Part Two
Jason entered the safe house early in the morning. He surveyed the room and then gave Johnny a look when his eyes fell on the chair holding the door shut. Johnny stood up and shrugged. "I understand." Jason said. If she acted like she did with him the night before, he could see where Johnny was coming from. "Sonny wants you back at the penthouse."
Johnny nodded. "Good luck."
Jason ignored the comment and sat down on the couch. He looked at his watch realizing that it was probably too early for someone like Gia to be awake. He set out the food he had brought onto the table. He figured maybe Gia would be hungry when she woke up.
"Johnny?" A small voice called from the bedroom. It almost sounded like a child calling out to its parents after being sent to their room. But he could also hear a hint of anger and frustration in it.
He went over and moved the chair and opened the door.
Gia was smoothing her wrinkled clothes and then looked up. "Oh…hey Jason."
"Slept well?" He asked.
She shook her head. "Nope. Where's Johnny?"
"Change of shift." Jason told her. "I brought you breakfast from Kelly's if your hungry."
She pushed past him and sat down at the table. She lifted the cover off one of the Styrofoam cups. "Hot chocolate!" She took a long swig. "Oh I need that!" She announced pulling on the paper bag. She opened it to find various pastries.
"I didn't know what you liked so I got one of each." Jason told her moving the chair back to the table so he could sit and talk with her. He had a few things they needed to discuss.
"When can I go home?" Gia asked between mouthfuls of a cinnamon roll.
"I knew Alcazar would come after you." Jason began. She wouldn't want to hear a lot this. "We have an informant from within his organization. There is a hit out on you Gia. Any one in his organization is supposed to either bring you back to him or dispose of you themselves."
Gia's eyes widened and she suddenly lost her appetite. She sat the roll back down on the table and looked at the floor for a moment.
"Someone went to Wyndemere this morning. I talked to one of the servants and from what I gather whoever it was told them that he was a talent agent looking for you." Jason explained. "I told your servant to make sure no one else was let in."
A realization washed over Gia. "My family! My brother can take care of himself but what about my mother?"
"It's taken care of." Jason assured her. He had a feeling that Gia would be worried about her mother so he made sure that someone was watching over Florence.
"Did that man die last night?" Gia asked. "I know he went down…but was he dead?"
Jason nodded.
Gia bent her head and it took him a moment to realize that she was crying.
"Are you okay?" He asked softly.
"Don't mind me." Gia said wiping at her face furiously. "I think everything is just hitting me at once. A man died…I'm in trouble, and my family might be in danger. Plus I'm really tired."
"It's okay to be upset." Jason assured her.
"You're probably just happy that I've dropped the sarcasm." Gia said finally getting all the tears off her face. "You just wait until I have a shower to get to fog off my brain. I'll be back on the top of my game." She stood up. "I don't suppose you've got clean clothes."
"Sorry." Jason shrugged.
"Alright." Gia held her tongue. "I'll make do." She looked down at the pastries and realized that like her attitude, her appetite was completely lost. In her mind, Alcazar was firing the gun again. Only this time her mother was on the other end. She sent up a silent prayer for Florence and disappeared into the shower.
Under the hot water, Gia was able to think more clearly. Why did she try and fight so long? Johnny was right…staying here was for her own good. But she already knew the answer. She hated not being in control of the situation. As soon as she saw the man die she knew she was heading into a situation where she would have no control over what happened. She wanted so desperately to keep control that she had lashed out at Jason and Johnny. Poor Johnny…chasing after her at three o'clock in the morning.
A half an hour later she was back in the other room. Jason was still sitting at the table. He looked up and their eyes met. Gia almost let out a small gasp. Like she told Liz, Jason was a hottie. But it was his eyes that made him more than just a poster boy for sexy. As they locked her brown ones into a powerful gaze, Gia felt like he was looking right into her…reading her mind, seeing her soul. She almost wanted to look away but she couldn't. Instead she cocked her head to one side and smiled. "I win."
Jason was confused. "What?"
"The staring contest." She said as she continued to dry out her hair. "You blinked first."
Jason let out a little laugh. "Next time I'll try harder."
