CHAPTERS 7 & 8

 

 

Chapter 7 Packing Light

A small florist shop on the outskirts of Atlantic City. After Jason's men secure the area around the shop, a long black limo with tinted bullet proof glass rolls up to park at the entrance, effectively protecting it from machine gun fire. Jason and Landers disembark from the limo and enter through the front of the florist shop while Joseph and Rinaldo stand guard.

After a slight nod to the proprietor, Jason and Landers make their way to the back room which has been set up for a meeting. A round table is situated in the center with three chairs. In soft tones, Jason relays last minute instructions to Landers. A few moments later, mob bosses Salino and Smith arrive through the back door, each accompanied by one man. Jason's men close off the back exit, leaving the front door as the only viable exit.

Jason shakes hands with Salino and Smith before taking a seat. Landers and the two men with Salino and Smith stand back from the table, in a readiness pose with their hands crossed in front. The men silently assess one another.

"Mr Smith, Mr Salino, thank you for agreeing to meet me," Jason begins. "Since we are all busy men, I'll get straight to the point. We have a serious situation. There has been some rogue gang activity in my town, which is being used to funnel drugs through my territory."

Jason pauses to look at the two men carefully, who glance at each other and at Jason nervously. Finally Salino speaks up. "Understandably you're upset, Jason, but what does this have to do with us? We haven't had any trouble in our territory."

Jason pulls a legal size envelope from inside his leather jacket. "It has to do with you because four men from your organization have been connected to the trouble in my territory." He removes pictures from the envelope, which include snapshots of the men caught in the act. He offers it up to the two mob bosses to examine. "As you can see, they have been very busy."

A long silence ensues as the two men look over the pictures carefully one by one. Finally the mob boss Smith speaks. "We had no idea these men were working your territory or we would have put a stop to it immediately. The agreement between us is too important to jeopardize and war is bad for everyone."

"Exactly," Jason says flatly. "Then you won't mind if I do a little housekeeping on my territory? Since they have overstepped their bounds, they've become my responsibility."

Salino coughs nervously and glances at Smith. "Of course, if these men have stepped out of bounds, which it appears they have, they must be disciplined. These men are our responsibility since they have gone rogue from their duties here. Save yourself the trouble and allow us to discipline them."

"It is our wish to continue peaceful coexistence. Anything we can do to facilitate that, we will do," Smith adds.

Jason stares at the two men, his expression stony, his eyes a penetrating icy blue. Landers smiles grimly behind them. Jason speaks. "Then we understand each other. War is never profitable, Gentleman. Let it be understood that if there is further activity from men in your organization in my territory, it will be handled with swift and deadly force. I don't want a war, but rest assured I will be ready if it becomes necessary."

Jason rises first, signifying the end of the meeting. Landers follows him out of the room, with Salino, Smith and their men trailing behind. While Jason walks directly to the waiting limo outside, Landers waves down the florist, saying loud enough for the mob bosses and their right hands to hear. "Sir, I'd like to set the time of delivery on those four floral arrangements I ordered earlier... "

Monica and Alan stride purposefully into Kelly's Diner, which happens to be in the midst of it's dinner rush. They glance around searchingly for a moment and when they don't find the person they're looking for, they make their way to the counter. A waitress that looks to be in her early twenties comes out from the kitchen carrying steaming hot plates of food. Alan and Monica stand in her path. Alan addresses her. "We're looking for Carly."

The harried waitress blows a strand of hair out of her face impatiently and looks them up and down. "She's not here. She's at the hospital, she works as a nurse there." She pushes past them to deliver the plates to a waiting table. Monica follows her behind her. "We're looking for our daughter, Emily, and were hoping Carly might know where she is. Do you happen to know?"

The waitress brushes past them again, this time heading for another table to take an order. "Sorry, all I know is Carly called me this morning, asking me to cover Emily's shift. I have no idea where she is."

Monica returns to Alan and they confer. "Well, let's call Carly at GH. It's our best bet."

Alan retrieves his cell phone from his breast pocket and dials. "Yes, this is Dr Alan Quartermaine, I need to speak to Carly immediately...." His voice becomes belligerent in the face of being refused." I don't care, I'm the chief of staff and if I need to talk to one of the nurses.... oh, I see. No, if she's assisting a surgery, you can't disturb her. Could you have her call me as soon as she's done? ... Yes, my cell phone's the best bet, thank you."

