Chapter Eight

She was just staring at the coffee, not even realizing it. There was something about the darkness of it that seemed to make her worries disappear. She woke that morning alone in the bed and thought she dreamed it. Maybe she dreamed the whole thing. Maybe Steve wasn�t alive. But she knew differently. She knew he was alive, and she knew she didn�t dream last night. They were together, they were kissing, and they were making love. And she fell asleep lying in his arms, the way she�d done every night all those years ago. But when she woke this morning, he was gone.

She came back to reality when the kitchen door opened. "What time is your first class today?" Kayla asked as Stephanie placed her backpack on the table and reached for an orange.

"About an hour. I just talked to Jeannie; she�s on her way to pick me up. She took my car home last night." Stephanie started to peel the orange and noticed the look Kayla was giving her. "Don�t lecture me, Mom. You knew when you got me that car that Jeannie was going to be driving it. So save yourself the energy." She pulled the orange apart. Kayla was still looking at her disappointed. Stephanie hated that, she was 19 years old, not a child. She rolled her eyes. "Did Pa�" she stopped and caught herself. "Did Steve stay here last night?"

Kayla spilled the coffee that she�d just poured into the mug. She scrambled for a towel to clean it up. "No. I don�t know where he is," Kayla said, quickly.

Stephanie looked questionably at her mother, but it seemed Kayla was very immersed in cleaning up the coffee. She�d been wiping the same spot clean with ferocity. She didn�t press. They just stayed in silence for a minute until the door opened and Jeannie came in, looking very pretty in a red shirt that always made her complexion looked flawless.

"You ready to go?" Jeannie asked Stephanie.

"Yeah," Stephanie replied, then looked at her backpack and said, "No, wait, I left my Physiology book upstairs, I�ll just run up and get it." Stephanie hurried through the kitchen.

"Want some coffee?" Kayla asked Jeannie.

"Yeah, thanks," Jeannie grabbed a mug and poured the pot. "Are you okay, Aunt Kayla? You look kind of upset about something?"

"I�m fine," Kayla said, in an angry voice that suggested she was not fine.

"Okaaay," Jeannie replied. Again there was silence until Stephanie came back. Then there was a knock on the back door.

"Who would be coming by this early?" Stephanie asked as she walked to the door and opened it.

Adrienne didn�t bother with greetings; she just strode past Stephanie and walked to Kayla.

"Is Steve here?" She asked.

"No," Kayla replied, annoyed.

"Dammit," Adrienne said. It was obvious she was also mad.

"Is something wrong?" Stephanie asked. She�d closed the door and sat at the table in the chair at across from Jeannie.

"Yes, I�m afraid something is very wrong," Adrienne replied. Kayla changed her expression instantly.

"What is it?" She asked.

Adrienne debated saying anything. She looked at the two teenage girls sitting at the table who weren�t hiding the fact that they were listening.

"Joe and Victor are gone too."

"I know," Jeannie replied, then became embarrassed as she realized this conversation wasn�t meant for her.

Adrienne rounded on her. "You know? Where did they go?"

"I don�t know. After I left here I went back to my dorm and Victor was there waiting for me."

Adrienne squatted down to be at eye level with Jeannie. "What did he say?"

"He said he was going on a little trip for a few days but he would be back. He just wanted to let me know so I wouldn�t worry about him."

"Why would you worry about him?" Stephanie asked, more irritation then concern in her voice.

Jeannie shot Stephanie a glare, then turned back to Adrienne.

"That�s all he said?" Adrienne asked.

"Yeah, I swear. I tried to ask him about it, but he told me he wouldn�t talk to me about it." All the eyes in the room seemed to be on Jeannie and she suddenly wanted to disappear.

Adrienne stood up and gave a significant look at Kayla.

"What�s going on?" Kayla asked with firmness in her tone.

Adrienne debated once again if she should say anything in front of Stephanie and Jeannie, but her tongue just started talking before her brain could stop it. "I know what the Apache is after."

"What?" Kayla asked.

"Steve," Adrienne replied.

Kayla put her hand to her mouth. "Do you think he�s got Steve?" Kayla asked.

"No, if he did it wouldn�t make sense for Joe and Victor to be gone as well. I think the three of them went looking for�something."

"You aren�t going to tell me what?" Kayla asked.

Adrienne started to pace the room. Stephanie and Jeannie were watching her. Somehow getting to class didn�t seem important anymore. "Justin was in an explosion," Adrienne said.

"Oh, no. Adrienne, is he alright?" Kayla walked to Adrienne and put a hand on her shoulder.

"No. He�s dead," Adrienne said. In the two days she�d kept herself locked in her room she�d come to terms with his death, and was now numb.

"Oh, Adrienne. I�m so sorry," Kayla said.

"Kayla, it�s big. This is bigger then you know. Justin was killed in an effort to protect me, and now Steve and the twins have gone looking for the thing Justin was killed over."

"Are you sure?" Kayla asked.

Adrienne nodded her head. It was the only thing that made any sense. The boys wouldn�t have left without telling her where they were going unless they didn�t want her to know where they were going.

"What can we do?" Kayla asked.

"I think I know," Adrienne said. She walked from the room into the open living room just next to the kitchen. It wasn�t closed in, and she knew Kayla would be able to hear her talking, but she had to make this call. She pulled out her cell phone, dialed 9 digits, and waited.

"Yes?" The deep voice on the other line said.

"It�s Adrienne Kiriakis. I know what you want and I�ll help you get it, on one condition. You leave my brother alone."

The voice on the other line chuckled, "Mrs. Kiriakis. I knew I�d be hearing from you again."

"Do we have a deal? I help you find the coin if you leave Steve alone?"

"I don�t make deals, Mrs. Kiriakis. I don�t need your bargain. I always win, and I never compromise." The man hung up.

Adrienne looked at Kayla with fear in her eyes, then ran out of the house.

Kayla seemed to forget Jeannie and Stephanie were there and followed after her, saying, "If Steve�s in danger I�m going too."

Stephanie looked at Jeannie like she was going to be sick. She stood up.

"Where are you going?" Jeannie asked.

"I�m not letting my mom get involved in something that�s this dangerous. I�m going to stop her."

"Don�t you think we should call the police?" Jeannie asked.

