~IV~


.

The antagonistic ring tone, made Carly groan. 'What the hell does he want now?' Checking traffic first, she pulled over to the side of the road. Hitting the flasher button, she reluctantly answered her cell phone.

"What?" Carly coldly demanded.

"Nice greeting there Carly," Jax sniped over the line. "I was looking over the hotel figures. We need to cut the day care."

"No," Carly shortly dismissed.

"Come on Carly, Nikolas agrees with me. There is no revenue there, we're incurring too much expense," Jax stated his facts.

Pulling the phone away from her ear, Carly simply hung up. Dialing another number she heard it ring twice before he picked up. "Nikolas, what's this crap I'm hearing about the day care being shut down?"

"What?" Nikolas demanded confused.

"Jax is closing the day care with your agreement," Carly simply stated as she griped the cell phone tight in her hands. "Did you even look at the rental agreements with the businesses before making this astronomically stupid decision?"

"It's a part of the renter's agreements," Nikolas groaned in pain.

"Fix this or go to bankruptcy court when they all decided to sue us," Carly snapped right before she closed her eyes. Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose. 'Neither one checked and ten to one says that they won't check because they trust that I know what I'm talking about.'

Again the antagonistic ring tone signaled that Nickolas called Jax on his crap. Flipping open the phone she answered with a short, "What?"

"I'm sorry; I didn't know it was a part of the renter's agreement. If that is the case, it is turning a profit," Jax hastily stated.

"I know," Carly agreed. "Stop trying to cut corners. If you want out of the hotel, just say so and Diane will have it go to me in the divorce."

"You would like that wouldn't you?" Jax snapped angrily. "It's my hotel; I'm not giving it to you."

Listening to the background, Carly could hear Mercedes making baby talk. 'She only does that with Josslyn.' Quirking an eyebrow, she turned Jax out and focused on the background. 'They're not at the house, so that means Mercedes checked Josslyn out of the day care, without my approval. But where are they?'

"Look I have to go, I promised Morgan that he could take Josslyn to the park today," Carly slyly stated as she tried to get off the phone.

"Which park is that?" Jax probed anxiously.

"He didn't tell me. I am running late, so good bye," Carly hurried as she hung up her cell phone. Hitting the speed dial, she impatiently waited for someone to pick up.

"Metro Court hotel, this is Marty how can I help you?" Marty greeted cheerfully.

"Marty, is Jax at the hotel?" Carly demanded.

"No, I'm sorry that room is booked," Marty cunningly replied.

"Olivia is standing right there isn't she," Carly huffed annoyed.

"Yes, that's available," Marty stated.

"Look I need you to update the list of people who can access my children while at the daycare to Jason, Milo, Max, Mama, Michael and myself only," Carly ordered as she tried to think of where Jax could be. "Mercedes has removed Josslyn for the premises without my permission."

"Yes, it's true that Katie Howard has her business here," Marty craftily relayed. "If you hurry you might be able to catch a glimpse of her when she arrives in twenty minutes."

"Marty, thank you," Carly whispered gratefully.

"Your party has been booked. I look forward to see you later today," Marty stressed before he hung up.


~II~


.

"Mercedes, please have a seat," Carly instructed as she gestured to the chairs facing her desk. "I wanted to have a chat with you."

"Okay," Mercedes answered as she sat down.

"Can you look this over for me and tell me what's wrong?" Carly requested as she handed her a piece of paper. Under her lashes, Carly watched Mercedes nervously look over the paper.

"I don't see anything wrong," she stated as she held the paper in her hands.

"Line thirty-four," Carly instructed keeping her cool. "It has your name on it."

"Oh," Mercedes whispered as she looked down. "So it does."

"Jax has court ordered supervised visitation for a reason. So can you explain to me why you would leave yourself open for jail time by assisting him in violating that order?" Carly inquired as she coldly looked at Mercedes.

"Um.. I didn't," Mercedes dismissed with a shrug of her shoulders.

"See, here is the problem with that statement. I had Spinelli verify where you were with my child long before I called you in here," Carly reasonably said as she held up time stamped photographs. "Katie Howards's house is on the same security system that Sonny's is."

