CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
Plans and Plots and Wishful Thinking

Sonny wasn't sure he was buying it. Why would Alexis call his main warehouse and leave him a message here? Why not call the penthouse? Why not call him on his cell? And the message didn't contain not a single word about Johnny. And the bodyguard hadn't checked in with him either. It could be the storm fouling everything up, but Sonny couldn't be sure. And until he was, he wasn't happy about any of it.

He flicked on the radio on his desk to check the weather. He was expecting a coffee shipment as well as having a meeting with some Venezuelan coffee brokers this evening. The storm's intensity was growing; the forecasters were predicting that by nightfall, wind gusts could reach hurricane strength with torrential downpours. Sonny debated postponing the meeting but then decided against it. Alexis had put this meeting into play and it had taken months of legal maneuvering to seal this deal to his advantage. She was supposed to have been there with him to close the deal, but her family emergency had changed all that.

"I wanted you there with me, Alexis." he said aloud. And he could hear her voice in his head, answering him.

"And for what, to hold your hand?"

"No, you already have a hold on my heart. I don't need nothing else."

"Well then, go get 'em, Mr. Corinthos. The work is done, just go and charm them and get their John Hancock's on the dotted line. And considering the intricacies involved - not to mention the number of Latino male egos involved, all of whom I properly soothed and settled expertly, I think your lawyer should get a well-earned bonus for this one."

She would be right.

Maybe she was just overwhelmed by her family business. The Cassadine holdings were an international concern. Sonny knew first hand how much time, work and energy it took to maintain a large sized business empire, how much more was involved when they were talking about business on a global scale?

He tried ringing Alexis' cell phone and then Windermere itself. And again, no connection available. By now she was probably airborne and once her plane actually landed in England, there was no telling how long she'd be before she found time to call. Like it or not, he'd just have to wait for her to call him.

Sonny just hoped it would be soon.


Jax decided to head back to the Club after realizing that he'd left the papers for the Chicago deal there while talking with Carly and dealing with Sonny. She could use some bolstering up, he decided, and it would momentarily take his mind off of his silly worries over Alexis. By the time he arrived, it was almost time for opening for the after-work, happy hour crowd. The headwaiter met Jax just after he entered the club.

"Mr. Jax, you have a message.. two in fact." He handed Jax two slips of papers. Jax opened the notes as he walked towards the office. The first one, from Carly, stopped him in his tracks. What was going on... a note saying that she needed a few days off - with everything that had been happening to her, she just wanted some time alone.

So what had happened? Had Corinthos gotten to Carly after all, and his first visit nothing but a trick to get Jax to drop his guard? Had he upset her to the point that she ran from Port Charles in the middle of a storm? Jax shook his head in disgust. He opened the second note just as he reached the office. And now he went from anger to confusion. Alexis called and left a message for him here?

Maybe it was the storm. All while he'd been trying to reach her, she had been trying to reach him. And had had about the same success. And Alexis, knowing that sooner or later he'd be worried about her, had called the next logical place to find him. That idea made more and more sense to him, the more he thought about it, and Jax let himself relax into the relief pouring through him before he even read the note. It explained everything. She'd had to fly out of town on an emergency. He knew that Nikolas and Kristina had flown to Europe in order for Nikolas to solidify his standing with the European Cassadine concerns, and that had to be where Alexis had gone to. Her note went on to explain that she hadn't bothered to return to her apartment to pack, but had booked herself on the first available flight.

Of course. If Nikolas needed her, she would just go. That was pure Alexis. His adorably stubbornly independent Alexis. He was going to have a little talk with her when she got back to the States. Just a little something about informing her ex-husband as to her comings and goings when they involved crossing international date lines before they occurred. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Jax was still smiling at the scene unfolding in his head about that future conversation when someone knocked at the door. He called for them to enter and was surprised to see Bobbie Spencer in the door.

"Bobbie, what a pleasant surprise." he said, coming from around the desk to greet her. "But what can I do for you? Carly isn't here."

"I know she isn't. Shame on you, Jax." Bobbie said.

"I didn't have anything to do with that."

"Oh sure." Bobbie said, with a small laugh. "You and your corporate mogul mentality has Carly so up and raring to go that she flew out of town on a business meeting in the middle of a storm."

Jax realized that Carly had lied to her mother about her whereabouts. Why?

"But I shouldn't complain – from what I've seen, you've been a really good influence on Carly." Bobbie hadn't noticed the momentary surprise that had crossed Jax's face so she continued talking. "Actually, it's rather a good thing to see Carly so involved with something other than the state of her relationship with...with her ex-husband."

