Johnny stepped into the house, ignoring the open door behind him and waved the gun at Carly, motioning for her to step away from the phone. He then approached the injured man, his free hand reaching out to feel for a pulse on his wrist. He frowned when he found one.
"I'm calling for help," Carly said, "Mama will…"
"Bobbie is flying over the ocean with JJ right now, Carly," Johnny said, "Put the phone down and let him die like a man."
Carly did slam the phone down and then she stomped right over to Johnny, her finger in his face, "Lorenzo Alcazar is not going to die and I don't know who the hell you are to think that you can come storming into my house demanding that I…"
"He was in on it," Johnny growled, "And it's about damn time that you and Elizabeth opened your eyes up to see that."
Carly stepped back with a frown on her face, "I know he was in on it. Lorenzo told me everything just before he passed out. Well, almost everything," her brown eyes looked towards the man who was lying motionless on the couch, "He knows who killed Sonny."
"What?" Johnny asked, "Why the hell is he just lying there? What the fuck, Carly?" Johnny stormed of, stuffing his pistol into the waistband of his pants, slamming into the kitchen and rummaging around for something.
Carly moved back towards the couch and knelt down in front of the man before her. She knew what he said, she was aware that he had been in on this in the beginning but he had tried to cut out, he had tried to rectify things on his end before they got worse. That had to count for something didn't it? How many times did she lose it only to be pulled back off of the edge at the very last second? She hoped, she prayed that God wouldn't take this man away form her either.
She also pulled her very expensive snow white chenille throw off of the back of her couch and pressed it against Lorenzo's still bleeding wound. She screeched and jumped back startled when Johnny came out of the kitchen with a large bucket of water and dumped it over Lorenzo's head. He then reached down and slapped the man across the face a few times.
"Come on you asshole, wake up," Johnny snarled, grateful when the man's eyes started to flutter. He grabbed him by the collar of his dress shirt and brought him nose to nose, "What the fuck do you know? Who the fuck is controlling this?"
Lorenzo tried to fight through the haze. He struggled with the words and the fog that surrounded him. He felt as if his body was on fire and he could no longer feel his side where the bullet had torn through his flesh. Beside the man that was barking at him stood a worried Carly.
Johnny, fed up with the delay, pulled his gun again and pressed it again Lorenzo's temple,
"Johnny, no!" Carly cried as she pulled at his hand.
"I swear to God Alcazar if you value your life you will tell me who is behind this." Johnny said pressing the cool metal against the man's heated flesh, "Fucking speak!"
Lorenzo did, choking on the words, his whispered voice barely reaching the ears of both Johnny O'Brien and Carly Corinthos. Johnny dropped the gun and stumbled back, his body colliding into the chair behind him. Carly pressed her hand against her mouth, no sound able to be uttered as she stared at Johnny horrified. It simply couldn't be.
"No," Johnny whispered, "Not on the inside."
They both turned towards the pounding they heard outside, someone running towards the house in dress shoes, a shadowy figure approaching the doorway. Johnny pulled Carly behind him and raised his gun at the intruder, only to lower it when he saw who was standing before him.
"We have a problem," Johnny said as he approached the other guard, "We have to get to Jason."
"They have him," he said, "And they have her too."
Carly was finally able to gasp, "Elizabeth."
He nodded as his eyes returned to the seasoned bodyguard, the man who had been with Sonny's entourage the longest, the man who would take the blow just as hard as he did, just as hard as Jason Morgan would.
"You know?" he asked.
Johnny nodded in agreement, his head turning towards Lorenzo before turning back to the man in front of him.
Francis let heavy sigh, "Max has them."
"I can't believe you're involved in this," Elizabeth muttered as she stumbled along with the man who had a firm grip on her arm, "Lorenzo put you up to this?"
