**A/N – Hello! You're in for a treat again! I doubled the writing effort and here is double the part – Enjoy & review, please!**
***************************************
"Okay, Carly. You've got to tell me what you need help with if you want my help," Jason said as he sat next to Carly on the couch. Carly looked at her best friend, not really sure how to start this conversation.
"Have you heard that Alcazar is missing?" she asked. Jason nodded.
"I heard rumblings about something happening to that effect yesterday. I suspected it might have been true since I haven't really seen him around or heard anything about him. I was going to assume that he actually took our advice and left Port Charles," he said as he sat back, wondering where this conversation was going. Carly let out a bitter laugh.
"Well, that's not what happened," she said. Jason's curiosity was now at an acute level.
"Yeah? And you would know this, why?" he asked. Carly bit her lip in consternation.
"I saw it," she said. Jason looked at her in confusion.
"Saw what?" he asked, a frown coming over his face. Carly sighed.
"I was there, with him, when he was taken," she said. Jason looked at her for a second before he jumped to his feet and started pacing.
"You're telling me that you were there, with Alcazar, when this all went down? Why weren't you taken?" Jason asked, more confused than ever. Carly tried valiantly to hold back the tears that threatened.
"Because I was hiding," she said. Jason nodded once, and then resumed pacing.
"You realize that they would have taken you, held you hostage again, if they'd known you were there. Everyone knows you're Sonny's wife," he said, more in thought. Carly felt her heart drop a little bit.
"Does that mean you don't know who did this?" she asked sadly. Jason looked over at her.
"No, why?" he asked, watching her warily. Carly avoided looking at him as she stood up.
"Because. Jason, I want to know who did this and I want to know why," she said. Jason scoffed.
"Why, Carly? Someone is finally taking care of Lorenzo Alcazar once and for all – and it won't have anything to do with us. Why do you care about who and why?"
"I just do, Jason. Lorenzo Alcazar saved my life many times. I was there when he was taken, and he was taken because he was trying to save me first. I can't help but feel responsible, and I -" Carly rambled.
"Jesus Christ, Carly! You're in love with Alcazar!" Jason accused, his eyes wide in sudden understanding. Carly didn't know how to react to his outburst. She could understand if he were angry. But that didn't change how she felt.
"What if I am, Jason?" she asked. "I don't want anything to happen to him – I couldn't stand it if I did." Jason still looked at her disbelievingly.
"I can't believe you, Carly!" he said, still stuck on the fact that she had feelings for Lorenzo.
"God, Jason! Yes! Okay? I love Lorenzo… I can't help it, I just feel. You know that! But I need you. I need your help. Someone has to find him. He's in danger, and he could be killed!" Carly cried, grasping her best friend's jacket. Jason took her shoulders and pushed her away from him.
"No Carly! I honestly don't care what happens to him. I'm not risking my life to do anything for that man. Because of him, you went through hell and Courtney lost our baby. I can't just forget that! And now he's stolen the love of the woman who is married to my best friend, my brother!"
"Lorenzo did not steal anything, and you damn well know it! Sonny and I love each other, yes. But there is no way we can go back. The damn has broken, Jason, and there is no way to repair it, to patch it up. Not even this child can fix what's been broken a long time," Carly said as she caressed her stomach gently. Jason shook his head.
"I will not betray Sonny this way, Carly. I will not go behind his back and find the one man that could take his life away from him," Jason said, his blue eyes firm. The pain was overwhelming her. Her heart ached not for just Lorenzo, but for Jason – her friend. Jason had always supported her, helped her, always been there to fix things. Her best friend. He was asking her to make a choice. But it wasn't between Sonny or Lorenzo. That battle had already been waged. This was between Jason and Lorenzo. With tears streaming, Carly knew there was a way to save both of them.
"I'll stay with Sonny," she said, her chin lifting and her shoulders squaring. Jason turned to look at her with an expression on his face that could only be defined as incredulous.
"What, Carly?" he asked, a frown marring his features. Carly swallowed hard. Her decision broke her heart, but it was better broken than non-existent. And that's what would happen if Lorenzo didn't make it back.
