Chapters 40 & 41   CHAPTER 40: INTERLUDES   Lu sleeps quietly in her room when a knock on the door awakens her. She quickly gets out of bed and limps over to the door. She opens the door rapidly and lets Georgie in, "How did you get here?" Georgie smiles, "Rowboat." Lu looks at her incredulously, "Why?" Georgie looks at her and smiles, "Dylan's here." Lu gasps, "Here? How?" "Yes, here. We came in a small boat. He really wanted to see you." "But G, I said I was going to distance myself from him." Georgie shrugs, "Well, I guess now's your chance." Lu simply nods. "I guess. Where is he?" "He's waiting for you at the stables." Lu gives Georgie a quick hug, "Wish me luck then," she says before throwing her robe over her PJ's and limping out of the room. "Good luck," George mumbles to Lu's retreating back. Gina opens the door to Wyndemere. Alex Garcia is standing there in the pouring rain. "Come in, Commissioner." Alex walks in slowly, then turns to Gina, "Ms. Williams, I'm afraid I have some bad news. We found your daughter's body." "NOOOOOO!!!!!" she screams as she grabs the door for support. Gina sits bolt upright in bed, screaming. Nikolas comes rushing in. He puts his arms protectively around her. "Shhh," he says consolingly, "It was just a nightmare." Gina sobs on his shoulder. Between sobs, she chokes out, "She's gone...just like Richard...my baby! What if she's gone forever, Nikolas? I can't do that. I can't go on without my baby!" Watching her, Nikolas' heart breaks, his worst fears vocalized. Feeling the need to protect her, he cups her face in his hands, "Listen to me," he says gently, "We WILL get Staci back. I promise you that. Okay?" Gina nods, but tears still flow down her face, "But what if we don't? Richard was never found. The same thing could happen to Staci. I'm so scared." "I know you're scared honey, we all are, but we have to stay strong for Staci. She's counting on us." He gently wipes away her tears with the pads of this thumbs. "Please don't leave me yet," she says, wrapping her arms around him tightly, as if he would disappear. "Just hold me, please, Nikolas." He pulls her close to him, "I'm not going anywhere. Just hold on to me as long as you need to." Gina rocks gently in his arms as he strokes her hair and back reassuringly. She feels so safe and secure in his arms. Slowly, she begins to calm to his touch. "Thank you," she says softly. It feels right to Nikolas to have Gina, his wife, his life, relying on him again; holding and comforting her. He leans over and softly kisses her hair and damp cheeks, "Gina, I," he starts, his voice breaking with emotion. In response, she leans up and gives him a deep, longing kiss. Looking into his eyes, she pleads, "I need to forget, Nikolas. Help me to forget." Instinctively, he pulls her towards him, his hands roaming along her back, under her pajama top. She arches towards him as he kisses her passionately and lays her gently back in bed. Lucky pours himself another cup of coffee, then quickly adds a shot of bourbon. Looking at the near empty bottle, he sighs, "It's gonna be a long damn night." He tries putting all the puzzle pieces together. There are too many missing pieces. Staci's been kidnapped. That one's easy enough, it's trying to find out who and why that's tricky. Lisa was the first one on the scene after the kidnapping. She had been at the Nurses' Ball with Scott Baldwin earlier in the evening. It's a known fact that Nikolas doesn't like Baldwin, and the feeling is mutual. Lucky wonders if there is a connection. The fact that Lisa is Jennifer Smith's daughter doesn't sit well with him either. Neither did his mother's revelation, but he didn't have time to look into that yet. And then there's the note. Lucky's sure that it has something to do with the year 2007. The records indicate that there were several people let go in connection with a possible security hazard that year. Lucky frowns, his contact had given him detailed dossiers on each person fired that year, and none of them had any other sort of criminal record or were overly suspicious. Lucky's phone rings, "It's the middle of the night, ain't you got no respect for sleeping folks," he says to the phone before picking it up, "Spencer." "Good, you're awake," Jason's voice responds. "I'm sending you a fax about your friend Lisa Smith. You might find it interesting." "Thanks, man," he says, hanging up the phone and crossing to the fax machine. He glances over the paper and smiles, "Pay dirt." In Laura and Stefan's suite, Laura is sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to brush her hair, but her hands are shaking. Stefan walks in and sees her. "I can't do this!" she exclaims as she slams the brush down, tears brimming in her eyes. Stefan sits next to her and picks up the brush, "I know how upset you are about this, Lasha. You aren't alone. We are all worried sick about Anastacia, but you must rest, or risk winding up back in the hospital." He reaches up with the brush and starts brushing her hair. "Here, let me help you." She sighs, leaning her head back slightly, allowing him access to all of her long hair. He softly brushes it away from her neck, leans over and starts planting soft lingering kisses along the nape of her neck. "I have something for you," he says hoarsely. "I can't do this," she says, pulling away from him. Stefan stands in front of Laura and pulls her gently to her feet. "I was hoping to help you relax. Please, Lasha." She gives him a slight smile and lets him lead her into the other room. "The bathroom?" she asks, trying to suppress a laugh. He gestures around the room. Candles are lit all around, and the lights are low, giving the room a romantic glow. The huge bathtub is filled with a steaming bubble bath. "Mrs. Cassadine, your wish is my command," he says, bowing slightly to her. She looks up at him and smiles, "This is very thoughtful. No one knows how sweet you are, except me. I love you, Mr. Cassadine." She unties Stefan's bathrobe and slides it off his shoulders. She kisses his chest as her hands trace the muscled lines of his body. "Will you join me?" she whispers softly to him, motioning towards the bath. His eyes light up, "I thought you'd never ask." He eases off her nightgown and effortlessly lifts her up into his arms and eases her into the hot, soapy water.   