Chapter 16

Bo walked up to the Dimera mansion. He rang the doorbell repeatedly and pounded on the door with his fist. He wanted to do the same to Stefano. "Dimera! I know you're in there! Open up!" He continued pounding on the door.

"Can I help you?" Mary opened the door to an angry Bo.

Bo walked past her without responding. He forced his way into the living room. "Dimera!" He hollered out. Stefano was nowhere to be found.

"What is the meaning of this?" EJ walked in behind Bo demanding to know what he was doing in his house. "I just put the children down for their nap. I'd appreciate it if you'd please lower your voice."

"Where's your father?" Bo spat out. "I need to see the old man."

"He's not here." EJ could see Bo was angry and wondered what his father had done this time. "What do you want with him?"

"That's between Stefano and myself. This doesn't concern you, Junior." Bo stormed out of the house. "Where the hell could he be." Bo jumped in his car and sped off. He couldn't believe everything his daughter had been put through. At least now he knew she wasn't under his influence. The video of her on the disc must have been when she was cooperating to keep from being locked in a dungeon. She was pretending to go along with everything. Bo kept driving not knowing where he was headed. His mind kept going over everything Alicia told him about her life. 'Being locked in a dungeon for not wanting to be a trained assassin. I could kill the bastard.' Bo drove on speeding past houses and landmarks. Stefano spent years training his daughter how to kill. He wanted to find him so he could pay him back. Why was he able to get away with everything. Nothing they ever found on him held up in court. He always managed to get away. Bo was going to do everything he could to get Stefano this time. He had hurt too many members of his family.

……

"Mom?" Alicia woke from a nightmare and reached out to find her mother. "Mom?" She sat up in bed and reached for the lamp on the nightstand. She squinted in the bright light gazing around the room to see if her mother was still there with her. Seeing she was alone, she lay back against the pillow pulling the covers up tightly around her neck. The dream seemed so real. She was in her room and Vito had come back for her. He was holding her down and ripping at her clothes. She could feel his weight crushing her. She couldn't get him off. She struggled to get free and then she woke up. Alicia looked over at the window to see if it was still securely locked. There was no sign of anyone having been in the room uninvited. She still couldn't shake the dream nor could she shake the feeling of Vito holding her down. 'I guess I've been attacked to many times by him.' Alicia closed her eyes and thought about her mother's smile trying to erase the dream from her mind.

She drifted back to sleep and dreamed about being at Maison Blanche with her mother. She was sitting on the floor playing with her doll looking up occasionally to watch her mother brush her hair in the mirror. Alicia loved having her mother with her. She wished she could spend more time with her. Stefano kept taking her away from her mother and she didn't like it very much. She didn't understand why she couldn't be with her mother all day.

Hope looked over at her baby girl and motioned for her to come sit on her lap. Alicia jumped up and ran over to her climbing up into her lap and hugging her close. "Would you like me to tie up your hair?" Hope asked her.

"I want to look like you , Mommy." Alicia said peering up lovingly into her mother's eyes.

"You look exactly like me, except for those chocolate brown eyes of yours." Hope laughed as she patted her daughter's cheek. "You have your daddy's eyes." She told her.

"What does my daddy look like?" Alicia asked her mother.

Hope reached over to pull out a picture from the draw in her vanity table. "This is a picture of your daddy. Celeste brought it to me just this morning. She knew how much I missed him. See your daddy Alicia?" Hope pointed to Bo in the picture. It was a photo of the two of them that was taken on the Fancy Face. They were sailing off with Shawn D when the picture was taken.

"Where is my daddy?" Alicia looked up at her mother. "Why isn't he here?" She asked.

"Your daddy is far away from here, but I know he's out there looking for me. When he finds us, we can go home and be a family with your big brother Shawn and your grandparents and aunts and uncles. You are going to love your family, especially your Great Grandma Alice. That's who I named you after. Alicia Grace after Alice Grayson Horton. You have her smile." Hope hugged Alicia close to her. "Someday, you will meet her and know what a great lady she is."

…Alicia slept peacefully remembering her mother holding her close. And feeling more loved than she ever had in her life.

……

Hope was sitting on the couch with Ciara watching cartoons. Hope couldn't help but remember sitting here the same way with Zack watching Mr. Magoo with him. She smiled remembering his laughter. It was close to six and Bo hadn't come home yet. Hope was beginning to worry what had happened to him. He left the house earlier that morning without saying where he was going, although she had an idea where it might be. She checked her cell again to see if maybe she had missed a call from him. 'Where are you Brady?' she thought to herself. It wasn't like him to not check in with her.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Ciara whined. "When is daddy coming home?"

