CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN Marty picked up the phone. "Jared?" "Uh, Marty, about our honeymoon..." "Paris in the spring?" "In what year?" "Jared..." "Sorry, but it's been so long." "Two days is long?" "We have a lot of time to make up for." "True, but this thing is about to come apart-we've got a lead-something really big. I need you in Texas. Maria's hacienda. Now, listen....." Luke Spencer stared at the burned hulk of the diner, anger and pain coursing over his being. Ruby had always been there-one way or another, for him and his family for years. She may not have done things the appropriate way, and certainly nobody could paint her without her faults, but to die like this? "Why?" he muttered. "Why kill Ruby?" He dashed a tear away from his eyes as he saw Tim approach. "She's dead," Luke told him. "Ruby's dead." "Was there a body?" "I identified it," Luke told him. "It was her. Why? Was this because of me? Because of the Cassadines? Did I bring the trouble to her?" "**** happens, son. Was it arson?" "What is it with you, old man? Your own sister dies and it's **** happens? You're worried about arson?" "You would be, too, son, if you were thinking clearly. If it was arson, it was probably murder, and if it was murder, why? Robbery? Revenge? Is your family safe?" "Laura and Lulu are with Bobbie at Wyndemere. Stefan's guard dogs are prowling the island along with his guards. What's it to you?" "Okay, Luke. I left you. Get over it, already. I did what I thought best for everybody involved back then, and if it was wrong, or hurt your feelings, I'm sorry, but I can't change it now." "Left me, lied to me, faked your death..." "Like father, like son, from what I've heard. Look, son, I'm in this 'til it shakes out. Something is coming down-something big. That's what I'm here to tell you." At that moment, Taggert approached. "Spencer-Spencer-we need to talk. ASAP." "About what?" Luke asked. "Roses," Taggert answered. "It seems that everything is coming up roses." "Frisco?" Marty spoke quickly. "Marty?" "Get Felicia and the girls to a safe house ASAP-but local. Don't go to Texas, and don't worry about Maria." "You want to tell me what's going one?" "Yeah. Tell Sean where you'll be-he's known for a long time what I just found out tonight. Here's what we know....." Nikolas stood before Lucky who was heading down to the docks, and asked, "Where's Luke-my father?" "Taking care of Ruby's stuff," Lucky answered. "Mom and Lulu-and Jeremy are at Wyndemere. They left a note for me to follow. I'm on my way there." "It's okay to feel," Nik told him. "She was family in every way that counted." Lucky nodded mutely, then asked, "Do you know what happened?" "Arson-probably murder." He stared at the boat that awaited them. "But why? Why kill Ruby?" Nik hesitated. "I'm not absolutely sure, but I think that it has to do with a diary that I just read. You know that package that has been under the shelf at Ruby's since we got back from Europe? Something got spilled on it, and the address was ruined. Ruby said that I could open it to see if I could figure out who to give it to." "And?" "And I really need to talk with Luke." "Why Luke?" "I need someone I can trust." Lucky paused. "Why not Stefan?" Their eyes met, and for a moment, both were quiet. "I'm not gonna like this, am I?" Lucky finally answered. "Are Mom and Lulu in trouble?" "Probably not on both accounts-at least, I don't think so, but we really need to talk with Luke about what's in this diary." The shot came out of nowhere, and Nik went down, pulling Lucky down with him. "Stay down." "I'm down, already!" "Shhhhh." "Shhing." "You okay?" "Fine, if you'd get off of me." Nik rolled off. "Somebody is shooting at us." "I noticed. You okay?" "More or less. I think so, anyway." "You think so?" From the shadows, a voice called, "Throw me the book, kid, and you can walk away." "Up yours!" Lucky yelled back. Another silenced shot hit the dirt near Lucky. "Nik, why'd ya have to go and bring this guy here? Man, I was just getting used to being bored in Port Charles again." "Throw out the book, kid!" Nik pulled a book from his bookbag. Turning to Lucky, he whispered, "When I throw