Stephanie turned and looked at her cousin. "No. I think there�s some really illegal stuff going on here, and I don�t want Steve to end up in jail over it." She headed for the door, grabbing her coat off the coat rack.

"Wait, if you�re going I�m going too."

"No," Stephanie said forcefully in a tone Jeannie had never heard before.

"Stephanie, I don�t think you should be in this alone. If you need someone, I want to be there to help."

Stephanie knew she couldn�t stop Jeannie. "Let�s go, we�re wasting time arguing about it." The two girls left.

*

The Kiriakis plane landed at the Pittsburgh airport and the three men exited. Waiting for them was Granger, looking very professional. Steve, Victor and Joe knew it was a cover, Granger was not a professional man, and he would not treat them in such a manor.

They�d come up with a plan on the plane. They would make it look like they�d found Steve and that he still had no recollection of who he was. They would make it seem like they�d taken Steve as a hostage and when they exited the plane, Joe and Victor had their guns drawn on Steve.

"Put those away, you�re going to bring attention to yourself," Granger said. Joe and Victor put their guns in their coat pockets, but held firmly on to Steve, only partially acting. Neither boy knew if Steve would back out at the last moment, and they were determined Granger take Steve and not their mother. "So, you have brought me a Johnson, I see," Granger said.

Both Joe and Victor were staring at Granger through half lidded eyes. Both were aware this was the man who�d killed their father. "Yes," Joe said.

"Well, I don�t see a need for you two boys to be here. Just give me the hostage and you can be on your way," Granger said in a kind tone, as if Steve was just a package they were delivering. Steve was to remain silent through the ordeal that was the plan.

"I don�t think so," Joe said again. "We want to make sure the deal is completed. We want you to leave our mother alone and if you get what you need from him," Joe motioned his head toward Steve, "then you have no reason to bother our family anymore."

"If you two boys don�t stop meddling in things you shouldn�t be meddling in, I will not be done with your family. I will take the hostage alone. And you will get back on that plane and go home." Granger grabbed Steve away from Victor and Joe.

Victor leaned in to Joe and said, "We should do what he says," then turned to go to the Kiriakis private plane. Joe kept his eyes on Granger, but agreed and walked to the plane as well.

Once he was sure the boys were inside their plane Granger got on his phone. "Pull the jet around, we�ll leave for France immediately."

The small Kiriakis plane began to roll away slowly down the runway.

"That part of the plan worked," Victor said as the watched out the window.

"As long as he doesn�t stand there and watch us take off, it should be fine." Joe replied, he pulled his gun out again and made sure it was loaded.

"You think Steve can handle this?" Victor asked, concerned.

"I think he doesn�t have a choice. Besides, he wearing the tracer we put on him, if anything goes wrong we can find him." Joe had little concern for Steve, and knew if anything went wrong he wouldn�t endanger himself to get Steve. But if Steve was hurt, or killed before he could get the coin that would put their mother as the next target, and Joe wouldn�t let that happen.

They sat waiting, the engine on the plane running. The plane turned a corner and was out of sight when the engine turned off. "Thanks, man," Victor said to their personal pilot as the two boys exited the plane.

At the other side of the small runway a large jet was pulling up. Granger was still holding Steve and pushed him inside the plane.

"Now, we have to hurry," Joe said as they hid behind some crates. They ran to the plane and crawled into the cargo hold, quickly as they could. It was amazing that they weren�t seen when the door of the cargo hold slammed shut and they were in complete darkness.

"Now we just wait, right?" Victor said, fearful.

"That�s all we can do." Joe said to Victor in the pitch dark. "It�s a long ride to France, you sure you�re going to be alright?"

Victor nodded, though Joe couldn�t see him in the dark. "I�ll be fine. I�ll be fine," he repeated. Joe wasn�t convinced.

*

Kayla�s rental car sped down the highway at a rate even she was surprised by. Adrienne sat by her side. "You don�t know what you�re getting into. Steve would kill me if he knew I�d told you what was going on," Adrienne repeated over and over. She knew that Kayla would follow her, and she also knew she would have to find a way to lose Kayla before they got to Minnesota.

"You can�t do this alone, Adrienne. You�ve told me what we�re up against, and I�m willing to risk it. Steve would kill me if he knew you were doing this alone." Kayla kept her eyes on the road. She didn�t notice the blue Ford three cars behind her, struggling to keep up.

"Where are we going?" Jeannie asked as Stephanie kept her distance. Her mother would recognize her car.

"I don�t know," Stephanie replied.

"You don�t know where we�re going, you don�t know what we�re going to do once we get there. Stephanie, this is a very bad idea," Jeannie said.

"If you�re going to be like this the entire trip you can just leave, okay." Stephanie snapped at Jeannie. She realized that Jeannie couldn�t possibly leave out of a car that was speeding down the interstate, but the empty threat seemed to stop Jeannie from saying anything.

It wasn�t until they saw Kayla�s car exit off the freeway that they figured out where they were going. "The airport?" Jeannie said.

Stephanie looked at Jeannie frightfully, "We�re going to see the Apache," she said.

*

They�d been in the plane for what seemed like hours. The only way either boy could tell how long was with the occasional light from Joe�s watch that illuminated when he pressed a button.

"Joe, you awake?" Victor asked. He�d gotten himself comfortable by leaning against a suitcase. He�d also managed to find two heavy blankets in the dark. It had gotten cold in the cargo hold.

"Yeah, I�m awake," Joe said back.

"Looks like Dad got us into quite a mess here, doesn�t it?" Victor said. He knew that Joe and their dad had a sort of special relationship, much like Victor and their mother.

"Dad was doing what he thought was best for all of us, Vic," Joe replied.

Victor didn�t respond to that. "Do you think we�ll ever be able to escape the business?"

"I don�t think Dad ever wanted us in the business," Joe replied.

"We�ve been involved all our lives, Joe. The day they took us home we became part of the business. Dad's been grooming you to take over for years."

Joe didn�t respond. He had to admit at first he liked the attention he was getting from his father. He liked that he felt he was privy to things his brothers didn�t know. But now he saw how dangerous the family business really was. "I don�t know if we can get out of it," he said honestly.

"I just want to be normal. I just want to do normal things like go to college and fall in love." It had been something Victor never considered before recently.

"Is there someone you have in mind?" Joe asked, amusement in his voice.

"For what?" Victor asked, though he knew what Joe meant.

