Part 36 -

Antonio Santini paced his office from one end to the other. The couch against the far wall had seen better days and the linoleum under his feet caught at the bottoms of his shoes. He' mortgaged and borrowed to put together the money he needed to buy into the organization. He'd gathered information on the Corazzos, bribed their people, and stolen some of their shipments, all to sully their name and show how weak they were.

Still, he didn't have enough. He needed more. And more was just out of his reach. Elizabeth didn't know it, but she was going to pay for making him wait.

The buzzer on the intercom drew him out of his thoughts and when he reached for the button he saw the crescents he'd dug in his palm. It would hurt, eventually, but right now he was hoping for some good news.

"Santini-"

"She's alive!"

He heard his cousin's voice and struggled to understand her through the rush of emotion he heard in her voice. "Connie, what are you talking about?"

"Your niece!" She gushed with excitement. "Tomaso's daughter isn't dead... she's here in Italy."

His head swam with confusion. "Where? How? How do you know?"

"You always made fun of my network of ladies, but not anymore... I heard just a few minutes ago. She's here in Italy, they brought her here from America."

His vision blurred and he could feel the pulse in his neck rush with hot anger. "Where in Italy? Who has her?"

He heard the rush of voices and the electronic beeping of a high end cash register. His aunt was shopping... again. "Maximus brought her to his villa. Apparently, she was in the Corinthos territory." He heard someone announce a disgusting amount of money before his aunt told them to 'charge' the purchase. "Now she's home and we can get her to sign the papers."

"Connie. I told you not to talk about the papers." He'd mentioned the information to her in a moment fueled with anger and Scotch. "We can't let the information get out before-"

She groaned into the phone, making the vile sound fairly scream in his ear. "You should be celebrating, not whining. No wonder your father wanted to leave everything to Tomaso. I think you should-"

He ended the call before he opened his mouth and told Connie exactly where she could stick her nose. He knew he could blame the end on a dropped call, but he wouldn't be able to counter her in his corner if he lost his temper with her. And now... now that Elizabeth was in Italy, everything became that much more complicated.

When she was merely missing, he could have faked her 'return.' But now that Maximus had found her, had her under his protection. Getting to Elizabeth was going to be a nightmare.

At least he still had a few 'pieces on the board.'

Jason parked his care down a county access road that paralleled the highway and listened for the sounds of Ritchie's car pulling into the thick foliage a hundred feet down the road. Two doors opened and closed, and then a third. He had three men with him, but he doubted they would be needed for more than removing them from the motel. Once they got back to the warehouse and deposited the Spencer men in the basement lock-up, the men would be free to go until they were needed to dispose of the bodies.

Jason might not be willing to admit it out loud, but he was eager to work out his pent up aggressions on the two men. He was willing to break and bloody them until he had rid himself of the nightmare that he'd had the night before on the couch. The crystal clear images of Elizabeth begging for her life had wound him up tight and robbed him of rest.

It had been all too easy to imagine Elizabeth cuddled in his arms, her breath warm against his neck, and it had been just as easy to imagine her bruised and bloodied in his embrace. He was crazy if he thought the first would ever be allowed to happen, but he was also damned if he'd let someone subject Elizabeth to that treatment.

He felt the men draw up beside him and he looked over the assembled group. Faces darkened to hide their features, bodies shrouded in black clothing that covered every inch of skin, the men were silent and ready for action.

Jason nodded, and even though the area was full of long black shadows under the inky night, he knew they saw the movement. He could feel Ritchie breathing, and the shift of Johnny O'brien from one foot to the other, and the opening and closing of Marco's hands as he prepared for a fight. "Let's go."

Luke was tired. Tired of sculking around, tired of walking, and tired of his son's craptastic attitude. "Why the hell are we out here?"

Ignoring the sullen question, Lucky pushed through the brush and continued up the indiscernible trail. He felt the branches snag at his clothes but didn't let it slow him up. He had a destination in mind and didn't worry about his father tiring. "You're the one that couldn't keep it in his pants, I'm just the one finding a place that's safe for us to hide out."

Swatting a branch away from his face, Luke grumbled under his breath and followed blindly after his son. "Well, we could go someplace with a bed. There are plenty of 'no tell motels' around Port Charles, Cowboy. We don't have to camp in the wilderness."

"Wilderness?" Lucky scoffed. "That's what you get for falling asleep in the car on the way over here. Just keep up and we'll be there in a few minutes." Lucky stopped to tie his shoe and waved Luke on through the overgrown brush. "Go on up there."

