Previous Page     Next Page

Chapter 25

This was a bad idea. Stupid. Colossally stupid.

After two days at the safe house and still being unable to reach anyone, Jason refused to sit around any longer waiting. He insisted on going out and seeing what he could find. Elizabeth had strongly disagreed; arguing that it had been less than a week since he was shot. If he walked on his injured leg too much he could pop a stitch and start bleeding again. He was finally free of his fever, why would he risk his health?

Then his phone rang and Elizabeth held her breath while Jason scrambled for it. Tears had streamed down her face when she realized that it was her brother. He and Sam were alive, they were safe, but there was still danger. Men had invaded the Towers and he and Sam had escaped down the back exit. Then they'd taken off to Canada when the safe house they had intended to go to was obviously being watched.

Sonny was glad to hear they were safe, though concerned after hearing Jason had been shot. He told them to stay where they were; he was heading back to Port Charles and would contact the guards who he'd ordered to hide before he left. They would deal with whatever Alcazar was trying to do to their territory. Jason was ordered, against his protests, to stay where he was and keep Elizabeth safe.

When she talked with her brother, Elizabeth assured him she was alright. He had urged her to try to keep Jason from going out and doing something. And she had tried. But when Sonny had told him that he didn't know where Carly or Michael were, that the guards he'd ordered to protect them had never seen mother or son since the day of the shooting, Jason refused to stay put.

He insisted on looking for her, and Elizabeth refused to stay at the safe house alone. She was going to go with him to make sure he was okay, and she admitted she refused to let them be separated. So she went with him as he drove to Carly's house. They drove in a car stored at the safe house so that they wouldn't be spotted in a stolen car.

"Stay close," Jason ordered as they approached the back door of the house where his little boy lived. They had watched the place first and saw no lights, no sign of anything, except for the papers piling up on the front porch.

She nodded and followed behind him as they closed the distance and then Jason pulled out his keys. Once the door was open, he stuffed them back in his pocket and flicked the safety off his gun. He had insisted she have a gun as well, but her safety was securely on.

They stepped into the house and after securing the kitchen he ordered, "Stay here while I check the house. Keep your gun with you."

Once Jason was gone from the room, she let her curiosity propel her around the area. She knew from her brother and Sam that Carly was in love with Jason and wanted to be with him. That was hardly surprising considering they had a child together. If Michael is Jason's, the voice in her head whispered as she remembered her early suspicions. But Jason had apparently decided that while he would always love his son and care and provide for him and his mother, they couldn't live together.

It made her curious, because it was obvious Jason loved the little boy and enjoyed spending time with him. But it was also obvious there was animosity between him and Carly. He'd told her once that Carly thought backwards and accused the two of them of dating, just because Jason spent time with Elizabeth. Sam had once commented that Carly was jealous of anyone in Jason's life.

Elizabeth wondered if there had ever been any affection between Carly and Jason, or had it merely been sex that resulted in Michael? Jason would of course take care of his son, because that was the kind of man he was. But what if Carly knew that and had counted on it? Again, the suspicion of if Michael was actually Jason's crept into Elizabeth's mind. Had Carly passed off another man's baby as his merely because Jason was rich? Or was there something more sinister in her actions?

She frowned, wondering why all these thoughts were bombarding her and why she was assuming the worst. Ever since she stepped into this house she had a bad feeling. Was it just inherent animosity because of Sam and Sonny's descriptions of Carly, or was it something more? Was she sensing something deeper here?

Setting her gun on the granite countertop - did Carly cook enough to warrant these? - Elizabeth began to open drawers. She started with the ones by the phone and on the second try found the one with pens, scissors and papers. There were takeout menus, which Elizabeth discarded after discerning the writing was only in relation to orders and totals. She took every scrap and separated it into piles based on handwriting.

Once that was done, she quickly searched the rest of the kitchen but came up with nothing. There was something here, she just needed to find it. And no doubt she would in the living room, or wherever Carly kept a desk.

Grabbing the papers, and her gun, she moved out of the kitchen. The living room was growing dim in the fading light and she didn't want to risk turning on a light so she had to search quickly.

A few minutes later she was so engrossed in her task that she missed the footsteps entering the room. "What are you doing?"

She jumped, her hand flying to her throat. "Jason! You scared me."

"What are you doing?" he repeated as she pulled open another drawer.

"Did you find any sign of Carly or Michael?" she asked. She wouldn't be sick or morbid and ask if he'd found any bodies. He did love the little boy after all.

"No," he shook his head. "Elizabeth-"

"Were there any clothes missing?" she asked.

"Why would you ask-"

"There's a travel brochure on the coffee table," she told him. "It was under some magazines but I found it. A vacation package, with childcare provided, was circled."

She heard him pick up the glossy booklet, and she continued to look through the desk. Pushing the drawer closed, she straightened. "I need to see Carly's room."

"What?" he asked. "Elizabeth, what are you doing? Why are you going through Carly's things?"

"Because something isn't right," she insisted. "I felt it the moment we got here. I don't get the kinds of flashes Sonny gets, where he can actually see things before they happen, or that have happened elsewhere. I don't get those. Whenever I get a psychic flash, it's feelings. Just a general sense that something isn't right. I don't get these very often; I've had a handful in my whole life. But when I do get them it's because something is very wrong."

Turning to face him and meeting his shocked gaze she said, "So I need to see Carly's room."

"Last door on the left," he said, his voice low.

He followed behind her, going slower on the stairs because of his leg. She was already in Carly's room by the time he made it up to the second floor.

"So what are you looking for?" he asked.

"I don't know," she admitted. "But I'll know when I find it. Or I'll just take things to Sonny and see if he senses anything."

Jason quietly sat down in a chair and Elizabeth guessed he had questions. Especially since she just outed Sonny as a psychic. But she also sensed he'd wait until later to ask. Or maybe he just needed time to process it all.

Carly clearly had a man living with her, given the clothes and other items in the room. Something told her to start there so she started going through the drawers and clothes. What few scraps of papers she found she tossed onto the bed.

"What are they?" Jason asked.

"I don't know," she passed them to him. "I'll look at them later. I want to search the closet."

It was growing darker and she knew they shouldn't risk a light going on. She searched every last pocket and shoe and looked for a bag. The black duffle bag obviously wasn't Carly's, given the Louis Vitton travel bag on the closet floor. Picking up the duffle bag, she turned back to Jason, "Should we look at it here?"

He shook his head. "Let's go back to the safe house."

"Okay," she answered. His voice was flat and she sensed it was best to leave. Maybe he was in pain or maybe he just hadn't wrapped his head around everything she'd said.

As the garage door closed, Jason let out a breath and let go of the steering wheel. He and Elizabeth hadn't spoken since they left Carly's and with every mile the silence became heavy and oppressive. Elizabeth opened her door, grabbing the duffle bag and moving towards the door to the house. He opened his and slowly limped after her.

By the time he was inside she had a bottle of water on the table along with a bottle of ibuprofen for him. She was fixing something for them to eat and he took the pills and then shuffled to the couch where the duffle bag was. Clearly she'd put everything out he would need, even if she never spoke. It made him feel bad for his own silence.

When she came out of the kitchen carrying a plate for him, he could tell she was surprised that he hadn't searched the bag. She held out a plate and he took it, being sure to say, "Thank you, Elizabeth."

She sat down on a chair across from him. "Go ahead and ask your questions. I know you have them."

He wouldn't lie and say he didn't. "Sonny's a psychic?"

"Yes," she nodded, picking at the crust on her sandwich. "He can see things before they happen. Or figure things out when people are trying to hide the truth. He can't read your thoughts or commune with spirits, but he knows when things will happen sometimes."

"Like the guards?"

"It doesn't happen all the time and he can't control it or see when he wants to, but he can see."

"He knew you were in danger," Jason stated. "That's why he sent me down to the island to get you."

She nodded. "He touched a tie I gave him and saw me locked up and trapped and knew it was my guards. That's why he's always touching the men who work for him; he can tell when they've betrayed him."

"The guard on his door," Jason remembering that night and numerous other times. "Then the picture of you and Sam. He was touching it, like he was-"

"He was probably hoping for a spark of something," Elizabeth said. "I've seen him do it before."

As Jason listened to her and thought about things, it began to make sense. Sometimes Sonny knew things that nobody else did. He sometimes sensed they were walking into a trap and it allowed them to escape just in time. It didn't always happen, but now Jason better understood where those hunches came from.

"And you?" he asked. "You said you sometimes know things."

"Sometimes," she nodded. "But that's not what I normally see. I...I'm what's called a synesthete."

He frowned, "A what?"

"A synesthete," she repeated. "I see things differently."

"You've said that before."

"And it's the best way to describe it. My senses are cross-wired in my brain. I see colors when I hear music. I painted a symphony once," she said. "It's actually what I was working on when you came to get me from the island. The winds, the percussion, the strings...they all make different colors for me. Sometimes I can taste colors."

"The day I came to your studio," Jason stated, "I didn't understand why you were talking about espresso when the color was purple."

She shrugged. "It doesn't always make sense, I know. But that's how I see things. I...I also see colors around people's handwriting. That's why Sonny had you write something in the letter you brought me."

"And why you had me write something when I was there," he said in understanding. "You said you would compare my handwriting. You meant the colors."

"You have a beautiful, deep blue around your writing," she told him. "It's powerful and strong, like you."

"So that day in Sonny's office," he said, really understanding now. "You were talking about colors and separating the papers in piles. Sonny understood and that's why he told me to investigate Kurt."

"His colors changed," Elizabeth explained. "On invoices and on the clipboard. Something like that comes from a big, sudden change in their life. A death, a fear...a betrayal."

"So why didn't Sonny just tell me?" Jason asked. "Instead of acting like I was betraying him with questions."

"Because Sonny doesn't like telling people. He thinks people will judge him, not respect him anymore." She licked her lips, "Deke hated us for what we were. He accused my mom of tricking him and sticking him with two weird kids."

"Two freaks," Jason said softly. All her cryptic remarks, all the times she almost said it all, all her wounds and pain...they suddenly all made sense. Why she thought he was judging her. Why Sonny had never trusted him.

"Yeah," Elizabeth nodded stiffly. "Sonny started hiding it, tried to at like he'd just made it up or had been lying. He tried to get me to do the same, but I never did. Maybe I should have. But Sonny just barely told Sam about his visions even though I've been encouraging him for years to tell both of you. He was thinking about telling you, but after the whole thing at the warehouse..."

She trailed off and looked away. Jason nodded and said on a sigh, "He thought I would judge him. Wouldn't accept him anymore. Maybe even try to take over. That's what Sam was hinting at."

Old wounds, deep scars. Sam had been trying to make him see without revealing it all. He didn't think they were weird, and he didn't think less of the siblings; nobody could be blamed or judged for who they were. And he understood why Sonny and Elizabeth hadn't told him everything. It was just a lot to take in all at once.

"So that's the Corinthos secret," Elizabeth shrugged in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Things make sense now," he told her. "You would say things that I didn't completely understand. It was like a code I didn't know. I never asked because I didn't want to press. I could see that you weren't always comfortable and I didn't want you to feel you had to explain anything to me or that I was pressuring you. I just wanted to be your friend."

"You were," she whispered. "You are. I may have met you because of Sonny, but I never felt like you did things because of him. You talked to me, you were concerned about me, not Sonny's sister."

"I told you once that was true," he told her feelingly. "It still is."

"But I don't think you understand how rare that is for me," she said, putting her plate of untouched food aside and leaning forward. "Guys dated me to try to get at Sonny, or get an in with him. Or they thought I'd be an easy score because my brother was a criminal."

Jason cleared his throat uncomfortably. He didn't want to hear about that. No, he didn't think of Elizabeth as his little sister; he was aware she was a woman, and a beautiful one too. But he didn't think it was smart to let his mind go down that path. He shouldn't think about her underwear drawer or her sleeping with men. He just shouldn't.

"I knew half of them were using me," she admitted. "I used them, too."

Yeah, he really shouldn't think about that.

"And I never really had many girl friends. It was hard when they didn't understand me or were scared to be around me. So I have a few people I can talk to. You're one of them."

"I'm glad I can be someone you can talk to." And he was. So he needed to remember that he needed to be her friend. Not think of her any other way.

"So what did you feel or see at Carly's house?" he asked, thinking it would be better for them to change the topic.

"I don't know," Elizabeth shrugged. "I just...I sensed something wasn't right. It could be, or maybe I've let my thoughts about Carly cloud my judgment"

Jason tipped his head back and ran his hand over his face. "I know Sonny and Sam don't like her, but I thought you didn't know her."

"I've had a couple of run-ins with her. Mostly, it was her screeching at Sonny and calling him names. I'm his sister, I'm not going to like anyone who does that to my brother."

"So you don't like her," he said flatly.

"No, because..." She paused and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, chewing it hard. "I...I shouldn't say this."

"Elizabeth?" he prompted with a question. "Tell me."

"I don't want to hurt you," she said, her large eyes full of anguish. "If you don't know and I say this...it could hurt you and I don't want to be the person who does that to you."

Jason took a breath and then said, "I know you're not trying to hurt me. Please just tell me what's going on."

"The night Sam and I watched Michael for you...I was coloring with him."

"I remember. You told me I should get coloring books for him." He smiled as he said, "I did and he loves them, even though he just scribbles."

The corners of her mouth lifted fleetingly. "I noticed something when he was coloring and I... It's bothered me, but I never said anything or asked anyone because it wasn't my business."

