Secrets Revealed
Ch. 18 Death and Remembrance


Lucky sat in the corner table at Kelly’s,
feeling awkward but not uncomfortable. If he
closed his eyes and imagined, he could see Liz
behind the counter, Emily and him in their
regular booth and Nikolas coming in the door.
How much of his youth had revolved around this
place? Probably most of it. This place had been a
second home.
Now he was 34 and everything had
changed. Liz had been dead for nine years, she
had been gone from his life more years than she
had been in it. Losing Liz had been devastating,
but somehow against the odds he had found
Emily again and fallen in love with his once upon
a time best friend. They were still best friends,
but now they were lovers, partners, soulmates,
and parents. He winced at that thought which
brought him to the fourth of their musketeers.
Nikolas. Nikolas who had HIS son tonight.
He knew in his head that Emily was right
to a point. Nikolas and Jonathan had to develop
some sort of relationship. But there was a part
of him, okay maybe it was the mean and selfish
part of him that he never even knew existed, that
didn’t want Jonathan to see Nikolas as his father.
HE wanted to be the only father that boy had. It
wasn’t fair and it wasn’t nice but it was how he
felt.
He didn’t want to lose any of them. Not
Jonathan. Not the baby. And please God not
Emily. Yet sitting here at that moment, Lucky
realized that there was a real possibility that he
could do just that.
And it was a thought more terrifying than
anything he had ever faced before. “Lucky?”
Lucky looked up and nodded at Jason
who slid into the booth across from him.
“How are you?” Jason looks at his
brother-in- law with concern.
“I’m assuming you heard about
Jonathan?”
“Yeah, the guards filled me in when I got
in. How’s Emily taking it ?”
“In some ways, better than I am. She’s
so strong that it amazes me. She’s spending the
evening with Monica at the mansion. I’m
supposed to pick her up in a little while. I don’t
think either of us is ready to go home to an
empty house tonight.”
“What do you want to do about
Nikolas?” Jason gets to the point.
“Do?”
“You name it,” Jason says coldly. “Give
me 24 hours and I can have him arrested for
dealing or pornography or embezzlement or
anything else you name. He gets thrown in jail,
you and Emily get Jonathan back. I make sure
his sentence is maybe ten years. By the time he
gets out, Jonathan is an adult. “ Jason shrugs. “I
could also take more permanent action, but I
wasn’t sure how you felt about that since
Nikolas is your brother.”
Lucky looks at Jason in shock and shakes
his head. “I’m going to pretend that I didn’t hear
that.”
“Why not? It’s what you want, isn’t it?
You can’t tell me that you’re happy with this
arrangement.”
“Of course I’m not. I love Jonathan.
Even more important to me, Emily loves him.
With everything she’s going through, being apart
from Jonathan is going to tear her apart.” Lucky
runs his fingers through his hair. “Look, I
suppose I should be grateful for the offer. I
know you are concerned about your sister. But I
can handle Nikolas. We will get Jonathan back
and we’ll get him back the right way. The legal
way.” Lucky paused “It’s Helena I want to talk
about. What happened in Texas?”
A look of repressed anger crosses
Jason’s face. “Not as much as I would have
liked. Your father and I located a mole in the
police department there who was the one who
leaked the information to Helena about the
rendezvous at the zoo. We were going to use the
creep to lead us to Katherine or Helena, but he
was killed before we could do so. And any of
Helena’s men who survived the shoot out also
died mysteriously. There isn’t one trace of
evidence remaining to connect either Helena or
Katherine to the shooting at the zoo or the death
of the Stewarts.”
“Damn.”
“That pretty much sums up my feelings
on the subject. I’ve still got informants looking
for information on either Helena or Katherine.
The latest on Helena pinpoints her in New York
but heavily guarded, almost impossible to get to.
Katherine has completely disappeared.”
“You said almost.”
“I said almost.” Jason agreed. “I’m
working on it.”
“Good. I want her dead before she can
hurt my family anymore.”
Jason nods. “If I had known what she
had done to Emily, I wouldn’t have left that
damned compound of hers in Mexico until I
knew she was dead.” Jason paused. “How is
Emily? Is there anything the two of you need?
The best doctors? Nurses? You name it and
you’ve got it.”
“Thanks,” Lucky closed his eyes wearily.
“What I really need is for someone to tell me this
whole thing is a nightmare. As for your
question, Emily is ...okay. The doctor in New
York put her on this medicine this morning and
now we just have to wait and see. The odds are
not good, but we'll beat them.”
Jason sighed. “She doesn’t deserve this.
Neither of you deserve this. If there’s anything I
can do...”
“Just find Helena. And call me. Because I
either want to be the one holding the gun that
blows the bitch away or I want to be there when
it happens.”
“I’ll call you. We’ll get her this time. I
swear it. She will pay for what she did to
Jonathan and to Emily.....” And for what she did
to Maxie Jason swears to himself silently.
“Call me on my cell. Emily has enough to
deal with at the moment.”
“You don’t think Emily would have any
qualms about the two of us going after Helena.
Hell, I think my baby sister would shoot her
herself.”
Lucky half-smiled. “That my dear
brother-in-law, is why I don’t want her to know
any of this.” Lucky amends the statement. “At
least not until I can serve her Helena Cassadine’s
head on a silver platter.”