"I don't know baby. I hope it's soon. What do you say we order some pizza?" She asked Ciara.

"Yeah! I want pepperoni." She jumped up and down clapping her hands. Hope laughed at the sight of her joy.

"Okay. I'm going to check on Alicia first. I'll be right back." Hope reached out her hand to stroke the top of Ciara's head and went to check on Alicia. She quietly eased her bedroom door open and peeked in to see if Alicia was asleep. She saw Alicia lying peacefully in bed with a smile across her face. Hope left just as quietly and was returning to the living room when she heard a noise coming from her bedroom. Hope cautiously approached her bedroom door and listened intently at the door. If there had been a sound, she didn't hear it anymore. 'Maybe it was just the wind.' She thought to herself. Everything was as quiet as could be. Hope didn't pay any mind to it and went to call for pizza.

……

Bo was sitting up on the hood of his car looking down at the city lights of Salem. He came to lookout point often when he needed a quiet place to think. He needed to cool off before he went back home. If only Stefano had been home. "Where the hell could he be." Bo had driven around for most of the day trying to get over wanting to kill the old man for what he had done to Alicia. She was an innocent child that he tried to make into one of his soldiers. Bo was furious he hadn't known she existed. He would have done everything he could've to protect her from that monster if only he had known about her. He looked down at his cell to see if he had any missed calls. "Oh damn. No service out here. Hope must be worried sick that I haven't called." He got back in his car and drove until his cell phone came back into service before pulling over to the side of the road. "Hey Fancy Face."

"Bo, where are you? I was getting worried something had happened to you." Hope asked him.

"I'm heading home now. I needed to clear my head. Sorry I didn't call you."

"I tried calling you, but it kept going straight to voicemail. Where were you?" Hope asked again.

"I was up at lookout point. The phone service isn't the greatest up there. I just noticed a few minutes ago my phone was out of service. Sorry about that.' He kept apologizing to her. "Would you like me to pick up something for supper?" He asked her.

"I just ordered some pizza. Ciara was getting hungry and I wasn't sure what time you'd be home. I love you, Brady." Hope cradled the phone against her ear wishing she could reach him to pull him into a hug. He sounded so distant.

"I love you to, Fancy Face. I'll be home in a few minutes." Bo smiled as he hung up the phone. Hope always had a way of making everything seem alright. Just the sound of her voice made him feel better.

……

Hope was in the kitchen getting some plates for the pizza when she heard a sound coming from upstairs. "Maybe Alicia is awake." She placed the plates on the table and ran to check on Alicia. Hope ran up the stairs to Alicia's room and jerked the door open. Alicia was still sound asleep. "Why do I keep hearing noises from up here?" Hope went to her own room to see if anything was disturbed. She didn't find anything out of place, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. Hope heard the front door open and close and Bo hollered that he was home. She checked in on Alicia a second time before returning downstairs to greet Bo.

"What's wrong?" He asked her seeing the worried look on her face.

"I don't know. I keep hearing a noise from upstairs. Alicia is sound asleep and nothing seems out of place, but I can't shake the feeling that something isn't right." Hope worried something bad was about to happen.

"I'll go check on things upstairs. Where's Ciara?" Bo asked looking around for his youngest daughter.

"She was just here a minute ago watching her cartoons. I was in the kitchen setting the table when I heard the noise and ran to check on Alicia. Now that I think of it, I don't remember her sitting on the couch when I ran upstairs to Alicia's room." Hope was panicking now. "Ciara! Sweetie where are you?" Hope raced upstairs to find her baby. "Ciara!" She was becoming hysterical trying to find her little girl.

Bo was right behind her looking around to see if he could spot her. "Ciara!" Bo called out to her.

Ciara came running out of her room at the sound of her parents voices. "I'm right here!" She squealed. "Is it time to eat?" She asked looking up at her parents.

Hope was in tears. She grabbed onto Ciara and hugged her close. "Why didn't you tell Mommy you were going to play in your room?"

"I'm sorry Mommy. Don't be mad." Ciara's bottom lip started quivering at the sight of her mother crying.

"I'm not mad at you, baby. I was just worried when I couldn't find you." Hope wiped away her tears. "It must have been Ciara I heard when I was downstairs." Hope told Bo shrugging off the noise she heard for a second time that night. "I think I'm just jumpy after the break in we had."