"What did you see?"

"His colors don't compliment yours," she said softly. "With a pencil, with a pen...they're off."

She frowned, knowing she wasn't making sense, "It's not a hard and fast thing, but often families...Sonny and I, our colors aren't the same, but they blend well together. Does that make sense? No," she shook her head. "That probably doesn't. I saw that Michael's were close, but...it was that and a feeling I had that I...I wondered if Michael was really your son."

She braced her shoulders and grimaced, as if expecting a blow up. She truly didn't want to hurt him, or blow a secret up, and he knew it was because she considered him a friend.

"No," Jason shook his head. "Michael isn't my biological son. But he is my son."

"So you know?" she asked, relief in her voice. "I...I didn't want to be the person who broke the lie to you."

"I know," he assured her. "I've always known; since before he was born. But Carly asked me to help her and I did. I love Michael."

She nodded. "I know. It's clear in everything you do for him and in the way you talk about him. It's so important to have a parent who loves you."

"So why did suspecting Michael isn't my child make you search Carly's?"

"Because the house felt wrong," she said. "So I looked for papers and through her boyfriend's clothes because I know you and Carly. Your relationship is rather contentious and it centers around Michael. I wondered if she was working with Michael's father and she was part of this. Or if hers and Michael's disappearance was somehow related to Michael's biological father."

"No," Jason shook his head. "Michael's father is my brother A.J. If he knew Michael was his he wouldn't help Carly, he would cut her out of Michael's life after taking him. He wants a son to please our grandfather and gets stocks and power at ELQ. That's why I said I was the father."

"To protect him and make sure Carly kept him."

"Yeah."

"Then what's going on with her boyfriend?" Elizabeth asked. "Because something wasn't right. I saw it in his handwriting on the travel brochure."

"Maybe it's time we go through those papers you brought," Jason said as he sat his own untouched food aside and reached for the duffel bag.

Chapter 26

After nearly a week of not seeing his sister, Sonny was so relieved when she and Jason stepped through the door. She was supporting his best friend and helped him sit down and then turned to look at her brother. Opening his arms to her, she flew into them, her face crumpling with tears.

"Oh, Nito."

"Lizbeth," he breathed her in, closing his eyes as he tightened his hold on her. Pulling back, he ran his eyes and hands over her searching for injuries even though she'd told him she hadn't been hurt. "You sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Sonny," Elizabeth assured him. "I wasn't the one who was hurt."

Keeping his arm around her, he maneuvered them around to face Jason. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," the younger man told him.

"He's in pain though he tries to hide it," Elizabeth informed him. "He doesn't like the pain meds, and Tylenol doesn't always cut it. He wouldn't let me drive here so he hurts right now."

"I'm fine," Jason insisted once more, his voice a little tighter. But the declaration was betrayed by the gritted teeth he spoke through and the tight lines around his eyes.

"Jason," Sonny said in complete seriousness. "You have to rest. I've contacted the guards I know are still loyal to me."

Elizabeth stiffened and Jason looked away. It was odd, but Sonny continued. "They're helping me; so you can rest so you can recover faster."

"I need to find Michael and Carly," his friend insisted. "There's something wrong."

"What do you mean?" Sonny frowned.

"Let's sit down," Elizabeth suggested. "There are a few things we need to tell you."

He agreed, even though he didn't understand Elizabeth's insistence. Maybe she was tired; after all, they'd been on the run and she'd been taking care of Jason. Maybe it was all catching up with her.

They sat down on a sofa across from Jason and Sam perched on the arm beside him. Elizabeth sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Sonny frowned at her and asked, "Elizabeth?"

"Because nobody knew where Carly and Michael were, Jason insisted on going to their house and I insisted on going with him. When I got there...the place didn't feel right. It felt off."

Sonny looked over at Jason, a horrible vision of Carly and Michael dead flashing through his mind. "Did you find them?"

"No," Jason shook his head. "There was no sign of them."

He suddenly wondered if what he saw was a horrible imagining from the feel of dread he got at his sister's words, or if it was an actual vision. Were Carly and Michael dead and the bodies had been moved from the house? He hoped not. He sincerely hoped not.

"Because it felt so wrong, I searched her house," Elizabeth continued. "There was a travel brochure with a family vacation package circled."

"They're on vacation?" Sonny asked in disbelief. "With this Alex guy?"

"I don't think so," Jason sighed. "At least Elizabeth doesn't think so, and I agree."

Sonny looked in question at his sister. She tucked her hair behind her ear, "Alex wrote on the brochure and there were other things with his writing."

She wrapped her arms around her middle and said, "We didn't have time to look at it at Carly's; we took it with us. The...Sonny, the color around his writing is awful. It's...it's so dark and it just...it's so menacing I can practically taste it."

Sonny glanced over at Jason and saw his friend didn't even react to what Elizabeth said. She must have noticed where his gaze had gone because she gave a nod and said, "I told Jason about me. How things are different for me. I had to so he understood why I was so sure something was wrong."

Sonny rubbed his hand over his mouth. He didn't need to be a psychic to know what was coming next.

Twining her fingers together she said, "I also told him about you. Because...because I knew we'd need to bring you what we took from the house. I can't get a clear sign of what's going on. All I know is that something is very wrong."

She looked at him, clearly pleading with her eyes for him to not be mad with her. Looking away, he forced himself to find Jason's gaze and his friend's reaction. The younger man didn't look upset or disgusted, but he'd also had a couple of days to process the information.

"Sonny," Jason sat up, slowly swinging his leg over the side of the couch and leaning forward. "Elizabeth explained everything; including why you never told me. I always knew that you somehow knew things other people didn't but I just told myself you had good instincts or good hunches. It wasn't my place to question; I trusted you and you never led us wrong."

He paused and then looked Sonny square in the eye. "I don't think less of you, and I don't think you're some weird person. You never treated me like I was damaged or incapable because of my injury. I don't think this makes you weird or wrong. It's something you were born with, like red hair or blue eyes."

Sonny closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them to meet his friend's gaze. "I should have known you wouldn't judge me. Elizabeth and Sam swore you wouldn't."

"Do you believe me?" Jason asked, extending his hand.

Sonny waved his hand at his friend, then purposely didn't touch Jason. "I believe you. Thank you, Jason."

"I want you to know that I overheard you and Elizabeth talking that day you told me to investigate Kurt. The reason I asked you questions was because you always told me to keep women out of the business."

"And now I was telling you to check out our warehouse manager after talking to my sister," Sonny said as he realized how it must have appeared to Jason.

"Yeah," his friend nodded.

"Don't worry about it," Sonny told him. "I know you're not trying to take over. You were just confused."

Elizabeth let out a breath and looked at him, "You're not mad?"

He put his arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her temple. "No, I'm not. Now, let's look at this stuff you brought."

Maybe he would get a flash of something. And maybe he'd find out what happened to Michael and Carly. Hopefully if he did it wouldn't be confirmation of his flash of their death.

Jason watched as Sonny put the papers Elizabeth had taken from Carly's house out on the table in front of him. He read them, flipping through the brochure and ran his hand over the duffle bag they'd carried everything in. He didn't know how the visions worked for Sonny, but he understood from Elizabeth that they didn't come on demand. So he didn't say anything because he didn't want to interfere.

"When you were shot, did Elizabeth...did she freak?" Sonny asked, surprising him with the odd question.

"I don't know," he shrugged. "She remained pretty calm while I was driving and found a place for us. I could tell she was upset, but I figured that was because we had been shot at. I didn't notice anything extreme."

"She doesn't like blood," Sonny offered.

"Elizabeth told me," he nodded.

"She helped you?" his friend questioned, definitely curious.

"She said she knew she had to; it was the only thing she could do." He looked over towards the hall; Elizabeth and Sam had gone to one of the bedrooms leaving him and Sonny alone to talk. "She admitted she got sick sometimes, and she definitely had to prepare herself to look at the wound; even to change the bandages."

"I know that my sister is a strong woman," Sonny sighed heavily. "It's just that I knew what Deke did to her and I know how stuff affects her and I want to protect her. My instinct always is to protect her."

"Mine too," Jason admitted. "After she told me about the blood and her reaction, I tried to take care of my leg as much as I could so she didn't have to."

"You want Doc to look at it?" his friend asked.

"I think I'm okay. Elizabeth actually stitched me up."

The older man nodded, "You know my shoulder? She stitched that. Then puked for like two minutes straight. I almost went to a hospital even though I knew I'd get arrested; just so she didn't have to take care of me.

"Did she say anything at Carly's?" Sonny asked, shooting him a glance. "Anything about blood?"

"There wasn't any blood," Jason shook his head.

"Even if it's cleaned up, the smell would linger for her."

Frowning, Jason sat up straighter. "Why are you asking about blood? Did you see something?"

"I don't know," Sonny shook his head, but Jason didn't believe him. There was a reason Sonny kept asking about blood.

"Sonny."

His friend swallowed and then said, "When Elizabeth was talking about going to Carly's and how it felt off...I had this horrible flash of you finding Carly and Michael's dead upstairs."

Jason felt his heart leap into his throat. "D-dead?"

"Then when you said you didn't find them I figured I'd just overreacted, let my mind conjure up the worst-case scenario."

"And now?" Jason asked. There was something the older man wasn't saying.

"Every time I touch the papers we suspect Alex wrote I just...I keep seeing Carly."

"Michael?" he pressed.

"I only see Carly," Sonny shook his head. "I don't know if it's past or future or if it's even real. I don't have a clear sense. That's...that's the problem with these visions."

"What about the brochure?" Jason asked. "You keep picking it up and focusing on the page Alex wrote on."

"All I get is just...darkness. It just matches Elizabeth's feeling that something is wrong. Off. I keep hoping that I'll get a flash if I keep touching it."

"Hey," he cautioned. "Don't push. You can't force it, so that means we have to keep searching. What are the guards doing?"

As Sonny described which guards were still loyal and where he had them stationed to observe Alcazar's men and figure out what the rivals were doing, he suddenly grabbed the brochure. Jason leaned forward, looking intently at his friend.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Zander Smith. What was the description of him?

"Dark hair, dark eyes, about five-eight. Dressed like a dock rat; jeans, t-shirt, flannel shirt over it. Hair's long in the front, covers his eyes sometimes."

"What does Alex look like?" his friend asked.

Jason frowned, "Dark hair, always parted and combed to the side."

"Dark eyes, shorter than you?" Sonny asked.

"Yeah," he nodded. "He was a business guy. He looked like Jax whenever he was dressed casually."

Except for the morning Jason brought Michael over and Alex wasn't dressed. "But there was one time I saw him less than put together. And his hair was longer than I thought."

"Could it have been long enough to cover his eyes?" Sonny questioned, tipping his head to the side.

"You think Alex Henderson and Zander Smith are the same guy?" Jason asked incredulously.

"When I touched the brochure, I didn't get anything about Alex Henderson, but Zander Smith and Luis Alcazar."

"Maybe Zander knows Alex; maybe Alex is a plant."

"Could be," his friend nodded. "Or maybe they're the same guy."

"But when I got the description of Zander I never even thought of Alex," Jason shook his head. "How could I look at the guy and not even suspect him?"

"Because you're human," Sonny told him compassionately. "You sensed something was wrong and I agreed, but why would we suspect he was this Smith character? Alex was here long before we heard about Zander."

"I know," he sighed. "I just...Michael is in danger and I swore I would protect him. Now he's missing and I have no idea where he is or how he is."

"I'm trying," Sonny told him heavily.

Holding up his hand Jason said with a shake of his head, "I know. I wasn't complaining-"

"Sonny?"

They both turned and looked at Elizabeth who was hurrying down the hall towards them. "Have you watched the news?"

"We never turned on a radio when we were in the car," Elizabeth shook her head as they sat watching the TV hoping for a repeat of the news. "It was too much distraction while we were driving. And in the house-"

"We were the same way," Sonny told her. There was no reason for her to feel bad. Or Sam who was staring at the television in disbelief. He had been focused on getting the two of them to safety, and then contacting guards and Jason. His situation might be talked about on the news, but he wasn't going to rely on the news or the police for information. If they turned on the TV, it was only to watch a movie for a few hours' distraction when it got to be too much to think about.

"Jax has been arrested?" Jason asked. Nobody, it seemed, could comprehend it.

"From what I gathered," Elizabeth shrugged, "his company tanked. Investments went bad, there are claims of insider trading, they claim he pulled an Enron. The Feds are coming in; FBI, IRS, the whole alphabet. They're talking RICO charges as well, and since he once pleaded no contest to them before there's a lot of speculation."

Sonny looked over at Jason, "You think Jerry caused problems again?"

He shook his head, "Jerry's in a South African prison. After all the problems he caused Jax, and being responsible for the Feds taking a closer look at us, we've kept an eye on him. A couple of months ago we found out he was tossed in prison."

"Would Jax try to get him out?" Sam asked. "I thought they were close."

Sonny tilted his head to the side. "They were, but Jax took quite a hit with the charges and felt betrayed by his family. He washed his hands of him, and Jerry's using an alias."

"So his trouble probably isn't because of his brother," she surmised.

He shook his head. "No. This was no doubt Alcazar."

"You're pretty sure of that," Elizabeth said with an arch of her brow. "Why?"

"That brochure? I think I know why the color bothered you so much." His sister looked at him questioningly and he told her, "We think Alex might be Zander Smith."

