Chapter 9

Jodie sat on the couch, fidgeting slightly as she watched the man who was now her father get ready for his meeting with Ms. Carmine. She knew the woman was going to tell him about her little disappearing acts and Jodie had a feeling that once he knew, it wouldn't be so easy for her to get out. Jodie had seen the guards and when she asked about them, he told her that they worked for him and left it at that.

Lorenzo finished gathering the materials he needed, all the while watching Jodie out of the corner of his eye. She looked so tiny sitting on the couch and fidgeting nervously. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she was his daughter in the first place. It was going to take some getting used to.

He looked up when the doors opened and Diego came in, his backpack slung over a shoulder and a curious look in his eyes. Lorenzo had explained everything to his son and his need for Diego to stay with Jodie while he was out. For some odd reason, Lorenzo felt like he shouldn't leave Jodie on her own in the house.

"Hey Pop," said Diego as he went over to his father, who was standing by his desk, his eyes on the little girl sitting on the couch. "Is that her?" he asked in a quieter voice.

Nodding, Lorenzo turned to Diego. "Do me a favor while you're here, keep an eye on her. She's nervous about me going to this meeting with her social worker but she won't say why. Don't let her out of your sight."

"Sure, no problem. I mean, how much trouble could a nine year old girl be?" Diego asked.

Lorenzo just shrugged – he honestly had no idea, but had a feeling he was going to find out.

"You're sure Lorenzo and Faith are behind this?" asked Sonny as he looked at the rumpled paper in his hands. Sonny was not one to question things – he was the type to shoot first and ask questions later.

"Who else could it be Sonny? Faith is crazy and Lorenzo – he'll do anything to take Carly away from you," said Jason, as he paced back and forth, his hands clenched into fists at his side. All he needed was a chance to get his hands on Lorenzo Alcazar; he was ready to throttle the man to within an inch of his pathetic life.

"Then why take Sam?" Sonny asked, turning to look at Jason. The man was exhausted and fear was starting to take over. Sonny had never seen Jason this bad off before. If, god forbid, Jason ever lost Sam, Sonny knew his friend would never be able to come back from it.

"I don't know Sonny, but there are no other possibilities."

Sonny sighed. Then he nodded. "Alright. We'll look into it," he said. "I'll have Stan start digging around; see what he can find out about Faith's and Alcazar's activities."

Jason shook his head. "That will take too long. We need answers now." With that said, Jason left the living room, intent on talking to Alcazar himself.

Sonny watched Jason leave and then called out to Max. "Go with him," he said.

Max nodded and then followed Jason out of the house. He had a feeling this wouldn't bode too well and was going to make sure Jason didn't get himself killed.

"So, Mr. Alcazar, how are things going with Jodie so far?" Ms. Carmine asked.

Lorenzo looked across the table at the woman sitting on the other side. She was young, but appeared to take her job very seriously. She even looked the part, with her blond hair pulled back in a severe bun, wire rimmed glasses perched on her straight, sharp nose and wearing a very business like suit with precise creases in muted colors.

"It will take some getting used to – for both of us," he said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing the back of his neck slightly.

"That's understandable of course. I am sure it was quite a shock to find out about having a daughter you never knew."

"To be honest Ms. Carmine, this is the second time this has happened. I recently found out that I have a seventeen year old son I knew nothing about."

"I see," she said, slightly surprised. "And how is that relationship going?"

"It's still developing," Lorenzo said noncommittally. He felt no need to go into his relationship with his son. It was none of this woman's business.

Feeling him pulling back from the conversation, she nodded. "Well, all of the paperwork is complete," she said, handing him the folder that contained all of the legal documents naming Lorenzo Alcazar as Jodie's biological father. "I assumed that you would want your daughter to have your last name, so yours and her mother's name are listed."

"Thank you," he said.

"Are there any other questions or concerns you have?"

"Actually, there is. Jodie was acting very nervous about my meeting with you today. Would you have any idea why she would be feeling that way?"

"Well, there have been instances of Jodie . . . disappearing," she said, clearing her throat and adjusting her glasses.

"Disappearing? What do you mean?"

"Well, Jodie has a tendency to take off without letting anyone know."

Lorenzo nodded. "Where does she go? How long does she disappear for?" he asked.

"Mr. Alcazar, when Jodie wants to know something and she knows you aren't telling her, she will do whatever she can to find out. Case in point, she wanted to know about you before she met you. And when I kept putting her off until after I met with you myself, she took it upon herself to find out the information on her own and then go to you."

