Part XII
Warehouse District
Lorenzo Alcazar stuck the last piece of paper he would have to look at for the day in the awaiting manila folder. It was time to go home and hang up the mob gloves for the day. With a sigh, he sat back in his chair.
It was strange that there was sort of a peaceful co-existence with the Corinthos-Morgan partnership. Quiet time was more of a staple these days and easier to come by. It was when he'd stopped trying to ship drugs through the port that the understanding seemed to fall into place. And Lorenzo knew he had Jason Morgan to thank for that. Morgan was always the reasonable one of the pair of men that Lorenzo still thought of as enemies.
Morgan had nearly succeeded in strangling him and Corinthos had shot him, leaving him for dead. It was a reasonable deduction for any bystander to assume that Lorenzo would never think of them as anything but expendable. The only reason why they were still alive revolved around one person… One woman… And Lorenzo would never harm her in any aspect of the word. It was just an unfortunate trick of fate that Carly Spencer-Jacks thought everything of both Jason Morgan and Sonny Corinthos.
With another sigh, Lorenzo stood and picked up his long discarded suit jacket. A sound at the door caught his attention.
"Que pasa, Emilio?" he called. The door opened and one of his most trusted entered, followed closely by Jerry Jacks. The enforcer looked over his shoulder at the other man with disdain.
"Mr. Jacks insisted on seeing you, Mr. Alcazar," he growled, turning back to his boss. Jerry just smiled with good nature as he shoved Emilio forward so that Lorenzo could see the gun.
"Insist is not quite the word I would use," he commented as he pointed the gun at Lorenzo.
"I see you have returned, Mr. Jacks," the mobster commented, unconcerned about the weapon. Jerry smiled again.
"Your powers of observation are stunning, Mr. Alcazar." Lorenzo merely lifted a brow before sitting down behind his desk once more.
"To what do I owe this somewhat unintelligent move?" he asked, folding his hands on his desk. Jerry motioned for Emilio to sit, and then took the second available chair for himself.
"I believe we are to discuss the sale of your stake in the warehouses you own on the docks," Jerry said without preamble. Lorenzo gave the man an amused smile.
"You believe? That leads me to think that you, the once and powerful Mr. Craig, are not the puppet master behind this… maneuver. Have we been reduced to an errand boy?" he mocked. Jerry's eyes were cold as they assessed the other man.
"What happens to these warehouses are of no concern to me. The deal I have in place is a lucrative one. After I secure the sale, I am free and clear," he said. Lorenzo's amused smile did not waver as he sat back and smoothed his jacket over his torso.
"Free and clear? I think not, Mr. Jacks. If you think you will walk out of here with the deed to this place after you held me at gunpoint and live a life free of shadows, you are sorely mistaken," he said. When he leaned forward again it was to point a similar weapon back at the other man.
"It would appear we're in, what these Americans call, a standoff," Jerry said. Lorenzo's gaze did not waver.
"You forget, Mr. Jacks. It's two against one," he reminded as his enforcer validated his words by shoving his newly appeared gun into Jerry's neck.
"Should have gotten rid of me when you had the chance, pendejo." Still, Jerry did not seem affected by the turn of events.
"Who are you working for, Mr. Jacks?" Lorenzo asked. "I would certainly hope this was not a move on the part of Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan." Jerry tilted his head to one side.
"Past circumstances being what they are, Mr. Alcazar, I don't think it would be in my best interest to be partaking in their interests," he commented. Lorenzo conceded the point with a nod.
"That begs the questions as to who is pulling your strings," he commented. Jerry shrugged as he lowered the gun. With a nod, Lorenzo indicated for Emilio to drop his weapon as well.
"I think that my associates will make their name known soon enough. I wouldn't worry," Jerry said. Lorenzo smiled.
"I never worry, Mr. Jacks. Worry causes mistakes," he said arrogantly. Jerry chuckled.
"There was a rumor that you'd made a few of those in your past. In the form of my sister-in-law, perhaps?" he inquired for no real reason. Lorenzo reached up and rubbed the small spot that would always be a reminder of Carly's influence on his life – it was only fitting that it was the scar of a bullet hole.
"I would suggest leaving Carly out of this conversation. Yes, loving her very nearly got me killed. But I don't regret it. And since her involvement with you very nearly got her killed, I would suggest leaving Carly out of everything entirely. Your life in particular," he said, his blue eyes darkening. Jerry's lips twitched.
"All this time and still feeling protective?" he asked. Then he shrugged. "It's a feeling that I am beginning to understand." Lorenzo knew the road on which the other man was walking. And it didn't bode well.
"I'll give you a friendly piece of advice, Mr. Jacks. Drop whatever it is you feel for your sister-in-law. Morgan won't let you near her ever again. Especially now that she is divorcing your brother and has no… familial obligations to you. For the sake of your life, which I assume you treasure above all else as your past endeavors indicate, stay out of Morgan's way. Which means staying out of Carly's," he said. Jerry stood with a smirk.
