If Tomorrow Never Comes

Chapter 12

Luke smiled happily as he circled Helena's prone body tied to train tracks. His smile grew wider as she vainly struggled against her restraints. He juggled the Ice Princess back and forth between his hands. He misjudged and the diamond fell smacking Helena against her forehead. "Oops."

Helena muttered in Greek causing Luke to laugh. "Now is that a way for a lady to talk." He heard the distant sound of the train whistle and looked behind him to see it making it's way to them. "Well, Hells, it's been a ride but time to say bye-bye." He moved aside to stand near the tracks ready to watch as the train crushed his enemy.

Suddenly in the background he heard a noise and it grew louder as the train approached. He looked around trying to identify where it was coming from. It grew louder and louder and louder…

"Luke!"

The incessant banging on the door brought Luke out of his dream-filled sleep. His head came up from the pillow as he tried to clear his head. He needed to find what was making that noise and kill it. It took him a minute to place it but when he did he groaned and shoved his head under the pillow.

"Luke! Open up, man!"

Luke flung the sheets off and stumbled his way to the door, nearly killing himself on the rug. He fumbled with the deadbolt muttering about murder this early in the morning. It took him four tries before he finally got the door open. He knew who it was before he'd even gotten out of bed.

"Damn it, Corinthos! What is the big fucking deal? This is the third time this week that you've woken me up at this ungodly hour!"

"Then you should be used to it by now, Spencer." Sonny retorted, handing Luke one of the coffees he was carrying. He pushed past Luke and waited by the couch for him.

"Okay, that's it. Family or no family, you're going down."

"Carly would make you pay. Not to mention Laura. She kind of likes me." Sonny smiled at Luke as he shrugged out of his coat and sat down.

"Damn it. Barbara Jean's taken with you, too." Luke paused for a moment. "Shoot." He took a seat next to Sonny on the couch. "Are you going to tell me why you got me up at-" he turned to look at his wall clock -"seven thirty in the morning or do I have to guess?"

"Come on, ex-pal. Aren't you glad to see me?" Sonny laughed when Luke gave him the bird. "Were you dreaming about choking Helena again?" Luke stared at him in surprise. "I could hear you through the door." Sonny explained. Luke nodded as his head fell back to rest against the couch. "No." He opened one eye to see Sonny looking at him skeptically. "I had her tied to the train tracks."

Sonny choked on his coffee, barely restraining his laugh. "You're kidding?" Luke shook his head. "That's a new one."

"Yeah. It was this close." Luke positioned his thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart. "And then you go and wake me up with that pounding. This better be good."

"Sorel sent a death threat for Carly, Luke."

That statement brought Luke to an upright position. "Say what?" Sonny merely nodded and Luke shook his head trying to clear away the haziness. He took a huge gulp of his coffee burning his tongue in the process. He cursed loudly before setting the cup back down.

"Coffee's kind of hot." Sonny joked, trying to ease the tension.

Luke sent him a withering look but kept his mouth shut. He signaled Sonny to keep going.

"Johnny got it. Carly was sent this package and nobody had a record of her ordering anything. Not that that matters because she always orders things without telling any of us." Sonny took a deep breath, running his shaking hand through his hair. Luke watched him carefully knowing that just him listening might help. "So, it wasn't a big deal but I guess Johnny got a weird feeling about the package. She was about to open it when Johnny found her. He got her out of the room and then checked it. This was in it." Sonny handed Luke a wrinkled piece of yellow paper.

Boom! Can she piece herself back together?

Luke looked up at Sonny, waving the paper in his hand. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Carly caught me and Sorel on the docks about a week ago. He tried to "help" her down the stairs and she shot him down. I guess it bothered him. Sorel is getting cocky. Damn it. I should have taken care of him back in August when he tried to use Mike against me."

"Why didn't you?"

"You're the one who always told me to keep the peace whenever possible."

