Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters with the exception of Kellie Corinthos, Tyler Scott, Charles Scott, and whoever else may show up along the way.
Author's Note: This pick's up several weeks after Mike's funeral or the end of "Dark Around the Edges." It is highly recommended you read "Dark Around the Edges" before attempting to read this story. This story picks up where "Dark Around the Edges" left off. The first half of this story should be updated relatively fast since I've written it. After that the updates will slowdown as I will be finishing the story. I hope to finish it and have it completely posted in the next couple weeks. If not expect the updates to slow down even more since I go from going to school to working full time.
Kellie's Penthouse
"It has to be an unknown," Kellie said, "It's the only thing that makes sense. You said Jason's checked in with some of the other families overseas and they don't seem to be a threat. Everyone here is just annoyed at my father's lack of organization, but they're not on the attack yet."
"Whoever this is should show up on the radar," Lorenzo said.
"Unless he doesn't want to show up on the radar," Kellie said as the door opened and Jason entered the room.
"He doesn't," Jason said, "At least not yet. There is a new figure. No one has actually seen him. He goes by the name Ramon, but other than that no one knows anything about him."
"He just showed up out of nowhere?" Lorenzo asked, "No connections at all." Jason nodded.
"How successful has this Ramon been?" Kellie asked.
"Nothing major," Jason said, "But he has had modest success."
"He's looking for the one thing that will put him on the map," Lorenzo said.
"He has to have had connections somewhere before starting in this business," Kellie said, "There's no way he could just be a connectionless upstart and keep himself as well hidden as he has."
"What about people who supposedly got out of the business?" Jason said, "We haven't looked into that yet."
"We have everything to lose by not looking into," Lorenzo said, "So look into it?"
"What about people who are supposed to be dead?" Kellie asked, "It's grasping at straws, but at this point we're running out of time. We're lucky whoever this is hasn't pulled anything major."
The phone rang. Kellie picked it up. "Hello….alright…thanks for letting me know."
"Who was that?" Jason asked.
"Durant," Kellie said, "They can't prosecute Sonny's guard on the assault based on some technicality or loophole city boy found."
"This isn't Tyler from Miami," Jason asked.
"Unfortunately, yes," Kellie said, "He was supposed to take a vacation and decided Port Charles was the place to spend it. When I pressed charges against the guard, he was recruited to defend him."
"Do you have guards on him?" Jason asked.
Kellie shook her head, "I can't baby-sit everyone, especially someone who doesn't want to be baby-sat. Tyler's a big boy. He should be able to make his choices and deal with the consequences."
"Maybe you need to tell him the truth," Jason said.
"I have gone back and forth on this," Kellie said, "And I hate the idea of idea of taking what he believes to be true about his life and ripping it to shreds."
"You may not have a choice," Lorenzo said, "Someone else may tell him for you. Can you live with that?"
"If I have to I will," Kellie said, "Back to the Lazarus theory. Are there any enemies that are supposed to be dead but might not be?"
"That is an extensive list," Lorenzo said, "What makes you think it could be some one come back from the grave rather than someone just reentering the business?"
"Very few people actually leave the business alive," Kellie said, "Even if one of those few people decided to come back, someone would know. If someone is supposed to be dead, no one is watching them. So a Lazarus could actually pull off the mystery identity."
"You realize how much time this will take?" Jason asked, "We have to track down doctors, morgue attendants, snitches and make them talk."
"Yes," Kellie said, "So we start with the people who hate all of us the most. There's Manny, Sorel, Faith, even Ethan. I don't care if we saw them die with our own eyes. We don't leave any stone unturned."
"We'll get men looking into both possibilities," Lorenzo said, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to leave. Dinner at the Quartermaines."
"I'd tell you to have fun," Kellie said, "But from what I understand that's a three ring circus people pay to get out of."
"I did not miss that while I was gone," Jason said.
"Well, she's all yours," Lorenzo said, before leaving.
"Admit it, Jason," Kellie said, "Deep down a part of you enjoys my witty banter. Besides you haven't had to referee between Sonny and I."
"And you are just trying to avoid any serious discussion," Jason said, "I'm sorry I wasn't here for Mike's funeral. How are you holding up? Don't try to spin it. Lorenzo and I already discussed the tequila incident."
"Does he call you with daily reports on me?" Kellie asked.
"You're avoiding the question," Jason said.
"I'm taking it one day at a time," Kellie said, "Mostly I've just been focusing on intelligence gathering."
"Are you still seeing Lainey?" Jason asked.
Kellie nodded, "We've talked a lot about Mike aside from why I started seeing her in the first place. Sam and I have talked a few times too."
"Sam insists you have dinner with us tonight," Jason said, "I'm glad you feel like you can go to her."
"It's the worst when I go to Kelly's expecting to see Mike there," Kellie said, "Anyway, you missed Michael."
"He behaved himself?" Jason asked.
"Yes," Kellie said, "Although he means well, I'm not entirely sure it will last. Jax brought John to see Mike before he died. They finally went back to Australia a couple days ago."
"You're telling me this because?" Jason said, "To avoid serious discussions."
"It seems to be all anyone else wants to talk about," Kellie said, "I for one would like to lay off the heavy, soul searching ponderings of life discussions. I'll grab a six pack out of the fridge and we'll go to your penthouse to see how Sam's coming with dinner."