The Longest Night
This chapter takes place on February 7th in the city of Port Charles, New York between the hour 8pm and 9pm.
Chapter Nine
The Third Hour- Part Three
8:30 pm
Lucky was having a lousy night.
Between constant phone calls from Mac asking if Robin had showed up, then ordering Lucky to stop hotel guests from driving home, plus Mac wanted updates about Agent Leeds because the local cops were supposed to watch her back while she cozied up to Spinelli and Jason, Lucky was really started to get a headache.
And thinking about Sam being in Ethan's arms on the dance floor was not helping matters any.
Lucky paced around Carly's office as Spinelli worked on his computer. He had already pulled up a police record for Ethan citing some arrests for drunken disorderly a few months back, but nothing else for an Ethan Lovett with that same face.
Spinelli said "He seems to not be a threat by what I've found so far."
"Keep looking. This guy shows up out of nowhere and is all over Sam. Something is fishy about that."
"The Goddess is a beautiful woman. I don't mean to be impudent but might I ask if it is your jealousy making you not trust him?"
"I get a bad vibe off the guy."
A minute later, Spinelli let out a strange sound, sort of a mix between excitement and confusion.
Lucky moved closer to him. "You got something?"
"Well...I found...its seems that an Ethan Lovett has an adoption record filed in Melbourne with social services. On July 25th, 1985 a son was born to Kelly Anne Ryder. He went into foster care and was adopted later by the Lovett family."
"Even if it's the same guy that isn't the kinda stuff I want to know."
"But these adoption records say-"
"I don't care who raised him. I want to know if he's married or has criminal associates or something that I can't learn myself from pulling his rap sheet and running a background check. Get me what the cops can't find out through legal channels. I thought this is what you do best, Spinelli?"
"The Jackal assures you that given enough time I can find out anything and everything about The Mysterious Aussie but....look.....this might change your mind about the importance of this latest find. Look at who the father is."
Lucky leaned over and looked at the laptop screen. His eyebrow raised as he read the name. He spit out a curse word. Letting out a long breath, he then said "That's good enough for now. I got to go find Sam. Can you keep looking into this for me and get back to me later in the week?"
"Of course, Brother of the Blonde One, I shall continue my investigations of The Mysterious Aussie."
"I'll do the same. Whatever Ethan came to town for you can bet its gonna lead to nothing but trouble."
"I fear you may be correct in your assessment."
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8:38 pm
Ethan Lovett slipped out of the Penthouse and crept down the hall. He wore a mask to avoid his identity being revealed on security cameras.
He knew that he would have to make up a cover story for Sam- and hopefully she would buy it since she wasn't your average silly dame who fell for whatever he said- that would explain where he had been for the last hour. But it was well worth the trouble.
Tonight was the one night he was sure that neither Jax or his wife, Carly, might be in his Penthouse. She was too busy across the street at her benefit and his jet was currently flying over the Atlantic. It was the perfect time to sneak in and see what else he could uncover about the easiest mark in Port Charles.
Jax didn't come from old money like the Cassadines, Quatermaines, Barringtons and the like. They were always careful with their fortunes and on the look out for con artists. The only other really wealthy people in Port Charles were all criminals. Ethan wasn't looking to take a bullet in the head for a grift gone wrong. That left Jax.
He was a billionaire but he was also a risk taker. He lived for emotion. To feel the rush of climbing a mountain, bedding the most beautiful women on earth, landing a plane in the middle of a hurricane. Ethan planned to use that inherent reckless nature to his advantage when conning the man.
All indications were he was a sucker for family- and he was grieving the loss of his brother. What would he do for Jerry's long lost son? How much money would he fork over to give Ethan the lifestyle he had been denied when Jerry abandoned him at birth?
Being Jerry's son might not be the truth but it could work. Ethan had already laid the ground work by doctoring up adoption records, for when Jax went looking into it.
Since Ethan needed to be in Port Charles for other reasons anyway, he figured it was worth a try. He couldn't live in a town and not be working some kind of scheme to relieve someone of their hard earned cash. This one was just the latest.
He headed down the back stairs of the hotel and into the alley, ducked behind a dumpster. He had stashed a bag there earlier. He pulled off his mask, changed his coat and yanked a hat out of the new coat's pocket. He shoved the mask and old coat in the trash, and then walked out the other side of the alley with his head down and the hat pulled down over his eyes- in case a camera caught him.
In the blinding snowstorm, he never saw the car coming.
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8: 49 pm
Lucas Jones let out a curse word as he felt something- or someone- thud against the front of his bumper. He slammed on the breaks, though he had luckily only been going a few miles an hour. He had been trying to find the entrance to the parking garage for The Metro Court, but in the blinding snow it was proving impossible. His focus was on the curb, not the road, as he had crept along looking for the right place to turn in.
He jumped out of his car and ran in front of it, sliding on the ice, and nearly toppled on top of the man who was getting back on his feet.
The man held up his hand, to keep Lucas from falling on him."Whoa there, mate, why you so determined to take me out?"
Lucas got his feet firmly planted beneath him again then instinctively stuck out his hand and helped to pull the man to his feet. "Are you okay? I'm sorry. I didn't see you out here."
