Paul Williams

Actor History

May 1978 to September 2018, contract; September 2018 to November 20, 2018, recurring; March 25, 2019 to present

Lifeline

Occupation

Residence

Marital Status

Past Marriages

Relatives

Children

Flings & Affairs

Health and Vitals

Crimes Committed

Brief Character History

When viewers first met Paul Williams, he was in his late teens. Paul and Danny Romalotti worked as waiters at Jonas's Restaurant and were best friends. Paul and Nikki Reed met on a beach over ice cream cones when they were both 17 years old. Both of them were quite promiscuous, and Nikki gave Paul a venereal disease. Nevertheless, Nikki and Paul have remained close friends through the years.

Paul lived at home with his family which included his younger sister Patty and older brother Steve. Another brother, Todd, was never seen by viewers in the early days, but was admired by his devoutly Catholic parents, Mary and Carl, for joining the priesthood. Paul once saved Patty from drowning in a neighbor’s swimming pool, and became her protector from then on. When Nikki decided to clean up her act in order to land Greg Foster as a husband, Paul had a fling with April Stevens. April got pregnant, and Paul tried to talk her into having an abortion, but April refused, so Paul turned his back on her.

In 1980, after escaping the prostitution ring, Nikki turned to the New World Brotherhood, a cult. Paul discovered her selling flowers in the street. Soon after, Paul, who felt responsible for his mother Mary's miscarriage (although he had saved her life by donating their shared rare blood type), also joined the cult because he thought that it would provide him with serenity. Eventually, both realized that the cult was a farce, but they were being held against their will by cult leader Sumiko. Peggy Brooks joined forces with Steve Williams to write an expose about the cult and even infiltrated it, which nearly cost Peggy her life. They were later rescued by Paul's father Detective Carl Williams. Greg, meanwhile, assumed that Nikki had taken up with Paul again, and decided to end their two year marriage.

After her baby Heather was born, Greg Foster fell for April. But when Heather fell gravely ill, Greg encouraged Paul to do the right thing and marry April. Paul and April were married and lived in a shabby apartment. Heather recovered but was a colicky baby and cried constantly. Parental responsibility proved too much for Paul so he and April mutually decided to divorce. April and Heather went to live with April’s parents in New York City. Paul began the first step of his detective career by finding April's twin sister Barbara Conway and reuniting her with her family.

About this time, Paul’s sister Patty disappeared from Genoa City following a bad marriage to Jack Abbott which resulted in her losing their baby and Patty shooting Jack three times after finding him in bed with Diane Jenkins. Over the years, Paul was unable to track her down.

In an effort to help him mature, Paul's father, police detective Carl Williams, got Paul on the police force to assist Carl with his cases. When Nikki was abducted by Rick Daros, Victor Newman came to Paul and Carl, and they rescued her. Paul and fellow officer, Andy Richards, worked undercover infiltrating the mob and were instrumental in helping the police bring down the mob boss known as Mr. Anthony. During his time with the mob, Paul became involved with Cindy Lake, “a hooker with a heart of gold," who took a bullet meant for Paul and died in his arms. Paul and Andy left the force to become private detectives, with Jazz "the mobster with a heart of gold" as their operative. Their secretary, Amy Lewis, was the daughter of the police captain, and she was also a singer.

Once Paul began working for and getting referrals from Victor Newman, his business became more successful. Paul moved into a posh office in Newman Towers, and branched out to security system installations with his new partner, another former mobster, Nathan (Kong) Hastings, and their loyal secretary Lynne Bassett.

Paul's mother, Mary, constantly set him up with good wholesome girls who would give him the grandchildren she so desperately wanted. These included Lynne and daughters of the ladies of her church. But Paul became involved with and married the fun and fiery Lauren Fenmore, daughter of Neil Fenmore, the owner of Fenmore Department stores. Mary felt Lauren was too flamboyant and all wrong for Paul. Paul and Lauren were happy for quite some time until a stalker named Sean came into her life and arranged for Paul to misunderstand their relationship. Paul and Lauren divorced, but Paul later rescued Lauren from Sean who had kidnapped Lauren and left her buried alive in San Francisco. Lauren lost Paul’s baby in the ordeal. Paul didn't even know she had been pregnant, but Paul and Lauren reunited. Lauren's next mistake was when she entered a nude photo of Paul in a contest which was used as a magazine centerfold. As a result, Paul decided not to remarry Lauren, but they remained friends.

Paul fell for a mysterious and beautiful woman named Cassandra Hall. Cassandra was an interior designer, so Paul hired her to decorate both his office and his bachelor pad. During their consultation on those projects, Paul became romantically involved with Cassandra, but she was satisfied with being lovers and was unwilling to marry him. One evening, while dining at the mansion of his client George Rawlins, the wealthy owner of Ra-Tech, Paul was shocked when George introduced him to his young wife Cassie. Cassie was Cassandra, but Paul didn’t let on that he knew her. Later while George and Paul were socializing in Cassandra’s absence, George confided in Paul that he feared his young wife would leave him because he was impotent, and George asked Paul to sire a child for them. Paul politely refused.

When confronted by Paul the next day, Cassandra insisted that she loved only Paul and that she was willing to divorce George. Cassandra told George she wanted a divorce to be with Paul, which caused George to suffer a heart attack. When Paul heard about George’s condition, Paul compassionately suggested that Cassandra wait until her husband was fully recovered before she told George about them. George was also informed by his doctor that he was suffering from a terminal illness. At about the same time, George discovered that Paul and Cassandra were lovers. In a twisted act of revenge, George argued with Paul while Victor Newman was nearby and overheard them. Then George plotted to kill himself and make it look as though Paul had murdered him. After George was found dead, Paul was arrested. Upon hearing about George's murder, Victor wisely surmised that his friend Paul had been set up. Paul’s police detective father, Carl, was in charge of the investigation.

Victor suspected that Cassandra was a lethal black widow. Victor seduced Cassandra, and for a while, Cassandra strung along both Victor and Paul. Meanwhile, Cassandra was meeting a mysterious man named Adrian Hunter. Cassandra told Adrian that she was desperate to leave Genoa City and start a new life with him. When it appeared that Paul would be convicted of George's murder, Paul and his father faked Paul's suicide. Once Cassandra was convinced that Paul was dead, Paul was free to work with his father to prove his innocence. Paul and Carl followed Cassandra and her lover Adrian to Bermuda, where they tormented Cassandra with visions of Paul as a ghost. Cassandra quickly returned home to Genoa City in horror and confessed that on the night George was murdered, she had been knocked unconscious, and when she awoke, there was a gun in her hand and her husband was dead. With Cassandra's help, Victor devised an elaborate plan to lure Adrian back into the country. Cassandra told Adrian that she was being held prisoner by Victor, and that she had been tied to a chair with a gun pointed at her with a block of melting ice rigged to fire the gun. When Adrian arrived to rescue Cassandra, Victor and Paul captured him. Carl arrested Adrian and exposed him as George's killer.

Cassandra then set her sights on Brad Carlton and offered Brad a job at Ra-Tech, the company she inherited from her husband George. Brad accepted Cassandra's job offer and agreed to go skiing with her in Aspen to work out the details. On the way to Aspen, Cassandra slipped Brad a drug that left him unconscious. They detoured to Las Vegas, where a groggy Brad married Cassandra in a quickie ceremony. When Brad finally regained consciousness he found himself in bed with his new wife at a resort in Aspen. Brad was livid and managed to get out of the marriage. At the divorce hearing, Brad and Cassandra agreed to part amicably and did not make any claim to each other's financial interests. Immediately after the hearing, Cassandra called Paul and told him that he was the man she really loved, and she rushed off to see him. But before they could meet, Cassandra was struck by a truck and died at the scene. At the reading of Cassandra's will, Paul was surprised to learn she had made him her sole heir. But before Paul could celebrate becoming a multi-millionaire, he found out that the judge who presided over Brad and Cassandra's divorce had died before he could sign their divorce decree. So Brad and Cassandra were still legally married, and Brad was the legal heir to Cassandra's fortune, including the Rawlins mansion and Ra-Tech. Brad accepted the entire inheritance with no regard for Paul.

Paul began working on cases with lawyer Christine Blair, who was once married to Paul’s best friend Danny Romalotti. Paul and Chris became involved romantically as their exploits took them to Vietnam to find Jack Abbott's long-lost son Keemo. Together, Paul and Chris helped old folks, Margaret and Miles, fight their slumlord and won decent housing for all of Rainbow Garden's elderly tenants.

Paul’s father Carl had disappeared and been missing eight years before Paul and Christine convinced Paul’s mother Mary to have Carl declared legally dead. Afterward, Mary finally accepted the attentions of Charlie Ockell, and Charlie asked Mary to marry him. Meanwhile Chris happened to be at the Norfolk airport on business, and was helped by a man working as a security guard. Later when Paul showed Chris a photo of his missing father, she realized that the security guard had been Carl. Without telling Paul, Chris returned to Norfolk and discovered that the guard was going by the name of Jim Bradley. Meanwhile "Jim" had just asked his girlfriend Ruthie to marry him when airport security tipped him that someone was asking about him. It turned out that Carl had been captured by some bad guys while working a Genoa City police case. Carl had been beaten unconscious and left on the highway to die. Carl had been found by a woman named Ruth Ann Perkins, who nursed him back to health, but he had amnesia.

Concerned that "Jim" had a family looking for him somewhere, Ruthie called the phone number Chris had left with airport security. After speaking with Chris, she tested "Jim," and he responded to the name Carl. So “Jim” and Ruthie invited Chris to their home. Chris and Ruthie convinced "Jim" to return to Genoa City and visit the family he didn't even remember. Paul was shocked and grateful to see his father again, but did not tell Mary. Although Carl tried, he never could remember or connect with his son, so Carl returned to Norfolk.

Mary and Charlie announced their engagement. Meanwhile Carl felt bad for Paul and decided that he should return to Genoa City again. Carl and Ruthie arrived on Christmas Eve, and Carl saw Paul and Mary from the rear of the church which triggered a memory of the family in church when Paul was a child. It so unnerved Carl, that he fled. Later Carl saw Paul and Mary at a diner which brought back yet another memory. Paul spotted his father, and privately asked him what his intentions were because Mary and Charlie were about to be married. Carl replied that he didn't know. Mary saw Carl, and she fainted. When Mary awoke, Carl told her about his amnesia and about Ruthie. Mary was convinced that despite his love for Ruthie, Mary’s love could bring back the past, and she and Carl would be happy together again. So Mary told Charlie the wedding was off. But try as she might, Mary could never bring back Carl's memory of them. Carl returned to Norfolk and Ruthie where they were married as they had planned. Charlie apparently never forgave Mary, so she was again left alone with her only pastime, which was meddling in Paul's life.

In 1993, April returned to Genoa City to visit Paul's mother Mary with her 13-year-old daughter, Heather. April was badly bruised, supposedly from a car accident. When Paul asked to be a part of Heather's life, April refused. She explained that they were happy in New York City with her dentist husband Robert Lynch, and that Robert had adopted Heather, and Heather thought that Robert was her biological father. After April returned to New York City, Robert beat her and accused her of having sex with Paul. Paul and Chris discovered that April was a battered wife. They went to New York City and got April into a support group, but were unable to convince April to leave Robert.

April returned to Genoa City a year later after again being beaten by Robert. Although April was still attracted to Paul, he gently turned down her advances. Concerned for Heather, whom she had left behind, April returned to Robert. When Robert tried to keep April in line by threatening Heather, April fatally stabbed him with a letter opener and was charged with his murder. April was relieved when Chris and John Silva volunteered to represent her in court. Chris and Silva's dynamic representation won April a suspended sentence due to self-defense. After she was reunited with Heather, April told Paul she wanted to begin a new life away from Genoa City. Much to Paul and Mary's disappointment, April and Heather returned to New York City and moved in with April’s rich twin sister, Barbara. Barbara also financed Heather's college education when she grew up.

Phyllis Romalotti, convinced that Chris stood in the way of Phyllis and Danny’s reconciliation, ran down Chris and Paul with a rented car on their wedding day, leaving Paul impotent. Once Paul recovered, the postponed wedding still almost did not happen after Paul walked in on Chris and Danny's sexual encounter. Chris managed to choose between them, and married Paul. They honeymooned on the island of Nevis. After a happy day on the beach, Christine crawled into bed and screamed. Paul pulled back the covers to reveal a slimy dead octopus. Unknown to them, Phyllis, mad that they had invaded her vacation had put it there. Paul and Chris both wanted children, but they had trouble conceiving once they finally put Christine’s career aside long enough to try.

The cocky and successful attorney, Michael Baldwin, just out of prison for the attempted rape of Chris years earlier, convinced her to start a law practice with him. The practice was so successful that Chris again put starting a family on hold, which caused a rift in her marriage. Then Christine took a case in Hong Kong which meant living there for months. Paul balked at the idea, then decided to put his own career on hold to move there together. But Paul backed out at the last minute, and Christine lived in Hong Kong for months on her own with very little contact with Paul. When the Hong Kong case was finished, Christine was offered a case in Australia, but was determined to go home and try to mend her shattered marriage, so she turned it down. Christine arrived at their apartment only to find Paul in the arms of his new client Isabella Braña. Without letting Paul know that she had been there, Chris accepted the case in Australia and filed for divorce.

