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Elizabeth was working by herself in the kitchen at Kelly’s chopping vegetables for salads and preparing garnishes for the plates. She liked this work best because she could just be by herself, listen to music and get lost in her thoughts. She was working and singing along to the latest Paula Cole song on the radio. She was reflecting back on how wonderful the previous night had been. What would she ever do without Lucky? She only hoped that she did not push him away in her desire to catch her rapist.
Lucky had adamantly refused to go along with her plan to catch Mr. Murty, he said that he refused to use the most precious thing in the world as bait. Liz was extremely disappointed that he would not be helping her, but, at the same time, she thrilled at the fact that he had referred to her as the most precious thing. She would just have to do it without him. She knew would have to lose Jason’s guards for one evening to make the plan work. Lucky had already taught her several techniques so that was not the problem. The real problem was she would have to go against Lucky and be dishonest with him. She knew how important honesty was to Lucky since he found out about his dad, but Liz rationalized that she was doing this to ultimately save their relationship and when Lucky found out, he would realize that too.
Liz realized that she was out of cucumber for the salad. She knew that Ruby always kept extra supplies in the small refrigerator under the counter. She sighed as she had to remove her head phones to get to the refrigerator. She bent down and opened the door and then she saw it, a dead rose attached to a picture of her that had been taken outside the catacombs two mornings ago. There was also a note that read: “I AM ALWAYS WATCHING. WE’LL MEET AGAIN SOON.” Everything seemed to be spinning and Liz tried to get enough breath in her lungs to scream. On the third attempt she released a blood-curdling scream. Once the first was out she screamed again and again.
From outside, the man smiled in satisfaction when he knew his message had been received. Time to go play the good guy he thought as he entered Kelly’s.
Chapter 15
Lucky had spent the majority of his shift lost in thought. Elizabeth loved him too. He kept thinking back to last night and the kisses they shared. This was the best thing ever to happen to him, however it was being over shadowed by this plan of Liz’s to bait Mr. Murty. She told him that she planned to go through with it no matter what he thought. Lucky just could not help Liz put herself in danger. He could not stand by and watch her get hurt again and he hoped she would come to her senses before it was too late. Lucky made a silent vow to protect Elizabeth with his life if necessary.
When he heard the scream he dropped the bin filled with dirty dishes that he had been carrying. He ran into the back and found Liz in a shattered state. She was still screaming and her face had gone ghostly white. Lucky was immediately taken back to the night he had found her in the park. He crouched down, instinctively knowing that she was there too. Tentatively he reached out and gently touched her arm.
Liz felt as though she had left her body and was watching from above. She knew Lucky was there, but she could not focus on anything but the contents of the note. Even with the guards on them, he was able to get that close to her. She felt as though her whole world was collapsing around her.
“Elizabeth,” Lucky said gently trying to get through to her. She could not speak or look him in the eyes, she merely pointed to the open refrigerator. When Lucky saw what she saw he immediately slammed the refrigerator. Only to have it bounce back open. Lucky ignored it and concentrated on calming Liz down.
Ruby came rushing around the corner cordless phone in hand. “What the devil is going on? Is she hurt? Lucky had gotten Liz away from the refrigerator. Lucky looked up at her and she saw the fear in his eyes. Ruby saw the contents of the refrigerator and rushed to Lucky’s side. Elizabeth wasn’t screaming any more but she was chanting “He’s watching me” over and over.
Just then he entered the back. “Is everything alright here? I called 911 and the police and an ambulance are on the way.” He smiled warmly. “Here I brought this blanket in from my car, if she is in shock, she should be kept warm.” Lucky smiled gratefully, “Thanks, man” he said distractedly as he took the blanket and wrapped it around Liz.
The paramedics and Mac and his entourage all arrived at once causing massive chaos. Ruby was talking to Mac while the paramedics, led by Frank Scanlon examined Elizabeth. “She is in shock,” Frank said “we will have to transport her to GH for observation.” Lucky promised Liz that he wouldn’t leave Liz’s side “I want to go with her,” he told Frank. Frank took one look at Lucky and knew there would be no arguing with him, “we need to get her on the stretcher and the IV started first before we go” he said.
