Secret Revealed
Chapter Four: Killing Me Softly

Port Charles
The lake on the Quartermaine Estate
Lucky watched the water reflect and sparkle in the light
of the moon. He was alone having decided to give Emily a
chance to be with her family for a little while. His motives were
far from altruistic. He was tired of the dirty looks that came his
way from Edward.
“Hi,” a soft voice called from behind him and he smiled
as she wrapped her arms around him and pressed into his back.
She always felt so damned good to him. He turned around and
took her into his arms. “You okay?”
“With you here? Always.” She whispered as she leaned in
for a kiss. “That was harder than I expected it to be...yet easier
somehow too.” Emily shakes her head in confusion. “Or maybe
I’m so tired I’m imagining all of this.”
“As long as you imagine the two of us together.” Lucky
whispered .
“Lucky Spencer don’t you know by now that you are a
part of every thought, every wish, and every dream I have,”
Emily protested. “You’re even in my nightmares to keep me
safe.” She is silent in his embrace for a moment and he feels her
shiver. He knows what she is thinking because those same
thoughts are running through his head. Please God keep
Jonathan safe. Please keep Emily and our baby safe too.
“Do you think he knows how much we love him?”
Emily’s question breaks his heart and he pulls her tighter.
“Without a doubt. Just like he knows how much we love
each other. And the baby. Jonathan has lived in a home filled
with love and warmth and laughter for six years. Wherever he is,
he will remember that feeling and he will use it to keep himself
strong. “
Emily shifts in his arms so that she is in front of him and
stares at the water.
“I remember all the fun we used to have here. First you
and me and Sly with Foster and Annabelle. Then Nikolas, Liz,
you, and I. when we were older. Sometimes, I look back and it’s
like I’m someone different. If you had told me 15 years ago that
you and I would be standing here together, like this, I would
have said that you were crazy. The idea that Liz is gone..” She
stops at looks at the man she loves. “I’m sorry. It still hurts
doesn’t it?”
Lucky shakes his head. “Not in the way you mean.It’s
been almost ten years since she died. My life has changed
immeasurably. You, Jonathan, and the new baby are my life. The
Lucky Spencer that loved Liz Weber died when she died. I’m
not the same person anymore. I’m the Lucky Spencer who loves
Emily Quartermaine with every breath he has, who will do
anything and everything to keep her safe and happy. I will always
be sorry that Liz died and in a way I will always love her. But
Liz is my past. You and our family are my future. You,
Jonathan, and little Lucas Lorenzo Spencer the Third.” Lucky
arm reaches protectively over her belly.
“You threaten to call her by that name and she will be
afraid to come out.” Emily says pointedly.
“Boy or girl....” Lucky nuzzles Emily’s neck. “I just want
both of you to be healthy.”
They are both silent for a moment, remembering the pain
and anguish of Emily’s earlier miscarriage.
Emily listens to the lapping of the water, the quiet sounds
of the night, and the needs of her own heart.
“Make love to me,” she whispers as reaches to give him a
kiss that is full of passion and promise. “I need to feel alive in
your arms . Please...”
Lucky pulls her even closer as they both sink to the
grass beneath them.
“It’s cold out here,” Lucky says as he trails kisses down
her cheek and into the soft hollow at her neck. His hands reach
under her sweater.
“Then you’ll have to keep me warm,” She whispers
throatily as she moans when his hands find the soft curve of her
breasts.
“Jason is waiting for us.” He tries to be logical even as he
pulls the sweater over her head.
“Jason can be discreet. It’s part of his business training.”
Emily shudders as his mouth follows his hands. As worried as
she is over her son, she needs this moment with Lucky. Needs it
to replenish her strength. To remind her of what they are fighting
for. To keep her grounded. It is the last coherent thought she has
for a while.
An hour later, Jason with Emily and Lucky in the back
seat, pulls into the Spencer driveway. He notes with relief that
the guards he posted are still there.
The three of them are meant at the door by a frantic
Luke.
“I was just about to call you.” Luke said, his eyes bright
with excitement. “Jonathan called. He’s in Texas. He escaped.
Now we have to go get him.


