The Ripple Effect by iletudrive

[JRK Archiver]

Coming to alert, Jason made a slow turn, his eye sweeping the docks to check for extra guards, before coming to rest on Sorel. So far he’d only spotted the one, but he knew Sorel never traveled anywhere with only one guard. “What do you want?”

“What no hello? No long time no see?” Secure in the knowledge that he had the upper hand in the unexpected meeting Sorel’s tone was jovial.

“You should have left town after Moreno died.” Jason returned smoothly, he’d finally spotted the second guard and that relieved him.

“You’re not still upset over our last meeting are you?” Sorel asked and lamented, not for the first time, that if Moreno’s aim had been on the mark he wouldn’t have to deal with Jason Morgan at all. That had always been the problem with Moreno he couldn’t shoot very well. That was the reason he’d made a name for himself in the organization by using a shotgun, it was difficult to miss with a shotgun. Still he’d managed to rid himself of Moreno that day, it was only a matter of time before he took care of Morgan as well.

Jason didn’t want to turn his back on Sorel but wasn’t interested in listening to what the man had to say either. Even with the lateness of the hour there was still movement on the docks. His employees at the coffee warehouse were busy trying to get a shipment inside before the rain fell. Sorel could be careless but he wasn’t stupid. This part of the docks was too public to try anything, with that realization Jason turned to leave.

Sorel watched him walk away without a word and got mad. It was time to clear the air about a few things. “If you’re still upset about the Webber girl don’t be.” When Jason stopped he smiled to himself. “She’s in no danger from me, not anymore. I obviously misjudged her importance to you.”

In spite of his best efforts Jason couldn’t help getting mad yet he tried to keep it from his face as he turned back to Sorel. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean it was fairly obvious when you didn’t return to town after…” he let the word hang in the air, then shrugged. “It was apparent Elizabeth Webber didn’t mean much to you.”

This time it was impossible to keep the anger from showing. Moving quickly, more quickly then Sorel gave him credit for his hand closed over Sorel’s jacket and he jerked him to his toes. “What did you do to Elizabeth?”

Seeing his violent and painful death in Jason’s eyes Sorel got his confirmation of the girl’s importance to his enemy. “Temper, temper. You’re acting like Anger Boy.”

“Let him go.” A voice ordered, a voice Jason ignored until the barrel of a gun was pressed behind his ear. “Let him go.” Reluctantly Jason did as he was ordered and raised his hands.

“It’s not so easy this time is it Morgan?” Giving into temptation Sorel drove his fist into Morgan’s unprotected gut causing him to double over briefly. “I’m ready for you this time. No sneak attacks from behind.”

Ignoring the clenching in his stomach Jason stood up. “I took you out by myself. You’re nothing but a coward that needs two armed men to help you and even with them your punch packs as much power as a 12 year old girl,” he taunted him deliberately, borrowing a phrase he’d heard Johnny use on more than one occasion. When Sorel took the bait and moved closer Jason caught his arm mid-swing and jerked him forward shifting behind him in one fluid move. Before the guards even realized what was happening, Jason had an arm locked around Sorel’s neck cutting off his air supply. “Drop the guns.”

The guards appeared confused as what to do and Jason knew he had to act quickly. Somehow he didn’t think Sorel was the type of boss that inspired loyalty in his men. “Do you want to live?” Jason asked him and eased up on Sorel’s windpipe giving him time to speak.

“Do what he says,” Sorel gasped out the order and the guns clattered to the dock.

“Jason.”

“What?” Jason never took his eyes from the guards as he addressed the latest arrival.

“The cops, Taggert he’s right behind me at Kelly’s I think he’s heading this way.” Dean Gagal one of his coffee house employees warned him.

“Thanks, now get lost.” Jason acknowledged the warning with a shake of his head. The last thing he wanted to do was spend the night in lockup. Tightening his hold on Sorel he whispered in the man’s ear. “If anything happens to her, I won’t stop until I break every bone in your body. By the time I’m done you’ll be begging me to kill you.” With that he shoved the slumping man at his guards and took off. He’d just cleared the landing when he heard Taggert’s arrival.

“Well what do we have here?”

Ignoring Taggert Jason hurried away. He now had another reason to find Elizabeth. Something had happened after he’d left, something between her and Sorel, something she hadn’t told him about, something Sonny hadn’t told him about. He was tired of being left in the dark. It was time to get some answers.

~Pier 52~

“My god he’s heavy.” Elizabeth’s arms had been shaking with strain by the time they finally moved the body from the wheelbarrow and into the trunk.

“Of course he’s heavy, he’s frozen.” An out of breath Nikolas pointed out.

“That reminds me at some point you’ll need to get rid of the freezer.”

“It’s already arranged,” he looked over at her. “You think I want to put food in it after this?” They both shuddered at the thought.

“We better get moving, this storm will break sooner or later.”

Reluctantly they both turned to the body on the plastic, thankfully the blankets had remained securely tied around the body so she hadn’t had to touch the man’s skin so far. “We need to get rid of the blankets.”

“Why?”

“Nikolas there’s a crest on one of them,” she pointed out the large C. “They’ll be easy to track. Cut the binds that secure the blanket, and pull them free, we can burn them later. Then wrap him in the plastic, that’s what it’s there for. The plastic will cut down on any evidence that sticks to the body.”

Nikolas nodded but remained where he was. “I put the bleach on him.”

“Fine I’ll do it. You weigh the wheelbarrow down and put it in the river.” Nikolas nodded and stepped away. Since it was her idea she couldn’t keep making Nikolas do the gross part. She could do this she just wouldn’t think of him as a person. Pulling the knife from her bag she leaned into the trunk to cut the ropes around the body. She’d freed two and was working on the third when a hand fell on her shoulder. Startled Elizabeth jumped and her head connected with the trunk lid while the knife clattered into the trunk.

“Take it easy,” Nikolas’ own heart was racing at her violent reaction.

Sagging in relief she pressed her face into his chest and tried to kick start her heart. After a minute she stepped back and glared at him. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

“I’m sorry I thought you heard me. I secured the block of concrete on the wheelbarrow, you get rid of it I’ll take care of the body.”

“Are you sure?” This time she forced herself not to take the easy way out. She knew this wasn’t easy on him.

“Go.” When she still didn’t move he tried again. “He’s naked remember. I think I better do it.”

“Oh,” she couldn’t help but grimace, she’d forgotten that part, “thanks.” Moving quickly she hefted the wheelbarrow and awkwardly made her way over the wooden planks of the dock. The going was slow, the wheel seemed to sink into every crevice between each board. She was perspiring by the time she reached the edge of the dock. Setting the end of the wheelbarrow down she moved to the edge to make sure there was only water below.