"And who's that?" she asked with a frown.

"A name we got from the warehouse foreman," he answered and he could tell by the way her eyes slightly widened that she no doubt remembered that day in his office. "He said Smith was the guy who got him to betray me to Alcazar."

Elizabeth turned to ask Jason, "So you think Carly's boyfriend is working for Alcazar?"

"It's what we think," the younger man nodded. "Or at least Sonny. I agree the description of Zander could match Alex. I'm still trying to put it all together."

"If Alex is Zander, or at least working for Alcazar it could explain what happened to Jax," Sonny explained. Then his brows furrowed as he asked, "But why? Why would Alcazar go after Jax?"

"Something to do with Jerry?" Jason asked.

"Why did he get thrown in prison in South Africa?" Sam questioned.

"Some smuggling operation," his friend explained. "Some microchips I think. I just remember that it didn't affect our operations and he'd be in prison."

"What does Alcazar do?"

"Elizabeth," Sonny hedged.

"Oh give up the 'we're not talking about business'," his sister snapped. "We've all been attacked. It's the four of us here trying to stay safe and you never would have figured out Alex's connection to Alcazar if I hadn't sensed it first and brought that stuff. Stop being stubborn and accept a little help."

Jason's eyebrows went up and his friend looked away, no doubt to hide the smirk that played near his lips. Elizabeth didn't normally want to talk about business; she respected the boundaries Sonny placed. But this was different and his sister had picked up on things.

"He's an arms dealer," he said, not planning to say more.

"Weapons are more sophisticated than ever," she pointed out. "Maybe Jax's brother went after Alcazar's microchips and this was his payback. Attack Jax and the Jacks family business."

"It could be," Sonny said, looking over at Jason and seeing that his friend wasn't completely dismissing the idea. "But why strike both us? Why come after me?"

"Maybe you were just an added bonus," Sam suggested. "He wanted to get Jax, knew you lived in the same city and so he widened his attack. I remember something like that happening to the Doyles when I was growing up. Some punk thought he could come after one organization and why not just go after another?"

"I don't know," Sonny shook his head. "Jerry was only sent to prison a few months ago. The attacks began about the same time, maybe even before. I can't recall for certain."

"There wasn't enough time for all the planning," Jason added, obviously picking up on the inconsistency Sonny saw. "He had to have been planning this before Jerry went to prison."

"Right," he nodded. "So go after Jax and me? We may live in the same town, but our paths don't really cross in business. The only time I ever went after his interests or cared, was when Brenda was involved with us. After she died, a lot of the rivalry began to fade away. We don't like each other because of that whole thing, but I wouldn't go out of my way to sabotage his business."

He leaned back in his chair and ran his hand over his mouth. Nothing made sense, but he knew he was going to have to get Benny searching for some connection. Some reason why Alcazar came after both him and Jax in a massive attack.

Chapter 27

Jason Morgan hated feeling useless. His job was to be out on the streets. He found traitors and enemies, he protected Sonny and his family and he searched for clues. He was active; he did not sit on a couch. But while his leg was healing, he wasn't at a hundred percent. He wasn't quick and he couldn't stay on his feet for long, and so he'd reluctantly had to agree with Sonny to stay.

There were a handful of guards who had survived the massacre and they were gathering intel on Luis Alcazar and bringing it back. Jason and Sonny would pore over the information, making maps and blueprints the men supplied. Guards and workers were counted and photographs were taken to identify them and track their movements. They felt they were getting a pretty accurate count of the men in Alcazar's organization and their positions.

Sonny had the men focused on Alcazar, because they knew that he was the lynchpin. They couldn't fight the organization from the ground up; they had to cut the head off the beast. They needed to find where he stayed, what his habits and routines were so they could kill him. If they were able to take out Alcazar and those in the highest positions, then Sonny and Jason felt that they could deal with the lower level workers.

Alcazar, though, was headquartered on a yacht anchored in the harbor and he rarely ventured off it. Men reported to him; heading out to the big boat in a smaller launch. The guards were watching and trying to figure out a way to get past the security that was present. So far they had not come up with a reliable scenario, so they were still working on it.

So while Jason and Sonny plotted and talked, there were also a lot of down time. And that was what Jason didn't like. It left him with too much time to turn inward and think. He didn't really like the direction his thoughts turned.

It wasn't just that he thought about Michael and Carly; although he did worry about the fact that there was no information on them. No, he found his thoughts turning more and more to Elizabeth. And that unsettled him.

Elizabeth was his friend's sister. She was his boss' sister. But he couldn't think of her like a little sister. He didn't look at her and think of Emily; he looked at her and saw a woman. A beautiful woman he could talk to, felt comfortable around, and while on one level he enjoyed it, it disturbed him on a whole different one.

He shouldn't be thinking these kind of thoughts about Elizabeth. Besides being Sonny's sister, she was too pure for this life. He knew she had seen things, and helped Sonny - and even him - through rough and dangerous situations, but that was different than dating. She had been isolated and sheltered; she had admitted that she was not very experienced with men. How could he be with her and not feel like he was taking advantage of her like she claimed other men had tried?

She told him so often that he was her friend. She needed someone she could trust and that she could rely on. That was more important than a romance. Right?

Besides, he'd chide himself, how could he think of Elizabeth in a possibly romantic light when they were in the middle of a mob war and Michael was missing? Sonny had taught him business came first. It was hard to think of that, though, when Sonny would disappear down the hall with Sam. But if he did have time when he wasn't dealing with trying to find a way to get revenge, then he should be thinking about Michael. Not Elizabeth.

His son was missing. Nobody knew where he was, when he'd disappeared, or if they would ever find him. Sonny hadn't seen anything about them, besides the first day when Sonny thought he saw Carly dead. But even though Sonny couldn't be certain he actually saw it, or if it was just a horrible thought that occurred to him. That distinction did nothing to calm Jason down.

The front door of the safe house opened and Johnny and Stan walked in. The computer tech was searching on Alcazar, Alex and trying to see if he was Zander, and anything that might lead to Carly and Michael. He was tired and ragged looking, as every man was, but he was doing his best to get the information everyone needed.

Johnny collapsed into a chair and within seconds he was asleep. Jason raised a brow and looking over at Stan.

"He's been awake for over forty-eight hours," Stan said by way of explanation. "He's been making inroads with Alcazar's men and trying to prove to them that he believes Sonny is dead. And even if he's not, then Johnny's not sure that Sonny has the ability to still run things."

Jason nodded. It was part of their plan, but they were nervous at whether it would actually work. "Does he think they believe him?"

Stan shrugged, "He sounded hopeful. It's just been tiring trying to gather as much evidence as he can."

"So he came to give a report?" he asked, lifting a dubious brow.

"Sonny told him to come here. I gave him a ride because I was coming to talk to you.

Sitting up straighter, Jason asked, "About what?"

"I think I may have gotten a lead on Michael. I hacked into the police crime network and downloaded their face recognition software. I put Michael, Carly, Leticia and Alex Henderson's DMV photo in, and since then have tapped into various places and have been running the software against their security footage."

Jason didn't understand everything Stan said, but he knew the guy was a computer software genius. And he wouldn't be here unless he thought he had something solid. Considering this was the first break they had Jason was feeling anxious.

"So what'd you find?" he asked, interrupting Stan's explanation.

"I think I spotted Leticia in a bus depot in Pennsylvania. She was carrying a child."

"Leticia?"

He gave a nod. "It sure looked like her, and it's the first, the only, hit I've gotten. I figured I better tell you."

Jason ran his hand over his face. "Thank you. I...I have to go down there and see if it's her."

"The footage is days old," Stan cautioned him. "Now that I think I spotted her, I've concentrated my search there. I'm going to see if I can follow her in the depot. Maybe she left, or maybe she boarded another bus. I'm going to check it, Jason. I swear. I just wanted to let you know."

"Thank you," Jason told him. "Thank you for everything you're doing, Stan."

Sam looked up from her movie and over at Elizabeth who hadn't moved in the last twenty minutes. Pausing the movie she wasn't really interested in anyway, the guards had only thought to supply action movies with lots of car chases; she turned on the bed and looked over at Elizabeth. Her friend was just staring at her sketchbook, the charcoal hanging limply in her fingers.

"Hey," she said softly. "Are you alright?"

Elizabeth blinked and jerked, the charcoal dropping onto the bedspread. She quickly scrambled for it and then looked over at Sam. "What?"

With a slight smile she said, "I asked if you were alright. But I think I got my answer. What's going on? You were miles away."

"I was just thinking," the other woman mused.

"About what?" Sam asked. "Or should I asked, about whom?"

Despite the blush that spread from her cheeks to her chest, Elizabeth shook her head. "It isn't...that wasn't..."

She huffed and said, "Shut up, Sam."

With a raise of her brow she asked, "So you haven't noticed how handsome Jason is?"

"You're engaged to my brother!"

"Who I love very much," she stated. "But I'm not blind. And I don't think you are either."

"Well, no," Elizabeth admitted, her blush deepening. "But that...Sam, he's my friend."

"Sonny's my friend, too," she pointed out.

"But you didn't start out as just friends," the other woman protested. "When the two of you saw each other you were definitely attracted to each other and you knew exactly what you wanted. And it wasn't just friendship."

Sam looked at Elizabeth for a moment and then asked, "So you only want friendship from Jaosn?"

"Sam," Elizabeth sighed heavily. "I...I don't have a whole lot of experience with men. Sonny killed Deke when I wasn't even sixteen. I just disappeared from school and until I turned eighteen I kept a real low profile so no one would take me from Sonny. I got a degree, but I was registered under a false name and Sonny said not to make friends and then as he got power and connections I had guards surrounding me."

"You never did any of the normal teenage dating stuff," Sam said in understanding. She could imagine how it had been for Elizabeth. While Sam had grown up as friends with the Doyle kids and had guards assigned to her, she had done more things than Elizabeth had, like attending senior prom and walking in her own high school graduation. She could only imagine how controlling Sonny had been and how that probably scarred Elizabeth.

"Plus, the whole thing with Deke and what he tired and what he said," Elizabeth gave an embarrassed shrug. "I wasn't really interested in boys and by the time I did wake up and realize they were interesting...I was pretty sheltered and naïve."

Licking her lips she said, "It's not that I'm a virgin, but I've never really been in love. Guys wanted the thrill of going after Sonny Corinthos' sister or they'd bolt when they found out about him. I was attracted to the couple of guys I slept with, but I knew it would never last with them."

"And so what do you feel about Jason?" Sam knew she was pressing, but she honestly thought Elizabeth needed to talk about this. She was slightly sheltered, and she was inexperienced and she'd never really had a lot of friends. Sam knew that they would be sisters-in-law, but she genuinely wanted to be Elizabeth's friend. To be someone the other woman could talk to if wanted or needed to.

"He's nice," Elizabeth answered. "He's not one of my guards, even though he works for Sonny. Because they're on more...equal footing, I guess, I don't feel like I'm putting him in an awkward spot. He came after me when I didn't want to see Sonny and he respected me to actually listen to me when I said I wouldn't go back. He's become my friend because of me and not because of Sonny."

Sam nodded, having seen this grow and develop. That was the way Jason was. He might respect someone, or treat them civilly because of their connection to Sonny, but he also judged the person on their own merits. If he didn't like someone, it was clear. And if he did like someone, it was also clear. It was obvious Jason liked Elizabeth, and Sam wondered just how far beyond friendship it went.

"I've never really had that before," Elizabeth sighed, "and I don't want to lose it. So...So I try not to think about how Jason is attractive or how my stomach rolled with butterflies when I was impulsive and kissed him on his cheek one night."

Sam's eyebrow went up in surprise but she remained silent.

"We were in danger and he'd been shot and I pushed everything aside except for the fact that I had to keep him alive and try to keep him from getting very sick." With a sigh the other woman said, "It was easy to do when he was unconscious or when he was awake but very weak. But by the time we met up with you..."

"It got a little hard?" Sam asked.

"We ate together, we talked, I helped him and the first couple of nights we slept in the same room because I had to keep an eye on him. Twenty-four seven of togetherness and I began to wonder how it would be to have that all the time. And not just when there's danger."

"Of course you would."

"But...but danger and extreme situations isn't real life. He has a son, he's worried about him and the presence of Sonny looms over us. Sonny wouldn't like us together."

"Elizabeth," Sam said with a mixture of sincerity and lightheartedness, "Sonny wouldn't like you with anyone. He'd probably want you to become a nun rather than think of you with anyone."

"Yeah, see?" her friend pointed out. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"By telling your overprotective and out-of-line brother that it's none of his business." Reaching over, she rested her hand on Elizabeth's. "Who you love, whoever that is, is none of Sonny's business and you can firmly tell him to butt out, and then let me deal with him."

Elizabeth gave just the slightest hint of a smile, "Thanks, Sam. I'm glad I have you to talk to."

"That's why I'm here," Sam said genuinely with a smile of her own. If she, in any way, helped, then she was glad she'd pressed.

As Elizabeth sat staring at Jason across the dinner table, her conversation with Sam from the afternoon flooded her mind. Her friend had just announced that he was leaving tomorrow. Stan had a lead on Michael, and he was going to track it down.

While everyone understood why he needed to, nobody particularly liked it. Mostly because Jason insisted on going alone.

"We don't have the men to spare," he said with a shake of his head at Sonny. "Stan needs to stay here and keep going over the surveillance material the guards bring him and the guards are needed here. Especially since Johnny's working on getting inside Alcazar's organization."