"I'll stay with Sonny when you find Lorenzo," she said again. There was an emotion in Jason's eyes at her words that Carly couldn't identify.
"Carly," he started.
"No, Jase. You are the only one that can find him – that I trust to try to find him. If – when - you do, and you come back, I will stay married to Sonny. That way you will still have your best friend and your job, Sonny will still have his 'life' and Lorenzo will be alive. You won't have jeopardized anything," she said, her voice breaking. Just our friendship, she mentally added. Jason crossed the room to her. His hand came up and rest on the curve of her shoulder.
"And what will you have, Carly?" he asked, his voice breaking as well. Her watery brown eyes met his.
"Lorenzo will be alive," she said again softly, a small sob breaking free from her chest. Jason's eyes softened at her words as he pulled her into his arms. She clutched him tightly as she cried into his chest. His hand came up and softly caressed the back of her head.
***************************************
~*Three weeks later*~Carly stood on the penthouse balcony overlooking the city – it was just a few minutes past dawn. She couldn't sleep. Her worry over Lorenzo and her recent conversations with Jason had kept tugging at her mind, not allowing her to rest peacefully. Sonny had already left without so much as a word. They were living in civility. No screaming, no yelling, no anything. For Carly, it was a relief. Today was her scheduled delivery date, and she was stressing out. Dr. Meadows had called earlier that week and said that come Friday, if nothing had happened, they were going to schedule an induction. It was Friday. She'd said that Carly's body had been through so much over the past few months that they didn't want to risk anything further. Carly had agreed for the sake of her child. With a sigh, Carly re-entered the penthouse and gathered her things. She needed to meet her mother at the hospital in twenty minutes. There was really no one else for her to turn to at this point to help her through the birth of her child. Sonny was taking little interest as to what happened during her pregnancy. As long as the child was safe, Sonny was the silent partner. Jason – well, he was out doing her bidding. He was looking for leads on Lorenzo. It took him out of the country a lot of the time, so she really couldn't expect any more from him. And Courtney? Well, Courtney had pretty much stopped speaking to her when Jason had told her about what was going on – and why. Not only was Jason going out of country, leaving Courtney home alone repeatedly, to find a man that Courtney had fairly good reason to loathe, but Carly was also hurting her brother. No, Carly couldn't blame the young blond for her lack of caring. Carly looked sadly down at her belly.
"Well, baby – hopefully, in the space of 24 hours, you will be in my arms," she said as she picked up her bag and made her way out of the penthouse. Max had disappeared, so the guard who had taken his place took the bag from Carly and walked her down to the limo. When Carly had asked Sonny about Max, he'd told her that the guard had taken a 2-month leave. His mother was sick and he had wanted to go help her out. Carly had thought back to seeing the man at Lorenzo's. 2-month leave, I'll bet. Carly shook her head to herself as she climbed into the vehicle. There were things going on – mob things – that she didn't want to know about. And she was sure that Max was a huge part in it. She just hoped that Lorenzo wasn't a major character in the situation. Or maybe she should hope that he was a principal character – they couldn't kill a principal character, right? The questions ran through her mind the entire short ride to the hospital.
"Good morning, Carly," her mother said as she stepped out of the car. Carly smiled.
"Hi, Momma," she said warmly. Bobbie came forward and wrapped her arm around Carly.
"Just think, Carly. By the end of the day, you could be holding your son or daughter," she smiled. Carly grinned as she rubbed her stomach.
"It feels like it's been forever. I can't wait to finally meet this little person," she said. Bobbie took Carly's hand.
"Then let's go," she said as she pulled her daughter along with her.
***************************************
It was almost 4:30 the next morning when Carly felt well enough to take a slow, casual stroll down to the nursery. Leigh Morgan Corinthos had made her appearance nearly 12 hours earlier by way of c-section. The endless hours of labor had put such a strain on Carly's not-completely-healthy body that her systems had started reacting. Carly had passed out twice from the pain of contractions plus the additional pain of her body being close to a near meltdown. Dr. Meadows had decided, with Carly's past birthing history, that it would be safer for both mother and child to birth via c-section. Carly hadn't been one to complain.
