Chapter 39

Elizabeth stood from the floor and grabbed a towel from the shelf. She glanced in the mirror and saw dark circles and a pale complexion. It felt as though she was watching herself from the other side of the mirror and the Elizabeth that was watching her continuously told her that Jason would come to them Just thinking about Jason made her stomach begin to churn again. This was his greatest fear, the reason he stayed away for all those months.

After splashing water on her face and rinsing her mouth out, she finally left the bathroom. Thankfully both Jake and Cameron had slept through the ordeal and remained asleep. Even though it was morning, to them it was the middle of the night and the both rested peacefully on the large bed that was shared by her and Jason when they were here earlier in the year.

She did not know who the men were downstairs. They kept conversations to a minimum. There were three of them, one was the pilot. They simply came on the plane, one with their gun pointed at a groggy Max and the other two focused on Elizabeth. The instructions were simple, come with them, quietly. They informed her that if all went well they would be gone within a day and everyone would be unharmed. Already knowing where it was, the men directed the awaiting limo to the beautiful villa Jason had bought Elizabeth as a wedding gift.

The three men fit the typical gangster profile. The first one was heavy-set with a thick head of black hair and a tan complexion. The next guy was bald and covered in tattoos and almost reminded her of Manny but taller. The third man, the pilot, seemed to be the leader. He had a muscular build and was the one that spoke to them, instructing them to deplane and move immediately to the awaiting SUV. He did not say anything beyond specifically telling them no sudden movements and that they were carrying a signal blocker so cell phones would be unusable.

She was now confined to the villa, unable to venture outside or use any electronics. Max was staying by her side, repeatedly saying that Jason would get them. There were a few times that Max challenged the men but Elizabeth whispered that she needed him to get through this and said nothing good would come of fighting with them when they were outnumbered. Truth was that they did not know who these men were, who they were working with or what they wanted.

Her hands shook as she held her useless cell phone in her hand, wishing it would stop displaying 'no signal'. When they first arrived at the house one of the men exited the car, carrying a small hand held gadget into the house. From the few words they overheard he did a sweep, searching for electronics or other forms of communication. By the time Elizabeth, Max and the boys were allowed in the house they had been sitting in the car for close to an hour. The three men positioned themselves, one outside the front door, one outside the back door and the last, the leader/pilot sat on the back patio on the phone for a long time. He was speaking another language which Elizabeth assumed was a form of Spanish.

Time ticked by slowly as Elizabeth sat with her boys. Max nonchalantly searched the upstairs for a gun or anything the men had missed but they had been thorough and he could not even find. He did not want to make a rash move and get Elizabeth or the boys injured. He was sure that Jason was aware of the situation by now and would be working to get them freed. He listened to everything he could of the conversations between the men but they spoke much in a low voice and in Spanish. In his gut he knew that the meeting in Miami was a set up to get Jason away from the family, he only hoped that Carly and the boys were ok and that Jason was still alive to come after them.

--

Spinelli was still furiously pounding on his computer keys when his phone rang. "Stonecold!"

"What have you found?" Jason asked with his hand covering his eyes. He was gripping the phone so tight that his knuckles were white.

Jason had instantly boarded a plane as soon as Spinelli had insured him that the jet had not left Rome airport. They were being held in Italy and he had to get there immediately. Spinelli had spent the last many hours finding as much information as he could and it was now time for him to report his findings.

By the time Jason hung up with Spinelli his head was spinning. Spinelli had tapped into some security cameras in the area of the hangar where the plane had arrived. He was able to catch the limousine leaving the airport at around 6 am local Rome time. He was able to tap into the motor vehicle records but that took him much time due to the need to translate the Italian. Eventually he discovered that the limo was a rental and as luck would have it had LoJack. That trace would take some time but he promised to have its location by the time Jason landed.

Spinelli also ran a trace on the GPS cell phone Jason had given Elizabeth but it was coming back as unfound so the phone was either off or the signal was being blocked, most likely the second option. He also could not guarantee that Elizabeth and the boys were in the limo that left the hangar but there were no other vehicles entering or exiting since and the plane had not left either. Mario had placed a guard on the area to keep them posted on any activity in the area of that hangar.

