Chapter 17
E.J. awoke disoriented and sweating as the blinds he had forgotten to shut in the guest bedroom allowed much too much sunlight in the room for him to sleep any longer.
He rubbed his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed looking down at his rumpled clothes on the floor and remembering the awful night before. He estimated he had slept no more than two hours the previous night as his hurt and regret and confusion failed to relent until he was finally to the breaking point of exhaustion. He recalled getting out of bed at one point and walking all the way down the hall to just outside Sami's door to try and have a conversation and settle things once and for all, but then her words telling him she hated him rang in ears once more and he strode back down the hall to his room without ever knocking. E.J. sighed once as he slid his pants back on and sighed again as he put on his shirt and buttoned it halfway.
Though he was fearful of how Sami might react toward him in the morning, he had to see her again. Even if she gave him days and months of pain for every moment of pleasure, he just couldn't stay away. She was his drug. She was his life. And even worse, he needed to tell her that.
Finally, E.J. summoned the courage to knock on Sami's door but he got no answer. He decided she must be with the twins, but when he went back to the nursery he found the twins sleeping peacefully but their mother nowhere in sight. As he stood over the crib looking down on Sofia and Eric John, he smiled widely – the same smile he had the day he helped Sami give birth to them – but in the back of his mind he couldn't repress the selfish wish that they shared his blood. Sure, he would always love these children because they were Sami's and he was thrilled that he would get to raise them with her, but that didn't take away any of the loss he felt ever since Nick told him that he was not the father of the babies and the family he had never known he had dreamed of until it finally seemed within reach was so quickly ripped away from him.
"And to think last night Samantha was willing to give me that and I was too proud and too concerned with virtuous pretensions to let her try," E.J. said with a bitter chuckle to himself. "You two are lucky you don't have a damned fool like me for a father."
E.J. walked back down the hall to Sami's room, this time knocking harder. When there was no answer, E.J. began pounding on the door.
"Samantha, won't you please let me in?" E.J. pleaded. "We need to talk. Look, about last night, don't worry about it. We can just pretend it never happened if you like. I'm sorry I stormed out the way I did and I'd like to talk to you about it."
Hearing nothing, E.J. felt a wave of panic sweep over him.
"Samantha! Are you there?!" E.J. yelled. "SAMANTHA?!"
E.J. fiddled with the locked door before remembering the bedroom key he had in his pants pocket and inserted it into the lock.
E.J. opened the door slowly and cautiously and quickly deduced why Sami hadn't answered him. She wasn't there.
Kicking away some of the glass from the broken vase from the night before as he stepped in the room, E.J. noticed a pile of wadded Kleenexes on the nightstand next to the bed where Sami had slept and E.J. was filled with a wave of guilt. Not only had he failed to be there to soothe Sami's hurt the previous night, but even worse, once again, he had been the cause of it.
Then, something else caught his eye in the twisted bedding where Sami must've slept the night before. It was a letter.
E.J. picked it up and noticed Sami's handwriting right away and his heart sunk.
"Dear E.J.,
Even after all we've been through, I feel funny leaving you in the middle of the night, but I just don't know any other way to do this and I was afraid what would happen if I told you and that I might lose the courage to do this. I thought I could help my family and endure this loveless marriage for their sake, but I have realized now that I can't and so I won't any longer. It's just too much and I can't handle it so I am leaving and going far, far away. Do not bother trying to find me, because you won't succeed. Please tell my family that I love them and I'll miss them and I am terribly sorry for once again disappointing them, however I'm sure it won't be all that much of a surprise to them.
Yours truly,
Samantha
p.s. Always Notice DeaR EJ How Acting Sorry Means Everything.
After the hurt from reading Sami's initial words of leaving sunk in, E.J. began thinking about the strange post script at the end of the letter.
"No she wouldn't leave this way," E.J. said aloud to himself. "Not without telling me face to face. And certainly not without the twins. Something isn't right."
E.J. reached for the phone on the nightstand and let out a deep sigh before dialing.
"Hello, Salem Police Department? This is E.J. Wells. I'd like to speak with Roman Brady," E.J. said.
Chapter 18
Sami squirmed but was unable to break free of her captor's grasp as she marched forward blindly with her arms tied behind her back and a gun jabbing the side of her rib cage.
"Oh there's no place like home," Andre said with a sinister sneer as he pushed Sami into a chair and finally removed her blindfold.
Sami looked around the cinderblock room and was filled with dread wondering what sort of torture was in store for her as Andre's prisoner.
