Chapter 6
[6:30pm--Wyndemere]
The search ends when Katherine gets to the cellar. Leaning against the hundreds of bottles of aged wine in the racks is a four foot by three foot object with a length of canvas draped over it. It has been two hours since Katherine got home. Those two hours had been spent searching Wyndemere. Starting in Stefan’s bedroom, she searched in every closet, under every bed, and behind every plant and curtain. At first the rate inside her had pushed Katherine into overdrive. It only took five minutes to establish that the portrait wasn’t in Stefan’s bedroom but in that short time a devastation had been wrecked upon the room. Books were flung haphazardly around and a majority of the dark suits Stefan usually wears are on the floor in little piles. By the time she had finished that one room a lot of the momentum had worn off. When Kat got to the cellar her pillaging had become methodical and restrained.
Carefully, Katherine lifts the covering. Underneath is a poorly painted likeness, there is no mistaking who it is though. Roughly fifteen years before, wearing a dress identical to the one Alexis had given her, Laura apparently had posed for a portrait. Seeing those liquidy blue eyes staring out at her from the painting, Katherine feels a surge of emotion. Strangely enough though the most powerful feeling isn’t anger. Instead she is weighed down with defeat. Her hand trailing down the frame, Katherine sinks to the floor:
~~
Don’t you know that you’re my reason
For my love, my life, my being
So secure and so dame sure my
Heart would surely die without you
I tried to swallow my pride
But I felt my heart start to tremble inside
Wish I didn’t know ‘cause I can’t let this go
Tell me
Why
Why when I looked in your eyes
I felt my heart start to cry
‘Cause I felt the trust start to die
Why o why
When I still love you
It’s so hard to say goodbye
Should I quietly leave through the door
Or maybe pretend the way things were once before
When I met you
I’ll never forget you
****
[somewhere over the Atlantic--7:15pm]
Stefan lounges in the black leather chairs of the Cassadine jet. Ever since getting on the plane he’s been on the phone nonstop with his frantic financial manager and the head of Cassadine Enterprises. Finally Stefan had been able to give him a task to keep him busy until he got there. Right now he’s taking a break before he gets back into the arrangements that need to be made.
The head of operations at Cassadine Enterprises hadn’t told him much. All he’s said was that a hostile takeover was imminent. Apparently they had had someone on the inside. That person had been apprehended but the damage was already done. Stefan takes a sip of his brandy, the second one he’s had so far. Quickly he punches in the number for Wyndemere.
****
[Wyndemere]
The phone is very faint from where Katherine sits on the cellar floor. Seven, eight, nine, the ringing stops before the tenth ring. If she had wanted to she could have gotten it but she isn’t ready to face him yet.
****
[somewhere over the Atlantic]
Stefan hangs up the phone reluctantly. He had wanted to see how Katherine had liked his present. “Maybe I’ll be able to catch her tonight before bed,” he thinks hopefully.
Stefan considers the business problems facing him in Greece. The loss of Cassadine Enterprises would be a major blow. There are other assets and commodities of course but without C.E., Nikolas’ empire is nothing more then money. If he fails, Stefan realizes grimly, Nikolas and he will still be wealthy but they will not have power behind their every move as they do now. “Helena must be involved somehow. Who else could have the resources to even challenge C.E. and me?”
****
[Wyndemere--8:00pm]
With a jolt Katherine awakens. She’s still on the floor next to the painting. She doesn’t remember falling asleep, it was probably not long after she reached her decision about what to do though. Carefully, keeping her eyes locked on the painting the whole time, Katherine gets to her feet. The brown leather shoes she had been wearing are lying on the floor. Katherine bends over and picks one up by its two inch heel. Shifting her hand, Kat turns to face the painting. The dainty shoe comes down swiftly, puncturing Laura’s exposed throat. Katherine braces her hand against the frame and pulls her shoe out, puts it on, and calmly replaces the coverup before going back upstairs.
****
[Jax’s PH--2:00am]
The silence of Jax’s bedroom is broken by the piercing ring of the phone on the bedside table. Jax is immediately jolted out of sleep.
“Hello?”
“Jax, it’s Mac.”
“Why in the hell are you disturbing me...” Suddenly Jax remembers the events of the day before. “...Is it Brenda? Where is she?”
“Yes, it was surprisingly easy to find out what happened.”