Isabella didn't want to tell Paul that she was pregnant because she felt that he was still too hung up on Chris. So Isabella had a brief affair with Michael Baldwin, and she told him that he was the father. Michael was outraged at first, and he drew up legal papers for her to sign. But Isabella had something on Michael from their past, so he backed down and went along with her demands of rent, baby furniture, and living expenses until the baby was born. Michael also arranged for a job for Isabella in another town. Just as Michael was softening to the idea of having a child and a future with Isabella, and as Paul was getting involved with his former wife Lauren Fenmore, Paul found out about the baby's paternity and wanted to be a father to the child. That lie caused Isabella to fall out of grace with both Michael and Mary Williams.

Paul moved in with Isabella, who continued to manipulate him. Mary went to great lengths to try to convince Paul that Isabella was all wrong for him and would ruin his life. Despite the fact that Isabella was about to give Mary the grandchild, and Paul the child, they both had always wanted, Mary tried to convince Isabella to go away to a home for unwed mothers. Mary even begged for help from unlikely sources in Lauren, Chris, and even Michael; all of whom she disapproved of as well. Paul finally moved out on his own volition when Isabella started pressuring him to get married. Their baby boy, Ricardo Carl Williams, was born, but unlike Isabella's delusions, Paul was not willing to become one happy family with her. The sudden return of Chris complicated things for Isabella, but Chris rebuffed Paul’s advances for the baby's sake. So Paul married Isabella and moved in with her and their son, Ricky.

Chris worked long hours with Michael Baldwin and they became closer as they shared dinners and their feelings. They finally discussed their past, and although Chris agreed Michael was a changed man, she said it still haunted her. But Christine decided to put the past behind her and accepted Michael's marriage proposal. Paul invited Isabella's estranged father Ricardo to Ricky's christening, and they were happily reunited. Michael arrived and asked Ricardo not to mention that they had known each other or Isabella in the past. Then Michael announced his engagement to Chris, which enraged Paul. Paul attacked Michael, and Michael left with a black eye. Paul showed up later at Chris's apartment and forced himself on her sexually. Chris reciprocated, then said, “We shouldn't.” Paul later left a devastated-looking Chris, saying he was sorry about everything. The next morning Paul confessed that he had forced himself on Chris, and called it rape, to his friend Andy. Andy reminded Paul that rape was about humiliation and power, not about being overcome with passion. He reminded Paul that Christine never said 'no' and asked if it had been rape, or two people who loved each other, but had screwed up their lives to the point where they cannot be together? Chris disappeared, leaving both Michael and Paul wondering where she was. After Chris had been gone for months, the guilt got to Paul, and he told Isabella that he and Chris had had sex that night. Isabella left Paul, and only returned occasionally to see Ricky.

Chris eventually returned to expose Isabella, wearing a disguise as the dark-haired mysterious Kelly Simmons. Paul saw through Chris's disguise, and they came to an understanding about the rape, but Paul chose to move to Los Angeles with Isabella and his son. Paul took Ricky to Isabella's parents in Los Angeles, leaving Isabella to finish packing. Just before Michael and Chris were to be married, Michael confessed to Chris that he set up Isabella to meet Paul so that Chris and Paul would split for good, and Michael could have Chris. Chris exploded, walked out on Michael, and flew to Los Angeles to tell Paul the whole story. Chris found Paul camping on a beach, she told him the truth, and they ended up making love in the sand. Upon their return to Genoa City, Paul moved back into their former apartment with Chris while Isabella plotted revenge.

One night Isabella called her only friend Diane Jenkins who happened to be with Michael. Isabella told them someone was breaking in, then she screamed. When Michael arrived he found what appeared to be a bloody murder scene and Isabella was missing. Chris woke up in her car in the woods and told Michael and Paul of her last memory; Isabella screaming not to hurt her, a lot of blood, and a boat. Michael tracked down the boat, which was covered in blood, and destroyed the evidence against Chris. The night before Chris was to be arrested for Isabella's murder, Chris was attacked in her bathtub by Isabella who was very much alive. While wielding a butcher knife, Isabella revealed to Chris how Isabella had drugged her wine and set her up. Paul arrived in the nick of time, but was slugged from behind and knocked out. Later, as Paul was reviving the nearly-drowned Christine, Michael arrived and saved them both from the crazed Isabella. The police arrived and took Isabella away. Isabella was committed to a mental hospital, and Paul and Chris were free to be together once again. Paul moved in with Christine, and soon proposed. Christine laughed, and didn't take it seriously, so Paul moved out. Paul began seeing his ex-wife Lauren Fenmore, but Lauren and Paul's nemesis, Michael Baldwin ended up becoming lovers instead.

Paul lost his office lease and took Chris up on her offer to join the law firm of Baldwin & Blair as their investigator. Awaiting renovation of his own office, Paul shared offices with Chris. J.T. Hellstrom began working for Paul as an operative learning the ropes, and Paul occasionally dated Ashley Abbott. Paul worked a big case which involved saving Bobby Marcino from the mob. (See Bobby Marcino profile.) Another of Paul’s big cases was working with Christine to try to prove Daniel Romalotti innocent of the vehicular manslaughter of Cassie Newman. (See Cassidy Newman profile.) Paul also rescued Lauren Fenmore who had been kidnapped in 2005. (See Lauren Fenmore profile.)

In 2006 Victor Newman hired Paul to do a background check on his new son-in-law Brad Carlton. Paul and J.T. had discovered from a Cleveland high school annual photo that Brad was not the real Brad Carlton. After Victor sustained a head injury which changed his perspective on things, he asked Paul to drop the case. But J.T. was concerned for Brad's daughter Colleen, so he stayed on it. When Colleen found out, she encouraged J.T. to continue the investigation. With the help of Paul's Cleveland private investigator contact, Kara, facts were uncovered about the Kaplan family which she shared with Paul and Colleen. The family had been murdered, including their 15-year-old daughter, Stephanie. The only survivor, their 18-year-old son, George, had been sought for questioning. Three months later George's body had been found by the side of a road, presumed the victim of a hit and run. The police had assumed that George had been the murderer of his family. But Kara revealed that at the same time Brad Carlton had joined the Navy Seals.

Brad sent Sharon Newman on a mysterious errand to deliver a red tote bag to a car downtown. Colleen confronted her father, Brad, with what she had found out about his mysterious past and accused him of kidnapping J.T., who had gone missing. Brad explained his past to Colleen, then he hustled her and his daughter Abby to his private jet where the girls met Brad’s mother, Rebecca, for the first time. Brad sent them all to Hawaii where they would be safe.

Meanwhile Sharon returned from her errand to find Brad's front door ajar. Sharon was mistaken for Brad's wife, and was kidnapped and held captive with J.T. in Cleveland. Brad received a call from the kidnapper who told him they had Sharon. Victoria and Brad then brought Nick Newman and Paul in on the case. Brad explained to everyone his past as George Kaplan, how he had found Brad dead on the road and taken on his identity, and how his mother had testified against the Nazis which started it all, and that the kidnappers were after an artifact called the Grudgeon Reliquary. Then J.T. was dumped beaten up on Brad's doorstep as a warning. After they wasted days trying to track down the Reliquary on the Internet and through art dealers, Victoria decided to create a fake one using two other similar Grudgeon pieces. They took the fake to Cleveland, and Nick met the kidnapper and his henchman for the exchange at a church. Meanwhile, Brad, Paul and J.T. were converging on a shipping crate which was booby-trapped with explosives in which they were misled to believe that Sharon was being held. They disarmed the bomb but did not find Sharon inside. Then they arrived just in time at the church to rescue Nick and Sharon as explosives attached to Sharon were about to detonate. Brad fought with the bad guys, and he killed them both after the head guy admitted he was Oscar Volkmann, son of the Commandant who was executed after Brad's mother had testified against him. Everyone involved vowed to never tell what went on for everyone's safety. But later on Brad and Victoria told Victor and Nikki, and Nick told Phyllis.

In October 2006, Paul tracked Sheila Carter to Argentina and discovered that she had undergone plastic surgery which had made her look like Phyllis Summers, then afterward, Sheila had killed the plastic surgeon. Later that month, Paul discovered Sheila buying baby things at store in Genoa City. Paul followed Sheila to a warehouse where he trapped her in the very cell that Sheila had constructed with the intention of imprisoning Lauren while Sheila stole Lauren’s baby Fen. Paul made Sheila pose for a death photo at gunpoint and made up DNA samples to convince Lauren and Michael that Sheila had died after being struck by a car in Argentina. Paul also informed Phyllis and Nick about Sheila, but Paul kept Sheila imprisoned undetected until December. Then Michael put a tracking device on Paul's car and caught Paul bringing food to the warehouse. Michael was shocked to discover "Phyllis" in the cage, and he began to pick the lock. Paul reappeared and was able to convince Michael that it was really Sheila only after a phone call to the real Phyllis. Knowing the authorities could never keep Sheila contained, Paul and Michael shared the secret and the dilemma of what to do with her. Meanwhile Lauren and the real Phyllis had bonded through their pregnancies, and Phyllis helped Lauren who was suffering from post-partum depression and anxiety attacks.

Detective Maggie Sullivan and Paul Williams began dating. In Maggie’s curiosity about Paul's frequent absences when he claimed to be on a stakeout, she tracked him via his cell phone to the warehouse. Sheila conned Maggie into believing that she was Phyllis, so Maggie set her free. Then Sheila shot Maggie with Maggie’s own gun. Paul arrived and went to Maggie's aid, but was also trapped in the cell by Sheila. Sheila then found Phyllis at home, tied Phyllis up, and waited for Lauren and baby Fen to arrive, taunting Phyllis about how great it would be to take over Phyllis’s life and to enjoy her hot husband and new baby. Lauren arrived and was also tied up. Sheila left Lauren behind and took Phyllis and babies Fen and Summer to a retirement home where Sheila had an apartment. Michael eventually rescued Paul and Maggie, who was near-death, from the warehouse cell. After taking Maggie to the hospital, Paul and Michael rescued Lauren. While Paul and Michael followed Sheila's walkie-talkie signal which Sheila had planted to lure them elsewhere, Nick and Lauren, with the aid of Kevin Fisher, enhanced the background noise from Sheila’s latest taunting phone call. Nick recognized where they were, but while he and Kevin tried to find Paul, Lauren sneaked out with the gun Paul had given her for security. Lauren found the apartment, broke in, and confronted the two Phyllises. Phyllis managed to convince Lauren that she was the real one, and Lauren shot Sheila dead. Sheila’s dying words taunted Lauren that she would never be rid of her and that Lauren had shot the wrong one. Phyllis was livid with Michael and Lauren for endangering her and her baby Summer, but they eventually reconciled. Maggie recovered from her gunshot wound but never told the police about Paul and Michael holding Sheila captive.

Paul and Maggie continued to be involved, and Maggie underwent quite a transformation from her usual "plain Jane" cop persona into a very attractive woman. She and Paul had great chemistry, and Maggie was a welcome addition to Genoa City and Paul's life. Together they became involved in the investigation of the Glo By Jabot tainted face cream scandal, the murder of Ji Min Kim, and they investigated the suspicious death of D.A. William Bardwell. But Maggie disappeared with no explanation.

In 2007, Paul was shocked to meet new Assistant D.A. who was his daughter Heather Stevens. After a few months they became close friends as Paul pondered whether or not to tell her that he was her father. When Paul finally told her, Heather reacted with resentment. But she mellowed toward Paul after her mother, April, paid them a visit and explained the circumstances of their life-long estrangement.

Concerned for his friend, Nikki, and suspicious of her boyfriend, David Chow, due to his bad credit and two prior deceased rich wives, Paul began an investigation into David's past. Paul tracked down David’s last rich wife Bitsy to Bermuda where she had escaped in fear of David and divorced him. Bitsy told Paul that she and David had met as colleagues at Granville Global, and prior to that David had been “in politics”. Bitsy claimed that David got away with the death of his first wife, Janelle, by cheating on her, which caused Janelle to commit suicide. And Bitsy claimed that David had also gotten away with the murder of his second wife, Angela. Paul cut the interview short when Bitsy began ranting about aliens, yet he believed her claims about David may have been true. Paul tracked down Mina King, the sister of David's second wife, Angela, who claimed that David cut the brakes of her sister's car causing the accident that killed her. David received an anonymous tip that Paul had been investigating him, so David went to Nikki with his side of the story. David said he met his first wife Janelle in college, saying that she was always on the go, on a mission of some sort. David claimed that Janelle became paranoid, that she could not sleep, she refused to go for therapy, and she ended up over-dosing on sleeping pills. David told Nikki that his second wife Angela was very athletic, she flew a plane, and she was very volatile. After one of their many fights, Angela drove her sports car into a telephone pole and was killed. David admitted that he gambled away his inheritance from each of them. David also claimed that Angela’s daughter Mina was a cocaine addict and had accused David of murder because her mother had cut Mina out of her will. David claimed his third wife Bitsy was paranoid too, that she had accused him of leaking Granville Global company secrets and having affairs. When Bitsy had refused to get help, they separated, which was when David had an affair with Carmen Mesta. When Bitsy found out about Carmen, she accused David of murdering his wives for their money and became delusional, so David divorced Bitsy. Nikki appeared to believe David, and she asked Paul to stop investigating David. Paul said he would, but he did not.