Gia blushed a little. She didn't think she could stand it if looked at her like that again. She might melt into a little puddle. There was something very strong and powerful about the way he looked at people. Sitting down on the couch, she brought her knees up and rested her head on them. "So now we play the waiting game." Her thoughts went back to the night before. Suddenly, Alcazar's voice screamed through her head. "Who's she?"
"She?" Jason repeated.
"He killed the man because he let her escape." Gia told him. "If you were on the docks, you must have heard him say that."
"I did." Jason said.
"Do you know who she is?" Gia asked.
"Sonny and I think that he has his girlfriend with him." Jason told her.
"Girlfriend?" Gia shook her head. "It can't be his girlfriend. If she was she certainly wouldn't want to escape…unless she got tired of his mobular self. I could see that. He certainly needs the name of a good tailor. Who does Sonny use?"
"You're probably right."
"You want to repeat that?" Gia asked, smiling a little to herself. "Or better yet, have someone cross stitch it so I can frame it. That would be the last thing I would have ever expected Jason Morgan to say to me."
He just ignored her. "If it was his girlfriend, she wouldn't have escaped." He debated whether or not to tell her what else he knew. He was kinda holding her against her will…she deserved to know some of what is going on. "Alcazar says he has something Sonny wants most in the world."
Gia frowned. "Carly and Michael?"
"Sonny thought he was going for his family." Jason told her. "So he has extra guards on them. But so far nothing…and now this mystery woman escapes."
Gia just shook her head. "This whole thing is messed up. You gangsters are all the same. Trouble…" Her mind flashed back to the night before. "…death follows you where ever you go." She glanced over at him and caught him wincing. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that."
"It's the truth." Jason shrugged, although he couldn't hide the fact he hated that her idea of him was based on his job. "It's dangerous."
"Still…" Gia trailed off when his cell phone rang. She watched as Jason talked with whoever it was and then nodded. "Any news?"
"That was Benny. We are going to meet him outside of Port Charles in an hour. He thinks that they may be on to us." Jason explained looking at his watch. "We need to leave right away."
Gia pulled her coat on and felt a twinge of fear. Alcazar was a dangerous man. She wished she had never walked on the docks that night. She wished that Nikolas would have gotten back when he was supposed to so she would have been cuddling in his arms. She wished the launch would have been a little faster. Hell…she wished a lot of things. Following Jason up the stairs and out into the grey daylight she pulled her coat tighter and again found herself praying.
She crawled into the other side of the black car Jason had driven in that morning and buckled her seatbelt, staring straight ahead.
"What's wrong?" Jason asked starting the car.
She really wanted to smack him upside the head for a moment and then remembered that he could probably stay cool in any situation. "What did Benny mean by they may be on to us?"
"Alcazar is an international arms dealer with many connections, Gia." He was laying it out for her. "It wouldn't be beyond him to figure out where one of our safe house is."
"Great." Gia muttered.
Jason was concentrating on the rocky dirt road but decided Gia was more important. He stopped the car and looked over at her. "I won't let anyone hurt you."
He reached over and touched her arm with his hand.
Gia almost jumped a little. Was it just her, or did she feel a little hint of an electric current? Her eyes met his. "I know you wouldn't."
"Good." Jason started the car again. "And Benny said 'may'. He's a nervous man…he may be jumping the gun. Either way, better safe than sorry."
"I agree." Gia said lapsing back into silence. They drove for awhile and then Gia spoke up again. "About what I said…death doesn't follow you Jason…well, what I mean is, there is more to you then being a hit man."
Jason smiled a little, glad to hear her say that. He didn't know what else to say to her as they drove closer to Port Charles. He couldn't help but feel really worried about the situation. True, Gia drove him nuts the night before but this morning he had seen that she was really just frightened. He pulled the car into the driveway of the Corinthos-Morgan building.
"This isn't your coffee warehouse…we're not in town." Gia said as she crawled out of the car, a little flustered by the fact that Jason was right by her side.
"Sonny bought a while ago…we take care of business here." Jason explained, walking in front of her. His suspicions were heightened now.
"Business?" She questioned. One look from him told her that it was the kind of business she didn't want to know about. She just inched closer to him as he opened the door to the warehouse and looked around. "Benny?"
