With his hands clasped behind his back, Victor stared silently out of the
window of his study. He was going over the meeting a few days ago with
Carly. Victor's jaw clenched as he thought about the confrontation. That
ungrateful brat! The first time at the Brownstone, he shrugged off her
reaction. He knew it would be a shock to her. He understood that. But her
continued denial of his relationship to her irritated him.
He was her father! If it weren't for him she wouldn't even be on this
earth. She should be grateful to him. She should be kissing his feet. She
should be swearing her undying love and loyalty. She should be offering to
do whatever he wants.
Victor tilted his head to the side, no longer seeing the acres of land
outside his hideaway house. He instead concentrated on what Carly should be
doing. She was supposed to obey him. It was time she learned her place. She
was his daughter after all, a Cassadine. No matter what she or his
incompetent nephew claimed.
He wasn't about to let either one of them ruin his plans. Not when he was
so close to paying off his debt.
Victor checked his watch. He should be here soon.
Frisco and Layla sat in a parked van, not far from the house, unseen by
Victor. They had been sitting outside the house for hours and it was
getting to Layla. Layla grumbled. "*Boring*. This is so boring."
Frisco checked the surveillance equipment. "Try having a little patience.
Actually you shouldn't be here at all. Katarina pulled you off and she'd
kick your butt *and* mine if she knew you were with me."
Layla stretched out her legs in front of her. "If it wasn't for me, *you*
wouldn't be here. *I* was the one who was able to find Higgins the other
day and slip the bug on him without him knowing."
"Keep rubbing it in." Frisco muttered. "Enjoy yourself for know because
tonight you're going bye-bye, remember? Katarina is shipping you out."
"I'd enjoy myself a lot more if we'd just bust in there and get Cassadine
already." Layla peered out of the van window at the house.
"We don't know for sure that's he's in there." Frisco reminded her. "We
just know that Higgins is in there."
"Flirting with the help." Layla made a face. The van was filled with the
sounds of Higgins ineffectually trying to smooth talk a maid. "Will he
leave her alone already? She's not falling for it. Why won't he just go
talk to Cassadine?"
"Patience." Frisco preached again.
The sound of the door opening behind him interrupted his thoughts. Assuming
it was Higgins he didn't turn around. "Is everything in place for our
guest?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Victor, but I'm not staying for long." Stefan's
voice was very controlled but Victor could hear the anger beneath it.
Victor tried not to let his surprise show at the unexpected appearance of
Stefan. He turned from the window with a quick smile. "Ah, Stefan, I see
you found me."
"It was quite easy." Stefan closed the study door behind him and stalked
into the center of the room. He folded his arms and glared at his uncle. "I
do believe we have something to discuss."
Suddenly Higgins burst into the room. "Sir, Stefan Cassadine has been
spotted on the grounds. He is—"
"Here." Victor concluded. "I can see that."
"I apologize, sir, I—" Higgins stammered.
Victor held up a hand to halt his explanation. He suspected it was time to
get a new assistant. Actually it was past time. Higgins was still loyal but
he had become lazy and incompetent. He was a liability. He stared at
Higgins. "Do not apologize. Next time just do your job."
Higgins nodded and shrank back into the corner.
In the van Frisco laughed. "I don't think Higgins will be a part of the
Cassadine camp for much longer. Well at least we know Victor is in there
for sure."
"Shush." Layla said. "I want to know why Stefan is there. What his business
is with Victor."
"Layla, you have to face it, the man is not a Boy Scout. He's a Cassadine."
Victor turned back to Stefan. "Whatever you wish to discuss, I'm sure it
can wait. I'm about to entertain a guest."
"It cannot. But don't worry, I won't take long to get my point across. Stay
away from my daughter."
Victor arched an eyebrow. "Daughter? Oh you mean your *niece*."
"I don't have time for your word games." Stefan said. "I was told of your
visit to her and I want you to leave her alone."
"Why should I leave my daughter alone. I believe it's time we've spent some
time together."
"The blood tests were done, Victor, you are not her father."
"Who are they fighting about?" Frisco whispered.
"Carly Spencer." Layla answered. She gave him a disappointed look. "You
should have known that. How are you going to handle this case if you don't
things like that? I don't think Katarina should pull me off this case just
yet."
"Like this is vital information." Frisco scoffed.
"It would explain why he's here. Now hush."
"Blood tests can be fixed, Stefan, we both know that." Even as he said the
words his mind worked furiously. So maybe the girl wasn't his but that
couldn't stop him from passing her as his…
"Why are you so determined to not face the truth? Why are you suddenly back
in town trying to work your way into her life? What is your agenda?" Stefan
demanded to know.
"He has a debt to pay." A new voice came from the doorway.
In the van, Layla and Frisco sat up straight and stared at each other in
shock. This wasn't a visitor either was expecting. Layla's eyes narrowed as
she slowly said. "I should have known that jackal would show up somewhere.
Mikhail…"
"…Petrov." Victor finished. He looked at his watch. "I didn't expect you
for another hour."
"I like to be early." The new arrival said. "You know that."
Mikhail Petrov was a tall handsome man with long dark hair pulled back into
a ponytail. His dark brown eyes were covered by dark shades. His speech was
slightly accented with Russian. He wore a long black coat over a dark suit.
His hands were covered with soft leather gloves.
Stefan narrowed his eyes at the intrusion. "Who are you?"
"My name is not important." Mikhail said as he took off his shades and
tucked them into his top pocket.
Victor came around his desk and gestured at Mikhail. "This is Mikhail
Petrov, an…associate of mine. We have some business to discuss so I would
appreciate it if you'd leave."
"Petrov?" Stefan frowned. The name was familiar to him but he couldn't
quite place it. He shook his head. "What do you mean Victor has a debt to
pay?"
"Yeah, cause inquiring minds really want to know." Layla muttered.
