Chapter 4

Two Weeks Later

Lulu's first article caused quite a buzz in Port Charles. Most people had not been aware of these ongoing attacks and like any sensational news story this one had a little bit of everything - mystery, sex and intrigue. Her interview with Brandy ran on the front page of the Sunday paper and detailed how she lost her parents as a teen and turned to exotic dancing to put herself through school. The public was outraged that the PCPD had not taken these attacks more seriously and that so many women had been victims. This did not go over well with Dante and he had been working even more than before to try and repair the reputation of the department. In turn, Lulu had thrown herself into her job even further. She spent long hours at the paper writing and making phone calls and at the club interviewing the dancers and trying to piece the puzzle together. At night she watched the surveillance DVDs for some common thread or clue as to who might be behind this. She had come to care about these women after spending so much time at the club researching her story. She had reconnected with Johnny as well. Enough time had passed since the ugliness of their break-up that they were able to be friends. At the paper, she found Jared to be an incredible resource helping her decide the next step or where to look for more clues. The only drawback was the tension between her and Dante over the heat that the PCPD was taking. He knew that everything she said in her articles was true but the firestorm it created was making his job hell. He was so tense and irritable. She hardly saw him except when he would climb into bed with her late at night. They hadn't made love in two weeks. Lulu hoped that once they solved the case, the public would back off and Dante wouldn't have to work so much. She missed him and she felt guilty that her article made things difficult for him at work.

One evening, after many viewings of the surveillance DVDs, Lulu noticed a man with a that took a special interest in Brandy every time she came out to dance the night of her attack. His face was always turned away from the camera so she could never get a good look at him but he had a tattoo on his wrist that was visible when he would reach up to put money in her g-string. Lulu took a shot in the dark and went to the DVD from the night of the next attack. She saw a man that looked like he had a similar build as the first man so she watched him. He took a particular interest in the girl who was attacked that night and when he reached up to put money in her g-string, there was the tattoo. She went to the DVDs of the night of every single attack and that man with the wrist tattoo was there every time. He could very possibly be the man attacking the women. The problem was that she could never see his face. He must have known where the cameras were because he never once turned towards them. Sometimes he even wore a hat. She had to tell this to the PCPD. She grabbed her coat and rushed down to the station with the DVDs. Dante was out at a crime scene but Delores was sitting at her desk.

"Officer Padilla, I have something I found that might help with the stripper case." Lulu said as she walked up to her.

"What could you possibly have that would help us? You aren't a detective. You are a reporter. We don't need your help solving crimes. I don't go to your job and try to write your little stories." Delores snarled at her.

Lulu was floored. She had no idea why Delores was being so nasty to her.

Just then Dante arrived back at the station. He was happy to see Lulu and gave her a kiss hello. "What are you doing here?"

Before Lulu could answer, Delores chimed in. "Lulu was just here fishing around for information on the stripper case and trying to get interviews. I thought you said she wouldn't be interfering in our investigation."

Lulu was speechless.

"Lulu, you know I don't speak to the press ever. That hasn't changed just because my wife happens to be one of them." The way he said them made it clear that he didn't think much of the press. At this point everyone in the PCPD had stopped to watch. "Why don't you go write some more heartwarming tales of where the strippers came from and leave us to solve the crimes?"

Delores stood behind Dante smirking at Lulu.

Lulu struggled to remain calm despite the disrespectful way her husband was speaking to her. She decided rather than defend herself, she would just play along and get out of there. "I will put you down for a no comment then. Detective Padilla, do you have anything to say?" Delores just shook her head, still with the smirk on her face.

"Okay then. Thanks for your time Detectives." Lulu said curtly and made her way quickly out of the PCPD. She could hear Delores and some of the other cops laughing as she walked out. She got to her car before the tears started rolling down her cheeks. Her husband clearly had no respect for her job despite his claims that he was proud of her. He had been cruel and he had embarrassed her in front of the entire PCPD. If they didn't want her information to help solve the case, she would just print it in tomorrow's paper and they could read it there.

By the time she got home, she thought better of putting the information in the paper right away. Once the guy with the wrist tattoo knew they were looking for him, he would surely go into hiding. Instead she sat on the information until she could ask the women at the club if they recognized him. It had been several days since then and Lulu had avoided Dante. It wasn't too difficult since he worked constantly and only came home to sleep for a few hours a night, then shower and head back to work. She was always in bed by the time he came home and he left before she woke up. He never apologized or tried to talk to her about it and she never tried to explain what really happened.