Caution had her turning to check the apparently deserted dock for anyone. She’d chosen this dock for a couple of reasons. One of them was because it was close to where a car could be parked without arousing curiosity. Also the pier was rarely used. The other end of the dock system had easier access for ships to offload their product. The water level here was lower, the rocks more predominant, there was even the remains of an old pier that a boat would have to maneuver around in order to reach the dock. She’d seen more than one boat run aground on the old dock. When that happened often enough word got around to avoid this section of the docks.

The weather was also in her favor. The approaching storm kept the homeless at bay. This section got hammered by bad weather when the wind was blowing in the right direction, so most of the local homeless moved inland to find a drier section to sleep on. Still with what they were doing it was only prudent to be cautious so her eyes swept the docks twice before she felt satisfied she was alone.

Stepping behind the wheelbarrow she grasped the bars and lifted one end then slowly walked the wheelbarrow over the side. Luck was with her, thanks to the concrete the wheelbarrow fell straight down and didn’t tip over. Water began to fill it immediately and soon it vanished from sight.

“Did it sink?”

“Geesh.” Elizabeth jumped and would have tumbled over the edge after the wheelbarrow if Nikolas hadn’t caught her. “Next time just kill me. You scaring 10 years off my life every five minutes isn’t healthy.”

“And killing you is?” A perplexed Nikolas asked. He was spared her reply when the rain finally began to fall. “Are you ready to finish this?” He held out his hand.

“Let’s do it.” Taking his hand they ran for the car unaware of the man that stepped out from behind a crate and began following them.

[JRK Archiver]

Chapter 16


~Penthouse 2~

Alexis was daydreaming, one could call it spacing off but she preferred daydreaming it sounded classier somehow. Did the fact she was having an internal debate on what to call what she was doing signal trouble? Yes. Could she stop it? No. Or more specifically she didn’t want to stop debating, because if she did she would have to concentrate on what Ned was saying and that would lead to a whole new set of problems.

“I just don’t understand why you continue to represent him.”

She opened her mouth to respond but Ned didn’t give her the chance so she went back to eating her popcorn. It may not he healthy for her but movie theater butter style was far superior to light butter. The brand name also mattered. If there was one thing in the kitchen she was an expert on it was microwave popcorn. Munching happily it took her a minute to realize Ned had stopped talking. The handful of kernels paused halfway to her mouth as she looked questioningly in his direction.

“You’re not even listening are you?” Ned asked.

“I’m listening,” she answered automatically.

“Then why aren’t you saying anything?”

“What can I say Ned? This is the same argument we’ve had for months now. You’re not going to change my mind and I’m not going to change yours,” she sighed wearily. “It’s late and I don’t feel like fighting with you, especially when it’s a fight that will never end.”

Telling himself to take his time because he knew she always won in a war of words, Ned crossed to the window. Why couldn’t he make her understand she was playing with fire by staying in Sonny Corinthos vicinity? Why was it the women in his life could be so smart except when it came to the Mafia Don of Port Charles?

How many months had he spent warning Lois and Brenda about Sonny, that he wasn’t to be trusted? How many months had he tolerated Sonny’s smug superior attitude when the truth about Eddie Maine had finally come out. Even when Sonny had been proven to be the bastard he always knew he was, Lois still wouldn’t cut Sonny dead. If Lois couldn’t, Brenda wouldn’t, her obsession had worried him for years. It was true that Sonny hadn’t caused her death, as he’d once feared Sonny would, but if Sonny had stayed in Port Charles he could have.

With Lois in Brooklyn and Brenda gone he’d thought he was free of Sonny’s influence on the women in his life. But that was before Alexis. The irony of the whole situation was that he was the one that helped persuade Alexis into taking Jason’s case, when he sued for partial custody of Michael, in the first place, and that was what had brought Sonny into her life.

Once Alexis had won Jason custody she’d represented him in a few other situations as well. When Sonny had returned she’d started representing him as well. He knew Alexis loved a challenge, her lawyer arrogance equaled his as CEO of ELQ, but the hostile takeovers he dealt with weren’t done with guns. Sooner or later she was bound to be caught in the crossfire of Sonny’s business, and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed to convince her to walk away from Sonny and he would, because he wasn’t about to let Sonny win. Operation liberate Alexis was about to begin.

Turning from the window he studied his quarry that was also doubling as the prize and made his opening salvo. “Have you spoken to your ever-present landlord about your lease yet?”

Alexis was jarred from her half-doze. “What about my lease?”

“That you’ll be giving it up,” Ned replied and watched her face freeze mid yawn.

“W-what do you mean?”

“You don’t honestly expect to live here after we’re married do you?” Ned asked with a laugh.

Alexis felt her panic begin to grow. Where the hell were her paper bags when she needed them? Across the hall with Sonny where you want to be. A little voice pointed out, and that thought made her suck in a popcorn kernel the wrong way and begin to cough.

~Motel~

“A Jaguar?” Jax surveyed the parking lot of rusted out and damaged cars. “That car would certainly stand out around here.”

V sipped appreciatively at her coffee. “The driver also stood out. He was a young man, more than likely a teenager with dark hair.”

“There aren’t that many Jags in town and the only one I know being driven by a dark-haired teen is Alexis’ nephew Nikolas.”

“I know,” V nodded excitedly. “He had a companion, another teenage male, this one with blonde hair. Any guesses on who that could be?”

“Lucky Spencer.” What did Lucky and Nikolas have to do with a dead cop? Whatever it was he was positive Alexis wasn’t going to like it.

“The manager admitted that the Jag backed up in front of Room 209, the room Wilson rented, on the morning of 4th. The dark haired man who happened to be wearing a Rolex, paid the manager to stay away from the room for awhile.”

“Why didn’t he tell the cops this?”

Flushing V took an interest in her coffee. “You have to know how to ask.”

“Why V,” he drawled. “Did you get rough with someone without me?”

Ignoring what his husky drawl was doing to her insides she strove to remain professional. “I merely did my job.”

Sensing her embarrassment he decided to let the subject drop for now. “If you already interviewed the manager why are we staking out the motel?”

“Because I’m waiting for the housekeeper to show up. She quit a few days ago and is supposed to pick up her last check tonight. She was the one who was supposed to clean Wilson’s room that morning, I want to see what she knows.”