"You listen to me?" Luke said, getting up and walking to the bar. He poured himself some water, taking a huge gulp. He hated this. He hated that his niece was in trouble. He hated seeing Sonny scared and he hated the fact that he could have helped them. His stupid pride always screwed him over. Look at the mess with Laura.

"It's good advice, man. There's always room for everyone, right?" Sonny stated.

"Right."

"Except when they're morons."

"Right."

"Especially when said moron is Sorel."

"Absolutely right." Luke said, taking a long sip out of his glass. It was way too early for scotch, wasn't it?

Sonny set his coffee down leaning back to rest his head on the back of the couch ala Luke a few minutes before. He closed his eyes trying to make his growing headache subside. "The worst part is the cops are watching real close. If anything happens to Sorel they're going to come looking for me."

"So, maybe we find a way to get rid of him and keep our noses clean."

Sonny opened his eyes, his attention focused on Luke. " What do you mean?"

Luke chewed on his tongue not knowing if this was a smart idea. But then his ideas were rarely smart so what difference did it make. " I'm going to tell you something but you got to promise me two things. One, you won't get freaked and two, you don't tell Carly I told you." Sonny nodded his agreement. " You know that Zander kid?"

"Yeah?"

"He saw Sorel kill a cop."

"You're shitting me?"

"Actually he saw Sorel's men kill the cop by Sorel's orders. So, no shitting, man. He saw the whole thing. When Carly first told me I thought she was just falling for the kid's line but I talked to him, Son, he's not lying."

Sonny watched Luke for a moment. He trusted him with his life, always had. "You thinking we can get the kid to bring down Sorel legally?"

"Yeah. If he turns himself in he can make a deal. You can talk to Natasha, she's good enough to pull it off."

"I'll talk to her."

Luke nodded and watched Sonny struggle to not to ask something. "What is it, Sonny? Just say it."

"Is she in over her head?"

Luke considering pretending he had no idea what Sonny was talking about but his instinct told him that Sonny needed to be reassured. "Everything's covered."

Sonny looked at his friend. Fear and worry evident in his eyes. "Luke, if she needs-"

"Son. Everything's covered. Okay?"

Sonny knew Luke wouldn't lie about this. "Alright." He reached for his coffee and slowly looked around Luke's place taking note of all the strange crap. The guy was a rat pack and a messy one at that. He poked a plate full of leftovers with his shoe.

"You love her, don't you?"

Sonny's eyes continued their perusal of Luke's things before coming back to meet the older man's gauging stare. "Yes." He got up from his seat, picking his coat up and shrugging into it. He met his uncle-in-law face to face. "I love Carly more than I ever thought I could love anyone." He saw the questions in Luke's eyes. "Even Brenda."

Luke nodded a smile on his face. He didn't doubt Sonny for a second. "She loves you, too."

"I know that." Sonny patted Luke on the shoulder as he headed for the door. "I've got meetings all this morning but if you got some time around one today we can come up with a way to approach Alexis."

Luke followed Sonny to the door. "Sure. I should be up by then." He heard Sonny's snort of laughter. "What?" he asked defensively.

"Nothing. Like uncle, like niece, that's all. Later, man." Sonny stopped when Luke called out to him. He looked over his shoulder at the man he'd once considered a father.

"Do me a favor?" Luke asked.

"What?"

"Tell her." Luke said, leaving a thoughtful Sonny staring at his door.

Mike looked up from his book to watch Zander pace in front of the windows. The boy had been doing that for over an hour and it was driving him crazy. "Zander?"

Zander paused and turned to look at him. "Yes?"

"Would you please sit down? I'm sure she's on her way."

Mike made sure that Zander was relaxed on the couch before returning to his book. He knew it wouldn't last long. /One. Two. Three.../ Zander rushed to the window when he heard a car door slam.

"For Christ's sake, boy. Sit down for five minutes straight. You're driving me up a wall." Mike set his book down and got up, reaching for Zander's elbow and steering him into the kitchen area. Mike grabbed two aprons from under the cupboard and handed one to Zander. "Put this on."