Port Charles
A little later
The Spencer House
Emily sat on the couch in the Spencer living room, her
exhausted mind grappling with one concept. Jonathan had called.
Her son had called. He was safe. For the moment, he was safe.
It was her job to make sure that he stayed safe.
“I’m coming with you,” she said firmly to the three men
making plans in the dining room table.
Lucky swore softly and moved away from his father and
Jason to his wife’s side.
“That’s not a good idea,” He said softly, folding her tired
form into his embrace.
“He’s my son. I need to be there for him,” she whispers
brokenly as she leans into his strength. She has no idea how she
would get through this without him.
“You will be,” Lucky promises her. “When Jason and
Luke bring him home we will both be there for him. Our family
will be complete again. I swear this to you. But you have to
take care of yourself. Our baby needs you as much as Jonathan
needs you. How long has it been since you slept, really really
slept?” She looks down. “That’s what I figured. And you
probably haven’t eaten in that long a time. God, Emily I feel like
I’m being torn into too many pieces here. I’m worried about my
son. I’m worried about you. I’m worried about our baby...” His
voice trails off.
Emily nods. “Me too,” She says simply as their fingers
interlock. They are so connected in so many ways and in some
ways they are completely opposite. She needs his logic to
counter her emotions, he needs her faith to counter his cynicism.
It is hard sometimes to remember a time when they were apart.
The years she spent on the run, alone except for her small child.
The years he spent grieving for Liz, alone except for his
memories. Sometimes it seems as if they were both born again
that day at Lila’s funeral. As if everything else in their lives had
been merely a prelude to this. She sighed and turned in his arms
so that she was looking into his eyes. “You are right. You
always are. It’s just so hard not to go.”
“I know.” Lucky said simply. “I love you.” He kissed her
gently. “I will bring him back. Trust me.”
“With everything. I always have. Even when we were
kids,” She smiles at him and his heart breathes a sigh of relief.
“You take care of our oldest child. I’ll take care of the youngest.
But take care of yourself too, please.”
“I will,” Lucky agrees. “I’ve got you and the rest of our
lives to come back to.”
“Lucky,” Luke hates to interrupt them but time is a
commodity they cannot afford to waste. “We need to head to the
airport now. Jason has a plane waiting.”
Lucky nods and Emily disentangles herself as they both
stand up.. Laura and Luke, their earlier fight forgotten, say a
passionate farewell.
Emily hugs her brother. “Thank you.”
Jason holds her close. “No problem. I would do anything
for you. You know that don’t you?”
Emily nods and then turns to her husband. The look they
exchange says it all. Lucky reaches for her, puts his arm around
her, and kisses her hard. Then he turns to follow Jason and Luke
out the door.
Laura puts her arm around her daughter in law.
“All four of them will be home before you know it.”
Laura says encouragingly.
Emily wants to believe that. She needs to believe that.
But she knows that with Helena nothing ever goes according to
plan.
Emily turns to her mother in law. “This women who
Jonathan described. She is who we both think she is isn’t she?”
Laura nods.
“I will kill the bitch myself, you know.” Emily says softly.
“You will have help. Trust me. Lots of help.” Laura
responds gently. “Why don’t we plan her demise over a cup of
chamomile tea and something to eat?”
Emily nods and follows Laura into the kitchen.
“By the way,” Laura says with a smile, “how do you feel
about a little shopping expedition tomorrow. We can pick up
some things for the baby, for Jonathan, and for ourselves. It will
be fun. Plus, I suddenly find myself in desperate need of some
new dishes....you don’t mind using paper plates do you?”

