Victoria angrily clicked off her cellular phone. Messy!! How could that arrogant little twit do such a thing?? Damn her, anyway!! What was it that Stuart saw in her?? He didn't usually rob the cradle, but using Angela was well beyond foolish. It was dangerous. Shooting Thomas in his own apartment was not just dumb, it was borderline insane. Fortunately, a cleanup crew had been available but this had to end before Angie completely compromised the whole operation. Besides, it wasn't like she was essential to the project.

Victoria glanced at her watch, then at the laptop computer that lay open. Quickly, she sat down, and typed in her opinions, encoded them, and then e-mailed them. Her irritation with Angie's lack of professionalism still bothering her, she freshened her makeup and then put the computer away. She looked at the delicate floral stationary that lay on the writing desk. Impatiently, she scrawled a quick note, jammed it into an envelope, and addressed it. A stamp made it ready for snail-mail.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Pasting a smile on her face, Victoria opened the door. "Gilbert!" she greeted, all gracious hostess and welcoming woman. "You're just in time to walk me to the post office."

"Victoria," Gilbert Andrews chided. "You really need to get a computer and onto the net. E-mail is so much more efficient."

"Gil," she laughed, "I'm just plain old intimidated by all that."

"You know that I'd love to show you how."

"I'll think about it."

Out in Andrews Vineyard, Jared's mind was definitely not on grapes or wine making. He sighed deeply. Sooner or later, he was going to have to talk with Jack. Why was it, he wondered, that when you already had problems, that more came to visit? Was there some kind of a misery loves company thing that applied to problems? What was it? Have one, get one free? Did they multiply geometrically? He'd done just fine for years-working and doing a damned fine job. Then, something had gone wrong and everything had crumbled. His well constructed, well appointed world had come crashing down.

"I don't deserve this," Jared decided suddenly. "All my life I've done what was right, and if I erred, I made things right as soon as possible. If possible." Marty had not told him about their child for years, nor had Suzi. They had simply dealt with their situations and left him to his own devices. They were both strong, capable women, who wished him well but had refused to let him shoulder his share of the responsibility.

Now, it was time to deal with Jack. Chrissie-he smiled as he thought of the lovely young blond and how she'd turned out. Then, there was Jack. Dark-haired, quick-witted and with a mind capable of ferreting out the most obscure information and analyzing it with surprising ease. For years, he and Jack had maintained a professional relationship, Jared, proud of him, yet unwilling to shatter the young man's world. Jared had always figured that Jack's innate curiosity would lead him to Jared at some point. Jack had taken apart clocks, dug into anything he could find, figured out how things worked-he was a problem solver. Jared had always expected that someday Jack would express some interest in his natural parents, and, with his usual efficiency would......Wait a minute!! Jared stopped dead in his tracks, suddenly angry with himself. Was he dumb, or what?? Then, it started coming together, crystallizing with stunning speed. Jack knew and he'd known for years. Marty knew that Jack knew, and he knew that she knew. "And now I know that they know, but they don't know I know. Which means that this is a set-up and that Jack is going undercover which means that this is dangerous and I'm being kept out of the loop."

Sheepishly, he had to admit that he'd have kept himself out of the loop, too, what with the way he'd been acting. But, no more. It was time to pull himself together and get back to work. First, however, he had to find out what was going on and why he'd been an unwitting actor in a drama that had taken place in what should have been secure territory. Why the sudden revelation? What the hell was going on? He shook his head and wondered what he'd say when next he saw Marty.

"This is quite a place," Lucy commented as she and Kevin smiled at the elderly British woman who was scurrying around their new room in the luxurious mansion somewhere north of San Francisco. "You said that WEB owns this place?"

"That's what Marty said," Kevin nodded. "We won't have to worry about bugs or anything like that. Apparently, all the personnel here are retired WEB people."

"How old is WEB?" Lucy asked, as she watched the elderly British woman who hobbled out of the room. "She looks old enough to be my grandmother."

"At least she's not working against us," Kevin told them. "Anyhow, this should be a good place for us to stay-I can work with Tom while you go shopping, or whatever."

"Whatever," Lucy shrugged. "I may just decide to go back to Port Charles."

"Please stay," Kevin said. "Just a few more days. I think we're about to make a break-through, and this could be important, not just to the people here, but to our friends at home."

With a sigh of resignation, Lucy nodded. "You're right. I just hate it that I can't warn Luke or Felicia about the impostor."

"Give me a few more days," Kevin told her. "If we don't get the right information, then we may do more harm than good. Besides, a few days of nothing but shopping and sightseeing can't be all bad."

"By myself?"

"You have a chauffeur, Lucy. Make him go with you. Marty said that he'd act as a bodyguard if the need arose."

"Kevin, the man is older than dirt!"

"Lucy..."

"Okay, okay, I'll be patient a little longer."

Reluctantly, Lucy kicked off her shoes, then wandered over to the window where she looked out, seeing the elderly chauffeur and the little old maid stealing a kiss. She smiled, wondering if she and Kevin would still be like that years from now.

"Lucky, you're staying with Ruby," Luke told his son who was nodding in agreement. "She's not happy with us right now, but she won't take it out on you. It's too dangerous to stay with Sonny just now. There's something going down, but he doesn't know what it is."

"It's okay, Dad," Lucky said. "Just do whatever it takes to find Mom and Lulu."

"I will. I'm going for help."

"Where are you going? Who are you asking?"

"This is a need-to-know situation, Cowboy, and the less you know, the less you can tell, if you get in a tight spot."

"I wouldn't rat on you, Dad," Lucky objected. "You know that."

"I know that, Lucky. But I don't want you to have to lie to anybody here. Port Chuckles is not quite as understanding as it used to be about the occasional fib. Just tell anybody that asks that you don't have the first idea where I've gone. I'll be in touch. Now, can I depend on you to hold down that line?"

"No problem Dad. Just find Mom and Lulu."

"I'll do it. Now, you just stay clear of the Cassadines."

"Like I'd want to see them?" Lucky laughed, bitterly. "Ever since they came around, our life has been in the toilet."

"Yeah, well I'm about to do some serious plumbing," Luke promised him. "And we won't be in deep **** after that."

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