"Mr. Jacks, you are free to go."
Jax looked up from the bench he had been sitting on. "Thank you for coming down here so quickly, Mark. I know how busy you are."
"It wasn't a problem. There isn't much going on at the Embassy today. The ambassador is spending the day at the golf course. I don't have any meetings that can't wait. Besides, bailing you out is the least I can do for an old friend. It's almost like the old days back in Australia. Miranda would find trouble. You would go rushing into save the day. I would bail you out. And of course Miranda would come out of it smelling like a rose."
"Except for that last time." Jax frowned, thinking about those days.
"It was bound to catch up to her sooner or later. She liked to live on the wild side. There wasn't anything anyone could do about that. That explosion she was caught in wasn't your fault. Miranda was dealing with a rough crowd."
"We left her there. She was still alive in that rumble and we left her there, Mark."
"We didn't know that. It's not like we had time to dig her out. If we had stayed, we would be dead too. It all worked out in the end. Even Miranda went on to new and better scams. You should have seen the scandal she caused a couple years later in Morocco."
"Just wait a minute. You knew too?"
"Knew what?"
"That Miranda was alive." Jax looked at the guilty expression on his friend's face and lowered his head to his hands for a second. "First my parents and now you. Was there anyone else out there besides me who wasn't aware that my WIFE had survived that explosion."
Mark remained silent.
Jax looked at Mark in disbelief. "You all knew?"
Mark nodded his head.
"And none of you thought that maybe it might be a good time to tell me about it! My God! I was a wreak when I thought she died."
"Oh come on. You got over it. You even went on to what's her name."
"Brenda."
"Exactly."
"It never occurred to any of you to tell me that she was alive and I was still legally married to Miranda before I married Brenda?"
"If we had known that you were going to marry the brainless chit, then someone might have spoken up. It's not as if you sent out wedding announcements. You took out on a boat and married her. We contacted Miranda as soon as we knew."
"It cost me Brenda."
"Jax, has it never occurred to you that losing a woman who would run to another man every time there is a problem, wasn't that great of a loss? Besides, It isn't Brenda that you are chasing right now."
"That's besides the point."
"Is it?"
"You all lied to me."
"Isn't that like the cat calling the kettle black."
Jax looked at Mark. "I haven't a clue what you are talking about."
"How about that time in Reno when you decided that it was in my best interest not to find my girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriend."
"Whatever."
Jax had to decency to look a little guilty at the memory. "I guess that didn't turn out so well."
"It could have gone a lot better if you had just told me where she was instead of hiding her."
"Perhaps. Do you really think that you could have stopped her from having that abortion?"
"We will never know now."
"You weren't even sure that the child was yours Mark. Come to think of it neither was she."
"But it might have been. The point it, we all do things that in retrospect probably wasn't the best decision we could have made at the time. We argued. We fought. It's in the past. Would you really break up a good friendship over a past mistake that doesn't really matter anymore?"
"No, but it makes me wonder about a few other things that came up that you swore you knew nothing about."
"I've never not told you something that wasn't in your best interest."
Jax looked at his friend. "Somehow that doesn't sound to reassuring."
"Screw reassuring. Aren't you ready to get out of here?"
Jax shook his head. "No. There is something I need to do first. Do you think that you could arrange a few minutes for me to talk to Chris alone?"
Mark looked as Jax slightly confused. "I probably could. I will play the brother in law card. The people here tend to like it when families make amends. By the way, how did the police here get the impression that he was your brother in law?"
"Skye apparently told the policemen that took Chris down that her brother was going after her cheating husband with a gun."
"Well that is good news. She must still care if she took the time to stop someone from shooting you."
"I hope so."
"I will see what I can arrange."
Twenty minutes later, Mark escorted Jax to a private room where Chris was handcuffed to a chair.
"You will have twenty minutes with him then they need the room back."
"Thanks Mark."
"Don't thank me. You are paying a hundred for the privilege. I will just take it out of your wallet when I pick it up for you."
"In that case, you better get to it before the guards do."
"I'm on my way."
Mark looked at the two men and said, "Play nice," before he closed the door.
Jax turned his attention to the man handcuffed to the chair. "Why?"
"Why what? Why throw my lot in with Alcazar? You haven't a clue who you are dealing with."
"How long Chris? You have been doing work for me for three years. How long have you been taking orders from Alcazar? Exactly how much did he pay you to switch loyalties?"
Chris started laughing. "Are you kidding? Alcazar is the only reason I started working for you. That's right. I'm a plant. Alcazar knew that far back that he would be going to Port Charles and he had his people in place long before he got there."
