John and Marlena arrived at the Kiriakis stables to find an awaiting Dom. The coolness of the early morning caused a serene hush to fall about the estate. Rushing to their sides, he took Marlena�s hands and spoke softly. �Marlena, I don�t think you want to see this. Maybe you should wait in the car.� He tried to lead her toward the opposite direction, but was halted when he heard her speak up. �Dom, I appreciate you worrying about me, I really do. But I have to be here. This may be connected to the case somehow,and I need to be here to help. Even if it�s not, this is my child�s grandfather, and my family is suffering because of this.� Her eyes pleaded with him to believe her case. Dom wrapped his arm around her, silently nodding his head. �All right, all right. Just�just be careful.� Marlena patted his arm and walked out ahead of her husband and his partner. �John, why did you bring her here?� John shoved his hands in his pockets. �When she gets something set in her mind,Dom, there�s no stopping her. I got twice what you just got. She told me she�ll be fine, that she needed to be here. Don�t worry. She�s my wife, I�ll take care of her.� John clapped Dom on the back and caught up with his wife, taking her hand in his, both offering strength to the other.
Nearing the light coming from the stables, Marlena stopped,squeezing John�s hand for support. �Doc, you don�t have to go in there. You can go set in the car.� Marlena shook her head and simply stepped forward as her response. The gurney was appropriately out of place amid the hay and thoroughbreds. The white sheet formed a stark silouhette against the man who had once been Victor Kiriakis. The ISA group walked hesitantly toward the group that was spread throughout the building. Abe caught the sight of John, Dom, and Marlena and cut his conversation short with the young policeman checking for evidence. Hewalked to them, instinctively wanting to shield Marlena from the site. Even with all the years she�d helped theSalem PD, he still felt a protectiveness for her. �Hey there. May I ask what you are doing here, Mrs. Black?� Marlena smiled an exasperated grin at her friend and gripped her husband�s hand tighter. �I would be here with my husband, Abe. This does involve my family, ya know.� Her gaze fell to the ground, not wanting her words to come out that way. Abe cast a glance toward John and Dom, who both held their breath and blew it out simultaneously. Abe nodded his head in understanding, knowing that these two boys had already given the woman a hard time about being here. He led the way to the scene, trying to miss the gurney as it was being wheeled out of the room. Most of the area had been cleaned and checked forevidence.
�So, Abe, what did we find here?� �I�ll tell what I can John, you know that.� John nodded his head in expectation. He knew the Salem PD got there first and they would be reluctant to involve the ISA, especially when a prominent citizen had been murdered. �Well, let�s start with how he was murdered. Were there any strange techniques, any unconventional items left behind?� �From our initial investigation, we have concluded that it was blunt trauma to the head. There were nothing found that proved to be the instrument used for the weapon. Practically anything in here could be a weapon. Victor will be taken for autopsy, and then after our final investigation, I�ll be able to fill you in more completely. I�m sorry, John, but you know procedure.� Abe patted his friend on the arm and proceeded with the young officer out the door, taking all the evidence they�d gathered with them. Marlena finally broke the silence that drifted into the room. �John, do you think this has something to do with Tarrington being murdered.� John rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. �I don�t know Doc. It�s not the same kind of scenario, there�s no calling card. I think we�re just reaching at this point.� Dom wandered around the crime scene, hoping to find some shred of evidence that the Salem PD had overlooked. His foot squished something. He picked up his foot to find a scarlet stain in the underlying hay.
�John, you�d better come look at this.� John quickly walked to his partners side,squatting beside him to examine whatever he had found. �Oh my God! Doc, get over here quick.� Marlena spilled into the side of them. �What is it?� �Well, before Dom stepped on it, this was a strawberry.� Marlena met her husband�sworried eyes with a look of both fear and acknowlegement. They were on the right track, there was amurderer on the loose, a murderer who may be coming for them.
