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Continued from previous page…
The sight of Mr. Cassadine entering her room was relief enough for Charlotte. But the sight of Kathy coming in behind him was pure ecstasy. Charlotte could not contain herself for more than one second before she lunged towards Kathy and threw her arms around her neck in a ferocious embrace. She had never been more relieved to see anyone else in her entire life.
Mr. Cassadine stepped to the side to allow the two women to finish their greeting before he spoke up.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” he said. Then he left the room and closed the door behind him.
“Thank you, Mikkos,” said Charlotte, before turning her attention to Kathy.
“Oh, Kathy, I can’t believe you’re here,” whispered Charlotte, as she hugged her again. “I’m so happy to see you… How did you get here?”
“Well, I heard you were on vacation and I thought I’d come join you,” said Kathy, whimsically.
Charlotte let out a faint laugh as she wiped the tears away from her eyes.
“Is there going to be a tour bus coming around anytime soon, cuz’ I’d really like to do some sightseeing,” continued Kathy.
“Yeah.. there’s one right around the corner,” said Charlotte. She was both laughing and crying at Kathy’s sense of strength, humor, and her presence alone. “How in the world did you get here?” she asked again.
“I was shanghaied !!” shouted Kathy. “Right in your office… At gunpoint! By the woman who claims to be you!”
“Omigod !!” gasped Charlotte. “She held a gun at you?!!”
“She sure as hell did!” informed Kathy. “Well.. In all fairness, I was prepared to pull a knife on her, so I guess it all evens out.”
“I can’t believe this,” said Charlotte, stunned. “What were you doing in my office? Why would you pull a knife on her?”
“Because I knew it wasn’t you!… We both did.. Well, me and Jane, I mean,” said Kathy.
“You and Jane? I don’t get it,” said Charlotte, confused.
“Jane and I figured this whole thing out.. together,” said Kathy. “We figured out that you were kidnapped.”
“I knew it!” exclaimed Charlotte. “I knew Jane would figure this out!”
Kathy felt somewhat slighted that Charlotte was giving Jane the majority of the credit.
“Well, actually, I did most of the detective work,” Kathy reminded her. “But Jane was right there.. every step of the way.”
“Okay.. so how did you figure out that this chick was not me?” asked Charlotte.
“Well, it was a bunch of different things,” explained Kathy. “First of all, she didn’t look exactly like you.. I mean, not all the time.. Sometimes you had to see her in just the right light.. Then you could see it.. Her eyes were different, her jowls were different.. things like that… Then.. she didn’t act like you, either. I mean, not all the time.”
Charlotte was listening intently.
“There was no way she could have every, little detail about you down-pat.. You know what I mean?” asked Kathy.
“Sure, I get it,” said Charlotte.
“Mostly, it was her behavior, you know?” Kathy continued. “Like, for instance, we had a party at the mansion.. to celebrate the end of the season. You know, for the cast and crew.. Just like we do every year.”
“Yeah?” said Charlotte.
“And she was fucked-up the whole time… She didn’t even know that you were sober… I mean, how could she not know that? If she was going to impersonate you? How could that not be in her dossier about you?” Kathy wondered.
“I don’t know, that is weird,” Charlotte agreed.
“But the thing that clinched it for us was your bracelet,” stated Kathy.
“My bracelet? You mean, the one you guys gave me?” asked Charlotte.
“Yeah,” said Kathy.
“Yeah !! That is weird !! When they abducted me, they took my purse, which I can understand cuz’ it has my driver’s license and my credit cards and shit… but they also took all my jewelry off of me… I guess they wanted to have the total effect… And that included my bracelet,” said Charlotte. “Where did you find it?”
“I found it at my house on the floor,” said Kathy.
“On the floor?” asked Charlotte.
“Yeah, I threw a party a while back, and she was there! Well, we all thought it was you, of course… and she was dancin’ up a storm.. with Henry Winkler!” said Kathy.
“That’s a clue right there,” admitted Charlotte.
“Yeah, no shit.. So, that’s when she must have lost it.. It must have slipped off her wrist somehow and she didn’t notice… And she didn’t know enough about you to know that you would have said something to us right away… That it was missing,” explained Kathy.
“Wow… so, you and Jane put all this information together and decided I was kidnapped, huh?” asked Charlotte.
“Yup… Pretty good, huh?” returned Kathy.
“I’ll say,” said Charlotte, with a satisfying smile on her face. “Way to go, guys.”
Charlotte reached up and hugged Kathy again with all her might. It was an understandably reflexive reaction considering everything that Kathy had gone through to be standing in front of her at this moment.
“So, when was this party that you threw?” asked Charlotte, with a quizzical look on her face. She was trying to figure out the timeline of this whole mess.
“A couple of months ago.. Why?” asked Kathy.
“Yeah… that was right around the time I got abducted,” Charlotte pondered, pinching her bottom lip as she turned away. “I guess that all fits… and the bracelet was just lying there on the floor?”
“Yup… over by one of my chair legs,” said Kathy.
“How long ago did you find it?” asked Charlotte.
“Mmm, about a week ago, I guess,” answered Kathy.
“About a week ago,” mimicked Charlotte, still pinching her bottom lip and acting as if she were trying to figure some things out.
Then, after coming to no apparent conclusion, she changed the mood of the conversation and decided to chide Kathy instead—
“Jeez, Kath, don’t you ever vacuum your rugs?”
“Will everyone please stop saying that !!” shouted Kathy.