El Paso, Texas
The Stewart House

Jonathan lay awake, unable to sleep. Stephanie had
provided him with a sleeping bag and then had proceeded to
insist that he sleep in her room tonight.
He smiled. This newly discovered little sister of his was
as arrogant and bossy as she was fun and sweet. She was also
very, very lonely. He wondered if Nikolas Cassadine had any
clue just how lonely his daughter had been since her mother’s
accident. It sounded to him like his so called father was too
caught up in business to see his daughter’s pain. He was
immensely glad that he had Lucky in his life. Lucky and his
mother were all the parents he would ever need. But this little
sister of his. She would never know the truth of course. No one
would ever know that he was Nikolas Cassadine’s son. The
threat from Helena, and now that other lady, was too real to do
otherwise. He actually preferred it that way. But this girl, this
Stephanie, she didn’t look anything like him and yet they were
linked somehow. For Jonathan, whose entire family until he was
six had consisted of one person, the thought that he had a sister
was overwhelming. Two sisters soon. Or maybe a sister and a
brother. He didn’t care. He would protect them both. One he
would teach everything about being a Spencer that Lucky had
taught him. The other....he didn’t know how but he would
somehow watch over Stephanie too. It was his job. It was what
big brothers were for.
He heard a car pull up on the quiet street and jumped out
of the sleeping bag and raced to the window. It had only been
four hours since he called Luke. That wasn’t enough time, was
it? He looked out the window. It was a van that was parking
across the street, with half a dozen armed men getting out. He
froze, but just for an instant before all of the lectures given to
him by his mother and Lucky kicked in.
He woke his sister up.
“Jonathan?” Her blues were still sleep filled. “What’s
wrong.?” Her voice had an edge of panic after she took a look
at the real fear on his face.
“We have to get out of here. Now.”
Stephanie didn’t question him but raced to pull on some
jeans, a sweater, and some slip on shoes.
Stephanie takes a quick look out the window and sees
the men with guns too.
“Oh my God!,” She whispers. Jonathan pulls her back
away from the window. She is shaking. On Wyndemere, there
would be her father’s guards that she could run to. Her
grandparents had refused to have guards around her during their
vacation.
“My grandparents?” Stephanie starts for the door, but
Jonathan stops her. He shakes his head. “There isn’t time.”
Jonathan stops and thinks. “They’ve probably got the
front and back entrances covered. That would be standard.” He
looks out the window. There is a large oak tree just a few feet
from the house where someone has built a tree house. This isn’t
going to be easy. He hears a noise banging against the door
downstairs. He pushes the window open.
“What are you doing?” Stephanie asks even as she comes
forward to help him.
“There’s only one way out of here,” He motions to the
tree. She gulps hard, for a moment, and then nods.
“I’ll go first,” Jonathan whispers. ‘Then I’ll pull you up
onto the roof. From the edge of the roof, we should be able to
reach the tree.”
“I don’t think I like the word should very much,”
Stephanie whispers as Jonathan climbs out of the window onto
the roof. He reaches down and helps pull her up. The roof is
slanted and keeping her balance requires all of her concentration.
“Come on,” Jonathan reaches out to steady her as they
climb to the edge of the roof.
“Okay,” Jonathan guesses there is about two feet or so
between the edge of the roof and the branch of the tree. “You
ever do this sort of thing in the school playground?”
Stephanie shakes her head. “I always had tutors at
home.”
Jonathan sighs. Another strike against his father. “ Just
jump and grab the branch. You can do this.”
The sound of gunfire from below shakes both of them.
“My grandparents..” Stephanie moves to climb back
down the roof.
Jonathan grabs her. “Don’t. It’s too late. You can’t save
them. But you can do what they would have wanted and save
yourself.” Brown eyes meet blue. Stephanie nods.
Gathering her courage, she reaches for the tree and
makes the jump. And catches the branch, swinging her self into
the tree. In a moment, Jonathan has joined her.
They look back at the house for a moment and notice the
lights in the house going on. There is more gunfire and Stephanie
flinches.
“Come on,” Jonathan pushes her down the ladder of the
treehouse.
Once on the ground, Jonathan hears shouts aimed in his
direction and sees a beam of light bounce off his arm.
Stephanie looks up and sees the guard taking aim.
“This way,” she yells as she leads him to the hedge that
divides her grandparents property from the neighbors. There is a
hole in the hedge and they crawl through it. From there, they
climb fences, jump hedges, and evade dogs as they make their
way away into the night.

