When Pilar turned around, Carmen was standing a few feet away from her with that cold expression on her face. Pilar forced a smile as Carmen's chocked eyes stared at her daughter. Carmen wasn't expecting her daughter to drop by in Paris any time soon..in fact she didn't want her to either. The last time she had seen Pilar; she was pretty busy in Springfield. Pilar managed to convince her mother that she was here to meet with some old friends and she thought they could also spend some time together, away from everything else going on in Springfield. She asked if Carmen would join her and her friend for lunch but Carmen declined the invitation.
Pilar had to find a way to get Carmen away from her office. She simply had to.
When Carmen asked Pilar whom she was talking to on the phone just then, Pilar answered that it was in fact this friend of hers. Carmen seemed suspicious about this whole thing but she knew her daughter very well. No one but Pilar would fly to Paris to meet a few friends. Carmen then apologized for not letting Pilar know she was coming to Paris. She simply didn't think Pilar would enjoy the trip that much.
Pilar then nervously looked at her watch and pressed Carmen to come to lunch with them. Finally Carmen gave up and agreed to go with her daughter and this friend of hers.
As soon as the way was clear, Dietz almost dragged Mac inside Carmen's office. There was not a sound and the room was pretty dark. The curtains were drawn. Dietz stayed near the door to make sure no one was coming in, while Mac sat down in front of the computer.
"Are you sure you can do this?" Dietz whispered through his teeth.
"No I'm not." Mac breathed deeply as she turned the computer on.
"You..." he started but was interrupted by a defensive Mac.
"Hey I never said I was a computer genius ok?!! I only took a few classes here and there and got some helpful tips from a friend of mine..Sorry if I never broke into a company's network before!!" Mac said sarcastically.
Outside, Danny and Eric were waiting, not so patiently, for their plan to unravel. Once Mac got into the computer they would go in and get Greta. Dietz had found out where Stephano and Carmen were keeping Greta and Danny and Eric were ready to go and find her.
"Why are you doing all of this?" Eric sighed.
"What do you mean?" Danny asked.
"You, Michelle and Cassie didn't have to come here and get involved in this mess. You don't even know Greta." Eric said thankful.
"It meant a lot to Michelle.."
"Yeah but I'm sure you didn't plan it like that..you could have left and went back home a long time ago, but you didn't. Thank you..and I'm sure Greta will thank you too." Eric added.
"I'm not responsible for everything that my family does but my mother has crossed the line..I am not leaving until I find out exactly what my family's part in the Von Amberg's past is." Danny said. "And I don't know..I guess it's not just about Princess Gina anymore. We're all involved and I for one will not give up until the truth comes out." Danny added in all honesty.
At that moment, Carmen and Pilar got out of the building and walked to Carmen's car. Pilar sat down and so did Carmen, as a long silence invaded the car. At the sight of Pilar's worried look, Carmen became even more suspicious. Pilar said that she was just eager to meet this friend of hers and to introduce him to her. Carmen teased her about him being a boy and Pilar faked another smile.
Pilar couldn't even look at her mother at this point. After all the things Carmen had done, one thing had remained until now and that was Carmen's love for her family. Somehow, this time Pilar felt no pity for the woman. Carmen had lost contact with what was left of her family when she decided to get involved in this..Hatred haunted Carmen's eyes now. Nothing of the lovable mother and wife she had once been was left in her. Nothing of that beautiful shining smile of hers or of her sweet voice remained. Carmen had become what Pilar had always feared: the one everyone else knew she was. This wasn't her mother. This wasn't the woman who had so dearly loved her, Mick and Danny. She wasn't the same person who had married Adam Santos years ago..She was a woman thirsty for revenge. She had destroyed what was left of the love Pilar had for her the day she started lying about their father and the day she allied herself with Stephano Dimera and Sheila Carter. She got involved in a world that would ultimately destroy her..and she jumped into it eyes wide open.
Pilar felt like a total stranger was sitting right beside her...A stranger she didn't even want to get to know.
"God please let this work.." Pilar prayed silently as Carmen turned a corner.
"Are you in?" Dietz asked.
"Almost there..God you'd think that with all her millions she'd buy faster computers." she muttered to herself. "Where do you want it exactly?" she then asked.
"On the last floor...as far away from the basement as possible." Dietz answered peaking in the corridor.
Mac had broken into the security system of the building. After many trial and errors, she'd finally gotten where she wanted to be.
"Ok.get ready." Mac whispered.
"Hurry up somebody's coming this way." Dietz hurried her.
"I'm there I'm there..set..." Mac answered nervously.
