I’m going to kill him, Nikolas thought, as he closed his eyes and prayed for patience. I’m going to strangle him with my bare hands. Or maybe I’ll use poison, a slow acting and very painful poison. Or maybe I’ll borrow Lucky’s gun when Lucky returns and just blow his brains out. With his eyes partially closed, Nikolas managed to glare at his intended victim.

Frisco Jones just smiled back and continued to munch on the sandwich he had made.

The way he figured it, saving young Cassadine’s life at the very least earned him a sandwich. Frisco had even been nice enough to make it himself. Using leftovers from Nikolas’ refrigerator of course.

“We should be doing something,” Nikolas decided to ignore Frisco. It was a technique that worked wonders when he and Luke Spencer were in the same room. “Instead we’re sitting here waiting ....I hate waiting.”

“Good thing you’re going into medicine and not police work,” Frisco said casually. “It seems like all I ever do is wait. Wait for confessions. Wait during stake outs. You get used to it after a while.”

“That’s easy for you to say. The woman you love hasn’t been kidnapped.”

“Naw, “ Frisco settles down to get comfortable on the couch, making a big scene over doing so when he notices how annoyed Nikolas is getting. His voice somber, “The woman I love is married to another man who is also raising my daughters. The fact that it’s my own fault for choosing this line of work over her doesn’t make it easier to handle.”

Nikolas stares pensively into his coffee. “I can’t imagine choosing anything over Emily.”

“That’s what I used to say about Felecia,” Frisco says softly. “Seriously though try not to worry too much. Lucky said to wait here till he returns. That should be any second. The kidnapper tipped his hand today. You should be looking at what happened today as a positive thing.”

“If getting shot at is a positive thing my life should be an ad for The Power of Positive Living,” Nikolas grumbles. “All I can think of is that if that man was willing to shoot at me, what will he do to Emily.”

“I think I can answer that,” Lucky said as he and Liz entered the apartment. “I just don’t think you’re going to like what I have to say.”

Nikolas’ heart froze at Lucky’s words and then it shattered completely at the sympathetic look on Liz’s face. Nikolas stood up slowly, unaware of Frisco standing beside him, his hand on his shoulder. “Just tell me.”

“Okay,” Lucky agreed as he moved everyone over the dining room table. “But you have to promise me to stay cool...none of those Cassadine vows of vengeance or anything like that. We’re walking on a mine field with this one and one wrong step, like taking off after you promised to wait, could blow the whole thing up.”

Nikolas flushed. “Whatever it takes to get Emily back.” He promises.

“Good,” Lucky hesitates as all eyes focus on him. “We have reason to believe that Emily’s friend Melissa was at the very least involved in Emily’s kidnapping.”

“What?” Nikolas’s voice reflects his disbelief.

“What kind of evidence do you have?” Frisco asks in his best professional manner.

“A couple of things that don’t add up and then some stuff we found when we searched her apartment. The first thing was that no one, and I mean no one, saw Emily at the time Melissa says she dropped Emily off in front of the building. Normally, I’d chalk it up to “big city no one cares”, but you have a downstairs neighbor who makes it her mission to watch the comings and goings outside her window, who was home, and who knows Emily and would have noticed.”

“Mrs. Cooper.” Nikolas fills in.

“Right. “ Lucky smiles at Liz. “Then some instinct tipped of Liz that something was wrong, so she called the credit card companies. Emily didn’t use her credit cards yesterday. Not once.”

“But Melissa said they made purchases,” Nikolas says slowly.

“Exactly.” Lucky points out.

Frisco looks at Liz with admiration. “If you ever want to join the WSB, just call me. The hours are hell but the benefits are great.” He finishes ignoring Lucky’s glare.

“I still can’t believe it,” Nikolas is shaking his head. “We’ve had Melissa over to dinner. The three of us have gone dancing together.”

“This is where it gets worse,” Lucky is somber again. “Liz show him the yearbook.”

Liz puts the yearbook she found at Melissa’s apartment on the table and opens it to where Emily’s picture is slashed.