Lorenzo remembered walking into his house and seeing Jodie sitting on the couch, as if she was waiting for him. After checking with his guards, none of them were able to tell him how she got onto the property and into the house without being seen.

"So, do you have any suggestions on how to . . . keep her from continuing this?" he asked.

"The only thing I could suggest is to not keep things from her and to try to be as honest as you can with her. She is a very curious little girl and seems to have this need to soak up the environment around her."

Lorenzo let out a sigh as he sipped his coffee. This was definitely going to prove more challenging than he thought.

"So, what do you want to do?" Diego asked Jodie after his father left.

Jodie shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know."

"Okay . . . " Diego was at a loss. He never really had much contact with young children and he had no idea what to do. "Do you want to watch TV?"

"There's a TV here?" she asked, looking around the large room.

Diego laughed. "Yeah, but it's in another room. We can go see what's on," he suggested.

Jodie shrugged. "My mom didn't let me watch a lot of TV," she said.

Diego watched her and saw the sadness in her eyes. He knew what that was like. "You miss you're mom, huh?" he asked as he sat beside her on the couch.

Jodie nodded. "Do you have a mom?"

"Yeah, I do. But she lives in Mexico," Diego said.

"Why?"

"You know, I'm not sure. She was living here for a while, but then she left."

"Do you talk to her?"

"Sometimes," said Diego, thinking of his last phone conversation with this mother.

"Do you miss her?"

"Well, to be honest, I didn't really grow up with her. When I was ten, she was sent back to Mexico and I was moved around from one foster home to another."

Jodie watched him as he talked. He had a sadness to his eyes and she decided to stop asking about his mother. "How long have you known . . . ummm . . . Mr. Alcazar?" she asked, scratching her nose and squinting her eyes, not sure what to call him. She didn't think she was ready to call him dad yet.

"About a year, and it also took me a while before I could refer to him as dad, so don't worry, he won't be offended."

"Good," she said, sighing a bit in relief. "Is he always so generous?"

Diego's eyebrow went up at her word choice. For her age, her vocabulary seemed pretty good. "Yes, he is. But he won't overdo it. And he'll give you time and space to adjust."

Diego was about to suggest another activity, but loud voices caught his attention. He stood as Jason Morgan came bursting into the living room.

"Where's your father?" Jason asked, coming right up to Diego.

Diego easily picked up on Morgan's anger and agitation. "I don't have to tell you. I think you should leave."

Jason took a step toward Diego very menacingly. "I am not going anywhere until I get some answers," he growled.

"He's not here," Diego said, standing his ground. "Like I said, you need to leave."

"If I find out he had anything to do with this, I will be taking him out personally," Jason threatened before leaving.

Diego shook his head. He was going to have to call his father and let him know what happened. Turning to make sure Jodie was okay, he cursed under his breath when he saw the couch was empty.

"Jodie?" he called out, figuring she was nearby and might have gotten frightened by Morgan's outburst. "Jodie!" When he didn't get a response, Diego called out to the guard at the door and told him gather some men and search for her. He needed to find her before his father got home.

Carly was cold. Her jeans clung to her like a second skin and felt like they weighed a tone. The bottom of her blouse was also wet. She was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. The class cage she and Sam were being kept in had filled with water – they could have easily drowned.

"S-Sam, are you okay?" Carly asked, looking across at Sam.

Sam nodded, but didn't say anything. She just wanted to get out of there and get back to Jason. She knew she should have stayed in the penthouse and not gone after him. Now look where it had gotten her. She was scared, but Sam was not going to sit there and wait to die. She couldn't.

Standing up on shaky legs, Sam walked over to Carly and kneeled in front of her. "Carly, we have to figure a way out of here," she said.

Carly looked up at Sam. "How? We've already tried Sam and there is no way out," she said, rubbing her arms to get warm.

"I know Carly, but we have to figure out something. I am not going to die in here."

Carly bit her lip and looked around. "Neither am I. Do you have a plan?" she asked, pulling herself together and getting to her own knees.

Sam shook her head. "Not yet, but we have to work together. We'll get out of here."

Diego checked every inch of the house, but there was no sign of Jodie anywhere. Returning to the living room, Diego ran his hands through his hair for what felt like the hundredth time and looked around. None of the other guards had been able to find her either. Now what was he going to do? His father was going to be angry when he got home.