Just as Sabrina was walking down the aisle to marry Victor, Nikki received a devastating phone call from David. David told her that he could no longer deceive her about his gambling, and that he wanted a divorce. But the next day David begged Nikki to give him another chance. Nikki refused to give up on David as she thought they could work it out together. Paul discovered that David’s real name was Angelo Seraffini, and that David worked for mobster Walter Palin, a.k.a. Anthony “Tony” Amato, doing cover-up work and possibly as a hitman. Nikki told David she knew all about his past and would no longer be made a fool, and she was adamant that they would divorce right after the annual charity ball. Paul was there for his friend Nikki all through her ordeal with David and following David’s death.

When Victor disappeared after his wife Sabrina’s death, Paul traced Victor to Bucerias, Mexico. Paul and Nikki went there to find Victor, but Paul had to return when his daughter Heather had a medical emergency. When Nikki finally found Victor, he told her to go home, that he wanted the world to think he was dead. In response to her declaration that she still loved him, he replied that he wished one of them had the guts to kill the other to put them both out of their misery. Paul was there for Nikki when she returned to Genoa City, her heart broken by Victor once again.

Paul began working with Michael Baldwin investigating the validity of the claim that the woman known as Marge Catrooke was really the recently deceased Katherine Chancellor. Since Nikki was still grieving the death of her best friend Katherine, she was adamantly opposed to anything except to prove that Marge was not Katherine.

Gloria Bardwell had been jailed for tainting Jabot’s face cream which may have caused the death of consumer Emma Gibson. Paul investigated Emma’s husband Andrew and discovered that Emma had a child by a former husband who was institutionalized with anaphylactic shock from a severe food allergy. Emma’s tests were compared with the son’s and six points of correlation were found, which proved Gloria innocent of causing Emma’s death. Although the judge was appalled at Gloria’s product tampering, he had to set her free of charges in the death of Emma Gibson.

First seen in Victor Newman's office without exposing her face, Mary Jane Benson accepted Victor’s proposition to have plastic surgery to infiltrate Jabot Cosmetics as a part of Victor's latest plot for revenge against Jack Abbott. Mary Jane apparently had known Jack years before and, for reasons of her own, wanted to get close to Jack without being recognized. Mary Jane presented a good case to Jack for why he needed her to restore his tarnished image, and was hired. But once Jill regained control of Jabot, she fired the Abbotts and Mary Jane; however, Jill lost Jabot when Katherine was declared alive. With Mary Jane's help and the information supplied to her by Victor, Jack convinced Kay to rehire him as CEO of Jabot and Mary Jane as head of PR, and also to restore Ashley and Billy to their Jabot positions. Mary Jane seduced Jack, and Jack was falling for her. While attending Katherine and Murphy's wedding with Jack, Mary Jane met Paul, who found something very familiar about her.

Nikki caught Kay's wedding bouquet, and it wasn't long before Nikki and Paul were engaged. Nikki made sure to tell Victor in person. Victor was okay with it, saying that Paul was an all-right fellow, but later Victor told his children that he thought Nikki was jumping into marriage because Victor was happy with Ashley.

Mary Jane appeared to have some mental problems, confiding in a taxidermal cat she called "Mr. Kitty," and building a scrapbook of those who had wronged her. After several evasive meetings, Paul ordered a background check on Mary Jane. Then after Mary Jane spotted Paul and Nikki talking with Paul's brother Father Todd, Mary Jane panicked and ran to Victor for support. Victor paid her off and terminated her services. After Paul confronted Mary Jane with the knowledge that she was going by an alias, she reported Paul to the police for stalking, and slapped a restraining order on him. Victor talked Mary Jane into dropping the restraining order, then she had a hallucination of a confrontation with Paul and their shared past.

In June 2009, Nina Webster, who had been Chris and Paul’s close friend, returned to Genoa City to make a screenplay out of Katherine's book of memoirs, and with the help of Paul, investigated Cane's story of being switched at birth with Nina’s deceased husband, Phillip III. Paul discovered that Violet was in a hospital in Arizona at the time of the baby switch, so that part of Cane's story had been a lie. Nina was anxious to identify her son's father to find out if he had the gene to confirm or rule out her son's possible diagnosis of Huntington's disease. When Nina called the lab to get the remains from the prior exhumation of Phillip re-examined, she was told they had no remains, nor any record of him at all in their files. So Nina had the body exhumed again, opened the coffin and found it empty. Further tests showed that there had never been a body in the coffin, just bags of sand to give it weight. Meanwhile Cane was frantically trying to get hold of "Langley", and when Jill reluctantly requested another DNA test, Cane was seen by viewers pulling a vial of blood from a freezer of dry ice. The blood test was done at the Chancellor estate, but Cane distracted everyone while he substituted the blood vials. The results came in, and all but Nina were thrilled that Cane proved to be Jill’s son. Then Paul delivered more news to Nina; tests showed the blood had been frozen, so Nina confronted Cane asking where he got the blood to pass the test. Cane admitted that he was a fraud in front of Nina, Kay, Jill, Murphy, Chloe, Neil and Lily, saying it was not for the money, he never wanted to hurt anyone, he had only meant to heal them, and of how they had become family to him. When asked how Cane could do this to the people who gave him nothing but love, Jill’s son Phillip emerged saying that it was his doing. All were aghast to see Phillip again, still alive.

Victor called a press conference and named Mary Jane as the person who hurt his grand daughter, Summer, so the entire city was looking for her. Mary Jane was discovered by Mackenzie Browning in an alley, and Mac befriended her thinking the woman was just a homeless person. Mac gave her food, blankets and a place to stay in the back room at her bar. Meanwhile Jack and Paul banded together to find Mary Jane themselves. After Victor asked for J.T.'s resignation, Paul talked J.T. into joining him in a new detective partnership, and J.T. also became involved in the Mary Jane Benson investigation. J.T. discovered through Mac that Mary Jane had been hiding out at her bar, stolen from her and disappeared, leaving a note that claimed Victor knew all about Mary Jane.

Paul and Nikki began living together in Paul's apartment and became engaged. At the rehearsal dinner the night before their wedding, Paul's brother Father Todd told the group that Mary was at home and not up to attending, but that she would be there for the wedding. But after talking with Victor later that night, Nikki realized she would never love Paul like she still loved Victor, and she called off the wedding. Nikki told everyone she had to get away, and she disappeared into the dark in a hooded outfit to wait for a cab in front of the ranch.

Meanwhile a mystery woman took confession with Paul's brother Father Todd. Todd told Paul he recognized her as their long-missing sister Patty. Paul spotted a woman in a blonde wig at the Athletic Club, recognized her as Mary Jane, and followed her. When he confronted her, she pleaded with him not to turn her in, and confessed that she was Patty. Paul was shocked, but took her to the convent for sanctuary, and called his Assistant D.A. daughter, Heather, hoping to get Patty some help and not jail. Meanwhile Gloria and Jeff found out where she was, and hoping to steal Patty away to blackmail Victor, Gloria got inside dressed as a nun. Jack saw the standoff at the convent on TV, showed up there, and Paul let him inside. Jack too was shocked to discover that Mary Jane was Patty, and talked to her. Patty, with a kitten in her arms, had reverted to the young girl they both knew and called "Pattycake", saying that she knew that her big brother Paul and Jack would rescue her. Before Patty would surrender, she insisted Jack marry her, telling Jack that she was pregnant by him. Suddenly the lights went out, and Patty was taken away by Gloria. Paul and Jack figured out that Victor was responsible for Patty’s new identity, all the havoc she had caused, and her current mental state. Jack told Phyllis the truth about Mary Jane, and Phyllis confronted Victor, asking if he brought Patty to town and set her up to get back at Jack, which caused Patty to hurt Summer. Victor avoided the question, claiming he would never intentionally hurt a member of his family. Jack offered a two million dollar reward, hoping to outbid Victor. Jeff and Gloria heard about it on the radio as they were driving Patty to hide out at the Abbott cabin, and they ended up making deals with both Victor and Jack. But both of them had booby-trapped their briefcases with blue dye instead of the money that blew up in Jeff and Gloria’s faces. Meanwhile, Paul charged into the ranch and demanded to know how his friend Victor could have done this to his sister, and to him, but Victor just denied it and sent Paul away.

Patty Williams had been left tied to a chair at the Abbott cabin by Gloria and Jeff while they awaited the ransom from Victor and Jack. Colleen showed up, and not knowing who Patty was, Colleen let her loose. Patty kidnapped her at gunpoint, taking her to Camp Cheveyo, and tied her to a tree. After Patty used Colleen's phone to call Jack, and Colleen hollered "cow.." (because the camp slogan was "Cowabunga", and she and Jack had both gone there as kids) before she was disconnected. Jack, J.T., and Paul searched for Colleen, and convinced even Victoria that Victor had set this all in motion by bringing Patty back to Genoa City to get back at Jack.

Meanwhile Patty was bitten by a spider and had a bad reaction, Colleen got loose, and held the gun on Patty, unsure what to do as Patty begged her for help. When Colleen tried to help her, Patty grabbed the gun away, but Colleen was able to convince her that she would get help and return, and left in a canoe. Colleen fell out, and hit her head on the bottom of the boat as she surfaced, which sent her down again. Colleen was clearly drowning in the same lake as her father, with an eerie sequence of visions she was visited by the people who loved her who begged her to fight and come back to them. She even visited her best friend Lily giving her final advice. Colleen saw her dead father and grandfather, ready to take her to the beyond. Jack realized where Colleen was, raced to the camp, and pulled her out of the lake. But as he tried to administer CPR, Patty was there holding the gun on him. Victor arrived and tried to convince Patty to drop the gun and let Jack save Colleen. Patty shot Victor three times instead and ran into the woods. Paul followed Patty, and J.T. stayed to help Victor. Colleen's mother Traci and step-father Steve, along with Billy and Abby were at the hospital when Colleen was brought in, with Nick and Victoria there for Victor.

Paul caught up with Patty and talked her into turning herself in, promised he would not abandon her, and she was taken to a psychiatric hospital. Paul traced Nikki to a Colorado spa and brought her back to be with Victor who was in critical condition. Victor recovered after a heart transplant and he and Nikki made plans to be together again.

Paul visited Patty in a state facility for the criminally insane and found her believing she was still 16 and married to Jack. Paul was able to relocate Patty to a nearby institution and returned to Genoa City with Dr. Emily Peterson who was on sabbatical from the University of Minnesota Medical School. Emily had met Patty when Patty was living in a shelter and working as a janitor at the University. Patty had been her patient for quite some time, then disappeared. Patty had obviously used Emily as a model for her plastic surgery, because Emily looked exactly like Patty. Paul and Emily confronted Jack and Victor in Victor's hospital room about all they had both done to contribute to Patty's dangerous instability. Victor offered to arrange for Patty's care, and Paul told him to forget it, and Paul and Emily stormed out.

Jill and Katherine mended fences and admitted that they felt like mother and daughter again. But Jill decided it was time Kay found the real daughter that she had given to Charlotte Ramsey, so she hired Paul to investigate, swearing him to secrecy from Kay. Paul discovered that Charlotte had not only disappeared, but every record and every trace of her was also gone. Paul tracked down the daughter who had been given to the Gray Nuns at the Sisters of Charity orphanage near the Canadian border, and Jill presented her name and whereabouts as a gift to Kay for Christmas 2009. Jill and Kay flew to South Dakota and met JoAnn "JoJo" Glover, proprietor of JoJo's Bail Bonds. But when a DNA test proved JoJo was not Kay's daughter, it was discovered that Tucker McCall had set JoJo up as part of his plot to get revenge on Kay because he was her missing child. Another DNA test proved it.

Nina and Paul began spending a lot of time together, and were surprised when their feelings turned romantic. Nina was good for Paul, especially when Patty went into a coma after trying to commit suicide. Nina took Paul to movies and skating to get his mind off his problems.

Paul asked Emily to visit Patty because was she was so out of control, not realizing that hearing of Jack and Emily's engagement was the cause. Patty knocked Emily out and drugged her, changed Emily’s hair color, and switched places with her. Patty married Jack as Emily, with Patty's brother Father Todd officiating. Later Paul visited "Patty" and found her in a coma and not expected to live. Comatose Emily became frantic, having put together what had happened to her from things she heard from conversations between Patty's brothers Paul and Father Todd. Meanwhile Patty honeymooned with Jack, hoping to get pregnant. Patty convinced everyone she was Emily, and even Jack noticed only that she was more exuberant and suddenly willing to go along with his plans against Victor. Paul called "Emily" when “Patty” showed signs of coming out of her coma, then left them alone together. Emily awoke, and Patty threatened to kill her if she didn't keep her mouth shut. Emily tried to tell Paul who she was, but Patty was always claiming to be Emily in her delusions, so he tossed in the trash the blood sample she gave him to test. In time, Jack finally began noticing "Emily's" unusually manic behavior, and confided in Phyllis, wondering if he had really known Emily well enough to marry her. Patty would follow them and jealously plotted to get rid of Phyllis.

