Tripp recognized the crazy woman as Will's mother, but he had no idea why she was screaming at him. "Can I help you?"

"You can stop being a fucking liar, for starters!" The roar from the woman was probably strong enough to rattle windows but Tripp was unmoved. "Just admit that nothing fucking happened and we can all move on."

"Did Paul send you?" Tripp asked, not believing that such a thing could have happened. He didn't know Paul well, but he'd had weeks to drag his name through the mud in the press and in the court but he hadn't. His rapist had just stayed silent and to himself. The citizens of the internet, on the other hand, alternated between hating Tripp for trying to ruin a good man and hating both of them for being dirty fags. It was exhausting.

The woman, Tripp thought her name was Sami, she flared her nostrils and narrowed her eyes. "Fuck Paul and fuck you. I'm here about Will. You know, my son you had locked up. What did Sonny give you? How much? I'll double it if you tell the truth right here and now. You want to take me up on this offer while I'm still feeling generous."

Having no idea what Sami was talking about, Tripp just stared at her with an open mouth and slowly blinked. "Sonny Kiriakis? Will's husband? He didn't give me anything. He just asked me to testify so that Will could get the help he needed instead of getting locked up for, you know, beating me up and throwing Ciara down a flight of stairs."

"Don't even get me started on that little slut, Ciara. She and I already had a chat. Now we're talking about you and why you think it's smart to lie about my son to my face."

Tripp looked around the Horton Square and only a few people were staring at them. Most of the folk seemed to not give a shit about a crazy woman ranting and raving at the top of her lungs. Salem was such a weird town sometimes.

"I'm not lying about a damn thing. Your son is a horny and violent psycho." Tripp thought back on how his first interaction with Will led to someone getting a punch in the face and Sonny throwing around threats. It also led to Tripp sleeping with Paul. And because of that first night, it led to so many other horrible things happening. Maybe if he'd just stayed sober and not retaliated when Will sexually harassed him things would have stayed sane and none of it would have happened. "As far as I'm concerned he got off easy being in the nuthouse instead of prison where he belongs."

Sami punched Tripp in the face. Bewildered, he held his jaw and looked around again at the people of the town who seemed rather unbothered by what had just happened.

"Like mother like son," Tripp spat as he met Sami's gaze. He recognized the hate in her eyes from when he had looked into Will's: they were nearly identical. "I don't know what you think is supposed to happen here, but I'm not going to take back what I said because every bit of it was true. Will attacked me for filing charges against Paul. Will is the one who couldn't accept reality and now I see where he gets it from."

"You really don't want to antagonize me, little boy. I will make you disappear and nobody will be able to find you." Sami reached out and grabbed Tripp's hair, twisting it so that he was looking up at her. She spat in his face and then pushed him away. "I'm going to get Will out and then I'm coming for you. You fucking pathetic little liar. You deserved to be raped for what you did to my son."

Closing his eyes, Tripp turned around an walked away from the woman. She screamed more insults and threats at his back but he tuned her out. He was already running late for meeting Kayla at the hospital. Sami Brady was not going to take away anymore of his time.

DOOL

Ciara was in the park because she couldn't stand to be home. Claire was always there and she was always screeching about how worried she was about Tripp. It almost made her wish for the days when her niece would gloat and brag about Theo and how in love they were. Almost.

Someone had broken into her room and stolen something from her locked desk. She had checked and everything was there but the piece of paper detailing Sonny's withdrawal from the fertility clinic or wherever it was they stored the sperm of washed up athletes. Someone was onto her and she didn't know who. She had accrued herself a long list of enemies in a very short period of time.

She walked around in a daze, trying to figure out what to do. She could claim she was looking into Sonny if anyone asked, but she had no excuse as to why she was investigating her cousin. She had to think of something and fast in order to keep her tracks covered.

The sound of a snapping twig was the first and only hint Ciara had that she wasn't alone before a rope wrapped itself around her throat. She was unable to breath and because she had been caught off guard she had no breath to hold. Ciara tried to twist around to see who it was attacking her but she couldn't. She pulled at the rope with both hands and couldn't get any grip.