"Who else? How many people who work for me are on Alcazar's payroll?"
"That's the beauty of it. You have no way of know whom it is that you can trust. It could be anyone. They will loyally follow your orders to the letter until the day comes that they get that little phone call. Then they will stab you in the back. You won't have a clue who it will be coming from. I'm definitely looking forward to the day that they strike you down."
"You bastard."
"Do you want some advice on how do deal with Alcazar? Here's my advice. Go home. You leave him and what he considers his alone and he might let you live."
"Not a chance in hell. That crazy bastard isn't getting my wife."
"Ex-wife, remember? You divorced her when we threw a fake Brenda in front of your path. You couldn't drop Skye fast enough. Alcazar may be nuts but he's also smart. You haven't a clue about the lengths he would go to."
"Oh, I have a pretty good idea. He destroyed that woman's life when he took her away from her family and made her into Brenda."
"And how do you suppose he did that? Her memories were extremely detailed. More detailed than the reports on Brenda's life could give us. On no, Alcazar need the real thing in order to get the correct memories into his imposter."
"Brenda's dead."
"How many times did she bring up things that only the two of you knew? If Brenda were really dead, where do you suppose we got that information?"
"NO. I won't go though that again. I made the mistake of abandoning the women I was with twice to chase after Brenda's shadow. The first time it cost Chloe her life and the second it cost my marriage to Skye. I won't do it again. I won't abandon Skye to chase a phantom."
"So, you are just going to leave poor Brenda, the love of your life, at the mercy of your enemy."
"If she is still alive, I wish her all the luck in the world. But chasing her ghost has cost me and everyone around me too much. Good bye, Chris. Oh and a small piece of advise. I suggest you stay out of my path, because if I ever see you again, I will destroy you."
Mark and Jax were just about to leave the station when one of the police officers came running up with a package. Mark spoke to him for a moment, took the package, then handed it to Jax.
"According to the officer, this was delivered here for you." Mark stated.
"Who would have known that I was here?" Jax asked.
"Don't look at me. I didn't tell anyone."
Jax opened the package and a cell phone fell out with a note. Jax read the note and laughed. "It's from Jerry. He says that I have a tap on my other phone so he sent me a clean one."
"Didn't you tell me that he is traveling with Skye? That's good news then. He must be planing on contacting you."
"I hope so. "
Jax looked up from the bench he had been sitting on. "Thank you for coming down here so quickly, Mark. I know how busy you are."
"It wasn't a problem. There isn't much going on at the Embassy today. The ambassador is spending the day at the golf course. I don't have any meetings that can't wait. Besides, bailing you out is the least I can do for an old friend. It's almost like the old days back in Australia. Miranda would find trouble. You would go rushing into save the day. I would bail you out. And of course Miranda would come out of it smelling like a rose."
"Except for that last time." Jax frowned, thinking about those days.
"It was bound to catch up to her sooner or later. She liked to live on the wild side. There wasn't anything anyone could do about that. That explosion she was caught in wasn't your fault. Miranda was dealing with a rough crowd."
"We left her there. She was still alive in that rumble and we left her there, Mark."
"We didn't know that. It's not like we had time to dig her out. If we had stayed, we would be dead too. It all worked out in the end. Even Miranda went on to new and better scams. You should have seen the scandal she caused a couple years later in Morocco."
"Just wait a minute. You knew too?"
"Knew what?"
"That Miranda was alive." Jax looked at the guilty expression on his friend's face and lowered his head to his hands for a second. "First my parents and now you. Was there anyone else out there besides me who wasn't aware that my WIFE had survived that explosion."
Mark remained silent.
Jax looked at Mark in disbelief. "You all knew?"
Mark nodded his head.
"And none of you thought that maybe it might be a good time to tell me about it! My God! I was a wreak when I thought she died."
"Oh come on. You got over it. You even went on to what's her name."
"Brenda."
"Exactly."
"It never occurred to any of you to tell me that she was alive and I was still legally married to Miranda before I married Brenda?"
"If we had known that you were going to marry the brainless chit, then someone might have spoken up. It's not as if you sent out wedding announcements. You took out on a boat and married her. We contacted Miranda as soon as we knew."
"It cost me Brenda."
"Jax, has it never occurred to you that losing a woman who would run to another man every time there is a problem, wasn't that great of a loss? Besides, It isn't Brenda that you are chasing right now."
"That's besides the point."
"Is it?"
"You all lied to me."
"Isn't that like the cat calling the kettle black."
Jax looked at Mark. "I haven't a clue what you are talking about."
"How about that time in Reno when you decided that it was in my best interest not to find my girlfriend."
