Criminal Minds
Chapter One
It was a cold December day in Port Charles and its citizens were a-buzz with holiday shopping, Christmas decorations and dealing with the latest round of murders caused by its out of control mobsters.
Detective Dante Falconeri couldn't help but frown at the irony. Christmas time was usually his favorite time of year, but lately, he felt anything but holiday cheer. The fond memories of large Italian get-togethers in Brooklyn were clouded by his overwhelming frustration that his hard work was getting him nowhere.
He had obtained evidence that would put any other criminal behind bars but not Sonny Corinthos. For some reason the mob boss had some impenetrable shield that no one could touch. Dante had half a mind to quit and go back to Bensonhurst, at the very least to have a break from lying day in and day out to those around him and then move on to the next undercover beat.
But his pride was something else. Mr. Pirelli's haunting memory and how he had taken care of him as a little boy kept him going forward. But then there were Sonny's children, especially Morgan. He was scared of how Morgan would look at him once the mob boss was behind bars. And Lulu Spencer... she was another factor in his hesitation.
He sighed deeply. He had never pursued a woman undercover unless it was to use her to get information. But Lulu was different. At first, he enjoyed the flirtation between them and wrote her off as another pretty girl. As time went on, however, she kept being thrown into his sphere and his initial attraction became more.
Now, she knew he was undercover, knew his real name and was keeping his secret. The fact that she had not told anyone else about his "true identity" told him a lot about her character, at least she could be trusted. That made him feel a little better.
As he reached the edge of the Elm Street peer he stared out at the lights radiating from the Haunted Star. He was starting to feel desperation. He wanted Corinthos behind bars. The question was how badly and how much would he lose in the process?
*******
On the other side of town, Lulu Spencer was having a hard time catching the words coming out of her best friends mouth. Maxie had recently had a one-night stand with a reclusive if not creepy, yet admittedly sexy artist that was in town and was feeling immense guilt. As much as Lulu loved her friend, she was caught in the middle and was yet again, harboring someone else's secret.
"Lulu! Can you please for one minute just listen to me? How am I supposed to help Jason find Franco without letting Spinelli know that I cheated? And how do I find him to do the Crimson shoot?" Maxie said, pacing up and down her apartment, short of breath.
"Oh my God, I might have a panic attack-wait-call 911, I'm going to faint!" Maxie all but screamed. "Oh god! Why did I do this, I mean this is like vintage Maxie, not the reformed Maximista Spinelli has recently non-wedded! Lulu, what do I do?"
"Maxie! Chill. I already told you, you need to tell Spinelli what happened. I know this sounds trite but you really need to come clean," Lulu said. "It's not fair to Spinelli to keep this from him."
"Lulu, that's the worst advice I've ever heard," Maxie said rolling her eyes. "Not only will Spinelli hate me for life, but I could risk losing my job if Kate ever finds out I slept with Franco while on the clock. No, no. I'm not going to come clean. I just have to find a way to make it up to Spinelli--you know without him knowing that I did anything wrong in the first place and you are going to help me in my mission."
"Ok, for the record I still think you should just talk to Spinelli. Oh, and if this involves anymore sex costumes, I'm out." Lulu said.
*****
In a dark studio overlooking Port Charles, a shadowy figure sits throwing darts at photographs glued to a canvas. A bloody "X" was drawn over a picture of Maxie Jones. A makeshift target drawn over Lulu Spencer's face