“Port Charles High? Melissa is from Port Charles?” Nikolas’s finger traces the jagged edges where the picture had been. For a moment, the image of the real Emily, his Emily, cut and slashed fills his head and he swallows hard.

“And apparently she and Emily share some acquaintances.” Lucky places two photos framed in gold on top of the yearbook. “We also found this in her apartment.”

The first photo looks like a family portrait. Two adults, to children in their early teens. Nikolas doesn’t know who the adults are. But he knows the two children. The first is Melissa, albeit with darker hair. The second....he sucks in his breath as rage overwhelms him. He feels Lucky’s hand on his shoulder.

“I will kill the bastard you know,” Nikolas’s voice is soft and cold.

“Yeah and I might even help you,” Lucky agrees looking at the picture of Mark and Melissa together. Brother and sister. He remembers all the times the four of them double dated in high school. He remembers how happy he was when Emily met Mark and finally got over the pain Nikolas caused her back then. “But not till after she’s safe.”

Frisco looks at the second photo. “Who’s the guy with her in this picture?”

Nikolas stiffens as he looks at the second photo. This one is obviously of a couple, their arms around each other as they pose. He puts their age at 14 maybe 15. Nikolas looks more closely at the boy. He knows this face. He looks at Lucky and Liz in shock.

“Matt...The kid who got Emily hooked on drugs...” His voice trails off. “Matt and Melissa.......Mark and Melissa....” Nikolas shakes his head in disbelief.

There is silence in the apartment for a few moments.

“This isn’t about money, is it?” Nikolas voices the awful thought that everyone in the room is thinking. “This is about hurting Emily, isn’t it?”

“Or worse.” Lucky agrees glumly.

After sending Mark out to round up some supplies, Melissa is sitting at small card table making a list. She looks at her watch. Plan B should be happening just about now. Every so often, her eyes move to Emily, bound and gagged and heavily drugged, in the corner. A smile of satisfaction crosses Melissa’s face as she realizes that Emily is not moving. She must have fallen unconscious. Or maybe, if Melissa is lucky, she’s dead.

Either way Melissa makes no move to check on her captive. Instead she focuses on the list she’s making and trying to think of a way to salvage her plan. She hasn’t come this far and put in this many years setting all of this up to have it fall apart on her at the last minute. She lost to Emily Quartermaine once. She won’t lose again.

For a second, Melissa lets herself remember those years in Port Charles. Growing up in a tenement a few blocks from the docks. The four of them sharing a two room apartment. The only source of income had been what her father could earn sporadically on the streets. Dealing drugs. Melissa had helped him as she grew older. She had done other things to earn money as she grew older too. But the drugs had been the most profitable. And the easiest. That was how she met Matt. She had been 13, a year younger. She had worshipped him. And he had loved her. She knew that. They had been lovers when she turned 14. He had been hers for two years. Heaven had been hers for two years. Matt had protected her from the streets. He had listened to her dreams.

And then he had dumped her. For that bitch. Not that he ever said so. But she knew. She used to watch the two of them together. She knew that Emily was more than a “client” to Matt. He had been falling in love with Emily Quartermaine. Melissa used to taunt him with it. The idea of the “Lady Quartermaine” using Matt for anything other than drugs was ridiculous. But Matt hadn’t seen it like that. He used to tell her how she could never be like Emily. She could never be sweet like Emily. She would never have class like Emily. As much as she had loved Matt, she learned to hate Emily.

Then Matt died. The doctors could call it whatever they wanted. Accidental overdose. A bad batch of heroin. Melissa knew that Emily was to blame.

After Matt died, Melissa’s world fell apart and that too was Emily’s fault. It had been Emily’s drug addiction that had caused her brother and Sonny Corinthos to try to stop the drug trade in Port Charles. Without a source of income, her father had simply left. her stepmother had taken her half brother and moved in with a guy she knew. Melissa hadn’t been invited to join them. Not that she cared, the only good thing that came out of her father’s marriage to that bitch had been Mark.