"What are we doing?" Zander asked as he slipped the apron over his head and tied it around his waist.

"Do you know how to cook?" Mike asked as he pulled down a mixing bowl from the cupboard.

"Not really. My mother… no I don't really know how to cook."

Mike paused to look at Zander. He'd heard the tone of his voice when he spoke of his mother. There was a story in there. "You know, Zander, if you ever want to talk…"

Mike watched the young man face close off. Zander simply shook his head and Mike backed off. He knew from experience with Sonny what that look usually meant. A distraction was needed. "Okay, I'm going to teach you how to make my famous omelet…"

"Is everything set?"

"Yes, it is."

"You are positive they do not know?"

He held back a retort. It did him no good to anger her. She always managed to make him regret it. "No, they don't know anything." He took a sip from his drink relishing the feel of the cool liquid against his tongue. He turned his head to look at the sleeping form on his bed. "I've got a back-up just in case."

He heard her low chuckle and it brought goose bumps to his arms. "Very well done. Please keep me informed. Good night." He heard the click indicating she had hung up. She always got the last word in but he'd soon change that. He took another sip of his glass and he closed his eyes. He saw her laughing, her blond hair swaying in the breeze. She winked at him and he smiled at the memory. Then, he saw him standing behind her with his hands on her waist. He leaned in to whisper in her ear and she smiled widely. They began to laugh together. They were laughing at him.

He heard the crunch and looked down at his bleeding hand clutching the remnants of his glass. He brought his hand up and saw the jagged cut across his it. He'd make them pay. He'd make them all pay.

Carly heard the sound of laughter as she opened the door to Mike's apartment. She looked back at Johnny who shrugged. "Don't look at me." Carly rolled her eyes and looked behind Johnny to Juan, Gia and Shari. "Bodyguards are really overrated."

"Hey."

The trio started laughing as they followed Carly inside. They stopped dead in their tracks when they got sight of Zander in a pink-striped apron. Juan snorted loudly which brought Mike and Zander's attention to them. "Hi, guys." Mike greeted them, wiping his hands on the apron before taking it off. He walked to Carly and brought her into a bear hug. "Little lady, what the heck took you this long?" He pulled back to smile down at her.

"Well, let's just say we were taking precautions just in case we're being followed. Right, Johnny?" Carly looked behind her to find no one there. She scanned the room and found Johnny with Juan and Zander in the kitchen. He was pulling up the top to one of the pots. "Johnny."

"Huh?"

"You just ate a while ago."

Johnny looked at her blankly. "So?"

Carly laughed and turned to Mike, jerking her head toward Johnny. "Bottomless pit let me tell you." Mike pointed to Zander and mouthed "Tell me about it."

Zander and Juan shook hands cautiously neither one sure about the other. Juan introduced Zander to Shari. "And you already know Gia."

"Yes I do."

"Sorry about that whole setting you up thing. We thought you know… you did it." Gia finished lamely. She hated feeling guilty about things. It was bad enough with Emily but now she was going to feel bad every time she saw Zander. "Well damn" she muttered.

"Are you muttering something over there, girl?" Shari asked a mischievous glint in her eyes. She and Gia had become fast friends since they'd met a week ago. She looked around her surroundings seeing Johnny joking with Mike and Carly. Her eyes stayed on Mike for a minute. She turned her attention back to the group in time to catch Zander relating his side of the story about the Hardy Boys infamous tackle, as Juan liked to call it. She watched Juan smile and felt herself respond in kind. She liked seeing him happy. Her smile fell when she realized she might lose him. /You have to tell him soon./

Juan felt Shari's gaze and turned to offer her his hand. She took it without hesitation and he squeezed in gently. She smiled at him but he'd caught the sad look in her eyes. It was always there. He hated to see her so sad all the time. He knew she was hiding something but he wasn't going to push her. Not yet. He brought his attention back to the conversation. They had joined Mike, Johnny and Carly in the living room.