El Paso Texas
The Stewart Residence
Two hours later

The detective assigned to the case swore softly as she
flung her cigarette on the street and stomped on it. It was a nasty
habit. She knew that. And if she didn’t her- her mother and her
sister were always throwing it in her face. The only one who
didn’t say anything was her stepfather. He seemed to understand.
Maybe it was because they were both in the same line of work.
She hated nights like tonight. She should be home
sleeping safely in her own bed. But that wasn’t her job. Her job
was to make sure that other people got to sleep safe and secure
in their beds. She hoped they enjoyed it. Hoped they realized the
sacrifice people like herself had to go through to make sure they
got the chance to enjoy it.
She headed towards the crime scene, pass the barricades,
and the crowd of newly awakened neighbors gathered to gawk
and stare.
“What’s up?” She asked the nearest uniform. The
uniform handed her one of the palm size computers they used to
record crime scene data. She scanned it over as she headed into
the house.
“Are you serious?” She looked at the uniform in
bewilderment. “An execution style mob hit and the only victims
were two senior citizens.”
The uniform nods. “The old man was killed on the stair
case. Completely unarmed, doesn’t even look like he had a
chance to run. The old woman was still in bed. The house was
torn upside down. Lab techs identify the shells as belonging to
the latest automatic weapon on the market.”
“Why? Why here? The mob scene here in El Paso is
strictly two bit- a little drugs, a little prostitution, a little
racketeering. Nothing that could justify this.”
She knew all about the mob scene in El Paso. It was one
of the reasons she had moved here after finishing her degrees in
criminal science and psychology. She had had enough of the mob
scene growing up to last her a life time.
“Okay, there will be time enough for the whys and
whyfores later. Right now I have two dead murder victims. I
want the lab techs to go through this house with a fine tooth
comb. I want the guys in research to dig up everything they can
about these people- who they saw, who they called, the last time
they used their credit cards, all of it.” She turned to her assistant.
“And I want that report on my desk yesterday.”
The assistant and the uniform nod and scurry to do her
bidding. Part of making detective at such a young age meant that
you had to learn to be pushy and assertive when you needed to
be. And she would need to be to solve this one, she knew it.
She had justed completed her inspection of the crime
scene, a rather bloody one that would require at least three beers
at the bar tonight or maybe she should say tomorrow, to forget.
She walked into the cool night, mentally preparing her report to
her superiors.
“Detective?” She turned to look at the uniform she had
talked to earlier.
“What is it Officer.” she looks at his name tag,
“O’Hara?” She was more tired than she thought she was if she
was taking the time to be polite.
“I just finished talking to the neighbors. It turns out that
Mr and Mrs. Stewart had company.”
“Company?” Her attention is completely focused on the
officer. “What kind of company?”
“Their granddaughter.” The officer checks his notes.
“Eleven years old. Her name is Stephanie Cassadine.”
She pales. This couldn’t get any better, “Did you say
Cassadine?”
“That’s what he said.” A cool voice mocks from behind
her. “Cassadine. And young Miss. Cassadine is not the only one
missing. My grandson, Jonathan Spencer is missing also. We
were supposed to pick him up.”
She closes her eyes. Spencer. Cassadine. That voice.
Isn’t there a time in your life when you are entitled to
successfully outrun your past? She turns around, slowly.
“Hello Luke. Lucky, it’s nice to see you again.” She
barely nods at Jason. She can’t force herself to look in his
direction.. She won’t.
“Maxie?” Luke is startled. “Mac said you had accepted a
job offer out west, but I had no idea it was this line of work.
Taking after your old man and your stepdad both.”
Maxie Jones smiles. At 5’9, with long blonde hair and
green eyes, she could have been a supermodel. Instead she was a
detective with the homicide bureau of the El Paso police force.
Luke was right, it was genetic and environmental. She had never
really considered doing anything else. At 27, she was just
beginning to reach the goals she had set for herself a long time
ago.
“That’s Detective Jones. I’m the one in charge of this
investigation. And if there’s anything you know that I should
know, I suggest you make it easier for everyone and tell me.”
She looks at Lucky. “You can start by telling me why your son,
who by the way I have never heard of, was here?”
Lucky shakes his head. He looks at the young girl and
finds it hard to believe that he used to babysit her once upon a
time. “It’s a long story. If you don’t mind, I’ll let Jason tell it to
you. I have to call my wife and tell her what’s happened.”
“And with your permission detective,” Luke smiles
charmingly. “I’d love to take a look at the crime scene.”
Maxie hesitates, then nods. This man has saved her
mother, her father, and her stepfather countless times. Of course
he is also almost single-handedly responsible for the gray hairs
that almost cover her stepfather’s hair. “Don’t touch anything
and don’t get in the way of the lab techs. This is messy enough
with you making it worse.”
Luke and Lucky walk off, leaving Jason and Maxie
alone. There is an uncomfortable tension between the two of
them.
“Maxie,” Jason begins.
Maxie stops him. “If you are going to apologize again for
taking my virginity and then breaking my heart forget it. It was
four years ago. I’m over it. I want to hear about this case and
about what you know or don’t know.”
Jason looks into her eyes and can feel again that frission
of awareness between them. She had been the first since Robin
had died in his arms. There had been no one since her. He had
killed Robin. He had broken Maxie’s heart. That was enough for
him. Still, watching her, he realized that she was still heart
breakingly beautiful. And all those reasons he had given her all
those years ago still applied. She was still too young. She still
deserved better. They were still on opposite sides of the law.
And he still wanted to make love to her.
His face reflected nothing of his feelings or thoughts.
“Jason,” Maxie said impatiently. “Do you know who is
responsible for this mess?”
“Yeah,” He looked down at her. He was one of the few
men she knew who could. “It was Helena Cassadine.”
Maxi had a feeling it would be a long time before she
slept in her nice, safe, and secure bed.


Next Chapter:
The hunt for Jonathan and Stephanie in El Paso
continues. The question is who will find them first. Nikolas
makes his first appearance.

Author’s Note:
The events between Jason and Robin were recounted in
the first story, but here’s a brief run down. Robin and Jason
remained estranged after she told AJ the truth. Carly skipped
town. AJ and Jason came to terms about their roles in Michael’s
life. Jason still loved Robin, but he couldn’t overcome his pride.
Some years later she contacted him from Paris where she was
dying painfully of AIDS. She begged him to end her suffering,
and in the final act of the love they shared Jason helped Robin
die. After spending the night holding each other, Robin took the
pills Jason provided and died in his arms. No one ever
discovered what Jason did.
As far as the history between Jason and Maxi, let’s just say
that its complicated and will be revealed as this story progresses.