A/N: I'm so glad I didn't get pummeled by you guys for the time it took me to update Ch 35 of this story. I make WAY too many promises I don't keep. I am grateful for all of your understanding. In this chapter I need to make a comment. First and foremost, I am horrible at action writing. I'm a fluff and smut kind of girl. I'm always so impressed by those that write action scenes with such brilliance and flair. I'm afraid I don't have that talent. Also, for all those women AND men who have actually had kids, I'm talking about the day to day changes in pregnancy, etc…I have never experienced that. Please bear with me if in this story and specifically this chapter, I totally screw things up. Some things just plain won't make sense. Sorry. I tried.
Chapter 36
Jason had never driven so fast in his life. He pushed his motorcycle to limits he'd never reached before. His mind raced at the implications of Steven's arrival. The first day he ventured away from the house. The first day HE was not there to protect Elizabeth and Cameron from Sorel and what he now knew were Sorel's employees with their own agenda. People Elizabeth didn't feel threatened by. People with blood ties to HIS little boy.
He slowed down as he turned onto Harborview Road and then crouched down to reduce wind resistance and sped up to tear past sixty-six, the Quartermaine estate, aiming for his own. He saw in his side mirror that Max was furiously trying to keep up with him. He nearly wrecked and had to pull the brakes, kick back and down shift when tearing around a corner suddenly Milo and Francis were in front of him heading toward Casa De Stone Cold as well. He knew Sonny would have called them while riding shotgun through the streets of Port Charles in Max's SUV. Sonny would have called in the entire organization within a fifty mile radius by now.
As they neared the house, Jason had to slow down and then swerve around to the left of Francis' truck when his top Lieutenant stopped abruptly. He accelerated toward the fountain at the entrance, seeing from his side mirror that Francis had stopped long enough to let Milo jump out.
That only meant one thing. The guard at the gate was down or missing. Jason didn't know which and at this point it didn't matter. The entire guard staff at his home would have most likely been alerted of the threat by now. He didn't make the call but there were two other men in the room with him and surely Max or Sonny contacted the six men he had on the grounds.
Cody was guarding the house and was assigned to Elizabeth for the day. She wasn't going anywhere, or at least hadn't planned on it. If there was only one guard assigned to his future wife and child and his adopted son, it would only be one of four men. Milo wasn't even trusted enough by Jason when a threat was leveled at the organization. He was too green. Cody was one of those four men along with Johnny, Francis and Max. He trusted Cody with his life. And Elizabeth, Cameron and the baby WERE his life.
He skidded around the fountain and stopped, his back tire gliding out from under him as pebbles from the circular driveway kicked up and a cloud of dust lifted waist high then settled. The back tire hit the red non-descript sedan with the Avis rental sticker on it with a thud and Jason jumped out of the way with only one thing on his mind.
Steven was already here.
He let the bike fall against the car and reached behind him for his Glock as he ran up the few steps to the entrance of the house. His mind was racing and even HE told himself that he was not following the protocol he expected of all of his men in a situation like this. By the time he reached it, Francis and Max's vehicles were both skidding to a stop on either side of the rental vehicle, effectively blocking it in. Maneuvers to the letter to disallow the enemy an easy escape.
Jason tried the door and when it was unlocked, he slid sideways and peered in the tiny window that was to the side of the door to see if he could see anyone. Instantly his eyes landed on Elizabeth who was wringing her hands. Then a man with blond curly hair and a dark jacket blocked her view and Jason rushed in clicking the bullet into the chamber and aiming the gun down into the family room point blank bulls eye being between the man's ears.
"Who are you and why are you in my home?" Jason growled and he noticed his men and Sonny all rushed in and encircled the room with their guns drawn as well. Then he ordered, "Turn around slowly or your brains will be splattered all over this room."
"Jason NO!" Elizabeth yelled and suddenly she was standing in front of the blond holding her arms out to her sides.
"Get out of the way Elizabeth." Jason ordered.
