"What the hell is taking Roman so long?" Steve muttered under his breath for at least the hundredth time in the last two hours.

Unable to remain still, he paced across the small waiting room and looked out the window at the darkened sky. Once again, he cursed himself for not going after Shane when he had the chance.

After he had told Kim about Shane, Steve had helped her to the lounge and had called the family and Isabella to tell them about John's injury and Shane's capture by Alamain's thugs. He should have left then, but he had decided to wait to see if he could speak to John again. He had questioned John as much as possible during the ride to the hospital, but John had been in and out of consciousness from the pain and blood loss, and had offered little information.

Marcus and Kayla had finally come out of John's room to tell the family that John was stable but would need immediate surgery to remove the bullet. Steve had asked about seeing John, but Kayla had told him that John was already heavily sedated.

Steve had taken the opportunity to have a small moment with his wife. He had seen the fear in Kayla's eyes but had been unable to offer any words of comfort. Instead, they held each other for a moment and then Steve had told her he had to go and find Shane. Kayla had clutched him tighter and nodded, seemingly unable to speak.

With great effort, Steve had pulled himself away, kissed his wife, and headed for the door - only to be stopped by Roman. Steve wasn't sure who had called him, but Roman made it clear that this was now a criminal investigation and Steve's participation was not wanted.

Steve had done his best to convince Roman otherwise and, when that failed, had simply tried to leave on his own. But Roman instructed an officer to stop Steve and then told Steve that if he left the hospital before Roman returned, Roman would have him arrested for obstruction of justice.

It had taken all of Steve's self-control not to slug Roman right then. But he could see the concerned looks from the family and knew the last thing they needed was for he and Roman to come to blows. Not to mention that Steve had no doubt Roman would have relished arresting Steve for striking an officer.

So Steve had relented and Roman had left to investigate the old refinery. That had been two hours ago and since that time, the family had waited quietly - both for news about Shane and for John to get out of surgery.

Steve did not even have the comfort of waiting with his wife. Believing Steve had left, Kayla had received permission from Marcus to observe the surgery.

Turning away from the window, Steve looked around the room. Kim was sitting on the couch with Shawn and Caroline on either side of her. Her hands were clasped together in her lap and she stared unseeingly past Steve and into the darkness of the winter night.

Isabella sat in a chair with Bo beside her, holding her hand. It was easy for Steve to forget that Bo and Isabella were siblings, but he was glad to see that Bo was there to support Isabella now.

Steve's eye moved to the other side of the room where Marlena stood. She seemed a bit lost and alone so Steve moved towards her.

"Can I get you a cup of coffee or tea?" he asked when he reached her.

"No thank you," she replied. "I think I exceeded my caffeine limits a few hours ago." She looked down at Steve's hands and offered a small smile. "I think maybe you did as well."

Steve looked down to see the shredded remains of a foam cup in his hand. He did not even remember drinking the coffee, let alone destroying the cup.

"I guess you're right." He shrugged and took a deep breath. "Waiting was never my strong suit."

"Waiting is never easy when someone you care about is hurt," Marlena said softly. Something in her voice caught Steve's attention and he put his arm around her.

"John's going to be just fine, you know," he said in a near-whisper. "He's strong and Marcus said the wound wasn't life threatening."

Marlena gave him a flash of gratitude. Then she straightened her shoulders and smiled. "I know. I'm not worried about him. I'm just worried about Shane."

Steve knew there was more to Marlena's worry than just Shane, but did not push her. "Well, ol' Double-0-Donovan can take care of himself too." He said that with as much bravado as he could muster.

Before Marlena could respond, the door opened. Marcus and Kayla entered. Steve stepped back as the family rushed around them to hear the news about John. Kayla's eyes widened when she saw Steve and she quickly moved to his side. Together, they moved to the back of the room.

"Did you find Shane?" Kayla asked, her eyes sweeping the room.

Steve shook his head. "I never got the chance to go. Your brother showed up and threatened to arrest me if I left the hospital before he got back." Steve did his best to keep his anger under control. "I know he's a cop, Sweetness. But if doesn't find Shane, we may have lost our best shot."

Kayla was silent, so Steve decided to change the subject. "So how's John? Did the surgery go okay?"

Kayla nodded. "It went fine. The bullet was in kind of a tricky spot, but Marcus got it out. There isn't any permanent damage, but John's going to be in the hospital for a few days at least."

"He's not going to like that. Not with Shane in trouble."

"I know." Kayla offered a wan grin. "I think Marcus is already figuring out how to keep him sedated or restrained."

Steve chuckled and pulled Kayla into his arms. "I'm glad he's okay, Sweetness. Now I just hope to God that Roman finds Shane."

As they stood together, the knot of people around Marcus dissolved. Marcus then put an arm around Isabella and escorted her out the door, probably taking her to see John. Steve did not miss the way that Marlena's eyes followed Marcus and Isabella out of the waiting area.

Steve began to move back towards the group, his arm around Kayla, as the door opened again and Roman entered.

"Roman!" Kim jumped up from the couch. "Where's Shane? You did find him, right?"

Roman looked at Kim and Steve saw a flash of genuine regret on his face as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, Sis. We looked all over that old refinery site and there's no sign of Shane." Roman looked up and caught Steve's eye. "Or any sign of anything going on there at all."

Steve saw the unspoken accusation and suspicion in Roman's glare. "What are you trying to say, Roman?"

Roman stepped towards Steve. "I'm saying that nothing about that story you gave me earlier checks out. We checked the temporary buildings, and they were empty except for some plans related to remodeling the site."

