There was no way that the Alcazar brothers were going to go along with any idea that was discussed in the meeting. Sonny Corinthos was well aware of that and there was no one who could tell him any differently. He knew that Luis Alcazar would sit with his bodyguard at his back and pretend that he wanted a peace. There were people dying in the streets of Port Charles, after all, and no matter how much Luis enjoyed a good fight, his brother was a family man. His brother was a moderately respected, though mostly feared, citizen of the community. His brother didn't want the idea that his wife or children could be caught in the crossfire. He didn't want his reputation ruined because Luis couldn't control himself.

Sonny thought it was strange that Luis had been sent to the meeting. In fact, he had been waiting for the assassination attempt. Luis Alcazar was known for being the ruthless of the brothers Grim. If one were enemy to either of them, violence and gross destruction could be expected, but Lorenzo was known to be more business oriented. He was the one that held formal meetings and discussed business negotiations, usually with Jason Morgan by his side. Of course, Morgan had been temporarily taken out of the equation, so maybe that was why Luis came instead of his twin. Or maybe they wanted him to know that this was merely a formality; that no deal between them would truly be honored and Luis would be released to do his worst.

Whatever the reason, Sonny Corinthos had sat across from Luis Alcazar for more than two hours, hammering out a deal that would equally split the town. They wanted their arms shipments left alone and there would have to be payment made, a percentage of the drug profits. Port Charles was their territory, of course. They wouldn't let him take control anymore than he would let them retain control.

It was all bullshit, as far as Sonny saw things. They wanted to lull him into a false sense of security. They told him that the assassination attempts would stop. His base of operations would be Port Charles, and he could roam the streets as he saw fit. With or without guards, it didn't matter, because they wouldn't be putting anymore hits out on him. They would be business parents. Yeah, sure. They just wanted him to go outside alone so they could take him out. Probably waiting for Morgan to get back on his feet so he could do the deed. Didn't trust the kids they had on the payroll for the heavy work, so they would wait until Morgan could shoot, run and not get caught.

Well, that most certainly was not how things were going to go down. He didn't get where he was, at the top of the Rivera organization, by letting others get the jump on him. He struck first and he struck hardest. The first attempt on Lorenzo Alcazar had been a bust, he had to admit that. He hadn't anticipated Luis throwing his legal troubles to the wind to come back to town. He also hadn't counted on Lorenzo or Morgan to survive that attack. He just had to be harder, quicker, smarter.

Smarter was to lull the Alcazars into the very false sense of security that they wanted for him. He had to hope that they were conceited enough to let their egos rise above their common sense. He had to hope that they thought Sonny to be stupid, beneath them, and unable to see their plot coming a mile away. He banked on that day, the day of the meeting, to be their weakness; that it would be the day they laid in wait, the day before the strike.

So, Sonny Corinthos struck first and he struck hardest… all at once. Everybody but Lorenzo Alcazar. He would take care of him personally.


"You have got to be kidding me!"

As Carly screamed her disgust, Zander streaked past her, his eyes directed behind the bar at what caught her attention. The numbers on the bomb were ticking away, and if either of them had to guess, and as they would both later tell the police, it appeared that the timer had been set to start the second the door to The Cellar closed shut behind them.

"This place is supposed to be off-limits," Zander said. In a second, he had Carly by the arm and was jerking her towards the door. "It was part of the deal."

"What? What deal?" She cried out as her side hit the edge of the bar when they rounded it. She stumbled and Zander continued to jerk her forward. Prada heels were not the best for one to run in, and Carly wondered if she should start wearing flatter shoes when trouble hit the fan. "Zander, what are you doing!"

Her arm was being nearly pulled from the socket. The back hem of her slacks caught underneath her heel and she went down to her knees and was instantly jerked back up. She looked to Zander as they neared the stairs leading up to the door and he had a phone out. Who was he calling at a time like this? All she heard was, "Deal's off. Corinthos double-crossed us!"

She could still hear the beeping of the bomb's clock, and Carly knew that it was only in her head. They were almost through the door. There was no way she could hear the sound from all the way over there. However, the beep beep beep of each second passing stuck in her head, serving as a calculation of how much time they had and how much farther they had to go. Once they got up the stairs inside the club, there were still two more sets to get up before they were outside of the building. Then, they had to get out of the blast range.

What about the surrounding businesses? She had seen very few people around the area when they had come inside only moments before. In the immediate vicinity, they were close enough to the docks that there weren't very many businesses in the area, but there were still a few places just up the way. She had signed on for these types of things when she agreed to stay with Lorenzo, but they were innocent bystanders. Carly wasn't exactly known for being compassionate towards people she didn't know, but that didn't mean she wanted them to blow up, either.

Almost at the door, Carly thought as she looked up. She tripped over the steps, but forced herself to stay on her feet. The floor beneath them shook and both Carly and Zander stopped. They looked down, over the banister, and saw a ball of fire rushing up. Zander hoisted Carly over his shoulder and ran as fast as he could up the stairs before the entire place blew.