Jax wondered what the chances were in getting her to leave tonight and find the woman in the morning. Studying her set face in the dim light he realized he didn’t have a prayer. Swallowing the groan and knowing better than to complain he shifted in the low slung car and tried to get as comfortable as he could. As a date he would readily admit this was a new experience for him, but if it made her happy he was willing to try it, after all that was what massage therapists were for.

~Penthouse 4~

Carly was feeling decidedly uneasy. Sonny’s words jarred her, but the flat delivery of them concerned her. Could she have driven Sonny to the point of … she couldn’t let herself finish the thought.

“Basically you need to disappear,” Sonny went on unaware of the direction Carly’s mind had turned.

Disappear? She didn’t want to believe he meant anything sinister by the word but it wasn’t in her nature to believe in someone. All her life she had driven the people around her crazy. She would hurt them enough that they pushed her away or just flat out left her. Jason was the only person who had never fully given up on her which was surprising considering she had hurt him almost more than any other. He had stuck around and ultimately forgave her for her mistakes. He stuck because he cared for her.

Sonny was another story. Sonny didn’t like her very much, especially not recently, sometimes she wondered if he ever liked her. She knew he didn’t like closed in spaces, and thanks to her, he was facing 25 years in a small windowless cell. Was there any wonder that he might have grown to hate her? If he hated her was it that far of a step to contemplate killing her? His own demigod of an attorney was telling him if she testified he was going to prison. She had a right to be concerned. Carly didn’t want to think this way. She wanted to think better of the man she’d fallen in love with. She wanted to believe he was the man who’d been so careful with her after she’d lost their baby. She knew the man he was with her son, the way he didn’t car if Michael dripped ice cream on one of his expensive suits. That was the man she was in love with, that was the man she had to believe he was deep down.

Losing himself in his aged scotch, Sonny was oblivious to the turmoil his drinking companion was feeling. In spite of the numbness that he was chasing with the scotch, his mind kept focusing on the penthouse across the hall. The penthouse the woman he loved was talking, please god let them just be talking, with her fiancé. At times he tried to convince himself that he would be willing to let Alexis go if she were happy. He’d never had to test that promise because she wasn’t happy. Ned was incapable of loving any woman enough to truly make them happy, and yet Ned was the one who was in her penthouse while he was drinking scotch. Incensed with his thoughts he slammed the glass down on the low coffee table so hard the glass cracked.

The glass shattering spooked Carly enough that she began to speak. “What are you going to do?”

“I don’t have very many options,” he muttered darkly, his mind on a completely different matter. He couldn’t kill Ned no matter how satisfying that would be, Alexis would never forgive him, besides for some strange reason there were times Jason actually liked Ned.

“Don’t do anything crazy.” Carly was now convinced she was arguing for her life.

“Crazy?” Sonny repeated his focus shifting to her. “You’re the one that does crazy things.” He downed the liquid in his glass. “What I’m considering is pure insanity.”

Perplexed Carly took a risk and touched his arm. “What do you mean?”

The sound of knocking on the door drew his attention form her and he headed for it, tossing off the answer to her question while he moved. “I either have to send you away for 7 years or I have to marry you.”

Shock slammed into her along with his words. She had to have misheard him, because it sounded like he said something about marriage.

“What?” Sonny’s irritation faded the instant he recognized his late night visitor. “Alexis.”

Alexis warned herself not to respond to his dimples. “I know it’s late, but I wanted to…”

“You want to marry me?” Carly was finally able to form a question.

Alexis felt a shaft of pain and possibly even jealousy go through her at the blonde’s question and withdrew. “I see you’ve made up your mind.” With that she pivoted and stalked to her own penthouse and slammed the door hard.

Sonny could only watch her go.

~Quartermaine’s~

I lost a friend today. I lost my oldest friend today and I’m not sure how to handle it.

The words stood out on the pages of her diary and Emily could only stare at them. At one point she would have argued with her entire family at once, secure in the knowledge that her and Lucky would always be friends but now she wasn’t so sure. She had been convinced that if there were something wrong with Lucky they could fix it. After all they had been able to solve every other problem they had faced. But the memory of his accusations, his irrational anger, made her doubt that belief. The bruises on her skin made her doubt that they would be able to fix him. Even if they could there was some damage that had already been done that probably couldn’t be repaired.

Elizabeth had moved on, she could admit that now. She wasn’t sure that Elizabeth would come back if she found out about Lucky’s problem, she wasn’t sure she’d want Elizabeth to come back just because Lucky had a problem. Elizabeth had moved on, she was happier than she’d been in months, and that happiness coincided with her brother’s return and she still wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

How could she encourage Elizabeth to stand by Lucky if it would make Jason unhappy? How could she encourage Elizabeth to move on and hurt Lucky? How could she be everybody’s friend and not hurt anyone? She didn’t think that was possible. No matter how this situation eventually resolved itself someone was bound to get hurt.

It was a confusing situation. Closing her diary she set it on the nightstand next to the phone. Without stopping to think she picked up the phone and dialed a number from memory. When the first ring sounded in her ear she noticed it was well after 1:00 am, she groaned at the knowledge but didn’t hang up. The phone rang a few more times before the answering machine clicked on. Surprised Emily hung up the phone. Elizabeth always answered her phone no matter what time it was. If she didn’t answer it meant she wasn’t home. She wondered where Elizabeth was and if her absence from her apartment had anything to do with her brother’s phone call of earlier.

~Jag~

“We have to do this Nikolas we’ve come too far to back out now.” Elizabeth reminded him when her friend grimaced again.

“I know it’s just risky.”

“Not as risky as moving a body from one car to another in the middle of a rave,” she pointed out tartly.

“I agree. But we’re going to be exposed for awhile I don’t like that.”

“Nikolas we’re taking every precaution we can. We’ve tried to eliminate all the potential evidence, I swiped the plastic from the docks a few weeks ago, even the weather is cooperating, we’ve only seen one car since we turned on the road.”

“You’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” he realized.

“I’ve been thinking about it since the day we found Emily in the hotel. If we had any brains that day we would have cleaned up the room and left his body where it was.”

“We couldn’t risk anyone linking Emily to the body, “ Nikolas reminded her. That was a belief he had to cling to, otherwise these past 6 weeks of hell had been for nothing, and that was unacceptable.

“We would have given Emily an alibi if she needed it. I would have had no problem lying to the police to protect her, I know you would have too.” Sighing Elizabeth shook what might have been away. “I guess it doesn’t matter now. We didn’t do any of those things. The reality is we have a dead body in the trunk we’re trying to dispose us without leaving any evidence or getting caught.”