Max laughed as he hurried Elizabeth along the darkened streets of Port Charles, "I could let you go on thinking that but it would take all the pleasure out of my glorious victory tonight. No Elizabeth, Lorenzo was merely a pawn as were you and Jason. He was brought in as a distraction, his part was played well until the incident at the Brownstone," he growled as he squeezed her arm tighter, causing her to cry out, "If only you had left that room I'd been able to pull the plug and this thing would have been a lot cleaner."
Elizabeth struggled against him, trying to pull out of his grasp but he continued to trudge along, his black Italian shoes stepping over the puddles, "I can't believe I trusted you with my family, with my son."
"Your puny little son was never harmed," he snarled, "He's safe and sound with Bobbie on that damn island. If I wanted him dead Elizabeth, I would've sent him to you in pieces."
Elizabeth stopped, her feet frozen to the ground at the thought of this man doing those horrible things to her child. It literally made her stomach revolt and she felt the urge to be sick here in the alleyway. He was halted beside her and he brought her up against him, allowing her the chance to pound as his massive frame with her tiny fists.
"I hate you! I can't believe you did this! You killed Sonny!" she screamed as she punched at him, jab after jab, having no effect, his laughter ringing in her ears.
This was the last thing that Sonny heard before he died.
She stepped away from him, her body still, her arm back in his grasp and she looked at him, a wicked gleam in her eyes, a smirk at the edge of her lips. The Elizabeth Webber that had first entered the world of the organization was now gone, slowly changing into the woman that now stood before him, a proud woman, a strong woman, a woman who would not let the blood that was shed taint her life, a woman who made Jason Morgan proud.
"You killed a decent, honest man," she said quietly as she licked her lips, "In the eyes of this business anyway and you did it for the same reason the rest of the cowards did. You wanted the power, you wanted the money, you wanted the women, you wanted the territory. You have it, it's at your fingertips and I'm sorry that you won't be able to enjoy it," she laughed at him, a bubbly laugh that was humorless and tumbled easily from her lips. "You will die for what you have done. If it isn't done by the men who will swarm you before the end of this evening than someone from the five familias will make sure that you are taken care of. You have no honor Max and I hope that I'm the one who gets to kill you for what you did to Sonny Corinthos."
Max smirked as his heavy hand came across Elizabeth's cheek in a stunning blow, "For the past five years of my life all I had to hear about was precious Elizabeth, the poor little girl who got knocked up by the enforcer and was left holding the bag. Instead of being a real woman and taking care of things on your own you had to attach yourself to Sonny, turn into his little puttana and throw Carly out of the way," he smiled wickedly, "I would've kept Carly around. She sounded like a great fuck but you had to show up, child in your womb. I was the one who was in line for Jason's position and your little brat insured that it would never be available, Jason would always be in the picture because of a one night stand."
"You are delusional if you think that you were even close to Jason's position," Elizabeth snorted, "Sonny had great instincts and that's why Johnny and Francis were at the top of the realm, it's why you were always at the door Max, always holding it open for me."
"I don't know how the fuck Sonny and Jason put up with that mouth of yours," Max growled, "Rest assured it will be closed permantely tonight. Let's go, I'm tired of delaying the inevitable."
"One would think you would want to put off your death, Max." Elizabeth said as she stumbled behind him again.
"Not my death, Elizabeth," Max smiled, "You and Jason will join Sonny burning in hell."
Jason came to a halt as he stood in the center of the burnt warehouse building, the same place that his best friend's life had ended. Sam was standing in front of him, gun in hand, smirking. This was all eerily similar to the last image that Sonny had before he perished amidst a hail of bullets and a roaring fire.
"I can practically see the gears turning in your head," Sam said, "Your wondering what's going on, who's in on this, watching every corner that you can, trying to determine who is coming from where and what I've got that you want more than anything else in the world."
She smiled as she circled him, her gun prodding into his side as his icy blue gaze followed her, watching her every move, his ears intent on the sounds around him, listening for anything that might help him out of the situation he was in.
