Secrets, Lies, and Other Acts of Love
Chapter Seven: A Deal With The Devil
Lucky Spencer is afraid. More afraid than he can remember being his whole life.He feels numb and cold, his mind barely registers the hard steel of the gun along his head.
All he sees is her, fragile and vulnerable, but trying so hard to stay calm. He wonders if anyone else in the room can hear the fear in her voice.
They had come so far. She was finally beginning to trust him. She had told him the truth. And he had let this happen. He had bet the world on the belief that he could keep
her safe. What a fool he had been!
God, please don’t let them hurt her....the words march across his head like a prayer or a benediction.
He doesn’t know if it will do any good. He only knows that Helena Cassadine has sprung her trap and that he and Emily are well and truly caught.
Emily forces herself to relax even though her head is spinning and the fear inside her is overwhelming. She has been through a lot in the last month and her body and mind
are both near the breaking point. She nearly died from gunshot wounds, fled across the country when she should have been in the hospital, and tried all the while to keep a lid on
the secrets she had kept so long. And then last night had happened, she had broken down and finally told Lucky the truth- everything. She had finally let her guard down.
And look what happened next. Helena Cassadine, the monster she had spent seven years hiding from, was standing in front of her while her assistant held a gun to Lucky’s head. She broke her silence and now someone else is going to die because of her. Lucky is going to die because of her. All her fault.
She can’t let it happen. She can’t give in to her fear and panic. She has to think. She has to come up with a way to protect her son and keep Lucky safe. No matter what
the cost. What was it Luke told her once. “Failure is not an option for the Spencers.”
Well not for her either.
Think Emily. What else was it Luke used to say? Know your enemy. What did she know about Helena? What mattered to the old bitch? Family to a point. Greed. Her ego. Play on her weaknesses Emily. Does she have any weakness? Oh God if she does let me find them and use them. Let me keep them safe. Please.
“Why Emily, my dear,” Helena’s cultured tone had the effect of fingernails on a blackboard to Emily’s tortured nerves. “How nice to see you again. Have you been enjoying your reunion with young Mr. Spencer.”
Emily doesn’t look at Lucky. She can’t. If she does she will fall to pieces and neither of them will make it. Instead she turns her back on Helena (not unlike turning her
back on a Cobra) and casually heads to the kitchen. “Can I get you something?” she asks as formally polite as Helena had been. “Coffee? Orange Juice? Arsenic?”
Helena laughs. “No thank you. Shall we discuss our business? I believe we have some mutual interests.”
Emily shakes her head. “It’s been a while since I’ve checked, but I think all of my portfolio is still tied up in ELQ. I just can’t see Grandfather allowing me to invest my
money in any Cassadine enterprise.” Emily takes a sip of her tea.
Helena is getting annoyed, but forces herself to remain calm. “I do wish you would be a little more cooperative.”
“Cooperative?,” Emily lets out a little laugh. “Is that what you want me to be-cooperative? Tell me how you think having me shot, following me across the country, and
then breaking into the house I’m staying at and holding my friend at gunpoint is meant to win my ‘cooperation’. Helena, really- most people would have sent flowers or tried flattery”
“Well, if you won’t cooperate maybe your friend, Lucky isn’t it?, can be persuaded to be more helpful. Perhaps if Jacob was to provide some instruction...”
Helena gestures and the man Jacob pushes the gun further into the side of the head and pulls back the safety.
“I wouldn’t do that.” There is a cold hard edge to Emily’s tone that Lucky has never heard. She is sitting on a barstool at the kitchen table, casually playing with a small,
deadly looking knife. While they watch, she runs the knifes dull side across her wrists like a lovers caress.
Oh, God....Emily....don’t..
She smiles, but the smile is dead and completely devoid of warmth. “I wouldn’t do that,” she repeats her words, all the while playing with the knife. “First off, I don’t think
Luke would appreciate your hurting his son. Who knows, it might tempt him to start a whole new Spencer- Cassadine feud. Lots of blood everywhere. Revenge killings. Nasty
headlines in the press. That sort of thing can’t be good for business. Not to mention that it would be pointless, since Lucky can’t tell what he doesn’t know.” She looks up at
Helena. Please let me have gotten better at lying since I was a kid. “I haven’t told him the truth. Not him. Not anyone. It’s my secret. All of it is my secret. Who knows it might just
stay my secret until the day I die...” The words trail off and hang in the air.
“Why should I believe you?” Helena scoffs. “You’ve been together for weeks and he doesn’t know?”
“Helena, Helena,” Emily still holds the knife, the blade is actually warming to her touch. “All of these years and you don’t trust me? I told my brother I was on the run from
a drug dealer. With my history he bought it. Of course it might have helped that he’s brain damaged and a little naive,” Forgive me please Jason. Emily forces herself to continue,
“Lucky offered to help me “hide out”. That’s all. In fact, if you would have waited 24 hours Lucky would have been on his way to San Diego and it would have just been the two of us. A private part of sorts.”
“You see I may have been stupid when I was a kid, but I’m grown up now. I know what would happen if I told anyone- you proved that to me in San Francisco three years
ago.” Emily’s eyes cloud over. “He was just a kid you know. An incredibly naive kid who thought he was helping me like some knight out of a fantasy. Only the dragon slew him.
The dragon and her team of dragonlets. Do you honestly think after that night that I would trust anyone again- or tell anyone the truth.”
Lucky can feel the undercurrents in the air between the two women. They have almost forgotten his existence. He wants to know what she is talking about but realizes
from the look in her eyes that it is bad and so he asks no questions. Yet.