"Zander, honey, you need to get your things together. You're coming with me."

"Where?"

"Home."

"To your home?"

"Of course."

"Where your husband is at?"

"Yeah."

"Sonny Corinthos, your husband's home?"

"Duh."

"Two words: Nuh and uh."

The rest of the group had stood on the side watching Carly and Zander like they were watching a tennis match, their heads turning back and forth between the two. Now, everyone looked to Carly waiting for her reaction.

Carly crossed her arms defensively. "What do you mean no?"

"Oh-oh." Johnny mumbled, moving Mike and Juan closer to the girls. Carly wouldn't hurt the girls.

"I mean Nuh-uh. No. Forget it. Not going to happen, Carly. He'll kill me you told me that yourself."

"So, I exaggerated a little."

Zander turned to the group, pointing at Carly. "Did she exaggerate?"

Silence.

Zander looked back to Carly. "Come on. I thought you liked me, Carly."

"I do. That's why I'm doing this."

"What?" Zander exclaimed, his arms waving around in agitation.

Mike looked to Johnny, "Are we sure they aren't related or something?" Johnny shrugged, "It wouldn't surprise me any." They brought their attention back to the duo.

"Okay. Listen to me. Sonny, can help us. I've taken you as far as I can. I need his help on this. Plus I hate keeping anything from my husband, Zander. His trust means everything to me. Please, Zander." Carly waited as Zander debated what to do. She wasn't sure what she would do if he refused.

"Alright." Zander sighed. Carly ran to him and gave him a hug before kissing his cheek. "Thank you."

"Yeah. Yeah. Whatever."

Juan and Gia laughed, leaning against the kitchen counter for support. "Now, that was interesting to watch."

Zander turned to find Mike standing behind him. He felt some sadness at having to leave the old man. They had spent most of the time getting to know each other and he'd found he liked Mike.

Mike brought his hand out to shake Zander's. "Take care, boy."

"You too, old man."

Carly watched their interaction quietly. She nodded to Johnny who smiled slyly and walked over to put one arm around Mike and one arm around Zander. "Who said anything about separating you two. You play well together."

Mike looked at Johnny then Carly not understanding. Suddenly it hit him and he shook his head. "Oh, hell no."

Carly blinked at Mike, not moving an inch.

"No." he repeated, pointing at her. "Not going to happen." Carly just kept right on staring. "I said no."

One blond eyebrow rose up.

"Damn it." Mike hissed, making his way to the bedroom to pack his bag. He knew this would be really bad. He reached under his bed for his duffel bag and started filling it with all the necessities. He looked for his book and found it by the night table. He walked over to take it, glancing out the window as he did. He did a double take and leaned in closer, his eyes squinted at the car across the street. Putting his book back down, he made his way into the living room. "I think we have a problem."

The group turned to look at him in unison. "What?" Carly asked.

"There are two cops parked outside my apartment building."

"What?!"

"Shit!"

"Son of a bitch!"

Carly rubbed at her temples methodically. Why couldn't things ever be simple? "Alright, be quiet. I need to think of a plan…"

"No!!" Everyone but Shari and Zander yelled out.

"Well, we have to get him out of here. If they're out there that means they suspect his in here. Eventually they are going to check so we have to get him out. Now."

"How are we supposed to get Zander out unnoticed? Carly, his face is all over the place. Hell, they probably have the back covered, too." Johnny muttered, pacing back and forth.

"You know…" Everyone turned to look at Juan as he stood up and walked over to Zander.

"…the best place to hide something is right in front of your face." He leaned his arm against Zander's shoulder, turning to them all with a smile. "I've got a plan."