"Carly, you should be in a wheelchair," Bobbie said from behind her. Carly looked away from the window to look back at her mother.
"I felt like walking," she said, looking back at the glass that separated her from her child. She brought a hand up to the class to caress the outline of the infant. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" Bobbie laughed.
"As if I could say any different. She going to have your blond hair and your nose and her daddy's dimples," she said. Carly smiled, but it quickly fell off as she leaned her forehead against the cool pane of glass.
"Sonny sent a dozen roses for Leigh," she said emotionlessly, staring at her own reflection for a second. Bobbie reached over and rubbed Carly's back. "He sent a note saying that he was glad she was alright and that everything will be ready for us at home when we're released." Carly stood up straight and wiped a stray tear away from the corner of her eye.
"Carly, he's reasonably upset. You've got to give him time to understand," Bobbie said. Carly let out a dry chuckle.
"Sure. I broke his heart. Doesn't matter that I went through hell and high water to keep this child – but I forget, his broken heart takes precedence over everything. Doesn't even matter that he broke my heart over and over again and I was expected to forgive and forget … yet he can't even come see his daughter and … well, never mind. I don't care if he sees me or not," Carly said. She looked at her mother. "It's pathetic, really, that this marriage was over before it even began." Bobbie looked at her daughter in confusion.
"What do you mean, Carly?" she asked. Carly smiled.
"It means that he and I are right back where we started, before we began this sham of a marriage. Right back to the anger, the hurt, the distrust, the – hate," she said as she shook her head. "For a while, I thought he could make me happy. That's why I fought so hard for him. And for a while, he thought that I could make him happy. That's why he fought so hard for me. If I'd known that we would both be this miserable, I would have ended it all when he slept with Alexis."
"Carly, you fought separately for each other at different times, and lost. If you fought so fiercely together, for each other, it may have turned out differently. Now you have to fight for your daughter. You have to think of her and what's best for her," Bobbie said. Carly nodded.
"I know that, Momma. And what's best for her is to not see her parents so miserable. I can't stay with Sonny and not be miserable. But I made a promise," she said. Bobbie frowned.
"What did you promise and who did you promise it to?" she asked. Carly turned away from her mother.
"I made a promise to Jason that if he found Lorenzo alive, then I'd stay with Sonny," she said softly. Bobbie's heart ached.
"Oh, Carly," she said sadly.
***************************************
~*Two Weeks Later*~
Carly sat on her bed holding Leigh when she heard the front door open. Knowing that Sonny was home, she went and set Leigh down in her bassinet and made her way towards the stairs. After she and Leigh had come home, Sonny had made it habit to come home in the afternoon so that he could spend some time with their daughter. Things were still tense between Carly and Sonny, but the uncomfortable silences were gradually getting better. All that mattered to Carly was that Sonny was taking an interest in their daughter and that he was being civil in conversations with her. He'd even made her dinner a couple of times. There'd been no more yelling, for which Carly was grateful.
She'd made it halfway down the stairs with a smile on her face when she heard the beginnings of a conversation that froze her in her tracks.
" - Good job, Max. We won't kill him just yet – he hasn't suffered nearly enough - but tell them to make sure he knows what pain feels like, then double it – have them tell him it's for Carly," Sonny said into the phone. After a few more affirmatives, he hung up the phone. Carly sat down slowly on the stairs as she heard her husband leave. He hadn't known she was home. He hadn't known she'd heard, and now she knew. Everything between them the past couple of weeks had been too good to be true. He'd been the one behind Lorenzo's disappearance. The misgivings she'd had all along had been right, but she hadn't known about what. She sat, no emotion visible on her face but a single tear running down her cheek. Her husband had lied to her. Her husband had betrayed her. And the man she loved was paying for her stupidity.
