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When Cassadines Fall
Parental Units
Rita takes a deep breath. This could be bad, really bad. She might even end up grounded until she's out of high school. At this juncture, she's just giving thanks to not be Catholic. This confession was going to be tough enough. She looks at the tray in her hands. All her dad's favorites... french toast, crisp bacon, sliced fruit and a glass of juice. She didn't try to make coffee. She could do it at the restaurant but everything is pre-measured there and she always seemed to screw it up at home. "Knock, knock!" She calls out with fake cheer. She gives it a few seconds having spent enough time over at Carly and AJ's to know all about newleyweds. As soon as all the noise settles down within she opens the door with two fingers and brings her Dad and Cookie breakfast in bed. "Don't worry. I already cleaned up the kitchen." She reassures Cookie.
"Rita, it looks great." Cookie takes in the tray.
JD looks at the tray a little more suspiciously. "It's not my birthday. Report cards aren't due for another month yet."
"Can't I just want to do something special?"
"That's what I'm afraid of. What's up, pumpkin? Carly want you to go to a show out of town or something? You're buttering us up... why?"
Rita takes a seat at the base of their bed. She waits until they take a few bites of the breakfast. "Well I did want to invite someone for Thanksgiving dinner. Cookie knows him. He's the guy whose dad called here that one day. Ricky is all alone in town and if he isn't going home for the holiday I was wondering if it would be okay..."
Cookie looks over at JD; it's up to him. This is the first time JD's heard about this guy. "Do you know him from school? He's in your class?"
"No sir, the restaurant. His name is Ricky Robideau. And his Dad came to town from New Orleans when he was checking on Maddy Reynolds. Mr Robideau really liked the restaurant and recommended it to Ricky."
"And it was Mr Robideau that called here? How did he get the number?"
Rita winces. "Well he is like that. He can find out things. Here's the mess, Daddy. If I tell you the whole thing it could really screw up a case you might ended up working. You'd end up having to recuse yourself and you know how much you hate that." Rita gets an idea. "How about if I just tell Cookie the whole story?"
JD shakes his head. "Unuh. If it's got to do with my kid... I want to know about it. And I want to know now."
Rita winces. There went that idea. "Okay. You know Ricky too. I saw him come out of your chambers once. It was the last time we went to the movies."
"The young man who was watching court?" JD frowns. That guy had to be nineteen at least.
"Right. That was a lie. Well sort of a lie. He was actually there to see Dara Jenson, Maddy's aunt, but she was already in trouble so he stayed to watch Mr Ward. Ricky knows Mr Quartermaine, Mr Ward's grandfather. He didn't know you were my dad. At least that's what he said when he met me at school the next day."
"He went to your school?" Cookie frowns. "How did he know what school you go to? This kid has come into the restaurant twice, three times tops."
"I was wearing my school uniform when I went to pick up Dad." Rita explains. "This is going to be the part you don't like."
"I'm not liking it so far. What is he some kind of perv or something? Hanging out at the school?" Cookie demands.
"Oh no. Ricky is great." Rita says earnestly. "But I didn't think so at first when I saw him coming out of Dad's chambers. I knew he'd lied to Dad. So I chewed him out the next time I saw him. I figured maybe he was messing with Dad for his dad. You see, his dad is in the same business as Mr Corinthos only down in New Orleans." Rita winces as she says the last and starts twisting the comforter.
JD closes his eyes. "Rita Regina Porter, you aren't talking coffee."
"No sir. But it's okay-- this isn't about business, any kind of business. Mr Robideau loves Maddy like a daughter and he knows a bad man has followed her from New Orleans. So he sent Ricky here to keep an eye on things. He would have come himself but that would be bringing business to town and a lot of complications."
"Why doesn't Ms Jenson's niece just go to the police if she is being stalked?"
"Because the bad man is the police."
"Oh ****." Cookie mutters.
"Yeah," Rita agrees. "And since Maddy is in hiding basically, this guy is going after Ms Jenson to lure Maddy out. See thats the part I didn't want you to know."
"From the sounds of it you didn't want me to know any of this!" JD says in a firm grim tone. "This young man is Vicki's age or older; what is he doing hanging around with you?!"