"You're still recovering," Sonny countered, "and you're not one hundred percent. What if Zander suspects you're not dead? There was no body found; of course they're going to wonder. They know you'll be worried about Carly and Michael and you'd search for them. They could have let Leticia be seen to set a trap."

"We can't spare any men," Jason repeated. "Especially not on my family."

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard," Sam snapped at him angrily, causing Jason to look at her in surprise. "It doesn't matter that Michael isn't yours biologically; you love your son. He and Carly are your family and you acting like men shouldn't be spared to look for them is just dumb."

"I'll take care of my family," he told her.

Sonny's fiancée tipped her head to the side, her long, dark hair falling in a curtain as her mockingly disdainful voice tripped off her tongue. "Or is it just because you're an enforcer?" she asked. "And so you think guards shouldn't be spared for you? Should Joseph never have put guards on me because it was one less that could have been protecting Kevin and Mary?"

"That's not..." Jason shook his head. "Sam, we just don't have the men that Doyle had back then."

"And Sonny...none of us...can afford to lose you, Jason," Elizabeth stated, her eyes on her plate. "We're already in trouble, what would happen to us if you were captured or killed?"

She looked up at him and let every bit of fear, frustration and desperation she felt showed clearly in her eyes. "We cannot afford to lose you all because you're too stupid, or stubborn, or bullheaded or macho or whatever other foolish adjective you want to say. It's not smart, and it's not for the good of the organization for you to walk blind into a situation when you're not fully healed."

Standing up she jabbed a finger at him, "Sonny is claustrophobic, but he rarely leaves this box we've moved into yesterday because he knows it's not safe. I'm going stir crazy and so is Sam because the only time we've been outside is when we move to another place. At least you and Sonny have driven around to observe things. Stop thinking only of yourself and think of what would happen to everyone, including Michael if you walked into a trap."

"Elizabeth," he said softly, holding up his hands.

"Shut up!" she snapped at him. "I don't want to hear it. You are not a superhero and you need someone to go with you. So since I am not currently utilizing Francis, take him."

Then she walked down the hall to her bedroom and slammed her door. She hoped Jason took someone whith him, because she really couldn't bear the thought of losing him. Even if he never became more, he was her friend, and she didn't want to lose one of the few she had.

Chapter 28

Late the next afternoon Jason, and Francis, arrived in Pennsylvania. After Elizabeth stormed away from the table and refused to come out of her bedroom, even when he tried to say goodbye, Jason had spent a lot of time thinking about what she said. They were shorthanded, but was that an excuse to not to take precautions? It wasn't that he'd never thought it might be a trap; he just wanted to leave men to protect Sonny and the organization.

But Sam's chiding and Elizabeth's angry lashing out had made him rethink things. He needed to find Michael and Carly, but he also needed to be safe. If Alex was Zander and Zander was obviously working for Alcazar, then that made the situation very dangerous. These men had struck without warning and in no predictable pattern or reason. They were formidable, and that meant Jason needed to be careful.

Which was why Francis had accompanied him. The two men had left early and driven to Pennsylvania and the bus depot where Leticia had been spotted. Stan had seen her board another bus, but she hadn't gotten off in a bus stop with surveillance cameras. They had a route to follow, and all bus stops along the way marked. They were going to drive it and see if they could pick up her trail.

Jason was doing his best to conceal it, but he was extremely anxious. He wanted to find Carly and his son, and he really wanted to find them alive. Ever since Sonny had told him about seeing Carly dead, he hadn't been able to forget it. Despite his friend trying to backtrack and say he wasn't sure if it was an actual vision, a feeling of dread had settled on Jason.

When Carly showed up on his doorstep and asked for his help, he'd told her it wasn't safe. While things were quiet at the time, they had only recently had a major war on their hands. It had been a major bloodbath and Jason didn't want her or her child to be caught in the crossfire of another fight. She had insisted it would be okay and she knew he would take care of them. Besides, she had already told Tony and A.J. that Jason was the father and if he didn't go along with it, then both men would start fighting over her child again and she would probably lose him.

Jason ended up agreeing, and now he was afraid it might have ended up costing Carly and Michael their lives. They had been used as pawns in a war against him and the price for his choices and so he hoped beyond anything he had ever hoped for in his life, that he was able to find Michael and Carly because he wasn't sure what he would do if something had happened to them.

Somewhere in rural Ohio, Jason and Francis finally got a lead on Leticia and Michael. The bus had stopped at a country diner and the waitress, a real grandmotherly type expecting a new grandchild any day now remembered the pair. She identified them from a picture Stan had photoshopped together of the two of them and Jason. Apparently it would be less suspicious if they were all in a photograph together.

Jason didn't understand, but if it was the reason Mrs. Dunkirk talked so openly about his son, then he was grateful for it. The waitress described the little boy and how he'd eaten peaches mixed with cottage cheese, but wouldn't eat the dairy product by itself. Everything she said fit with all of Michael's normal behavior and he was hopeful it was his son and not some elaborate ruse.

After a while, Mrs. Dunkirk finally decided he and Francis had eaten enough pie and told them where Leticia and Michael went. The bus had a scheduled stop of half an hour, and shortly after it left, without his son and the nanny, a red pickup arrived at the diner. The driver never came in, but the waitress saw him when he got out of the truck to help Leticia put the bags in. The man wasn't a local; she knew the locals.

She was able to describe the truck the man drove and what he looked like. It wasn't very heartening news to the men, but it was better than nobody recognizing Leticia and Michael at all. They thanked the waitress for her help and then left the diner. They did have an idea of which way to go at least. The diner was at the corner of what constituted a major intersection, and the truck had gone south on the state route. Possibly towards West Virginia.

So Francis drove while Jason called Stan. They had done a background check on Leticia when he hired her, so maybe they would discover she had a cousin or a friend in the area she'd turned to for help. There had to be some reason why she'd come here. Some reason other than the suspicion this was all a set-up to draw Jason away on a wild chase.

When they stopped at the next town they came to and checked into the old, rustic roadside motel, Jason sighed at the forced stop. He knew they needed to let Stan research the nanny and it didn't make sense to get too far away from the last confirmed sighting of her and Michael. It was just the simple fact that Jason hated sitting still. Driving in a car was at least movement and seemed better than sitting in a hotel room.

As he sat outside on his porch after coming back from dinner, Jason had the strong desire to call Elizabeth. He wanted to assure her that he was okay because she still tended to worry about his wound. He wanted to let her know he and Francis were being safe and making sure they weren't being followed and didn't walk into an ambush. A big part of him, though, just wanted to talk to her because he wanted to hear her voice.

It was that thought that made him pause. It was just a byproduct of being around her all the time. He was her friend and that was all he should think about. Besides, Sonny would have a fit if Jason expressed an interest in Elizabeth. The older man was very protective of his sister and wouldn't want her to date his enforcer. Jason could understand that, because Jason wouldn't want Emily to date anyone in the organization.

So Jason shoved that thought out of his head and instead of reaching for his cellphone, he stood and went inside his room. After driving all day he was mentally fatigued and decided that the best thing he could do was get some sleep. He quickly readied for bed and put his phone on the beside table. It was plugged into the charger, but on in case anyone called. There would be no outgoing calls.

His phone jarred him awake just as the sky was beginning to lighten. He reached for it and flipped it open, blinking the sleep away.

"Yeah."

"I think I may have found something," Stan's tired voice carried through the thin plastic device.

Jason sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, "What?"

"Leticia's got a second cousin who lives in the area. I'm still researching the guy she's married to, but I hacked into Leticia's e-mail and she's a pretty regular correspondent with the cousin."

"Any calls to her from Leticia?" Jason asked.

"None from Carly's house. None from her cell since this all went down, but there were some before. No credit card or phone cards, but I'm checking the cousin's line to see if there were any collect calls or calls received from pay phones."

"What's the address?" he asked, reaching for a pen and paper in the bedside drawer.

Stan listed it off and verified it when Jason read it back. After thanking the computer tech for all his hard work and effort, he hung up and headed into the shower. He'd get ready for the day and get Francis and then he wanted to scout out the cousin's place. He wanted to get a sense of the situation before Stan called back, and also be in position for if it seemed likely Leticia had run to her cousin's house to hide.

The farm was absolutely still. It seemed that at a place this size there should be some activity. But the barn was closed, the tractor sat next to the field and there were no kids running around. The truck that Mrs. Dunkirk described sat parked right next to the house.

If this wasn't a set up, then Leticia and Michael could be right there. But that was the part he was hung up on. Leticia would not willingly set him up, but she could be acting because she or Michael had been threatened. Jason knew that she loved Michael and only wanted the best for him and she would do anything to protect him.

His phone ran and he fished it out of his pocket, "Yeah?"

"There was a collect call to the house," Stan informed him immediately. "After the attack, but from a bus station."

"So she could have been on the run," Jason breathed out.

"Yeah," the tech agreed. "The calls weren't very long. Even the first one. But it was longer than the others."

"Okay," he said. "Thank you, Stan."

"Good luck, Jason," the other man said. "I hope Michael's okay and they're safe."

Jason swallowed and then said thickly, "Thanks."

Hanging up, he looked over at Francis. "There were collect calls from bus stations along her path."

The guard nodded and ran his hand over his mouth in thought. "She could have been scared, on the run...she went some place low key, where she thought they could hide."

That was what Jason believed. He looked around and didn't get the feeling he was walking into a trap. The place had the feeling of a place scared, fortified, closed off against the outside. He suddenly wondered if Sonny had any feeling about the situation. But Jason knew that things didn't work that way, and he wasn't going to make his friends feel like he expected him to perform. He had always trusted his instincts and observation of places and sometimes he knew he just had to go with his feelings. This was one of those times.

"So what are you going to do?" Francis asked.

"I want to see if Leticia and Michael are there," he answered.

"Just drive up and approach?"

"I want to show them we're harmless. Leticia could be hiding-"

"Or she could be watching," the guard countered.

"She could have mentioned me," Jason said. "I don't want to spook them."

"No," Francis agreed. "But keep your guard up."

"That's why you're here," he pointed out. "I'm not going to knock on the door with a gun in my hand."

"Okay," the other man nodded, patting his gun under his shoulder almost without thought. "Steady and calm. We'll see if your little boy is here."

As Jason started the car so they could approach the house he sent up a prayer. He hoped Michael was here, too.

"It's so still it's unnerving," Francis said quietly as they walked up the steps and onto the porch.

Jason nodded once, but didn't reply. His ears were strained for even the faintest sound, and as he knocked on the front door he heard it. The unmistakable sound of a shotgun being readied. Looking over at Francis he knew the guard heard it and Jason kept his arms loose and ready to reach for his gun as he waited for the door to open.

It did, but only a fraction and Jason squinted to make out the face that blended into the dim interior. A disembodied voice, full of fear and threat, asked, "Can I help you with something?"

Making sure the man could see his empty hands, he said, "My name is Jason Morgan. My son's nanny, Leticia Juarez, is your wife's cousin. I was hoping you could help me."

He expected the man to bluster and ask more questions and Jason was prepared to do whatever he could to prove he meant no harm. Instead it was surprisingly simple as Leticia's voice carried softly to the door, "It's him, Rob. It's Mr. Morgan."

A wave of relief flooded through him when he heard her voice and then when he saw her. She moved out of the shadows and just into his view and he saw how nervous and scared she looked. But he also saw the genuine relief that crossed her face when she saw him.

Rob turned to look at Leticia, still regarding Jason warily. "Leticia?"

"Let him come in," she told the man at the door. "It's okay. He's Michael's father."

Rob finally relented and opened the door, stepping back to let Jason and Francis in. While they were entering, the farmer disarmed the shotgun and put it up where the toddling boy would not be able to reach it. But it was still close enough to get to should trouble come. Close enough for protection, but very little chance of an accident.

Jason approached Leticia with concern, "Are you okay?"

"Michael and I are fine," she assured him. "He's downstairs with my cousin."

He nodded, wanting to see his son, but also wanting to get answers first. "Thank you for taking care of him, "he told her. "For keeping him safe and protected."

Gesturing at some chairs, he said, "Can I ask you what happened?"

She clasped her hands together and nodded. He let her lead the way and get settled. Taking a seat across from her he leaned forward and asked, "What happened, Leticia? Why are you and Michael here? Where's Carly?"

"I...I don't know what happened," she began. "Ms. Roberts had been gone a lot. She told me not to tell you what was going on."

He sighed. He knew Carly was keeping things from him, but he'd also long said that he stayed out her personal life. Unless it affected Michael, he didn't get involved, because it was a game she wanted him to play. He should have realized that everything Carly did impacted Michael's well-being. Especially recently.

"It's okay," he assured the nervous nanny. "I know you felt caught, but with Michael I need to know what's happening."

She nodded almost tearfully, "I know. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Jason tried to calm her. "I know it's hard with Carly. She can be cruel and attacking. You were just trying to make sure you were there for Michael. So just go ahead and tell me what happened."

"She would be gone a lot with Alex. Or if they were at the house she'd tell me to take Michael somewhere, or give me time off. Sometimes I would hear her talking about you, but I didn't want to eavesdrop and she would stop talking when she saw me."

A lump began to form in Jason's stomach. If Alex was Zander and Carly was talking about Jason, had she given them information on Jason and Sonny?