While the paramedics worked on Liz Lucky approached Mac. “When was the last time you were in this refrigerator?” Mac was asking Ruby as he approached. Ruby was about to respond when she saw Lucky. “They are going to take Liz to the hospital to treat her for shock” he said to Ruby and Mac. “I will be going with them, so if you need to question me find me there. Mac, this has to be the same guy that raped her. Check the whereabouts of one Kyle Murty in your investigation.” Before he could explain, Frank motioned to him that they were leaving. Lucky turned and left with his beloved.
The man had been watching events unfold. When the paramedics had taken Liz away he retrieved the blanket he had given Lucky. Now he had something that smelled like his angel. Everything was going according to plan. He gave his statement to Mac and left Kelly’s thinking how fortunate he was that Port Charles had such an incompetent police force.
Chapter 16
Lucky was sitting with Liz in her room at General Hospital. She was sleeping thanks to the sedative that Monica Quartermaine had given her. He was lost in thought when Ruby entered the room. “How is she,” Ruby asked as she approached Liz’s bed. “Poor girl, she has been through so much. When she gets out of here the two of you are moving into Kelly’s. The couple who were renting one of the rooms moved out ten days ago so it is all yours.” Lucky was about to argue with his aunt, but when he saw the determined look on her face he knew it would be futile. “Ok Rube, thanks,” he said quietly. Ruby gave him a quick hug and lightly touched Liz’s cheek before she left.
A short time after Ruby left Jason entered. Lucky had known he would come. He did not want to take a chance of disturbing Liz so he motioned for Jason to move outside. Once the door to Liz’s room was closed Jason spoke “Lucky, man I am so sorry this happened. The guards they didn’t see anything suspicious or unusual around Kelly’s. Is there anything I can do to help now?” Lucky was disappointed that Jason’s guards hadn’t seen anything. He had hoped that they would have seen someone arriving at or leaving Kelly’s who looked suspicious. “Just keep those guards on her. Don’t let them let her out of their sight, not even for a second. And can you check into the background of our English teacher, a Mr. Theodore Murty. For reasons I can’t divulge I have reason to suspect he is behind this.” Lucky said with more emotion than he had intended. Jason was sympathetic, he knew how he would feel if someone he loved was in Liz’s situation. “No problem man. I have your cell phone number and will contact you immediately with a report.” Jason knew he could not say anything more so he patted Lucky on the shoulder and left.
Just then Lucky saw a frantic Audrey and Sarah round the corner. “Lucky,” Audrey began obviously upset “what happened? How is Elizabeth?” Lucky didn’t quite know how to handle this situation, but opted for honesty. “Liz found a disturbing letter in the refrigerator at Kelly’s, it was accompanied by a dead rose and a photograph of her taken two days ago outside the place we are staying. When she saw it she started screaming and went into shock. I think it brought back memories of that night. She was doing so well, but this was a major set back.” Audrey sighed and thought that Liz would surely be willing to come home now. “When she is awake I want to talk to her about moving back home. Surely this would have made her come to her senses” she said. Lucky’s heart sank, he had to admit that he had thought the same thing and may have to face the very real possibility of Liz not being with him all the time anymore. Sarah was watching Lucky’s face throughout the conversation and could see how tormented he was. She smiled understandingly at him. She wanted to talk to him, but knew that Audrey would not welcome her siding with him so she remained silent.
“I want to see my granddaughter,” Audrey said. With that she entered Liz’s room followed closely by Sarah and Lucky. They were all surprised to find her sitting up in bed wide awake.
Chapter 17
“Hello, dear” Audrey said as she approached Liz. “How are you feeling?” Liz smiled weakly. “I feel much better.” She looked a Lucky, “I’m sorry I freaked out. I felt like I had no control over myself. I just shut down.” She hoped that he understood. Lucky was so relieved to see that she was alright he didn’t trust his voice. Finally he said “I am just glad you are alright. I was so worried about you.”
