Chapter 24

At first Carly thought she was seeing things but as they walked a little faster, she realised it was no mirage... a gas station! To their great disappointment, it was closed with no sign of anybody about but a few yards away from it was the blessed sight of a lighted phone booth.

'A phone!' Ciara cried with joy and relief. 'We can call Daddy!'

Oh God... please let the thing be working, Carly prayed as they hurried to it. Grabbing the receiver, she silently gave fervent thanks as she heard the reassuring sound of the dialling tone.

::::::::::::::::::

'The insults don't come easy all of a sudden, huh Kiriakis?' Frankie Brady taunted at the frozen look on Victor's face.

'Frankie, what are you doing here?' Hope demanded, startled by his presence and confused at his words. 'What...'

'Don't you speak to me.' Was the rude answer. 'I have nothing to say to you.'

'Son...' Caroline began tentatively. 'Lord knows you have every reason to be angry...'

'You have no reason to call me son any longer, after the way you and your family's treated my sister! You should've stopped to remember that any insult to her was an insult to me. But why am I wasting my breath; obviously the Bradys and the Hortons are so bloody close-knit that there's no room for outsiders like Carly and Frankie Von Leuschner, huh?' he spat.

Hope stared incredulously at Bo and the rest of the discomfited people in the room; her eyes resting on Jennifer who blushed a deep red. Frankie, her once great love was Carly's blood brother... Bo's ex was Frankie's sister...all this time, no one had told her!

'Now Frankie hold on, you can't just talk to Mum like that...'

'You go to hell!' Frankie snarled at Kayla, both his tone and glint in his eyes so fierce that she was taken aback. 'What gives you the right to tell me what to do? And you... ' he walked towards Bo menacingly. 'How dare you use my sister as some sort of stand-in to warm your bed!'

'Frankie, it wasn't like that...' Bo's neck almost snapped out its socket from the impact of Frankie's fist landing on his jaw.

'Frankie, stop it!' Caroline cried as Roman, Brady and Steve dived at him before he could hit Bo again.

'Frankie...

Frankie swiftly wrestled himself from their grip. 'Did your son stop to regard her feelings at all after he abandoned her and you all just gathered back together like nothing happened! After everything she did for this family, you absolutely got no excuse! Especially you Bo! She's never loved any man but you; you!'

Bo rubbed his sore jaw, meeting Frankie's blazing eyes steadily. 'I hurt her terribly and I'm sorry for it, believe me I am.' Hope swallowed hard, wishing from the bottom of her heart she was elsewhere. 'But once we find her and Ciara, I swear I'm going to...'

'You will not have the chance to do anything; because I'm taking my sister away from here, far away from you and your family. You toyed with her emotions and I'm never going to forgive you for it. And don't expect me to forget what you all did, either; I don't regard myself as part of this family any longer; just you remember that.' He turned to Victor again. 'and by the way Victor, you do anything to harm Carly after she's found and I'll show I'm more than capable of protecting my sister from the likes of you.'

'Your sister's hurt my daughter.' Hope spat before Victor could speak. 'You and Bo have something in common; neither of you care about Ciara; it's all about Carly!'

'Oh, go to hell you narcissistic dingbat!'

'All right that's enough!' Bo shouted, finally losing his temper.'Right now Carly and my daughter are out there somewhere and we have to stay calm and pray they're safe! We'll settle our differences later, understand? Not another word, Victor... or I won't be responsible for my actions! Either shut up or get the hell out!'

Victor could do nothing but glower at him. Hope and Kayla maintained sullen, subdued silence; Roman and Steve looked very embarrassed while Maggie and Caroline gave Frankie imploring looks which he ignored as he stalked out of the room. Melanie, Nicholas and Frankie's wife Audra who'd been silent during the confrontation hurried after him.

'Frankie, Frankie wait!' Jennifer ran after them and they stopped.

'Please...' she begged. 'You have every reason to be angry, you do! But don't cut them out of your life, they're still your family!'

'Carly and her children and my wife are my family and I cannot believe you are sticking up for those people.' Frankie said coldly.

'They made a mistake, everybody does.' She insisted, glancing at Nicholas who evaded her eyes.

'They knew what they were doing and I refuse to believe otherwise. Even Maggie added her bit and she's your aunt. This is not open for discussion, Jennifer; it's done. Have Brady call us at The Cheating Heart if there's any development, I can't stand being in the same room with them.'

Jennifer's heart was heavy with sorrow as she watched Carly's family walk away. Will things ever be the same again? She thought as she turned back.

::::::::::::::::::::::

The police phone operators alert Bo; Ciara was on the line. Ordering them to start a trace, Bo put one of the phones on his desk on speaker as everyone hurried forward to listen in.

'Mummy?'

'Sweetheart... oh thank God!' Hope sobbed with relief. 'are you alright... are you hurt?'

'No, no... is Daddy there? Daddy?'

'I'm here little one. Where's Carly?'

'She's here... she's hurt bad; somebody shot her...'

'Shot?' Brady exclaimed in horror.

'Oh my God...' Jennifer moaned in distress.

Ignoring themBo urgently instructed, 'Sweetie, give the phone to Carly.'

Hope glared at him but he didn't notice. 'Princess?'

'Bo.' Carly's voice sounded weak and tired.

'What happened? Where are you?'

'I don't know. Ciara happened to be with me when somebody grabbed us at the hospital's parking lot. Apparently Vivian paid him to kill me.'

'He shot you?'

'On the arm... it's nothing.'

Everyone in the room distinctly heard Ciara's disbelieving snort.

'How the hell did you get away?'

Hesitation before Carly replied firmly, 'We managed to get away, but my car broke down and we walked all the way here; I'm not sure where we are...'

'Well don't worry, somebody's coming over to pick you up. Just stay where you are and then...'

Ciara suddenly shrieked. 'Carly, she's coming!'

Carly turned to see a car descending on them, the lighted interior revealing Vivian leaning forward from the back seat, sneering at them. Carly seized Ciara and fled a few seconds before the car crashed into the phone booth.

'Run, run!' Carly shouted. Bo, help us!

'What's happening... Ciara!' Hope shrieked frantically. 'Ciara!'

'Ciara, Carly!' Bo shouted, his blood running cold with fear.

Carly and Ciara ran for their lives, not looking back yet aware of the roaring car chasing them. Leaning out the window, Vivian fired and Ciara screamed with fright as a bullet whizzed past her ear.

'Over there, quick!' They ran into the woods and kept on running...