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Luke lay in the bed
he shared with Laura, but he was nowhere near
sleep. He rolled out of bed and
started to pull clothes on. Laura blinked
several times, then also sat up,
rubbing here eyes. "Where are you
going?" she asked.
"Out," Luke responded,
not really meaning to sound rude.
"At this hour?" Laura
asked, shocked. "Luke, it's after midnight."
"I know Laura. I just
got a bad feeling, that's all. I want to check
on the club real quick, then I'll
be right home." Laura just closed her
eyes and laid back on the bed.
The she nodded, and muttered something
that Luke didn't catch. He hurried
down the stairs and out to his car,
the feeling in his gut growing
as each second passed. He made to the
club in record time, then ran to
the front entrance.
He turned the handle
on the door, and was surprised to find the door
unlocked. He pulled the door open
and was greeted by blood. It was
splashed on the wall beside him,
smeared on the door he had just opened,
and puddled on the floor beneath
his feet. He looked up, surprised, the
argument with Lucky earlier that
night suddenly flashing in his mind.
He saw Mac, Taggert, and Garcia
leaning against the bar.
They looked back at
him without much interest. Mac walked toward him
and guided him around the rest
of the blood. "Wh-what happened?" he
asked, stone sober now. He looked
back at the door, his eyes haunted.
"Mike found him,"
Mac said. "He called me to let me know, since he
figured the station would be deserted-"
"Wait a minute," Luke
said, snapping back into reality. "Mike found
who? What happened here?"
"Jason Morgan," Mac
said, as if Luke should somehow know. "He was
murdered tonight. Shot three timed
in the chest. From the looks of it,
at pretty close range, but the
wounds couldn't have been self-inflicted-"
Luke shook his head,
no longer listening. He couldn't get over the
shock of hearing about Jason. He
looked up again and saw Mike enter from
upstairs. "Why don't you stay here
tonight, Luke?" he asked. "Your wife
doesn't need to hear about this
right now."
"No," Luke agreed.
"That's the last thing she needs." He walked past
Mac and the detectives without
another word and followed Mike up to his
room.
"Well," Mac said after
they'd left. "We'd better clean this place up."
Audrey lent Lucky a
hand and he scrambled through the window. Once
inside, Audrey shut the window
and turned to him, anger showing clearly
in her face. "It's awfully late-"
she started, but suddenly cut off.
"Where's Elizabeth?"
"What are you talking
about?" Lucky asked, sitting on Liz's bed.
"She's here."
"No," Audrey said,
starting to sound panicked. "She was with you,"
she said accusingly. "At
least I thought she was. That's why I wasn't
surprised when she didn't come
home--"
"She didn't come home?!"
Lucky asked, alarmed. "She left hours ago."
"Left where?"
"Kelly's We--had an
argument."
"An argument?" Audrey
asked, her anger increasing. "What kind of an
argument? What did you say to her?!"
"Nothing!" Lucky snapped.
He felt so scared all of sudden, and angrier
at Liz, for making him worry even
more about her. "It was just an
argument! She left, and I thought
she was going home-" His voice trailed
off and he stared at Audrey blankly.
"I'm calling the police,"
Audrey said shortly, picking up the phone.
"Wait!" Lucky shouted,
grabbing her hand before she could dial.
"What, Lucky? I have
to call the police, she could be anywhere-"
"She's in the kitchen,"
Lucky said, setting down the phone. "She got
hungry since she didn't have anything
to eat at Kelly's, and she just
went downstairs to fix herself
a snack. She'll be up any minute."
Audrey assessed Lucky,
then guided him gently back to the bed. "I'm
going to call the police," she
said, careful to keep the harshness from
entering her voice. "Just sit here
and wait, and then we'll go down to
the police station together." She
dialed the police and told them the
situation. She sighed in relief
and thanked the officer when they told
her they would start a search immediately.
She hung up the phone and sat
beside Lucky. "I know you're worried
about her," she said quietly, but
there was little sympathy on her
voice. "Come on, let's go," she said and
left the room.
