Carly wasn't sure she was ever especially close with Courtney Matthews. Something in the honest portion of her heart told her she really didn't have much in common with the broad blonde. Something she did know for sure, however, never EVER had she ever demanded so much of Courtney, never was her complete and utter safety in the the palm of her hands. The fact that she was putting more trust in Sam McCall than she had in her 'best' friend spoke volumes. As did the tremble in her hand as she reached out for the door knob. She was so close to her boys. So close to grabbing them and getting out of the house once and for all.
"Carly…" Sam's whisper was harsh and Carly's head instinctively snapped around to glare at her. Just because she trusted her didn't mean she particularly liked being there with her looking over her shoulder. It just felt… wrong. "Carly, hurry up. We don't have long, and you know Michael's gonna put up a fuss."
She hated to admit it, but Sam was right. Shit! Michael didn't like Lorenzo. He didn't like Sam. He would complain and cause a scene, and that would bring guards upstairs. They were lucky enough that no one had seen them sneak upstairs. The two had snuck in through a hole in the fencing that curled up and around from the ground. From there, it had been a tromp through the snow, over the patio wall, then inside the glass doors on tiptoe to the stairs. The ladder Sam had used to get in previously had long since been discarded and both women doubted there would be another around, any time soon.
The alarm hadn't been a problem. Apparently, it slipped Sonny's mind that Jason still knew the codes, and he had given them to Sam before falling asleep. Though, they could still be caught. They had only snuck inside the house when they saw Sonny go off into the foyer with Agent Marshall. The coast had been clear for a while, but there was no guarantee it would be clear on the way out, if they could get Michael.
"I think maybe I should have gone to Luke to do this," Carly admitted. The words were as bitter for her to speak as trusting Sam had been to swallow. "We hate each other's guts, always have, but… He's better at this sneaking thing."
"Well, we didn't get Luke, so it's up to us." Sam sighed. "Go in and get Michael, and I'll stand watch. If Sonny comes up…" She shrugged. "I'll distract him."
"You'll go to jail."
"Maybe." She shrugged again. "Or maybe I'll just cause enough noise for you to get out of here. That was the initial plan, wasn't it?"
It was a plan, and it was one that would have worked, but Carly had nixed that before they even got to the house. Jason would never forgive her if she let Sam sacrifice herself. More than that, Carly didn't personally feel right about it. Everybody else was doing the sacrificing. They were the ones who were getting Sam out of trouble, not the other way around. Everything they'd been through would be for naught if Sam ended up in the can.
"Just make sure it doesn't come to that, alright?" Carly sighed and slowly began to turn the knob. As she grew closer and closer to the door opening, Carly found herself thinking more and more about her companion, her current partner-in-crime. This really was the sort of thing that Courtney should have been taking part in. After all that Carly had done for her, Courtney owed her that much. Between dumping her car, hiding her short-lived addiction, and forgiving her for momentarily trying to steal her baby, the least Courtney could do was be there when she needed her.
Truthfully, she couldn't think of one single time that Courtney had called to check up on her during the whole mess. Sure, the missing child wasn't hers, but Kristina was Sonny's child. Even if Courtney didn't call her, she should have been there more for Sonny. But, no. Courtney was too busy playing happy fiancee to Jasper Jacks. She was there to go to the baby's funeral, and she'd been there when Lila Quartermaine had passed, even though she'd done nothing worthwhile for that family. Hell, she'd even had the gaul to show up at AJ's future. And Courtney was johnny-on-the-spot to take Hope away from Jason and Sam. But when her support was actually needed, where was she? Off with Jax. And if Carly had called her? Well, she probably would have either told her not to go ahead with it, not to get involved, or she would have run blabbing her big mouth to Sonny. Either way, it wasn't helpful. Right then, Courtney was useless. Sam McCall, however, wasn't.
"Jesus, Carly, if you don't go in there and get the boys, I'll do it myself." Sam rolled her eyes. "And you know as well as I do that if I go in there, Michael's going to start screaming his head off, and then we'll both end up in the can."
"Yeah, yeah." Carly pushed the door open and whispered, "Keep your eyes open, alright?" She shook her head and stepped inside… Then stopped.
The room was empty, and her first thought was that Michael had been taken. However, the window was closed and as she walked further into the room, her eyes wide and dazed she saw that the closet was open. Her feet moved faster now and she jerked the door open wider. There were nothing but hangers inside, empty, lonely hangers that swayed back and forth in the breeze she had caused. She turned abruptly and stalked to the dresser. She jerked the drawers open and stared at empty space.
Carly ran out of the room, pushing past Sam as she burst through the door and tore down the hall. She ran into Morgan's room and rifled through the drawers. They weren't completely empty, but the majority of his clothes were gone. His favorite toys were missing, and she realized she hadn't even thought to check Michael's toys. But, since she didn't trip over his remote control cars or his race track, she assumed they had to have been gone. Even if Leticia had put them away…
She stopped and once again ran out of the room. She hit a door between Michael's room and Morgan's, and there was nothing there. Anything Leticia kept at that house was gone. Somewhere in her mind, she was still convinced that her children had been kidnapped. But, if Leticia's things were gone… A kidnapper wouldn't take their sitter, too. Sonny had moved the boys, and she didn't have a clue where they were.
"Carly…" Sam came up behind her, speaking louder than a whisper, but still not enough for her voice to carry. "Carly we've got to get out of here. Wherever he put the boys…"
"Did you know?" Carly turned on her. "Did you know they were moved? Is this some kind of set up? Don't you see what he is? I mean… did he tell you that he'd get you off? He'd send the cops somewhere else as long as you made sure I didn't get the boys? Is that why you were so eager to help me?"