“Emily” claimed to be pregnant by Jack to keep him, but Jack checked out her doctor and realized she was faking. Jack let Patty know that he was onto her lies, that he wanted out of their marriage. Meanwhile at the institution, Emily was visited by Paul and Heather. Emily managed to slip Heather a DNA sample and begged Heather to help her prove who she was. Jack, with Ashley’s help, realized that “Emily” was Patty, but one step ahead of him, Patty bleached her hair and took Emily’s place after she drugged her and put Emily in a morgue drawer with a Jane Doe toe tag. On the way, Jack broke the news to Paul who had just learned from Heather that the DNA test proved that she and “Patty” were not related. While Jack thought he was reuniting with the real Emily, Emily in the morgue drawer, knew what was going on but was unable to move or speak. Paul then discovered that Patty had signed in to the hospital as Emily an hour before they got there, and started searching for her. Jack dogged Patty to “Emily” until she flipped out. Jack realized she was Patty, and demanded to know where Emily was, saying, “If you love me, tell me where Emily is so he can help her.” Patty’s answer, “She’s gone”, sent Jack rushing to the morgue where he found Emily. Sobbing over her body, Jack noticed a tear in her eye, and realized Emily was still alive. He got a doctor to give her an adrenaline injection to her heart, and Emily began coming back. Ever the dedicated doctor, Emily accompanied Jack via wheelchair to help Paul talk Patty out of killing herself with a syringe. Patty was arrested and committed to a facility for criminally insane, but later escaped and ended up free in South America. (See the Patty Williams profile for more on this storyline.)

Just as Paul and Nina’s newfound romance began to heat up and they made love, Chris, in town for a visit, knocked at Paul’s door. Chris gave Nina and Paul her blessing, but as Chris left, it appeared she had expected a reunion with Paul instead. Chris later told someone on her cell phone, that a female she had not visited yet was in grave danger. After some reminiscing by Nina, Paul, and Chris that touched on Nina’s stolen first baby boy, Paul volunteered to search for him again.

Chris told Genoa City police detective Ronan Malloy, who was actually working undercover with her for the Justice Department, that Nina and Paul were searching for Nina’s first son, who was stolen at birth. Chrise was afraid that they might discover that Ronan was that son. Chris was unable to disclose Ronan’s identity to anyone or she would jeopardize the case they were working on. Chloe Mitchell figured out that he was Nina’s son by his birth date, and confronted Ronan with his real name, Aiden Lansing. Ronan admitted he was working undercover and shared with Chloe that two parents, the Lansings, had raised him and sacrificed everything for him. Chloe hoped to get Ronan to warm up to Nina and her son Chance who was Ronan’s detective partner, after the case was closed. But Ronan was reluctant, saying that working undercover, he enjoyed getting into another persona, which appealed to the part of him that felt like something was missing. He said that he could never have a personal life; there was just too much risk.

Because she and Paul were getting too close again, and out of respect for her friend Nina, Chris prepared to return to Washington, D.C. Nina, well aware of their undying love and attraction, tipped Paul that Christine was leaving. Paul caught up with her, but Chris said she felt that things were the way they were meant to be, and she was spoiling it, so she left.

Chloe told Chance that he and Ronan were brothers. At the same moment, Paul and Nina got their first look at an aged sketch of what her son would look like grown-up, which was made from a newspaper photo of Aiden and his grade school football team.

Chance confronted Ronan about their being brothers, and off-screen made plans to trap Pomerantz and Meeks, the dirty D.A. and cop in the case they were working. Ronan, armed with the untraceable gun Meeks and Pomerantz had given him, met them with their suitcases of drugs at a warehouse. They checked Ronan for a wire and warned him that if he didn’t kill Chance, they would kill both Chance and Ronan. Chance arrived at the warehouse and drew his gun on Meeks, Pomerantz and another dirty cop, telling him they were headed to Internal Affairs.

Back at the Chancellor mansion, Nina, Chloe and Heather were gathered with Paul to trace Chance’s location by his cell phone’s GPS. Nina expressed her distrust of Ronan, so Paul decided it was time to tell her the truth - that Ronan was an FBI agent working undercover in Genoa City, and that Ronan would be there to protect Chance. Heather added that they had not told Nina before because they'd been sworn to secrecy. Chloe then exposed to everyone that Ronan was Chance’s brother, and Nina’s stolen son. Nina was stunned as Paul received word of Chance’s location, and they all left to find him.

At the warehouse, Ronan appeared behind Chance, his gun pointed at his brother, and Paul and Nina burst in just as Ronan shot Chance in the chest. Medics arrived and pronounced Chance dead. Heather and Chloe sobbed while a grief-stricken Nina attacked Ronan for killing his own brother. Meeks and Pomerantz directed the police to arrest Ronan for Chance’s murder. As Chance was being wheeled out, Nina realized that he had been saying goodbye to everyone all that day. Back at the mansion, Nina ran upstairs in tears and Paul was left to break the news to Chance’s father, Phillip; his grandmother, Jill; Kay; and Murphy. Phillip comforted Nina as she realized that Chris must have known that Ronan was her son all along. When a stunned Chris arrived at Nina’s door, Nina slammed the door in her face. Chris tried to justify her actions to Paul, but he rebuffed her as well. Later a uniformed Army officer arrived at the door to help the family make arrangements. He showed Nina his prosthetic leg, and credited Chance with saving his life in Afghanistan.

At the police station, Heather confronted Ronan who claimed he had shot Chance in self-defense. Then Heather demanded that Pomerantz rehire her so she could prosecute Ronan since it was due to Ronan’s claims that she had been fired.

A wake was held at the Chancellor mansion the night prior to Chance’s military funeral, with his ashes later interred at Arlington National Cemetery. At the end of the funeral Nina suddenly cried out, “How dare you!” as Christine arrived with Ronan. Ronan showed his FBI credentials and arrested Pomerantz, Meeks, and their cohorts, explaining that Chance had been wearing a wire, and the FBI arrived and took them away. The funeral turned into a screaming match with Nina calling Chris and Ronan disrespectful and tried to send them away.

After the Attorney General heard D.A. Pomerantz on tape giving Ronan orders to “End this, kill him now,” he began an investigation of cases in which Pomerantz was involved and made Heather Interim District Attorney until the next election. Paul congratulated her, she asked him to be her Investigator, and he accepted. Later Victor Newman found out and offered to bankroll Heather’s campaign if she would go after Adam and see that he paid for his crimes. But later after Heather appeared to give Victor special favors, she was forced to back out of the race in disgrace, and was fired by the new D.A.

Christine arranged for Phillip and Nina to be taken by an FBI man to an out of the way location where they met her and Ronan. Then Chance emerged from the shadows, very much alive. Nina and Phillip hugged him while Chris and Chance disclosed that it was all a setup, and that Chance would be going into the witness protection program, very possibly to never be seen or heard of again. But this was the only way to protect him and keep him alive, and Nina and Phillip had to keep the secret, and no one else could ever know the truth. Phillip told Chance he was very proud of his son, and hugged him goodbye. Chance and Nina parted, agreeing to keep in touch the way they had when he was deployed, to look at the moon at 9:00 PM each night, and know that the other was safe and missing them. Ronan and Chance drove away, and Nina, Phillip, and Christine returned to the Chancellor mansion, and did not say a word about what had happened. But later, thinking that Katherine’s health was endangered because of it, Christine told Katherine the truth.

Ronan blacked out and Heather took him to the hospital where the diagnosis he'd gotten in Boston of hereditary amyloidosis was confirmed; the same disease his father had died of at about the same age. Heather began to care more and more for Ronan, showing up at his dingy apartment with food, and encouraging him to eat, also to get close to Nina and fight his disease. They ended up becoming lovers, as Ronan found out that his only hope to live would be a liver transplant. Ronan refused to tell his mother of his condition, so Heather told her. Nina went to Ronan and assured him that they would fight this together. Because Heather was subpoenaed to be a witness at the former D.A.’s trial, she and Paul listened to a copy of the tape made the night that Chance was killed. Paul recognized the gunshots as blanks, and further investigation revealed that the paramedics who took Chance’s body away were fakes. So Heather went to Ronan with their theory that Chance was still alive, causing Ronan to have to admit that he was in witness protection. When Christine found out what Heather knew, she fired Ronan for mishandling the case. Nina was tested, but was not a match to donate part of her liver to help Ronan, so she convinced Chris to tell Chance. Paul was there when Christine and Heather arrived so Nina told Paul that Chance was still alive. Christine told them that Chance was being tested, and if he was a match the donation would happen after Chance testified at the former D.A.’s trial. Ronan tried to leave town, but Nina caught him at the bus station and talked him into staying and fighting this together with her, Heather, and Paul.

Ronan and Heather went ice skating with Paul and Nina. Ronan told them about his adoptive mother, an amateur figure skater who taught classes, and that he played hockey so he had learned a few tricks like a back-checking Salchow from her. Then Ronan passed out, and was taken to Genoa City Memorial, where he was told that he needed the liver transplant soon or he would die. Christine showed up to announce that Chance was a match, and that he was in town to testify. Meanwhile, Jill, who was mourning the death of her “son” Cane, was taken to her room to rest by Nina, and there stood her bearded and very much alive grandson, Chance. Chance said he was there to help Jill get over Cane, and to help Ronan. Jill was miffed that everyone seemed to know that Chance had never died but her, but was just relived to have him back. Heather was thrilled to see Chance again, but made it clear that her love was with Ronan.

Nate Hastings, a Rheumatology specialist practicing in Boston, returned to Genoa City to perform the partial liver transplant on Ronan, using part of Chance's liver. In the waiting room were Jill, Paul, Heather, Nina, Phillip who had arrived from his home in Australia, Kay with Murphy who had just been told about Chance, and Chloe, who was told when she arrived wondering why everyone was there. Chance came through the surgery fine, but as soon as Ronan's surgery was finished, Ronan was taken away by an unmarked helicopter under orders from the FBI. Nate was shocked and very concerned for his patient, saying it was very dangerous for Ronan in his condition. Chris knew nothing about the transfer, and her superiors were not answering their phones. Chance was released from the hospital and was taken back to the Chancellor Estate to recuperate. After Chris got confirmation that Ronan had ordered his own transfer, only Nina still had faith in Ronan.

Waiting for the trial, Chance recovered from surgery, sequestered in his room at the Chancellor Estate. Heather visited Chance and told him that she hated him for lying to her and faking his death, then fell into his arms and they made love. Nina and Phillip threw Chance a birthday party, where he disappointed everyone when he admitted that he was probably going back into witness protection after his testimony.

The trial began and Chance was announced as the first witness. As Chance approached the stand in his dress blues, he got a text message telling him that his girlfriend would be killed if he testified. Chance faked a severe pain to get a recess to discuss the situation with prosecutor Christine, Paul, and his parents. Paul noticed the call had come from his daughter Heather's phone, and Christine got the FBI to try to track it.

Meanwhile Heather was tied up and blindfolded at the boarded-up Treetop Taxidermy Shop, taken and held there by Angelo, the same thug who was threatening Jeffrey over money owed a bookie. Back outside the courtroom, Paul told that he knew what he had to do, and Chance bravely continued his testimony against Pomerantz and Meeks while they glared at him. Chance testified how he had investigated the drug ring, how it had led to the defendants, how he was setup for drug possession, and how people had started getting killed once they knew he was onto them. Chance then told how he and Ronan had set up the sting in which he had faked his death. The recording from that night was played including Pomerantz's orders, the gunshot, and Chance's supposed death. After his testimony, Chance confronted Pomerantz telling him that he would not get away with it, and Owen said that Chance had just killed his girlfriend. The bailiff called Angelo, and Angelo told Heather that she would be killed, but that he was leaving, and someone else would do the job.

Back at the courthouse, the FBI man announced that the van in the surveillance video of Heather's abduction was last seen traveling west on route 12. Chance admitted that he was in love with Heather as he and Paul left vowing to find Heather alive, leaving Phillip and Nina to console each other.

Heather found a knife and was able to cut herself loose, but was unable to get out of the building. In her desperation to get out before her killer arrived, she started the place on fire. Chance and Paul saw the fire from the highway and got her outside where she came-to. As they waited for the ambulance to arrive, Chance told Heather that he loved her, and that she was the one. Later Pomerantz and Meeks cut a deal, and were sentenced to Walworth Prison.

In August 2011, Nina returned from Los Angeles announcing that Chance was missing. Although she had been getting regular emails, she suddenly stopped hearing from him, and had alerted Phillip in Australia. That same day, Paul was shocked when Ronan showed up as an investigator at the crime scene where Diane Jenkins had been murdered. Paul asked for an explanation of why Ronan had disappeared and where he had been, but Ronan said he had been rehired by the Genoa City Police, and that was all Paul needed to know. Nina was stunned when she ran into Ronan at the police station while looking for Paul. Then Ronan hurt her feelings when he refused to give her any explanation for why he had disappeared or hadn't told her that he was back, and Nina called him cold-hearted. Nina lamented that her missing son was on a classified mission, and the other wanted nothing to do with her, but was consoled by Paul. Later, Ronan was convinced that there was a leak in the police department, as these clues and the murder scene photos had gotten out to the public. Ronan called in Paul for help, saying that he was the only person he knew that he could trust.