Lucky was left alone
in Liz's dark room. He sat on her bed, staring
with unseeing eyes at the carpet
beneath his feet. He sat there for
several minutes until Audrey's
voice floated up from downstairs, begging
him to hurry. He slowly stood and
walked out the door and down the hall
to the stairs. He followed Audrey
out the front door and made it to her
car before he finally broke down
and cried.
Luke walked in the house and saw
his wife and daughter on the floor
in front of the couch. ''Hey,''
he called, stepping further into the room.
Laura
looked up at him, her expression blank. ''I thought you were
coming home last night,'' she said
sullenly.
Luke looked
to Lulu, who was coloring happily. ''Something
happened,'' he said quietly.
''What?
Or are you going to lie to me about that too?''
Luke sighed.
''Laura, I told you we'd talk about it in the
morning.''
''It's
morning now.''
''Not
in front of Lu, okay?'' Luke watched his daughter fearfully.
He was afraid of the effects of
her parents' fighting on her.
Laura
studied Luke's face for a moment, then nodded and picked her
daughter up. ''Come on Lulu, time
for a nap.'' Lulu looked up and smiled,
then yawned. ''No one got much
sleep last night,'' Laura commented.
''No,''
Luke agreed. ''I don't think anybody did.''
He stood
silently at the bottom of the stairs while Laura tucked
Lulu in. When she came downstairs
he was still standing, staring at his
feet. ''Jason Morgan was murdered,''
he said.
''What?''
Laura asked, startled.
''Jason
was murdered last night, at the club. That's why I didn't
come home.'' Laura stared at him,
her mouth open. ''Mike found him. I
stayed the rest of the night upstairs
with him. He really started to latch
on to that kid, you know?''
Laura
nodded. ''After Sonny left-''
Luke sighed
again. He didn't really want to get into this with his
wife now, but the look on her face
last night was enough to convince him
that he had to. ''About Lucky-''
Laura
closed her eyes. ''Start from the beginning, Luke. I want to
know everything.''
Luke felt
the tears well in his eyes. ''I had too much to drink. I
knew it then, and I REALLY know
it now.'' He paused, inhaling deeply. ''I
saw him behind the bar and I thought--I
thought he was robbing me. I think
he did, actually.'' Laura said
nothing, but sat on the couch, waiting
for him to continue. ''We started
arguing, of course, and he tried to
leave, so I pulled a gun on him.''
Laura looked up, her expression
shocked. Luke continued before
she could say anything. ''There were
no bullets in it, Laura.
I know because I emptied it in the car on the
way over. I didn't trust myself
with a loaded weapon at that very
moment.''
Laura
wrung her hands. ''What happened then?'' she asked miserably.
''I shot
at him and he realized the gun wasn't loaded. He was mad,
but I think he was a little scared
of me too. Then he left.''
''What?''
Laura exclaimed. ''Just like that? He just walked out?
Without saying anything else?''
''Well,
not exactly.'' Luke stared down at his feet. ''I told him if
he walked out I wouldn't let him
back in.''
''What
do you-''
''I forbid
him to see his sister again, babe.''
The color
drained from Laura's face. She stared into her husband's
face, confusion, sympathy, and
anger washing over her in turns. ''You
WHAT?''
Luke shook
his head and spoke morbidly. ''He's given up his rights
to the Spencers, babe. He doesn't
want to be a part of the family anymore,
so I just gave him what he wanted.
You should all be relieved.''
''Relieved?
Relieved, Luke? You just threw away any chance we had of
reconciling with our son, and you
want me to be RELIEVED?'' Laura stared
at Luke, the anger finally taking
hold of her. Luke stared back silently,
beyond caring now.
They both
started when the phone rang. Laura looked at Luke for a
moment longer, then reached to
answer the phone. ''Hello?'' she said as
pleasantly as she could manage.
Luke watched his wife's expression turn
from anger to surprise. ''What
happened?'' she asked nervously. ''Oh,
thank god, I thought maybe he did
something-''
She paused,
listening for a moment. ''Of course, we'll be right
over.'' She hung up the phone and
looked at Luke pointedly. ''Lucky's at
the police station,'' she said
briskly, heading toward the stairs. ''He
wasn't arrested or anything,''
she added, noticing Luke's expression.