Max moved across the room and suddenly disappeared from view when something caught his attention in the kitchen. Then the younger guard yelled, "CODY'S DOWN"
At that point Milo ran in and all guns turned and pointed to him from the sudden intrusion and the youngest of Sonny and Jason's top men skidded across the foyer to a stop with his hands raised and fear in his eyes. All except for Jason's. Jason's weapon never faltered in its aim on the man he considered a threat to his fiancé and his child.
"Bill at the gate is dead. So is Perry who's assigned to the west grounds. I didn't check for the rest but since we haven't heard from any of the crew assigned to your house today Jason, I think we can assume they're all dead."
Quickly all guns pointed back at Steven again and the obvious click of Sonny and Francis' guns caused the doctor to pale to the point of death.
"Who's here with you? I know you didn't manage to take out all of my men yourself." Sonny's low, steady voice penetrated through the house.
He lowered his weapon knowing his four men certainly didn't need his help. He was the one who gave the order to shoot. Not the actual shooter himself. Not that he didn't keep his aim sharp just in case.
"You better speak because I have no patience right now." Sonny kept his weapon ready and in his hand but relaxed his stance and moved his jacket to the side to rest his free hand on his hip.
Steven turned to look at Sonny and Elizabeth followed in front of her brother, again blocking him as if to protect him from harm. Max appeared at the three steps that led from the kitchen. "Cody's not dead. He's out cold though." Then he asked the question everyone was wondering, "Where's Cameron and Mrs. Hardy?"
Tears were steadily streaming down Elizabeth's face and Jason could do nothing but concentrate on that fact. "Elizabeth, I want you to come here honey." He used a soothing voice. Whatever was going on, she was terrified and Cameron and her Grams were missing. And she was defending her brother which made sense but not at this point when all of her friends, men she trusted, were pointing a gun at the man.
"Jason I can't. I'm…" She broke down and bent over, her belly stopping her from bending down too far. Steven bent with her and held her to steady her even though that move caused Max, Milo and Francis to all take a step closer with their guns still aimed.
She buried her face in her hands and when she turned slightly, Francis noticed the wire that was attached to her.
"Jason, she's wired." Francis said suddenly and the top man, second only to Jason and Johnny, then moved to get a closer inspection. "It's attached somehow to her brother."
Jason's blood boiled and his face turned red from anger. "You better start fucking talking Steven."
"Jason…" Elizabeth started pushing at his hands when he came up to her and went to pull her away from her brother. "If you separate me and Steven, Grams will die."
Jason looked down at her face and then back up at her brother. "What the fuck have you done?"
"I…I…didn't…I wouldn't…I mean…"
Again, Jason raised the gun, this time putting it right between his eyes. "You better start making some sense NOW!" Jason yelled.
"Jason…you gotta calm down baby." Elizabeth placed her fingers on his forearm and pulled at it to get him to lower his gun. "We're wired together but Steven didn't do it."
"But whoever did came here with you didn't he?" Jason asked and Steven's face fell in shame.
"I didn't know he was planning this." Steven admitted.
"Who?" Sonny asked.
"No wait..." Jason interrupted. "Where the fuck is my son?"
"I'll be glad to answer that question for you Mr. Morgan." A voice from the upstairs bellowed through the room and all eyes turned to see Joseph Sorel standing on the top step with a sleeping Cameron in his arms and a gun pointed to the child's head. "But first I think we all need to lower our weapons to the floor and take three steps back from them."
Jason was the first to drop down into a crouch and place his gun on the floor. He then stepped back the three steps. Sonny, Milo, Francis and Max all followed suit.
"Good…good. Very smart. Now, since I know every one of you have more weapons on you, especially you Mr. Morgan, why don't you all raise your hands above your heads and back up against the walls. Remember, I have a gun on Elizabeth's child. And each of you knows I'll use it." He laughed and then his sinister grin faded. "I don't follow the same rules as you. I feel women and children are great bargaining tools."
"What do you want Sorel?" Sonny asked as he followed suit and raised his hands above his head and threaded his fingers together. He stepped back and within four steps his back was against the wall that separated the family room from the master bedroom.