“Is she there? Where are you? Let me talk to Brenda now!” Jax is fully awake now.
“I said I know what happened, not where she is.” Mac pauses, dreading telling Jax what he’s discovered. “You told me that Brenda left the cottage two days ago and never returned, so I called the local cab companies to see if they had picked her up.”
“What, why did you waste your time doing that?”
“Cool it Jasper! I was going on the instinct that I had that Brenda was willing, at least in the beginning, to leave. Jason’s men hadn’t seen any suspicious characters around the house after all. They just figured that her car wasn’t working when she got in the cab.”
“What do you mean?”
“Brenda left her house in a cab from Eddie’s Cabs at 10:00am Friday morning. According to the cabbie, she had two bags and he dropped her off at the Albany airport.”
“Where’d she go?”
“Nowhere. According to my source at the airport, no one by the name of Brenda Barrett took off out of Albany.”
Hopefully, “Maybe she got abducted before she could leave.”
“No, the flight attendant that I spoke to saw her. She used an assumed name. He recognized her from her modeling days however. The plane that Brenda was on went to San Francisco, with a layover in Kansas. The flight attendant didn’t remember her after the lay-over so I had a contact in Kansas check it out. From Kansas Brenda went to...”
Jax interrupts Mac before he can tell him Brenda’s whereabouts. “Don’t tell me. Obviously she doesn’t want me. I don’t want the temptation to go and find her. Thank you for your services Mac, your paycheck will be delivered tomorrow.” Mac begins to speak but Jax hangs up the phone and flops back against the pillow.
Chapter Seven
****
[Greece]
Stefan walks briskly through the crowded airport to the exit sign. Outside a limo is waiting and rushes him to the headquarters of Cassadine Enterprises. The minute he steps out of the car, a disheveled man starts trying to explain.
"I don't know how this happened Mister Cassadine. Security had the mole down as a legitimate employee of C.E. It wasn't until he had cleaned out several companies and accessed our most top secret files that we even had a suspicion. Two days later, the man he claimed to be was found tied up and left in an abandoned building downtown. As soon as I was notified I ordered the guards to detain him, that's when I called you," rushes the head of C.E. in one breath.
In a sarcastic and irritable voice, "Is he still here? You haven't managed to lose him have you?"
The man is embarrassed at the disaster that has occurred under his watch. "Of course not sir. He's in the Green Room with two guards watching him at all times."
"You did as I asked I hope and did not call the police, correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Fine, take me to him."
"We haven't questioned him yet, I thought it best to leave that to you."
The man opens the door and the two guards get to their feet quickly. The mole is sitting with his back to Stefan. His hair is black but heavily streaked with gray.
In a commanding voice, Stefan insists, "I want to speak to the prisoner alone. Leave us."
One of the guards looks at the other and objects, "But sir, he could be dangerous."
"I can handle it."
Reluctantly the three men leave.
Stefan can't shake the feeling that this man is familiar to him. In a hard voice he demands, "Turn around. I want to see the face of the man who almost destroyed my company."
Without turning, the man replies, "'Almost'? Don't you mean did?"
Angrily Stefan turns the man around. For a moment he stares in amazement, then he gasps, "Victor!?!"
~~
[Spoon Island-Guesthouse-11:00am]
Jax stands on the small porch of the small porch of the small cottage like building. A few seconds ago he had knocked. There had been no immediate response but he can tell someone is home. Just as he's about to knock again, Katherine opens the door. She's out of breath and perspiring lightly. Behind her he can see several boxes.
"Jax, what are you doing here?"
"I just came by to tell you that Mac's services are once again yours."
"He already found Brenda? That's great! You must be happy," exclaims Katherine, avoiding the fact that since discovering Stefan's Laura shrine she would not be needing a PI.
Jax looks a little uncomfortable and just says, "Yea, well..."
"She is okay, isn't she?"
"Yea. She's fine."
"Will she be home soon?"
"No. She's not coming back."
"Oh." Suddenly Katherine realizes what must have happened. Trying to relieve some of the sadness and tension in the room, she asks, "Can I get you something to drink?"
With relief at the subject change, "No, I don't want to bother you. I just came by to tell you that."
He turns to leave but Katherine quickly says, "Wait! My reason for inviting you in for something to drink wasn't purely altruistic. I was wondering if you could help me with something."
