A/N: Thanks everyone for the reviews! I very much appreciate the feedback! Now on to the next chapter...
- Chapter 36 -
The two cars were still in flames when Jason managed to open his eyes. He was lying on the ground where he had been thrown by the blast. He was hurt, he could tell but wasn't sure from which part of his body the pain was coming from. Jason tried to lift himself up but the pain became sharper, his left arm was at the root of it. Body back pressing on the ground, he coughed and shook his head to expunge the blur. All the enforcer could remember was screaming before a loud explosion had sent both his car and Cody's car flying. Cody, Jason remembered at that moment and called the other man's name to make sure he was ok. "Cody!"
Jason heard some mumbling behind him and felt relieved. Cody was alive. Jason managed to shake off the shock that had violently disoriented him and crawled towards his man. "Are you alright?"
Cody nodded, looking shaken up but fine. "What happened? The cars… the cars, they're on fire."
"Someone planted a bomb." Jason told him then managed to sit up. "We need to get out of here now."
Cody agreed with his boss, knowing full well that whoever had caused this explosion wanted them dead and could come back to make sure the job was properly done, not to mention the police and firefighters who would soon be on the scene.
Up on their feet, the two men struggled to make their way into a nearby alley. Breathing deeply to alleviate the pain, they stood, back against an old graffiti covered wall, still in disbelief of what had just happened. Jason managed to drag his cell phone out of his leather jacket's pocket, hurting with every move.
"I need to call Eli… Elizabeth, to make sure she is safe."
"You think… you think Ric did this?" Cody asked, perplexed. "Maybe… maybe the Zacharra renegades are fighting back, maybe they…"
"He is a dead man." Jason interrupted him with a cold stare, showing all the hate he had for Lansing and convinced the lawyer was behind the hit. After what he had done to Elizabeth a bomb was not off limit.
"I'll get us some back up." Cody added, getting his mobile as he watched Jason anxiously dial his.
Elizabeth's phone rang until Jason could hear her melodious sounding voice tell him she was unavailable at the moment. He tried again, same result. "Come on, answer the phone." Jason said out loud and impatient. "I'll try Emily." He then added, causing Cody's eyes to turn worried.
"She is with Elizabeth today isn't she?" The bald man rhetorically asked, panic stricken.
"She took her shopping." Jason said, now even more nervous remembering that Elizabeth wasn't safe at the penthouse. He tried Emily's phone, without success.
"I'll call Tony." Cody volunteered. "He is supposed not to leave them off his sight today, and you know how diligent he is." Cody did as he said but grew extremely concerned when the guard didn't return his call either. The bald man shook his head in despair.
"Get me a car, now!" Jason yelled, in an icy tone.
"Ma… Max is already on his way to come get us." Cody struggled to speak as a thousand possible scenarios of what could have happened to Emily and Elizabeth ran through his mind. "And he is also informing Sonny of what happened and will up the security everywhere… I told him to hurry."
Jason faced the floor, staring emptily at his feet and holding his hurt arm. "Damn it… I shouldn't have left her alone today, and Emily… she has nothing to do with this. I never should have involved her."
"You know she would have wanted to help somehow anyway." Cody told him. "But, lets not panic until we know for sure that they are in danger. They could just be having bad network connection in one of these damn stores." Cody tried to reassure both of them, himself unconvinced by his words.
"We almost died out there, this is clearly no joke." Jason reminded the other man.
"I know. I know the situation is serious Jason, I'm just… trying to keep some faith." Cody added feeling completely distraught while he could still feel the shock from the explosion and his paining knee.
A car suddenly pulled up next to the two men. "Jason, Cody? What happened?" Max hurried out to tend to them.
"We're fine! Let's go, we can't waste any time, I'll explain on the way." Jason let out, already climbing on the car's passenger seat.
Jason and Cody rushed inside the penthouse as fast as their injured limbs would let them; as they had feared the place was empty.
"They're not here." Cody stated the obvious, and then firmly kicked the sofa's arm. "They are out there somewhere and anything can happen."