"In due time. Right now, I need to make sure all of you will be cooperating with me. You were a smart man to have your ex wife take a trip with the boys. And my friendship with Jerry Jax and his relationship with DA Davis has caused me to remove your daughter from the equation as well. Therefore, my only other options were for Mr. Morgan's family to become the chip I bargain with."
He turned his head and gave a quick nod and suddenly two huge men, one of which Jason recognized, came from behind Sorel and moved into the room to gather the wealth of weapons, starting with the most dangerous Corinthos men first. Jason and Francis.
Once their arsenal was removed from their person as well as their cell phones, the two men moved on to Max, Milo and Sonny. Then Sorel instructed one of the men to escort Francis, Max and Milo to the guest house and lock them out there with another guard to ensure the men don't leave. He then told them to leave Sonny and Jason's cell phones with him.
Once the men were gone and Sorel had instructed everyone else to take a seat, all except for Steven and Elizabeth who were still wired together, Sorel started making his demands. As time wore on, Jason noticed Elizabeth becoming more and more weary. Her body had been stiff from fear for nearly an hour. And that was just since he had arrived and Jason worried for her and the baby. She'd been rubbing intensely at the side of her belly for the past ten minutes.
"So you see Sorel, that's why I cannot give you the docks, the piers or the warehouses. I'll never put myself in a position to be that weak." Sonny was finishing and Sorel sighed.
"I didn't want to do this Sonny. You should just have given over the piers when I asked politely. Now I think I'll have to prove that I'm not kidding." He clicked the gun so a bullet fell into the chamber of the forty five and Elizabeth screamed and then doubled over.
~%~%~%~%~%~
Spinelli and Maxie had a wonderful time in the city. Coney Island had been a blast and he was exhausted. It was a great gift from Jason and Elizabeth for Christmas. Use of the Corinthos jet meant a thirty minute flight so they were able to spend the whole day playing instead of half of it traveling. His Mini Cooper drove through the gates of Casa De Stone Cold and he absentmindedly waved at the guard never noticing who was on duty. He hit the button and pulled into the garage, wondering why there was a red car in the driveway.
Not bothering to ponder whose car it was because he was too tired to think, he ambled out of his car and walked through the door that led to the house from the garage and hung his set of keys on the wooden key shaped mount on the hook under his name. Grasshopper. Another joke he and Elizabeth played on "Master" whose hook was two to the left of his. He smiled remembering Elizabeth painting it and him hanging it for her. He was always so genuinely thrilled when Jason or Elizabeth did things that made him feel like this was his home too. He headed straight to the little office tucked underneath the stairs that housed all of his tech equipment.
"Greetings family unit." He announced as he clicked on the power strip to boot his computer.
No one said anything which initially he thought odd but when he looked up he noticed a stranger sitting on the love seat next to Elizabeth and Jason on the opposite couch with Cameron on his lap, holding a book.
Shakily, Elizabeth cleared her throat and then spoke, "Spinelli, this is my brother Steven Webber."
Shock flashed over Spinelli's face and he shot a quick glance at his master. When the stern look suddenly was forced neutral he immediately smiled brightly and walked toward the man with his hand extended. "Pleasured acquaintances. The sibling of the Maternal One is a most welcomed surprise."
The two men shook hands and then Spinelli stepped back and looked over at Jason. Then down at Cameron. His brows furrowed. "Tis Thundercat Thursday Littlest Dude. It seems you've forgotten."
Jason changed the subject. "I'm reading the Cat In the Hat to Cam. Are you in for the night? Maybe you'd prefer to do it."
"Uh…no. Fair Maximista wanted me to meet her for a late rendezvous atop the stone towers underneath the Royal gaze. I promised I'd meet her there in one hour after I came home to check my email and such."
Jason looked up at the clock and nodded his head. "Okay. Why don't you go by and pick up Precious at the warehouse and then stay at Maxie's? I left your new puppy there because I was on the bike. With Audrey here and Steven, there's really no other room available for you."