Twenty minutes later, their plans finalized and
information exchanged, Lucky heads over to the
Quartermaine mansion to pick Emily up. Jason
lingers at Kelly’s, wondering at his reluctance to
head to his own estate. He half considered
following Lucky to the Quartermaine’s, Michael
was staying there while AJ was away on business
and it would be good to spend some time with
his nephew. He nixed the idea as he reluctantly
realized that he would have to go home sooner
or later.
Almost without thinking about it, Jason
reached in and got out his small cell phone. He
dialed a number that he hadn’t dialed in years,
but had never forgotten.
Even as he berated himself for being
stupid, his heart pounded as the phone rang,
“Hello,” her voice, soft and sweet and
slightly husky, sent feeling and sensation soaring
through his body. “Hello”
Without saying a word, he hung up and
headed into the cold night.

Maxie looked at the phone in her hand
for a moment, and then reluctantly put it back in
the receiver by her bed. She sighed, for a second
she had thought....but she had obviously been
wrong. He hadn’t been on the phone. Just like he
hadn’t been at the door. She sighed again. It
hadn’t occurred to her that anything could be
harder than getting over him after New York
had been. But this was ten times worse. And it
didn’t help that she was in the same city as he
was and still too weak to do more than sit up
for a few moments at a stretch. If she wasn’t so
physically weak, she wouldn’t feel so
emotionally weak. Or at least that was the theory
she clung on to keep her sanity intact.
The phone rang again. She contemplated
calling for Felicia, but her mother was helping
one of her brothers with his homework. She
wasn’t even sure which one. She loved her
brothers dearly but they were all miniature
replicas of Mac.
Gingerly, Maxie picked up the phone.
“Scorpio Residence.”
“This is Nikolas Cassadine. Is Maxie
Jones available?”
Nikolas? Maxie shelved her curiosity for
a moment. “This is her.”
Nikolas’s voice lost some of its
detachment. “Miss. Jones,” he began.
“Maxie.”
“Maxie then,” Nikolas continued. “I
never got the chance to thank you for what you
did for my daughter.”
Maxie shook her head and then realized
that he couldn’t see her. “The use of your jet
was enough of a thank you. Besides I was only
doing my job.”
Nikolas shook his head and then realized
she couldn’t see him. “You saved my daughter’s
life. There is no way that I can adequately thank
you. However my daughter would like to try.
She has been wanting to know when you would
be in Port Charles and would like to see you. I
told her that you probably wouldn’t be up to
visitors for a while, but I was hoping we could
schedule a time for her to visit next week.”
“Tomorrow.’
“Pardon me?”
“I said tomorrow. I’d love to see your
daughter again.”
Nikolas hesitated. “If you are sure that
she will not be too much.”
“Not at all. I am growing bored lying
here. It would be nice to have someone to talk
to.”
Nikolas laughed softly. “You might
regret those words. My daughter can be quite
talkative at times. But we will be by tomorrow
afternoon for at least a short visit to say thank
you in person.”
“I look forward to it,” Maxie said gently
and hung up the phone.

Nikolas looked at the phone for a
moment, and then almost without thinking,
dialed a number from his rolodex. Jonathan had
spent most of the afternoon and the evening in
his room. The cook had wanted to send his
dinner up to his room, but Nikolas held firm that
if Jonathan wanted to eat, Jonathan would come
out of his room. He had a feeling that it would
be the only way the boy would ever be coaxed
out of that damned room.
He had a feeling that his attempts to get
to know his son were going to be far more
difficult than he had planned.
Forcing himself to focus on the job at
hand, Nikolas heard a gruff voice on the other
end of the cell.
“This is Cassadine. Did you get the
information I requested?”
“Yeah, I got it but it’s going to cost you.
I had to bribe a couple of people at this doctor’s
office for the test results but I got him. Patient:
Emily Spencer. Condition: Life Threatening.
Probability of Survival: Low.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, according to this nurse, that
Mrs. Spencer apparently has a bacterial infection
that is damaging her heart. The infection itself is
treatable.”
“Then why isn’t it being treated?”
“Mrs. Spencer is pregnant. Traditional
treatments could cause birth defects or trauma to
the pregnancy. They are trying an experiment
treatment, but the nurses don’t really think it will
work. You want to know anything else?”
“Not at the moment, but I want you to
stay available in case I need you.”
“You’re paying the bill.”
Nikolas hung up a minute later. Emily
was dying. He had been hoping against hope that
Jonathan was exaggerating, even as he realized
that the boy was not the type to exaggerate.
God, what a mess. If he gave Jonathan back, he
might never have a chance like this to get to
know his son. If he kept Jonathan, and
something happened to Emily, the boy would
hate him and justifiably for the rest of his life.
The solution, get to know Jonathan and
keep Emily in the picture. The idea had a certain
appeal.
He stopped suddenly. Emily was dying.
His former once upon a time best friend was
dying. He had stood by and watched his brother
bury one wife. Would he have to stand by and
watch his brother bury another? Would his
brother let him?
Keep it focused Nikolas, he told himself
angrily. The goal here is to get to know your
son. As far as your brother goes, you just have
to let that one go. You can’t have both.