this..." "We haul a$$?" "Right. Not towards the dock, though. That way." He pointed towards the alley to the left. "Let's go for it." "Here's the book," Nik yelled, and then tossed it several feet from the voice. Then, he and Lucky took off at a dead run. A few seconds passed, then the bullets started in earnest. "In here," Lucky yelled, and Nik dove after him. He followed blindly, noticing the damp, dank smell and the feel of soft soil beneath his feet. "Where are we?" "We're in the catacombs," Lucky answered. "He'll never find us in here. I know this place like-like you know the secret passages at Wyndemere." "Good. We, however, keep flashlights at the entries of said passages." "Yeah? We keep lighters in our pockets." He flicked the lighter. "See? Now, while I enjoy a bit of adventure as well as the next guy, probably more, Nik, I'd really like to know why I'm being shot at." "Okay, I'll fill you in. Did you know Julia Barrett?" "I've heard of her. I know Brenda, that is, knew Brenda Barrett, her sister." "This diary was apparently written by Julia's mother-a lady known as Kristin Cummings-a name that I knew-from eavesdropping on Stefan. Kristin was Mikkos' mistress. She had a daughter by him-named Natasha. She had three daughters-one named Laura, one named Natasha, and one named Julia. She doesn't say what happened to Laura, but the diary implied that she'd lost track of her somehow." "Sort of sounds like our mom," Lucky mused. "Go on." "Apparently, Kristin sent Natasha away to her maternal grandmother-a woman last name of Cummings-a woman who was formerly a British agent. Someone called The Sixth Rose." "That's weird. And this is why we're being shot at?" "There's more." "This is what I'm not going to like." "According to this book, Kristin maintained that Mikkos wasn't the father of Stavros, or Stefan, that Helena had been unable to conceive by him, so she..." "Got stud service?" "Crudely put, but essentially correct." "Which means that she can prove that Stefan-that neither of us is "The Cassadine" if Stefan isn't Mikkos' son." Lucky nodded as he continued. "I can see where that might pi** him off if he knew. Think he does?" "I'd guess he does, but if he doesn't, I definitely don't want to be the one to break it to him." "Any idea who his father is?" "No-Kristin only used initials in the diary. SH, whoever that is, fathered Stefan." Lucky pulled the medallion that Stefan had given him out of his shirt, and looked at it in the light of the lighter. "Oh, well, easy come, easy go. So, who do you think wants the diary?" "I don't know. If they have any idea what's in it, we could have someone wanting to suppress the information-or someone who wants to reveal it-which means that it might be a Cassadine with something to hide-like Stefan, or one who wants to take everything from him, like-well, there is an uncle that I've only met-someone named Victor Cassadine. He was Mikkos' brother-last I heard, he was in prison somewhere in South America. Stefan didn't talk about him very much. But, if it could be shown that Stefan wasn't Mikkos' son, then Victor might well believe that he was The Cassadine." "Which position the Cassadines are forever fighting over." "Exactly. So, whichever way this thing goes, there's a lot to be won or lost." "And you think that we're being chased by some Cassadine hitman? Damn, Nik-we're, well, we're sort of Cassadines." "Sort of isn't enough by Cassadine standards. Even Helena could be after us-she stands to lose all her power if this is true and is revealed." "Damn! Okay, you're right. We need someone we can trust." "Which is why I was looking for Luke. He has connections and we can trust him. And, he isn't afraid of going head on with them." "Okay, I'm with you. But, one thing, Nik." "What's that?" "What if it isn't a Cassadine plot? There were two other daughters-Julia and Laura. And, this woman was an agent-what if this is some revenge thing?" Nikolas eyed his brother and shrugged. "Lucky, the only thing I can do at this point is see that this diary gets into safe hands before the wrong people get it. If it's important enough to kill for....." "Which it is," came a voice from the darkness. "So prepare to die."