"When do ya suppose things'll be wrapped up enough so that we're not in the major danger? I was thinking Sofie and I could go down to Caracas with Tio Luis for part of the summer." Sage flashed a winning smile, but she could tell by the near identical expression on either of her parents faces that it wasn't doing any good. "Does this silence mean that we're not supposed to spend time with Tio Luis?"
Sofie rolled her eyes and slouched further into her chair. "It means, moron, that Caracas with him is probably just as dangerous at any time as right now is in Port Charles with them." She sighed and looked to her parents. "Or did I miss the point?"
"The only point that needs to be caught here is that I didn't miss yours." Lorenzo smirked at the girls, then looked up to Carly as she sat perched on his lap. More than likely, Sofie and Sage had figured that catching their parents while otherwise occupied, they would easily get the information they desired. More than once, they'd barged in one what they called "disgustingly cute moments" and been told they could do whatever they wanted as long as it included their disappearance for ten minutes or so. "I'm not telling you anything more than I've already told you."
Sage looked to Sofie and grunted. "I told you it wouldn't work." She flounced down on the sofa, her loose and breezy white skirt blooming out around her. She folded her arms and pouted. "Even though we really do want to spend time with him, since his time has been all for Brenda Barrett."
"We could always just go downstairs and ask him." Sofie shrugged. They were relegated to spending the majority of their free time inside of Harborview Towers. That meant that, unless under heavy guard, they could visit Jason across the hall or Luis downstairs. Of course, considering that they always seemed to ditch their guard the second the opportunity rose, heavy guard didn't mean much to them. Thus, they spent all of their time within the confines of the building unless they were at school or with their brother. "You know, AJ doesn't keep Michael locked up like a prisoner."
"AJ is an idiot." Carly rolled her eyes. Lorenzo gently squeezed her thigh and she sighed. She tried her best to control her comments about AJ when Michael were around, but he wasn't there. Granted, she wasn't always a saint when her son was around, but she tried her best not to diminish him in the boy's eyes without provocation. Her daughters, though… It bothered Carly that her daughters actually liked AJ Quartermaine. "Michael is in less danger than the two of you are."
"Have our lives been threatened?" Sofie leaned forward and pressed her elbows into her knees. Even though a thin skirt covered her legs, she would still have bright pink marks where the bone dug into flesh. "Because I think we should know exactly what the threat was, if they've been threatened, that is. Of course, if I'm wrong, feel free to tell me."
Lorenzo groaned. There were times when he regretted the decision he and Carly had made that their daughters would grow into mature young adults. Were they as mature as some of the teens around town, it would have been a lot easier to end a conversation. They had raised Sofie and Sage with a respectful manner, which caused them to believe that they should be respected in all aspects. Sometimes, they forgot that they were still children. Or at least Sofie forgot. Sage always remembered and used it to her advantage.
"Wait a minute…" Lorenzo rose a curious eyebrow. "For two who are so eager to get out of the house, you both certainly don't seem dressed for the weather."
"We're stuck inside, so we're dressing for inside." Sofie shrugged. "Besides, this isn't about what we're wearing. If we were going outside, we'd put on pants. This is about our summer with Tio Luis and this business with that guy…"
"That Sonny Corinthos!" Sage jumped up, then fell back to the sofa when her sister shot her a dark glare. No one was supposed to know just how much information they had eavesdropped their way into knowing. The sheer fact that it was a man could have been a good guess or some deductive reasoning. Knowing the name was something entirely different. Sage cleared her throat and shook her head. "This is about us going down to Caracas with Tio Luis as soon as this dirty business has all been taken care of. We just want to know if we should make plans for when school is out, that's all."
Carly and Lorenzo looked at each other and shook their heads. If it weren't for the fact that Lorenzo was pretty sure Carly knew the same information and had gotten it the same way, he would have given the girls a stern lecture. Unfortunately, with his wife perched on his lap, he couldn't do that without playing favorites. He sighed and said, "I should make you sit over there with them."
