Steve took a deep breath and knocked on the door to Jack's office. He would have much rather been spending a quiet Saturday with Stephanie and Kayla, but he figured he needed to touch base with his brother.

"Vern," he heard Jack call. "I told you I didn't want to see you until the front page was done."

Sighing, Steve opened the door and walked in. "Sorry, Jack, it's not Vern."

Jack looked up in surprise. "Steve . . . hi." He stood up and walked from behind his desk. "What brings you by?"

"I wanted to see if you had any new information on your end. We haven't talked in a while."

Jack shook his head. "I haven't heard anything new . . . at least not anything that would be helpful. I'm still trying to figure out where Rachel Knight is getting her information, but so far I haven't had any luck."

Steve snorted. "She's getting her information from the ISA."

Jack nodded. "That's obvious. What I meant was I've been trying to figure out exactly who her source is. If we can pin that down, we might have something to discredit those stories she's been running."

Steve had to admit that was good thinking. "Have you made any progress at all?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm fairly certain that it's not coming from the local office. The word on the street is the local agents can't stand her."

That did not surprise Steve. The smear campaign against Shane, Steve and everybody else smelled like the ISA top brass to him. And if that was the case, they would not be leaking the information through a local stooge.

"Keep at it, Jack. There has to be a way to get the upper hand on Tarrington."

Jack eyed Steve curiously. "So how was your trip to Charleston? Find out anything interesting?"

Steve's eye narrowed. This was Jack on a fishing expedition. "What would I have found on a weekend getaway with my wife?"

"Come on, Steve," Jack said with a quick grin. "I know you and Kayla didn't run off to Charleston right about the same time that Deakins was supposed to be having that big family reunion."

Steve sighed. "You never stop, do you, Jack?"

Jack looked surprised for a moment. "I just figured that you used Charleston as a cover to meet up with Deakins somewhere. I mean it's not like I didn't know you were trying to get in contact with him. I just wondered how it went."

Steve studied Jack for a moment, still hesitant to trust Jack about certain things. Jack may have been genuinely sorry that his story had caused so much trouble and was trying to help, but Steve had doubts that Jack's reporter instincts would override his brotherly ones.

"Steve?".

"Let's just say that the trip wasn't a complete failure," Steve finally said. "That's all you need to know at the moment."

"I guess I'm still on a need to know basis, huh?" Jack sounded disappointed.

"Yeah," Steve said honestly. "There is too much at stake to be taking any chances. You're just going to have to trust me for now."

Jack chuckled at the irony of that statement. "You won't trust me, but I have to trust you? I guess that sounds about right." He shrugged. "Okay, if you won't tell me about Deakins, maybe you can give some other information?"

"Like what?" Steve asked suspiciously.

"Like whether the Salem PD or anyone else has any information about where Lawrence Alamain is these days?" Jack's voice grew serious. "Jennifer tries to pretend it doesn't bother her, but I know she's scared that he's on the loose again."

Steve nodded. "She's not the only one. I think we would all feel a lot better if that bastard was still locked in a cage." He sighed. "But to answer your question, that last I heard the ISA was certain that Alamain was buttoned up in his country."

"You believe that?" Jack asked.

"Hell, I don't know," Steve said. "I'd like to think the ISA would be honest with Abe and the Salem PD about something like that, but we both know they sometimes have their own agenda."

"He's planning something, Steve. You know that, right?"

Steve was startled by Jack's tone. There was a certainty in it that unnerved Steve. "How do you know that?" he asked.

"Because I know Lawrence Alamain," Jack said with utter conviction. "He pulled all the puppet strings around here for months, only nobody figured it out until . . . until too much damage had been done. And even after we found out, nobody could pin anything on him until Shane got that tape." Jack shook his head. "Lawrence isn't going to take that defeat lying down. He's not done with Salem, Steve."

Steve nodded as his brother gave voice to the thoughts Steve had tried to push out of his head. Lawrence was out there, planning something, and Steve was afraid he knew what that plan entailed.

"You may be right, Jack," Steve finally said. "But all we can do is try to stay on our toes and not let down our guard."

Jack blinked in surprise. "That's your response? Just don't let down your guard?"

"What do you expect me to say?" Steve snapped. "You think I like that Alamain is out there and I can't do anything about it? You think you are the only one worried about what he might do? But I don't have any super powers to stop that bastard. I wouldn't have spent months in his handmade hell if I did."

Jack held up his hands. "I'm sorry. I . . . I . . . didn't mean it like that. I guess I was just hoping you'd. . . ." His voice trailed off for a moment. "It doesn't matter what I was hoping. I know you are worried too."

Steve took a deep breath and tried to control his anger. "It's okay. I guess we're both a little on edge where Alamain is concerned. But all I can tell you is that I don't really know anything. But I'll talk to Abe and put some feelers out there in other ways. If I get any information, I'll pass it on."

"Will you?" Jack's disbelief was clear.

Steve nodded. "Yeah, I will. I would never keep that kind of information from you. I trust that you wouldn't take any chances with Jennifer's safety."

"Of course, I wouldn't," Jack said. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, I don't know anything." Steve turned and headed for the door. "Let me know if you find anything about our friend, Ms. Knight. Or if you find out anything that might help Shane."

"Sure," Jack replied.

With a wave, Steve headed out the door. He checked his watch and smiled. If he hurried, he could catch Kayla and Stephanie at her folks and grab a bowl of chowder for a late lunch. Then maybe he could get a quiet afternoon with his girls after all.