"Here boss." Benny's voice came from in the darkened warehouse.
Jason relaxed…a little. He motioned for Gia to stay behind him and the two entered the building. "What's going on Benny? Why did Sonny want to move Gia?"
"Sonny didn't. I did…and I figured Benny here wouldn't mind helping." Another voice echoed throughout the empty warehouse. Alcazar came out of the shadows, pointing a gun at Jason.
Gia froze. Normally, she was a take action kind of girl but she had never had a gun pointed at her before. Her hands came up to clutch Jason's jacket.
"Miss Campbell." Alcazar almost seemed polite.
"I didn't want to boss." Benny said quickly. "He threatened my family…" He was cut off by a shot. Groaning, Benny crumpled to the floor.
Gia cried out in shock in and fear and moved closer to Jason. They were in serious trouble. She looked from Jason to Alcazar. Each had their gun trained on the other. Her eyes then moved to Benny. Blood was beginning to pool by his side. He was going to bleed to death. Moving very slowly she left her position behind Jason and went closer to Benny.
"Gia!" Jason cried, panicking a little. "Get behind me."
Gia didn't look at her enemy, instead kept her eyes on Benny. "He can't shoot me. As soon as he turns to fire, you can shoot him. He won't risk it. I just want to help him."
"She's right." Alcazar kept his gaze on Jason, but watched the moving figure out of the corner of his eyes in case she tried anything stupid. "She may as well try and help the man. My men will be here in a few moments anyway. I really don't think you even thought of backup. Trusted Benny with yours…" He looked at Gia for a split second. "…and Gia's life. When they get here, you'll be taken care of and Gia and I can get to know one another better."
Gia refused to look up from Benny, instead let her mind run over all the possibilities of what he meant. She shuddered for a second before lowering herself next to Benny. She looked at his face and saw that his eyes were open. They connected and he quickly looked down. Gia followed his eyes and they fell on a cell phone lying next to Benny's left side. Looking back at Alcazar, she realized that from his angle, there was no way he could see it. She looked back at Benny and whispered. "Are you in any pain?" He understood immediately.
Gia looked back at Jason. His gun was trained on Alcazar. He looked at her and immediately knew she was up to something. He wanted to tell her to forget whatever she was thinking but he didn't want to alert Alcazar. Her hand moved towards Benny's wounded side. Instead of pressed the cloth against the wound, her finger danced across the on button on the wound. Benny groaned, masking the beep. Quickly she dialed 911, all the while Benny moaning to cover the sound.
"Will you shut him up?" Alcazar cried.
"I'm sorry." Gia said almost screaming to cover the voice of the operator who fell silent at the sound of a man and women yelling. "There is so much blood. I think the bullet went right through him."
"Killing him was the point, Ms. Campbell." Alcazar said blandly. He hoped his men would hurry up. He was tired of the stare down between him and Morgan.
"What are you planning on doing?" Jason asked calmly. "She's Taggert's sister. A cop…you really want to mess with the cops. I am pretty sure that he won't rest until he finds out what happened here."
Alcazar smirked. Jason hated when people smirked. It usually meant they thought they had it all figured out. "Yours and Benny's corpses will find a permanent resting place at the bottom of the harbor. Ms. Campbell will also disappear. Although it maybe so time before her body finds its final resting place."
Gia bit her lip, partly with fear and partly with anger at the man who seemed in control. She felt a hand grab hers and looked down. Benny was trying his best to keep him calm. She took a deep breath and then began. "You think you have all this figured out, huh?" She said finally looking at Alcazar. "You planned it all perfect. You lured me and Jason out of hiding to the Corinthos Morgan warehouse outside of town. It's the perfect place. No one but people close to Sonny and Jason know about it." She stood up. "You are just so damn smart."
Jason frowned a little. What was Gia up to? It was almost like she was trying to give someone a hint.
"Lovely outburst, Ms. Campbell." Alcazar said, still not taking his eyes off Jason's gun. He couldn't let Gia distract him. That was for later…when he needed to keep his mind off his missing Brenda. "I did manage to think of everything."
