I never expected to find the letter. It was sitting in Kate Roberts’s mail stack, an airmail envelope from Italy, and the name on the back stopped me cold. Rosa Barelli. That was Roberto’s sister.
The same Roberto who supposedly confessed to killing Franco. And here was Kate Roberts, the woman who’d been hiding her son’s fake confession, receiving mail from the sister of the man who took the fall. I was still staring at it when Lucas came home with Will. “Heard you were here,” he said, his voice tight.
“To what do we owe the honor? ”
I didn’t bother with pleasantries. “I just want to see my son. ”
He didn’t argue, but he made it clear I wasn’t welcome.
Nicole, of course, played the peacemaker, all sweetness and light, saying I was just looking out for Will’s best interests—something she claimed she was learning to do as his stepmother. I wanted to laugh in her face. Stepmother. She’d sold her soul to marry Lucas, and everyone was supposed to pretend it was a love story.
That’s when Brandon walked in. Nicole’s brother. He was one of those charming, easygoing types who thinks his smile can smooth over anything. He slapped hands with Will and offered to take him swimming, and I told him to watch my son carefully.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I won’t take my eyes off him. ”
Then Lucas made it clear I’d overstayed my welcome. “Sami, I want you to leave now.
”
I left, but I took the memory of that letter with me. Roberto confessed. He said he killed Franco. But Lucas confessed too, and his mother had bought him a bride to make sure he’d never talk.
Now she was getting mail from Roberto’s sister? That wasn’t a coincidence. That was a connection. And I was going to find out what it meant.
—
Meanwhile, across town, Bo Brady was trying to get John to remember what happened out in the ocean. John had been missing for days after his wedding to Marlena. He’d surfaced with no memory, a faint scar, and no wedding ring. Bo wasn’t buying the story that he’d just passed out.
“Someone was in the water,” John said. “I heard screaming. A woman. I swam out to her…
and that’s it. That’s all I remember. ”
“Was it Hope? ” Bo asked.
John stared at him. “Hope drowned in the ocean off the coast of Hawaii? How is that even possible? ”
Bo told him the truth.
After John’s wedding reception, Hope had completely unraveled. She’d gone into a rage, then packed her bags, left a letter saying she was going to Europe, and vanished. Bo suspected she hadn’t acted alone. He believed Stefano DiMera had something to do with it—that Stefano had turned Hope into Princess Gina, a woman obsessed with John.
“Hope as Gina could explain her bizarre behavior,” John admitted. “Her constant attention to me. ”
“Exactly,” Bo said. “And when you married Marlena, she must have gone berserk.
She’s the one who made you disappear. I just can’t prove it. ”
John wished he could help. “I wish I could remember what happened out there, Bo.
Maybe I just passed out. ”
“No. I was out there with the Coast Guard. We looked everywhere.
You weren’t bobbing around unconscious. You disappeared, then suddenly reappeared. We have to account for that time you were missing. ”
John promised to try to remember.
But he doubted he’d find the answer anytime soon. All he wanted now was to pick up where he and Marlena left off, without any more interference. —
Stefano DiMera was back at his hideout in Hawaii, stitching his own knife wound. Gina found him there.
She was the woman who wore Hope’s face now—at least, the woman who believed herself to be Princess Gina. She poured his drink, called him “Steffy,” and told him she liked that better than “selfish bitch. ”
“You actually stitched yourself up? ” she asked.
“I’d doubt even John has ever done that. ”
“After all,” Stefano said, “I simply could not walk around with a gaping knife wound. By the way, John is alive and well. ”
Gina’s eyes went wide.
“You mean you didn’t kill him? Oh, Steffy, thank you. Thank you for sparing his life. ”
“He means that much to you, huh?
” Stefano’s voice was low and cold. Gina didn’t answer. She didn’t have to. Her silence told him everything.
Then he frowned at her. “You look like Princess Gina. You act like her. But you’re not her, exactly.