''Elizabeth Webber disappeared
last night. He and Audrey have been at the
station for hours. Mac called to
ask us to come pick him up.''
Luke laughed
bitterly. ''And you think he's going to come home with
us?''
Laura
exhaled angrily. ''The least we can do is be there for him,
Luke. He's probably going
nuts with worry.''
Luke shook
his head. ''The last people he wants to see now is us,
Laura. If anything, we'll make
him feel worse. Let him work this out on
his own.''
Laura
slung her purse over her shoulder and shot an angry glare at
her husband. ''My baby's friend,
BEST friend, is missing and you expect to
sit back and let him work thing
but for himself? I'm sorry, Luke. I don't
operate the way you do.'' She turned
away from him, then looked back
again. ''I'm going to get Lulu.
Could you start the car?'' Luke nodded
silently, and left the house without
another word. Laura watched him leave
then turned and headed up the stairs.
Lucky dozed
in a chair at the police station, his head resting
against the chair back. He hoped
that people thought he was sleeping more
heavily than he was. He didn't
think he could handle a conversation with
anyone at that moment. He opened
his eyes halfway and saw Detective
Garcia enter the room with Detective
Taggert.
Neither
looked very happy.
''Making
any headway?'' Mac asked as they sat down.
Taggert
shook his head. ''We don't think it was a mob job. Too
sloppy.''
Mac nodded.
''That's what I was thinking.''
Lucky
just stared at them, only slightly curious about what they
were talking about. He sat up quickly
as he noticed his parents walk in.
''Well, there he is,'' Luke said
loudly when he noticed Lucky.
All eyes
shifted to Lucky. Garcia looked surprised, and Taggert
scowled. ''What'd you do this time?''
he asked.
Lucky said
nothing. He had a sinking feeling in his gut that he
would leave. For the first time
in his life, he actually wanted to be at
the police station. He looked angrily
at his parents. ''Elizabeth is
missing. I'm not leaving until
they find her.''
Laura
nodded, her strength to argue suddenly gone. ''Where's
Audrey?'' she asked, sitting beside
her son.
''She
left half an hour ago. She's not that interested in Elizabeth
anyway. She's just waiting for
Sarah to come back.''
Laura's
jaw dropped. ''Lucky!'' she gasped.
Lucky
smiled tightly. ''At least she has an excuse to keep me away
from Liz now,'' he said bitterly.
''Besides the fact that my father is a
rapist.''
The room
fell silent. Now everybody was staring at Lucky. ''Lucky!''
Laura exclaimed again, looking
around the room and shaking her head. ''You
could show your father a little
more respect; after everything he's done
for you-''
''RESPECT?!''
Lucky shouted in a mixture of pain and rage. ''How can
you expect me to respect that--EXCUSE
for a man?'' Lucky stood, his
body shaking with his rage. ''Did
you respect him, Mom? After
you started dancing, and things
heated up, and you told him to stop,
but he DIDN'T stop, and he threw
you to the ground! And then when he
forced himself on you, and then
MADE YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU LOVED
HIM! Did you RESPECT him then,
Mom?!''
Laura
stared at Lucky in shocked silence. He stared back at her,
still trembling. ''Lucky-''
''No!
I won't! I won't do that! I can't live a lie, Mom! Maybe you
can, but I CAN'T!''
Luke watched
the exchange between his wife and son wordlessly.
''Lucky, stop,'' he said quietly
to his enraged son.
''STOP?!
I'll stop!'' Lucky shouted. ''Why don't I stop living at
all? At least then I wouldn't have
to WATCH you two-'' He turned his
attention to his mother again.
''I wouldn't have to watch YOU bow and
scrape to your RAPIST!'' He paused,
wiping away tears he hadn't noticed
running down his cheeks. ''You've
always been my idol, Dad. Maybe I'll
grow up to be just like you. Hey,
maybe I'll go out tonight and rape
Elizabeth. Then I can be ensured
a long HAPPY marriage!''
''No!''
Elizabeth exclaimed from the doorway.