"Uh…sure Stone Cold. The grasshopper relishes the chance of one more night with his lady love. You've now given me understandable cause to…well…the Littlest One has no need to be apprised of the things Maxie and I do on our sleepovers." He clicked on his computer once more and muttered "No news is good news." Then turned to Steven giving a deep bow.
"It was an extreme pleasure meeting the brother of the Maternal One. I only hope you'll stick around so that I may get to know you more."
With that, Spinelli left the house the same way he came in and grabbed his keys from the rack and left into the garage.
Seconds later, he came back into the room with a backpack and a duffel bag. "Fairest Elizabeth, I beseech you to refrain from yelling at me because once again I leave my paraphernalia about. I shall do my laundry tomorrow and no sense lugging it up and then back down the stairs. Master, I picked up that gift you wanted me to get while in the city. It's in my back pack. Enjoy the Hat Upon the Cat Littlest Dude."
And Spinelli blew out of the house a second time just as quickly as he blew in. Jason gave a look at Elizabeth and she knew suddenly, everything would be okay.
~%~%~%~%~%~
Sonny was pacing on top of Harbor View Towers waiting for Spinelli to arrive. The boy insisted upon going to get the stupid dog on his way. Sonny, however, was not as patient and had screamed at the top of his lungs to any of his men in his path while he stomped through his old penthouse buildings garage, to the special elevator that led to the top floor. Up the set of stairs that led to the roof top and then on the rooftop while he paced waiting for Spinelli.
When Spinelli showed up he had his carrier bag and another duffel bag in tow. Precious immediately ran up to the mafia don and licked his hand. "Quit it you mangy mutt."
"Mr. Sir. My Precious is neither mangy nor a mutt. She's from one of the most noble lines of pedigree and I think she's going to be most helpful in this our greatest mission. Her guard of Mr. Sir when he is left without his muscular militia. Her loyalty knows no end and it appears she has quite the favor for you Mr. Sir." Spinelli smiled and watched the dog Milo had called and informed him earlier as being newly renamed "Sonny's Bitch" rubbed her head against his pant leg and pushed at his hand again with her nose wanting him to pet her again. "As it were, it was a directive the Grasshopper fielded from his own Master."
"How'd you know to call me on my other cell phone Spinelli?" Sonny changed the subject because he could already feel his blood pressure rising from listening to the geek.
"Thundercat Thursday Mr. Sir." He replied as if that explained everything.
"What?" The Hispanic man asked with ire in his voice.
"Thundercat Thursday. You see, even if I hadn't noticed the wire behind The Maternal one, I picked up on Stone Colds cryptic messages, one being that HE was going to READ The Cat in the Hat to the Littlest Dude even though EVERYONE knows that The Maternal One always recites if from memory and the other being that The Sadistic Sibling and the Gracious Granny were there so there were no more rooms for me when there's a guest room, a guest house and a playroom above the garage. Plenty of room for everyone. But Cameron Alexander Webber is a creature of habit much as myself. You see Mr. Sir on Sunday tis Spongebob Sunday and Monday is for Mickey Mouse. Tuesdays are Timmy Turner Tuesday, Wednesdays are Power Ranger day because there are no cartoons or Superheros we like that start with a "W", Phineus and Ferb Friday and Superman Saturday. So therefore when on a Thursday evening the Littlest Dude is not wearing his Thundercat Thursday pajamas, I KNOW there's trouble."
"Let me see if I understood this. You're telling me that you KNEW that there was trouble just because a little boy dressed himself in different pajamas for the night?"
"OH NO!" Spinelli protested then he smiled sheepishly at the mafia don. "Although I must say I am most impressed that you deciphered my elucidation without presage of impairment to my most frail figure." He heard before he saw Sonny's aggravation building and took a step back, further from within the older man's reach. "But I digress and notice I've tread too far beyond your limited patience with the Jackal. Um…yes…I then noticed that our newest addition was not within our happy home and Jason told me to go pick her up then spend the night with Maximista. It was the pajamas, the book, the wire and well all of those things combined that alerted me to the ensuing trouble. For I know that Stone Cold is training my four legged companion to protect me or anyone necessary when he is unable to. Plus the fact that as of early this morning when Maxie and I left for Coney Island, I had informed Jason yet again that Elizabeth's brother was most certainly involved in nefarious activities with Joseph Sorel."
