A/N – Thanks for the comments! The Zander love is so sweet lol. More secrets revealed this chapter.
Chapter 12
Siobhan walked into the penthouse with a pizza. "Where is John and Johnny?"
"I don't know. John got a call from Felicia and had to go. I never saw Johnny."
Siobhan shrugged and sat the box down. "More pizza for us."
Liz smiled. "So, how did you meet Johnny?"
"Incredibly enough, we were set up."
"Here or in Ireland?"
"Here. Our mothers had somehow befriended each other and decided that we were meant to be. Initially, we passed, but the more time I spent around him, the more I liked to put him in his place and it just grew from there."
Liz went to the kitchen and grabbed some plates and came back. "And you don't mind the violence?"
"I'm not in love with it, but Johnny is very good at his job. I trust him to come home to me. There have been some times where he got hurt, but thank God it was never really serious." She took a slice from one of the boxes and Liz did the same. "He told me that you and Jason are together. Are you scared?"
Liz wiped her mouth. "Yeah, but I think he's worth it."
"Jason is complicated, but he has a good heart and I trust him to watch Johnny's back. They make a great team."
"I really miss him," Liz said wistfully.
"Well, when you stalk your prey for so long, it kind of gets to be an addiction."
Liz laughed.
"Don't be embarrassed. I would stalk Johnny to the ends of this earth. The man just does for me."
"When are you going to make an honest man of him?"
"That will probably never happen due to his line of work, but I do plan on making him pledge his undying love."
"I would really like to be there when you do."
"I need to get his best man back first."
"Anything else?"
Siobhan grinned. "As a matter of fact, there is. I also need Jason to take a course in Gaelic so Johnny and I don't have to keep repeating ourselves when he is around. It's maddening, really."
Liz laughed. "I think I'm going to like hanging around you."
"Well, I think I'm going to be quite fond of you too. Just remember, us girls have to stick together. If Johnny gets his way too much, his head will grow so large it might fall off."
"We can't have that."
"No we can't, because it would be a waste of such a gorgeous face. This pizza is good."
Liz nodded as she took another bite, wondering what was going on with Felicia.
Francis poked his head inside. "We have a security issue, so don't leave the apartment, I just need to go down the hallway. Enzo is on his way, but it will take a few minutes."
"Okay," Siobhan said.
Elizabeth let the slice slip from her hands. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling hungry.
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Jason's head fell to the right and his gaze connected with Nikolas's. "If I don't make it and you do, will you tell my family that I love them?"
"I will and I hope that if the opposite happens, you'll tell my mother the same as well as Emily."
"I will."
"Anything else?"
"Tell Elizabeth that I fought to come back to her and I don't want her to feel guilty. It's not her fault."
Nikolas nodded. "She already thinks it is. I tried to tell her it wasn't."
Jason was silent. It was ironic that he finally met someone that he could envision a future with and now it might not happen. Usually, fear wasn't something that he felt because he had disconnected from his family and his feelings, but now that he was talking to them again and he had found a woman he really wanted to get to know, it was almost overwhelming when he recognized the importance of what they meant to him and the fact that he might not get the chance to see them again.
Nikolas wasn't sure what to make of the change in Jason's demeanor, so he remained quiet.
"If you have the chance, run. I'm in no condition to move fast, so I'll just slow you down."
"I don't know if I can honor your request. Emily would never forgive me."
"You'll make her understand. If you hesitate, it could mean your life."
Nikolas stared at the ceiling. He isn't used to being so powerless and lying there, seeing how broken Jason is makes the situation seem even worse. "Are you giving up?"
Jason glanced at him. "No. I never will."
"I just needed to hear you say that."
"I don't know how much more my body can take though." Mentally, he knew he could last a bit longer, but he had cuts and burns all over him and had bled quite a bit too.
"We'll figure it out when the time comes."
Both men remained silent as they thought about how they could possibly escape when no one had an inkling where they were.
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Sonny wiped some blood off of his hands. "You little shit. If Jason dies because of you, I will make sure that you suffer for months before I put you down."
A trickle of blood ran down the side of Zander's face. "And what if he makes it?"
"Then it will be up to him what happens to you."
Zander swallowed hard as he started to shake. Johnny was standing behind Sonny sharpening a knife for effect. "Please. I don't know anything else. I took the disc and don't know what is on it."
"Why did you take it?"
"At first, I curious. I saw it dangling from under her car because it had partially come loose, so I took it and then I tried to decode it."
