Show: General Hospital

Title: Las Vidas de los Corinthos' II: Chapter 31

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: Thanks for last chapter's comments; I really appreciated each and every one.

X-X-X-X-X

"And my fucking day just keeps getting better and better!" Taggert cursed.

He and Garcia were standing on the riverbank as the EMTs loaded the gurney on which lay a black body-bag into the ambulance for transportation to the morgue. It was barely seven o'clock in the morning and any progress they thought they had made through Yates's identification was all shot to hell.

"Spencer!" he practically bellowed to the junior officer currently interviewing the witness that had spotted the body in the water.

"Yes, sir!" Lucky quickly excused himself and jogged over to his superior officers.

"Any more information on Yates?"

"No," Lucky replied, shaking his head. "That guy over there," he continued pointing over to the witness, "says he thinks he knows who he is. He hangs out on the docks all the time. He's a regular at Jake's."

"Good. Take another uniform with you to Jake's and see if you can find out what Mr. Yates does – did – for a living," Taggert ordered.

X-X-X-X-X

Instead of heading straight back to Harborview, Sonny instructed Johnny to take them to the warehouse where, when he strolled into his office, he found Benny waiting. "Talk to me," he instructed, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it into the corner.

Benny nodded quickly at Ric in greeting before launching into what he had learned. "Ed Yates used to work for Rocco Taggliatti years ago before the old man got taken out." He handed the file to Ric, who perused it whilst listening. "He was never on the official payroll, only Rocco's right hand man Johnny Scissors and probably Joe Taggliatti knew about him. He was hardcore Special Forces – they didn't use him for the petty jobs," he continued in explanation.

Sonny leaned back in his chair, absorbing this information. "So he gets recalled for this vendetta and then offed because Zico IDed him?" he asked thoughtfully.

"Question is, by whom?" Ric asked, setting the file down.

"That's what I was wondering. I did a little more digging. Turns out that Rocco Taggliatti's widow bore him two sons."

"What?" Sonny perked up. This was news to him. Joseph Taggliatti had never mentioned a brother.

"Delano Taggliatti was Joe's kid brother. A real character apparently. He lived with his mother in the City but got hustled out of the country when he became a problem. Seems to have dropped off the face of the earth."

"Dropped off the face of the earth my ass!" Sonny spat, his eyes burning as he looked at his fact-finder. "Find him!"

X-X-X-X-X

On the docks at Jake's, the lady herself was trying to be helpful as Lucky showed her the photo of Edward Yates. "Gee, for such an ugly guy, he's sure got a lotta people lookin' for him. Someone just asked me the same thing."

Lucky lifted an eyebrow, knowing Taggert was not going to like that. That 'someone' was more than likely inquiring on Sonny's behalf. "Do you know this man?"

"Yeah, sure, I know him. Don't know his name, but I'd sure as hell remember a fella with a mug like that," she explained as she wiped down the counter.

"You know anything about him? Like where he works or where he lives?"

"Nah... like I said, kid, I don't even know his name. He comes in, orders Bud and chain smokes Marlboros."

"Alone?"

"Used to be, but recently, he started hanging out with this little bald guy."

Lucky's interest was immediately pricked. "How recently?" he asked.

"Up until a few days ago." She paused, a frown between her brows. "Come to think of it, that's him, right there," she pointed into the dark smoky interior where a nondescript man was cozied up to an over-painted under-dressed woman. "He came in not too long before you two. Cheap bastard," Jake muttered. "Buys one beer – well two todaybecause he's got that floozy with him – but always tap. He makes it stretch and hogs my damned table space!"

Lucky's gaze honed in on the man, who was far too occupied with running his hand up the expanse of the woman's leg to realize he was being watched. Lucky's eyes swung back to Jake and he flashed the Spencer smile and hoisted himself up on his hands to peck her cheek. "Jake, darlin', you are an angel!"

Lucky motioned the other officer to follow him and the two quickly left the bar, leaving Jake chuckling to herself, "Like Father, like son!"

X-X-X-X-X

Marsha was cooing appreciatively in his ear (read:- performing better than Meg Ryan and her 'orgasm' in "When Harry met Sally") as Lyle ineptly stroked her underneath the booth's table when a shadow fell across them. Both sprung apart guiltily as they recognized Detectives Taggert and Garcia glaring down at them.

"Lyle Turner," Taggert began. His eyes flicked to Marsha who looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here.

"Detective Taggert... Garcia, when did you get back into town?" he added, flicking his gaze to the other man.

"Who's your girlfriend?" Garcia asked, with a trace of humour in his tone as he blatantly ignored the man's question.

Marsha shrunk away, knowing Garcia recognized her from the many times she and her fellow ladies of the night and (evidenced by the present moment) day had spent in the jail cells at headquarters.

"Nobody," Lyle blurted quickly.

