**A/N - Happy update! It took me a while to update this and I'm sorry.
The reasons? Mainly because I'm busy, but there weren't many reviews at
all this time. I though y'all hated the last part and were just being nice
and not telling me it sucked. So, I sunk into a bit of a depression and
self-pity. But then! Then I decided 'hey, have faith in your readers and
write more anyways'. So, I did. It's nearing the end and I can't wait to
see how it's all going to play out! I hope you like this part! **
***************************************
Jason's cell phone rang and he quickly picked it up.
"Morgan," he said.
"Jason -" Johnny's voice said. "I'm at Alcazar's warehouse just outside of town. I just heard a gunshot a minute ago. I don't know what's going on, but one of Sonny's cars just pulled up." Jason sat up straight. A chill ran down his spine as he heard the word gunshot.
"I'm on my way, Johnny. Keep a lookout," he said before jumping up and racing out the door. He could only hope that he wasn't too late as he started making calls.
***************************************
"What the hell Sonny? What are you doing?" Carly cried as she looked at the hole in the wall where the bullet had struck. Sonny didn't say anything, just handed the gun to Max and took off the gloves.
"Sonny! What's going on?" she asked again, frustration evident in her voice. He moved quickly over to her and covered her mouth with his hand.
"Shut up, Carly!" he hissed. "A dead person can't talk, and if they hear you, they'll know you are not dead!" Carly's eyes widened as her husband took his hand off of her mouth.
"What?!" she whispered harshly, her eyes going cold.
"Carly, your death was ordered. I am supposed to kill you. The gunshot was to convince them I went through with it. Now, Max is going to get you out of here - 'get rid of the body', if you will," he said as he reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a pocket knife and approached Carly. She watched him warily as he took her hand.
"Now what?" she asked as Sonny opened the weapon. He made a quick, fairly deep cut across her hand. She hissed in pain and pulled her hand back.
"Sorry, Carly. I need to be as convincing as possible," he said as he took her hand again. He watched as the blood spread over her palm and used his fingers to extend it over her fingers. Satisfied, he brought her hand up to run over his starch-white collar. Her red fingerprints stood out, grotesquely dark against his shirt. After a few more quick movements, Sonny looked to Max, who handed him a handkerchief. Carly watched in quiet fascination as Sonny cleaned and then wrapped her now-injured hand. As she pulled her hand back, her eyes stayed on the dark head bent in front of her.
"Sonny -" she said. His eyes looked up to meet hers. She didn't know what to say. He smiled painfully.
"I know, Carly," he said, obviously understanding her better than she understood herself at this moment. "I know. And now you're going to need to let Max carry you out of here. I'll wrap the blanket around you, but it is important that you don't move at all. Guards will be watching, and they need to be convinced," he said as he bent to pick up the blanket that had dropped to the floor. Carly nodded, almost in shock, as he wrapped it around her.
"What about Lorenzo?" she asked quietly, allowing Max to bend down at pick her up.
"The plan was never to kill him, Carly. It was to make him suffer. I have accomplished my part in this, I am done," he said. Carly nodded, knowing that he was saying more than he actually said.
***************************************
"So?" Sophie asked the guard at the door, not getting up from Lorenzo's side.
"One of Corinthos' bodyguards just left with the body. Corinthos himself is still in the room. He's just sitting there," the guard reported. Sophie nodded.
"Give him a few moments - after all, he just killed his wife - but then tell him to come in here. I would like to see him," she said. The guard nodded and went to do her bidding. She turned to look at Lorenzo. Her face was serious, but he could see the enjoyment dancing behind her eyes. She would die for all of this. It was the one thing he was certain of at this moment as he watched her. Lorenzo was dying on the inside, the pain was eating at him, but he couldn't give Sophie the satisfaction. He schooled his features to indifference.
"Feeling anything?" she asked almost happily. He didn't say anything, just stared at the door. Waiting for Corinthos - waiting for the confirmation of his worst fears.
"Come on, Lorenzo. Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's unhealthy to keep things locked up inside?" Sophie asked as she stood up. Again, he didn't rise to the bait. Just as she was about to say something else, the door opened admitting a guard and Sonny. Lorenzo looked him over carefully. The man's eyes were hard, but he could see the torture, guilt and pain hidden behind them. ** Good. I hope to God Carly made it as hard as possible for him. **
"It's done," was all he said, looking at Sophie. The woman smiled.
"Good. I'm glad to see that you weren't totally useless," she said as her eyes looked over him, her gaze staying longer on the red stain. "You got rid of the body?" Sonny nodded.