"She was angry at you," Leticia continued. "She was angry about Mr. Corinthos' sister and she was always complaining. I could tell she was planning something with Mr. Henderson. She talked about taking a trip and she was telling me to make sure I gathered the things Michael would need and that he'd want."

Then the nanny paused and looked down. "Then suddenly one morning Ms. Roberts came to me and looked very nervous. She...she was scared. She told me I needed to take Michael and I needed to leave. We packed and she gave me all this cash and told me I had to take Michael and go. I couldn't call you. I had to hide us. I had to only use cash, give false names. I...I was scared."

He could see that she was. Even now. "I know. But you did really good. You really did."

"But you found me," she wailed. "Someone else could have found me."

"They didn't," he told her, trying to assure her and calm her. "I'm here now and Francis and I will protect you."

"But I don't know where Ms. Roberts is," she shook her head. "I saw the news about you and Mr. Corinthos missing. I don't know what happened to her. When she got Michael she...it wasn't like she was saying goodbye because we were leaving. It...it was like...it was permanent."

The fear that Sonny's vision was real began to grow.

"We'll find out what happened to her," Jason vowed. "But now...now I want to see Michael."

She immediately stood and nodded. "He's downstairs. I can bring him-"

He held up his hand and said, "I'll go with you."

Following Leticia down the stairs, Jason's throat constricted and his eyes burned as he soon as he heard the little boy's laughter. At least he was happy, and probably had no idea what was going on around him. As they reached the bottom of the stairs Michael looked up and his smile was wide and instant the moment he saw Jason.

"Da!" he squealed in delight as he stood and toddled towards his father as fast as he could. "Dada!"

Dropping to one knee, he enfolded Michael in his arms and closed his eyes tightly. His son was safe and with him now. The next thing he needed to do was find out what happened to Carly. He no longer had a feeling they would find her alive, and he had to do all he could to protect her son.

Chapter 29

Because Jason was returning to Port Charles with his son and the boy's nanny, the Corinthos family and guards made another move to another safe house. This time it would be permanent. The new place was bigger, and as they arrived the upgrades to the security system were just being completed. They would stay here while Sonny fought back against Alcazar. It hadn't been said, but both Elizabeth and Sam knew that's what was going to happen.

Sonny was going to make his stand.

Elizabeth didn't know everything going on; her brother still tried to shelter her and Sam despite the fact that the small safe houses didn't always conceal everything. The guards were doing surveillance and Johnny, one of the most trusted men, was somehow getting inside information on Alcazar. Everyone was tense and nervous and Elizabeth knew those feelings were only going to escalate.

At the moment, though, they were all merely waiting. Waiting for Jason to return. Elizabeth had tried to keep busy in the days he'd been gone, but with no art supplies beyond a sketchpad and a few sketching implements, she didn't do much. Elizabeth had always preferred paints to sketching because she could lose herself better. Now, all she did was barely occupy herself.

Sonny was always talking to his men, whether at the house or whatever observation post they'd set up. When he wasn't in meetings he wanted to spend time with Sam. He tried to include Elizabeth, but she knew quite clearly she was the third wheel and so she tried to give them their privacy. A little sister was not as preferable as a fiancée, and she made herself scarce often.

With all her free time, and no real interest in sketching, Elizabeth's thoughts turned to Jason more often than she liked or knew was good for her. Until they'd heard from him she'd worried for his safety. She'd prayed for him and Francis, and she'd prayed for his little boy so that nothing would happen to them. She didn't want anything to befall an innocent, sweet little boy, not only for him but because she knew it would devastate Jason. He had been obviously worried for his son ever since they'd gone to Carly's house and it had only grown as each day passed.

Elizabeth knew it was foolish to think of Jason as anything but her friend. He had a son, whose mother could be dead, and his time was going to be spent with him. She was merely his friend's awkward and off-limits little sister. It was just that once she'd vocalized even a fraction of her thoughts it was harder to ignore them and pretend she didn't have them.

The trio in the house looked up as they heard a car approach. They waited, rather anxiously, for Jason to enter with Michael. They all wanted to see how the little boy was, and hear what information Jason had found out that he hadn't shared with them over the phone. All those questions would have to wait, though, for Michael to get settled in. The poor little boy had been through an ordeal recently and they needed to help him feel comfortable and settled in unfamiliar surroundings. It would help Jason focus on business and help her brother, and he was definitely needed now.

The door opened and Leticia stepped in followed by Jason holding Michael, with Francis bringing up the rear. The group looked tired and weary, Michael's head resting sleepily on his father's shoulder. They all stood uncertainly for a suspended moment until Sonny took control.

"Come in, Leticia," he smiled kindly and warmly as he gestured for her to have a seat on the couch. "Francis, come in."

Then he turned to Jason, "I'm glad Michael was safe. Come on, sit down. I didn't know if you guys would be hungry, but I have a few things we can heat up. I didn't know what Michael would like, but Sam and Elizabeth made sure there were kid friendly foods here."

"Thank you," he said softly, keeping Michael close to his side. "Maybe some food and then some sleep."

"Of course," Elizabeth's brother nodded as he turned to go to the kitchen. "I had the guards get a portable crib. We weren't sure where you'd want Michael to sleep. Elizabeth said Leticia can stay in her room, and she doesn't mind if Michael's there as well."

Jason looked over at her; the first time he'd looked at Elizabeth since they'd arrived. She wasn't bothered by it; she had expected him to pull back and focus on his son. But she was not going to use Michael to try to get his attention so she looked over at the nanny to see how she felt.

"We don't have many rooms, so you can stay with me," Elizabeth told her. "Michael can stay there, too, or with Jason...whatever you two decide is best for him. Sonny and Sam have the door at the end of the hall, Jason's is on the right, mine's on the left. The bathroom is on the left just before the bedroom."

"Thank you, Ms. Corinthos," the nanny replied softly.

"Well," Elizabeth smiled, "I won't sit here and stare at you while you eat. I can take your bag down to the room."

"You don't need to do that," the other woman shook her head.

"Nonsense," she assured her. "I was going to get some things out of there, so I can set it on your bed."

Leticia smiled slightly, this time a little more genuine, "Thank you, Ms. Corinthos."

Francis pointed out which bag was the nanny's and she gave him a smile as well as telling him she was glad he was back. She gave a brief welcome to Jason and Michael and waved at the little boy as he sat on his father's lap. She put Leticia's bag in the room and then took a breath to compose herself before going back out to join the others. Now that she had seen him, she needed to stay in control of her emotions. She had to continue on as friends as she done before. Once she felt calm, she grabbed a sketchbook in case they put Michael down for a nap in here; that way she'd have something to do while her brother and Jason discussed business.

When Elizabeth came back out, Francis was nearly done eating. Her guard was either really hungry, or ready to head off somewhere; Elizabeth knew they wouldn't be told. Jason was more focused on trying to get Michael to eat and Leticia was hastily finishing her dinner; no doubt to be able to take care of her charge so Jason could have his meal. Michael, though, was not interested in eating and as his father tried to give him a drink, the little boy waved his hands in protest, knocking the cup away.

"I've got it," Elizabeth told them, putting her art book down and grabbing some paper towels.

She dropped some on the table to start absorbing the spreading water, and then reached for Michael to dry him off. When she touched him she was suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of blood. Her stomach rolled and she pressed the paper towels into Jason's hand and then stepped back. He looked up at her in confusion and then concern as she tried to hastily exit without scaring Michael.

"Elizabeth?" he asked, half-rising and then stopping when he remembered the little boy.

"I...excuse me," she managed to get out, and then ran for the bathroom.

Leticia looked over at Jason, a little startled at Elizabeth's sudden departure. Jason wanted to assure her, but there was no way to do so quickly or easily. Besides, it wasn't his explanation to give. Even to his nanny.

"Sh'll be okay," Sam assured her, her smile good enough for the tired nanny, but Jason saw the worry behind it.

"Should I take Michael?" Leticia asked.

Jason shook his head. "I'll put Michael in my room tonight. You've had a tiring week; get some rest, Leticia. I...I have things I have to do tomorrow and I'll be gone."

"I understand, Mr. Morgan," she nodded. "I think I'll go lay down. Thank you for the food, Mr. Corinthos."

"You're welcome," he smiled warmly. "I'm glad that you're safe and you and Michael are back now."

Once Leticia was down the hall, Jason looked over at Sonny. He could tell his friend had the same thought he did. Elizabeth had been fine until she touched Michael, then suddenly she was ill. The question Jason wanted to know was what she saw or felt, and could Sonny see if it he touched Michael?

"Sonny?" he ventured hesitantly.

The older man ran his hand over his face and then nodded. "Yeah. Just...just hold him and I..."

Sonny walked around the table slowly and smiled at Michael as he sat in a chair near father and son. "Hey there, buddy. Are you happy to see your daddy?"

Michael looked up at Jason and smiled. Despite the direness of the situation, the enforcer's heart swelled as the little boy smiled even more, mingling it with a laugh as he poked Jason's chin and said, "Da. Da."

"Yeah," Sonny nodded, reaching his hand out slowly towards the boy's knee. "That's your dad."

Then he rested his hand lightly on Michael. Immediately the older man flinched and closed his eyes as he sucked in a breath. Withdrawing his hand and forcing a calm voice, Sonny said, "You're probably sleepy, aren't you? We'll let your dad put you to bed and see you tomorrow, okay?"

Michael didn't understand everything, but he smiled at Sonny's kind voice. No doubt at ease with a person who had always been friendly to him. He leaned back against Jason who wrapped his arms around the little boy. The older man stood up and looked away wearily. Heavy disappointment rolled off him.

Jason stood up, cradling the toddler to his chest and said, "I-I'm going to put him down."

With a nod and a heavy swallow, Sonny said, "Yeah. Get him settled in. Then...then we can talk. I-I'm going to check on Elizabeth."

They walked in silence and Sonny pointed to the room they'd set up for him. It was across the hall from Elizabeth and Leticia's and Jason was tempted to ask the nanny to take care of Michael, but he didn't. He was going to be gone a lot in the next few days; Jason knew he should spend as much time with the little boy as he could to help calm him and stabilize him in this transition. Michael was his son and his responsibility, despite all the care and tenderness Leticia provided him.

It was probably Carly's death that Sonny and Elizabeth had seen. Jason was once again solely responsible for Michael, except this time there wasn't any hope of Carly returning as there was when he was a newborn. Michael was completely his now, and he had to help the little boy deal with the fact that his world was changed forever now that his mother was gone.

After Jason went into his bedroom, Sonny sighed and then turned around to go back to the bathroom. Sam stood at the hallway entrance and looked at him anxiously. She pointed to the bathroom and then at herself. He knew she was offering to go talk to Elizabeth, but he shook his head. He wanted to try first. If it didn't work, though, he wanted Sam close by so he held up his hand in silent pleading for her not to go far. Relief filled him when she nodded, and then he stopped in front of the bathroom.

"Elizabeth?" he called out gently as he knocked.

She didn't answer and he knocked again. "Lizbeth? Honey, open up the door and talk to me."

He heard movement, but she didn't answer and she didn't open the door. He glanced over at Sam, meeting her worried gaze and then back at the door. "Elizabeth, I am going to come in."

Grasping the door handle, he hoped she hadn't locked it. He wasn't all that good with picks anymore and he didn't want to bust the door open. Thankfully it turned in his hand and he was able to go inside. Elizabeth was sitting on the floor, leaning against the tub. What concerned Sonny the most wasn't that she had obviously thrown up; it was how pale she was combined with her shaking. Not just minor tremors, but full-body shaking.

"Sam," he called out. He was sharp enough to get her attention, but not panicked enough to further upset Elizabeth.

She immediately poked her head around the door and asked "What?"

There was a pause and then she said, "Oh. I'll get a blanket. Get her out of here; it's not good for her to sit on the cold tiles."

He nodded and ran his hand over his face. Approaching his sister slowly, he crouched down and tried to catch her eye. He couldn't tell if she actually saw and recognized him, so Sonny reached out and gently touched her arm.

"Come on, Elizabeth," he coaxed. "Let's go out to the front room."

She didn't move and so he reached out further, gathering her in his arms and standing with her. He maneuvered them out of the small bathroom and into the hall. Jason opened his door and looked out, frowning when he saw them.

"What happened?" he demanded as he shut the door behind him.

Sonny shook his head, "Take care of Michael; I'll take care of my sister."

"He's asleep," Jason answered. He made sure the door was gently latched, and then approached Sonny. Reaching for Elizabeth, he wouldn't give up on his quest until the older man relented and handed over his sister.

"What happened to her?" he repeated as they walked towards the front room. Sam appeared right behind them with the thick comforter from her and Sonny's bed.

Jason placed Elizabeth on the couch and then sat down beside her. He took the blanket from Sam and arranged it over the woman beside him, not willing to move from her side. Once she was wrapped up, he brushed Elizabeth's hair off her face and then drew her head down onto his shoulder. Sonny frowned at the intimacy of the gesture; at the feeling of being shut out from being the one to comfort his sister.

Sam placed her hand on his arm and shook her head. "He's her friend and they've been through a lot together. Let him help her."

It went against everything inside him to let someone else take care of his sister. She was his responsibility and he had been the person to protect her and comfort her. While he trusted Jason with his life and the lives of his family, this felt different. In any other setting and circumstance, the position of the pair would indicate trust and intimacy that went beyond friendship and into love. It just wasn't something he wanted to think about with his sister.

So he decided to focus on something else.