***************************************
"Hey, Leticia?" Carly called into Michael's room. The nanny's head popped out from the closet.
"Yes, Mrs. C?" she asked. Carly smiled as she watched a giggling Michael run across the room and tag the woman.
"Got you!" he yelled, causing Carly to smile. She looked back to Leticia.
"Could you keep an eye on Michael and Leigh for a little bit? I have an errand to run," she said. Leticia smiled.
"Of course! In fact, Michael wants to go to the park for a little bit. I'll get Leigh bundled up and take her in the stroller," she said. Carly grinned.
"Thank you, so much," Carly said as she made her way to her bedroom. She waited until Leticia was ready to go and Michael had run in for a hug from his mother and left before pulling a hidden object from the closet. She took the gun out of the box and made sure it was loaded. With a worried, yet determined look on her face, she slipped the gun into her purse. On her way down the stairs, she slipped into a coat. There was some business she needed to attend to, and thankfully, she knew where it was.
***************************************
The docks were always pretty calm – especially near the warehouse. But since it was a gray day, there was nothing spectacular about the scenery today, keeping most people away. There was only one person that Carly wanted to see. Luck was in her corner as she saw the object of her search exit the warehouse and head down a side street. Carly smirked heavenward before she followed after him. It took a little bit of running for her to catch up with him, but she finally did and took out her gun.
"Hello Max," Carly said as she cocked the gun pointed at his head. The loyal Corinthos bodyguard turned to her in shock.
"Mrs. Corinthos -" he started. A humorless smile crossed Carly's face.
"Don't you dare 'Mrs. Corinthos' me, Max. I know everything. I know that you're involved, I know that Sonny was the one behind all of this. So, you know the reason why I'm here," she said, a lethal glint in her eye. Max raised his hands up in surrender.
"I don't know anything, Carly," he said. Carly let out a little laugh.
"Right. And I'm Mother Theresa. I heard Sonny talking to you on the phone. You know where Lorenzo is, and you know who is holding him. Is it Jason? Has Jason been lying to me all this time?" she asked, not wanting to doubt her friend, but knowing it could be possible. Max hesitated, causing Carly to step closer to him.
"Tell me now and I won't kill you – yet," she said. Max shook his head.
"Jason has no clue. He's been running around doing God knows what for the past couple of weeks," Max admitted. Carly nodded, believing the man.
"Okay, next question. Where is Lorenzo?" she asked. Max looked at her blankly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said. Carly shook her head.
"Let's not play games, Max. I know you know and you know *I* know you know, so come on - spill," she said, waving the gun around carelessly. Max frowned.
"Mrs. Corinthos, I honestly can't tell you anything because I don't know. I was there when they took him -" he said. Carly snorted.
"No shit," she said with a roll of her eyes.
"- But I don't know where they took him," he finished with a confused look. Carly just looked at him.
"How's your mother doing, Max?" Carly asked. Max just looked even more confused.
"My mother? She's been dead for almost five years. What has she got to do with it?" he asked. Carly nodded her head knowingly.
"Figured as much. Where is he, Max? You don't take a 2-month leave for nothing," she said.
"I really don't know Mrs. Corinthos – and even if I did know, I couldn't tell you, otherwise I'd be a dead man," he said. Carly let out a frustrated sigh at the lack of information.
"Why is this so much easier in the movies?" she asked herself. Carly looked up to see Max cracking a smile. She couldn't help but smile helplessly back.
"So, you're not – going to, umm – kill me, are you?" Max asked her with an uncertain look on his face. Carly choked back a laugh. Here she was carrying a lethal weapon, acting like some action movie hero, with no information for all of her trouble, and the experienced mobster was asking he if she was going to kill him. What was wrong with this picture?
"Remember the last time I tried to shoot someone, Max? I ended up in Ferncliff. I think I'll pass on that for now," she said. Feeling on the edge of hysterics, she waved the man away. "Get out of here, Max. I don't want to get you in trouble. You were always nice to me. And I know you were just following orders." Max hesitated for a second before nodding and leaving. Carly sighed as she brought her hand up to her forehead.