A kick to the back of one of her knees drove Ciara to the ground. She was on her knees and her vision was getting fuzzy. Her lungs were on fire and she knew she didn't have much time to act. Her left hand kept trying to get purchase on the rope while her right plunged into the pocket of her leather jacket. She quickly produced a switchblade and pressed the button unleashing the sharp end of the knife. Blindly, she stabbed behind herself twice before her attacker released her.

Coughing, Ciara held her throat with one hand and the bloody knife in the other. She turned her head to see that it was a tall man in all black who had attacked her. Judging by how he was holding his right leg she gathered his injuries weren't life threatening.

She plunged the knife into his left thigh. "Who are you working for?"

The man just grunted in pain, so Ciara twisted the knife. Who would want her dead? Did her false confession about selling drugs to Paul get to Ava's ears? Was Sami trying to silence her about the torture? Was it someone else? Who wanted her dead so badly that they hired an assassin to attack her in a public park?

"I asked who sent you after me." Ciara grit her teeth and twisted the knife in the opposite direction, enjoying the sight of sweat pouring down the man's face. "Tell me and I'll leave you alive long enough to call an ambulance, provided you were smart enough to bring a phone. Or you can call a mob doctor to sew you up if that's more your speed. I really don't care."

"His name is Sonny," the man choked out as Ciara pulled the blade out of his. She pointed it at the man's throat and narrowed her eyes. "Sonny Kiriakis wanted you dead. Fuck!"

Lowering the knife, Ciara rose to her full height and looked down on her injured attacker. She stomped his right leg for good measure before backing away. When she was satisfied that the distance between them was sufficient, Ciara looked down at the bloody switchblade in her hand. After what Sami had done, Ciara had gone after the easiest form of protection she could. Guns were too easily traceable and way too noticeable.

Retracting the blade, Ciara thought about how Sonny was tying up his loose ends and how she was one of them. Had he been the one to break into her room? Had he taken the only piece of evidence tying him to what happened to Tripp and Paul? Will was locked up so he clearly had no more use for her. It didn't matter that she'd held up her end of their stupid bargain.

Well, Sonny had screwed because now she knew for sure he was gunning for her. Ciara pocketed her knife and left the injured man to bleed out. Sonny wasn't going to get a second shot at her because she was going to come for him. She just had one last errand to run before she could confront him.

DOOL

"What are you doing here, John?" Steve didn't look happy and John couldn't blame him. They'd been at odds for weeks over their sons.

"There's something you need to see," John said as he reached into his back pocket and produced the paper he had stolen from Ciara. It had been a mix of instinct and hope that led John to go to his best friend with the information before anyone else. Steve would surely recognize the significance of what he'd uncovered.

"What is this?" Steve took the paper but stayed in the doorway to his apartment, not letting John into his home. He looked it over, his eye screwed up in concentration. John didn't know what to do with his hands so he put them in his pockets. Finally, after about two minutes, Steve looked up at him. "Where did you get this?"

"I found it in Ciara Brady's bedroom. She had it in a dossier on her cousin Sonny Kiriakis. You know, Will's husband."

"It says Sonny withdrew a sperm sample Paul had submitted." Steve looked back down to the paper. "He did it the day before Tripp was... Before he was attacked. Why would Ciara need this? What made you look into her?"

"It was Sami. She told Paul that Ciara confessed to selling him the drug that was used on Tripp. It was something having to do with Ciara testifying against William in court." John reached out and grabbed Steve's forearm. "Patch, what does this mean to you?"

"Get in here," Steve said, stepping back and letting John pass. He closed the door behind them. Running a hand over his face, Steve groaned. "Why would Ciara confess to selling Paul a drug and then have this stuff hidden in her apartment? Tripp lives with her! You know Sami can't be believed and this could be a photoshopped piece of paper."

"You know me better than that. I'm not going to fake evidence to keep one of my kids out of prison. If I did that, Sami wouldn't be getting arrested every third Tuesday."

"This is hard to believe, John. What would Sonny or Ciara get out of whatever it is you're proposing they did? How is Sami's word worth anything? Or Paul's?"

"You don't have to believe me, Partner. You can look into it yourself. I just wanted to make sure you knew about this. It's not about getting Paul out of trouble: it's about finding out what actually happened to Tripp."

