Kim was just carrying Jeannie down the staircase when she heard the commotion from the kitchen. What's wrong with Andrew? she asked herself as she heard him howling. She raced down the hall and entered the kitchen.
Inside, she saw Mike holding Andrew tightly. Her son was kicking and screaming incoherently, and it looked like he was trying to get back to the open door to the garden.
"What's going on?" she demanded.
Breathlessly, Mike said, "It's Captain Donovan. . . ." He was struggling to control Andrew, but gasped, "Outside."
Shane? What's wrong with Shane? Worried, Kim started for the door, but then stopped and looked at her son. "Andrew . . . Please try to calm down. I'm going to check on Daddy."
At first, she doubted Andrew even heard her through his tantrum, but then he shouted, "They hurt Daddy!"
Hurt? Kim's blood froze, and she immediately thought of Jericho. No. She refused to believe it. She spun away from Andrew and headed out the door, even as her son's cries echoed behind her. Please let him be all right, she begged silently as she raced for the gate that led from the garden to the lakeside.
Reaching the gate, Kim looked out over the grassy slope between the garden and the lake. She saw the dark-suited men pulling Shane toward the house. His clothing was disheveled and dirty, and his face and hair were spattered with mud and grass.
Shane spotted her also. "Don't. . . ." he said, his tone warning her away.
The man in front stepped toward Kim, who had opened the gate. "Keep back," he ordered. "We don't want anything to happen to you or your baby."
Kim realized that she was still carrying Jeannie. "What's going on?" she asked the man, but he did not answer. Kim looked over his shoulder toward Shane and realized, for the first time, that his hands were cuffed behind him. "Shane?"
He shook his head, and she could tell he was fighting to control himself. "Just . . . just call Mickey . . . and Roman."
Mickey and Roman. . . . Then it hit her. The only reason Shane would ask for them was if he were being arrested. This can't be happening, she thought. How can they arrest Shane?
She saw Shane wince as one of the men jerked his arm and pulled him toward the side of the house. Then Shane looked back at her. "Make sure Andrew's okay." He looked down and she thought she heard him say, "He shouldn't have had to see this."
Now Kim understood why Andrew had been screaming. "Where are you taking him?" Kim said to the man standing in front of her.
The man glanced at Shane and hesitated as if he did not want to answer her. Then he said, "He'll be booked at the Salem Police Department. That's all I can say."
Kim watched soundlessly as the men dragged Shane around the edge of the house and out of view. She felt a momentary relief that they did not bring him through the house where Andrew would see him again. The whole situation was so surreal that Kim wondered if it was just some bad nightmare and she was going to wake up.
Then she realized that Jeannie was crying, and she knew it was real. They just arrested Shane. Kim stood there, staring out at the lake, still disbelieving. How can they possibly arrest Shane?
She hugged Jeannie close and tried to soothe her as she turned back toward the house. Reaching the kitchen, she saw Andrew being comforted by Simmons. Streaks of tears ran down his face, but he was crying softly and no longer screaming. Kim glanced over at Mike, who was cleaning some cuts and scrapes with antiseptic. Everyone looked at her as she entered.
Kim handed a now-quiet Jeannie to Simmons and crouched next to Andrew. "Daddy's okay. He's not hurt and he'll be fine."
Andrew looked up at her with a stricken expression. So much like Shane, she thought. "Really?" he asked.
"Yes, really." Kim was too confused by everything to say anything more. She turned to Mike. "Are you okay?" When he nodded, she asked, "Can you take Andrew to the library? I need to make some calls."
After they left, Simmons turned to her, "Madame, what's going on? I've never seen Master Andrew like that."
"I don't know," Kim said. That was all she could manage to say. But I'm going to find out. She was actually surprised at how calm she felt. Maybe it was because it still felt so unreal.
Kim walked over to the kitchen phone and dialed Roman. He answered on the second ring.
"Hey, Sis, what's up?"
What's up? The man I love was just dragged off for reasons nobody would tell me. My son's been traumatized because he had to see that. Where do I start? Okay, it was starting to feel more real and she was getting more upset. Kim fought to retain the calm. "Roman . . . some men just showed up at the house and arrested Shane."
She heard a sputtering sound. "Ow," Roman yelped.
"Roman? Are you okay?"
"Yeah . . . I just spilled my coffee," he said. "But forget that. Now tell me what happened?"
Kim started to tell him what little she knew. "Shane and Andrew were outside. I guess these men came out and arrested Shane. Andrew was screaming and I went out, but they wouldn't tell me why." Her words were coming faster and faster. "All they said was he was being taken to the police station."
Over the phone, she heard Roman say Shane's name, and she realized he was telling Marlena. Then he turned his attention back to her. "Look, Sis, I'll head right over to the station and see what I can find out. This doesn't make any sense. You just need to stay calm."
She knew he was right, but it was one thing to know she should stay calm. It was another to actually stay calm. "I know. . . . Roman, what could they possibly think he did?" She thought back to when Shane had been arrested for espionage when Victor Kiriakis had framed him. "Could Lawrence be behind this?"
"I don't know, Sis, but I'll find-" Roman stopped abruptly.
When he did not continue, Kim asked, "Roman?"
The line stayed silent for a little longer, before Roman spoke again. Very slowly, he asked, "Do you have the Spectator there?"
Kim glanced around and spotted the paper folded on the edge of the table. "Sure."
"Go to page 3," Roman said.
She grabbed the paper and opened it to the page Roman had mentioned. Near the top was a large picture of Steve under the banner headline: "Local Man Freed In ISA/Army Raid In Egypt: Man Believed Dead Actually Held Captive For Nine Months."
Kim felt her legs shake as they threatened to give way. She heard Shane's voice in her head as she remembered him drunkenly telling her she deserved a prize for figuring out he could go to jail if people found about the mission to rescue Steve.
This can't be happening. This just can't be happening. Out loud, she said, in halting words, "Roman, they can't do this." She was losing the battle to control herself.
"I know," he said. "You just need to stay calm." There was a pause. "Marlena's coming over to be with you."
Kim shook her head. No, she thought. I don't need Marlena holding my hand. That was followed by the involuntary thought, I just need Shane. "Tell her not to bother," Kim said. "I'm calling Mickey Horton and then I'm heading down to the station."
"Sis-"
"No, Roman," she insisted. "Some men just came into this house and took my hu- took Shane - and they traumatized my son. I want some answers and I'm not just going to sit here."
Roman spoke softly, "You can only make things worse."
"Don't give me that!" Kim snapped. "How could I possibly make things worse than they already are? Shane's in jail, and for what? For rescuing Steve. How could-" Kim stopped suddenly, and looked again at the article. Underneath the headline, she read: "By Jack Devereaux."
It couldn't be, she thought. He wouldn't . . . . But it was the only logical explanation.
"Sis?" Roman sounded worried.
"I'm sorry," Kim said. "What was that?"
"You just stopped. What is it?"
"It's okay," she said, forcing herself to sound calm, even if her prior shock was now turning to rage. "The first thing I'm going to do is call Mickey and-" No. She stopped herself. That's the second call I'm going to make. But she decided not to mention the first call she planned on making to Roman. Instead, she just said, "And then I'm coming down to the station to get some answers."