Bo picked up his cell phone and looked at the caller ID before hitting the button that said ignore and sending the call to his voicemail. He had neither the desire nor the inclination to talk to his soon-to-be ex-wife. He knew it would be the same conversation they had already had 50 times. She wanted to work things out now that he had filed for divorce. He also knew she would want to know where he was and what he was doing here. He looked over at Carly, who was still unconscious, and knew that telling Hope about her would be tantamount to putting up a billboard telling Larry where Carly was.
Bo had always known that Hope was very sensitive and extremely jealous of his relationship with Carly. She had sensed that he never stopped loving Carly and that his love for Carly ran very deep. But even though she was so touchy about Carly she had, to the outside world, always dismissed his relationship with Carly as a rebound. She would never admit that Bo had truly loved this woman. Hope had also asserted her belief that he would have left Carly they way he had left Billie.
Bo, however, knew that had he and Carly still been together when Hope came crashing back into his life he would never have left her. He wouldn't have left Carly for any reason back then and he wouldn't leave her now. Bo was brought out of his thoughts by the buzzing of his cell phone, which was on vibrate. Thinking it was probably Hope calling again, Bo almost hit the ignore button without looking at the caller ID but saw his son's name before he could do so. He answered the phone as he stepped out the front door, where he had been standing looking at the late summer sun shining through the trees.
"Hey, son."
"Hi, Dad."
"How's the sail around the world going? Where are you this time?"
"Sydney, Australia."
"That's a beautiful city. Friendly people."
"Yeah. Listen dad I need to tell you something."
"What? Are you OK?"
"I'm fine dad. And before you get worried Belle and Claire are fine too."
"Good. OK, so then what do you want to tell me?"
Bo waited but Shawn didn't say anything for a moment. "Shawn?" Then he heard his son take a deep breath.
"Dad you might want to sit down. I know I had too when I heard."
"Son, you're starting to scare me. What's going on?"
"Well, I really don't know how to say this."
"Say what? Shawn you know you can tell me anything."
"I know, dad. It's just so hard to say. And I know it will be hard for you to hear."
"Just say it. When it's something difficult that you know no one will want to hear you just say it. It's like ripping off a band-aid. Best to do it quickly."
"OK. It's about Carly."
"Carly? That's a name I haven't heard from you in a very long time."
"Well I ran into Nicholas yesterday and he told me something that I knew you would want to know."
"What is it? What about Carly?"
"She's dead, dad."
"What?" Bo was shocked. Moments ago when his son had mentioned Nicholas, he figured that Shawn was calling him to let him know that Carly had been kidnapped and was missing.
"Nicholas told me that she was in a car accident a few weeks after they left Salem. He said she was in a coma for a couple of weeks and then she died as a result of her injuries."
Bo just listened. He was shocked that Nicholas thought his mother was dead and had apparently been told that within the two months after he and Carly had left Salem with Lawrence.
"Dad? Are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'm OK. So Nikki said that Carly died right after they left Salem?"
"Yeah. He asked me to tell him about Carly because I spent more time with her than he did."
"Why didn't he ask Lawrence?"
"I asked him that and he said that he didn't talk to his father very much. Nicholas also said after Carly died that Lawrence completely erased her from their lives. He wasn't allowed to talk about her or to have any pictures of her or anything that was hers."
Shawn noticed that Bo had gone silent again and also noted that his father hadn't seemed upset at all upon hearing that his former fiance, a woman he knew his dad had loved more than any other, had died shortly after ending their relationship.
"I don't understand dad."
"You don't understand what?"
"Why aren't you upset about Carly's death?"
Bo knew he couldn't fake the emotions he would have if he had found out Carly was really dead and he knew he couldn't lie to his son about it.
"Shawn, I need to tell you something now. Maybe you should be sitting."
"What is it dad?" Shawn's voice was suddenly wary.
"Before I tell you I want your promise that you won't tell anyone what I am going to tell you."
"Dad…"
"Shawn, I need you to promise. It's very very important that you know that you can NOT tell anyone about this."
"OK. I promise."
"Carly isn't dead, son." Bo said quietly as he looked through the window at Carly.
Bo held his breath as he waited for a reaction from his son. When he was just greeted with silence he spoke quietly into the cell phone.
