Kayla rubbed a hand across her face, feeling the exhaustion of a long night setting in. She had been at the police station since she had dropped Stephanie off at her parents' house the previous evening. It was now early morning and it seemed she was no closer to getting Roman to let Steve go than she was when she had arrived.
Despite Roman's attempts to avoid her, she and Bo had managed to corner him in his office for a few minutes. They had taken turns trying to convince Roman how ridiculous his theory was, but it had gone nowhere. Eventually, Roman had simply stalked out of his office, leaving Bo and Kayla fuming inside.
Bo had then taken off, vowing to find Shane himself. He had returned not long afterwards - in the company of a Salem PD officer. Apparently, Roman had instructed an officer to follow Bo and then had him detained for trespassing.
Since then, Bo and Kayla had waited in Roman's office. Roman had returned just once to tell them that he was having a gun powder residue test run on Steve and to warn Bo not to go near the refinery site unless he wanted to be thrown in jail.
After Roman had left again, Kayla and Bo had resumed their wait. Kayla had contemplated going home. It was obvious she would get nowhere with Roman, but she knew she would not sleep if she went home. So she had waited.
She glanced to her right where Bo was snoring softly in the chair. Somehow, it did not surprise her that her little brother had managed to get some sleep. Since he had been little, he had always managed to find a way to sleep almost anywhere.
She looked up as the door to Roman's office opened. Her expression fell slightly when she saw it was Abe. But as the door opened wider, she jumped up from her chair and caused Bo to jerk awake.
"Steve!" she exclaimed as he followed Abe through the door.
"Hi, Sweetness," he replied with a tired smile. "Miss me?"
Kayla chuckled and embraced him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Just ready to get out of this place."
Kayla turned to Abe. "Does that mean he's free to go?"
Abe nodded. "The gun powder residue test came back negative. The officer at the hospital says that John is awake and is confirming Steve's account of what happened."
"Where's Roman?" Bo asked. "Why isn't he here apologizing for this mess?"
Abe looked apologetic. "He said he needed to go home for a shower and breakfast. He asked me to finish the paperwork to have Steve released."
Kayla snorted. "You mean he wasn't willing come in and face me again." She felt her anger rising again. "I still can't believe he did this."
"It doesn't matter anymore, Sweetness," Steve interjected. "I'm free to go and that's exactly what I want to do."
"All right," Abe said. "You are officially released. But I have to warn you. If you are caught at the refinery site, Roman's going to find a way to have you locked up again." He turned to Bo. "That goes for you, too."
Steve just nodded. "Whatever you say." Turning to Kayla and Bo, he said, "Let's go."
Together, the three of them made their way out of the police station. Steve wrapped his arm around Kayla and she leaned into him, just happy to have him with her again.
When they reached Kayla's car, Bo leaned against its side. "So I'll meet you at the refinery in a few minutes, right?" He grinned slightly. "You're going back to look for Shane, aren't you?"
Kayla's heart clinched at Bo's words. She knew that Steve was not going to stop looking for Shane and she knew she could not stop him, but each little goodbye was taking a toll on her.
"Yeah, I'm going," Steve replied. He looked at Bo. "But you're not going with me."
"What?" Bo stood up and stared at Steve. "I'm sure as hell not letting you go by yourself."
Kayla looked back and forth between her husband and brother. She did not want Bo in danger any more than she wanted Steve in danger, but she also did not want Steve going off by himself.
"You are going to let me," Steve insisted. Before Bo could argue further, Steve held up his hand. "Just listen to me for a minute." He glanced at Kayla, then continued. "Shane's in trouble and John's in the hospital. Roman doesn't want to believe there is a threat." He took a deep breath. "That leaves you and me to try and protect this family."
"What do you mean?" Bo asked. "Protect them from what?"
"From whatever Alamain is planning," Steve said. "You heard Roman say that Shane warned him about a toxin that Alamain was developing, right?" When Bo nodded, Steve continued. "That toxin is real. And if Lawrence is here, then it's also deadly. He's planning on releasing it here as some kind of show for potential buyers, but we don't know where or when."
