Sorry about the delay in posting. I was traveling and my only internet access was my phone, which would not allow me to upload new chapters.
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Kim watched Bo and Steve leave the market. The past few minutes had caused such a swirl of emotions. Fear for the man she had loved as her brother for the past few years. Fury at Tarrington and the ISA. Sorrow for Marlena. Joy that her real brother was home. And over all of that was the shock at the entire bizarre situation.
By the door, Roman was stomping back and forth in front of the door. "You'd think family loyalty would count for something." Marlena was trying to calm him down, but it did not seem to be working. After a few minutes, Caroline walked over, took Roman by the hand, and led him over to a table. She and Shawn began talking to him in quiet voices.
Meanwhile, Marlena walked slowly over to Kim and Kayla. Unable to keep the worry out of her voice, she asked, "Do you think Bo and Steve will find him?"
"I'm sure they will," Kim said. She thought about calling Shane to let him know what had happened, but she was reluctant to involve him. He would want to help his friend even though he was in no condition to do so.
Marlena looked out the corner of her eye toward the table where Roman was sitting. "He's . . . he's so angry. . . ."
"You can't blame him," Kayla said. "Under the circumstances. . . ."
"To him, someone took his life for all this time," Kim explained. "He doesn't know the . . . other Roman like we do." Kim sighed. "I don't even know what to call him, though I guess that's the least of our worries."
Across the room, Roman jumped up from the table. "I won't accept that, Pop," he said. "I don't care if he's been a saint while he's been here. He's a damn imposter, and that means he was probably working for DiMera."
Kim glanced at Kayla. In her mind, she remembered the time on the island and the way Stefano had made Roman do his bidding. There had even been a time when she thought he was going to kill her and Shane, but his subconscious prevented him from carrying out the order.
Kayla had already crossed the room. "You haven't been here, Roman," she said. "I know you're angry, but however this happened, he's not working for Stefano."
"You don't even know DiMera," Roman said sharply.
"Don't tell me what I don't know," Kayla shot back. "You weren't here when Stefano tried to take revenge on our family. Ro- He was just as much a target of Stefano's."
Kim nodded. "That's true. . . . And even before he thought he was you, when he had no memory at all, he was a good friend to this family."
Roman stomped a bit more. "I don't get it. . . . How could you all believe that he was me? No, I think I do understand. You wanted to believe. You wanted to believe I was alive and he did a number on you." He shook his head. "But what about the ISA? Didn't they check?" He paused and looked at Kim. "What about Shane? You all keep saying he's loyal to the ISA. Why didn't he check out that guy's story?" His voice lowered and he muttered, "Unless they were working together."
"That's not true," Kim said angrily. She was trying to be understanding, but she was tired of Roman's mistrust with Shane.
"So why didn't Shane investigate?" Roman crossed his arms defiantly. "Explain that, Kimmie?"
"Because there were a lot of other things happening," Kim snapped. "The day we found out who he was - or who we thought he was - was the day Andrew was born, and Shane was busy helping deliver our son." She thought about mentioning how they had been running from the KGB, but that would have just raised a lot of questions and fueled Roman's suspicions.
Kayla chose that moment to come to Kim's aid. "It's not Kim's fault or Shane's. We all believed it. He had your memories, Roman - things only you would know. Can't you see why that would convince us?"
"Fine," Roman snapped, though he hardly seemed appeased. "So you all accepted him. Well now you know otherwise and I'm going to get my life back. And I'm going to get to the bottom of this whole situation. You may want to believe he's some good guy, but there's more to this."
Kim sighed and looked at Marlena. Maybe with some time, Roman would start to see what the rest of them knew. Marlena's eyes met Kim's and they seemed to share Kim's resignation.
"Hey," Shawn said. "Let's cut it out with all this fighting. This is a family and we have something to celebrate. The entire Brady family is here, back in Salem. If that's not something to celebrate, I don't know what is."
Kim smiled at her father's excitement. She remembered the way he had suffered when they heard that Roman had died on that island. For a time, Kim had worried that her family would not survive. Bo had borne such guilt and Shawn had even said that he wished it had been Bo who died, not Roman.
"I think this deserves a toast," Shawn announced. He grinned gleefully. "I'd wait for Bo and Steve to come back, but I don't think I can wait. Let me get the good stuff." He headed off to where he kept his stash of Irish whiskey.
As they waited for him to return, Kayla stepped close to Kim. "I'm worried, Kimmie," she whispered. "What if they find him and the ISA finds them? What will they do?"
Kim had no answer. The past few months had left her with no idea what to believe when it came to the ISA. "I don't know, Kay."
"Maybe I should go and see if I can find Steve," she said.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Kim tried to think. "The last thing Steve would want is for you to get in trouble with the ISA." Bitterly, she added, "Don't think for a second that Tarrington wouldn't use that to get to Roman."
In the back of her mind, she realized that was what really worried her. Tarrington had shown that he was not above doing anything or using anyone to get what he wants. Kim just hoped that this crisis would end without anyone getting hurt.