"I don't know what to say." Sonny shook his head as he shoved his hand deep in his pocket. The kid made no sense but God help him, he knew what he was doing. "When are you going to be able to…"
He was cut off at the sound of Jason's voice. It was crackled and muffled through the computer but still it was audible. Spinelli checked his watch and smiled. "I alerted Jason I understood by letting him know that I would be meeting Maxie underneath the Royal Gaze…" Spinelli pointed to the billboard.
"The king of autoloans?" Sonny shook his head.
"Yes under the royal gaze atop the stone tower which is of course Harbor View Towers. We had a special transceiver installed on the rooftop. Since it used to be the most secured building in the State of New York it was where Stone Cold instructed me I should always go to assist in the way of remote tech support." Spinelli stopped and looked at his own watch. Pointing to the screen he affirmed. "You should hear that The Grasshopper and his Master are more in tune than you realize in five, four, three, two, one."
"Since we have to just sit here and I cannot sit next to my fiancé…can I at least give her the gift I had my…Spinelli pick up for her. I had planned to give it to her tonight as a special gift for being so brave after your men shot me."
Sorel's voice boomed through the laptops speakers indicating he was probably sitting in the chair next to the duffel bag. "Sure Mr. Morgan. So I finally get it. He's like your butler or your errand boy. Some of us were starting to wonder before Miss Webber came along. I mean Sonny's sister could have easily been a front. A young boy living with an older man. Rumor had it that maybe you had a little sugar in the tank if you know what I mean. I mean the brain damage could have left you a little more confused than anyone realized."
The mobster laughed at his own joke but no one else did. "He's certainly no threat since he shot himself in the foot. It's quite interesting how you've taken in the little nerd. He's useless and my sources tell me that your boss has told you on several occasions to get rid of him. It's proof you have a heart after all."
Spinelli gaped at Sonny wide eyed and Sonny just shrugged. There was no need to deny the accusation when Spinelli himself had been present during many of the ignored instructions Sonny had given Jason to send the boy packing. And the rumor that the two roommates were lovers was something Sonny had brought up to Jason years ago and Jason just shrugged it off. He never cared what people thought or said about him. So Sonny never played into the rumors allowing for his partner to deal with them on his own.
"Spinelli's a good kid. He has no one. I know what that's like. And you'd be wise to remember that to me, he is like my little brother. Now he said the gift I asked him to pick up for me is in the backpack." Jason kept his composure and rustling could be heard as Spinelli and Sonny watched the computer monitor as the video camera's Spinelli had installed in the house booted up and showed Sorel walk the backpack over to Jason.
"Good. He went for it without question." Spinelli murmured.
Sonny was surprised at Spinelli's NON Spinelli speak. "Went for what?"
"I told Stone Cold that I would meet Maximista here in an hour. Jason knew that was the time it would take for me to get set up. We've had these precautions set up for ages. Codes that we each recognize and know how to decipher and then tech devices. When The Maternal One was added to our nuclear familial unit, I purchased something specifically for her."
"Is that?" Sonny squinted his eyes and leaned closer to the screen. "Earrings and a necklace?"
"Yes Sir Mr. Sir. And what you didn't notice was that Jason took something from the box and then scratched his ear. Stone Cold? Can you hear the Jackal?"
Sonny watched as Jason nodded his head imperceptibly.
"Son of a bitch!" Sonny scrubbed at his face as he let out a sigh of relief. "Tell him that Johnny is on the outside of the compound with ten of our men ready for my signal."
"Good" Jason said having heard Sonny, and then added to cover his comment and also show approval "They're perfectly set." Sonny and Spinelli watched as Jason turned the jewelry box toward Elizabeth. "Elizabeth I found these Amethyst earrings and then had this Amethyst pendant made to look like a pacifier. Since the baby is due in mid February, I figured it was safe to go ahead and give you a gift with the baby's birthstone."
