A/N: Thanks for your patience -- we're nearing the end of the semester, so I'm trying to sneak a little writing in before the final grading push ...
Enjoy!
Chapter 37
New York City
Lucky tried not to let his anxiety show as the officer dialed the number Lucky provided. "The captain's name is Cruz."
"Okay," said the cop as he waited for the call to go through. Finally, the man spoke into the receiver. "Captain Cruz, this is Officer Nittoli from the New York City Police Department. I have here a man who says he's a detective in your division and he's here on a case?" Lucky surreptitiously crossed his fingers as the man fell silent. He tried to will Cruz not to blow his story. "Yeah, says his name is Lucas Spencer and he's conducting surveillance to locate a witness." There was a long silence, and Lucky had to keep reminding himself to breathe as he watched Nittoli listen to whatever Cruz might be telling him. Thank God the man was feeding Cruz the information rather than waiting for Cruz to actually supply it.
He let out a sigh of relief when Nittoli said, "Well, I appreciate that, Captain. Apparently the person he was watching made him, and she filed a stalking complaint. In the future, it might save us all some trouble if you let us know when you're sending someone into our jurisdiction. Now, maybe you'd like to tell us exactly who you're looking for?" Lucky wasn't surprised when Nittoli handed him the phone a moment later.
"Your captain wants to talk to you."
Lucky nodded and said, "Okay, thanks."
"Captain, sorry about the inconvenience," he said into the phone.
"Lucky, what the hell is going on? What are you doing in New York City? And who the hell filed a stalking complaint?"
Lucky chose his words carefully, aware of Nittoli's avid interest. "Well, Captain, I was watching Miss Jones like we planned to see if her sister got in touch and then might lead us to the witness."
"You're watching Mac's daughter? Are you insane? Although at least you had the sense to call me instead of Mac. But what if I hadn't answered? My voicemail identifies me as a detective, not a captain. And what makes you think Elizabeth's anywhere near Maxie, anyway?"
"Well, sir, she hasn't showed up yet, but it's the only lead we have. Unless someone there wants to run her credit cards again?"
Cruz sighed. "Yeah, okay, fine. I'll do that and get back to you. Tell the cop there whatever you want. I just said we had a case that involves some VIPs back here, so we sent you looking but we didn't want to tell anyone we were looking for a witness. And I said that's why we don't want an APB out. I also apologized for wasting their time. So whatever you tell them, make sure it fits with that story, okay?"
"Okay, captain, thanks. I'll check in later." Lucky hung up and turned to Nittoli to give the man a few more details that fit with the story Cruz had spun.
Port Charles
Jason paced back and forth in front of Sonny's desk, and Sonny was surprised at how agitated he looked. Finally, Jason paused and said abruptly, "Lucky Spencer is in New York City. He got picked up for tailing Maxie's sister." He immediately resumed pacing.
"Who's Lucky Spencer?" Sonny asked cautiously.
"Oh. Elizabeth's ex-husband – or he will be once I get Elizabeth to the Dominican Republic and get her a divorce."
"And why is he tailing Maxie's sister?"
"He must figure that Elizabeth is with Maxie, and maybe he thinks they're going to see Georgie."
"Okay, so what do you need from me?"
"I need to figure out how to get Elizabeth her divorce without Lucky getting wind of it ahead of time. He seems pretty out of control and obsessed with Elizabeth, and I don't want her upset."
Sonny thought about that for a minute, trying not to be distracted by Jason's continuing agitation. He was so used to Jason's typical stoicism that it was hard to focus with Jason pacing. "You sure you want to get involved with this?"
Jason shot him a look. "She needs me."
"In case you hadn't noticed, Jason, she has her brother to take care of her now," Sonny pressed, just to see what Jason would do.
"Steven would be out of his depth on this and you know it, Sonny. Elizabeth needs to feel sure that Lucky can never get near her or her baby, and Steven can't give that to her. I can." He stopped to look at Sonny, daring him to argue.
Sonny wanted to laugh, but instead asked cautiously, "Well, do you think he's a danger to her or is he more of a nuisance?"
Jason sighed and resumed pacing. "Honestly, Sonny, I don't know. Based on what she's said, he pretty much spent their time together either ignoring her or criticizing her, so I'm not even sure why he seems so set on having her back." He paused, then said irritably, "What I'd like to do is ensure his permanent absence, but Elizabeth is probably too softhearted to appreciate that. I don't want her upset."
"Yeah, you mentioned that," Sonny replied. "So you don't want to do anything drastic. You said something about taking her to the Dominican Republic for a divorce?"
"Yeah, but if I remember right, both parties have to agree to it or we can't get the quick action we want, and the problem is, I want to present Spencer with a done deal, not gear him up for a fight and let him know where she is at the same time."