"What is this place?" Sami asked, though she was afraid of the answer.
"Home sweet home," Andre said incredulously. "You don't listen very well, do you?"
Sami sighed realizing she would get nowhere trying to solve Andre's riddles or participating in his mind games. Still, Andre wouldn't stop taunting her.
He walked forward and leaned over her caressing her cheek with the barrel of his gun menacingly.
"So what do you think of your new accommodations?" Andre whispered.
Sami answered with a swift kick to Andre's groin that had him doubling over in pain. Though the action gave Sami some momentary satisfaction, she grew fearful at her rash response as after Andre coughed and winced and took a moment to compose himself, he got up and pointed the gun straight at Sami.
"That wasn't very bright, Sami!" Andre thundered. "You know I can kill you, don't you? I can pull this trigger right now and end your life? I've killed before and I can do it again!"
Sami blinked hard afraid to look, but at the last second Andre clicked back the safety on the weapon, and put the gun down.
"No, ending your pitiful life isn't worth ending mine as well," Andre muttered.
"What do you mean?" Sami asked.
"I mean… the temporary delight I would get seeing your tiny brain splattered all against that wall does not compare to the permanent repercussions that my killing you would bring for my chances to inherit the DiMera legacy," Andre said bitterly. "So instead I'm going to keep you here where no one will ever find you, and if they do, well, it'll already be too late."
Andre laughed maniacally in appreciation of his plans.
"But my family will find me, Andre," Sami said defiantly. "My dad and my uncle will have the Salem P.D. tracking me here to wherever here is and they'll find a way to save me."
"Really?" Andre asked skeptically. "And just why do you think your family is going to send out a search party for you when they think you've run away from your loveless marriage to my pathetic cousin? Do you think they're dying to see you reunited with E.J. so you two can consummate your marriage or something? That is… if you haven't already."
Sami gritted her teeth in frustration that Andre somehow seemed to know her feelings for E.J. even when she hadn't admitted them to anyone.
"And why would Daddy and Uncle Bo suspect anything else when they think I'm dead?" Andre laughed. "No Samantha, I don't think the Bradys will be much help with this one."
"Well, E.J. will suspect something," Sami said desperately. "He loves me. He'll fight for me. He will move heaven and earth to get me back, if it's the last thing he does."
"Maybe it will be the last thing he does," Andre snickered. "But seriously, Sami, even if he is cursed with love for you why would he chase after you when you have done nothing but repeatedly reject him and now run away from him, especially after last night with you telling him you hate him…"
"You heard that?" Sami said with a shudder.
"Yes, every embarrassing detail," Andre said with a smile. "Some row, you two had last night. You'd think you and E.J. had been married for years. I'm so glad I'm a bachelor."
Sami felt the tears building behind her eyes, but she fought hard to hold them back.
"Well, maybe Lucas will come for me," Sami said meekly. "If he thinks I left E.J. maybe he'll hope there's a chance for him."
"It's funny you should mention Lucas," Andre said.
"What's so funny about that?" Sami asked sniffling.
"You mean besides the fact that you so thoroughly embarrassed Lucas by abandoning him and your marriage to him and are now apparently falling for that man you claim to hate and yet you still expect Lucas to rescue you?" Andre chuckled. "Well, Samantha, what's funny is Lucas is in on you being kidnapped. So you just might get your wish of him coming for you after all."
Sami's mouth gaped so wide at the shock of it all that her jaw nearly scraped the floor.
"Surprised? I knew you would be. You know it's been nice visiting, Sami, but I think I'll give you some time alone to think about all this," Andre said as he punched in a code on some buttons next to the door to open it. "Don't go anywhere."
Sami was momentarily relieved when Andre's maniacal laughter was muffled by the door shutting behind him, but then she was left to wonder how ever she would get out of this mess.
Chapter 19
E.J. crumpled in the letter in his hand as he sat downstairs in the parlor waiting for Roman to arrive at the mansion as the events of the previous night replayed in his mind.
"Why did I have to let my pride and hurt over what Sami said to me get in the way of me protecting her?" E.J. muttered to himself as he teemed with frustration. "I'm such a bloody fool. If only I had stayed with her, if only I had been there with her last night I not only could have made love to her, but I could have stopped this horrible thing from happening. And to think, the one time I make an attempt to be chivalrous for her sake and refuse Samantha's advances, she winds up getting punished for it and kidnapped. Maybe it's God's way of telling me I'm meant to be a selfish bastard."