"Shawn?"
"What do you mean she's not dead?" came Shawn's voice. His tone was cold as steel. Bo knew that an explosion was forth coming and prepared himself.
"I mean exactly what I said. She isn't dead. In fact I'm looking at her right now."
"WHAT?!" Shawn's voice boomed through the cell phone causing Bo to jerk it away from his ear before going deaf as his son yelled. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON DAD?"
"Stop yelling and I will try to explain."
"Fine. Explain."
"About a week ago I received a letter from Carly. Basically, it said that Lawrence has been holding her hostage and torturing her all these years. She wasn't asking me to help her, she was asking me to help someone else."
"Who?"
"I can't tell you that yet son. One I don't really know myself. Your uncle Shane is helping me find the person Carly wanted protected. And two it may be too dangerous for you to know details."
"Why don't you just ask Carly who this person is?"
"She's unconscious. A couple of days after I got the letter we rescued her from Larry's compound in the middle-east. She was already unconscious and she hasn't woken up yet."
"First of all who is the 'we' that rescued her? Second what happened to her? And third what about her son dad? He thinks she's dead."
"We refers to myself, Shane, John, Justin, Abe, Marcus Hunter, and your Uncle Roman. Shane sent some of his men into take her. Any of us would have been to recognizable."
"OK. And what happened to Carly? Why is she unconscious?"
"It seems that before Shane's men got inside, Larry beat the crap out of her. She was unconscious when they found her and she hasn't woken up yet. And as for Nicholas. I had no idea that he thought she was dead. When you called and said you had to tell me something about Carly, I thought you were going to tell me that you had heard she was kidnapped."
"Dad, we need to tell him that she's alive."
"We can't son. Not yet."
"He deserves to know dad."
"I know he does. And he will but I think we should wait until she wakes up and see how she wants to deal with it all."
"But she's OK?"
"I don't know son. Marcus said she should have woken up by now."
Shawn could hear the fear and concern in his dad's voice and knew that his dad still loved Carly.
"I'm sure she will be alright. She managed to survive everything that Grandpa threw at you guys all those years ago."
"Yes, she did and she has survived living with Larry all these years. God only knows what all he has done to her. She will be OK, Shawn, I know she will."
"What if she doesn't wake up dad?"
"Don't say that. She will. We have to keep hoping and praying for her."
"I'll pray for her dad."
"Thanks, son. And remember don't tell anyone about this."
"Can I tell Belle? I don't like keeping secrets from her."
"Yeah you can tell Belle. But make sure you swear her to secrecy and that when you tell her little ears aren't where they can hear."
"I'll make sure Claire can't hear and I'll make Belle promise not to say anything."
"Good."
"Dad?"
"What?"
"Have you told mom about this?"
"No. And you can't say anything about this to her."
"Won't she notice that you are spending a lot of time at the hospital? Not to mention you know how fast news travels in Salem. She's bound to hear that Carly is back, shouldn't she hear it from you?"
"We aren't at the hospital and we aren't in Salem."
"Where are you? And who is taking care of Carly?"
"I can't tell you where we are but we are someplace safe. And I'm taking care of her. Marcus left me enough supplies and detailed instructions on her medications and stuff."
Bo turned around at the sound of an approaching car and smile as he saw his older brother's car making its way up the old path to the cabin.
"Listen son, I have to go. Just remember you can't tell anyone other than Belle."
"I know dad. I promise I won't"
"OK. I love you son."
"I love you too dad."
"Give Belle and Claire hugs from me and please pray for Carly."
"We will dad. We will."
Bo snapped his cell phone shut as Roman got out of his car and looked around at the cabin and trees around him. Bo headed towards the car as Roman began to remove what looked like an entire closet full of clothes in various bags and boxes.
Inside the cabin, Carly's eyelids fluttered open. Her vision was dull and blurry and she couldn't tell where she was. There was no sound around her and she couldn't focus her eyes in order to determine her location. She knew only that she wasn't in the small room Lawrence held her in anymore. With this little bit of information easing her mind slightly, Carly closed her eyes again as her mind drifted back into the void of unconsciousness and away from the horrors of reality and the nightmare that her life had been for so long.