Luke rolled his eyes and trudged on. "Thought your mother taught you how to tie your shoes when you were a kid? Thank goodness we're not really on the run, I- hey!" Luke stopped short as he stumbled out of the brambles. "Hey, you should see this!"

Lucky's smile was hidden by darkness as he reached into the top of his boot and pulled out a knife. "What is it?"

Leaning in closer, Luke looked at the marble statue in the clearing. "Maybe it's just my old eyes, but this lawn ornament looks familiar."

Knowing full well what his father was staring at, Lucky knew the older man would be occupied for a minute. Moving across the open ground he stepped up behind the elder Spencer and saw the way the moonlight made the statue glow.

It was exactly what Luke thought, a perfect replica of Elizabeth's face. A replica created at about the time the young woman had been born. The model for the exquisite sculpture had been her mother, a rare beauty in her own right.

And Lucky knew exactly where they were. He'd known this was the perfect place to rid himself of some pretty heavy baggage.

Luke had gotten him this far. He'd helped him fix his head, bring himself clarity. He'd helped him find his true calling. And now that he'd reached this new path in his life, he knew he'd have to find someone else to help him finish his mission.

It was at that moment that Luke realized he hadn't heard a response from Lucky. "Son? You alright back there?" His concern changed to irritation. "Had to take a leak? You always did have a little bladder." He'd mumbled the last sentence under his breath and laughed at his own words.

"You never could see what was in front of you... or watch your own back."

The knife slid in between Luke's ribs, piercing through his right lung and into the beating muscle of his heart.

"Thank god I have more sense than you."

Luke stumbled forward, trying to get away from the blade, but it only made the blood flow faster, the red flecked spittle flew through the air, but didn't quite reach the statue and her pristine beauty.

Dropping to his knees, the older man fell to his side and tried to reach out to his son for help.

Lucky put his boot against his father's stomach and rolled him onto his back. "Don't turn this into one of your scenes, Dad. Con man you are, but you've never been a good one. Me, I didn't just fall far from the tree... I jumped."

As Luke's hand slowly lowered to his chest, Lucky smiled at him. "No one ever comes up here, old man. No one except me." Luke's chest slowly stopped moving, his eyes turned to black glass in the stark glare of the moon. "No one is ever going to find you."

Antonia pushed the door open just a bit and stepped inside after Elizabeth invited her in. The woman was slightly older than Elizabeth and had a generous smile and warm eyes. During the party the day before they'd bonded quickly and Antonia seemed to understand the emotions behind Elizabeth's eyes. "I know it's early, but I wanted to check and make sure you were really interested in going to town today."

Elizabeth answered immediately. "Yes, sure..."

Smiling at her, Antonia seemed to grasp the underlying truth. "You're so used to making people happy, I'm not even sure you know if you mean that." Elizabeth was grateful for Antonia's master of English. Having gone to college in Boston, Antonia had no problem putting her natural inflection aside. "You're just like me in that way. I'm the only girl in a family of over-protective brothers. I never gave them a reason to worry about me. It was just easier that way."

Elizabeth weighed her response and then realized how silly it was when Antonia probably understood the jumble of emotions in her own heart. So when she spoke she spoke from the heart. "My family... well, the people I thought were my family, just seemed happier when they didn't have to worry about me making up my mind or asking for anything. Whatever they were willing to give," Elizabeth leaned her cheek into her hand, "it was just easier to take it and be happy."

She took one breath and then another and realized that sitting there with Antonia she didn't feel the need to try to fill the silence with rambling, nor did she feel like she needed to make her happy. She could just... be.

"I'd like to go shopping today." Elizabeth looked down at what she was wearing. "I left kind of suddenly and I wasn't really thinking about... things."

Antonia sat down next to Elizabeth on her bed. "Oh, there's a story behind this.. I know there is."

A blush flushed Elizabeth's cheeks. "It's all kind of crazy-"

"Say no more." Antonia held up her hands in surrender. "We'll talk while we shop, and if it's okay with you," she watched Elizabeth's expression. "I'll tell the others to stay here, or go out on their own. It will just be easier to shop if there's some free floor space to move around. If all the cousins came, we'd never be able to move around the store!"

The sigh of relief that burst from Elizabeth's lips had them both laughing. With a quick hug, Antonia slid off the bed and headed for the door. "I hope your guard has good stamina," she wondered aloud, "he'll need it. We are going to get you a whole wardrobe."

The door closed behind Antonia and Elizabeth slid back under the covers for a moment. She was actually looking forward to the adventure. And hoped that she might hear from Jason again. Hearing from him had gone a long way to helping her feel at home.