"Oh Jason…it's…they're beautiful." She murmured and she moved forward to kiss him.
"Ah..ah..ah…" Sorel shook his finger and his head in disapproval. "If you lean forward, you may pull the wire and then your Dearest Grandmother will be blown to smithereens."
"You are the worst kind of man." Steven growled as he looked up to Sorel who was standing over Jason's shoulder as he knelt down in front of Elizabeth.
"And yet, you readily agreed to help me out when you thought it would only be the Corinthos Organization that was taken out and you would have your darling sister and her children back in Colorado with you."
"I had only my sister and her children's safety in mind and you tricked me."
"Shut up Steven." Elizabeth shot back over her shoulder at her brother. "YOU are the worst of them all because YOU thought it would be okay to take away the only man I've ever loved."
"Elizabeth…honey…don't pay attention to them." Jason leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers and reached out to rub his hand across her belly.
It looked like a loving gesture but Jason was feeling for the detonator that was attached to her. When he found it he measured it as best he could for size. He then patted Elizabeth's side to try to reassure her. Then he moved his hand across her stomach again. "Has the baby calmed down? Have the cramps stopped?"
"Yes, the water helped." She smiled timidly.
At least Steven was good for one thing and when his sister doubled over with cramps, he knew it was because she was dehydrated and one of Sorel's men got her a bottle of water. That scream had of course woken Cameron and Sorel explained to the man that he was Uncle Joe. Cameron had no clue what was going but didn't trust the man at all and hadn't said ten words since. Somehow sensing that he had to be quiet. He simply sat on the couch most of the time clinging to Jason. Jason worried because of his behavior if Sorel had given him some sort of sedative.
"Put these on. Do you want me to put on the necklace?" He smiled brightly at her and winked.
She nodded her head and he pulled the necklace from the box and clasped it around her neck, making sure to hit the toggle when he did so. Elizabeth clipped the earrings in her ears and did the same.
"Maternal One? Tis I, the Jackal. Can you hear me?" Spinelli whispered.
"Yes, this was the perfect gift to give me Jason. I can just hear everyone's reaction to such a thoughtful gift now. I love you." She smiled alerting Jason and Spinelli that she could now hear Spinelli for instructions if needed.
"Good, I shall turn your microphone off since you are so close to The Sadistic Sibling. I'll be with you every step of the way and instruct you as needed. Be strong. Stone Cold and the Jackal will never fail you."
Jason smiled. He could hear Spinelli whispering his own encouragement to his fiancé and was grateful for the kid more than words could ever say. Over the years Spinelli had proven that his technical support had saved Jason time and time again and this time would be no different.
Sonny watched in awe as Spinelli clicked and typed and then started speaking to Jason. "Okay, the heat seeking devices on the compound are working. There are three people IN the guest house."
"That's Max, Milo and Francis. Can you tell if they are still alive?" Sonny interjected as he watched Jason sit back down on the couch at Sorel's instruction. Cameron was asleep next to him and his hand instinctually moved to rub soothing circles on the little boys back.
"Uh…yes they are moving about the room. There are two men surrounding the cottage. One at the back door and one at the front. The only way they could get out of there is to go through them. Two men are at the gate and one, two, three, four, five, six…six men are along the perimeter of the compound at various intervals."
"Sorel is a stupid man. He should have known better than to let me go." Sonny hit send and murmured to Johnny who answered on the first ring. "There's only six men surrounding the grounds. Two men on the gate and two men on the guest cottage. That's where the Giambetti's and Francis are. Get them first. They'll be able to assist better inside the house since they know it like the back of their hand."
Jason spoke up. "Sonny should be calling soon with his offer."
"He will prove his loyalty to you and his top Lieutenants when he leaves the penthouse with the papers ready to hand over ownership of the Piers and Warehouses along Barristers Wharf. It amazes me that you two idiots still use those penthouses to conduct business. You don't even guard the building anymore."
"Yeah well, hide it in plain site is a favorite saying of mine." Jason replied. "But you know Sonny won't let you get away with this."
