Chapter 35: What You Do For Love

 

 

Stefan and Emma are seated in the Cassadine limo.

Emma:"Thank you for a wonderful evening. I can't remember when I've eaten such a wonderful meal! I thoroughly enjoyed myself."

Stefan smiles. "I am pleased that you enjoyed yourself. It has been a very long time since I've had such a beautiful and charming date. I hope we can do this again, soon."

"Maybe next time I can get you to share something about yourself," Emma teases. "It's only fair since I've told you all about myself. How do you do that anyway?"

Stefan:"Do what?"

Emma:"Get me to talk about myself and somehow avoid all my questions? You're quite good at it."

Stefan attempts to be modest. "I'm afraid you wouldn't find my life very interesting; mostly business and caring for my family."

Emma stifles a laugh. "You don't really expect me to believe that do you? You are STEFAN CASSADINE, the most enigmatic man in Port Charles!"

"Is that how people really see me?" Stefan reaches for her hand, laying her palm on his left palm as he strokes the top of her hand with his right one. "I guess with my notorious family history I've grown accustomed to leading a private life. Old habits die hard."

Emma leans back and enjoys the caress. "I'm sure you have your reasons. You have a huge responsibility being the head of a powerful and rich family. Being discreet makes sense or your enemies could take advantage of your vulnerabilities."

"Very perceptive, Emma," Stefan replies, clearly impressed. "Not many understand the limitations that come with that responsibility. Bobbie didn't and I'm afraid I wasn't able to help her much. I should have trusted more and worried less." Stefan notices the look of surprise on Emma's face. "Ah, didn't think I would do it, did you?"

"Honestly? I wasn't sure. I'm honored that you're telling me anything." The limo comes to a stop in front of Emma's home. "We're here."

Stefan escorts her wordlessly to her doorstep. He takes both of her hands in his and kisses them. "I want to thank you for lovely evening, Emma."

Emma, moved by the romantic gesture, decides to invite him in. "Would you like to come in for a nightcap?"

Stefan shakes his head, gazing at her upturned face. "Emma, I have to decline. I'm afraid I might lose my resolve to take things slowly. I'm finding myself very drawn to you, could I be reading the same signals from you?"

"Yes, despite my attempt to be cautious." Emma reaches up and kisses him briefly on the lips.

Stefan smiles at her encouragingly. "Then we must pursue this. I will call you later in the week."

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Jerry stands looking out of Miranda's living room window in Kronos. Miranda is sitting on the couch, nervously waiting for Jerry to speak. Thaao has taken Billy to bed, leaving them alone to discuss what happens next.

Jerry watches the moon's reflection on the water, thinking how pristine and peaceful Kronos is compared to the places he's lived. A perfect place to raise a child, except he wouldn't be a part of it. Jerry fights back the despair that threatens to overwhelm him, knowing that the task ahead requires him to be strong. Finally he breaks the silence. "Billy's seems to be happy. I'm not going to disturb that, Miranda. I know more than anyone what it's like to lose your innocence early. It's not something I want for my son."

Miranda practically collapses with relief. "Does this mean you won't fight for custody and you'll let Billy grow up with Thaao as his father?"

"Not exactly." Jerry pauses, turning around to face Miranda, revealing the anger and despair in his eyes. But Miranda detects something else there too: Determination. "Thaao may raise him and be called daddy, but Billy will always be my son. Don't ever ask me to give him up. There will never be a time that I would allow your husband to adopt my son. That being said, I won't fight for custody under the following conditions."

"Name them." Miranda holds her breath.

"I get pictures and progress reports on his development every six months. Once he's in school, I want report cards. If you hire a tutor, I want the tutor's reports on his progress. If I hear a whisper he is unhappy, or that you've divorced Thaao, I'll be back here to claim him. If you go into hiding, I'll hunt you down like a dog. I'll make what the Cassadines did to you look like a walk in the park. Is that clear?"

Miranda nods meekly. "Completely. Thank you, Jer, for Billy's sake as well as mine." Thaao walks in the room.

Jerry turns around again to resume his study of the night sky. "I didn't do this for you. What ever kind feelings that remained died on the beach this afternoon. I suggest you find me some pictures. I'm not leaving without them."

Miranda leaves the men alone in the room to go in search of pictures. Thaao, unable to stand the tense silence, breaks the ice. "I'll do right by Billy, Jer. He's a wonderful kid. I wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

Jerry turns to face Thaao again. "For your own sake, I hope you uphold that promise. If I find out differently, I'll make it my mission to destroy you; you know I'm capable of it."

Miranda interrupts the tense moment by walking back into the room. "Here are the pictures you asked for." She hands him a thick envelope and his jacket. "From birth to just a few months ago."

Jerry stows the envelope in his jacket. "Good bye, Miranda... Thaao. Have a nice life." Jerry leaves without waiting to be escorted out.

