CHAPTER SEVENTEEN Lucy cursed under her breath as she entered the fifth casino for the evening. If one more man pinched her-or if she got one more proposition.....what was it about men, she wondered, that made them think that a well dressed woman was fair game? She glanced down and realized that her dress was, maybe a bit...okay, a lot...well, she was dressed to get attention. The fire engine red silk gown was cut to enhance, not merely reveal a woman's assets. Just because she wasn't with a man, almost every man thought that she wanted one. Which she did... "But not you, buster!" She slapped at the hands of yet another over amorous gentleman who was attempting to speak the universal language. Suddenly, a movement across the room caught her eyes. "Gotcha!" she muttered, homing in on an elderly bearded gentleman. It was, she decided, one of Luke's more convincing disguises. She watched as he paused beside a gorgeous blonde who gave him a blatant invitation with her eyes and body language, and applauded as he walked manfully away from her. Still faithful to Laura, Lucy decided, and found that heartwarming. She called out, "Luke!" But, he kept walking, and Lucy continued to follow him, increasing her speed. "Luke!" she called again as he approached an office. Pushing aside the man who tried to bar her from following, she raced to the door. The guard, however, managed to overtake her and held her back. "Let me go," she demanded, wrenching herself free and following the man into the office. "Spencer!" "I heard you the first time," he answered, pulling a cigar out of a humidor on his desk. With obvious pleasure, he went through his elaborate ritual of lighting it, and then puffed happily. "Now, pretty lady. What can I do for you?" "You can tell me what the hell you're doing in Monte Carlo! Where's Kevin?" "This is my club, how the hell should I know where Kevin is?" He looked at her thorough the cloud of cigar smoke. "I don't even know who the hell Kevin is." Lucy was aghast. "My Kevin? My Doc?" She studied him closely. "Are you okay?" "Damned straight I'm okay. It's you I'm wondering about. This is, after all, my club, and I have the right to be here." "Your club? Are you kidding me?" She peered at him and commented, "You want to let me in on the scam? What's with the makeup and all? You hiding out or what?" "Does this look like I'm hiding out? This is the hottest club in Monte Carlo!" He scowled. "And I don't wear makeup. Damned sissy stuff." "Then the last few months have been bad. Damn, Luke. You look rough." "Who?" "Luke, wait a minute. Boy-the boys!! Where are the boys?" Lucy's eyes widened. "My God! You don't know where they are, do you? You don't know who or where Kevin is, do you? All that chocolate-I ate all that chocolate! Damn! It must have been the roses-no-the marshmallows! Tell me about the marshmallows!" Looking bewildered at the leaps her mind took as she jumped from subject to subject, he answered, "Ya roast 'em, or put 'em in hot chocolate." "But I saw marshmallows-and cards!" "I've got plenty of cards, and I can always get marshmallows, if that would make you feel better, but first, maybe you'd better tell me what's going on." "I should have seen it coming," Lucy began. "Losing Laura and the boys, then finding them, then losing them to-you must have cracked. That's it! You really went off the deep end, old pal. Finding out that Laura is a czarina, or whatever the hell she is, and that Lucky isn't yours, that Nik is, when you thought he wasn't--it's all as plain as day. You cracked. You slipped a cog." She gestured around the room. "It's all so clear to me." "Well, maybe you'd better enlighten me. Us slipped cog sorts need all the help we can get." "Good thing that Kevin is a shrink. Some of it must have rubbed off. See, your whole world crumbled-just came caving in. You felt that your blues club was sort of insignificant-sort of ordinary-which, next to a Russian palace and royalty, it might be-so you bailed out to become somebody. You ran away and probably hawked the Faberge egg or something for the down payment on this place." "Wow," he said, finally, taking a drag from his cigar. "Do you get this worked up over everything?" At her nod, he continued. "Then I'm in love!" "You can't be in love with me. You're married to Laura." "No, I'm not." Lucy was shocked. "You divorced her? Or, did she divorce you?" "Actually, the whole situation is a little tricky to explain." "I understand. But, this