Chapter 3

In a darkened office in London, an angry woman yelled in French. The man she was yelling at sat calmly, not saying a word. He was sure she would get this out of her system and be able to talk in a reasonable tone soon.

Fifteen minutes later, he was still waiting. He really didn't have the time to listen to her complaints and worries about his plans. Finally he grew tired of it.

"Isabel, stop. I'm going to Paris."

"Robert, please. You didn't even care about your family before that woman came into our lives."

Robert stood up. "That woman is my daughter." Isabel shut up and stared. "I didn't tell you before," he clarified. "I didn't want it to become a contest between you and Kylie. She's angry but I don't know why. I made sure she was taken care of. At least I thought I had," he finished. He let out a breath and put his head in his hands. Isabel walked over to him and put her arm around him.

"Robert, you never told me that," she said, her voice heavily accented by her French roots. He looked at her. "You should have told me," she confirmed. "I wouldn't have been so hard on her."

"I think she needed that," Robert said. "What she did wasn't right." He had wondered about Kylie's life since that day in Africa. After he and Isabel had returned to London, he had contacted the WSB and had been told about the Black Box operations ordered for Kylie, Frisco, Anna, and Robin.

The door of the office opened and a young woman stepped through. "Mr. Scorpio, you said you wanted to know anything new about the Cassadines."

"Yes, Katie, what is it?" he asked, looking at her.

"It's all over the news. Kymberly Cassadine was murdered in Port Charles, New York."

Robert paled. It wasn't possible. He'd just talked to her only hours before. He couldn't speak.

"Katie, find out everything you can about this incident," she glanced at Robert. "We might be leaving soon."

"Of course, Mrs. Scorpio." Katie nodded and closed the door. Robert was in shock. That couldn't be right. Kylie was too stubborn to let herself be killed. And in Port Charles? What had she been doing there?

Indian summers in Port Charles were nothing compared to Africa's summer. Robert Scorpio and his wife, Isabel, spent more energy sweating than working most of the time. They were following up on reports made about a man and woman negotiating the sales of illegal items. The WSB wanted them both captured and questioned if they could be taken alive; if not, no one was to be able to find their bodies. Robert didn't question the order directly, but something about it wasn't right. He didn't understand why the WSB was threatened by these two people.

"That's them," Isabel said. Robert looked up and at the people she motioned to. She was right. Their two targets stood ten yards away and to the left. They were outside a village and the two people were dressed in clothes typical of recon agents; just what he and Isabel were wearing.

The brush became denser ahead and Robert motioned for them to move closer. They were close enough to hear the two breathing so hearing their conversation wasn't a problem.

"I don't like this," the man said.

"Neither do I, but we haven't much choice. Damn, this place is worse than Egypt," the woman responded. "What on Earth are they doing?"

"Probably contacting Faison who is telling them to kill us," the man answered dryly.

The woman shrugged. She pushed a piece of sweat drenched hair away from her forehead. "That look isn't good." She pointed to something outside Robert's line of vision. "Perhaps you were right."

"I hate being right," he said. "I give a three count before they start shooting." Two shots rang out. "Perhaps not," he said and pushed her into the brush. Robert pulled Isabel out of the way. Safely in the brush, the man pulled out a gun and returned fire, downing the two shooters. "Well, Kylie, perhaps it's time to go back home." Robert didn't hear the woman's answer, but he felt something was off. The man had dropped a British accent. He sounded familiar, but Robert couldn't think of where he'd heard that voice before.

"We don't have much time, Frisco."

Frisco. Frisco Jones. It couldn't be. Why would the WSB want to kill him? The two were moving away now, quicker than Robert and Isabel could follow unheard. He motioned for her to go in that direction, however, and he pulled his weapon in case they were followed. Something was going on and these two knew what it was. If that was his old friend, Frisco, what was he doing in Africa and why did the WSB think he'd turned traitor? He followed Isabel into a clearing and his instincts screamed trap before he saw it.

The woman was holding a weapon trained on Isabel. Her face was hidden under the brim of her hat and Robert felt the barrel of a gun at his neck.

"Drop it." Robert dropped his gun and held his hands up in surrender. "Why are you following us?"

"WSB orders to kill both of you," Robert answered. He turned to face the man. It was the Frisco he remembered. His face hadn't changed at all, except his eyes now held a cold indifference. Even now. "What have you done, Frisco?" Robert didn't know what he expected. Frisco's gun didn't waver, his expression didn't change.

"They were right," Frisco called out.

"Fabulous," she answered and she and Isabel moved closer. "We don't have the time for this, Frisco. We have to go if we're going to make Athens on time."

