Rafe walked through the pub and saw T at the bar. "Tad Wilkons?"

T turned around. "Hmm?"

Rafe showed him his badge. "Salem PD. I'd like to ask you a couple of questions about your day."

"Okay."

"Where were you earlier this afternoon at about two PM?" Rafe asked.

"At home playing a video game. Halo." T answered. "Why? What happened at around two PM?"

"Sonny Kiriakis was shot. He's alive, but in the hospital." Rafe braced himself for T's reaction.

"Oh. Hmm. Well, as much as I would like to take credit, I was not the one who shot him." T replied.

Rafe nodded. "All right. Thank you for your time." He left and called Roman. "Hey, I questioned Tad. He was at home when Sonny was shot. Looks like all signs point to the DiMeras now."

"All right. Bo and Hope are questioning the DiMeras now."

"All right. Let's hope they confess."

"Doubtful."

Rafe paused. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

XXX

At the DiMera Mansion, Chad stood up. EJ grabbed his arm, but he shrugged out of it.

"Oh, looks like we have our first volunteer." Hope snarked. "Chad…where were you at around two PM?"

"I was looking for Abigail." Chad answered.

"Your girlfriend. Sonny's cousin." Hope mused.

"Yes. I found her at the pier. We were talking, and-"

"What were you talking about?" Hope interrupted.

Chad glanced at EJ and Stefano, sighed, then turned back to the detectives. "We were talking about…family and…just…me leaving the life of the DiMera Crime Family."

Hope nodded. "And that's when Sonny showed up?"

"Yes. I didn't know he was going to be there." Chad said earnestly. "I started ranting, and Sonny tried to calm me down. I heard a gunshot just as I turned away. I saw someone wearing all black disappear down the pier."

"How tall was this man? What was his hair color?" Bo asked.

"Just over six feet tall with slicked back black hair." Chad replied.

Bo nodded and stood right in front of Chad's face. "If you're lying to me…you will suffer."

"I'm not lying." Chad looked Bo dead in the eye.

Bo stepped away. "So, what happened next? You took Sonny to the hospital?"

"Yes. But…EJ and Taylor showed up." Chad admitted.

EJ resisted the urge to smack his brother upside the head. Bo turned to EJ. "And where were you before you showed up at the pier?"

"I was talking with Taylor Raines in town square." EJ replied. "We heard a gunshot and rushed to the pier. I thought Chad might have been shot. I drove Chad, Abigail, and Sonny to the hospital."

Hope nodded and took notes. She turned to Stefano. "Okay. That's all for now. We'll let you know if we have further questions."

"I am sure you will, Detectives." Stefano replied.

As soon as the detectives left the house, Bo turned to his wife. "Make sure to go over Stefano's phone records over the last seventy-two hours. See if any of his henchmen were at the pier earlier."

"Right. We're also checking security footage. We'll be able to pick up a trail of the shooter." Hope nodded.

XXX

Brady sat on the couch drinking whisky. The guilt was already starting to eat away at him. He almost got his cousin killed. Kid's not even out of college- has his whole life ahead of him- and he almost gets him killed. All because he wanted to avenge Maggie. What the actual hell?

"What is wrong with you?"

Brady jumped slightly and saw Taylor standing near him with her hands on her hips. "You do know your cousin's in the hospital, right?"

"Yeah…freaking homophobes, man. What is their problem?" Brady scoffed and tried to take a drink, but realized the glass was empty. He exhaled sharply and slammed the glass on the coffee table.

Taylor tilted her head slightly. "You look guilty, Brady."

"Why? I'm not in rehab, so…"

"And you're tense and you won't even look at me. What's going on?" Taylor pressed on.

"What's going on is…" Brady stood up. "my cousin's in the hospital, so I need to be there."

Taylor held up her hands to stop him. "Wait a minute…Sonny was shot three days after and in the same spot Maggie Horton was shot. Chad DiMera was there. Did you…were you trying to frame the DiMeras for shooting Sonny?"

"Who said I did?" Brady demanded.

"Nicole told me you hired a hitman to go after Chad. Sonny ended up being shot." Taylor admitted.

"And you think I'd risk my cousin's ass to get back at the DiMeras?" Brady raised an eyebrow.

"Did you?" Taylor asked.

"No!" Brady insisted. "That bullet was meant for Chad."

Taylor huffed and shook her head. "Okay…you better tell your family the truth soon before they send the DiMeras to prison for something they didn't do."

"If the DiMeras go to jail, would it really be so bad?" Brady threw his arms out.

"No. But if they're put in jail on false charges and they find out you were the one who hired that hitman, things will be ten times worse for you! This war would never end!" Taylor exclaimed.

Brady groaned and ran a hand through his hair. She had a point there. He exhaled slowly. "Okay. I'll tell them now."

"Thank you." Taylor sighed quietly.

XXX

Justin and Adrienne walked into Sonny's hospital room. Adrienne swallowed back a sob as she walked to a chair next to the bed. Her baby boy looked so small on the hospital bed. He looked so peaceful. She carefully took his hand in hers.

"Hey, baby." Adrienne sniffed. "I don't know if you can hear me, but…you need to wake up. Your dad and I are right here. We can't lose you."

Justin took Sonny's other hand. "Your mom's right, kiddo. I'm so sorry. We raised you away from the life of the Kiriakis crime family drama. I should have…we should have protected you better. That's our job." He exhaled and blinked back tears.

Adrienne exhaled sharply. "How does this happen? I mean, he's climbed to the top of K2, he outran avalanches, scaled high mountains, hiked through thick fog, cliff-dived from a hundred feet…he's in Salem less than two months and he gets shot?"

Justin took Adrienne's free hand. "I know. I know."

They stayed like that for a few minutes, then Sonny squeezed their hands twice quickly. Adrienne gasped and she and Justin looked to see their son opening his eyes and smiling. "Hey."

"Hey!" Adrienne sighed in relief and stroked Sonny's hair. "You're okay. You're in the hospital."

"Hmm. That explains the bright lights, then." Sonny joked. Justin chuckled.

"How are you feeling?" Asked Adrienne.

"Tired…sore." Sonny replied.

"Well, you were shot. You just got out of surgery." Justin shrugged. "Sonny, do you remember what happened?"

Sonny closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah…I was taking a walk near the pier when I heard Chad talking loudly. I decided to go check it out, and he and Abigail were arguing about something about family blood. I tried to calm him down…then I heard a gunshot. Next thing I know, I'm on the ground."

"Oh, baby." Adrienne said sympathetically.

"Sonny, did Chad call you earlier before you went to the pier?" Justin asked.

"No. Why?"

Justin sighed. "The police are going to want to talk to you. If you can think of anything out of the ordinary, you need to tell them."

"Dad…this wasn't Chad's fault." Sonny said earnestly. "He's not like his family."

"Sonny…you were shot in the same place Maggie Horton was three days ago." Justin said. "This can't be a coincidence."

Sonny sighed and shook his head. "I don't know what else to tell you, then."

Justin just nodded. "Are you okay enough to be questioned by the police?"

"Yeah." Sonny said sincerely.

"Okay. I'll call Bo."

XXX

Adrienne leaned against a wall as Bo questioned Sonny. He was adamant that the DiMeras have nothing to do with this. Well…he doesn't know any better. The DiMeras have gotten away with far too much. Now they almost killed her son.

She had to do something.