Alexis continued to pace as she waited for Stefan to pick up the phone. When she woke up from getting a couple of hours of sleep on the couch, she noticed that Nikolas had not come home last night. She was praying that he decided to go to Stefan and settle the problems they were having, but something in her gut was telling her that he was in danger. "Come on, Stefan. Pick up the phone."
Stefan was in his study, trying to block out the ringing from the phone. He did not want to talk to anyone this morning. He was determined to get his next plan again Spencer in motion soon before any time went by. He knew that time was on the Spencers side. He kept a watchful eye on Luke's activities after he was out of prison, and knew that Luke was starting to give in. If he allowed anymore time to go by, Luke would forgive Laura for her lies, and that would mean the end of his dream.
Alexis hung up the phone, angrily. ‘Where could Stefan be at this time?' she asked herself. She quickly went searching through her address book, looking for Stefan's new cell phone number. When she found it, she dialed and hoped he would answer this time. A couple of rings went by when an operator came on the line saying that the phone number was no longer in service. "Damn you, Stefan. Why did you change your number again?"
She knew she had to inform Stefan that Nikolas had not come back last night, so if he wasn't willing to answer his phone, she would just have to go see him in person. She didn't want to leave just in case Nikolas did turn up, but she had no other choice right now. She wrote a short note to Nikolas, grabbed her coat and purse, and headed out the door for Wyndemere.
Nikolas managed to take a short nap, even though he was bound. He knew he had to keep a level head if he was going to find a way to get out of this situation. He was trying to come up with an escape plan when the man from last night came back into the room.
"I hope you had a good night's sleep," the man said.
Nikolas ignored his comments and just stared at the man. He was trying to memorize every inch of his face. He knew that when he got free, Stefan would want to know what the man looked like in order to enact revenge, and Nikolas was willing to let Stefan have him.
"I see you don't have such a quick mouth this morning," the man said. "Well, it does make for a boring conversation when only one person is talking, but that's all the better. You're not going to be awake long enough to be able to speak."
The man walked over to Nikolas, who started swearing at him, and hit him over the head with the end of his gun. Nikolas' body completely went limp. The man picked up his cell phone and dialed it. A woman picked up the other end. "He is ready for the travel now, Madam. I'm going to inject him with a sleeping drug as soon as we get him to the yacht. He won't wake up until we have finally reached Greece."
Alexis walked into Wyndemere and headed straight for Stefan's study. She saw him hunched over the computer like a man possessed. "Is this why you refuse to answer your phone?" she asked angrily.
Stefan looked up, annoyed by her presence and bad timing. "I have more important matters to deal with at the moment, Alexis."
"More important than Nikolas?!" Alexis screamed, grabbing his computer and throwing it against the wall.
Stefan saw the workings of his plan go crashing into the wall, but the mention of Nikolas' name brought him back to reality. "What about Nikolas?"
"Have you seen him? Did he come here last night?"
"Why do you ask me a question when you already know the answer? My son doesn't want to speak to me."
"And you've been unwilling, or should I say unable, to speak to him. Look at yourself, Stefan. You've become obsessed with this feud. But at least before you knew Nikolas was safe with me. Can you let go of this feud to help him now?"
"What do you mean that I knew Nikolas was safe with you? Is Nikolas in danger?"
Alexis took a seat to help steady herself. What she feared was actually true. Nikolas had disappeared. "He didn't come back last night. I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon."
"Did he tell you of his plans?"
"No. He's been quiet lately, and I have understood why and let him have his space. I knew he needed time to be by himself. To think about everything's that happened, but he has returned every other time. Do you think he might have gone to Laura?"
"No. Nikolas would never stay at the Spencer house. Not with the mother who left him or her husband who hates him," Stefan said, forcefully.
"I know you are well aware that Luke does not live in his house anymore. You did set him up to find evidence of an affair that never happened."
"That doesn't change the fact that Luke is still a presence in that house. It also doesn't change the fact that his mother had left him years ago and continues to put her Spencer family above him."
"And you have also kept her away from him, if I recall. You've threatened her into leaving the country. The only way she would ever have a chance to get to know her son is if she lived by your rules," Alexis said. She brushed some of the hair from her face with her hand, letting out a huge breath. "Why am I even getting into this with you now? I'm not involved in this feud anymore. All I care is about Nikolas, and right now, he's missing."
Stefan looked at her carefully, seeing the worry that filled her face. He knew that if Helena had discovered the truth, Nikolas would be in danger. "If Spencer decided to inform Helena of this latest secret then..."