"We used to talk all the time about girls, you remember? All those hot girls at the boarding schools in town. It�s not like we�re immune from love, you know that. Believe me, we shared a house. I could hear you with some of those girls."

Victor chuckled. "Joe, man, that�s not love. That was having a good time. I want someone I can talk to, share with. Someone who I want for more then just sex."

Joe was smiling, though in the pitch dark one couldn�t tell. "You do have someone in mind, don�t you? Who?"

"She wouldn�t be interested in me. Not if she knew what our family did. And I wouldn�t want to put her in danger."

"What sort of danger could you put her in?" Joe asked.

"Look at Mom and Dad. Mom tried to get him out of the business. They both wanted out. But they couldn�t get out. So they had to join them. And it ended up getting Dad killed and Mom next on the list. I just don�t want that for her."

Joe was quiet a moment and said, "I don�t know. I don�t know if there is anyway out."

"I used to think we were so lucky," Victor started. "We had everything we ever wanted. We lived in a huge house. We went to the best private schools in Texas. All the girls wanted us. And I used to think that was enough. But now I would give it all up for one person. And, Joe, the crazy thing is, I hardly know this girl. I�ve only met her a few times, but it just feels like she�s the one, you know?"

No, Joe didn�t know. But he sympathized. "Maybe it�s possible, man. Maybe someday you can have her. But right now we have to worry about Mom."

Victor nodded. He couldn�t think about Jeannie. They had bigger concerns.

*

The airplane landed in France. Victor and Joe had huddled together under their blankets to keep warm, and when the engine stopped they looked for something to hide behind. The cargo hold would be opened soon and the luggage would be taken out. They couldn�t be seen, yet.

They had the tracer on Steve, so even if they lost him and Granger, they could track them down eventually. The two boys moved blindly toward the back of the compartment and hid in the darkness. The doors opened and one bag was taken out, the rest remained.

"What�s going on?" Victor asked Joe.

"Looks like they don�t plan on staying long," Joe replied. The brief light from the outside was gone, and once again they were in complete darkness. "Think it�s safe to leave?"

Victor nodded, then realized Joe couldn�t see him. He responded, "Yeah. Maybe we could set up the computer in the airport."

The two boys moved to the door and opened it a crack. The daylight was blinding to them as their eyes adjusted. Then they looked around, it seemed deserted. Joe grabbed his leather bag with is computer in it and the two exited the plane.

*

The car sped down the French landscape. Steve watched silently as the landscape went by. He was scared, but he couldn�t let anyone know that. He couldn�t show any sign of weakness. He hadn�t spoken since he�d met Granger, and he intended to stay silent as long as possible.

"Do you know what we�re doing, Johnson?" Granger asked.

Steve looked at him blankly and nodded. Then turned his head to look out the window.

"You can�t give anything away. We�ll get to the bank; you�ll get us the coin, and if you co-operate everything should go off smoothly. If you don�t co-operate then you won�t be around to do anything ever again. Do you understand?"

Steve nodded again. He had to think about Adrienne, how to keep her safe. He couldn�t let his hate for this man and his anger at everything that had happened in the past 16 years show. He was a trained hit man, Steve told himself, that was what the Apache used him for. He could stay cool under pressure. And he intended to use that skill now.

The car pulled into a bank parking lot and stopped at the door. Granger looked at Steve and said, "I�ll have the gun in my pocket. If you try anything�" Granger showed Steve the gun. Again, Steve just nodded.

They exited the car, cool and collected as if they were just regular patrons. Steve walked to the desk and said, "I need to make a withdrawal from a safe deposit box. The name�s Johnson," they were the first words Steve spoke in hours, and his voice cracked.

The clerk looked at him questionably then went behind some steel doors, only to return a moment later with a strange looking device.

"This is a highly restricted box. Only a select few may use it." He looked at Steve like surely Steve wasn�t one of the elite who had access to the box.

Steve thought he knew what the clerk was getting at, so he pulled his sleeve up and said, "take my blood."

The clerk pulled out a razor thin blade and looked at Steve one more time, sure this couldn�t be the man to open the box. The clerk cut a small hole in Steve�s skin, just above his wrist, and blood flowed out freely. The clerk collected the blood in a vile and turned to leave Steve to bleed. Steve reached for a tissue and held it tightly to his wrist. The clerk placed the blood in the device and once again left behind the steel doors.

Granger remained quiet the whole time, but finally he spoke. "Very good," he whispered to Steve.

Steve didn�t react.

*

Stephanie and Jeannie sat side by side on the airplane. "If she finds out you followed her, she�s going to kill you," Jeannie said to Stephanie.

"You didn�t have to come you know," Stephanie replied. But she was glad she did. Jeannie had a way of making Stephanie feel comfortable, even in the scariest situations.

"I know. Like I told you before, I�m not going to let you do this alone. I think it�s stupid, but I�m not going to leave you." Jeannie smiled at Stephanie, then looked at the seat in front of her. She was scared. She had no idea what they were getting themselves into.

Kayla never realized how cold it was in Minnesota. She pulled her coat closer to her ears and trailed Adrienne. She was walking alone in a group of tress, but could see Adrienne�s footprints in the deep snow. She kept enough distance between them to be sure Adrienne didn�t know Kayla hadn�t left her at the airport. She had to find out what was going on, and what was so important that Steve left her in the middle of the night.

Kayla saw a large building in the distance, obstructed by trees. Her heart raced. Was that the place Steve had spent so many years as a prisoner? She moved faster, not worrying about the footprints anymore, she knew that was where she should be going. She feared Steve was in there, being tortured once again by this horrible man, the Apache.

Kayla started to run when she saw something in the snow. She stopped and bent down to see what it was. A phone. It was golden on the outside with the initials A.K. engraved in the base. It was Adrienne�s phone, Kayla recognized it. She stood up and looked around. Adrienne was no where in sight and with the trees thinning out Kayla could see the large manor was just a few dozen feet away. Did the Apache get Adrienne? Her heart started pounding in her chest. Kayla flipped the earpiece on the phone and looked at it. She fumbled through the numbers in the phone until she came to a name she recognized. "Victor." Kayla pressed talk and the phone began to ring.

Victor and Joe found a computer terminal in the small French airport and had the lap top plugged into it. They could see the dot that signified Steve, and it looked like they were leaving the bank. "Do you think he got the coin?" Victor asked.