Victor hurried to stop Mikhail from answering. "Really, Stefan doesn't need
to know. He's not a part of this."
Mikhail slowly stripped off his gloves, deliberately pausing before
speaking. "Perhaps your nephew can persuade you to finish paying me off. He
believes that he can get away with giving me only half of what he owes me.
I want it all."
"I don't have time for theatrics. Say it." Stefan gritted out. He glanced
over at Victor who was gripping the edge of the desk.
"It was a very simple deal. I get him out of jail and I help him on a few
of his…endeavors."
"Endeavors, my ass." Frisco muttered. "He's a traitor."
"And in return…"
"Fifty thousand dollars." Mikhail paused and stared into Victor's eyes.
"And his daughter."
"What!" Layla shouted.
Stefan blinked. "Excuse me? What did you say?"
"In, uh, in Petrov's line of business it's kind of hard for him to meet
women." Victor laughed nervously. "He needed a wife. And it's about time
the girl went to good use. So uh…"
"You sold *my* daughter?" Stefan turned on Victor. He strode across the
room and grabbed Victor by his collar. "You sold Carly to this man?"
"Your daughter?" Mikhail raised his eyebrow. "What is the meaning of this
Cassadine?"
"Well," Victor began.
"Carly Spencer is my daughter. Victor had no right to do such a thing."
Stefan growled. "How sick are that you would give her away?"
Victor tried to shrug. "It was the best deal I could make at the time."
"You do know that this changes everything?" Mikhail slipped on his
sunglasses. "The deal is off. She was not yours to give so I cannot
possibly accept her unless…" He raised his eyebrow at Stefan.
"No." Stefan frowned.
"This is a fine time for him to suddenly develop a conscience." Layla said.
"Well." Mikhail shrugged. "You understand that you now owe me a lot more
for my services. An extra fifty thousand would be a nice start. It's a pity
I never got to meet her. I sure she's a delightful young woman."
Stefan released Victor. "If you ever come near my daughter I will kill
you." He looked over at Mikhail. "You too."
Without looking back Stefan stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut
behind him. Mikhail smirked at Victor. "Seems like you're in trouble. Don't
let that distract you from getting me my money. You know how to reach me.
Don't make me have to look for you."
Victor rubbed his neck while he watched Mikhail walk out. He swore softly.
"Damn, that did not go as planned."
"What now, sir?" Higgins finally spoke up.
"We leave. I'm sure there's someplace I can hide out from Mikhail." Victor
thought aloud.
"Is that wise, sir?" Higgins wondered.
"Right now, it's the only plan." Victor said. "Now quick trying to talk me
out of it and get us ready to leave. I want to leave tonight."
Frisco turned to Layla. "Well he's on the move."
"I should have known that Mikhail was going to pop up sooner or later."
"Yeah, well, we can't worry about him right now. Katarina needs to know
about this." Frisco said.
~*~*~
Katarina whirled around and stared at Layla and Frisco. The two of them
quickly returned to Taggert's apartment to fill Katarina and Taggert in.
"Repeat that." Katarina ordered.
"Mikhail Petrov is working with Victor. He's here but we don't know for how
long. Victor's shipping out tonight." Layla informed her.
"What the hell were you doing there?" Katarina narrowed her eyes.
"Well—" Layla tried to explain.
"Whatever!" Katarina cut her off by slicing her hand through the air. She
looked over at Taggert. "Are Keesha and Melinda here?"
He jerked his thumb toward the kitchen. "Keesha's in there and I think Mel
is in her room."
"Get them out of here."
~*~*~
"I really don't appreciate being kicked out of my own home. Marcus and I
are having a serious talk when I get back." Keesha muttered and kicked a
pile of snow out of her way.
They were taking a shortcut through the park. Since they were made to leave
Keesha offered to buy Melinda dinner at Kelly's. This would be the perfect
opportunity to get to know the girl a little better even though she was
unhappy with the situation.
"They wanted to discuss the case so they threw us out." Melinda shrugged.
"*They* could have left."
"It's not Mum's style."
"Then *Mum* needs a new style." Keesha snapped then realized whom she was
complaining to. "I'm sorry I shouldn't be badmouthing your mother to you."
Melinda shrugged again. Frankly she really didn't care. "It's just your
opinion, nothing I can change."
"It's—" She started to explain herself further but Melinda cut her off.
"My mother's just on edge. I over heard that Mikhail is back."
"Mikhail?" Keesha arched an eyebrow.
Melinda shoved her hands into her pocket and stared at the ground. "Mikhail
Petrov. I used to call him Uncle Mikhail when I was little. He, my mom, and
my dad were real tight. Like Uncle Marcus, Layla, and Frisco are, you know?
I don't know exactly what happened but it turned out he was working both
sides and he killed my dad."
Keesha gasped. She covered her mouth with one hand and reached for
Melinda's shoulder with the other. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
Melinda stepped away. "It happened a long time ago. It's no big deal."
"Of course it's a big deal." Keesha insisted. "This man who killed your
father—"
"Look! I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Melinda snapped.
Keesha pursed her lips in annoyance and said reluctantly. "Fine, we'll just
go on to dinner."
"I don't feel like it anymore. I'm going down to the docks."
Before Keesha could object Georgie called out Melinda's name. She was
leading Thomas, Lucas, Serena and Neil through the park. "Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing really." Melinda said.
"You want to come ice skating with us?" Georgie smiled at her.
"Do you guys ever do anything apart?" Melinda wondered.
Georgie tilted her head to the side and looked at Melinda in wonder. "Huh?"
Melinda shook her head. "Never mind."
Thomas came over and threw his arm across her shoulders. "Come on, Mel." He
coaxed her. "I can teach you if you don't know how."
"I can ice skate." Melinda said and stepped out from under his arm.