"Oh hell…"

Emily watched from behind her menu as Liz and Lucky argued quietly in the corner. She worried her lip, hoping that they didn't start yelling. She hated having to see Lucky go through this but she understood his position. Liz had been a complete bitch to Carly the week before and that was a little hard to get over. Emily studied her supposed best friend closely. For weeks she'd been feeling like Liz was a stranger. She didn't seem to care about her except to use her as a complaint line. It had always been that way she realized suddenly as she thought back to beginning of their friendship.

"Emily?"

Emily jumped in her seat. Lucky smiled down at her motioning to the seat next to her. "Do you mind?"

"Of course not."

They sat together in a comfortable silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally finding the courage Emily motioned to Liz. "Everything okay?"

"No. We just broke up."

"Oh my god, Lucky. I'm so sorry." Emily placed her hand over Lucky's, trying to offer some comfort to her best friend. She felt him squeeze her hand affectionately as she looked up into his blue eyes. They stayed that way for a while neither saying a word. She knew that all Lucky needed was for her to be there for him. That's the way they always were with each other.

"Emily, I need to tell you something."

"Actually, I do, too. Lucky, let me go first, okay?"

Lucky nodded his agreement pulling his chair closer to hers. There was something about the way she had said that that made him nervous.

Emily watched Lucky fidget in his seat. He looked as nervous as she felt right now. Emily needed to tell him this because he would be the only one to understand how she felt. "I know where Zander is hiding," she blurted out. Lucky mouth dropped open at her confession. "What?"

"Oh god. I really wanted to tell you, Luck. But you were so angry about the whole thing and I was afraid that you would do something crazy. I couldn't let that happen." Emily kept her eyes on the table not wanting to face Lucky's anger. She waited for the explosion and was surprised when she felt Lucky's hand grab her chin and pull her face up to look at him.

Lucky searched Emily eyes, a cold fist forming in his stomach. He was too late. "You love him." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

Emily watched Lucky's face looking for any sign of anger but all she saw was sadness in his eyes. She reached out to him but he pulled his hand back.

"Lucky-"

Gia and Shari ran into Kelly's slamming the door behind them and leaning against it. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. They heard Emily call them and walked to her table. "Hey, girl." Gia greeted Emily. Her eyes went to Lucky and the smile froze on her face. Damn it. He smiled up at her before getting out of his seat. "I'm late for work. Em, just be careful and if you need anything…"

Emily smiled widely, happy that Lucky wasn't angry with her. She got up from her seat and reached to hug him but he moved away quickly. "I'm really late. See you ladies, later." Gia's eyes followed him out the door. She turned back to Emily, catching the other girl's worried look. "What happened?" Shari asked curiously having noticed the tension between Emily and Lucky.

"I told him about Zander."

That would explain it, Gia thought. "He looked like someone ran over his puppy this morning." She said to the girls. Emily smiled faintly, "I think he's disappointed in me." Gia reached out to her and Emily met her eyes. "Trust me, sweetie, he's not disappointed in you." She waited for Emily to agree with her before letting go of her hand.

Emily glanced at Shari and then Gia. "So, what the heck was that entrance all about?"

Gia and Shari shared a look, both girls hiding their mouths behind their hands. "Oh that. It was nothing."

"Oh no. Tell me now. What is going on?"

Shari motioned to Gia to begin and Gia shook her head saying: "You tell her."

"Someone please tell me."

"We were just hanging out with Carly and the gang." Shari said innocently.

Emily brightened up at that. "Oh, did you see Zander?"

"A lot more of him than I wanted to." mumbled Shari.

"What?"

"We just hung out for a while." Gia interjected sending Shari a shut up look.

Emily looked back and forth between the two girls, instinct making her worry. "He's okay, right?"

"He looks better than ever." Shari commented, than added absently, "He looks pretty in pink. Ouch!" She rubbed her shin where Gia had kicked her. "Well, he does."

Emily turned to Gia who smiled over at her innocently. Something weird was going on. "What is wrong with you two?"

"Nothing." They answered in unison causing Emily to watch them suspiciously. She noticed they were trying really hard not to look at her "Okay, what is it?"