He walked into the kitchen and poured a splash of Scotch into a glass. Then he returned to the living room, sitting down in front of Elizabeth on the coffee table and pressing the glass into her hand. She needed a little color and she needed a little fire to burn some focus into her.

"Here," he urged her. "Take a drink."

She followed his orders automatically, coughing as she swallowed too much.

"Easy," Jason cautioned, taking the drink from her hand.

Elizabeth looked at Sonny, still pale and her eyes wide. He sighed and rested his hand on the comforter that covered her arm, "You up to talking?"

When she nodded slowly he closed his eyes and asked, "What did you see, Elizabeth?"

Jason felt Elizabeth tense and try to shift away from him, but he tightened his hold on her just enough to keep her in place. He knew the truth and he could imagine that Elizabeth was trying to protect him from it. Much like the day she had hemmed and hawed until she finally voice her suspicion that Michael wasn't his biological son. She didn't want to hurt him now.

"It's okay," he said softly, not looking at Sonny, but at the top of her head. "You saw Carly, didn't you?"

She said she didn't often have visions like Sonny, but on occasion she did. He strongly suspected that this was one of those times.

"I didn't see her," Elizabeth shook her head. "It was a smell. It was...it was blood...and it was death. And I...I just know that it's Carly."

Even though he'd been preparing himself for this since the day Sonny first mentioned it, it was still hard to hear. He wasn't in love with her as a man, but he did care about his friend. Especially because she was Michael's mother. Just because he knew there was no chance of romance for them didn't mean he hated her. Or wanted something bad to happen to her. She had given him a son, regardless of blood, and for that he would always think well of Carly.

But she'd paid the price for his lifestyle with her life. He was responsible for her little boy losing his mother. No matter how many flaws Carly had, or how neglectful she was of her son - Jason wasn't blind to it all - she still hadn't deserved to die at the hands of his enemies.

Sonny sighed and then said, "I saw her."

Everyone turned their gaze to stare at him.

"She...she's dead," he said regretfully with a guilty glace at Jason. "I...I don't want to give details, man. It's...it's not pretty."

"I...tell me," Jason managed to say.

"She's on a concrete floor, lying in blood," Sonny fell silent and then said, "It looks like a warehouse. In fact...it could be one of ours."

Jason shifted Elizabeth off his shoulder and stood up, pacing away. Sam slipped into his vacated spot and put her arm around her friend. Turning around, Jason pinned Sonny down with his gaze.

"Why do you think-"

"You know those warehouses on Pier 32 with the red brick?" he asked. Jason nodded. "I know there are other warehouses like that, but I saw red brick behind Carly and it wasn't just from blood. If Alcazar made his raid-"

"Why wouldn't he use our buildings for himself?" Jason finished the thought in disgust.

"Yeah," the older man nodded wearily.

"Well," Jason said, firming his shoulders and trying to bury everything else but thoughts of business and revenge. "Then it looks like we've got another place to go after Alcazar."

Chapter 30

Jason had a wonderful little boy who clearly adored his father. Even though Jason had to leave the morning after their arrival, he waited until Michael woke. He fixed his son breakfast, made sure he was comfortable with Leticia, Sam and Elizabeth, and only then did he leave with Sonny.

That was four days ago, and nobody had heard from Sonny or Jason since. All the women knew that significant time could pass with no contact; it was a part of their job and life, but it didn't mean they liked it. Of the three, Leticia was the calmest because she didn't live with Jason and was used to not seeing him for days at a time.

She was focused on keeping Michael happy and occupied, and doing her best to answer his concerns when he seemed to realize he didn't know where his mother was. Sadly Elizabeth realized that those moments did not happen that often. She knew from Jason's comments and Sam's and Sonny's, that Carly was a rather neglectful mother. She seemed to think nothing of leaving her son with his nanny or with Jason and heading off to whatever she wanted to do. The fact that Michael had not seen his mother in nearly two weeks and wasn't more bothered about it tore at Elizabeth's heart.

They didn't talk about it, but each woman was determined to make things easier on the little boy. They made everything an adventure and each day had a new theme. They played games and did all that they could to keep him happy in unfamiliar settings. They also helped to keep themselves busy so they didn't worry that much.

The plan wasn't successful. Especially for Sam and Elizabeth. When Michael was napping or down for the night, they lost their focus. Leticia would sit and talk with them sometimes and that would help, but she often retreated to her room. She appreciated Sam and Elizabeth trying to include her, but she wasn't a part of their group, and she knew that the future sisters-in-law could talk easier without her presence.

"Here," Sam said, catching Elizabeth's attention as she walked into the main room. She held out a drink and she waited until the other woman took it.

Setting down across from her friend and resting her glass on her knee; she ran her hand through her hair. "I have never liked this part of the life."

Swallowing and rubbing her fingertips across her lips, Elizabeth sighed, "It's been a while since I've done this. As Sonny was getting established and I got older and he didn't worry about the state trying to take me away from him, he wanted to get me away from things. Away from the danger, away from the worry and getting established on my own."

Sam knew why Sonny had done that; he thought it was the best way he could keep his sister safe. After watching their mother get killed in front of her and almost being attacked by their stepfather, Sonny felt that he had let his sister down. He didn't want to expose her to the dangers of his profession, especially as he was scrapping his way up the organization. So he thought that the best way to protect her was to send her away.

While it may have been good for her, it also had isolated her. Once this whole thing was over, Sam knew that Sonny's instinct would be to send Elizabeth back to the island. Sam wasn't sure that would be the best thing for her. Not just her burgeoning attraction to Jason, which she also thought was reciprocated, but just because she shouldn't be forced to live her life as a hermit. Especially not to please her brother.

"I only heard about things after they happened or Sonny needed me to cancel plans I had to go somewhere." Elizabeth tipped her head to the side and blew at her bangs in frustration. "I don't know if it's better or worse this way."

"I think the wait is worse sometimes," Sam stated tiredly.

"I don't know," the other woman shrugged. "Only hearing afterwards, and being told an obviously watered down version of what really happened and being left to imagine what happened...not a whole lot better."

Sam looked into her glass and swirled it absently. She hated sitting around and worrying and asking questions, but sometimes she needed to give voice to her feelings before they drove her crazy. "Do you think they're alright?"

Elizabeth shrugged, "I'm rather mad and worried and scared and bored...and when I'm like that I don't really sense things. Plus, my sight comes and goes and after everything of the past couple of weeks...I'm kinda glad it's gone.

"About the only thing I can judge their success on is the fact that Alcazar's men haven't come in here to grab us," she continued. "Since that hasn't happened...then I choose to believe they're alive and so far things are okay."

"I suppose that's a better way to look at things instead of imagining the worst."

"I'm sure in a couple of days I'll be completely pessimistic and let's just hope that by then you're more optimistic," Elizabeth smiled as she stood. "We have to help each other out. So I'll be positive right now."

Reaching out, she took Sam's drink out of her hand she said, "And I'll also take your drink. You, and especially my niece, don't need it right now."

Sam gaped up at Elizabeth and then tears sprang to her eyes. Elizabeth set the drink down on the table and then sat beside her almost sister-in-law. Reaching out gently, she touched Sam's arm.

"Maybe I could have said that better," she admitted, "but I believe you already suspected."

"How did you know?" the other brunette asked.

"You weren't drinking," she gestured to the untouched liquor.

"No," Sam shook her head. "How did you know I was pregnant? And how do you know it's a girl?"

"I looked at your writing the other day when you were doing crafts with Michael," Elizabeth explained. "I know your writing and the colors you have. Your worried color was very strong, but there was something else. There was a faint echo of another color. A pink color."

She shrugged and said, "I've known a couple of women who were pregnant and that happened with them each time. They'd get a faint echo to their writing. And it was pink with a girl and blue for a boy. I know it's not scientific, but I trust what I see. You're going to make me an aunt."

Leaning forward, she hugged her friend, even as a sadness settled over her. She was excited for her brother and Sam; truly she was. They would be wonderful parents to their daughter. Elizabeth had watched them with Michael, and knew that they loved each other very much.

Her sadness came from the knowledge that everyone seemed to be changing and she was staying the same. Her brother was going to become a father and a husband very soon. While she knew he loved her, and he wouldn't ignore her, his priorities had changed. He had a new family to focus on, and had since the day he fell in love with Sam and asked her to marry him. Now it would change even more because of his daughter. Elizabeth would be extra in his life; always visiting it, but not really a true part of it.

Jason's life had also changed. With Carly's death he would now have full custody of his son. If there had been any extra feelings between the two of them, they weren't going to be pursued on his end. He would be focused on Michael and protecting him; helping him adjust to the changes in his life and his mother being gone. Elizabeth knew Jason, and she knew he would put all thoughts of romance aside.

While she had developed feelings for him, and felt that maybe she was even falling in love with him, she knew it was over. She was Sonny's sister and Jason's friend, and that's all she would ever be. Jason wouldn't be looking for a new mother for Michael, and Elizabeth was not the kind of person who would try to insinuate herself in a child's life all to get to his father.

There would be no real place for her in their lives, except on the periphery. And she didn't know that her heart could take that. How would it be when it actually happened?

The only thing that she would really have would be her painting. And there was no need to stay in Port Charles just for that. Not when she had a home with a studio down on the island. She could just as easily paint there and return to Port Charles. Now that she had lived here and would have Francis for her guard - she was certain Sonny would assign the older man to watch her permanently- perhaps her brother wouldn't object so much if she came to visit.

She didn't want to be completely cut off from everyone, but it was what she was used to. And it would be easier to return to the familiar than to stay here and feel even stronger that she didn't really belong.

When Elizabeth pulled back, she dashed at her eyes and played off her tears as happiness for her friend. She encouraged Sam to get some rest and declared she wasn't really tired. She would stay up and sketch or read so she didn't disturb Michael or Leticia with her restlessness. In truth, she wanted the excuse to stay up in case more tears came. That way she could try to conceal them.

Jason wanted to see his son. After finally getting him back, he'd left the very next day. He'd wanted to stay to help him adjust to his new surroundings, but he wasn't able to. Johnny and the other guards had worked hard in his absence to be ready to go after Luis Alcazar. He and Sonny had spent the last several days going over the intel gathered, the patterns observed and came up with a plan. It was time to stop hiding and sneaking around. It was time to strike back.

That was why Jason was here tonight. They were going for Alcazar's jugular. No attacking on the fringes; they were striking back in a big way.

"You ready for a swim?" Francis asked with a raise of his brow.

Not particularly. Jason knew the harbor was dirty and murky and not a place for a casual dip. But they could only get the boat so close without the risk of detection, so Francis had stopped the boat and now Jason had to go the rest of the way in the water. Making sure his wetsuit was zipped up tight, he eased over the side and into the water.

He swam quickly to not get chilled, but not so quickly that he was drained of all energy. Finally he reached the side of the yacht. He treaded water while holding onto the side ladder while waiting for the signal. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long. A light flashed over the side once, then twice. Getting the all clear signal instead of the one to duck under the water, Jason grabbed the rungs and began climbing.

Once on the deck, Johnny quickly gave him a gun and spare clips and then indicated the way to go. They moved quietly down the corridors, dispatching of Alcazar's men as they went. This was not the time to merely knock them out; they had to make sure they could not assist Alcazar ever again. They had to move quickly because they didn't want someone to stumble over a dead body and sound the alarm.

"Alcazar is off the boat tonight," Johnny confirmed as they moved down to a lower level. "He's going to dinner at The No Name."

"Sonny, Max and Frankie are waiting there," Jason answered. "Frankie has worked it out with Esteban for them to hide."

"Any chance he'll let Alcazar know?"

"He's changed Sonny's deal with the place. He wants a cut of the profit and sent Zander to collect earlier this week. Beat up his kid."

Johnny paused and then turned to Jason. "Zander's here tonight."

"What?" the enforcer hissed. "Why didn't you say that earlier?!"

"Because you would have come here first," the guard indicated the cabin they stopped outside of. "We had to take care of the security force first."

"Did we get them all?"

"I made a count," Johnny confirmed. "We got them all."

Then he raised his hand, "And now it's time to deal with Zander."

Knocking on the door, he looked at Jason who was hidden out of the line of sight. It was hard to be patient, but they had to wait. The door opened and an impatient voice asked, "What?"

"I've lost radio contact with some of the men," Johnny began the process of enticing the man out.

"How many?"

"Four. I contacted some of the other guards and they said it was nothing." Best way to get someone interested was to say others weren't taking an incident seriously. "Lou said that maybe it was just them having a smoke or maybe they were playing poker."

Zander didn't laugh like Johnny did. "These guys are playing poker?"

"I don't know," he shrugged.

"Okay," the mark huffed. "Let's go check it out. Alcazar needs to know if his men are slacking off, or if you're just messing with us."

Jason tensed at those words. His apprehension increased when Zander continued on in a familiar voice, "I don't trust you, O'Brien. You were in Corinthos' camp too long."

Jason raised his gun and struck Zander on the back of his head, dropping the man to the ground. His jaw was clenched tight and his arms were filled with tension as he roughly grabbed Zander and rolled him over.

"Alex Henderson."

Johnny turned his head sharply. "Zander is Alex? This is the guy Carly was dating?"

"Yeah. And no doubt killed her."

The guard placed a hand on Jason's arm, "Look. Let's signal Francis, get Zander off here and blow this boat."

"Jason," he coaxed, "come on. We need answers from him. Then you can kill him."

