Chapter 2

"Come in," Luke said.  He watched Lesley Lu walk inside.  When no one followed her in, he leaned out the door and looked around, but no one was in sight.  "Where's Steven?" he asked.

"He's gone, Dad," Lesley Lu said.  She looked very upset.

"I knew it was a mistake to let you marry that guy.  When I get my hands on him, I'll teach him a lesson.  No one walks out on my daughter."

"Dad, he didn't walk out on me.  Someone kidnapped him."

"Kidnapped?  Who did it?"

"I um… I can't tell you."

"What?  Why can't you tell me?" Luke asked.  He was shocked that she didn't act like she could trust him.

"It has to do with my job."

"Another assignment?"

Lesley Lu nodded.

Laura had remained quiet while they were talking.  "If you don't tell us what happened, how can we help you?"

Lesley Lu thought for a moment.  "I guess I can tell you part of it, because I do need your help.  Especially from you and Nikolas," she told Laura.

"What about me?" Luke asked looking hurt.

"You may be able to give me some information I can use too," Lesley Lu said .  She didn't like to see her father upset.

"Information?  I don't want to help you find Steven."

"Thanks for the offer Dad, but you're…" She saw the Laura shaking her head and decided against saying he was too old. "You're needed here."

Laura decided to change the subject before Luke could argue.  "What kind of help do you need."

"I need information on the Cassadines.  I need to know…"

"The Cassadines?" Luke interrupted.  "There aren't any of them left.  Helena is too old to cause any trouble.  The only other's still alive are Nikolas and Stefan.  I see Nikolas everyday, so I know that he isn't doing anything that you could be checking on.  And as much as I dislike him, I don't see Stefan causing any trouble."

"No it's none of them," Lesley Lu said.  "It's Dominick Cassadine."

"Dominick?  I never heard of him, did you?" Luke asked Laura.

"No," Laura said shaking her head.  "There was a little boy on the island when I was there.  He was a few years older than Nikolas, but he wasn't a Cassadine.  He belonged to one of the…"

"Maids," Lesley Lu finished for her.

"That's right.  How did you know?"

"He was Stavros' son.  Stavros had an affair with one of the maids and she got pregnant."

"Then why wouldn't I have known that?"

"Because Helena refused to let him take the Cassadine name," Lesley Lu said.  "But after Nikolas decided to stay here with us, Helena started training him to take over."

"So this guy must have done something pretty bad for the World Security Bureau to take on the case," Luke said.

Lesley Lu nodded.  "It's more than bad.  If he succeeds, it could be catastrophic."

"So you and Steven were sent to stop him?" Luke asked.

"Of course.  What agent could they find that would be better suited to stop the Cassadines than me.  After all I'm the daughter of the man who stopped them before."

"Well I had a little help," Luke said.

"A little?" Laura laughed.

"All right.  I couldn't have done it without you and Robert," Luke admitted.  "So what is this Cassadine guy up to?"

"He plans to take over where Mikkos left off.  He plans to take over the world," Lesley Lu told him.

"You mean he's building another weather machine?"

"No, from what I've found out, Dominick Cassadine's plan makes that weather machine look like a child's toy."

Luke and Laura looked at each other.  Luke exhaled sharply as he sank into the nearest chair.