Katherine Chancellor had hired Paul Williams to track down the child of her son Tucker McCall, whose mother had gotten pregnant as a teenage groupie, then had disappeared. The girl being one of many groupies that McCall had slept with, had only sent him an anonymous letter telling him that he had a son whom he would never know. Paul was led by an old photo to another groupie, Amy Koslow, who told him about the groupie known as "Candy Cane," who had a big crush on "Mick", the nickname that McCall went by then, and that when she had disappeared, she was rumored to be pregnant. This clue led Paul to discover that "Candy Cane" was Yolanda Hamilton, and that Devon Hamilton Winters was Tucker's son. After reporting the news to Katherine, Paul was told not to tell anyone since Tucker obviously didn't care enough to track him down on his own. Later that same day when Katherine heard that Tucker had fired Devon who worked for Tucker as a record producer, she met with Devon and asked him to become president of a new yet-to-be-named entertainment division of Chancellor Industries. Devon was shocked but accepted the job.

Paul was thrilled that his son Ricky, a graduate student in journalism, had secured an internship working for well-known attorney, Avery Bailey Clark, in Genoa City. Paul admitted that he had seen Ricky over the years but didn't really know him. Heather was shocked to discover that her half-brother Ricky would be helping Avery defend Sharon Newman for murder.

Heather was at the Athletic Club bar when Adam sat down beside her, proceeded to get her drunk, and took her up to his room. Adam had arranged for Ricky to take photos of Adam kissing his drunken sister for Avery to use to get Sharon off with a mistrial. But Heather turned Adam down, so he took another room and left her in his room to sleep it off. Ricky was hoping to use the photos to get a sensational story to work for Restless Style, but he got to know Heather better and realized that she had grown up without their father too, and was quite psychologically damaged from her abusive stepfather. So Ricky declined to sell the photos to Phyllis, and only gave them to Avery as a last resort to save Sharon. Although they ended up not having to use the photos, Phyllis stole them from the courtroom and put them up online with a sensational story about the A.D.A. fraternizing with a witness. Heather was fired as A.D.A. as a result. Ricky filed a lawsuit against Phyllis and Restless Style for using work without payment with Avery representing him, and Avery filed a criminal complaint for theft of evidence from an attorney in court. With her career ruined, Paul said goodbye to Heather, who left for New York City to stay with her mother, April, then Paul tore into Ricky for humiliating his sister.

In November 2011, Emily Peterson showed up in Genoa City for a visit saying that it was unsettling to be back, but long over-due. She ran into Paul and assured him that she was not Patty. Paul filled her in on Patty's escape, and that she had been tracked to South America, but there had been no sign of her since. Later Emily showed up at Jack's and they shared their regrets while Patty lurked outside watching. Unknown to Paul, Patty had returned and taken on the persona of Myrna as Genevieve Atkinson's maid. When Genevieve and Jack Abbott became engaged, Patty shifted her attention to getting Genevieve out of Jack's life.

Patty rigged a step on the stairs so that Genevieve would fall, but Jack arrived just in time to catch her. Genevieve called in Ronan to investigate. When Ronan failed to acknowledge Nikki's suspicions against Deacon, she went to Paul for help. Paul and Ronan decided to team up to work on both investigations. Meanwhile Genevieve moved in with Jack for her own safety. Meanwhile Myra stayed at Genevieve's muttering that Genevieve would never be Jack's wife.

Ronan subpoenaed all of the Diane Jenkins murder suspects, and he and the DA questioned them about the evidence that still did not add up. Deacon arrived in handcuffs saying that Diane had come to him when no one would help her, wanting to back out of framing Victor with Adam because of Kyle, so she asked him to videotape that night in the park. Deacon admitted that after he witnessed Nikki kill Diane in self-defense, he had hit her more times to make it look like someone bigger and stronger than Nikki had killed her, and he was the one who put Diane's body in the creek. Deacon said he had taken the syringe, Ashley's cell phone, and the security camera from the tree, and had hidden them in the alley behind Gloworm, but they had disappeared later. When no one would confess to taking Deacon's stash or the embroidered pillows, the DA arrested them all for obstruction of justice.

At Genevieve's invitation, Paul went to her mansion to interview Myrna about the strange goings-on there. But Patty heard him arrive and grabbed a bag and disappeared to her old hideout, the Newman potting shed. Paul searched Myrna's room for clues to why she had left, and took her computer. Later Paul found a photo from the park surveillance camera on it. When Paul wasn't looking, Ricky copied the hard drive to a memory stick. Paul started putting the clues together and realized that his sister Patty may have been posing as Myrna. Then Deacon identified Patty's photo as being the person who was there in the park helping him clean up after Diane's death.

While Jack continued to prepare for his wedding, with Billy as best man, Lily matron of honor, and Cane giving Genevieve away, Adam found Patty hiding in the Newman potting shed, and tried to stop her from going to the wedding to shoot Genevieve. Patty threw insecticide in Adams's face burning his eyes and blinding him again, then clubbed him over the head with a board. Sharon later found Adam, called the police and they got him to the hospital.

Patty sneaked in at Genevieve's and overheard her reading a note to Jack backing out of the wedding. Patty intercepted the note, and walked down the aisle in Genevieve's stolen wedding gown. Jack pulled the veil from her face, ready to confront Genevieve, and said, "Emily?" Patty replied, "It's Patty, you bastard," and shot Jack. Patty left as the horrified Abbotts rushed to Jack. Jack was taken away by ambulance in critical condition.

Paul's son, eager reporter, Ricky Williams, found out what his aunt Patty had done and went to his uncle Father Todd's church, because Patty always went to Todd when she was on the run. Patty was already holed up in the church bell tower, and Ricky found her there, regressed to a childlike state. Ricky's probing made Patty mad, but not before she disclosed that Adam been the one who helped her escape the mental institution years before. Ronan and Paul arrived, and Paul and Todd talked Patty into giving herself up.

At the hospital, the doctors told the Abbotts that Jack had a lacerated kidney, and the bullet was lodged next to his lower spine as he was taken into surgery. Jack's heart stopped during surgery, he survived, but was left paralyzed, just as he had been when Patty had shot him before in 1983. When it was discovered that Patty had been the missing link in the Diane Jenkins murder, all charges were dropped against all suspects, including Nikki, once Ronan was able to convince the DA that Nikki was not responsible. Deacon remained in jail. Patty was sent to a maximum security prison hospital.

Much to Paul's dismay, Ricky after being turned down by Phyllis and Restless Style, published his story about Patty on a true crime blog, and it went viral. Paul confronted Ricky, demanding to know how he could do that to his aunt Patty. Ricky countered that he empathized with Patty because she was just like his mother, Isabella. Ricky remarked that both Patty and Isabella had loved Paul, but Paul had abandoned them, and Ricky too. Ricky said that Paul had only visited him every couple of years, and that they had never been a family.

Ricky got a pass to see Patty at the prison hospital, but Paul found out and got him banned, and took his place. Patty told Paul that Adam had been the one who helped her escape from Windcliff. Meanwhile Ricky took the story to Phyllis who bought it. She published it in Restless Style with no credit to Ricky, the cover featuring a red-faced, devil horned Adam with "Satan's Understudy hits the big time." Paul confronted Phyllis and Ricky for exploiting Patty, saying they were as bad as Adam. Later Adam ran into Paul who was so angry that he nearly punched out a blind man, but yelled at Adam instead for Patty ending up incarcerated rather than in the sanitarium where she had been getting psychiatric help. Adam told Paul that he was sorry for Patty, the people she hurt, and for enabling her, but that he was now paying for what he did. Paul and Jack alerted the police, who took Adam in for questioning.

After Phyllis fired Ricky for being behind Daniel losing custody of his daughter Lucy, it only made Ricky all the more intent on finding something in Phyllis' past to expose and make a name for himself.

Paul asked Avery for her opinion of Ricky. She told Paul that she had hired him being impressed with his resume, but without the usual references, and she felt that he was amoral. Avery told Paul that Ricky's girlfriend had killed herself after he broke up with her, so he had thrown himself into his work. Avery later looked up an article in the Northwestern University paper which disclosed his girlfriend's name, Rachel Dalton, and that she had been a senior in the college of arts and sciences. Paul decided to look up Rachel's best friend, Melissa Townsend, who was mentioned in the article. Melissa told Paul that Rachel had been a foster child who had beaten the odds by graduating from college, and she had a great job lined up. She said that Rachel had been afraid of Ricky and tried to break up with him, but he would turn on the charm and not let her. Melissa thought there was something wrong with Ricky. Melissa said she was proud when Rachel had finally ended it, then Rachel was found dead. Melissa didn’t think it was suicide, and she thought that Ricky had killed her, but she couldn't prove it.

Looking for dirt on Phyllis, Ricky, as a reporter, got an interview with her former husband, rock star Danny Romalotti, who refused to discuss Phyllis, had him escorted out by security, and tipped her off. When questioned by Paul, Phyllis told him that Ricky was a little off and sneaky.

Paul did some digging and contacted Craig Hunt of Evanston, Illinois, who was anxious to meet Paul in Genoa City at Jimmy's Bar, to talk about Rachel. Ricky met Paul there instead, and later Craig was discovered as a fatality in a car wreck on the highway. Paul ran into Christine Blair who was in town on business and shared his concern about his son. Christine got Paul more information, that Rachel had been found dead in a bath tub with the door locked from the inside so police concluded that she had overdosed on a sedative, and a probable suicide. Paul became convinced that Ricky had been involved in both murders. Christine begged Paul to turn the case over to someone else, not to investigate his own son. Her work in Genoa City done, Christine cautioned Paul to keep a cool head about Ricky, said goodbye and returned to Washington, D.C.

After Phyllis' former psychiatrist, Tim Reed, turned up missing in Kenosha, Paul went there and discovered that Ricky had been seen at Tim's apartment. Getting inside, Paul concluded that wherever Tim was, he had not taken his medication with him, and suspected foul play. Paul confronted Ricky, who told him that he was going a story on Phyllis, and had interviewed Tim. Heather threw Ricky out of her apartment and moved back in. After hearing that Heather had originally taken that apartment as a safe house from someone who tried to kill her, Ricky returned and planted something wrapped as a gift and a camera to watch her open it. Then Ricky taunted Paul with the fact that he had left Heather a gift, and led him to believe that it was a bomb. Paul went to rescue Heather, but found it was just a music box.

From the rental car receipt evidence that Ricky had gotten from Tim Reid, Daisy discovered that Phyllis had been the driver of the rental car who had run down Paul and Cricket back in 1990, and she confronted Phyllis with the fact. Daniel overheard, and was aghast at what his mother had done. Phyllis had to confess to Daniel, but claimed it had been an accident, that she had only tried to scare Christine after she had seen her kissing Danny, bur her foot had hit the accelerator instead of the brake. Daisy used it to blackmail them into treating her as they should treat Daniel's wife.

Later left alone in Ricky's room, Daisy discovered a video on his laptop which showed Ricky drowning his former girlfriend Rachel in the bathtub. Shocked, Daisy slammed the laptop shut and left, making excuses as Ricky returned. Ricky opened the laptop and realized what Daisy had seen, and he deleted the file. Outside, Daisy called D.A. Michael Baldwin, asking to meet him in an alley to disclose some important information.

Ricky met Daisy in the alley instead. Michael later found only Daisy's scarf in the alley. The next day in his room, Ricky removed Daisy's wallet and cell phone from her purse, remarking that he was relieved to see nothing in the paper about "poor little Daisy". Questioned by Paul about his involvement with Daisy and her disappearance, Ricky shared that he and Daisy had a lot in common – both of them had mentally disturbed mothers, no support from their fathers, and were treated like sludge from the moment they walked into town.

Ricky began using Daisy's credit card to charge pizza and bus tickets in Canada posing as Daniel, making it appear that Daisy was on the run. That plus Daniel's blood being found on Daisy's scarf, and an email to Kevin from Daisy telling him that she feared Daniel and asking Kevin to raise Lucy if anything happened to her, caused Daniel to be arrested for suspicion of murder.

Eden, suspicious of Ricky, searched Ricky's room and found Daisy's wallet, credit card, and phone. Ricky discovered her there, saying, "Now you know my secret, and now I have to kill you." Ricky threw Eden against the bathtub, and she was knocked unconscious. Kevin told Paul that Eden was missing, and that Eden was sure that Ricky was involved in Daisy's disappearance. Meanwhile Ricky held a knife to Eden's throat, asking Eden's limp body if she was ready to die, and telling her that no one would ever find her body or Daisy's.

Paul arrived at Ricky's. Paul and Ricky argued, and Paul refused to leave until they came to an understanding. Ricky told Paul how lonely he had been as a child with no one to be a parent to him, that his grandparents were too old to have a child, and never understood him. Ricky told Paul how he had visited Isabella in the mental institution, but when she got too violent and had to be doped up, he no longer had been allowed to. He reminded Paul that as his father, he had only sent cash on birthdays. Trying to get rid of Paul, Ricky agreed to try to get to know Paul the next day. Paul grabbed Ricky's room card on his way out, and noticed a backpack on the floor. Ricky returned to the bathroom to kill Eden.

Paul realized that the backpack was Eden's and ran back up to the room. Opening the bathroom door, Paul found Ricky on the floor with a knife at Eden's throat. When Ricky refused to drop the knife, Paul pulled a gun on him. Paul pleaded with Ricky, to drop the gun and not kill Eden. Ricky admitted, "Rachel thought she could leave me. I killed her, and got away with it too." Ricky also told Paul that Craig Hunt should have kept his mouth shut, or he wouldn't have had to kill him. Admitting the he had gotten rid of Daisy, Ricky said that Daisy had it coming, and felt he had done the town a favor. Ricky exclaimed, "Are you proud of your boy? This is all your fault, the reason I turned out this way, a product of your neglect. Are you going to take out your own kid?" Paul begged Ricky to drop the gun. Ricky begged Paul to shoot. Ricky stood up to stab Eden, Paul shot him, and Ricky flew backward and out of the window. Paul stood at the window sobbing as he looked down below at his dead son, Ricky.

