CHAPTER 16

'All this time, all this time Carly's been alive all this time... and that woman just sat back and watched Bo... watched us all grieve!' Billie said angrily, in a flash remembering how devastated Bo had been that fateful day. She'd followed him to the rented mansion, terrified of what he might do to himself in a desperate moment, heard a noise above and ran up the stairs to find him thrashing the master bedroom he'd shared with Carly.

'Bo! Stop it, please stop!' she pleaded as he swept a vase of flowers off a table.

'Leave me alone, okay?' snarled Bo, upturning a chair, before sitting on the bed, rage and grief written all over his face.

'What are you doing here anyway?' he asked, not looking at her.

'I... I just came here to help you.' She winced at the tears falling down his cheeks; she'd never seen him like this before, ever. 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry...'

'I DON'T need your pity!' was the angry answer as he got up again.

'I know, I know, I just want to help you...'

Ignoring her, Bo picked something up from the carpet, staring at it.

'What's that?' she asked, timidly.

Bo breathed heavily, closing his palm. 'The keys to my motorcycle.' He started laughing hysterically, alarming her further. 'What I was looking for!'

He tried pulling himself together but the tears kept coming. 'Carly didn't like me riding... she said...' he gulped, 'she was afraid something was going to happen to me.' More hysterical mirthless laughter, 'that I was going to get hurt! That's funny, isn't it?'

'No, No! It's terrible!' Billie was very sad at his sorrow; she was devastated herself. Carly Manning's beauty and background had intimidated her at first but she'd happily realized Carly was no snobbish, spoiled brat; she'd shown her and Austin nothing but kindness. She'd seen the intense love between her and Bo and often felt like a voyeur. How on earth was Bo going to live through this?

'It's the most terrible thing in the whole wide world for you!' she cried. 'And for Shawn Douglas! Come on Bo, give me the keys.' She couldn't allow him to ride in his present state of mind, he could kill himself. 'Please, you can't get on that bike. If you do, something could happen, come on...' She trembled with fear at the look on his white face, black eyes glinting.

'I don't care.' he said harshly. 'Billie, I DON'T CARE!' He brushed past her, ignoring her pleas...

'How could she do it? How could she and Larry bring themselves do such a thing?'

Jennifer could just imagine Vivian Alamain doing such a cruel thing; she and her precious nephew, ''Sleazy Larry'' as everyone in Salem called him were of the same breed- arrogant, delusional, conniving and evil, trash beneath the upper class wrappings. She herself had been a victim of rape at Lawrence's hands, he had kidnapped Carly's brother Frankie and actually demanded the Von Leuschner fortune in exchange for his return and after all that was said and done openly resented being upstaged by Bo. And Vivian... pretending to be Carly's friend when in fact had hated her guts, had stolen Nicholas and made Carly to believe he'd died at birth, had broken Victor's marriage with Billie and Austin's mother, Kate Roberts; who turned out to be the mother of her and Mike's half-brother Lucas, the result of an affair with their father, Dr. Bill Horton. While Jennifer had no liking for Victor Kiriakis, it was the first time in a long while he was genuinely in love, so his marriage to Vivian after divorcing Kate was greeted with mass scorn. Bo had hated Vivian; he'd tried and tried to make Carly see she was not to be trusted and Carly hadn't listened until Vivian had been exposed as a thief and kidnapper. Add home wrecker to her list of vices.

'Once Bo gets his hands on her, there'll be hell to pay.'

Jennifer snorted. 'Like she'll be stupid enough to show her face in Salem; Bo will shoot her on sight.'

'Can't she be arrested?'

Jennifer hesitated then shook her head. 'Too much time has passed, I sincerely doubt it. Anyhow, about Carly, Bo says she's awake now, and I'll be flying out to the nursing home to see her and Olivia. Come with?'

Billie shook her head regretfully. 'I'm up to my ears with work; wish I could.' She smiled. 'Bo must be so happy.'

'Of course he's happy; he and Carly never thought they'd have kids.'

'I'm not talking about Olivia, I mean Carly.'

Jennifer frowned. 'Billie, Bo's married to Hope, he loves Hope; that's not about to change. Even Carly would realize that. '

'Are you saying that because Hope's your cousin or you know it to be a fact?' Billie persisted. 'You're Carly's best friend; you saw how Bo was crazy about her.'