"Make sure it is never found," she ordered as well as dismissed. Lorenzo did not miss the spark of anger in Corinthos' eyes. And neither did Sophie.
"Well, well, well," she said gleefully, looking between the two men. "It looks like I got two for the price of one!" Silence met her comment - but it wasn't unaffected silence.
"For one little insignificant Carly Corinthos, I got two international crime lords on their knees. I'd say that is my coup d'état, don't you think?" she taunted. Sonny's jaw tightened, but instead of saying anything, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
"What next, Sophie?" Lorenzo asked, his voice cold as she turned to look at him.
"What's next, Lorenzo? Why, we let you go," she said with a smile as she motioned for a guard to bring Lorenzo his things. "I suggest that you take advantage."
***************************************
Jason, Johnny and Luke watched closely as guards came and went from the building across the street. The watched silently as Max carried a limp, blanketed form out to the waiting limo. They watched with sick stomachs as blond strands of hair peeked out from the top of the blanket and a blood- sticky hand hung limp over Max's arms. Anger pulsed through Jason's body as he stood up, gun in hand. He was about to march across the street and rip the bodyguard's head from his shoulders. A hand stopped him.
"Okay, Rambo - sit down," Luke's voice whispered. Jason shrugged the hand off of him.
"No. That was Carly - Carly is dead, Luke. We're too late!" Jason answered with a hiss. Luke shook his head.
"All I'm saying kid, is let's not alert everyone to our presence right off the bat, okay? We need answers, let's get them without getting ourselves killed," he said before covertly making his way across the street and crouching behind the limo Max had entered. Jason followed as well, nodding to Johnny to stay where he was. Luke brought his gun up and put his hand on the door handle. Jason nodded to the unspoken command and waited. When Luke pulled the door open, Jason jumped inside, pointing his gun at the stunned bodyguard.
"Jason! What the hell are you -? Give a girl a heart attack why don't you!" Carly shrieked as she watched Luke clamber into the vehicle and shut the door behind him.
"Carly?" Jason asked, incredulously, as he dropped his gun. He roughly took her shoulders in his hands and brought her to him in a tight hug.
"We thought - oh God - we thought you were -" was all he could stammer out as he squeezed her tight. She returned his embrace wholeheartedly.
"I knew you would come, Jase," she whispered. He pulled back to look at her, then at Max, and then back to her.
"What's going on, Carly?" he asked. Carly let out a breath as she looked at her uncle and her best friend.
"Sonny was supposed to kill me," she said. Luke let out a growl before Carly held up her hand to stop whatever he was going to say. "But he didn't. He came up with a way to get me out of there. Right now I don't care about that. All I care about is that Lorenzo is still in there and they're doing God knows what to him!" she said fiercely. The conversation was cut short when the door was violently opened and an angry Sonny threw himself in. He stopped short when he saw all of the uninvited passengers. Jason didn't think, just reacted. Before anyone knew it, Sonny was on his back, hand up to his bleeding nose. Luke reached out and stopped Jason from laying another punch as Max helped him employer into one of the seats.
"Jason, don't!" Carly cried as she touched his arm. He looked at her.
"Why not? He's been in league with Sophie Germaine, took Alcazar, took you, and was supposed to kill you! Why shouldn't I hit him?" he cried. Carly's eyes widened.
"Sophie Germaine?" she asked quietly. "She's behind this?" Jason nodded as Carly looked back to Sonny. "Why didn't you say anything?" Sonny shook his head.
"No time, Carly. We were supposed to hold both of you longer than we did. She advanced the schedule quicker than any of us anticipated," he said, leaning his head back and holding his nose. Luke's eyes narrowed.
"Hold her longer than -? Why you little -" he growled out, lunging for the mobster only to be held back by Jason this time.
"Stop it, you guys," Carly said, looking at both Jason and Luke. "Just now, Sonny got me out of there. Yes, he had me taken, but this is making up for it in spades. Leave it alone."
"Jesus, Caroline. I've got to hand it to you - you really have a way of forgiving your kidnappers," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. Carly ignored his remark and looked her husband square in the eye.
"Now, the way I will forgive and forget about this is if you help get Lorenzo out of there alive," she said. A disbelieving snort came from her uncle.
"Uh, Princess? I don't think that's going to be a problem," Luke said as he pointed out the tinted window to the building entrance. Two people were walking out together.
***************************************
"Now who do you think Corinthos will try to blame his wife's murder on? You, Faith Roscoe or The Five Families?" Sophie asked, her arm looped through Lorenzo's as they made their way out of the warehouse. Lorenzo was dressed in a clean suit, his face clean-shaven and his hair cut. Despite the still-healing bruises on his face, he looked no worse for wear.