"It'll be fun and I'll promise I'll keep Tommy away from you." Lucas said.
"Hey, call me Tommy one more time." Thomas threatened.
"Whatever." Lucas laughed.
"So you coming or not?" Serena crossed her arms and tapped her foot
impatiently.
Keesha finally spoke up. "Actually we—"
Melinda jumped in. "Sure, I'll go ice skating. Tell my mother I'll be back
later."
Keesha frowned as Melinda walked off with the loud group of teens. She
gritted out between her teeth. "That girl." She shook her head. Might as
well go on to Kelly's and pick something up to eat anyway.
She turned a corner and spotted Carly and Jason sitting on a bench. They
were watching Michael and Brooke Lynn playing in the snow. She sucked in a
quick breath at the sight of Jason. It had been a week since he returned
from the dead but this was the first that she'd seen him since that night
at Luke's. She couldn't believe that it was really him. He looked just the
same like the last time she saw him. And it was obvious that he was picking
things back up right where he left them. He and Carly were laughing and
talking. She walked over to them.
"Hi." She said hesitantly. They looked up quickly.
"Hey." He nodded.
"Keesha." Carly scowled. "What are you doing here?"
"Just taking a walk." She said curtly. "Jason, it's so good to see you.
Alive."
"Thanks." He still wasn't sure what to say when people said things like
that to him.
"You're…looking good. You know who's not looking good, Carly? Garcia, I saw
him the other day and—"
"Look, Keesha, whatever happened between me and Alex, happened between *me*
and *Alex*. Understand?" Carly glared at Keesha. Since Alex and Taggert
were close friends she and Keesha managed to hold a tentative truce just
for the guys. But now that she and Alex were done that meant the truce was
over.
"He's a friend of mine and you hurt him."
"You don't know what happened, okay? Alex is a big boy and he can take care
of himself. He doesn't need you running around acting like his bodyguard."
Carly started to stand up but Jason grabbed her arm and held her down.
"Carly." He muttered.
Keesha smirked at her then focused on Jason. "Would you like to join me for
dinner? I'd love to play catch up and find out what happened."
"I'm busy right now…" He nodded in the direction of Michael and Brooke.
She nodded. "I understand. Maybe some other time?"
"Sure…"
Keesha smiled. "No problem. I'll see you around then."
Carly scowled in irritation as she watched Keesha make her way through the
park. "You know if you weren't here I would have…"
"Killed her, I know." Jason laughed. "I didn't know you guys were still
fighting."
"Yeah we never kissed and made up." Carly smiled sarcastically. "Ms.
Goody-goody thinks she's above me, remember?"
Jason sighed and put his arm around her. "Carly, are you going to turn this
afternoon into a Keesha bitching session?"
"Why? Would you leave if I did?"
"No. I just need to know whether I should tune you out or not." He grinned.
Carly slapped his arm. "Shut up. Hey Michael, don't push Brooke face first
into the snow! She's going to get you back and I won't do a thing about
it."
He laughed. "I can see you got the hang of it."
She settled back against the bench. "Who else was going to do it? I love
the kid. But you know what I really love? Watching you with him. I had
forgotten how good you were with him."
"This whole week has been great." He agreed.
"Michael loves you." She said. "Every night he tells me how cool he thinks
you are. That's a big compliment."
Jason laughed. "Tell him thanks. Have you heard from Emily lately?"
Carly frowned at the sudden change of topic. "Actually no. The last time
was the morning after you came back. She called to check on you and I
thought she would have showed up a long time ago."
"I wonder what happened. None of the Quartermaines have heard from her and
I think Monica starting to get nervous."
"She has a lot of stuff going on right now. She probably just forgot to
check in." Carly shrugged. Her cell phone rang. "Hold on a second. Hello?
Sonny, hi."
Jason shrank back against the bench and looked away. He was trying hard to
get used to Carly and Sonny's relationship but it was still going to take
some time. Especially during times like now with Carly brightening up at
the sound of Sonny's voice.
"So I was thinking dinner tonight?" Sonny suggested. The past week he'd
been sharing her with everyone and now all he wanted was a night alone.
"Yeah that would be a great idea." Carly said. She looked over at Jason.
"You want to come over for dinner?"
He blinked. "Okay."
"Jason's there?"
"Yeah, we're at the park with Michael and Brooke Lynn. So you guys come
over tonight and I'll cook?"
"What?" Jason laughed. "You cooking?"
"Shut up." She ordered and went back to Sonny. "Well?"
"This wasn't what I had in mind…" Sonny objected.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." She promised. She lowered her voice. "What
would I have to do to convince you?"
"Well…" Sonny chuckled suggestively and Carly joined in. Jason sighed. He
didn't want to hear the rest of their conversation. He touched her shoulder
and said softly. "I'm going to go check on Emily."
"Let me know if there's anything I can do."
~*~*~
Emily pulled her blanket closer around herself and stared at the phone
willing it to ring. She tried to ignore the knocking on her front door. How
long had he been out there knocking and calling her name? A couple of
minutes? A few hours? She wasn't sure but she wasn't concerned about him.
She was waiting for either Sly or Elizabeth to finally call her.
Emily had been holed up in her apartment for days. She skipped her classes
and her photo sessions with Tom. She was sure that he was going to fire her
and hire a new assistant but she didn't care. She was too busy wallowing in
her self-pity.
After the big confrontation Elizabeth had returned to the apartment only
once to pack up some things. The only thing she said to Emily was that she
was staying with her grandmother. She wouldn't listen to anything Emily had
to say.
Neither would Sly. She tried calling him. At first he would answer and
listen quietly to her pleas for forgiveness before hanging up on her. Soon
his roommate began answering the phone for him. His advice was that she
should give up and "give the dude some time to chill". Finally they started
screening the calls, letting answering machine get it.
