Chapter 31- Caught
The guard removed Esme's handcuffs after the bail hearing and Felicia hugged her. "Come on, let's get you home."
"Just remember the conditions," Nora said. "Abstain from communicating with your alleged victims and witnesses. And you can't leave town."
"But the judge said she can still speak with Spencer when we pick up Ace, right?" Felicia asked.
"Yes," Nora said. "But just stick to the subject of Ace. I advise you not to converse on anything else…. I would like to meet again this week to prepare for your trial. But I really need you to tell me everything, Esme. This is about your future and your freedom. I need to know what happened. Including what happened with your father."
Esme stared at the ground and Felicia squeezed her shoulders.
"If you don't tell me, you will probably end up in prison and be separated from your child permanently," Nora said.
Esme's breathing sped up.
"If it's hard to talk to me, why don't you start with confiding in your mother," Nora suggested. "Sometimes if I find it hard talking about something, I will write it down instead. Maybe you can try that. I will be in touch." She headed out
"Let's go get Ace," Felicia said. "Then maybe we can talk more at home."
"Can—can we stop at Wyndemere after?" Esme asked.
"Sure. How come?"
"To get my box," Esme said.
"Okay, unless you want to wait for another day."
"No! I want my box. I—I want to give you something inside it."
Felicia smiled a little. "Okay. We'll go there after we get Ace."
GHGHGH
When Kevin and Laura left for work, Spencer finally got Ace down for his morning nap. Ace hadn't slept well the night before and had been very fussy. Spencer heard a knock at the door and went to answer it.
"Hello, son," Nikolas said.
"Father… what are you doing here?"
Nikolas walked in. "I've come to take Ace."
Spencer shut the door. "We talked about this."
"I heard that Esme was arrested," Nikolas said. "This is my chance to save him."
"Diane is already setting it up for me to sue for custody," said Spencer. "I have this under control."
"And if it was just Esme you had to deal with, I'm sure you could win this. But she now has the Scorpios helping her and they can afford a good lawyer. If she gets off—"
"She's not going to get off," Spencer said. "I gave the PCPD proof that she remembers."
"Do you want to risk that though? Esme is sneaky, she's gotten this far without paying. Do you really want to risk your baby brother's well-being? I'm sure she's playing Mac and Felicia. She'll do to them what she did to us. And it's Ace who's going to suffer."
Spencer swallowed hard and pondered everything.
"This is the best chance we have," Nikolas continued. "Esme and the Scorpios aren't here, your grandmother and Kevin aren't either. When will the next opportunity be for me to take him? Once Esme has harmed your baby brother?" He stepped closer to him. "We can't let that happen. You have to let me take him away and get him out of Esme's grasp."
Spencer nodded. "You're right. We have to protect Ace from her and we have to do it now. Her bail hearing is probably over about now. I'll go get him."
Nikolas paced back and forth while he waited. A few minutes later Spencer returned with Ace, sleeping in his arms.
"He's sleeping," Spencer said. "So, you can get away without any noise." He teared up as he rubbed Ace's back and kissed his head. "I love you, Ace. You're going with our dad now. This is to keep you safe."
Nikolas took Ace in his arms. Ace stirred a little but stayed asleep. "Hi son. It's good to see you."
Spencer lifted the backpack over Nikolas's shoulders. "Take care of him."
"I will. Thank you, Spencer. This is what's best for Ace."
Spencer nodded and watched them leave.
GHGHGH
Spinelli, Maxie, Sam, and Elizabeth arrived in Switzerland and headed over to the hotel. They found Ned and Olivia in the lobby.
"Where's Georgie?" Maxie asked.
"In their room," Olivia said.
"You better talk to them," Ned commented. "We alerted the Switzerland police and gave them the information we had, including the location of the mansion. But the kids are still expecting to go to there themselves."
"Of course, they are," Sam said. "Danny even took my gun."
"The police have connected with the PCPD back home to check out Georgie's computer," Ned added.
"Can you take us to them?" Elizabeth asked.
They followed Ned and Olivia to the elevator and up to the fifth floor. Ned knocked on room 505.
Ned looked between them and knocked again. "Danny? Jake? Open up."
After a few minutes, Olivia pulled the key out and pushed the door open. "Your parents are here…."
They walked inside but the room was empty. Spinelli checked the bathroom. "They're gone," he said.
GHGHGH
"All right let's try to be quiet…" Jake whispered when they snuck into the side of the mansion.
Danny held Sam's gun close to be ready. "Should we just check random rooms?"
"I guess so," Georgie said. She pushed open a door to find a broom closet. "Not here."
Danny checked inside a library and Jake a random sitting room, but there was no one in sight.
Georgie started to turn a doorknob but stopped when she heard Victor's voice.
"That's wonderful Nikolas…. Yes, there is plenty of room here for you and Ace. But gosh, that name. One of the first things we'll do is change it. Perhaps to Aleksandr or Dimitri. Yes, all right, well I won't keep you."
Jake gestured for Georgie to follow them to the next floor, but Georgie clenched her jaw. "He's talking about my cousin…."
"I know, but we gotta go." Jake took her hand and pulled her away.
GHGHGH
Nikolas turned off his phone and stared at Ace sleeping through the rearview mirror. "It's all right, son. We have somewhere to go."
He turned the engine on, and Ace jerked awake. His eyes moved around the car and stopped at Nikolas. He started to scream.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," Nikolas said. "I'm getting us out of here."
Ace flailed his arms and legs and banged his head repeatedly against the car seat.
"Ace… Ace…." Nikolas jumped out of the car and opened the back door. "Hey, buddy, it's okay. You're going to hurt yourself."
Ace wailed harder when Nikolas tried to rub his shoulder.
"Ace, you need to calm down," Nikolas said. "I know you're confused, but I'm saving you from—" His mouth dropped slightly when Ace started coughing. "Your lips are going blue…."
Ace screamed again but kept coughing in between.
"That sounds like Ace!"
Nikolas' eyes widened at the sound of Esme's voice. "Okay, we have to go son."
He started to shut the door, but Felicia charged over and blocked it with her foot. "Oh, no you don't," she said.
Nikolas gritted his teeth and backed up. "Felicia…."
"Ace, Ace…." Esme pushed the door open and started unstrapping him. "It's okay. Mommy is here." He reached her arms out to her and she held him close. "What are you doing… taking my son!"
Felicia touched her arm. "Take Ace to the car and call the police." Her face went rigid, and she stepped closer to Nikolas.
Nikolas put his hand on the door handle, but Felicia punched him.
"Oh, you're not going anywhere," Felicia said. "Esme might not have had anyone to defend her before, but she does now. How dare you? How dare you… you, a nearly 50-year-old man, get my young daughter pregnant and abandon both of them! You are disgusting. And how dare you lock her in a tower when she was pregnant!"
"I did not abandon Ace," Nikolas said. "I had to wait for the right time. And you don't know what Esme did to my relationship with Spencer. She caused our failed relationship."
"Oh really? Did Esme make you fake your own death when she was a 13-year-old girl? Did she make you terrorize your own son? Oh yes, I heard all about that." She smiled when she heard sirens. "I know all of you like to blame everything on my daughter, but that's stopping right now."
A police car pulled up and Chase got out. "Nikolas Cassadine, you're under arrest…." He cuffed him and began reading his rights.
Felicia went back to her car to find Esme rocking Ace.
"It's okay, Esme," Felicia said. "Ace is safe now—"
"S—something is wrong," Esme cried. "He's not breathing properly."