Chapter Ten
Luke unlocks the back door to his office. After meeting with the Q’s, Luke and Laura decided to return to his office to make a few phone calls and brainstorm more ideas to find Lucky and Emily.
Luke walks straight for his private liquor cabinet and squats down, rummaging around for a minute until he locates his best whisky. Straightening up, he holds two shot glasses between his fingers.
"Darlin’, you know I do my best thinking after a little bite of the best. Gentlemen first." Luke says. Laura smiles and accepts an empty shot glass from Luke. Luke downs his whisky in one satisfying gulp. He lets out a big ahhh of exclamation, smacks his lips, and stares at Laura.
"Your turn, Angel," he says as he pours her a generous shot. "Bottoms up!" Laura takes a tiny sip from her shot glass and makes a face. "Ewww," she says. "Is this the best you have?"
Luke looks at Laura with a bit of impatience. "It only works if you swallow all at once, darlin’. This ain’t yer mother’s cooking sherry," he admonishes.
Laura sighs and raises her eyes to the ceiling while making a sign of the cross. "Here goes nothing!" she says. Laura throws the contents of the shot glass straight for her throat and swallows. For a moment there is silence. All of a sudden Laura starts jumping up and down and leaping from side to side like in a bizarre folk dance. She waves her hand in front of her mouth as if attempting to cool an out of control fire. "AHHH….AHHHH……AHHHH…."she yells.
"Should I call the fire department or an exorcist?" laughs Luke. He’s really enjoying this show. Luke grabs Laura’s hands and begins dancing with her – twirling her around and going for one deep dip before depositing her into a chair.
Luke walks behind his desk. He plops solidly into his chair, winks at Laura and says, "Time to get crackin’" as he slaps his hands on the top of his desk, and picks up the phone receiver.
As Luke proceeds to call his contacts, placing phone call after phone call, Laura gets up and wanders around his office. She pauses before several mementos, remembering a specific time and place associated with each trinket. She picks up a piece of petrified wood that Lucky had given Luke when Lucky was four years old.
***flashback***
<<<They were in Arizona, on the run from Frank Smith’s gang. Entertainment was mostly television behind closed doors, and Lucky had fallen in love with the Star Wars trilogy. To his four-year-old mind, it seemed like Darth Vader must be his daddy’s father since only daddy was Luke. The reason they had to be so afraid was that the bad man was looking for daddy. Lucky had found the special fossil and declared that it would be daddy’s protection from the bad man. Laura remembers him excitedly telling her his plan. Mommy, mommy, this is a special rock from Yoda. He said it would protect daddy and no one will ever be afraid again! I want to put it in his pocket to surprise him. Can I, please, Mommy? Lucky’s baby blue eyes danced with excitement.>>>
Laura smiles wistfully and places the petrified wood back on the shelf. Luke is an old softly at heart, she thinks. Thirteen years later and he can’t bear to part with this "gift" from his boy.
Luke’s voice snaps Laura out of her reverie. "BINGO!" Luke shouts. "Laura, I know where the kids have gone. The trace on Emily’s credit card leads to Llanview, Pennsylvania. Last night, she bought two bus tickets with her VISA. Now if we can figure out why they went there, we should be able to find them soon. Let’s go back to the Q’s and rattle their cages again!"
~*~*~*~
Vicki and Emily return to Llanfair with as many packages as they can carry. They laugh as they stagger toward the door, and Vicki cannot enter because of the barrier of boxes and bags in her arms.
Once in the foyer, Vicki directs Emily to deposit her packages and wait for her in the library while she prepares some tea for them. Emily sits in the library and looks around. She doesn’t know when the last time is that she’s been so content. She used to go on all-day shopping trips with her mom, Paige, before Paige died of cancer. Emily and Monica never went shopping. The servants always picked up whatever they requested or needed. Monica was too busy with her career and Alan’s drug addictions or infidelities to engage in much girl talk. Emily’s eyes fill with tears as she realizes how much she really, really, misses having an older woman look after her and ask her opinion about things.
Vicki enters the study with a tray full of tea biscuits and a hot teapot full of tea. She places the tray on the large table that separates the loveseats. She doesn’t miss the fact that Emily is sniffing and trying to hold back tears.
