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"So tell me something," Jason requested as he leaned forward over the table.
"Tell you what?" Courtney really didn't like the way he was looking at her and steadied her gaze on her glass.
"I don't know, how about telling me why a nice girl like you is spending all of her free time in a place like this," he said with a sweep of his hand.
She shrugged. "What's wrong with this place?" she asked. "It beats sitting at home and besides, Carly's always entertaining."
"I bet." he took a drink from his beer and kept his eyes fixated on her. "Does your boyfriend mind it that you sit here all alone all the time or does he usually join you? That is, if you have one of course."
"And here I thought you sat down at my table for help in solving a murder mystery, not pick up girls." She finally met his gaze with her own.
He shrugged. "There's no harm in mixing business with pleasure." He set his drink down. "And I like women, not girls." His steely eyes burned into hers until she looked away uncomfortably.
"So where were you before coming to Port Charles?" she asked abruptly, anxious to change the subject.
"Business it is. Your loss," he sighed. "Well, I was in Los Angeles, heading up the west coast business transactions until Bobby disappeared and now here I am."
"I would have thought Sonny Corinthos would be the one to handle his brother's disappearance," Courtney replied.
"Death," Jason corrected her. "Bobby's dead, there's no use pretending he isn't." The tone of his voice was cold enough to chill Courtney.
"Well okay then, from what I've heard about Mr. Corinthos, I would just assume he would be the one dealing with this."
"And you know what they say about assuming." He stared at her for another moment and she began to wonder if he had been the champion of the first-grade staring competition. "Have you ever met Sonny Corinthos?" She shook her head. "Well if and when you ever do, pray it's under pleasant circumstances." He sighed again. "Sonny's up to his neck in other, more pressing matters and I'm the next in line to handle this."
"Lucky you," she said cynically as she took a drink of her soda. "Why doesn't the family just leave it to the authorities to figure out?" she asked logically.
He chuckled. "I can't decide if that's the cutest thing I've heard today or the most naïve, either way, I think I might take back what I said about women over girls." He smirked as she blushed and pushed his chair back from the table to stand up. "Alright, it's later than I thought and I can see you're not up to helping me today so I'll just be on my way then." He walked around the table to stand beside her. "Oh, and Courtney?" She visibly tensed as he rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned in close enough for his breath to tickle her ear. "It's been a pleasure."
Courtney closed her eyes and waited as he removed his hands and walked away whistling. She rolled her shoulders back and shook out her hair as she waited for her pulse to stop racing.
"What did he say?" She opened her eyes to see Carly now sitting where Jason had just been. "You guys looked pretty intense sitting here."
Courtney exhaled. "He's going to kill us," she whispered.
Carly's eyes widened. "He said that? Why? What did we do?" She waved her hand as Courtney began to protest. "I mean, I know what we did, but he doesn't know, does he? I didn't tell him and I swear to got Court, if I can keep this secret and you can't, I'll--"
"He doesn't know," Courtney interrupted impatiently. She ran her hands over the crown of her head and through her hair. "But he's definitely on a mission to find out who killed Bobby and he told me that when he does, he'll make sure they pay."
"Well I guess we'll have to be really careful so he doesn't figure out it's us." Carly shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "You know, I've gotta admit, that man is damned sexy."
"He's a killer Carly. For the mob."
"So?" Carly raised her drink towards the door. "He's hot! I like me a man in leather and jeans and well, with an ass like that I think I need to get to know him a little bit better, don't you?"
"You're impossible!" Courtney scolded.
"I'm also single," Carly pointed out. "Not all of us are lucky enough to have someone in our bed every night and I'll tell you it's been way too long since I've had someone in mine."
"Great." Courtney threw her hands up in the air. "You're not going to do us any favors by jumping in bed with the man."
"Maybe I will." Carly's eyes brightened. "Maybe that's exactly what I need to do! I mean, once he falls prey to my charm and wit and well, my expertise, he won't even be able to think about finding Bobby's killer."
"Killer," Courtney said softly. "I can't believe we actually killed him."
"Courtney, are you sure this is the right spot?" Carly's question floated through the air as her flashlight beamed light over the sandy beach. "I don't see anything."
"Are you kidding me, this is the spot, I remember the lifeguard stand right there and we were only a few yards from it." Courtney grabbed the flashlight from Carly and aimed it in another direction. "We were right there…" her voice trailed off.
"Okay seriously you two, is this some kind of joke?" AJ asked, shining his own flashlight into the same direction as Courtney's. "Because if it is, I'm not finding it very funny."
"Shut up AJ!" Carly hissed. "Do you really think Courtney and I would lie about almost being raped?" She paused. "Okay, do you think Courtney would lie about it? No, of course she wouldn't!"
"He's not here," Courtney whispered. She waited until Carly and AJ caught up with her. "We were right here, look at the sand, you can tell. Damn it, where is he?" Courtney whirled around, shining the flashlight all around her.
"This is good, isn't it?" Carly asked. "It means we didn't kill him. That's good news!"
"Until he comes after one of us again," Courtney pointed out. "We've got to find him."
"And do what?" Carly challenged. "Hit him again? The asshole has a head of steal, we can hit him a million more times and it wouldn't do any good."
"Can you be serious for one minute?" Courtney demanded, training her light directly on Carly's face.
"I am being serious," Carly shot back. "But that doesn't mean I want go to on a little search party for the guy. You can't tell me you want to either."
"No but what else are we going to do?" Courtney turned towards her boyfriend, who was still just standing there. "AJ, what do we do?"
"I don't know Court," AJ said. "You haven't been gone for very long, he couldn't have gotten very far, especially if you two hit him as hard as you say he did."