"Carly, you're being irrational. I had no idea, and I haven't made any kind of agreements with Sonny."
"Don't lie to me, Sam!"
"I'm not…" She stopped. Both of them shouting wasn't any good and while Carly couldn't stop herself, Sam could. "I'm not lying. I didn't know he was moving them. If I did, I'd have found out before we made the trip here. We just have to get back out so we can tell Jason and Lorenzo. They'll know what to do."
Carly looked at her, seething. She was being irrational, but that's the person that she was. Carly had never been very rational, especially when under stress. Her children were gone. She didn't know how to find them. For all she knew, Sonny had hidden them somewhere out of the country. They could be on that stupid island and she probably couldn't even get to them there. She'd been to that damned place a million times, but she'd never been there as anything other than a guest. To be there as a thief, there to steal her own children… That would be harder to accomplish than getting into Sonny's fortress.
Carly looked down as Sam tugged on her arm. "What?" She shook her head. "What is it that we can do now?"
"We can get out of here. I'll…" She stopped and sighed. "I'll go down, and if the coast is clear, you can come. If the coast isn't clear then… I don't know. I'll cause a scene. You just run, and I'll get out. Just meet me back at the yacht. I know how to get to the docks."
"Sam…"
"Just go, Carly. If you get the chance, get out of here and get back to Lorenzo."
Carly stared at her and didn't know how to feel, how to think. She knew that if Sam hadn't been there, she'd have run down the stairs, screaming at Sonny. She would have demanded that he told her where her children were, and in the end, she probably would have given up Sam and Jason. She would have done anything to get at her children, no matter how impulsive. And she'd have done anything to stop Sonny from hurting her worse than he'd done only an hour or more earlier.
And it wasn't just that she wasn't there alone. If she'd taken Courtney with her instead, she'd have still barged down the stairs. Courtney may have grabbed her, but she wouldn't have been able to talk sense into her. She had no stake in this, no personal reason to want to succeed. She might have made a claim that she would find out where the boys were and tell her, but… It all boiled down to trust. At that moment, in that situation, she didn't trust Courtney, but she did trust Sam.
"Alright," she said with a nod. "But, be careful. I really don't wanna have to go back and explain to Jason why you're in jail and none of us will be able to bail you out."
Sam gave her a small grin. "Then I guess I better not go to jail, huh?" Sam turned and walked down the stairs slowly. Carly watched her move, but stayed out of sight. She waited to hear something, anything. Finally, she heard a harsh whisper. Carly came down the stairs, and the living room was still empty. They turned and crept towards the door, moving swiftly, but quietly. Then, suddenly, Sam screamed, "Carly, run!"
Carly spun around in shock to see Sonny holding Sam by the arm. She froze for a second, flashing back to earlier in the day. Would Sam get the slap that she'd been waiting to get herself? Before she realized it, she was on her way back over. Her fingers hadn't even touched the glass before she began the sprint. Sam screamed for her to run again, but she wouldn't leave her. Carly grabbed her arm, but Sam jerked away from her.
Sam swung and her fist collided with Sonny's face. It probably wouldn't leave a mark and more than likely it hadn't hurt that badly, but the surprise of the moment made him release her. She grabbed Carly's arm and ran towards the door. "Call it payback for Nico," she said in response of Carly's bemused countenance.
They hit the door and as they pushed it open, the glass broke beside them. Glass fragments hit Carly's face, biting into her cheek and forehead. A loud pop sounded from behind them as they leapt over the patio wall and Sam screamed. Carly turned to see her holding her arm, but still running. "Sam!"
"It's just a flesh wound! Damn, Agent Bitch sure is trigger happy!" She looked at the blood on her hands for a second, but kept going. She picked up her pace and so did Carly. They reached the fencing and slid through the hole. They were both scratched up a lot more getting out than they had getting in, but neither cared. They continued to run until they reached the car, parked two blocks and around the corner from the house. There were still screams from behind them, but they were distant.
Carly got into the driver's side and looked into the rearview mirror. Any other time, she would have been concentrated on her face. Even with all that was going on, she had time to think that Lorenzo was going to be pissed about the glass. But, at the moment, there were other things on her mind. Sonny and his people hadn't yet rounded the corner, but they would soon.
"Oh, shit!" She stared at the wheel. "I don't drive! Last time I drove, I drove off a bridge!"
"Well, you shouldn't have gotten in the driver's side." Sam reached over and turned the ignition, then sat back in her seat. She looked at her arm and groaned. "Put the pedal to the metal, Carly. Get this thing going."
"But, Sam…"
"Drive!" Sam's foot crossed over the separator between them and smashed down on top of hers. Carly had no choice but to grab the wheel and haphazardly manuever down the street.
"I'm gonna kill you for this! No, I'm gonna kill us both, and then you'll be happy!"
"I'd be happy if you would just shut up and drive! We only have to get far enough away to ditch the car."
"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you! You're trying to get me killed!"
"I'm the one that got shot, here!"
Carly growled, then screamed as she turned to wide and almost ran up on the sidewalk. Her hands flew off the wheel, then she grabbed it again, quickly. She turned another corner, then pulled into a parking lot. The car parked horizontally across two lanes. Carly turned off the car and snatched the keys out. She had no idea how far they'd gone, but she turned to Sam and said, "Either you drive or we get out and run."
Sam sighed and rolled her eyes. "Considering that by the time we switch seats and I get out of this shit job you did of parking, we'd both be caught…" She shook her head and got out of the car. Sam started to take off and Carly shook her head.
"Looks like we're running," she muttered, then jumped out of the car and took off after Sam.
