"So tell me, 'Cash'," Lucy asks over dinner in an out of the way bistro. "What was so damned important that I had to leave London, anyway?"

"Lucy," Luke says, "Remember when we decided that there was something very wrong?"

"Yes."

"And when did it start going bad?"

"Right after Kevin went to London for the twin study that never took place on an invitation from a non-existent Dr. V. Cassidy."

"It went sour before that for me, but I didn't know it," Luke confides. "But, I knew when I heard the name V. Cassidy that things were finally starting to make a twisted sort of sense."

"I don't understand."

"That's because you don't know the Cassadines."

"Cassidy=Cassadine?"

"Bet on it, and V=Victor."

"This is bad?"

"Very bad."

"Then this means that Kevin has been manipulated for months."

"Probably."

"And by someone who knew which buttons to push."

"Darlin', we've all been played like violins by a master musician."

"And the Cassadines are behind it?"

"Yup."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"I'm working on that."

"But you've won against them before."

Luke's expression darkens. "Yeah, but Robert's dead."

"But we've got you and me. And, we could probably find Frisco. Maybe the WSB could get involved."

"It's worth a try," Luke concedes.

"But," Lucy thinks, "What are the Cassadines up to? You can't just report someone for being somewhere."

"That's true-but so far, there are two murders, one attempted murder- -see, I don't think Bobbie tried to kill herself. There are lawsuits against Kevin and GH-GH may have to close."

"But there's got to be more. Nobody goes to this much trouble just to close a hospital and seek revenge on a family."

"I agree," Luke says. "But it's a start, and besides, it's all we've got."

"So what do we do first?"

"We head back to your hotel, pick up your stuff and go elsewhere. Gotta stay one step ahead of the competition."

Back at her hotel, at the checkout, however, a note awaits. "Meet me in Monte Carlo. Siggy's Dad."

Seeing the light in Lucy's eyes, Luke says, "Monte Carlo it is, Babycakes. But, we leave tonight. Now." Hmmmmmmm

Kevin has been working for hours, first trying to pick the lock on his handcuffs, and has finally succeeded. "I knew I could do it," he gloats. "Still have to get the chains off my feet, though."

A couple of hours, much swearing and exasperation later, Kevin is free-at least partly. He's no longer connected to the potbellied stove, but the chains are still secured to his feet. "Two outta three ain't bad," he muses. "I'm getting good at this," he tells Maverick who has watched patiently.

Unfortunately, his newfound expertise doesn't extend to getting out of the basement.

The door at the top of the stairs held fast, in spite of his best efforts. "So," he asks Maverick, who has been barking, urging him on, "What would MacGyver do in a situation like this?"

"Woof!"

"Agreed! He'd look for another exit."

Patiently, dragging his chains behind him, Kevin begins to patrol the perimeter of the small room, pushing aside the odds and ends that he'd been unable to reach previously.

Meanwhile, Maverick and TC are busy worrying the hole in the bricks behind the bed again. Kevin continues his search, knocking over boxes, making his way around to them, when he suddenly is seized with an idea. "Maverick! TC! You guys have done it again!!"

With the spring as a digging tool, Kevin begins to loosen the mortar between the bricks. "See this guys?? This stuff is fairly weak-probably put in by someone who was trying to close up a door, or build a new wall. Man, this is great!!"

He begins digging with renewed vigor, pulling out bricks, noting that the air on the other side seemed cooler. "A little musty, not overly fresh, but hey, maybe it'll be a way out." As Maverick and TC sit back, watching Kevin dig, nobody notices that the bricks above them are loosening rapidly.

Suddenly, without advance warning, the wall collapses, with one brick hitting a glancing blow off Kevin's head. Coming to, Kevin is appalled to find a skull resting on his chest. He sits up gingerly, brushing himself off, and after overcoming his distaste for dead things, picks up the skull.

"Alas, poor Yorick," he mutters, taking a look inside what had been a walled up area. "No, make that Fortunato. Now, where's the Cask of Amontillado?" Hmmmmmmm

"They're coming your way tonight," Stefan tells the person at the other end of the phone line. "Have you turned up any more information?...That makes sense....He always went in for the very dramatic.........Both of them?....Can we be that lucky?....Yes, I have tied his hands...No, you'll have to take care of that yourself...I know you will enjoy it....Will you need backup?...Transportation will be waiting at the usual places. Yes, four wheel drive....That is already taken care of...Not yet. He is still missing....No, the border guards will wave you through....How soon? Why does this not surprise me?...Yes, the locals are utterly cowed...a floor plan??...that will take a little longer...That place hasn't been used for years....You may be right...Really?....Hmmmmmmmmmm"

Hmmmmmm indeed!!

Stay tuned?? Are Lucy and Luke driving headlong into a trap in Monte Carlo?? Are they the 'they' to whom Stefan is referring? And, to whom is he talking? And, about what the heck is he talking?? And, why are we only getting one side of the phone conversation?? Hmmmmmmmm

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