With that Audrey interrupted “Elizabeth, I think it is time for you to come home. You must realize that you are better off there. We can all work on putting this unpleasantness behind you.” Liz was so frustrated. Her grandmother still couldn’t see that that was not what she needed. What she needed to do was talk about it, and to find the person who was behind everything. “Gram,” Liz started hoping she could remain calm “I am not coming home. I can’t just ignore this. I am not like you and I can’t rest until I find this psycho.”
“But Elizabeth, you are not safe where you are now. How can you justify going back there when who ever did this was close enough to take a photo of you, not to mention the fact that he put it somewhere where he knew you would find it? The only logical thing is for you to come home.” Liz sighed and looked to Lucky for support. “Gram, I have not changed my mind. I am not coming home. If you force me, I will only leave again and again.” Lucky walked closer to Liz and held her hand in silent alliance.
Saddened Audrey said “It is your choice, but I have to say I think you are being unwise.” With that she left followed closely by Sarah who felt her grandmother would need someone’s shoulder to cry on.
Left alone Lucky sat on the edge of Liz’s bed and took her hand as tears of relief finally filled his eyes. “I was so worried about you. I am so sorry I let this happen.” Liz smiled reassuringly, “Lucky, this was not your fault. How could you have prevented it? If anything you have gone out of your way to protect me.”
Lucky sighed and kissed her cheek “How did I get so lucky? I love you so much Elizabeth Webber.” “I love you too, Lucky” Liz smiled into his eyes. Lucky sat on the edge of her bed and told her about Jason and how he was going to look into Mr. Murty’s past. He also told her about Ruby’s offer of the now vacant room above Kelly’s. He could not miss the relief in her voice as she said, “I think I would like to move there. I would feel safe with you anywhere, but I don’t think I would feel comfortable sleeping there again.” Lucky understood completely. “I will move our stuff tonight, you won’t ever have to go back there.
Just as he was finishing Mac Scorpio entered the room. He smiled apologetically, he hated interrupting loved ones in times like this. “I have to take your statements now. Are you ready to tell me what happened Miss Webber?”
Chapter 18
***I know Liz and Em aren’t friends on the show, but
they are friends in this story (I like Em and wanted to include her here.)
Also, thank you Deb for giving me the name of Liz’s bear (not to mention
the story of Trevor, the golden retriever who chewed his ear off!!!)
Three days later Liz was released from the hospital. She had been ready to leave immediately but Audrey had convinced Gail Baldwin and Monica to keep her a few extra days to make sure she was rested and safe. They were walking up the steps to their room “It feels so good to be out of there” Liz said as they reached the top. As promised Lucky had moved all of their stuff out of the catacombs and had set up the room nicely. He would let Liz have the bed and he would go back to sleeping on his mat on the floor. He had all of their clothes put away and her favorite teddy bear, Boris was propped on the bed next to a dozen red roses. He opened the door for Liz and let her enter first.
She saw the roses immediately. “Oh Lucky, you are so sweet, these are gorgeous!” she exclaimed. She turned to him and melted his heart with her smile. It was so good to see her happy he wished he could afford to give her flowers everyday. Everything is put away, I’m just going to run down and get a vase from Ruby, I’ll be right back.
Left alone Liz sat on her bed and began to contemplate her dilemma. She missed the last week of school and would have to take her finals over the summer. To top it off, she knew that she would have to postpone her plan to trap Mr. Murty. She would have to wait until school started in the fall. She thought about coming up with a creative way of crossing paths with him over the summer, but the only thing she knew about his routine was that he cut through the park while jogging. She didn’t know if she could stomach going to the park alone and she knew that Lucky would never support her plan now.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Lucky came in followed by Emily. “Em!” Liz exclaimed as she flung herself into her friend’s arms. “I’m so glad to see you.” Emily smiled. “I know, I am sorry I couldn’t come to see you in the hospital, mother and father thought it wouldn’t be safe to visit you in the hospital. I guess they figured the guy would show up right there and kill me or something” she finished sarcastically. Liz could only laugh, she wouldn’t want to have Emily’s family for anything. “I finally convinced Reginald to drive me over here without them knowing,” Emily said.
