Chapter 1

"Brilliance breeds insanity," the woman said. "A Cassadine legacy, I'm afraid."

"How so?"

"Mikkos was brilliant. Obsessively so. The so-called fine line between brilliance and insanity didn't exist for him. He was always brilliant, therefore always insane. It was a trait bred into Stavros and one bred into Damon as well."

"Your brother isn't brilliant though."

"He is. Watch, learn. I promise you, Jones, you'll see it before his plan is done."

Two days later

Frisco Jones rolled out of bed. He'd been a fool. He hadn't believed Naida's words about Damon's intelligence. Damon Cassadine was insane, but that was something they all knew. Now four innocent girls were under his control somewhere. Frisco didn't want to think about it. It had been bad enough when they'd heard Naida was gone, then Robin, then Maxie and Georgie.

It was a nightmare now. Damon worked with experimental drugs. He'd done it to his own sister and Frisco dreaded he would do it with others as well, especially if he wanted revenge against Mac Scorpio for something.

Frisco turned on his computer, hoping against all hope the tracker on Naida would pick something up. Even if it worked for just a few seconds, it would be enough to limit the search.

He wasn't ready for the day. He'd had a late flight to New York City from Paris and now he had to drive to Port Charles and he was supposed to meet Sean before he went to see Felicia. Sean wanted to discuss what they were going to let Mac and Felicia know about Damon and Zinaida Cassadine. Frisco thought they should let Mac know everything, but Sean had a theory this entire operation was salvageable.

Frisco thought any chance they could save it was long gone. They'd lost Naida and it had come as a huge blow to their plans. It wasn't a contingency they'd thought about. They had known Maxie, Georgie, and Robin would be targets and had thus prepared. Robin could take care of herself, Frisco knew that and he knew Naida could take care of herself physically, but mentally, emotionally, she could crack and would be no help to Robin when it came down to getting them all out alive.

Damon had known. He had a spy somewhere and Frisco wanted to know who it was and what they knew. His daughters' lives depended on it.

Mac Scorpio sighed after he hung up with Sean Donely. Sean had found Frisco in Egypt and was bringing him back. Mac wasn't sure he liked that. Frisco was hotheaded. He might cause more trouble. But Maxie and Georgie were his daughters too, and Frisco had the right to be involved. He just hoped Sean would be able to keep him under control.

"Mac?"

Mac looked up. Felicia's tear stained face looked at him. She hadn't been taking this well. She had come close to losing both girls only a few weeks ago and now they didn't know if Maxie and Georgie were dead or alive. Mac didn't think Felicia would be able to survive the former. He didn't even want to think about it. If the girls were dead…

Mac had been trying to get in touch with Robin in Paris to tell her about Maxie and Georgie, but so far he had been unsuccessful. When Mac had brought the question up to Sean, the former agent refused to speak about his goddaughter leading Mac to believe something was going on. Was Robin gone too? Had something happened in Paris? Was this all connected?

Mac wasn't happy being a prisoner to mind games with the World Security Bureau. He wanted to know what was going on and why his family had become a target. He had the right to know if something was going on. Was Faison alive? Had the monster somehow returned from the grave again while every year people mourned Robert's passing? It wasn't fair and it wasn't right.

"Sean is already here. He's flying Frisco in from Egypt," he answered his ex-wife.

"Have you talked to Robin yet?"

"I can't find her. She hasn't returned my messages and none of the people she told me to call have seen her."

Felicia was silent for several long minutes. Mac was afraid she was about to break. "Do you think…Do you think the person who took the girls took Robin too?"

"I don't know what I think, Felicia," he told her. It was true. He didn't know what was going to happen and he didn't want to tell her everything would be fine because he knew there was a chance they might not find the girls alive unless Faison had taken them. If he had, he'd play mind games and make everyone think Maxie and Georgie were dead, but he wouldn't kill them for a long time.

"We have to find them."

He nodded. "I know. Sean's at the Palace, do you want to go talk to him?"

"Did anyone see you?" Sean Donely asked closing the door behind his visitor.

"Do you think I'm insane, Sean?"

"Only a little, Frisco. What's in Paris?"

"Nothing. I checked Robin's apartment, talked to her neighbors and her professors and no one has seen or heard from them."

Sean sighed. "Just what we needed. I told Mac I was flying you in from Egypt. His phone is tapped."

"Fun. So what do we know?" Frisco took his disguise off and threw the wig and jacket onto a nearby chair. He kept his duffel bag and followed Sean over to the desk.

"We know Mac is being tapped and probably watched. I gave you a window to snoop around. We know Damon Cassadine was here the same day all four girls disappeared and that he talked to his cousin, Nikolas Cassadine at Wyndemere. They argued. My spy says Damon threatened Emily Cassadine."

"So we've got Damon trying to kill his sister knowing she'd come to us for protection…This isn't making any sense, Sean. Why try to kill Naida then kidnap her along with Robin?"