"He thinks I'm a forty year old in a midget suit?" Rita sees her attempt at humor is falling flat but guesses the truth won't be any better. "His dad likes me. I remind him of Maddy. So I think his Dad told him to look out for me, like Johnny looks out for me. And the first Sunday Ricky was in town he saw me get into it with Vicki at the restaurant." Cookie winces she'd forgotten that one. "Daddy, it's not like he comes looking for me or anything cept that one time cause he wanted to explain about the story he told you. He likes the food at Porter's. And I think when he doesn't eat there, he eats at Kelly's. Cause I ran into him there yesterday. That's why I really think he should have Thanksgiving with us 'cause he's all alone."
"Yes, by all means. Invite him to Thanksgiving." It'll be a Thanksgiving the little punk would never forget.
"Thanks Daddy." Rita gives a sigh of relief as she gets up and gives her dad a kiss on the cheek. She makes her retreat but is stopped by the door by her father's voice.
"Rita?"
"Yes Daddy?"
"You're grounded. School, home and the restaurant only until Johnny finds someone to cover. No riding, no phone, no computer. You should have told me all this the night of the movies. You'll be on restriction for every day you failed to notify me."
Rita doesn't even look back as she scrunches up her face. Dang. She'd almost made it to the door. "Time off for good behavior?"
"All the general conditions of restriction." JD agrees. "Feel free to work on your appeal or character witness list." He sees Rita's nod as she leaves the room shutting the door quietly behind her. Slamming doors is an aggravating factor in restriction sentencing. JD turns to his wife. "Who are you calling?"
"Johnny. I want to know who this Robideau guy is. Damn hoodlums."
"What did you think of this kid, Margarita?"
"Right now I'm questioning my own judgment, JD. I liked him." Cookie says grimly. Johnny finally picks up the phone. "Johnny. What do you know about Robideau?" Cookie hangs up.
"Well that was fast." JD quips.
"He's on his way over."
Vicki stares at the money sitting on her dresser. She hadn't been able to sleep all night wondering what the hell was going on. Some guy who'd she met twice in one day. The first time he'd looked like joe working class and the next like he'd stepped off the cover of GQ or something. The first time he'd threatened her and the second time he'd kissed her. Last night when she'd gone back to the table the other girls, her sorority sisters, had razzed her wanting to know who the hunk was and she didn't have an answer. Then she'd excused herself to check her face. Her lipstick was nonexistent. Reaching into the plunging neckline she pulls out the folded bills. Five hundred dollars. A hundred dollars more than she'd asked Rita for. She'd gone back into the club with the intention of throwing it back in his face but he was gone. "Yeah right. Like I'd go to him. Whoever the hell he is."
The sound of the snowblower wakes Nikolas. He reaches beside him but Maddy is gone. Sitting up in bed, he realizes that her clothes are gone too. Nik glances over at the clock-- still early. He glances around for his robe and realizes that it is probably still down in the kitchen. Throwing back the covers he heads to the bathroom to shower and shave.
Hair still wet he goes into the kitchen. The coffee is on but there is no sign of Maddy or Cinnamon. Nik sighs. Should he be surprised? There is a note on the dry erase. on the cell. I cook; you clean. Nik looks at the kitchen and grins. They'd been preoccupied with other things the night before. Eating might have been on the priority list but dishes weren't. In short order he sets the kitchen to rights. He is pouring his first cup from the vacumn pot when he hears the click of the back door opening. Nik automatically reaches for another mug pouring the black brew for his brother.
"You're up early." Lucky takes the mug and sips.
"Couldn't sleep. The snowblower woke me." Nik replies.
"The snowblowers have been going every morning. Those kids are going to be rich before Christmas."
Nik glances out the back window. "I've never seen it like this."
"It's been a few years." Lucky agrees. "Dad would probably compare it to the summer that your Grandpopcicle turned the weather machine on PC."
"Before both of our time." Nik reminds. He spots an envelope on the table. They must have missed it the night before. "What's this?"
"Well after you... retired for the evening..." Lucky grins. "Partner stopped by to drop off pictures from the shoot that the photographer did."
Nik opens up the letter sized envelope and pulls out the photos. Expecting to see only the outside of the house he is surprised to see shots of the interior, casual shots of Maddy with Cinnamon, Maddy with Emily. And then shots of Maddy and Emily in the Mardi Gras costumes. "When were these done?"
