BILL: Ah…a bed. (flopping himself down on one of the two doubles in the room)

JACK: (putting down his bags and surveying the room) I can see Nigel hasn’t gotten any less cheap on us. I wonder what it would take to get that man to get me my own room just once.

BILL: Hopefully this will be the last time he’ll be getting us any accommodations, Jack.

JACK: Yes, hopefully. (walking over and picking up the phone) Well, there’s no time like the present.

BILL: Jack, do you know what time it is in Salem?

JACK: Why yes, I do. (looking at his watch) Let’s see, it’s almost four here, so that makes it nine-ish. Jennifer should be up and about.

BILL: Do what you like. I’m going to take a hot shower and then get some sleep. We have a big night ahead of us.

BILL exits to the bathroom as JACK watches him go. After he closes the bathroom door, JACK dials. As the phone begins to ring on JACK’s end, the screen splits in two, focusing on the phone in the Deveraux home living room. JO rushes in and picks it up.

JO: Hello, Horton-Deveraux house.

JACK: (disappointed that it was not JENNIFER but happy to hear a familiar voice in the least) Good morning, Jo.

JO: (gasping a little; happy to hear him) Jack? Oh, I’ve been worried sick about you.

JACK: (lying so she doesn’t worry) I’m okay. Fine, actually. I know she’s a bit peeved at me, but is the lady of the house home? The original lady of the house, that is. Not the mini-one.

JO: (pausing for a moment to digest) You mean you haven’t talked to Jennifer? Then you have no idea?

JACK: (confused) No idea about what?

JO: (nervous) Well…I…you see….

Behind her, VERN enters from the kitchen. She turns and mouths “It’s Jack” to him. He gently takes the phone from her.

VERN: Jack, it’s Vern.

JACK: (trying to kid around although he knows something’s wrong) Vernon? What, cat’s got Jo’s tongue?

VERN: (watching JO pace nervously next to him) Jack, no joking, please. Something terrible’s happened.

OUT on JACK, not sure if he wants to know what it is.

SCENE TWO: INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY-An apartment door slides open, the familiar sound of it jarring JENNIFER, who is standing outside in the hallway with COLIN.

COLIN: Well?

JENNIFER: (nervously) Well what?

COLIN: Well, aren’t you going to go inside? Like I said, it’s not much, but…

JENNIFER takes a timid step inside and looks at her all-too-familiar surroundings. COLIN enters from the back, carrying her luggage.

COLIN: You like?

JENNIFER: (touching the spiral staircase nostalgically) Yes. It’s very…it’s very nice.

COLIN: I thought you would. Actually, I remember you telling me that you used to live in a loft back in the day. Remind you of it?

JENNIFER: (near tears) Yes. A lot actually. In fact…

COLIN: Are you telling me this is “the loft”?

JENNIFER cannot answer, she just nods.

COLIN: (smiling) Lookie there. And you think we’re not connected in some way. I even rented the apartment you used to rent. Soulmates, Jennifer Rose, that’s what we are. Soulmates. Don’t you agree?

JENNIFER doesn’t answer. She just turns and walks towards the fireplace, running her hand across the mantle and staring where a fire should be.

COLIN: (growing angry) I asked you a question, Jennifer.

JENNIFER: (coming to) Oh…wh…what?

COLIN: Nevermind. I see that you have a lot on your mind. (beat, looking around the room) Tell you what, I’ll take your things upstairs and give you some alone time-to pack, to get settled in.

JENNIFER: (weakly) Thank you.

COLIN: (walking over and slipping his arms around her waist. When he does, she flinches a little) You’ve had quite the day, haven’t you, love? Having to talk to the in-laws, tell them about our little liason?

JENNIFER: Our little liason? (breaking free from his grip, she turns, once again to look at the fireplace).

COLIN: You didn’t tell them about the baby, did you?

JENNIFER: I didn’t feel…(fighting back tears) I didn’t feel up to it.

COLIN: Well, you better start. Or do you not want Jack to think that you and I were intimate?

JENNIFER: (growing angry about his hold on her) You know damn well that’s what I don’t want.

COLIN: Jennifer, he will know. He will think that we are happy, that this baby is ours, that your heart belongs to me. In time, you will believe it too. I know it. I feel it with every fiber of my being. (walking up and picking up her bags) You know it, too, don’t you?

