Sage Alcazar had thought she was done crying over Dillon, but then
the little bastard had actually gone and gotten her a Christmas present:
her very own DVD copy of "It's a Wonderful Life." She pushed the coffee
table out of the way and settled down on the floor with some pillows to
watch the movie. The movie was stupid. Pure schmaltz. Sage found herself
crying yet again and rolled over in frustration. She sniffled, then noticed
the fact that the underside of the coffee table was wired with enough
plastique to blow her and her uncle straight into the next life.
Lorenzo reacted far more calmly than Sage had. He had little use for law enforcement in general, but this was an exception. They evacuated his building and had the bomb defused without too much fanfare. He supposed that the police would still be questioning him if it hadn't been for the series of explosions that had rocked Port Charles two hours later.
As for the culprit, Lorenzo's first guess had been Faith until his men informed him that her base of operations had been hit, as had her penthouse and Zander Smith's apartment. The lucky bitch had been arrested the evening before for the murder of Emily Quartermaine and had been in jail when the explosion destroyed her home. Then the man he had following Sonny Corinthos had called in. The roof had been blown off Harborview Towers. Carly and Sonny, as well as Jason and Courtney Morgan, had been inside.
A strange grief gripped Lorenzo's heart and he hadn't been able to stop himself from heading to the scene. From blocks away it had been clear that the top few stories of Harborview Towers were completely gone. The debris littering the streets had halted traffic for blocks surrounding the building had blocked traffic. He stopped the car and just stared at the wreckage for a few minutes as his heart accepted the truth. Carly was gone.
With a grim determination, Lorenzo returned to the penthouse. He had wanted Sonny dead, but never Carly. Someone had tried to murder himself and his niece. They had nearly succeeded. Somebody was going to pay. Andrew Staples had been wary of taking this case the first time Faith Roscoe had called. Only after Faith's minion, Zander Smith, had produced compromising pictures of him with his mistress that had he reluctantly agreed. It wasn't that he didn't believe in his client's innocence. The evidence that Faith Roscoe had killed Emily Quartermaine was damning, but far too obvious for his tastes. The problem was the ultimatum he'd been given when he took the case; win, or lose his wife, in a far more permanent way than the pictures alone would accomplish.
Faith was surprised to see her lawyer arrive in Zander's place. He quickly explained that he was only there to bring her a note from Zander. An early morning phone call from Mr. Smith had convinced him that it was in his best interest to pay a visit to the hospital. Fortunately, Faith had a lawyer who knew what was good for him, and right now good for him included playing messenger between Faith and Zander.
Andrew withdrew the note from his pocket and handed it to her. Faith already had an idea what the note would say; she had overheard police officers talking about the series of pre-dawn explosions. After reading the note left Faith Roscoe was, for once in her life, speechless. The note had been written from Zander's room at General Hospital and covered only the pertinent facts. A blast had taken out Faith's base of operations. Another had blown the roof off of Harborview Towers, and both Sonny and Carly Corinthos and Jason and Courtney Morgan were dead. A third and fourth had decimated her hotel room and Zander's apartment. Zander had just been returning home from a one-night stand when the explosion had occurred and had been in the hall outside his apartment, rather than inside where he most certainly would have died. As it was, he was yet again in GH, waiting for them to finish setting his broken arm and stitching his wounds closed. Faith supposed that the only reason that she was still alive was that she had spent the last 24 hours in jail.
Her ice blue stare had her lawyer pinned to his seat across from her in the interrogation room at PCPD headquarters. When she had finally digested the information he had given her, the questioning began.
"How many explosions were there. Exactly."
"I don't know, Mrs. Roscoe." He was finding himself squirming like a schoolboy under her gaze.
"You read the papers. What did they say?"
"Mrs. Roscoe, this happened too late to make the papers. I heard on the radio that there were a bunch, maybe seven or eight, but I wasn't paying much attention at the time."
"I pay you to pay attention, Andrew." Faith's voice was deceptively sweet voice. Then the full force of the malice behind her words broke through. "Don't come back without more information."
Fortunately, Zander was able to sign himself out against medical advice only two hours later. Normally, he would never dare greet Faith wearing only a t-shirt and jeans, but the explosion had left him with only a torn jacket and the clothes on his back.
As he entered the police station, he saw a distraught-looking Alexis holding Kristina. Alexis approached Zander, her concern evident. "Zander, what happened to you?"
"A bomb in my apartment. Lucky for me, I was just getting home. I hadn't made it through the door yet." Even though they seldom saw one another, he and Alexis were on good terms.