“You’ve been going on about trace evidence and how to destroy it all night. Do you have a degree in forensics that I’m not aware of?” Nikolas asked and looked over in curiosity when she didn’t respond. Elizabeth had taken a sudden interest in the night outside her window. “Elizabeth?”

“Uhm, well,” she didn’t want to admit the truth.

“Elizabeth?”

“I’ve been watching a lot of TV, Court TV actually, there’s a show called Forensic Files that’s really helpful,” she admitted sheepishly.

Nikolas could only groan. They were risking prison based on a plan she got from a television program. His eyes narrowed in suspicion. “When do you watch this show?”

“At night when I can’t sleep.”

“Perfect,” he threw up his hands and shook his head in disgust. “You get an idea from a TV show that you watch on a TV that I got you as a belated Christmas present, and now we have a dead body in the trunk. Tell me how this is better than Lucky’s plan?”

He looked so aghast, so upset that her knowledge came from a TV he’d bought her, she couldn’t help but react. The giggle slipped out before she could stop it and she quickly tried to muffle it into a cough. “It’s very informative,” she explained when he glared at her. Suddenly the absurdity of what she was doing caught up with her and another laugh was soon begging to be released. She tried to stop it, this wasn’t a laughing matter but the harder she tried not to laugh the more she wanted to.

Growing concerned when Elizabeth abruptly buried her face in her hands Nikolas reached over and awkwardly patted her back. “Don’t cry Elizabeth your plan isn’t that bad,” her body began to shake at his words. “It’s okay.”

“I know,” Elizabeth finally gasped out and raised her head.

She wasn’t crying she was laughing. “It’s not funny.”

“No it’s not,” she agreed and tried to stop. “It’s just I remembered your face when you walked into the Suds of Fun you looked like you just discovered something rank and then when you went to sit on the machines,” she broke off on another laugh. “And now we have a body in the trunk.”

In spite of himself the urge to laugh was gradually overtaking him. “I’ve never been in a Laundromat.”

“I know, no one will believe me when I tell them you were there. I should have taken a picture I could have sold it to the Tattler with the headline, The Prince and his Suds.

This time they both broke up. The two friends laughed for in that moment it was either a time to laugh or a time to cry.

~Cliff Road~

Zander Smith was cursing himself a fool. Had he stuck to his plan he would have been lost in Canada by now. But no he had to listen to his conscience. Hell he hadn’t been aware he still had a conscience until he’d been faced with the border into Canada and found that he couldn’t go past it. The car seemed to turn of it’s own accord and he began to make the trek back the way he’d come. He had to warn Elizabeth to stay away from the rave. Whatever conscience he still managed to have wouldn’t survive if something happened to the girl and he could have stopped it.

So he had returned to a town he had no business being in trying to find a girl who probably thought he was a murderer and to warn her about the actual murderer and his plans for her. He knew where she worked, and his bad luck had held, she was off. He couldn't afford to hang around waiting for her to show, by now Sorel's people would probably be looking for him. She had kept him from knowing where she lived, he knew the general vicinity but not the building, so finding her there wasn't an option, so he'd checked the phone book. She wasn't listed but Emily Quartermaine was.

The Quartermaine estate was easy to find, houses that sprawled over a half acre tended to be. He was surprised by the lack of security the place had, but put that down to the eccentricity of the rich. Once he found her home he was uncertain what to do next. If he knocked on the door he could be dealing with a parent and that was one scene he did his best to avoid, if he suddenly appeared at her window, on the off chance he could find hers, he imagined he'd soon be hearing the sound of sirens. He'd waited in the bushes not sure of what to do when a Jag pulled up.

Stepping back to make sure he wasn't seen he was relieved when Emily stepped out of the car and headed for the house. His relief was short-lived, soon Gia's self-described Boy-Toy exited the car after Emily. Judging from the closeness of the couple he had a feeling that Gia had lied about her relationship with Nikolas the way she had lied about everything else in her life. Nikolas soon left but before he could get Emily's attention she'd disappeared inside the mausoleum.

So now here he was back on the road out of town. His return trip had been a bust, but it seemed to have quieted his conscience. He'd tried to warn Elizabeth, it wasn't his fault she wasn't around to be warned. Sorel was getting way out of control, and that was his cue to leave. Elizabeth was on her own, it was a fact of life he was used to, and felt it was high time for Elizabeth to learn it as well. Turning the radio up full blast he tried to lose himself in the music, and drown out the memory of Elizabeth's pretty eyes and the bruises on Emily Quartermaine's arms. After all it wasn't his problem.

~Docks~

“You should have kept me informed,” Francis sniped in a hushed whisper.

“Me?” Johnny hissed. “You’re the one that has this big brother relationship going on with Elizabeth why didn’t you pick up on any of this?”

Ignoring the question Francis kept his eye on his target. The reason he hadn’t picked up on Elizabeth’s problem was because she had been avoiding him, and he’d let her because he’d been busy planning his trip to New York. Infuriated with himself for not realizing she was in trouble and tired of trailing Roscoe he made a decision. “Let’s take him.”

“Finally.” Johnny cracked his knuckles in anticipation. “You take point I’ll catch him from behind.”

Approving of the plan Francis nodded. Roscoe and him went way back, it would be good to renew the rivalry. He waited a minute for Johnny to get into position then made his presence known. “Roscoe just the man I’ve been looking for.”

“I’ll call you back Faith,” Roscoe closed his phone and tucked it in his pocket. “I heard you were out of town Carnivale.”

“I’m back,” Francis moved closer. “I need some answers from you.”

Roscoe reached for his gun only to stop when he felt a gun being pressed to the back of his head. “This is unexpected Carnivale, usually you like fair fights, right side,” he informed the man who was patting him down.

Johnny removed the gun from the holster and continued to check for more.

“I don’t have the time to waste with you that I normally do Roscoe. You’re going to tell me what you know about Zander Smith and Elizabeth Webber.”

“Or?” Roscoe bluffed his calmness when the other man moved closer.

“Or,” Francis flicked open a switchblade that boasted a blade well past what was legal. “I’ll give you a scar that matches the one I left on you last time we talked. What’s it to be? You’ll talk eventually we both know that, the only question is how much pain do you want to endure before you do?”

“I’d listen to him,” Johnny prompted from behind. “We called him home from vacation, he’s not in a good mood.”

Seething Roscoe figured the odds. With a man holding a gun on him and Carnivale with a knife he knew he couldn’t win, at least not at the moment. “The boss wants a one on one with the Webber girl.”

“And Smith comes in how?”

