Chapter 6

Sam stood frozen in her tracks. Tears threatened to fall as the joy of the day was now crushed by the reality of Jason's death. She opened her mouth and closed it again, as no words would come.

Carly stepped forward. "How about you rest tonight and we'll talk in the morning? Sam and I have to go…"

"Carly, please," Sonny said, his eyes pleading and filled with concern. "If Jason was fine, he'd be here right now, so that means he must be hurt. I need to know that my friend – my brother – is okay."

Carly looked at Sam. Sam nodded and walked closer to Sonny's bed. Carly stood close to her for support and Claudia squeezed her hand.

"Sonny, I don't know how to say this – and I really don't want to, but you deserve the truth," Sam said. She never thought that this would be so hard. She drew in a deep breath and tried to speak the words she never wanted to speak again. She reached over and took Sonny's hand. "I wish I could look you in the eye and tell you everything's okay. But the truth is…is…"

Tears poured down her face as she looked over at Carly. "I can't," she whispered. "I can't do it. I thought I could, I thought I was moving on, but…"

"It's okay, Sam," Carly said as she wrapped her arm around Sam's shoulders. "I'll tell him. Okay?"

Sam nodded and tried to pull herself together.

"Sonny, Jason's gone," she said in a low voice. Her heart broke all over again as she watched the realization hit her ex-husband.

"He's….dead?" Sonny whispered as the color drained from his face. Tears stung his eyes. "No. It can't be. Jason wouldn't leave us."

"I'm so sorry, Sonny," Sam said. "I'm so sorry."

Claudia spoke up. "Sam and I were on the phone when she got a beep. It was Jason. She was on the phone with him when the explosion happened. Baby, I'm sorry, but he's gone."

She pulled Sonny into a hug as he grieved for his friend. Sam had moved over to the corner of the room as she relived the moment that had blown her world apart. Carly looked to Claudia.

"Are you going to be okay?" Carly asked.

Claudia nodded as she wiped tears away. "We'll be fine. Take her home and take care of her," she replied nodding toward Sam.

"I will. Call if you need anything," Carly said. "Sam, honey, come on. We'll come back tomorrow."

Carly and Sam reached the car and Sam promptly dozed off against the window. Carly pulled out her phone and dialed Maxie.

"Carly! I thought you understood that Spinelli and I needed some time…" Maxie said with a grin. That girl couldn't take a hint.

"I'm sorry, but we need you. Meet me at Sam's. I'll explain once you get there," Carly said in a weak voice.

The worry in Carly's voice was evident and it startled her. "We'll be right there," she said and hung up.

"Spinelli, get dressed. Sam needs us."

The two got to Sam's in record time. Carly was coming down the stairs. "What happened?" Maxie asked as she shrugged off her coat and sat her bag down.

"Sonny asked about Jason," Carly said. "Long story short, it was awful."

"The Jackal regrets his and Maximista's absence in the wake of emotional turmoil. What can we do to assist?"

"I'm going to let the girls come over to my place. They wouldn't understand why Mommy is sad again. I was hoping you guys would stay here with Sam."

"Absolutely," Maxie answered. "I'll help you get some things together for the girls."

The two women headed upstairs and Spinelli was left alone. He decided to go into the kitchen to scrounge up a snack. He spotted Sam's laptop and decided that while he was here, he might as well do some work.

Carly and Maxie rounded up the girls and their things, and soon it was just Maxie and Spinelli. They stood in the kitchen and snacked as they looked at the computer.

Not too much later, Sam came down the stairs. "Hey guys," she said with a small smile.

Maxie turned and hugged her. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, it was just so hard to tell Sonny. He loved him as much as we did, so it was like it was fresh all over again," she said. "Find anything?" she asked Spinelli as she moved over to look at the computer. She snagged a chip and stuck it in her mouth.

"Still nothing on the evildoers. They are proficient in covering their tracks and the Jackal has not been able to ascertain the identity of the ones who bear the insignia. Never fear, though, for the Assassin of Cyberspace will not rest until the Minions of Doom are discovered."

---

The next morning, they reassembled in Sonny's room. He was much stronger now, and like Sam, his grief had been replaced with rage.

"Claudia told me that you've all been working to find who did this. I'm in. I know I can't do much from this bed, but at least I'm here in spirit," Sonny said with determination.

"Thank you, Sonny. Actually, we were hoping you could give us some information about what happened," Sam said as she pulled a paper from her purse. "Do you recognize this logo? Claudia found several documents bearing it that seemed sketchy."

"Yeah, Jason and I had been investigating that. We kept getting these bogus contracts with delivery times confirmed. We had not confirmed any shipments with the company. We ended up working later that day because we were checking into the mysterious shipment," he said, brows furrowed as he tried to recount the day's events.

"Who did the company belong to?" Carly asked.

"That's what we were trying to figure out. We were hoping that they would attempt to land the shipment and we would find out once and for all who was screwing with us," Sonny answered.

"Do you remember anything about what happened?" Maxie asked.

"It's fuzzy. I guess the explosion and all messed up my memory of that time. I keep getting bits and pieces, but none of it means anything to me," Sonny answered. "I swear, when we track down who did this, hospital or no hospital, I want a part in ending them."

"I think we all agree to that," Sam said as the others nodded in agreement.

"Right now, though, you need to rest," Claudia said. "and I need some food. We'll be back in a couple of hours." She kissed her husband as they all said goodbye and filed out of the room.