A/N: Cody "Truck Nuts" Bell is not the newbie who deserved to be tied to the canvas, and Sonny deciding to engage in jury tampering to help Ava & Trina was a mistake. So I fixed both and thus you get this fic. I own nothing except the OCs. Hope you enjoy it. :)


There was almost nothing Sonny couldn't do. Almost.

Ava didn't want to seek him out this way. After all, Esme Prince just fell. Sure, they fought and threw each other around on the infamous Wyndemere parapet, but to say she was pushed off would be a lie. At least it was to Ava.

All she did was let go of the young woman's wrists, and she just…fell.

"Mrs. Cassadine."

Frank's stern gaze greeted Ava when she came back to reality. She stood a few feet in front of Sonny's office door at Pozzulo's, her breathing deep and unsteady.

"Mr. Corinthos is ready to see you."

"Wonderful," Ava smiled half-heartedly, watching Frank open the door and walking past him.

"What are you doing here?" Sonny asked, the surprise present in his eyes.

"I need your help," Ava sighed, taking a seat across from Sonny, who moved to lean against the front of his desk, "Trina's trial is finishing up. The jury starts deliberating tomorrow."

"It doesn't look good for her," Sonny assumed, his eyes fixated on the floor.

"You know…I don't know. It could go either way, but I'm not willing to sit around and wait."

"It's not your style," Sonny went to take his seat.

"Sonny, I need you to be sure that Trina's acquitted."

"Well, you know the easiest way to do that is to get the guilty party to confess. Or I'll just go to Esme Prince myself and just tell-"

"No, no, you don't," Ava cut him off, "you can't do that."

Sonny's smirk slightly dropped, watching Ava rise from her chair, "It's not important for the world to know that Esme is behind the revenge porn. All that matters is that Trina goes free."

"I thought you'd jump at the chance of bringing Esme down, personally escorting her to bed."

"Yeah, well," Ava matched Sonny's smirk with a smile of her own, before she dropped it entirely, "Esme's gone. She left town."

"My people can find her-"

"There isn't any time for that! What if the jury comes back and reaches the verdict before they find her?"

"My people are very good at finding people-"

"Sonny."

"What?"

"Trust me. They will not find her in time."

Sonny's eyebrows rose, and he stood up in response. He planted his palms firmly against the surface of the desk, "What did you do, Ava?"

A smirk returned to Ava's face as she slowly approached the mob boss, "This is not about me, this is about a young woman's future, Sonny. Will you help Trina or not?"

"Of course I want to help Trina, but to help Trina, it's clear that I have to help you."

"Like I said, it's not about me-"

"Ava," Sonny said, a firmness in his tone, "you and I both know that's not entirely true. This…this does have to do with you."

"Sonny…"

"...Esme didn't leave town, did she?"

Ava pursed her lips together, her eyes gazing at the floor tile. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, and Sonny sighed at her demeanor.

"What happened?"

"We fought."

"At Wyndemere?"

"Of course," Ava took her seat again, "I caught her packing her things, trying to skip town. She had just testified at the trial."

"So you tried to stop her from leaving."

"We…had a conversation," Ava said, a lightness in her tone, "Verbal blows were traded regarding everything she's done to me, to Nikolas, to Trina-"

"What did she do to Nikolas?"

The question gave Ava pause. She felt her mind jump back to the courthouse, to Nikolas's tearful confession of his sordid affair with Esme, and all of the fire and rage that swallowed her whole. It took all of her willpower to not rip his vocal chords out, to not claw his eyes out over his open betrayal, Esme's manipulation notwithstanding.

"I mean," Sonny spoke up, "I know…I know that your marriage…was on the rocks. But…was there something else?"

"Her presence changed his demeanor quite a bit. It just…caused even more stress and tension between us."

"So then, how did this escalate into a physical fight?"

"Esme tried to take her luggage and leave, and I wouldn't let her. We wrestled around the room and eventually we were on the parapet. One thing led to another…and she fell."

"Esme fell off the parapet."

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Ava scoffed, "I let go of her wrists, she walked backwards, hit the low wall and fell over the edge. I did not push her."

"Okay," Sonny sighed, getting up again, "so for all we know, Esme could still be at Wyndemere."

