Dance Till You Die
Part III

Nikolas and Emily's apartment
Monday Morning
Time Missing: 13 hours

The phone didn't ring all night. He knew because he had
spent the entire night watching it. Waiting for it to ring. Praying that it
would ring.
It never did.
Nikolas swore in frustration.
He felt a hand on his shoulder.
''Relax,'' Lucky said. ''It's still early in this whole mess. We'll
hear from whoever has her. They have to contact you for a
ransom demand.''
''If they want money,'' Nikolas voiced the fear that had
drove him crazy all night , ''If she wasn't grabbed by some psycho
nut ...if she isn't already lying in some alley...if she isn't...''
''Stop,'' Lucky commanded. ''My God Nik you'll drive yourself crazy if
you keep this up. And then you'll be no good to Emily or to yourself. She
needs you to be stay in control.''
''My mind knows you're right,'' Nikolas' voice is full of
anguish, “but every other part of me is going crazy with fear. I
can't lose her, man. I can't even begin to imagine how I will make it without her.''
''Then don't. You won't have to,'' Lucky responds. ''I have
some good news. You aren’t the only one who was up most of
the night. I used my cell phone to called my
superior in Washington, D.C. They've given me an indefinite leave
of absence from the Bureau. I'm not leaving here until Emily is safe
and back here with you where she belongs. I also placed a call to Mac Scorpio
in Port Charles. He has some contacts in the NYPD who can waive the
usual waiting period in a case like this and send out an APB on Emily right
away. All very discrete of course. The last thing we need is the media
getting ahold of the fact that one of the heirs to the late Edward Quartermaine's
multimillion estate is missing. Especially when that same heir
happens to be the younger sister of a Mafia boss and living with a member of
the Cassadine family. It screams Hard Copy to me and that kind of
publicity is the last thing any of us need.''
Nikolas nods his head in agreement. ''What if they call the
Quartermaines and make their demand direct to them?''
Lucky shakes his head. ''I don't think they will. They have to
know that most of the Quartermaine fortune is not exactly easily
liquidated. My guess is that they are counting on you or your
uncle to pay the ransom. You still have most of your trust fund
that you can get your hands on fast and quick. Still, I
asked Mac to inform Ned of what's happened. And hopefully
keep the Quartermaines out of this. The last thing we need is to have Q's
up here interfering with our investigation. Even with Edward gone, the
rest of the family can be a handful.''
''Our investigation?''
''I don't think its a good idea to depend too much on the
police or even the FBI, as much as it pains me to admit that. I'll make a few
phone calls, see if I can get someone to set up a trace on your line and
stuff like that. But other than that, I think the lower profile we keep on
this the better. In fact, after I make a few phone calls, I say we leave
Liz here to man the phones and you and I hit the pavement, question
neighbors, and see if anybody saw anything last night.''
''Lucky, you’ve been with the FBI over a year
now....honestly....what are her chances?” Nikolas hates to ask the
question but he needs to know the answer. Lucky hesitates. ''When I was at Quantico, my professors could quote
all the statistics and data on kidnappings and violent crimes you
could want. But the truth is that there are so many variables involved in
each crime that you almost can't generalize. What we have to concern
ourselves with is the motive. Motive means a lot. If the motive is money,
we'll hear from the kidnappers fairly soon and things will move from there.''
''And if the motive isn't money?'' Nikolas voices the fear
that has haunted him all night long. “What if it’s revenge against the
Cassadines or a part of a vendetta against her brother? Or what if
were wrong and there is no motive?”
''Then we better hope that we find her and that we find her
soon. But maybe a phone call to Jason would be a good idea and
you can check with Alexis to find out the status quo on the
current Cassadine power play.''
Nikolas looks out the window to the city below. “God I
thought I had escaped all of that craziness when I finally escaped
that city...the last few years of being just a medical student instead
of ‘Prince Nikolas’ have been paradise...and mostly because I’ve
had Emily to share it all with.”

“You’ll get her back. We’ll get her back. She means
almost as much to me as she does to you. We’ll find her,” Lucky's
voice is cold and cool as he adds, ''But there's something in all of
this that you are forgetting big brother. I'm a Spencer. You're a
Cassadine. Emily is a Quartermaine. I'd say the one who should
be running scared is the kidnapper. He doesn't stand a chance against us.''
''I hope you are right.'' Nikolas repeats the words to himself.
''I hope you are right.''