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Early Monday morning, Carly sips a cup of coffee while she reads the newspaper, thankful that Anthony hasn't awake up yet. The mornings when Anthony slept in were precious and far between. She adores Anthony, but once he's up there won't be a moment's peace.

As if on an alarm clock, the phone rings and Anthony starts yowling at the same time. Carly picks up the phone on the way to her son's crib. "Hello?"

"Hi, Carly, it's Justus Ward." He hears Anthony crying in the background. "Did I call at a bad time?"

"Justus, if you wait for the perfect time to call, you'll have to wait until Anthony's old enough for school! What can I do for you?" Carly hands Anthony his favorite toy, kissing his forehead affectionately as she picks him up. Anthony quiets momentarily.

Justus gives a little laugh at Carly's quip. "I'd like to come over later to discuss Ruby's will. Do you have some free time?"

Carly puts Anthony in his high chair and begins preparing his breakfast. "Ruby's will? That's weird! I don't work today, so anytime works for me. Anthony takes his nap at one if you want it to be uninterrupted, that's the best time."

"I get your point. I'll see you at one then. Good bye, Carly." Justus rings off.

Justus fills his brief case full of folders. Edward walks in and pours himself a glass of orange juice. "Good morning, Justus. You're here early this morning."

"I have a full day planned, Edward. I'm meeting with the executives about the acquisition in a half an hour and you still haven't told me what you think of the proposal." Justus pours himself a glass of orange juice also as he waits for Edward.

"I looked it over last night, everything looks in order." Edward picks up the paper and reads the front page. At the bottom, a story headline catches his eye: 'Hornsby Dies In Plane Crash.' "Oh this is terrible!"

Justus looks over Edward's shoulder. "Hornsby?"

"Paul Hornsby, Dylan's father! I better get a hold of Tracy right away! Excuse me, Justus. Don't say anything to Lila, I want to be the one to tell her." Edward leaves in a rush.

.............................

Commissioner Garcia sits with Taggert and Keesha in his office discussing the murders of Luke and Sonny.

Garcia:"What have you got so far? Taggert why don't you start first?"

Taggert pulls out a small note pad, referring to it as he summarizes his findings. "Well, Commissioner, we haven't been able to track down Harry Silver. But according to the word on the street he was around the night of the shootings. In fact we busted a perp last week that remembers Jason looking for him after the shootings took place. But no one's seen him since. I checked the DMV records and he received a parking ticket in Beecher's Corner a couple days before. His car was a black sedan matching the description of the sedan involved in the drive by shooting.""

Garcia:"Sounds like Harry's the trigger man. Any idea where he was staying before the shooting?"

Taggert:"Must have been staying under an assumed name, and he used cash because the run on his credit didn't turn up anything north of NYC. But I was able to track down a cell phone number on him from that same perp. No calls to Morgan, Corinthos or Stefan Cassadine. But he did make two calls to Greece, both on the day of the shootings. I was able to pinpoint the location last night."

Garcia:"Greece?"
Taggert:"Yeah. The Cassadine estate."

Keesha gives Taggert a puzzled look. "But Stefan and Nikolas Cassadine are here. Who is left there? This doesn't make sense."

Garcia:"Perhaps Helena Cassadine isn't as incapacitated as we were lead to believe. It's a well known fact that she hated the Spencers at least as much as Stefan did."

Taggert:"There's more. Jason Morgan and Alexis Davis disappeared last week. I had cops stake out the airport. Alexis and Jason came back via the Cassadine Jet. I plan to go interview the air traffic controllers today and find out where they were headed."
Keesha pipes in. "I've been keeping a close eye on Stefan's movements. He apparently flew suddenly to Switzerland last week. The weird part is he brought Laura AND Lulu back with him.I'm going to be checking with the customs agent today and see what we turn up."

Garcia:"Great work so far. Keesha, check the flight activity for the Cassadine jet from just prior to the shooting until now. Maybe that's how Harry disappeared so suddenly. Taggert, any more information on Jason Morgan?"

Taggert:"Word on the street is Morgan inherited all of Sonny's holdings. I'm thinking he had a motive to kill Sonny. He wanted his turf and he wanted his wife."

Keesha:"You think Jason is having an affair with Alexis and that's why he killed Sonny?"

Taggert:"The two of them have been joined at the hip since Sonny's death. Jason's behavior the night of the shootings was more than strange. One of the nurses reported that he was on the hospital pay phone for hours, then he just took off."

Keesha:"Jason's got a girlfriend, Robin Scorpio."

Taggert:"You mean the girl with HIV who goes to school out of town? Well that explains it... maybe he wants plain old fashioned sex."

Keesha scowls at Taggert but says nothing.

Garcia rubs his chin thoughtfully. "So how did Lulu and Laura Spencer leave the country? And what was Stefan doing in Switzerland? Perhaps that's where Harry is. Once we have a little more information, Keesha, we'll go interview Mr Stefan Cassadine. Taggert, you keep an eye on Alexis Corinthos and Jason Morgan."

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