Monica shakes her head in frustration. "No luck. Well, then I guess we need to get into Emily's apartment."

"I'll handle the waitress, here she comes." Alan steps in front of the waitress and smiles at her kindly. "We really need your help, Miss...?"

The waitress sits back on her heels and stares at him suspiciously. "My name's Jen. Look, like I already told your wife, I don't know where Emily is. I'm sorry I can't help you."

"Jen," Alan begins again. "We really need to get into Emily's apartment upstairs. It's a matter of life and death that we get a hold of her and we think we might get a clue as to where she might be if we see her apartment."

The waitress, Jen, shakes her head emphatically. "Sorry, only people allowed near the keys are the boarders and Carly. Strict orders from Carly."

Monica steps forward. "You don't understand. Under normal circumstances we wouldn't be standing here asking this of you. But we're really afraid Emily might be in some sort of trouble. Just tell us where the keys are and we'll take the heat from Carly."

Jen moves past them to head towards the kitchen. "Sorry, can't help you."

This time Alan raises his voice slightly. "Jen, we are not going away. In fact, we could make your life very unpleasant in the next few minutes if you don't help us. My wife and I could raise a ruckus in here so fast, it'd clear the place. How would THAT sit with Carly? Or better yet, we could go upstairs and break Emily's door down. OR... you could help us out a little and give us the key, let us take a look around, and Carly wouldn't be the wiser."

Jen pauses at the door to the kitchen for a minute scowling at the choices they've given her. She really needs the tips from tonight, and if Carly hears that she lost business on one of their busiest nights of the week, she'd want to know why. And while she could call the cops on Emily's parents, she suspects it would cause more trouble than it'd be worth. Jen shrugs her shoulders and goes behind the counter to retrieve a set of keys and throws them at Alan who fumbles to catch them.. "If I get in trouble for this..."

Monica looks at her gratefully. "You won't. No one will even know we're there, not even Emily. Thank you, Jen."

"I'll give you five minutes, then I'm coming after you," Jen calls as she enters the kitchen.

Alan and Monica rush up the stairs to Emily's door. Within moments, they are in her room. They find her it somewhat disordered but otherwise intact.

They walk around the room, looking for clues as to Emily's whereabouts. "Well, it doesn't appear that she's left town," Monica says with a sigh of relief.

"Or that she left in such a hurry she didn't take much with her," Alan adds, while opening her closet and looking inside. "Her overnight bag is gone. Still think she's in town?"

"But if she were going for good, she'd pack her mementos," Monica argues. She crosses the room and opens the dresser drawers. She notices bare spots in each neatly packed drawer. "It does look like she's packed for a short trip at least."

Alan paces the room angrily. "If that punk kid has run off with our daughter, so help me I'm going to wring his scrawny little neck."

"We don't know that's what happened, Alan. When I spoke to Laura earlier, she said Lucky took all his mementos with him, like he was planning to be gone for good. If Emily went with him, she'd do the same thing." Monica points to Emily's picture of her mother Paige. "And most of all, she'd never leave without Paige's picture."

Alan calms slightly at her well made point. "Okay, supposing she didn't run off with Lucky. Then where the hell is she?"

"What do you mean Lucky's left?" Lulu asks her mother plaintively. "When's he coming back?"

Laura strokes her daughter's hair soothingly. "I'm not sure, Sweetheart. Lucky's in a lot of pain right now and he thought the only way to deal with it was to leave Port Charles for a while. But he loves you very much, so I know it won't be long before you hear from him."

"I don't understand. Why would he leave if he loves me?" Lulu asks softly, her bottom lip trembling.

"I wish I could explain it better, Honey. But all I can guess is he felt he needed to leave for a while to sort things out. You know how you sometimes get upset and need sometime in your room by yourself to figure things out?"

Lulu ponders that for a minute. "I guess."

"Well it's like that for Lucky right now but a lot bigger and more complicated than that. So we need to give him some time to calm down," Laura explains. Silently she prays that this is true, for both Lulu and herself.

But as in most small children, Lulu's capacity for understanding is overruled by her own needs. "I don't care. I want Lucky! I miss Lucky!" She wails. Jumping off the couch in a shot, she makes a dash for the stairs, only to be halted by running headlong into Stefan's legs as he enters the room.