"Sure. I've got nothing better to do."
"Great. I was just trying to figure out how I was going to do this, but now that you're here it'll be easy."
With a quirky grin, Jax asks, "What do you want me to do? I'm all your ma'am."
Smiling slightly, "OK, see those boxes there? I need them taken over to the ferry."
"Oh, so you just want me for my brawn, is that it?" Jax goes further into the guesthouse to get the first of the boxes and notices something. He's never actually been here before so he doesn't have any point of reference but to him the rooms look kinda bare. There's furniture but no knick-knacks or pictures. He looks up at Katherine who is standing in the doorway. "Are you moving back to your old penthouse or something?"
Jax's question jolts Kat out of her memories of the past night. "What? Oh yes. Well, actually no. I'm moving but not back to my old apartment."
"Where to then? Maybe I can help you get these from the ferry to there."
Katherine is a little embarrassed, "That's very nice of you but I don't want to waste your whole day. Also, I kinda don't know where I'm moving into yet."
This revelation surprises Jax since Katherine always seems so together. At first he had though maybe she just hadn't liked this small building on Spoon Island and had decided to move back to the main land. Her red-rimmed eyes and uncertainty about her place of residence speaks of something else though. Jax wants to ask if she and Stefan had a fight but something stops him. Looking at the shadows under Katherine's eyes, undoubtably the result of the long hours spent packing, sparks something inside him. Before Jax realizes it, he says, "I know where you can live."
"Really? What, do you know someone in the real estate business?"
"No, but I do know of a place that's open. It may be a little big but it's comfy."
Intrigued, Katherine exclaims "It sounds great. Where is it?"
"I think you should move into Brenda's old house. Before you say no, let me tell you about it. It's located about ten miles from PC and is kind of isolated. There's three bedrooms and about an acre of land. No one is living there and if you want it, it's mine to sell or rent. Brenda sold it to me when her accountant stole all her money. I was just renting it to her."
"She's really not coming back then?"
"No. Do you want the house? I could give you a one month trial period or something. That way if you don't like it you have a month to find somewhere new. "
"Okay. I've never been much of a house type but who knows. So, I guess you're gonna be my landlord and my moving man."
"Looks like."
They smile at each other for a couple seconds then Kat gets a mischevious glint in there eye and says, "Well, let's hope you're a better landlord then mover. So far I don't have a single box on that ferry yet."
Jax laughs and bend to pick up the top box. "Fine, fine, what a slave driver."
Jax leaves and Katherine's smile fades as she looks around at the place she was so happy in. Finding out that that happiness was a sham really cut. Hopefully this move will be the first step in healing.
Chapter 8
*******************************************
[three days later]
[Brenda’s old cottage]
Katherine is on the phone when Jax walks in after knocking and being waved in. He hears the tail end of her conversation, “...It’s done? Good. And you put it in the frame I gave you? Very good. Please have it delivered. I already gave you the address, right? Great. Thanks.” She hangs up the phone and smiles at Jax.
“I hear you ordered a painting. I hope you got a good deal.”
“No, but it will be worth it. It’s a gift, kinda.
“Well, I just stopped by to see how you like your new digs. As your landlord, I felt it was my obligation to see if you needed anything.
************
[somewhere over the Atlantic]
“Do you need anything Mister Cassadine?” asks the sugary sweet flight attendant. The young woman woman, who had confided to him in a conspiratory whisper that this was her “first time as a real-life stewardess,” had been annoying the hell out of him ever since he buckled up. Every five minutes she would return and offer him some other unnecessary thing, cutting into his thoughts about the past several days in Greece.
***********
Jax has left and Katherine is rearranging all of her recently unpacked stuff. Then the doorbell rings. Standing on the porch is a young man with a large package in his hands. After he leaves, Katherine takes the portrait and loads it into her car. She gets in and pops in one of her favorite Celine Dion CDs. The second song however hits a little close to home though:
~~
I though I knew you
Though that I knew you well
We had a rhythm
But I guess you never can tell
Oh I learned early
Never to ignore the signs
You’ll be forgiven
It ain’t worth that much to my mind
Lovin’ you (was) so easy
It’s hard to say goodbye
But if that’s the way it goes it goes
~
Just a page in my history
Just another one of those mysteries
One more lover that used to be
If you think you’re in my head
You’ve been seriously misled
~
Lovin’ somebody ain’t your
Average 9 to 5
It takes conviction
It takes a will to survive
I’m not somebody who commits the crime
And leaves the scene
But when I’ve been dissed
I don’t spend much time on what might’ve been
I’m not about self-pity
Your love did me wrong
So I’m movin’, movin’ on
~~
The song ends and Katherine gets out of the car and onto the launch with the painting. When she reaches Wyndemere, Kat looks up at the familiar sight for a full minute with a feeling of regret but then shakes her head and walks briskly inside.
