Dusty Donovan - Dusty Returns

Dusty Returns

On September 24, 2008, Meg Snyder Ryan was taken hostage by James Stenbeck and taken to a deserted island and locked in a small cabin. When she investigated the cabin, she discovered Dusty locked in a cage in a wine cellar. He explained that he faked his death, using a drug to slow his heartbeat, making it appear as if he had died, so he could flee Oakdale and go after Lucy and Johnny. It had never gotten that far, because he was taken by someone and put in the cage. Meg's husband Paul found the two of them in a nearby windmill shortly after. James then told Paul that Dusty was after Meg. Dusty said James was the real crook and pointed a gun at him. James grabbed at the gun and the two men struggled. Paul then shot at his father, but the bullet grazed Dusty, causing him to fall on James. This caused James to fall himself, off the windmill balcony and to his death. Paul then took Meg back home. Dusty stayed behind, promising not to go back to Oakdale.

But when Lieutenant Margo Montgomery Hughes found out that an unknown man was shot at the windmill, she started to question Meg. Dusty had sworn her to secrecy about him so she kept quiet. Margo threatened to put Meg in jail if she didn't talk. Being pregnant and unable to go to jail, but also to betray Dusty contacted the P.I. Dusty told her about who could help Meg contact him if she needed anything. She told him of her situation and he told this to Dusty. And so on the night of the opening of the "Luke Snyder Foundation", Dusty showed up at Metro and shocked everybody with his return. Lucinda turned out to be aware of his plan and had helped him get out of town. Dusty was interrogated by Margo and he told her the story. Afterwards, he reunited with Emily and the two made love. At the reading of James' will shortly after, Paul goes ballistic that Dusty was still the heir to the Stenbeck fortune. Meanwhile, Meg receives a call from Paul's accountant saying Paul borrowed from Worldwide Industries illegally to finance the sanitation of the contaminated soil on her mother, Emma Snyder's farm that James caused, that way he could continue his development project. Meg told Dusty and asked him to pay off the loan to keep her and Paul from going bankrupt. Dusty, still being friends with Meg agrees.

Paul is furious when he finds out, and still furious about Dusty's plan to flee from Oakdale and upset over James' apparent death, he went crazy. He threatened Dusty multiple times and warned him to stay away from Meg. Emily told Dusty that Paul was serious, but Dusty laughed in Paul's face. Paul then went to New York and hired an actress and her son to roam the world pretending to be Lucy and Johnny so that Dusty would see them and follow them, leaving town and Meg. Dusty fell for it and followed them only to find this was all a setup arranged by Paul when he catches them in New York.

Dusty confronted Paul in front of Meg and she said if Paul did anything else then they were over. Paul then decides to sell Worldwide Industries so he can focus more on Meg and their baby she was expecting. Not wanting to own a large corporation anymore, Lucinda agrees to find a buyer rather than buy it back. Lucinda discusses this with Dusty and he decides to use the overseas corporation he owned to buy Worldwide, knowing Paul would never sell Worldwide to him. Shortly after, Paul went to Derek Coburn, James' ex henchman and paid him $3,000 to plant drugs on Dusty. But unfortunately for Paul, Derek wasn't the same guy he was while working for James and didn't do the job. He went to Meg and told her about what Paul did and returned the $3,000. When Meg confronts Paul, he denies it, but Meg gets Paul to slip up.

She then packs up her pull along suitcase and goes to stay with Emma. After Meg told Dusty about what Paul tried to get Derek do he went and met Derek and paid him to be Meg's bodyguard from Paul. Sometime after this, Dusty learned of a mysterious redheaded woman, living in New York, who had amnesia and was going by the initials of J.M.D. Dusty didn't no what to think but soon became convinced that this woman might be his deceased wife Jennifer. He took off to New York and found the woman, who was a deadringer to Jennifer, but wasn't Jennifer herself. Her name was Josie Matthews Driver, and she recently had an accident, what had caused her amnesia. However, she did have certain memories that people could confirm weren't hers. When she told them to Dusty, he recognized them as events that happened to Jennifer, and the two became more convinced that Josie was somehow connected to Jennifer. Emily warned Dusty about Josie, and told him she was bad news, but Dusty rejected her concerns.