"I have an idea," another male voice said from the door.

Alexis wanted to scream. Ever since Nikolas had told her about Damon's visit she'd been trying to find his twin sister, Naida, but it seemed Naida had dropped off the face of the earth. Alexis had called her university, only to be told Naida had dropped out the semester previous. Naida's apartment had been emptied around the same time and no one had known anything about it.

Naida's disappearing act worried Alexis. She wasn't the sort of girl to just up and run without a word to anyone, especially without informing Nikolas.

What if she's dead? What if Damon killed her? Maybe he was trying to kill her and she was hiding somewhere. Nikolas and Naida are close; if something happened to her because of Damon, what will Nikolas do?

This was trouble. Alexis was afraid Damon had done something to Naida and if he had, Nikolas would probably kill him. If things came down to that, she prayed Nikolas would have the foresight to kill him in another country.

She picked up the phone. She'd try again. Maybe Naida's ex-husband knew something.

"Yes, I need a number for Lance Halsten in Los Angeles."

Frisco down the drink he'd just poured and looked at the two men. "So what now?" he asked.

"We wait because there is nothing else we can do. Until we know what Damon wants we can't risk their lives. We wait, we use what we have and what we can get from the Cassadines, but face it, Frisco, there's nothing we can do. I don't like it any more than you do, but we created this problem."

Sean nodded. "He's right, Frisco."

"What are we supposed to tell Felicia and Mac, then?"

"The truth," the man answered before Sean could say anything. "If you lie to Malcolm now, it could cause problems when this comes down to the wire."

"Fine," Frisco said. He sighed. He didn't like this situation, but he also knew neither of the other two men liked it either. For them, constant danger was a given, but it was a threat they didn't like extended to their families. He downed another drink and there was a knock on the door.

"I'll just disappear then," the man said, standing up. "I'll be in touch and I'll try to find Lance. I don't like him being out of touch with Damon on the warpath."

Sean nodded. "Use the code."

"Always."

Sean waited for the man to disappear into the other room before he opened the door to reveal Mac and Felicia. He motioned for them to come in. Frisco was still standing at the bar looking sour.

"Frisco?" Felicia asked of Mac and Sean.

"Hey, Princess," he said with a shrug, downing his third drink. Sean glared at him.

"Stop drinking, Frisco."

"I thought you had to be flown in from Egypt," Mac said.

"Your phone is tapped," Sean clarified. "I heard it when our conversation started. I told you Frisco was in Egypt to give him a few hours to snoop around without anyone knowing it's him."

Felicia walked over to Frisco and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close. "Our girls, Frisco. Our baby girls."

"I know, Princess. We'll find them. We know who took them and now it's just a matter of finding where he took them."

Felicia pulled away. "Who?"

"Is it Faison?" Mac asked.

Sean and Frisco shared a look. "Faison is dead," Sean answered in his matter-of-fact tone.

"You've said that before, Donely," Mac responded. "And it hasn't been true since."

"It is this time," Frisco said, pouring another drink despite Sean's look of warning.

"Who killed him?" Mac demanded.

Another long look passed between the two spies. "Mac, you really don't want the answer to that question."

"Don't play this game with me, Frisco. Who killed Faison?" Mac was moving towards Frisco.

"Do you really want to know, Mac?" Frisco asked him. "Fine, I'll tell you…"

"Frisco, we told her we wouldn't…"

"I know, but he's not going to let up until he knows." Frisco shrugged. "The deed is done. Faison was killed by an agent."

"Did you see the body?"

"I saw it happen and so did someone else. He's dead this time so he's a moot point. The person who took the girls is a man named Damon Cassadine. He also took Robin and his own twin sister, Naida."

"But why?" Felicia asked, sitting down. "Why?"

"Revenge," Sean answered her. "Damon Cassadine is insane. He wants revenge against you for something we haven't been able to discern yet."

"Have you done anything to the Cassadines?" Frisco asked. "Either of you?"

Mac shrugged. "We arrested Helena again."

Frisco and Sean looked at each other. Damon worked with Helena often enough, but would her arrest be reason enough to kidnap four girls, especially his own sister, just for revenge against the man who arrested her? Frisco didn't think so. There had to be something else. Damon was insane, not stupid. He would have found another way to get revenge for Helena's arrest.

What was the common link? Frisco knew he wanted Naida dead, he'd been trying to kill her and Robin for the past six months. What was Cassadine doing? Frisco was afraid to find out. In his mind he recalled the image of Naida in a hospital bed in Paris after the drugs Damon had given her had done their work. She hadn't been entirely sane since. Frisco hoped they could find Halsten soon. When they found the girls, Naida would need him.

"I think we need to talk to the prince," Frisco said. "Damon was there and the prince will have better luck at tracking down his finances."

"I agree," Sean said. "I think we're also going to need some additional help on this."

"Spencer."

"Lucky," Frisco said.