”
Gina looked hurt. “You say that with such regret. I know you were in love with her, Steffy. Does that mean you do not love me?
”
He hesitated. “My affection for you does not diminish my anger. You’ve been a source of great frustration to me, like a loose cannon scheming behind my back. ”
“Unpredictable,” she said.
“Just like the real Princess Gina. ”
He laughed. “Touche. ”
But then it all poured out of him—the old anger, the old wound.
“She and John were planning to betray me in 1985. I gave her the world. I gave her meaning to that title she wore so proudly. She owed me everything.
”
“She owed you nothing, Steffy. She was never under your control. ”
Then Gina stood over him, her voice dropping. “But you are.
”
She reminded him that he had made her into Gina. If the real one had betrayal in her heart, wouldn’t she too? She promised she had learned her lesson. She would be his good little girl and go to Europe with him, steal the last Renet painting, and live out his dream of the two of them together.
Stefano smiled, satisfied. “The plan still involves Europe and the last Renet. ”
Gina clapped her hands. “I am so happy to hear that.
If you did throw me aside, I honestly don’t know what I would do. ”
“Nor do I want to go back to Salem,” she added. “We’ll pick up exactly where we left off. Until the end, what can Bo Brady do?
He will eventually have to give up on me. ”
But Stefano wasn’t so sure. “How about your feelings for John? Can you truly live without him?
”
Gina’s face hardened. “The real Princess Gina—maybe she couldn’t. But that most certainly doesn’t mean that I can’t. ”
—
Later, Stefano remembered the past—the night he’d taken Gina to Maison Blanche, outside New Orleans, to separate her from John.
He’d told her John was dead. She’d been heartbroken. Now, as Gina grew restless and miserable, he suggested they go back to Maison Blanche. He said he would pamper her, devote himself to her, devise a strategy to make her smile.
Gina perked up. “Can I see Greta? ”
“Of course. ”
“What about John?
Can I see John, too? ”
Stefano’s voice turned flat. “No. It’s not possible.
”
“Why not? ”
“Because. ”
“John is dead,” he said. Gina’s face crumpled.
“You told her that before,” she whispered. “And you lied. ”
“I didn’t know she was in love with him. All I knew was that I had to separate them.
”
Then Gina blinked, as if a memory surfaced. In her mind, she saw John’s face. He was speaking to her, urgent and low: “Get the letter. It’ll tell you where to go.
”
“What letter? ” she asked aloud. But John was gone. And she couldn’t remember.
—
Meanwhile, Eric Brady had asked Greta to lunch, and the two had hit it off. Greta was charming and sharp, and Eric liked her. She’d survived an explosion that scarred her face and drove her into hiding in the bayou. Now she was back, trying to rebuild herself.
“You’d better learn now, and quick,” Eric teased her, “because you’re going to attract guys like a beautiful flower attracts bees. ”
She laughed, then grew quiet. “That’s what Father John used to say to my mother. ”
Eric froze.
“I heard that phrase from John too. He used to say it to my mom. ‘Doc, you attract men like a beautiful flower attracts bees. ’”
They both realized it at once.
John had been a father figure in both of their lives. “I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad,” Eric said, “if John had turned out to be my real dad—or yours. ”
“Maybe the only way I’ll get closure is to find out what happened to my mother,” Greta said softly. “She’s gone, Eric.
And I never got to say goodbye. ”
“Then let’s find out what happened. What do you say? ”
Greta hesitated.
“Any real information would require traveling to Europe. You have commitments. ”
“To photography? No.
This is exactly what I need right now—solving a mystery. It’ll get me away from my problems, and I’ll be helping you solve yours. ”
Greta finally smiled. “You present a very good case, Detective Brady.
”
“Shake, partner,” Eric said. “To finding out what happened to your mom. ”
They shook hands, and the deal was sealed. —
Back at the Roberts house, Nicole was alone with her secret.
