Leaving So Soon?

“Hotel – FREE CABLE!! Video Games on Channel 68 $4.95 Per Hour” Reads the sign as we pan in with tense do-dee-doo music planning and an out of focus Stan sitting at the mirror grooming and gluing his mustache. He flashes back to the transformation, “My own mother wouldn’t recognize me. Of course, my mother is dead, and my next victims will pay for what they did to her.”

The phone rings. It’s Tony, “May I congratulate you on how well and wisely you’ve been spending the money. Also on choosing such an obscure hotel. Make sure you use the untraceable cell phone I left in the sack with the cash. The other things we’ll discuss at another time. Bravo to you on your visit to John Black. With the drugs you left behind he will again become a full blown junkie.”

“And that will just be the beginning of my REVENGE,” thinks Stami.

They discuss Chloe. Stami thinks Chloe will be the perfect way to get back at Brady and Nicole. Tony says, “No, get your priorities straight. Then you’ll have your REVENGE, on everyone.”

“Good. And I know exactly who I am going after next.”

Tony chuckles, “So do I. And I have the perfect way for you to get to them.”

Belle paces. Hope comes in. They haven’t found Shawn, but will keep looking. Hope says, “Seeing the tape of Phillip saying goodbye must have been tough on you. Dammit, Shawn should be here. And Damn that Jan Spears for getting his motorcycle fixed. She has some kind of power over him. But he doesn’t love her. He loves you. I told Bo Shawn needed him tonight. Where is he?” She picks up the phone.

Bo hugs Billie. Billie wonders why the footprints turned out to be another false lead. But she takes heart. The DNA proves Georgia was alive. She knows Georgia is out there. Bo tells her with the DiMeras involved she could be almost anywhere right now. Billie wants to continue the search right now. Bo says not tonight. Tomorrow he’ll get the hair sample tested at the police lab. Kate watches them argue in the background. Billie leaves and Kate comes up. She wants to talk to Bo, “Billie has been pouring her heart and soul into the search for Georgia. I don’t see how you can leave her when she needs you the most.” Bo stares.

Lucas gives Alice a cup of coffee. Jennifer comes in. Lucas tells Alice he keeps thinking about the wonderful years Alice and Tom had together. He doesn’t think he will ever have that. Jennifer says she never gave up on Jack, but the sad thing is they will never be able to celebrate another anniversary together.

“Move and you’re dead,” says Fake Jennifer. Jack tells her they’ve gotten to know each other pretty well recently. He knows she wouldn’t want to shoot him. She says, “The sex meant nothing. Did you think I’d turn around and tell Tony you were such a nice guy I’d let you go free so you could turn him in to the authorities?”

“Yes,” says Jack, “You know what I went through to get back to my wife and family. What did I do to deserve this?”

“Life’s not fair, Jack. Are you such a sucker you’re just finding that out?”

“Well, I know I can’t stop you from shooting me, so goodbye,” he says as he turns to walk out.

“One more move and you’re dead,” she says. Jack stares.

Stami tells Tony, “Oh that is so totally evil.”

“I’m so happy you like my suggestion,” says Tony with Bart in the background, “Now do it.”

Stami walks over to the mirror and puts in the mouthpiece, “If Tony wasn’t dead, I’d swear he is the one behind this.”

Lucas Leaves. Alice says, “Tom and Jack and all our family members have all gone to heaven.” She’d better check the map on where some of those family members have gone. “They’re watching over Phillip.” Jennifer says if Jack were alive he’d go find Phillip and then win the Pulitzer for the story he would write about how he did it. Yeah, this is Pulitzer material all right.

Fake Jen tells Jack, “I hope you don’t think I’m bluffing.” Jack points out there is no silencer on the gun. If she shoots now, the whole neighborhood will come to see what happened. Or maybe she will miss. Then he’ll spill his guts out to the police or any media outfit that will listen. He opens the door.

Tony is standing there, “Leaving so soon?” Jack bolts around Tony but Bart is standing there with a gun. Bart points out his gun has a silencer. Jack says he doesn’t think Bart has the moxie to shoot.

“You’re absolutely right,” says Tony, “Bart won’t shoot, but he’s an extremely effective door stop. I have a gun, too, with a silencer. Now let’s get inside. It’s getting chilly. GET INSIDE NOW, JACK!” Jack walks back inside as Bart asks Tony if he’s sure he wants to take Jack out now. Tony grins.

Bo tells Kate he has to go meet with Hope. Kate doesn’t know how Bo can compare Hope waiting a few minutes to see him with the years Billie has been waiting to see Georgia. Bo says his son needs him. Kate thinks maybe it’s time Bo steps aside and lets Shawn make a few mistakes on his own. Shawn has his whole family to support him. Georgia has no one. Kate doesn’t see how Bo can leave Billie at a time like this. “You’re her mother, why don’t you stay with her,” asks Bo. Kate tells him she made a commitment to be with John. Dope agrees to take Billie home.

Hope can’t reach Bo. His cell phone is turned off. Belle is worried about what Shawn might do. “And,” says Hope, “You’re also worried because you love him. Believe me, Belle, if you ever find true love, don’t let it go.”

Belle tells Hope she is wrong, “I have to let Shawn go. What we had is over. It has to be.”

Hope says she can’t let Belle make that mistake.

Stami reads the letter of instruction, “Oh, this is so good.”

Lucas watches Phillip’s unending goodbye on TV. There is a knock at the door. Kate comes in and announces Georgia is alive. Kate hopes Lucas hasn’t spoken to “that bitch you almost married.” Lucas says Sami left town. He doesn’t want to talk about Sami right now. He wants to know if there is any more news on Phillip. Kate says no, “I can’t understand why the Marines haven’t figured out where he is.”

