Chapter Two
It was already February but the remaining weeks left of winter seemed to stretch on endlessly in front of Sami. The spring wasn't looking any better, considering the Salem
PD hadn't gotten any farther in the case of the Salem Stalker. If they kept this up, Lucas would never be able to come back. Lucas. Thinking about him brought sharp
pangs of regret that never completely subsided back up to surface. She wished she could have gone with him when she had the chance. But now he was gone and Will
was gone too.
Every day that passed without Lucas around, Sami became more and more convinced that she had made a mistake. This wasn't the way it was supposed to work. Lucas
was gone, it was supposed to be like he was out of sight and out of mind. But he wasn't. In fact, ever day that went by without him around made her crave his touch, his
voice, everything about him, even more.
She couldn't deny that she missed both him and Will so much that it hurt sometimes. But with Lucas, the longings to have him back in Salem were extremely unsettling. She
missed falling asleep in his arms, listening to the slow, steady beat of his chest sounding into her ear. She missed feeling his arms wrapped around her in the late hours of
the night, she missed the warmth emanating from his body, making her feel more alive and more real than she had ever felt before.
There was no way she could deny the way she felt anymore. Not after the iciness had enveloped her as she lay in her bed at night alone, the cold feeling engulfing her
entire body because she knew that Lucas wasn't across the hall to run to when things got bad anymore. She had realized just a little too late how much Lucas actually
meant to her. She thought she had just been confused but the truth was, she had been right about what she wanted all along.
That pissed her off. Damn Lucas. Damn him for making her want him, for making her need him. Damn him for holding her at night and making her feel like she actually
mattered to someone. Damn him for always being around when she needed a shoulder to cry on, damn him for being so irresistible. And damn him for walking out of her
life. She knew that she was the one who had actually screwed up. She had the chance to go with him and she hadn't taken it. So her current state of loneliness was no one
fault's but her own.
Sami sat at the Java Caféé, not even noticing how cold it had gotten. She took a long sip of the hot chocolate, it providing the temporary warmth she felt like she needed
now that Lucas was gone. It was going to be another long day.
She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that it took her a minute to notice that Nicole had sat down at her table and was watching her expectantly. Sami sighed
loudly, wondering how much worse the day was going to get. The last person she wanted to deal with was Nicole Kiriakas.
"You were just the person I was looking for." Nicole told her, a grin lighting up her face, "I have something that I think you will find very interesting."
Sami decided to play along for the time being, for lack of something better to do, "Really? Like what?"
"Like this." Nicole pulled something out of her purse with flourish. Sami stared at the tape in her hands, the tape with her name written across the top in Victor's writing.
Her eyes widened and she stared up at Nicole in shock, wondering if the tape could be what she thought it was.
"Is it-" Sami didn't allow herself to finish the sentence, not wanting to get her hopes up.
"Yup." Nicole smiled smugly, "I was sneaking around the mansion and I found it in Victor's desk drawer. This is the tape of you admitting that Lucas didn't hit Will. And it
is no longer in Victor's hands."
"What did you want with that thing?" Sami questioned, her fingers itching to snatch the tape out of Nicole's hands.
"I was actually looking for something else." Nicole extended her arm and dropped the tape in front of Sami, "I found this and figured that I might as well give it to you. But
you owe me now."
"I owe you?" Sami repeated suspiciously, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that you have to help me get Brady." Nicole elaborated, "If anyone can come up with a scheme to get him to love me, it's you. I was getting help from
someone else in exchange for me helping them get this other guy that they were in love with. Then they got fed up with me and said they would get this guy their own way.
Not that it matters, you could probably do a better job of helping me out than she could."
"I don't want to help you." Sami retorted, slipping the tape into her own purse before Nicole could take it back, "All you do is break people's hearts. Like my brother
and-" Sami stopped herself and thought about the situation for a second, "Wait a minute, why should I care if you break Brady's heart? It's not like I really give a rat's ass
about what happens to him. I guess helping you is the least I can do after you got this tape away from Victor."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Nicole said sarcastically, "Look, Sami, I'm sorry about what happened with your brother. I never meant to hurt him and I don't intend
to hurt Brady either. I love him."
"Sure." Sami replied, "I'm already helping you get Brady but don't expect me to believe that you love anyone but yourself." Sami drowned out Nicole's response with her
own thoughts. She didn't know how she was going to work up the energy and the patience for working with Nicole. But it wasn't like she had anything better to do and it
might even help her get her mind off Lucas.
Late that night, Lucas stopped at a gas sation just outside Chicago. He didn't know where he was going, only that he would get as far away from Salem as he could. Far
enough away from Salem to forget about Sami. Life without her by his side was something foreign to him, he had gotten so used to her nearness that he felt as if nothing
was the same now that she wasn't around.
As he filled up his car with gas, a figure across the road noticed him leaning over his car. One hand gripped the handle of the motorcycle beside her as she frowned in the
man's direction.
"What is he doing here?" she whispered to herself. A pair of strong arms encircled her small waist and the man began nuzzling her neck affectionately.
"What's wrong, baby?" he asked, noticing the confused, distracted expression on her face.
"I know him." she told the man, "That's Lucas Roberts. I don't know why he's here. But I have to talk to him. Go get him for me, okay?"
"What am I, your slave?" his breath tickled her neck as he spoke teasingly. She leaned back so that she was looking at him.
"In more ways than one." she replied, winking at him, "I'd go get him myself but he'd freak out. And I really need to know what's going on back in Salem."
The man let out a reluctant groan. He called over Josh and Kaleb, two of their friends from the group of motorcyclists. He gave the two men instructions and he watched
as they crept across the street, trying to avoid being seen by Lucas.
She elbowed the man embracing her in the ribs, "I told you to go get him, not to get two of your minions to do it for you." she scolded him. He shrugged and went back to
kissing her neck.
Lucas had just stepped out of the gas station and noticed the two black men standing near his car. Their presence made him feel a little bit nervous but he stepped up to
his car anyway. To his alarm, the two men went right over to him. They took hold of his arms and he turned around to see the only worker at the gas station that night with
her back turned to him, talking to someone on the phone. She wasn't going to be any help.
He tried to kicking and moving his arms around to escape their grasp. His foot managed to make contact with one of their knees and the man swore loudly.
"Screw this." Lucas heard him mutter and then the man put a damp rag over Lucas' mouth. Lucas inhaled the scent of chloroform and despite his efforts not to inhale, he
could feel himself slowly losing consciousness.