doesn't help me. I came here to get your help to find Kevin and you need help, yourself. But Luke, the boys are missing." "What boys?" "Your boys." At that, his expression darkened. "Lady, this whole thing has gone on long enough. Just who the hell do you think I am?" "This is serious," Lucy began. "Luke, we need to get you some help." "Who? Luke?" "Lucas Lorenzo Spencer." "I'm not him." "What do you mean you're not him? You look just like yourself. Except that you look older, but everything else is the same." "Just how acquainted are you with the 'everything else?'" "Not that acquainted. I'm a married woman-and married to Kevin." "Never stopped a woman before." "Fine. Who are you, if you're not Luke?" "Tim. Tim Spencer." "Tim?" Lucy's voice rose to a shriek. "Tim is Luke's....ohmigosh!! You're Luke's father. You no good !@#$%^& bum!" Sean sat in the chair across from Jamie Jacks and asked, "Are you going to tell me what I want to know, or am I going to have to pry it out of you?" Jamie sat comfortably. "There's nothing to tell. My daughter and I are here in Port Charles for a visit." "Does her mother know where she is?" "Her mother told me to bring her here," Jamie answered. "Which I'm sure that you know by now." Sean smiled, and Jamie smiled back. "I know that the two of you came from London." "That's easy to trace." "And I know that you're not the child's father." "I'm not?" Jamie was indignant. "Cut the crap, Jamie. There are people asking questions about you. This is the wrong city for you to hide out in, so there must be a reason to come here." "I have family here." "Family which hasn't chosen to acknowledge your presence as yet. Not that I blame Jerry. Your reputation is, shall we say, less than sterling." "Speaking of reputations," Jamie countered. "Yours has undergone some serious renovation since our paths last crossed." Sean grinned. "That it has. I've more than redeemed myself for most of my past misdeeds. I now tread the straight and narrow." "Sean Donely? Gunrunner? Aztec treasure hunter? Art historian-almost as good as I am?" "At least I didn't spend time in that seedy South American jail-long about the time that your 'daughter' would have been conceived." Jamie grinned. "Those were the days. Whatever became of that Aztec treasure?" "The Mexican government has it. But the real treasure is in Port Charles." Jamie nodded. "I know. I saw her. She's even more beautiful than she was before." "Why'd you do it? Why'd you walk away from her?" "Like I had a choice?" Jamie scowled. "First off, she knew me as Peter--not Jamie. And she believed that I was after the Aztec treasure. Which, I had been. She had no reason to trust me, and she fell in love with Frisco. I had to leave town or go to jail. Not exactly the best options." "You could have told her the truth." "Have you ever told her the truth?" Jamie asked bluntly. "I know a hell of a lot more than you ever told me about her. About how your paths have crossed in the past." Sean's expression grew grim. "You're on dangerous ground here, Jamie." "Been there in the past, probably be there again in the future. But for now, there's only one little blonde I'm concerned with, and she's...." "She's me," announced Jillian as she hurried over to Jamie. "Daddy!" She threw herself into his lap, and gave him a big hug. Then, turning to Sean, she asked, "Daddy and I are waiting for Momma to come to Port Charles to be with us. She loves us, you know." "I'm sure she does." Sean's eyes met Jamie's. "I was wondering if your daddy would let you come over to play with my little girls and with their friends, Maxie and Georgie." Jillian's eyes widened, and she turned to Jamie. "Please, Daddy? I'm so bored." "She'll be safe, Jamie," Sean promised. "I think that we're working on the same side this time." Bobbie woke up from the nap she'd taken when she arrived back at Wyndemere. She'd walked so long and so far that she'd been exhausted, but her sleep was anything but restful. Her dreams had been filled with vague memories of the nightmares she'd had about Caroline's conception, but this time, she knew them for what they were. Things were beginning to come clear for her, for the first time since it had happened. There was something naggingly familiar about some aspect of the dream, something that she couldn't quite identify....something or someone. Closing her eyes, Bobbie let herself drift away, back in time, back to that night, so long ago, back..........