Stefan grabs Lulu's shoulders. "Angel?! What's wrong?"

"Let me go! I want to be alone!" She cries, struggling to get away.

Laura rises from the couch. "Let her go, Stefan. She'll be alright."

Stefan releases Lulu who runs out of the room. "I gather you told her about Lucky?" He asks.

Laura sighs heavily, turning towards the window to look out. "Yes, and she took the news as I would have expected."

 

Chapter 8: Lines Of Communication

Alan anxiously paces the floor of the Quartermaine living room while Monica sits on the couch watching him. Neither utter a word, knowing that to do so might very well lead them to full-fledged panic. The room is filled with the sound of the clock ticking and Alan's restless pacing.

Edward enters the room; takes one look at their anxiety-ridden faces and says, "Okay, what's happened now? You two look like you expect your best friend to die any minute."

Monica sighs with exaggerated patience. "No one's dying, Edward. Lucky's left town and no one seems to know where Emily is."

"Do you think she ran off with that rapscallion, Lucky Spencer?" Edward says with a growl. "Never can trust those infernal Spencers. But if you ask me, it's all your fault. If you two hadn't bungled things so badly with Emily, she'd be living at home where she belongs."

Alan glares at Edward. "Father, put a sock in it! The last thing Monica and I need is to have you telling us what horrible parents we are."

"If you don't have anything helpful to say, just be quiet, Edward," Monica adds.

Edward continues as if Monica hadn't said anything. "Sitting around and wringing our hands isn't going to help us find Emily. You need to call her friends, look through her apartment for clues..."

Monica rolls her eyes. "We've already done that, Edward. We're not nearly as helpless or stupid as you think we are. " The phone rings, interrupting the argument. Monica, who's closest, picks up the phone. "Quartermaine residence."

"Hi Monica, it's Ned."

Monica smiles. "Ned, this is a surprise! How is everything in Bensonhurst?"

"Lois and the kids are great, but I'm actually calling to tell you that Emily is here with us. Thought you might be getting a little worried by now," Ned explains.

"Emily's with you?!" Monica exclaims. "Oh Ned! You have no idea how worried we've been! Thank you for calling. Is she okay?" Alan walks up beside Monica, still looking worried but also relieved to know that Emily's safe. He strains to hear what Ned's saying.

Ned reassures her. "Emily needed some time away from Port Charles to sort some things out, but I predict she'll be back in Port Charles ready to take on the world any day..."

"Give me the phone, Monica. I want to talk to Ned," Alan demands with his hand outstretched.

"Hold on, Ned. Alan wants to talk to you." Monica hands the phone to Alan.

"Okay, Ned," Alan says commandingly. "Give it to me straight. This have anything to do with Lucky Spencer? I want to know everything."

Ned can be seen looking nervously around before answering softly. "As a matter of fact, it has everything to do with Lucky Spencer. Lois would skin me alive for telling you this, but you deserve to know. Lucky Spencer had the audacity to ask Emily to marry him and run off with him."

"WHAT?!" Alan shouts. "I'll kill him with my bare hands!" Monica and Edward look at him in alarm.

"Now calm down, Alan," Ned replies sharply to get his uncle's attention. "She didn't run off with him. In fact, she told him no on both counts which shows a lot of maturity. He left town right after and she's pretty broken up by the whole ordeal. But Emily's a strong kid, she'll be fine. Personally, I could kick Lucky Spencer's butt into next year but since he's not around, all we can do is help Emily get through it. Don't make me sorry I told you."

Alan nods. "Thanks for letting us know, Ned. I owe you one. Give Emily a kiss from us. Bye"

Alan returns the phone to the cradle and Edward, not able to restrain his curiosity, demands,"Well? What did Ned say?"

"Apparently Lucky tried to get Emily to marry him and run off with him," Alan says numbly. "By some grace of God, Emily said no."

Monica's mouth hangs open. "I can't believe it.... at least Emily showed some smarts. I guess we can trust Emily to be on her own."

"The hell we can!" Alan bursts out. "Just because we were lucky this time and she said no to that punk doesn't mean I intend to stand by and let something like that happen ever again! I'm calling the lawyer tomorrow to press forward with the court order. Emily's coming home and that's final."

Lila sits in her wheelchair at the doorway unnoticed by everyone. Shaking her head sadly after hearing Alan's words and the ensuing argument, she maneuvers her wheelchair back out of the room.