The phone vibrated in his pocket. It buzzed twice, stopped, and then thirty seconds later buzzed again. Sonny looked at his two guards and nodded. They stepped out of Esteban's office and walked down the hall to the private dining room Alcazar was in.

The guard outside the door saw them coming, but was too slow to react. Max already had his gun up and fired off in a silenced round. The rival guard fell against the wall and Frankie moved forward to grab him and move him out of the way. Max grabbed the door and swung it open, stepping into the room in a crouch. There were two shots, then two more, and then Max called out.

"All clear, Boss."

Sonny stepped into the room and saw Luis Alcazar sitting at the table, his fork now staining the tablecloth. His hand was halfway to his jacket.

"Both hands on the table," Sonny commanded him, his own gun leveled at the man's heart. "Nice and slow, nothing funny."

Slowly, Alcazar pulled his hand back and then lowered it to the table.

Mac quickly frisked him, removing the gun from his shoulder holster and a second on from his leg. Once he was disarmed, Sonny sat down across from the man who had come after his organization. Max stood in the corner were he could keep his gun trained on Alcazar while also watching the door.

"Luis Alcazar," he said with a thin, lethal smile. "You and I...we're gonna have a talk. And then I'm going to kill you."

Chapter 31

"You won't kill me," Alcazar laughed, swallowing his nervousness and trying to project an air of confidence. But Sonny had seen the spark of fear and knew it was there.

"Why wouldn't I?" he smiled in a feral way. "Why shouldn't I? You went after my business, you killed my men, you tried to kill me and my family. You went after my sister and my fiancée. For that alone I have every provocation to kill you. So why exactly should I let you live?"

"Because you've gone soft, Corinthos," the other man said in derision. "You're erratic and your decisions make no sense. You don't go after your enemies like you should."

Alcazar leaned back and spread his hands out, "That's why you were so easy to come after. And it's why you won't kill me."

"Really?" Sonny arched his brow. "At this moment your boat is burning in the harbor. Your men are dead on board. More men around town are certainly dead. Do you really think anyone out in that dining room will say they saw you come in here tonight? You're already dead; you just don't know it."

He nodded at Max and before the rival mobster could react to Sonny's news or the guard's sudden movement, he was face down on the table. Max holstered his weapon, and then reached up to grab the man under his arms. He'd wake up with a nasty headache, and he would die, but Sonny wasn't going to let it be quick and painless in a restaurant's back room. And it wouldn't be before he got answers.

"You got him?" he asked Max.

"Yeah," the guard nodded.

"Then let's get out of here and let's go meet Jason," Sonny stated and opened the door. Frankie was there and made sure the way was clear. Then they took Alcazar out the back, while Esteban got his men out of the way.

Once they were in the car, Sonny pulled out his phone and called Jason to find out where his friend was. They had chosen a meeting point, but anything could change so he wanted to make sure they were on track. Looking in the back, his blood boiled as he stared at the unconscious mobster.

This man hadn't just come after his organization, Sonny had faced that before. It was the fact that he had tried to kill his fiancée and sister that Sonny would never forgive. There was a code and this scum had violated it. More and more criminals were getting bold and not adhering to the code and Sonny was going to teach everyone a lesson. Family was off limits.

Alexander Smith woke up tied up to a chair and based on the wince that he tried to suppress, he had one amazing headache. Jason didn't particularly care, he was glad the man was awake finally and now they could question him.

"Hello, Alex," he said blandly. "Or do you prefer Zander?"

The man clamped his lips together.

"Not going to say anything?" he shrugged. "That's fine. You listen; I'll talk."

He leaned against the back of the chair he was straddling, crossing his arms on it. "Here's what we know. You came to town on Alcazar's orders, got inside Jax's company so you could plant evidence and take him down, and you targeted Carly as a way to get to our organization. Mother of my child, great way to pick up some information, right?"

"Some information?" Zander scoffed. "She was full of information."

He laughed, apparently deciding to taunt Jason. Zander knew the score, and no doubt knew he wasn't making it out of here alive. Leaning back as far as he could in his bindings, he adopted a leering look on his face.

"You sure pissed her off," he taunted Jason. "She loved you and she wanted you and when you took up with your boss' baby sister, you seriously got on her bad side. Of course, I helped that along. Showed her pictures of you and your girlfriend; on rides, up on some bridge where you looked you were about to combust and rip each others' clothes off...things like that."

Zander tipped his head to the side and grinned lasciviously. "She must be amazing in bed. She's not much to look at; certainly not as curvy as Carly. So if you toss away a wildcat like her for a meek-as-a-mouse looking little girl, then she must have tricks nobody's even heard of yet."

Jason wanted to punch him in the mouth to shut him up, but that was what Zander wanted. He was taunting Jason; trying to provoke a reaction of out him. If Jason didn't respond, then the punk would keep running his mouth off and give him more information. So he merely quirked his brow and stayed silent. The other man couldn't do the same.

"She wanted to use me to make you jealous, but I turned the tables on her," he boasted. "Showed her pictures of you, played on her insecurities...what if you became brother-in-law to your boss and had babies with his precious baby sister? Where would that leave her and her son? Your boss hates her and thinks she's trash. Would he really let you spend as much time with her son when you had Corinthos related children?

Jason licked his lips, but that was the only indication he gave that he was disturbed. Zander was correct, he had played on Carly's insecurities perfectly. She knew Jason didn't love her, and while he promised he would always love Michael she didn't believe him. She was convinced that if he ever found someone to love and had children with her, then he would toss Michael aside. She just didn't trust that he could love her little boy as much as any biological child he might have.

"Once she was convinced it was only a matter of time before you chose Little Miss Perfect over her," Zander continued on, "she sang like the proverbial canary. Told us everything she knew. Which was quite a bit. She's a terrible snoop and loved to rifle through your stuff whenever she thought she could get away with it. She told us about guards, who knew things...all which helped give us an edge to taking you down along with the men we had turned."

Then he laughed and shook his head, "She was foolish enough to believe she could make a deal on your behalf. Thought you'd come to work for us if we left you alive after taking Sonny down. Tried to say she could get you to agree to it. We knew you never would and then came the day I let her overhear my plans to kill you. There was no danger in it; there was no way she could contact you in time."

"But she got Michael away," Jason breathed out softly.

Leticia had told him that Carly came to the nanny in a panic and told her to take Michael and run. Run somewhere far and somewhere safe. Carly would create a distraction and no matter what Leticia heard she was to take the emergency money and run. Jason now understood how Carly had known and why the nanny hadn't come looking for Jason; they weren't sure he'd be alive. Plus, they had to keep Michael from being used as bait.

"Yes," Zander confirmed, even though the enforcer hadn't been talking to him.

"And paid for it with her life," Jason stated, his voice hardening. "She'd outlived her usefulness."

"No," the younger man shook his head. "I just grew tired of her. She whined and carried on and there wasn't time for me to be able to utilize her charms properly. Plus, even if you didn't love her, you still wouldn't condone her death. If you were alive, always our belief since we didn't find a body...then I wanted to wound you. And if you were dead, then I didn't want to deal with her any longer."

Jason finally gave into his anger and hit Zander across the jaw. The man's head snapped back, but he raised it to look defiantly at the enforcer, despite the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Jason hit him again, and then again, and again until Zander was unconscious.

Then Jason walked out of the room and away from the guards so he could grieve in peace. He was responsible for Carly's death as surely as if he'd pulled the trigger. He could have protected Carly and Michael from the Quartermaines, but never brought them into his life. He should have given them new names and sent them away. He never would have gotten to know Michael and the thought was saddening, but at least the little boy would still have his mother. Now he wouldn't and it was entirely Jason's fault.

Sonny arrived at the warehouse his men had secured and watched as Alcazar was dragged into a room and tied up next to Zander Smith. Alex Henderson. Looking around, he didn't see Jason and finally asked Francis where his enforcer had gone. The older guard said Jason was taking a minute to compose himself, and then gave a brief synopsis of the information provided by Smith. Sonny sighed heavily, only imagining the anger and guilt that must be weighing on his friend now.

However, Sonny knew he couldn't let Jason dwell on those thoughts right now. It wouldn't do his friend any good, and they really couldn't afford such personal indulgences at the moment. They had Alcazar here and it was time to deal with him.

"Go get him," Sonny requested gently, but with the full weight of a command.

"Right away, Boss," Francis nodded, and turned to go get the younger man.

Sonny continued on into the room where Frankie and Max had dragged Alcazar. As he observed the punk next to his boss, he saw that Jason had really worked Smith over good. The man must have provoked him, or his enforcer had needed to persuade the man to talk.

Once Alcazar was tied to a chair and Jason entered the room, Sonny looked at Max and ordered, "Wake him up."

"You got it, Mr. C."

He then looked over at Jason and asked, "You alright?"

"Fine," was the curt reply. "He give you any problems?"

Sonny smirked as he answered, "He thinks I won't kill him because I've gone too soft."

Jason rolled his eyes and looked over at Alcazar came around. The Latino moaned, and then immediately snapped to awareness. He looked around the room, his eyes narrowing when they fell on Sonny and Jason.

"Now," Sonny smiled maliciously at Alcazar, grabbing a chair and sitting down, "let's talk."

When the other man didn't respond, he tipped his head towards Smith. "You and your boy were pretty good. But I didn't die and that was your big mistake. You moved in on my territory and never knew if I was dead. That was just sloppy; moving before your enemy was actually dead."

"My men would find you," Alcazar replied with confidence. "Plus, we had insurance."

"Carly and Michael?" Sonny asked, and felt sick just for saying it. "You never had Michael. And you overplayed your hand with Carly."

"I don't care about Morgan's pathetic family," the arms dealer shook his head. "Let him play daddy to some kid who isn't his. Going after them was just a way to distract him and weaken you."

"And my sister?" he growled, feeling his hands itch with the desire to kill Alcazar.

"She was your greatest weakness," the rival mobster said. "She was also my revenge."

"Your revenge?" Sonny questioned in pure confusion. "My sister's never done anything to you or anybody else."

"That's where you're wrong," Alcazar sneered. "That's where you're very wrong."

Looking at him, the captive man lifted his brow and asked, "Did you ever wonder why I went after you and Jasper Jacks?"

They had, but the only common connection they could think of was Brenda. Who had died years ago. After her death, and especially after Sonny had met Sam, the two men had moved on. The hatred between them had faded into dislike, and the all-out rivalry had practically disappeared. Sonny didn't have a desire to needle Jax over the past when he now had a future with Sam.

The corner of the Venezuelan's mouth lifted and he taunted, "So you have wondered. Did you come to any conclusions?"

Sonny didn't answer, just lifted his brows. If he begged for answers, or spoke too much, Alcazar would stop talking thinking he had the power. But if he stayed quiet, the other man would run his mouth off. Sonny had encountered it many times; criminals constantly puffing up and boasting of their actions.

"You're probably thinking the only connection you had was Brenda Barrett. Who died." Alcazar smirked, "I told you that you wouldn't kill me."

Sonny looked at the other man, weighing his words and expressions and then finally, slowly, asked, "Are you saying that Brenda is alive?"

"Very much so," he answered.

"How? She went over a cliff into the water. The height...the rocks...the cold, the current... She couldn't have survived." Sonny was reeling, confused and thrown. He could remember how he'd grieved her death, even though she'd chosen Jax over him. And now to hear she was alive...

"She was barely alive when I found her, took her in. My doctor took care of her, found out she was ill...and I've taken care of her." He sighed heavily. "She's losing her mind, a very sad thing to watch. But she does have moments of lucidity, and when she does...she's very angry. Angry at the world, Port Charles, and two men in particular. You and Mr. Jacks."

"So this is revenge on her behalf?" Sonny shook his head with a snort. "How noble."

"This has nothing to do with nobility," Alcazar denied. "This is fulfilling a dying woman's last request. She isn't just angry...she hates you. The two men who never looked for her, never found her, who left her to die. She wants you destroyed...and I was happy to oblige her."

"Too bad it didn't work," the mob lord tsked.

"Mr. Jacks has been arrested and your organization is in shambles." He smiled, "And you won't kill me because despite your engagement to the lovely Miss McCall, you want to see Brenda. She's an addiction for you; you could never let her go. And you won't be able to do it now."

Sure of himself Alcazar declared, "You won't kill me because you want to know where she is."

Licking his lips and reaching into his coat, Sonny replied, "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

Drawing out his weapon, he aimed it between Alcazar's eyes. "You went after my sister, my fiancée, a child and his mother. You're a snake who has no honor and if you think I won't kill you because of some sentimental tie to the past, then you have greatly underestimated me. I protect my family."

Then he fired twice and Luis Alcazar slumped forward in his chair. Very much dead.

The gunfire roused Zander, and he slowly began to come around. But all the blows to his head made the process slow, and more than likely painful.

Jason turned his attention away from Carly's killer and looked over at Sonny. "You alright?"

"I'm fine," Sonny asserted, even if he wasn't fully believable.

"Brenda," the younger man began.

"Is gone," he declared, slicing his hand through the air. "It doesn't matter if she died on that shoreline or not. She's in the past. Especially if she asked Alcazar to do this. She could have given him information just like Carly did; instead she asked for my death."

Jason didn't entirely believe him, even though he believed Sonny wanted it to be true. Brenda had always twisted his friend up and even though the other man was happy with Sam, he wouldn't be able to completely ignore the fact that Brenda could be alive.

