Chapter 5



Mac Scorpio put down the phone with a slight frown as Dara Jensen and Marcus Taggart walked into the room. "Any word?"

"Nothing good," Taggart replied as he took on seat opposite the desk and Dara the other. "Some of our 'witnesses' are changing their stories already."

"That's just wonderful," Mac sighed as he rolled his eyes.

"Hell, at least Corinthos makes them just disappear, not purger themselves," Taggart sighed disgustedly.

"He also doesn't blatantly buy off the DA's office and local judges," Dara put in. "Have you taken a look at the amount of evidence she had to support her claim of his harassing her? Tapes, letters, cards. . ." she shook her head.

"What's happened to that evidence now?" Mac asked.

Taggart sighed, "From what I heard they gave it all back to her. We'll have to wait till she wakes up to get it. Not that it's going to help. No one wants to prosecute a Quartermain," he said earning a sharp glance from Dara.

"Well, I'm trying to force their hand," Mac admitted trying to divert attention from Taggart's comment. "It may cost me my job, but I am not just sitting here doing nothing."

"What have you done?" Dara asked.

"Called the daughter of a friend. She works for that new 24 hour a day news service. She said the news director has taken a personal interest in it."

"Let's just hope that he isn't on the Quartermain payroll," Taggart sighed, "because if he is it's gonna take a hell of a lot to get us all out of this. You do know that the DA ordered me to stop investigating till further notice?"

"And I'm telling you to stay on it," Mac shot back and then looked to Dara, who was too quiet. "So you want to tell me what's going on in your head?"

"I was just. . ." Dara shook her head. "You guys know that I've said for a while that there was something familiar about her?"

"Yeah so?" Taggart asked.

"Mac, did you friend say that there was any reaction to her name?"

"No, why?"

Dara sighed, "then I didn't make the connection that I thought I did," she admitted tiredly.

"Dara, you're not making sense," Taggart told her.

"Excuse me, no sleep and cases like this have that affect. Alexis pulling something and getting him off on a technicality I could handle, I wouldn't like it, but I could handle that. But not even being able to attempt to prosecute him because he's a Quartermain and Moss is a friend of Carly's pisses me off. And for just a split second I thought: maybe there was a way around the choke hold that the Quartermains have us in on this one. Seems I was wrong. I probably just made an association because I wanted to so much."

"Dara, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she sighed as she looked at her watch. "Look, I have to get going. I have a plane to catch, I'm already late to this convention and the DA's trying to tear me a new one for it. Just keep me informed on this one, OK, guys?"

"Not a problem," Mac said as they all stood.

"I'll walk you out," Taggart said as he waited for Mac's nod and they started out. "You think his plan will work?"

"Publicity might force them to make an attempt at an investigation, but we know if it even gets to trail they'll throw it out. The Quartermains have too many judges in their pockets."

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Carly stepped out of the ladies room to walk right into Jason who scowled at her. "You happy now?" he asked her.

Carly rolled her eyes as she went to step past him. She really wasn't up to dealing with the man. Ever since he had started dating Liz Webber their friendship had deteriorated to the point of irreparability. "Carly. . ."

"What, Jase?" she said stopping and turning to face him.

"I asked you a question."

"And I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"You nearly got a woman killed."

"No, your brother threw a woman down a flight of stairs," Carly sighed. "Or did Lizabitch leave that out of her recitation of the events of last night?"

"How about you leaving out the fact that you put her up to getting a restraining order!"

"I didn't know about it till after the fact," Carly shot back as she went to stand toe to toe with him. "But I'll tell you this. I would've told her to go for it. I've been on the receiving end of AJ's mistreatment so excuse me if I didn't want to see a friend of mine on it too. You used be able to understand that."

"I was taken in by your spin control," Jason replied.

"Right. What you're been taken in by is that manipulative little. . ." she shook her head. "Stay out of my life Jase. Stay away from my friends. Oh, and tell your newly reconciled family that they're not getting away with this. They're not fooling anyone."

"It was an accident."

"Yeah right," Carly rolled her eyes, "you keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day you'll believe it too. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm going to go and see if I can persuade your cousin to go and get something to eat while I sit with my friend."

"What about Michael?"

"That's none of your business."

"Carly, I want to make sure that he's OK."

"Oh, he's fine. He's with his father."

Jason laughed at that, "that is so you. Try to frame AJ for something and then let him have Michael for the day so that you look like you aren't up to anything."

"I didn't say he was with AJ, I was he was with his father. Oh, and I wouldn't try anything. Sonny already knows what happened and knows I don't want you around Michael right now."

"Carly. . ."

"You're not taking him to that house. I won't have him be the next one taking a header down those stairs at the hands of a drunken AJ. Deal with it," she said before stalking off, leaving him wondering about who he should believe.