Chapter 34
The limo ride from Kelly's to the Corinthos house was uneventful. Sam McCall had decided to ride with Zach and Jason. Zach glanced at Jason every so often, trying to figure out what the silent man reminded him of. After awhile it hit him. He was like that hive of villains from Star Trek. The Borg. Morgan's stare was cold and empty, and he used the fewest, most emotionless words possible in conversation. There must be some life in him if a woman as beautiful and vibrant as Sam McCall was as devoted to him as she seemed to be.
They finally arrived at the house. Fortress was more like it. Morgan escorted Zach to the living room, where he sat and waited another 20 minutes. Apparently mob bosses were like doctors. Was he on a golf course behind his house, practicing his slice? Zach hated to think what a mobster's slice would look like. He amused himself with such random thoughts until Corinthos finally made an appearance. Zach stood up and greeted him. "Thank you for agreeing to let me come and see you, without even knowing why I am here." Sonny gave him a tiny smile. "Your ideas saved my casino a great deal of money. I told you before that I owe you, and that you could come to me whenever you needed anything. Besides, I already know why you're here."
--------------------------
Kendall sat at her desk at Fusion, willing the afternoon to go by quicker. She kept staring at her cell phone, tempted to call Zach. He didn't need her interrupting him while he was conducting business. As she sat there, trying to focus on the ad campaign, she finally snapped. She grabbed her cell phone and punched in a number. "Greenlee? This is Kendall. You are still the largest shareholder of Fusion, next to Cambias Industries. If you don't want your stock to tank, I suggest you get over here right now and actually get some work done. I'm sick and tired of being the 'go to gal.' I'm selling my pitiful shares, so effective immediately, I'm no longer working here. Goodbye."
Kendall ended the call and stood up. She suddenly felt light as air. She twirled around the room for a little bit. Then she went to the storage room and grabbed an empty box. She got a little choked up cleaning out her desk. There were mementos that she had gathered over the years. Mostly memories of good times with the other Fusion gals. She paused as she looked at all the trinkets and photos and pieces of paper. Should she really take this stuff home and be constantly reminded of what could have been? Slowly she closed the box and wrote "Deep Storage" on top of it. Then she called for one of the archivists to come and take it away. She grabbed her purse and walked to the elevator, her head held high.
-----------------------------
Zach's expression did not betray the fact that he was surprised by Sonny's remark. He waited for Corinthos to elaborate. Sonny walked to the bar and offered Zach a drink. He shook his head. Sonny poured himself a drink and then walked to the couch, inviting Zach to sit down. Once they were settled in, Sonny explained. "After I told Jason to bring you to the house, I went online and did a search on your name. I already knew about the fact that you opened a new casino near Pine Valley, Pennsylvania last year, and then at the end of the year you sold all your casinos and left Pine Valley for parts unknown. The online search contained a few more details. Most of it from tabloid sources. There was a lot of speculation about your connection to a highly respected citizen, Dr. Maria Santos Grey. She apparently had been presumed dead for five years, and came back to town with amnesia. The rags were guessing that you and she were involved at some point during those five years.
"Her name seemed familiar to me, so I did a search for her as well. Many of the resulting links included the names of her family members. The one that caught my attention was Julia Santos. That one rang a bell, especially in light of recent events. Julia Santos was responsible for taking down a major crime family almost ten years ago. She disappeared with her husband into the Witness Protection Program. I heard through the grapevine recently that Noah Keefer, her husband, was assassinated. Now how much of a coincidence is it that not long after Julia's husband dies, her sister's ex-lover shows up in Port Charles looking for me?"
Zach wasn't really surprised. Sonny Corinthos didn't accumulate so much wealth and power without knowing how to connect the dots. What really concerned Zach was the realization that he needed to be more careful than ever. If Sonny could follow the pattern, then whoever was out there looking for Julia could probably do the same thing. Sonny, apparently reading his thoughts, shook his head. "I have no connections with the family that is interested in Julia. They have no reason to scrutinize me, so they would have no reason to know that you paid me a visit."
