"Where is Marais releasing the toxin?" Roman snarled as the car sped down the Salem street, away from the refinery. He glanced over his shoulder at the prisoner in the back seat. "Where? The air conditioning unit? Inside the school?"
The man in the back seat shook his head. "I don't know. I only monitor the radio and cameras."
"But you knew what Lawrence was planning, didn't you?" Kim asked. She had turned in her seat and was staring at the man. She did not recognize him from Alamainia, but he spoke with enough of an accent that she was sure he was hand-picked by Lawrence. "Even if he knows, he won't tell us," she said to Roman. "He's too loyal."
Roman snorted. "Loyalty will get him strapped down with a needle in his arm." His radio squawked and he picked it up. "Abe, buddy, you getting close?" Roman had already radioed Abe with instructions to send some units to the school. "Tell them to keep their distance. We don't want to spook this Marais guy."
On the other end, Abe said the units were nearby, but he wasn't sending in any uniforms.
"Good," Roman said. "ETA is five minutes." He returned the radio to the console and looked at Kim. "What does this Marais guy look like?"
Kim was prepared for the question. "He's blond." She tried to describe Ivan Marais as best she could, but pointed out that it had been months since she had seen him at Lawrence's villa. "What if that's not enough?" she asked. "Our kids are in that school."
Roman reached over and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "It'll be enough," he said. "We'll find him and stop him. No one is going to hurt those children."
There was something in the way Roman said those words that took away Kim's doubt. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she truly had her older brother back, not just the man who looked like Roman but refused to trust her and the rest of the family.
Roman must have sensed that things were different too. "I . . . I'm sorry, Kimmie," he said. "I've been a real horse's ass to you and to Kayla. . . and to Shane and Steve too. You all were trying to tell me the truth and I was just too pig-headed to believe you."
Kim had to smile a little. "A horse's ass with a pig's head. . . . That's quite the picture, big brother."
"I'm going to make it up to you," Roman said, looking a bit sheepish. "All of you. First, we're going to stop this Marais guy, and, then, I'm going to do whatever I can to help clear Shane's name."
Kim nodded. "If we stop the toxin, that shouldn't be necessary, Roman." At Roman's surprised look, she explained, "This was Shane's plan. If he could stop Lawrence, he would make the ISA admit he was still working for them. He said they couldn't admit that he managed to stop Lawrence's toxin when the ISA couldn't."
Roman seemed to think and then nodded approvingly. "He definitely knows how the ISA works. They wouldn't take that kind of PR hit." Then Roman scowled. "It's still a damn crazy risk for a man with a wife and kids at home."
"Like my big brother never chased Stefano DiMera after the twins were born?" Kim said evenly.
Roman sighed. "Okay, you got me there."
They both fell silent as they turned down the road to the school.
"I'm going to slow down," Roman said. "Just in case Marais is watching. We don't want-"
"To spook him." Kim finished his sentence. "You said that to Abe already."
Roman frowned, a sign Kim recognized that he was deep in thought. He picked up the radio and asked Abe, "So what do we got?"
On the other end, Abe reported that the surveillance had seen no sign of Marais.
"Okay. Meet us by the front door." Roman set down the radio. "Marais must be inside. So what we're going to do is go inside - you, me, and Abe. Abe knows Marais so he can take one side. We'll take the other."
Kim nodded and thought of something. "At the Spectator, the man was hooking up a tank to some type of vent. He had it in a backpack."
Roman picked up the radio again. "Abe, be on the lookout for Marais to have a backpack or duffel. The toxin is probably in some kind of tank." He looked at Kim. "Like an oxygen tank?" When Kim nodded, Roman passed that information on to Abe.
He turned the car into the school driveway and pulled to a stop in front of the building. Kim saw Abe get out of a sedan parked a little down the street and, without making eye contact with them, headed to the entrance.
Roman touched Kim's hand again and gave her what she suspected was supposed to be a reassuring look. But she could tell that he was as afraid as she was.
"Ready?" he asked. When she nodded, he did too. "Okay, Sis, let's do this."