“You know I had quite forgotten about that young boy,” Helena turns to Jacob.
“You remember he was how old..”
“Fourteen,” Emily interrupts. “Just a fourteen year old street kid who shared his home under an overpass with us, who tried to protect us, and who your men shot in cold
blood because he wouldn’t reveal where we were hiding. And then they hung his body up as a warning for me. Well I got the message. .”
Lucky wants to be sick. He had known that Emily’s life had been bad for these last
years. But he hadn’t known the details. How had she survived it?
“But I’m digressing, “ Emily continues. “I haven’t really gotten to the most important reason that you are going to let Lucky go.” Her heart is beating so fast she
wonders if the rest of the world can keep up. She feels unreal, out of touch, and totally on her own. The only reality is Helena. And the knife in her hand.
“And what would that be my dear,” Helena motions to Jacob and the pressure on
Lucky’s head is removed slightly.
“Because if you don’t,” her voice is barely a whisper. “If you don’t let Lucky go, I will be forced to use this knife.”
“I’m not afraid of a paltry knife. And if you have any more silly ideas, than I should warn you that Jacob is not the only man I brought with me. This place is heavily guarded.
There is no escape.”
“Oh, Helena,” Emily speaks like a mother to a child. “Of course there is no escape.
I’ve known that from the beginning. No escapes just little delays.” She straightens up and
goes to look at the window. Now that it is lighter outside she sees the men stationed at the
perimeter. “But you misunderstood me... I don’t intend to use this knife on you.” She moves the knife until it lies against her neck. For the first time, there is fear in Helena’s eyes. Emily smiles. “You understand now, don’t you? If anything happens to Lucky, I won’t hurt you. I will use this knife to hurt myself. I will die. And die committing a sin nonetheless. But it will be worth it.” Her eyes are clear and focused. “If I die, my secrets die with me. All of them. Including the location of your precious Cassadine heir.”
She isn’t bluffing, Lucky realizes the fact at the same time Helena does. She’s
going to kill herself to keep her child safe. “Whatever it takes,” she had said to him only a
few hours ago.
“I don’t need you to find my great grandson,” Helena responds. “I have all the
Cassadine resources at my beck and call. I will find him in”
“How long will it take?” Emily voice is soft. The knife is still at her neck. She is
amazed at how calm she is. She is no longer afraid, just impatient for it to be over. “A
year? Two? Five? Ten? My son is already six Helena how long can you wait? Each year,
each month, each day that he stays out of your reach he becomes that much stronger, that
much able to resist you. You’ve lost your chance to mold the infant. The child will be
harder to control. The teenager probably impossible. You are running out of time.”
Helena is silent. Then, “What are your terms?”
“You let Lucky go. Word of honor as a Cassadine. No strike that. You have no
honor. When I know Lucky is safe, I will take you to my child. I will take you to your
precious prize. And you will win the game,” Emily looks down. “God help us all”
“God,” this time Helena laughs outright. “My precious and foolish child. God has
nothing to do with this.”
Emily waits, her heart in her throat. Please let her agree. Please let me protect
them. There is no sound in the room as they all wait.
“Agreed,” Helena says finally. “She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a cell phone. She presses the button. “This is Mrs. Cassadine. Have the helicopter ready. We
have company.” She turns to Emily and motions for another assistant to enter and restrain
her. “He lives. Now it’s time to live up to your side of the bargain.”
Emily nods. She puts the knife down. She is almost out the door when she stops. “I want to say goodbye.”
Helena nods and the guy holding her releases her for a moment. Emily runs across
the living room to the couch where Lucky is still sitting, Jacob looming over him. She flings herself in his arms and he holds her.
“Emily, don’t do this. There has to be another way.” Lucky is not sure whose tears
he feels run down his cheeks, her or his.
She shakes her head. “There isn’t. We both know it. Take care of yourself. I trust you Lucky.” She reaches over and kisses him, lightly, gently, hesitantly on the lips. He
wants to hold her forever but Helena’s goons grab her.
“That’s enough of a goodbye. Very touching.” Helena’s voice is cold and
mocking. “Jacob.” Jacob turns to Lucky.
“No!” Emily screams. “You promised.”
“You wanted him alive,” Helena intones passionlessly as Jacob hits Lucky in the
head with the gun. “You never said anything about what condition he’s in.”
“Is he dead?” Emily whispers.
“Of course not,” Helena answers. “It wouldn’t be fair of me to not live up to my
end of the bargain would it.” Emily makes no answer as she is led out of the house. All she can see is Lucky lying unconscious. She hopes she made the right decision.
When Lucky wakes up, the first thing he does is check the time. It is nearly midnight. They have more than 12 hours lead on him. He could already be too late.
He grabs the cell phone off the couch and dials. His head is pounding and he his
vision is blurry. He forces himself to think.
“Whoever you are its 3 A.M. in the morning so you better make it good?”
“Dad?”
“Cowboy?”
“Dad..I lost her...They have her...Helena has” He can’t finish his sentence.
There is silence for a second.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Luke doesn’t buy it, but he doesn’t have the time to argue with Sir Galahad. If
Helena has Emily every second counts.
“I’ll call Jason. Are you coming home?”
“I want to go after her, but I don’t know where to start.”
“Come home, cowboy. You, me, Jason, we’ll save her.”
Lucky is silent. He can still hear Emily. “I trust you Lucky”
“Okay, I’ll be home as soon as I can. I need to stop someplace first”
“Where?” Luke is puzzled. What would be worth stopping for?
“I have to go to San Diego and pick up something that belongs to Emily.”