There was a knock at the door. Steve looked at John and held up a finger. He stuffed the paper into his pocket and opened the door, revealing his son with his own piece of paper.

"Hey, Dad," Tripp said awkwardly, not looking at John. "Why is he here?"

"He's just dropping something off for work. I can have him leave if you want." Steve looked to John who shrugged. If Tripp wasn't comfortable having him there, he was more than happy to leave. Even if Paul wasn't the one who did it, someone definitely had violated Tripp.

"No. It's okay. I know he's Paul's dad, but he's also your friend. Besides, he should probably know, too." Tripp walked inside and stood off to the side, still not looking at John. He held his paper out to Steve, who took it gently.

"Is this your toxicology report?" Steve looked the paper over while Tripp nodded silently. John couldn't tell what it said, but he noted the confusion on his best friend's face. "Tripp, this came from Kayla?"

"Yeah, it did. She handed it to me yourself. And she explained to me what it meant."

"You were drugged twice," Steve noted, finally looking up at his son. "Not just the GHB, but there are also trace elements of chloroform in your blood sample."

John stepped forward and held out his hand, asking if it were okay for him to take a look. Steve just looked to Tripp. Finally looking into Tripp's eyes, John saw the fearful realization that they had all made. He didn't even know about Ciara or Sonny yet.

"Give it to him," Tripp said in a small voice. Steve handed it over and John read the results. It was true. There was GHB in his system as well as chloroform.

"Do you think this means..." John couldn't finish the sentence. He looked up to Tripp, then to Steve. "The cops missed this?"

"They would if they were paid to miss it," Steve reasoned, pulling the other paper from his pocket. He turned to Tripp. "There's something you need to know."

Sighing in defeat, Tripp's shoulders sagged. "Paul didn't do it, did he?"

"It's looking like he didn't," Steve agreed. He handed the paper to Tripp. "John found this in Ciara's room. It's looking like Paul was framed. Why, we don't know."

There was a furrowing of Tripp's eyebrows as he read the report. "Sonny Kiriakis? I don't even know him. Why would he have me raped? The guy doesn't like me and the feeling is mutual, but he reached out to me to have me testify in court about Will attacking me.

"Wait." Tripp snapped his fingers and looked up morosely. "It wasn't about me. It's about Will. Will is obsessed with Paul. He attacked me because I went to the police about Paul. Sonny must have wanted Paul out of the way so that he could get Will back. And he saw me leave the bar with Paul that night."

John blinked, taken aback. "You met Paul at a bar?"

"That's not important," Tripp answered, waving John off. "Will and I got into a fight at a bar and Sonny threatened me. He knows Paul and I left together. He hates Paul and wants Will to himself. Sonny had me raped and framed Paul using frozen sperm. Does that sound right?"

"It makes a lot of sense," Steve concurred. "All the evidence we have now is circumstantial. The DA won't give up a guaranteed win in court over a hunch using a document that can't be admitted into court."

"Can I drop the charges?" Tripp wonder aloud. He looked to John and nodded. "I totally can."

Tripp handed the paper in his hands back to his father and excused himself.

"There's somewhere I have to be."

John was suddenly very worried. If Sonny had done all of this to Paul and Tripp, what had he done to Will?

DOOL

"She's here," Will warned Sonny from his perch next to the window. "I don't know how she got past security, but she looks pissed off."

Normally, Sonny wouldn't be bothered, but he ran to the window and saw hurricane Sami bearing down on the Kiriakis mansion. Victor really needed to hire better security. "I'll handle this. You don't have to worry about her."

"I'm worried about you," Will clarified as he grabbed Sonny's hand. "I'm coming with you. We can present a unified front. When she sees I'm home and happy she'll leave us alone."

Unsure about Will's claim, Sonny nodded. All Sami needed was proof that Will was safe and there was nowhere safer than next to his husband.

"Hello, Sami," Sonny greeted as he opened the door and welcomed his mother-in-law into the foyer. "What can I do for you?"

"You can give me Will, you little creep," she spat. "I know everything. You blackmailed Ciara and paid off Tripp Dalton to testify against Will. You're covering up her involvement in his rape, Sonny. That's a crime and I'm sure the police would love to hear all about it."