"He's her father. You act like he's some leach and he's not. He's a good, honesty, upstanding man. He needs someone who understands him. Someone like Katie," Mercedes advocated.

"And you're in love with him. Well, let's make this simple. You're fired. Max has delivered your belongings to your mother's place. Lucky has convinced me not to press kidnapping charges or a custody violation order charge. Milo is waiting outside to escort you out of the building," Carly stated as she gestured to the door. "Milo!"

Remotely Carly watched as Milo kindly escorted Mercedes out of the office. 'He's way too nice.' Tapping her pen on her desk, she added two more names to her list. Leaning her head back against the chair, Carly closed her eyes. 'Maybe it's not them but you.' Pain exploded in her chest as she opened her eyes directly looking at the last family photo with Michael and Jason in it. 'No it's them. I failed repeatedly by choosing Sonny, but everyone else has to paid their dues also. Starting with Katie Howard, this is the second time she got involved with my children.'


~III~


.

Inhaling the calming scent of her baby girl, Carly knew that she was ready for bed even if Morgan wasn't. Her son was busy trying to finish this week's homework assignments, so that he could continue to be home school. 'Foolish, you're still going to go to school next week. But I'll see if I can't work it out with the principal that Fridays are spent with me.'

"Mama, you're tired," Morgan observed as he stared at her.

"What makes you say that?" Carly laughed as she gently put Josslyn down hopefully for the night.

"Because I asked you the same question several times," Morgan noted as he looked concerned. "Mama, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just tired. Missing your brother," Carly stated candidly as she sat down on the coach.

"I have just the thing!" Morgan stated as he dashed up the stairs.

"He has more energy than a windup toy," Carly muttered as she closed her eyes keeping her hears open for his footsteps. 'Six months? How the hell am I going to survive six months?' Opening her eyes as Morgan flopped onto the coach. "What's this?"

"It's Uncle Jason's baby book of Michael, the one he made for you. I found it yesterday," Morgan explained as he placed the book onto her lap. He opened the book and on the first page was a picture of Jason holding a baby Michael. "Who is this?"

"Huh," Carly whispered as she pulled the photo album closer to her. Looking at the picture she instantly recognized the man. "That's Francis," Carly stated as she turned the page. "This is Johnny and that over there is Ethan."

"Are they dead? How come I don't know them? And where is Max in these photos?" Morgan demanded as he started to flip the pages. "Maybe Milo is in one?"

"No, I don't know where they are. Max and Milo didn't come to Port Charles until after your birth," Carly stated as her mind started to whirl. 'Where did they go? I can't remember the last time I talked to the boys. Sonny always hated how close Jason was to them, maybe he transferred them.' Pulling out of her thoughts, Carly paid attention to the growing list of missing men as she entertained Morgan until she sent him to bed. 'I'll have Spinelli look into where they disappeared to.'


~IV~


.

"You made the right decision with Mercedes," Jason stated as he squeezed her hands. "You need someone who will protect your children even if they think you're wrong."

"I know, but who can I get to replace her? How did I miss it?" Carly struggled to figure it out.

"You weren't that close to her as you were to Leticia," Jason explained. "You removed her from the home and you handled it. Jax has no-one to help him, from the inside."

"I don't know what that man was thinking, all I do is work," Carly grumbled as she squeezed Jason's hand. "Speaking of work, what do you want me to do with all those properties of yours?"

Jason narrowed his eyes as he picked up on the double-speak. With a slight shake of his head, Jason answered, "The only property I care about is my penthouse and my bike. Maybe the SUV, but that's about it. Auction the rest off and give the money to charity."

"Oh, Morgan found Michael's baby book the other day," Carly laughed lightly. "He couldn't place so many of the people in the photos."

"I probably wouldn't be able to either. I lost touch with some of them," Jason commented with a snicker. "Do you remember when I had to order Johnny to change Michael's dipper?"

"Time's up Morgan," the guard stated before Carly could answer.

"I remember. Take care of yourself and Michael. I'll see the two of you tomorrow," Carly promised squeezing his hands. 'That's something that Spinelli can work on. It would boost his self-esteem knowing that he's helping Jason out.'

TBC