JENNIFER: (half-listening) Know…know what?

COLIN: That we’ll be happy, love. You and I and the children. They’ll be safe and happy.

JENNIFER: They’re safe and happy now.

COLIN: (ominously) Are they?

JENNIFER: (nervous) What…what do you mean by that?

COLIN: Oh nothing. I’m just saying that I know how much it killed you to lose one wee child. I’d absolutely hate to see you go through that again. (watching her to make sure it sinks in) Happy, Jennifer Rose, that’s what we’ll be. Happy.

COLIN exits upstairs and JENNIFER turns towards the empty fireplace. She is sure she is going to be sick.

SCENE THREE: AFRICA-INT. HOTEL ROOM

JACK is hanging up the phone and digesting what VERN has just told him. Immediately, he begins gathering his things. BILL walks out of the bathroom in a robe to find JACK rushing back and forth.

BILL: Jack, what the hell is going on?

JACK: I’m getting the hell out of here, that’s what’s going on. Going back home. Going to be with my family.

BILL: What about Nigel? (watching him rush back and forth) Jack, what’s gotten into you?

JACK: (throwing what he can into his carry-on) Your daughter, that’s what’s gotten into me. She’s been under my skin since that fateful day when she stepped into my office at the paper. She worked me up, taught me to believe, and taught me to think outside the box, and now, that is precisely what she’s not doing-thinking.

BILL: (confused) What are you talking about?

JACK: Colin Murphy, faux Colin Murphy, whatever, whoever he is. Jennifer’s gone and lost her pretty blonde mind, moving in with the Irishman…if he’s even Irish.

BILL: Is she crazy?

JACK: (giving him a look) Need I really answer that?

BILL: Did you try calling her?

JACK: Calling her does no good.

BILL: (trying to get him to listen to reason) Jack, we have things to do here.

JACK: (throwing the papers he was going through down and finally blowing up) Dammit, Bill, can’t you see past your own selfishness for once?! Your daughter’s gone and put herself in grave danger and all you can think about is what Nigel Hawthorne wants. For Christ’s sake, Bill, don’t you even care about Jennifer?

BILL: Of…of course I do. (trying, in vain, to calm him down) Jack, Jennifer’s a big girl.

JACK: (raising his voice) Is that what got you through it, Bill? Convincing yourself that Jennifer was a big girl every time you left town on another excursion, another job?

BILL: Don’t you-

JACK: Don’t I what? Is that what you said to yourself when you left her with her grandparents after her mother put her on a bus, put a seven year old child on a bus not even knowing where it was going? Is it? She was seven, Bill! A child! Is that what you said when you put her in boarding school after boarding school? Did you say that when you-yes, you-kept us apart when we lived here? Did you say that when she was crying over the child we lost? Did you?

BILL: Jack, that’s not fair. I didn’t know about the baby.

JACK: Neither did I! You saw to it that I didn’t! Maybe not purposely but it was all about you, the good doctor, the traveling physician.

BILL: It’s not easy for me. Being a father was never as easy for me as it was for you.

JACK: (laughing at this comment) Do you think it was easy for me? Do you? I didn’t exactly have the best role models, did I?

BILL: I didn’t mean to insinuate-

JACK: You never mean to. That’s your problem. I screw up, Bill. I screwed up when Jennifer told me she was pregnant with Abigail. Did you ever ask her about that? Did she ever tell you how fear-stricken I was over the prospect of raising a child, shaping a young mind? No. Did you ever ask? (beat) Did she tell you how much it killed me to leave both her and Abigail when she was a baby? Did she?