When Eden awoke on the floor, she looked out the broken window and saw Ricky's dead body lying on the ground below. She asked Paul what had happened, but he just told her to call the police. When they arrived, Paul was in shock and could not speak, but Ronan persuaded Paul to tell him what had happened. Later in the lobby, Paul and Heather cried and hugged. Heather warned Paul that he could not leave, but Paul slipped away, ended up at the sanitarium in Los Angles to see Isabella and told her what had happened to their son. But Isabella sat with her back to Paul, brushing her hair and humming, and did not respond.

Due to the conflict of interest with Heather and Michael, Ronan took over as the lead investigator for the DA's office on the case. The police were skeptical of Paul's story since no knife was found, and Eden had suffered a head injury so had been unconscious at the time, and later could not even remember why she had been in Ricky's apartment or why she had texted Kevin. The gun was found to be unregistered with serial numbers filed off, so Lauren had to admit to Michael that the gun had been hers and that Paul had taken it away from her. Paul turned himself in, Avery became his attorney, and Paul told his story. Ronan let them know that due to the lack of corroborating evidence, it appeared to be premeditated murder. Ronan arranged for Nina to fly in from Los Angeles to visit Paul. Nina tried to reassure Paul that a he was a good man, and that he would never have killed Ricky without good reason. Paul still claimed that not matter what the circumstances, he had killed his own son, and therefore was not a good man. When Daisy's wallet and cell phone were found to have been dumped by Ricky, Daniel was excluded as a person of interest in her disappearance, but it still did not exonerate Paul. Christine arrived and offered to take a sabbatical from the FBI to defend Paul, and he accepted her offer.

Paul was released to attend Ricky's funeral. His brother Father Todd was in Africa so could not attend. Paul told Ricky's grandparents in California, who were outraged, and would not attend. Mary was not mentioned. At the graveside service Paul reminisced Nina and Heather about a father's day card Ricky had made and sent when he had been seven or eight, of a boy looking up at his father with a smile. Ricky had written about his life, sports, and said he loved him and hoped they would see each other , but how the next year Ricky's card had sent just a happy fathers day card and only signed his name – a big clue that he should have seem more of him. Unseen by Paul, a crucifix was dropped on Ricky's grave. After the funeral, Paul was arrested by Ronan for first degree murder.

Ronan tracked down Tim from Tim's landlady/friend Beth's phone records, and found Tim lying on a beach. Tim admitted that Phyllis had paid him to leave town, and that Ricky had stolen Phyllis' patient file. Heather asked Tim to counsel Paul about Ricky, and he did his best to reassure Paul that Ricky had never been a threat to him, but was probably genetically disturbed as were both his mother Isabella and his aunt Patty. Tim then began blackmailing Phyllis for more money, threatening to turn over the 20 year old recording of her admitting to running down Paul and Christine. When Avery found out, she quit as Phyllis' lawyer.

Paul wanted to plead guilty, which Christine and Heather refused to accept. Michael told Paul in confidence that he should not, and that he knew Paul only had a misguided sense of penance. Paul did not plead guilty and told Chris to be his friend and go back to D.C. until the trial. Avery became Paul's lawyer, Paul was released on bail, and Christine went back to Washington D.C.

Paul found Ricky's friend Bryce and strong-armed him into admitting that he knew that Ricky had killed Rachel and had made it look like suicide, and that Ricky had even recorded it. Bryce said that when Ricky and Rachel returned from a trip to Niagara Falls, Rachel had broken it off. Paul and Avery began looking for the video, Ricky's laptop not being among the things found in his room. Paul asked Heather for the box of Ricky's things, but she had gotten rid of all but the snow globe that Ricky had brought back from Niagara Falls. Unfortunately for Paul, the globe instead contained a video of Ricky naming Paul as his killer. When Lauren heard about this grave turn of events, she told Avery and turned herself in as being the owner of the gun that Paul had used on Ricky, hoping it would eliminate premeditation.

Then Daisy turned up alive in Fairview Sanitarium where she had checked herself in under an assumed name to escape Ricky. But in a desperate attempt to escape when she found out that Ricky was dead, Daisy had swallowed a handful of pills and had lapsed into a coma. Paul remained hopeful that Daisy could confirm his story about Ricky, but he was not allowed to see her. Paul arranged for Patty to be transferred to Fairview for her medications to be checked. Then Paul visited her to get her to help him to see Daisy. But although Patty knew him, she appeared to be in her own fantasy world. Then when her doctor came by to check on them, Patty went into a panic looking for imaginary kitties, allowing Paul to get away to see Daisy while everyone else tried to get Patty under control. Daisy woke up and told Paul how Ricky met her outside the gala instead of Michael and tried to kill her, how he chased her until she fell down a hill, where she played dead at the bottom until he left, and that she had wandered into Fairview. Daisy told Paul that Ricky wanted her dead because she had seen the video of Ricky killing Rachel. But when Paul returned with Michael and a warrant, they were told that Daisy had been checked out by "her mother". S Security tapes showed the woman who signed as Sheila Carter to be heavily disguised and unrecognizable, and the doctor was unable to identify her as either Phyllis or Sheila.

Feeling distraught after another failed attempt to hypnotize Eden into remembering more of when Ricky died, Paul sat in the alley under the window where Ricky had fallen. He spotted the knife in the gutter drain, but after police analysis, any prints had been wiped clean. Later, he was contacted by someone at the cemetery where Ricky was buried who showed him the flowers that had been sent to Ricky's grave each day since he died. Among them was a card which read, "I won't forget."

Eden had a dream where Ricky chased her down a dark alley, cornered her, and said crazy nonsensical things which she wrote down after she woke up. Paul, Christine and Heather analyzed them with Eden and believed they were clues to the location of Ricky's video of him killing Rachel. Because Paul could not leave the state, Christine volunteered to investigate the clues which were mostly in California. Heather took a leave of absence from the DA's office and accompanied her.

Christine returned with the video on her laptop, fearing that it was not enough to get the charges against Paul dropped. As she apologized to Paul for not coming through for him, he hugged her, and they ended up in a passionate kiss – just as Nina walked in. Later Paul tried to apologize to Nina, but she said goodbye and returned to Los Angeles, saying that she would not be returning. But after seeing the video, Michael presented Paul with acquittal papers, and Paul dumped all the cards and letters he had saved from Ricky into the trash. Later over drinks, Paul admitted to Chris that he still had feelings for her, as she did for him, and they both admitted that they needed a change from courtrooms and crime. Christine left for New York City to inform Danny that they were over, and she was getting back together with Paul. Chris returned upset that she had broken Danny's heart, saying that she had quit her job, and moved back to Genoa City. Refusing Paul's offer to move in with him, they found her an apartment near Paul. After encountering Phyllis, Christine told Paul that she was determined to file a civil suit, but Paul was against it.

Michael confided in Paul how concerned he was that Fen was heading toward becoming another Ricky or young Michael or Kevin, being so full of rage. Paul tried to reason with Fen and convince him that Michael loved and wanted to help him. Fen and Jamie fought on the roof, and Jamie was later found by Paul where he had fallen to a roof below. Jamie regained consciousness and was released. He decided to press charges against Fen, and Fen was arrested for assault. After Paul found Jamie attempting to jump from the same roof, he convinced Jamie that he could help him make things better. Jamie admitted that he had lied and had been attempting suicide that night with Fen, and the changes were dropped against Fen. Jamie told Paul about being bullied by Summer and Fen, so Paul visited Phyllis and Lauren and let them in on what had been going on. Much to Fen's relief, Ronan was granted guardianship of Jamie and he moved to Washington, D.C. to live with Ronan after apologizing to the Baldwins for all the trouble he had caused them. Paul had a heart to heart with Jamie on the way to the airport, assuring him that there were good people in the world like himself, Ronan, and Summer who care about him and will always be there for him.

Not long afterward, Michael resigned as D.A. and convinced Christine to take the position. Then Paul was asked to become chief of police, and he accepted the job. Paul hired former New York police detective, Alex Chavez, as a GCPD detective.

Paul's first case was the attempted murder of Victor Newman at his wedding to Nikki. Alex attended the wedding with Abby and helped to take down the hitman, Bob. Bob was questioned by Paul and Alex about his relationship with prime suspect Congressman Wheeler, but Bob refused to talk. Paul told Alex to find out what Victor had on Wheeler. Later Alex spotted a photo of Wheeler's daughter, and recognized her as the prostitute who left with Jack on New Years Eve. It became apparent that Congressman Wheeler was behind it, but questioning the slippery politician got them nowhere. So Jack and Victor decided they needed to work together to control the situation, and confronted Wheeler about putting a hit on Victor and killing Belinda Rogan 12 years earlier. Wheeler smugly told them they could not prove it. Paul and Alex had been listening from the next room and collected the DNA sample from Wheeler's coffee cup to compare to the DNA which had been found on Belinda Rogan's body. Victor and Jack had to admit they made a good team when the results were mutually beneficial. Thanks to their help the D.A. decided not to prosecute Jack or Victor for obstruction in Stephanie's death, and Adam had not been implicated. Wheeler's DNA matched, and he was arrested for Belinda's murder. Marcus made bail but was later arrested for hiring the hitman.

It wasn't long before Paul had to arrest his friend Michael Baldwin for aggravated assault after Carmine Basco pressed charges. Lauren had an affair with Carmine, but after she broke it off and reconciled with Michael, Carmine kept tormenting them both, causing Michael to pull a gun on Carmine in the alley behind On the Boulevard, where Carmine worked. Carmine was obsessed with Lauren, and was holding her captive at the time Michael was being booked. Lauren persuaded Carmine to let her loose, and stabbed him in the arm with a fork. Meanwhile at the GCPD, Kevin tracked Lauren's phone to the landfill. Fen turned up, explaining that he had lost his phone, so everyone realized that Carmine had used it to lure Lauren, but they were unable to track it because Fen had disabled the GPS. Kevin figured out that they were probably at the same remote cabin where Angelina had taken him. Kevin caused a distraction which allowed Michael to escape. Michael broke in the door of the cabin, finding Lauren gagged and tied to the bed with Carmine ready to rape her. Michael slugged Carmine who ran into wall and hit his head, knocking him out. Paul kicked in the door to find that Carmine had escaped while Michael was untying Lauren.

In September 2013, a celebration of life for Katherine Chancellor was held at a park near Lake Delany, to which Christine and Paul were invited, and Paul's brother, Father Todd officiated. Following her death, Katherine's husband Murphy had delivered letters to all of her loved ones. Christine had received a letter reminding her to live for the moment, not the work, and to embrace the now to find true happiness. Paul was disappointed to not receive a letter, but during the ceremony he was passed his letter which said, "What are you waiting for, you damn fool? Marry her now!" Paul proposed to Christine, and she agreed. Michael arranged for a license, guests Amber and Devon arranged for music, and Lily, Gina and Victoria contributed to the old, new, borrowed and blue, while Chloe and Lauren made a bouquet from Katherine's flowers. Michael was the best man, and Nina the maid of honor. Danny wished them well, and claimed that he had moved on, but his wistful expression during the marriage ceremony said otherwise. Father Todd was thrilled to marry them, and in their impromptu vows, Paul spoke of their second chance to prove that they were soul mates, and Christine said that she believed it too, vowing to get it right this time. Their honeymoon was postponed when Chris was requested by the Justice Department to return to Washington D.C.

Days later, while Katherine's will was being read, Nikki told Paul the secret that she had been carrying for many years. Reminding Paul of the cult they had joined in 1980, and Ian Ward, the man who ran the cult from afar, Nikki disclosed how Ian had used her for sex during his many visits to the commune, hoping to conceive an heir. Nikki had gotten pregnant, but after the commune had burned down, she had left town. Her baby had been born prematurely in a Chicago convent, and the nuns had taken it away before she woke up. Nikki explained that she had finally shared her secret with Katherine after her MS diagnosis, and Katherine had urged her to find her child to let them know they might inherit the disease. Apparently Katherine hired an investigator, and had left Nikki a phone number in her parting letter, telling her to do with it what she wished. Paul discovered that it was the disconnected phone number of a deceased family attorney in Winnetka, IL, named Goodwin. Nikki remembered only that the convent was Our Lady of...something.

Paul and Nikki went to Winnetka, and tracked it down to Our Lady of Hope, but their records had been destroyed in a fire. Sister Clare who had delivered Nikki's baby was still there, but suffered from dementia. Sister Clare recalled a parishioner named Penelope adopting the baby, and Father Martin tracked down Penelope Wayne, but that her son Peter had drowned in a creek at the age of seven. Nikki was crushed. Paul received the file of adoptions arranged during that period, but Nikki rejected it. But when Paul looked at the file, he discovered that the adoptive mother's name was Penelope Harrison. Paul tracked down her sister Pamela Raymond. She told Paul that Penny had died, and that Penny had adopted the baby boy to get her boyfriend back by claiming the baby was his, but that the boyfriend had died since too. Pamela had only seen pictures of the child as a boy and knew that he had served in the military. Paul pursued finding the child, and relayed that he was Dylan McAvoy. Nikki agonized over telling Dylan that she was his mother and disrupting his life. But they eventually became close, although Victor disapproved.