"Great, Carly. All that work for absolutely nothing," she said to herself as she put the gun in her purse and made her way towards home.
As she got closer to home, she noticed the black sedan parked out front. Carly knew what all of cars Sonny used looked like – and that was not one of them. Immediately wary, she held back and looked all around her making sure she was alone. The nervous feeling was back, and she knew something wasn't right. An idea – more a backup plan than anything - sparked in her head and Carly pulled out her cell phone. Knowing that her mother had the night shift, she dialed her number. The answering machine picked up.
"Help Momma! They're taking me! Pick up the phone! Help!" she cried as hysterically as possible, but quiet enough to not draw attention. Satisfied with herself, she hung up the phone, praying that her mother didn't return home early to hear the message. Carly didn't want to worry her without cause, but she needed the credibility if her plan had to go into action. Resuming her walk to the penthouse, she dialed her phone again. This time, Jason picked up.
"Morgan," he greeted. Carly smiled.
"Jason," she greeted back happily – even though her nerves were tingling.
"Carly, what's wrong?" he asked, knowing immediately that Carly was uneasy about something.
"Just keep talking to me, Jase. You're walking me home," she whispered. Jason was silent.
"Is someone following you, Carly?" he asked, his worry betrayed by his voice. Carly smiled as she made her way into the building.
"I'm not sure, Jason, but I'll have to check, okay? Michael hasn't been feeling well, but I'm sure he'd love to see you," she both confirmed for Jason's benefit and lied for whoever else's benefit while finding her way to the elevator. As the doors closed, she took a deep breath as she heard the footsteps she knew would be there.
"Jason, I think there is someone following me, okay. I'm not sure what they're after, but I need you to stay on the line with me until – well, until I can figure it out. I have a plan," she said quickly, knowing that she was alone for the time being.
"Carly, a plan? You know how your plans work," Jason said dubiously. Carly let out a growl.
"Jason, trust me. This will work. If anything happens, you'll know about it and whoever is following me won't know the difference, okay?" she asked as the elevator slowed. "Now, I'm going to pretend to hang up with you in a second. I'm going to try out the award-winning Spencer art of performing on you, okay?" Before Jason could confirm, the doors opened and Carly exited the elevator. She smiled at the guard in front of the door.
"Okay, bye Jason," she said into the phone as she pretended to hang up and greeted the man in front of the door. "Hi, Ken."
"Good evening, Mrs. Corinthos," he replied. Carly made her way to the door and then turned around as if a last minute thought had come to her.
"Oh, Ken. I'm going to call my mother and see if she can come over for a little bit. So, if she does come over, just let her in, okay?" she asked, holding up her cell phone for the man to see. The man nodded.
"Of course, Mrs. Corinthos," he said. Carly smiled as she entered the penthouse. When she knew she was out of hearing she returned to Jason.
"I'm home now, Jase," she said quietly.
"Then why are you whispering, Carly?" he asked. Carly scrunched up her nose in thought.
"I'm not sure. I just have this feeling -" she started and was interrupted by a noise outside. The door opened and Ken allowed three men Carly had never seen before into the room. Carly held out a hand to stop them as she pretended to finish her conversation.
"- so, if you can come over, just drop on by Momma. I'll be here -" she told Jason, fear creeping into her voice as the three men approached her. One grabbed her arm.
"You need to come with us, Mrs. Corinthos," he said, his grip tightening painfully. Carly winced before she quickly brought the phone up again.
"Help Momma! They're taking me! Pick up the phone! Help!" she yelled hysterically before one of the other men stepped forward.
"Shut up!" he yelled as he swung out and hit her, knocking the phone out of her grip and sending it crashing to the floor. Carly looked at the phone helplessly as the third man came and gripped her other arm. Please, Jason. Understand what I just did. Help me! One of the goons looked at her.
"Was that your mother you just called?" he asked. Carly didn't say anything, she just narrowed her eyes. The man looked to Ken still standing at the door.
