CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE "I'm sorry, Bobbie," Dr. Gail Baldwin murmured softly. "You can't talk with Tony right now." "But I need to know if he knows where Caroline is. I need to know what happened last night." "So do we," Taggert said, coming out of Tony's room. "But Dr. Jones isn't answering any questions." "I told you that he wouldn't," Dr. Baldwin pointed out. "Dr. Jones has undergone tremendous stress, and he's nearly catatonic." "Tony wouldn't have done anything like what you think he did to Kathryn Bell." Bobbie defended. "He's not like that." "We have hard evidence to the contrary," Taggert countered. "Not that I want to believe it, but under the circumstances, we have to consider it." "Screw your evidence," Frisco injected as he approached. "Tony's a healer, not a killer." "Then explain to me why he was covered with blood, screaming his head off in a seedy hotel with a ......" "I know all about that," Frisco told him. "Tell me you wouldn't be screaming if you woke up in the same condition." Taggert nodded thoughtfully. "Probably toss my cookies, too. Okay, I'll buy that, but you've got to admit, we have motive-not against Kat, but if we assume that this was a case of mistaken identity-she was wearing the same costume that Carly was wearing-and Tony was really angry with her. We have opportunity-both were seen leaving the Outback at nearly the same time. We have a lack of alibi-nobody can vouch for Tony's whereabouts at the critical time, and lastly, we have plenty of evidence. Blood, and...you know." "Okay, how about a weapon?" "Got one. A bloody scythe was found in the hotel room. Tony's prints were all over it." Taggert paused. "Look, Frisco, I don't believe for a minute, that under ordinary circumstances, Tony would kill anybody, but given the nature of his situation, and his condition, he's safer in here. We have guards posted, and he's under round-the-clock medical surveillance." "Then you think this might be a frame?" "Gotta consider that," Taggert answered. "This is so out of character for Dr. Jones that if it is a frame, whoever arranged it will want him dead so as to close the case. And, if it isn't..." "That's fair," Frisco conceded. "Just let me know if he comes around." Taggert nodded. "Heard anything about Felicia?" "Nothing." Frisco's tone was bleak. "Nothing at all." Felicia looked over at the young woman whimpering on the bed. "Carly? Carly!! He's gone. Now, pull yourself together. We have to find a way to get out of here before he comes back." There was no reply, just more whimpering. "Carly? Damnit, Carly, this is no time to act like a chicken. We're in deep **** and we've got to get out. ASAP!" "Felicia?" "Yes. Now, you're Bobbie's daughter, and apparently Stefan's. That means that you're a Spencer and a Cassadine-two kick-butt families. Act like it!" "I'm trying." She continued to cry softly. "I'm so screwed up." Hearing the hopelessness in Carly's tone, Felicia decided that whatever was bothering her needed to be addressed first. "Look-All your secrets are out-right?" "No..." She whimpered again. "Well, spill it! You'll feel better and we haven't got all day." "The baby might be AJ's." "That's all? Carly, you're looking at this all wrong. The baby is yours!!" "Mine?" Felicia sighed, and then continued. "Carly, you've come to the right woman with your problems. The baby is yours. Yours!! Get that straight. You really don't get it, do you? You carry the baby for nine months, you do all the work, and the man takes all the credit. You get sick, waddle around, sweat, and scream through labor, and the man wants to put his name on the baby and hand out cigars. It's a control thing." "Yeah?" The voice was shaky, but trying. "Yeah. They ought to be damned glad that we even let them stay around! This whole thing of the man's name as the baby's last name stinks!" "You know, you're right," Carly sniffed, then wailed, "But I love Tony." "And he'll do right by the baby," Felicia promised. "If not, AJ will, or you can get a job. And a life! Carly, you've got to quit letting men define you for yourself." "What do you mean?" "Set your own standards instead of letting a man set them for you. Men are the consummate game's players, and women have played their games for far too long. We need to quit defining ourselves by what man we live with and instead by our own achievements." "Yeah?" Carly's voice was stronger, as if something that Felicia had said resonated within her. "Damned straight! What if this baby is a girl? She needs to look up to you as a role model. You want her to think of you as whining, whimpering and worthless?" "But I lied!" "Who hasn't?" "And I don't know who the father is." "So use what you do know! You're the mother! Now, let me tell you what I know. If we don't get out of here, that maniac will kill us." "You know him?" Felicia paused, and admitted sheepishly, "You could say that. I was engaged to him." Laura hung up the telephone, tears in her eyes. The woman who had taken Helena's place at the health care facility wasn't Lesley Webber. They didn't know who she was, but they knew who she wasn't. "So where are you, Mom?" Laura whispered into the darkness. The last several hours had left her reeling with the truths that had come pouring out of Bobbie's mouth when she'd arrived back from the PCPD, and those, on the heels of the call from Marty about Helena's escape were almost enough to put her on overload. "But I won't collapse now," Laura vowed. Her eyes flashed angrily. "I have no secrets left, nothing more to hide, and I've never felt so good. So strong!" "And I'm glad to hear that, baby," Luke said, coming up behind her. He turned her around and smiled, only to get the side of her hand against his face in a resounding slap. "You bastard! Do you have any idea what your lies have done?" "My lies?" Luke asked, holding one hand to the side of his face. "Why is it that I feel as if the pot was calling the kettle black?" "Don't even think about going there, Luke Spencer," Laura warned. "Kathryn Bell is dead, Tony is in the psych ward under suspicion of her murder, Carly, your niece is missing, as is Felicia, and if you think that I'm pi**ed, wait until your sister gets her hands on you." "Bobbie knows?" "Yes." Laura was just getting warmed up. "Carly is pregnant, and was about to marry Tony Jones-an event that need never have taken place had you not hidden the truth from Bobbie. She's a big girl, Luke. She could have taken the truth-or did you hide it from her because she'd joined the enemy camp-married Stefan?" "Well, who died and made you judge and jury?" "Kat Bell and maybe two other women, you arrogant ass!" "Seems you know all about arrogant asses, now," Luke snapped. "Been hanging out with the nobility a little too long, have we?" "You miserable son of a ..." "Got that right," he agreed, his smile bitter. "Laura, before you go flying off the handle any more, there are things you need to know. We may have problems beyond Helena Cassadine." That stopped Laura cold. "What are you trying to say?" Luke gave a little shrug. "All this time we've been worried about Helena-she may have been the least of our problems." "What do you mean?" Luke's eyes took on a haunted look. "She may not want to hurt me, Laura." "Why not? She's hated you for years." "Has she?" Luke turned to Laura, and asked, "You couldn't acknowledge Nikolas for years because you feared for his life, and for mine. You believed that with your whole heart." "That's true." "Well, it's possible that Helena believed just as much in that prophecy about some member of the Cassadine family being its salvation and some other rubbish like that." "So?" "So she wouldn't want to do anything to screw up the chance of that happening." "I don't follow you," Laura replied, her eyes filled with questions. "You aren't making any sense." "It's finally making a weird sort of sense to me," Luke told her. "All those chances that Helena had to kill me and she didn't." "And?" Laura was beginning to get a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. "You're not saying..." Luke nodded. "Yeah. I really am a son of a bitch! Helena's my mother."