Donovan Manor, England
Same Night (April 2003 and Shane's memories of Nov 2002)

Shane glanced up from his book as the clock began chiming. He knew precisely the time required for a round trip from the manor to Peachy’s cottage and back and Kim had now been gone three hours past the mark so either Jeannie had talked her mother into staying the night, or Kimberly was enjoying a spot of tea with Shane’s former partner and confidant. And not that he begrudged her the visit but considering the manner in which Kimberly had behaved since coming back from her ride with Andrew, Shane couldn’t help but feel anxious. She’d been aloof through dinner and then announced she’d be picking up Jeannie.

“I thought…” Andrew bit his lip. “You asked if I’d do that yesterday and you’ll only be here for a few more days.”
“I know and I am sorry Andrew but I’d rather go myself. Tonight.”
Shane’s head shot up in surprise at this unexpected change in plans. “But Jeannie is supposed to stay with Peachy through tomorrow at the latest. She said the two of them were planning a trip into the city and it sounded as though she was quite excited to have the old girl show her about London.”
“All the more reason, I should be the one going if she is to be disappointed. Explain to her,” Kimberly said politely but with firmness meant to head off an argument on the subject.
“Well, perhaps you could go with them. I’m sure Jeannie would enjoy that and I know Peachy would.”

The proposition seemed innocent enough but the look Andrew aimed at his mother was anything but. It was downright conspiratorial for an instant.

“We’ll see,” was all Kimberly gave in response.

As the hours stretched on however, Shane’s apprehensions over her continued absence headed in a more predictable direction, one that had little to do with Kimberly taking the opportunity to go sightseeing around London. He’d tried telling himself it was nerves. His argument with Tony this morning had set him on edge for the remainder of the day. Even eliciting Eugene’s assistance hadn’t helped as neither he nor Tony had phoned back as yet, leaving Shane to imagine the worst.

He’d been aware since Kimberly arranged this trip to England she was a fishing expedition. Between her brothers and John and that blasted husband of hers, she’d grown ever more skeptical of Shane’s motives and running into Anna back in Paris had done nothing to curb those doubts. He probably should have expected this…except if anyone knew the extent to which Peachy kept things in confidence, it would be Kimberly.

Placing his marker, he set the book down on the end table and wandered over the mantle. The logs he’d thrown on the fire a couple hours ago were now only smoldering embers, a flicker here and there of blue flame dancing up from the glowing remains. After all these years, standing in this spot summoned up images...especially the first few weeks they’d spent together in this house before Emma reappeared…lying tangled up in front of the fire…watching the telly...Kimberly stealing his socks…

All gone. Burned to nothing but shadows of what he'd thrown away.

“You brought this all on yourself Donovan,” he muttered. “If it wasn’t for your blind, obstinate stupidity, she never would have married Philip.”

The part he couldn’t comprehend is how the marriage was still intact. Despite a separation nearly two years running the last time he checked, she’d made no move to divorce the man. In fact, he got the gist from some of the things Jeannie said that the two of them were getting closer again and Philip was pressuring Kimberly to move back in with him...for her safety. She’d resisted so far. With Kayla living in Los Angeles, she had family and a support system but it was only a matter of time before events in Salem deteriorated, and what then?

"Handling this on your own, laddie, may appear your only option, but Kimberly is more than their mother. And she wants desperately to trust you…"

Shane leaned back in his chair and squinted at one of the windows streaked with the rain beating against it. He’d invited Peachy over for Sunday dinner and being the weather was seasonably unpleasant, they’d eaten at a table set in a cozy spot next to the large fireplace in the living room, passing the meal in mostly family related conversation; news about Kimberly and Jeannie along with Andrew at Cambridge and then some talk of old colleagues. He’d avoided bringing up the favor he needed to ask until they finished and were drinking their coffee.

It required no small degree of finesse. He needed the services of a former agent he and Peachy had worked with on a job in the Middle East. He’d been unable to track the man down and than meant, confiding in his old partner…though whether she’d expect to hear the full story he wasn’t sure.

“I need your help locating Gregory Spiteri,” he began. “I spoke to another mutual acquaintance and learned his last known residence was some tiny mountain village in the south of Spain but I’ve had no luck narrowing the spot down any further.”
Peachy’s stare was as keen as ever. “Since you’ve come to me, I can assume that using the agency’s computer system is out of the question?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Picking up her cup and taking a sip of her coffee, her eyes continued to bore into him. “Gregory does take the occasional odd job,” she explained once she’d taken a swallow, “but I must warn you Shane, his talents do not come cheap.”
“Yes, I do recall that stipulation,” smiled Shane. “And thankfully, money isn’t an issue.”
Peachy’s glance grew concerned. “You’re not tracking him down for an agency mission, are you?”
“No,” he said truthfully.
“Would it have anything to do with a certain DiMera whose height and build is similar to Gregory’s?”