"Emily, would you let me in." Nikolas called through the door. He knew she
was in there and he was worried. No one had heard from her in days, not
even her family. After the showdown with Sly and Elizabeth Emily hadn't
been up to seeing Jason so she told Nikolas that she would see him the next
day. Only she never did.
"Let me in before your neighbors call the cops." Nikolas knocked harder.
"What are you doing?"
Nikolas looked over his shoulder and saw Jason. "Emily is locked in there."
Jason frowned. "I haven't seen her since I got back. Why is she locked in?
What happened?"
Nikolas wearily rubbed his face. "There was a confrontation. Some things
happened…"
"What things?" Jason glared at Nikolas. "Did you do something to her?"
"It's not like that." He insisted. "I just want to get in and make sure
she's okay."
Jason looked the door up and down. "I can break it easily."
Nikolas sighed. "You don't have to. I know where they hide the spare." He
reached under the welcome mat and pulled it out. "I know, lousy hiding
spot. I tried to get them to change it but would they listen to me."
Jason took the key. "If you knew where it was all along, why didn't you
just use it?"
"I wanted *her* to let me *in*." He said softly.
Jason gave him a curious look as he unlocked the door. "When this is over I
want to know exactly what's going on."
Emily heard the door open and continued to stare at the phone. "I was
wondering when you'd use the key."
"What is going on here, Emily?"
Emily quickly looked up. "Jason! What are you doing here?"
"People are worried about you, Emily. The Quartermaines, Carly, Nikolas,
me." He sat next to her and pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I don't
know what's going with you but I really want to know so I can help."
"You can't help. I have to deal with this."
"Why don't you try telling me."
Emily took a deep breath. "Fine, it's long complicated story. Where do I
start? Me and Sly? Me and Nikolas?"
"Try the beginning." He said softly.
"Okay…"
Nikolas checked his watch for the umpteenth time and looked at the closed
apartment door. Jason had been in there for what seemed like forever.
Nikolas was fighting the urge to just burst in there himself to find out
what was wrong. But he was going to give them a few minutes more. He
settled down on the floor outside of the door.
Emily glanced down at her hands. "Well?"
Jason sighed and scratched his neck. "You're right, this is complicated."
"What should I do?" She asked.
"All I have to say is you have to give it time to work itself out.
Which…which one do you want?" He tilted her face up and stared into her
eyes.
"I..." She shook her head. "I don't know why I'm even pretending like I
have to think about it. It's Nikolas. It's always really been Nikolas. I
just want to make things up to Sly."
"Like I said, give it some time. And give Sly some space." He shook his
head. "I think you should call Carly. She's probably better at this than I
am."
She grabbed his hand. "You helped, you really did."
"Are you ready to let Nikolas in? He's been waiting a long time."
"But I want to hear where you've been and what you've been doing…"
"It's a longer even more complicated story than yours was." He smiled at
her. "Come on, walk me to the door."
Nikolas jumped up when the door opened. "Hey." He breathed when he saw
Emily. His eyes searched her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm better right now." She smiled at Jason and gave him a hug. "I'll
see you tomorrow."
"Yes you will." He promised. He glanced at Nikolas as he walked past.
Nikolas stared at Emily waiting for her to say something, anything. She
wrung her hands together and whispered. "I'm sorry."
He framed her face with his hands and brushed his lips against hers. "It's
okay." He hugged her close to him and repeated himself. "It's okay."
~*~*~
Carly called out to Michael and Brooke Lynn. "Guys, it's time to go so
let's get a move on."
"I lost a mitten." Michael complained.
She sighed. "Okay, let me come look." She started to get up when she saw
Stefan. "Uh, hello."
"Carly, I need to speak with you."
"Brooke, help Michael find his glove okay sweetie?" She crossed her arms
and stared at Stefan. "Okay, what is it?"
"Has anything out of the ordinary happened to you lately?"
"Oh let's see, I discovered a long lost father and an old friend came back
from the dead. Nope, nothing weird." She said sarcastically.
Stefan took a deep breath. "Any strange men haven't approached you?"
Carly frowned. "No, what are you talking about?"
"Would you mind if I put some guards on you for a while?"
"Stefan, what are you talking about?" She insisted.
"It's Victor. He's no longer a problem, I took care of that."
"If you took care of Victor then why do you want guards around me?"
"It's better that you don't know."
Carly looked at him doubtfully. "I'd rather decide that for myself."
"It has to do with Victor and part of the reason he came to Port Charles.
I'm just worried that you might be affected by it. I doubt anything will
occur. I only want to keep you safe." He swore.
"That's not really your job or your responsibility." She pointed out.
"I already regret how much of your life I missed and I want to make it up
in any way that I can."
"By putting guards on me?" She said skeptically.
"I assumed that one step at a time is the only thing that would work with
you. Don't tell me I was incorrect in my assumption?" He raised his
eyebrow.
"No. Actually, you were…uh you were right." She laughed softly.
"So may I put some men on you just for my peace of mind?"
Carly threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, just make sure they don't
interfere with my life."
Stefan nodded, very pleased with the way things went. "Perhaps later in the
week we can get together for lunch. If you are open to it there are some
other things that I would like to discuss with you."
"Not more Victor stuff." She groaned.
"No, this has to do with only us." He assured her.
"Mom, we found my glove." Michael and Brooke Lynn came running over. They
both stared at Stefan in curiosity.
"Great." She smiled at him. "We'll set something up for later on in week,
okay?"
"Perfect." He nodded.
"Okay, come on guys. We have to get Brooke home and then head to the
store." She glanced at Stefan. "I'll uh, call you."
