Chapter 19

Jack Devereaux sat in a chair in the Dimera living room, staring at the amber liquid swirling in the glass between his fingers.

He couldn't believe he was back in Salem, fifteen minutes from Jennifer and his kids, and was stuck in this house of horrors awaiting the return of the Devil himself.

He should be tracking down his seriously confused little girl. The thought of EJ putting his hands on Abigail caused him to take another long drink.

Chad had been bad enough, but he was just a puppy. EJ wasn't a harmless, love struck boy. He was his father's heir for a reason.

Yet it had been Stefano's goons that had pulled him from the wreckage of that elevator two years ago. Jack had no memory of the actual accident, or the year after in which he'd lived in a vegetative state, severely injured. He'd awoken from his coma a damaged man. He'd lost the use of his legs and spent months relearning how to walk. He'd suffered through rehabilitation and therapy with the goal of becoming a man again to return to reclaim the love of his life.

But the love of his life had moved on...

Jack had kept up on Salem news via social media. He couldn't face Jennifer as half a man. He wouldn't be worthy of her until he could go to her on his own two feet...make love to her like the man he'd always been.

Daniel Jonas had become the man she needed. She clearly loved him. She'd moved on.

Devastated, Jack had blamed Stefano for taking him from his family. He'd railed against him for ruining his life.

Stefano had merely shook his head and handed Jack a letter. Apparently, Jack's life, his family's lives, had been threatened by the terrorist group Jack had fled in Afghanistan. Through his underground connections, Stefano had gotten wind of an assassination plot against his entire family in retaliation for his work against the terrorists. Stefano had had Jack's family followed for weeks before the explosion. His goons had sifted through the rubble and found a horribly injured Jack and switched bodies with an unknown, badly burned victim. Stefano had made Jack disappear. Jack's "death" had cancelled the hit. His family was safe...thanks to Stefano Dimera.

Stefano explained that he'd done it out of loyalty to Alice Horton. She'd once saved EJ's life. Stefano had returned the favor.

Jack was still concerned that his resurrection might endanger his family, but Stefano assured him that the threat had been neutralized.

"How does one neutralize a terrorist?" Jack had asked.

Stefano had merely grinned and raised a brow.

The man was downright frightening.

They'd developed an odd sort of friendship during Jack's recovery. Jack had discovered that there was a strange normalcy about Salem ' s famed evil doer. He was fiercely protective of his children and passionate about the safety and future of his grandchildren. He was exceptionally brilliant. Though not formally educated, Stefano possessed natural curiosity and innate ability to absorb information.

He would spend hours by Jack's bedside debating world politics, economics and technology.

Stefano had tried to convince Jack to reach out to Jennifer, but he had refused. He would not jerk her around again. She deserved to be happy...with Daniel, if that was what she wanted.

"But what do you want, Jack Deveraux? Are you saying you can just walk away from everyone you love?" Stefano had asked.

Jack remembered glaring down at his useless legs and cursing.

"That's the point, damn it. I won't be 'walking' anywhere."

He was jetted back into the present by the sound of the door closing and footsteps. Good, he thought. Stefano and I can finally decide how best to proceed.

Jack agreed that EJ belonged with Sami. They were the same...devious, schemers. EJ reminded Jack of himself twenty years ago, before Jennifer ' s love had changed him. Abigail deserved better.

He finished the glass and rose gingerly from the chair for a refill. His legs would never fully heal, but he could walk slowly, with a limp.

"I cannot wait to get you upstairs..."

He stopped short at the sound of his daughter's voice as she and EJ came crashing through the living room door, mouths fused and ripping at each other's shirts.

She was reaching for his belt when Jack threw his empty glass down on the floor, shattering it and startling the oblivious couple.

"What the hell?"

"Oh my God..."

Abigail stepped toward him and stopped dead in her tracks, her already large chocolate eyes enormous with disbelief. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth and she shook her head in denial.

"Oh my God...this has got to be some kind of sick joke! Are you kidding me, EJ? Does your father want us apart this badly? I know he's known for this kind of thing, but this is unbelievable! "

EJ shook his head and reached for Abigail ' s hand.

