Kayla stood hesitantly outside Kim's office. Ever since her conversation with Shane and his plea for her to make peace with Kim, Kayla had tried to figure out how to start that process. Finally, she had taken a break from the lab and headed to Kim's clinic.
Taking a deep breath, Kayla knocked softly on the door.
"Come in," she heard Kim call out. Bracing herself, Kayla opened the door and walked in.
"Hi, Kim," she said softly as she entered.
"Kayla." Kim was clearly surprised. "What . . . What brings you by?"
"I . . . uh . . . I guess I wanted to see how you were doing?" Kayla stepped towards Kim's desk. "I know that seeing that article couldn't have been easy for you."
Kim did not answer as she seemed to study Kayla for a moment. Then a sad smile crossed her faced and she shrugged. "It's not like I didn't know it was coming," she said, sounding tired. "I guess my past is always going to be there waiting for me."
"I'm sorry, Kimmie." Kayla was not sure what else to say. "I hope you know that at least."
"I do know," Kim said. "And I'm sorry you and Steve got dragged through the mud as well. That reporter is some piece of work."
Kayla nodded in agreement. She could not help but wonder how sincere Kim was, but she decided not to question it. These were the first civil words they had spoken to each other since Jack's article had been published and there was no point in starting things up again.
"How . . . how's everything else?" Kayla asked gingerly. "I . . . I wanted to know how Shane's doing."
Kim stiffened at the mention of Shane. With a pointed look, Kim said, "About as good as any man facing a lifetime in prison."
Kayla bit back her irritation at Kim's response. "I'm not trying to start another argument, Kim. I just happened to run into Shane today and he looked awful. I tried to get him to let me give him something to help him sleep, but he refused."
Kim nodded and her body relaxed slightly. "He's not sleeping and I'm sure the article in the paper today won't help matters." She sighed. "I honestly don't know how much more he can take."
"I know." Kayla did understand. "Look, Kim. . . I know things are pretty tense between all of us right now, but I hope you know that if you or Shane need anything, I'm here for you . . . and so is Steve."
Kim gave a slight smile and nodded. "Thanks, Kay. I don't think there is anything anyone can do right now, but thanks for offering."
"Sure," Kayla replied.
"Um, Kay. . . ." Kim fell silent for a moment as Kayla waited. With a little sigh, Kim said, "I wanted to say that I know you didn't talk to her - to the reporter, I mean. I shouldn't have said that."
Kayla noticed that Kim's apology did not extend to a lot of the other hurtful things she had said the other day, but Kayla decided against pointing that out.Checking her watch, Kayla realized she needed to be getting back to her office. "I better get going. I have some paperwork to finish up before I can go home."
"All right," Kim said. "Thanks for stopping by and . . . uh . . . maybe we could have lunch or something soon."
Kayla gave her sister a smile. "I'd like that." She stepped towards the door and then stopped. "Take care of yourself, Kimmie . . . and take care of Shane. He really needs you right now." Not waiting for Kim's reply, Kayla walked out the door and headed back towards her office.
When she reached her office, she went immediately to her desk. The first thing she noticed was a note from Steve and was disappointed to find that she had missed him when he stopped by after his appointment. However, she was thrilled to read the session had gone well.
Moving the note, she saw a message from her assistant. Steve had called and asked Kayla to call him as soon as she got the message. Worried now, Kayla immediately picked up the phone and dialed home.
"Hello." Hearing his voice, Kayla felt a wash of relief.
"Steve, it's me. I just got your message. Is everything okay?"
"Calm down, Sweetness," Steve replied calmly. "Everything's fine."
"Why did you want me to call then?" Kayla asked confused about Steve's message.
"I wanted to let you know that Marcus will be giving you a ride home tonight."
"Marcus?" Kayla was more confused than ever. "Why? I have my car here. I don't need a ride."
"It's kind of a long story, baby. I promise to tell you everything when you get home. But, for now, can you just play along and let Marcus bring you home?"
"All right," Kayla said, worried again. "I have a couple of things to finish up, but I should be ready to go in about an hour."