"You got one too?" Alexis was surprised. She patted a sleeping Kristina on the back. "I just happened to be up. Kristina is teething and she wouldn't quit crying. I was going crazy, so I decided to take her for a ride in the car. It usually knocks her right out. When we came back, we couldn't get into the building. The police say that my apartment was the site of the explosion. They're not saying much else."
"To me, either. Look, I'm glad you're OK, but I've gotta get to Faith before her head explodes." Zander couldn't help expecting her traditional lecture on his employment choices.
For once, Alexis bit her tongue. "If you find out why I'm mixed up in this, please let me know. If it were just me, I'd assume it was Helena, but this is something much bigger. I can't imagine why Helena would come after you."
"I don't think Helena did this, if it's any comfort," Zander said quietly as he turned to enter the interrogation room.
Faith looked him over. He looked like he had just walked out of an explosion. That was good. Zander had his priorities in order. If he'd taken the time to buy a change of clothes, Faith would have ripped him a new one. Taking time to chat with Alexis Davis, however, was grounds for a dressing- down.
"You got my note?" Zander asked, once the door closed behind him.
"You kept me waiting so you could talk to Alexis Davis, Zander. Not smart. You better have every single detail about what went down last night."
"You mean what blew up last night. Harborview Towers. My apartment. Your penthouse. Your warehouse. I heard that Alcazar got one too, but the PCPD defused his bomb. The one I don't get is Alexis Davis. She isn't involved with any of this."
"I care about her why?"
"Whoever did this is organized. All the explosions went off within minutes of each other, and the docks are crawling with guys with Brooklyn accents."
"Soleto," Faith muttered angrily.
"Faith, I don't know if this is important, but Emily told me that her Aunt Tracy was married to Soleto." Zander buried the pain that the mention of Emily had caused. "Tracy is going by Quartermaine and hasn't been wearing any wedding rings. The timing of her return seems a little suspicious."
Faith's mind was running over her encounters with Tracy. "It would explain how they knew so much without anyone getting wind of their plans."
"The new casino boat was hit, too. I heard Tracy wanted gambling rights for a casino, but Luke Spencer had a prior claim. The only one who doesn't make sense is Alexis."
So Alexis Davis had been a target, too. Faith didn't need any more information. "Get Lorenzo Alcazar down here. Tell him I have information he needs."
Lorenzo Alcazar walked into police headquarters with the confident arrogance that was his public persona. There was no sign of his grief. This pain was nothing compared to the pain of losing Sophie. He would live through this as he had lived through that. His only concern at the moment was determining whether Faith Roscoe had any information that would be of use to him.
"Lorenzo." Faith's tone was businesslike.
"Faith." Lorenzo's tone was equally businesslike. "I assume you had a good reason for calling me here."
"You're here because you want something from me. Information. I called you here because I want something from you in exchange."
"What do you want, Faith?" Lorenzo was certain that his time would be better spent on business.
"I want a partnership. If I weren't in jail, it would be my men taking over this city. I need someone on the outside. As it is, I need someone running things until I'm out."
"Why would I agree to work with you, Faith?"
"Because, you want to run your product through Port Charles. If I. if we take over the Morgan-Corinthos territory, you'll have the Northeast locked up, along with the Caribbean."
Lorenzo wondered what angle she was working. "I have no desire to be the next Sonny Corinthos, Faith."
"That's where I come in. We do things my way, we both get what we want."
Lorenzo considered her proposal. The time was right for a takeover. and apparently someone else thought so as well.
"I came here for information, Faith. What do you know?"
"I know who is behind the explosions." Faith was confident.
"Soleto's men are all over the city."
"Lorenzo. so naïve for such a worldly man." Faith chuckled. "Tracy Quartermaine is in league with Soleto, and she has a partner."
"Who?"
"Oh, no. You don't get to see what's behind door number three until we come to terms."
Lorenzo's eyes locked with Faith's. His expression was unreadable. "A fifty- fifty split," he replied at last.
Faith's gaze was cold as steel. "Sixty-forty. My men are in position for the takeover."
Lorenzo's gaze was just as cold. "I won't be your junior partner. Isn't that what you have Smith for?"
Faith took stock of her situation. She would have nothing if she waited too long.
"Fifty-fifty, and you get me out of here. Alexis Davis was a target, too. She's going to be my new lawyer. I want you to make it happen."
"And how do you expect me to do that?" As far as Lorenzo was concerned, the deal was done.
"I didn't murder Emily Quartermaine. She was, however, engaged to Nikolas Cassadine. Alexis Davis was also a target of last night's bombings. She's Nikolas's aunt, the bastard daughter of Mikkos Cassadine. My family goes way back in this town, Lorenzo. I know my history."
