Chapter Twenty-Five: Faustian Joust
Kate paces in her apartment. She can't believe that Lucas would say that she told him to shoot EJ. And why was he bringing up Franco? There was no proof of any of it. Victor had taken care of that… hadn't he? Kate shrieks and throws her martini glass against the wall. "That little bitch had another copy of that tape! But why is Lucas implicating me in this shooting? What have I ever done to him but be a good mother?"
Judge Abrams sits behind his desk and looks at the two lawyers sitting before him. "Why would Mr. Roberts turn around and admit to the crime after entering a not guilty plea?" "Attack of conscience?" Mr. Smith suggests. "I don't find you amusing, Mr. Smith," the judge retorts. "Mr. Horton, what do you know about this?" Mickey shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe it had something to do with the information surfacing about Franco Kelly. Maybe he knew how bad it would look and decided to just admit it." "If I understand this correctly, he admitted to killing Franco, then retracted his statement, correct?" Both lawyers nod at the judge. "And he never was charged with the crime?" Again they nod. "Then, all of a sudden, some cheap Mafia hood, on his deathbed no less, confesses to the murder, even though no one said anything about it prior to and nothing placed him at the scene?" "That's correct," Mickey says. "So, a guy confesses to a crime then retracts and there's no follow through, but some mysterious man no one's seen or heard of before admits to it and they all accept it?" Judge Abrams looks at both of them and feels pity for anyone charged with a crime in the city of Salem. "The ineptitude of the police department here knows no bounds, does it?" "Sir?" asks Mr. Smith, confused. "Nevermind," Judge Abrams says, "lets just say that I don't like for crimes to go unpunished and leave it at that."
"Yes, I saw Lucas," EJ confesses to her. "Why? Why did you do it?" she asks him sorrowfully. "Why did you go to my father?" he asks in turn. She blushes slightly. "Stefano told you?" she asks. "No, I told him," he retorts. She looks puzzled for a moment, then shakes her head. "Samantha, darling, you're a gambler. You always play for high stakes. I love that about you, you know. But me, I don't care to run the risk. I like a sure thing. That's why I went to see Lucas."
*flashback* EJ sits in the visitation room, waiting for Lucas to be brought in. The two men stare at each other for several minutes until finally Lucas looks away. "Actually, I'm feeling much better, thank you for asking," EJ says sarcastically, "lucky for me your aim is off.' Lucas looks up at him, slightly fearful. "Look, EJ, you know I didn't shoot you." "Didn't you, Lucas?" EJ asks coldly. "Everyone in this town knows you did it. Did you really think you were going to get away with it?" Lucas begins to get confused, shaking his head slightly. "But, really, I…" "You're pathetic, Lucas. You know that, don't you? Your life isn't worth the paper your birth certificate is printed on. Why not just be a man and admit it, admit what you've done. No one can save you." Lucas appeared to think for a minute, his face furrowing in the pain caused by his attempt to conjure up coherent thought. "Your mother, Lucas?" EJ guesses, "You think she can save you? You think she even wants to? Didn't she promise you she'd bail you out, yet here you are, still in jail. Kate doesn't give a shit about you, she just cares about her own name. She's used you like a puppet your whole life, and you let her because you're weak. You've never been your own man, you've always just been Kate Robert's little bitch. She's not going to save you, she's just going to try to save herself. She's the one that took your life away from you. There was a point in your life where you could have had it all, but you chose your mother instead of yourself, and you've been paying for it every day since. How could really believe that Samantha could ever love you after everything you've done to her, everything you've let your mother do to her? What's sad is there was probably a point in your life where you could have had her, held her love in your hand, but you didn't want it. You have your mother to thank for this. Lucas feels his mind bending to the will of his mental superior. "You're right, every bad thing I've done has all been my mother's fault. Why shouldn't she take some of the blame?" EJ leans forward, quite close to Lucas. "You know," he says conspiratorially, giving him a slight wink, "the judge on your case is owned by my family. Maybe you can have your revenge on Kate without it faring so badly for you. Why don't you give Kate back what she deserves? I bet Judge Abrams would be willing to show you a little leniency." With that, EJ gets up and walks out the door, leaving Lucas alone with his thought.
"What!?" Sami shrieks at EJ after he relays the conversation to her. "You told him we'd go easy on him for Kate? Jesus, EJ! I mean, I want Kate to go down but I don't want Lucas shown any mercy, I want him…" EJ cuts her off by placing his thumb on her lips. "Lucas will go down, dearest, never you fear." "But you told Lucas…" Again he cuts Sami off, this time with a kiss. When he breaks away from her he runs his index finger down the bridge of her nose and smiles. "Sweetheart, I lied."