Part X
The Brownstone
"Carly..." Bobbie called as her daughter started to resemble a whirlwind. "Carly!"
"What?" the blond called to her mother as she rushed into the kitchen to dispose of Michael and Morgan's dirty dishes. Bobbie followed, using her petite frame to block the door out of the kitchen as best she could to try and confine her daughter. As Carly turned to rush back, she nearly collided with the other woman.
"What has gotten into you?" Bobbie asked, crossing her arms. Carly frowned.
"What do you mean? I've got to get the boys ready to go over to Jason's, then I need to get to the Metro Court to manage a few things, and then I've got to meet my lawyer. Since we all got up a little late, I've got to rush a few things," she said.
"Okay. I guess that's excusable. But I couldn't help but notice that you'd gotten in a little late last night," Bobbie commented. Carly let out a half-laugh as she rolled her eyes.
"I had some things to take care of," she said.
"Luke mentioned he'd seen you when he and I talked last night. He said you'd been headed towards the Towers," the redhead commented as Carly raised an eyebrow.
"Not that it was any of Luke's business, but I was. And speaking of Luke, you and I are going to have to have a chat about what you tell the man. This 'concern' he seems to suddenly have in my activities is starting to get more than inconvenient," Carly said. This time, Bobbie rolled her eyes with a grin.
"Inconvenient because he actually cares for you..." she pointed out. Carly let out an little cry.
"Shut your mouth!" she said on a disbelieving laugh.
There was a commotion in the living room that caused Bobbie and Carly to look at each other in confusion. Bobbie led the way into the other room and grinned when she saw her nephew under the attack of her grandsons.
"Lucky! What brings you here?" she asked. The blond looked up at his aunt and cousin with a quick smile as his disentangled himself from the boys. The look on his face told the two women that this was more than just a social visit.
"Boys!" Carly called attention to Michael and Morgan. When both of them calmed, she pointed to the stairs. "Why don't you guys go upstairs and get your things together. Otherwise we'll be late to Jason's. And make sure everything is packed since we're headed back to the house, okay?" Michael, ever the little man, knew his mother was covering for something. But he led his brother to the stairs without question. Once they were out of earshot, Carly turned to her cousin.
"What's going on, Lucky? It isn't Jason or Sonny, is it?" she asked.
"No Carly. It's not Jason or Sonny. I'm here to ask you to come in to the station for some questioning," he said. Carly looked at him with wide eyes.
"You're arresting me?" she asked, incredulous. Bobbie stood in front of her daughter as if to protect her from this newest development.
"Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, you'd better have a good reason for this," she told her nephew. Lucky, for his part, looked uncomfortable.
"The DA requested a 24 hour hold on Carly for questioning in her connection to Jerry Jacks," he said. Carly slipped past her mother in two angry strides.
"What?!" she cried. "I have nothing to do with Jerry Jacks. Nor do I want anything to do with the man! What evidence do you have to support this?" Lucky let out a sigh.
"It's not like I agree with this, Carly," he said. She glared at him.
"What... evidence..." she repeated.
"It's not like he needs much to try to raise a case, but Ric is using your recently filed divorce from Jax as suspicious behavior. Even if you don't know particulars, Ric believes that just the divorce itself says that you know something about what happened and that you could be charged with obstruction of justice," her cousin informed her. Bobbie reached out and took her daughter's hand with a small laugh.
"Ric Lansing thinks he can use my daughter's marital problems as probable cause?" she asked. Lucky nodded.
"It was enough to get a judge to order Carly in for questioning," he said. Carly snorted.
"My how Ric can stretch the truth and circumstances to get what he wants. How is he still in office?" she asked. Lucky shook his head.
"I honestly don't know, Carly. He should have been disbarred years ago. But he's a weasel. He knows how to twist things," he said. Carly closed her eyes and counted to ten, willing for her temper to lessen. It wasn't Lucky's fault... She turned to her mother.
"I'm going to need you to take care of the boys, but I'd rather them be at home. I know that they'll be completely safe there. I'll let Max know what's going on as Lucky and I leave. He'll get a hold of Jason," she said. Bobbie squeezed her daughter's hand with a nod.
"Of course, Carly," she said. "Jason will get you out of this..." Whatever else was going to be said was cut off as the two boys clamored down the stairs.
"We're ready to go to Jason's, Momma!" Morgan declared. Carly smiled as her youngest rushed to her. She ran her hand over his little face.