"And how can he not?" Sorel asked. "If he doesn't hand over the deeds, I kill you, your family and those three guards out there. I'm not a stupid man Mr. Morgan. I know that without you and Mr. Correlli, Sonny no longer has his strong arms to enforce his will. And when he DOES hand over the deeds, I'll have the power to keep him in line, not only through the size of my territory but my controlling stake with the Five Families."
"So you didn't need me after all." Steven piped in.
"Oh no, that's where you are wrong. It would have been much easier had you convinced your sister and your grandmother to go with you as soon as you arrived today. See Doctor Webber, I am not intentionally a cruel man. I have a mother and sisters too. I have a nephew and his son that mean the world to me. I understand your devotion to your family. I had hoped you would be able to remove them from this and then I could sit and wait for Mr. Morgan to show up. He'd have believed me that I had them all along and you could have been in Colorado before all of this came down."
"But since my sister fought me you decided to strap a bomb to my Grandmother and hold us hostage while my sister is eight months pregnant?"
"The bomb was attached to your grandmother AFTER we drugged her. It was a sedative that you yourself approved for Elizabeth so there should be no harm to come to your grandmother. As long as I get what I want. And keeping you two together was so that Mr. Morgan here couldn't protect his lovely bride to be without protecting you too. That's too much to handle along with a toddler so it only made sense. Keep you two together and it keeps Jason here in line." The man laughed. "You see…it's genius. I'll get my deeds and you Mr. Morgan will let me leave while you work, without Mr. Correlli's expertise, to defuse the bomb. For if dear Grams were to blow up, your little darling would never forgive you."
Sonny could see that Jason was getting angry and as calm and patient as Jason was, Sonny knew the one thing that could make him explode was Elizabeth's safety.
He leaned into the microphone Spinelli had set up and spoke calmly. "Jason, you need to calm down. Like I said, Johnny and the boys are there. We're assessing the situation now and we'll have everything under control in a matter of hours."
"Minutes" Jason growled and Sorel looked at him puzzled.
"What was that Mr. Morgan?"
"Nothing" He replied.
Elizabeth wrung her hands knowing that Jason had just given Spinelli and whoever else a clue. Of course she didn't know what it was.
"Alright Jason. I'll instruct Johnny to move. As soon as I give the signal, you need to make your move in the house. There's still only the two, Sorel and his man, in the house right?"
"Uh hem…" Jason coughed into his hand and shook his head briskly sideways only once.
"Who else?" Sonny asked.
"Why has Zander been upstairs so long? I don't want that guy in my house." Jason turned and looked at Sorel.
"He's packing. It seems he's decided that he DOES want Cameron. And if I let you all live you'll have your own child so Cameron shouldn't be missed to terribly much." Sorel smirked.
"HE'S NOT GETTING OUT OF HERE WITH MY SON!" Jason yelled.
"You see Mr. Morgan, it's actually his son. And Zander is like a son to me so you can rest assured, Cameron will be well cared for." He stood and walked over and clapped Steven on the back. "We hadn't planned to take the boy so soon. Zander had hoped he could have flown under the radar with this one. But no, everything changed with you and your boss foolishly chose not to accept my brother in law's proposal to build the addition to the hospital. We had to go with…plan B and plan B includes getting Cameron away from you."
"What?" Elizabeth looked up, tears freely falling at this point.
"Elizabeth, this is Sonny. Keep Sorel talking okay honey? Can you do that for me?"
"Why would Zander want to be a part of his son's life now? He never wanted anything to do with him before?" She straightened her back, reaffirming her resolve to be the best help she could to get them all out of this.
Sorel started a long idiom of sisters and sons and hope for the future and his own need for an heir. Jason half listened but half tuned him out as he took in Sonny's instructions.
Everything was in motion at this point. Johnny had already snuck onto the ground while the other men were working to get in position to take out Sorel's men surrounding the property. The worst thing that could happen is one of those men alerting any of the three in the house that they didn't have complete control of the situation.
