When a pregnant Nicole began hemorrhaging Brady took her the Fairway Urgent Care Clinic in Brookville where she was treated by Dr. Richard Baker, a seemingly respectable doctor. Despite his best efforts, Dr. Baker could not stop Nicole's miscarriage. Nicole was devastated. The news did not get better as the next day Dr. Baker told Nicole that because of the scarring in her uterus, it is highly unlikely that she could ever carry a child to term. Nicole left utterly devastated.

Convinced that E.J. would leave her if he found out about the marriage, Nicole convinced Dr. Baker to keep quiet about the baby until she could find the right time to tell E.J. about the miscarriage. But, Dr. Baker's pity for Nicole disappeared when he learned that Nicole was faking her pregnancy until she could find a suitable replacement baby. When he threatened to tell E.J., Nicole responded with blackmail and threats. She informed him that she had a friend do a background check on him and discovered Dr. Baker has three ex-wives, five children, some in private schools others in college, and, in general, he has a lot of debt and was behind on alimony payments. Reluctantly, Dr. Baker agreed to go along with Nicole's plan and pretended that Nicole was still pregnant and that he was her doctor. Nicole gave him a $20,000 vase in return.

Things turned worse for Dr. Baker when Nicole discovered that he was a baby broker, selling the babies of pregnant teenage mothers to the highest bidder. Nicole demanded that Dr. Baker find her a baby. Through Dr. Baker, Nicole tracked down a pregnant girl named Mia. Nicole convinced Mia to give up the baby and let Nicole raise her.

Meanwhile, Nicole found out that Sami was pregnant with E.J.'s baby and looking for a private place to give birth. Nicole arranged for Dr. Baker to deliver the baby. The baby was born with breathing problems and Dr. Baker rushed her out of the room as soon as she was born. Nicole entered the clinic with Mia's baby and blackmailed Dr. Baker to switch the babies. Dr. Baker swapped them and Nicole went home with Sami's daughter. Dr. Baker gave Sami Mia's baby.

A few weeks later, Dr. Baker lost his clinic and took at job with Salem U Hospital. Nicole tried to talk Dr. Baker out of staying in Salem, but Dr. Baker insisted that he needed the job. So, Nicole offered to give Dr. Baker $15,000 to leave town. Dr. Baker took the money and left Salem. He fled to the Dominican Republic. But, his gambling habit came with him. When he tried to ask Nicole for more money, she refused. She went to Stefano for help and Stefano ordered a hit on Dr. Baker. Rafe and Sami found Dr. Baker strangled in his hotel room on August 31, 2009.

However, Dr. Baker was just faking his own death to get away from the DiMeras. He showed up back in Salem as part of an illegal gambling ring. One night, he met Hope Brady and was immediately drawn to her. Hope (who was under the influence of sleeping pills) recruited Baker to help her with a crime spree that involved robbing the rich men in Salem. Always looking for a way to make some money, Baker agreed.

But, it wasn't long before he learned that Hope was really angry at Bo for dating Carly and she was lashing out at men. He went along with a few of her schemes, but when he realized that her ultimate goal was to kill Bo, Baker tried to talk her out of it. When that failed, he secretly called 911 the night Hope was going to kill Bo.

Baker was arrested when a security camera caught him buying the items Hope used to try to kill Bo (rope, gasoline, etc.). He went to trial. But, when the defense called Hope to the stand and she broke down, Baker pled guilty to save her the pain of testifying. Baker was sent to prison.