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Jason knelt over Lucky's still form,
feeling only a faint pulse. "He's lost a lot of blood," he said to Carly.
"He needs a hospital."
"So do you," Carly
said. "I hit you pretty hard."
"That was you?" Jason
asked, glancing up at her. "What did you hit me with, anyway. My head is
killing me."
Carly shrugged. "A
gun."
"A gun?!" Jason exclaimed.
"You could have killed me!"
"Well, I didn't!"
Carly snapped. "Stop worrying about it. What are we going to do about Harper?"
"I don't know," Jason
responded, covering Lucky with his jacket. "You're the one who got us into
this in the first place." He looked around the room and shook his head.
"Where are we anyway? I know this is Luke's house."
Carly nodded. "We're
in Lucky's room," she said.
"Can we be expecting
Luke or Laura soon?" Jason asked hopefully.
Carly only laughed.
"Yeah, Jason. We went to all this trouble to kidnap you just to bring you
to a house and get caught by Luke Spencer." She waited for a response from
Jason, but got none. "They went to North Carolina," she said finally. "After
getting a message about Leslie."
"Sent by you?"
"You got it, bud,"
Carly said and knelt beside him. "Is he going to be okay?" she asked, touching
Lucky's chest gently.
"Not if we don't get
him to a hospital," Jason replied. "And soon. He's already lost too much
blood."
"So what can we do
for him?"
"YOU can get out of
my way so I can cut open his shirt." Jason reached into his back pocket
and was relieved to find his knife was still there. He tore a small slit
in Lucky's shirt, then ripped it the rest of the way open. "So how did
you get involved in this?" Jason asked without looking up.
"Harper put a gun
to my head and threatened to blow my brains away," Carly answered, moving
to sit with her back against the bed. "I didn't have much choice but to
do what he said."
"You coul've run,"
Jason said.
"I was in a hospital
room, Jason," Carly explained.
"Oh." He looked up
from Lucky and locked eyes with her. "How did you get out of the hospital?"
he asked.
"You're just full
of questions, aren't you? To tell you the truth, I don't know. I'd say
it was Harper, but I really don't think it was." Jason looked to her for
an explanation. "He came in with the gun and everything, and I think he
was going to break me out. Then a doctor came in and said that there was
someone was there to pick me up, and that I was free to go. I thought it
would be you."
"But it wasn't," Jason
said.
"No," Carly agreed.
"It wasn't. Harper put the gun in his pocket, and 'helped' me out. Another
man met us outside, but Harper didn't seem to recognize him. He took him
aside and they argued over something, then Harper hit the guy and came
to get me and took me to a car." She shook her head slowly. "I don't know
who it was that came, Jason, but I have a feeling if they hadn't I'd still
be in that prison."
"You don't think Harper
could've gotten you out?"
"No," Carly scoffed.
"That man couldn't find his way out of a paper bag."
Jason laughed and
stood up. "I don't think there's anything else we can do for him," he said.
"We'd better hope Harper gets what he wants soon, or Lucky's not going
to make it."
Carly looked at her
cousin sadly, then turned again to Jason. "I guess you heard about your
sister."
Emily laughed as she
and Greg left the movie theater. "That was hilarious," she said, and threw
her empty candy box in the trash.
"Yeah," Greg agreed.
"It was a real knock out."
Emily raised her eyebrows
and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Greg asked her innocently.
"Oh nothing," she
responded, still smiling.
They crossed the street
to the parking garage and took the elevator up to the third level. "Parking's
a bitch," Greg said, and Emily couldn't help but laugh again. The day was
so perfect; everything suddenly seemed bright, and absolutely hilarious,
to her.
"I think you've had
too much coffee," Greg said, bringing more laughter from Emily.
"Stop it, Greg," Emily
said and forced herself to stop laughing. She knew she sounded like a girl
when she laughed. "I'm sorry," she said after she had composed herself.
"For what?" Greg questioned.
"For lying about my
age," Emily responded.
"You didn't lie. I
thought you were older, there's no harm in that."
"I still shoul've
told you the truth," she insisted.
"It's alright," Greg
said. "I'm only twenty-two. I know that sounds ancient to you, but it's
really not. I can still let loose and have fun every once in a while."
Emily smiled, then
followed him as he headed toward his car. "This place is deserted," she
noted, then felt a hand close over her mouth.
"Shh," Greg said as
she started to squeal. "Just be quiet and get in the car."
He shoved her inside,
then climbed in the seat beside her. He slammed the door behind him and
Emily heard the doors lock. She screamed. "Shut up!" Greg yelled and back-handed
her across the face. Emily's hand flew up to touch her face where he had
hit her, and she watched with wide eyes as a window slid down and a man
turned to face them.
"Ready to go?" the
dark-clad man asked.
Greg nodded. "You
know where to go," he said. The driver nodded and the window slid shut
again. He stroked Emily's reddened cheek and spoke to her in a low, soothing
tone. "You're mine now, angel," he said and the car sped away.
Jason smiled as Carly sat
once again on the bed. "Are Luke and Laura EVER going to come home?" she
asked impatiently.
"I'm sure Harper arranged
for them to be gone for a while, Carly," Jason said, shifting positions
on the floor. "Remind me to tell Luke he has a very uncomfortable
floor when I see him again," he said, grimacing.
Carly laughed harshly.
"Oh, yeah, sure, if we live long enough TO see him again." She stared down
at her cousin in concern. "He's awfully quiet," she said, unable to mask
her worry.
Jason leaned forward
and brushed a sweaty strand of hair from his eyes. "He's burning up," he
said. "An infection must be setting in."
Carly only sighed
and laid down on the bed, brushing away tears. "What have I done?" she
asked.
Emily slowly woke,
and realized she was in the back seat of a car. Her head was pounding.
She struggled to sit up, but felt a strong hand on her chest. She looked
to find the arm and body that went with the hand, but saw only the pitch
black darkness. She raised her hands feebly to her face in near-panic.
"It's alright, love,"
the man said, and Emily instantly recognized Greg's voice. She felt his
fingers brush her forehead and felt the panic rising in her again. "I don't
think these will be necessary anymore," he said, removing the blindfold
from her eyes, then started to work on the rest of the restraints. "You're
quite a fiersome one," he said with a tight smile.
"Where are you taking
me?" Emily asked, her voice rising in terror.
"Somewhere special,"
Greg replied, and opened the door of the car. Emily noticed for the first
time that they were not in motion. Greg gently helped her out of the car,
allowing her to lean against him when she swayed. "Come on," he said. "It
isn't far." Emily stumbled after him, struggling to keep up.
Suddenly Greg stopped
in front of another car in the driveway and inhaled sharply. "Wait. This
isn't supposed to be here." He ran the rest of the distance to the house,
pulling Emily after him. They hurried into the house and were greeted by
Lucy Coe, in all her glory, stretched across the couch.
Lucy squeeled, covering
herself with a blanket from the floor. Kevin appeared in the doorway across
the room, as bare as Lucy. He looked from Lucy to Greg and Emily and back
again with wide eyes. "Cooper?" he asked in wonder.