BILL: I know she was upset, but-

JACK: But you thought she could handle it, you thought, “Jennifer’s a big girl”, she can get through this. Being a father means giving up your needs, no matter how selfless you think they are, Bill, and you couldn’t do that…you still can’t! You couldn’t do it when she was seven, when she was seventeen, and now that she’s a grown woman with a child of her own, you still can’t forget about your problems for one minute to focus on hers. I’ve been patient, Bill. I’ve gone along with a plan I didn’t want to. I involved Jennifer in a way I never would have otherwise. You have done nothing but focus on your own needs, even when you said you weren’t. You tried to be calm when I knew something was wrong, tried to idle me into staying abroad, helping you. I can’t. Jennifer’s in trouble and unlike you, I cannot stand by and hope for the best, hope that she gets through this. One day our luck’s gonna run out. I’m not taking any chances. I’ve taken all the chances I care to. If you can’t act like a father, dammit, at least act like a human being! I’m going to do what I should have done a long time ago-leave you to deal with your, not my, not Jennifer’s, problems. (beat, calming down a little, catching his breath, and picking the papers off the floor and tossing them on the bed towards him) You have all the information. Show it to Nigel and try to make him understand. I just hope…I hope you can understand.

BILL: (moved by his words) I do, Jack. (beat) Go. (beat) Tell Jennifer I love her.

JACK: (pausing to read BILL’S face before heading for the door) I will.

BILL: (as JACK opens the door) By the way, Jack, I know.

JACK turns towards him, confused.

BILL: (cont.) I know that being a father means not only showing up for the big things-births, weddings, but sticking around and appreciating the small things as well. (growing teary) I know because of…because of you. Two years ago, it hit me. I was watching you and Abby play catch in the makeshift baseball field we made-

JACK: (smiling slightly) The one I foresaw a booming concession business in?

BILL: (grinning) Yes, that’s the one. Anyway, she was running and wound up tripping over second base and scraping her knee. I’ve never heard a child cry so loudly in my life, not even the babies I delivered. You…you took one look at her and scooped her up in your arms and held her until she stopped crying. Then you cleaned her up and made her smile. I was so jealous at that moment. I’m a doctor, Jack. I’m good at cleaning people up, making them smile. But I’ve never been good at the holding part. It frightens me, you know?

JACK: (nodding, knowing exactly what he means) I know.

BILL: You’re a great father, Jack Deveraux. And a great husband to my daughter. I know it’s too late for me and Jennifer-

JACK: It’s never too late, Bill. Jennifer still needs holding, she still needs cleaning up.

BILL: But she has you.

JACK: Yeah, she does. She has me and I’m all the way here in Africa with her father.

BILL: She’s lucky to have you, Jack.

JACK: She’s lucky to have you, Bill. How lucky is up to you. I can only teach you so much about being a father, but first you have to learn how to be a human being, which means…

BILL: (overlapping) Which means…taking responsibilities for my own actions…and suffering their consequences.

JACK: If you need anything, anything, don’t hesitate to call.

BILL: You do the same, Jack. (beat) I mean it.

JACK doesn’t say another word, just smiles reassuringly and exits into the dimly lit hotel hallway.

JACK: (to himself) Now to get home and figure out what Jennifer is up to.

MAN’S VOICE: Oh, I wouldn’t count on that happening.

JACK: (turning towards the voice in shock) What the---?

All of a sudden, the man knocks JACK upside the head with the barrel of a handgun. We do not see the man’s face, but JACK immediately falls to the floor, knocked out cold.

SCENE FOUR: INT. LOFT

A little while later. JENNIFER is sitting in front of the fireplace, shivering in fear over what’s going to happen. There is a knock on the door, and lost in thought, she momentarily gets hopeful that it might be JACK.

JENNIFER: (breathless) Jack?

She slides the door open to find a clearly unhappy BO standing there.

BO: Expecting someone else, Jenn?

JENNIFER: Bo. What are you doing here?

BO: Well, I thought I’d drop by. See how your lie was going. (walking in) Where is your lover anyway?

JENNIFER: He’s out. And please don’t…(catching her tone) don’t call him that.

BO: Ooh, touchy. Something eating at you, Jenn? Like a big lie?

JENNIFER: (not meeting his eyes) I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.

She leaves the door open, secretly hoping he’ll leave. When she sees he’s not going anywhere, she walks into the kitchen area.

JENNIFER: Would you like something to eat? Maybe a drink? We don’t have much, but Colin said he did a little shopping and (opening the fridge)

BO: (leaning on the counter) What I’d like is the truth.

JENNIFER: (turning towards him) I told you the truth.

BO: You expect me to believe that you, Jennifer Horton, carried on an extramarital affair with a guy who claims to be someone he’s not.

JENNIFER: It wasn’t extramarital. Jack and I weren’t married.