"Yeah, I can see that, and you're right about the agreement issue. When I was thinking about divorcing Lily, Alexis researched it, and she said that I would need Lily's agreement to it. Without that, it turns into a big legal battle and takes as long as it would anywhere else." He paused, considering. "So what you really need to figure out is whether to get Spencer's agreement, or to fake it."
"Yeah, I guess so," Jason agreed. "What do you think?"
"I'm assuming you don't want Elizabeth to know anything about this?"
"Right. I don't think she'd be comfortable with either presenting false evidence in court or any means of persuasion I might have to use on Spencer. And he's never gonna agree to it without persuasion."
"Yeah," Sonny said. "So either way, you'd have to convince her that Spencer's agreement was voluntary."
"Which she might believe, since she keeps thinking he's just gonna let her go anyway, and being surprised when he shows signs that he won't."
"Well, in that case, you might as well try to persuade him. If you can get his signature on the right paperwork, at least she'll recognize it as his." He paused. "If he doesn't agree, then you can always falsify the papers. You just have to be absolutely sure that she never comes into contact with him, so there's no chance she'll find out how you persuaded him."
Two phones interrupted their conversation. Sonny glanced at the caller ID and answered his immediately, while Jason paused to step out onto the balcony before doing anything.
Sonny said, "AJ? Is Courtney all right?"
"Yeah, she's fine, physically at least." AJ said, sounding hesitant.
"What does that mean?" Sonny demanded suspiciously.
"Listen, I'm not sure I should be calling you, but you know her better than I do, and I'm just not sure how to handle this. If you'd rather I figure it out on my own, though …"
AJ's voice trailed off. Sonny sighed and said, "I've been hearing some things. She doesn't seem entirely happy with her situation. You wanna fill me in on the details?"
"Well, the short version is, she's convinced herself that, if not for the baby – and me, I suppose – Jason would realize he loves her and they'd wind up in some happily-ever-after fairy tale."
Sonny asked cautiously, "What's the long version?"
"Well, she started out by trying to antagonize me, and sucking up to one of her guards. I think she was hoping I'd lose my temper and start drinking again, so she was doing everything she could to try to piss me off."
"Like what?" Sonny asked. He had heard some of this from Tony, of course, but he wondered how much AJ's version would match what Tony had told him. Another thought occurred to him. "And which guard?"
"Look, I don't want to get him into any trouble, so I'd rather not say at this point. I thought I'd have a talk with him myself and see if he backs off. As to what she's doing, she's been trying to do all the things she can think of that pregnant women aren't supposed to do."
Sonny let the issue of the guard go for the moment. "For example?"
"Riding hellbent for leather, drinking martinis, eating sushi …"
"You're letting her drink?" Sonny interrupted.
"No, Sonny, I'm not," AJ said patiently, then explained. "Apparently she hadn't told the staff she was pregnant and she was getting them to fix her martinis before I arrived. I put a stop to it as soon as I found out, of course, and the staff now knows she's pregnant and that she's not to do anything that might harm the baby. I also told them to get rid of all the alcohol in the house. They understand that if they have any doubt about anything she asks to do or have, they're to clear things with me."
"Good," Sonny said, once again feeling a grudging respect for AJ. "So what do you need from me?"
"Well, she's changed tactics now. She turned on a dime and now she's acting like she wants to get along and make things work for the baby's sake."
"And you don't trust it."
"No, I don't. I've been trying to think the way she's thinking, and considering that there's no doubt in my mind that she still wants Jason, I think she's hoping I'll take her back to Port Charles, where she figures she'll have more freedom. I think she's planning to get away from me, one way or another, and to get rid of the baby, whatever it takes. She no doubt figures those will be easier to accomplish if she's not isolated on an island and surrounded by people who are loyal to you. And of course, she figures proximity to Jason will help her get back in his good graces. I tried telling her that he's never gonna want her back, but she's so fixated on him that she refuses to believe me."
Sonny considered that. After a long moment, he said, "Yeah, you're probably right. She's always been irrational where Jason's concerned. He told her from the beginning that anything they had would be temporary, but she built up a whole future for them in her mind, and she won't let go of it no matter how much everyone tells her it's not gonna happen. And you're right, he's never gonna want her back."
"So, do I keep her here and keep trying to control her so she doesn't do serious harm to the baby? Do I bring her home? You know her better than I do, so if you're willing, I'd like your opinion on this. If nothing else, I think you and I agree that we both want to protect the baby."
Sonny said, "Okay, yeah, we're definitely in agreement about that. No child should ever be made to suffer because of the mistakes of its parents. And even though she's my sister, I have to protect her baby first. If she was thinking clearly, that's what she would want, too." That last statement gave him an idea, and he thought for a long moment, then smiled. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do…"
Meanwhile, on the balcony, Jason listened as his contact in New York said, "Spencer was released without any charges being filed. Seems he convinced them that he was on a case."
Jason sighed. "Where'd he go?"
"He got a room in a fleabag motel. Guess he figures that there's no point in continuing to watch tonight, considering she made him."