Bobbie paused, obviously a little embarrassed at having brought up Sonny's name in conversation. Their on-going dislike of one another was no secret.
"Like your friend Mason. Carly has been spending a lot of time with him, and that's just what she needs. Things and people to help her get her life together after the divorce. I did want to thank you for that.

"I actually came by because Michael had left one of his favorite toys here." Bobbie looked around and found the car quickly. She moved to pick it up, still chattering. "Of course, Michael is a little disappointed that his mom won't be home for a few days, but Sonny promised to come see him as soon as he's finished with his meeting at the Grille." She glanced at her watch. "And that should be in about another hour or so."

Bobbie caught herself, then she grinned and threw up her hands in apology. "Oops, I said the "S" word again. Sorry, Jax."

"It's all right, Bobbie." Jax reassured her.

"You know I don't mean to bring up his name on purpose, knowing how the two of you feel about each other, but like it or not, Sonny is still involved in Carly's life, if for no other reason than he's Michael's father. I don't mean to get into your business, but I hope that isn't going to be a problem in the future. I'm just worried about Carly getting caught in the middle of something between the two of you."

"That's not going to happen. I respect Carly. I'm not blind to her faults, but there's a lot to her that people don't see."

"She's my daughter, Jax, and I love her. But be careful. Carly doesn't always think before she acts. And the collateral damage can be - intense. Carly doesn't do things half-way. Good or bad."

"She told me something to that effect this morning. Warned me, in fact. Isn't that a step forward?"

"It is. You've been good to her, Jax. I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate it."

"It's been - a learning experience for us both." Jax told her. Bobbie left shortly after, and Jax was left with his thoughts once more, this time fueled by Bobbie's information. Carly had ran, lied to her mother about it and the more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that the reason why was at the Grille.

Jax left the office. After questioning some of the staff, he found the waiters who had taken Carly's message and asked him about Carly's demeanor. Yes, the boss lady had looked stressed, the waiter told him.

"Something about her was off, she didn't look good, but she wouldn't say. I did ask her if everything was okay, but she didn't answer me." He told Jax. "All she did was hand me this note, tell me to make sure you got it this afternoon and take off."

Carly was running from something...or more to the point, someone. And that someone was Sonny, Jax was sure of it. He paused long enough to give instructions for the head waiters and bar staff to handle the staff for tonight and after that, then headed for his car, his temper growing steadily by the minute. He pointed it in the direction of the Grille.

En route, his cell phone rang. Hoping it was Alexis, he answered it on the first ring. Instead, it was Mason, asking about Alexis.

"No, I haven't see her." Jax said. "But let me ask you about Carly…did the two of you have lunch? How was she?"

"Yes we had lunch together." Mason told him. "Not as long as I would have wished, though. She seemed – preoccupied. And not too thrilled with my company." He was telling a truth in a way, so that Jax would not detect the lies underlying his words.

"Just pre-occupied? Nothing else?"

"Nothing else… like what?"

"I don't know. Tense, troubled, anxious - afraid?"

"Afraid?" Mason repeated his last word. "Afraid of what, Jax? Why are you so worried about Carly? You know we've become - close, so tell me, what's going on?"

Jax told him what he had learned about the note Carly had left. "You saw her reaction this morning when you told us that Sonny was on his way into the Club. She was terrified."

"I thought you set him straight about her." Mason said. "You told him to keep away from her, didn't you? But now you think he was after Carly?" He was carefully feeding Jax just enough fuel at a time to keep his anger burning bright.

"Obviously I didn't say it strongly enough. But he claimed he was there on a matter that had nothing to do with Carly, so I let it go. But now I'm thinking he wasn't counting on my being at the Club when he got there."

Mason hesitated carefully. "I don't know if this will help or not, but Carly told me that she went to see Sonny down at the PCPD. She said she went to offer whatever support she could to the father of her child and he – well, let's just say that there was nothing gentlemanly about his response."

Jax swore. "I'll just bet it wasn't. And something had to have happened after that to make Carly run. And Sonny is going to tell me what it is."

"So what's the plan?"

"One way or the other, I'm going to find out why Carly ran. And Sonny is on the top of the list as to finding the answers. I just found out that he's at the Grille and I'm on my way there."

"I don't have to tell you to be careful, do I?"

"I've never been afraid of Corinthos and I'm not going to start now." Jax hung up. If Sonny had answers, he was going to give them up.