"If you had been a little bit more easier to bed than maybe the shoot out in front of dear Bobbie's wouldn't have had to happen, Jason," she frowned and then laughed, "Damn bracelet of mine. And to see the look on Carly Corinthos' face when I implied that Sonny was in on all this. I think for a minute Elizabeth might have believed me, the idea of you lying to her again flickered through her mind but then the jealousy kicked in, the green eyed monster roared its ugly head when she thought that I was screwing you."
She licked her lips as she eyed him up and down, "And I'd love to screw you Jason, just for the bragging rights that I got to ride the big bad enforcer. It nearly distracted me from the real reason of coming down here, nearly," she turned her head slightly when she heard scrapping along the docks and saw the shadows coming towards them, "It's a shame that you let that green eyed monster get to you too Jason. You didn't see what was right in front of your face the whole time. Sure, Lorenzo had a hand in it, but he didn't have the balls to carry it through."
Jason's eyes widened as Elizabeth's petite frame came into view and she was thrust at him with Sam's hand, her tiny body collapsing against his own, his arms coming protectively around her as she looked up at him, relieved that he was here beside her.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head no, "Jason…"
"But Lorenzo didn't have the balls," he said stepping into the light beside Sam, "I did Jason."
"Max," Jason whispered, "You?"
"You have no idea how long I've waited for this day," Max said stepping towards him, Sam following with a grin on her face, "From the moment I found out she was carrying your bastard and I knew that I'd never be the right hand man I've been planning this. I just had to wait for the perfect opportunity," he smirked, "I thought she would've brought you back sooner but after three years I knew that I had to make my own move and we all know that a man isn't any good without a woman by his side."
"Mob princess from Maine?" she laughed, "If you weren't swooning so much over my good looks you would've realized that there are no McCall's from Maine, Jason."
"If you would've looked in the mirror, Sam," Jason said as he moved to position himself in front of Elizabeth, "You would've realized why Max chose you. You're the same height, same weight, same hair color as Elizabeth Webber and when you're hovering around in the dark you could easily be confused for her. That's what I've been doing, hovering around, and Max knew it and he took advantage of it. I give you credit for that, Max."
Sam glared at Max before she turned back to Jason, "You have no idea the opportunity that you missed out on. I could've talked him into letting you live."
"I would rather die than work with a man who betrayed the organization," Jason said as his eyes moved towards Max, "And I'd never think you were a man who went for whores."
Max laughed, "I just got finished telling the mother of your child she was the same thing."
Elizabeth gripped Jason's arm as she felt his fists clenched. She was having her doubts as to whether or not they were going to make their way out of this alive. Sam and Max both had guns pointed out them, Sam's gun the one she had stolen from Elizabeth and Jason was unarmed. There were no other guards in sight and the charred remains of the warehouse were a perfect place for another murder. Shoot them and set them ablaze, by the time someone found them would be nothing left.
"I'm sorry that Sonny wasn't able to see the man who shot him," Max said, "I wished there was a better angle so he could see that for once I had the upper hand. He knew that something was wrong, that was why he called you back into town that was why he went into the building by himself. He wanted to save precious Elizabeth and he wanted to make sure that they got to him before they got to you, Jason. He was always thinking of you."
"He heard my laughter," Sam smiled, "You can't explain the rush you feel when you watch a don fall. And he fell, hard, a cry uttering from his lips as he stumbled back into the burning building. I hope that he didn't suffer too much."
"He's burning in hell," Max laughed and then frowned when Jason stepped towards him, "This isn't a game. This is over, this is my town now."
"When Johnny and Francis…"
"They'll be taken care of," Max said shrugging his shoulders, "I have a meeting with the families tomorrow and I'm sure once they learn that you were the one who killed Sonny for sleeping with the mother of your child…"
"No!" Elizabeth cried out as she moved towards Max only to be stopped by Jason, "They would never believe you."
"Oh yes, they would," Max laughed, "We have four years of evidence Elizabeth and a man can only take so much. Jason was driven to the point of murder-suicide."
"With his favorite silver gun," Sam laughed, "It was a bitch waiting for you to finally come up and deal with me Elizabeth but the pay off…" she laughed again, "I can't thank you enough."