"Ex-girlfriend."
"Whatever."
Jax had to decency to look a little guilty at the memory. "I guess that didn't turn out so well."
"It could have gone a lot better if you had just told me where she was instead of hiding her."
"Perhaps. Do you really think that you could have stopped her from having that abortion?"
"We will never know now."
"You weren't even sure that the child was yours Mark. Come to think of it neither was she."
"But it might have been. The point it, we all do things that in retrospect probably wasn't the best decision we could have made at the time. We argued. We fought. It's in the past. Would you really break up a good friendship over a past mistake that doesn't really matter anymore?"
"No, but it makes me wonder about a few other things that came up that you swore you knew nothing about."
"I've never not told you something that wasn't in your best interest."
Jax looked at his friend. "Somehow that doesn't sound to reassuring."
"Screw reassuring. Aren't you ready to get out of here?"
Jax shook his head. "No. There is something I need to do first. Do you think that you could arrange a few minutes for me to talk to Chris alone?"
Mark looked as Jax slightly confused. "I probably could. I will play the brother in law card. The people here tend to like it when families make amends. By the way, how did the police here get the impression that he was your brother in law?"
"Skye apparently told the policemen that took Chris down that her brother was going after her cheating husband with a gun."
"Well that is good news. She must still care if she took the time to stop someone from shooting you."
"I hope so."
"I will see what I can arrange."
Twenty minutes later, Mark escorted Jax to a private room where Chris was handcuffed to a chair.
"You will have twenty minutes with him then they need the room back."
"Thanks Mark."
"Don't thank me. You are paying a hundred for the privilege. I will just take it out of your wallet when I pick it up for you."
"In that case, you better get to it before the guards do."
"I'm on my way."
Mark looked at the two men and said, "Play nice," before he closed the door.
Jax turned his attention to the man handcuffed to the chair. "Why?"
"Why what? Why throw my lot in with Alcazar? You haven't a clue who you are dealing with."
"How long Chris? You have been doing work for me for three years. How long have you been taking orders from Alcazar? Exactly how much did he pay you to switch loyalties?"
Chris started laughing. "Are you kidding? Alcazar is the only reason I started working for you. That's right. I'm a plant. Alcazar knew that far back that he would be going to Port Charles and he had his people in place long before he got there."
"Who else? How many people who work for me are on Alcazar's payroll?"
"That's the beauty of it. You have no way of know whom it is that you can trust. It could be anyone. They will loyally follow your orders to the letter until the day comes that they get that little phone call. Then they will stab you in the back. You won't have a clue who it will be coming from. I'm definitely looking forward to the day that they strike you down."
"You bastard."
"Do you want some advice on how do deal with Alcazar? Here's my advice. Go home. You leave him and what he considers his alone and he might let you live."
"Not a chance in hell. That crazy bastard isn't getting my wife."
"Ex-wife, remember? You divorced her when we threw a fake Brenda in front of your path. You couldn't drop Skye fast enough. Alcazar may be nuts but he's also smart. You haven't a clue about the lengths he would go to."
"Oh, I have a pretty good idea. He destroyed that woman's life when he took her away from her family and made her into Brenda."
"And how do you suppose he did that? Her memories were extremely detailed. More detailed than the reports on Brenda's life could give us. On no, Alcazar need the real thing in order to get the correct memories into his imposter."
"Brenda's dead."
"How many times did she bring up things that only the two of you knew? If Brenda were really dead, where do you suppose we got that information?"
"NO. I won't go though that again. I made the mistake of abandoning the women I was with twice to chase after Brenda's shadow. The first time it cost Chloe her life and the second it cost my marriage to Skye. I won't do it again. I won't abandon Skye to chase a phantom."
"So, you are just going to leave poor Brenda, the love of your life, at the mercy of your enemy."
"If she is still alive, I wish her all the luck in the world. But chasing her ghost has cost me and everyone around me too much. Good bye, Chris. Oh and a small piece of advise. I suggest you stay out of my path, because if I ever see you again, I will destroy you."
Mark and Jax were just about to leave the station when one of the police officers came running up with a package. Mark spoke to him for a moment, took the package, then handed it to Jax.
"According to the officer, this was delivered here for you." Mark stated.
"Who would have known that I was here?" Jax asked.
"Don't look at me. I didn't tell anyone."
Jax opened the package and a cell phone fell out with a note. Jax read the note and laughed. "It's from Jerry. He says that I have a tap on my other phone so he sent me a clean one."
"Didn't you tell me that he is traveling with Skye? That's good news then. He must be planing on contacting you."
"I hope so. "