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The Quintessential Q
Chapter Seventeen
Matter of Trust
Kelly's diner. Emily comes in to see Liz. Liz is busy with a customer but Lucky is having a shake at the counter waiting for Liz to get caught up or for a delivery order to come in. Emily slides onto the barstool next to Lucky. "This is my lucky day."
"Is there some kind of really tired pun in that?" Lucky asks.
"Unintentionally, I really am glad I ran into you. I have a computer question. I know Carly could help me but since this is something that I don't want her involved in-- I need your help."
"Ask." Lucky says curiously.
"How hard would it be to get into a computer and make it so that every time a phrase is used another phrase is substituted? Something that can't really be corrected without having a programmer come in and take it out?"
"Piece of cake why?"
Emily leans in confidentially. "This is between you and me. You can tell Liz if you want but it can't get back to Nikolas."
"You're messing with Nik?"
"No, but with someone he thinks is a friend." Emily knows Lucky could care less either way about Katherine and decides to admit her adventures in burglary. "You know I don't like Katherine Bell, and that I haven't since she got caught kicking the dogs, and then again when I walked in on her and Nik doing the wild thing the day of my last birthday party? The woman has been a boil on the butt of my family for SO long. She set up AJ so that everyone thought he was hanging out with hookers, blackmailed Ned into marrying her. And the way she is around grandfather..." Emily rolls her eyes. "...makes me want to puke."
"I get it. You don't like Katherine Bell. You have a lot of company in this town." Lucky shrugs. "What has that got to do with a computer problem?"
"I'm getting to that. Okay, your cousin, Carly, has promised to leave Ned alone If I ruin Katherine Bell."
"So you gonna kill her? That's what all her other enemies try to do." Lucky jokes.
"No, but that is going to be part of it, sort of. I have to Ruin her. So I figured I needed an in." Emily hesitates and then takes a deep breath. "So I broke into her hotel room and searched it trying to find anything to go on."
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
"Shush!" Emily looks around and then leans in to Lucky and continues in a whisper. "I broke into her hotel room. And this is the part you can't tell Nik, I wish you could tell Nik, but then you'd have to tell him where you got the information-- and that wouldn't work at all..."
"What did you find out, Bowen?" Lucky interrupts.
"One of those get pregnant kits. You know so that when you're Trying to have a baby that you can pick the perfect couple of days."
"EWW." Lucky winces. "But Nik hasn't been seeing Katherine."
"That you know of. She's still calling-- remember the movie marathon? Katherine didn't break it off; Nikolas did. Katherine wants Nikolas for a lot of reasons."
"Okay, so what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing. I can't. If I told Nik then he'd want to know where I got the information. I'm screwed." Emily laments.
"I'll let him know." Lucky sighs. "But I'll keep your name out of it. Now what about the computer problem?"
"Well you know how you said that all of Katherine's enemies are trying to kill her? I thought I'd take advantage of that bit of history. How hard would it be if when ever the phrase Katherine Bell was entered into the computer at Deception it was changed to "Kenny" Bell?"
Lucky spews milkshake. Emily hands him a napkin and pounds him on the back. Lucky rasps out, "Kenny?!"
"Yeah, I know it's not ruining her really but it would really be annoying and in combination with some other stuff..."
"Don't tell me... right now." Lucky starts working the problem mentally. "But how are we going to get it to not come back at you?"
"Well it will come back to me. I'm the only one who has called her that to her face." Emily shrugs. "Would her computer access codes help?"
"How did you get those? And yeah, that would help."
"Well evidently her drop from the parapet did have some effect. She writes down her PINs now. "
"My computer died last week and since you don't want Nik involved...." Lucky shakes his head.
"Carly has a computer up on her property above the spa. It's where she does all her work she doesn't want AJ to know about 'cause it would drive him nuts."
"I thought that Carly's goal was to drive AJ nuts-- she's done that with every guy she's been with."
"Nope, she's trying not to. Jerry uses it too for the things he doesn't think Bobbie or Jax need to know about either. So it probably has some security stuff on it that makes it tough to trace. Jerry is like that. And Carly is like you-- she can make a computer sing. Luckily for AJ, since he's a computer boob sometimes-- all the time actually." Emily supposes.
"Hey Emily!" Liz comes up on the counter. "I just talked to Tammy and I'm out of here for the day. She says that she can handle things until Peggy comes in. We should go out and do something. The tips from the breakfast crowd rocked and I'm loaded right now."
"Em, just invited us to go up to Carly's property to check out this horse the Q's bought for Carly." Lucky tells Liz.
"I've got Gram's car." Liz suggests hopefully.
"You can follow me up there; I've got my bike. I have a party I'm going to for Judge and Cook today, since they get back from their honeymoon." Emily explains rising from the stool and grabbing her bag. Liz takes off her apron and grabs her bag from under the counter taking a minute to dump her tips into a purple Crown Royal bag that she'd begged from Luke the last time she and Lucky had gone to the club. Lucky stands and sucks down the last of his shake.
"Lets do it."
The property about 20 minutes later.
Emily pulls up next to the office of the building. Liz parks next to her. Liz pops out of the car. "WOW! This is great."
"Amazing what a little Quartermaine money will do." Lucky rolls his eyes. Emily just shakes her head and using the key that Carly gave her opens up the office. Lucky whistles when he sees the computer set up.