Elizabeth paled. She had walked right into their trap. She looked up at Jason as she blinked back tears in her eyes. For the first time she had really listened to him, she had gotten on a plane ready to take her to the island so she could be with her son in case anything happened to his father. Now her son would see neither of them again, being raised by God knows who.
She couldn't imagine never seeing her baby boy again, she couldn't imagine not living the rest of her life, she couldn't imagine not waking up ten years from now to the pitter patter of tiny feet, the many children of her and Jason Morgan.
She would not let Max take that away from them and if he were going to take anything it would be her, Jason deserved to know his son, she had three years, he had nothing. Pulling away from the man that she loved she took two steps and stood in front of him.
"Pull the trigger," she said quietly, "Do it now because they will find you. Francis knows that I'm gone. I don't know what you did with him but I'm sure that he's on his way back to Port Charles and he will find Johnny and they will find us and they will kill you. Take care of it now Max, take care of me first, kill the woman who fucked it all up by caring Jason Morgan's only child. It wasn't just that Jason was coming back into the organization because I held a piece of him," she smiled, "It was because I held his heir, I held his predecessor and you knew that you never had a chance. Shoot me, now. Now!" she screamed.
"Elizabeth, no," Jason said pulling her back into him, her body colliding against his chest, "Max you still have a chance to run, run as fast and as far as you can and you might be able to make it out of this country alive."
"Enough talk," Sam said, "I'm tired of this. Max and I are going to rule this city with the drugs and the prostitution and everything that the Corinthos-Morgan organization was against. We're going to run this town straight into hell."
"We'll see ya there," Max grinned as he pointed his gun at Jason. He frowned when heard the familiar sound of a clip being shoved into a weapon. Turning slightly he saw Francis on one side of him about ten feet away and Johnny on the other.
"You've got one shot," Johnny said quietly.
"Is it worth it?" Francis asked.
Max knew that he was going to die, whether or not he pulled the trigger. He knew that he never should have let Sam talk him into not following Lorenzo; obviously the man was able to get help before Max had a chance to do what he needed. It was the end for him and for the woman who stood beside him. She would die an easier death, that he was sure, if he ran they would catch him and they would torture him in ways that he did not even want to imagine.
He would take what was being offered to him, a quick death by a bullet to the head, he just had to make the first move. He had to pick his prey and he had to shoot his gun. Turning to Sam he nodded slightly and then he turned back to the couple before him, a smile on his face.
"It was Jason who caused all of this, he was the man whose position I vied for and it is you that I want to kill," Max raised his gun, aiming it directly at Jason's head, "I want you to die Morgan, I want you to suffer, suffer like you have never suffered before and there is only one way for that to happen," he lowered his weapon and fired, his bullet slamming into Elizabeth Webber's body.
Sam ducked as the shots went off around her. Johnny and Francis continued shooting until they made sure that Max was never going to get up. They walked towards him and she crawled away, among the debris, towards a startled Jason who was holding a paling Elizabeth in his arms.
"Let me," she whispered, "Just let me…" she fell to her knees and then towards her side, reaching for her shoulder where the pain was intensifying. She could feel the blood seeping through her fingers.
Jason was beside her, trying to roll her onto her back but she was insistent on curling up into a ball, moaning and crying out and he felt as if someone had punched him in the gut as he watched the woman he loved slowly slip away from him. Max wanted to kill Elizabeth because he knew that it would kill Jason.
"I'll call for help, hang on Elizabeth," Jason started to get to his feet and turned around, staring down the barrel of his own weapon once again.
"This is for Max," Sam snarled.
As her finger caressed the trigger, Jason fell back startled when a shot came from his right, a bullet tearing through Sam's skull, her lifeless body collapsing to the ground, his gun falling at his feet.
He turned to see Elizabeth on her knees, her face pained, her one hand still clenched over her shoulder, the other hand, where the pain must have been shooting down, held a small black gun.
"That was for Sonny Corinthos," she whispered before she fainted.