CHAPTER 41: COVER OF DARKNESS Derek silently opens the door to the house where he and Harris are keeping Staci. It's completely dark and by the time he gets in and gets the door shut, there's a gun stabbing him in the neck. Derek rools his eyes, "Harris, it's me, you fool!" Harris backs away and turns on a small light, "What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night? This wasn't in the plan." Derek turns around and glares at him, "The plan is changing. My ex-wife is in town." Harris shrugs, "So what?" "She's connected. And as sure as I'm standing here, she's up to something." Confused, Harris asks, "Connected how?" Through gritted teeth, Derek says, "With the organization. Your organization, I believe." "That's impossible, everyone thinks I'm AWOL in Florida. Besides, how do you know she's here?" "She came to see me. We need to move the girl." Harris shakes his head, "I still say we kill her and run." "Not until we get the money. Once we get it, you can do anything you want with her, I don't give a damn." Harris nods, "Good, I like that plan." Derek pats him on the shoulder like a student that just got the answer to a tough question, "I knew you would. But first we should get the kid a little further from town. Stashing her right under their noses doesn't seem like a good idea anymore." Harris nods silently in agreement before asking, "When do we move?" Derek thinks through his options, "Now would be best. We have the cover of darkness and no tails. But we can't do anything until I can get us a new safehouse tomorrow morning. We'll move tomorrow night." In the other room, Staci awakes to the sound of Derek and Harris' voices. She holds completely still, trying to hear every word. She closes her eyes tightly, blinking away tears as she hears the flippant tone they take with her life. "What do you expect, Staci," she thinks to herself as she remembers Lu falling off the motorcycle. Staci knows deep inside that Lu is dead. If only she were home with her family. Opening her eyes, she's nearly blinded as the door opens and light floods in from the other room. Derek comes in and quickly closes the door. He turns on the one light in the otherwise completely empty room. Derek sits indian style in the floor next to Staci. He reaches around her and checks the ropes on her arms and legs. Satisfied that she's secure, he takes her by the chin and turns her head from side to side. She flinches as he touches her, "You okay, kid?" he asks harshly. Staci gives him her best cold Cassadine stare. Derek laughs, "Dumb question, huh? You can't talk unless I ungag you," Derek says as he shakes her gag a little. He sits back and regards her expression, "You look just like your old man," Derek grunts. Staci continues glaring, her teeth clenching through her gag. Lucky picks the lock at Lisa's apartment. Slowly and silently, he opens the door. With a small flashlight in hand he starts searching through the desk drawers. Lisa throws that same door open and points the gun point blank at Lucky, "Don't move!" she yells. "Hey Babe, how's it going?" he asks, flashing his trademark Spencer smile. Lisa turns on the light, but keeps the gun trained on him. "You know Lucky, I should shoot you. Maybe then you'd learn to knock." Lucky turns to face her and smiles, "Yeah, but that wouldn't be as much fun. Besides, you weren't home." She uses the gun to point him towards the sofa where he sits down, "I am now. So, you gonna tell me why you were breaking into my place at 3am? And don't say it's just a friendly visit; friends don't break into each other's apartments." "I want answers." Lisa rolls her eyes as she puts the gun away, shuts the door and throws her leather jacket across the back of a chair, "If you wanted answers, you could've asked. What do you really want, Lucky?" Lucky decides to try to weasel information out of her using the straightforward, sweet approach, "Well, would you answer a few questions?" "Lucky, it's three in the morning, this conversation can wait until morning." All she gets is an expectant stare. She sighs, "All right. How about I make us some coffee? This sounds like it could take a while." "Thanks babe," he replies slowly. As Lisa heads for the kitchen, Lucky stands up and quickly starts looking around again, peeking in closets and between the sofa cushions. He jumps as Lisa's voice calls out to him from the kitchen, "Didn't your mother tell you it wasn't polite to snoop?" "Nah," he calls back to her, "Mom and Dad encouraged my curiousity from a young age." A few minutes later, she comes back into the room carrying two mugs of coffee. She hands one to Lucky, then crosses the room and pulls a bottle of bourbon out of her liquor cabinet. "Here," she says, putting the bottle in front of Lucky, "Your preferred flavor, I believe." Lucky's impressed, "Thanks. How did you know?" Lisa smiles back, "I know a lot about you. Now, what's your question?" Lucky takes a long swallow of his coffee, trying to form the words. Lisa watches him carefully for a minute, then realizes what he's about to ask. "Lucky, I know what you're going to ask." Lucky raises an eyebrow, "Oh, you do, do you?" Lisa nods, "You're wondering if I had anything to do with your niece's kidnapping. And the answer is no, but I'd like to help you as much as I can. Everything I have is at your disposal." "Including who you are and why you're really in Port Chuckles?" Lucky asks doubtfully. Lisa smiles and shrugs noncommitally, "Could be. And just who do you think I am and why do you think I'm here?"