"Well, baby, there's been a change of plans. Grandma is going to take you home. Lucky and I need to meet with Jason really quick this morning, but I'll make sure he comes right over to see you guys as soon as we're done, okay?" she asked. Morgan nodded. But Michael appraised his mother with shrewd eyes. It made Carly's heart ache to see her little boy so jaded already.
"Jason will fix it, Mom," he said before going to get his and Morgan's coat. When Carly looked over at her mother, Bobbie had a hand over her mouth to cover her own pained expression. With a deep breath, Bobbie straightened and held her hands out to her grandsons.
"Well, let's get you two back home. The sooner we're there, then the sooner Jason can come visit you," she said. Morgan nodded his head emphatically.
"I made Jason a present. I have to give it to him," he said. Carly smiled as she watched her sons put on their coats. Bobbie stood next to them, readying herself as well.
"You'll have to show me when we get back to your house," Bobbie told Morgan.
"Nah uh, Grandma. It's for Jason, it's special. Only he can see it..." he said. Bobbie opened the door and waited for the kids to get themselves together.
"Then I guess I'll have to beg Jason to get a peek at it, then," she said. Morgan giggled as he followed Michael out the door.
"Graaaaaandmaaaaa," he bemoaned as the door shut behind them. The smile left Carly's face as she turned to her cousin.
"Is this an official arrest, then?" she asked. Lucky shook his head.
"Ric wanted to go all out... police cruisers, flashing lights, bullhorn. The whole gamut. I told Mac that hostage situations and gunfire would be kept to a minimum if we just asked you nicely to come in to the station," he said. Carly reached out and squeezed her cousin's arm.
"Thank you, Lucky. I know we're not close or anything, but you doing this for me and my boys means a lot to me," she said. Lucky nodded.
"To take a page from my dad's book: we're family," he said. Carly went to grab her coat where she'd tossed it earlier.
"Don't get me started on your father. Otherwise, there may actually be due cause for an arrest," she said. Lucky laughed as he escorted her to the door. Carly filled Max in before she climbed into Lucky's SUV, to which the guard immediately pulled his phone out and called Jason. As Lucky pulled away from the building, Carly blew Max a kiss & gave him a quick smile.
PCPD
"You've been married for less than six months, Carly. Everyone in Port Charles knows your affinity for the institution," Ric said. "Obviously, something went terribly wrong in your marriage to cause such a drastic action so quickly."
Carly just kept her eyes focused on the door, past Ric's shoulder. It kept her distracted enough to keep from ripping Sonny's brother's face off. Or saying something that wasn't incriminating that Ric, no doubt, would twist into something to keep her in jail overnight. Which she would not, could not, do.
"Come on, Carly. If you talk now, maybe I can reduce the charge. That would mean a year? Maybe less?" Carly glared in Ric's direction.
"I came here under my own power, under my own counsel thinking that perhaps when the intrepid police department says they want to 'ask' me a few questions, they will 'ask' me a few questions. Just so you know the difference, Ric, what you are doing now is call 'accusing'. I have a right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer. Strangely enough, I also have a right to a phone call. What's the number for ABC News?" she asked. Ric just smiled smarmily.
"Are you trying to blackmail me, Carly? In the interrogation room, even?" he asked. Carly smirked.
"It isn't blackmail if the entire town knows about it, Ric. Blackmail would mean you want your misdeeds kept under cover," Carly leaned forward. "Your misdeeds are hardly secret."
"I know you have a connection to Jerry Jacks, Carly. You are his sister-in-law. And I have it on good authority that you jeopardized your relationship with Jason for the man. So, forgive me if I have doubts to your innocence where your estranged husband's brother is concerned..." he said. Carly glared.
"Well, forgive me if I have doubts about you actually solving a crime in this town... legally," she countered.
"Just tell me what went wrong, Carly. And we can all go home to our children," he said. Carly sat back and crossed her arms across her chest. She gave him an appraising look for a few moments.
"Are you trying to deal? So if I tell you exactly what happened, you'll let me go home to my boys, no more questions asked? Go past 'Go', collect 200 and all of that?" she asked finally. Carly held back her amusement at the sudden glee that filled Ric's eyes.
"Something happened," he said, the smirk in place.
"Deal?" Carly asked again. Ric rolled his eyes.
"Fine, Carly. Yes. But you have to tell me exactly what happened," he said. Carly smiled.
"Then prepare to be astonished," she said as she sat forward. Ric leaned onto his elbows, eagerly awaiting what she was going to say since he knew her allegiance to the Jacks family was severely strained.
"Tell me," he said.
"The story is..." she started slowly on a breath. "Irreconcilable differences."
