Chapter 2

"Hope? Have you been up all night?" Bo asked Hope as he came down into their living room and saw her curled up on the sofa drinking a cup of coffee.

"I night have dozed off a few times during the night." She said smiling up at him as he bent over to kiss her forehead.

"We're going to find her."

"Alive? You know how bad the crime rate has been lately. Just last week we found three bodies of young girls around Alicia's age that had been raped, beaten and strangled to death, I don't want to see another dead body of yet another young girl."

"Hope, I know It's hard dealing with this job at times, but Alicia will be found. . . Alive."

"How do you know? Do you have a crystal ball in there that I don't know of? Have you had a premonition?"

"No. Hope. I just know she'll be found. I don't know why, but I feel this connection to her. Maybe it's part of whatever is happening to me with these visions, but I just know she's okay." Bo sat beside Hope pulling her into his embrace. "We'll find her. I promise."

"Where are you going?" Hope asked as Bo pulled away from her.

"I was just going to check in with the station to see if there's any news.""I already did right before you came down." She said.

"Oh okay. Anymore of that coffee in the kitchen?" He asked pointing at the almost empty cup Hope held in her hands.

"Yes. I just made a fresh pot. Would you mind refilling mine?" She asked flashing him a smile.

Bo went into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. He reached into the cupboard for a mug when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Bo stopped what he was doing and walked over to the window to see what was moving. He noticed the shed door was open and banging in the wind. 'I know I latched that door. Who opened it?' He wondered as he crept outside to the shed to peer inside. "What the?" Bo walked over to a pile of blankets on the ground and nudged it with his foot. The blankets began to stir as a dark haired girl emerged from beneath them in the form of Alicia. "What the hell? How'd you get in here?" Alicia rose to her feet and made to run out the door, but Bo caught her arm keeping her from going any further.

"Let me go!" She hollered.

"I've got twenty of my men out looking for you. Why did you run off and what are you doing in my shed?" He asked.

"I needed a place to crash." She sneered at him.

"What's wrong with the women's shelter?" He asked.

"I couldn't go there."

"Why not?"

"I just couldn't."

"It's a safe haven for women. You would get a hot meal and a comfortable bed to sleep in instead of a dirty cold floor."

"I told you I couldn't go there." She said trying to wriggle free.

"So you decided to crash here instead?" He said grabbing hold of Alicia's other arm and turning her to face him.

"Yes." She yelled.

"Why couldn't you go to the shelter? What are you hiding?" Alicia eyed the door again trying to free herself from Bo's grasp. "Don't even think about it. You ran off once on me, I won't let that happen again until I get some answers from you." He told her. "Now tell me why you couldn't go to the shelter. Are you running from someone? We can either do this here or down at the station"

"There are some bad people after me. I couldn't go to the shelter because that is the first place they would look for me." She answered fearful of being dragged to the police station where Stefano could find out she was here in town.

"People after you. Why didn't you say something last night? I'm a cop I could help you." He relaxed his grip on Alicia.

"No you can't. No one can." She stated emphatically. "Let me go now. I told you what you wanted so I can go now right? I need to go." She said still trying to wriggle out of Bo's grasp.

"I know you don't know me, but I can help. Who are these people that are after you? Do you know their names? I could have a sketch artist draw them based on your description."

"No. It doesn't matter. You can't help me. And they won't stop until they find me. I have to remain a moving target, so let me go!" She said raising her voice.

"Where are you going to go? Look, why don't you come inside, have something to eat, freshen up a bit and we can talk; try to figure this out."

"There's nothing to figure out. They're after me and they aren't going to stop looking for me until they find me and bring me back."

"Bring you back? Where? Are you a runaway? Did you lie to us?" He asked looking puzzled now.

"No. I already told you I'm not a runaway. I have to go now."

"Why don't you come in and get cleaned up. A nice breakfast will give you the energy you'll need to run. Now let's go. I insist." Bo propelled Alicia forward leading her to the kitchen door at the back of the house.

"Bo?" Hope was calling from the living room. "Is everything alright? I thought you were just getting some coffee. Where did you go?" She said as she opened the kitchen door stopping in her tracks at the sight of Alicia.

"I told you we'd find her alive."

"At least for now." Alicia mouthed under her breath.

"Where did you find her?" Hope asked Bo. "Where did you go?" Hope's gaze now directed at Alicia. "Do you have any idea how many people were out looking for you?"

"I found her sleeping on the floor in our shed."

"I just needed a place to crash for the night since your officer wouldn't let me sleep in the park." Alicia mouthed off. "I knew you'd be looking for me, so I thought the best place to crash would be right under your nose where you wouldn't even think to look."

"Cute. We got ourselves a little smart aleck." Bo said to Hope.

"She sure is a feisty one." Hope said. "Are you hungry? I could fix you some breakfast."

"Umm….why are you being so nice to me. I mean it's obvious you don't remember me…um I mean don't know me." She said trying to cover her slip of the tongue.

"Remember?" Hope asked her eyebrows arched. "Do I know you?" She asked Alicia.

"What? I meant you don't know me so why do you even care about who I am or where I was last night?" Alicia asked.

Hope cut her off. "I just wanted to know if you were hungry. We can save the inquisition until after you eat and get cleaned up. You can use the upstairs shower if you want. Oh and by the way, all the windows are rigged with an alarm system so don't try sneaking out again." Hope told her directing her to the bathroom. "I'll fix you some eggs and bacon."

"Bacon and eggs? I'm a vegan." She shot back at her.

"Oh sorry. I didn't know. Or should I have? Maybe you weren't lying about me not remembering you. You seem to think I should. Is that the case? Should I know who you are?" She asked again.