Descending the wooden stair that led to the secret room under the DiMera mansion, Orpheus and Stefano spoke not one word. The door to the room slammed behind them, making the room stuffy and encompassing. The computer lights created a soft glow, casting great shadows across the dark room. Stefano sat in the heavy oak chair, motioning to Orpheus to do so, as well. Scooting the chair to face his counterpart, Orpheus carefully sat, crossing his legs and staring the man in the face. �So what now?� Stefano reached for the wood box that encompassed his cigars,pausing to select one. �We wait.� Orpheus stood, knocking the chair to the floor. �I am sick of this waiting. I have played by your rules and I have not gained anything. It�s time we parted ways. Maybe separate we can claim a victory.� He turned his back and started toward the steel door. Stefano leaned back in his chair and lit the end of his cigar, heavily inhaling its rich smoke.
�If that is what you feel you must do, then by all means go.� He flipped the switch to open the door. Orpheus began to step out, suddenly feeling a great sense ofclausterphobia. �But�� Stefano�s baritone halted the slight man.�Be forewarned. If you relinquish your opposite side of the table, you are becoming a piece. A piece that I may just have to take out.� �That is just a chance I am willing to take.� Orpheus quickly stepped out the door, leaving Stefano in the quite hum of the machines. Taking a long, thoughtful puff off of the cigar, he smiled to himself. �You have no idea what you have just taken on my friend. I will crush you.�
Dom and John sat on opposite sides of John�s desk; John with his hands in his head, trying to put the corners of the puzzle together, Dom setting back, legs crossed and thumping a pencil. Marlena paced the room, tapping her lip with nervous fingers. Dom leaned forward and thumped John on the head with the pencil. �So what do we have here? Let�s put everything out there. We have two murders. One, a prominent ISA leader is strangled. Pictures are taken and sent to your wife. A strawberry is found down the victim�s throat. Two, prominent Salem citizen is bludgeoned to death. No pictures, well so far. A strawberry is found at the scene. So what do we have? I hope you know because all I see is two very well known men killed in cold blood.� John threw his hands in the air, shaking his head in exasperation. �I don�t know, Dom. But this strawberry is a calling card, and I�m afraid it�s a calling card for me.� Dom raised his eyebrow in question. �Well, you see�� John�s explanation was cut short by the swift knock that pounded the door. Marlena stopped her pacing to answer it.
�Dr. Marlena Evans? This is for you.� The young man handed her a clean manilla envelope, and held his hand out for his tip. �Oh, John, pay the man, will you?� She walked over to the couch, landing hard on the soft leather. John shoved his hand in his pocket and came out with a five dollar bill and handed it to the man, muttering a �Thanks� and then shut the door in his face. Marlena sat with the large envelope in her lap, staring at the lettering written on it. �What is it Marlena?� Dom traded worried glances with John before he joined him to walk over to Marlena. �I think this is the link. I think these are your pictures.� John slipped behind his desk and pulled out some gloves, snapping them on quickly. Taking the envelope from his wife, he gently placed it on his desk. He gently let the contents slide out of the envelope. The pictures glared at all in the room. There was Victor, fear and determination on his face. Then, just as with the pictures of Tarrington, a movie-like action of pictures stared atthem. John gathered them into one set and placed them inside a clear plastic bag for evidence. Both Dom and Marlena sat stone- faced, shocked at the pictures, and the ties it proved to the killing before. �Damn it, who is doing this?� Marlena�s hand covered her gasp.
�John, how did they know I would be here? How did they know I was a part of this? They know I�m in on this, John. They know!� John reached across the desk and grasped his wife�s trembling hand. �Doc there is no way in hell I�m letting anyone get to us. They�ll have to�� He stopped when he saw the terror build up in her tear filled eyes. Smashing his hand down on the empty envelope, he felt the slight squish beneath his palm. Holding the paper up, he peered inside. Placing a gloved hand into the recesses of the envelope, he slowly pulled out a bruised and demolished strawberry. �What the hell is that?� Dom looked in disgust at the red glob dripping of his partner�s fingers. �That would be a calling card.� John wiped the jam on a napkin, leaning over to toss it into the wastebasket. Setting straight back, his eye caught a paper amidst the photos. Tearing into the clear plastic, he extracted the white paper, his mouth agape with astonishment. �And this would be their number.� Flipping the paper toward his wife and partner, it flipped over to reveal a bill. An advertisement for the blue ridge motel in West Virginia.
