Yuri
glanced round at the bustling crowd, going about their daily toil
on the New York streets as usual, oblivious to anyone outside themselves.
His mouth twisted. No one would imagine or care about the fear that
was paralyzing him right now. He was about to abort the plan that
Helena had assigned to him…and if things did not go well, his
life would be taken instantly.
At this moment, he was supposed to be traveling to a meeting with
Helena’s courier, Johan, to hand over the child. Then Yuri
was supposed to have returned to the Cassadine estate to work the
rest of the day at the stables as usual.
But instead here he was outside an online café on an obscure
Manhattan side street, checking to see if he’d been followed.
Confident that he hadn’t, he slipped inside it now and found
the same terminal he’d used when he’d sent Helena’s
email. Hastily, he checked his watch. It had gone past twelve. Nadia
would be feeding the child her lunch at the cottage if all was well.
He had twenty minutes to get this message out, and another thirty
to make it to the meeting place before Johan arrived.
A fist of ice formed in Yuri’s belly as he mentally reviewed
his own plan. There was no other option: he would kill Johan and
hide his body in the woods by the cottage. Then he would tell Helena
that he had delivered the child as promised and had no idea what
had happened after Johan had picked her up.
Once the child was safely back at home, Helena would likely conclude
that Johan had double-crossed her, made a secret deal with Corinthos
or the Prince. It was farfetched, Yuri knew, but it had been the
only way out that he could fathom.
Unknown to him, a few tables away, an older man sat with his head
bent towards his son’s. Luke Spencer was casting surreptitious
glances between the computer screen and the thin faced stable master
sitting across the room. “This dude’s shaky, Lucky. Get
the email and then let’s head out so we can be ready if he
runs.”
Lucky nodded and then patched into Alexis’ email account once
more. An incoming message was announced audibly. A transmission
from Anubis.
Lucky opened it and read: “Ms. Davis, I have the package you
seek. It has not been delivered to the intended receiver. I require
your assistance to help me to secure its safe return to you. Further
directions will be sent as soon as possible.”
Luke grinned wide and said only one word, “Bingo.”
Sonny sat impatiently at a corner table in the Port Charles Grille.
Carly had been due here to meet him a half hour ago. He had broken
his cell phone and had no patience for walking into the foyer to
use a public phone. He felt so out of place here right now. Like
he should be somewhere else. But there was just nowhere else to
be.
Alexis had shut him out earlier, preferring to be imprisoned in
her own morbid thoughts. He had understood, but it still hurt like
hell. Then there was Luke who was out checking on leads and wasn’t
responding to Johnny’s calls to his cell phone. So Sonny could
only wait and wonder what the devil he was up to. At this moment,
Sonny felt helpless and he hated that.
When he’d realized that one more second spent sitting in silence
at Wyndemere would make him lose it, he’d told Johnny he was
going to the mainland to meet with his wife. It made sense to do
that now. Left unchecked and uninformed, Carly could do irreparable
damage. She could make things worse for Kristina…though how
they could be worse he was at a loss to imagine.
Carly deserved to know the truth. He just hoped and prayed she would
do as he asked and stay out of it.
The next moment she swept in, her eyes flashing across the restaurant
as they met his, her mouth set in a contemptuous line. Sonny sighed.
She was furious, he knew, and as he stood up and watched her walk
to his table, a sense of dread hit his gut.
“Sonny,” she intoned, her voice seeming a little too calm
for the situation. It put him on guard.
“Hey,” he greeted, holding her chair until she sat down
then taking a seat across from her. “I know you must be wondering
what’s up.”
Her face twisted into a look so ugly and resentful he stopped speaking.
“Oh, now why would I be wondering?” she sneered. “Just
because my husband doesn’t take my calls on his cell phone…and
he spends the night away from home with absolutely no explanation…I
don’t understand, Sonny. Why would I be wondering about that?”
“Carly—”
“You’d think when a man leaves his wife he’d have
the decency to tell her first,” she snapped. “So she could
prepare the kids at least.”
Sonny closed his eyes briefly, feeling the same headache return
with a vengeance. “I haven’t left you, Carly.”
The instant he said it he wondered if that were true. Because for
weeks now—no, months--he had been creating distance between
him and his wife. Moreover, he’d felt her pulling away and
he hadn’t pursued. He had been too busy longing…aching…for
the connection he’d had with someone else. And since that chance
meeting at Kelly’s that had put Alexis back into his world,
he’d had no thoughts of Carly. So in every sense other than
a legal one, he had indeed left his wife. And he felt ashamed that
he couldn’t say it to her now.
“You haven’t left me, Sonny?” she hissed. “What
else would you call setting up house with that whore, Alexis?”
Any sympathy he’d felt for her instantly fled. “Watch
it,” Sonny growled. “There’s no need to insult her.”
“Oh no, of course not. Not the paragon of virtue!” Carly
said, her voice becoming shrill in the quiet dining area. “Never
mind the fact that she killed a man and let Jason and Brenda go
on trial for it. Alexis is still better than me, right?”
“Keep your voice down,” he demanded. “This isn’t
about that. I need to tell you--”
“That you’re having an affair with her? You know what,
I kinda figured that out when I watched Johnny take your suitcase
to Wyndemere last night.”