"I'll call Marcus and let him know."
"And you'll tell me what's going on when I get home?" Kayla wanted to make sure Steve knew he was not going to get off the hook too easy.
"I promise, Sweetness. Now go get your work done and I'll see you soon."
"Okay. I love you."
"I love you, too, baby."
Kayla hung up the phone and settled into her chair. She was dying to know what was going on, but knew the only way to find out was to finish up her paperwork and get out of there.
A little more than an hour later, Kayla said goodbye to Marcus as he dropped her off at the apartment door. She was surprised that he was not planning on staying, but he said he needed to get back to the hospital.
Unlocking the door, Kayla entered her home to find her daughter using Steve as a pony. Kayla laughed at their antics.
"Hi, baby," Steve said from the floor.
"Mama!" Stephanie smiled broadly at her mother.
"Hi, baby girl," Kayla said as she put down her purse and picked up Stephanie.
Steve stood up and leaned over and kissed Kayla's cheek. Kayla walked to the couch and sat down, waiting for Steve to join her.
"So why did Marcus have to give me a ride home?" Kayla asked.
Steve sighed and ran his hand down his face. "You're not going to like this. Just promise that you'll just listen for a minute so I can get the whole story out."
Kayla nodded and then braced herself.
"After I left the hospital today, the ISA tried to trap me in the alley off River street." Steve held up his hand as Kayla opened her mouth to speak. "Remember - let me finish." He waited for Kayla to nod before he continued. "I know that area better than they do and managed to avoid the trap they had set. I wanted Marcus to bring you home, because I didn't want to take any chances of the ISA deciding to use you to get to me."
Kayla sat silently for a moment, trying to absorb what Steve had told her. "Why did they try to get you now?" she asked, puzzled. "They've been following you for a while now."
"I got a call about the Special Forces unit that helped rescue me," Steve said. "Apparently, they're back in the country. I think the ISA wanted to make sure I wasn't planning on contacting them."
"So what do we do now?" Kayla looked at Steve. "Can we call Roman or something?"
"I've got a plan to deal with them tomorrow." Steve took Kayla's hand. "I know you're not going to like this, but I need you to trust me here. I need you to go to work tomorrow, just like normal - and let me handle the ISA."
"No way," Kayla protested. "After what you told me, you can't expect me to just go work and pretend like nothing is going on. I'm not letting you out of my sight."
Steve did not respond, but instead stood up, picked up Stephanie off of Kayla's lap, and put her in the playpen. Then he returned to the couch and pulled Kayla to him. "I know you're worried, Sweetness, but just let me explain what I have in mind."
Kayla listened carefully as Steve explained his plan. As much as she hated to admit it, it appeared Steve had thought it through.
I still don't have to like it, she added silently.
"Now do you see why I need you to go to work?" Steve asked. "I need you to be somewhere safe, where the ISA can't get to you. I've already called your folks and they agreed to watch Stephanie tomorrow."
"How do you know that Stephanie and I will be safe?" Kayla said. "The ISA could still get to me at the hospital or get Stephanie at my folks."
"Not without witnesses, baby." Steve shook his head. "I'm not entirely sure if they really want me, or if they're just trying to send me a message. But either way, they don't want any kind of publicity that'll make them look bad, not with Shane's trial coming up." He sounded certain. "If they grab any of us with witnesses around, it's going to come out. I doubt people would be happy to find out the government's tampering with witnesses."
Kayla still did not like the idea of leaving Steve on his own, but she could not think of a better plan. Finally she gave a soft sigh and leaned back into the couch. "All right," she said. "I'll play along, but you better call me the minute you're done. If I don't get a phone call in time, I'm calling Roman, Bo, Shane and anybody else I can think of."
"Fair enough," Steve agreed, pulling her back to him again. "I promise I'll call you as soon as it's over."
"Promise me that you'll be careful, too." Kayla's voice was muffled against Steve's chest.
"I promise, Sweetness." Steve kissed the top of her head. "After tomorrow, we won't have to worry about anybody coming after us anymore."