Marsha didn't take any offence, simply scooted to the edge of the booth, teetering on her super-high platform heels as she struggled to pull the tube-top that served as a skirt down her thighs. "See ya, Lyle," she said, hurrying through the bar and out the door faster than should have been possible.

Lyle looked after her as though she had abandoned him in the lion's den and as Taggert and Garcia made themselves comfortable, Taggert opposite him and Garcia next to him, he felt as though she truly had.

"So," he began, his eyes darting back and forth between the two men, making him look like the weasel he was, "what can I do for you, detectives?"

Taggert smiled, but it was entirely predatory. "First, you can tell me what your relationship is with Edward Yates." He held up the sketch.

Lyle paled and his eyes bugged further. "I don't know who you're talking about, Detective," he lied, in what he hoped was a convincing manner.

"C'mon, Lyle," Garcia jostled his shoulder hard enough that the other hit the wall hard. "You know...? Your drinking partner."

"I swear, I don't know who you're talking about," Lyle cried, rubbing his shoulder.

"Didn't your years in Pentonville teach you that you really shouldn't lie to a police-officer?" Taggert asked, sounding like a scolding parent.

Lyle's mouth fell open and for a moment, he looked more like a guppy than weasel.

"You know, Lyle," Garcia said conversationally, "The Corinthos' were looking for Yates, too, but guess what? We fished him out of the river this morning."

Lyle gulped.

"Jake told us where to find you. If she told us, can you really see her not telling the Corinthos soldier when next he comes in here looking for info?" The threat was left hanging in the air.

Lyle's thoughts were all in a jumble. Yates was dead! Obviously, he'd been identified. Had Corinthos done it, or had Delano snapped and have someone take him out? If the latter was so, what was to stop Delano from snuffing out the only other true link to Yates they had?

"Ok... ok!" he conceded, his hands in the air. "I'll talk. But if I do, you gotta protect me! Just the two of you. He's got people in the force on his payroll and if he finds out I'm talkin', my life, and therefore my testimony, ain't gonna be worth shit!"

X-X-X-X-X

Ric was on his way out of the warehouse when he spotted Marco, one of Sonny's guards, coming towards him. "Did you find anything on Jason?" he asked, pausing on the bottom of the stairs.

"No, Mr. Lansing. But we're digging. We'll find him."

Ric watched him walk up the stairs to his brother's office before heading outside. Max was waiting by the limo to take him back to the apartment to pick up his messages and his car. For obvious reasons he and Alexis had closed their offices. He was going to change his clothes and then drive over to Harborview – he really didn't want to be alone.

On the ride to his apartment, he leaned his head back on the headrest and closed his eyes. God, he was tired! The events of the last several weeks were really starting to take their toll on everyone and, with this latest attack, he wasn't sure they would be able to survive. Sonny, who always took death hard, was now barely hanging on by a thread. He was trying to be strong for Alexis and the children, but failing miserably in coping for himself. Now, with Jason's disappearance and the constant worrying of what his fate was, was making things worse.

Ric spared a thought for Courtney, his eyes once again filling with tears as he thought of her stretched out on that cold metal slab in the sterile identification room. She'd looked as innocent as an angel, as a sleeping child. Someone had snuffed out her life and for what? Retribution for a man who had taken what hadn't belonged to him in the first place? Life wasn't fair. Thinking that the same fate could be awaiting Jason was enough to put ice-water into his veins. Sonny had already described Elizabeth's state before she'd keeled over in exhaustion. He knew how much he meant to her. If they found Jason's body, he knew that his niece would never recover.

Ric sighed, his thoughts strayed from Courtney and Jason to Port Charles's ME. Dr. Hart was probably busy conducting Courtney's internal examination now. Despite these sobering thoughts, thinking of her eased the pain in his chest a little. He immediately shook those from his head... now was most definitely not the time.

X-X-X-X-X

Jason's head lolled to the side as he sat in the cold unforgiving chair in what was his cell. He'd more than suffered a concussion but he was feeling, of all things, around his pain, hunger.

"Wake up!" a voice commanded directly beside his ear.

Jason's bloodshot blue eyes snapped open to find Delano grinning sadistically above him. "Sleeping in the middle of the day?"

Not that Jason had any concept of what time it was anyway.

"Curious about this morning's papers?" Jason looked up, no expression on his face whatsoever. Delano had grown used to it by now – it irked, but he didn't lose his temper like before.

"'MOB PRINCESS FOUND DEAD IN APARTMENT'" he turned the newspaper so Jason could see the screaming headline in the feeble light. With his throbbing headache, Jason couldn't muster the strength to make out the words. "Shall I continue?" Delano asked, as he heard Jason's breathing start to speed up, the only sign of his true feelings. He gave a blow by blow of the report, enjoying every second of it. When he was finished, he clasped his hands behind his back and his smile reminded Jason of a wolf.

