CHAPTER NINETY
Innocent Until
Jax sat in his car, stared up at the building's entrance, and wondered for the hundredth time what in the world was he doing here. It had all started with a phone call the night before. Coming from the distance that it did, it was conversation full of repeated words and broken static, but its purpose had set Jax on a path that he'd never thought he'd pursue.
Freeing Sonny Corinthos from jail.
:Flashback:
"Jax… can you hear me?"
"Barely… but I'm glad you called, Kristina – did Alexis' plane land already?"
"Alexis' plane? Did she tell you she was coming?"
"No, she told me she was going to Europe…well not exactly…" A wash of static blurred their connection and Jax could barely make out what Kristina was trying to tell him. But what he got sent a chill through him. Kristina had been trying to reach Alexis for the past few hours and hadn't been able to. She'd tried Sonny's apartment after that and again, couldn't get through. But Alexis wasn't expected by wither her or Nikolas. They had been worried because they hadn't been able to reach her.
"She left a message telling me there was an emergency."
"Jax, there's no emergency over here. What's going on?" Even with the interference, Jax could hear the panic beginning to rise in Kristina's voice. "What's wrong, Jax!"
"I don't know." Jax was forced to tell her. "Sit tight; I'm going to find out what's going on and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
:;End Flashback:
That phone call had set every alarm inside of him to ringing. Now he was more than worried. Where was Alexis? Why had she seemingly dropped out of sight? Was it Cassadine business, or was something more sinister going on.
He had spent a long and sleepless night. First, he'd gone back to the club and tracked down the employee who had taken Alexis' message. Then, his mind ruthlessly calculating, he went over all the events of the evening, including the conversations with Sonny before and at the Grille. He was forced to admit that Sonny had been right – he wouldn't have done anything to hurt Alexis, and he wasn't stupid enough to leave incriminating evidence around for the law to get ahold of. Alexis was missing, and her main protector, Sonny, had been set up to keep him from going after her.
Jax let his analytical skills take over from there. A few phone calls and he found out exactly what evidence the ADA had found that had resulted in Sonny's being brought in for questioning. And then he set his own resources at work checking and rechecking it A team of technical experts had gone to work with the information he'd given them and their efforts had brought him here, parked in front of the PCPD in the early morning.
In this one instance, Sonny was innocent. Jax shook his head, fully aware of the irony of being the man to prove it. The ADA had had mostly computer- based evidence against him. But Jax's experts had gone into the system with their own electronic methodology, which were definitely more high-tech than what the police department could provide on short notice. Jax had then called in one of his own lawyers, presented him with the results of the night's work, proof that the emails and invoices and other files had been either phished or hacked into Sonny's system and had turned him loose on the PCPD. The lawyer, known for his take-no-prisoners attitude, bolstered by a bonus including a sizable digit followed by several zeros, had went to work with enthusiasm.
And that was why Jax was up and out in the middle of this filthy weather. He was sure Sonny was going to be as happy to see him as he was to be out here waiting for him. A grim smile graced his lips in spite of himself.
Sonny was in a harsh mood as he exited the PCPD. Someone had tried to set him up for Stefan's murder and he didn't like it. He liked the sight of Jax rising out of the back of the limo even less.
"Come to gloat, Candyboy?" Sonny barely paused to look at Jax before heading to his own car.
"Can it, Sonny. Things have changed. I know you didn't have anything to do with Stefan's death. But something else going down and I don't like it."
"And I should care - why?"
"Because it's serious - it involves Alexis and the fact that no one knows where she is – and explains why you had that bogus evidence planted against you." Jax jerked his head towards his limo. "Get in and I'll explain."
Sonny shook his head then motioned towards his own car. "I trust my guys a helluva lot more than I trust yours." When Jax hesitated, he added. "Their loyalty is based on a lot more than a paycheck. Can you say the same?"
"Good point." Jax followed Sonny to his car.
Once they settled into the backseat of Sonny's limo, Jax outlined what he'd found out so far, starting with Kristina's phone call about not knowing anything about Alexis' heading to Europe.
"Did Alexis' message say specifically that's where she was going?" Sonny asked.
"No, just that she had to go out of town suddenly and that she'd be in touch as soon as she was able."
"With no direct contact with either me, you, or Kristina and Nikolas?" Sonny thought out loud. "I'm not liking it."
"Neither am I. That's why we're sitting here."
"Yeah, and I still got questions about that." Sonny said.
Jax explained. Sonny's computer had been hacked into and the evidence framing him had been hacked and phished.
"Phished?"
Jax explained the hackers ability to generate emails that look like they come from one place while actually coming from another. What they had found so far was what had gotten Sonny released. His people were still working on doing a backwards trace on the coding to tell them who was behind it.
Sonny opines that his people may be able to produce results quicker, not being constrained by certain ethics.
Jax bared teeth at him in a grin that held little humor. "You forget, this involves Alexis. Ethics don't apply; so I think I got that covered."
Seeing the look in Jax's eyes, Sonny saw the truth there and a kindred determination. Jax was prepared to be as ruthless as Sonny was. Like it or not, as of right now, they were partners.
"What else we got?" Sonny asked.