"This isn't about Spencer! For once in your life will you stop blaming Luke for all of your problems?" Alexis screamed. She tried to calm herself down before speaking again, in a softer voice. "But you're right about Helena. If she did find out the truth, she might have take Nikolas. Is her yacht still docked?"
Before Alexis could get the last question out, Stefan was already on the phone. After a short conversation, he slammed the phone back down and looked at Alexis. "She has just left dock. I know she has Nikolas, and I know why."
"Do you need help?"
"No. I know what she wants. Nikolas is only a pawn in her grand scheme. She feels that I have taken what is rightfully hers, and she will use Nikolas in order to achieve it. I know where she is headed, and I will go there alone, for one last confrontation with my mother."
Stefan ordered the jet to be feuled up, as he quickly left the room to make preparations for this confrontation. As soon as Stefan was out of the room, Alexis picked up the phone to tell Laura of Nikolas' kidnapping.
Luke pulled the car into the driveway and prepared for another battle with Laura before being able to take his daughter out for breakfast. As he got out of the car, he saw Lucky sitting on the porch swing. He walked over to the swing and took a seat next to him. "What's up, Cowboy?"
"Nothing," Lucky whispered. He heard Ruby's words yesterday, and he decided to allow his father the space that he needed. He decided that if he played it cool, it would give Luke the peace of mind to be able to deal with his own problems and not worry about his son.
Luke stared at his son's face and knew that he was hurting. But like any Spencer, he wasn't going to easily admit to that pain. "Son, look at me." Lucky slowly looked into his father's eyes, trying to keep back his tears. "I know that everything's all messed up right now. You're questioning everything this family has held as truth, and you don't even understand the half of it."
"I do understand, Dad. I understand that Mom kept another secret from you and she's still having affair with the man who has destroyed this family."
Luke grabbed his son, forcing him to remain facing him. "No, son. You're letting Stefan win if you believe that."
"Isn't that what you believe? Isn't that why you left?" Lucky asked quietly.
Luke let go of his son and looked down at the ground. "You saw the picture," he whispered.
"You know I did! It was laying right on the bed for me to see!"
"And you believe it?"
"Don't you?"
Luke nodded his head slowly. "When I saw it I did believe it. I think I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. I was angry and hurt, and I've never felt like I ever deserved your mother. I've always been amazed that she could love me, so I guess I took the first sign that she might not love me as the truth. But, I've had time to think about it, Lucky. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, about everything. I know that Stefan set me up to get me out of the picture. He's always wanted your mother, and he hasn't had a chance to have her while I've been around," Luke said, just loud enough to be heard.
"You're sure that this is all Stefan's doing and they never had an affair since she left the island?"
"Yeah. I do believe that now, son. I'm not just saying this to make you feel better because I know it's going to take time for any of us to get past this. But don't try creating more obstacles for you to overcome."
"Then if it's just the secret, why don't you come back home? You didn't leave until you found the picture."
"It's more than just the secret, Lucky. It's a lot more." Luke looked back up into his son's eyes, hoping that he would listen carefully. "Lucky, I don't doubt your mother's love anymore. But I do doubt other things, and those are the things that your mother and I have to get through before I can live in this house again. In the meantime, you're the man of the house. I need you here, protecting them. Can you do that for me, son?"
"Of course I can," Lucky said, his voice cracking from the struggle he was feeling inside.
"Thank you," Luke said, patting his son on the shoulder. "I really needed that. Just have faith that everything will turn out okay," Luke said, while thinking silently to himself ‘If it ever turns out okay.'
"I'll try to do that."
"Okay. Well, we're not known as two grim men, so why don't we go take your sister to Kelly's and have Ruby make all three of us some of her famous pancakes. You up for that?"
Lucky was already heading into the house to get Lulu when he saw Laura open the door, tears streaming down her face. Lucky looked at both of his parents and decided to leave them alone while he got Lulu ready to go to Kelly's. Luke looked away from Laura saying, "I'm only here to take my children out to breakfast. I'm sorry if you have a problem with that, but that's how it's going to be."
Laura didn't even hear Luke's words as she started to shake a little. She grabbed onto the side of the house, trying to steady herself. After Luke did not get a response from her, he looked at her, and worry completely took over any other feeling he had just a moment ago. "What's wrong, Angel?"
Laura couldn't respond. Her crying had become uncontrollable, and her face had lost all color. She started to fall to the ground from the worry and the stress, but before she could fall the whole way, Luke had already reached her and held her in his arms. She hung onto him for dear life before she finally whispered, "Helena has taken my son."