No answer.

"Is it another girl? Is that it?"

"Oh boy. You don't have to worry about another girl going for Zander." Gia said, deadpan. Shari started giggling and Gia's mouth was wavering into a smile.

"Alright. What the hell-" Emily stopped, noticing Gia's outfit for the first time. "Gia?"

"Yea?"

"Why are you wearing Zander's clothes?" Emily asked. Her answer was only Gia and Shari's hysterical laughter.

Officer Davis watched carefully as two more people walked out of the building. He and his partner Fred had been staking out the joint for the last 2 hours. Fred had left a few minutes before needing a walk. Following Carly Corinthos was too much work for anybody. She always went everywhere with a crowd of people. He was growing impatient waiting for her to lead him to Zander Smith. He looked down at the magazine he had in his hand.

He heard the door open and looked up to see Carly appear in the doorway. She spoke to someone behind her. Davis leaned on the steering wheel in anticipation. This was what he was waiting for. If Zander was in there this would be when she would bring him out. He knew she had gone in with 5 people. Her bodyguard, herself, 2 young women, and a young man he recognized as Juan Santiago. One of the young girls had left by taxi an hour before.

He watched as Juan Santiago walked out followed by Mike Corbin. The bodyguard followed closely behind and then the second young girl. They turned and began walking down the street to the waiting limo. He watched the door closely but no one came out. /Well, damn it.../

Officer Davis assumed the girl was Juan Santiago's girlfriend. God, she was a huge girl. He seemed to like her a lot seeing that he kept trying to cop a feel from her. She in turn seemed annoyed and kept pushing his hands away. They reached the car and the girl shoved Juan roughly into the car causing the others to start laughing.

/Criminals are really strange./ He went back to his magazine and watching the building. He knew Zander Smith was in there so he was content to wait.

"That's the plan?" Sonny asked incredulously. Luke nodded at him a huge smile of triumph on his face. He poured Sonny a scotch and watched as he knocked it back in one gulp. Sonny shook his head not sure why he ever asked Luke to help with plans.

"Okay, humor me. What if we just ask Nata- I mean Alexis to help us?"

"You mean just ask her?" Luke looked at Sonny in confusion.

Sonny nodded, "I'm sure if we tell her the details she'll help us out. Besides, she loves Emily. She'll do it for her."

Luke turned away from Sonny to look for a glass for his drink. The door to the club opened up and Luke looked over his shoulder to check out the patrons. He did a double take and his mouth dropped open in utter and total disbelief. Sonny was looking down at the papers spread out in front of him.

Claude noticed how his Boss reacted and figured it was because Carly had walked in looking great as always. He tapped his fingers on the bar getting Sonny's attention, he pointed to the door, "I think your date's here."

Sonny turned and his eyes meet Carly's surprised ones. She smiled that toothy smile he loved so much and rushed over to greet him. He stood up and pulled her into a fierce hug. God, he missed her so much it scared him sometimes. "Hi, baby." he whispered in her hair, taking in the smell of roses.

She pulled back and brought her hands to hold his face. "How come I miss you so much?" Sonny smiled down at her his dimples flaring.

"What can I say I'm lovable." He replied, pulling her back to him.

Carly laughed into his shoulder and he joined her, swaying her from side to side. He glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of Mike. He pulled away from her and faced his father. "Mike."

"Sonny."

"Well enough of the small talk. Can someone please explain to me what the hell you all did to this boy?" Luke said, recovering from his shock and pointing at the person next to him.

Sonny followed his finger and was meet with a dark-haired kid dressed in a pink fuzzy sweater and a pink leather mini. He wore a pink-sequined cap and a pair of strappy heels two sizes too small. Sonny blinked a few times and turned to his wife for an explanation. She reached for his hand and pulled him to stand next to Luke.

"Sonny, meet Zander Smith. Zander, my husband Sonny Corinthos."