Location Unknown
Time Missing: 14 hours

Emily is not alone. She knows that. She can hear someone (
a man or a heavyset woman) moving around, the clanging of pots and pans
providing clues to his or her location. The other person has not said a word.
Neither has Emily. She can't. The gag is still in her mouth, the blindfold
cutting off her vision, the ropes binding her hands. She is in effect
helpless. Almost. In the hours she has been sitting here in the dark,
Emily has been focusing on what she hears. She can hear city traffic, the
occasional siren, and there must be train tracks nearby because
she can hear it every once in a while.
She must still be in the city judging from the noises.
A hand reaches out and pulls the gag out of her mouth.
Emily chokes and coughs. A paper cup full of water is placed in her hand and
Emily drinks it greedily. And then spits half of it out in an automatic
reflex motion.
''Who are you?'' Emily demands, '' What do you want?''
Nothing but silent darkness.
''Look, if you let me go now we can forget about all this. I
swear I won't tell a soul. Just let me walk out of here and go home.''
Still silence.
''Just tell me what you want. If it's money, let me call my
cousin Ned and he'll wire you all the money you want.''
Emily's frustration and fear mounts as the silence continues.
She knows she is rambling. She knows she sounds pathetic. But once
started, she can't seem to stop.
''You don't want to hurt me. My brother is Jason Morgan.
He practically owns the underworld on this side of Rocky Mountains.
You hurt me and he'll kill you. But he won't just kill you. He'll hurt you so
bad that you beg him to kill you.''
Again the silence. Emily knows that if it wasn't for the
blindfold she would be crying. She hates the weakness she is showing. She
meant to be stronger. But it seems like she's been in the dark forever and the
dark is not where she wants to be. She is tired and dizzy and behaving
like every weak helpless female in every movie she ever seen. She doesn't
care. Not now. Later she will cringe. Now she just wants to cry.
''I don't want to hurt you.'' The voice catches her attention
and she freezes. It's being filtered through some kind of screening device.
She can't tell if its male or female, young or old.
''Then what do you want? Please let me go home.''
There is silence again. '' All I want is to make you happy.
And you will be happy. In your new home. Our home'' Even
through the synthesizer the words have a sing-song
quality that makes Emily shiver.
Emily refuses to give in to the urge to scream. Even as she
hears him, she has started to think of the kidnapper as a him, approach
her and can the feel of a knife blade cutting into her cheek and slicing
through the skin she refuses to give in the urge to scream at the white hot
pain.
''Forever.'' the kidnapper finishes. ''We will be together
forever.''
She can feel the blood dripping down her cheek but knows
the cut, while deep, is mostly superficial. She can feel her control slipping
and to her surprise it isn’t fear she feels but anger. He is toying
with her, using her, manipulating her. Just like her family used to.
She swore when she left home after high school that she would
not be a pawn in anyone’s game again. She is suddenly intensely
angry at this person for using her, for making her feel like an
object again. She never wanted to feel that way again and now
she does. She hates the feeling. And she hates the person who
caused it.
And as her anger at this person for doing this to her begins
to get the better of her common sense, Emily does something either
incredibly stupid or incredibly brave depending on your point of view.
She can feel the kidnapper's breath on her face and she
knows he is close. So she spits at him.
The response is a blow to her head that leaves her
unconscious and trapped in the dark.


Nikolas and Emily's apartment
Time Missing Sixteen hours

Liz is waiting with coffee and Danishes delivered from
the corner Starbucks when they return from canvassing the
neighborhood.
Nobody had seen anything. Not one blasted thing. Not
one car that seemed out of place. Not one stranger whose
appearance they remember. Nothing.
How did a woman disappear from in front of an apartment
building without one single eyewitness seeing or hearing
something? Where the hell was Emily?
Lucky turned to Nikolas as they entered. “Why don’t you
call Alexis or your father now? Explain what happened, see what
they know, and then have them get some money ready so that
when the ransom call comes in, we are ready.”
Nikolas nods and goes into the bedroom. Lucky enfolds
Liz into his embrace. After a moment, they separate and Liz pulls
back. “Do you really think they will call?”
Lucky takes a look at the closed door to the bedroom.
“To be honest. I don’t know. Most kidnaps for ransom the
kidnapper makes contact within the first 24 hours. Emily’s been
missing for almost 17 hours with no demands. There’s something
funny about this whole situation but I can’t think straight enough
to figure out what it is. And if I’m this messed up, can you
imagine how he feels? I don’t think he’s slept or ate since we’ve
been here. At least calling his father will give him something to
do.”
Liz nods. She leads Lucky to the couch and forces him to
sit and relax for a moment. “Someone from the WSB called while
you were out. I wrote down the name....Frisco Jones. He’s
sending someone over with the equipment you wanted and says if
you need anything else to just call.”
“The WSB?” Nikolas questions as he reenters the room.
“Why not the FBI?”
Lucky shrugs. “At the FBI I’m low man on the totem pole
still. I couldn’t get phone tracing equipment without filling out
paperwork in triplicate and signing away my first child. Frisco
Jones owes my father a lot and my father’s name still has a lot of
clout at the WSB, especially when its linked to Robert Scorpion
and Sean Donnelly. The three of them are some kind of legends at
the WSB. Something about Robert and my father stopping some madman’s plot to
control the world’s weather through some kind of “Ice
Princess.”....Let’s see if I remember right....the madman’s name
was.....”
“Cassadine. Mikkos Cassadine, “ Nikolas groans but a
half smile lights his face for the first time at his brother’s light
hearted teasing. “Just don’t tell Emily about Mikkos or the next
time I give her grief about the lunatic Quartermaines she’ll be able
to throw some insane Cassadine’s in my face....” Nikolas’ voice
trails off.. “I swear if she would just walk through that door safe
and sound I would never say another word against any of her
family.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Lucky cautions just as the doorbell rings.
The three of them look at each other.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Lucky asks. Nikolas shakes
his head. Lucky reaches into his shoulder holster and pulls out his
gun. motioning Liz to a safe position, he gestures to Nikolas to
answer the door.