Shane had expected such a question since age had done nothing to dull Peachy’s edge and although she was retired, she kept abreast of what was going on in both the London and Paris offices. That and she spoke to Kimberly on a regular basis. She’d be well aware of Tony’s reappearance and the impact it was having on the Bradys.

“Are you certain you want an answer to that question?”

He wouldn’t mind having someone to confide in but it would be a burden, one the older woman might not wish to carry around or hide from Kimberly.

“Laddie…” There was a somber trace of disappointment in her tone but the worry lining her face left her looking sad, and it was obvious she was wrestling with a constructive way to frame the warning she meant to give him. “I’m here for you, always, but I won’t sugarcoat my analysis so you’d best decide what you can live with before we go down that road.”
“About the DiMeras? Or the fact my ex-wife and her family won’t like it?” She’d never held back when she felt he was using an assignment as a dodge or was getting in over his head.
“Anything you do involving the DiMeras is bound to have an impact on her life.”
“Anything I don’t do as well, I’m afraid.”

Peachy’s shrewd gaze was piercing.

“What has he told you?”
“Who?”
“Your informant, whoever he is.”
“Enough…or should I say too much,” Shane told her, thinking back to his conversation with Tony only a few days previously, after his Thanksgiving dinner in Salem, and as he did so, lifted his gaze to meet hers. “The bad blood between both families is about to flare up in a manner I fear could eclipse all that has transpired in the past twenty years.”
The gleam in Peachy’s eye when confronted with a riddle was one Shane remembered well.
“That sounds not surprisingly like Mr. Black's view of the situation,” she observed, “so I’m not understanding the need to risk your career this way, to say nothing of Kimberly’s trust.”
“What John has are suspicions, nothing more.”
“And this mysterious informant has provided you what? Incontrovertible evidence?”
Shane’s jaw twitched as it did when he was angry or doing his best to maintain a semblance of control. “Yes,” he said simply at first and then added, “To an extent even he is unaware of presently.”
“So his defection wasn’t by choice.”
“Quite the contrary actually and if Stefano were to see through his charade, the consequences he’d suffer would…”
“Weigh heavily on your conscious.”
Shane’s nod was stiff.
She sighed at his admission, not looking surprised in the least.

“It would be Drew you’re talking about then.”

The name was uttered with a certain amount of resignation on her part and for an instant Shane was tempted to let her misconception stand. It would keep her from figuring out the truth, in the short term at least. But deceiving Peachy merely to throw her off-track would be tantamount to admitting he couldn’t trust her and that he wasn’t willing to do. The fact was he did trust her implicitly and valued her advice, even when he knew he’d not enjoy hearing it.

“It’s not Drew and if he too is involved in this scheme Stefano has set into motion he’s not make me aware of it so far.”
“But it is someone you know personally," she surmised, "and if I’m remembering correctly, there was a DiMera living in Salem when you first…” Her eyes widened but instantly she bit off what she meant to say, perhaps worried he might confirm her suspicions and he realized she wasn’t any more certain than he’d been about saying it out loud.

They sat in silence for the next several minutes so that the sounds of the crackling fire, and the rain, along with pendulum of the clock seeped back into Shane’s consciousness.

And he waited for her reaction.

“You’re aware of how Kimberly feels about him.”
“I just spent a week in Salem, listening to exactly what her whole family thinks about him,” Shane said evenly, his frustration simmering just below the surface. “It would be impossible to ignore.”
“If you can trust me with this, surely you can trust her.”

Such simple words but they cut Shane to the quick. This was his fault. He’d destroyed Kimberly’s faith in him and worse, what faith she’d had in herself. He was the reason he couldn’t go to her now and explain what was going on and it made him sick inside, sick with disgust and guilt and the knowledge that when she did learn what he’d done, she was liable to sever ties between them permanently.

“My trust isn’t the issue here,” he explained as patiently as he could under the circumstances.
Peachy gazed back, with a troubled expression, “Oh, Laddie, I fear the choice you’re making is one you’ll regret.”
“I regret it already.”

That frank admission produced another awkward silence. Of all the people in his life, it was Peachy who knew him the best, knew that once he’d given his word, he’d practically destroy his own personal happiness to follow through on his promise. And she didn’t bother with dissuading him right away.

“I thought the Count knew Kimberly as well.”
“Yes.”
“Then talk to him. Explain…”
“I’d be asking him to trade his life so that I could hang onto a woman who’s not only married to someone else, but who may never forgive me for what I put her through.”
“And is nailing DiMera’s father,” she asked, waving her cup at him, “really worth this?”
Shane frowned. “A few months ago I would have said no, but now?” He shook head slowly. “This won’t just impact Kimberly’s life but Andrew and Jeannie’s. And every piece of information that comes to light is conjuring up a future as violent as the one the generation before them suffered through. I refuse sit back and watch that happen when I have the opportunity to put a stop to it.”