"Okay, keep me posted."
He disconnected the call, and spent several minutes trying to figure out what Spencer's next move might be. He'd want to keep surveillance on Georgie, but Jason's informant was right – there was no point now that Georgie had made him. When he finally saw Sonny hang up the phone, he headed back inside.
New York City
Lucky lay on the bed in the cheap motel. He tried to decide what to do. He hoped that Georgie Jones would be too busy to follow up on her complaint now that he wasn't tailing her anymore. He hoped she would forget all about him. If the New York cops told her that he was here from Seattle on a case, she was sure to mention it to Mac, and that would certainly spell trouble.
Plus, he only had a few days left before the week Mac had given him would be up. He had to be back in Seattle by then – if he wasn't, he'd be jobless as well as deep in the debt Elizabeth had left him with. For the first time, he began to doubt the wisdom of letting his partner call all the shots for all these months and years. Sure, the potential reward was big, but what if he couldn't pull off his part in it?
As he thought about that, his phone rang. His heart leaped into his throat due to his fear of her reaction to the news that he was no longer tailing their only lead to Elizabeth's whereabouts. He answered, then let out the breath he had been holding when he realized it was Cruz.
"Lucky, man, I hope you know what you're doing. We'll both be in deep shit if any of this gets back to Mac."
"I know, I know," Lucky said. "I just need a few days more, and I'm sure I'll find Elizabeth and get everything back on track."
"Well, I hope you're right about that," Cruz said, sounding skeptical. "Anyway, I ran Maxie's credit card. She used it in upstate New York a couple of days ago. A salon in a town called Port Charles. That's the one and only time she's used it since Elizabeth left."
Lucky started and sat up. "Did you say Port Charles?" he asked, just to be sure.
"Yeah, Port Charles. Why, you know it?"
"Elizabeth's brother lives there," Lucky murmured thoughtfully.
"Well, why the hell didn't you check there first?" Cruz asked irritably. "It makes a hell of a lot more sense that she'd go to her own family than to Maxie's."
"Last I heard, she didn't get along with her brother," Lucky snapped back. "And anyway, I called there a few days ago, and her sister-in-law swore they hadn't heard from Elizabeth."
"Well, I'm guessing she wasn't entirely truthful," Cruz said sarcastically. "I wonder why."
"Yeah, whatever," Lucky said. "Anyway, thanks for the info. I'll be in touch."
He hung up abruptly, not giving Cruz a chance to reply. He debated with himself for a moment, then finally decided that he couldn't avoid it. Opening his phone, punched up her number, and then waited while it rang. Finally, she answered, sounding irritated. Why was everyone so annoyed with him these days anyway?
"Well? What happened?"
"I got released, but that's not why I'm calling." He paused, then plunged in. "I think she's in Port Charles."
He held the phone away from his ear to avoid any damage from her high-pitched scream of outrage.
Port Charles
The next morning, as Elizabeth was getting ready to go to her doctor's appointment, her phone rang. Seeing it was Jason, she felt her pulse leap slightly, and frowned as she realized her hormones were getting way out of control if the mere prospect of talking to him made her react like that. She tried not to sound breathless as she said, "Hello?"
"Hey. Listen, I'll pick you up for your appointment in half an hour, okay?"
"Yeah, sure. But I thought Johnny was gonna take me?"
"Well, Johnny needs to rest now and then, and he was there all night, so …"
She frowned. "What do you mean, he was here all night?"
"Elizabeth, we discussed that you need to be guarded at all times until we know where Lucky is."
"But Steven was here, so why did Johnny need to be here, too?"
"I assume Steven was sleeping. You need to be with someone who's awake, Elizabeth."
"That's ridiculous, Jason. Lucky's not going to sneak in in the middle of the night and – and kidnap me or something!"
"Listen, can we talk about this when I see you?" he asked patiently. "I just got out of the shower and I'm dripping all over my carpet." Unbidden, the mental image of Jason, naked and dripping wet sent a thrill through Elizabeth.
She ruthlessly suppressed the image and the thrill, and said in a disgruntled tone, "Fine. I'll see you soon."
His voice dripped with amusement. "Okay, Elizabeth, see you soon." He hung up before she could reply.
Elizabeth shook her head and returned her attention to the makeup she had been putting on before his call.
As she went downstairs to find some breakfast, the house phone rang. Emily called, "I'll get it!"
Elizabeth started to fix herself some eggs, then decided to see if Johnny wanted any. He must be hungry if he'd been there all night, she thought. As she opened the door to the porch, she saw that Maxie had beaten her to it, as the two were sharing a bagel. She noticed that Johnny's eyes never stopped scanning the area, and realized for the first time how seriously he was taking the duty of guarding her.
Wondering if he knew something she didn't, she quietly closed the door.
Just then, she heard Emily call out, "Steven! It's Sarah! She wants to talk to you!"