"You also like to hear yourself talk. Tell me. Who is Tracy's partner?"
"Helena Cassadine. The way I see it, she murdered Emily Quartermaine and had me set up as revenge for my. rough handling. of her grandson."
Lorenzo reacted far more calmly than Sage had. He had little use for law enforcement in general, but this was an exception. They evacuated his building and had the bomb defused without too much fanfare. He supposed that the police would still be questioning him if it hadn't been for the series of explosions that had rocked Port Charles two hours later.
As for the culprit, Lorenzo's first guess had been Faith until his men informed him that her base of operations had been hit, as had her penthouse and Zander Smith's apartment. The lucky bitch had been arrested the evening before for the murder of Emily Quartermaine and had been in jail when the explosion destroyed her home. Then the man he had following Sonny Corinthos had called in. The roof had been blown off Harborview Towers. Carly and Sonny, as well as Jason and Courtney Morgan, had been inside.
A strange grief gripped Lorenzo's heart and he hadn't been able to stop himself from heading to the scene. From blocks away it had been clear that the top few stories of Harborview Towers were completely gone. The debris littering the streets had halted traffic for blocks surrounding the building had blocked traffic. He stopped the car and just stared at the wreckage for a few minutes as his heart accepted the truth. Carly was gone.
With a grim determination, Lorenzo returned to the penthouse. He had wanted Sonny dead, but never Carly. Someone had tried to murder himself and his niece. They had nearly succeeded. Somebody was going to pay. Andrew Staples had been wary of taking this case the first time Faith Roscoe had called. Only after Faith's minion, Zander Smith, had produced compromising pictures of him with his mistress that had he reluctantly agreed. It wasn't that he didn't believe in his client's innocence. The evidence that Faith Roscoe had killed Emily Quartermaine was damning, but far too obvious for his tastes. The problem was the ultimatum he'd been given when he took the case; win, or lose his wife, in a far more permanent way than the pictures alone would accomplish.
Faith was surprised to see her lawyer arrive in Zander's place. He quickly explained that he was only there to bring her a note from Zander. An early morning phone call from Mr. Smith had convinced him that it was in his best interest to pay a visit to the hospital. Fortunately, Faith had a lawyer who knew what was good for him, and right now good for him included playing messenger between Faith and Zander.
Andrew withdrew the note from his pocket and handed it to her. Faith already had an idea what the note would say; she had overheard police officers talking about the series of pre-dawn explosions. After reading the note left Faith Roscoe was, for once in her life, speechless. The note had been written from Zander's room at General Hospital and covered only the pertinent facts. A blast had taken out Faith's base of operations. Another had blown the roof off of Harborview Towers, and both Sonny and Carly Corinthos and Jason and Courtney Morgan were dead. A third and fourth had decimated her hotel room and Zander's apartment. Zander had just been returning home from a one-night stand when the explosion had occurred and had been in the hall outside his apartment, rather than inside where he most certainly would have died. As it was, he was yet again in GH, waiting for them to finish setting his broken arm and stitching his wounds closed. Faith supposed that the only reason that she was still alive was that she had spent the last 24 hours in jail.
Her ice blue stare had her lawyer pinned to his seat across from her in the interrogation room at PCPD headquarters. When she had finally digested the information he had given her, the questioning began.
"How many explosions were there. Exactly."
"I don't know, Mrs. Roscoe." He was finding himself squirming like a schoolboy under her gaze.
"You read the papers. What did they say?"
"Mrs. Roscoe, this happened too late to make the papers. I heard on the radio that there were a bunch, maybe seven or eight, but I wasn't paying much attention at the time."
"I pay you to pay attention, Andrew." Faith's voice was deceptively sweet voice. Then the full force of the malice behind her words broke through. "Don't come back without more information."
Fortunately, Zander was able to sign himself out against medical advice only two hours later. Normally, he would never dare greet Faith wearing only a t-shirt and jeans, but the explosion had left him with only a torn jacket and the clothes on his back.
As he entered the police station, he saw a distraught-looking Alexis holding Kristina. Alexis approached Zander, her concern evident. "Zander, what happened to you?"
"A bomb in my apartment. Lucky for me, I was just getting home. I hadn't made it through the door yet." Even though they seldom saw one another, he and Alexis were on good terms.
"You got one too?" Alexis was surprised. She patted a sleeping Kristina on the back. "I just happened to be up. Kristina is teething and she wouldn't quit crying. I was going crazy, so I decided to take her for a ride in the car. It usually knocks her right out. When we came back, we couldn't get into the building. The police say that my apartment was the site of the explosion. They're not saying much else."