"That's understandable with Vito on the loose. Hey I think I heard a car pull up. Must be the pizza guy. What do you say we go eat some pizza?" Bo grabbed Ciara and lifted her to his shoulders carrying her downstairs. The doorbell rang as he reached the bottom step.

"I'll get it." Hope was right behind him. After paying the delivery guy for the pizza, the three of them went to eat. Hope saw the kitchen door swinging open out of the corner of her eye and jumped when Alicia appeared in the kitchen. "What are you doing up?" She asked her.

"I was worried when I heard you both yelling for Ciara. Is she okay?" Alicia asked her.

"I couldn't find her. She was upstairs playing. I'm sorry if I woke you." Hope told her. "Are you hungry? I can fix you something to eat."

"Do you have any plain cheese pizza?" She asked looking at the boxes of pizza on the counter.

"Sure. Have a seat. I'll fix you a plate." Hope grabbed another plate out of the cupboard and placed a slice of pizza on it. "Did you sleep well? I checked on you earlier and you were smiling in your sleep."

"I had a nightmare and I looked for you when I woke up, but then I fell back to sleep and dreamed of a memory of you." She took the plate Hope held out to her.

"Do you want to talk about the nightmare?" She asked her.

"It's the same one I keep having of Vito attacking me." Alicia bit at the corner of her lip. "It just seems so real, that when I wake up I expect to see him there leering at me."

"He's not here and your dad and I will do everything we can to keep him from hurting you again." Hope leaned over to give her a hug. "What was the memory you had?"

Alicia's face brightened into a wide smile. "I was remembering the time I asked you what my dad looked like." She glanced over at her father. "You look the same as you did in the picture she showed me of you."

"I had a picture of your dad? I didn't think I had anything personal with me when I was with you." Hope looked puzzled.

"You told me Celeste had given it to you, because you missed dad so much." Alicia was a little saddened her mother didn't remember everything yet. She wished she did so she could at least share those memories with her in the "remember when?" kind of way.

"Celeste? Oh my god. I completely forgot she was there too." Hope looked over at Bo to see the stunned look of comprehension dawning on his face. "She knew about Alicia. She never mentioned anything to either one of us. Why?" Hope was upset. Celeste should have mentioned Alicia to her when her memories had returned and she knew who she was. Why hadn't she?

"Is she back in town? I'd like to find out why she kept that little known fact from us." Bo got up to call Abe.

"Mom?" Alicia didn't know what was going on. "Celeste has been in Salem?" She asked her.

"Yes. She's a friend of the family." She told her.

"A friend? She worked for Stefano. How could she be a friend?" Alicia thought it was strange her mother would consider Celeste a friend when she never helped to free them from Stefano.

"Alicia. A lot has changed since I was held captive by Stefano. Celeste always took good care of us. She was under Stefano's power as well."

"She worked for him!" Alicia couldn't understand how her mother could consider her a friend. She was getting aggravated.

"Alicia, calm down. You shouldn't be getting so upset." Alicia was turning red. Hope didn't want her to end up back in the hospital. "Look whatever she did or didn't do, it's in the past. There's nothing we can do to change that." Hope tried to calm Alicia. "Alicia, please, you need to calm down. We'll get to the bottom of this, but you need to think about your health right now."

"I just don't get how you could be her friend?" Alicia stated, but saw how worried her mother was about her, so she did her best to relax.

……

Hope lay in Bo's arms, her head resting against his chest, gently twisting his chest hair in her fingers. It had been a long day for all of them. She still felt uneasy after finding an intruder in their house.

"What are you thinking about?" Bo asked Hope.

"Everything." She looked up at his face and reached over to kiss him. "I hope Celeste gets the message from Abe to call us as soon as possible. I want to know why she kept Alicia from us."

"You're not going to get any sleep if you keep going over everything that happened today. Why don't you place those gorgeous lips back on mine and I'll make you forget about everything." Bo pulled Hope onto him as his lips caught hers in a long passionate kiss. His hand reached up to grab her hair in his hands and he rolled over pulling her under him as he did. "Are you thinking about anything now?" He asked her laughing playfully.

"Just that you need to finish what you start. Get back over here Brady." Hope pulled him back down to her lips. "Make love to me Brady." Her voice came huskily in his ear.

Bo peeled her clothes off trailing her body with kisses sending tingles along her spine as he did. He met her mouth again and gently nibbled at her upper lip.

Hope placed her hands on Bo's chest feeling the hard muscles play beneath them. Her mind drifted away from the events of the day with every touch and every kiss Bo gave; her body arching in response beneath his. They continued making love through the night. Their bodies moving in unison.