Despite her trouble at home, her professional life had never been better. The paper's circulation increased by twenty percent in the weeks since her first story came out. Everyone looked forward to the next installment. She didn't tell Preston about the man on the DVDs either because she knew he would want her to print it. He was very pleased with the buzz her story was creating and the increased circulation numbers. Her co-workers loved her because the paper was bringing in more advertising revenue than ever. She had confidence in herself again but she was afraid it could cost her marriage. She finally found something she was good at and felt passionate about and it was causing conflicts at home.

One afternoon, she went down to the club to show the women the surveillance footage and see if any of them recognized him. She went into the women's dressing room and showed it around but they didn't recognize the guy. Lulu told them all to be on the look out for the wrist tattoo and to call the cops immediately if they saw it. Next she went up to see Johnny. She knocked on his office door and he yelled for her to come in.

"Hey Johnny, do you have a minute?" She said as she poked her head into his office.

"Sure Lu, what's up?"

Lulu brought out her laptop. "I found something on the surveillance footage that I think you should see." She cued up the DVD and showed him the man on the night of Brandy's attack, then the night of the next attack and so on. "I know it is difficult to see who the man is because he never turns his face to the camera. Do you recognize him by any chance?"

"No, I don't but I'm going to show this to my security team and make sure they keep an eye out for him. Do the cops know about this?" Johnny asked.

Lulu hesitated to answer. "No, I tried to tell Dante's partner about it but she told me she wasn't interested and then made up some story to Dante that I was fishing for interviews at the PCPD. Dante and I got into a fight so I never got the chance to tell him. Johnny, I need you to promise me that if you see this guy, you will call the cops and that you won't handle it on your own."

"Why should I do that when they didn't even want to hear this information about this guy? They aren't taking this case seriously." Johnny said adamantly.

"I know it seems like that but Dante has been working day and night on this case." Lulu said.

"Are you sure that's what he is doing with his time Lu?"

"What are you suggesting here Johnny?"

"Just that maybe he tells you he is working long hours when he isn't. If they are working so hard, how come they didn't find the guy with that tattoo on this surveillance footage?"

"I don't like what you are implying. Dante and I may have had a fight but I trust him." Lulu was getting upset.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that, I'm just annoyed that we tried to do this the legal way and the cops aren't working very fast. Thank you for sharing this information with me. I'll get it to my security team right away." Johnny said apologetically.

Lulu packed up her laptop quickly trying to make a hasty exit because she was starting to get teary eyed. Johnny grabbed her arm. "Lulu, really I'm sorry. I should never have said that."

"It's okay, I have just had a bad few days after fighting with Dante. I know he would never do anything to jeopardize our marriage. I just miss the guy he was before I started this stupid story. The one that wasn't tense and irritable and willing to believe his partner over me." Lulu was crying now and Johnny gave her a hug.

"You should talk to him and clear the air. Letting it go on without talking it out is only going to make things worse." Johnny said as he patted her back.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Johnny stepped away from Lulu to open it. Dante and Delores were standing on the other side. Dante looked surprised to see Lulu and immediately concerned that she had been crying.

"What is going on here? Why are you crying? Why did you do to her?" Dante demanded looking at Johnny.

"Johnny didn't DO anything to me. I was here to discuss the investigation for my story and I got upset. He didn't do anything but comfort me." Lulu insisted.

"Oh, I'll bet he did." Delores chimed in.

Lulu had enough. She wasn't going to stand there again while Dante's partner belittled her and Dante did nothing.

"Johnny, thank you very much for your time. Feel free to share what I told you with the Detectives. Maybe they will be more receptive to the information if it comes from you." She grabbed her coat and bag and pushed past Delores to leave the room. Dante rushed after her and grabbed her arm in the hall. "Lulu wait!"

"No, I don't think I will." Lulu said as she yanked her arm out of his grasp. "I have to get back to work and you and your partner have a case to solve. Maybe we will run into each other at home sometime and we can talk then." Lulu turned on her heel and left.

Later that night, Lulu was leaving the paper to go home and she was exhausted. She heard her cell phone beep and dug it out of her purse. It was a text from Dante: "Can we please talk? What time will you be home?" Lulu ignored it and dropped her phone back in her purse and started digging for her keys. She heard footsteps coming up behind her and when she turned around she was immediately knocked down. She hit her head on the pavement and could feel herself losing consciousness. Just as she was passing out she heard Jared yell "Hey! Get away from her!"

She woke up what must have been several minutes later as she was being loaded into an ambulance. She could see Jared's concerned face looking at her from the door. "I will call your husband and have him meet you at the hospital." Before Lulu could protest and tell him not to call Dante, she passed out again.

