Luke awoke the next morning around 10:00 am. He untangled himself
from Laura's grasp, and tumbled out of the king sized bed. "I could get
used to this," he thought to himself as he walked out into the main room.
He blinked rapidly as he adjusted to the brightness of the room, and then
looked over to see his son peeking over the back of the sofa. "Hey there,
kiddo," he said aloud as he walked over to pick up his child. "You're up
early." The toddler just smiled as he reached for his daddy's outstretched
arms. "How 'bout some breakfast? Let's see what's on the menu, shall we?"
Luke strolled over to the room service menu, and laughed out loud. "Can
you believe what they're asking for toast at this place? People! I'd better
stick to coffee." Luke put some quarters in the mini bar, and took out
a bag of instant coffee. As it was brewing, Luke carried on - well, sort
of carried on - a conversation with his pride and joy. "So, what do you
think of this place. Nice, huh? Well, don't get used to it, it's only temporary.
You know what, I've gotta do something today, and I don't know exactly
how things are gonna turn out. I'm gonna go lurk around this ranch and
try to find out what kinda stuff goes on there. You see, there are these
two people who could be after us. One of them is a gangster type who's
kinda ticked off that I sent him to prison. The other one is this crazy
old bat who's favorite hobbies include taking innocent women captive and
freezing the world." The boy just stared at his father blankly. "I know,
it's pretty crazy. The thing is, your mom's really nervous, and I don't
know what to tell her. I want to let her know that everything's gonna be
just fine and dandy, but I'm not sure it will be. These nutzoid people
are scary, and I never know what they're gonna do next. So, here's the
deal. I'm gonna try to figure out what the hell.....hmm, I probably should
watch my language in front of you, shouldn't I....I"m gonna try to figure
out which of these characters is behind this mess. But, if for some reason,
I can't, know that I'm doing my best to keep you safe. I would do anything
for you and your little mama in there. Just know that I love you." And,
as if the toddler understood, he wrapped his chubby little arm's around
his daddy's neck, and squeezed. Luke realized he had better get a move
on, so he took his child into the bedroom and layed him down next to Laura.
He quickly got dressed, scribbled a note, and set out to find this Hacienda
del Marco.
Luke took the bus out to the ranch. He got off about a mile a way, and trudged down the long dirt road until he saw a wooden fence with a large sign over the gate, telling him he had reached his destination. Luke looked around, but there appeared to be no one around for miles. All he saw was wide open space. He hopped over the wooden fence about a mile away from the gate. After about half an hour of wandering aimlessly, he saw a building off in the distance. As he got closer, he realized he stumbled upon what must have been the worker's quarters. The building resembled a motel. It was long and thin, containing about 20 separate rooms for the workers. Next to this building was the stable, and next to that, the kitchen building. When Luke looked over toward the horizon, he saw the main house. He had never seen anything like it before. The porch wrapped around the front and sides of the large, white stone building. Stone pillars were holding up the overhang all the way around. Then entrance way had a grand stone staircase which wound up the hill toward the house. Running around and under that staircase was a babbling brook leading down to the fields. The house itself was three stories high, and had windows looking out in all directions. As Luke got closer, he could see a group of men standing on the porch. He could barely make out the conversation, but he deduced they were talking about him. From what he could understand, one man was telling the others to expect a family to be joining their household very soon. They were to treat these people with the upmost respect, but never to offer information that wasn't asked for. They were allowed to answer basic questions, and give directions, but nothing else. As the men were dismissed, Luke could see the speaker clearly. His clothing suggested that he had been out working the fields as well. He wore jeans, a botton down short sleved shirt, and a brown hat. He was middle aged, and of average build, and something about his appearance suggested integrity. He abruptly turned, and walked into the house, so Luke crept closer. He then saw that same man having an intense conversation with a teen-aged girl, apparently his daughter. She had long black hair, a flawless complexion, and a slender build. She wasn't strikingly beautiful, but she was attractive in a softer way. Her beauty was so much more than skin deep. Luke, while careful to conceal himself, needed to know everything he could, so he got dangerously close to the open window to hear their conversation.
".......will be here by the end of the week. I know you're not comfortable with strangers staying in the house, but I promise that everything will turn out alright."
"Daddy, I'm worried. How do you know their good people? I mean, if the Cassadines insist that they stay here, they must have something to do with them. What if they're as evil as they are?"
"I've looked into them. They've been fighting against the Cassadines for the past four years. Helena took the woman prisoner, but she managed to escape. The man is the one responsible for killing Mikkos, and Stavros fell down the stairs after he hit him over the head. I doubt that they're working for the Cassadines."
"If they're against the Cassadines, then why are they insisting this family come here?"
"That's what I'm going to find out. But, after this week, we have to be very careful what we say, and who we talk about. The Cassadines are sending several people to watch over both us and these Spencer people. Apparently, it's easier for them if all the people they want to keep tabs on are in one place. The Cassadines think they can buy our loyalty. I'm going to let them think that they can. They just told me that I was to do everything in my power to keep the Spencers here, and never let them know why they're being kept here. I'm going to have guards on them at all times because if I don't, the Cassadine spies will surely report back that I'm not doing my job. The only way we'll ever really know what is going on is if Natasha can keep us informed. That's going to be really hard for her, so until we here from her, we'll just have to be very careful."
"If you say so. I guess I'll go up, and get their rooms ready. Is it true that they have a kid?"
"From what I hear, they have a toddler. A boy - I think."
"Good. I'd love to have a little child in the house. It's been so lonely since the Cassadines took mama and Lucinda. She'd be almost six now - wouldn't she?"
"Six and a half. I miss them too. But the only way we'll ever get them back is if we cooperate with them. There's no way to fight them, and they promised - if we can keep the Spencers under control until they want to deal with them, they'll let your mother and Lucinda go free. The best thing we can do is just play along."
" If you say so, I guess that's what I'll do but..............." Just then, Luke heard footsteps coming up toward the front porch. Luke quickly darted around to the back of the house, and down the back stairs. He decided he had enough information, and had better head back to the hotel before Laura got any more worried. He hopped over the wooden fence which formed the border around the property, and made his way back to the bus stop. As the bus stopped a block away from his hotel, the sun was sinking toward the horizon, paiting the sky brilliant colors. Luke took this gorgeous display of clouds and sunlight as a good omen. He took a deep breath, and headed into the hotel lobby. This wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. He just had to find out how to earn these people's trust and work together against the Cassadines.
