Steve gets a bad feeling when Kayla — who is supposed to be at a medical convention in Washington, D.C. but has actually been taken captive by Ava — doesn’t answer his calls.

“Initially, Steve assumes Kayla is too busy at the convention to check in,” explains Stephen Nichols (Steve). “After some time, Steve becomes concerned and calls the hotel in D.C. and is told that Kayla never checked in. Suspecting Ava has something to do with it, Steve searches her room and discovers a charm from a bracelet that he had given Kayla.

Steve promptly confronts Ava, demanding to know what she did with his fiancée. “Ava admits that Kayla had been to see her to tell her to stay away from Joey, but then she left to go to some convention,” says Nichols. “Steve shows Ava the bit of jewelry he found in her room and asks if it fell off during a struggle. Ava gets angry and finally admits that she hit Kayla over the head and she has her hidden away. Steve is livid but knows he must tread lightly or risk never finding Kayla.”

Ava then decides to come clean about why she really came back to Salem. “Ava tells Steve that if he wants to see Kayla again, he must help her find ‘their’ child,” details the actor. Rather than seek help from the police, Steve strikes out on his own to try and locate Kayla. “He’s worried about Ava’s volatile mental state, so Steve decides to handle the situation alone.”

However, Steve does update Joey — who has been duped by Ava — on the crisis the family is currently facing. “Steve has Ava locked up at his house, so he has no choice but to tell Joey about the situation,” Nichols notes.

Ava then issues another demand. “Ava tells Steve if he travels with her to find the child Ava claims they had together, she will call Joey and tell him where his mom is so he can free her. Steve decides he must follow the plan.”