Show: General Hospital

Title: Las Vidas de los Corinthos' II: Chapter 35

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

A/N: The response to the last chapter was wonderful and very encouraging. It won't be long before this installment comes to an end and it might be a little while before Part III is up, although I have the major plot already in the works. Thank you for all your encouraging comments over the year that I have been working on this story, especially LiasonFan2, my muse and sounding block as well as these other dynamite ladies: Sea'Wana, Underscored, Nette, Marla, Sonnybeans, writerchickie, luvr, Claire, Luv2rite, chawkchic, LightOfTheDays/Tink – you are all amazing! I hope I didn't forget anyone, but HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my readers!

X-X-X-X-X

"I know something is going on, Sonny."

Sonny grimaced as he listened to his fiancée's voice over his cellphone. "What are you talking about, Alexis?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

Back in PH4 Alexis frowned and looked at her daughter, who was watching expectantly. "Don't play games."

"I'm not playing games, Alexis," he replied, trading a look with Johnny in the rearview mirror.

"Don't lie, either," she shot back.

"Alexis, I –"

"Do you know where Jason is, Sonny? The truth, please," she broke in.

"Alexis –"

"No," she broke in again, knowing somehow that he would try to evade her question. "It's bad enough that you've included Ric and completely excluded Elizabeth and I. Now, answer the question. Do you know where Jason is?"

Sonny sighed but replied truthfully. "Yes, Alexis, we know where Jason is."

Alexis breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Elizabeth who closed her eyes in gratitude and collapsed onto the couch. "Where is he?"

"We're following Taggliatti right now."

"Taggliatti?" asked a very confused Alexis. "What are you talking about, Sonny?"

"It's a long story, corazon. Listen, I really can't talk now. I'll explain everything when I bring Jason home, safely."

"Wait, Sonny!" she called before he could hang up. "Tell me something, is Daniel Toreno involved in this somehow?"

Sonny's voice became glacial when he heard that name. "In more ways than you know, corazon. In more ways than you know…." He terminated the call, leaving Alexis to ponder his cryptic statement.

X-X-X-X-X

"Ok, calm down, Marcus," Garcia instructed his partner. "Let's just stop and think about this for a while."

Taggert took a frustrated breath, but forced himself to do as his partner had asked.

"Alright, what do we know?" Garcia asked, speaking into his microphone. "Taggliatti's heading for the docks, presumably to finish Morgan off, right? Marsha, where is Joe Tagglatti's territory?"

"Sir, Joseph Taggliatti's territory was completely taken over by the Corinthos' after his death," Marsha pointed out.

"That's not what I asked you, Delgado. Where is Taggliatti's territory?" he asked again.

They could hear the tapping of keys as Marsha quickly accessed the information in the city's database. "His territory extended from Pier 40 to Pier 50, sir. That's an area of approximately 1.5 square miles."

"Good, now add that to the territory owned by the Corinthos' and the other three crime families."

Marsha did as her superior asked. "That takes care of another seven and a half square miles."

"The docks extend for ten square miles," Taggert pointed out. "Who owns the other square mile, Delgado," he asked, seeing where his partner was going with this line of questioning. "No, wait, let me guess, the Quartermaines, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"How'd you guess?" Garcia asked his partner.

"Anytime the Quartermaines need a little cash, they sell off a little piece of their waterfront property. Usually, it's under the table. But I'll be willing to bet that they sure as hell didn't sell anything to Sonny, and the other families wouldn't do something like try to expand their territory and risk getting on Sonny's bad side. So, the majority of the buildings they own are empty. If Taggliatti's holding Morgan, I'll bet my paycheck that he's holding it in a building that the Quartermaines previously owned."

"You hear all that, Delgado?" Garcia asked. "What part of the docks do the Quartermaines own?"

"Already on it, sir. The Quartermaine property extends from 160 Freemont Road to Pier 40."

"We'll start there, closest to Taggliatti's property," Garcia instructed.

