Andreas Andropolous dropped four envelopes into the mailbox off of the Elm Street pier. He shook his head in dismay as he thought about all of the lives that were about to be ruined. There was nothing he could do, so he stuck his hands in his pocket and walked off into the brisk night air.

Inside the little blue mail box, down amongst the other mail, lay four large envelopes addressed with four different names.

Nikolas Cassadine...

Stefan Cassadine...

Commissioner Malcolm Scorpio....

Lt. Detective Marcus Taggert...

Let the games begin! ~*~  ~*~   ~*~

T W O    D A Y S   L A T E R . . . . .

Ned dropped a load of mail onto Nikolas' desk.

"More?"

"It never quits, Nikolas. You should know that by now. I need you weed through this mess and see what you can do about the Juan situation. Most of the mail are complaints about him canceling all of his concert dates. They're ready to sue."

Nikolas exhaled slowly. "I'll try to explain about his state of mind after Emily was murdered. They won't sue."

"I wish I could be as confident about that as you are."

"Overconfidence: it's the real Cassadine legacy.  Now get out of here and let me do my work."

"Consider me gone," Ned said, walking out of Nikolas' office.

Nikolas stared at the pile of mail. Sometimes he had to wonder why he had insisted on getting a job. He could be knocking back margaritas at some country club. Instead, he was trying to double talk his way out of law suits. He started flipping through the letters. There were at least ten official looking letters from promoters. There was some Eddie Maine fan mail that had been misplaced.

At the bottom of the pile, there was maize-colored envelope with his name on it. It had no return address. He pulled a long golden letter opener out of his drawer and ripped the envelope open.

An audio cassette tape fell out onto his desk. He took it out of its case, rubbing it between his hands. He studied it, looking for a label of some sort. There was none. 

He was puzzled for a few moments, before he decided that it must be a demo. He tossed back onto the pile, making a mental note to give it to Ned later. He did some paperwork. He returned some calls.

He lied to a reporter from Rolling Stone.  "Juan Santiago is the premiere recording artist at L&B Entertainment. We have the utmost faith in him and his abilities. We fully intend to stick by him in his time of grief," Nikolas replied smoothly. Truthfully, Ned was ready to kick Juan to the curb. Eventually, Nikolas found himself staring at the tape. It was addressed to him. Ned was busy. He should probably just listen to it. He was more than capable of assessing musical talent. He'd listen and then give Ned his opinion. With this decided, he grabbed the tape and headed over to his stereo. He stuck it in and pushed the play button.

"... Do you think your nephew would still be so fond of you if he knew you faked your own death, kidnapped Chloe Morgan, and framed  his brother's father for murder? I don't."

"The sword cuts both ways, Gia. If you reveal my secret, I will have no choice but to reveal yours. ...Your entire relationship is built on a lie. He would be terribly irate if he found out that his new paramour was and *still is* accepting money from his uncle to spy on him."

The tape didn't stop there, it seemed to go on and on. One lie after another was revealed and Nikolas was numb with intense anger. Always the fool, he thought as his face reddened.

He felt as if he were sinking. In fact, he knew that he was sinking. Sinking down into a deep and fiery pit of uncontrollable rage. The question was, who was he going to take down with him.

"I CAN' F***ING BELIEVE IT!!!!!"  he yelled as he picked the stereo up and launched it against the wall. The black box exploded in a spray of  plastic pieces, wires, and pops of electricity. He stormed from the room, down the long hallway, and through the common area. He pushed a surprised Ned aside. He didn't hear anything but the sound of the two people he loved the most stabbing him in the back. ~*~  ~*~  ~*~

Chloe balanced the envelope on her knee. It wasn't addressed to her, but she had always loved packages. Her curiosity always got the best of her. She wondered if Stefan would mind if she opened it. Her hands went to the big flap, gently tugging to see if it would come a loose without tearing.

It wouldn't. She leaned back on the sofa in the conservatory at Wyndemere. She should find something else to do.

She didn't want to. She wanted to open the letter. She had decided to do it. She ripped open the flap, sticking her hand in and pulling out a cassette tape.

"What are you doing, Chloe?" Stefan said, quietly approaching.

"Didn't your mother teach you to make some noise when you come into a room? Let a person know you're there?"

"No, I'm afraid she left that life lesson out."

She sprang up from the sofa, the tape falling to the floor. She jumped into his arms. "I miss you when you're gone, Stefan."

"I was only gone a couple of hours."

"I still miss you! Let's go upstairs and I can show you how much."

Stefan was tempted, but he quickly remembered that Chloe had been holding a tape. "What was that tape you were holding?"