Chuckling to himself at the thought, E.J. got out of his chair to nervously pace the room before finally he wandered over to the bottle of brandy on the tray. He almost poured himself a glass to help ease his nerves, but as he heard the doorbell ring, he set the bottle down and smoothed out the rumpled letter before heading toward the door.
"Hello, Roman… and Marlena," E.J. said surprised to greet both of Sami's parents at the door.
"Hello, E.J.," Roman said bitterly has he stepped into the parlor. "After I got off the phone with you I gave Doc a call so she also could get a chance to hear exactly what the bastard who took our daughter away from us had to say."
E.J. glared in response to his father-in-law's vitriol, but held his tongue.
"Roman…" Marlena said trying to defuse the situation. "E.J., Roman told me you had some news about Sami."
"Yes. Some dreadful news, I'm afraid," E.J. said extending the note to them. "I want you both to see this. I found it on Samantha's bed this morning. I think she's in trouble."
The two of them held the note and read it. While Roman just shook his head at reading it, Marlena frowned sensing something wasn't quite right.
"Doesn't sound like trouble to me," Roman scoffed. "Doesn't sound all that dreadful either. Good for her leaving you and not looking back. I never wanted her to make this sacrifice and marry you anyway."
"Oh, come on, Roman," E.J. said, throwing his hands in the air in frustration. "Even if Samantha couldn't handle the marriage, do you really think she would leave without telling you and without her children?"
"Well, maybe if you tried to rape her again," Roman seethed.
Again, E.J. glared but gritted his teeth and said nothing.
"E.J., why don't you show us where you found the note?" Marlena asked as she sensed the tension only building between the two men. "Maybe there are some clues to be found there."
"Right, Marlena," E.J. said heading toward the staircase. "That's a good idea. Follow me."
After leading them up the stairs and toward Sami's bedroom, E.J. opened the large door and nonchalantly walked over to the bed to point out where he had found the note.
"Two beds?" Roman said to Marlena upon first entering the room. "Is this where they filmed 'Leave It To Beaver'?"
She gave the joke a polite smile, but Roman and Marlena's jocular moods changed when they both eyed with suspicion the broken glass from the vase on the floor and the still not cleaned up pile of tissues next to the bed, with Roman especially troubled by them.
"So what da hell happened here last night before you found Sami missing today?" Roman asked.
"We had an argument," E.J. said finally realizing how bad the situation looked to the outsiders, but not wanting to elaborate more on exactly what went on for Sami's sake.
"An argument?" Roman said scratching his chin. "And today you found a note saying she ran away? Is that right?"
"Yes but…" E.J. pleaded.
"But nothing," Roman interrupted. "Come on, Marlena, let's go."
"Wait!" E.J. said. "Look, I don't care what you both think of me, but I'm just begging you, for the sake of your daughter, to take this note down to police headquarters and have someone look it over for some hidden message or check it for fingerprints or something. You've just got to help me find her."
"I don't got to do anything for you," Roman said angrily.
"But you do have to do something for your daughter," E.J. said. "You love her, as do I."
"You call your feelings for my daughter, love?" Roman laughed. "More like a psychological disorder."
"O.K., just leave the professional diagnoses to me, will you Roman?" Marlena sighed, again having to play referee. "You know I don't like E.J. being married to Sami any more than you do given what he's done to all of us, especially after him shooting John, but I really don't think Sami would just run away and leave her babies behind this way, do you? If E.J. had hurt her last night, she certainly wouldn't have left the twins with him."
"Thank you, Marlena," E.J. said, nodding in appreciation.
"Don't," Marlena said coldly. "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for my daughter."
"Well, even so, I appreciate that," E.J. said with resignation as he held out the letter to Roman. "And I just want you to know that once we find Samantha, I'll give her a divorce if that's what she truly wants to be happy. Tony and I can put Stefano in a nursing home or something and…
"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it," Roman snickered.
"Oh, come on, Roman," Marlena said. "What do we have to lose just checking this out and trying to find Sami?"
"You're right, Doc," Roman said bitterly, glaring at E.J. as he swiped the note from his hand and headed toward the door. "We've already lost our daughter thanks to him."
Chapter 20
Sitting alone in the cinderblock room with no one to talk to and nothing to do, Sami's mind couldn't help but wander back to the previous evening.
Sami's cheeks flushed just thinking at how strongly and desperately she came on to E.J. and she wished that the intoxicating beverages that had caused her to lose her inhibitions the way they did had also allowed her to black out all memories of that evening, but she had no such luck. From the begging, to the pouting, to the pleading, to the sloppy drunken seduction attempt, she remembered it all.