“He’s a Rave Rat. She’s going to a rave tomorrow night. He’s supposed to drug her and deliver her to Sorel.” Roscoe caught a glimpse of something over Carnivale’s shoulder and knew the odds had just swung back in his favor. “Smith will Zander her to Sorel just like he did before.”

“What?” Francis demanded and caught the whiff of a trap a second too late. By the time he turned to face his attacker the man was on him. Dimly he was aware that Johnny had been rushed the same time he was. Gunshots rang out over the docks disturbing the late night peace of the softly falling rain.

~Jag~

“We’re here.” Elizabeth announcement was unnecessary, as the car had been stopped for minutes now. Their laughter had also died about the time he’d switched the engine off. “All we have to do is dump the body, destroy our tracks, and go home.”

“What about the notifying the police?” Nikolas asked, anything to stall the inevitable.

“They’re working on the road up ahead.” She gestured to a barely visible road construction sign. “They’ll find the body and report it in the morning.”

“I suppose we should finish then,” Nikolas reluctantly opened his door and stepped out into the steadily falling rain.

“Nikolas about before. I wasn’t trying to be insensitive,” Elizabeth tried to explain the unexplainable when she joined him at the trunk.

“It’s alright Elizabeth. At that time it was either laugh or go insane,” he calmed her fear. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.”

Nikolas opened the trunk and they began the laborious process of trying to maneuver a frozen body in full rigor mortis from the trunk. They had just got him to the edge, half in and half out of the trunk when headlights washed over them.

~Luke’s~

The bullet passed close enough to her cheek that her hair actually moved and she could feel the trace of heat that had warmed her skin in the wake of the bullet’s passing. Incredulous at his audacity she could only cup her cheek and stare at him in shock. All of her curses, her anger, her indignation had dried up at his unexpected maneuver. Gamesmanship was how Luke and her normally communicated, not overt violence, that was too déclassé.

“Damn. The sights on this piece of shit must be off.” Luke grumbled loudly and glared at the gun still in his hand.

Finding her voice Helena strove to take charge again. “Luke…”

“Shut up Helena,” he ordered in a voice as cold as she’d ever heard. “You can lie to me all you want, you can try to pin everything on Faison but it won’t matter. You and Faison and every thing you did to my son were one and the same. You killed Faison so that leaves you to pay for everything. The image of you and Fu Manchu washing each other’s backs almost blinds me but that’s exactly what you two did. Faison may have done the dirty work, but you were pulling the strings the whole time.”

Helena hadn’t survived being one of the most hated Cassadine’s of all time without a great deal of strength and cunning. Calling on that now she adopted an amused expression. “I’m tired of your plebian accusations.” Forcing herself to walk slowly she headed for the door.

Luke waited until she reached it before speaking. “The next time I point a gun at you Helena I won’t miss. So I’d be using those eyes in the back of your head that you got when you made a deal with the devil, and keep watch for me.” When the door slammed he blew out another smoke ring and grinned. He’d definitely won that round with the Queen of the Damned.

~*~*~

Insult, fear, and humiliation swirled inside of her and it was the humiliation that she couldn’t tolerate. Luke needed to be taught that there were consequences for his actions. He needed to be reminded who was the one that was really in control. Pulling out her cellphone she quickly dialed a number. “Lucky I need to see you, now,” when the boy started to complain she asserted her control. “Lucky protect your queen.”

[JRK Archiver]

~Jag~

People said adrenaline could get a person through the most amazing things. It could sustain a runner to the end of the race, even long after their endurance was gone. People also said fear was something to be awed by, a motivator that had no equal. A mother terrified for her child could lift a car to save the child. A father with a broken leg whose house is on fire finds the strength to carry his child down a flight of stairs and through flames to safety.

Call it fear, call it adrenaline, or call it pure luck, but the moment the headlights had swung in their direction Nikolas and her had moved as one. The body had been shoved back into the trunk, and she didn’t even flinch when the trunk lid connected with the body with a loud thunk. Instinctively she had shifted shielding the license plate and rested her head on his shoulder. Hopefully they would just look like a couple on the side of the road. Nikolas kept one hand on the trunk lid holding it down.

The approaching car slowed as it neared the jag and the passenger window was lowered. “Are you two having some problems?”

“No,” Nikolas automatically smiled at the woman in the passenger seat. “We just needed some air.”

Elizabeth saw the woman’s expression change from one of curiosity into a doubtful one and couldn’t blame her, not too many people got air in the middle of rainstorm. “It’s not healthy to have an argument when one is behind the wheel of a car,” she explained and saw understanding cross the woman’s features.

“Okay, we’ll be going then.”

The window was rolled up and the car continued its way down the road. They waited for the taillights to disappear before beginning to breathe again. Elizabeth collapsed on the roof of the trunk for a few seconds before realizing the lid was still open and jumping back.

“That was too close,” Nikolas, stated the obvious.

“I know,” she wanted to cry at the injustice of it all. “We can’t leave the body here.”

“Why not?” The only thing Nikolas wanted to do was to get the body out of his trunk and never think of it again.

“We were spotted.” Understanding his irrational feelings of the moment she went on. “How long would it take those two to go to the cops and tell them about the young couple in the jag they spotted right beside where a dead body was found?”

Infuriated because he could see the obvious truth in her words Nikolas slammed the trunk lid down and paced away. It wasn’t her fault they had been spotted. All they had needed was five more minutes and this nightmare would be over, and now they had to go someplace else and try it all over again. Reciting a chant from Tai Chi that his uncle had to calm himself he finally moved back to her. “Where?”

“I don’t know,” Elizabeth wailed battling her own feelings of nerve and strain. “Somewhere on the other side of town. Somewhere far enough away that those two won’t even think of us when a body is discovered.”

Realizing she was nearing her breaking point Nikolas slowly reached out and took her hand. “We’ll find a place.”

“I know we will.” His kindness was her undoing and the emotions she had been clamping down all night began to show. “It’s just this place was so perfect. With the roadwork we didn’t have to worry about reporting a body, they would find it in a few hours. Now we have something else to figure out.”

“We’ll just have to give the police a lead.”

“A tip,” she corrected automatically and slid inside the car when he opened the door. She waited for him to get inside before speaking again. “We can’t call 911 because there will be a recording.”

“Why do we have to tip the cops at all? The body will be discovered eventually why don’t we wait for that to happen?”

“Could you wait? Honestly could you just sit around at work tomorrow and wait for the news to finally announce they found Ted Wilson’s body?” She demanded. “Besides I don’t want to leave the body to the elements any longer than we have to. I know it’s strange to develop a conscience after such a long time, but I don’t want Ted Wilson to be punished any longer.” Turning to face the window she waited for him to tell her she was behaving irrationally.