Max wondered about Cody's strong reaction but attributed it to the traumatic situation he had just experienced, not knowing that Emily's disappearance was affecting him as much as Jason was upset over Elizabeth. "I sent someone to the Port Charles shopping center but it could take hours before they can find them if they are even there." Max told them.
"Let's stop and think for a minute." Jason firmly said, a hand covering his forehead. "If Ric or anyone took them then they couldn't possibly have done it at the shopping center, too many people around, cameras, security guards."
"So where?" Cody blurred out, unable to control his raging emotions. "Here? Impossible, the penthouse is super secured, you made sure of that."
"I know, but… there is a blind spot." Jason desolately admitted. "The visitor parking area is separated from the building so I never really thought of it as a real danger zone but I'm assuming Emily parked there."
"Crap! Of course." Cody said then adopted a calmer tone, as he thought now was not the right time for Jason to find out about his relationship with Emily; the situation was bad enough at it was so he would have to try and control himself. He cleared his throat. "She always parks there… I think."
Jason turned to Max. "Check the video surveillance in the parking garage." He instructed the guard then rushed down his building to the visitor parking with Cody, hoping to find a clue to where Elizabeth and his sister could have vanished.
When they arrived in the parking garage, they found Tony, battered and unconscious in a dark corner. Jason approached the older man, checking for a pulse and a bullet wound. Thankfully he couldn't find either, the man was still alive with no signs of blood. The enforcer shook his guard lightly, hoping to help him regain consciousness.
"Tony? Tony can you hear me?" Jason called out then asked Cody to call in the doctor on retainer, which Cody did right away.
Tony flinched, one of his hands rubbing his hurting neck. "Boss… I…"
"What happened?" Jason hurriedly asked, realizing every second counted.
"I'm so sorry boss, I didn't see anything, they came from behind…"
"What about Elizabeth? And my sister? Were they with you?" Jason asked.
"They were in front of me but they pulled me away… after that I didn't see anything else."
Jason gasped, the reality of the two women having been abducted sinking in. "Ok, did you recognize anyone? See anything?"
The man shook his head. "Their faces were covered."
In that instant Jason felt helpless; he had no idea who these men were and where they had taken the woman he loved and his sister. Two women he had vowed to keep safe. "If you remember anything else, anything at all, tell me as soon as possible."
Jason stood up, again feeling the pain in his arm but ignoring it. Cody followed him back upstairs to check if Max had managed to find anything of interest. The guard only could endorse Tony's story and was able to see men dressed in navy throw the two brunettes inside a black van.
"I tried but I can't make out the plate number." Max said, hoping to help in any way he could.
"It's ok, it probably wouldn't lead us anywhere, these guys seem to be professionals with the way they carried out this double attack." Jason reassured him.
"How could Ric pull this off?" Cody wondered out loud.
"He went to DC for help, he is not acting alone." Jason said then shook his head.
"Jason what happened? Are we under attack?" Sonny asked as soon as he opened the penthouse door and entered the room.
"Yes, by your brother." Jason answered, revulsion in his voice.
"Ric?" Sonny rubbed his chin. "You think Ric blew up the cars? He tried to kill you?"
"I know it's him, he tried to get rid of me and now Elizabeth is gone, and she was with Emily. They kidnapped both of them."
"The bastard… he has lost his damn mind." Sonny said, shaking his head as he placed a hand on his belt.
"He has lost it a long time ago and it is time I make him pay. We need to stop him once and for all." Jason declared, getting his audience's silent approval.
"Do you have any idea where he is or where he could have taken the girls?" Sonny then wondered.
"I don't know Sonny! I can't think!" Jason exclaimed, unable to keep his cool as he thought about Elizabeth and what Ric would be doing to her this time. He needed to find her as soon as possible. "I need to figure out who he turned to for help because there is no way in hell he pulled this off on his own."
"What do you know so far?" The older man asked hoping to help Jason clarify the picture and better analyze the situation.