She woke up in the hospital with a dull ache in the back of her head. She turned to find Dante sitting at her bedside, staring at her intently. He breathed a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes.

"Hi beautiful. How does your head feel?" He asked.

"It hurts but I'll be fine." Lulu said softly.

"You can't scare me like that again. I'll go get a doctor and tell them you are awake." Dante quickly went out into the hall and flagged down a Doctor. He came in to examine Lulu and told her she had a concussion. She was to stay overnight for observation but could go home tomorrow as long as everything looked okay.

As soon as the Doctor left, Dante sat down in the chair next to her bed and took her hand.

"This job is too dangerous."

Lulu snatched her hand away. "Are you serious right now? YOU are telling ME that my job is too dangerous?" Lulu was furious.

"Lulu you were attacked in the parking garage of your office. What could have happened if your co-worker didn't come along when he did?"

"Dante, I want you to leave. You made it clear at the PCPD how you feel about my profession no matter how many lies you told me about giving me your support. Now you are here telling me I have to quit because of a bump on the head. I can't deal with this right now." Lulu started to cry.

Dante felt terrible. He knew he had behaved badly at the PCPD and that she had been avoiding him. He thought they would talk when they had both cooled off a little but then they had that run in at the club and things got worse.

"Baby, I'm so sorry about how I acted. I'm just frustrated with this case and how the PCPD is looking in the press and I took it out on you."

"Dante you embarrassed me, belittled my profession and your partner was there the whole time loving every second of it. She even implied today that there was something going on between me and Johnny and you just stood there."

"Lulu, I love you. You are my wife and I'm worried about you."

"You have a funny way of showing your love lately. Could you please just leave me alone? I'm tired and my head hurts. I just want to go back to sleep." Lulu turned away from him, waiting for him to leave.

"Okay. I don't want to upset you any further so I'll go. I will be back tomorrow to take you home." Dante looked dejected. He just wanted to take her in his arms and make everything else go away but she was shutting him out. Not that he blamed her with the way he had behaved. This wasn't the kind of husband he wanted to be.

"Maybe I should stay with Maxie for a little while." Lulu said tiredly as Dante was getting up to leave.

"No! This is just a bump in the road Lulu. We will work this out but we can't do that if you aren't there. I'll sleep on the couch if that would make you happy but you can't go." Dante pleaded with her. He couldn't let the emotional or physical distance between them get any bigger or he could lose her.

Lulu sighed. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you Lulu." Dante said as he left reluctantly.

Dante didn't know what to do with himself after he exited Lulu's hospital room. She didn't want him there but he didn't want to be anywhere else but with her. He decided the best thing to do was to go home and get the apartment ready for Lulu to come home and recover. He called Mac to tell him he would be taking tomorrow off. He went home and cleaned the loft from top to bottom and did all of the laundry including the bed sheets. He stocked the kitchen with all of Lulu's favorite snacks and the tea she loved. He bought a huge bouquet of her favorite flowers and put them in a vase on the bureau. Once the place was satisfactory, he climbed into bed to try and get some sleep. He tossed and turned but just couldn't drift off. He couldn't sleep without here there. Even with their frostiness the last several days, she was still always there in bed with him at night. At about 3am, he gave up trying to sleep and decided to get up, shower and head back to the hospital. He crept back into her room where she was fast asleep. She looked so small curled up in the hospital bed. He quietly sat down in the chair next to her bed and watched her. It made his heart ache that someone had put his hands on his wife and hurt her and he hadn't been there to stop it. Instead he treated her badly and then didn't apologize immediately. He took for granted that there would be time to work it out and he had been stubborn. He was determined that nothing like this would ever happen again. He laid his head down on the bed and fell asleep with his hand on her hip.

She woke up and found him like that the next morning, asleep sitting in a chair leaning his head on the bed with his hand resting on her hip. As her eyes roamed over his handsome face, she immediately felt bad for sending him away. She was still hurt but she loved him so much and in her heart she knew he loved her just as much back. She stroked his hair until he woke up. He looked at her sheepishly knowing he had been caught back in her room after she had sent him home. "I'm sorry, I know you didn't want me here but I couldn't sleep without you at home and I hated the thought of you here at the hospital all by yourself."

"It is okay. I'm sorry I sent you away like that. I was hurt. I'm still hurt but I love you."

"I love you too Lulu. More than anything and I'm so sorry about everything." He cupped her face and kissed her gently.