"Okay Jason, Johnny just reported back that he took out the guards at the guest cottage which means Francis, Max and Milo are now free. You need to get Cameron and Elizabeth out of the line of fire as soon as possible. I haven't been able to talk to Francis yet to figure out how to get Elizabeth away from her brother without sending Audrey to the moon."
"Mr. Sir, if I may interject? I think it's safe to say that The Sadistic Sibling at this point has been rendered useless to the nefarious ones. He would probably be most anxious to get away from their wrath and hope that his sister's love would keep you and Stone Cold from exacting your own revenge on him. Maybe Stone Cold could use Pluto to unceremoniously remove them from the equation."
Jason gave a quick nod and Sonny confirmed, "Jason you agree with Spinelli?"
Jason nodded again.
Sonny watched on screen as in the left corner, the heat of one man scaled the wall of the house. The heat of another two men took station at the French doors to the family room and one moved around the side of the house to the front.
Then he watched in the other corner as all of his other men, who Spinelli had graphically changed the heat blips to white meaning the good guys and black meaning Sorel's men. All of the men were in place. All he had to do was say the word.
Precious growled and lifted her head toward the door as she sat in front of Sonny and Spinelli blocking the door. The door swung open and the female dog leaped into action immediately biting the hand holding the gun first and wrestling the man to the ground.
Jason heard this through the earpiece and knew it was now or never.
He pinched Cameron so hard the boy shot up and immediately started crying. He knew he left a mark and hated that he had to do it but it was the only way to get to the next faze.
"Cam…hey little buddy. Did you have a nightmare?"
"Something bit me Daddy."
"Awwww…it's been a strange day hasn't it." Jason cradled his son a minute rubbing his back while breathing him in. He didn't know if he'd ever hold his son like this again. He only prayed everything every man had been trained to do fell into place and that Lady Luck was on his side tonight.
Cameron nodded his head and snuggled into his fathers embrace.
"Hey, why don't you go get Pluto? He always makes you smile. Do you remember where he is?"
"Yeah Daddy, he's in your bedroom." Cameron said as he climbed down from his fathers lap.
"Where do you think you're going little man?" Sorel stepped in front of him.
"I gonna go get Pluto. My Daddy got it for me when we went to Disney World." The little boy's innocence shone through and Sorel smiled and let him by.
What could it hurt? The mobster thought as he watched the little boy scurry into the master bedroom.
"Okay Maternal One, Littlest Dude is on his way to safety. As soon as Stone Cold gives the signal you need to escape in the same manner." Spinelli said.
Sonny, having finished tying up the man who came searching him on the roof with some spare USB cords that Spinelli handed him, patted Precious on the head and said "Good Girl. Stay" He left Precious to snarl over the shaking and bleeding man. He walked back over to the screen. "Good…Cameron's gone. Okay Elizabeth, Francis has already gone in and out of Cameron's room so I can only assume that he's eliminated the threat Zander poses. He's in the other room where your Grandmother is so by now Francis is diffusing the bomb. We don't have cameras in your rooms so I have no way of knowing when he's done but he's definitely in the room with your grandmother now. When I say go, drag your brother to the panic room. Keep down and don't worry about anything but getting your ass in that panic room to be with Cameron. Do you hear me?"
Elizabeth nodded and grabbed onto her brother's hand. She leaned over and Jason watched as she whispered something.
"Is there something you'd like to share with all of us Miss Webber?" Sorel asked when he noticed her whisper into her brother's ear.
"She was just telling me that she's getting cramps again. I think she should go lie down in her bed." Steven said.
"I'll call a guard to sit with her. We can't have any mishaps this close in the game." Sorel said as Elizabeth and Steven both stood. "Speaking of the game, it appears Mr. Morgan that your boss has no intention of returning with those deeds."
"Two more minutes Jason. Cameron is in the panic room. His little C just moved down a level so he's safe. I'm waiting…there it is. Francis just moved back to the hallway, he's moving quickly down the hallway…he's…"
Suddenly a loud explosion was heard through the speakers and all Sonny and Spinelli could do is watch and pray as all the white dots converged on the house. Nothing could be heard but screaming and gunfire through the speakers.