Stefan waited until Carly and the kids were gone before taking out his
cell. "Yes, go ahead with the men and any word on Victor? All right, stay
with him. He goes near her at all, you alert me immediately."
window of his study. He was going over the meeting a few days ago with
Carly. Victor's jaw clenched as he thought about the confrontation. That
ungrateful brat! The first time at the Brownstone, he shrugged off her
reaction. He knew it would be a shock to her. He understood that. But her
continued denial of his relationship to her irritated him.
He was her father! If it weren't for him she wouldn't even be on this
earth. She should be grateful to him. She should be kissing his feet. She
should be swearing her undying love and loyalty. She should be offering to
do whatever he wants.
Victor tilted his head to the side, no longer seeing the acres of land
outside his hideaway house. He instead concentrated on what Carly should be
doing. She was supposed to obey him. It was time she learned her place. She
was his daughter after all, a Cassadine. No matter what she or his
incompetent nephew claimed.
He wasn't about to let either one of them ruin his plans. Not when he was
so close to paying off his debt.
Victor checked his watch. He should be here soon.
Frisco and Layla sat in a parked van, not far from the house, unseen by
Victor. They had been sitting outside the house for hours and it was
getting to Layla. Layla grumbled. "*Boring*. This is so boring."
Frisco checked the surveillance equipment. "Try having a little patience.
Actually you shouldn't be here at all. Katarina pulled you off and she'd
kick your butt *and* mine if she knew you were with me."
Layla stretched out her legs in front of her. "If it wasn't for me, *you*
wouldn't be here. *I* was the one who was able to find Higgins the other
day and slip the bug on him without him knowing."
"Keep rubbing it in." Frisco muttered. "Enjoy yourself for know because
tonight you're going bye-bye, remember? Katarina is shipping you out."
"I'd enjoy myself a lot more if we'd just bust in there and get Cassadine
already." Layla peered out of the van window at the house.
"We don't know for sure that's he's in there." Frisco reminded her. "We
just know that Higgins is in there."
"Flirting with the help." Layla made a face. The van was filled with the
sounds of Higgins ineffectually trying to smooth talk a maid. "Will he
leave her alone already? She's not falling for it. Why won't he just go
talk to Cassadine?"
"Patience." Frisco preached again.
The sound of the door opening behind him interrupted his thoughts. Assuming
it was Higgins he didn't turn around. "Is everything in place for our
guest?"
"Sorry to disappoint you, Victor, but I'm not staying for long." Stefan's
voice was very controlled but Victor could hear the anger beneath it.
Victor tried not to let his surprise show at the unexpected appearance of
Stefan. He turned from the window with a quick smile. "Ah, Stefan, I see
you found me."
"It was quite easy." Stefan closed the study door behind him and stalked
into the center of the room. He folded his arms and glared at his uncle. "I
do believe we have something to discuss."
Suddenly Higgins burst into the room. "Sir, Stefan Cassadine has been
spotted on the grounds. He is—"
"Here." Victor concluded. "I can see that."
"I apologize, sir, I—" Higgins stammered.
Victor held up a hand to halt his explanation. He suspected it was time to
get a new assistant. Actually it was past time. Higgins was still loyal but
he had become lazy and incompetent. He was a liability. He stared at
Higgins. "Do not apologize. Next time just do your job."
Higgins nodded and shrank back into the corner.
In the van Frisco laughed. "I don't think Higgins will be a part of the
Cassadine camp for much longer. Well at least we know Victor is in there
for sure."
"Shush." Layla said. "I want to know why Stefan is there. What his business
is with Victor."
"Layla, you have to face it, the man is not a Boy Scout. He's a Cassadine."
Victor turned back to Stefan. "Whatever you wish to discuss, I'm sure it
can wait. I'm about to entertain a guest."
"It cannot. But don't worry, I won't take long to get my point across. Stay
away from my daughter."
Victor arched an eyebrow. "Daughter? Oh you mean your *niece*."
"I don't have time for your word games." Stefan said. "I was told of your
visit to her and I want you to leave her alone."
"Why should I leave my daughter alone. I believe it's time we've spent some
time together."
"The blood tests were done, Victor, you are not her father."
"Who are they fighting about?" Frisco whispered.
"Carly Spencer." Layla answered. She gave him a disappointed look. "You
should have known that. How are you going to handle this case if you don't
things like that? I don't think Katarina should pull me off this case just
yet."
"Like this is vital information." Frisco scoffed.
"It would explain why he's here. Now hush."
"Blood tests can be fixed, Stefan, we both know that." Even as he said the
words his mind worked furiously. So maybe the girl wasn't his but that
couldn't stop him from passing her as his…
"Why are you so determined to not face the truth? Why are you suddenly back
in town trying to work your way into her life? What is your agenda?" Stefan
demanded to know.
"He has a debt to pay." A new voice came from the doorway.
In the van, Layla and Frisco sat up straight and stared at each other in
shock. This wasn't a visitor either was expecting. Layla's eyes narrowed as
she slowly said. "I should have known that jackal would show up somewhere.
Mikhail…"
"…Petrov." Victor finished. He looked at his watch. "I didn't expect you
for another hour."
"I like to be early." The new arrival said. "You know that."
Mikhail Petrov was a tall handsome man with long dark hair pulled back into
a ponytail. His dark brown eyes were covered by dark shades. His speech was
slightly accented with Russian. He wore a long black coat over a dark suit.
His hands were covered with soft leather gloves.
Stefan narrowed his eyes at the intrusion. "Who are you?"
"My name is not important." Mikhail said as he took off his shades and
tucked them into his top pocket.
Victor came around his desk and gestured at Mikhail. "This is Mikhail
Petrov, an…associate of mine. We have some business to discuss so I would
appreciate it if you'd leave."
"Petrov?" Stefan frowned. The name was familiar to him but he couldn't
quite place it. He shook his head. "What do you mean Victor has a debt to
pay?"
"Yeah, cause inquiring minds really want to know." Layla muttered.