X-X-X-X-X

"When this is over, I have another job for you," Delano said to Destang as the sedan pulled into the garage of the warehouse.

"Let me guess, Lyle Turner, right?"

"You're psychic," was Taggliatti's sarcastic reply.

"He's probably in protective custody," Destang pointed out the obvious. "It won't be cheap."

"I'll give you seventy-five grand to get rid of that fucker! No one double-crosses me and gets away with it!"

"Done," Destang replied simply.

"Good." Delano took out his briefcase and strode down the corridor. The time was ticking for Morgan and he hadn't come this far only for some traitor and the damned PCPD to rain on his parade.

It was time for Morgan to die.

X-X-X-X-X

"He's on Quartermaine property," Francis announced, checking the tracking system in his hand.

Sonny frowned. He made it his business to keep track of the waterfront and he knew that very little of the waterfront supposedly owned by the Quartermaines was still owned by the family. He was in the territory he had just acquired from Taggliatti, which bordered the last of the land that the government officials thought the Quartermaines owned. Any bet, Taggliatti had bought the land and kept it quiet not just from the law but from Sonny and the other three families.

"Just keep following him," Sonny instructed. "I want to be long gone before the PCPD get a clue and start sniffing around."

X-X-X-X-X

Morgan wasn't far from death.

Taggliatti could smell it and the metallic scent of blood as Destang rolled back the door and he stepped into the room. He smiled and reveled in the imminent death of his enemy, which would bring him one step closer to fulfilling his goal.

"Morgan?" he called.

Jason didn't reply.

Delano allowed his eyes to adjust to the darkness before striding to the just visible shadow in the center of the room. He snapped on the feeble overhead light. He was pleased with what he saw. Morgan's head lolled lifelessly to the side – he seemed to have passed out. His grey T-shirt was covered in blood. The two wounds on his shoulders were darker and he knew that the arms would become useless in a matter of hours. The wound across his belly was not deep, he knew, but had bled profusely. Even now, little rivers of blood were running. "Good work," he commended the hit-man, who had come to stand by his side.

"Thank you," Destang replied, admiring his work with pride.

"He isn't dead, yet, is he?" he asked, hoping the latter was so.

"No," Destang replied, but he checked the pulse at his neck to prove it. "Just passed out from the pain."

"Wake him up, then," Taggliatti instructed. "I want to finish the job."

Destang shrugged and, grabbing Jason's hair, slapped his cheeks repeatedly to draw him out of unconsciousness.

Jason's eyes fluttered opened reluctantly. The blue irises were dilated in agony. The pain was so immense that he had no clue of anything beyond it.

"How nice of you to rejoin us," Delano spoke, the good nature in his voice, grating on what was left of Jason's nerves. "I'm here to do you a favour." He reached into his syringe and pulled out a syringe and a bottle of fluid. "Don't worry Morgan, it won't hurt any more…" he said silkily. "I'm here to put you out of your misery."

X-X-X-X-X

"You sure this where he stopped?" Sonny asked Francis, taking in the empty surroundings of the warehouse building.

"Positive," Francis replied, crossing to show his boss on the screen the blinking red light that represented Taggliatti's sedan. "See, 141 Mullholland Street. That's where we are," he pointed to a street sign.

"So, where's the car?" Sonny asked the next most obvious question.

"In here, I bet," Johnny replied. He'd been scooping out the building and he noted what looked like the entrance to a garage. He slid the door open and, sure enough, there was the car.

"Let's go," Sonny instructed. "But leave Taggliatti to me."

X-X-X-X-X

Destang frowned suddenly. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Delano asked, as he loaded the syringe.

Destang strained to hear more, but nothing else reached his ears. "Nothin'," he finally replied.

"Paranoid much, Destang?" he asked, with a slight laugh.

Destang kept a hand on his weapon, still. "What is that?" he asked his employer as Taggliatti pumped the syringe, making sure the tip was full.