Lulu rested her forehead against his. "Let's go home." He kissed her one more time and went to find a doctor.

The doctor came in to examine Lulu a final time. He told her to go home and rest for a few days before returning to work. They checked Lulu out of the hospital and Dante helped her into the car to take her home.

They arrived back at the loft and Dante went to help Lulu out of the car. "Dante, I'm perfectly fine to walk by myself. I just got a little bump on the head."

"Just let me help you. It would make ME feel better." Dante said. Lulu relented and leaned on him as he guided her inside.

She immediately noticed that he had cleaned the place and bought her favorite flowers. "The loft looks nice and those flowers are so pretty."

"I just wanted you to be as comfortable as possible while you recover. Do you want to take a nap or would you like to watch TV? Are you hungry? Does your head hurt?"

"Dante relax. I will be fine. You probably have to get to work anyway. I'll just settle in here on the couch and watch some daytime TV."

"I'm not going to work. I took today off."

Lulu was surprised. He had been working so much lately, she just assumed he would drop her off and head to the station. "Honey, you didn't have to do that. I will be okay here if you want to go."

"Lulu, I'm not going. You are my wife and you just got out of the hospital. I'm staying here with you today even if it is just to watch you watch TV."

Lulu walked over to Dante, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his neck. "I love you." He put his arms around her and squeezed her back.

She let him go and told him she was going to take a quick shower. While she was in there, Dante slipped into the bathroom and laid out some clothes for her. He picked her favorite lounging pants and a super soft t-shirt.

Twenty minutes later she came out wearing the clothes he had put out. "Thanks for putting out these clothes. I feel like a new woman."

Dante made them some breakfast and he let Lulu get settled on the couch before he handed her the plate. "You are spoiling me."

"No, I'm just taking care of you. Just like the many times you have cared for me."

They ate their breakfast and watched Lulu's favorite morning talk shows. She was starting to feel drowsy from her latest dose of pain medication. "I think I'm going to lay down and take a nap."

"Okay. I'll just be over here on the couch if you need me." Dante said. Lulu got into bed and hugged Dante's pillow as she fell asleep. Dante realized he was feeling a little tired himself since he hardly slept the night before. He was unsure if she would be okay with him getting into bed with her or not. He walked over to watch her sleep. He decided to take a chance and get into bed with Lulu and just hope she didn't kick him out. He needed to be near her. He stripped down to his boxers and slid in behind her. She woke up and turned over to look at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. Is this okay?" Dante whispered.

"Of course it is okay." She said and she reached out to rub his chest. "I have missed you."

He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. "I was terrified when I got the phone call that you were hurt."

"I'm okay. Everything is okay." Lulu let out a contented sigh and snuggled into Dante as she drifted off to sleep again. He watched her sleep for a little while and then drifted off himself.

Lulu woke up a few hours later to find Dante already awake and staring at her.

"Did you sleep at all?" She asked him.

"Sure, for a little while. Lulu, I'm worried for you with this job. What if the next time you aren't as lucky? Someone was obviously trying to hurt you. "

"Dante, if anyone understands about being worried, it is me. I can't just give up because of this. This job has become important to me. If someone went to the trouble of trying to hurt me, I'm obviously getting close to some answers. "

"Johnny told me about the guy with the wrist tattoo. How come you didn't report that to the PCPD?"

"Dante, that's what I was at the PCPD to do when you yelled at me. Delores wasn't interested in what I had to say and then she told you I was there fishing for information. I wasn't. I was trying to share what I had figured out." Lulu said, getting upset all over again.

"Maybe Delores misunderstood why you were there." Dante was confused.

"I don't think so Dante. Just be careful around her." Lulu warned.

"I'm sorry I treated you that way. It was unacceptable and uncalled for. You spotted the guy with the tattoo when nobody in the department did. You are good at this job Lulu."

"I am good at this job and I love it. You told me to find a passion outside of the marriage and I did."

"I'm not trying to take it away from you Lu. I'm just scared that something is going to happen to you. "

"That's how I feel every day when you go to work."

"I understand that now. Couldn't you just drop this story and let someone else finish it out?"

"Dante, you wouldn't even sit at a desk for a couple of weeks to let your lung heal. Yet you expect me to give up my very first assignment at the paper because you think it is too dangerous? That is quite the double standard you have going on there."

Dante sighed and knew she was right. He couldn't ask her to give up something she was passionate about when he wouldn't do the same for her.

"Can you please just promise me that you will be careful? I can't have anything happening to you." He said as he squeezed her tight.

"Of course I will be careful." She rested her head on his chest. "This is nice. I really missed you."