She also remembered the kisses she and E.J. shared and the way he had held her before he finally pushed her away in agony. Thinking back on it, a part of her got some satisfaction remembering the way he looked suffering because of her and she also chuckled to herself picturing again the way he looked as beads of water dripped over his ears and down the middle of his forehead after she had dumped the cup of water on him.
But then, inevitably, her thoughts veered toward how their night had ended with him storming out after she told him she hated him.
"Nothing could have been further from the truth," she sighed.
Sami's sentimental side did appreciate the way E.J. had tried to do the honorable thing, however her practical one was a bit annoyed.
"Why did he have to pick last night to be honorable?" Sami muttered bitterly to herself. "If he had stayed there and made love to me like I begged him to, Andre wouldn't have been able to kidnap me. Such a noble fool, E.J. was. And he should have known that I truly wanted to be with him."
Of course, Sami knew it wasn't E.J.'s fault for not knowing her true heart. It was hers for not having the courage to tell him when sober as her pride and her hurt feelings wouldn't allow E.J. the satisfaction of knowing how he affected her and how much she needed him just as he did her. She wished she had told him the day they sat in the hospital room holding the babies after she had given birth.
"The babies!" Sami exclaimed. "Oh, I wonder what is to become of the twins if everyone thinks I ran away?"
To Sami's surprise, the door opened with someone giving her an answer.
"The babies are going to be just fine, Sami," Lucas said, entering the room looking a bit crazed, reeking of booze and sporting several days of patchy stubble on his chin. "We're going to be just fine."
"We?" Sami asked. "Lucas, what is going on?"
The last time Sami had seen her ex-husband was at her wedding to E.J. where Lucas had accused her of lusting after E.J. as she claimed to marry him solely because of the feud and he threatened a custody suit. Sami was surprised to see him now so calm and apparently seeking reconciliation, but she realized that the power, money and charm he had to go up against when attempting to take on E.J. must have had a humbling effect on him. Or maybe he was just drunk. He sure smelled like it.
"I'm setting you free, Sami," Lucas said, though he didn't move to untie her hands but simply paced around the room. "Free from your marriage to E.J. See, I came up with this scheme so that you and me and the twins, we can run away together and be a family. I know you're not thrilled about my problem, but this doctor in Mexico has this cure and…"
"You came up with this scheme by yourself?" Sami asked, skeptical given that she had always been the brains of their scheme team operations.
"Well, not exactly," Lucas said. "Someone helped me a little…"
"So Andre was right?" Sami asked. "You were working with him. Unbelievable, Lucas."
"Look, he promised that he would leave us all alone if we went away," Lucas claimed.
"But where does that leave the rest of my family?" Sami asked incredulously. "And just what makes you think you can trust Andre? What does he get out of the deal?"
"Revenge on E.J.," Lucas said. "Simple as that."
"There are lots of ways that Andre could get revenge on him," Sami said. "I think we both know there has to be something more at work here."
"Well, what do you care?" Lucas asked.
"I care a lot. I love E.J. more than anything and I think I always have," Sami said, surprising herself with the words just as much as she did Lucas.
Lucas said nothing for a moment as his cheeks reddened and his eyes squinted as his temper began boiling.
"More than me, obviously," Lucas said bitterly. "And more than these twins, apparently, because since you refused my offer to go away with me, I'm going to see to it you never see them again, Sami. I'm gonna keep them from you the same way you tried to keep Will from me. I tried to give you another chance. I don't know why. You're certainly not worth it. You're still the same selfish, self-destructive, lying whore you always were."
"Oh is that so?" Sami said gritting her teeth and struggling against the rope tying her to the chair as she tried to get up to kick her ex-husband's ass. "Well, I don't know why I ever felt sorry enough for you to give you another chance after Carrie dumped your pathetic ass for Austin. I don't know why I ever let you manipulate me and my sense of obligation to try to give Will the perfect family to try to make a relationship work with you. Because God knows he could never have a perfect family with a bitter, judgmental, insecure, Mama's boy with small man's syndrome like you for a father."
"That's funny, Sami," Lucas said. "Because I was just thinking what a perfect family I'm going to have with these twins that you will never see again and how they won't even remember their pathetic mother. Well, I should really be going. Have a nice life."
"Lucas, wait!" Sami shouted desperately as Lucas pressed the code and exited the cinderblock room. "Don't you dare touch my twins! I'll kill you if you even so much as breathe on them! Lucas!"