The Warehouse owned by Katherine Bell

Michael walked carefully behind his
cousin as they circled the building, looking for
some way in. In many ways, the building
appeared to be abandoned, but that didn’t mean
that either of them felt like testing that theory by
forcing themselves in.
“So tell me again why we are doing
this?” Michael said softly. “I want to make sure
that I have my defense ready when Taggert
arrests me.”
“Silly,” Ruby says to him in a low
whisper. “Taggert doesn’t do that. He’s Captain
now. He’ll order someone else to arrest you. Of
course considering who your uncle is, Taggert
might make an exception.”
“Thanks,” grumbled Michael as he leaned
his hand against a window. He lost his footing
when the window suddenly slid a few inches.
Ruby and Michael stared at each other,
waiting for the alarm to go off. When no alarms
sounded, except for those ringing madly in
Michael’s head, Ruby slid the window the rest of
the way and slipped through. A few minutes
later and a lot less easily, Michael followed.
Ruby looked around her and then
pointed to a stack of boxes and other goods in
the corner. “That wasn’t here before.”
Michael rolled his eyes. “This is a
warehouse. They do get shipments.”
“Does this place look like it’s
legitimate?”
Michael shook his head. He had been to
the Quartermaine warehouses on occasion and
even to the Morgan/Corinthos warehouses.
Compared to them, this place was a ghost
warehouse.
Ruby nodded triumphantly. “You see.
You think there’s something strange about this
place too.”
“All right.” Michael said reluctantly,
knowing he would never hear the end of it if he
actually admitted that he agreed with her. “Why
don’t we check over near the offices?”
Ruby shook her head. “Why don’t you
check near the offices? I’m going to check those
boxes and stuff over there.”
Before Michael could object, and he was
definitely planning on objecting, Ruby slipped
away. Shaking his own head and alternating
between cursing the Spencer stubbornness and
thanking God he had escaped it, Michael headed
in the direction of the office.
He had made it maybe twenty feet when
he felt a noise behind him and the hairs on the
back of his neck literally stand up. His heart
pounded as he recognized the cold metal object
pushed against his back and it dropped when he
recognized the clicking sound the gun made as it
got ready to fire.
“Who are you and what do you want?” A
cold and hard voice whispered. “Turn around
slowly.”
Michael turned around slowly.
“You’re AJ Quartermaine’s kid.”
Michael winced, preferring not to
remember the time when his dad had been stupid
enough to date Katherine Bell. He had been six
at the time and even at that young of an age he
had seen through her tricks. After a few weeks,
so did his dad. Of course he had helped that
process along a little. A few recording devices
borrowed from his Uncle and strategically placed
around the mansion had done the trick. It had
taken him less than three days to gather enough
evidence to prove that despite her protestations of true love, Katherine Bell
was after one thing and one thing only- money.
Katherine smiled. “And here I thought
killing you would be all business. Instead it will
be a pleasure.”
Michael stared at the gun barrel and the
only thought that crossed his mind was the hope
that Ruby would hear the gun shot and run like
hell.