"You think that is how this is going to go?" he asked, straightening the arm of his jacket as he shook her arm from his. Sophie looked up at him.
"Corinthos wouldn't be stupid enough to go after me. We're business partners. He knows what he got into," she said. Lorenzo smirked.
"Your naivety is showing, Sophie. You wouldn't be stupid enough to think that there won't be any retaliation," he remarked. Sophie laughed.
"Oh? And who's going to retaliate? You? You can't kill me. There's too much between us. Love and guilt among other things. Sonny? He's the one that killed his own wife. He'll be too busy wallowing in an ocean of guilt to worry about little old me. The Five Families? They couldn't care less - same goes for Faith Roscoe. It isn't their business," she counted off. Lorenzo shook his head.
"You can't possibly think that Carly was only a business concern. My brother was killed by Alexis Davis over a *personal* vendetta. Don't be foolish enough to think that there aren't any people in this town that would love to burn you at the stake for what you did to Carly. And as for me? Don't underestimate my - *feelings* for you - among other things," he said before walking away. He stopped at the limo and knocked on the window. It pulled down, revealing Sonny.
"Have a good evening, Corinthos," he said lethally.
"I see you around at all, Alcazar, and you're dead," Sonny responded. Lorenzo smirked.
"The same can be said for you as well," he said, his voice icy and his eyes even colder. Sonny didn't respond as the other man walked away. With a final look at the woman standing alone outside the car, the dark-haired mobster rolled the window back up.
***************************************
"Let go!" Carly yelled as the hand was removed from her mouth. "You son of a bitch!" she cried as she elbowed Jason in the side, causing him to let her slide off of his lap.
"Carly -" he started.
"No! Because of you Lorenzo still thinks I'm dead! I could have said something -" she cried, a tear sliding down the side of her cheek, her heart breaking for the man she loved.
"And what would that accomplish, Carly? If you'd said anything, Sophie Germaine would know you are still alive. We can't have that, not right now. We need to get out of here and figure out what to do next," Jason said. The limo began to move as silence fell. Carly sighed.
"Okay, guys. I can hear all of your wheels turning. What are you thinking," she said, knowing that she was probably going to be a pivotal part in bringing Sophie Germaine down. The three men looked at each other, but still, said nothing.
***************************************
**A/N - yet another short, but important piece. I'll try to update sooner than I have been, okay? : ) **
***************************************
Jason's cell phone rang and he quickly picked it up.
"Morgan," he said.
"Jason -" Johnny's voice said. "I'm at Alcazar's warehouse just outside of town. I just heard a gunshot a minute ago. I don't know what's going on, but one of Sonny's cars just pulled up." Jason sat up straight. A chill ran down his spine as he heard the word gunshot.
"I'm on my way, Johnny. Keep a lookout," he said before jumping up and racing out the door. He could only hope that he wasn't too late as he started making calls.
***************************************
"What the hell Sonny? What are you doing?" Carly cried as she looked at the hole in the wall where the bullet had struck. Sonny didn't say anything, just handed the gun to Max and took off the gloves.
"Sonny! What's going on?" she asked again, frustration evident in her voice. He moved quickly over to her and covered her mouth with his hand.
"Shut up, Carly!" he hissed. "A dead person can't talk, and if they hear you, they'll know you are not dead!" Carly's eyes widened as her husband took his hand off of her mouth.
"What?!" she whispered harshly, her eyes going cold.
"Carly, your death was ordered. I am supposed to kill you. The gunshot was to convince them I went through with it. Now, Max is going to get you out of here - 'get rid of the body', if you will," he said as he reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a pocket knife and approached Carly. She watched him warily as he took her hand.
"Now what?" she asked as Sonny opened the weapon. He made a quick, fairly deep cut across her hand. She hissed in pain and pulled her hand back.
"Sorry, Carly. I need to be as convincing as possible," he said as he took her hand again. He watched as the blood spread over her palm and used his fingers to extend it over her fingers. Satisfied, he brought her hand up to run over his starch-white collar. Her red fingerprints stood out, grotesquely dark against his shirt. After a few more quick movements, Sonny looked to Max, who handed him a handkerchief. Carly watched in quiet fascination as Sonny cleaned and then wrapped her now-injured hand. As she pulled her hand back, her eyes stayed on the dark head bent in front of her.
"Sonny -" she said. His eyes looked up to meet hers. She didn't know what to say. He smiled painfully.