"To me, either. Look, I'm glad you're OK, but I've gotta get to Faith before her head explodes." Zander couldn't help expecting her traditional lecture on his employment choices.
For once, Alexis bit her tongue. "If you find out why I'm mixed up in this, please let me know. If it were just me, I'd assume it was Helena, but this is something much bigger. I can't imagine why Helena would come after you."
"I don't think Helena did this, if it's any comfort," Zander said quietly as he turned to enter the interrogation room.
Faith looked him over. He looked like he had just walked out of an explosion. That was good. Zander had his priorities in order. If he'd taken the time to buy a change of clothes, Faith would have ripped him a new one. Taking time to chat with Alexis Davis, however, was grounds for a dressing- down.
"You got my note?" Zander asked, once the door closed behind him.
"You kept me waiting so you could talk to Alexis Davis, Zander. Not smart. You better have every single detail about what went down last night."
"You mean what blew up last night. Harborview Towers. My apartment. Your penthouse. Your warehouse. I heard that Alcazar got one too, but the PCPD defused his bomb. The one I don't get is Alexis Davis. She isn't involved with any of this."
"I care about her why?"
"Whoever did this is organized. All the explosions went off within minutes of each other, and the docks are crawling with guys with Brooklyn accents."
"Soleto," Faith muttered angrily.
"Faith, I don't know if this is important, but Emily told me that her Aunt Tracy was married to Soleto." Zander buried the pain that the mention of Emily had caused. "Tracy is going by Quartermaine and hasn't been wearing any wedding rings. The timing of her return seems a little suspicious."
Faith's mind was running over her encounters with Tracy. "It would explain how they knew so much without anyone getting wind of their plans."
"The new casino boat was hit, too. I heard Tracy wanted gambling rights for a casino, but Luke Spencer had a prior claim. The only one who doesn't make sense is Alexis."
So Alexis Davis had been a target, too. Faith didn't need any more information. "Get Lorenzo Alcazar down here. Tell him I have information he needs."
Lorenzo Alcazar walked into police headquarters with the confident arrogance that was his public persona. There was no sign of his grief. This pain was nothing compared to the pain of losing Sophie. He would live through this as he had lived through that. His only concern at the moment was determining whether Faith Roscoe had any information that would be of use to him.
"Lorenzo." Faith's tone was businesslike.
"Faith." Lorenzo's tone was equally businesslike. "I assume you had a good reason for calling me here."
"You're here because you want something from me. Information. I called you here because I want something from you in exchange."
"What do you want, Faith?" Lorenzo was certain that his time would be better spent on business.
"I want a partnership. If I weren't in jail, it would be my men taking over this city. I need someone on the outside. As it is, I need someone running things until I'm out."
"Why would I agree to work with you, Faith?"
"Because, you want to run your product through Port Charles. If I. if we take over the Morgan-Corinthos territory, you'll have the Northeast locked up, along with the Caribbean."
Lorenzo wondered what angle she was working. "I have no desire to be the next Sonny Corinthos, Faith."
"That's where I come in. We do things my way, we both get what we want."
Lorenzo considered her proposal. The time was right for a takeover. and apparently someone else thought so as well.
"I came here for information, Faith. What do you know?"
"I know who is behind the explosions." Faith was confident.
"Soleto's men are all over the city."
"Lorenzo. so naïve for such a worldly man." Faith chuckled. "Tracy Quartermaine is in league with Soleto, and she has a partner."
"Who?"
"Oh, no. You don't get to see what's behind door number three until we come to terms."
Lorenzo's eyes locked with Faith's. His expression was unreadable. "A fifty- fifty split," he replied at last.
Faith's gaze was cold as steel. "Sixty-forty. My men are in position for the takeover."
Lorenzo's gaze was just as cold. "I won't be your junior partner. Isn't that what you have Smith for?"
Faith took stock of her situation. She would have nothing if she waited too long.
"Fifty-fifty, and you get me out of here. Alexis Davis was a target, too. She's going to be my new lawyer. I want you to make it happen."
"And how do you expect me to do that?" As far as Lorenzo was concerned, the deal was done.
"I didn't murder Emily Quartermaine. She was, however, engaged to Nikolas Cassadine. Alexis Davis was also a target of last night's bombings. She's Nikolas's aunt, the bastard daughter of Mikkos Cassadine. My family goes way back in this town, Lorenzo. I know my history."
"You also like to hear yourself talk. Tell me. Who is Tracy's partner?"
"Helena Cassadine. The way I see it, she murdered Emily Quartermaine and had me set up as revenge for my. rough handling. of her grandson."
