down at the small imp but before she could answer Mimi answered for her. "On that note, Rex and I will take our leave and go feed our hungry boy." Mimi said leaning to pick up her son before grabbing Rex's hand and pulling him out of the office. Knowing that leaving was the quickest way she'd be able to get him home and grill him away with questions.
"Call me when you've decided what we're going do about…" Rex paused glancing a Lily and noting Philip's slight nod he amended what he had been going to say. "The meeting tomorrow." Rex finished and walked behind his wife and child out the room. He stopped by the doorway briefly to kiss Lily's cheek. "Don't be too hard on him kiddo."
"I'll try but I can't promise you anything. See ya' Uncle Rex." Lily replied as she moved out of the way for him to exit. "Bye Meems."
"Bye Sweetie." Mimi called out.
As soon as Rex and Mimi had gone Lily returned to her leaning against the doorway. "Well Daddy, aren't you going to say anything? Nicky and I don't want to go anywhere. We've only been back for two days and you're already trying to get rid of us."
"Lily's that's not true at all. I don't want to send you anywhere. As you've said yourself, you've only just returned home. I'm merely suggesting that you visit with your grandfather on Eixel for a while. When your mother and I went he kept asking, 'where are my Liliana and Nikos?'" He said attempting to emulate Stefano's accent.
Lily laughed at her father's horrid accent of Stefano's as did her younger brother. "Grandpa doesn't sound like that Daddy." Nikos added.
"Well, I almost got it right." He said leaning down to ruffle his son's fine blond hair. He laughed when Nicky pushed his hand away as he made himself eye level with the child. "Are you still mad at me little man?" Nicky shook his head no. "Good I'm glad I couldn't stay for you to be mad at me."
"I'm sorry I got mad, too Daddy." Nicky added solemnly.
"That's okay we all get a little mad sometimes." He leaning in closely and faux whispered, "especially your Mom." Nicky laughed in response.
"Cute, Philip," Chloe said dryly though her eyes were filled with merriment as she observed her husband's playful antics and swatted him.
"So you really aren't planning on spend sending us away?" Lily asked, her eyes hopeful since she really didn't want to leave--especially not with her first date on the future horizon.
Philip stood up and pierced his daughter with his blue-eyed gaze. "Well, not just yet I won't." Before he could say anything more Lily ran into his arms hugging him.
"Oh thank you Daddy. I missed you so much while you and Mama were gone." Lily leaned up and kissed her father's cheek as she wrapped her arms tightly around her.
"Well, I take this means you're actually glad to see me." He added as he hugged her back.
Lily eased out of his arms momentarily. "Of course, I am Daddy. I always miss you when you go away on business trips." Stepping away from him she held out her hand for her brother to take. "In fact I'm even going to help fix dinner tonight for you Dad. Nicky will help me too, in fact." Taking Nicky's hand she led him toward the door. "Come on Nick." She said as she pulled him out of the room.
"Well that was quick. I'm assuming she wants this time to be used for me to tell all you about Kieran because she wants to date him?" Chloe said moving to sit back in front of the chair by the desk. "We'll get to that later because I'm more interested as to why you didn't tell her the truth about what's going on. She isn't stupid, and if you aren't planning on sending her and Nicky to Stefano, I can't imagine Lily won't notice the extra security around to protect her."
"I certainly didn't tell her that I wouldn't send her to Stefano. I simply, said not yet. I've already told everyone to be on guard and to take whatever precautions that they deem necessary. And concerning your public status the extra security around the manor won't be much of a difference to Lily."
"Okay two things Philip," Chloe sighed. "One, you can't not tell Lily about having a bodyguard around her. Which assuming you are planning to do. And another thing I'm not so sure I want to have strange people roaming around the grounds even if it is for extra protection. Besides, what's the point of having this advanced security system if it doesn't do its job?"
"Well I haven't decided if we'll get some extra bodyguards or not. So for Lily that's pretty much out. As for the security system, honey, I'd hope it hasn't escaped your notice that the high-tech system in both Titan and the archives were breached. Therefore, something is obviously wrong with the system either that or our hacker knows something about it that I don't. Either way, I'm not willing to test whether this system holds up or not I want this house to be secured and if I have to hire extra people to do that then I will and there's nothing that will get me to change my mind." Chloe started to protest but Philip stopped her as he knelt before her cupping her face between his palms. "Chloe, you, Lily, and Nicky are the most important people to me in the world and I couldn't live with myself if I let something happen to any of you when there were things I could do to prevent it."
"I understand that Philip but precautions are one thing and losing my privacy is another." She replied taking his hands away from her face.
"Well, what would you have me do then?" He asked as his eyes dulled from their normal bright blue to as dark as the deep ocean at night. "I can't not protect our family, Chloe."
Sighing she nodded. "I know and while I don't like it I know it's for the best. We have to do whatever's necessary to protect our children. So what's the agenda for tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow I'm going to try to talk with everyone – Lucas, Rex, and Shawn – we're going to decide the best way to go about things security wise. I've already talked with my mother, Austin, and Billie. So they know what needs to be done. Where are you going to be tomorrow?"
"I have an early afternoon interview tomorrow. But I'll be here for most of the morning. Why?"
"No reason I'm just trying to figure how things should got tomorrow. Do you know what Lily's up to as well?" He asked looking very thoughtful.
She shrugged. "I'm not sure but I believe she has plans with Michelle tomorrow. You should probably ask her, why?" She asked again this time sure Philip was up to something suspect.