A tall man walked towards Carmen's office with a set of keys in his right hand. A dead silence invaded the corridor as the man reached to turn the door knob. Dietz backed away from the door rushing towards Mac who was still sitting at the computer.
All of a sudden, a stirring noise resounded in the entire building.
"Fire.." Mac added as she hit the Enter key.
In less than two seconds, the entire corridor was filled with people rushing outside of the building. The tall man put the keys in his pocket and walked with the rest of the people towards the exit door.
"And here we go.." Mac sighed as she and Dietz melted in the crowd.
Pilar arrived at the table where Billy was waiting for her. When he saw her alone he jumped off his seat and asked what had happened. Billy had agreed to pose as a longtime friend of Pilar in order to keep Carmen away from her office long enough for the others to take Greta out of there.
"Where's your mother?" he quickly asked.
"Don't worry. She's just in the bathroom.." Pilar said as she sat down.
"So is everything going as planned?" Billy whispered making sure Carmen was nowhere in sight.
"So far yes..At least it was when I left." She answered with a sigh.
"I hope everything's gone right with Mac and the others.." He whispered staring down at the table for a few seconds.
""I want you to pay them a little visit." Carmen ordered on her cell phone.
She was standing in the ladies room.
"I know I know..Dietz was supposed to take care of that place years ago but I overheard my daughter talking about the Santos property in Paris. This is the only one we've ever had here.."
"Yes.You do whatever you have to do to keep them from finding out anything else..especially Michelle Bauer. She has the reputation to stick her nose in my business.." Carmen said through her teeth before hanging up.
She turned around and stared at herself in the mirror.
"But not this time..I can't afford to let her win this time..."
At that moment the phone rang and Carmen picked it up.
"Carmen Santos." She answered. "Hi..Yes Stephano and I did all that was planned. You don't have to worry.." Carmen said before hanging up.
Danny and Eric made their way inside the building as everyone else rushed out. At this point all Eric could think about was find Greta and take her into his arms. The depth in her eyes, the innocence in her smile and the tenderness of her touch that had drawn him to her so much only became more intense as he rushed in to find her.
As for Danny, he didn't exactly know why he was doing all of this but he couldn't NOT to. He came to Paris for Michelle but somehow ended up staying longer for reasons he still wasn't sure about. He hated himself for placing Michelle in danger again and again but this time he could feel that Michelle wanted to be here just as much as he did. He could see in Michelle's eyes at various moments how important finding the truth had become to her as well. She had let Greta go once and this time she planned on sticking to the end..not leave and go back home before the truth came out. Danny never knew about Michelle and Greta's friendship but one look at them made him see that their bond wasn't just hanging out after class to chit-chat about their annoying Math teacher. They were each other's moral support in a time when family was oceans' away. Something about the Von Ambergs triggered a certain curiousness in Danny also. That was the two reasons he needed to stick to finding the real truth to this story.
Danny and Eric ran towards the door when they finally found the room where Greta was being held captive.
"Great!?" Eric shouted, desperate and hopeful all at once.
The fire alarm had unlocked the doors and Eric kicked it wide open. Both he and Danny stopped, astonished by what was in front of them. The look on Danny's face went from choc to confusion in a matter of seconds.
Their plan wasn't going as planned at all...
Michelle ran down the stairs as best as she could. She couldn't feel any pain at that moment. She had such a strong feeling about this place. There was a glimpse of romance and adventure here but this cabin also felt so familiar and intense to her. And that shed..Michelle couldn't explain it. How was she going to explain her obsession with going inside that shed? How would she explain the voices? They would think she's gone mad...Although everyone believed this cabin to be haunted...
She held the key in her right hand as she headed straight to the backyard. The fog outside hit her like a brick wall. She suddenly felt the pain at her sides and on her face. A certain dizziness invaded her but she managed to keep walking. She stumbled a few times as she made her way to the shed. She looked behind her but all she could see was the grass up to 3 feet away. Then nothing.
Then she heard Cassie calling her name from the terrace as she slowly unlocked the door leading inside the famous shed.
"Michelle!?" Cassie shouted, reluctantly walking into the foggy backyard.
The first time she called out, there was no answer. Then after a few seconds, Michelle called out for Cassie as well.
"Cassie! I'm over here!" Michelle shouted back.
Cassie quickly headed towards the sound of Michelle's voice. The air weighted heavily on Cassie's shoulders. When she finally spotted the shed she smiled and walked to the opened door. Cassie stared at the entrance for a few seconds before stepping inside.
In a matter of seconds, a hand grabbed Cassie by the neck. She had no time to comprehend what was going on before her head was violently thrown against the shed's wall. A long silence occurred as Cassie fell to the floor.