"You didn't really expect Alamain to have his operation in plain sight did you?" Steve asked. He did not bother to hide his sarcasm.

"We also checked for trap doors and hidden entrances." Roman glared at Steve again. "But there's nothing there."

"That can't be true," Steve insisted. "One of Alamain's companies bought that site at the bank auction. It sure as he wasn't because he planned to rebuild the refinery."

"I had one of our detectives check out the ownership history." Roman now sported a smug grin. "There is nothing that links the buyer, Jacaranda, Inc., to Lawrence Alamain or any of his companies."

Steve felt his blood begin to boil as he realized what Roman was getting at. "So you're saying I'm lying? Did you at least look down by the river? There had to be tracks from where John and I fought those goons."

Roman chuckled. "Yeah, we looked. It was clean. No tracks. No shell casings. Looked like nobody had been around there in months."

Steve again cursed himself for waiting. It had given Lawrence just enough time to get his people out there to clean up any traces of anything suspicious.

Before Steve could say anything further, he heard Kim's voice filled with fear and pain. "So you're saying that Shane just disappeared without a trace?"

Roman turned around to face his sister. He seemed to study her for a moment before speaking. "I guess that's what I am saying, Sis. But I don't think it's because Lawrence Alamain took him." He turned back to look at Steve. "I think it's because somebody wants us to think that's what happened."

As the anger boiled inside of him, Steve stood stock still and smiled at Roman. "You really think Shane, John, and me set this whole thing up?"

"Yes, I do."

At Roman's words, the entire room erupted. Roman and Steve continued to stare at each other, as each member of the family took their turn to tell Roman how wrong he was. Finally, Roman held up his hands.

"Enough!" he yelled. "I know none of you want to believe me, but I'm a cop and my job is to look at the facts. And the fact is that Shane Donovan was facing trial in less than two weeks and the strong likelihood of a lengthy prison sentence."

Roman turned and looked around the room. "It's also a fact that Donovan is wealthy, with access to more than enough money to make himself disappear. And what better way to make it look good than to blame it on Lawrence Alamain? He even tried to warn me about Lawrence being in Salem yesterday to plant the seed."

Steve was about to respond, but Kim beat him to it. He had never heard such fury in her voice as she spoke. "It's also a fact that you don't know what the hell you're talking about, Roman. Shane would never voluntarily leave me and the children. Never. And if you weren't so bitter and determined to blame other people for what happened to you, you'd know that."

"And what about John's gunshot wound?" Kayla asked. Steve could hear the anger in her voice as well. "Before you accuse him of faking that, you should know that I just spend two hours in the operating room watching it being repaired."

Roman shook his head. "No, I don't think it's fake. But the guy's a man with no history, no family, no job, and no prospects. He wouldn't be the first guy to take a bullet for money." Roman looked at Steve again. "It was probably supposed to be a through-and-through shot, but I guess somebody had bad aim."

"You're wrong, son." Shawn spoke softly, but forcefully. "I know you've got your reasons to dislike John, but he wouldn't do that. If he says Shane was taken by Alamain, then that's what happened."

"He's right, Roman," Bo said, walking towards his brother. "You don't know Shane and John and Steve, but we do." He put his hand on his brother's arm. "You need to stop trying to blame them and focus on finding Shane before it's too late."

Roman looked as his father and brother. "Oh, I intend to find Donovan, don't worry."

Steve couldn't stand it any longer. "Fine, Roman. You believe what you want to believe." He moved towards the door. "In the meantime, I'm going to go find Shane."

"You're not going anywhere, Johnson," Roman barked.

Steve could only laugh. "Just watch me." He looked at Kayla and smiled. She tried to smile back, but she had tears in her eyes. He opened the door and started to walk out, only to run into a large man in a Salem PD uniform.

Before Steve could move, the man grabbed his upper arms, turned him, and pushed him into the wall. "Should I cuff him, Commander?"

Steve braced himself for the feel of the cold metal on his wrists. He knew that Shane was depending on him, and freaking out from the restraints was not going to help Steve get to Shane any faster. But Steve could not stop the panic rising within him.

"No!" Kayla screamed. In a flash, she was beside him. "Don't put the handcuffs on, Roman. . . please." She turned to Steve and looked him in the eye. "Just go with him, Steve," she pleaded. "I know you're angry and so am I, but-" She glanced at his wrists. "You've come too far to have to go through that again."

Steve took a deep breath. He wanted to believe that he could deal with the cuffs, but he was not sure of it. He had conquered the reaction to someone grabbing his wrist, but the cuffs were different. Even just thinking about it, he could feel the cold metal on his skin and hear his own screams echoing in his ears.

The heat rose in his face. "All right," he said, quietly and embarrassed. "I'll go to the station, quietly. You don't have to put the cuffs on."

"Commander?" The officer looked to Roman for instruction

Roman stood silently for a moment, then said, "Escort him to the station. If he makes a single move to run, cuff him."

The officer nodded and grabbed Steve's arm. "Let's go."

Steve looked at the family now gathered outside the waiting room and grinned. "Don't worry. Me and Roman are just going to take this chance to get to know each other better." Then he caught Kayla's eye and signed "I love you." Kayla smiled softly and returned the sign.

"So I don't suppose you'd let me drive?" Steve asked the officer as they walked away. When the officer remained silent, Steve muttered. "Guess not."

They quickly reached the squad car. The officer opened the back door and motioned Steve inside. "I guess some things never change," Steve said softly to himself as he entered. He took a deep breath and promised himself that he would not lose his temper. He would do what he had to do to get Roman off his back. Shane was out there somewhere and nobody, not even Roman, was going to stop Steve from finding him.