Saying a quiet prayer of thanks, Kayla hung up the phone. Steve had just called to tell her that the first part of the plan had worked perfectly and that he and Jack were at the Cheating Heart waiting for Tarrington to contact Steve.

Kayla had made Steve again promise to call her after his meeting with Tarrington and Steve had assured her that he would. She had also made him promise not to get into any trouble at the Heart and, with a chuckle, he had made that promise as well.

Thinking back to their conversation, Kayla could not help but smile at the way Steve's voice had sounded. Despite the potential danger, he was clearly enjoying every minute of his little escapade with Jack. He sounded more like himself than he had during much of the time he had been home.

Sighing softly, Kayla pushed back her fears. Steve had told her repeatedly that there was no real danger involved in his plan, because the ISA did not want any publicity that would somehow make Steve or Shane sympathetic figures. Kayla had a hard time believing it was quite that simple, but she had promised to trust Steve's judgment, so that was what she had to do.

She thought again about how Steve was enjoying his game with the ISA. It was almost too much fun for him. She knew that she would have to accept that, whatever Steve chose to do in the future, it would always involve some element of adventure and/or danger. It was too much a part of him to ask him to change and, truth be told, if he changed, he would not be the Steven Earl Johnson that she loved. She just wanted the danger to be non-life threatening.

Knowing she had some time to kill before Steve called again, Kayla decided to go to the lab and see if she could find something to distract herself. Putting on her lab coat, Kayla headed out of her office.

Just as she reached the door to the lab, she noticed Kim standing by the elevators. Although she could only see Kim's profile, Kayla instantly knew that something was wrong. She did not know what gave it away; maybe she just knew her sister too well. But whatever it was, Kayla rushed directly to Kim.

"Kim?" she called softly as she drew closer.

Kim turned at the sound of Kayla's voice. One look confirmed Kayla's belief. She could see the tell-tale redness around Kim's eyes and a sadness in her eyes that Kim could not hide.

"Kay." Kim tried and failed to sound like nothing was wrong. "What . . . what's up?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." Kayla looked closely at her sister. "What's wrong? Did something happen with Shane or Andrew?"

"No . . . nothing happened." Kim turned away from Kayla's questioning look. "Everything's fine."

For a moment, Kayla contemplated taking Kim at her word. Things were still pretty tense between them and she did not want to end up starting another fight. But their talk the day before had seemed to help a little and Kayla could tell that Kim was very upset about something. No matter how bad things were between them, Kayla could not stand to see her sister hurting.

As the elevator arrived, Kayla reached for Kim's arm. "Everything is clearly not fine, Kim. Why don't we go to my office and talk for a minute?"

"I really don't think that's a good idea," Kim said. "I need to go to my office and get some work done."

Kayla gave it one last shot. "I know we've been having our issues, Kim, but I'm still your sister and I'm worried about you. You don't have to pretend everything is okay with me."

Kim did not respond, but also did not get on the elevator. As the elevator doors closed again, Kim turned, her eyes glistening with tears. Without a word, Kayla put her arm around Kim's shoulders and steered them back to Kayla's office.

Once inside, Kayla led Kim to the chair and handed her some tissue. Kim dried her eyes and took a few deep breaths, then looked up.

"Thanks . . ." She hesitated for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "I don't know what's wrong with me today."

Kayla was not buying that for an instant, but she worried that Kim might not confide in her. After all that had happened between them recently, Kayla was not even sure she should expect Kim to talk.

"I don't think that's really true," Kayla said softly. "I think you know exactly what's wrong, but you just don't want to tell me about it."

"Kay-"

"No, it's okay," Kayla interrupted. "I don't blame you after everything that's happened. But you look like you could really use somebody to talk to. Do you want me to call and see if Marlena is in her office?"

"No." Kim shook her head. "I really am okay . . . or at least I will be."

Kayla gave Kim a questioning look. "What does that mean?"

"I moved the kids and me out of Shane's house this morning," Kim said, not quite keeping the bitterness out of her voice. "It's time I accept that he's never going to give us a chance and stop running into the same brick wall over and over again."

Kayla was shocked. Even with all that had happened between Shane and Kim, Kayla had been sure it was only a matter of time before they stopped fighting their feelings and worked things out. Or maybe Kayla had just wanted to believe it would happen to assuage her own guilt.

"What happened?" Kayla could not help but ask.

Kim offered a humorless smile. "It doesn't really matter what happened. The reality is that Shane won't let himself trust me again and, without that trust, we have no chance." She grabbed another tissue and fresh tears appeared in her eyes. "I just couldn't stay in that house anymore. Being that close just. . . ." Kim's voice faded away.

"Just hurts too much," Kayla finished. She knew how Kim felt and wished there was something she could do to help. "I know you might not believe this at this point, but I really am sorry that you couldn't work things out. I wanted that - for both of you."

Kim nodded. "I know you did." She wiped her tears again and then straightened her shoulders. "But it's time to move forward, not back. I'm going to stay with Mama and Papa for a little while and then look for a new home for me and the kids."

"What about the protection for Andrew?" Kayla asked.

"Roman has moved the police patrols to Mama and Papa's house," Kim replied. "And Shane insisted that Mike come with us to keep Andrew safe. Since the ISA removed everything from Shane's house, we're as safe at the Fish Market as we were with Shane."

Kayla wondered how true that was, but decided it was not a good time to argue the point with Kim. Her sister had clearly made her decision and Kayla knew it had not been an easy one. Whatever had happened to push Kim to make the move had hurt Kim deeply. You really messed up this time, Shane Donovan, she thought silently.

Trying to lighten the mood, Kayla offered Kim a smile. "Well at least Stephanie will be happy. She's spending the day with Ma and Pop, and I'm sure she'll love having Andrew and Jeannie to play with today."

Kim returned Kayla's smile. "I think you're right. She and Jeannie were already busy babbling at one another when I left for work this morning. And Andrew seemed happy to play babysitter with both of them."

"I'm sure Ma won't mind the help," Kayla said with a grin.

"I'm not sure how much 'help' Andrew might actually be, but it is very cute to see how protective he is of both of them." Kim seemed to hesitate for a moment. "I have to admit I was a little afraid that he might be resentful of Stephanie. He doesn't really understand what's going on with Shane, but he knows it has something to do with bringing Stephanie's daddy back."

"I know this has all been really hard on Andrew." Kayla felt a familiar wave of guilt arrive. "I just hope he understands someday."

"He will." Kim stood and gave Kayla a determined look. "We'll all get through this and be okay. I just have to keep believing that."

Kayla nodded. "That's right. Don't you ever forget that."

Kim returned Kayla's nod. "Now I really do need to get to work. Thanks for listening. I . . . I really do appreciate it."

"I'm glad I was here," Kayla said sincerely. "And if you need another break, you know where to find me."

Kim smiled. "Yes I do. I'll see you later, Kay." Kim turned and headed out the door.

As her sister left, Kayla smiled softly to herself. She felt bad for Kim, but she could not help but be a little happy that the ice seemed to be thawing between her and her sister.

Kayla stood up and once again began her walk to the lab. Stopping at her assistant's desk, she made sure that any call from Steve would be forwarded to the lab, then continued on her way. Entering the lab, she saw several technicians hard at work and soon joined them, doing her best to put her worries out of her mind for the time being.