Chapter 1
Sonny Corinthos awoke to the sound of someone banging on the door. He knew it must be an emergency or else Johnny wouldn't have let anyone near the door at this time of night. He quickly put on his robe, tucked his gun into the waistband of his pajama pants and headed downstairs.
"Who's there Johnny?" he asked as he reached the door.
There was no answer. Whoever was outside continued pounding on the door. Sonny reached for the doorknob but pulled his hand back at the last minute. There was something wrong. Johnny should have answered. Sonny began to back away from the door. He heard a noise behind him. He spun around and saw Carly standing on the stairs.
"Go back upstairs!" he yelled over the sound of the pounding.
Carly shook her head. "What's going on?" she asked as she walked the rest of the way into the living room. "Who's out there?"
"I don't know. Go back upstairs and look after Michael."
"No! Leticia's with Michael. I'm staying with you," Carly said with a determined look on her face.
Sonny rolled his eyes. "All right," he said shaking his head. "But I want you to stay back."
Carly walked back to the bottom of the stairs and waited while Sonny slowly moved toward the door. Just before he reached it, the door busted open. Three men rushed in and began shooting.
"Get down!" Sonny yelled as he pulled his gun out of the waistband of his pajama pants.
Carly did as she was told. She heard the gunshots and the sound of glass shattering around her. Suddenly there was silence.
"Sonny?" she whispered.
She moved out of her hiding spot and crept towards the last place Sonny had been. Carly could hear the broken glass crunching under her shoes. She saw Sonny lying on the floor unconscious. She bent down to check on him. He was breathing and had a pulse. As she stood up to call for an ambulance, someone grabbed her from behind.
Carly screamed as she felt herself being dragged out of the penthouse. As she was pulled into the elevator, she saw Johnny lying in the hallway. "What did you do to him?" she asked the three men.
"He'll be fine, so will your husband. We didn't do any permanent damage… yet."
The elevator reached the lobby. Carly was pulled outside and shoved into a waiting van which sped off as soon as they were all inside.
Across town, Luke and Laura Spencer arrived home. They had been shopping for items for a surprise party they were planning for Lesley. Luke stood buried under a mound of packages while Laura fumbled with the keys.
"Laura, do you think you could take longer in opening the door. I really enjoy holding all these packages," Luke said sarcastically.
Laura shook her head laughing. "Just drop them on the porch." She heard a crash behind her and saw that Luke had taken her literally; he had actually dropped the packages. "Luke!"
"What?" he asked.
"Why did you…? Oh never mind," she laughed.
Luke sat down on the steps and patted the spot next to him.
Laura smiled at him, but shook her head. "Luke, I have too much to do. I have to get this stuff hidden from my mother and then I have to pick up Lesley Lu from Bobbie in time for her Sunshine Girls meeting."
Luke exhaled sharply and stood up. "Ok," he said looking hurt.
"I'll take care of you later," Laura said winking at him. She finally got the door unlocked.
Luke picked up most of the packages and followed her inside.
"I'll get the rest of the stuff," Laura said walking back outside.
Luke put the packages down and sank into the nearest chair. Suddenly from outside, he heard Laura's terrified scream.
As Luke ran outside he saw two men pulling Laura towards a van. Another man stepped out of the bushes and hit him over the head. He fell to the ground.
Laura struggled with the two men before being pushed into the van. The men got in and the van sped off.
Meanwhile, Jason Morgan and Gia Campbell were sitting in Kelly's Diner. They had recently gotten engaged and were working on their wedding plans over dinner.
"Thanks," Gia said as Bobbie Spencer set a bowl of chili in front of her. "How come you are waiting on tables?"
"Courtney called in sick and since this was the slow time of day, I didn't see any point of calling anyone else in," Bobbie said indicating the few customers in the Diner. "Elizabeth will be in later so I'll be…."
"More coffee please," said a customer at a table behind Bobbie.
Gia laughed. "I'll let you get back to work."
"Thanks. Good luck with your wedding plans," Bobbie said going to take care of the other customers.
Gia turned back to Jason. "I want a big fancy church wedding with all of our family and friends there," Gia said with a smile.
Jason just stared at her.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing," Jason said staring at the table.
"Jason tell me the truth. Is it about the wedding plans?"
He nodded.
"Well tell me. It's your wedding too," she said smiling at him. "You have a say in it."
"I… I'm not sure that I want a big wedding and definitely nothing fancy."
"Ok, we can talk about that. What do you want?"
"I want a small, private ceremony. Just the two of us and maybe Sonny and Carly."
Gia nodded. "What about my family?"
"Can you see me and your brother in the same room?" Jason asked
"You have a point," Gia said.
She pushed her bowl of chili aside and began writing in a notebook. Jason was watching three men who just entered Kelly's. They were acting strangely. Unfortunately this was one of the few times he didn't have his gun with him. He noticed that Gia was still talking to him. He tried to listen to her and ignore the suspicious feelings he had.
Behind Jason, the two men walked up to the counter. They reached into their coats and pulled out guns.
"Ok! Everyone over here! Now!" one of the men yelled.
Gia and all the other customers in Kelly's did as the man said.
Jason stood up and stared at the man. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Over here!" the man repeated.
"Jason, just do what he wants," Gia said.
Jason looked at Gia and walked over to the counter and stood by her.
"Everyone on the floor," the man ordered. He grabbed Gia by the arm as the others kneeled down. "Not you!" he yelled. He shoved her to his partners. They pulled her out the door.
Jason started to stand up to help her, but the man hit him over the head with his gun. "Don't anyone move for fifteen minutes!" he told the people on the floor. The man followed his partners out the door leaving Jason unconscious on the floor. The men shoved Gia into the same van that held Carly and Laura. The van sped off.