Carly shrugged. She wasn't going to pretend that she hadn't listened to any conversation that had been held within the walls of her home. As far as she was concerned, she was within every right to know exactly what was going on. The inside knowledge her sneakiness granted her a feeling of ease during this war for Port Charles that others around her didn't have. She knew what was going on and she knew what steps needed to be taken to be sure that she stayed out of the middle of it. Besides, she thought Lorenzo should have had more faith in her, which was an argument that they'd had more than once in the few weeks since the initial shooting.
There was a battle playing out in the streets of Port Charles, and Carly refused to be one of those people who didn't know enough to stay safe. The back and forth between the Alcazar and Corinthos organizations had yet to claim innocent lives, but there were injuries, and Alexis Davis was working her fingers to the bones to keep everyone out of prison. The only one who seemed to be immune from any harassment was Jason, and that was only because he'd kept his word to Sam and didn't leave his penthouse except to meet across the hall or go to the hospital.
"I don't apologize for keeping myself in the loop, Lorenzo." Carly stood up and sighed, but she didn't walk over to the girls. She moved behind Lorenzo's chair and put her hands on his shoulders, then looked at their daughters. "The two of you, however… I'm tempted to believe that you let that little bit of information slip out to get something."
"No, I think it wasn't supposed to be let out," Lorenzo said, placing his hand over Carly's, "but now that it has been, let's get something straight. Knowing the two of you have been sneaking won't get you out of here any sooner."
"Daddy!" Sofie put her hands to her chest with mock indignation. "I am thoroughly offended that you think we would use something like this. All we want to do is spend some time with our uncle. When this is all over, Luis will probably leave us again, and then, we'll be unhappy."
"We'll cry, Daddy." Sage blinked away faux tears and her bottom lip trembled. "We just wanted to know when life would be back to normal, and you've turned it all into us being villified. I don't… I don't know what to say…"
"I say you're both full of it, but it was very well acted." Carly smirked and rolled her eyes. "You're both good. Very, very good. But, that still doesn't mean that we're telling you anymore than you already know. We're also not letting you run around without, at least, Michael as a chaperone. For all we know, you think you're battle hardened criminals and will run out to take care of Corinthos yourself."
"We wouldn't!"
"Yes, you would. And now…" Carly sighed. "Now, I need to go to work. And I get Zander Smith to follow me around." Lorenzo gave her a look of annoyance and she said, "What? I'm not complaining. Just stating a fact, that's all." Carly bent and kissed him lightly. She moaned softly, then stood up and slowly walked towards the door, grabbing her coat from the nearby stand. "When I get home, I don't want anymore of this, got me?"
The girls grunted their acceptance and watched as Carly went out the door. Once she was gone, they were banished from the room to think about their actions. As they stomped up the stairs, both knew that Lorenzo had to know that time alone was going to do nothing more than give them even more time to come up with another plan to escape from their posh prison. And they found their chance over an hour later when the phone rang and their father burst into the room. "Stay here. Don't answer the phone, and don't answer the door."
"Dad?" Sofie looked up at his anxious eyes with a bit of fear mixed in with her frustration. "What's going on?"
"Luis…" He shook his head, knowing better than to tell them anything right then. He'd never get out of there if he stopped to explain what was going on. "Just remember what I said before. It's dangerous, and I don't want you out there, especially not today. Not right now." Lorenzo shook his head again, then turned and moved quickly to the door. Before he closed the door behind him, he turned and said, "If anybody gets past Max at the door…"
"Dad?"
"If anybody comes here and gets inside… Get to our room. Top drawer on the right side of the bed."
Lorenzo closed the door and was gone. Sofie and Sage looked to one another and let fear start to rise. They both knew what was in that drawer, and if he told them about it, directed them to use it, then it was really bad, really soon. And yet, if he thought they were in that much danger, he wouldn't have left them, no matter what had happened to Luis. At the very least, he'd have taken them with him.
"You think we can get out now?" Sage asked.
Sofie smirked. "Yeah, we can. And…" She dug underneath her bed, her face twisted in concentration until she came out with a sheet of paper. Fear was gone as she grinned, a look that was more like her uncle's than she'd ever conjured. "I know exactly where we're going."
"What's that?"
"The address of where one Sonny Corinthos is hiding out." She smirked. "Ya know, Dad was wrong. The internet isn't a horrible place at all. In fact, I don't know if anything better was ever invented."