"Look!" Carly shrieked. She pointed down to the sand. "Footsteps!" She followed them as far as she could. She frowned when she reached the shoreline. "Don't tell me Bobby was stupid enough to walk directly into the water and not notice," she muttered. "I can't believe I ever hired him in the first place."
"It's possible, if he had a concussion," AJ noted. He looked at the two girls. "We can't stick around much longer," he realized. "Someone could see us and you two don't need someone placing you at the beach tonight." He grabbed them each by the arm and started to lead them away.
"We can't just leave!" Courtney protested.
"Yes we can," AJ said firmly. "Courtney, he's gone. It's not your fault, you were only protecting yourself and as far as I'm concerned, he walked into that water of his own free will. The best thing to do now is go home, and pretend this night never happened."
"Works for me," Carly chimed in. She looked at Courtney pleadingly. "Court, come on," she begged. "It's cold out here and I just want to have a drink and then fall into my bed. Let's go."
Courtney cast a glance over her shoulder to the empty spot of the beach. "Fine," she said resignedly. "Fine, let's go."
"Good girl," AJ said, squeezing her hand in his. He leaned forward to press a kiss against her cheek. "Okay, if anyone asks, you two were with me all night, drinking and watching movies at my place, got it?" They both nodded. "Good, now let's get out of here."
"Cheer up Court," Carly said, startling her out of yet another daydream. She set a new glass in front of her and sat back down. "From what I saw today, it would appear to me that our charming little mobster has a thing for you."
Courtney was taking a drink from her glass and nearly choked as Courtney spoke. And she wasn't choking because of the vodka Carly had added to her soda. "What are you talking about?" she sputtered.
"Oh please, don't tell me you've forgotten what its like to have a man flirting with you." Carly rolled her eyes. "This is good thing Courtney, don't worry."
"Really, why?" Courtney took another drink.
"It's like they always say. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. We're going to make sure Jason Morgan becomes one of our very dear friends."
Too bad it could work either way, Courtney thought bitterly She kept the thought to herself though, opting instead to go another route. "Do you honestly believe that?" she asked incredulously.
"No," Carly said with a shake of her dark hair. She giggled slightly. "I just always wanted to say it."
"You're late." Sonny Corinthos barely looked up from his desk as Jason walked into the sitting room of the Corinthos estate.
"Good to see you again too Sonny." Jason handed his jacket to the maid and sat down on the couch across from Sonny.
"Tell me you were at least working." Still, he didn't look up.
"No, I was at the race track." Sonny finally looked up and Jason shook his head. "Calm down, I was at the Cellar. You said Bobby worked there, I figured people would know him."
"And did they?"
"A couple of them did," Jason admitted. "I'll find out more tomorrow, but I didn't want to be any later getting here than I was, so I called it quits for the night."
"So glad to see finding my brother's murderer is someone you can find whenever you want to," Sonny said through gritted teeth.
"Come now Sonny!" The third voice startled them both and they turned their attention to the staircase in the corner of the room. "That's no way to talk to Jason, especially since he dropped everything he was doing to get here as quick as he did. How are you Jason?"
Jason stood as Adella Corinthos made her way into the room. "I'm good Adella, and yourself?"
"As good as can be expected," she said, accepting the hug Jason gave her and kissing his cheek. "You're a good boy to be concerned, my own son doesn't even see fit to ask me how I am anymore."
"Bobby's dead Mama," Sonny said, still seated at his desk. "It's a miracle he stayed alive as long as he did, you can't tell me you're surprised someone killed him."
"You see?" Adella cried, pointing a finger at Sonny. "You see why I called for you to deal with this and not my own son, my first born?" She slammed her fist down on Sonny's desk, scattering his papers. "Roberto was your brother, he was your blood, and you're more concerned with a few thousand dollars missing from a casino we don't even own anymore?" She shook her head sadly and turned back to Jason. "You, Jason, you should have let me adopt you when I wanted to. All this could have been yours."
Jason smiled patiently at the older woman. Her theatrics were just as dramatic as they had been the first time he had met her. "Della, I was seventeen when I met you, there was no need for adoption. Besides," he offered her a grin. "We're still family, aren't we."
"Familia," she repeated fondly. She walked back over to him and held his face in her hands. "Yes, we are family. That's how I know Jason. That's how I know you'll avenge my baby boy's death properly. I can count on you." She released his face and patted his cheek lovingly. "You must be starving after your trip, come, let's go see if dinner's ready yet." She turned back to Sonny. "Will you be joining us mijo?"
"As soon as I'm done Mama," he muttered, once again absorbed in his paperwork.
"Very well then." Adella linked her arm through Jason's and led him into the dining room. "So tell me, all the ladies in California, they're after you nonstop, aren't they?"
Sonny lifted his eyes and watched scathingly as his mother and Jason left the room. He hadn't wanted Morgan here in the first place but his mother was right, Sonny didn't care enough about who killed his brother, his heart wouldn't have been in the search and he wouldn't have brought about the proper justice fit for the crime committed.
It was ironic, he thought as he put his papers away and went to join them in the dining room. The only one with enough anger and loyalty to avenge his brother's death was a brain-damaged hitman his mother had taken pity on and brought into the family.
Like it or not, Jason would get the job done and Sonny prayed he would get it done sooner than later, so everyone could get on again with their lives.
Although, Sonny grinned to himself, the grin of a smugly kept secret. There were things no one, not even Jason, knew about Bobby's death. Things that undoubtedly blow things sky high and turn the tables on everyone.
It was all just a matter of time until Sonny decided to disclose those truths. And he for one, couldn't wait until he did.