"Well, I'm thinking that maybe we could talk to her into going to see Stefano or —,"
"Not likely. Philip, you should really give up on having her go see Stefano. That's not happening. She's too busy trying to get you to agree to let her go on her first date with Kieran and until she gets what she wants she won't be going anywhere." Chloe told him. "So now do you want to hear about Kieran?"
Philip looked less than happy as he thought about his baby girl dating. He moved to sit back on the corner of the desk as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright let me here it, tell me about boy wonder."
"Cute, Philip." Chloe added. "I don't know why you're so hesitant to hear about this boy, he was actually very sweet when I met him."
"I'm sure he was but, let's be honest Chloe what kind of guy would be a jerk to the mother of the girl he wants to date."
"Besides, you, you mean." She asked brows raised.
"Cute, Chloe."
"I try."
"Anyways, I bet he was probably playing you anyway." Philip added getting back to the point of the whole conversation.
"Oh Philip, you can't honestly believe that can you?" His brow rose in question. "Come on he's just a child, only fifteen years old—,"
"Did you say fifteen?" He asked incredulously. "Now I know for sure he played you."
"How?" Chloe asked surprised.
"He's not fifteen, Chloe."
"What do you mean he's not fifteen? Lily distinctly told me he was fifteen."
"I knew it she played you completely."
Chloe interrupted Philip completely lost. "Wait a minute what are you talking about? Do you know something I don't?"
"Let me ask you one thing, do you know if Kieran has a car?" Philip asked turning back to his desk to pull something out.
"No he can't drive why?" She rose from her chair and moved to get the folder that Philip was holding out for her. "What's this?"
"Now don't get upset," he prefaced as he released the folder for her to open the folder.
She opened the folder and gasped in astonishment. "You had a fifteen year old boy checked out Philip? This is a new low even for you, Philip."
Running his hand through his hair, he sighed. "Just look at the date of birth and you'll see why I had him checked out."
"I can't believe you did this Philip." She glanced down at the date of birth. "So what he, he's a Taurus, she's a Leo it's not that serious." She declared closing the folder.
"The date, Chloe did you see the date?"
She looked down again. "May 5, 2008." Then it hit her. "2008, he's sixteen … he can drive. That little … she lied to me, I can't believe she lied to my face." Chloe declared outraged that her daughter had her completely manipulated.
"Exactly, I figured that our darling daughter, probably had something up her sleeve, which is why we only just found out about him. That's why I had him checked out. Based on that," he nodded toward the file. "And our daughter's previous shenanigans I figured that one she probably wasn't telling us everything there is to know about this boy and two that she would have him groomed to what she knows we would like to see when she finally introduced him to us."
"And I played right into her hand; I can't believe I fell for it. I should have known she would do this." Chloe added handing him back the folder. "So what should our next course of action be with Miss Liliana?"
"Well first I say let's get to know the real Kieran O'Neal and then we can decide to act." He walked over to the door to ensure that Lily wasn't around. Then he shut it and locked it before returning to the file on the desk. Picking up the file he flipped it open and began rely all the information he'd found out about Lily's boy wonder. By, the time he was finished they would know all there was to know about Lily's would-be boyfriend.
* * *
A couple hours later across town, in the Dimera brownstone, Mimi closed the door to Alex's bedroom as she made her way back downstairs to Rex's home office.
When she arrived Rex was still on the phone talking to Philip about the meeting for the next day. "Okay well I definitely agree with Austin and Lucas. We need to get together as soon as possible to discuss what our next plan of action should be. So a conference call tomorrow would be ideal." He beckoned her over to him. Mimi responding by coming behind the desk and settling herself down in his lap. "So I'll be there tomorrow morning. Bye, Philip." He replaced the phone on the hook and pulled his wife back so that her legs were over his.
"You have an early meeting with Philip tomorrow?" Mimi asked bring her arms about his neck.
"Yeah, Philip wants me there to discuss the security precautions again. I don't think it will take all that long though, since we've already taken some precautions. I'm wondering if my loving wife would like to join me for lunch tomorrow after the meeting." He asked smoothing her hair away from her neck as he leaned down to nuzzle it.
She sighed with pleasure at his ministrations. "Well your loving wife would love to but she can't. I'm going to be working tomorrow."
Instantly the ministrations stopped as he lifted his head up. "Working?" He questioned, "On what?"
"It's nothing dangerous if that's what you're worried about. It's a simple background check. I should be finished early. I'd cancel it but Jackie is one of my oldest and best clients. Besides, I agree to do it before the security breaches, it's my job. It's what I do."
Sighing Rex acquiesced. "I know, it's just that with everything going on I'm a little wary about you doing anything to call attention to yourself, P.I. or not."
"Don't worry about me Rex. I'm not doing anything that anything that could get me into trouble."
"Well good. Now, I've since I've been gone for two days, what do you say we go upstairs to finish this conversation?"
"I say definitely but first let make a phone call and check my messages." Mimi added as she rose from his lap. He stood with her.
"Okay," Rex moved from behind the desk with her. "I'll go on up and wait for you. Don't be too long."
"I won't." Mimi kissed him before he left. She waited a couple minutes to ensure he was gone before going back to the desk and dialing the number she remembered by heart. She listened as it rang a total of four times before the answering machine picked up.
"Obviously I'm not home or I can't answer the phone so leave a message. [Beep]"
"Brady it's Mimi … something's happened at Titan and … I'm worried. I need to speak to you so please, call me. [Beep]" She hung up the phone and after pausing for a minute went on upstairs to her bedroom where her husband waited for her.
* * *
"…call me." Brady sat back and listened to the message again. Silently debating what to do; he walked over to the answering machine and pressed delete before opening the screen door and stepping out on the moonlit beach. His decision had been made.
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