�What�s this got to do with anything?� Dom picked the paper up, looking for more clues to this seemingly harmless ad. �That would be where the story of John and Marlena starts� and tells us where our story is going.� John stared at his wife with concerned eyes. �Doc, there�s no way you�re going to be on this case now. It�s too involved. You�ll be better off just doing your practice and staying away.� John�s protest fell on Marlena�s heated ears. �John Black, first of all I will have you know, I am staying on this case. I am far too involved. I am not going to set idly by and bide my time with crochet and darning socks. We are partners, and now more than ever we need to be with each other. When I married you I knew that you wanted to go back to work here. Now, I had problems with that, but I know your passion for your work and how this job fulfills you. I am telling you that I will be by your side for this and all other problems. I�m in this too deep, John. I can�t back out now, even if I wanted to.� She leaned back in her chair, her peace said. John started to protest, but recalled many other times he had tried to get her to reconsider, and popped his mouth closed. �Fine, fine. But if you are going to be working with myself and Dom, then you do as we say.� John�s mouth twitched into a smirk, as he saw his wife�s jaw become set, ready for a rebuttal. �Dom, would you please take this to evidence, I think my wife and I need to have a little talk.� Dom slipped the plastic bag containing the pictures into another bag along with the envelope.
�I hope there�s still something left of you both when I get back.� He quickly walked out the door and into the hall toward evidence. Marlena eyed her husband with glaring eyes. �Do I need to call you Mr. Black, too?� Jumping up out of the chair she was setting in, she resumed her pace, this time in anger. �Marlena, if you want to be on this case,I�m not going to stop you. You know I don�t want you around this case and the certain danger it involves. Mark my words, if there is anything, and Imean anything, that will put you into harms way, you�re gone.� John walked over to his wife, challenging her in some way to challenge him. Coming face to face with her, he crossed his arms in front of him,waiting for her reply. Marlena inched closer to him, her eyes blazing fires. �Well,Mr. Black, I�ll have you know that the man I married I will protect with my very life. Any danger he is in, I am automatically in, whether I am present or not.� She crossed her arms and stood toe to toe with him, a slight smile on her face at his inability to reply to her. Clearing his throat, John snapped his fingers, his face lighting up at a thought. �Well, Dr. Evans, I�ll have you know that my wife means everything in the world to me. Just the thought of her ever being hurt, or even one tear coming to her eye, burns a hole through my very soul. If it means that I tie her up and lock herin a closet, that�s what I�m going to do.� John tapped the end of Marlena�s nose with his last words, causing her to wrinkle it up in frustration.
�Well,Mr. B�� Marlena�s words were cut off byJohn�s finger lying on her lips. �No more, Doc. There�s no discussion. I�m the head of this investigation, and while I will greatly appreciate all you can offer, we�re not going to fight about this any further. I say when. Now, do we have a deal or do Iget the rope out?� Marlena�s lips pursed in defiance, not moving to the affirmative. John�s finger moved slowly from her lips, and found a home about tipping her chin up to make her face him. �I can see I�m not going to win this battle, but I�ve far from lost the war. You�ve got a deal, for now, Mr.Black.� Marlena shot her hand between them, waiting for John to take it in agreement. �I guess I�ll have to take that, for now.� Grasping her hand, he firmly shook it before bringing it to his lips for a soft kiss.
�All right. Now can we get your buddy away from the door, so we can get down to business?" Dom slowly opened the cracked door all the way. His face flushed a crimson with embarrassment. �Ah, I was just waitingfor you two to finish. Sorry.� John twirled his wife around so her back faced him. Putting his arms around her shoulders, he joined her in a soft chuckle. �It�s okay buddy. We�re in one piece, and we�ve struck a tentative deal. Now, whaddya say we get started on this. There�s a killer out there, and it�s up to us to get him.�
To be continued...