"What?"
"That is what went wrong in my marriage. Irreconcilable differences..." Carly said as she stood up and grabbed her coat. "You can check the papers filed yesterday. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have two sons to get home to. Have a nice day, Mr. Lansing."
Carly held in her laugh as she walked out in the PCPD bullpen. Mac's wide-eyed gaze met hers, as well as Lucky's concerned one. It took a second for Ric's mental capabilities to catch up to her, but once they did he stormed out into the room after her.
"Mrs. Jacks! We're not done yet," he yelled. Carly turned.
"Yes, we are. You said we were," she reminded him with a smirk. Then she turned to Mac. "I'll send the department the bill for the waste of my time. I told DA Lansing what he needed to know and according to our deal, I get to go home to my children. I suggest you come at me with something a little more substantial next time. Otherwise, a lawsuit against the department will be my next filing of papers."
When Mac turned to Ric with a question, Carly sat back against Lucky's desk. The sudden increase in voice levels meant that the police chief and the acting district attorney were at a disagreement in police procedure and questioning tactics. There couldn't have been a more amusing site for her at the moment.
"So... do you know anything about Jerry Jacks?" Lucky's voice cut in. She watched him lean against his desk next to her.
"You'd be the only person I'd tell in this joint. And since I haven't told you anything, then I would hope you were smart enough to come to the correct conclusion," she said. Lucky smiled as he, too, watched the ensuing argument between his bosses.
"Carly..." She could hear Jason's voice even amid the arguing. Carly turned to the door where he stood and didn't say anything as she approached him and wrapped her arms around him.
"You came," she said against his jacket.
"Where else would I be?" he asked as she pulled back. He smiled. "But it looks like you got yourself out of this round..."
"Ric's an idiot. It really wouldn't take much to get by him," she commented. "I just don't think I would have been able to handle it if he'd have made me stay."
"It wouldn't have happened," Jason said. "Trust me." Carly smiled up at him. He caught her chin and looked at her.
"What?" she asked, her smile widening.
"That's almost your old smile," he said, thinking of Michael's comment on her happiness. Carly rolled her eyes and took his arm.
"Let's get you out of here before Ric decides to charge you with some bogus crime," she said. The two walked outside in companionable silence. As they stopped at the top of the steps, Carly let out a sigh as she looked around.
"I get that your job is dangerous, Jason. Through firsthand knowledge, I get that you have to do stuff that you wouldn't, on any normal day, want to do. But you do it to keep everyone and everything you love safe. And what those morons in there don't understand is that you - and Sonny and everyone who works for you - keep this town safe from the Sorels, the Morenos, the Roscoes, and whatnot. You've done so much by keeping those people out of this town," she said as she let go of his arm. Quickly, she flexed her other arm and was pleased to find that the soreness in her chest from the movement was minimal. With another smile, she started down the stairs. But Jason stopped her as he took her hand. Before she could respond, he leaned down and gave her a quick, firm kiss.
"Thank you," he said before she could say anything. Without looking at her, he continued down the stairs after her, her hand still in his. They had a couple of little boys to see.
Elsewhere in the world...
"I have to admit, this setting isn't exactly what I expected when you said you wanted to meet."
"We were both in the area. It would have been expectedly inconvenient to meet anywhere else, don't you think? And this is a little more... private... Someone is always listening in the city." The two figures turned to look out at the vast scenery lying before them alit by a partly cloudy night sky.
"'Remote' would be the word I'd choose. And as much as I'm enjoying this little Chinese history lesson, I don't appreciate the implication that I am being watched."
"I apologize. There was no implication meant. I don't deal with people until I know how they operate." One figure eyed the other appreciatively.
"Well, I guess have to accept that since the Zacchara's run the same way."
"Good. Similar beliefs lead to a happy co-existence."
"This is a long way from Port Charles for a small meeting. And I didn't fly here from Shanghai just to co-exist. We both know what we're after and luckily enough, it's the same thing."
"A hole in the Morgan-Corinthos control."
"Exactly. Now, I need to know everything you know. You've had significant access to the workings of a small port town and the local iron fist ruling it. With your recent legal issues and dealings, it would be best to have you stay low for a little bit longer. So, Jerry, I believe it is in our best interest for you to tell me everything you know and quickly."
"So Port Charles, New York can become acquainted with you, Claudia?" he asked. Her smile was quick and it was purpose-filled.
"Yes. I think it's time to add a new dynamic to a boring little town..."
A/N: I hereby swear this shall be continued…