After a long minute Nikolas started the car. “We’ll figure out a way to tip off the police.”

Relieved Elizabeth felt a little of the worry leave her.

~Docks~

Johnny held out as long as he could, but eventually the numbers and seasoned fighting ability of the men attacking him became too much for him to withstand. The gun, his ace in the hole had been thrown clear by his attacker’s first rush. The bullet had gone wide striking no one. His last memory before finally passing out was of Francis lying on the docks.

“Finally.” Roscoe tried to shake the pain from his bruised knuckles. Corinthos’ men had put up a hell of a fight, even out numbered 5 to 1 the fight had went on far longer than it should have and the result had been in doubt almost to the end.

“What do you want us to do with them?”

Roscoe would like nothing more than to slice them up and toss them into the swirling water of the river, but he knew a move like that could only happen under orders from his boss. He hated the fact that he still had to tow the line and get approval from Sorel before taking action. But he was smart enough to know how to bide his time. Sorel wouldn’t last forever so if he had to wait a few more months for someone to take out Sorel he would do it. Because once Sorel was gone it would be his turn to lead. But until then he had to keep up the appearance of being a loyal right hand man, as such he reached for his phone and took some pleasure in waking his boss up.

“This had better be good,” Joseph Sorel didn’t believe in wasting time with hello.

Francis continued his role of playing possum. The rain falling on his face had brought him around minutes ago, but he quickly grasped the importance of playing “dead” in his current situation. Thus far none of Sorel’s men realized he was faking, he observed Johnny through his eyelashes and hoped he was faking it as well. If they needed to make a run for it, Johnny was going to need to be conscious.

“I said I’d handle it.” Roscoe barked into the phone then closed it with a snap. Turning angrily he began giving orders. “Get them to the car. Sorel wants them taken out of town, make sure their bodies are hard to find.”

Doing his best not to groan Francis continued to play dead as they began binding his hands behind his back. Johnny and him were in a world of hurt.

~Penthouse~

Sonny was quiet as he made his way back to the couch. With the way Alexis had looked at him, and the way she had stormed off, he knew that any inroads he had made with her earlier in the evening were destroyed. The slam of her door was like a nail to his heart, and yet he had done nothing wrong. Nothing to earn her anger, he hadn’t asked Carly to marry him, all he had done was inform her of Alexis’ own suggestion. If Alexis didn’t like hearing the words, she never should have even offered it as a potential out for his legal trouble. If he had hurt her, it had been unintentional, but he wasn’t above feeling a little pleased that she might be feeling even a little bit of what he had felt when she had blindsided him with her suggestion earlier.

“Sonny?” Carly tried to get his attention. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Sonny poured some more scotch.

“Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?”

“Marriage?” Carly tried to keep her voice blasé. She didn’t want him to know how much the idea of marrying him appealed to her.

Sonny shrugged. “It’s an option, but it’s not the only one.”

That was hardly the declaration she had been hoping for so she pressed for more. “What do you think about it?”

Again he shrugged and headed for his familiar perch by the window to study the night. Christ he was tired. He was tired of banging his head against the wall Alexis had built in self-protection around her heart. He took things when he wanted them and could care less about the consequences, but he hadn’t behaved like that with her. With Alexis he was trying to take is slow, even though slow was an alien concept to him. But he knew it was only a matter of time before he snapped, especially with Ned back in town.

“Sonny?” Carly touched his back to get his attention.

Maybe it was time to return to what he did best and that was being a selfish bastard. He had a right didn’t he? After all Alexis would soon be crawling into bed with her worthless fiancé. Turning abruptly he caught Carly off-guard. Her eyes widened in surprise but before she could speak his lips were on hers. She didn’t struggle, or try to pull away, in fact after a second’s hesitation she began to kiss him back. The kiss was wild, violent, and a touch out of control, much like their first kiss had been. Perhaps it felt similar to him because he was feeling as self-destructive as he had that night. The night that had changed so many lives forever. He’d never claimed to be noble or even a good guy and the longer the kisses went on the less he thought at all.

Carly wasn’t sure what had prompted the kiss but she wasn’t complaining. In fact she was going to ride this unexpected occurrence for as long as she could.

~Jag~

They had traversed several roads that ran along the edge of Port Charles searching for the perfect spot to dump a body. But it seemed that wherever they went another car, a dog or something that made them nervous would happen and cause them to move on. When at one point Elizabeth had thought she’d spotted Francis in the back seat of an SUV heading out of town she knew they had to make a move soon. Her nerves weren’t going to last forever, and she was nearing the end of her rope.

“Do you want to do it here?” They had been parked on the side of the road for five minutes now and so far they had seen nothing that worried him, he hoped he’d finally found the place. “Elizabeth?”

“Let’s just finish it.”

Getting out of the car she went for the trunk and soon Nikolas joined her. They didn’t speak as they worked, by this time they knew what needed to be done. The body was soon in position on the edge of the trunk waiting to be picked up and placed on the grass that ran beside the road. The body was still cold, and that coldness had seeped through the plastic it was wrapped in and they could both feel it. Nikolas did his best to take the majority of the weight, but Elizabeth still had a lot of the body on her end to hold up. They didn’t try to make it far from the road, they didn’t want to hide the body they just didn’t want it right next to the road.

By the time they lowered the body to the ground both of them were exhausted and weak from the exertion. For a moment all they could do was stare down at the plastic wrapped body. The body that had made their lives a living hell for weeks now. For the first time in weeks it wasn’t just a body, a problem they had to deal with, it was back to being a man and his name was Ted Wilson, and it was past time to return him to his family.

“In the back seat there’s the bottle of bleach. We need to get it and roll it over our tracks so the police can’t make an impression.” Somehow it seemed more appropriate for her to whisper than speak so that’s what she did.

Feeling the same way she did Nikolas took her arm and led her away from the body. “I’ll take care of it.”

Nodding mutely she opened the passenger door, while he opened the rear door. “Why did you have a sword in your trunk?” The question she’d had earlier returned to her when she saw him shift the sword to get to the bleach.

“It’s an epee,” he corrected automatically and hoped she’d let it drop.

“But why do you have it in your car?” Curiosity was a factor in the question but so too was the desire to think about anything other than the body that was lying a few feet away.

“I fenced with…” swallowing hard Nikolas averted his face and drew the reserve he was born with protectively around his still bruised heart. “I used to go to Wyndamere and fence with Stefan. I just haven’t taken it out of the car since he disappeared.”