Gia glanced back at the open phone line. Not everything, she thought…
****
Mac turned closed his eyes as he listened to the audio again. This is bad, he thought.
"What's up Mac?" Taggert asked as he came up from behind him. "Heard we had an opened ended 911 call…"
Mac turned to Taggert, someone he didn't think should be involved but at the same time, someone he couldn't stop form going. "Yeah. The operator sent us the recording when no one said responded to her. Look Taggert, you'll just have to listen to this."
"You think you have all this figured out, huh? You planned it all perfect. You lured me and Jason out of hiding to the Corinthos Morgan warehouse outside of town. It's the perfect place. No one but people close to Sonny and Jason know about it. You are just so damn smart."
"Lovely outburst, Ms. Campbell."
Taggert froze. "Gia! What the hell is going on?"
"We don't know." Mac said. "I called Sonny and told him to get down here right away. I know you hate this…but he is the one who can give us the address."
Taggert was pacing, rage building in him like had never experienced before. His baby sister may be on the other end of Luis Alcazar's gun and he was waiting on Sonny Corinthos.
"Calm down Taggert. I don't want to take you off the call but if you can't control your anger, I'll have to." Mac warned.
Taggert tried as hard as he could. He couldn't believe it…but when Sonny Corinthos walked through the door he actually was relieved. He let Mac handle this though…because all he wanted to do was throw Sonny against the wall and demand the address.
Mac played the clip of Gia revealing as much as she could. "As you can see, we would really like the address!"
Sonny ran his hand through his hair and rambled off the address. He knew he could be on the cell phone in seconds of leaving the PCPD and get his men there faster then the cops. "Is that all gentlemen?"
"No." Mac looked at Taggert and then at Capelli. "Would you take Mr. Corinthos to the interrogation room?"
"What for?" Sonny cried, getting angry.
"We would like to learn the role you had in the disappearance of Gia Campbell." Mac said. "At least that's the formal reason. Look, Alcazar as Gia. This is a matter that the PCPD should handle. I'm not sure your men wouldn't go barging in there shooting, thinking of her last."
Taggert said nothing; he was already heading out the door towards the car. The address was memorized. I'm coming, Gia…just hold on.
****
The tension in the room was getting worse by the minute. Both men were getting frustrated at the lack of movement in the situation. Neither one dare blink as they continued to hold the gun on the other. Alcazar considered moving his to rest on Gia but knew Jason could fire a kill shot before he even got the chance.
Gia was back on her knees, trying to stop the bleeding. Benny's eyes had closed and she thought for sure he wasn't going to last any longer. The line was still open and she longed to ask if help was on the way.
"Come on Morgan, I'll make you a deal." Alcazar finally spoke up. He knew he had to wait a few minutes longer before his backup showed up but he also knew that Morgan was getting desperate. "I'll let you live…if you let me walk out of here with her."
Gia's head shot up. He was truly psycho. She looked at Jason. He wouldn't consider that, would he?
"No way." Jason said within seconds of the offer. He had made a promise and he wasn't going to break it.
"You know the business, Morgan." Alcazar continued. "If someone sees you doing the dirty work then that person has to be dealt with accordingly."
"I've never killed an innocent person." Jason replied.
"I don't believe that." Alcazar laughed a little. "Besides, who says Gia has to die? My yacht is prepared to leave Port Charles tonight. How do you feel about the Caribbean…"
"SHUT UP!" Gia cried, feeling like she was going to snap. She was on her feet again. "You are nothing but a sick bastard. You're scum. When this is all over, and Jason puts a bullet in you head…I'm not going to feel bad. Not even for a second…"
Alcazar just smiled.
Gia felt the anger overtake her. Jason knew it. She was going for Alcazar. He moved quickly, reaching her as she launched herself at him. Jason's arms wrapped around her waist and the two of them fell against the other man, knocking him off balance.
Alcazar landed on the concrete and was momentarily stunned. He raised his gun, determined to kill one of them when another voice ran out.
"PCPD! FREEZE!"
Between Jason and the police, Alcazar knew he didn't have a chance. Dropping the gun, he looked at Gia who was sitting inches away from. "Live to fight another day…that's my motto."