"Go to Ms. Spencer's. Get rid of that message. If she hears that message, she'll be the only one to know that anything is wrong and cause some trouble. No one will miss her for a while if this is kept quiet," he said as he bent over and picked up the phone from the floor. Carly watched as he pocketed the phone, and was startled when she felt a prick in her arm. Looking over, she saw Ken administering something through a syringe. Her suspicions as to what it was were confirmed when things started going blurry and finally … black.
***************************************
"Carly!" Jason yelled into the phone. "Carly!" He shut his phone off in frustration. Someone had taken Carly – again. Jason tried to place the voices that he'd heard before the phone went dead. They sounded familiar, but he just couldn't place the faces. With a sigh, Jason leaned back against the plane seat. He willed the plane to travel faster, knowing that they were only about twenty minutes from Port Charles. His trip to South America had been fruitless. No one had heard what happened to Alcazar. As far as all of his associates knew, he was still in Port Charles taking care of business. Rubbing a hand over his face, Jason dialed Sonny. He needed to be informed that his wife was once again missing, if he didn't know already. Standing up with a frustrated growl, Jason pushed back the urge to throw his cell phone against the wall when he got Sonny's voicemail. Things were definitely not going his way. He sat back down and placed his face in his hands, racking his brain for ideas, for any clue he could come up with. After a few seconds of silence, Jason sat up straight.
"Shit!" he said as he finally placed the faces to the voices. This was not good. Jason picked up his phone and dialed another number. The person on the other end picked up after a few rings.
"I'm going to need your help," he said, resigned to knowing that this was his last resort.
***************************************
"Just kill me – it's what you've been planning all along, anyways. Why hold off the inevitable?" Lorenzo said hoarsely through broken and bleeding lips.
"Because, Mr. Alcazar – I have one more pain for you to suffer. I have one more torture to put you through. But it is something that I have to wait on a bit. So, until that opportune moment arrives, my boys get to beat the living crap out of you. It's a perk of the business, you see," his captor said pleasantly into his ear.
***************************************
Carly should have known. Sonny had been way too quiet. Way too accommodating. She should have seen this coming a mile away. But the time with Leigh had let her guard down – made her less aware of what was going on. Thankfully she'd been a little less stupid in the past few hours than she had been in the past few months. Jason got her message. Now all she had to do was hope that he could figure out what had happened. Two guards gripped her arms firmly and led her down a dimly lit hallway. She hadn't been able to see where they'd taken her due to the blindfold, but once they'd gotten inside the building, they'd let her see. They stopped at a door and one of the guards reached out and knocked. The door opened to reveal her husband's face.
"Ah, finally. I was beginning to worry," he said as he opened the door to admit them. Carly entered the room, with eyes only for her husband. At this moment, she openly hated him. There was nothing but loathing in her eyes for the man she had once loved.
"Carly -" a dry, raspy, surprised voice broke through her cloud of anger. Tears blurred her vision as she heard a voice she never thought she would hear again. She made to step towards the sound, but was pulled back harshly. She closed her eyes and willed the tears away so that she could see properly. When she opened them again, she saw him. Her heart filled at the sight of him, yet at the same time it dropped to her feet. Two guards were also holding him, although at the look of him, he probably didn't need any except to hold him up. Bruises marred his beard-covered face. He'd lost weight in the almost two and a half months of captivity. His wrists were bound in back of him, but she knew they were rubbed raw to bleeding and bruised. Carly jumped at the hand on her shoulder and turned to look at her husband.
"I told you, Alcazar, that I had more pain and torture to put you through."
***************************************
**Yet another A/N - Muahhahahahahahaah - You probably hate me don't you?? Well, I'm sorry about the cliffhanger – okay, no, I'm not. In fact, it's a cliffhanger for me too! I'd had the ending of this part written since Part II! I don't know what to write next! Ahhhh! Also, there are a few parts I'm not completely happy with. They are the parts where I skip weeks. I feel like I missed out on some action, so I may repost this part with added in bits here and there - *maybe* - if I find the time to work on it. Okay? Okay.**