"You have no faith in my ability, do you, Mr. Alcazar?" he asked. Lorenzo thought back to the hostage situation at the Metro Court. The sociopathic tendencies of the other man spoke loud and clear of his abilities.
"It's not your abilities that I don't have faith in. It's just that I have more faith in Morgan's," he said airily, sitting back in his chair to appraise Jerry Jacks one more time. The other man just smirked again.
"If Morgan is the problem, then I'll just have to make the problem go away," he said. Then he tilted his head. "I doubt it would be an issue as it would benefit both me and my associates."
It made sense that since Lorenzo had stopped shipping his illegal arms through the port that someone else would want in on that particular piece of pie. Port Charles was prime shipping waters. And now, someone had bought Jerry Jacks to see if they could get their foot in. It was something that he would eventually have to share with Morgan and Corinthos. Eventually.
"So we'll see, Mr. Jacks." Perhaps if he kept him talking, the man would let something slip.
Fifteen minutes later…
Shrewd eyes only watched, for the time being, as Jerry Jacks finally emerged from the warehouse. The vibration of his phone alerted him to the possible change in plans.
"Take him out," the voice instructed without a care. He smiled.
"Yes sir."
Elm Street Pier
Claudia Zacchara stood at the docks looking over the water. Port Charles was a nice place. Not too big, not too small. Lake Ontario was always a nice view to see every day… It would be even nicer once the Zaccharas took over the port city.
A sound behind her startled her and she spun around to see Jerry Jacks descending the stairs.
"What are you doing here?" she asked with a frown. The last thing she needed was to be seen with the man who was still a fugitive in this city. One of his hands fell to her shoulder to steady himself, and as the clouds cleared away from the moon, Claudia could see why. The red stain in the middle of his chest marred the white of his dress shirt. There were red finger trails along his cheek. When she looked down at the hand that lay against her shirt, she could see that they were stained red as well. With a sharp breath, she shrugged her way out of his reach.
"Danger… Carly…" he gasped before stumbling a few feet to his right and disappearing over the side of the dock. Claudia closed her eyes and waited. The telltale splash followed. With a quick, instinctive hand, she grasped her phone and put it up to her ear as she peeked over the side. Jerry Jacks was face down in the water… he did not move.
"Crap…" she muttered to herself as she lifted an assessing eyebrow. Then, with a look of impatience, she put her phone back in her pocket. What use was it anyhow? Mr. Jacks was obviously dead. She didn't need to call attention to herself by calling the cops. Let some wharf lackey do it.
Claudia shifted the leather jacket she wore more comfortably around her and looked around to see if anyone was lingering in the area. A hand went up to brush her shoulder and it came away slightly red. Her brown eyes rolled as she made her way up the stairs.
Blood was so hard to get out sometimes.
Lucky Spencer knew it was going to be a long night as he knelt down next to the edge of the dock. He knew that fact the minute he recognized the body being fished out of the harbor as Jerry Jacks with a bullet hole in his chest.
Who put that bullet hole there? The suspects were nearly too many to name. And this wasn't going to be a quiet murder investigation. Not by a long shot. Not with Jasper Jacks as his brother, Carly Spencer-Jacks as his soon-to-be, former sister-in-law, Alexis Davis as a begrudging champion of sorts, and nearly the entire town as a list of enemies.
"Detective Spencer?" a voice asked. He looked over his shoulder to where one of the officers stood.
"Yeah?"
"We just took a statement from the lady who found the body. She said she saw a woman rushing from the area not long before she came down to the docks. They exchanged 'hellos' but other than that, nothing very distinguishing to give us a lead," he said. Lucky nodded. The female population of Port Charles was just as unpredictable as the mob violence that would flare up. Trying to find this mysterious woman would be like trying to find a needle in a very temperamental haystack.
"Would she be able to identify the woman in a line-up?" Lucky asked. The officer made a face.
"The lady had glasses on thicker than the ice on the lake at winter time. And it was dark. My guess would be an indisputable 'no'. Even if she could, she'd be discredited in two seconds by any defense attorney worth anything," he commented. Lucky nodded again. Especially a defense attorney in this town who could spin things enough to make Mother Theresa look guilty.
"Okay. I guess we're going to have to take the long way on this one," he told the officer, who snorted in response as he looked at his notebook. When he turned to show it to Lucky, it was empty but for two lines of information.
"The really long way…" he reported.
Lucky stood, giving the notebook a look of disdain. This one was going to be fun.
Metro Court
It was late. It was very late. Carly couldn't believe that she'd actually spent a lot of the evening locked away in her office while the love of her life spent the evening with the two other loves of her life. With a sigh, she stood from the desk and closed the folders that were mocking her. She'd gotten so behind after the events of a few weeks ago. Hospital stays will do that to a person. And with her partner and future ex-husband off running after his brother and putting out those particular fires in his wake, it was no surprise that hotel paperwork built up.