So a few years later, driven by a need to use Emily Quartermaine as Emily had used Matt, Melissa had encouraged Mark to ask Emily out. It had been that easy. Emily had been vulnerable. Melissa knew that Emily had few friends, mostly because of the rumors Melissa spread at PCH about her, and she had heard about the falling out between Emily and Nikolas Quartermaine. Emily was rebuilding her life and according to plan Mark had been a big part of it.

With Mark in Emily’s life to stay, Melissa would have complete access to the Quartermaine fortune. Little Emily would pay and pay dearly.

Then Mark had totally screwed things up. Even then though the loss of the money was almost balanced by the idea of Emily’s heartbreak over her boyfriend’s betrayal. Melissa would imagine Emily lost, lonely, sad, empty. The plan had been to leave Emily heartbroken and broke. Melissa would settle for just heartbroken. She wasn’t greedy.

But then Nikolas Cassadine had entered the picture and destroyed all of Melissa’s illusions.

Instead of having her life destroyed by her boyfriend’s actions, Emily had emerged like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Instead of being devastated, Emily had been happier than she had ever been in her life.

Melissa’s hatred of Emily Quartermaine became her sole reason for living. She would have it all. Emily’s money. Emily’s happiness. And ultimately Emily’s life. It had been a simple matter to get Mark, who had always been easily manipulated, to go along with her plans. It had taken longer to get into a position where Emily trusted her. For two months she had tried like crazy to get Emily alone. But Nikolas had clung to Emily’s side like a shadow, despite his own busy schedule at Columbia. Melissa was nothing if not patient and that patience had been awarded yesterday when Emily had handed herself over on a golden platter.

Melissa shook her head to bring herself back into the present. She looked at the assorted needles and syringes spread across the card table. She looked again at the list she had made. It said three things. 1. Steal her money- the ransom. 2. Break her heart- kill Nikolas 3. Let her suffer- give her to Mark

Melissa smiled as she added a fourth thing to her list: 4. Kill her

Despite Melissa’s hopes, Emily Quartermaine was not dead, although there was definitely a small part of her that wished she were.

Instead she was crashing. Emily knew this feeling, the return of awareness and thought. Along with a blinding headache and the feeling of nausea in the pit of her stomach. The feel of the drug as it coursed through her blood. Like an old uninvited friend. She would cry, but she is trying to hold as still as possible, an effort that was made easier because her muscles seemed to have locked into position.

She can already feel the need for more drugs rising in her. Damn. Six years of being clean and sober. Six years of fighting the urge on a day by day basis. All of it stolen from her.

She will kill Mark when this over, she promises herself. And this will be over. Anger and fear have renewed her strength. Her face is swollen from where he beat her. She opens her eyes gingerly. The blindfold is only partially over her face. She looks up and sees Melissa sitting at the table.

Emily is about to call to her when some instinct stops her. Just then the door to the studio opens and Mark enters.

Melissa gets up and greets him. Emily’s eyes widen. She’s not afraid of him, Emily thinks. “Did you get everything on my list?” Melissa asks.

“Everything you asked for. It cost a lot, but the guy didn’t blink when I asked him for the plastique or the rest of the materials. How is she?” He gestures towards the silent Emily.

“Still out of it from the drugs. When she starts to come around, give her another shot. I want her completely out of it when we move.”

“Got it.” Mark nods and picks up one of the syringes, gently tapping it so the liquid comes out of the needle. “Are you sure I can’t give it to her now?”

“You want her alive when this is all over?” At least alive for a while, Melissa amends silently as Mark shakes his head in agreement. “Then leave her alone and help me put together this bomb. This time I want Nikolas dead for sure. The package I sent to Port Charles earlier should insure that happening, but just in case I want to be ready.”

In the corner, Emily stifles her gasp. The thought of Nikolas being hurt wipes away the last effects of the drug and her mind is clear and lucid. Her mind begins thinking, connecting dots in sequence instead of the random chaos induced by the drugs. There had to be a way out of this. She had an advantage in that they thought she was still out of it because of the drugs. All she had to do was wait for an opportunity to use it.
Emily and Nikolas’ Apartment

Frisco and Lucky are on their cell phones trying to track down all the information they can on both Melissa and Mark. Nikolas is standing by the window, his mind focused solely on Emily. He loves her. He can’t lose her. Hang on Emily, he says the words silently to himself, just hang on and we’ll find you.

