Jason and Rey were down on the docks leaving another meeting with their guards in tow. They both had additional confirmation of some people who were in on it by the nervous movements and inability to look Jason in the eye. They were confused. He gave them nothing. It was business as usual and no one knew what was going on. Once they were out of earshot Jason turned to Rey,
"Is everyone in place? I don't want to loose anyone. Especially not those two in there."
"Yeah. Except Rivera. You sure you want to take them all out at the same time?"
"It's the only way for them not to get away. Or run to the feds trying to cut a deal. Yesterday's information narrowed the area she's got to search. I hadn't realized just how difficult her job was on that one."
"Yeah, but she is really good."
Jason nodded absently.
"True. But I still gotta watch her."
"Yeah, you do."
"I never knew what potential looked like before. Sonny must have seen that in me. I know he did. Somebody saw it in Caroline. She's in far enough. Even that's too much. I don't want her moving in that direction."
Rey couldn't disagree. He had a little sister and a girlfriend. Not until this stuff came down would he have ever considered the possibility of working with women in this way. Sure, there were working girls like Maria who had a specific role to play. But that was about sex. Emily and Caroline weren't even close.
"This is going to put the heat on you."
Jason knew what he meant.
"I already have the heat on me. There is no other way. But it does mean that Moreno will have to be moved up."
"Huh?"
"I'm taking out a lot of my people—well they aren't my people—but those working in my territory. I'm also hitting outsiders connected to my turf. No way am I going to allow the impression that someone else took them down and I wasn't strong enough to defend. The only way to shut that line of thinking down is to hit Moreno on the heels and finish him off."
It made perfect sense. It was also going to be a public war as opposed to the one they were about to fight.
"What about the DEA contacts?"
"Good question. We've been so busy and distracted since then I haven't had a chance to talk to her. Maybe on the plane."
Rey laughed.
"Johnny told me she requested Bret each time she flies now. Said it was easier than having to break in someone new and she didn't want to fuck up too many your employees."
"Remind me to thank her. Give him a raise. And a bonus."
"Bonus?"
"Hazard pay. If he's seen the real Caroline, he deserves it. Plus, Johnny said that last trip was enough to give him a nervous condition."
They both laugh.
"Sure, I'll make the arraignments as soon as we get back."
"This isn't the time for me to be leaving but it can't be helped. He doesn't need to come back into town and I need to talk to him."
"Don't you mean you're going to ask him? That is how people tell you all kinds of stuff."
"Shut up. Anyway, its going to be a quick turn around but I need you to be on top of things. Business as usual and nobody notices that I'm gone. Be ready to pick up Benny at a moment's notice. And watch his wife and kids. If his daughter and her family decide to take a last minute trip anytime soon, I want to prevent that. Benny needs to feel trapped, boxed in. If he's scared enough to put them on the run, he'll relax if he thinks they got away. I don't want that. I still want to know everything he knows.
Also, when she's not at the penthouse, I want double guards on Emily. She has a car and driver from now on. I don't trust Soleto and as soon as things start happening here, he'll be the first one trying to cash in.
Just before this goes down, I'm gonna need guards inside the mansion with my grandmother like the last time. Have Johnny use the same ones as before if that's possible. That will set the old man off and it'll probably cause Monica to have a fit about Emily but I don't care."
"Done. What are you going to do about your sister?"
"What do you mean?"
"She's 18 in a couple of days."
"Haven't you noticed how much time she spends at the penthouse? She works a lot because of what's going on now but no one's called. Monica nor the old man have come by looking for her, demanding that she go home. They haven't realized she's not there. As glad as I am to have her around and out of that crazy house, it still pissess me off that they treat her like that. Anyway, I don't think I'll have to do anything about her if this doesn't come down before her birthday. She thinks I haven't noticed."
"Noticed what?"
"Every time she comes over, her back pack is a little too full. When she leaves its empty."
"Ok, I have a little sister but we're OBVIOUSLY not as close as you and Emily. Explain."
"She's secretly moving her stuff into the penthouse. Little by little so not to draw attention to herself. Either from me or the Quartermaines, I'm not sure. She's been doing it for over a week."
Rey cracked up laughing.
"No doubt about it, she's definitely a Morgan."
Bret looked up and exhaled deeply relieved when he saw Jason enter the plane. No strange things ever happened when he traveled.
Jason saw but didn't comment on Bret's reaction as he stepped in.
"Good morning Mr. Morgan."
Bret's all smiles and relaxed until he catches sight of movement behind Jason then pales and immediately tenses up.
"Miss. Spencer."