'Yes, but...' Jennifer suddenly remembered who she was talking to. Billie had been engaged to Bo until Hope's sudden return had ruined everything. She'd nursed a broken heart until she'd met her current husband Winston; a professor of Literature in Oxford after spending two years in London. They've been married ten years and the proud parents of twins- Clarice and Alistair Danvers. Jennifer was relieved when Billie moved on because she sensed she'd nursed a bitter resentment towards Hope when Bo had broken up with her.

'Billie...' Jennifer said, gently. 'Hope being my cousin has nothing to do with this. Yes, Carly was so much a part of Bo's life years ago but that was years ago, so much has changed. Bo's been in love with Hope since she was 17, they'll always be connected. I don't want to see Carly hurt. You know...'

Don't I know, Billie Danvers thought dryly.

But then again, Jennifer hadn't been there to see how hysterical Bo had been at the mansion. John Black had searched for him after he's stormed out of The Cheating Heart until he'd found him in the woods. He'd later told her and Austin and Carrie how bitterly Bo had wept in his arms; lamenting how Carly had been a huge part in his life as well as Shawn Douglas'; how she'd crept into his heart after he'd long vowed never to love again, still unable to accept his beloved princess was gone.

Hope Williams Brady was different from Carly Manning in many ways but what had galled Billie the most about her was her subtle resentment at being 'replaced' during her absence; making Bo feel like he'd committed a crime moving on and making her feel she was the interloper. Bo's final decision had hurt terribly but in the end, realized his and Shawn Dee's happiness was the main priority. To be honest, she'd always liked Carly a lot more than she liked Hope, who, as far as she was concerned, was nothing more than an overgrown spoiled brat, always in the centre of her family's attention. Carly on the other hand, always thinking of others and she, along with Olivia had been stolen from Bo for so long. Billie seriously doubted Bo would have chosen Hope over Carly, Carly was a gem. No, Jennifer's wrong. But she wisely decided not to argue further.

Neither woman noticed a man in the next booth watching them from behind a newspaper, listening to their conversation with much interest...

'THAT BITCH! I'll kill her with my bare hands,I swear to God!' Frankie yelled, filled with rage and disbelief at what Roman told him. 'Can we press charges?'
'For one thing, she's out of our jurisdiction and besides; a lot of time has passed...'
'BULLSHIT! I'm not about to stomach the idea of Vivian Alamain running around free; not after what she did to my sister! I'm telling you, Roman- she's not going to get away with this!'
'Frankie, leave her aside...for now. Carly's awake and she needs to see her brother.'
Thinking about her, made his anger die down and his face softened. He'd been inconsolable with grief when Caroline had contacted him and with a heavy heart, had changed his name back to Leuschner, omitting the 'Von' ; at the time it seemed like a huge sacrilege using a name his sister never got to bear herself. How he'd missed her! They'd always been there for each other right from childhood, clinging to each other in the lavish yet grim estate they'd shared with unfeeling parents. Her death had left a void in his life.
Now this miracle, with the added bonus of a niece; who had done exactly what he'd done. Lawrence Alamain; to think their father Henri had handpicked that evil son-of-a- bitch as a 'suitable' husband for Carly!
'Thanks so much for the info, Roman. I'll fly out to Paris first thing in the morning.'
'Okay then, cheers.'
Replacing the phone, Frankie admonished himself for being so stupid; when the papers dealing with Carly's share of the family fortune hadn't been found among her things, he hadn't bothered investigating, and Bo didn't know where they were and hadn't given a damn about it. Lawrence must have stolen them somehow, another way of covering his tracks.

You may've escaped my revenge Lawrence, but your partner in crime won't... she'll pay for your sins and hers as well, Frankie vowed darkly. I'll make you pay, Vivian Alamain!

Milan, Italy...

'YOU FOOL!' Vivian shouted over the phone. 'How could you have lost her?'
'I'm sorry Madam, I really am!' Gus tried to placate her. 'She moved too fast for me to tail her, she and the other lady hailed a taxi and...'
'Oh, shut up!' From his description and the bits and pieces he'd overheard, she deduced the two women had been Jennifer Deveraux and Billie Reed. 'You're actually sure Jennifer said Carly's awake?'
'Yes, Madam.'
Damn, damn, damn! Vivian hung up and stamped her foot. Why couldn't have Jennifer mentioned where they were? Obviously once Carly was discharged, she would move back to Salem and Vivian had hoped to carry out her revenge before Carly could do so. Doing it in Salem would be very difficult; Bo Brady was now the Commissioner of Police and he and many people would be after her blood. Now she'll have to come up with another approach, she was no shrinking violet; Bo Brady or no, she will make Olivia pay for her crime.