Zach nodded thoughtfully. "Does this mean you know the name of the person who killed Noah, and whoever it is that is now after Julia?" Sonny shook his head again. "I only know the family in general. I don't know specifically who wants Julia dead. I can find out for you, if that is what you are asking. But not if it involves the feds." Zach shook his head. "I don't want to involve the feds either." Sonny stood up. "Then we're in agreement. I'll find out that information for you. I feel honored to be able to repay you for your willingness to help me." Sonny held out his hand. Zach shook it, trying to tell himself that he was doing this to save someone's life. Otherwise he never would have collected his favor. Any prudent man would stay as far away from Sonny Corinthos as possible.
Sonny smiled and extended his arm out to the side. "You are welcome as my guest here, tonight." Zach shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, but I really want to get back to Pine Valley." Sonny raised one eyebrow, then his smile widened. "I see. In that case I will have my limousine take you to the airport. Have a safe trip." Having nodded to each other one last time, Sonny left the room. Jason came in and led the way back out to the front of the house. Zach got into the limo, eager to be off.
-----------------
Kendall got into the car and wondered what to do next. Part of her wanted to go home and put her head under a pillow. Part of her wanted to visit her mother and unload. Unfortunately with her mother, she wasn't likely to get a simple rub on the back with a "there, there" thrown in. Home, it is. As she was driving home, she remembered the dog she left there earlier. She had felt so guilty driving away from him. Maybe she should go check on him. Maybe she should get some stuff at the pet store to donate to the shelter. Kendall turned her car in the direction of the nearest pet store that she could remember.
Her car loaded down with stuff, she arrived at the shelter. She found the same volunteer as before. Suddenly feeling a bit silly, she found herself in the rare position of being at a loss for words. "Um….I bought some stuff…in case you need it. I just wanted to know….how the dog is doing?" The man smiled at her genially and held out his hand. "I'm Tom. He's doing as well as can be expected. If you want, you can take him for a walk." Kendall blinked at him. "Oh, uh, I'm Kendall. Take him for a walk?" He nodded. "The dogs love the chance to get out of their cage and be able to walk around, have some human interaction. Of course, he was just brought in. I have an idea, why don't you name him? Having names usually makes the animals seem more like pets to the people who visit." Kendall bit her lip. "Well, I'll take him for a walk and try to figure out a name."
Tom led her into the back. He opened the door to the kennel, and Kendall was taken aback at how loud it was. There were about a dozen dogs, all barking at once. She stared at them all. They were barking because they wanted attention. They were all hoping that she would come to see them. As Tom walked her over to see the new dog, Kendall had a sinking feeling that she wasn't going to make it out of here without walking each and every one of those dogs.
----------------------------
Zach endured delay after delay in his flights back to Pine Valley, including the layover in New York. He tried calling Kendall several times, but always got her voice mail. He was getting a little concerned that she hadn't called him back. Sonny had assured him that Julia's pursuers would not have any reason to suspect Zach's involvement, but he still felt uneasy. When he had let himself into Kendall's apartment, he was relieved to see her lying on her bed, sound asleep.
Zach got ready for bed, then eased under the covers. Kendall came partially awake. When she saw that it was him, she smiled sleepily. Snuggling deeper under the covers, she murmured, "I walked twelve dogs and petted twenty cats." Zach chuckled. He wasn't sure what that was about, but he looked forward to hearing about it.
----------------------------
Zach was dreaming about France, and taking Kendall to visit Philippe in the north country. Suddenly he felt something smack against his chest. He came abruptly awake. Kendall was standing over him, a furious look on her face. A newspaper was lying on his chest. "Mrs. Kravitz, or whatever the hell her name is, very thoughtfully gave this to me. She thought I should be aware of the kind of man you are." Zach shifted into a sitting position. He unfolded the newspaper. It was the local tabloid. The headline read, "Former Casino Owner Meets With Mob Boss." The subheading read, "Will Pine Valley be the next Corinthos territory?" There was a collage of pictures. One of Zach next to Jason. One of him getting into the limo. One of the limo driving into the Corinthos compound. Zach felt like he was going to be sick.