That's the last time Jason saw him for a few hours. Some time after take off he looks around confused then turns to Caroline,
"Isn't he coming back?"
"Not unless or until he has to serve a meal. We have to get our own drinks and snacks. Bret won't do that anymore. He hides in the aft cabin usually but if its something....intense, he goes to the cockpit and stays in there with the pilots."
"Probably figures you won't open fire in there."
"Really, its not my fault. And, Johnny was with me a couple of times."
"Johnny didn't threaten to throw him out of the plane."
"Whatever."
They were sitting on the couch together so he takes off his seat belt and turns to her for a serious talk.
"I'm going after Moreno."
"I know."
"Yeah, but I'm doing it as soon as everyone goes down."
"Makes sense."
He studies her and she suspects what he thinking but not where he's going with it.
"His business is a little different than mine."
He's feeling her out, she gets it and decides to make it easier for him. She knows he's concerned about crossing some line or shocking her though she can't understand why. He's accepted everything about her so far. And she was certain he wouldn't look at her the same after the full extent of the way Brenda went down came out in living color.
"Prostitution and drugs."
A simple statement of fact. She didn't make a judgment and he caught that but still wasn't comfortable because there were a lot of things they didn't talk about. When he didn't say anything else she started again.
"Like I said about Sonny, it doesn't make any sense."
"What?"
"Someone in his former line of work placing ethical restrictions on the way they make money."
That's all she said. That's all she had to say. He nodded 'cause he got it. This entire experience since Bobbie was taken has been eye opening to him in so many ways. For the first time ever, he truly has his best friend. There aren't any reasons to limit their conversations and he is finally free to talk about his work in a way that he needs to. Everyone else is an employee. Caroline is whatever she is and he really isn't all that concerned about her. She pointed out that it really didn't matter how much he payed her since she already had access to all his money anyway and spent it when she got ready. It was true. They had some strange undefinable hybrid relationship. For now, he wouldn't worry about it. It worked. Lucky and Emily work well together, so do Luke and Laura. He figures he and Caroline are somewhere in the middle so there's cushion either way.
He can't let his guard down with his employees. He can't be affected by the full weight of the job and everything that comes with it. With Caroline, he can talk openly and honestly about everything. She isn't afraid to give her opinion. She knows him. She doesn't judge him. And she'd never turn on him.
"I'm not keeping the girls. Skin trade is too messy and too much of a hassle. But there's a lot of money in those drugs and I want it."
She shrugged 'cause it made sense.
"Makes sense."
"Problem is, since I took over the business last year, I haven't been in a position to make DEA contacts and I want those before I expand in that direction. I was wondering if you had any ideas."
Now she understood. She didn't see that one coming. He was hesitating for himself and on behalf of her. She hasn't spoken about her life BC, before Carly. Jason doesn't wonder or imagine so she knows he hasn't been sitting around trying to think about what she's done or her life before Port Charles. His question was valid because Moreno has part of Miami. That's his distribution network. She never had dealings with Moreno but she knows his operation because she made it her business to know everyone around her. That's where she worked. She isn't going to hide from him on this or anything else. Carly hid. Caroline, never once in her entire life.
"How much can you handle?"
"You don't have to..."
"Probably not but it would make our lives easier and business is something different than just you and me."
She was right. He still didn't want to open up anything she didn't want to get into. But they are about business now instead of just the friendship so he needs to know.
"Start where ever you want."
Caroline looked at him carefully. Jason never lied to her once. They'd grown long past misunderstanding each other. She nodded.
"I have access to contacts that are reasonable considering the location. Miami isn't Port Charles. But it also depends where Moreno currently imports from. I can be of more assistance to you if Columbia is exporting for him than some of the other countries but its still doable if not. Once you buy them they're your's and no one else's. They know that but you gotta make sure they know you know they know that. Coast guard is tricky but you always want to have one or two on reserve."
Then she shut up and hoped she hadn't said too much. He knew exactly what she was thinking so he reached over and took her hand while he spoke casually.
"That sounds good. I'd like to put you on drawing up the transition plan for that part of the take over. Yeah, Columbia is his primary point of import. Depending on how everything works out, you could be the envoy for Miami. Its always been a part of my plan. Not too much too soon, but its close to Puerto Rico and there are a couple of private islands further south I'm scouting. The rum distilleries and sugar cane plantations will ride with them for cover and it keeps things legit. Now that I'm going to be shopping for a new business manager, I want to have my game plan laid out."
