When they were younger, Britta Englund, Bo Brady, and Steve Johnson were inseparable. They even had Gregory Landers tattoo a knife on each of them as a memory. Britta had played the two men off each other, and years ago, after finding her in Steve's bed, Bo had attacked him with a knife, the end result being that Steve had lost his eye. Britta appeared in Salem shortly after Steve, now known as Patch, arrived on the scene to clear Bo of espionage charges, and things seemed to be picking up where they left off. Although Bo was committed to Hope, Britta's connection to his past caused nothing but problems for Hope and Bo. She was followed soon after by her brother Lars, a Russian defector.

After being shot and nearly killed on orders of Victor Kiriakis, Britta was visited in the hospital by the man himself, and told that if she wanted to live, she'd better leave town. Although Patch arranged for them to have an apartment together and Britta wanted more than anything to stay there with him, she knew that if she didn't leave, Victor would make good on his promise, and would kill Steve. She made Victor swear that if she kept quiet, he wouldn't hurt Steve. After making love to Steve for one final time, Britta packed up and left town, heading to Athens. Steve was heartbroken to wake and find her gone, and tried desperately to convince himself that Britta left to protect him, and not because she didn't love him.

After a short time away, Britta did return to Salem, just in time to be sought out by John Black (who was then living as Roman Brady), who believed she had the clues to his past. After narrowly missing each other at the docks, they decide to put out a false report that her brother Lars, whom Britta loves dearly, is at death's door. They catch up with her at the hospital. Britta sees Patch, whom she is about to ask for help, until she sees Kayla with him, and believes he has moved on without her. Patch and Britta finally meet up, and she tells him why she left Salem. Patch begs Victor to leave her alone, and Victor tells Britta he will...if she reports Salem's happenings to him, which she agrees to do.

After a man named Billings is found shot to death at the docks, everyone becomes convinced there is a big secret involved. After contacting the original tattoo artist who drew the three knives on her, Bo, and Patch (coincidentally, Billings' last words were 'three knives'), Britta learns that the tattoos are the key to the secret. Only moments later, Gregory is found dead. It turned out that Britta had murdered both men so that she would be able to keep the treasury bonds for herself, but before she could claim them (or be held accountable for her crimes), she was shot and killed by the order of Victor Kiriakis.