Victor hurried to stop Mikhail from answering. "Really, Stefan doesn't need
to know. He's not a part of this."
Mikhail slowly stripped off his gloves, deliberately pausing before
speaking. "Perhaps your nephew can persuade you to finish paying me off. He
believes that he can get away with giving me only half of what he owes me.
I want it all."
"I don't have time for theatrics. Say it." Stefan gritted out. He glanced
over at Victor who was gripping the edge of the desk.
"It was a very simple deal. I get him out of jail and I help him on a few
of his…endeavors."
"Endeavors, my ass." Frisco muttered. "He's a traitor."
"And in return…"
"Fifty thousand dollars." Mikhail paused and stared into Victor's eyes.
"And his daughter."
"What!" Layla shouted.
Stefan blinked. "Excuse me? What did you say?"
"In, uh, in Petrov's line of business it's kind of hard for him to meet
women." Victor laughed nervously. "He needed a wife. And it's about time
the girl went to good use. So uh…"
"You sold *my* daughter?" Stefan turned on Victor. He strode across the
room and grabbed Victor by his collar. "You sold Carly to this man?"
"Your daughter?" Mikhail raised his eyebrow. "What is the meaning of this
Cassadine?"
"Well," Victor began.
"Carly Spencer is my daughter. Victor had no right to do such a thing."
Stefan growled. "How sick are that you would give her away?"
Victor tried to shrug. "It was the best deal I could make at the time."
"You do know that this changes everything?" Mikhail slipped on his
sunglasses. "The deal is off. She was not yours to give so I cannot
possibly accept her unless…" He raised his eyebrow at Stefan.
"No." Stefan frowned.
"This is a fine time for him to suddenly develop a conscience." Layla said.
"Well." Mikhail shrugged. "You understand that you now owe me a lot more
for my services. An extra fifty thousand would be a nice start. It's a pity
I never got to meet her. I sure she's a delightful young woman."
Stefan released Victor. "If you ever come near my daughter I will kill
you." He looked over at Mikhail. "You too."
Without looking back Stefan stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut
behind him. Mikhail smirked at Victor. "Seems like you're in trouble. Don't
let that distract you from getting me my money. You know how to reach me.
Don't make me have to look for you."
Victor rubbed his neck while he watched Mikhail walk out. He swore softly.
"Damn, that did not go as planned."
"What now, sir?" Higgins finally spoke up.
"We leave. I'm sure there's someplace I can hide out from Mikhail." Victor
thought aloud.
"Is that wise, sir?" Higgins wondered.
"Right now, it's the only plan." Victor said. "Now quick trying to talk me
out of it and get us ready to leave. I want to leave tonight."
Frisco turned to Layla. "Well he's on the move."
"I should have known that Mikhail was going to pop up sooner or later."
"Yeah, well, we can't worry about him right now. Katarina needs to know
about this." Frisco said.
~*~*~
Katarina whirled around and stared at Layla and Frisco. The two of them
quickly returned to Taggert's apartment to fill Katarina and Taggert in.
"Repeat that." Katarina ordered.
"Mikhail Petrov is working with Victor. He's here but we don't know for how
long. Victor's shipping out tonight." Layla informed her.
"What the hell were you doing there?" Katarina narrowed her eyes.
"Well—" Layla tried to explain.
"Whatever!" Katarina cut her off by slicing her hand through the air. She
looked over at Taggert. "Are Keesha and Melinda here?"
He jerked his thumb toward the kitchen. "Keesha's in there and I think Mel
is in her room."
"Get them out of here."
~*~*~
"I really don't appreciate being kicked out of my own home. Marcus and I
are having a serious talk when I get back." Keesha muttered and kicked a
pile of snow out of her way.
They were taking a shortcut through the park. Since they were made to leave
Keesha offered to buy Melinda dinner at Kelly's. This would be the perfect
opportunity to get to know the girl a little better even though she was
unhappy with the situation.
"They wanted to discuss the case so they threw us out." Melinda shrugged.
"*They* could have left."
"It's not Mum's style."
"Then *Mum* needs a new style." Keesha snapped then realized whom she was
complaining to. "I'm sorry I shouldn't be badmouthing your mother to you."
Melinda shrugged again. Frankly she really didn't care. "It's just your
opinion, nothing I can change."
"It's—" She started to explain herself further but Melinda cut her off.
"My mother's just on edge. I over heard that Mikhail is back."
"Mikhail?" Keesha arched an eyebrow.
Melinda shoved her hands into her pocket and stared at the ground. "Mikhail
Petrov. I used to call him Uncle Mikhail when I was little. He, my mom, and
my dad were real tight. Like Uncle Marcus, Layla, and Frisco are, you know?
I don't know exactly what happened but it turned out he was working both
sides and he killed my dad."
Keesha gasped. She covered her mouth with one hand and reached for
Melinda's shoulder with the other. "Oh, I'm so sorry."
Melinda stepped away. "It happened a long time ago. It's no big deal."
"Of course it's a big deal." Keesha insisted. "This man who killed your
father—"
"Look! I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Melinda snapped.
Keesha pursed her lips in annoyance and said reluctantly. "Fine, we'll just
go on to dinner."
"I don't feel like it anymore. I'm going down to the docks."
Before Keesha could object Georgie called out Melinda's name. She was
leading Thomas, Lucas, Serena and Neil through the park. "Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing really." Melinda said.
"You want to come ice skating with us?" Georgie smiled at her.
"Do you guys ever do anything apart?" Melinda wondered.
Georgie tilted her head to the side and looked at Melinda in wonder. "Huh?"
Melinda shook her head. "Never mind."
Thomas came over and threw his arm across her shoulders. "Come on, Mel." He
coaxed her. "I can teach you if you don't know how."
"I can ice skate." Melinda said and stepped out from under his arm.