"I hope so. I want this mess to be done," Joe replied. He watched the screen intently and didn�t respond when he heard Victor�s phone ring.

Victor ignored his phone at first, but it kept ringing. He looked down and saw in the display the name. "Mom." His heart raced. "It�s mom," Victor said pulling out his phone as Joe watched intently. "Mom?" Victor said into the phone.

"No," the voice on the other end responded.

"Who is this?" Victor�s voice became demanding.

"It�s Kayla Johnson."

"Where�s my mother?" Victor asked, his tone not softening.

"I don�t know. We�re in Minnesota just outside the Canadian border. I found her phone in the snow."

The blood rushed out of Victor�s face. "Minnesota?" He said.

"Victor�" Kayla started to say. She kept talking, but Victor couldn�t understand her.

"You�re breaking up, Kayla, I can�t hear you," Victor�s voice held panic.

"I said she�s gone to�" again the reception broke.

"Kayla?" Victor yelled into the phone. The line was dead. "Dammit!"

"What�s going on," Joe asked.

"Mom�s in Minnesota," Victor replied, looking at his phone as if hoping it would give him all the answers.

"Minnesota?" Joe gasped, "The Apache."

Victor nodded. "We have to get to her."

Joe looked back at the computer. "They�re almost to the airport. Let�s get back on the plane." Joe turned off his computer and packed it up. Then the two boys ran back to the cargo hold and waited for the plane to take them back to America.

*

"She went in there?" Jeannie asked, looking at the large building in the distance.

Stephanie was starting to wonder if they�d made a mistake following her mother here. But she couldn�t lose her mother; she had to make sure she was all right. "Let�s go," Stephanie said.

Jeannie looked hesitantly at Stephanie. "Maybe we should call someone," she said.

"Like who?" Stephanie asked, already walking.

Jeannie followed behind her. "Uncle Roman or Uncle Bo. The FBI. I don�t know, Stephanie, but I don�t think we should be doing this."

Stephanie didn�t answer her, she just kept walking. Silently Jeannie followed behind her. They stopped only briefly to look at the manor once again. Jeannie leaned over to catch her breath; it felt like they�d been walking for hours.

In the shadows of the few remaining trees they heard footsteps. Both Jeannie and Stephanie turned toward the sound when a hand reached out and grabbed both of them. Stephanie looked up at the man who�d grabbed her and Jeannie. She didn�t have to see a picture to know who this man was. Her gut told her. It was the Apache.

"Stephanie," Jeannie had tears falling down her cheek. "I�m sorry."

"For what?" Stephanie asked. They were alone in a big dark room, tied to two chairs, uncertain how or if they would get out of this.

"I�m sorry for all of this. If I hadn�t met Phen on the pier, if I hadn�t become his friend, I don�t know, I guess it�s my fault we�re here."

"Stop it," Stephanie said, firmness in her tone. "It�s not your fault. If it�s anyone�s fault it�s mine. I wanted to tag along. And look where it got us." For the hundredth time Stephanie struggled against the bonds that held her.

Jeannie sobbed and said, "You have always been there for me, Steph. You are closer then a sister. You know that I love you, right?"

Stephanie was crying now too, "Jeannie, we�re going to make it out of this. Don�t talk like it�s the end." Though Stephanie couldn�t see how they were going to get out of it.

They sat together, tied up. Jeannie managed to take Stephanie�s hand, the only part of her she could touch, and held it. Then she leaned her head back against her cousin�s shoulder and closed her eyes. Stephanie kissed the top of Jeannie�s head.

*

"We should have told Steve," Victor said to Joe as they sat, cold and under blankets in the luggage hold of the plane.

"How were we supposed to do that, huh?" Joe asked. He was anxious for this long flight to end so they could get to their mother, and hope it wasn�t too late.

"I don�t know," Victor said, defeated. He pulled his blanket up closer to his body and the two boys sat in silence.

"Give me the coin, Johnson," Granger said for the fourth time. Steve didn�t respond. "I have no qualms about killing you."

Steve finally spoke, "I have no qualms about dying. If you wanted me dead so badly you would have killed me already. You need me." His face was unreadable.

Granger laughed maniacally, but didn�t say anything. Steve knew he was right, Granger wouldn�t kill him. And he held all the cards, or at least he held the coin.

The two stared challengingly at each other then Granger took a quick step toward Steve. Steve pushed him off and the two men fell to the floor, punching and kicking.

"Do you hear that?" Joe said, looking up toward the ceiling of the small compartment where the two twins hid.

"Yeah," Victor replied. There was pounding and banging coming from above. "What do you think is going on?"

"A struggle by the sounds of it," Joe�s voice held concern.

"Should we help?" Victor asked, he started to get up but hit his head on the top of the compartment.

"How can we help?" Joe asked. "We�re stuck in a freezing cold, pitch black, luggage hold. We can�t even stand up." Joe moved toward the sound of his brother groaning from the blow to his head. "Are you alright?"

"I�m fine," Victor said. He started feeling the top of the ceiling with his hand. He moved, crouched down, along the compartment, bumping into Joe, but not saying anything. He kept moving.

"What are you doing?" Joe asked.

"Here it is," Victor said. He bumped hand on the ceiling.

Joe moved toward Victor�s voice. "What? Here what is?" Another loud thump vibrated the top of the cargo hold. The struggle in the plane was still going on.

"A floor latch." Victor pounded the metal. "If I can get it open�"

Steve regained his footing and kept hold onto Granger, blood running into his eye. He had Granger in a chokehold. "See, the thing is, I can kill you," Steve said. "And I will kill you before you can give me back to the Apache." Steve pulled up on Granger�s neck.

Granger freed an elbow and jabbed it into Steve�s side. Steve let go and recoiled. Granger now had Steve in a chokehold and moved to the door of the plane.

Steve laughed when he realized what Granger was going to do. "You can�t throw me out the door, man, the pressure will cause your head to explode."

Granger smirked. "It will only take a moment," he reached over to a phone with his free hand and called the pilot. "Decrease altitude. I have some baggage I need to get rid of." And almost instantly the plane began to lose altitude.

Granger moved his hands in and out of Steve�s pockets, looking for the coin. Granger found it in Steve�s chest pocket and placed it in his own pocket. Then he clutched the latch to release the door. "I wish I could say this has been a pleasure, Johnson, but�" he opened the door.