After Chris returned from D.C., Paul presented her with her wedding ring and asked her to marry him, joking that it was a little out of order, Chris said yes. They honeymooned on the island of Nevis. After a happy day on the beach, Christine crawled into bed and screamed. Paul pulled back the covers to reveal a slimy octopus.

Lauren was upset to receive flowers from Carmine, and Michael was livid. Viewers saw a heavily-bearded Carmine holed up in a motel room obsessively watching the sex video. After Lauren received a phone call from Carmine, the police tracked it to the motel, but found "You can't erase me" scrawled on the wall and a video on a laptop of Carmine saying, "Nice try, counselor." Back in Paul's office, Michael threatened to kill Carmine, and Paul had to handcuff him to a chair to stop him from leaving.

Michael and Lauren went home and found their apartment filled with gas fumes. While Lauren opened windows, Michael shut off the stove, but he was knocked out by Carmine. Carmine grabbed Lauren, telling her that they were going to die together. Although the FBI claimed their investigation of Carmine's laptop proved that he was in Chicago, Kevin did more digging and found that Carmine had used an ATM in Genoa City. Paul arrived at the Baldwin's to find Lauren holding a gun on Carmine, and Michael begging her not to shoot. Carmine was taken into custody, and put back in jail. Carmine was charged with stalking, kidnapping, attempted rape, breaking and entering, and two counts of attempted murder. But he escaped custody during transport to the courthouse jail pending trial. While Michael and Lauren were being put under 24-hour police surveillance, Carmine was plotting to get to Lauren during her presentation as business woman of the year.

Fen got out of rehab on a pass to see his mother accept the award at the ceremony which was held at the athletic club. Carmine skulked around the sidelines, dressed as a cop. Gloria was the M.C. and announced a video of the highlights of Lauren's career, but the one of Lauren and Carmine in bed played instead. Fen ran out humiliated. Next thing Paul knew, he was standing over the dead body of Carmine in the alley, and Michael was confessing to his murder. Detective Chavez arrested Michael, but he and Paul were suspicious of Michael and Lauren's answers and Michael's willingness to confess. Lauren hired Avery to represent Michael, but he was uncooperative, even after Paul confronted him about a bullet he had dug out of the wall in the alley. Michael was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but Fen broke into the sentencing hearing, and confessed to killing Carmine. No one believed him, and Michael was taken to Walworth prison. It was not long before someone recognized Michael as the D.A. who sent him to prison and Michael was beaten, suffering a black eye and broken ribs. Christine then arranged for him to be put in a more secure section of the prison. It was only after Fen got himself arrested for drug charges and sentenced to 30 days at the same prison, that Paul began to investigate the case further, hoping to find the real killer, but he discovered that all the crime photo evidence was missing.

Convinced that Michael had confessed to protect someone else, Christine and Paul worked behind the scenes getting Michael's conviction overturned, and reopened the case. Studying the evidence day and night, Paul came up with the fact that Carmine's autopsy had been done by an unknown medical examiner, and he pondered Fen's sobriety chip which had been found on Michael. Michael told Paul that Fen had given it to him when Fen was in rehab, but Fen said he had given it to Michael the night of Carmine's murder. After Paul got the test results from the suit that Fen had worn that night showing gun residue and Carmine's blood, a warrant was issued for Fen's arrest. Fen fled, but Summer helped Michael trick Fen into returning to the GCPD, where Michael claimed that Fen was turning himself in. Fen accepted a plea bargain, so was to be sentenced for Carmine's murder by a judge in his chambers. But Michael burst in at the last minute with a video of Carmine holding that day's paper and admitting that he was still alive. Christine dropped the charges and Fen was released.

Kevin began working a tip from a supposed witness trying to find the hit and driver with clues that the car was a black SUV with a license plate starting with "G", which turned up nothing. He decided to try a "6" instead and while they waited for the results, Kevin hunted down the IP address of the suspicious anonymous poster who had been conversing with Billy about the accident online. Paul received the license plate results at the same time that Kevin found the IP, and both contained the name Adam Newman. When police were sent to arrest Adam, they found only Victor at his penthouse, so an APB was put out on him. Kevin told Chloe, who went crazy over the news. And Nick and Victoria arrived looking for Billy whom they suspected had figured it out himself and gone after Adam with his gun.

Paul and Nick told them all later how they had gone searching for them and found Adam's SUV upside-down in a ravine. A witness had told them that one man had gotten out and disappeared. The other man was trapped inside and they had failed to pull him out, but they had gotten to safety before the SUV started on fire and exploded. Later the fire department reported that the SUV had melted the ice and slid down the ravine into the river, so finding any human remains had become unlikely. Responding to a call from Victoria, Paul went to her home after Billy had shown up there badly bruised and passed out. When Billy came to, Paul asked what had happened. Billy explained that Adam had been the hit and run driver who ran down Delia, how he had coerced him into going to the accident site and her school, and how Adam had run off the road and the SUV crashed. Billy had crawled out and made it to the road where he was picked up by a trucker who dropped him off at his house. The next day in Billy's hospital room, the police brought by a gun found at the scene which Billy ID'd as probably his, and explained the one round fired recently as it must have gone off in the crash.

At the Delia Project Valentine's Day benefit, Lily unveiled the antique snow queen doll which was to be auctioned, but the case was empty. Lily spotted a stranger, Richard Womack, heading for the door with it under his coat. When she grabbed for the doll, it broke, and diamonds showered onto the floor. Womack pulled a gun, and held everyone hostage. Devon triggered a silent alarm, and Paul, Detective Mark Harding, and the rest of the police arrived outside the locked ballroom. Womack made Lily pick up the diamonds from the floor and made Abby collect the cell phones, but Kevin kept his and called Paul so the police could hear what was going on.

Jack made Womack a deal to call his private jet if he would let the hostages go. Then Neil, Tyler, Devon, and Cane staged an argument to get the drop on Womack. Tyler knocked out Womack's accomplice with a champagne bottle, whose gun flew across the floor. Paul shut off the ballroom lights just as they scrambled for the gun, but Colin had caught it under his foot. Paul bargained with Womack to let Billy and Victoria go, and the lights would be turned on. Afterward, when Jack's plane was ready, Womack let everyone go but Lily. Cane begged to replace Lily, Lily hit Womack's arm, the gun went off, and Cane was shot. Colin jumped out from where he had been hiding, his gun on Womack, while Lily and Cane escaped. Womack was killed as he and Colin struggled over the gun.

On a tip from Nikki, Paul arrived at Ian Ward's office in time to arrest him for extorting money from Nikki to leave town. Ian taunted Paul about not being any different from the blonde muscled kid he remembered, and inexplicably, that Paul should be grateful that Ian had done Paul a favor. Paul told Ian that he would not let Nikki down this time. Ian's lawyer tried to get the charges dropped, but thanks to Nikki's recording her conversation with Ian, the charges stuck.

Paul began volunteering at the rec center mentoring kids, and became particularly close to one kid named Alfonso.

Six months after their marriage, Christine told Paul that although their life together was perfect, she felt that something missing, and thought that having a baby would make it better. Paul cited his relationships with Ricky and Heather, and agreed they both deserved a chance to try to get one right, and they began to try to become pregnant.

In June, 2014, Avery Bailey Clark was held hostage by Austin Jameson. Avery's boyfriend Dylan overheard Paul get the information as to where they were. Dylan got there before the police and jumped Austin. As they wrestled for his gun, Paul and the police arrived, the gun went off, and Paul was shot. Paul was taken to the hospital where he was diagnosed with severe liver damage and massive loss of blood. Nikki went to his bedside until Christine could arrive from out of town. Christine sobbed as she got the bad news, that Paul was not expected to live. A second surgery determined that only a liver transplant could save his life, and his rare blood type AB- made it difficult to find a donor. Paul's daughter, Heather's hospital records showed that she was not eligible, an inquiry was sent to his sister Patty's institution, and his brothers were unreachable. When Dr. Rayburn discussed the dilemma with Nikki, Avery, and Dylan, Dylan piped up that he too was AB-. Everyone hoped that Dylan could save Paul's life as Dylan underwent testing to see if he could donate part of his liver to Paul. But Dylan was rejected as a donor due to his combat wounds, and the danger of surgery. Paul's brother, Father Todd, arrived and prayed over Paul while consoling Christine, Lauren and Michael. While waiting for Father Todd to gather his loved ones to give Paul last rights, Dylan walked in to hear Nikki telling an unconscious Paul that Dylan was actually his son. Dylan insisted on being the donor, and both Nikki and Avery tried to dissuade him. But attorney Michael Baldwin confirmed that Dylan had the right, in a matter of life or death, to override the doctor's objections at his own risk. So Dylan and Paul were taken in for surgery.

Many hours later, they both awoke in ICU about the same time – Paul to Father Todd and Christine at his bedside. Later when Paul was alone with Christine he muttered "Where's the child?" Christine was warned that organ rejection can occur up to decades, so Paul must be monitored, and take anti-rejection drugs. But for now it was most important that he avoid stress. Later Dylan managed to make his way to Paul's bedside. Meanwhile Christine was forbidding Nikki or anyone else to tell Paul that Dylan was his son, to avoid stress. Dylan told Paul that he should have listened, took the blame for Paul getting shot, and talked about being his being Paul's son. Paul got confused, became upset and began to hyperventilate, saying how sorry he was for shooting his son, Ricky. After Dylan was returned to his room, Paul began screaming and ranting, re-enacting the shooting of Ricky, pulling out his IV and monitors. While Christine went to get a doctor, Nikki calmed Paul down by telling him that he had another son in Dylan, and that everything was going to be all right. (It was actually the second anniversary of the date that Paul had shot and killed his son Ricky in self-defense.) Once Paul understood, he asked to see his son who had saved his life, but Dylan was unconscious and suffering from infection gram-negative sepsis and shock, his organs shutting down.

Paul, after being told by Nikki about Dylan's condition, began trying to commune with Dylan to live. Dylan saw Paul who told him how much life they missed together, asking why Dylan would risk his life to save Paul only to leave, telling him don’t go now, it is not your time, to fight to give Avery a future, and he and Paul a future. Dylan suddenly awoke and smiled at Avery. Paul awoke to Nikki crying, and said, "Dylan is going to be all right." Nikki and Paul both recalled their conversation when Heather had been born, vowing that if Nikki were to get pregnant by Paul she would have kept the baby because she loved him. Nikki regretted that she had been so traumatized by Ian that it had not occurred to her that Paul could have been her baby's father. Paul and Dylan bonded as both recovered.

After turning himself in, and getting out on bail, Austin visited Paul to make sure he was okay. Paul gave him a bit of a lecture, telling him that no matter what had happened to Austin, he should not have taken the law into his own hands. Paul was released from the hospital, but things were not the same between him and Christine. She resented the fact that Nikki and Paul had a renewed bond, and that Paul was less interested in having another child with her.

Ian sued Nikki for emotional distress caused by finding out that Dylan was not his son. The trial began with Nikki reading passages from the diary in her defense, telling how she thought Ian was a monster, and she did not want to raise his baby, afraid it would turn out like him. Ian's attorney claimed that Nikki had not told Paul about the baby because Paul was irresponsible, so claimed the baby was Ian's to justify getting rid of it. Michael pointed out that if that were true, Nikki could have gotten an abortion a lot easier, and maintained that Nikki was the one who endured pain and suffering at the hands of Ian ever since, and especially now. Dylan got upset and interrupted the proceedings, defending Nikki. Paul left the courtroom upset that he had been excluded from Dylan's life. Christine talked Paul into spending some time on a lake for a honeymoon and some rest. But Nikki showed up in tears, warning Paul that Ian had flaunted a story in the National Inquisitor "Nikki Newman's Secret Sex Cult Diary", which told of her sexploits with cult leader Ian Ward and chief of police Paul Williams. Christine was upset that Nikki had intruded on them, so Nikki left. Not long afterward, a reporter showed up at the door, and Paul threw him off the property. Christine and Paul decided to return home a couple days early, as Christine petulantly blamed Nikki for ruining their honeymoon and their life together.

Paul began to have second thoughts about Austin, and decided to give him the second chance that his own son Ricky had never gotten. Christine was upset by his decision, reminding Paul that "the law is what we do". Thanks to Avery's letter to the judge forgiving him and Paul's refusal to testify at the trial, Austin was given deferred adjudication with a fine and community service. But Dylan became enraged by the verdict and his father and lover's part played in it. Avery helped Dylan to deal with it though.

Paul was investigating the disappearance of Ian Ward after Ian had kidnapped and married a drugged Mariah Copeland, then threatened Nikki and was chased from Nikki's home by Dylan. Blood found on the Newman driveway turned out to be Ian's, his wallet turned up in a dumpster near the racetrack where his car was found, and Ian's muddy jacket was later found in the quarry. After Jeffrey Bardwell reported seeing Dylan at the racetrack that night, and Dylan had somehow injured his hand, Paul knew he had to question Dylan. Christine threw Paul a party to celebrate his receiving the Distinguished Citizen Award, but Paul and Dylan left early to go back to the police station together. Dylan claimed that Ian had given him the slip outside the Newman's, so he returned to Crimson Lights, then went for a walk near the racetrack to calm down, and that he had punched out a window in frustration at a warehouse near the tracks. Before he left, Dylan gave Paul a gift of some fly fishing lures which he had made himself.