“Handling this on your own, laddie, may appear your only option, but Kimberly is more than their mother. And she wants desperately to trust you.”
“But she doesn’t,” Shane replied. “To her, as with the rest of the family, Tony DiMera is a symbol, not a man. A symbol more powerful than her desire to believe in me, and I’m not blaming her for that.”
“You’re not willing to accept that time heals, or accept her ability to forgive either.”

“And if I were to do that and it gets Tony killed...after having already given him my word…tell me, how could either of us live with that?”

It was the one question Peachy didn’t have an answer for.

He could tell she hated the situation as much as he did but she’d not raised the subject with him since. In fact, once she’d put him in contact with Gregory Spiteri, they’d spoken quite infrequently. She’d gone so far as to avoid a dinner invitation when he and Kimberly arrived at Donovan Manner and though her aloofness pained him, he understood it was the manner she'd chosen to protect his secret. And he could only imagine the pitfalls an evening with the three of them seated across from each other would have provided. Still, her refusal hadn’t fooled Kimberly apparently or maybe this was all paranoia on his part and Kim needed some time away from the men…

Damn it Kimberly, what have I done to us?

The phone in his pocket began to vibrate and he pulled himself together. It was Tony’s number and instinctively, he steeled himself for the tirade he assumed was about to erupt.

“I’m not interrupting anything I hope,” came the smooth accent, the slur at it edges so slight, Shane almost missed the implication. It was pretty early in the evening back in Salem, too early for Tony to be drunk and Shane’s immediate thought was what else could have gone wrong since they talked earlier. He wasn’t all that sure he wanted to know however and stuck to answering the question.
“Nothing but a technical journal.”
“My, exciting fare you take along on vacations, Donovan.”
“Speaking of which, this is my vacation, so if you’re going to continue interrupting it, perhaps you could get to the point.”
“Touchy too this evening. Does that mean your day went off as splendidly as mine?” Slurred or not, Tony’s sarcasm was rather difficult to miss.
“Christ, what the hell did John do now?”
“Well, as Gene pointed out to me, something I probably ought to have been expecting. He announced to Marlena I bought Echelon. In public.”

The last two words erupted from the phone in a clipped staccato and though Shane sympathized to some degree, he was awfully tempted to remind Tony he’d been the one to interrupt his brother’s anniversary party in order to announce his return from the dead and turn about did seem fair play. Despite the temptation, he stuck with, “Gene’s right,” which earned him a moment of blessed silence until Tony came up with a suitable retort.
“It appears your wife’s profession is rubbing off on you.”
“Ex-wife.”
Tony’s laughter was mocking. “If you say so.”
“Is this phone call to complain about John’s behavior or lecture me for asking Eugene to provide some assistance.”
“Believe it or not, it was to say thank you.”
Shane blinked. “You mean, you didn’t insult him too?”
“Well of course I did, but telling Gene to go to hell doesn’t faze him in the least.”
“Maybe I should have had him call John too.”
“He wants to try speaking to Marlena.”
“About you?” Shane realized after the words came out just how horrified he sounded. Thankfully Tony ignored it, or was so drunk, he didn’t notice.
“Technically, I suppose it would be about me, but the premise won’t appear as such.”
“And how is he going to pull that off?”
“He’d going to take the letters I wrote to her.”

Shane’s jaw clenched tightly. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he asked for Eugene’s help and how the hell did either of them think it was going to improve the situation? “I’m not sure which one of you is crazier,” he bit out finally.
“That would be me,” Tony replied in a flat, dry tone.
“Really.”
“You wanted a way to defuse the situation…”
“And showing Marlena proof you’re just as bad as John says you are…how is that going to accomplish your aim precisely?”
“Gene’s not going to tell her he got the letters from me.”
“Oh, and of course, she won’t assume that anyway.”
“No,” said Tony with conviction that surprised Shane, “actually she won’t.”
“But she will assume you fabricated the information they contain and that you’re using Gene.”

“Or she’ll remember.”

That pulled Shane up abruptly and he realized that Gene’s plan might just have a chance of succeeding…a slim one but if he pulled it off, at least a portion of the truth would finally be out in the open between Tony and his brother…one that John might not like but short of calling his wife’s sanity into question, one he’d be forced to accept. “If she doesn’t remember, she’ll be even more suspicious of you,” he reminded Tony after a moment of silence between them.
“She thinks I’m running a whorehouse, Shane. How much more did you imagine it would take for her to look down that lovely nose of hers?”
“And here I thought you didn’t care about appearances,” said Shane, carelessly ribbing his partner.
This time Tony’s silence held an air of menace. “You are treading on awfully thin ice, Donovan, considering Echelon was your idea.”

Or maybe I’m just as bloody sick and tired of this situation as you are. But Shane was sensible enough not to voice his thoughts this time and managed to keep an audible sigh from escaping his lips. “In that case, I’ll keep my fingers crossed that Eugene knows how to work magic along with all of his other hidden talents because what we need at this point is a miracle.”