Jack Deveraux sat inside his rented car for a long time after he had shut off the engine. After a while he lost track of how long he had stayed there like this, barely taking his eyes off the light in the Hortons' front porch as darkness slowly fell upon him outside.

He had thought about what to say to Jennifer all the way here from the airport. He had thought about it on the plane ride to Salem, and even before that when he had come home to an empty house in Capetown to find his wife--no, his ex-wife--missing, with their daughter nowhere in sight. Even one week later, the terror that had engulfed him that night was still so fresh and raw in his mind that he had to consciously tell himself to take a breath at that moment.

He had rehearsed what he'd say to her when he saw her face to face again, but now that he was moments away from seeing her all the carefully chosen words ran fast away from him, leaving only emptiness and pain in their wake.

She must have been angry at him. She had to be, in order to do something this drastic--to just vanish in the middle of the night with Abigail, without leaving word of where they would be or even if they were all right. She had been angry.

But so was he. Hell, he was still angry--and scared. Scared of what would happen when walked to the door and saw her again, and how things would be.

He gripped the steering wheel and released a long, slow breath, hoping all the tension he had carried with him would be released along with the air in his lungs, but no such luck. At last he got out of the car and made his way to the door. He could hear voices inside as he rang the doorbell--Jennifer's voice was one of them and for a moment his heart fluttered at the familiar sound.

Their eyes locked when she casually swung the door open. At that first sight of her, his anger evaporated momentarily, giving way to profound relief that she was all right--he could see it with his own eyes now. She was shocked as well, the color draining from her face.

"Jack..."

His name came out in a whisper, not in an indignant hiss as he had expected. She looked flustered, but then quickly gained her composure.

"What are you doing here?"

Anger stirred within him again at the question, and bubbled to the surface. "I believe I should be the one posing that question, Jennifer! You're the one who-"

"Keep your voice down!" she said, slipping outside and shutting the door behind her. "Abby is sleeping already and I don't want you to wake her and get her all upset!"

"You don't want..." Jack shook his head as his voice trailed off and he let out an incredulous laugh. "You disappear with my daughter one night without telling me and you're telling me to keep my voice down? How the hell am I not supposed to be upset-"

"Jack, stop it! She's going to hear you, do you want her to wake up crying?"

He exhaled, bringing a hand to the back of his neck and absently rubbing it. "All right, I'll keep it down," he muttered.

"Thank you." She looked up briefly, as if to check Abby's window to make sure she was all right, then returned her eyes to him. "How did... how did you know I was here?" she said softly.

"How do you think?" he said. "I was frantic in Africa--no one there knew where you were, not even your father! I called everybody we knew and thank God I got a hold of your grandmother. If it hadn't been for her, your father and I would have rounded up the entire Capetown police force looking for you two."

She drew a shaky breath and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm sorry, Jack, I shouldn't have--I shouldn't have just left like that and worried you and Dad... I was going to call you, but I just needed some time-"

"Is Abigail all right?"

Funny how all this time he had wanted to hear her explanation, but now he couldn't even stand to let her finish it.

"Yes... Yes, of course, she's all right, Jack, I would never let anything happen to her--you know that."

He didn't answer and instead jammed his hands in his pockets.

"I want to see her. First thing tomorrow morning-"

"Fine, you'll see her," she said, cutting him off with a nod. "But Jack, there is a reason I left. Maybe I shouldn't have run off the way I did-"

"Maybe??!"

"Look, I know I shouldn't have let you worry like that, but listen to me! We have problems, Jack. Big problems. And you can't just sweet talk your way out of this one, do you understand? Things are going to have to change from here on out. For Abby's sake."

Jack could say nothing as he just stared at her.

To be continued...

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