Steve struggled out of the hold as the outside air filtered into the plane. He reached into Grangers pocket and found the coin. At least that gave him a few more minutes of life, Steve thought. Granger reached up and pulled Steve�s head toward the floor and pinned his arms at the side. He reached for the coin in Steve�s hand.

It happened almost instantly from no where. Granger had his finger on the cold metal of the coin and then fell headfirst out the open door of the plane. Steve turned and watched as he fell, spread eagle, through the air.

Steve turned once again and looked up, seeing his two identical nephews looking down at him. One of them reached a hand to him. "That was quite a fight," he said.

The other twin closed the door and latched it. He then got back on the phone and told the pilot he could resume altitude. The pilot didn�t seem to notice a change in the voice.

"Mom�s in Minnesota," the twin was helping Steve to a chair.

Steve pressed his hand to his head and looked at the boy. "Minnesota?" Steve suddenly forgot about his head. "How do you know that?"

"Kayla called us and told us," he replied.

"Kayla?" Steve asked.

"She said they were just outside the Canadian border."

"They?" Steve felt his pulse rise. "She�s with Adrienne? Just outside the Canadian border?" Steve got a strange look in his eye. "The Apache."

"Vic," the other twin said, looking out the window of the plane, "What if we get the pilot to take us straight to Minnesota?"

"How do we do that?" Victor asked, his eyes moving from his bleeding uncle to his brother.

Joe didn�t answer, but got back on the phone. "Confirm destination and arrival time?" Joe nodded at the answer and hung up the phone. He didn�t want the pilot to suspect he wasn�t Granger. "He says we have to make a stop in Canada to refuel and then we should be at our destination in about 3 hours."

"Where�s the destination?" Victor asked.

Joe got a mischievous grin on his face. "Minnesota."

*

She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing Jeannie remembered was voices echoing. She thought it was in her dream, but when she opened her eyes she still heard them. It was morning, light filtering in though the small window at the top of the room. Stephanie stared intently at the wall where the voices seemed to be coming from.

"Is it the Apache?" Jeannie asked.

Stephanie said, in a hushed voice, "I can�t tell. It�s a man, I think there are more then one."

Jeannie listened again. The voices got closer, then started to fade. They were walking away now. But there was something familiar about one of the voices. Jeannie knew it from somewhere. Before she could even register doing it she yelled, "Victor!"

The voices stopped, and so did Jeannie�s heart.

"What are you doing?" Stephanie asked, her tone serious.

"Victor, it�s Jeannie, help us," She yelled again.

"Jeannie?" The voice called back from outside the wall. "Where are you?" It seemed he turned back as the voice was becoming close again.

"I don�t know. We�re in a room; it�s kind of circular. I don�t see a door," Jeannie said back to the wall.

Victor apparently found the wall she was calling from because now his voice was clear. "What are you doing here?" Victor asked, he ran his hand up the wall looking for someway to get in.

"We came to help Kayla," Jeannie said back.

"Is Kayla in there?" Another voice asked.

Stephanie now yelled, "Steve?"

"Oh, God," she heard come back from the other side. "Stephanie."

"Are you two the only ones in there?" Victor asked.

"Yes," Jeannie said back. "Can you find a way in?"

Victor was frantically searching the wall, there had to be a way inside. "We�ll find you, don�t worry," he said back.

"What are you doing here?" Jeannie asked.

"We traced the call Kayla made from Mom�s phone. We knew Mom was here so we came to get her."

"Is Kayla alright?" Steve asked, now also searching the wall for some way inside.

"I don�t know. She doesn�t know we followed her, she doesn�t know we�re here," Stephanie said. She was now sobbing. "We thought we were going to die."

"Don�t say that," Steve yelled back. "Dammit, there has to be a way in," he punched the wall.

"Do you know how you guys got in the room?" Victor asked.

"No. We were blindfolded. But I don�t think it was by a door. The man had to struggle with something to get in. Maybe a secret passage or something." Jeannie said back. "I�m sorry, I don�t know."

"Well, I don�t think it�s along this wall. We have to find another way inside," Steve said to Victor. "Do you know where Kayla and Adrienne are?" He asked the girls.

"No," Stephanie said back. "I�m not even sure they�re here. We never saw Mom come in and we haven�t seen Adrienne since we left Salem."

"Then what the hell are you doing here?" Victor asked.

"I�m sorry," Jeannie cried. "I�m sorry. Just get us out of here, okay?"

"Don�t worry," Victor said. He turned to Steve. "We have to find the Apache and get him out of the picture, then we can work on getting Stephanie and Jeannie."

Steve nodded. "I promise, we�ll be back, okay," he called to the wall.

"Please, be careful," Jeannie called out.

"We will," Steve said back. He started to go.

"Pop?" Stephanie said, tears falling down her face.

Steve closed his eye and hitched his breath. "Yeah?"

"Hurry," Stephanie said.

Steve held in a tear and replied, "We will, Little Sweetness, don�t worry."

The girls heard their footsteps echoing away from them. "Hurry," Stephanie repeated.

The two men hurried down a long dark hallway. "We aren�t going to find anything this way," Victor said. "We have to split up."

Steve nodded. "Joe is working outside, I say we split up and meet him where we planned."

"Okay. I�ll go up one level and meet you outside with Joe in an hour." Victor turned and ran down the way they�d just come. Steve stared ahead. The place held far too many memories he didn�t want to relive. He knew this building better then anyone else, maybe even the Apache. All those years all Steve could do in his spare time was walk around this large manor. And he was determined to use that to his advantage.

He�d found the empty room where he used to go to look out on the grounds. He remembered it was the only time he felt normal and human when he could look out and see the rest of the world. He was startled and turned quickly when he heard footsteps. He wasn�t alone in the room. "What the hell do you think your doing?" Steve asked.

*

The two sat silently praying. Stephanie�s hands had gone numb hours ago and would only tingle on occasion when Jeannie would squeeze it. "What�s taking them so long?" She asked. Jeannie didn�t answer. She scrunched her face up again, the only way to keep the dried tears from crusting into her cheeks.

The silence was broken when a door flew open. The two girls stared as the Apache stood before them, Kayla in his grasp. "It seems you have several people looking for you," he said.