Plaster fell around them and the walls shook. Two steps from the landing that led to the outer door there was a rush of fire. Zander shoved himself hard against the wall. The heat scorched the side of his face as he turned away. He fell down and huddled himself around Carly. She felt the seering heat quickly and then it was gone. They stood up and Zander looked down. The fire had rushed back down into the bar, but they both knew that wasn't the end of it.

"It's coming back," Zander said softly, turning to Carly. "It's going to destroy the entire bottom floor…"

"Then suck us into it." Her eyes were wide and her hair stuck to her face. "We've got to get out of here."

"Now."


Jason stumbled into Luke's clutching his stomach, bent forward. He was almost healed, but not enough for the amount of running that he'd been doing since receiving the call from Zander. All of his stitches had been removed, the staples had long since desolved into his system, but his body was still tender. He healed quickly, but not fast enough to be ready for everything to go to hell all at once.

"Come on, we've gotta go. Close the place down, now."

Sam looked up at him confused. "What…" Her words stopped as she took a good look at Jason. His face was blanched, his eyes lined with red. She pressed her hands flat against the bar and hopped over the smooth top. She ran to him and slid under his arm, making him put some of his weight on her. "Jason, what's going on?"

"It's all a double-cross." His voice was strained as he turned her towards the door. He took a look around the club and, in the middle of the afternoon, there weren't many people there. "The bar is closed," he said as loud as he could. "Everybody out." People looked up at him confused and he shouted, "Out!"

Nervously, people began to leave. A few dropped money on their tables, some still held bewildered looks, but all of them got out of the bar. Jason practically dragged Sam towards the door, leaning on her enough that it would be impossible for her to not come with him. His leather jacket crunched and groaned as it moved against her.

"Jason… I have to go in the office. I've gotta get my coat. The keys…"

"Leave the coat," he said. "We're not taking the bike, anyway, we're going in the car that drove you here." He dug in his pocket and came out with a set of keys. "I got 'em from Luke before he skipped out on Helena watch, just in case I had to get you out of here quick."

"Jason, what's going on? You still haven't told me…"

"Everybody's being hit," he said quickly. He didn't have time to give her a full explanation, so she would have to settle for the brief one until he was able to do more. "All of us, and anybody they think might go for revenge if we go down. So, come on."

Jason dragged her outside and waited while she locked the front doors, shivering from the cold. Groaning in pain, he pulled out his cell phone and made a call. He'd already been so close to Luke's that getting to Sam had been the only thing on his mind when he first heard from Zander, telling him to hurry up and get Carly to safety. He'd received a call from Lorenzo just before stepping into the building, telling him that he was in the process of bailing Luis and Lucky out of jail, so he and Alexis were safe. That still left Michael and the girls.

"Max," he said as the other line picked up. "Get the girls, then pick up Michael at AJ's and get them to the safe house. Then…" He paused as Max started speaking quickly, his voice steady, though not because he didn't care. He had to speak clearly to be able to get anything done. "Dammit! Alright, get Michael. Lorenzo and I will handle the girls."

He hung up the phone and turned to Sam. She didn't say anything, but the question was in her eyes. She wanted to know what was going on. What left that haunted look in Jason's eyes, a look so dark and unclear that she didn't know if he were going to cry or start screaming. Jason opened his mouth to tell her, but was cut off as she yelled, "Jason, get down!"

Sam barrelled against him, knocking them both to the ground. Without thinking, she grabbed the Beretta from his inner-pants holster and pointed it across the club's parking lot. The gun was bigger than her hand and in the freezing cold, it was harder to pull the trigger, but she got off six shots. Three went wild, but the other three struck their mark. Two in the chest and one took off the gunman's cheek.

She looked at the gun in her hands, then sat up as she heard Jason groan. Sam knelt on her knees as Jason rose up from the ground, his back and hair covered in snow. He took the gun from her and she gave a nervous laugh that hid a sob. "You, um… were gonna say?"

Jason looked across the lot, then back at Sam. She was shaking, and he didn't think it had anything to do with the cold. She may have liked to think of herself as a hardcase, but she wasn't a killer. He pulled himself to his feet, holding the gun to his side, then reached out to Sam. She took his hand and Jason pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"Not a problem." She gulped hard and Jason wondered if it were more of a problem than she was willing to admit. A problem that crept up on her in the dark of night. "Um… that guy's… he's dead." She gulped again. "And you still have that look in your eyes."

He looked at her confused for a second, then shook his head. "Max…"

"The girls?"

"They're not at the penthouse and Max has no clue where they went. Or how they got out without going past him." Jason thought for a second and his eyes darkened. Anger filled them and then was quickly cooled by knowledge. "But, I know. And so will Lorenzo and Carly."