"I know, Carly," he said, obviously understanding her better than she understood herself at this moment. "I know. And now you're going to need to let Max carry you out of here. I'll wrap the blanket around you, but it is important that you don't move at all. Guards will be watching, and they need to be convinced," he said as he bent to pick up the blanket that had dropped to the floor. Carly nodded, almost in shock, as he wrapped it around her.
"What about Lorenzo?" she asked quietly, allowing Max to bend down at pick her up.
"The plan was never to kill him, Carly. It was to make him suffer. I have accomplished my part in this, I am done," he said. Carly nodded, knowing that he was saying more than he actually said.
***************************************
"So?" Sophie asked the guard at the door, not getting up from Lorenzo's side.
"One of Corinthos' bodyguards just left with the body. Corinthos himself is still in the room. He's just sitting there," the guard reported. Sophie nodded.
"Give him a few moments - after all, he just killed his wife - but then tell him to come in here. I would like to see him," she said. The guard nodded and went to do her bidding. She turned to look at Lorenzo. Her face was serious, but he could see the enjoyment dancing behind her eyes. She would die for all of this. It was the one thing he was certain of at this moment as he watched her. Lorenzo was dying on the inside, the pain was eating at him, but he couldn't give Sophie the satisfaction. He schooled his features to indifference.
"Feeling anything?" she asked almost happily. He didn't say anything, just stared at the door. Waiting for Corinthos - waiting for the confirmation of his worst fears.
"Come on, Lorenzo. Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's unhealthy to keep things locked up inside?" Sophie asked as she stood up. Again, he didn't rise to the bait. Just as she was about to say something else, the door opened admitting a guard and Sonny. Lorenzo looked him over carefully. The man's eyes were hard, but he could see the torture, guilt and pain hidden behind them. ** Good. I hope to God Carly made it as hard as possible for him. **
"It's done," was all he said, looking at Sophie. The woman smiled.
"Good. I'm glad to see that you weren't totally useless," she said as her eyes looked over him, her gaze staying longer on the red stain. "You got rid of the body?" Sonny nodded.
"Make sure it is never found," she ordered as well as dismissed. Lorenzo did not miss the spark of anger in Corinthos' eyes. And neither did Sophie.
"Well, well, well," she said gleefully, looking between the two men. "It looks like I got two for the price of one!" Silence met her comment - but it wasn't unaffected silence.
"For one little insignificant Carly Corinthos, I got two international crime lords on their knees. I'd say that is my coup d'état, don't you think?" she taunted. Sonny's jaw tightened, but instead of saying anything, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.
"What next, Sophie?" Lorenzo asked, his voice cold as she turned to look at him.
"What's next, Lorenzo? Why, we let you go," she said with a smile as she motioned for a guard to bring Lorenzo his things. "I suggest that you take advantage."
***************************************
Jason, Johnny and Luke watched closely as guards came and went from the building across the street. The watched silently as Max carried a limp, blanketed form out to the waiting limo. They watched with sick stomachs as blond strands of hair peeked out from the top of the blanket and a blood- sticky hand hung limp over Max's arms. Anger pulsed through Jason's body as he stood up, gun in hand. He was about to march across the street and rip the bodyguard's head from his shoulders. A hand stopped him.
"Okay, Rambo - sit down," Luke's voice whispered. Jason shrugged the hand off of him.
"No. That was Carly - Carly is dead, Luke. We're too late!" Jason answered with a hiss. Luke shook his head.
"All I'm saying kid, is let's not alert everyone to our presence right off the bat, okay? We need answers, let's get them without getting ourselves killed," he said before covertly making his way across the street and crouching behind the limo Max had entered. Jason followed as well, nodding to Johnny to stay where he was. Luke brought his gun up and put his hand on the door handle. Jason nodded to the unspoken command and waited. When Luke pulled the door open, Jason jumped inside, pointing his gun at the stunned bodyguard.
"Jason! What the hell are you -? Give a girl a heart attack why don't you!" Carly shrieked as she watched Luke clamber into the vehicle and shut the door behind him.
"Carly?" Jason asked, incredulously, as he dropped his gun. He roughly took her shoulders in his hands and brought her to him in a tight hug.
"We thought - oh God - we thought you were -" was all he could stammer out as he squeezed her tight. She returned his embrace wholeheartedly.
"I knew you would come, Jase," she whispered. He pulled back to look at her, then at Max, and then back to her.
"What's going on, Carly?" he asked. Carly let out a breath as she looked at her uncle and her best friend.