“Oh Em. I appreciate it so much, I have missed talking to you.” Liz knew if anyone could take her mind off her troubles for a while it would be Emily. Lucky excused himself and left the two girls to talk about whatever it was that girls talked about.
They had been talking for about an hour when Emily finally asked what had happened. Liz knew she could trust her friend, but she didn’t want Emily to see her differently just because of what had happened. Liz made her decision and carefully recounted the events of Valentine’s Night and then told Emily about how she felt like she was being watched that day at her Gram’s and ended with the story of the note. When she finished she had to wipe the tears away from her face. So did Emily. “Oh Liz, thank you for trusting me. I only wish that you had done so sooner, I would have been here for you.”
Liz smiled, glad that she had the help that she knew she needed. She loved Lucky and did not want to hurt him, but she also needed the support of her girlfriends. Men could be sympathetic and angry, but they would still never know what it felt like to be afraid like that. “Em, I never thought that we would be having this conversation, but I’m glad we did, thank you for listening and not judging me.” They talked about trivial things after that and finally Lucky came upstairs to rejoin them.
“Hey you two, what have you been talking about all this time?” Lucky had three sodas and three pieces of Ruby’s famous on a tray. “I thought you might want a break from all this girl talk.” He looked hopefully at Liz; he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her now that she was out of the hospital. Emily caught the look and cleared her throat “I think I should be getting back. Mom and Dad have probably called the police by now.” She was laughing as she gathered her stuff. “I will talk to you soon, Liz,” she gave her friend a quick hug and turned to leave.
The man watched Emily as she walked out the door of Kelly’s. He wished he knew what they talked about up there. He had spent the days that Liz had been hospitalized perfecting his plan and everything was falling into place perfectly. He smiled wickedly to himself.
Chapter 19
Alone Lucky and Liz sat on the bed in comfortable silence. A soft breeze was blowing through the open windows and music was playing softly. Ruby had given Lucky the night off so he could spend some time with Liz. Lucky was busy on his laptop while Liz was studying for the finals she would have to make up. She dreaded having the exams, but did not want to put the inevitable off too much longer. She contacted all of her teachers, including Mr. Murty, and was given permission to do take-home versions of the tests. She would pick them up next week and then would arrange due dates with each teacher. Thankfully, Lucky was going to go with her so she wouldn’t have to face Mr. Murty alone.
Liz sighed and shut her history book. She was staring at Lucky across the room, he looked so gorgeous, she never quite realized just how absorbing his eyes were, she could lose herself in them. As if by telepathy Lucky looked up from his computer and into Liz’s eyes. He smiled self-consciously and wondered how long she had been staring. “What?” he asked quietly.
“Nothing, I was just sitting over here thinking about how lucky I am to have you in my life” Liz said as she moved closer to him. “What are you working on?” Lucky made room for her so she could see the screen. “I just got this message from Jason, it seems that one of his informants checked into Mr. Murty’s past and found out the details of the domestic violence call made on Valentine’s night, 1997. It seems that he threatened to beat Elanore to a bloody pulp because she confronted him with the knowledge of his affair with a former student. Apparently Elanore had to be hospitalized for a broken a rib and a punctured lung. She did not press charges mainly because she was afraid of the publicity, but filed for divorce the morning she was released from the hospital.”
“No wonder she wouldn’t talk to me, she probably started a new life and doesn’t want to rehash it all.” Liz said. “What else does the report say?” She was hoping something else would come up. “Apparently Mr. Murty moved in with his girlfriend and they lived together for about 8 months , but then the relationship ended abruptly when she moved to Colorado to be with family.” Lucky finished. While Liz watched on he scrolled through the rest of the report seeing nothing unusual until he reached the bottom and read the brief note from Jason. He gasped.