The morning light rose across their entangled bodies as they lay comfortably in each others embrace. Hope stretched her body rousing Bo in the process.

"Hey Fancy Face. Did you just wake up?" He asked pulling her body closer to his and kissed the back of her neck. "I was having this great dream of you and I making love.""It wasn't a dream." She turned to face Bo and started kissing him. "Did it go something like this?" She ran her hands down his chest and slowly back up again. Her mouth drawing a passionate kiss from his before moving down to his chest. "What time do you have to be to work?" She looked up seductively from his chest.

"Trying to get rid of me?" He laughed. Bo reached out to run his finger across her lips and followed with his mouth. They made love again before getting up to shower and change.

……

Alicia slept fretfully through the night. She could feel his eyes watching her making her uncomfortable. She woke continuously gazing around the dark room for signs of Vito. Why did she feel as though he were in the room with her? She couldn't see him, nor did she hear any sounds. It was just a feeling that she had he was there with her in the room. She wondered if she should call out to her parents. Would they think she was acting childishly? She tossed and turned going from one dream to another; all of them being of Vito grabbing her and holding her down. His mouth pressed against hers making her feel sick inside. She woke from the nightmare crying softly into her pillow. She didn't want to worry her parents over a nightmare. Alicia heard movement coming from inside the closet. Was she just imagining it? She was too afraid to move to find out. The closet door slowly eased open; Alicia's eyes grew large. She tried to scream, but her voice came out barely above a whisper.

Vito crossed the room to her bed in quick strides. He reached out and grabbed her mouth with one hand, grabbing her by the waist with the other and pulled her to her feet. Alicia kicked at him in futile attempts. He dragged her to the bedroom door, easing it open listening intently for any sound. Alicia tried kicking him again. He gripped her tighter to his body and pulled out a gun. He placed it at her temple. "Make one sound and I'll kill you." He whispered into her ear. Vito dragged her out of the room and made his way down the stairs. He turned off the alarm and opened the front door. He had been in the house for hours spying on the family; biding his time until he could escape with Alicia.

Alicia made a last attempt to get away. Vito was too strong for her. She didn't know what to do. She grabbed at his arm clawing it with her fingernails. She could see blood forming where she scratched and fall in large drops to the ground. She noticed a planter on the ground and kicked it over with her foot.

Vito was angry with her. When he heard the planter crash over and shatter, he grabbed Alicia and slung her over his shoulder. She let out a small scream. Vito raced to the street where his car was parked hidden from view of the house. He opened the driver side door and shoved Alicia inside, climbing in next to her before she had a chance to escape out the passenger side door. He started the car and sped off as the sun was just beginning to climb over the horizon.

……

Hope emerged from the bathroom first, going to check on Ciara and then Alicia. Ciara lay snuggly in her bed, snoring softly in the morning light. Hope bent down to kiss the top of her head before turning to go to Alicia's room. She felt bad for not looking in on Alicia during the night. She knew she was still recovering from the surgery. Hope noticed the bedroom door was open and looked in to find Alicia's bed empty. She thought it was odd that Alicia would be up so early. She left to go downstairs to see if maybe Alicia was on the couch or eating breakfast. Bo was coming out of their room as she walked by.

"Alicia still asleep?" He asked her knowing she had probably gone to check on their daughters.

"No. Her bed is empty. She must be downstairs." Hope walked down the steps with Bo right behind her. She glanced over at the couch before pushing the kitchen door open. "She's not here." Hope turned to Bo. "Where could she be?"

"You sure she wasn't upstairs? Maybe in the bathroom?" He asked.

"There was no one in the bathroom. She wasn't in her room either." Hope was starting to panic. She knew there was something wrong last night. If only she had listened to her gut. They both searched the house from top to bottom, but there was no sign of Alicia. Her closet door stood open. Hope looked inside to see if anything was missing. She knew Alicia was upset over Celeste and thought maybe she might have run off on them. None of her clothes were missing. She and Bo went back downstairs to check for signs of a struggle or even a break in.

Bo walked over to the front door to see if the alarm was still set. He jerked open the front door when he realized someone had turned off the alarm. Bo noticed the planter lying in broken pieces on the walk. He bent down to look at the mess for clues and found several dried up spots of blood on the ground. "Hope, you might want to radio in for backup. I think Alicia was kidnapped."

Hope's face paled. "No! Tell me she isn't missing!" Her eyes pleaded with Bo's. "I promised her we wouldn't let anything happen to her.