CHAPTER 20

Majority of the officers of the Salem Police Department couldn't help but notice the Commissioner and Detective Brady's behaviour around each other since his return from Paris. There'd been strain between them before but this time you could cut the tension with a knife. Except when it was absolutely necessary, Commissioner Brady refused to make conversation or direct eye contact with her and she would look hurt yet defiant around him. And there was the sound of their raised voices behind closed doors; inaudible but loud enough to tell them things had gone from bad to much worse. At this rate, they'll end up not being able to be in the same room together.
They relied on rumours and gossip to figure out what was the cause of the problem this time. First, they thought it had something to do with the divorce; their boss probably wanted to challenge it or something. But then came the subject of his beautiful long lost daughter some officers had seen in town with Shawn Douglas; the result of an affair, it seemed. However when the name of her mother, Carly Manning, had come up, a detective who'd been in the force for several years had astonished the younger officers by telling them about Carly's relationship with Bo until her untimely death from heart failure, in the middle of being investigated for murdering her patients. Digging around, Detective Quincy then discovered what had actually happened to Carly and wasted no time relaying it to his colleagues over drinks at the Cheating Heart.
'Yeah, I remember Larry Alamain very well.' Quincy grimaced. 'Under the thousand dollar suits, guy was so creepy; he left a trail when he walked. Always sniffing around that pretty doctor and driving Bo nuts. If I had a nickel for all the times I had to break up a fight between them.'
'So it was really his aunt who killed those patients?' Officer Wayne said. 'She was trying to pin them on Dr. Manning, why?'
Quincy shrugged. 'No idea. But now it's turned out she's been alive all this time... first Hope, now her.' he shook his head. 'Salem's really holds some record of dead people showing up alive and kicking.' The most recorded of all being the notorious Stefano DiMera, nicknamed "The Phoenix'' by the Salemites. 'Now that's she's coming back to Salem any time soon, I think we're going to witness a pretty rough showdown.'
'So Quince, what was she like?' Matthews asked, eagerly. 'Carly Manning, I mean.'
'Oh, wow...' Quincy shook his head. 'We're talking perfection. We're talking about a goddess with the most gorgeous pair of eyes you've ever seen, slanted and green... and a great, great body.'
The others murmured their approval. 'And?' Matthews encouraged.
'Great doctor and she's old money- a Countess, no less.'
'Man, the boss sure knew how to pick 'em!' Wayne whistled enviously. 'Are they getting back together?'
Quincy shrugged. 'Wife walks out, ex walks back into town; equals what, men?'
The others exchanged glances before answering in unison. 'SHOWDOWN IN SALEM.' Their beer bottles clinked.

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Bo had never been angrier in his life. The first thing he did on arriving at the house and sending Ciara upstairs was have it out with Hope.
'What the hell are you trying to pull now?'
Hope pursed her lips, ducking her head.

'Look at me when I'm talking to you, Hope! What the hell is this, this sudden change of heart of yours?' he barked.
'I'd appreciate it if you stopped yelling at me, Bo.' Hope said coolly. 'You don't want Ciara coming down and see us fighting again, do you?'
With difficulty, Bo lowered his voice. 'Well? Talk.'
Hope raised her eyes to look at him squarely. 'I thought a lot of things over since the last time we spoke.'
'Argued, you mean.'
Hope chose to ignore the sarcastic remark. 'I was wrong. I was wrong to have left like that with Ciara, for causing you a lot of pain. I just didn't want to admit it and then I was so mean to Olivia because... because I was so afraid you'll focus a lot of attention on her...'
'Just stop right there,' Bo interrupted coldly. 'The fact that I spent time with Olivia doesn't mean I love Ciara or Shawn Douglas any less; even they wouldn't think such a thing because they already love her a lot. I never got to see her born, so I have nothing to feel guilty about. But that's not what this is about... it's about Carly. She's the reason you changed your mind and moved back, isn't it?'
'No, it isn't...'
'STOP trying to insult my intelligence, will you?' This time Bo didn't care if Ciara heard him or not, he was really fed up. 'I begged and begged you not to leave, you did. You took our daughter away from me, you filed for a divorce. You honestly expect you to welcome you back with open arms, or what?'
'You're being this way because of her, not because you're still angry with me.' Hope fired back. 'I'm ready to fix our marriage but you're not...because you're falling in love with her again, aren't you?!'
Bo looked at her squarely. 'Fine. You want to lay the cards on the table; let's do this. If Carly hadn't turned up alive, you wouldn't be standing in front of me now, having this conversation. Well, I got news for you, Hope Brady; even if Carly hadn't turned up alive, I wouldn't have fought the divorce, you know why? I'm sick of living in limbo, I'm sick of being blamed for all the problems we've had, I'm sick of trying to talk to you and end up pushed away. Carly's not to blame for this because bottom line; there's nothing to fix this time, this marriage gone through too many cracks, it's crumbled to nothing!'
Hope stared at him, pale in the face. 'You're serious?' she whispered.
'More than serious. There's nothing left between us, Hope- nothing to build on. I'm sorry, but it's true.'
'It's not true!' Hope walked to him, slipping her arms round him. 'I still love you, Bo. I do.'
Bo looked down at his wife of 25 years, the large dark eyes looking up at him pleadingly. 'And I love you,' he removed her arms from his neck. 'I'm not just in love with you. Not anymore.'
Hope stepped back, even paler. 'I'm not going ahead with the divorce, Bo. We can still fix this.'
'I'm not prepared to have a long battle over this, Hope. We're two mature adults, we can either settle this amicably or the hard way and let Ciara get caught in the middle. Neither of us want that, so I'm opting for the first option.'
'I meant what I said, Bo.' Hope's voice was now hard and cold.
'And you know me long enough to know that I always mean what I say. Fight the divorce if you want but know that I'll win, no matter what you try to do. You've moved back in, fine. But don't expect me to put up with this farce.' Looking her in the eye, he pulled off his wedding band in one deft twist and placed it on the coffee table. 'I'll be sleeping in the guest room tonight but tomorrow I'm moving to the Salem Inn.'
Hope watched as her husband went upstairs, devastation weighing her shoulders. There'd be finality in Bo's words, words she'd never ever expected to hear from him. She couldn't believe their love was finally over... after 25 long years.
'It's all HER fault!' she thought illogically. 'He's really doing this, because of her! I HATE YOU, CARLY MANNING! I HATE YOU!'