Later while talking to Avery at her apartment, Paul noticed some muddy boots of Dylan's. It was discovered that someone had made a phone call from Avery's land line to Ian's insurance company inquiring about Ian's beneficiary. When Christine discovered that Paul had still made no move to arrest Dylan, she became furious, accusing Paul of withholding evidence, and telling him that it was going to ruin his career. Paul went to question Dylan again and caught Dylan leaving town. Paul came up with a plan where Christine would charge Dylan with murder, he arrested Dylan, informed Avery, and convinced Nikki to allow them to place an ad in her name to bring Ian back and expose Ian's setting up Dylan. Christine opined that Ian was too smart to fall for it, but it was set in motion.

Ian saw an ad from Nikki, and called her from a burner phone so it could not be traced. They arranged to meet in a room at the athletic club. Ian entered the club through a trapdoor in the basement, expecting to avoid the police. But Paul was in the room with a gun when Ian showed up, and the police and Dylan surrounded him from the hallway. Ian smirked that he had come back for Nicole and would be back again. Nikki told him off, saying that he was sick. Dylan held his temper, as Ian was arrested for the drugging and abduction of Mariah. Afterward, Nikki was upset when Paul accused her of drinking again, but was able to convince him that she was staying sober. But Paul overheard Nikki confess to Katherine's memorial that she had not had drink since Thanksgiving. Paul confronted Nikki, and she begged him not to tell anyone.

Shortly before Christmas 2014, Christine announced to Paul that she was finally pregnant.

Valentines Day evening 2015, Paul found himself faced with several crises; a power outage in the entire city caused by a serious snowstorm, a fire on an upper floor of the Lakewood Towers, and the cave-in of The Underground bar leaving Victor, Nikki, Jack, and Phyllis trapped. A command post and triage were set up at Crimson Lights because they had a generator, with phones manned by Lauren and Michael, and Paul's son Dylan volunteered to use his disaster training to extract survivors from The Underground. In the midst of that, Paul received word of the crash of a private jet near Chicago carrying Cane and Lily, Jill and Colin, Neil, Hilary, and Neil. All survived and were rescued near Chicago.

Nikki went to Paul and Christine to plead Phyllis' case, that after being trapped in the cave-in with her, Nikki was convinced that Phyllis had changed. After Nikki left, Christine accused Paul of having no faith in her and always siding with Nikki. Christine left upset. Later Christine was struck by a car driven by Nikki as she came out of a pharmacy. Nikki passed a sobriety test. Paul, distraught that Christine had miscarried, booked Nikki for attempted murder, due to Christine's claim that Nikki had intentionally swerved right at her. Victor arranged bail and took her home, promising he would fix everything. After Christine was told she could never have another child, she threatened Neil and Nikki with a civil suit for all they were worth to make them pay. Christine accused Paul of feeling it no big deal to not have another child since he had his own, but Paul tearfully convinced her otherwise, saying that this had been their second chance at having the family they were meant to.

Not wanting to go home and face the nursery and baby clothes, the moment Christine was released she moved up Phyllis' court date, relishing the fact that Phyllis would finally get what was coming to her. But Christine was further crushed when Kelly confessed to setting up Phyllis and staging the poisoning herself. Victor opined that Christine was acting improperly with her vendetta against Phyllis. Her charges were dropped, and Paul arrested Kelly for filing a false police report.

Paul was called out to the Abbott cabin to find Summer, Abby, and Noah Newman, Kevin and Mariah, and Ben Rayburn huddled around the dead body of one of his officers, Courtney Sloane. They had to admit that Summer's husband, Austin, had been murdered and staged to look like an accident to explain Courtney's, a note in her hand saying, "I warned you. Stop digging." Paul interviewed each and was appalled that none had come forward about Austin's murder, but understood that they had been threatened. Kyle tipped Paul to Sharon's interview with Austin. Mariah to Victor and Nick having more to lose. Noah tipped to Dylan's doing his own investigating. No one in the group was arrested, but were told to keep their mouths shut, so the murderer would assume the police still thought Austin's death was an accident. Paul warned them not to mention the connection to Courtney or one of them could be next. Paul brought Kevin back from suspension to recover the GCPD computer system, and to hopefully retrieve the video of Jack which Courtney had watched.

Fen suddenly returned from college and gathered his friends who were involved in the murder at the cabin. He admitted that prior to Austin's murder, he had been about to flunk a class, hacked into the college computers, and gave himself a passing grade so he could still get into law school. Fen had received an anonymous text blackmailing him into picking up a package containing the drug to spike the punch. Paul traced the DNA from the package to a wanted criminal named Marco Annicelli who used to head a South American drug cartel. The FBI got involved, and claimed the DNA did not match.

Abby, Summer and Kyle visited Tobias Gray in the hospital after he had crashed his car, asking why he was following them and what he knew about the murders. Tobias said, "You need to know...Austin..." and died. Meanwhile, Kevin and Mariah snuck into Tobias' place where they found a 3D printer, fingerprint molds, and the stolen GCPD hard drives. Kevin turned in an anonymous tip, but told Paul that he thought everything had been planted by the real killer. The FBI stepped in and matched the DNA originally thought to be Marco's, to Tobias. Paul closed the case, so Kevin leaked his theory to GC Buzz who published it. To keep it viable, Mariah secretly posted as the killer, "Catch me if you can or watch me get away with murder." Kevin was arrested for obstruction. A young Hispanic woman named Marisa showed up in town, the former girlfriend Of Marco, but she claimed he was dead at the bottom of Lake Delaney. Mariah and Kevin decided to check, but found the car with no one inside. After Kevin exposed Marisa's connection to Marco, the police questioned her and got a composite sketch of Marco.

Billy got Paul riled up over his failure to arrest Gabriel Bingham, causing Paul to have a minor heart attack. Dylan stepped in at the hospital keeping Paul from working instead of convalescing, Christine took over once he was released, and Paul took a leave of absence. Detective Mark Harding took over the case and discovered that the composite sketch was really the captain of a ship which had blown up near Peru, killing him and all on board, except for Marisa.

Kevin told Paul that he was working on a theory, and not to trust Harding. Later Summer told Kevin, that upon hearing Harding's ringtone, she recalled hearing that same ringtone and seeing Harding in the cabin the night of Austin's murder. Paul asked Dylan to help him investigate Harding. When they heard that Marco had been spotted in Victor's office, they arrived to find Marco gone and Harding shot in the arm. Dylan later cornered Harding on the GCAC rooftop, as Kevin and the gang watched via surveillance cameras. Harding admitted he had been paid to keep secrets, not to kill anyone. Paul arrived, and Harding warned Paul to let him go or he would kill Dylan. Paul was about to lay down his gun when Dylan jumped Harding, his gun went off, and Harding was killed.

The annual Delia Halloween costume party benefit was held at Top of the Tower. A fire broke out on the floors just below them, cutting them off from the floor where her children were having their own party. Paul put Dylan in charge of search and rescue, and helicopters were called in to evacuate the party-goers from the roof. Dylan led several missions inside even after it was deemed unsafe rescuing people from the building. Paul and Dylan were brokenhearted to find out that Paul's sister Patty, Dylan's aunt, had escaped from Fairview, and had apparently perished in the fire, but her body was not found. Both Dylan and Paul yelled at Patty's doctor for letting her escape once again.

After disappearing while on her honeymoon and missing for months, Hilary Hamilton turned up drugged and wandering in the park. They put it together that Hilary had been in a coma, and a Dr. Neville had used a dangerous drug cocktail to bring her out of it. Shortly after Hilary checked herself out of the hospital, she called Dylan to tell him that she was in Dr. Neville's hotel room. Dylan kicked in his motel room door, Dr. Neville plunged a syringe in Dylan's neck, and he fell to the floor unconscious. Paul found Dylan who seemed fine, having apparently receiving a sedative. Sharon called Dylan to deliver the news that his son, Paul's grandson, had been born.

Dylan planned a spur of the moment evening wedding, asking Paul to play Santa for Faith, get an online ordination, and perform the ceremony in their living room as a surprise for Sharon.

Afterward, Paul received a call that Lily was missing and feared being held at the Abbott cabin by Joe Clark. Paul showed up in the nick of time to overhear Joe admit to framing Cane to get Lily for himself. Paul arrested Joe and he accepted a deal to be sentenced to prison.

Paul offered Dylan a position as police detective, saying that with his military training Dylan could skip the police academy, and only get some on the job training, and pass the exam and gun range test. Dylan accepted.

A couple months after the fire at Newman Towers Paul's sister Patty was found living in the streets by the Racine police, and turned over to Paul. Paul was appalled to think that she had been eating out of dumpsters since her escape from the fire. Patty admitted that she had helped Ian Ward escape the fire, that he had given her money and told her to start a new life. Patty told Paul that Dr. Anderson was evil, but he returned her to Fairview. Paul did warn the doctor that he had his eye on her since Patty had escaped while under her care. But Dr. Anderson was found dead in her office, a syringe sticking out of her back. Paul visited Patti and was dismayed to find her with blood on her shirt, rocking her stuffed kitty, singing, and out of it. Paul hugged her, convinced that she had murdered Dr. Sandra Anderson. Dylan wondered why Sandy had been so good to Sharon when Sharon had gotten everything Sandy had ever wanted, and was ready to do more investigating into why Patty had killed her. But Paul said that Patty was deranged and closed the case. Patty later admitted to Paul and in a GC Buzz interview that she had killed Dr. Anderson in self defense, as the doctor was trying to sedate her to keep her quiet about a secret. The secret that Paul's grandson Sully was actually Sage's son Christian, that Sharon had been drugged into thinking she was pregnant and gave birth to him. When the truth came out, Paul was concerned for Dylan who was showing no emotion over the loss of his son who had been reclaimed by Nick.

Unable to get over the loss of Sully, Dylan volunteered to go undercover for the FBI to bring down Luther Fisk, the leader of a drug ring. Using Derek Young as his alias, he was given burner phones to contact Kevin, and went to Miami to meet Luther's second in command, Alex Dettmer. Alex turned out to be a statuesque hard drinking female. Sharon was so worried about Dylan, she got hold of Kevin's direct phone and called Dylan. His burner phone rang, Alex answered the female caller, and Sharon claimed wrong number. Paul figured out what Sharon had done and accused her of jeopardizing the operation and Dylan's life. Kevin received word from Dylan that he was in trouble and last location was Pier 13. Miami police found shell casings and blood traces in the warehouse, causing Paul to head for Miami to search for Dylan. Meanwhile, Dylan suddenly walked in the door to his and Sharon's home looking haggard.

Dylan explained that prior to the Feds showing up at the pier and arresting Luther Fisk, Dylan had fought with Stan, had to kill him, and Alex had gotten away. Fearing Alex or Fisk's goons would track him down, Dylan was going to have to leave her forever and go into witness protection. Sharon begged to go with him, then realized it would mean running with her kids, or leaving them forever. Dylan signed over Crimson Lights to Sharon, Dylan left town, and Sharon began telling everyone that he had left her.

After Chloe committed suicide, Kevin decided to take Bella and move to Oregon. Paul was disappointed to see him go, both from the police department and personally.

Paul and Christine began investigating a case of sex trafficking in the Midwest. Sharon discovered a potential "sex slave" named Crystal, a young caller on the crisis intervention hotline. Crystal managed to escape, and Nick found her hiding in the alley behind The Underground. He brought her inside, and Sharon managed to get out of her that she was afraid of being captured and returned. But when Sharon left the room, Crystal disappeared. Sharon went to Paul with the information. But Christine was livid that Sharon had met the girl at a hotel room where Crystal had been dragged away by a beefy guy. Sharon and Nick shared with Scott and Tessa that they were convinced that Alice Johnson was working in the sex slave ring. Scott posed as a “John” and his “date”, Natalia, told him that Crystal had been sent away. Dissatisfied that the police were not doing anything, Tessa and Mariah kidnapped Alice and tricked her to get Crystal back, and Crystal was taken into protective custody. But Alice was then run down by a car, and disappeared from the hospital. Security footage showed her painfully walking out, headed for the taxi stand.

On a tip from Victor, Paul went to a cheap hotel and found Scott in a room with the dead body of Natalia. Paul held Scott for questioning, he claimed he had been set up by the leader of the sex ring, and Scott was let out on bail. Next thing Paul knew, Scott and the girls had publicly accused Zack Stinnett of using his dating app DesignDate to run the sex ring. Zack had fled, taking Abby Newman with him. Scott called Paul to let him know he was following them, but Scott’s phone went dead. By the next day, Scott was still missing. Paul was called to Zach’s motel room where they found Zach dead and Scott and Abby claiming that Crystal Porter had shot him with what turned to be Nikki Newman’s gun and had fled.

Victor filed a lawsuit against the DA’s office and the GCPD for unlawful arrest and imprisonment for the murder of J.T., who had not even been dead. Christine was up for re-election, and Victor promised her she would never win. The City settled with Victor, and made Christine announce it at a press conference. But she surprised everyone by also announcing that she was not running for re-election. She and Paul discussed retiring and moving away. Michael talked Christine into stepping down early. A special election was held, and Michael became the new DA. Rey came to Paul and convinced him to hire him back as a GCPD detective.