"Now," Sonny asked, tipping his head towards Zander who was slowly blinking his way back to consciousness. "What about him?"

"He killed Carly," Jason stated. "I don't really see a reason to keep him alive."

"Except that he could prove that Jax was set up."

Lifting a brow he asked, "You care about that?"

"I don't know," Sonny shrugged. "But this was the guy who carried out Alcazar's orders. Probably did a fair amount of the planning. Have Johnny interrogate him; have Stan help. Give the cops the information on what really happened just so we don't get harassed constantly while they try to pull their heads out and realize we were set up."

"Fine," Jason conceded, even if he didn't like it. He wanted Zander to pay, but he would follow Sonny's orders. Because even if he had to kill Zander in prison, the man would die. For now, it could be helpful to have the cops off their back as they made their reappearance in Port Charles.

"Good," Sonny nodded tiredly, "Let's go. We have something to take care of."

Chapter 32

"Home sweet home," Elizabeth sighed ruefully as she opened the door and stepped inside. The place was dusty and musty smelling, suffering from the effects of having been shut up all those months ago when Jason suddenly showed up on the island.

Her guards had been rounded up and dealt with, she'd been relocated to Port Charles and kept there for her safety, and her home hadn't been cared for. So much for her brother's promises. Maybe he just forgot, or maybe he simply couldn't spare anyone given all that was going on, or maybe he hadn't trusted anyone to come into her home. Or, maybe he was just a slimey little lying snake.

Right now, it was a toss up. Though, personally, she was leaning towards snake.

"First things first," she declared. "Get this place cleaned up. Francis, get some men to open the windows, and then get some trash bags. I'm sure everything in the refrigerator is spoiled."

"Miss Corinthos, I can help."

She turned towards Leticia and smiled as she shook her head gently. "Leticia, you're Michael's nanny. Not my maid. Why don't you take Michael outside and let him run around? He'll enjoy that a lot more than watching us clean."

"Are you sure?" the other woman asked.

"I'm sure," she confirmed. Carly had probably used the nanny as housekeeper and cook, but Elizabeth wouldn't do that. She was quite capable of cleaning her house, especially with the assistance of a couple of her brother's guards.

"Okay," Leticia nodded slowly. Then she held out her hand to her little charge, "Do you want to go outside, Michael?"

His excitement was all the answer anyone needed and the two headed off to get some sun block and sandals.

"Someone should get some beach toys," she told Francis. "Either from Jason's villa or the store, but he'll need more to play with than some pie tins and wooden spoons."

Finding said items in the meantime however, she handed them to Marcus and commanded, "Go give these to Leticia. Tell her they're for Michael to play with."

Then she turned to Sam, "You, go lay down. And if the smell's bad, you can go to my studio since it has a separate ventilation system."

Her pregnant friend was exhausted from the flight, starting to suffer morning sickness and not being helped by the fact that her fiancé hadn't once called her. He and Jason took off after Zander Smith was arrested with enough evidence to prove that he and Luis Alcazar, who died when his yacht exploded in the harbor due to a faulty gas line, had orchestrated the attacks on Sonny and Jax. The Feds were reviewing the evidence, but it looked like the businessman would be set free and all charges dropped.

Sonny and Jason had control of their territory once again and were cleaning house. Max and Johnny were overseeing much of it, though, because Jason and Sonny were nowhere in Port Charles. The women and Michael had been sent to the island, on orders relayed through Johnny to Francis. But none of them had heard from either man. It had not made Sam or Elizabeth happy.

Going over to give her brother's fiancée a hug, she whispered, "Call your father. If you want to see him, see him."

Nobody, not even Sonny, had the right to tell Sam she couldn't call her father. She'd asked why her request, relayed from her to Sonny through the guards, had been denied. All she got in return was Because I said so. If there had been a valid reason they would have understood, but when Elizabeth overheard the guards mention that Sonny was closing in on finding Brenda, then all bets were off. Sam had the right to her father; especially if Sonny was off chasing down his ex-fiancée.

Once Sam was gone, she turned to Francis and said, "Let's get to work. We're tossing all the food in the refrigerator. I'll determine what stays and goes in the freezer and the cupboards."

As the guard stepped towards the silver refrigerator he asked, "Am I being punished for something?"

He was lying to them. Flat out lying about Sonny and Jason.

She smiled deceptively and said, "Why would you think that, Francis? Leticia's job is to take care of Michael, Sam isn't feeling well, so that leaves you and me. You know I'm hypersensitive to smells so I need your help. As senior guard you make others take perimeter patrol in the heat."

Tilting her head to the side she teased, "Unless you have a weak stomach and you'd rather have someone else help out."

"I can handle it," he said through gritted teeth. Then he took a deep breath and opened the door. She gave a malicious smile at the back of his head when he tried to suppress a gag and wasn't entirely successful.

The insistent, almost angry knocking on the door made Elizabeth scowl. Setting down her paintbrush she walked over to the door and unlocked it. Francis had learned not to interrupt her while she was painting, so something must be wrong. When she opened the door she had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. Jason Morgan was standing in her hallway.

Of course, there were obvious differences to that day. She now knew who Jason Morgan was. So much so that she was fairly certain she'd fallen in love with him. The biggest difference, however, was that her brother was standing beside Jason.

"Sonny," she greeted him coolly.

"Elizabeth." He frowned, "Where is everyone?"

"Why don't you ask your guards," she suggested with an arch of her brow. "You talk to them, go ask them."

"Elizabeth."

She tried to keep her face neutral as she looked over at Jason. He looked tired and appeared to have lost weight. After she had a very frank talk with Francis the guard had kept her marginally informed about Sonny. It was better than nothing, but none of it really made her happy. But she had learned that Jason had been spending some time in Port Charles trying to handle things in Sonny's absence.

She looked at Jason, and said, "You should be aware that Leticia and Michael are at your villa. So I don't know why you're here. You should be with your son. Not here."

He blinked at her, and then his expression went neutral. "I'm here because the guards told me what's going on."

"Well bully for you," she said, and then looked over at Sonny. "You should take lessons from him."

"Elizabeth," Jason sighed right as Sonny asked, "What?"

"Leticia and Michael are at Jason's because he knows that place and it's set up for a toddler. It made no sense for us to run over there every day to get something for him; it was easier to just take him there."

"But it wasn't the orders I gave Francis," her brother shook his head in irritation. "I wanted all of you together."

She shrugged indifferently, "Didn't happen."

He pressed his lips together and was visibly struggling to remain calm. "So where's Sam?"

Elizabeth looked at him and knew she was going to hurt her brother. But he had hurt her and Sam and right now, she just didn't want to stop herself. "Sam's in Chicago."

"Chicago?" he asked, stepping back. "Wh-why?"

"She wanted to see her father," Elizabeth answered. "She wanted family. See, she thought her fiancé was leaving her for his ex-fiancée like she'd overhead the guards speculating about. So she called her father and Doyle arranged for some men to escort her home."

"Why'd you let her go?" he demanded angrily. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"I was the one who encouraged her to go," she shot back defiantly. "I knew you'd gone to find Brenda and I knew how twisted up she could make you. I knew what a selfish, cold-hearted and manipulative witch she is and I wasn't going to stick around to watch you destroy your life on her and throw away everything good in your life."

"Is that why you tried to get her to stay away from me?" he demanded, advancing on her and making her take a step backwards. "Tried to pay her off, and when that didn't work, you tried to threaten her?"

"What of it?" she asked. "Yeah, I did that and you want to know why? Because I saw what you refused to. I saw her colors and I sensed things about her. She didn't want you; she wanted the power. She wanted the power that came from being the arm candy of Sonny Corinthos. And she flirted with Jax deliberately because she knew it would make you jealous. She also knew that you and Jax would fight over her and shower her with gifts."

"She didn't do that," Sonny insisted. "You were always jealous of her, of the time I spent with her. You were a teenager, or leaving your teens. What did you know about love?"

"I know what she was doing wasn't love," Elizabeth insisted. "Why didn't you see it? You were supposed to know when people were lying to you and you were blind to it."

"Yeah," he said bitterly. "Because I never saw what a lying little witch you were."

"I won't apologize for trying to protect you," she shook her head, even as tears began falling. She knew her brother was angry and she was trying not to take his hurtful words personally.

"No, you're not trying to protect me. You just want me to be alone and miserable just like you. You've taken every woman from my life," he yelled, his hand flying through the air. She flinched, even when Jason's hand stopped it and he stepped between the siblings.

"Sonny," he ordered. "Take a step back and calm down. Right now."

She had forgotten Jason was there. In her argument with Sonny, in trying to tell him who Brenda had really been, in everything going on, she'd forgotten Jason was still there. But she was glad.

Sonny took a step back and tugged at his shirt. "I'm fine. I just want Helen of Troy over there to know that she's the reason Alcazar came after us. She's the reason Brenda hated me enough to want me and my family destroyed."

"Brenda is also crazy," Jason pointed out. "And you forget that I was around to see Brenda and I told you she was playing you."

Sonny glared at both of them and then left. Elizabeth sagged back and Jason reached out to help her over to the stool. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said softly. "I...am I really the reason Brenda wanted to destroy Sonny and that's why Alcazar came to town?"

"Alcazar needed little excuse and Brenda is crazy," he said. "That's what you need to remember."

"That's little comfort considering Carly and the guards who were loyal to Sonny are dead," she shook her head. "Look I...I think you should go."

"You sure?" he asked, clearly not liking the idea. "I don't want to leave you alone."

"I'll be fine," she said, even though it was flat. "But your son needs you, and you need him. It's been weeks and...and you should just go."

She surprised him by leaning forward and hugging him, but his arms came up around her. Closing her eyes, she breathed in his scent, trying to imprint it on her brain. Pulling back slightly, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you for being my friend, Jason," Elizabeth told him. "I...I'll see you later."

"You sure about this?"

Elizabeth turned to face Francis and said without anger, "Francis, if you don't want to do this, I'll completely understand. You go back to Sonny's rotation, or offer to be on Michael's detail. If you're not comfortable with this, then tell me now and we'll part ways."

"And who will guard you?" he asked.

"Paul's a good guy," she shrugged. "I don't trust him as much as you, but I'm sure I'll grow to rely on him as we go along."

He didn't seem to like it, but she'd also given him an out. However, she felt she had to say, "Look, if you feel this is somehow disrespectful or disloyal to Sonny, then please stay. I don't want to be fighting with you the entire time. And if you've got a problem with my anger towards Sonny right now and my decisions, then it's better that we part ways."

"If you think I'm going to let Paul handle your detail then you're as much a fool as your brother," he answered. "He's a good guy, but he's not ready to be in charge yet. And you're going to need someone looking out for you and only you. I won't rat you out to Sonny and I won't subvert you on his orders. Did I answer what you really want to know?"

With a half-smile she asked, "You're sure?"

"You're my charge and I like you," he told her. "And while it might be easier for me if you stayed here or in Port Charles, I understand why you don't want to do that. So I am going to keep you safe and not be another man you're mad at."

She peered at him, wondering if she was referring to just Sonny, or if she suspected anything about her feelings for Jason. She had probably given herself away when she argued so forcefully for Francis to go with Jason when he went to look for Michael. But if he suspected anything he said nothing, and she was grateful for that.

"Hopefully we'll do just fine," she smiled at him optimistically. "You've got us a flight?"

He nodded, "A commercial flight that leaves in four hours."

"Alright. Well I've just got a few more things to pack and then the other guards can take the bags to the airport."

She also had a few other things to do, and they'd need to make a stop on their way out. But she'd tell Francis that as they were leaving.

Jason looked up in surprise when a guard came into the villa early in the morning. Usually the men waited until after Michael was off to the beach before they came in to brief him on events. They respected his time with his son and tried not to encroach on it.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I saw this on your door when I came on duty," the guard said, putting an envelope on the counter. Then he turned and left the house.

Jason frowned and reached out a blunt finger to pull the white envelope towards him. He could see and feel that it was thick, and he suspected who it was from even before he saw his name written across it in Elizabeth's artistic hand.

Tearing the flap open, he pulled out some paper, along with two smaller envelopes. One for Sam and one for Sonny. Jason set them aside and then unfolded his letter. As he figured, Elizabeth had left the island. This was her goodbye letter.

As he read through it, he could feel her frustration. Sonny had never come to her in the four days after they arrived on the island. He hadn't talked to anybody; not even Sam. Elizabeth didn't know if her brother would ever forgive her, but she wasn't going to hide out on the island waiting to see if that day ever came. She had been a practical hermit because of him and she wasn't going to do it any longer.

While he agreed with that decision, he knew Sonny was going to blow up. However, after meeting Elizabeth and getting to know her, he didn't agree with Sonny wanting to keep her isolated. She had a right to live a life just like anyone else. Why should Sonny get to have love in his life but she should be alone?

Jason also felt guilty because he hadn't been by to see her. Yet, she told him in her letter not to feel that way. His number one priority was Michael and helping the little boy adjust. She liked Michael, but she didn't want to confuse him with her presence. This was father and son time, and she never wanted him to feel bad for doing what he should be doing.

Despite her reassurances, he still felt bad. She had left without saying goodbye except through a letter. Weren't they better friends than that? Didn't he mean more than just a letter? Did he rate better than that?

Or was it easy for her to leave because she didn't feel anything beyond friendship? Was he the only one who felt attraction? Nothing about the whole situation made him feel good and he was one unhappy man when Michael woke up to start his day.

Continue On

Head Back to the Main Page