She paced the room, whispering to herself. “Kate forcing me to marry Lucas. Sami wanting to know why. This is why—five million reasons, right here.
Security in my future. But if anyone were to ever learn… I could lose everything. ”
The phone rang.
It was Lucas, calling to say he was on his way home with Will. And then, as soon as she hung up, she dialed her stockbroker. “Yes, Mr. Swanson, this is Nicole Roberts.
I’d like to make another stock purchase. ”
Sami had been gone for a while, but Nicole knew the questions would keep coming. Lucas thought she married him because he could protect her and make her happy. And Nicole let him believe that.
But the truth was darker, and it sat in her bank account. —
Later that afternoon, the Brothers were talking outside by the pool. Lucas watched Will swim and smiled. “Nicole, that was a very classy way you handled things inside with Sami.
Thank you. ”
“No problem,” she said. “I’ll placate Sami, not just for your sake, but for Will’s. I adore that little guy.
”
“I’m really glad you and Will are getting along,” Lucas said. “Am I the luckiest man in the world or what? I have a beautiful wife, a wonderful son. Sami’s a pain in the butt, but she’s nothing to worry about.
”
He put his arm around her. “Don’t even sweat her. ”
Nicole smiled and leaned into him. But her eyes were far away.
She was thinking about Eric, the man she truly loved, and the lie she was living with his replacement. Meanwhile, inside, I had already gone. But I hadn’t forgotten the letter. —
Before I left Salem that day, I ran into Brandon one more time.
“You’ve got a lot of fire in you,” he said. “I like that in a woman. ”
“What a crock. I’m not interested in what you like or dislike in women.
”
“What’s with this harsh attitude? We don’t even know each other. ”
“But I do know your dear sister. I know how she used and abused my brother, so that doesn’t exactly endear me to you.
”
Brandon didn’t flinch. “You and Nicky were very close at one time, right? She was supposed to be your maid of honor. ”
“Yeah, well, that wedding didn’t exactly come off.
And that was definitely way before she decided to marry a loser like Lucas Roberts. ”
“I’m not taking your slurs about Nicole personally,” he said. “I understand why you’d be hurt. And to be honest, I can understand Eric’s position, too.
It sucks to be dumped. ”
“Why do I think you’ve been the dumper more than the dumpee? ”
He shrugged. “Maybe not firsthand.
But I’m empathetic anyway, just like I am about the hell you went through recently. The murder. The frame-up. I read the whole story in the paper.
”
“I don’t want your sympathy. ”
“Fair enough. At least your nightmare is over and the murder’s been solved. ”
“Well,” I said, “my father and I are not exactly convinced that Roberto killed Franco.
”
“But he confessed. ”
“So did Lucas. ”
Brandon paused. “If Nicole trusts Lucas, that’s good enough for me.
”
I stared at him. “Tell me, is Nicole happy with Lucas? ”
“Now who’s being naive? You’d like nothing more than to hear me admit she’s unhappy.
Then you’d use it as ammunition to regain custody of Will. So I’ll take the standard party line: Nicole and Lucas are very happy. ”
“It sure didn’t look that way when she walked into the courtroom during the custody hearing. ”
“I missed it,” he admitted.
“Look, I’m sure Nicole had an internal struggle choosing between Eric and Lucas. She seems comfortable with the choice she’s made. ”
“Comfortable? Of course she’s comfortable.
This place exudes comfort 24 hours a day, and I’m sure Nicky likes her amenities. But I noticed you didn’t use the word ‘love’ when talking about your sister’s relationship. She is in love with him, isn’t she? ”
Brandon deflected.
“I think you should concentrate on your own life now that you got your freedom back. ”
“My son is my life,” I said. “And I’m not going to stop until I get him back. ”
I walked away, but I already knew my next move.
I had to find out who really killed Franco. And Kate Roberts was hiding the answer.
