Chapter 44
Carly and Charisma sat in an uncomfortable silence in Luke’s office, waiting for him to show up. He had summoned them there with no explanation, and now he was late.
Finally, the door opened and he stalked into the room. “Hey partners!”
“It’s about time!” Carly grumbled, shifting in her chair. “We were starting to think you stood us up.”
Luke took a seat behind his desk and put up his feet. “Are you kidding me, Caroline? I know better than to stand you up. You’d probably shoot me.”
Carly rolled her eyes. “You never know when to let something rest, do you, Uncle Luke? I only did that once, and we both know he deserved it!”
“Caroline, when it comes to shooting a man, you can’t use the ‘it only happened once’ excuse. Cheating, maybe, lying, possibly, but not putting a bullet in someone’s chest.”
Charisma looked at them in shock. “Who did she shoot?”
“Oh, just the ex-hubby of her mother, my sister. That was after she slept with him and led him to believe she was having his baby. But don’t worry, she’s already done her time in the loony bin for it. You’d never know to look at her, though....”
“What? That she was institutionalized?” Charisma asked.
Luke laughed and shook his head. “No, that she was supposedly cured in there!”
“Okay, that’s enough. Can we just move on with this?” Carly asked, annoyed at his rehashing of her past.
“I don’t know, this is kind of fun. Ooh, how about the time you doused AJ with liquor and tossed him in a laundry cart so he’d think he fell off the wagon? That was a good one!”
“Luke, I said enough!” Carly shouted. Charisma looked at her strangely, wondering what kind of people she had gotten herself tangled up with. The scariest thing was, these people were all Lucky’s family!
“All right, ruin my fun. Anyway, the reason you’re here is to finish your parts of the plan. Caroline, I need you to call and leave a message on Liz’s machine. She’s working tonight, so by the time she gets home, it will be too late to call you. Charisma, since Lucky might be home, you’ll have to write him a quick note and leave it at my house for him to find when he gets there in the morning. I want to make sure that neither of them has a chance to talk to you and ask you questions, okay?”
They both nodded. Luke handed Charisma a note pad and a pen, and pushed the phone over to Carly. She picked up the receiver and dialed, smiling to herself at what they were doing.
“I can’t come to the phone right now, leave a message!”
“Hey, Liz, it’s Carly. Look, I hate to do this to you, but Michael’s coming down with something, probably just a cold, but I don’t want to take any chances with it. Anyway, I’m taking him to the doctor in the morning, so I won’t be able to go with you to Lulu’s camp. Don’t worry, though, I found a replacement since it’s so last-minute. They’re going to meet you at Luke and Laura’s place in the morning. Bye!”
Carly hung up and looked over at Luke. “How was that?”
“Beautiful. Just make sure you don’t answer your phone tonight, just in case.” He turned to look at Charisma. “How are you doing there?’
“All done,” she said, scribbling out her signature. She folded the note and tucked it into her pocket. “I’ll slide it under the door first thing in the morning so he’ll be sure to find it.”
“Can’t I read it?” Luke pouted. Charisma shook her head.
“Don’t you know it’s illegal to read other people’s mail? Trust me, it will work just fine. Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll be leaving now. I’ve suddenly become rather nervous in here,” she said, glancing over at Carly as she stood up. She hurried out of the office, letting the door slam behind her.
Luke stuck a cigar in his mouth and grinned around it. “She’s got spunk, I like that.”
Carly chuckled to herself and sunk back in her chair. “She’s afraid of me, I like that!”
~*~
Liz stumbled into her house and dropped her purse on the table, then hit the play button on her answering machine before flopping down on the couch. She had just worked a double-shift at Kelly’s to make up for taking the weekend off for the trip, and was exhausted.
*Beep* “Hey, Liz, it’s Carly. Look, I hate to do this to you, but Michael’s coming down with something, probably just a cold, but I don’t want to take any chances with it. Anyway, I’m taking him to the doctor in the morning, so I won’t be able to go with you. Don’t worry, though, I found a replacement since it’s so last-minute. They’re going to meet you at Luke and Laura’s place in the morning. Bye!” *beep*
Liz frowned at the machine. “Carly, what are you doing to me?” she muttered, wondering who she could have gotten at the last minute like that. It wouldn’t be Jason, and Sonny was going out of town with Luke. Carly still wasn’t on the best of terms with Emily, although she was probably out of town on some modeling gig anyway, and Carly didn’t really know Nikolas very well, so Liz couldn’t figure out who this mystery person was.
Too tired to care, she shut off the lights and drug herself upstairs, thankful that she had already packed for the trip. She fell into bed and was asleep within minutes.
~*~
Lucky rubbed his eyes and yawned as he dug around in his pockets for the keys to his parents’ house. After finally getting the door unlocked, he let himself in, nearly slipping on the piece of paper that was laying on the floor.
“Lulu, I’m here!” he shouted up the stairs as he leaned over to pick up the paper. “Hurry up and get your stuff so we can go!”
He walked over and leaned against the couch, afraid that if he sat down, he would fall asleep, and opened the letter.
Dear Spence,Lucky sighed and crumpled up the note. “She? Charisma doesn’t know anyone here, how could she possibly find someone to come with me so quickly?” he mumbled, walking over to the stairs. He tossed the wadded-up note into the garbage can and started up to see what was keeping his sister.Sorry to leave you high and dry like this, but Rich and I just got called up to the head office for a meeting. I didn’t want to leave you to do this drive alone, so I found a replacement. She should be there soon (assuming you’re reading this on Friday morning!). Once again, I’m sorry to do this, but when the big cheese calls, we can’t say no!
Toodles,
Charisma
“Lulu, you better be getting ready!” he shouted. “I’m coming up to get you!”
~*~
Liz walked up to the Spencers’ front door and stifled a yawn. She reached up and knocked on the door, wondering if Laura was still there. When there was no answer, she pulled out the set of keys they had given her a few years back for emergencies and unlocked it, letting herself inside.
“Lulu! Are you up, honey?” she shouted up the stairs. A minute later, Lucky appeared at the top.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, glaring down at her.
“Bringing Lulu to camp, what are you doing here?” she responded.
Lucky sighed and leaned against the wall. “The same thing. I can’t believe this!”
