Whisper My Name

Chapter 5

January 22, 1992

Marlena and Roman Brady Residence

You step into the night

On your way back home

What a scene it was tonight

I'm so glad I'm not alone...

~ Rockin' Heaven Down ~ Heart ~

Marlena came off of the bottom step, and stopped suddenly watching in shock and surprise as Roman fastened his watch to his wrist. She'd just woken Sami and Eric for school. She hadn't been out of Roman's sight longer than fifteen minutes, and already he was dressed and almost out the door.

He poured himself a cup of coffee, sipping half of it down quickly, while shoving his car keys in his pocket. Roman nearly jumped out of his skin when Marlena asked, "Where are you going now?"

"Oh, back to work," he told her, drinking the rest of the coffee quickly.

"Roman!" she cried. "You just came in! You've been up all night–"

"--Doc! Once I find Bo, that'll be plenty of time to sleep," Roman told her, making sure he had his wallet. In his haste to catch Raffi Torres off-guard he'd failed to realize that his brother became a target. Torres was willing to do whatever he needed to do, in an attempt to push his drug shipment through Salem, and Bo was paying the price for helping him.

Roman hadn't even spared her a glance, and her ire was rising. "No! No! No! You've got to get some rest! And maybe you could spend some time with your family!"

"I can't sleep, okay?" he told her, finally turning around and facing her. Marlena stood before him with her hands on her hips, wrapped in a soft pink robe. "It's my fault that Bo's in this mess in the first place! How do you expect me to sleep?"

Marlena stared at him, unsure of how to respond to the level of frustration and anger Roman was exhibiting. The doorbell rang before she could say anything.

Roman realized his mistake as Marlena stared at him with an expression that clearly said she was at a loss. He rubbed her shoulders, and sighed, saying more calmly, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let me get that."

She wasn't sure what to do, but as Roman walked away from her, she murmured, "Why does every day start in the middle around here?"

Roman threw the door open to find Brian Schofield standing there with another officer, "Schofield! Alright, what did you come up with at the Cheatin' Heart?"

"We got prints from the pay phone, and yes, they were Bo's," Schofield told him. A crisp breeze blew by, and Brian shivered.

Roman didn't even seem to notice, asking, "That means he was there that night?"

"Absolutely. We've got it all. Also a witness says they saw a car pulling out of the alley that night, tires screeching."

"Good! Good!" Roman said in a haste, running back to grab his coat. "Did they get a license plate number?"

"Well, they got a make and model, and, uh, the color too," Brian told him.

Marlena watched helplessly as her husband snatched up his coat, and walked right by her as if she weren't in the room. Following him to the door, she was surprised that Roman even acknowledged her before he breezed out the door. "I'll talk to you later!" he said. "Lock the door!" To Schofield, he said, "Let's go! Let's go! Move it!" As Marlena watched him almost run to the car, he shouted behind him one last time, "Lock the door!"