Seeing his pain Elizabeth felt incredibly guilty. She reached out to reassure him and he shied away. Recognizing his stance she didn’t try again. He wouldn’t take well to her trying to comfort him. At times, like now, he made it difficult for others to offer concern or easy affection, even if it was from his closest friends.

“Earlier when I spoke of Stefan to convince you to go along with my plan, I hope you know I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“I know that.” Closing the car door he turned to the field. “What we’re doing is right, maybe in some way it will help me deal with Stefan not being here anymore. Regardless it’s right to do this for…” he hesitated, “for Ted Wilson’s family.” It was the first time he’d let himself say the cop’s name.”

~Penthouse~

By the time someone began knocking on the door Sonny was almost too lost to care. Carly didn’t seem eager to stop and answer the door, in fact she was pulling him towards the stairs.

“Sonny?”

Jason’s voice came through the closed door and the effect it had was startling. Carly let go him and stepped back as he did the same with her. He didn’t have to ask what she was thinking about because he was thinking the same thing. Both were remembering the night they’d had sex, and the look they had put on Jason’s face when she had walked down his stairs wearing his nothing more than his shirt.

Guilt was a vicious beast and it slammed into them both hard. Carly turned and quickly disappeared up the stairs. The moment had united them in guilt much as they had once been united in grief. Reluctantly forcing himself to turn he opened the door for his best friend.

“I know it’s late but I needed to talk to you.” Jason stepped past Sonny and inside. “I need to know about S…” his voice trailed off when he got a good look at Sonny’s face. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Sonny tried to dismiss the question.

Unconvinced Jason studied the room. It didn’t take long for him to spot the shirt lying at the base of the stairs, a shirt he knew was Carly’s. Shifting his attention he took in Sonny’s disheveled appearance and knew what he had interrupted. The look on Sonny’s face was identical to the expression he’d had that cold November night that had changed their relationship forever.

Turning his back on Sonny Jason tried to get a handle on what he was feeling. It was true that he’d forgiven Sonny before he’d left town, but that didn’t mean he had forgotten it. He had loved Carly and was coming close to falling in love with her when that night had happened. He hadn’t admitted his feelings to Sonny, he hadn’t even admitted them to himself. But something had changed between them after Bobbie’s non-wedding to Jerry Jax. They had kissed that day and the feelings that kiss had evoked was different from any other kiss they had ever shared. But before he could figure out, what, if anything, that kiss could mean, he’d walked into this very penthouse, hurt and bleeding from a meeting gone very wrong, and found her with Sonny. Her descent down the stairs had changed everything between them.

“What did you want to ask me?” Sonny broke the uncomfortable silence.

“What are you doing Sonny?”

Carly had retrieved her robe and crept back to eavesdrop at the top of the stairs, and hearing Jason’s weary question she felt even guiltier. Why did she always hurt him?

“What do you mean?” Sonny played dumb.

“Don’t do that to me,” Jason turned on him. “And don’t lie to me. You don’t love her Sonny, so don’t use her, she doesn’t deserve it.”

Shifting guiltily on his feet Sonny looked anywhere but at Jason. “I’m not doing anything to her…”

“Sonny.”

“… that she doesn’t want to happen,” he finished finally.

Scrubbing wearily at his face Jason wished he were anywhere else. He didn’t want to get between the two of them. They were both his friends, he cared about them both, and their history was too long and to strange for him to get very involved, and yet he had too, because he knew some things they didn’t seem to.

“Tell me you love her.” If Sonny could do that he would walk out the door and leave them to it.

Sonny stalled as the moment he’d been dreading had finally arrived. The moment he had to tell Jason that he’d risked their friendship for a woman he couldn’t love. Realistically he knew Jason would understand his not loving Carly but that didn’t mean he wanted to tell Jason the truth that very minute.

[JRK Archiver]

“Tell me you love her and I’ll leave,” Jason pressed.

“No, I don’t love her,” Sonny finally admitted the truth. “I never have.”

Devastated by the admission Carly sank to her knees.

Jason merely nodded he’d known that was the answer he’d receive. “Then don’t mess with her head. I know she’s hurt you, I know she acts crazy at times, but she doesn’t deserve to be used or deliberately hurt by anyone, especially not you.” With that he headed for the door. “Think about it.”

Sonny remained where he was when the door closed behind him. It looked like the time for self-destruction was over and for once the people he cared about weren’t lying in ruin.

Brushing a few tears from her face Carly headed for her room. Sonny’s words had hurt but they weren’t that unexpected, she’d known for weeks that he wasn’t in love with her. Still she wasn’t sure if she was relieved or upset that Jason had interrupted them when he did. She did know that she was grateful for Jason’s support. In spite of the damage she had inflicted on him he still cared for her. Maybe it was time for her to try to make up for all the pain she’d caused him. The time she had been in love with Jason had been hard, but at least he hadn’t been deliberately cruel towards her, at the moment that was very appealing to her.

~Woods~

“Keep going.” A sharp voice ordered from behind. Hands bound behind their backs Johnny and Francis awkwardly made their way over the uneven terrain.

“We need to make our move soon,” Francis whispered hurriedly.

“Tell that to the guys with the guns,” Johnny hissed in return.

Recognizing Johnny’s normal life and death behavior he didn’t even bother to form a comeback. “I don’t feel like being shot in the head so we better…”

“Shut up.” One of Sorel’s guards shoved the shotgun he was carrying painfully into Francis’ ribs.

“This is far enough,” the leader of the group called the party of five to a halt. “On your knees.”

“Are you kidding?” Johnny asked. “These jeans are new I don’t want to get mud all over them.”

“How about blood?” A guard asked and shoved Johnny on his knees.

“Geesh aren’t you testy, you ought to switch to decaf,” Johnny muttered. Francis was shoved to his knees next to him. “Any ideas because I’m fresh out.”

The only answer was the pump action of the shotgun.

~Studio~

Nikolas pulled the jag to the curb next to the fire hydrant in front of her building and turned off the engine, soon the only noise was the ticking of the cooling engine.

“I guess I should go up.” Elizabeth opened the door and got out of the car yet moved no further

“I figured out how we can let the police know about the body, without getting caught,” Nikolas emerged from the car and quickly moved to her side.

“How?” Used to his ingrained manners she didn’t even bother to tell him she didn’t need him to walk her to her door.

“I once had a conversation with V about when she worked at the Sheriff’s Department before joining the P.C.P.D she said their budget was so small, the only calls the switchboard was set up to record were calls on the emergency line. So if I look up the main line for the Sheriff’s Department tomorrow morning and report seeing a body they won’t have me on tape,” Nikolas explained.