"Wonder how your family's holding up. The unflappable Sonny Corinthos," he spat the name as if it tasted foul in his mouth. "The super sexy Alexis.... Elizabeth." Jason's jaw clenched and he ached to wipe that smirk off Delano's face. "The grief for her beloved aunt must be killing her... her concern over you.... What kind of promoter would I be to be in town and not look in on my charge?" he asked silkily.

Jason snapped. "If you touch her, I'll kill you, you sonofabitch!" Jason railed, throwing himself, chair and all, at Delano.

Delano laughed as Jason's chair off balanced and he fell to the floor. He slammed a handsome hand-stitched Italian shoe into Jason's ribs, thoroughly enjoying it as hiss breath left his body in a wheeze and a cough. "That's where you're wrong, Morgan," his voice like a winter wind. "I'll kill you... and I'll make her watch me do it...."

X-X-X-X-X

"Tea?" Alexis posed the question, holding out the mug as she stood in the doorway of the guest bathroom in PH4. The phone had been ringing nonstop since the press had broken the story. For piece of mind, Alexis had turned off the ringer and all calls had started going straight to the machine.

Elizabeth looked up at the reflection of her mother in the mirror. She smoothed her dark cap of hair and wiped the moisture from her freshly scrubbed face. She was in a much better state that she had been a few hours ago, but her cobalt-blue eyes were still haunted.

"Sure, thanks," she accepted the steaming mug from her mother and took a sip of the fragrant liquid gratefully.

"Are you hungry?" Alexis asked, smoothing her daughter's hair.

"Not really... you?" Elizabeth asked in reply.

"No."

Liz took her next breath on a sniffle and she could feel tears pricking the back of her eyes. She met her mother's gaze and realized that she too was on the verge of crying. Elizabeth set the mug on the bathroom counter and Alexis pulled her into her arms. "I'm so worried," she sobbed, her shoulders shaking. "Where is he? What if something happened to him?"

Alexis had no answers to those questions, a fact that made her feel even worse. Elizabeth was trying so hard to pull herself together and the struggle was threatening to overwhelm her.

After a while, they pulled away, Alexis wiping the tears from her daughter's shattered face. Elizabeth did the same for her. "We're going to find him," Alexis said, hope infused in her voice. "And then we're going to find the bastard who did this to our family and make sure that he pays for all the pain he put us through."

Elizabeth's spine straightened at the steel in her mother's voice. And she nodded vigorously. "For Courtney," she said softly.

"For family," Alexis reiterated.

X-X-X-X-X

"Ok, we got you someplace safe, now talk." The order came from Garcia and there was none of the usual underlying humour in his tone.

Lyle's eyes darted back and forth. He was in a room at the Port Charles Hotel, no less, sitting at an escritoire in one of their rooms, a rather ominous tape recorder sitting in front of him. ADA Jensen sat across from him, arms folded across her chest, a frown marring her pretty face; Commissioner Scorpio sat next to her; Taggert stood behind Dara and Garcia was leaning over the table, skewering Lyle with his gaze.

"As soon as I'm done, I'm outta here, right?" he asked, for the millionth time.

Dara's frown deepened. "Until it's time for you to testify, yes."

He gulped at the word 'testify'.

"We don't have time to fuck around, Turner," Taggert all but growled. "Quit stallin' and start talkin'."

Mac reached across and hit the record button. All the preliminaries had been taken, so he simply said, "State your name for the record, please."

Once again, Lyle debated the wisdom of his actions but chose treason over death. "My name is Lyle Turner. About six weeks ago, I went to New York City. I was meeting with the brother of my former boss, Joseph Taggliatti...."

X-X-X-X-X

A knock sounded at the door before the knob turned and Francis, who was on duty in the absence of Johnny and Max, stuck his head through the crack.

"You have a visitor," he addressed Elizabeth, who sat on the couch, watching Zico and Kristina play a half-hearted game of jacks. "I could get rid of them if you want," he added empathetically, knowing that his charge was not in the best of states.

"Who is it?" Elizabeth asked, getting to her feet.

"Mr. Toreno," he replied.

Elizabeth was a little surprised to hear the name, and for a moment said nothing.

"Do you want me to get rid of him?" Francis asked softly.

She seriously debated letting him do so, but she had to see other people eventually. If she was to show the world that she was staying strong through this awful tragedy, she had to start somewhere. "No, it's fine. Let him in."

"Ok," Francis conceded. He stepped back and opened the door wider, allowing Daniel to walk past him into the apartment.

"Elizabeth..." Daniel began, the sympathy practically dripping from his voice. "I'm so sorry."

Elizabeth smile was weak. "Thank you, Daniel."

Francis shut the door behind him, a strange unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach, having let the wolf in sheep's clothing right into the center of the flock....

TBC...

A/N: I really wanted to get this chapter out sooner, but was unfortunately unable to do that. It's winding down... not much to go. I think at least five more chapters. Thanks for all the support and don't forget to drop me a line or two.

Cara