AT MAISON BLANCHE:

Tony shut the door and worried what E.J. would do. He had hoped to get Sami downstairs and through the secret passageway to bring her into surgery before the Salem search party arrived, but now he would have to rely on his suddenly quite untrustworthy brother to subdue her and hope for the best -- that no one would look in the attic.

Rolf had told him about his memory erasing procedure he had undertaken on his brother and while Tony regretted Rolf's doing so without his authority he was disappointed it did not afford them the control over E.J. that they expected.

Tony quietly tiptoed down the steps to the second floor when suddenly he heard footsteps and voices coming up the stairs.

Luckily, Tony was able to dart back up and hide behind a bend in the staircase between the second floor and the attic while he watched Marlena, Roman and Lucas ascend the top steps of the grand staircase without noticing him and then turn right and disappear down a long hallway once they arrived at the second floor. He listened as Lucas led them into a far bedroom and showed them where he slept the night Sami disappeared.

Seeing his opportunity, Tony bounded down the the steps of the grand staircase swiftly but with precision, like a tiger. Heaving a sigh of relief when he saw no one and nothing downstairs in the large front room he calmly adjusted his suit tie and walked toward the fireplace just about to press the button to open the secret passageway and make his escape... when a familiar voice stopped him.

"Tony, just what do you think you are doing here?" Kate whispered.

Tony recognized the voice and turned on his heels back to face her with a smile over his face.

"Kate, love, I'm here to join the search party," Tony said. " E.J. made off with $10 million of our money and I intend to track him down and get it back from him."

Kate scoffed.

"I see, Tony," Kate said throwing her hands up in the air. "Funny how you failed to mention your New Orleans trip yesterday."

"Am I sensing a little skepticism?" Tony asked flirtatiously.

"Not a little," Kate said just as flirtatiously. "A lot."

"Well, Kate, dear," Tony said moving toward her and caressing her face. "I assure you that I want to find E.J. and Sami and bring them back to Salem just as much as you do."

Kate knew that meant he actually didn't want to find Sami and E.J. at all, but considering them staying gone would mean the end of Lucas's marriage to the witch she was intrigued.

Kate licked her lips and leaned in for a kiss but stopped when they were interrupted.

"Hey, just what in the hell is going on here?" Roman asked furiously, while a disgusted Marlena and a horrified Lucas looked on.

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