At Bo and Hope’s house, Jeremy heads down the stairs, yelling into the kitchen that he’s going out. His volume, however, awakens Ciara, alerting Doug and Julie, who tell him he’s not going anywhere until he’s made his own keep around here. Jeremy argues that he has important business to tend to. Julie asks Doug if he’ll tend to Ciara (and he’s glad to) while she informs Jeremy that she’s known many businessmen in her life and when they’re too busy to take care of their house, they can hire someone – yet here he is, bumming off his cousin and behaving ungracious in the process. “And just who do you think you are, lady, telling me what to do?”

“I, Mr. Self-Entitled, am your cousin, Julie Williams, and your elder. I would have thought your mother would have taught you better manners than this, but I’ll be glad to fill that role myself, as will Hope – and many other women and men in this family. So, what you’re going to do, darling, is your going to call your little client and tell them you can’t make your meeting, due to unforeseen circumstances. If they think your business is worth it, they will give you the benefit of the doubt, and then you will go into the kitchen and do your aunt Hope a favor and pick up her slack a little. You see, its little things like that make us old folk feel appreciated and not want to give you a hard time, like right now. Do we have an understanding?”

<HR>
Outside, Bo and Hope talk about Roman. Bo thinks that the sooner Anna is far away from his brother, the better off they’ll all be. Hope’s surprised at him. She can’t believe he doesn’t see how strongly Roman still feels for his ex. Bo thinks she’s crazy. Hope shrugs, sounding uninterested suddenly. “Fine. You don’t have to trust a woman’s instinct.”

“You think you know everything, don’t you?” and Hope fails to deny it. He tells her not to get too cocky, and she swats his chest. Bo tells her that she should get to work if she wants to get this done tonight. They have a flirty farewell in which they test the wire to make sure it’s working. As soon as Hope has left, Steve arrives. Bo asks his old pal what he thinks he’s doing. “Saving your hides, Beauregard. You just sent your pretty thing into a lion’s den. Thank to me, they’ll all be having a nice big cat nap.” Bo looks at him with distrust.

<HR>
Back inside, Anna begins to feel faint, and she’s barely enjoyed her drink. She accuses Tony of drugging her and he tells her to quit while she’s ahead. He knows she’s just trying to get out of talking. He knows her act; he’s seen the play more times than he can count. He wants to know why it seems that his father and she have been cooking something up. Before she can say anything, she falls into Tony’s arms, and then he begins to feel the effects as well.

<HR>
“You’ve got the key, Reed,” John points out. She uses it and they go inside. It’s dark and spacious. It looks to be one or two rooms. Billie asks John if he has a flashlight on him. He smirks, saying he’s always prepared. Billie second-guesses John’s presence, and tells him to go home to Marlena. The last thing she needs is for him to get hurt again after he just woke up from a coma. John fights it, saying he’s doing this for Sami and Marlena will understand. “Besides, it’s safe house. I’m not going in wired trying to nail a criminal.”

Billie doesn’t fight about it anymore, shedding some light on the place. Lucas said they wouldn’t put the lights in until Lucas and Sami move in. “Good thing we have these,” John remarks. As they search, they make small talk. He heard about what happened with Steve, and Billie claims she doesn’t wish to talk about it. He reminds her who he’s married to. He knows it does no good not to talk about things. She tells him that last time she talked about it, she landed herself and her friend in deep trouble. He reminds her that he’s not some vulnerable kid who’s being rejected by someone who I think is way out of my league. Billie sees his point, but says it’s too painful.

“Besides, the man took your kidney. I’m surprised you can be talking so casually about him.” John insists that he knows what Steve’s been through. He’s lucky to have gotten out when he did. Billie’s not sure it’s really over. John supposes she could be right, but only time will tell. “Marlena told me how you stood up to him, with Kayla and her. That took guts after all that happened.” Billie shrugs, saying she felt she owed it to Steve to show him that she really cared about, and wouldn’t just help him blindly if she knew it would be worse for him. He tells her she’s got the right stuff. She thanks John, but doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to find a man who isn’t already taken, heart and soul, by another woman.

<HR>
Jeremy, of course, is not keen on Julie’s little lecture, and tells her so. He heads for the door again and Doug stops him, Ciara in his arms. He tells Doug to move. Julie closes in, telling him that if he wants to keep his little arrangement with Hope that he’ll do what he’s told and not act so superior. He swears he can’t cancel this business stuff, it’s too important. Julie tells him it’s simple. If it’s that important, the meeting can happen right here. Jeremy balks, and Julie wonders just what Jeremy has gotten himself into.