"Yeah, Amazing what a little Quartermaine money will do." Emily repeats snarkily. She goes over to the desk and writes down Katherine's codes as well as the computer number to Deception. "Come on Liz, we aren't going to be able to get him away from the toys. I'll introduce you to Mr. Roberts." Emily grabs Liz's arm and pulls her out of the office and into the stable part of the building. Lucky sits down behind the computer and pushes up his sleeves. A little computer B&E is what he lives for. Flipping on the computer, he dials into Deception. He roots around for awhile until he finds the in that will work. He masks his access so that anything he accomplishes looks as if it was entered from Katherine's terminal.
Liz hangs a hand over the stall door where Mr. Robert is after being introduced to the black Morgan gelding by Emily. "Okay, truth time. Lucky isn't here to see the horses."
"He's doing a little computer hacking for me." Emily admits. "He'll tell you about it later; I'm sure."
"You and Nikolas looked really cozy at Blockbuster the other night." Liz hints dropping the other because she knows that Lucky will fill her in later.
"It was fun. Things are changing but I really don't want to jinx it or make more of it. I've gotten my hopes up with Nikolas before and been crushed. You know?"
"Yeah, I know the feeling. Like when Lucky didn't see anyone but Sara. I hated that."
"How is Sara? Ever since she went to Bosnia it's like she fell off the face of the earth."
"My parents finished up their tour in Bosnia. They planned on heading home and then got called to Macedonia to deal with the refugees there. Sara went with them."
"Sad to say, but if they are going to be gone as long there are refugees, landmines, or a civil war somewhere in the world they are never going to get back to PC." Emily tells Liz.
"I think you're right. It's going to take a civil war breaking out here in Port Charles for my parents and sister to get back here. And consider me a total chicken but I hear War Zone and I go running the other direction."
"Most people do, and I'm with you. I admire what your folks are doing but the Quartermaine version of civil war and landmines keep me busy enough, thank you. That may make me shallow but it's all I can handle." Emily and Liz walk out of the stables. Emily points out the path down to the deception spa. They sit down on the grass and catch up with each other until Lucky comes from the office. His hair is more of a mess than normal like he has been running his fingers through it. He sits down next to the girls and looks at Emily questioningly who nods.
"It's done. Everything that has to do with Katherine Bell is now going to come out with Kenny Bell on it including her paychecks. It was too easy, Em. You guys need to do something about security. Even without the codes I would have been in and out in about nothing flat. No challenge really." Lucky brags. He is distracted by the sound of a motor coming up the road. Carly was on her way with Rita and Michael.
"Hey!" Carly waves as she gets out of the car and goes around to let Michael out of his safety seat. Rita races over to Emily.
"My dad is getting home today!" She grins. "And Carly's mother kicked ass on Michael's pediatrician."
"Yep, and we're all going to be there to greet them." Carly walks up holding Michael's hand. "Carly, I invited Ned and Jax. They both will be on their best behavior or I'll kill them."
Carly grimaces. "This is a test right?"
"Sorta. And I've already started on the other. So I am holding up my end of the deal. What did Bobbie do to Michael's pediatrician?" Emily can't resist asking.
"Dragged him out of the cafeteria, so he would be on time for his appointment with Michael and he managed to squeeze in a school physical for Rita. So everything is ready for the party all we need are the munchies from Johnny and the guests of honor."
"Carly?!" Rita demands glancing down at her watch.
"Get going." Carly release Rita who runs into the stable to see Mr. Roberts. Carly looks over at Lucky hesitantly. She had a comic truce with Luke. He'd finally accepted her as a Spencer with all of the baggage that went with it but Lucky was a different story. "Hello Lucky, Liz."
"Carly. Look Em, it's been a slice but I have to deal with that fall out on everything that you found out today. And the sooner the better." Lucky turns away from Carly and speaks to Emily.
"She's out of town for the next two days." Emily bites her lip.
"Yeah, but it might take him two days to calm down. The sooner he knows the sooner he can protect himself." Lucky takes Elizabeth's hand, and they walk back to her grandmother's car.
"Was it something I said?" Carly quirks a brow.
"No, I did a little recon on Katherine. She's got a scam of her own going. Lucky is going to warn the victim before it's too late."
"Tell me everything!" Carly can't wait.
"Nope. You wanted video-- you can just wait for the blasted video!" Emily throws up her hands. Michael laughs at the sudden motion and the exasperation in Emily's tone.
Inside the car.
"Liz, you still got the phone your gram got you for emergencies?"
"Yeah, it's in my purse."
"This qualifies as an emergency." He reaches for her purse but waits for her okay before reaching in and grabbing the phone. Lucky calls Nikolas's cell phone. The phone rings what seems like forever before it's picked up. "Nikolas?"
Nik wipes the sweat from his brow with a towel from his tennis bag. "Yeah?"
"What took you so long?"
"I was in the middle of a tennis match and I'm getting the evil eye for this time out. What's up."
"Family emergency. Where do you want to meet?"
"Laura? Lulu?" Nik's voice raises as fear takes hold.
"Nope, you're the one in trouble this time. Pick the time and the place." Lucky reassures Nik even as he continues to insist on a meeting.
"My cottage half an hour." Nik says decisively.
"We'll be there." Lucky hangs up the phone and drops it back in Liz's bag. "The cottage."
"Are you going to tell me what is going on?"
"Yeah, the same time I talk to Nik but try not to give anything away."
"I'm not suppose to give away something I don't know. That's just great, Lucky." Liz tightens her grip on the wheel and changes direction to Nik's little cottage in the woods.