She slipped in between the loose boards of the yard. She had followed him once and knew that this was where he lived. Sticking to the shade made by the trees, Jodie made her way across the large yard and to the big house. It was almost as big as the house her father was living in.

Jodie didn't know why she had run. She didn't mean to. But that man had scared her. Jodie wasn't stupid, she knew what the man in the leather jacket meant when he said he was going to 'take him out'. Jodie did what she always did when she was scared – she ran. She just hoped that Diego didn't get into trouble because of her.

Jason was fuming when he arrived back at Sonny's house. He had not gotten the answers he wanted, but he knew he would.

"What did you find out?" Sonny asked from his seat at the desk when Jason walked in. Sonny could see how aggitated Jason was.

"Nothing. Alcazar wasn't there," he said, pacing around the room. He felt like a caged tiger ready to pounce and he was sure he resembled one too.

Sonny nodded. "We'll figure this out and find Carly and Sam. I have stan working on all known enemies and associates of ours who might think they can gain leverage by taking them. We'll find whoever is doing this and make them pay."

As Lorenzo arrived home he saw a flurry of activity by his guards, who all snapped to attention when they saw him. Wondering what was going on, and having a slight idea what it might be, Lorenzo continued on and made his way toward the formal living room.

Motioning for the guard outside the door to not let on that he was there, Lorenzo stepped soundlessly into the room. What he saw brought a slight smile to his lips that he hid behind his hand.

It appeared as if Diego was ready to pull his hair out – which was currently standing on end as he ran his hands through it, probably for the hundredth time – and barking orders to one of the guards.

"Come on! This is crazy! She couldn't have just vanished into thin air. Are you sure someone checked the park and the playground? She's a kid for crying out loud – aren't they supposed to like stuff like that? What about the stables? She's a girl – it's a given she would like horses!"

As the guard left Lorenzo watched as Diego started lifting the couch cushins. Not able to watch anymore, Lorenzo stepped fully into the room, clasped his hands behind his back and wiped the amused look off of his face. He figured he could have a little fun with Diego before getting down to business.

"She may be small but I doubt you'll find her in the couch," Lorenzo said in a very serious tone.

Diego was so surprised he spun around too fast and fell back onto the couch. "Pop!" he said with wide eyes. "I was . . . I was just . . . just straightening up," he added, trying to cover what he was actually doing. He had no idea how long his father had been standing there.

Seeing the shock on his son's face Lorenzo couldn't hold it in anymore and smiled. "Don't worry Diego."

"Don't worry? Pop, all I had to do was watch her for a couple of hours and I lost her!" Diego exclaimed, confused by his father's obvious amusement over the situation.

"Diego, this is what Jodie didn't want me to find out about her. She tends to pull disappearing acts at times."

"So you're not worried?"

"I am, but according to Ms. Carmine, she always comes back. And as soon as she does, I will sit her down and have a talk with her about it," said Lorenzo as he slid off his suit jacket and went to the bar.

Diego let out a sigh of relief as he watched his father. "Did the social worker have any idea why Jodie does this?" he asked.

"She said a lot of times its curiosity. Jodie is a very curious little girl and when she wants to know something, she won't wait to be informed first. I also get the feeling she might also do it out of confusion or fear."

"Well, I think fear may have been the motive tonight," said Diego as he joined his father at the bar. Picking up a glass, Diego dropped in a couple of ice cubes and then reached for a crystal decanter. At his father's raised eyebrow and slight glare, Diego moved his hand to the pitcher of water instead. "Hey, a guy's gotta try," he said with a shrug.

Lorenzo nodded. "So, what scared Jodie enough to make her run?" he asked instead.

"Morgan came bursting in here, demanding to know where you were," answered Diego as he sipped his water.

Lorenzo turned to Diego, his eyes hard. "What did he want?" he asked.

"I don't know. I suggested that he leave, that you weren't home. He was very aggitated about something and before he left he said that if you were involved then he would take you out."

"And Jodie was in the room?"

Diego nodded. "After he left, I turned back to Jodie and she was gone."

Lorenzo looked at his watch. "Alright, I am going to head over to Corinthos's and see what it is he wanted. And to let him know that he is not to send his watch-dog here scaring a young girl. Stay here and let me know the minute Jodie gets back."

After Diego agreed, he watched as Lorenzo pulled his jacket back on and left the room.

"Morgan and Corinthos are in for it now," he said under his breath, shaking his head. The one thing Diego had learned about his father was that you never messed with his family.