Ruby poked around the crates and the
boxes. Picking up a nearby crowbar, she gingerly
pried open one of the lids to a crate. It was
packed with coffee. Digging around the coffee
beans, she found packs of white powder. She put
those aside. She wasn’t here to find evidence
that Helena was doing something as common as
drug dealing. Not that she wouldn’t make a few
anonymous phone calls when she and Michael
got out of here. She dug around a little bit more
and pulled out a small vial from inside the crate,
actually the vile was taped the side of the crate.
Picking up the vial, she placed it in her coat
pocket and carefully placed the lid back down.
It was then that she heard a noise. And
knew instinctively that Michael had run into
trouble.
Grabbing the crowbar, she would have
preferred a baseball bat- those she knew how to
swing and swing hard-Ruby made her way in the
direction Michael had taken.
“And here I thought killing you would be
all business. Instead it will be a pleasure.”
Ruby was a few feet behind Katherine
when she heard those words and her heart raced.
Realizing that Katherine had a gun on Michael,
Ruby knew she had one shot and one shot only
at stopping her. Reaching around with the
crowbar and thanking God that her height put
her almost even with the older woman, Ruby
swung the crowbar around and struck it as hard
as she could against the side of Katherine’s head.
Everything seemed to happen at once.
Ruby felt the sickening thud of the crowbar
hitting Katherine. Michael ducked and the gun
fell and went off anyway, harmless shooting a
round in the direction of some boxes.
There was nothing but stillness for a few
moments.
“Oh my God,” Ruby began shivering and
she dropped the crowbar with a clatter. “Is she
dead? Did I kill her? Oh my God.”
Michael reacted quickly and calmly.
“She’s not dead.” He said taking her pulse and
trying to ignore the already swollen and bloody
bruise on the side of her head. He left Katherine
without a second glance and went to Ruby. He
grabbed his cousin’s hands and started rubbing
them, trying to instill some warmth into her.
“You didn’t kill her okay? You saved my
life. I guess that means I let you win the next time we play pool.”
“Let me win?” For a moment Ruby was
distracted, but only for a moment. ''What are we
going to do? We can’t leave her like this. And if
we call an ambulance, they’ll arrest us for
breaking and entering and attempted murder.”
It was almost comical. Now she starts to
worry about legalities.
Looking around, Michael realizes that
there is only one person he can call for help out
of this mess.

Twenty minutes later, Jason Morgan and
Luke Spencer, accompanied by Jason’s normal
retinue of bodyguards, break down the
warehouse door and enter. Once inside, they
find Michael sitting and holding his cousin
close, his jacket wrapped around her. Her face
pale and drawn.
She looks up when she hears a noise.
“Daddy,” Ruby calls and runs to Luke
who grabs his daughter and holds her close.
While Luke looks after his daughter,
Jason walks over to Michael.
“What the hell happened and what were
you thinking of?”
Michael swallowed. “It was my idea. I
wanted to try to help Jonathan find Helena so we
could make sure Aunt Emily was safe. Jonathan
did some checking on his computer and
discovered that Katherine Bell owns this
warehouse. I convinced Ruby to come with me
and we ran into Katherine Bell.” Michael looks
at Ruby in Luke’s arms. “Ruby saved my life.
Katherine was about to shoot me when Ruby hit
her with a crow bar.”
Luke looked above his daughter’s blond
hair at Michael Quartermaine. The kid was good
and the story well rehearsed, but he was also a
fool if he didn’t think Luke knew his own
daughter. No one had ever convinced Ruby of
anything since she was five. And as far as the
relationship between the two cousins, he was
well aware of who pulled whose strings.
Realizing that his daughter is shaking,
Luke decides that further questions can wait
until tomorrow.
“Daddy?” Ruby’s voice is
uncharacteristically quiet and shaky. “Is she
alive? Can you call an ambulance to come and
help her?”
Jason watches Luke check Katherine out
and shake his head. She’s still breathing, but its
obvious she won’t be for long.
“She’s fine,” Luke lies to his daughter.
“I’m going to get you home and Michael’s uncle
is going to take care of everything else.”
Jason nods in understanding.
After Luke and Ruby leave, Jason turns
to one of his bodyguards. “Take Michael back to
the Quartermaine mansion. And make sure he
stays there.” Jason looks at his nephew. “I will
be by to see you in the morning to discuss the
stupidity of your actions.”
Michael sighs. “I suppose you are going
to call my dad and tell him?”
“Damn right,” Jason says. “My guess is
that your dad will be home by the time you wake
up in the morning.”
With a heavy shrug, Michael follows the
bodyguard out of the warehouse.
“Michael,” Jason called and Michael
turned around, ready to be yelled at some more.
“You shouldn’t have been here, but when things
went bad you kept your cool.”
Michael didn’t feel like smiling at the
unusual praise from his uncle. Nothing about
tonight seemed like something he should be
proud of.

His men began a thorough search of the
warehouse while Jason stares at the unconscious
form of Katherine Bell. He could let her die, but
he wants, no he needs, revenge for what she did
to Maxie. What she almost did to Michael. And
he doesn’t want little Ruby Spencer to have
someone’s death on her conscience. He’s killed
so many times, once more won’t matter. And
with Katherine it will be a pleasure.
He pulls his gun out, places a silencer on
it, aims it at her heart, and shoots.