"I missed you too baby. So much."

"Dante, did the information about the man with the tattoo go anywhere?"

"I gave it to Delores to try and identify him."

"Babe, I'm not trying to tell you how to do your job so please don't take it that way but why would you give that task to Delores? When I went there to tell you I found it, she lied to you and said I was there fishing for information. She wouldn't even listen to what I had to say. Something is fishy about her and this case." Lulu hoped Dante wouldn't be mad at her for saying that.

"Lulu, why don't you tell me exactly what happened that day."

"I was here at home watching the surveillance tapes when I found the man with the tattoo on his wrist in all of the tapes the nights of the attacks. I rushed down to the PCPD to tell you about it and you weren't there. I told Delores that I had some information that might help with the case. Her response was that I couldn't possibly have anything to help with the case, that I'm not a detective and that I should go back to writing my little stories and leave the detective work to the cops. That's when you showed up and she lied that I was there fishing for information. I was so embarrassed and upset about what you said that I went along with it just to get out of there."

"Lulu, I can't believe she refused your information. She and I are going to have to have a serious talk when I go back to work."

"I'm worried about her as your partner Dante. You have to depend on her to have your back and keep you safe. I don't trust her to do that. Do you?"

"Well I did but now I'm not so sure."

"What do you think about working on this case together? I have gotten all of those women at the club to trust me and I found the man with the wrist tattoo on the surveillance video. I promise anything you share with me won't go in the paper unless you say it is okay."

"I don't know Lulu. This is getting more dangerous by the minute. Someone already hurt you."

"I'm going to keep working on this with you or without you. I would rather share information and help each other than the alternative. Wouldn't you?"

"I suppose if you are going to do it anyway, I would feel much better if I was with you than you going off and doing it alone."

"There is only one thing, I don't trust Delores. I don't think she should know we are working together or anything we find out."

Dante didn't hesitate. After what Lulu told him, he didn't trust Delores either. "I agree. We should keep it to ourselves. You need to take one more day to recover and then we can get to work."

"I'm fine, really. We can start tomorrow." Lulu protested.

"Lulu Falconeri, you were knocked unconscious and got a concussion. The doctor said to rest for a couple of days and that's what you are going to do." Dante stated firmly. He would not let her take her health lightly.

"Well Bossypants, isn't the shoe on the other foot all of a sudden?" Lulu teased.

Dante grinned at her sheepishly. "Point taken. I'm still not giving in on this though. Your health is the most important thing. Don't you want to stay home with me for one more day? I promise I'll take good care of you." He said wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Lulu laughed at his obvious ploy to get her to agree. "Fine, one more day. Then we get right to work."

"As your reward, I'll watch the chick flick of your choice tonight without complaining."

Lulu laughed, "You may regret that promise later."

They watched movies and cuddled on the couch for the rest of the day. Dante made them a nice dinner, which they ate by candlelight and then he offered to clean up while she took a relaxing bath.

Lulu took him up on that offer and went into the bathroom. She filled the tub and added her favorite lavender bath oil before she got in. Dante finished cleaning the kitchen and then knocked on the bathroom door and poked his head in. "Baby, can I get you anything? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine though I'm just about ready to get out. I'm turning into a prune. Would you hand me my robe."

Dante entered the bathroom fully and got her robe off of the hook on the back of the door and held it open for her. Lulu stood up out of the tub and his eyes roamed over her naked body. She was so beautiful and all his. She put on the robe and wrapped the belt around her waist.

"Let's go to bed." Dante said as he took her hand to lead her into the bedroom.

"Dante it is only 9pm."

"You need your rest." Dante insisted as he handed her a pair of underwear and a t-shirt to sleep in and watched her as she put them on. "You are so freaking hot."

She reached out and ran her hands up his chest and wrapped them around his neck. "You know, it has been a couple of weeks." She kissed his neck.

He groaned, "As much as I want to rip those panties off of you right now, you just got out of the hospital this morning."

Lulu pulled back from kissing his neck and gave him a pouty face. "Are you seriously turning down sex?"

"Believe me it is the last thing I want to do. It has been way too long already but I will not jeopardize your health."

Lulu sighed and gave up. She turned away from him and climbed into bed. He climbed in after her and wrapped his arms around her.

"I promise you as soon as you are all recovered, we are going to make up for lost time." He said into her ear and then kissed her neck.

"I guess going to bed early isn't so bad." She sighed as she melted into his embrace. "You take such good care of me."

"I love you." Dante said as he squeezed her. Lulu drifted off to sleep.