Early morning at Wyndemere. Stefan lies awake while Laura sleeps soundly beside him. The night had started as he expected.... Laura lying far on one side of the bed, stiff and guarded, with him at the other end. As the night had wore on, however, she had inevitably gravitated towards him in her restless sleep, seeking his warmth and comfort. Now she lays nestled in his arms, her hand on his chest, her leg draped over his naturally, a peaceful contented look on her face.

This is where she belonged; while her conscious mind refuses to acknowledge it, her unconscious can't. He resists the powerful urge to kiss her awake, not wanting to ruin his happiness or the peace she's found. Soon he would make love to her, but not this morning.

Laura wakens slowly, at first snuggling deeper in his arms and smiling. Then she sits bolt upright in bed, looking at him accusingly. "You... you.."

Stefan sighs. "Yes, I held you when you sought me out in the middle of the night. And yes, I confess, I found it immensely pleasurable to hold my WIFE in our bed."

Laura flushes deep pink. "I..I didn't know... I'm so..."

"DON'T!" Stefan snaps, pulling himself out of bed angrily. "Don't you dare be sorry that you spent time in my arms this morning!"

"I meant I'm sorry for accusing you," Laura corrects earnestly. "I wasn't being fair when you've been so sweet and respectful. I'm just sorry I can't give you more of myself."

Stefan grabs his robe and heads towards the bathroom. "Obviously you have more to give than you previously thought!" He slams the bathroom door behind him, cutting off further discussion.

Early morning meeting at Jason's Penthouse. Landers and Benny are present, along with Joseph and Rinaldo.

"Landers, give me your impression of the meeting yesterday," Jason demands quietly.

"They were definitely hiding something," Landers replied. "While I couldn't tell much from Salino's or Smith's faces, their right hands were nervously darting looks at each other."

Jason nods. "Salino and Smith have good poker faces, but not good enough. They lied through their teeth. I expect big trouble in the next week." He turns to Benny. "Which brings me to why I asked you here. I want you to get Carly and the kid out of town and far away from here. I'll station my people at the diner and run it for her while she's gone. Should take a couple weeks, tops."

Benny rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe a little visit to my mom and pop in Puerto Rico. Pop is always asking me about Carly's kid. Mom loves kids too and is always clamoring for me to visit. I can leave Carly there and come back to help out."

Jason shakes his head adamantly. "No, you stay with Carly and keep her level. Besides, I made a promise to your dad when you came on board that I'd keep you out of the line of fire. It's not your area of expertise anyway. Landers, get the word out to everyone to watch for any unusual activity."

Benny stands. "Unless you need anything further, I better make some travel arrangements."

Jason rises and shakes his hand. "Thanks, Man. If you have trouble convincing Carly, let me know. I can usually get her to listen to reason."

Mrs Lansbury answers the ringing phone. "Cassadine residence."

"Yeah, I ... uh.. need to talk to Lulu," A young male voice replies. Loud boisterous voices can be heard in the background.

Mrs Lansbury glances down at a small box attached to the phone and smiles slightly. "Of course, let me get her for you."

A moment later, Lulu comes to the phone. Mrs Lansbury stands out of sight but within hearing distance. "Hello?" Lulu answers.

"Hey, Little Sister!"

"Lucky!" Lulu says with a bounce."I knew you'd call me! When are you coming home?" Mrs Lansbury slips away.

"Not for a little while, Sis," Lucky answers sadly, feeling guilty for lying. "I have a lot of things I need to do. I just called because I didn't want you worrying about me."

"But I miss you!" Lulu pleads, almost in tears. "Promise you'll come back soon."

"I'll promise something even better," Lucky says with forced lightness. "I'll send you postcards and cool stuff I find while I'm traveling. And I'll call whenever I can. Okay?"

"I don't want stupid postcards and stuff, I want you."

Lucky swallows the lump in his throat. Damn this was too hard. "I'm sorry, Lu. I can't come home now. It's complicated. Just know I love you and I'm thinking about ya all the time. Hey, someone wants to use the phone, I have to go. See ya later, Sis."

"Lucky!!" Lulu's voice verges on panic.

"Yeah?"

"I love you," Lulu cries brokenly.

Lucky swipes a tear out of the corner of his eye. "Back at ya. Be good but not too good, you here?"

"Okay." Lulu says with a sniff.