Chapter Nine
5:30 AM
Stefan grips the phone receiver tightly as he speaks in a clipped tone. "Demetrius, notify your men to proceed with the plan at 6:00 AM sharp. Timing is crucial to avoid detection. The Jaguar and its occupant will be in place? Report back to me at 7:00 AM." Stefan steps over to the window in his study to watch the brilliant red and pink blaze of the rising sun. "Don’t disappoint me, Demetrius," Stefan harshly warns his henchman. "The price of failure is higher than you are willing to pay."
~*~*~*~
Luke and Laura stand in the hospital hallway, locked in a never-ending embrace, hugging one another out of love, fear, and hope. Ian had just left Lucky and reported that he is finally emerging from his unconscious state. The ventilator has been removed, and Lucky is beginning to breathe on his own. The relief between husband and wife is evident. Luke looks deeply and warmly into Laura’s eyes, and smoothes his hand over her flushed cheek as if he were seeing something special, new and everlasting for the first time.
"You are so precious to me, darlin,’" Luke murmurs as he kisses Laura’s lips. "Our son is going to be alright. You know that, don’t you?"
Laura looks up at Luke and tentatively nods.
"I don’t know how much more I can take, Luke," Laura sighs as tears fill her eyes. "Both of my sons are in the hospital, and I don’t know when life is ever going to be normal again."
"Was it ever normal?" snorts Luke wickedly.
Laura shrugs. "I guess not. I just want everyone to be happy and healthy," she insists.
"Me, too," Luke says as he pulls open the door to his son’s hospital room.
Lucky’s eyes are open when Luke and Laura return to the room. His blue eyes are fixed on the wall beside him, and he takes in shallow, quick breaths.
"Cowboy," says Luke gently as he touches Lucky’s arm.
Lucky jumps and his startled eyes widen with fright as he turns to see who touched him. His blood pressure rises, and his cheeks turn bright pink.
"Are you okay, cowboy?" asks Luke with concern.
Lucky blinks his eyes several times with a blank look on his face and turns away.
Luke glances over at Laura. "Maybe he’s hungry. Would you like me to find you something to eat, Lucky?" asks Laura.
Lucky doesn’t move or answer.
~*~*~*~
As Todd Manning sleeps, he senses another presence in the room. The uncomfortable feeling pushes his mind toward consciousness, and his eyelids suddenly pry open to a sight scarier than the nightmare he’d been dreaming.
"You!" he rasps with hatred and annoyance. "What are you doing here? The funeral is off, and you’re not in my will anyway."
The petite bleached blonde woman stands with her fists on her hips and a sneer on her pink glossed lips. Her Day-Glo tan flushes with anger. "That’s some mouth you have on you," she admonishes with an exaggerated expression on her face. "After all the trouble I had getting here to see you. This is the thanks I get? The train was late, and then when I tried to sip my coffee, this guy in the seat next to me says…"
"AAAAAHHHH!" screams Todd as he grasps his head in his hands in a desperate effort to cover his ears and block out the blathering noise emitting from his visitor’s bright, rapidly moving mouth.
"TINA!" the tall woman shouts as she stands in the doorway. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Todd’s sister turns and her mouth makes a sick expression as if she’d just eaten an old, moldy piece of cheese. "Blaiiir," she drawls out with a disgusted tone of voice.
Blair walks over to Tina and towers over her. "Answer me. You haven’t seen your brother in five years, and all of a sudden you show up. What are you after?"
"I might ask you the same question," sniffs Tina. "Last I heard, you were married to yet another Buchanan. Are you going to fake another pregnancy to try and put a hook in my brother again?"
Blair retorts, "Listen, sister, your brains are about as long as you are tall."
Tina huffs and puffs, looks confused, and then pouts.
Todd looks back and forth from his sister to his ex-wife and wishes for immediate unconsciousness.
~*~*~*~
5:58 AM
Nikolas sleeps peacefully in his hospital bed. The restraints have been off for over a day since his medications keep him sedated and calm. He has been nearly catatonic since Mac’s intense questioning yesterday. His mind was unable to handle the memories of Helena’s murder, and it promptly and decisively shut down. The nurse enters his room, checks his vitals, and changes his IV. She exits the room, and glances at her watch. She is not due back for another twenty minutes.
5:59 AM
A helpful orderly steps up to the two police guards stationed outside of Nikolas’ room. The police officers have been on duty for a long, boring twelve hours. Their shift is over in fifteen minutes, and they are looking forward to a nice, big country breakfast at Denny’s.
"Coffee’s on the house, friends," says the kind orderly as he offers two steaming cups to the tired officers.
One officer’s face creases as he smiles broadly. "Just what the doctor ordered," he jokes.
"You’re such a comedian, Joe," the other policeman smirks as he sips the warm, inviting beverage.
Joe looks down the hall after the orderly. "Nice guy," he comments approvingly. "Yeah," the other guard agrees as he takes another sip.
After another gulp of coffee, Joe looks puzzled. The coffee is starting to taste bitter. He looks over at his friend, but his vision wavers around the edges, and he feels his knees descend to the floor as the hallway first grows gray, then envelops him in inky blackness.
6:00 AM
Two orderlies step over the bodies of the two drugged policemen. One orderly pulls the bodies away from the doorway. They unlock the door to Nikolas' room and quickly wheel in a gurney. Nikolas’ sleep is broken by the noise of the squeaking wheel on the gurney. Alarmed, he rises to a sitting position in the bed with his mouth parted and eyes cautiously watching two strange men in his room. His hand moves the blanket on his bed, and he starts to get up. One orderly rushes over and cold-cocks him right in the face. The hard blow whips Nikolas’ head abruptly to the left, knocking him out. His body slumps half in and half out of the bed, and his limp arm drapes over a flat pillow.