BO: That’s bull. You know as well as I do that the two of you acted like husband and wife, in every sense of the word.

JENNIFER: (shocked that he’d even bring up her sex life) Bo!

BO: Why are you lying Jennifer? Did he threaten you?

JENNIFER turns away but he grabs her arm and turns her towards him.

BO: (cont.) Did he?

JENNIFER: (pushing his hand off her arm and rubbing it) No.

BO: Did he threaten Jack? Abby?

JENNIFER: (near tears) No.

BO: (realizing he’s being a little rough) I’m…I’m sorry, Jenn. It just makes no sense, that’s all. I thought you loved Jack.

JENNIFER: I do love Jack.

BO: But you slept with Colin? That doesn’t sound like you Jenn.

COLIN: (opening the door, causing the two of them to jump a little) It doesn’t sound like your wife either, but she sure as hell did it, didn’t she?

OUT on BO, seeing red.

SCENE FIVE: INT. LOFT

IN PROGRESS

BO: (storming over and grabbing COLIN by the collar) You leave Hope out of this!

COLIN: (looking at BO’S threatening hands) And you stop badgering my fiancée. And while you’re at it, you might want to take your hands off me. A lawsuit wouldn’t bode well for the already temperamental Beauregard Brady.

BO: (dropping his hands reluctantly and looking COLIN up and down before speaking) I thought you were going out.

COLIN: (looking past BO to JENNIFER) And I thought Jennifer would be unpacking. I didn’t know she would be entertaining-

JENNIFER: (trying to explain) I wasn’t expecting him. He just dropped by.

BO: Why are you explaining, Jenn? You don’t have to explain anything to him.

JENNIFER: I’m…I’m not. I’m just saying…

COLIN: She’s not explaining. She’s merely telling me. Now, if you’d kindly leave (sidling up to JENNIFER and putting his arm around her) my fiancee and I alone…

BO: (shaking his head and laughing at the absurdity of the pairing) Fine. I’ll get to the bottom of this, I’m warning you.

COLIN: There’s nothing to get to the bottom of, I assure you.

BO: Right. (to JENNIFER) Before I forget, (reaching into his coat pocket and handing JENNIFER an envelope) Hope told me to give you this. Said you aren’t answering her calls. She’s as confused as I am.

JENNIFER: (fingering the letter lovingly) Thank…thank you.

BO: I’ll talk to you later, Jenn (exiting, but not before giving COLIN a warning look).

COLIN: (calling after him, but the plea falls on deaf ears) Don’t forget to close the door on your way-(walking over and closing it himself)-by all means, don’t listen to me. (watching as JENNIFER turns away and anxiously begins to open the envelope) Tsk, tsk…

JENNIFER: What?

COLIN: (walking towards her) You don’t actually think you’re going to read that, do you? For all I know, it could be some kind of love letter from Jack. ‘Dear Miss Horton’-that’s what he calls you, right? ‘What are you doing? Don’t you know we can make it?’ Yada, yada, yada, contramundum, blah, blah, blah (snatching the letter from her)…

JENNIFER: Give it back!

COLIN: Or what? You’ll go crying to your family? I don’t think so. You know as well as I do that that’s not a very good idea. Brrr. (pretending to shiver) Is it cold in here to you? Looks like a fire might be in order. (picking up the logs next to the fireplace and putting them in, then taking a match and lighting it, finally dropping it to ignite the logs) Now, that’s much better. (throwing the letter into the flames)

JENNIFER: (lunging at it, but being held back by him) No!

COLIN: Oops. (brushing her hair away from her face and leaning into her ear as she watches her letter burn) Get used to this, Jennifer Rose, for this is the life you’ve chosen.

OUT on JENNIFER, frightened to death.

SCENE SIX: INT. LOFT

A little while later. JENNIFER is sitting in front of the fire with a blanket around her. She can’t stop shaking. COLIN, reading the paper and watching her from the sofa is not happy that her thoughts are preoccupied with JACK.

COLIN’S cell phone rings.

COLIN: (picking it up, noting that JENNIFER doesn’t even take notice) Murphy here.

A man’s voice is indistinguishable on the other end.

COLIN: Good then. Everything’s working out according to plan?

JENNIFER turns and looks towards him curiously. When he sees that she’s watching, he stands up and heads upstairs, grunting in agreement the entire way. A saddened JENNIFER turns back towards the fire.