"Can't see much on a night like this." The man rubbed his neck.
"Do you need to go to the hospital?"
The man stared at him, looking him up and down, leaving Lucas feeling nearly naked.
"That depends, mate. You wouldn't happen to be that prince that lives around here, would ya?"
"Nikolas Cassadine? No."
"Figures. I couldn't be so lucky as to get run down by someone rich. Wait....are you a Quatermaine? Barrington?" He rubbed his hands together greedily. "Come on, rich boy, daddy needs a new pair of alligator boots," he said, as if he was talking to dice rolling down a table at a casino.
"Sorry to let you down but I'm a college student. Maybe if my band gets signed I might have more than 10 bucks in my checking account but for now I'm just about flat broke."
"Shame."
Lucas headed back toward his car. "You're good, right?"
"No worries, mate," the man said and headed into the hotel, leaving Lucas standing there, staring at him over the top of the car as snow covered him.
A hotel worked stepped outside. "Can I help you sir?"
Lucas said "Yeah, valet park this, could ya?" He jogged toward the hotel doors, anxious to get out of the cold and to meet up with his sister. As soon as he stepped into the lobby, he found himself looking around for the hot looking Australian hunk he could have just killed by running him over. But the man was no where to be found.
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8:55 pm
Lulu Spencer stepped off the elevator into the restaurant with Milo right behind her.
After hearing about the roads being closed she had started to worry about Johnny. Knowing him, he was liable to decide to drag race down Main Street tonight just because it was the most dangerous thing he could think of to do.
She might be pissed at him but she didn't want him dead. After all, she was in love with him. Right or wrong. And sometimes it felt really wrong...but that made it comfortable for her. The insanity surrounding him made her feel more sane, not less. She was scared of loving a man who didn't have any demons to fight. That had made Johnny perfect for her. But lately everything was off between them. He was distant. They kept snapping at each other. He was keeping secrets and confiding in Maxie, of all people, more than her.
And now he ran off with Maxie and made a fool of Lulu in front of half the town.
She didn't know what to think about that but it wasn't how a man in love should behave....yet it was like something her father would do. It felt normal to her, in a way. And that scared her to death. Was that who she was becoming? A woman who could rationalize away anything her man did?
Her eyes were scanning the room, looking for Maxie or Johnny, when she felt Milo's hand come up and lightly skim her back. She looked up at him.
He asked "Will you be okay now?"
A small smile curved her lips. He was sweet. So damn sweet. She had almost forgotten this feeling...a feeling only Milo Giambetti could ever make flutter through her. This shyness that left her simply smiling back at him for a long moment. When she took the time to stop talking so loud, running so fast, and throwing herself headlong into danger so much, when she took the time to really quiet down and look at him....she felt calm for a second. Different. Stunned. Nervous.
Lulu stepped away from him. "Sure."
She waved him off without so much as a thank you, because she needed to get away from him now, get back to being out of control and being her brand of normal-crazy. It came off as cold and bitchy, the way she treated him, and she knew it. But she couldn't be any other way, at least not yet. She was broken still...and maybe she always would be.
"Later."
"Later," he said softly, with a sadness in his voice that she did her very best to pretend she didn't hear.
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8:56 pm
"We have to talk," Lucky said as he walked up to the table where Sam and Maxie were sitting.
"Nope," Sam said.
"There's something you need to know about Ethan."
"The only thing I want to know is that he's hot and I can see that with my own two eyes," Sam told him as Maxie giggled.
Maxie said "Now that you mention it, he does have a nice ass."
"Good abs," Sam added.
"He could stand to do something with that hair, though," Maxie said.
"I'll just keep my eyes closed and it won't matter what his hair looks like," Sam said.
Lucky gritted his teeth, put his hands on the table and leaned close to Sam. "You having fun with your revenge?"
Staring in his eyes, only a breath away from him, she whispered "Loads."
"You're walking right into a trap and you don't even see it," Lucky said. "That guy is dangerous."
Maxie rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, stop being so over dramatic. Just because you want to be the guy Sam is going home with tonight instead of Ethan does not make him The Big Evil. Maybe if you would take off your Liz blinders and see there are other women on earth who could love you then you wouldn't end up going stag to parties, moping after a woman who dumped you, while Liz is probably off somewhere playing slap and tickle with someone else and you'll be the last to know, as usual...what? Did I say something wrong? Okay, okay, I'm going. I need a refill anyway." Leaning close to Sam she whispered in her ear "Make him beg for it."
With a smile, Maxie walked off. Lucky slid into her seat. "What do you know about Ethan's past?"
"Nothing and I don't want to know anything either. We don't have that kind of relationship, okay? The only important thing to me when it comes to him is that when he kisses me....and his eyes close...I know he isn't seeing his ex-wife in his head instead of me. That's more than I can say for you."
"I don't want you going home with him tonight."
"That's for me to decide. I'm single now."
Lucky reached out and covered her hand with his. "You might be willing to let go of me so easily but who says I'm willing to do the same?"
"Who says you have a choice?"