"Stephanie, are you alright?" Kayla asked.

She didn�t answer, just sobbed. Stephanie clutched Jeannie�s hand and stared at her mother. She was scared, and she could tell Jeannie was too when she intertwined her fingers in Stephanie�s. She closed her eyes and prayed and tears fell.

"Stop, I�m the one you want, you don�t want them," Steve came through the wall.

The Apache�s face lit up. "You�re right. You�re the one I want, and you played right into my hand. I knew you�d come for them."

"I didn�t have a choice. You don�t play fair," Steve walked directly to the Apache. "Now, let them go and I�ll go with you."

"Steve, no," Kayla gasped.

"Kayla, let me do this," Steve said in a tone that told everyone in the room there was no arguing this point.

"So, if I let them go I can take you with me, is that how you want it played?" The Apache asked, not moving, not touching Steve.

"Yes," Steve replied.

"I don�t make bargains, Johnson."

Steve smiled, "Oh no? Well, I think you will make this one."

"Why would you think that?" The Apache asked his eyes on Steve.

"I learned a long time ago," Steve looked at Kayla, then back to the Apache "that the tougher you seem the more afraid you really are."

"And just what do I have to be afraid of?" The Apache didn�t give anything away.

"I know everything about you," Steve said. "I lived here for 10 years. I heard all your secrets, all your doings. I even did some of those things. I can get them to put you away for a very very long time."

"Not without incriminating yourself," The Apache said, his voice steady.

"Perhaps, but I can risk that." Steve said back. The Apache didn�t waver. Steve pulled a shiny gold coin out of his pocket. "I have something else you want too," he said, holding the coin up so it hit the light and sparkled.

The Apache looked at it. "So, you are the reason I haven�t heard from Granger."

Steve smiled again, "Yeah. You know, this is a very unusual object." Steve played with the coin in his fingers. "I can�t imagine it�s only worth 15 million. That�s almost chump change to you. It has to have more value to it." Steve looked at the Apache, then scanned his eyes to Kayla, standing to the right of the Apache. "Maybe I should let you have all these people and keep this."

The Apache laughed. "You wouldn�t do that."

"No? I don�t think you really know me. You knew me after my memory had been erased. You think you know me, but you don�t. Nobody knows the real me."

Kayla looked at him, examined him. She would have guessed he was bluffing, but in all honesty, she felt she didn�t know him anymore either. Her eyes went to Stephanie who looked confident.

Steve played the coin in his fingers more and looked at it. "Though I might be willing to make a deal. I might be willing to give you this coin and join you as a partner, if you let them go."

The Apache laughed, "I don�t make deals."

Steve looked the Apache dead in the eye and threw the coin in the air. It fell to the floor with a clink.

"It�s yours then," Steve said, watching it sparkle in the sunlight. "Go and get it."

The Apache�s eyes flitted briefly to the coin, then to Steve. They both knew this was part of the game. The score was almost even now. They stared at each other, challengingly for what seemed like an eternity before the Apache grabbed Kayla.

"What are you doing with her?" Steve asked, trying to hide his panic, but failing.

The Apache turned his face into Kayla�s ear and breathed, "Get me the coin."

Kayla trembled, visibly. "I�I can�t�I," she swallowed and looked at Steve. She couldn�t fail at this. She closed her eyes and steadied her voice. "I can�t. My hands and legs are bound."

Wordless, the Apache began to untie Kayla�s bonds. "If you try anything I�ll kill your daughter," the Apache said, looking at Stephanie. Kayla nodded that she understood. The Apache released her from his grip and Kayla stepped forward three steps and bent over to pick the coin up. The Apaches eyes were focused on Steve and Kayla.

Kayla thought about kicking him, about pushing him down on the ground, about fighting him in some way, but she�d never before in her life been more frightened of a person. She touched the cold metal of the coin and grasped it between her two fingers.

The Apache still kept his eyes on the two. He didn�t notice the slight change in expression on Stephanie or Jeannie�s brief smile. He didn�t notice two figures come from the darkness and sneak up behind him.

Two identical young men grabbed the Apache, one wrapping his arms around his neck, the other throwing him to the ground. There were screams coming from all directions and in the midst of it Steve yelled, "Kayla, get the girls and get the hell out of here." He helped Joe and Victor hold the Apache down.

Kayla ran across the room to Stephanie and Jeannie and started to untie them when there was another scream and blood streamed to the floor. The wrestling on the floor stopped and the Apache stood up, holding Steve by the back of the neck with one of the brothers leaning over the other.

"That was very stupid," the Apache said, brandishing his knife and placing it to Steve�s neck. Kayla looked at the blood on the floor and the two boys. The Apache pressed the knife to Steve�s neck and blood started to spill out. Steve let out a gasp. "I don�t have you here anymore to clean up my messes, so I won�t look forward to killing all these people," the Apache said into Steve�s ear. "But I�ll do what I have to do." He pushed the knife farther.

A loud bang echoed from the room and the Apache fell to the floor, a bullet hole in his head. Everyone in the room turned to see where the shot came from. Adrienne stood in the darkness, half her body hidden under the ground. She�d found a hidden door in the floor. Steve grunted and fell to the cold stone ground.

"Steve," Kayla ran to Steve and looked at his neck.

Adrienne climbed out of the door and ran to he sons. "Is he alright?" She asked the one leaning over the other. Nobody seemed to notice the two girls still tied together.

"I�m fine," the boy on the floor said. "Where are Jeannie and Stephanie?" He asked.

"We�re still here. Victor, are you sure you�re alright?" Jeannie said.

"Yeah, don�t worry," Victor replied.

"How can you tell them apart?" Stephanie asked, she�d been dying to know for a while.

Jeannie smiled and whispered in Stephanie�s ear, "Victor�s the cute one."

Stephanie didn�t see it. Both boys looked the same to her.

"Is Steve okay?" Adrienne asked.

Kayla had removed her blouse and was pressing it hard against his neck. "I think he�s going to be," she said. "It needs stitches."

Victor started to stand and groaned. "Don�t move, man, you�ve been cut up," Joe said, trying to push Victor back to the floor.

"I�m fine!" Victor said again. He pushed Joe aside and stood up, but wobbled a bit. Adrienne reached for him and he shrugged her arm off. He walked slowly to Jeannie and Stephanie. He kneeled down in front of them. "Are you all right?" He asked.