Vicki pours the tea, and the two nibble on biscuits for a few minutes without talking. Vicki looks worried and breaks the silence. "Honey, do you want to tell me why you ran away from home?"
Emily’s eyes widen in shock. How did she know? "What do you mean, Mrs. Carpenter?" Emily is buying time.
Vicki states, "Sweetie, no one comes for an extended visit with no suitcase and no change of clothes. And, I don’t think that this young man you seem so fond of is your brother, Jason."
Emily doesn’t know what to say. She wishes Lucky were here. He’d definitely know what to say. All of a sudden, Emily realizes how tired she is and how emotionally tense. She had left town, telling no one where she was going. Emily doesn’t have the first idea how she and Lucky are going to survive on their own. Mrs. Carpenter seems so nice and genuinely concerned that Emily gives into her fears and confides in her.
"Mrs. Carpenter…"
"You can call me Vicki," Vicki gently says.
"Vicki….um…Jason really is my brother. But, this Jason isn’t Jason. He’s a friend of mine called Lucky. Lucky Spencer."
"Honey, why did you and Lucky run away to Llanview?" Vicki asks.
At this point, Emily isn’t sure any more why they ran. "It was more on the spur of the moment I think," Emily explains. "We both felt a lot of pressure at home. Some things had happened to us, and we changed because of that. Everyone seemed to want us to stay the same, and they just ignored our feelings. It got to be too much so we ran." Emily shakes her head.
"Don’t you think your family would want to know that you are alright? They must be very worried about you. My daughter has run off before, and I know that I would have given anything to know that she was safe," Vicki says. "You can stay here as long as you want, but I do ask that you let your family know how to reach you."
"That seems fair," Emily nods.
~*~*~*~
Luke bursts into the Quartermaine mansion and past an irritated Reginald. Laura walks behind Luke and gives Reginald a shrug of apology. "No need for announcements, Jeeves," says Luke. "I have information! Bring on the Q’s"
Edward pads into the living room in his robe and slippers. "Spencer! What are you doing here at this hour. My lovely wife Lila and I are ready to retire for the evening. Laura, can’t you restrain your husband?" Laura just smiles and shrugs her shoulders again.
"Edward, I may know where Emily and Lucky are!" says Luke with a spark of excitement in his eyes and triumph in his voice.
At this point, Monica and Alan come into the room, also in their robes and slippers. Alan asks, "What’s this about Emily? You found her?"
"Alan, I traced Emily’s credit card and came up with a transaction for two bus tickets to Llanview, Pennsylvania and a transaction date of yesterday," states Luke.
"Llanview…..Llanview….." says Monica softly. "Why does that name seem so familiar?" She shakes her head with a puzzled look. "Oh my gosh!" Monica exclaims. "I know someone who lives in Llanview. Vicki Carpenter. She is an acquaintance from the East Coast social circuit. She has a lovely daughter, Jessica. Emily and Jessica really hit it off at the last ball. I wonder if they went to see Jessica?"
"BINGO!" yells Luke. "Do you have a phone number for this lady?"
"I’ll go find my address book," Monica says. She runs from the room to retrieve the book.
At the same moment that Monica leaves the room, the telephone rings.
Reginald enters the room with a portable phone. "Sir," he addresses Edward. "Your granddaughter is on the phone."
~*~*~*~
The Cassadine yacht is now docked at the Port Charles marina. Helena is at her desk reviewing a spreadsheet displayed on her iMac laptop. The corporate logo in the top right corner reads, "Buchanan Enterprises" with Confidential placed beneath it in bold. Andreas walks over to the desk with a portable phone in hand. "Your expected phone call, madam. From Llanview, Pennsylvania." Helena takes the phone and places her reading glasses on the desk.
"You’ve located Lucky Spencer? Good. What? He’s not alone. Yes…yes….hmm…..take them both then." Helena hands the phone back to Andreas. "Prepare for an extra guest, will you please, Andreas?" Helena strolls over to the ever-present chessboard in the drawing room. She picks up a pawn and rubs it against her lips while deep in thought. She casually throws the pawn into the nearby leather wastebasket. Helena smiles. "Pawns are ever so useful – and so easily replaced."
Luke gets some bootie
Missing!!!
Alexis sinks the launch (almost)
Beware undertakers speaking Greek