Fed up, Jeremy announces that he’s out of here. “Fine,” Julie says, “but be prepared to face the consequences!” He let’s her threat roll off his back, turning to go. She tells Doug to get out of his way, but Doug’s hesitant. Julie insists, but gives Jeremy one last warning. “Just remember this, my dear cousin. You’re living with cops. If I even think you’re up to no good…” This stops Jeremy in his tracks, and he says he’ll go make the phone call. Doug is amazed that Julie finally got through to him. She says it’s simple. She’s seen this kind of thing all the time. She may not have raised David, but she knew him and watched him and learned. The word cops will either make them want to rebel harder, or it will force them to grin and bear that which they’d other refuse to even consider.

“Well, Fair Lady, aren’t we lucky you were so confident he’d do the latter?” Julie shrugs, saying it’s a gift, and they kiss. Ciara cries and they go off to tend to her.

<HR>
Steve informs Bo that he’s been living the good life inside the mansion, thanks to a little hoodwinking on his part. Bo tells Steve he really is crazy. “These dudes need a little taste of their own medicine, don’t you think?” Bo shakes his head and Hope asks what’s going on over the system. Bo tells him that it’s nothing, and he’ll deal with it. He tells Steve to leave, but he refuses. Hope announces that she’s in and that her present company is out like a light. Bo looks at Steve, who smirks. “Don’t say it,” the cop says and Steve shrugs.

Inside, Hope is caught red-handed by Stefano. He asks her what she’s doing in his house.

Outside, Bo is freaking out and Steve asks him to let him handle it. Steve explains that he has an in, and he’s less likely to get “the sweet thing” killed. Bo still doesn’t trust Steve, but reluctantly agrees to let him have his shot, but if anything happens to Hope, Bo won’t be above giving him a second eye patch. Steve winks, rushing off.

<HR>
Inside, Hope is behaving like a deer caught in headlights. Stefano demands an answer. He wants to know what she did to Tony and Anna. She swears that she doesn’t know, and honestly doesn’t. He calls her a liar, and she tells him she came in looking for something. He wants to know what in his house she could possibly be looking for without a warning. “That’d be me, Mr. Big Shot,” announces Steve, shocking both of them.

Without alerting Stefano to the charade, he let’s Hope know what he’s getting at and she plays along, as they kiss. Stefano wants to know who the hell they think they’re fooling. Steve laughs, asking if Stefano is bothered that two of his little pawns decided to get together and make a little magic. Stefano says he has no time for this. He wants them to leave. They do. Stefano knows there’s more to their appearance than meets the eye, but has no patience to deal with this right now. He attempts to wake up Tony and Anna. Rolf arrives and announces that they were drugged. Stefano eyes the bottle of wine angrily.

<HR>
John tells Billie not to sell herself short. Billie cuts him off, saying that it doesn’t look like there’s anything out of the ordinary about the place, creepy as it is with no lights. John agrees and they go to head out. Suddenly, there is a noise. They turn around and see another figure in the room. John zeroes in on him quickly, grabbing him. Billie flashes her light in his face. It’s Benjy!

Instantly, he tries to worm his way out of John’s grip. Billie recognizes him. So does John. Billie says that he helped the DiMeras get their hands on Steve. They always thought he was the good DiMera, yet here he is, probably arranging some kind of secret recording device to make sure Sami and Lucas can’t be completely hidden from the family. Billie wants answers. John explains that they’re not going to get any out of him here, explaining that he’s a mute. Billie wonders what they can do, since their being here is suspicious in of itself. John reminds her that she had the key. He’s got a plan.

<HR>
In the kitchen, Jeremy is on the phone. He tells the person on the other end that he can’t keep this up. His family already doesn’t trust him.

On the other end, EJ tells him to buck up. He’s got all the charm in the world; he just needs to use it to his advantage.

<HR>
They have Benjy tied to a chair, struggling. John goes outside to make a phone call, leaving. Billie is disgusted by him, unable to believe what he’s done. Benjy shakes his head. Billie grabs his face fiercely and changes her mind, “Well, I suppose anyone under Stefano’s influence long enough can make a complete about face.” He tenses, and she asks him if he’s a deaf-mute, how does he know what she’s saying. He bites his lip looking away. She remembers Steve mentioning something about him learning to read lips. Billie’s sure that, if Steve is back to normal, he’ll be more than happy for some retribution from this man he trusted like a son.

Next on…



-The Bradys and Horton celebrate the 4th
-Max wants out of his deal with Jeremy
-Roman gets tied up at work, despite promising to be Anna’s date to the picnic
-Billie talks to Steve and Kayla about Benjy