But she was done for the evening. She was going to go home and spend quality time with Jason and her boys. That thought in mind, she picked up her coat and slipped into it. As she locked up her office, the tell-tale ring on her phone made her smile.
"How are my favorite people on the whole, wide planet?" she asked into the phone. A tinkling laugh came from the other end.
"I'm honored to be a part of that crowd, Daughter of Mine," her mother's voice answered. Carly frowned in confusion.
"Mama? What's going on? Why are you calling from my house? Are the boys alright? Jason?" she asked. Sudden images of her beautiful house engulfed in smoke or windows knocked out and furniture broken flashed in front of her eyes. Her boys could be holy terrors.
"Everyone's fine, Carly. At least health-wise," Bobbie informed her. Carly's heart began to race. "Jason told me to call you. Ric came by the house and had him arrested. He's on his way down to PCPD right now. I don't know what happened; I didn't make it in time for Ric to be forthcoming with the charge." Carly let out a frustrated breath.
"God, I absolutely loathe that man," she commented. "Listen, can you…"
"Already done, Carly," her mother interrupted. "I've got the boys eating their almost-cold pizza, and then they're headed to bed with two stories from Grandma…" Carly smiled.
"I love you, Mama. You really are the greatest," she said with sincerity. She could almost see Bobbie's return smile.
"You just get down there and raise some heck, sweetie. Ric had no right to steal Jason away like that in the middle of Michael and Morgan's night," she said, anger lacing her voice.
"Oh, don't you worry, Mama. Raising heck is what I do best," she told Bobbie as she stormed out of the Metro Court front doors and started in the direction of the police department.
"And where are you off to in such a hurry, Little Missy? I don't think I heard Morgan or Corinthos whistle for you…" Carly rolled her eyes.
"I don't have time for you, Luke. You'll have to take a rain check on the general malaise you spread around," she said. Luke smiled.
"Maybe we're headed in the same direction and I can spread this so-called malaise as we walk and talk," he said. Carly frowned.
"Mama called you didn't she?" she asked, finally catching on. Luke laughed.
"Among others. I heard it from a little Spencer birdie that Morgan was being brought in before I got the call from Barbara Jean." He stuck his hands in his pockets and ambled along next to her.
"Lucky," Carly let her cousin's name out on a hiss. He certainly wasn't in her good books right now. "Apparently he thinks I'm going to do something stupid." Luke grinned.
"And so does your loving mother. So, I'd say chances are pretty good that you will," he couldn't help but goad. Carly reached out and shoved him off the sidewalk, causing him to laugh.
"Wait. Let me get this one… so they both called you to babysit me?" she asked. Luke shrugged.
"I think you can see the fatal flaw in that plan," he said. That caused Carly to laugh. Sometimes, her uncle really wasn't so bad.
"You know what they say about Spencer plans," she said, her blue eyes meeting identical blue eyes. It must have been a family trait to have that certain hell-raising gleam to them… Luke grinned.
"They're foolproof, of course," he replied. Carly laughed again.
"Yes…" she said. "It's what I keep telling people, anyways." Luke smirked.
"Which makes them more than fools, wouldn't you say?" Carly conceded the point with a nod of her head. Her thoughts quickly turned to Jason… and Ric.
"Why the hell would Ric go after Jason like this? It's late, so it's got to be serious," she commented, a worried frown marring her face. Luke 'tsk-tsked' with a shake of his head.
"That Lansing. Tenacious like a pit bull when it comes to Morgan and that brother of his. And he wonders why no one believes him when he says he wants to make good on his family relationships," the white-haired man mocked. Carly snorted in her usual, unlady-like manner.
"Pit bull," she repeated. "He needs to be put down like one, that's for sure."
"Now, Princess, don't get yourself worked up just yet…" All Carly could do was level him a glare. Luke just smirked, as he often did when encountering his niece.
Port Charles Police Department
"Get your hands off of me, Lansing," Jason warned as Ric held his arm in a firm grip.
"I don't think so, Morgan. You're under arrest for the murder of Jerry Jacks. Me touching you is going to be the least of your problems." Throughout Ric's manhandling, Jason remained calm.
"I didn't do anything, Ric. My lawyer is going to have a field day with you and your lack of proof," he said. Ric just laughed.
"Oh, we have proof," he said. Jason shook his head.
"Circumstantial, at best. And for all the times PCPD has falsely accused me of something, I would consider this to be profiling." The officer next to him took Jason's other arm to escort him to the holding cells.