************
[somewhere over the Atlantic]
The thought that Victor Cassadine, his “dead” uncle, is really alive still a mazes Stefan. After he realized who he was, Victor explained to them that he had escaped the prison many years ago. It wasn’t until one year after his escape that he learned what was being said about him, that he’d died. According to Victor, that was a lie on the prison’s part to save face. He explained that he had stayed hidden in the ensuing years, building his power and wealth back up. Then when he was ready, Victor did what he had intended all those years: took on his former family and tried to gain back what was rightfully his.
Victor told his story quite calmly and when it was done just stopped. The only emotion he showed was when he mentioned Helena, that she had known he was alive and had worked to thwart his efforts to regain his life.
Stefan snaps back to reality as the seat belt sign clicks on above him. Next to him, Victor buckles his seat belt. They haven’t said a word to each other since the beginning of the flight. If someone had told him four days ago that he would be sharing his jet with the C.E. mole he would have scoffed but now it seems perfectly logical. Victor’s animosity towards Helena will be a valuable resource once they get back to Port Charles. He is powerful, muses Stefan, “after all, he almost toppled me.”
Chapter 9
*******************************************
[Wyndemere--8:00pm]
Stefan walks through the front door and is immediately struck by the silence inside. He had expected to find Katherine and Nikolas sitting at the table, as they often did when he was late coming home, playing chess or just talking about life. Instead of playful chatter however, there is only the sound of the large grandfather clock ticking away. Then Stefan realizes what night it is. "That explains it," he muses aloud. It's the night before the nurses ball. Stefan read about the ousting of Ms. Coe in favor of Katherine to run the ball, so she is probably at rehearsals.
He places the presents he’s gotten for Nikolas and Kat on the floor. It only took about twenty minutes to deposit Victor at the hotel, with a guard at his door of course. Then Stefan had rushed home in anticipation of reuniting with Katherine and telling her about the past week’s hectic and amazing events.
Actually however, the empty house is a blessing in disguise decides Stefan after a minute of thinking about what he should do. Their absence will enable him to get rid of all of the reminders of Laura he has so foolishly clung to. The trip to the winecellar is dreary, a chore that has to be done. Stefan no longer feels any desire to gawk at the portrait of his brother’s wife. It will actually be a relief to get rid of the cheat painting. It is his past after all, and Katherine is his future!
Without even uncovering it, Stefan picks the painting up, along with the trunk of Laura’s things and brings it upstairs. he piles everything in the living room and calls Ralstad to come dispose of it. He comes in and starts to carrry out the old memorabilla, when the cover of the painting startes to slip.
“Wait!” cries Stefan.
He walks over to the half covered painting, his face transfixed with a mix of horror and disbelief. The painting is very similar to the original. Same white dress, same pose, but a different woman. Looking back at him is Katherine’s beautiful face. Instantly, Stefan realizes why the house is empty and why he has been unable to reach Katherine these past few days. “Leave me,” commands Stefan to Ralstad in a dead voice.
*****
“No, no. Move it about two feet to the left. Yes. That’s right.” Katherine stands on the stage and directs one of the stage hands as to where to hang the last banner.
Dara comes up to her and she does not look happy. “There is no way. I cannot do this number you have me down for. The subject matter is inappropriate for my position.”
“No it’s not. The song is great, a classic even. Your partner doesn’t seem to have any complaints and he’s pretty high up on the social ladder.”
“My partner. That’s another problem. My partner is a former suspect of drug trafficking, I can’t associate with him. I hate to say this Katherine, but I just can’t do it. I’m the ADA of Port Charles. I’m sorry. Maybe I can sing something else.”
“Oh, great!” Katherine takes out her address book, frantic to find a new partner. After an hour and twenty fruitless calls she finally collapses on one of the handy folding chairs. “What am i gonna do?”
*******************************************
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