Chapter 7

Back at M&S Investigations, they sat around the table again. Pizza was on the way and they wanted to make some serious headway before they returned to the hospital.

"Okay, let's go over the security footage together. Maybe something will jump out at us," Sam said.

Spinelli hooked his laptop to a projector so that they could all watch the footage. Maxie closed the blinds tightly and turned off the lights.

The video came up on the screen and they all began watching. It was boring for the most part, mostly just warehouse workers moving stock around. Sam's breath caught in her throat when she saw Jason enter the frame and speak to one of their men. He clapped the guy on the shoulder and gave him a smile as they laughed about something. She missed him so much.

Spinelli picked up on Sam's distress and quickly changed to another feed.

"This is the view of the parking area. There's not much to note, but maybe someone else will see something in it," Spinelli told the group.

"There," Maxie said, pointing at the screen.

"What?" the others asked in unison, squinting at the screen.

"That car. Sure, it doesn't look out of the ordinary, but notice, it has Massachusetts plates. Why would anyone from Massachusetts be at Corinthos-Morgan?" Maxie said.

"Good eye, Maxie. If it doesn't work out at Crimson, you can definitely come work with Spinelli and me. Spin, run the license plate, please. This could be our break," Sam said with hope and anticipation buzzing inside her.

Claudia's phone rang. "It's Sonny," she told the group. "Hello?"

"Hey, I remembered something that might be helpful," Sonny said.

"Just a sec, let me put it on speakerphone so the others can hear," Claudia said as she pressed the button and placed the phone on the table. "Okay, go ahead."

"I was trying to remember what happened and something flashed into my mind. Jason and I were talking about the mystery shipment when the power failed. With no windows, it was pitch black in the warehouse. Apparently we were ambushed because the next thing I remember was waking up in one of the offices. It was still dark, but I could hear people talking outside the room," Sonny told them.

"That's odd," Spinelli said. "On the security footage, there was no sign of a power failure. Unless…" he began typing furiously on the computer. "AHA! The evildoers hacked into the security feed and set it to loop continuously."

"So you're saying that what we watched is not really what was happening at the time?" Claudia asked.

"Affirmative, Vixenella. The Jackal will see if the original footage can be recovered," Spinelli answered as he continued to work.

"Sonny, do you remember anything else? What about the people? Were they foreign?" Sam asked, jotting notes to herself.

"No, they sounded American," Sonny said. "Mostly men's voices, but one woman. Her voice seemed familiar but I can't place it. I can't remember what was being said. Maybe it will come to me as we talk."

"Can you tell us more? I know it's hard to think about, but any details about the whole situation might help us put it all together," Carly asked.

"When I woke up, I was locked in the room. Like I said, it was dark so I couldn't see out of the room. I tried to get the door open, but it wouldn't budge. I realized through poking around that I was in Jason's office. I tried the phone, but the phone lines had apparently been cut along with the power. They had also taken my cell phone."

"So they didn't offer for you to call me?" Claudia asked.

"No, why would they do that?" Sonny was confused.

They all looked at Sam. "Because Jason called me. He was panicked and and emotional. He said he didn't have much time and that they wanted him to tell me goodbye."

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

"It's okay. He got to tell me he loved me," Sam replied wistfully.

"So wait. Sam, you told us that you heard chains rattling when Jason called. Sonny, they didn't have you cuffed or anything?" Maxie asked.

"No," Sonny replied. "The door was locked, but other than that, nothing."

They all pondered the implications for a moment. Carly spoke first.

"So why did they have Jason call and not Sonny? And where was Jason being held?"

"Perhaps," Spinelli said, "Mr. Sir was not an intended target. Maybe he was not given the opportunity to say his goodbyes because he was not supposed to…"

"Die," Sam finished. "Jason was the target. You other guys were part of the cover to make it look like it was business related." The wheels were turning now. She paced around the room. "That has to be it. But who would want only Jason to pay?"

Just then, Spinelli's computer beeped. "The Jackal has identified the registered owner of the vehicle. It seems that it is registered to… Helena Cassadine."