"Take your hand off of my daughter, Junior," Jack snapped, his eyes never leaving Abigail ' s pale face.

Abigail stepped back into EJ's arms and glared at him.

"I don't know who you were before Stefano reprogrammed you, but my father died two years ago. We buried him. Don't ever call me that!"

Jack noted the tender way EJ held her against his chest, protecting her from a would-be pretender. He moved to shield her with his massive frame.

"I'm going to call my father, sweetheart," he said soothingly. "I will get to the bottom of this."

Abigail raised a brow and sneered at the imposter across the room.

"Why would you do this to us?"

Jack raked his hands through his hair in frustration.

"I am your father, Abigail. This is real. Stefano saved me from the elevator two years ago. A terrorist group had put a hit on our family. Stefano made them believe I was dead, but provided for my care. I've been through hell and back to be well enough to stand her with you. I will not see you waste yourself on Elvis Dimera!"

EJ pulled his cell from his pocket and dialed his father's number. Of course, there was no answer. Where the bloody hell was his father when he needed him.

The man certainly looked like Jack Devereaux, but EJ knew thr talent level of Stefano ' s doctors. Why would Stefano do this? Was he trying to get a fake Jack to come between he and Abigail?

Stefano wanted EJ with the mother of his grandchildren. He'd made that perfectly clear. He wanted a Brady/Dimera union.

Bringing in a fake Jack was just in his father's wheelhouse.

"EJ, I'm feeling a little woozy," Abigail said suddenly, gripping his arm tightly.

He looked down at her ghastly pale face and scooped her into his arms. He carried her to the sofa and deposited her gently.

He knelt before her and kissed her forehead.

"I'm so sorry, Abigail. I had no idea he was planning something like this."

She lowered her head between her knees in an attempt to stop the room from spinning.

"Elvis, I said to leave her alone. I know it's a shock to you both, but I am alive and I will not tolerate this!"

Jack reached for EJ and pulled the younger man to his feet, away from Abigail.

"What the hell do you think you're doing...seducing my daughter? She's so young, she has no idea what kind of hell you will put her through. But I do! I won't allow it."

EJ grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him against his chest, their faces inches apart.

"Don't you dare pretend to have any say in this. You are nothing but a paid pretender sent by my father to..."

"He is no pretender, Elvis...and you know it."

The smooth voice of Stefano Dimera cut through EJ's system and he dropped the older man.

"What are you talking about, father?" EJ asked, warily. "I knew..."

"That Jack had survived and was fighting to regain the use of his legs through treatment in our Italian compound. You've always known. Did you not tell your lovely new friend? Ah. I see. I've warned you about secrets, my son. I am sorry for the shock, Abigail."

Abigail looked up at EJ, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. Could Stefano be telling the truth? Was this man really her father?

Had EJ known about him and allowed her family to continue believing he was dead?

He didn't look like a man who'd been caught in a lie. He looked furious.

"Damn it, father. You know that is not true. You brought in this fake Jack to use him to drive a wedge between us. Abigail knows when I'm lying. She won't fall for your lies."

He knelt before her and cupped her face between his hands.

"You don't believe him, do you? You know I love you, Abigail. I know you loved your father. I would never have been involved with anything like this."

Abigail looked up at the man claiming to be her father and then back to the man she loved. She believed he was telling the truth about bringing this man into town. Could he have been involved in "Jack's" rescue? That was long before they were a couple. Could he have plotted with Stefano?

"Abigail, I thought my father was dead when your father died. I was wanted for his bloody murder! How could I have been involved in this?"

Abigail leaned forward and covered his lips with hers.

He was right.

She knew it.

EJ was telling her the truth.

She pulled back and smiled sadly.

"I believe you," she whispered.

She looked over at Stefano Dimera and shakily stood, fighting a wave of nausea.

"You must really hate me if you would rather see your son with Sami Brady than I," she said with a sneer. "That woman shot your son in the head. She lied about carrying his child. I don't understand you at all. You say you love your son, but you can't stand him being happy? You'd really go to the trouble and expense of hiring an actor to have plastic surgery to try to convince me that EJ had hidden my own father from me for two years? What the hell is wrong with you?"