"It'll be fun and I'll promise I'll keep Tommy away from you." Lucas said.
"Hey, call me Tommy one more time." Thomas threatened.
"Whatever." Lucas laughed.
"So you coming or not?" Serena crossed her arms and tapped her foot
impatiently.
Keesha finally spoke up. "Actually we—"
Melinda jumped in. "Sure, I'll go ice skating. Tell my mother I'll be back
later."
Keesha frowned as Melinda walked off with the loud group of teens. She
gritted out between her teeth. "That girl." She shook her head. Might as
well go on to Kelly's and pick something up to eat anyway.
She turned a corner and spotted Carly and Jason sitting on a bench. They
were watching Michael and Brooke Lynn playing in the snow. She sucked in a
quick breath at the sight of Jason. It had been a week since he returned
from the dead but this was the first that she'd seen him since that night
at Luke's. She couldn't believe that it was really him. He looked just the
same like the last time she saw him. And it was obvious that he was picking
things back up right where he left them. He and Carly were laughing and
talking. She walked over to them.
"Hi." She said hesitantly. They looked up quickly.
"Hey." He nodded.
"Keesha." Carly scowled. "What are you doing here?"
"Just taking a walk." She said curtly. "Jason, it's so good to see you.
Alive."
"Thanks." He still wasn't sure what to say when people said things like
that to him.
"You're…looking good. You know who's not looking good, Carly? Garcia, I saw
him the other day and—"
"Look, Keesha, whatever happened between me and Alex, happened between *me*
and *Alex*. Understand?" Carly glared at Keesha. Since Alex and Taggert
were close friends she and Keesha managed to hold a tentative truce just
for the guys. But now that she and Alex were done that meant the truce was
over.
"He's a friend of mine and you hurt him."
"You don't know what happened, okay? Alex is a big boy and he can take care
of himself. He doesn't need you running around acting like his bodyguard."
Carly started to stand up but Jason grabbed her arm and held her down.
"Carly." He muttered.
Keesha smirked at her then focused on Jason. "Would you like to join me for
dinner? I'd love to play catch up and find out what happened."
"I'm busy right now…" He nodded in the direction of Michael and Brooke.
She nodded. "I understand. Maybe some other time?"
"Sure…"
Keesha smiled. "No problem. I'll see you around then."
Carly scowled in irritation as she watched Keesha make her way through the
park. "You know if you weren't here I would have…"
"Killed her, I know." Jason laughed. "I didn't know you guys were still
fighting."
"Yeah we never kissed and made up." Carly smiled sarcastically. "Ms.
Goody-goody thinks she's above me, remember?"
Jason sighed and put his arm around her. "Carly, are you going to turn this
afternoon into a Keesha bitching session?"
"Why? Would you leave if I did?"
"No. I just need to know whether I should tune you out or not." He grinned.
Carly slapped his arm. "Shut up. Hey Michael, don't push Brooke face first
into the snow! She's going to get you back and I won't do a thing about
it."
He laughed. "I can see you got the hang of it."
She settled back against the bench. "Who else was going to do it? I love
the kid. But you know what I really love? Watching you with him. I had
forgotten how good you were with him."
"This whole week has been great." He agreed.
"Michael loves you." She said. "Every night he tells me how cool he thinks
you are. That's a big compliment."
Jason laughed. "Tell him thanks. Have you heard from Emily lately?"
Carly frowned at the sudden change of topic. "Actually no. The last time
was the morning after you came back. She called to check on you and I
thought she would have showed up a long time ago."
"I wonder what happened. None of the Quartermaines have heard from her and
I think Monica starting to get nervous."
"She has a lot of stuff going on right now. She probably just forgot to
check in." Carly shrugged. Her cell phone rang. "Hold on a second. Hello?
Sonny, hi."
Jason shrank back against the bench and looked away. He was trying hard to
get used to Carly and Sonny's relationship but it was still going to take
some time. Especially during times like now with Carly brightening up at
the sound of Sonny's voice.
"So I was thinking dinner tonight?" Sonny suggested. The past week he'd
been sharing her with everyone and now all he wanted was a night alone.
"Yeah that would be a great idea." Carly said. She looked over at Jason.
"You want to come over for dinner?"
He blinked. "Okay."
"Jason's there?"
"Yeah, we're at the park with Michael and Brooke Lynn. So you guys come
over tonight and I'll cook?"
"What?" Jason laughed. "You cooking?"
"Shut up." She ordered and went back to Sonny. "Well?"
"This wasn't what I had in mind…" Sonny objected.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine." She promised. She lowered her voice. "What
would I have to do to convince you?"
"Well…" Sonny chuckled suggestively and Carly joined in. Jason sighed. He
didn't want to hear the rest of their conversation. He touched her shoulder
and said softly. "I'm going to go check on Emily."
"Let me know if there's anything I can do."
~*~*~
Emily pulled her blanket closer around herself and stared at the phone
willing it to ring. She tried to ignore the knocking on her front door. How
long had he been out there knocking and calling her name? A couple of
minutes? A few hours? She wasn't sure but she wasn't concerned about him.
She was waiting for either Sly or Elizabeth to finally call her.
Emily had been holed up in her apartment for days. She skipped her classes
and her photo sessions with Tom. She was sure that he was going to fire her
and hire a new assistant but she didn't care. She was too busy wallowing in
her self-pity.
After the big confrontation Elizabeth had returned to the apartment only
once to pack up some things. The only thing she said to Emily was that she
was staying with her grandmother. She wouldn't listen to anything Emily had
to say.
Neither would Sly. She tried calling him. At first he would answer and
listen quietly to her pleas for forgiveness before hanging up on her. Soon
his roommate began answering the phone for him. His advice was that she
should give up and "give the dude some time to chill". Finally they started
screening the calls, letting answering machine get it.