"No! Why should you? You don't know me." She turned to go upstairs to shower. 'But you should.' She muttered under her breath. 'Why don't you remember? What did Stefano do to you?'

"What was that?" Hope asked her as she followed Alicia up the stairs. "Did you say something?"

"No."

"I must be hearing things." She said rolling her eyes. "The shower is right through this door. There are some clean towels in the closet. I'll find some clothes for you to wear."

……..

"There is definitely more to her story than meets the eye Brady." Hope said returning to the living room.

"I agree. Apparently there are some 'bad people' after her. She's running from someone. She just wouldn't tell me who."

"She seems to think I should know her. She seems almost angry with me that I don't."

"Do you know her?" He asked.

"No. At least I don't think I do. She doesn't look familiar to me. However, I've seen so many faces in the past few weeks of the family members to those girls that it's possible I may have met her. But it can't be that. How would I even know she's a vegan? This doesn't make sense. Plus last night she said she has no family. I don't get it."

Bo placed his arm around Hope's waist. "We'll get to the bottom of this as soon as she gets back down here. For now, let's get some grub. What do vegans eat? Ugh! A life without meat. Who would want to live like that? Doesn't sound to tempting." He laughed as he went to the kitchen to start making breakfast. "You coming?" He turned back to Hope.

"I think I'll wait here for Alicia to make sure she doesn't sneak out the front door. I think there's some wheat bagels in the cupboard. Alicia will like that." Hope paused. "How do I know that? Is it possible that I do know her and just don't remember?" She asked Bo looking puzzled. "I mean it just popped into my head that she eats wheat bagels. How could I know that?"

"Ummm are you getting premonitions now too?" He jokingly asked.

"Very funny Brady. No. I just don't know how I know that." Hope said trying to figure it out. "I must know her from somewhere. Could she be a friend of Chelsea's maybe? I mean she has had friends over here before. It could be possible that she's one of her friends from college."

"I don't think so." He said biting at his fore finger.

"Why not?" Hope asked.

"Well, we told Chelsea what her name was last night and she didn't mention that she knew an Alicia. I don't think that's it." A vision stopped Bo in his tracks. ….A loud crash. Dust and smoke. Someone crying. A collapsed ceiling.

"Bo?" Hope was standing next to Bo trying to get his attention. "You had another vision, didn't you?" She asked already knowing the answer. "What was it about?"

"I don't know."

"Come on Brady. When are you going to trust me with what you're seeing?" She asked him.

"I do trust you, Fancy face. I just don't know what it's about. It was all jumbled." He told her feeling frustrated over not knowing more.

"Well why don't you try telling me what you saw and maybe I can help you figure out what it all means."

"Are you talking about me?" Alicia interrupted having returned from her shower. "Thanks again for the clean clothes."

"You're welcome. What we were talking about doesn't concern you." Hope replied. "Are you hungry?"

"Do you have anything I can eat?" Alicia sneered.

"I think we can manage to find you something." Hope pointed her to the kitchen and found the bagels. "Will these do?" She asked sarcastically.

"Sure. Whatever." Alicia sat at the table nervously playing with the corner of the placemat. "So when do the questions start? Before or after my last meal?" Alicia looked at Hope questionably.

"Look, I know you think we're the bad guys here, but we're not. Bo and I are just trying to help you." Hope reached for Alicia's hands and held them. "Sweetheart, we're not trying to scare you. I'd really like to help you if I can. Why don't you start by telling us who these people are that are after you."

"He told you?" She asked Hope looking angrily at Bo. "I told you there's nothing you can do. They'll keep looking for me and won't stop until they do. I'm better off on my own."

"No you're not. We can help. Just tell us who the people that are after you are. Bo and I are both cops. You'll be protected." Hope tried to coax her into telling them everything.

"No I won't. You can't protect me now anymore than you did then. He's pure evil. You can't stop him. He's already gotten to you once before. He's obviously done something to you for you not to remember. You can't help me!" Alicia was screaming now. She began shaking from the fear of Stefano and what he'd done to both of them.

"Who? What do you mean he's already gotten to me. Who are you talking about, Alicia?" Hope tried to calm her down, but nothing worked.

"It doesn't matter. You can't help me and you can't stop him." Alicia was in tears trembling in her seat. She couldn't control the anger and the hurt anymore. She wanted her mother, but she didn't remember. She didn't know what to do.

"Alicia? Who is this person? What is it that I don't remember? Talk to me. I can help you but only if you trust me enough to tell me what's going on."

"You can't! Don't you get it? You'll never be able to stop him. He won't let you." Alicia bolted for the door and managed to get away from Bo and Hope. She kept running and didn't look back. The tears streamed down her face. After running for what seemed like an hour, Alicia spotted an abandoned mill and ducked inside. She found a corner and sat and cried. "I need you Mommy!"

…Back at the Brady's…

"Did you find her?" Hope asked Bo as he returned back to the house.

"No. I've looked everywhere. I don't know where she could've gotten to. I saw her run into the woods, but I couldn't catch up to her. There aren't too many places where she could have gone from there. I've got my men out looking for her now."

"I'm really worried Bo. I called Aunt Maggie to come and baby sit Ciara. I want to go look for Alicia."

"Do you have any idea of what she meant? It's obvious she knows you. The one evil person that springs to mind is Dimera." Bo said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. I don't know what she meant, but those missing years are the only times that I have lost memories from. Is it possible that she was at Maison Blanche with me?"

"We won't know anymore until we find her and get some answers. I'm going to head back out now and look for her. I'll keep in touch with you. Call me when Maggie gets here and I'll let you know where I'm at and where I've already looked." Bo left the house again in search of Alicia. "Kid what's your story? I've got a bad feeling about this."