Jeannie nodded and Stephanie said, "Yeah. Can you get these off us?" Victor tried to get the knot undone. He was weak.

Jeannie noticed a large blood stain on his side. "You�re hurt," she said.

Victor shook his head. "Joe, hand me that knife," he said. Joe walked to the Apache and got the knife from his hand, then walked to where Victor was. Joe placed the knife between the knot on the ropes the bound Jeannie and Stephanie and cut. Their hands were free and both girls, almost instinctively, rubbed their wrists. Joe then went to the legs of the chair and cut their feet loose. The girls stood up and turned to look at each other. Sobbing, Stephanie and Jeannie embraced.

"We�re okay now," Stephanie whispered to Jeannie. "We�re going to be fine."

"We need to get Steve out of here," Kayla said.

The group looked over at them. Kayla�s blouse was almost saturated with blood. Adrienne ran to their side. "What do you need?" She asked.

"I need a needle and thread," Kayla said. She didn�t have any idea where they could get either.

"Will he be okay for us to move him?" Adrienne asked. Steve�s eye was closed and he was breathing heavily, but he was still conscious.

"I think so," Kayla said. She leaned in close to Steve and said, "Can you stand up?"

Steve didn�t respond, just put his feet flat on the floor and pushed himself up. He wobbled a little too, but was held in place by Adrienne and Kayla.

"Let�s get out of here," Jeannie said to Stephanie. Her eyes were set on the dead body of the Apache. The group started toward the door.

"I want to look at you too," Kayla said as Victor, being supported by Joe, met them.

"I just want to go," he said. He looked at Adrienne, "Where have you been all this time? We came her to rescue you."

Adrienne smiled, "I had the situation under control. I found Steve in a dark room at the back of the house. He told me about the secret passage and gave me his gun." Adrienne smiled at her big brother.

"You didn�t have your gun in there?" Victor looked at Steve and clutched his side.

Steve was weak but gave a smug smile, his pale face looking pleased.

Firmness echoed in Adrienne�s voice, "I would have gotten him without you guys following me. You sure created a fiasco, didn�t you?" She swatted Victor on the shoulder. "Next time you do something like this, Buster, you�re going to be grounded."

Victor rolled his eyes, "Mom, we�re 19 years old, you can�t ground us anymore."

Adrienne helped them step through the door. "I�m your mother, I can do whatever I want. I can still take you over my knee."

"Oh, God, Vic, you got her started," Joe said.

*

Kayla clutched her coat closer to her body, her blouse still being held to Steve�s neck. The group had moved to an outside alleyway and Kayla was able to get some needle and thread from a local drug store. "It�s going to hurt," Kayla said, giving Steve a large bottle of brandy so he could forget about the pain.

"You are getting paler by the second," Adrienne said, looking at Victor who was leaning on Joe. His shirt was now soaked in blood.

"I�m okay," he said, but his voice was weak. "Let her work on Steve first," Victor nodded his head toward Kayla.

Jeannie and Stephanie stood looking on, feeling like they didn�t belong. "Sort of makes a silly exam look not so important," Stephanie said to Jeannie.

"Yeah. You think if we tell the professor what we were doing he�d let us retake it?"

Stephanie smiled, "I think if we told the professor what we were doing he�d never believe us."

Sharp intakes of breath and small groans of pain came from a few feet away as Kayla pushed the needle into Steve�s skin. "I�m sorry," she said. "I�ll do as few stitches as possible until we can get you to a doctor." Her mouth was close to Steve�s neck and it made the hair on the back of it stand up.

"It�s okay," Steve said. He held the brandy to his mouth and took another long swig. "I�m sorry I left without saying anything the other night." He had his eyes closed and reveled in the breath that was brushing lightly against his neck.

"I understand," Kayla said. She looked at him briefly before sticking the needle in yet again and hearing his breath hitch.

"It seems like I�m always saving you from situations like this," Steve said, his eyes still closed but a smirk playing on his lips.

Kayla smiled, "It seems I�m only in situations like this when you are around." Steve chuckled and the vein in his neck protruded. "Hold still," Kayla said. She pulled the thread tightly and bit the end off. "All done," she said. Her mouth was still close to his neck and instinctively she pressed her lips to it. This time the groan that left Steve�s lips wasn�t from pain.

"Kayla, he�s looking pretty bad," Adrienne said from a few feet away. She had her eyes on Victor and he was turning green.

Kayla stood up and walked to him. "Let me look at that," she said. Victor didn�t protest as Kayla lifted his shirt. The cold air hitting his skin and goosebumps forming. "It�s pretty bad, Adrienne." She kept her eyes on the gash that was about three inches long and just as deep in Victor�s side. "Why didn�t you let me look at this before?" Kayla asked Victor.

"You had to help Steve," Victor said, his breath short and raspy.
"This is worse then Steve�s injury," Kayla said, reaching to Steve for the bottle of brandy. "Here," she handed it to Victor. "I can�t stitch this up without anesthesia and you may have some internal injuries."

"What should we do?" Joe asked, holding on to Victors shoulder.

"We have to get to a hospital, there�s no way around it." Kayla was expecting protests, but instead Joe helped Victor to his feet.

"Will we all fit in your car?" Joe asked.

*

The hospital waiting room was practically empty. Jeannie figured it was because there weren�t too many people in this part of Minnesota. Her eyes scanned the room. Stephanie sat next to her playing nervously with her fingernails. Joe had his head in his hands a few chairs away, Jeannie couldn�t tell if he was awake or asleep. Adrienne was at the other end of the room talking on her cell phone.

A moment later the doors to the waiting room opened and Steve strode in, Kayla at his heels. Joe shot up out of his chair and asked, "Is he going to be alright?"

Steve walked over to Jeannie and sat next to her, he noticed Jeannie was as interested in Kayla�s response as Joe was.

"He�s going to be fine. No internal organs were damaged. They are stitching him up, but he�s lost a lot of blood. They�ll need to give him some more."

Without a second thought Joe said, "Okay, what do I have to do to give him mine?"

Kayla smiled, "I�ll take you to the blood bank."

"He�s going to be alright then?" Adrienne asked. She put her phone in her coat pocket. "Can I see him?"

Kayla nodded. She escorted the two through the door she just came in with Steve.