“Nikolas,” he turns to find Liz looking at him, offering a cup of coffee. He takes it.

“She’s going to be okay,” Liz says.

Nikolas turns to her. “Do you really believe that?”

Liz is silent.

“I thought so,” Nikolas says as he turns back around.

“I am sure that Emily loves you.” Liz offers.

“Not half as much as I love her,” Nikolas states. “God, Liz this is all my fault.”

“Your fault? Nikolas you were almost killed today trying to pay the ransom. How is any of this your fault?”

Nikolas sighs. “It’s a long story. You know how Mark and Emily broke up don’t you?”

Liz nods. “She caught him in bed with someone else. That’s how you too finally hooked up. You came to New York to help her through it.”

“I still have nightmares sometimes about that night. Dreams where I wasn’t home when she called. Or I got there too late. She almost took drugs that night. They were sitting there when I got there. The look on her face....I could have killed him. How could a man do that to Emily?” Liz says nothing. She doesn’t need to. “I know,” Nikolas continues. “It’s what I did to her when she found Katherine and I together. I paid for my mistake. By the time I realized I was in love with her, I had lost her. I found love and lost love in one evening. To him. To that jerk. To that bastard. So I settled for friendship and hoped for more someday.”

“I knew when I walked into her apartment that night and I saw that look on her face, that there was no way I was going to leave her again. I thank God she let me stay. Did I ever tell you that I confronted Mark the next morning? I hit him. I wish now that I had killed him.”

“Nikolas,” Liz begins.

“There’s more,” Nikolas continues flatly. “Those first few months were hell on Emily. It kills me to say it, but she really loved the bastard. She was falling in love with me and falling out of love with him at the same time. The last thing she needed was to see him again. He showed up twice at her place. I was there the first time. You should have seen how Emily reacted. It was like she shut down. One minute we had been planning a day at Central Park. The next....I don’t want to think about it. The second time...I wasn’t there but her voice when she told me. After that, I knew I had to do something to get him out of her life permanently.”

“What did you do?” Liz whispered.

“I did what I needed to do protect Emily. I’m not sorry either. I would do it again under the same circumstances, ” Nikolas vows. “I had my uncle use his influence to first get Mark’s scholarship to NYU revoked and then to get him kicked out of the school. I wanted him out of New York. Away from Emily. I never gave it a second thought.”

“Nikolas...”

“Don’t you see? If Melissa’s involved in this, chances are that Mark is too. It had to have been Mark who took a shot at me today. He hates me. If he takes even the smallest part of that hatred out on Emily, it will be my fault.” Nikolas’ voice is filled with self-loathing.

Liz is saved from replying by Frisco’s shout.

“I got it. It took a lot of digging, but I have the address for a studio apartment on the lower east side rented to a Mark Browning.”

“Let’s go,” Nikolas reaches for his jacket. As they open the door, they stop.

“Going somewhere?” Jason Morgan gestures to his bodyguards to step back.

“Jason? What are you doing here?” Nikolas says. “Look, Emily isn’t here and we are on our way out.”

“I know Emily isn’t here.” Jason says coldly, as he withdraws an envelope out of his pocket. He pulls a picture out of the envelope. Nikolas pales. Liz turns her head into Lucky’s shoulder.

The picture is of Emily. Bound and gagged. Unconscious. A cut across her face. She has obviously been beaten. And beaten badly.

“It came with a note.” Jason adds. He holds up a piece of paper written on with black marker.”

The note reads: Kill Nikolas or I will kill her.

Nikolas looks up and meets Jason’s eyes. Jason smiles, a cold smile. “That’s why I’m here.” Jason turns to his bodyguards. “Boys” And with that single command, the two heavily armed guards advance on Nikolas

Story Index