"Stop!" Carly's voice cried as she rushed into the police department bullpen. Luke tried to restrain her from behind as they rushed into the department, but she shrugged away from him. "Let Jason go, now…"
Ric smirked as he turned to her. "I don't think the PCPD answers to you, Carly." The blonde gave him a dirty look.
"Jason didn't do it, Ric. He would never kill Jerry Jacks," she said. Ric scoffed as he looked over at his shoulder at a very interested Jason Morgan.
"Oh please. Like we haven't heard that age-old line over and over again. And it's on good authority that Morgan, here, wanted Jerry Jacks dead for a long time," the acting district attorney sneered. Carly sneered back.
"He didn't do it, because I was the one that did it," she said. The entire department went silent. Luke put a hand over his face in frustration and let out a beleaguered moan to demonstrate it. Jason's eyes went wide, but he restrained himself from telling her to shut up. If he did that, it would all but cement her guilt in the eyes of the PCPD and its incompetent D.A.
The look in her blue eyes dared him to say anything. She knew she had him in a bind. He couldn't say anything without incriminating himself or her even more. Ric's eyes glazed over at the thought of possibly putting both Jason and Carly behind bars. When the officers let his arms go, Jason moved to rush over to Carly, but another pair of officers stepped between them and escorted her towards the interrogation room for her statement.
Carly looked up as the door opened and her posture relaxed when she saw it was Jason. Her handcuffed hands reached up to brush her hair out of her face.
"Hey, Jase," she said with a smile. He did not look happy.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked. She stood and paced quietly behind the chair.
"Carly?" he pressed. She turned to look at him.
"You think I could let them pin this on you?" she asked. He shook his head. Again, her rash decisions when it came to him could only astound him.
"They wouldn't be able to, Carly. I didn't do it. There was nothing to support them," he said. Jason reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Did you think of the boys when you decided to do this?" She looked offended.
"Of course I thought of my boys, Jason. I would never do something like this and not have a plan," she said, offended that he would even think as such. He wisely decided to stay silent. Carly held up her hands in front of her pleading with him to listen as she rounded the table to approach him.
"Think about it. I'll get out on bail before the motion goes to court. They have nothing on me besides my statement. They'll need to build a case on this new development and while they're doing that, you will be free to find out what really happened. So I have a police escort sitting outside my house… whatever! It's not like I haven't had that before. But now, they can't suspect you for it and that's what counts," she said. Her grin told him that she thought the plan was foolproof. But the PCPD was full of fools who got lucky sometimes. He shook his head. He would be damned before he let them get lucky at her expense.
"It doesn't mean I'm free and clear, Carly. And now you've jeopardized your freedom," he said.
"Jason," she laughed. "This has no way to go but up! Can't you see? I didn't do it. You didn't do it. We were nowhere near anything that happened…" He stopped what she was going to say by grabbing a hold of her chin and forcing her to look at him.
"Stop it, Carly," he ordered. "You gave them your statement. You told them you killed Jerry Jacks. They'll have you either on that, or by perjury and obstructing justice." This time, Carly grinned as she shook her face from his grip.
"That's the genius, Jason," she stage whispered, leaning closer to him. "I never actually said what I did! I knew they'd be totally all over it when I claimed I did 'it' after they started to take you in. They are under the assumption that the 'it' I did was kill Jerry. For all my statement says, the 'it' could have been stubbing my toe!"
Jason shook his head. For all of Carly's plans, this one had the most meat behind it for all of its lack of substance. But it was still extremely shaky. "The judge will see right through that." Her grin widened.
"When I get into court. Jase, it's Friday. You'll have almost three whole days to get a head start on what happened and none of that pesky paperwork to deal with once they had figured out you had nothing to do with it anyway," she said. He let out a breath as the constriction in his chest lightened somewhat. The panic was lessening as her idea took on more credibility.
"You'll still be locked up," he commented. But she seemed to have an answer for everything.
"Not if my lawyer has anything to say about it. And if I agree to supervisory watch as a condition of my being home with my boys, it'll be a cakewalk," she said. After a moment of deliberation, Jason finally stepped close to her, lifted her chin again, and gave her a hard, swift kiss.
"Gotta hand it to you, Car," he said, stepping back. "This one's not so horrible." At his praise, she laughed happily.
"It was bound to happen. Now go get to work, would ya?" she said with a wave of her handcuffed hands. He smiled as he reached out to open the door.
"I love you," he said simply. She squared her shoulders in pride and gave him a loving smile.
"I trust you." It was a firm statement that told him she wouldn't do anything more rash than she'd already done. It told him that the plan was to have no more plans. Not right now, anyway. It was enough to keep his worry for her in check. And he needed to reward that trust by fixing this mess that had nothing to do with them…
He would. No matter what.
A/N: So, this has taken a turn that I didn't expect it to go to... Bear with me. Hopefully this won't turn out horribly. LOL. Still, let me know if you liked it or not. Not sure, but can be talked into it. :)