"She could be in the ocean, among the rocks, on the shore, she could be anywhere!" Ava commented hastily, "The parapet doesn't exactly have a successful kill rate!"

"But it's still worth looking into," Sonny put his hands in his pockets, "Ava, I know you. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't just…push someone off a ledge nowadays."

"Just like you wouldn't get yourself into any obvious trouble," Ava spoke gently, "Avery can't be left without her parents."

"Right, so then why dissuade me from looking for Esme?"

"There's no time-"

"The jury hasn't started deliberating," Sonny pointed out, "and there's a good chance Esme is still around Wyndemere after she fell. I really…I really think I can send my people to Wyndemere to look for her."

"Even if you were to do that, it's awfully late at night. A flashlight wouldn't nearly be enough to scope out the shore."

"Then I'll send someone out there early in the morning. Maybe you and Nikolas can help him out."

"...Fine," Ava huffed, standing up.

"We'll find Esme," Sonny smiled, "and when we do, then we'll get Trina out of what Esme forced her into."

"I certainly hope so, or else you'll be hearing from me."

"Oh, I know," Sonny smiled. Ava felt one creep across her face in response, "Expect one of my men to arrive at Wyndemere around 7 AM tomorrow."

"I will," Ava nodded, turning to exit the office. With a hand resting on the doorknob, she turned to look at Sonny, "Thank you, Sonny."

"I care about Trina, and I hate what's happened to her," Sonny said, "That girl will pay for all the damage she caused, and I'll see to it that the payment sticks."


"Dex, you awake?"

Some say that sleep is a luxury in the mob lifestyle, and while part of Dex knew that working for Sonny meant there had to be some…flexibility in his schedule, he still didn't fully adapt to the lateness of it all.

"What is it, boss?" he asked in response, rubbing his eyes. He looked at the alarm clock to his right: 11:49 PM. The moon dimly lit up the room of the Metro Court hotel room he stayed in, and the light gently reflected off the white sheets of his bed and the dark chairs across the room.

"I have a job for you."

"A job?" Dex perked up, "What do you need from me?"

"I'm gonna need you to go to Wyndemere early tomorrow morning."

"Wyndemere Castle?"

"Right. When you arrive on Spoon Island, you're going to look around, try and find someone for me."

"Who?"

"A young woman - Esme Prince. I'll send along a photo of her."

"Okay."

"You're gonna work with the folks who live at Wyndemere: the Cassadines. They'll meet you when you arrive and help you look for her. If you find anything, you let me know immediately."

"You got it, boss."

"Excellent," Sonny chuckled on the other end, "I hope she turns up. Let's just say she has a lot to answer for."

"Oh, I'm sure she does," Dex smirked before the line clicked. Sighing, he opened his contact list and pressed down when the right name appeared under his thumb.

Come on, it's 9 PM over there, Dex thought, I know you're not asleep.

"Isn't it almost midnight where you are?"

"Sonny called me."

"About?"

"He's having me look for someone - some Esme girl."

"That's what he relegated you to?" The male voice on the other end was deep and clear, and traces of German existed in each word that was spoken, "A cadaver dog?"

"I don't even know if she's dead."

"Where are you supposed to look for her?"

"Wyndemere Castle. It's off the coast of the town."

"That town's got a castle?" the voice laughed, "Who the hell lives there?"

"The Cassadines."

"Really…" the voice trailed off, "That's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"Are they important?"

"Depends on who you ask."

"Another mob family?"

"No…no. Don't concern yourself with it, Dex. Just focus on what Sonny's asking you to do."

"Are you sure I have no reason to be concerned?"

"...I'm sure."

"...Okay."

"So why does Sonny want you to find this girl?"

"He didn't really say. I just know she has a lot to answer for. That's according to Sonny, anyway."

"Lovely. Are you going there now?"

"No," Dex looked back at the alarm clock. 12:02 AM, "I'll be going in about 6 hours."

"Well, you better get some sleep, then."

"I plan to."

"Sleep well, Dex. Let me know how it all goes, alright?"

"I will," Dex beamed before hanging up. Placing his phone back down, he fell face first back into bed, watching the sharp red numbers on the clock change before his vision blurred and his eyes closed.