"We're going to have a problem with that, I think," Frisco answered her. "Because we're dealing with another dead man. One I'm not sure I trust."

"Christ," she said, "the bastard was telling the truth for once." Robert got his first good look at her. They just stared at each other, but she was as stoic as Frisco was, if not more so. He knew his daughter, he would know her anywhere. Her hair was darker and her skin tanned, but her eyes were as clear blue as they had always been. It was Kymberly, it was his daughter.

"Kymberly," he said and started to reach out to her but she pulled away.

"We don't have time for this. We need to beat Faison to Athens." She put her gun in the waistband of her shorts.

Frisco nodded. "Yes, we do." He replaced his weapon as well but didn't take his eyes from Robert. "Why did they send you?"

"We were here," Robert said. "Why are you here? Why would the bureau want you both dead?"

Frisco and Kymberly looked at each other. She answered. "Because we're not happy taking orders from a spoiled brat. Faison's son is running the bureau now. We found out, but no one is supposed to know about him."

"That's not possible," Isabel said in her accented English, but Robert was thinking about it. Things had changed in the way orders were coming out of the bureau in the past two years. People he hadn't thought of as a danger were being monitored and killed. The orders on Kymberly and Frisco were the least of it.

"We don't have time to explain this," Frisco said. He looked at Kymberly. "Do you think?"

"Whatever. We don't have time for this. Take them, leave them."

"We'll go with you and you can explain this," Robert said.

"Fine," Kymberly said coldly. "Let's go." And they ran. Almost a mile away a helicopter was waiting.

"Can one of you fly that?" Robert asked. Kymberly glanced back at him.

"Buckle in," she said, getting behind the controls. Isabel was glaring at him. He couldn't explain to her what was going on. It would take too long and he wanted to know how his daughter had ended up in the bureau and how she had angered them so much they wanted her dead. Minutes later they were in the air. "Cash still there?" Kymberly asked Frisco. He nodded to her.

"What is going on?" Robert asked them.

"Faison and his son, Raphael Carnis, have been running the bureau for two years," Frisco said. "Sean suspected it and Anna confirmed it. We've been trying to keep everyone safe, but with Anna's mother out of prison, Faison's people, and those in the WSB, it's been difficult. Hell, it's been damn near impossible."

"Anna?" He hadn't meant to say it aloud, and when he saw the look he received from Frisco and Isabel, he wished he hadn't. Nothing else was said throughout the chopper ride. Kymberly landed the helicopter near a small airstrip. A small private jet waited. The left the chopper and ran to the jet.

"Madame, everything is in order. Lucky Spencer called. He must speak with you before you arrive in Athens. It was urgent," the pilot said. Kymberly nodded and they all boarded the jet. Robert looked around. The Cassadine Family insignia was everywhere.

"I'm going to call Lucky and find out what is so important," Kymberly said. "It can't be any worse than what Nikolas told me." She unbuckled and stood up as soon as they were in the air. Robert looked at her but she didn't even glance at him.

"We hope," Frisco said. "After we're done in Athens, we'll have to go back to London."

"We can't take this jet. We'll have to find something else."

"Corinthos owes Robin a few favors. Ask her to call them in," Frisco answered. "Nothing else there's always Marick."

Kymberly shrugged and went to the back of the plane to make her calls. Robert wanted to go with her to talk to her, but instead turned to Frisco for answers.

Frisco sighed. "Well, where to begin. How about with you, Robert? Tell me, what happened that day?"

Robert looked at Isabel. He had never told her about his past in Port Charles. She knew nothing about his family or the deal he had made with Faison to protect them. "There was no explosion, at least not on the yacht we were on."

"But Anna remembered one."

"That was Faison's plan. Shouldn't Kymberly be here?"

"Her name is Kylie now. Only the Cassadines call her Kymberly and that in itself is a rarity. If you want to know anything about her, I'd suggest you'd ask her yourself. Now I'm giving you a chance to tell your side of the story. Kylie's known since…she's known for a long time. She only told me, but I didn't believe it until today."

"How did she find out?" Robert asked. Only he, Faison, and the WSB knew about the deal. There wasn't a way Kymberly…no, Kylie, could have found out.

"From Faison, while Raphael stalked her," Frisco ground out.

"He what?"

"Ask her. She doesn't like people talking about her life." Kylie walked to their area of the plane and sat beside Frisco, across from Robert and Isabel. Her face was still without expression. "So? What did Lucky think was so important to call now?"

"Nikolas was arrested and charged for killing Helena."