“You what,” asks Lucas, “You don’t know, do you? You’d better sit down.”

“Lucas, what, do you know where Phillip is?”

Belle tells Hope she has made up her mind. Her relationship with Shawn is over. That’s the decision du jour, anyway. She has to stay loyal to Phillip. Hope asks, “If you live a lie for all the Days of Your Life, are you really being loyal?” Belle says it’s to late and back we go over the ground we have seen before. It’s all her fault. He volunteered for the mission so he could come home and be with her. Yawn. She says she’s living a lie. Hope says Belle is lying to herself by denying her love for Shawn.

Bo and Billie get home. “It’s not crazy,” she asks, “to put such faith in a lock of hair?” Totally insane, yes, crazy, no. Bo goes to grab a shirt because it’s getting chilly. Billie clutches the lock of hair, “Oh, Georgia, we’re going to find you and be a family. You, me, and your dad. WHOA, Billie. One day at a time.”

Jennifer looks out the window with a blank stare. Jennifer asks Alice if after Tom died she heard his voice sometimes. Everybody in Salem hears voices. She could have sworn she heard Jack’s voice when she was home, “It’s so hard to accept. All I want right now is for Jack to walk through that door.”

Jack walks through the door, “Jennifer I am alive, and I have so much to tell you.”

OK, back to reality. That was a really cheap one. “Jack’s not coming back. I am so grateful for the love we had, and I know I will never have another love like that again,” says Jennifer. Alice tells her she is right.

Jack says he would call Tony the “King of Mean,” but Tony would probably take that as a compliment. None of them mean anything to him. Bart says now that he has seen what Tony has done, “My cup runneth over with envy. Jacko, this man is brilliant.” The Cheshire Cat grins.

Lucas says he taped the news. He turns it on so Kate can hear it. They watch. Kate is in shock.

Belle says, “I don’t even know what love is anymore. I hate love.” That’s logical if you’re Belle, I guess.

Hope tells her even though her relationship with Bo is rocky she knows it will last forever. Until the next time she sees Bo and Billie together, at least, “If you give up that love you will regret it for the rest of your life. Do you think Phillip wants to be married to someone who is not in love with him?” Belle stares through the tears.

Bo starts to leave. Stami phones Billie; she waves at Bo to come back. “I’ve got a message from Georgia, for her mommy,” growls Stami.

Alice says she knows Jennifer misses Jack, but love never dies.

Bart tells Tony, “You da man! How did you know what Jack would do? You’re like the great chess masters, always one move ahead.”

“I knew Jack would come back to Salem, and I would have Madison masquerade as Jennifer. I knew Jennifer wouldn’t be home. An informer told me she would spend the evening at Alice’s anniversary party with Patrick Lockhart.” Jack asks if that means Lockhart is still working for Tony. Bart tells Jack he wouldn’t believe the things Tony has planned for Salem. Tony tells Bart to zip it.

Bo and Billie listen as Stami says, “Your little girl misses you, Billie. She cries for you every night. She has lived a life of misery because you and her father abandoned her. Georgia thinks you left her because you were on drugs and selling your body to pay for it.”

Bo takes charge. He grabs the phone and says, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.” That showed him. Stami tells Bo to give the phone back to Billie or he’s hanging up. Bo stares.

Kate is distraught. She has to go to Belle.

Hope begs Belle to listen to her. Grab love. Never let it go. Drive it into the ground. Agonize over and over again. If she stays with Phillip she’ll be making three people miserable. Not to mention the viewers.

Billie takes the phone. Stami says, “You caused Georgia’s suffering. All you cared about was Bo.” Billie asks why he is torturing her. Stami flashes back to one of her rants at Bo for killing Marlena. Sami swears she will make Bo pay. Billie asks where they are keeping her daughter.

“MWAHAHAHAHA, you’ll never find her. She’ll go on missing you and needing you until the day she dies.” Stami hangs up.

Billie is in shock, “Why is this happening to us, Bo?”

Bo assures Billie they will find Georgia, “Now, stay here in case that bastard calls back.”

Hope continues to tell Belle to give her heart to the one she loves. Belle says Hope gave her a lot to think about. She is exhausted. Aren’t we all?

Hope escorts Belle to the steps. Belle goes upstairs. Hope turns around to see Kate standing there. “How could you tell Belle to betray Phillip with Shawn,” asks Kate, “Belle is a sweet, good-hearted girl which is why Phillip fell in love with her. But if she follows your advice, she’ll end up a scheming, selfish tramp just like you.” Jeez. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black...

Lucas is on the phone, “He left your house a half hour ago? He said he would call me when it was time to pick him up.” He hangs up, “Dammit, Will don’t do this to me, not tonight.”

Stami walks in the foggy night through the bowels of Salem. He bumps into Will. Oh, the agony. Will asks if he is OK.

“Cough it up, Tony,” says Jack, “What evil plot do you have in mind. Really, do you think you can top this?” Jack swings around and takes the gun from Tony. Everybody has the drop on everybody. Jack says if they kill him, he will kill Tony on the way down, “Even brilliant people die sometimes, Bart.”

Jennifer comes up to the house. FFWO on Jennifer searching for her keys.


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Patrick tells Jennifer, “You may not want to hear this, but I have a confession to make.”

Jack points the gun at Tony and says, “I’ll do whatever I have to, to save my family. “Well, go ahead, do it,” says Tony.

Lucas looks at Stami, “My God, I know you.” Stami morphs.

Billie tells Bo, “Thanks for caring about me and my little girl.” Hope walks in the door as they cuddle.

To Agnes, A ‘Days’ fan from the very beginning.