Later that evening, Stefan came by the police station to see Sean. Garcia directed him towards his office where Sean was alone, going through some paper work.
"Hey, boss. Stefan Cassadine is here to see you," Garcia said, as he left and closed the door behind him.
"I didn't expect to see you till tomorrow. Please take a seat," Sean said, as he put his paper work inside his desk.
"I considered what you presented to me earlier and decided it would be best if the charges against Spencer were dropped immediately in exchange for all of the records you have against your suspicions of me."
"I guess that's as close to a confession as I would get from a Cassadine."
"I am not confessing to anything, Commissioner. I have just weighed the circumstantial evidence you have against me, and with the prior history of certain members of my family, I have to consider that a court would not look kindly on that evidence. I know your law system is supposed to be fair, but I have learned over the years that people who are not approved by the public have poor chances at a fair trial."
Sean considered everything Stefan said and had to admit that the guy was smooth. He wasn't admitting to any crime, but since he knew he was guilty, he knew his chances of beating the law in this case were slim. "Okay. You sign these papers saying that you are dropping all charges against Luke Spencer, and I'll give you my file for you to do as you please with."
"How do I know that this is your only file?"
"Mr. Cassadine, I am a man who stands by my word. I will tell you one thing, even after Luke is free from here, I'll have my eye on you every waking minute of the day. If you make one wrong move out there, I'll be there to arrest you next, and I doubt you have so much evidence against Luke to free you from that. One thing I've learned from the many years I've known him, Luke Spencer may take the law into his own hands, but he's too clever to get caught if he doesn't allow his emotions to get in the way. And now that he knows that you set him up to get arrested, he won't let that happen again."
"Luke Spencer was careless when he decided to take my son away from me, and he will pay for that. It's not a threat, Commissioner, it's a promise. I have just decided that if I stay out of it, Spencer will be his own downfall," Stefan said, as he signed the papers.
Sean handed Stefan the file and rushed him out the door. Once Sean was alone, he called Garcia in to release Luke and tell him that he wanted to see Luke before he left. Luke arrived about 15 minutes later, this time without the armed guard, the handcuffs, or the prison clothes.
"I was told you wanted to see me," Luke said, as he entered.
"I want to know what you're going to do next," Sean said, hoping that his plans didn't involve Stefan in any way.
"I'm going to go to my club and have a nice cold beer. Then I'm going to go to sleep and wake up early tomorrow to visit my children. Is that okay with you?"
"I just want to make sure you're not going to do anything foolish."
"I made that mistake already, Sean. It's not going to happen again."
"And what about Laura? Luke, she's been worried sick about you."
"What about her," Luke said coldly.
"Don't you think it's about time that you talked to her? This has gone on too long, Luke. It's killing the both of you, and there's really no reason for either one of you to allow it to continue."
"Maybe you're right, Sean. There's no reason to continue the charade any longer," Luke said as he left, leaving Sean speechless. ‘What did he mean by that?' Sean asked himself.
Luke headed for his club, grabbed a bottle of beer and headed for his back room where he met with Jason.
"So, you're a free man or just out on bail?" Jason asked.
"I'm as free as the birds. What's been the noise around town?"
"Well, a lot of people have been talking about your arrest. Many of them were wondering what took you so long. Then there are those who are wondering what's happened between you and Laura. The rumors are all over the place."
"Don't you just love Port Chuckles, man?" Luke said, laughing while he sat down in his chair. "People here have no lives of their own that they find interest in discussing mine. Well, I'm glad I gave them a little entertainment."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"No. It's over now. Let them talk all they want. I just want to move on now."
Tiffany hung up the phone and sat next to Laura. "That was Sean on the phone. He said that Luke has just been set free. Stefan dropped all charges."
"So you're plan worked," Laura said, unemotionally. She got up
and headed for the kitchen to finish doing the dishes. She was happy
that Luke was free again, but what happens now? She wanted him to
come home desperately, back to their bed where he belonged, but she also
knew that the chances of that happening so soon after being outraged from
Stefan's setup was unlikely.