Lucky looks over Nik's shoulder. "Hmm day after the meltdown. Maddy went to talk to Anderson to reschedule the shoot you cancelled." Lucky sees the note in with the photos and reads the contents to Nik. "These are all proofs and are yours. If you want copies or something let Anderson know." Lucky reaches for one. "This one is mine."
"Excuse me?" Nik looks at him.
Lucky holds up a casual shot that has Em and Maddy laying on the Oriental in the living room in front of a lit fireplace. "It's the best one. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if Elizabeth had been home to get in on the action."
"I don't think Stefan would agree with you." Nik holds up another. Anderson had caught Maddy unaware. Evidently while shooting the study Maddy had killed time by toying with the chess set. "And Larry would probably prefer this one." He holds up a picture of Maddy with Cinnamon. "This one would be perfect for Granny Sophia." Another. Nik grins when he sees the pictures of Maddy and Em vamping it up in the Mardi Gras costumes. "What are you doing today?"
"Killing time until my Dad wakes up." Lucky admits. "He left a message on my machine, and he sounded ticked."
"What's up?"
"Worst case scenario? Someone probably saw me get on the launch to Wyndemere and told him. What about you?"
"I think I'm going to take some of these over to Stefan and see how Ms Jenson is handling island living."
Maddy swings by the docks kiosk. Quickly she supplies it and does a pick-up. The morning gal makes her a coffee drink. "Thanks. I needed this."
"I can't believe you are up so early." The gal tells her. "I thought you tried to sleep in on the weekends... at least a few hours." Nobody is more aware of Maddy's crazy schedule than the people who work for her. It gave them a lot of autonomy on the job.
"Couldn't sleep." Maddy grimaces. Actually she'd slept just fine until she woke up. It was the first time she'd been warm since August. Nik was a human furnace and a cuddler to boot. What the hell had she been thinking?! This could mess up everything.
"You need to check the book."
"What's up?" Maddy grabs the binder and looks at a note Ciela left. "Did the woman leave a name-- any other clues?"
"You know as much as I do. Just that an older white woman was asking a lot of questions about you. Where you were from... about your family. I won't see Ciela until she come on shift. Actually it's worse than that. She has the weekend off. She isn't back until Monday."
"Damn. It's probably my roommate's Granny. She's the nosey type. Have Ciela get me on the cell as soon as she gets in." Maddy makes a note in the journal for Ciela.
"She wouldn't have said anything, Maddy."
"I know. Not on purpose. I'm going to have to start varying my route even more. I might have to have someone else do the pick-ups occasionally."
"Candy?"
"Yeah, maybe. I'll make sure you know in advance. Come on, Cinnamon we're rolling." Cinnamon comes back to Maddy's side from where she'd been checking out the smells by the buildings. "Talk to you later." On the way to her next stop, Maddy drives by Porter's. She is surprised to not see Johnny's van. Normally this time, he was baking for the day. Maybe he'd gotten an early start too and was taking stuff around to the kiosks.
"You just missed her." The gal answers the question before it's asked as she hands Nik a mocha breve. "She and Cinnamon are on the route."
"I figured as much." Nik pays for his drink and adds a healthy tip. "I'm sure I'll run into her later." He walks over to the launch for the chilly trip to the island.
Jane pulls aside the curtains at the front of the Brownstone. Lucas is out front shoveling their walk. Going out to the entryway, she grabs her coat and slides it on; Jane walks outside hugging her coat to her. "Lucas, can you come in for hot chocolate after you're done?"
"Sure. I'm almost done here." Lucas skims along the walk taking off the last bit of accumulation. He brings the shovel along with him and leaves it leaning against the building as he goes in. He leaves his boots right by the door so he isn't tracking water into the house.
"Hello, young man." John greets him. "You're up early."
"Jerry and mom are sleeping in." Lucas grins. "And once they wake up, I didn't want anything to delay getting out to the stables to see Thunder."
"How are the flying lessons going?" John asks.
Lucas grimaces. "It's like school all over again. I thought I'd get to be up in a plane and actually flying. I didn't think that there'd be a lot of bookwork."
"Life is like that." John agrees. Jane brings out a pot of tea for the two of them and a cup of hot chocolate for Lucas. "And your sister is she as frustrated as you are?"