“That’s great.” Relieved by the news she climbed the stairs to the third floor with a slight spring in her step that hadn’t been there a few moments ago. “Tonight was nerve wracking but I’m really glad we did it. It’s strange but I feel like we really accomplished something.”

“Let’s see if we get away with it first,” he cautioned as they drew abreast of her door.

“All that’s left is for me to tell Lucky what we did.”

Since she was busy digging for her keys she missed his reaction to her words. As irrational as Lucky was behaving the last thing he wanted was for Elizabeth to be near Lucky or even worse tell him they had decided to dispose of Ted Wilson without him. He knew instinctively that Lucky was not going to take the news well, and the last thing he wanted was for Lucky to go after Elizabeth the way he’d gone after Emily earlier in the evening. “I’ll tell him.”

“That’s okay Nikolas it was my idea,” she tried to smother a yawn. “I think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”

“No.” His reply was sharp and very loud in the hall.

“What’s wrong?”

Knowing that she wouldn’t be able to sleep if she knew there was a problem with Lucky and unwilling to burden her with it, he tried to think of an excuse. “I just think we should tell Lucky together. It may have been your idea but we put it into action as a team, so it’s only fitting that we tell Lucky and Emily as a team as well.”

She couldn’t help feeling there was more to the story than that, but was to tired to pursue it further so she merely nodded her head. “Okay, we’ll tell them together.”

“Promise?”

“Yes I promise,” this time she wasn’t able to smother the yawn and unlocked her door and turned on her light. Spying the bleach on her counter she was reminded of something. “Another thing we have to do tomorrow is clean your trunk.”

“Didn’t I tell you?” Nikolas asked with a small smile. “I picked up some paint last week to touch up the porch at the cottage, it will happen to spill in my trunk, I’m having my car professionally cleaned and detailed tomorrow.”

“That’s smart,” she smiled in appreciation of his idea then kissed his cheek in farewell. She only took a step when she had another thought. “Don’t forget to destroy the clothes your wearing, along with the clothes from that night, including your shoes. We were careful, but I don’t think we can be too careful.”

Nikolas looked mournfully down at his new, but muddy shoes and nodded. “I’ll do it in the morning.” Nodding Elizabeth stepped inside her apartment while he made his way down the stairs.

Jason waited for the sound of his footsteps to fully disappear before exiting the abandoned office directly across the hall from Elizabeth’s door. If anything the conversation he had just heard only confused him even more. He’d been waiting for about an hour when he’d heard them approach, keeping the door cracked he had listened in on their conversation and noted their appearance, both of them were drenched and muddy. The more he heard the more convinced he became that the problem she had was a large one not to mention a potentially dangerous one.

Crossing to her door he prepared to knock only to hesitate before his fist made contact. He had promised to give her until tomorrow night and he didn’t like to break promises. In fact in his life he’d only broken two, the last one was to Michael about always being there for him. Besides it was after 3:00 am the last thing he wanted her to know was that he’d been looking for her for hours. She was home, she was safe, he could let his questions go for the night.

Reluctantly he headed for the stairs, he would give her the time she’d asked for, but tomorrow night they were going to have a long overdue talk about a lot of things. He’d only descended two steps when he heard a door in the hall behind him open. Knowing Elizabeth was the only full-time tenant on the floor he headed back up the stairs but stayed in the shadows out of her sight. Elizabeth was standing in the hall wearing the colorful robe she had been wearing that morning. While he watched she retrieved a large dark garbage bag from her studio, crossed to the trash chute and hefted it inside.

“The trash will be picked up by 8:00 am and once it gets to the landfill there will be no way for anyone to trace what’s inside back to me.” With that she pulled off her latex gloves and was about to throw them down the chute as well when she thought better of it. “I’ll throw these out at work tomorrow.” As weary as she was she felt like a huge weight had just been lifted from her shoulders. Stretching she headed for her door, a shower to wash away the night’s activity would soon be followed by a trip to her bed.

Moving quickly once he heard her door lock Jason headed down the hall, past her door and down the back stairs that led to the side alley. Opening the door he stepped out into the rain and headed for nearly overflowing trash bin that was placed below the trash chute. A dark bag, he quickly realized was hers was on top of a large number of white bags. Retrieving it he headed for the security of the warehouse before opening it.

If his employees wondered why he was there at 3:15 in the morning or why he was carrying a trash bag into the building they kept it to themselves. He headed for the back of the building and opened the door that led to the industrial incinerator they had on site. Once he made sure he was the only one in the room he opened the bag. The sight of the muddy clothes she had been wearing all the way down to her shoes greeted him, in the bag as well were the items he’d spotted on her table. The trash bags, baggies, some used Q-Tips, even the full unopened bottle of bleach, were joined by some muddy rags and a small piece of industrial plastic.

At the bottom of the bag he found a steak knife and he paused over it for a long time before tossing it into the incinerator along with the rest of the items and the bag itself. If she didn’t want the bag to be traced back to her it wouldn’t be. Picking up a poker he prodded the shoes until the rubber on the shoes began to melt. Staring at the hypnotic flames still visible through the grate he felt tired for the first time all night. He’d prod the fire for another 15 minutes then go back to Jake’s and grab a few hours of sleep. He had a feeling he was going to need to be rested when he had his conversation with Elizabeth.

~Studio~

“What?” Elizabeth all but snarled the question through her closed door. In spite of her wet head from her shower, she had almost been asleep when the knocking had started. Habit almost had her blindly opening the door before checking to see who it was. Only her promise to Jason had her calling through the door at the last minute instead.

“Let me in.”

Puzzled by the recognition to the voice she stood on her toes and checked her peephole. “Lucky? What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you, let me in.”

Again habit had her reaching automatically for the lock and then feeling uneasy for some reason she stopped. “It’s late Lucky we can talk tomorrow.”

“Please Elizabeth it’s really important,” his plea came through the door. “I need your help, you’re the only who can help me.”

Cursing her weakness she unlocked the door and stepped back, inviting him into her apartment.

[shellyme]

Well at least you had Jason and Elizabeth kiss, but I really didn't like them that much during the whole Lucky brainwashing story line, and right now I still don't. Because with all their talk about living their lives their own ways, they're both still huge CHICKENS!!!!! when it comes to each other. That much chemistry shouldn't be ignored!

[kmheflin]

please update this soon i am dying to see what happens next!!

[kcke2pen]

Would there be an update for this story? I love the twists and tension between everybody. This is so good! Please tell me Fran and JO get out of their predicament!