"Sonny was supposed to kill me," she said. Luke let out a growl before Carly held up her hand to stop whatever he was going to say. "But he didn't. He came up with a way to get me out of there. Right now I don't care about that. All I care about is that Lorenzo is still in there and they're doing God knows what to him!" she said fiercely. The conversation was cut short when the door was violently opened and an angry Sonny threw himself in. He stopped short when he saw all of the uninvited passengers. Jason didn't think, just reacted. Before anyone knew it, Sonny was on his back, hand up to his bleeding nose. Luke reached out and stopped Jason from laying another punch as Max helped him employer into one of the seats.
"Jason, don't!" Carly cried as she touched his arm. He looked at her.
"Why not? He's been in league with Sophie Germaine, took Alcazar, took you, and was supposed to kill you! Why shouldn't I hit him?" he cried. Carly's eyes widened.
"Sophie Germaine?" she asked quietly. "She's behind this?" Jason nodded as Carly looked back to Sonny. "Why didn't you say anything?" Sonny shook his head.
"No time, Carly. We were supposed to hold both of you longer than we did. She advanced the schedule quicker than any of us anticipated," he said, leaning his head back and holding his nose. Luke's eyes narrowed.
"Hold her longer than -? Why you little -" he growled out, lunging for the mobster only to be held back by Jason this time.
"Stop it, you guys," Carly said, looking at both Jason and Luke. "Just now, Sonny got me out of there. Yes, he had me taken, but this is making up for it in spades. Leave it alone."
"Jesus, Caroline. I've got to hand it to you - you really have a way of forgiving your kidnappers," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. Carly ignored his remark and looked her husband square in the eye.
"Now, the way I will forgive and forget about this is if you help get Lorenzo out of there alive," she said. A disbelieving snort came from her uncle.
"Uh, Princess? I don't think that's going to be a problem," Luke said as he pointed out the tinted window to the building entrance. Two people were walking out together.
***************************************
"Now who do you think Corinthos will try to blame his wife's murder on? You, Faith Roscoe or The Five Families?" Sophie asked, her arm looped through Lorenzo's as they made their way out of the warehouse. Lorenzo was dressed in a clean suit, his face clean-shaven and his hair cut. Despite the still-healing bruises on his face, he looked no worse for wear.
"You think that is how this is going to go?" he asked, straightening the arm of his jacket as he shook her arm from his. Sophie looked up at him.
"Corinthos wouldn't be stupid enough to go after me. We're business partners. He knows what he got into," she said. Lorenzo smirked.
"Your naivety is showing, Sophie. You wouldn't be stupid enough to think that there won't be any retaliation," he remarked. Sophie laughed.
"Oh? And who's going to retaliate? You? You can't kill me. There's too much between us. Love and guilt among other things. Sonny? He's the one that killed his own wife. He'll be too busy wallowing in an ocean of guilt to worry about little old me. The Five Families? They couldn't care less - same goes for Faith Roscoe. It isn't their business," she counted off. Lorenzo shook his head.
"You can't possibly think that Carly was only a business concern. My brother was killed by Alexis Davis over a *personal* vendetta. Don't be foolish enough to think that there aren't any people in this town that would love to burn you at the stake for what you did to Carly. And as for me? Don't underestimate my - *feelings* for you - among other things," he said before walking away. He stopped at the limo and knocked on the window. It pulled down, revealing Sonny.
"Have a good evening, Corinthos," he said lethally.
"I see you around at all, Alcazar, and you're dead," Sonny responded. Lorenzo smirked.
"The same can be said for you as well," he said, his voice icy and his eyes even colder. Sonny didn't respond as the other man walked away. With a final look at the woman standing alone outside the car, the dark-haired mobster rolled the window back up.
***************************************
"Let go!" Carly yelled as the hand was removed from her mouth. "You son of a bitch!" she cried as she elbowed Jason in the side, causing him to let her slide off of his lap.
"Carly -" he started.
"No! Because of you Lorenzo still thinks I'm dead! I could have said something -" she cried, a tear sliding down the side of her cheek, her heart breaking for the man she loved.
"And what would that accomplish, Carly? If you'd said anything, Sophie Germaine would know you are still alive. We can't have that, not right now. We need to get out of here and figure out what to do next," Jason said. The limo began to move as silence fell. Carly sighed.
"Okay, guys. I can hear all of your wheels turning. What are you thinking," she said, knowing that she was probably going to be a pivotal part in bringing Sophie Germaine down. The three men looked at each other, but still, said nothing.
***************************************
**A/N - yet another short, but important piece. I'll try to update sooner than I have been, okay? : ) **