"How do you know all of this?" Bo asked. Then his eyes narrowed. "And why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"
Steve just shook his head. "It doesn't matter right now. When all of this is over, you can be mad at me then. Right now, I just need you to do what I ask."
Bo was clearly irritated. "What's that?"
"I need you to try and talk some sense into your brother," Steve said. "The ISA isn't going to confirm what we're saying, because they don't want a public panic to break out. So you've got to get Roman to understand the danger and to be ready to act."
"Come on, Steve," Bo protested. "You know he's not going to listen to me. I talked until I was blue in the face last night."
"Then get Carly to confirm what you're saying," Steve said.
Kayla's eyes widened in surprise as Steve mentioned Carly's name. She knew that he was pretty desperate if he was willing to pull Carly into all of this.
"Carly?" Bo asked. "What does she have to do with this?"
This time Kayla spoke up. "She's been working on an antidote for the toxin. The immunology lab has stockpiled something they hope will work, but there are no guarantees. But Carly has seen the information on Lawrence's project. Maybe she can convince Roman."
"Why hasn't she told me this?" Bo asked, clearly angry at being left out.
"Because it's a top secret operation," Kayla said. "She wanted to tell you. And I only found out by accident." She put her hand on her brother's arm. "Like Steve said, you can be mad at us later, right now we just need your help."
"Fine," Bo said, sharply. "I'll see what I can do to get Roman on board. But I don't think it's going to do any good."
"Maybe not," Steve admitted. "But if nothing else, you can be around to help Kayla and Carly if Lawrence releases that toxin."
Bo nodded and turned to leave. Before he could, Steve stopped him. Kayla watched as they took a few steps away. Steve kept his voice low, so Kayla could not hear what he was saying, but saw Bo glance in her direction. After a few moments, Bo nodded and clapped Steve on the shoulder. Then he gave Kayla a small smile and headed for his motorcycle.
When Steve returned, Kayla asked, "What was that about?"
"Nothing important," Steve said, nonchalantly. He opened the car door and got in. After a few seconds, Kayla moved to the passenger side and climbed in beside him.
Steve drove silently. After a few moments, Kayla realized he was heading for the hospital instead of their apartment. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going back to the hospital, so I can get my car," he said, his eye never leaving the road.
"You're not going home after you drop me off, are you?" Kayla knew the answer.
Steve shook his head. "I've got to go find Shane . . . and Alamain." As he stopped at a stoplight, he turned and looked at her. "You understand that, don't you?"
Kayla nodded, trying to keep the fear from constricting her throat. "But I don't have to like it."
"No, Sweetness. You don't have to like it." He sighed softly. "I don't like any of this either, but I can't leave Shane out there alone."
Kayla reached over, grabbed his hand, and pulled it into her lap. They remained silent as Steve pulled into the hospital parking garage and pulled the car into a spot close to where Kayla's car was parked.
When he shut of the engine, Steve leaned over and pulled Kayla to him. He kissed her cheek and her hair. He murmured his love to her as she clung tightly to him. After a few moments, Steve pulled himself away.
"I need to go, baby."
Kayla nodded, forced herself to sit up, and moved towards the door. Before she could reach it, Steve leaned over, pulled her back, and kissed her deeply. Finally, they separated and he rested her forehead against hers.
"I love you, Sweetness. Don't ever forget that, no matter what."
"I love you, too. And your wife and your children need you. Don't ever forget that."
Steve nodded and kissed her again. Then he held her face in his hands and looked her in the eye. "I need you to go to the hospital like everything is normal. My gut tells me that whatever is going to happen is going to happen today, and you need to be here if any reports start coming in."
Kayla nodded, wondering how she was supposed to pretend anything was normal. As if reading her mind, Steve smiled and said, "You can do this, baby. There are a lot of innocent people that are counting on you. I know you won't let them down."
Kayla smiled and stroked his face and then kissed him again. Then she forced herself to open the car door climb out. She closed the door and leaned down, trying to smile through the tears streaming down her face.
As Steve pulled away, she waved and then stood without moving as she watched the car drive away. Only after he was long gone did Kayla gather the strength to start walking towards the hospital. With each step, she wondered if she would ever see her husband again.