"Did you know that Elizabeth was being hunted for it?" Johnny asked, never taking his eyes off the blade.
An unnerved Zander started to panic. "Yes, but that was later."
"Why didn't you say something? You were going to let her die?"
"I didn't think they'd kill her."
"You're either an idiot or a selfish bastard," Johnny growled.
"Maybe a little of both," Sonny added.
"I'm sorry."
Johnny finally locked gazes with him and Zander shuddered due to his lethal glare. "You were going to find out what was on the disc and sell it. Am I right?"
Zander nodded as a tear ran down his cheek.
"So money was more important than her life?"
"I'm sorry."
Johnny's chest was heaving. "I'll make sure Jason gets that bit of information right before he rips your head off." With that, he purposefully threw the knife which whizzed so close to Zander that he cried out, anticipating the pain and then it clattered to the floor after hitting the wall behind him.
Johnny strode away as Sonny laughed at Zander who had clearly wet himself.
"I'll have someone hose you off later."
After Sonny left, Zander wept openly knowing that they were probably going to kill him.
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Edward entered the room upstairs at Kelly's as Stan and Georgie worked together.
"How's it coming?"
"We're almost there."
Sonny walked in. He decided that he was going to come clean. They were running out of time. He'd face the consequences with Lorenzo later.
Edward turned to face him. "Did you find out anything?"
"No. He doesn't know anything. However, I did come across the name of the person responsible."
"Who?"
"Jerry Jacks."
Edward frowned.
Felicia stood. "He's a good man. He would never do anything like this."
"You would be surprised what men would do for money. I can't find him. I have men watching the family compound in Australia and so far he hasn't surfaced."
"Who is speaking on behalf of Helena?"
Alfred stood. "That would be me."
"Does she have contacts in Australia?"
"Yes. I texted them while he was speaking."
"Good."
Stan clapped. "We've got it."
Everyone moved closer.
"Wow! Jerry Jacks is not Jerry Jacks," Stan said.
"What?" Edward asked.
"The person impersonating him is James Craig. He must be holding Jerry too."
"This is insane," Felicia said.
"Notify Jax as soon as possible," Sonny said to John who immediately stepped into the hallway.
Edward made a phone call as Stan researched James.
"He's very dangerous and a wanted man. There are several agencies, including the WSB, who are looking for him. Apparently, Jax raided his company and dissolved it and there is a trail of dead bodies that lead back to James."
Felicia left a message for Frisco. They needed all the help they could get.
"I'm going to Australia," Edward said. "Everything within me is telling me he is there."
"It could get really dangerous," Sonny said.
"So be it. My jet is ready. We can make up some time in the air."
"We'll take Johnny. Francis will be in charge and Micah, Marco, Milo, and John will watch Elizabeth," Sonny said before they headed to the airport.
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John said hello to Francis and entered the penthouse. "Where is Elizabeth?"
Siobhan wiped a tear away. "I just came downstairs and she had left this."
He took the letter from her. "Siobhan, I'm sorry, but the person who has Jason called me and told me that he had given us twenty-four hours or Jason dies. I didn't know. I have to do the right thing because there is no way I could ever live with Jason dying on my behalf. Please tell Emily that I'm sorry and I love her. Elizabeth."
"Fuck!" John yelled before dialing Johnny.
Sonny and Edward watched Johnny's fist clench.
"Where the hell was Francis?"
The guard explained that they had a security issue in the building and Francis was trying to deal with it when Elizabeth must had slipped out behind him just missing Enzo.
"How did they get her number?"
John sighed. "Only a few people have it. I'm thinking that maybe they broke into Felicia's house to get it."
"Shit."
Edward's phone rang and he quickly answered it. "Alfred?" He had just left.
"Yes. We got a brief reading on Nikolas's whereabouts from the chip. He's in Australia. I'm texting you the coordinates."
"Excellent! We're on our way there."
"I will make sure Helena knows." He continued to the launch.
Johnny ended the call.
"We know where they are, now what happened?" Sonny said.
"Elizabeth snuck out and turned herself in."
No one spoke. This was very bad. They just hoped that they could get there in time to save everyone.
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Elizabeth gazed out at the sunset from the plane. It was going to be a long flight, but she felt good that she had bought Jason some time. Her gaze traveled to the cabin where three men with guns chatted among themselves. They had been respectful of her and had asked if she wanted anything. Of course, she didn't trust nor feel safe with them, but she knew they probably wouldn't be stupid enough to inflict any damage. What would happen when they realized that she didn't have the disk or anything to bargain with? Her stomach turned and she undid her seat belt, covered her mouth, and then ran for the bathroom as one of the men followed. When she was finished he was standing there with some water and she took it from him.