"We were supposed to chloroform him!" protests one orderly.
"Well, he was supposed to be restrained. What difference does it make? It’s a moot point, he’s history," the other replies harshly. "Hurry up, let’s load him up and get out of here."
They grunt and strain as they lift Nikolas from the bed and lay him on his back with a thud. Nikolas’ head lolls sickly to the side like a broken doll. His cheek is bright red and puffy, and he is already forming a nasty black eye. They cover him completely with a white blanket and tightly fasten the body with a belt.
The orderlies wheel Nikolas swiftly to the service elevator and press the down button. Everything is on schedule, and no one sees them with their silent passenger.
Outside, in the back of the building, a black, unmarked van with tinted windows patiently waits. The orderlies race the gurney to the open doors and roughly dump the body inside. They jump in the van and slam the doors as the van squeals its tires in its quick exit from the hospital.
6:45 AM
The body is placed in the driver’s seat of the Jaguar, and black hair falls on its forehead as its head limply hangs down. An orderly buckles the seatbelt to hold it in place. He starts the car engine, holding down the brake with his right foot while he presses the body’s foot on the pre-broken gas pedal.
The orderly sharply leaps away from the car and slams the door with a swift hand motion. The Jaguar lunges and races for the large oak tree at a speed of 80 miles per hour before it collides with the frightening sound of furiously twisting metal and shattering glass. The planned crack in the gas line cooperates as it leaks gas in a liquid gush, igniting the sports car and sending its occupant to a fiery cremation.
~*~*~*~
7:00 AM
The phone rings shrilly on Stefan’s private line in his study. As Stefan’s hand reaches for the phone, his Cassadine ring glints in the soft light of the desk lamp and casts a shadow on the paperwork stacked neatly on the desk surface.
"Everything went as planned? No one saw you?" questions Stefan intently. "Yes, good," he replies. "And the Jaguar – it is completely demolished and destroyed by fire? Excellent. You will be richly rewarded, Demetrius."
Stefan hangs up the phone and looks pensive. His pained face looks down sharply at his ring as if it is a curse.
~*~*~*~
Sonny has tailed Sorel for two exhausting hours. He’s never been so bored in all his life. Sorel has decided to go shopping at Port Charles Mall, and he appears to have a fixation for cheese balls and framed posters of dancing bears.
Finally, Sorel stops in the Victoria’s Secret store. Sonny follows him in and hides behind a rack of laced merry widows. Sonny’s dark intense eyes peer between the size 8’s and 10’s as he separates the garments with his firm hands. The chipper sales girl approaches him two times, but he scowls at her and waves her off with an impatient hand.
Sorel stops in front of the padded bras and asks the sales girl how large they run. "Up to size 40D," the petite brunette smiles. Sorel clears his throat and looks around the store to see if anyone is near. He leans toward the girl and asks, "You don’t have anything in a size 52AA, do you?" Sorel’s eyes shift as he waits for an answer. "No, I’m sorry," the sales girl shakes her head sadly.
Carly catches up with Sonny. She’d lost him at the cheese shop, but stifles a laugh when she sees him crouched in women’s lingerie. A wicked thought crosses her mind, but she pushes it back to save for later. She hovers in the ladies’ panties section and casts a watchful eye on the two mobsters.
Sonny decides to make his move and rushes Sorel. He reaches for the balding man’s left arm and jerks it roughly behind his back. "Looking for something?" Sonny asks. "’Cause I’d like to show you the river bottom, face first."
"Get lost, Corinthos," hisses Sorel, wincing with pain. "Get back to that little wife of yours."
"Don’t you ever mention her to me, you creep," Sonny warns.
Sorel adjusts his stance, and his suit jacket falls back, revealing a large gun that Sonny doesn’t see.
Carly looks over from the ladies’ panties aisle and notices the vicious flash of the silver gun barrel. She panics as her mind races, wondering what to do and how to save Sonny.
Her hand bumps her purse, and she remembers the matches that she took three nights ago from the Port Charles Grill. Carly reaches into her purse and pulls out the matches. She lights a match and holds it next to the smoke detector alarm bolted to the wall. After two minutes, the heat makes the alarm ring loudly and the sprinklers are set off, showering the mobsters with bursts of cold water.
Sonny and Sorel both jump, and Sonny reacts by pushing Sorel into the lingerie display next to the cash register. Sorel falls back in a soggy heap as multi-colored panties litter his face like a warped Mardi Gras celebration. Sonny looks around and hastily beats a retreat out the door. Carly is waiting for him at the coffee shop next door, sipping a café latte. She raises her eyebrows and gives him a little baby wave. Sonny frowns, knowing somehow he’s been had.
Carly gets a questioning look on her face and points to something at Sonny’s side. A wet merry widow has caught on his suit jacket pocket on his run out of the store. He looks down at the garment in a moment of shock, but then a very wicked grin creases his face. His dimples flash as he looks over at his wife. He reaches for the lingerie, hands it to Carly, lifts his eyebrows and says, "Later, babe." Carly’s mouth opens in surprise, and she laughs long and hard.
A few "dark shadows"
Todd gets "Trumped"
Hear today, gone tomorrow