The enforcer took a deep breath, understanding Sonny was trying to help him calm down and keep his mind focused. Panicking would not help him resolve anything. "Ric went to see Trevor Lansing in DC, next thing we know our cars are blown up and men in formal navy suits and masks take Elizabeth and Emily. I also saw a man walking away from the cars before they exploded, he was wearing the same thing now that I think about it."
"Navy you said?" Sonny looked up as if he was trying to remember something.
"Yes, why? Do you know anything about that?" Jason asked.
"I don't know for sure but I think they might be Alcazar's men, I've heard they dress that way. I'm not that familiar with his organization, I've never been at war with the guy. We're on different territories and interested in different merchandise but they are known for contract killing as well." Sonny explained.
"Lorenzo Alcazar?" Jason simply repeated. "I've heard of him, and apparently he is someone who would do anything for the right price."
"Yes, these guys don't live by an honor code like we do and they usually don't take sides and play for themselves… that's why I'm thinking it could be him. Ric probably went to Alcazar with loads of cash and asked him to do his dirty work."
Jason turned to Cody as soon as Sonny was done talking. "Cody, call Spinelli in now and have him dig up everything he can on Alcazar, especially safehouses, warehouses… anywhere where he could be hiding Elizabeth and Emily."
"I'm on it." Cody had already started dialing Spinelli's number before Jason was finished talking. His heart was racing fast, still under the adrenaline of the blast and worried sick about Emily.
"You have her?"
"Yes all worked out as planned, Jason Morgan is grilling as we speak and I have the girl and her friend." Alcazar informed Ric over the phone.
"What friend? I don't care about her friend! The plan was to kidnap Elizabeth." The lawyer said agitated. Elizabeth was the only one he needed taken, no one else.
"Well, it was easier to snatch them both so you get two for one." The mobster said derisively. "Plus she is Morgan's sister."
"Emily Quartermaine… great." Ric grumped wondering how this would affect his plan. "Alright, that's fine, I'll just have to save both of them then. It will seem even more heroic that way. Elizabeth won't believe her eyes and will forever be grateful that I saved Emily too. She won't be able to resist me this time… I will be her hero! Especially now that Jason is gone." Ric rambled on unable to contain his oozing joy.
Alcazar shook his head from side to side before adding. "When exactly are you planning on barging in here with your white horse? The sooner, the better. I have other things to take care of."
"Don't worry, I will be there soon enough, but not too soon. Beth needs to at least be afraid or she won't be glad enough to see me."
"If you say so…" Alcazar let out thinking he was dealing with a peculiar character. "And what do you want me to do with my prisoners during that time?"
"I don't know. You're the bad guy… scare them." Ric said matter-of-factly. "I have to go now, I will be in touch soon to tell you when."
Alcazar shook his head once more. The clients he sometimes had to deal with could be irritating, but he could take the annoyance for the right sum. The tanned man hung up the phone and stepped into the room where he held the two women his goons had brought to him. He stared at the two inarticulate ladies who desperately tried to make themselves heard behind the duck tape that forced their mouths shut.
Elizabeth and Emily went on with louder cries and an attempt at screaming without success.
"Ladies, ladies… come on, relax! You're going to make yourself sick if you continue crying like that you know?" Lorenzo said then approached Elizabeth, his ticket to a hefty transfer in one of his offshore accounts. "Look beautiful, I'm sorry you are here but all I care about is getting paid and there was a big price tag over your head so sit tight and be quiet."
Ric finished his conversation with Alcazar and threw the prepaid phone on the bed. He then stared at himself in the mirror, in the small motel room he had taken refuge in since he was back in Port Charles. He was unable to contain a smile, as he couldn't believe how clever he had been this time around. Jason Morgan had been dealt with for good and very soon Elizabeth would be his again. He chuckled in joy then took a sip of whiskey. "No one takes what's mine, not even Jason fucking Morgan."
The lawyer then picked up the gun he had placed on one of the nightstands earlier. "Soon will finally be my time to be the hero and get the girl."