"You okay?"
She nodded and went back to her seat, realizing that she probably would never see Port Charles again.
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Jerry walked into the cell area. "Good morning."
"You're awfully chipper," Nikolas said before throwing his legs off the side of the bed.
"It's a great day. You'll be getting two visitors. The first is here now."
The doors flew opened and the real Jerry Jax was thrown into the cell next to Nikolas.
"What the hell?" Nikolas said.
"You see, this all started as a way to pay Jax back for stealing my family's company. Not only did we lose our business, but my father killed himself over the shame of it all. So, I decided that I would pose as Jax's brother and take down his business. I want to leave him penniless, begging for his life as he loses everything he loved. Unfortunately, a disgruntled employee informed me that he had created a disc and hid it somewhere which not only detailed my transformation, but also some illegal activities I was involved with in order to make things go my way. I spent a month hunting him before finally tracking him to New York. After some persuading, he broke and told me where it was hidden which was apparently in a compartment under a neighbor's car. Imagine my surprise when it led us to Port Charles. We found part of the compartment was still there, but nothing was inside which led us to Elizabeth."
"Did it ever dawn on you that it could have fallen out so she doesn't have it?"
"Of course, but I have to cover all of my bases. If not, my plan would fall apart. By next month, Jacks industries will be mine and I will burn it to the ground. Elizabeth has turned herself in so, for her sake, she'll hopefully have the disc with her. After I teach Jax a lesson, I'll set you free and be on my way. However, I must caution that if you try to escape, I will blow this compound to kingdom come. There is enough dynamite planted to make it an easy task."
"Elizabeth doesn't have the disk. I think on some level you know that," Nikolas said.
"If that is true, then I will throw her into the last cell and if no one turns up to blackmail me, then I won't kill her. By the way, Helena is in a jail cell right now for kidnapping Lisa Niles. I thought it was only appropriate since she wouldn't give up her hunt for you. Check and mate."
Nikolas didn't react, but he knew Helena would really be out for blood now.
James left and Nikolas walked over to the other cell. "Are you alright?"
Jerry nodded. "Yes. Do you guys have a plan?"
"Jason was badly tortured and isn't in very good condition."
"Great..."
"Where were they keeping you and for how long?" Jason asked.
"I was in a house not too far from here for the last six months." James liked to taunt him, but he never harmed him.
Jason had longed to see Elizabeth again, but this certainly wasn't the place he wanted it to happen. "Did you manage to smuggle anything out that will be helpful?"
Jerry leaned closer to Nikolas and told him that he had a pin and a couple of paperclips. It was the only thing he could get his hands on that could potentially help him escape. Nik let Jason know.
"Can you pick the lock with that?" Nikolas asked.
"I think so."
The doctor came in and Jason sucked in a breath, preparing for the worse.
"I'm here to check your wounds," he said before entering the cell.
He unbuttoned Jason's top and swabbed some alcohol on his cuts and put some medicine on his burns. It pained him to undo all his work, but Jerry wanted to make sure Jason was still alive for now. Sensing that something was amiss, he took Jason's temperature. "I think you have a slight infection. I'm going to inject you."
Jason's jaw clenched as the needle pierced his skin and then the doctor pulled out. He turned onto his side and Frank cleaned up his back.
Jerry could see the damage from where he was and cringed. The younger man also had a slight black eye and his cheek was bruised too.
Once the doctor left, Jerry spoke up. "What do you want us to do if the infection gets worse and we have a chance to escape?"
"Run!"
"No! I will not leave him behind. We'll figure it out," Nikolas yelled.
Jerry sighed. "When Elizabeth gets here, we're going to have to do something. It might be our only chance. It's better to strike quickly."
Nikolas agreed.
"If you can get a hold of the guard, slam his head into the bars," Jason said. "It's our lives or theirs, so don't feel bad."
"I'll try to remember that," Jerry said.
Nikolas would do anything at this point, his inner Cassadine taking over.
"We just need enough time to get the lock picked."
"I'll do what I have to do."
Jerry was really worried about Jason. His color didn't look right and it was clear that he was suffering from all the stress. He didn't think that he would have made it through whatever they had done to Jason's body. It was quite impressive that he was still alive. "We will do what we have to in order to get you out."
"Thank you."