Immediately after the plane was in the air, Jason had called Sonny and filled him in on the situation. Sonny immediately Sent Carly and the boys and Alexis and the girls to safe houses out of town. Neither woman was happy about the early hour but knew that he would only send them away if there was a serious threat. Sonny then offered his help and all of their men to track down his family but Jason only wanted to talk about who was responsible. Sonny immediately began contacting various informants in an effort to find out who was behind this. So far Jason had not heard back from him… and it had been hours.

Jason still had no idea who he was up against nor what they wanted. Would they want a ransom or is it plain revenge. There were so many people out there that would have a reason to seek revenge against Jason and he was furious that he had placed others in danger of being the subject of that revenge… his family.

--

"Max, what am I going to do." Elizabeth whispered then looked over at the boys laying on the bed. "Cameron is starting to stir awake."

Max had been quietly pacing the length of the hallway outside the bedroom where Elizabeth and the boys were. It was like he was guarding the door except he was unarmed. The men had taken Max's gun from him the instant they entered the plane.

He peeked in the bedroom, "Try to keep them calm and… Maybe we can come up with a reason that they would need to stay upstairs. I don't want them around the men downstairs. I don't know who they are working with but…"

"I agree, I don't want them to think anything is going on. If they were planning on killing us they would have already done that. They are waiting for something, lets just home that Jason and Sonny figure it all out."

Max nodded, "I'd bet my life that Jason is already on his way here, if not here already. He will give his life to save you and the boys." He sincerely reassured her.

Elizabeth let out a shaky sigh, protectively placing her hand on her stomach. "I can't stomach anything right now but I really should try to eat something soon. It's not good for the baby when I go this long without eating… and they are going to be hungry too." She said nodding toward the bed.

"I'll go get some food from the kitchen. Stay up here."

Elizabeth wondered where Jason was. It was late afternoon now and she repeatedly tried to do the math in her head but couldn't figure out how much time had past, what time they landed or around what time he probably discovered they were missing. All she knew was that she could feel his heart breaking, the worry he was feeling as well as the self hate he probably had for himself because of his promise to protect them. He would keep his promise though, he would find them, he would save them and he would deal with those responsible. He was her Jason and her Jason was thorough, smart, calculated and as Max reminded her a short time after they arrived at the villa, he is the best at what he does.

Max returned with his arms full of food, crackers, chips and various other random items from the pantry. Normally Elizabeth would have made fun of his choice of food but right now she was grateful.

"Thank you Max."

He nodded, "I looked around a little while I was down there. I also had a thought, I don't think this is revenge, I think this is for leverage, they want something and it isn't just money. I know Jason has been suspicious of Skye lately and has been keeping an eye on a rival family centered in Miami… a Cuban family that have a similar accent to the men outside. They have been a minor threat to the organization…" Max trailed off. "I probably shouldn't tell you all this."

Elizabeth shook her head, "I'm as involved as ever so keep talking Max." she said setting the food on the dresser.

Max looked over his shoulder at the boys and continued speaking in a low voice. "Well Jason was going down there today… or yesterday… whenever, to meet with the head of the Perez family. There were some issues with them a few months back, they were the ones that Lucky was working with, remember?"

Elizabeth managed a shallow nod and Max continued, "We got information from an informant within their organization that they had been involved in the recent missing shipments and Jason was going to threaten them but he was mostly going because he believes that Skye has become aligned with them… through Luke."

"Luke?"

"Apparently Luke has been secretly meeting with Skye when she is at the Quartermaines, supposedly bringing Lila to see the family, except the family is rarely there when she is… but Luke always is. We also know that Luke has made at least one trip to Miami since Lucky died."

Elizabeth closed her eyes and shook her head, "So you think Luke is involved as revenge for Lucky's death and you think Skye…"

"Wants to run us out of Port Charles and take over, with the help of the Miami organization."

"So is this all a way to get Jason out of Port Charles, further away then a two hour plane ride like Miami is… to leave them vulnerable to an attack?"

Max shrugged his shoulders, "I think so."

Elizabeth shook her head, "Then why even set up the meeting in Miami? Jason would have been with us and they would have had the same result. He would be here with me… with us."

"They didn't set up the meeting, Jason did, he insisted. He knew something was happening within days, like I said, we had informants on the inside. We didn't know that this would happen but he felt safer knowing that you and the boys would be out of the country while he dealt with it." Max stopped talking when he saw Cameron sitting up on the bed stretching his arms.

Elizabeth walked past Max and sat beside her oldest son, pulling him into her arms.

"I hope I am wrong though." Max said before he left the room to again pace in the hallway and wait.