"Shouldn't they instead be investigating why she wasn't in prison?"

"One would think," Kylie answered. "But we're talking about the Cassadines. No one really cares."

"So where is Helena?"

"No one knows. Luke doesn't think she's dead, of course, but he has yet to get a plan to bring her back to town. She doesn't care about Nikolas anymore so we know she won't come back because he's charged with this."

"Luke's going to have to take her money. She won't come out of hiding otherwise."

"Yeah, I figured that. I gave Lucky enough information to hack into the Cassadine accounts if they wish to do it. Then I told him to make sure Luke put it all back. Nikolas and I are just now getting the finances back to normal. The bank just informed me that Alexis has removed money from the account as well."

"Now that is interesting."

"I thought you might like it."

"Wonder why."

"My guess is to leave the country. Corinthos is going after custody. She can't win against him. He has a safe and stable home even if it gets blown up on occasion."

"You might want to think about adding kidnapping to our list of crimes," Frisco said, laughing. "Even if Corinthos gets custody, if this gets too big, he probably won't be able to protect Kristina either."

"Kidnapping is on our list of crimes. Moscow. We wait." She massaged her temples. "If it does get that bad, Kristina won't be the only person we'll have to get out." She let out a breath. "Lovely. So," she looked directly at Robert and he started at the extent anger being directed at him. "What is your story?"

He had wondered about Kylie's life since that day in Africa. After he and Isabel had returned to London, he had contacted the WSB and had been told about the Black Box operations ordered for Kylie, Frisco, Anna, and Robin. It didn't make any sense for the bureau to care about a former WSB agent and two young women with no obvious connection to them.

He'd searched for days to find nothing. He'd tried to find out about Kylie's connection to Faison but had only turned up a few reports she and Anna had made to Interpol in Paris and in London. The first had been about a break in at Kylie's hotel apartment in London. Someone had broken in and drugged Kylie. Apparently Anna had come by to talk to her and found the men in the apartment. Kylie later identified one of the men as working for Cesar Faison and the other as working for Helena Cassadine. He'd called Kylie a few days later to confirm the story. She didn't have time to talk and so he called a few days after that and Frisco answered.

"Don't call her again."

"She's my daughter, Frisco. I'll call her whenever I wish to."

"Really," Frisco said. "You weren't this persistent before we met in Africa. In fact, I think, and I may need confirmation on this, that you left Kylie to be raised by a murdering sociopath and never tried to get her out of the situation. Don't screw with me, Robert. You taught me quite a bit, but it's been a long time and the rules have changed. I don't work for the bureau any longer."

"Don't threaten me, Jones. You won't like the results."

"I'm not threatening you, Scorpio. I'm promising you. Unless Kylie contacts you, don't contact her. There is not a place you can hide from me. I have nothing left to lose anymore. My only concern is for Kylie and her daughter."

"I'll speak to my daughter whenever I please."

"She isn't pleased to speak to you. Face it, Robert. You made your choice and you chose your own life as opposed to saving your daughter's sanity."

And Frisco had hung up. Robert had thought about that conversation for a long time. He still didn't understand what Frisco had meant and he doubted Frisco would ever elaborate. Robert would never find out what had happened to his daughter. He'd thought she would be safe. Now she was dead. Why had she been in Port Charles? Robin had been kidnapped in Paris. Surely if Kylie had cared as much about Robin as she had seemed to, she would have been in Paris first thing. She would have been at the front of the search, looking for answers.

"Isabel, stay here. I'm going to Port Charles," he said.

"I'm going with you, Robert. No arguments. I love you and I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Isabel, my family is in Port Charles. My…Anna might be there. Robin is missing. My brother is there."

"I don't care. I don't think you can do this alone. Just let me go with you." He shook his head, but thought she was right. His youngest daughter was dead, his other gone, taken by a psychopath. Robert didn't know what to do. He needed to help find Robin. He couldn't do anything about Kylie, not now. Unless her death was connected to Robin's kidnapping.

"Only Frisco knows you," he said. "I have a bad feeling about this." He sighed. "I want you to go to Port Charles and I'll go to Paris. Something doesn't fit."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No, but I don't know of anything else to do. I'll give you a list of people to talk to. I've taught you enough to do what needs to be done. Frisco might show up because of Kylie…"

"Robert you should be there because of Kylie. She's your daughter."

Robert shook his head. "She hasn't been my daughter in a long time. I don't think she ever was." He stood up. "I'll put together some information for you to use in Port Charles. I'll contact some people in Paris who owe me and see what I can find out about Robin."