Will walked into the foyer and Sami blanched. She pushed Sonny into a wall and ran to her son, pulling him into a hug. Sonny was amused and proud when Will shoved his mother away and walked to his husband. He held Sonny's hand and turned to his mother.

"Why are you threatening Sonny, Sami?" Will was unphased by the outraged look on his mother's face. "I'm home and healthy, as you can see."

"You need to get away from him, Will," Sami warned to deaf ears. There was no way Sonny would ever allow Will to leave him again: not after everything he had gone through to bring his husband home. "You don't know what he did. And since when do you even want him back in your life?"

"I don't care what lies you say about Sonny. He's my husband. There's nothing he can do that would ever make him as horrible as you." Will squeezed Sonny's hand as he pointed a finger at his mother. "You're still the crazy woman who tried to have me strangled by a serial killer!"

"That's not what we're talking about." Sami sounded exasperated. "Sonny is covering for a rape accomplice and is the reason you were ever locked up!"

"At least he cared enough to get me help. You don't know how to help anyone but yourself. You're just a selfish and bitter woman, Sami!" Will yelled as he let go of Sonny and pointed his finger in her face. "You're the crazy one in this house right now! I'm telling you for the final time to leave me alone and get out of my life. Nobody wants you here and nobody ever will!"

"You don't mean that," Sami lied to herself. Sonny knew that Will very much meant it. "Will, I'm still your mother. I'm your protector."

"Please. All you've done since I've met you is hurt me. And everything I've learned about you since is just further proof that you're poison. Get out of my home and get out of my life!"

Sami looked to Sonny with dangerous eyes. "What did you do to my son in that place?"

"I made him whole again," Sonny boasted as he walked up to Will and planted a kiss on his cheek. "As you can see, there's absolutely nothing wrong with him now. I suggest you leave."

Sami snarled and warned Sonny that it wasn't over. Will screamed at her to leave and she did, throwing out one last threat over her shoulder. "Will is going to be coming with me the next time I come here."

"Fuck off!" Will shouted at the closing door. He turned to Sonny and grabbed both of his hands. "Do you think she'll ever give up and accept reality?"

"I don't, Will," Sonny confessed. And he thought about what Sami had said. About Ciara telling her everything. Ciara was probably already dead, he'd seen to that, but Sami was far more dangerous than his cousin. She wasn't some twit he could just have wiped out. He was fucked if she went to the cops. "You need to pack a bag, my love. Just the essentials."

"Where are we going?" Will asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

"We're going somewhere your mother can never reach us. And we're going tonight."

DOOL

"Sami just left the Kiriakis mansion again, Boss. And I heard every word. It was easy to slip a bug in the Kiriakis mansion after the last time she showed up."

Ava nodded at the phone even though Theresa couldn't see it. "Is there anything new I need to know?"

"Just three things. The first is that that Ciara Brady is involved somehow in what happened to your son, and the second is that Sonny knows about it and is covering it up somehow."

She was gripping the phone so tightly Ava's knuckles had turned white. They were helping cover for that monster Paul Narita? She'd already promised Tripp that she would leave Paul to the police, but she was going to be damned if she let those two get away with what they did to her son. She couldn't believe she'd already had that bitch Ciara in her grasp and let her go free!

"What's the last thing?" Ava asked as she tried to keep calm. "You said there were three."

"Yeah. Sami doesn't know it yet, but Sonny and Will are leaving tonight. They're gonna flee the country. They're going to Venezuela. I don't know why, because they can't speak a lick of Spanish. I think they're gonna take the Kiriakis private jet from the Kiriakis private airstrip. These bitches are like RICH rich."

"Then it seems I'll have to just meet them before they can leave. Will attacked my son and Sonny is covering for his rapist."

"What about Ciara?" Theresa asked.

"That's where you come in," Ava said with smirk.

DOOL

There was another knock on Paul's door. His father needed to hire better security guards. He walked to the door and peered through the peephole. He groaned when he saw who it was.

"You're not supposed to be here," Paul called out. "Where are my guards?"

"Your dad told them to let me through. There's something important you need to know, Paul." Tripp answered as he pounded on the door. "I called the DA and had the charges dropped."