"Actually, it's your tape. I opened your mail."

"You did what?"

"Sorry! I couldn't help myself. Are you mad?"

"Yes. Please, stay out of my private things, Chloe. How many times do I have to ask you not to open my mail, go through my papers, or listen to my phone calls? "

"I told you I was sorry! It's not like I do it all the time. It was just twice with the mail and once with all that other stuff. I know that  you're a private person, but you always seem to be brooding about something. I just want you to let me in." Chloe pouted.

Stefan kissed her. "And I want to let you in. I do need some time, though."

"I understand. I will leave you to your tape. Watch me disappear," Chloe said merrily, skipping up the stairs.

Stefan  retrieved the tape. He went to his study and placed it in his stereo. He shut his eyes, falling into a chair as the sound of his own voice sought him out. 

Gia had told him of the existence of the tape. He knew Helena had it. He just didn't think she'd play her trump card so soon. He had thought he had more time to plan. He picked up the remote and  turned the sound down. He didn't want to hear it.

He ran a hand through his hair. He had to think. What should he do? How should he approach the situation?

Why did Helena send him the tape? Was she going to blackmail him as she was blackmailing Gia? Or was she just playing with him?

If she sent him a tape, who else got one?

The door to Stefan' s study was thrown open and Nikolas came strolling in. His face was red and his lips were pressed into a hard angry line. He walked up to the desk and deftly pushed everything that was on it onto the floor. Files scattered across the floor. A picture frame cracked, glass shattering.

Stefan knew that Nikolas knew. They made eye contact. Hard brown eyes met defeated green ones. Calmly, Stefan said, "You have my attention." ~*~  ~*~  ~*~

Mac Scorpio ripped open a long yellow envelope. He was about to look inside when Dara stuck her head in the door. "Are you busy, Mac?"

"Nope. Just trying to find Emily's murderer."

"I know how hard you're working on that case. Are you any closer?"

"Well, I have a man who puts Emily in Gia Campbell's apartment building."

"You don't think Taggert's sister has anything to do with any of this, do you?" Dara asked, sitting down across from Mac.

"I don't know anything for sure. Plus, there's this mysterious thread that the lab can't place. They've run it through tests and they still can't decide what it is"

"It's not a hair?"

"No, it's a synthetic fiber. But why would it be on Emily's body. I don't know. It could have come from the dock or a cab or anywhere. " Mac reached into his desk and pulled out a plastic baggy. He looked at the thread within it.

"Is that it?"

"Yeah, that's it. The lab tech says it's slightly familiar, but she doesn't know where it came from."

Dara reached out to take the baggy. "Can I take it out?"

"Go ahead. It's against procedure, but I just don't care at the moment."

Dara took it out and rolled the long slender thread in her hands. It looked like a long hair, but he lab had identified it as a synthetic fiber. She held it up to the light, recognition flooding her at last. "I know what it is!"

"What?!" Mac yelled, springing up and moving to stand in front of her."

"It's a hair!"

"The lab tech's said it was synthetic," Mac replied, annoyance obvious in his voice.

"NO! Not a real hair. It's synthetic hair. The kind of hair used to braid."

"What do you mean?"

"Women with long braids...it's not all there hair. They use synthetic hair to make the braids long and full. It's HAIR! No wonder the techs were having trouble placing it. Port Charles isn't exactly diversity central."

"It's synthetic hair? That means that, possibly, the last person who came in direct contact with Emily had braids..." An image of an angry Gia and her long braids came into his mind. Along with the witness, he had more than enough reason to think that Gia *had* seen Emily the night of the murder. "Do you think that this is the kind of synthetic hair that Gia Campbell uses?"

Dara's mouth dropped open. "I...I don't know. I haven't seen her in a while. It could be. But, I do know that she had human hair braids at the Nurse's Ball. We talked about them. IF she had them re-braided then she could have switched to synthetic....Mac, are you considering her? Seriously?"

Mac didn't know what he was thinking, except that he would solve this case if it was the last thing he did. “Everyone’s a suspect, Dara."  He went back to sit behind his desk and remembered the package he had been holding before Dara came in.

"What's that?" Dara asked, watching as Mac went and placed the tape into his stereo.

"I don't know. I just got this tape in the mail. Do you want to listen with me?"

"Sure," Dara said, kicking off her shoes and leaning back against the sofa cushions. "I'm always in the mood to be entertained."

Mac pushed the play button. ~*~  ~*~  ~*~ 

End of chapter Eightteen, Please e-mail any feedback by clicking on the mailbox below :)

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