As Laura started drying the dishes after she washed them, she dazed
off, thinking of a time when everything felt right in her life. Unfortunately,
that felt like eons ago already, in another lifetime. She remembered
Luke with his curls, the ones she loved running her fingers through.
And then there was his smile that could light up her day. No matter
what was happening, what dangers they were facing or about to face, he
had that smile on him as if he were enjoying everything about life.
Now that smile was gone and replaced with hurt. Hurt from the secrets
she had kept from him, and the doubts that he now carried with him like
he used to carry his love for her. For a man who once had the energy
of a kid, he was worn out now, aging right before her eyes. He didn't
look like or act like the same man she adored, yet he was still Luke, and
she still loved him with all of her heart.
Then the night that might have ended her marriage just popped back into her mind. The night that Stefan had planted a fake picture of the two of them in bed together for Luke to see. She remembered how furious he had gotten over that picture. He wasn't willing to listen to a word she said, or if he did listen at all, he wasn't willing to trust her like he used to. ‘How could he believe I would actually cheat on him?' she thought. ‘How could he question so many years of absolute love?' Then again, how could she keep a child of hers secret for so many years and then keep his father a secret too? After being felt like he had been lied to his whole life, Luke had prepared for the worst, and in turn, had expected the worst over what was the truth.
Tiffany got worried when she hadn't heard a sound in the kitchen and went to check on Laura. When she walked in, she saw Laura staring at nothing, drying the same dish over and over again. She called out her name, and suddenly Laura snapped out of her thoughts and dropped the dish, breaking it. Tiffany walked over to her and gave her a hug.
"Laura, I think you should lie down and rest," Tiffany said quietly. "You're exhausting yourself thinking about Luke."
"What else can I think about, Tiff? My husband is free and instead of coming home, he chooses to probably go to his club where he'll get drunk and fall asleep."
"I thought you told me that you were going to move on and Luke would have to accept your life and all 3 of your children."
"That doesn't mean I'll miss him any less. I know we won't get back together until I can somehow regain his trust in me and he could finally accept my Cassadine son. Honestly, Tiff, I don't see either one of those things happening any time soon."
"Do me a favor? I want you to try to get some sleep and maybe tomorrow you'll be surprised. Luke knows what he has here, and I can't expect him to actually avoid it for too much longer."
Laura tried her best to smile before handing Tiffany the dish towel and heading for bed, where she would try to get at least a couple of hours of sleep that night.
Yours is the kiss
I was starting to miss
Night after lone lonely night
Luke closed the club after a good night and headed for his office. As he got to his desk, he noticed Laura's eyes looking back at him through her picture.
Yours is the touch
That I want so much
Can we ever make it right
Laura closed the room to her bedroom, the bedroom she once shared with Luke. The bedroom that held so many good memories for the two of them. So many nights that felt too amazing to be true.
What should I do
I'm so lost without you
Feeling the sure hunger grow
Laura placed Luke's picture on his side of the bed as she did every night that he was away from her.
Yours is the heart
That you broke apart
And I need to let you know
Luke placed the picture down, and started pacing the room. ‘Why are we here? What did I do? What did you do? What have we done to each other?'
I dream of our passion
It's always the same
I hold you till starlight is daylight
Whispering your name
Both Luke and Laura lay down, try to close their eyes and get some sleep. But memories of each other's arms flood their minds, as each whispers the other's name.
Yours was the love
I was too frightened of
To embrace when I yearned for it so
Luke tossed and turned. It was impossible to get Laura off of his mind. He knew that she loved him. He had always known that, even before she ever was able to admit it to herself. Why couldn't he accept that love now?
Mine the desire
And the desperate fire
Why did I ever let you go
Laura gave up on trying to get any sleep and just layed in bed, crying. Could she have done more to convince Luke to stay? And if she could have, why hasn't she done so?
The song is "Yours" performed by Lorraine Feather.