“What is it?” Liz couldn’t help but be anxious. “One of Jason’s men saw Mr. Murty outside Kelly’s on the day you found the note.” Lucky immediately took out his cell phone and dialed Mac Scorpio’s number. “Mac, its Lucky. I am checking to see if there are any more developments. Uh-huh…Yeah I see…oh, you already know…oh, I see an anonymous tip…you are…ok, I’ll tell her. Thanks a lot Mac.” Lucky hung up the phone and grinned at Liz.
Mac’s men are questioning Mr. Murty right now. They don’t have enough to arrest him, but he is a suspect. He said not to repeat the information, he only told me because of my family’s history with his. He said not to get our hopes up, he was not going to be arrested yet.” Lucky finished and wrapped his arms around Liz. He pulled her off the bed and danced with her to the song coming from the radio. After a few moments, he pulled back slightly and kissed her deeply.
The man sitting on the bench under the open window was smiling uncontrollably behind his newspaper. The plan was going along well. The trail was leading right where he wanted it to. Very soon, he thought, Lucky Spencer would be dead and Theodore Murty would take the fall. That would leave the door open for him to be with his angel.
Chapter 20
Two weeks later Liz was sitting in Kelly’s. “I did it, I finished my Spanish final and two days early too!” Lucky smiled at her from across the room and Emily gave her a big congratulatory hug. The ringing of the phone prevented Liz from getting her hug from Lucky, but she knew that he would make up for it later. “Hello, Kelly’s” Liz answered.
The chimes on the door sounded and Lucky turned “Hi, Sarah. Long time, no see” Lucky said. He knew Sarah felt out of place around Liz, Emily and him, but he always did his best to make her feel welcome. “Hey, Lucky. How have you been? Have you been enjoying your summer?” Sarah knew that it sounded lame, but she never quite knew what to say to him. She wished she could be more at ease around Lucky, like Emily was, but she always felt as though she didn’t fit in.
“Its going fine, seems like it is going by too fast though.” Lucky smiled and tried to put Sarah at ease. “Why don’t you join us? Liz just finished her Spanish final and we were going to celebrate with ice cream shakes. I know Liz will want you to stay.” He looked to Emily for support, understanding Emily said “Yeah, come sit at the counter with me, Lucky can wait on us.” Lucky grinned at her and playfully rolled his eyes as the girls went to sit down.
Liz was just finishing her conversation when she turned around looking worried. “Liz what’s wrong? Who was that?” Sarah asked her sister in a concerned voice. Noticing her sister for the first time Liz said “Oh, hi Sarah. That was Mr. Williams, my History teacher. It seems he has to leave town on a family emergency and he will need my paper by Saturday instead of next Thursday. I explained to him that I had not finished yet and that Saturday was only two days away. He was very unsympathetic. I also told him that I had to take the SAT on Saturday and that there was no way I could turn the paper in by noon.” She paused and took a breath. “Mr. Williams said that someone else could turn the paper in for me if necessary.” She looked at Lucky “I know you do so much for me, but would you mind? I told Mr. Williams that you would meet him around 11:00 outside his the school.”
Lucky smiled “I really can’t, remember I promised Ruby that I would help her with the ice cream social she throws every summer for the kids. It will be in full swing at 11.” Liz’s frown deepened “Oh yeah, what am I going to do now, Mr. Williams was calling from Vermont and I don’t have a number to call him back at.”
Sarah had been listening and thought of this as her chance to finally help her sister, and fit in. “Lizzie, I don’t have any plans, I and I know Mr. Williams from when I got you assignments from him. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I dropped the assignment off instead.” Liz looked at her sister and sighed with relief. “Thanks so much, Sarah, could you come by here tomorrow night and pick it up? The three of us were planning on going to the movies and you could join us.”
Sarah was so excited that she was going to be included
as part of the group that she readily agreed. They made the arrangements
to meet the following evening. Liz excused herself then, the celebration
cut short by the need to complete her History final.
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