Stunned, Paul unlocked the door and pulled it open. "You what?"

Nervous, Tripp waited awkwardly for Paul to invite him. "I said I had all the charges dropped. I called the DA on my way over here. I wanted to be the one to tell you."

"Thank you," Paul said earnestly. He stepped back and let Tripp into his apartment. He just hoped that the younger man was telling the truth. "Why did you do it?"

"Because I know it wasn't you. I just found out, actually, but you were telling the truth and I'm so sorry." Tripp looked into Paul's eyes and he could tell every word was sincere. "It was your ex Sonny Kiriakis."

"WHAT?" Paul shouted, causing Tripp to wince. "I'm sorry. I just... What makes you think it was Sonny?"

"It was something your father found. My roommate, Ciara, she had a dossier on Sonny. And in it was a document showing where he had gone to a sperm bank and withdrawn a frozen sample you two had made. I don't know how he could do that, but it was the night before I was raped."

Paul blinked as he thought back on how that sample had even come to be. "Sonny and I... We were planning for our future. We wanted kids. I wanted one who would look like me, so Sonny set up an account for me at a fertility clinic for after we found a surrogate. We wanted some frozen just in case something ever happened to me and I couldn't give a fresh sample. Fuck."

"There was chloroform in my system as well as GHB, too. We think that Sonny paid off the cops to ignore it, though it is the SPD and they're also just incompetent in general."

"We?" Paul was confused and overwhelmed. "Who is we?"

"Our fathers also know, Paul. Like I said, your dad found the paperwork in Ciara's room."

"And Sami said Ciara confessed to her that she sold me the GHB," Paul leaned against the wall so he wouldn't fall over. "Do you think they were working together? Why would they do it? Rape you and frame me?"

"I don't know about Ciara, but Sonny probably did it because of Will. Will is obsessed with you, Paul, and he wasn't happy about that. He also doesn't like me because of that time I punched Will in that Unicorn Highway place. It's likely Sonny had me raped because of that punch and you framed for it to try to destroy you in Will's eyes." Tripp walked over to the sofa and sat down, clearly as overwhelmed by the information he was conveying as Paul was receiving it. "It didn't work, as you know. Will knew you couldn't do it and attacked me for pressing charges. Sonny used that to lock Will away. He got me and Ciara to both testify in court when he was having Will committed."

Closing his eyes, Paul felt himself tremble. It had been just a few months ago that he and Sonny were at the altar. They had almost been married. "The Sonny I know wouldn't do this."

"Maybe the Sonny you know wouldn't, but the Sonny I know would," Tripp countered. "I've seen the way he looks at you. Hell, I've heard the way he talks about you. The man hates you, Paul. Of course he would do all of this. He's crazy about Will, and not in the romantic way."

"Where does that leave us?" Paul asked, looking into Tripp's eyes. "Are we okay?"

Surprisingly, Tripp held his gaze. "I don't know. I don't even know if it's fully hit me what happened. And a lot of this is conjecture. Until Sonny or Ciara confesses, there's a lot we won't know for sure."

"What does Ciara even have to do with this? I don't know her. Why would she do anything for Sonny? You know her," Paul asked, joining Tripp at the sofa. He sat down next to the man and grabbed his wrist. Tripp's eyes focused on Paul's hand but he didn't pull away. "Why would she tell my stepsister about selling me GHB if Sonny's the one who did all of this?"

"That's my next stop, honestly," Tripp said as he looked up from Paul's hand to his face. His mouth hung open slightly and Paul had to fight the urge to kiss him. It wasn't the time or place. Things were too fresh and traumatic for either one of them. "After this, I'm going home to confront Ciara."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Paul asked with a voice full of concern. "I can be your support."

Shaking his head, Tripp closed his eyes and Paul saw his Adam's apple dance as he swallowed. "No, I think you need to get ahold of your dad. You guys need real evidence to bring down Sonny. If I can get Ciara to testify then that's a good first step, but you know him better than any of us. What is going to do when this all comes out?"

Paul's eyes widened. "He's going to take Will and run. If you confront Ciara and she tips him off, we'll never find him."

"Then maybe it's best if you get to him before Ciara can."