He and Josie grew closer and eventually made love. What Dusty didn't know at the time, was that Josie knew exactly who she was, and she didn't have any memories of Jen's life. She was hired two weeks earlier by Paul, who was obsessed with getting Dusty out of town ( still believing his father about Dusty trying to steal Meg). Josie told Paul she didn't want to go through with the plan anymore, because she had started to fall in love with Dusty. Paul offered her more money and added that Dusty never would've like Josie if she didn't remind him so much of Jennifer. Paul then had Josie pretend to have visions of Johnny in Norway.

When she told Dusty of these visions, they prepared to fly there. When Josie didn't show up on Dusty's corporate jet, he canceled the flight. Meanwhile, Emily overheard Paul and Josie discussing how he had hired her to portray his sister. Emily then confronted Paul. Then she went to Dusty and told him Josie was being hired by Paul to portray Jennifer in an argument, leaving out that Paul had hired her to do so. Dusty figured out That it was Paul who hired Josie and went to confront him. Emily called Paul to tell him that Dusty knew and that he was coming over to confront him. Paul then got Meg out of the house by sending her ornament shopping. He then grabbed his gun. When Dusty arrived and told Paul what he did, Paul denied doing anything. Dusty pushed and Paul admitted to hiring Josie to portray Jennifer to get Dusty out of town.

Paul then told Dusty to stay away from Meg. But Dusty said he was going to tell Meg what Paul did and she'd never trust Paul again afterwards. Paul pointed his gun at Dusty and said he was going to kill him. Dusty warned Paul if he did this then Meg would never want him again but Paul said it was worth the risk. Dusty then grabbed at the gun and they struggled. Dusty managed to get the gun away from Paul. Paul then grabbed an axe and held it up at Dusty. Dusty pointed the gun at Paul and told him to drop it. Paul started to do so and suddenly ran to warn Dusty with the axe held up.

Dusty was then forced to shoot Paul in self-defense, just as Meg entered the room. She ran to Paul, who said Dusty tried to kill him. Dusty then goes to Java and calls Josie who is leaving town to meet him there, saying he owes it to him after what she's done. She then meets him and he asked her why she agreed to portray Jennifer. She told him she had expensive college loans and Paul agreed to pay them off, saying it was easy money. Dusty also asked her what her real name was. She told him it was Josie Anderson, Josie being short for Josephine. He told her how he shot Paul and how the police were after him. Josie said she can prove that Paul hired her to portray Jennifer to the police and if she did, they'd believe that Paul being shot was in self defense. Dusty wouldn't hear of it. When the police arrived at Java to arrest Dusty, he left unspotted and hid at Metro.

Meg finds him there and accuses him of trying to kill Paul. Dusty told her how Paul hired Josie to portray Jennifer and how when he confronted Paul, he tried to kill him, and of how he shot Paul in self-defense because Paul came at him with an axe. Meg doesn't believe him and calls the police and tell them where Dusty was hiding. Margo then arrests Dusty. While in jail, Craig Montgomery (having recently returned to town) arrives telling Dusty he's on his side.

Dusty doesn't believe it and to prove it, he finds Josie and brings her to the police station. Dusty thinks it'sa trick and asks how she got involved with Craig. Josie said she didn't know him and she again offers to tell the police about Paul hiring her but again, Dusty won't hear of it. Josie asks him why he's protecting her. He tells her it's because like Jennifer, she too was a victim of Paul Ryan and he didn't want her to suffer anymore because of him. Josie tells Dusty that she loved him like Jennifer. Dusty tells Josie to tell Meg the truth about Paul. When she arrives at their house, Paul tells Josie that Meg isn't home and so she sits down and waits.

Paul grabs his gun. Just then, Meg comes home and Paul quickly hides the gun. Paul tells Meg that Josie is here to lie on Dusty's behalf. Josie then tells Meg how Paul hired her to portray Jennifer to get Dusty out of town and how when Dusty found out, he went to confront Paul, who tried to kill him but Dusty shot him in self-defense. Paul tells Meg she's lying on Dusty's behalf so Dusty can get a get out of jail free card, but Josie told Meg she was going to tell this to the police, but Dusty wouldn't allow it. She told Meg how Dusty didn't care about getting out of jail, only about Meg knowing the truth about Paul. After Josie left, Meg questions Paul about this. Paul desperately continues to deny what Josie claimed but because he'd previously tried to get Dusty out of town, Meg doesn't believe Paul. She tells him to look her in the eyes and tell her what he did to Dusty.