"This, my friend, is Succinylcholine. A muscle relaxant," he explained. "In small doses, that is," his laughter was a diabolical bark. "But at this dose, when injected, it'll shut down Morgan's organs and he'll suffocate himself."

While Taggliatti was speaking, Delano knew for certain this time, that he was hearing things he shouldn't. But, before he could remove his weapon, Johnny rounded the corner, Sonny hot on his heels. Johnny's bullet slammed into his chest before he could call out a warning.

At the sound of the gunshot, Taggliatti turned in surprise, only to see Sonny Corinthos and his guards, all their weapons trained on him. "It's a pity you won't get to use that," Sonny announced.

X-X-X-X-X

"Is that what I think it is?" Garcia asked, trepidation running down his spine.

Taggert didn't bother to answer. "Dispatch, shots fired! Repeat, shots fired! Address, 141 Mullholland Street."

"Shit!" Garcia cursed, pulling up to one of the buildings. A black SUV was parked and a door lay wide open, displaying the rear of the black sedan they'd been following. "How the hell did they get here before us?"

"I think that is the last thing we need to worry about!" Taggert replied, vaulting out of the vehicle and heading for the building.

X-X-X-X-X

In a suicide move, Delano reached for the gun that he'd taken from the car.

Sonny didn't hesitate, squeezing the trigger. Delano cried out as the bullet slammed into his shoulder and the gun, which he'd managed to get a hold on, clattered to the floor. His bullet whizzed uselessly into a wall.

"You're a stupid man, Taggliatti, just like your brother," Sonny said, squeezing the trigger again as he advanced on the younger man. The bullet slammed into Delano's leg and he collapsed to his knees.

"Oh, God," Taggliatti was mumbling over and over, as the pain exploded in his body.

Sonny reached him and with the tip of his shoe, pushed Delano flat onto his back, his shoe pressed into his throat. "You know, your brother begged God, too," Sonny revealed. "Say hello to him when you see him," he pointed the gun to Taggliatti's skull, just as the PCPD burst in.

X-X-X-X-X

"Drop it, Corinthos!" Garcia commanded, his gun trained on the Mob boss. "You don't want to do anything you'll regret!"

Sonny pressed his foot harder into Taggliatti's throat, further cutting off his oxygen supply as the younger man writhed beneath him. "This will be something I most definitely will not regret, Detective," was his cold reply, as the gun he pointed to Taggliatti's head did not waver in the slightest.

"I said drop the gun, Corinthos!" Garcia commanded again. "You, too!" he continued, referring to Francis and Johnny, who had their weapons trained on the police officers. "You're already in enough trouble as it is!"

"I was merely defending myself, Detective," Sonny replied, his brown eyes focused entirely on Delano's.

"You defended yourself already, Corinthos! Now, you have five seconds to drop that gun before you join him on the ground!" Garcia warned. "Fivefourthree…."

Sonny's eyes narrowed in displeasure, but he stepped away from Taggliatti and, relocking the safety, dropped his gun to the floor. Johnny and Francis followed suit.

"Kick them toward me," Garcia instructed, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief, knowing that if he had shot Sonny, Goon 1 and Goon 2 would have returned the favour and they wouldn't have been shooting to maim. "Hands where I can see 'em!"

Satisfied that his partner had things under control for the moment, Taggliatti rushed to the shadowy figure slumped in the chair. What he saw made him light-headed. Morgan wasn't moving and there was blood everywhere. From Taggliatti's taped conversation with Destang, he knew that what they would find was not going to be pretty, but nothing could have prepared him for this. "Jesus!"

Sonny's jaw clenched, knowing that the situation was dire. What little he had been able to see of Jason wasn't good either.

"Dispatch, this is Detective Marcus Taggert, I need EMS to 141 Mullholland Street ASAP! Hurry!" Taggert holstered his gun and frantically felt for a pulse.

There was none….

TBC…

A/N: I know I'm cruel to leave you with a cliffhanger. I hope you enjoyed and that it leaves you salivating for more! Drop me a line to let me know what you thought!