Chapter 17
The whine of jet engines and the harsh glare of the sun reflecting off of the stark white of the Dimera jet were giving Chad a terrible headache as he awaited his father's slow climb down the steps that would return to Salem its most notorious resident
Chad squinted into the sun, straining to make out his father's shape in the open cockpit door.
He hated that he needed this man's help.
Chad had spent so long trying to distance himself from the Dimera legacy...and its curse. He wanted to be his own man. He didn't want anyone thinking that he couldn't make his own way in life.
Abigail had changed the game.
He wanted her. She was his.
He'd sent Sami Brady the pictures of EJ and Abigail's tryst weeks ago in the hope that she would plot a way to tear them a part. That, like his attempts to talk to Abigail, had apparently failed.
He could not imagine Sami seeing her then-fiancee and her babysitter together and not blowing up. Sami was not known for her amazing self control.
Maybe she really was over his brother. Maybe she was ready to move on.
Good for her, he thought uncharitably. Chad loved Abigail. He was willing to do anything to make her realize that she belonged with him. EJ may think that Sami was out of his system, but Chad knew better. EJ would never fully be free of her. Their children insured they would always share a connection. Their history had proven that any connection between the two of them could consume everyone in their midst.
EJ would destroy Abigail one day. Chad knew it. He needed to make her see it, too.
"It is good to see you, my son!"
Chad was jolted out of his reverie by his father's voice as he walked down the stairs.
Stefano looked well. He was tanned and looked rested from his travels. He wore a black designer suit with a blue shirt and tie. He carried a briefcase in one hand and waived with the other.
"Father! Glad to see..." Chad's voice trailed off abruptly. The site of the man behind his father made Chad's mouth drop.
It couldn't be... Surely it was just an imposter! God only knew how many times his father had employed that particular scheme over the years.
Where the hell does he find these people? Chad wondered just how deep Stefano's resources went.
He shook his head as both men descended the stairs and reached him.
"What the hell is going on Father?"
Stefano grinned and reached up to kiss his son's cheek.
"You wanted help with your Abigail... I have provided that help, I believe."
Chad looked past his father to a man he never thought he'd see again. He hadn't been there that night with Abigail. He had been in the tunnels searching for Melanie when half of Salem had exploded around him...killing many...
Including the man standing before him...
"Chad, it is good to see you," the man said with a curt nod. If it was an imposter, it was a damn good one. He looked and sounded just like...
"Jack? Father, what the hell is going on? If this is another Fake Rafe thing, I don't think it is a good idea."
Stefano laughed and turned to Jack. He put his arm around the taller man and raised a brow at his son.
"I can assure you this is not doppleganger, my son. This is the real Jack Deveraux. As you can see, he did not die in that elevator. He is perfectly fine and ready to reclaim his family."
The man his father called Jack glared at Stefano.
"For once, Chad, I am grateful to your father. He found me and told me what was happening to my children...to Jennifer. I had to come back and fix things. I owe them that much."
Chad looked the man over. The voice, the hair, the build...if he wasn't Jack Deveraux, it was the best imposter ever. Stefano had raised a man from the dead? He had outdone himself.
"If you are really Jack Deveraux, how did we meet?"
The man glared at him.
"I walked in on you and my daughter on the couch... I warned her about getting involved with Dimeras! As if one Dimera wasn't bad enough, your father has informed me that she's seeing EJ now. I told her to stay away from him years ago. He is as bad as your dear old dad."
Chad looked at his father and threw his hands up in frustration. He had asked him for help. Stefano wasn't happy about EJ and Abigail. He had wanted a Dimera/Brady union for years. He liked having his Elvis under his thumb. Abigail Deveraux would complicate things. Stefano wanted his son's family together...living in the Dimera Mansion.
"Where have you been Jack? Your family...your kids...have mourned you," Chad snapped. "Judging my father may not be such a great idea given that you've allowed your family to think that you were dead the last two years."
Jack walked up to Chad and pulled the younger man up by his shirt, his eyes blazing with fury.
"Do you think I had a choice, you son of a bitch?"
"Let him go, Jack," Stefano said quietly. "I can explain everything to the boy in the car. Let's get the hell out of this blazing sun. I need a drink."