"Nah. Carly is good at things like that when she wants to be. What she doesn't like is Jerry making her take the plane apart and put it back together. Even though he tells her there is no AAA for airplanes. She figures hire a mechanic for all that so she won't wreck her nails."
"When she wants to be?" Jane asks as she takes a seat.
"Sure. Carly's got a memory like an elephant for something she's interested in, the rest just slides by her. Mom says that's why she flunked out of nursing school. She wanted to meet mom not actually become a nurse. Even then she was okay on the bookwork it was the blood and guts that grossed her out. She's a wuss about blood."
"Most people are." Jane laughs. "I wouldn't have your mother's job for the world. Does your mum have to work today or is she going with you to the stables?"
"She's going to drop me and Jerry off at the stables and then go shopping for Maddy's birthday present."
"Maddy?" John asks.
"Maddy Reynold's, a friend of Em's. Monday is her eighteenth birthday and Uncle Stefan is throwing her a surprise party over at Wyndemere."
John frowns. "Wasn't she the girl... the reason why Jerry flew down to New Orleans at the beginning of the month?"
"Yeah, Jerry is tight with Maddy's friend Mr Robideau." Lucas finishes up his hot chocolate. "I should get back. Maybe they've finally woke up."
"It was good to see you, Lucas." John tells him as he is walking him to the door. "I hope you feel free to stop by anytime."
Jane is preoccupied in the other room. Going over to her desk, she checks the date. Monday, November 20. Eighteenth birthday. Flipping back in her calendar absently, she looks down and realizes what she has done...where she is-- February. "It's impossible."
"What's impossible, my dear?" John asks.
"What year was Jerry kidnapped down in Panama?"
"The first time? 1982. Why?"
"Nothing." Jane replies. It is nothing, Jane. A lot of little things out of context. There is no way.... Lila says she is from New Orleans. The costume... but thousands gather in New Orleans every year. It's a huge party. There is no way.
"This one is the best." Stefan says confidently.
"I thought you'd like that one." Nik grins. Stefan has in his hand the picture of Maddy standing pensively over the chess set backlit by the big picture windows.
"I'll leave you two alone." Dara pauses on the stairs realizing that Nik and Stefan were there having a private conversation.
"No, no Ms Jenson please join us." Stefan insists. "Nikolas was just sharing some photos that were taken of his new house."
"Maddy supervised the photographer for me." Nik tells her. "And the photographer put her in the pictures. I appear to have missed an interesting afternoon the day they were taken."
Dara takes a seat at the table. Stefan hands her the pictures he has already gone through. He sets aside the picture of Madeliene by the chess set. Dara grins as she looks at Maddy with Em and a huge dog. "Is this the dog that Marcus told me about?"
"Cinnamon." Nik nods. "Maddy has been taking care of her since Larry was hospitalized."
Dara frowns and holds the next picture closer for a good look. "Madeliene wasn't supervising the shoot for you... she's living with you." She flips the picture around to show Nikolas. It's of the spare room with her family's quilt on the bed. Anderson had been careful to get as much detail as possible. "There aren't two quilts like that in the world."
Stefan examines the picture again. "Yes, it appears to be quite charming in a primitive way."
Nikolas winces. "Yes. Maddy has been staying with me since a few days after she left your house. I brought the quilt back from New Orleans. Maddy had Miz Sophia storing them for her."
"This is not for display." Dara says censoriously. "How dare you! How dare you!"
"Ms Jenson!" Stefan protests wondering what was provoking such vehement response. Dara seems more upset about the quilt than the discovery of where her niece has been staying.
"I screwed up." Nik admits. "I wanted Maddy to feel at home. She had the same reaction you just did. The quilt has already been returned to it's proper container along with your family's paperwork."
Dara pushes away from the table and grabbing her coat walks out the back door of Wyndemere. "What just happened?" Stefan asks.
"I should have pulled that picture out of the set." Nik shakes his head. "Damn."
Stefan examines the picture again trying to see what would cause such a reaction. "It's just a quilt. Not my taste particularly."
Nik takes the picture. "Forget you saw it." Stefan lifts a single brow. Nik groans. "It's the basis of their family history. And it's only for family. The Cassadine are not the only family that can trace their history back for generations. Madeliene gets very upset by this, so don't bring it up to her. The quilt is tied in to how she feels about her mother. The same is probably true for Ms Jenson."