"Busy day, huh?" Steve asked the two girls.

Stephanie chuckled. "Yeah. Busy day." She leaned across Jeannie and looked at Steve. "Thanks. I don�t know what would have happened if you hadn�t shown up."

"It�s no big deal," Steve replied.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"Me? I�m fine. A little knife to the jugular can�t take me out." Steve looked at his daughter, the light mood changing. "What about you? Are you okay?"

Stephanie looked confused. "Well, yeah. I mean he didn�t do anything to us."

"Sure he did," Steve said. "But you are a tough girl. You get that from your mother I suspect."

Stephanie swallowed hard. "Or maybe I get it from my father." Stephanie reached out her hand and Steve took it.

They were quiet a while. Jeannie was feeling again like she didn�t fit into this group. A growl from Stephanie�s stomach startled Jeannie. "You hungry?" She asked, then felt like a fool for asking the obvious.

Stephanie nodded.

"There�s a vending machine down the hallway. Get something from it." Steve replied.

Stephanie reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of dollars. "Either of you want anything?" She asked. Steve and Jeannie both shook their heads. "Okay, I�ll be right back." She stood and left.

"How are you doing?" Steve asked Jeannie.

"I�m tired," she replied.

"That all?" Steve asked.

"I can�t hide anything from you can I?" Jeannie remembered when she would meet him on the pier when he was going by Phen. She told him everything then, she didn�t hold back. Now it seemed different.

"What else is going on?" Steve asked.

"I�m worried about Stephanie and Kayla." She said.

Steve smiled, "And Victor." Jeannie blushed. "You like him don�t you?"

Jeannie didn�t answer; she fidgeted with her hands.

"He�s going to be okay," Steve said. He was quiet a moment then said, "Remember when you told me about that boyfriend you had when you were 15?"

Jeannie looked at Steve amazed. "You were listening to that?"

Steve laughed, "Yeah. I listened to everything you told me. Gave me a little perspective on life. Helped me forget what I was going through."

Jeannie looked into Steve�s eye. It had become hard for her to think that Steve and Phen were the same, but somehow now that she looked at him, she could feel the friendship that had formed between them. "Yeah, I like him."

"Well, I think he likes you too," Steve said.

"Nah, he doesn�t. Why should he? He comes from wealth and power and boarding schools. I come from Kimberly Brady."

"That�s not a bad thing," Steve said. "I knew your mother, she is a good person. She has a big heart. She passed that on to you."

Jeannie sighed. "You think someone like Victor cares about that? I�m sure he knows that I come from a woman who used to be a prostitute. A woman who�s had more psychological problems then most. He would care about that."

Steve smiled, "Maybe it�s not where you come from. Maybe it�s who you are." He noticed Jeannie looking at him intently at those words. "Kayla taught me that."

The door opened and Stephanie came back in with a bag of chips and a soda.

*

"This is where we part ways," Adrienne said, taking Steve�s hand. "I�m sure we�ll meet up again soon." The Minneapolis airport buzzed around them.

"We�d better," Steve said. "Don�t make me come out to Checklosovakia

to find you."

Adrienne laughed.

"Alexander just sent all the information on trip," Joe said, walking toward his mother and putting his laptop computer in its leather carrying bag. "It�s on the e-mail, so once we get airborne I�ll let you read it."

They told Alexander everything that had happened and Alexander arranged for them to leave the country unnoticed. She was still a Kiriakis, and there were still enough people in America who wouldn�t mind seeing all the Kiriakis� dead. All Adrienne knew was that she was going to Checklosovakia

until the boys found a safer place for her.

"We�re all set," Kayla appeared at Steve�s side. "Our plane leaves in two hours."

"So you�re going back to the Orient?" Adrienne smiled.

Steve looked at Kayla longingly. "That�s where we started our life together the first time. I think it should be where we start over."

"Sounds romantic," Adrienne said, the smile still on her lips.

"So it�s back to Salem for you two?" Victor asked Jeannie.

"Yeah, college calls." Jeannie�s expression fell. She was relieved for her life to get back to normal, but it seemed so much had changed, and part of her didn�t want life to go back to normal.

"Victor, we got to get on the plane," Joe put his hand on Victor�s shoulder. "Gate 25, hurry, it won�t wait for you." Victor nodded that he understood.

"Think we�ll ever see each other again?" Jeannie asked.

"Oh yeah," Victor replied. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips to Jeannie�s. "Definitely," he said. Then, without looking back, he followed his brother and mother and got lost in the crowd.

*

EPILOGUE

Dear Steve and Kayla,

I don�t know where you will be when you get this, but I hope it finds you well. I know you are enjoying your time together, but you could write once in a while. I know you hate it when people worry about you, Steve, but I will always worry, and you can�t stop me.

We have settled nicely in Prague. The language is not as easy as I�d expected, but we�ll learn it soon enough. Victor has decided to go back to Salem and go to college. He said he really liked Salem when he was there but I can�t help but wonder if Jeannie Donavan is his real reason. Joe is staying here with me. Victor wouldn�t leave unless he did. Sometimes I feel bad that my boys have to look out for me, but honestly, it�s nice to know I have so many people who love me.

It�s still scary sometimes. I never know whom I can trust. But every day I feel a little more secure. Vic and Joe assure me I�ll be safe. They said they�ve taken the measures, though I don�t know what that means. And it�s a relief to be out of that business. Justin had enough foresight to look out for us. I guess he knew in the business he was in eventually they�d kill him. Joe tells me if I knew about his life insurance and his Swiss accounts I�d worry even more for his life, and I guess that�s true, but it would have been nice to know we�d be set for life before he died.

I think once I learn the language I�m going to volunteer with the poorer children. Checklosovakia

has such a rich history and it�s still a poor country. I can help and I want to help. Perhaps I feel I owe it to society after what I�ve done in the past. But I don�t want to dwell on that.

Remember us. I love you both very much.

Love,

Adrienne

The e-mail had been printed out and was falling from the bed to the floor. The recipients had just finished reading it and were moving on to better things, removal of clothing, crumpling of sheets and sweet kisses. The "do not disturb" sign had been on the door for two days. This was their second honeymoon after all. And for the time being Stephanie was thriving, Adrienne was doing better. Time was theirs, and it seemed like they had all the time in the world.

Power of Two