Metro Court Hotel lobby - a year earlier

"Hey, Sam, have you seen Logan? I was supposed to meet him here," asked Lulu.

"No, he hasn't arrived yet. If I see him, I'll let him know you are looking for him."

"Okay. Thanks." Lulu walked over to one of the oversized couches and took a seat. The lobby seemed busy that night, full of Port Charles citizens.

Sonny and Olivia walked in a few minutes later. They were on their way up to the restaurant for dinner.

"Hey Lulu, what are you doing here?" asked Olivia.

"I'm waiting for Logan. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No sweetheart, I haven't. Do you want to come up with us and wait on him?"

"No thanks. I'll just wait here."

"Okay, but if you change your mind, you know where we are."

"Thanks."

Olivia and Sonny had just made it to the elevator when, out of nowhere, several men dressed in black barged into the lobby. Each of them wore masks to conceal their identities. They shot their guns into the once calm air.

"Hello everyone. We have a little business to attend to here. As long as everyone stays put and doesn't cause any trouble, we will be out in five minutes." Chaos ensued while everyone tried to comprehend what seemed like a bad dream.

"Quiet! I'll only tell you this once. If any of you try any heroics, someone will die. Is everyone clear?" The room fell silent as everybody looked around, in fear for each others' lives. Sure, the residents of PC didn't always get along, but they also didn't want to witness one of them die at the hands of a madman.

Lulu managed to sneak away to the corner of the room. Her isolation made her vulnerable to an attack. Olivia tried to wave her over to her side, but was caught. The ringleader looked at Lulu and motioned to her. "You, please come over here by me," he said, in a thick accent. He trained his gun on her. She held her head down and shook nervously as she made her way over to him. Everyone watched in horror as he ran the barrel up and down her cheek, past her neck to her shoulders. "You know, you are quite beautiful. Such lovely blond hair. Blonds are my favorite, you know." Lulu stiffened and raised her head up in a display of defiance. "Feisty, huh? Well, you might come in handy at some point." Her eyes darted back and forth between Sonny, Olivia, and Carly. Sonny gave her a sign that she should go along and not do anything rash. She knew there was no way that Sonny would ever let the creep take her, so she complied.

Sonny stepped in to divert his attention away from Lulu. "Who are you and what do you want with us?" he asked.

"If you must know, we are here to take something that rightfully belongs to us. In the vault is a suitcase with 20 million dollars. We'll go in, take the suitcase and be on our way. If anyone decides to change our plans, we will shoot you. Is everyone clear?" He surveyed the room for any signs of rebellion. There were only looks of shock and confusion instead. "Good. See, this isn't so hard, now is it? Oh, and by the way, the name is James Craig, but you can call me 'Fun Juan'."

After he retrieved the combination from Carly, the gang headed for the vault. "I need an insurance policy that everyone won't try to call the cops or bolt as soon as we leave. Two of my cohorts here will keep an eye on you." He turned to them and said, "If anyone tries to run, shoot them." He walked over to Lulu. She looked away. "My other insurance policy is you, my beautiful blond." She still looked away. "Look at me. You're coming with me."

"No. I'm not," she replied. She pointed a finger in his face and shoved him back.

"Oh, I think you will." Everyone gasped as he grasped her wrist and swung her around. He forced her back against him and spoke into her ear. "Don't ever do that again. There will be serious consequences if you do. Now, come with me."

Some time later, a SWAT team had assembled outside the entrance. Dante and Lucky, huddled over blueprints of the hotel, worked on a plan to get everyone out.

"We need to know how many are being held hostage. I want a list of everybody inside that building," ordered Mac to one of the officers.

"Sir, I'm not sure where we'll even start. There is no special event going on. How are we going to find out who is in there?" the officer asked.

"We'll have to figure it out. Start with the hotel staff on duty tonight, then go through any corporate meetings, birthday parties. I even want to know who was planning a date tonight. If we have to go through the stinkin' Port Charles phone book and call everyone, we will. Now, go!"

"So, if we go in here, we could shut off the electricity at the main breaker. We would be close enough to the lobby that they couldn't make an escape with a hostage," said Dante.

"Right. If we place men outside all of the exits and parking garage elevators, we could insure no one gets away," replied Lucky.

A half an hour later, the officer returned with a partial list of those inside. Mac's eyes widened. He looked over at the two unsuspecting detectives who were still deep in their conversation. They had no idea that Lulu was on that list, along with Sonny and Olivia. "How did you find out that they were in there?" He pointed to the three names. "Logan Hayes said that he was supposed to meet Lulu, but was running a little late. Mike Corbin confirmed the other two."

Once the group retrieved the suitcase, they made their way back to the lobby. "Well, everyone, it's been fun. Now, we must go."

"Whoever is in there, come out peacefully. If you don't hurt any of the hostages, we'll negotiate your release," said Mac, through a loudspeaker.

"Ah, so predictable, alerting the cops. Okay, which one of you did it?" asked Craig. Everyone looked around at each other, not saying a word. He still had a hold of Lulu. He held his gun to the side of her head. "Which one of you called the cops?" he asked again, with an angry shout.

Sonny intervened, trying to diffuse the tense situation. "Listen, I have lots of money and a jet that I can have ready at a moment's notice. Just say the word and I'll take you anywhere you want to go. There is one thing you have to do, though. Let her go."

"While I am very tempted, Mr. Corinthos, I really don't need anymore money. As for the getaway, there's been a change of plans. I'm not quite ready to leave this little game after all. Besides, how do I know you wouldn't double cross me?"

The gunman made his way out the front entrance. Dante and Lucky watched as he held the gun on Lulu. "Well, Commissioner Scorpio, you are correct about one thing. We will be released. She's my insurance policy."

"You psychotic-" yelled Dante. Lucky struggled with him to hold him back.

"If you go after him, he'll kill her for sure. Keep your cool," Lucky said in almost a whisper.

"Let her go and we'll talk," said Mac.

"I don't think so. You see, I have grown quite fond of Ms. Spencer here. She has proven quite valuable to me. She's very beautiful, don't you think? It would be a shame to have to kill her. Just stay where you are and don't try anything."

"Who are you?" asked Lucky.

"The name is Mr. James Craig."

"James Craig. Run it," said Mac to one of the officers.

"Yes, Commissioner. You go ahead and run that name. See what you come up with. When you find out, you let me know. Goodbye, for now."