There wasn't really a preplanned reaction. She wasn't sure what he would say so she shut down in case of anything. She just stared at him blankly waiting. When the words filtered in and the meaning became clear she had to close her eyes to shut him out. It was too much. So now she sat facing him with her eyes closed instead of a blank look. He got it and pulled her close without a word.
He never ceased to amaze her. She prayed he never would. Finally, she got it together to speak.
"Caroline wasn't running. I didn't leave anything behind in Miami or anywhere else that I can't walk back into if I want. I'm free and I'm clean. Even after all this time in Port Charles I've still never been picked up or printed. And well, it is Port Charles. I think everyone there's been arrested accept me."
He wasn't going to say anything. Whatever she wanted to tell him was her choice.
"I made my bones when I was 15. Its really all I know and it saved my life. There really wasn't a life in the Benson household. There wasn't much of a household. I know I have a reputation in Port Charles because of the plan but I never sold my body. And I never sold by soul.
When I was younger, I was a runner. You did it for Sonny in the beginning, you know what its like. That's how I ate and that's how I managed not to get picked up by social services and put in a state home. I was already adopted once and the state of Florida screwed that up giving me to the Bensons, they probably would have screwed up worse the second time around. Anyway, there wasn't a lot of money in it but I wasn't too choosey about my options especially since I was 13 and living on the street. Don't tell Bobbie that. It would hurt her. She's always felt guilty about giving me up for adoption even after I stupidly tried to make her pay. Luke knows 'cause he checked me out long before I even moved in with—nameless dead guy. But Luke loves mama so he won't tell. He missed all this other stuff about me. Guess he didn't think Spencer genes were that strong.
Luke's good. His senses are primed but nothing about what I did or said gave me away to him. Its funny, I guess but it was something I couldn't help and didn't even realize."
"What?"
"My eyes. Later, he told me that the first time we met it was my eyes. Exactly like mama's all those years ago. He said I have his mother's eyes too. That's all he ever said about her and its real painful for him and mama so I don't go there. He was shocked when he saw my eyes and that's what made him start watching me, nothing else."
"Wow."
"Yeah."
She stopped for a minute to gather her thoughts and then started up again. He didn't hurry her.
"I don't want to talk about stuff that happened before I was 13. Its really not related to business. Not that I'm trying to hide something else from you but..."
"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."
She nodded because she knew he meant it. It didn't stop the tears. Jason could see the pain and he realized that even though she didn't want to talk about it, she was remembering. He shifted her position to bring her out of the memories and that worked. Then he dried her eyes with his handkerchief. She couldn't help smiling at the man. Always looking out for her.
"Thanks. You're probably wondering why or how I'm so proficient in less than 10 years."
He smirked. She laughed.
"I had a very good teacher. Life prepared me for the work. I was cold at 15. Luckily, I was trained by someone who had both the skills and the experience from the old school. Everyone else was shocked that he took on not only a female but a teenager. Didn't take them long to see what he saw. They started calling me baby hammer because he was the family's number one hammer and he was the best. Planning, preparation, execution, completion. They used to treat it as an art form. Now, not so much. Sicilian. One of you guys has to be wondering about the garotte. That's where it came from."
"I'll tell Rey, he really wanted to know."
They both smiled at that.
"But it isn't my only deal and that's why we started this conversation."
Jason saw that she looked tired. Probably from the tears and the memories. He had no more questions for her and hoped she knew she didn't have to say anything else.
"I'll help anyway I can but solving your problems, making sure that people know there better not be a problem to solve and getting information is initial and long term stuff. That fits in with my Mommy and Me schedule. I can take a day or overnight trip for that anytime. As far as the other stuff, let's just say it's a world I'm very familiar with."
He decided to end this for her.
"Well, we've got some time on that. Not too much since we're doing this soon. I'd love one day turn around and then hit Moreno. That should clear things up for people on the outside. I don't want any confusion about who I am and what is mine."
She couldn't help but smile at the Jason Morgan she knew then curl herself around him comfortably.
"Did you know Emily's been secretly moving stuff into the penthouse?"
"That's what was in her back pack? Yeah, I caught that. She also figured out the separate bedroom deal while she was casing the place looking for something to take over. The couch in her office made sense. The frig did not. She wasn't sure she could ask and probably figured if she stayed over in the office long enough after awhile we'd forget that she didn't actually live there and then she'd slip into the bedroom she's already claimed for herself."
"She didn't have to do it like that but I can't really say anything to her unless she brings it up. I don't want her thinking its part of the job. She's hip. I figure she'll keep quiet til her birthday then bring it up. She's probably scared I'll say no when things heat up. Safer for her with us than wide open at the mansions no matter how many I guards I put inside.