Gia just looked away, feeling some sort of relief course through her body. Mac was cuffing Alcazar when she heard Jason's voice. "Are you okay?"
She looked into his clear blue eyes and nodded. "Never been better." She said jokingly. She let him help her to her feet. Leaning against him, she let out a huge sigh.
"GIA!" She looked up at the source of the voice.
"MARCUS!" She cried out. She finally saw the man who she had originally wanted to reach. Pulling away from Jason, she ran to her brother and felt his strong arms wrap around her.
"Baby, what the hell?" Taggert asked, so glad to see her in one piece. His eyes found Morgan's and he felt the anger rise up in him again.
"He was protecting me, Marcus." Gia whispered, immediately knowing what was going through his mind. "I'll explain later. Just know that without him I wouldn't be standing here right now."
Two officers were leading Alcazar to the squad car when Mac leaned down by Benny.
"Is he dead?" Gia asked looking at her own hands covered in his blood.
"No." Mac answered. "An ambulance is on its way." He picked up the cell phone and looked at Gia. "That was a very smart move."
Jason finally understood. She had been feeding the cops when she taunted Alcazar. For some reason, he felt a rush of pride run through him.
"I am just glad you got here in time." Gia said as she looked from Jason to her brother.
"Let's get you downtown so you can tell me everything." Taggert said never letting go of his sister. "You too, Morgan."
Gia nodded to her brother and then glanced back at Jason who was watching the siblings leave the building.
****
Gia twirled her fingers nervously as she pressed the elevator button. She smoothed her black dress out a little and tried to forget what she had done that morning. Testifying at Alcazar's trial was harder than she thought. She had to sit in front of the entire town and explain how she had seen him shoot a man on the docks. Then she had to explain how he had shot Benny, and held her and Jason at gun point. The whole time she had avoided looking at the defendant sitting there in his ugly suit, wearing a smug look. Instead she had looked from her mother to her brother. She had wished Nikolas could have been there but his mother had taken a turn for the worse. She understood. Besides she had found more comfort staring into a set of blue eyes.
The trial was the first time she had seen Jason since the police station when she had related the whole story to Taggert and Mac. Somehow, telling the story wasn't so bad when she had him to look at. When she had finished, she worked up the courage to look over at Alcazar. He was staring at her with humor in his eyes. She felt no fear, only anger and she knew her eyes conveyed that.
Now she was on the elevator in Harborview Towers heading to see Jason. She had no idea why or what she would say to him. She just knew that she had to see him. Stepping off, she looked over and saw Johnny. "Hey."
"Ms. Campbell." Johnny smiled.
She turned towards Jason's door but then turned back. "Johnny, sorry for being a pain in the ass."
"No problem." Johnny shrugged.
"I feel like I should make it up through." She smiled a little. "I have a friend at Deception. She's real pretty and likes guys in suits. I bet you'd really like her…" She teased. "You did say you were single…"
He just laughed.
Gia turned back towards the door and knocked lightly.
Jason opened the door and smiled when he saw her. He moved out of the way to let her pass. He had hoped to talk to her after she testified but she had left with her mother. "How are you?"
She walked in. "I'm fine." Gia said. "I don't think Alcazar is going to be convicted."
"Why not?" Jason knew she was right, but he wasn't going scare her.
"Because of whom he is. A man like that has government connections." Gia said sitting her coat on the couch. "He'll get off."
"He won't come after you…"
"I know." She said stepping closer to him. "You and Sonny will be waiting for him. Besides, you made a promise to me. And I know you won't break it." Smiling to herself, she reached up and touched his face. "It's funny how near death situations bring two people together." Her eyes searched his. "I feel like I know you."
Jason knew she was going to kiss him. And he would kiss her back. "Nikolas?"
For a moment, he thought she would pull away. Instead she stepped closer. "He didn't even come back from Europe when he heard what happened. I know his mother's sick…" She trailed off. "I just can't help Jason. I though Alcazar was going to kill you. And I realized that I couldn't let him. There is something about you. And I want to see where this leads."
"So do I." Jason agreed. He leaned down and their lips met in a passionate kiss.
He knew where it would lead already. It would lead to something that neither of them would want to let go…
THE END