"Emily, would you let me in." Nikolas called through the door. He knew she
was in there and he was worried. No one had heard from her in days, not
even her family. After the showdown with Sly and Elizabeth Emily hadn't
been up to seeing Jason so she told Nikolas that she would see him the next
day. Only she never did.
"Let me in before your neighbors call the cops." Nikolas knocked harder.
"What are you doing?"
Nikolas looked over his shoulder and saw Jason. "Emily is locked in there."
Jason frowned. "I haven't seen her since I got back. Why is she locked in?
What happened?"
Nikolas wearily rubbed his face. "There was a confrontation. Some things
happened…"
"What things?" Jason glared at Nikolas. "Did you do something to her?"
"It's not like that." He insisted. "I just want to get in and make sure
she's okay."
Jason looked the door up and down. "I can break it easily."
Nikolas sighed. "You don't have to. I know where they hide the spare." He
reached under the welcome mat and pulled it out. "I know, lousy hiding
spot. I tried to get them to change it but would they listen to me."
Jason took the key. "If you knew where it was all along, why didn't you
just use it?"
"I wanted *her* to let me *in*." He said softly.
Jason gave him a curious look as he unlocked the door. "When this is over I
want to know exactly what's going on."
Emily heard the door open and continued to stare at the phone. "I was
wondering when you'd use the key."
"What is going on here, Emily?"
Emily quickly looked up. "Jason! What are you doing here?"
"People are worried about you, Emily. The Quartermaines, Carly, Nikolas,
me." He sat next to her and pushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. "I don't
know what's going with you but I really want to know so I can help."
"You can't help. I have to deal with this."
"Why don't you try telling me."
Emily took a deep breath. "Fine, it's long complicated story. Where do I
start? Me and Sly? Me and Nikolas?"
"Try the beginning." He said softly.
"Okay…"
Nikolas checked his watch for the umpteenth time and looked at the closed
apartment door. Jason had been in there for what seemed like forever.
Nikolas was fighting the urge to just burst in there himself to find out
what was wrong. But he was going to give them a few minutes more. He
settled down on the floor outside of the door.
Emily glanced down at her hands. "Well?"
Jason sighed and scratched his neck. "You're right, this is complicated."
"What should I do?" She asked.
"All I have to say is you have to give it time to work itself out.
Which…which one do you want?" He tilted her face up and stared into her
eyes.
"I..." She shook her head. "I don't know why I'm even pretending like I
have to think about it. It's Nikolas. It's always really been Nikolas. I
just want to make things up to Sly."
"Like I said, give it some time. And give Sly some space." He shook his
head. "I think you should call Carly. She's probably better at this than I
am."
She grabbed his hand. "You helped, you really did."
"Are you ready to let Nikolas in? He's been waiting a long time."
"But I want to hear where you've been and what you've been doing…"
"It's a longer even more complicated story than yours was." He smiled at
her. "Come on, walk me to the door."
Nikolas jumped up when the door opened. "Hey." He breathed when he saw
Emily. His eyes searched her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm better right now." She smiled at Jason and gave him a hug. "I'll
see you tomorrow."
"Yes you will." He promised. He glanced at Nikolas as he walked past.
Nikolas stared at Emily waiting for her to say something, anything. She
wrung her hands together and whispered. "I'm sorry."
He framed her face with his hands and brushed his lips against hers. "It's
okay." He hugged her close to him and repeated himself. "It's okay."
~*~*~
Carly called out to Michael and Brooke Lynn. "Guys, it's time to go so
let's get a move on."
"I lost a mitten." Michael complained.
She sighed. "Okay, let me come look." She started to get up when she saw
Stefan. "Uh, hello."
"Carly, I need to speak with you."
"Brooke, help Michael find his glove okay sweetie?" She crossed her arms
and stared at Stefan. "Okay, what is it?"
"Has anything out of the ordinary happened to you lately?"
"Oh let's see, I discovered a long lost father and an old friend came back
from the dead. Nope, nothing weird." She said sarcastically.
Stefan took a deep breath. "Any strange men haven't approached you?"
Carly frowned. "No, what are you talking about?"
"Would you mind if I put some guards on you for a while?"
"Stefan, what are you talking about?" She insisted.
"It's Victor. He's no longer a problem, I took care of that."
"If you took care of Victor then why do you want guards around me?"
"It's better that you don't know."
Carly looked at him doubtfully. "I'd rather decide that for myself."
"It has to do with Victor and part of the reason he came to Port Charles.
I'm just worried that you might be affected by it. I doubt anything will
occur. I only want to keep you safe." He swore.
"That's not really your job or your responsibility." She pointed out.
"I already regret how much of your life I missed and I want to make it up
in any way that I can."
"By putting guards on me?" She said skeptically.
"I assumed that one step at a time is the only thing that would work with
you. Don't tell me I was incorrect in my assumption?" He raised his
eyebrow.
"No. Actually, you were…uh you were right." She laughed softly.
"So may I put some men on you just for my peace of mind?"
Carly threw her hands up in the air. "Fine, just make sure they don't
interfere with my life."
Stefan nodded, very pleased with the way things went. "Perhaps later in the
week we can get together for lunch. If you are open to it there are some
other things that I would like to discuss with you."
"Not more Victor stuff." She groaned.
"No, this has to do with only us." He assured her.
"Mom, we found my glove." Michael and Brooke Lynn came running over. They
both stared at Stefan in curiosity.
"Great." She smiled at him. "We'll set something up for later on in week,
okay?"
"Perfect." He nodded.
"Okay, come on guys. We have to get Brooke home and then head to the
store." She glanced at Stefan. "I'll uh, call you."
Stefan waited until Carly and the kids were gone before taking out his
cell. "Yes, go ahead with the men and any word on Victor? All right, stay
with him. He goes near her at all, you alert me immediately."