JENNIFER: (to herself) What am I going to do? Think happy, get through this. For you, for Abby, for the baby. For (trembling) Jack. Jack. (talking to him as if he can hear her) Jack? Please, please come back to me. You know where to find me. I’m right here, right where we started. Right here…

JENNIFER pauses, thinking back to a happier time right in front of that very fireplace.

CUT TO:

SCENE SEVEN: FLASHBACK-CHRISTMAS 1990

IN PROGRESS

Both JACK and JENNIFER are sitting in front of a roaring fire as JENNIFER is in the middle of opening her gift from JACK, a hope chest. She is giggling and hits him with a stuffed bear, his last gift she opened.

JENNIFER: No.

JACK: Over here maybe.

JENNIFER looks inside the hope chest and finds two small children’s lifejackets with the name “LORETTA” stenciled on them.

JENNIFER: Huh, uh. Another wonderful memory, huh?

JACK: Well it should be. That's when.... that's when I saved your life.

JENNIFER: When you saved my life? I don't think that's the way it was.

JACK: Oh perhaps that's when I allowed you to save my life.

JENNIFER: No you didn't allow me to do anything Jack.

JACK: As I was saying, details are very important. Ah.... and to round everything up there is a final report. That's kind of a.... kind of a forecast actually.

JENNIFER: Okay.

JACK hands her a sheet of paper and she begins to read aloud.

JENNIFER: "All kidding aside, now that this is finally empty, we can fill it up again with new memories and hopes for a wonderful future."

JENNIFER begins to cry.

JACK: The intention was not to make you feel sad or blue.

JENNIFER: You're so wonderful. Too wonderful.

JACK: That's incorrect reporting. I think they're talking about you.

JACK caresses her face with his hand and she begins to stroke it gently.

FADE OUT:

SCENE EIGHT: PRESENT DAY INT. LOFT

JENNIFER, recalling that day with JACK, wipes away a tear from the corner of her eye.

JENNIFER: (to herself, lowly) You are too wonderful, Jack. And one day, I’ll get to tell you that again.

OUT on COLIN, descending from the stairs, hearing every word. JENNIFER turns and looks at him, frightened.

SCENE NINE: EMPTY ROOM, AFRICAN MANOR

IN on JACK, passed out on the bed. Groggily, he awakes and lifts his head.

JACK: What the-(surveying the room) Where am I? (recalling the last thing that happened and then panicking) Jennifer! (he tries to scramble up, but can’t realizing his hands are tied to the bedposts) Alright, who’s the kinky guy?

The door opens and a large, intimidating gentleman walks in.

GENTLEMAN: Why, hello, Mr. Deveraux, I see you’ve finally decided to join us.

JACK: What the hell is going on? And why am I tied to this bed like a common…like a common…I don’t know what, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.

GENTLEMAN: That will be explained in due time, Mr. Deveraux. Right now, there’s someone who wants to see you.

The GENTLEMAN steps to the side and opens the door. A man enters. Although we don’t see his face, it is evident that JACK knows him.

JACK: (shocked) It’s you!

OUT on JACK, trying to figure out what is going on.

SCENE TEN: EMPTY ROOM, AFRICAN MANOR

IN on a room, sparsely decorated like the one JACK’S is being held in. A man is sitting on the bed, facing the window. He appears to be in some kind of trance. The door opens and another man enters, carrying a tray of food.

MAN WITH FOOD: Dinner’s served. (when he gets no response) Hello? (waving a hand in front of the man on the bed’s face) Did you hear me? I said dinner’s served.

MAN ON BED: I’m not hungry.

MAN WITH FOOD: Fine, suit yourself. (placing the food on a small table on his way out) I’m just saying, you should eat. You’re not looking too good, Gideon.

The man on the bed turns towards the door and the other man. He is bearded and his blonde hair is long and disheveled. He has a patch over his one eye.

GIDEON: I said, I’m not hungry.

The man at the door shrugs and exits, leaving the man on the bed alone. GIDEON turns towards the window again, as if knowing that someone he once loved dearly is near. Down the hall, a mere twenty feet away, he is unaware that his own baby brother is being held captive.

END OF EPISODE 88

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