Paul finally confesses that he did what Josie claimed to keep him from stealing Meg. Meg reminded him that she kept telling him that she was finished with Dusty and that Paul only did it because he cared more about fighting "the same old battles" than he did losing her. She then makes him tell the police the truth. He does and Dusty is freed. He and Josie go to Java to celebrate. When Paul got home, Meg had her suitcase packed saying she's leaving him. Paul pleads for her to reconsider saying their baby needed both parents. But Meg tells Paul their baby needs a mother who isn't afraid to leave her father because he can't be trusted. She then returns to Emma's. A few days later, Meg goes and apologizes to Dusty for what Paul did to him and she should have known he was just lying to her like he always does. She then tells Dusty she's getting a divorce from Paul. Dusty then takes her to Java where they catch Paul harassing Josie. They get him to back off. Later, Josie told Dusty that Paul was harassing her to tell Meg he had a change of heart about hiring Josie and when he told her to stop, she refused because she liked portraying someone she's not, getting the idea from Barbara. Paul even offered Josie money to change her story but she refused. Paul then overdoses anxiety pills to get Meg to help him and realize she wanted him, getting the idea from his father's ghost. He leaves her a suicide note and she finds him lying unconscious on the floor at his cabin. Meg desperately tries to revive him but gets no response, and tries to drag Paul to safety. This causes her to go into labor. She calls Dusty, who is with Josie at Al's diner, and tells him of this. He then goes to the cabin and found an unconscious Paul and Meg going into labor. He calls an ambulance for Paul and tells Meg he'll have to get her to the hospital now. Meg wants to stay to tell the E.M.T.'s what Paul overdosed on. Dusty finds the pillbottle that held the pills Paul overdosed on and set it beside him saying now they'll know what Paul overdosed on. He then picks up Meg and takes her to the hospital where she gives birth to a premature, but healthy baby girl Eliza.

When Craig returns to town, Dusty and Paul team up to get back at their enemy. However, where there's a father, a daughter is never far behind, and soon, Dusty comes face to face with Lucy, who has reached a point where she will kill everyone who gets in her way of getting what she wants.

After Josie told Dusty that Lucy and Johnny were back, Alison had to give in and let Dusty see Johnny. Since then they have tried to shield Johnny away from Craig. Craig finds out about this. Dusty and Lucy plan to leave town with Johnny. Craig finds out and calls Margo to have her arrest her for kidnapping Johnny. Dusty tells Lucy she needs to leave town cause even if she isn't charged Craig will find a way to make her suffer for what she did. Lucy agrees but says Dusty must try to make peace with Craig for Johnny's sake and she must say goodbye to Johnny. Josie leads them on a wild goose chase, giving Lucy time to say goodbye to Johnny before leaving town on Dusty's corporate jet.

When Craig and Margo get back after realizing they were tricked, Craig demands Margo arrest Dusty and Josie for aiding a kidnapper. Margo said if she did everyone (including Johnny) will always hate him. Dusty offers to make peace with Craig if he spares him. Craig reluctantly agreed. They struggled to do so, resulting in Dusty calling for a custody hearing to take Craig's custody rights for Johnny from him. Craig attempted to marry Carly Tenney to make a judge think he was a family man.

Unfortunately for Craig, Carly dumped him at the altar, leaving him single. Dusty proposed to Meg to make him also look like a family man. He said it will prove to her estranged husband Paul that their life together was over and he'll stop stalking her to get her to take him back. Meg refused, not being in love with him but Dusty convinces her to consider. He tells Josie that he has to do it for Johnny because he comes first. Paul went to Emma's to see Meg to convince her to take him back. Meg almost considers, but brings up Dusty's proposal, having been told by an angry Josie. They argue and Meg tells him to leave. Paul tells her she still loves him and she reminds him she never denied it, only the fact she can't take him back and his behavior just confirms it. Paul threatened Meg, telling her she can't ever live without him. A disgusted Meg told Dusty she'll marry him. On January 26, 2009 they were married in Reno, Nevada in a small, simple ceremony, following the finalization of her divorce from Paul that day. It was only when they returned that they learned from Lily and Holden that Craig and Carly didn't marry.