CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWO

"There." Stan's voice was filled with satisfaction as the last number slid into place on his laptop. His own encryption-cracker program flashed and beeped softly. They could hear the tumblers inside the door fall into place. Luke tried the door and it swung open silently. He led them onwards, through a series of passageways; he managed to keep them away from any guards that might be patrolling and brought them to what appeared to be a dead-end.

"This leads to the heart of the Wyndemere web." Luke explained to them in a hushed whisper. "Used to be Stefan's base of operations whenever he was in town. No doubt, Helena took it over." He pushed at a hidden lever in the wall and a panel opened. The view was narrowed to what could be seen between two heavy wall tapestries.

Johnny moved forward and took a look. "This is where Alexis was working the last time we were here. This is where Alexis met with her investigator." He told them.

"Alexis carries her briefcase with her everywhere she goes. It's probably still there." Sonny said. "We need to get into it to find out what she knew. Maybe it will even give us a clue into how to find her."

Luke briefed them. "We go in, spread out, and search every nook and cranny. We've got to move swift, silent… a quick in and out."

But before they could go into the room, noises from beyond the doorway announced someone's approach. They pulled back, just in time to see Mason enter the room.

He came in and headed for the bar setup against one wall, but before he could reach it, his phone began ringing. Sonny watched through narrowed eyes as he answered the call, infuriated by the way mason's voice sounded do casual as he greeted his caller.

"My apologies, Nikolas, but I haven't heard from Alexis; I presumed that she was on her way to Europe to meet with you. I got the impression that she left suddenly and I presumed again - with urgency. I actually thought it was urgent Cassadine business that called her out of town. But since then, I haven't heard from her."

Sonny almost exploded from the blatant lie that was coming from Mason's lips. Only the sudden hard grip of Luke's hand on his arm stopped him.

Mason finished the phone call to Nikolas and then made one of his own. "Helena. Your darling prince is asking questions. Too many." He paused, listening. "I doubt if he's going to be content to stay in Europe much longer. So, what will that do to our plans… very well…your plans? After all, I'm sure you didn't intend on your dear darling grandson to be underfoot just yet. He could jeopardize everything and that needs to be dealt with..."

There was another pause and Mason's next words were hurried and instantly conciliatory. "No, of course not… I never meant to imply that any harm should come to him."
There was another angry spurt of words from the phone. "I understand how important your grandson is to you. No, no, I have never underestimated his position as the Cassadine Prince. I meant no disrespect at any time…." That went on until he hung up. Then his expression turned to one of disgust as he walked over to the bar.

Behind the tapestries, Sonny's eyes kindled with a new level of hatred as Mason fixed himself a drink, looking entirely too comfortable in Wyndemere, and entirely too comfortable in what was Alexis' place as CEO of Cassadine Enterprises.

Clearly angry, Mason finished one drink and fixed himself another, swallowing half the contents in one gulp. He began talking to the air.

"You take too much upon yourself, Helena Cassadine." He muttered out loud. "All of you Cassadine do. Who do you think you are? You and your precious Cassadines…a bunch of Old-World, inbred and outmoded nobility with a sense of arrogance that none of you have earned. Not you, Helena, not your precious Nikolas, and not even your not-so beloved Alexis." Mason toasted an imaginary presence - or himself - and then drank deeply. "Even you, Alexis. I wonder if you even knew that you had it in you? As much as I courted you, as nice as I was to you...you shot me down at every turn… and in your arrogance, you thought I'd tuck my tail between my legs and go away, like a humble subject. You were, in your own way, as bad as the rest of your clan. Whatever happens to you - you brought on yourself."

Sonny couldn't listen to another word. Before anyone else could move, he was already in motion and was across the room before anyone could do more than blink.

Mason never saw the arm that came snaking around his neck, cutting off his air. Suddenly he couldn't breathe and he was being dragged backwards. Choking and clawing at the relentless pressure on his throat. Stars danced before his eyes...suddenly, he was free, only to find himself slamming painfully into the ground as a powerful blow landed on the side of his head. Then he was dragged upright for a second blow that sent him smashing into the rough rock of the corridor wall. Mason fought to draw a breath, wheezing heavily as a hand twisted into his collar, threatening to strangle him again. And then another blow landed, sending him painfully into the wall again. He felt his skin scrape against the rough surface.

"Wha... What do you want?" he managed to gasp out "Who…?. If that witch Helena had thought to double cross him, she'd find out how bad of an idea that was. He sensed he was surrounded but reached out and grabbed at his assailant's arms.

Where is she, bastardo?"

"Corinthos!" Mason choked out his name, shocked. His blood chilled as he looked in Sonny's face. Before he could say more, Sonny smashed his fist into his face again, feeling the other man's mouth split satisfactorily beneath his knuckles. "If you've hurt her..." But he had hurt her. Sonny thought of the terror that must have gripped Alexis as she realized what a traitor he had been to her….that thought sent his fists flying into Mason's face again. Fueled by his growing fury, he let his rage take over and hit Mason again, and then again, over and over until Luke and the others managed to get between the two of them.

"This won't solve anything." It was Jax who managed to wrestle Sonny away from Mason.

Once he had pulled Sonny away, Sonny shook Jax's grip loose. Sonny controlled himself, rearranging his clothing back into place, but his eyes never left Mason. He shrank back against the wall, looking around at the men who gathered around him in a narrow half-circle.

"If you kill him, we won't learn nothin'" Luke said calmly.

"Who says you will anyways?" Mason shot back, defiant despite the blood dripping from his mouth and nose. He looked to Jax. "Hello, old friend. Welcome to the party. Thanks for the save."

"Don't thank me yet - old friend." Jax replied, his tone hard and sarcastic. He stepped forward and shoved Mason backwards with both hands, sending him rebounding painfully against the wall. "I suggest you start talking."

"About what? Or whom?" Mason asked. Somehow he managed to regain some of his cockiness. "Yes, what shall we talk about? I think it's time to play let's make a deal. I have information you obviously want. The question is, what are you willing to pay for it?"

"How much is your life worth?" Sonny asked, his voice quietly menacing. He looked at Jason, who took a step forward. Jason twisted his hands into Mason's collar and began slowly twisting. His mocking grin soon disappeared as he struggled for breath. A nod from Sonny and Jason released him, letting him slump to the floor.

"How much, Lane?"

"You don't dare kill me - not with witnesses." Mason said. His eyes darted around the eyes watching him, none of them showing the least bit of concern for his fate. Not even Jax. "You kill me and you'll never find Alexis - or Carly."

"That was the wrong thing to say." Jason said to him. He moved one hand to his shoulder, the other to Mason's wrist and twisted him so that Mason was pressed face-first against the rock wall. Jason moved and then pressed down in a certain manner. Mason groaned out loud. "Try again. Or else I dislocate your shoulder. For starters. Killing you won't come until later."

"And there won't be any witnesses." Sonny told him. He moved closer. "I can promise you that."

"Witnesses? To what?" Luke said. He bit down on his cigar. "Sonny-boy - " He said to Mason. " -I don't know who you are, or how you hooked up with Hells, but one thing I can tell you is that you do not come to Port Charles and mess with us Spencers. Carly is my sister's first-born. And I can't be having anyone messing with that. And as for Natasha – let's just say that you backed the wrong Cassadine this time around. Unlike Helena, Alexis has people who genuinely care about her… and don't take kindly to anyone trying to do her wrong." While Jason held him immobile, Luke searched Mason's pockets very thoroughly – and very ungently.

"Nothing much." Luke announced at the end of it.

"So much for show and tell." Mason said. "So now it's time to play or pay. If the price is right, I'll even give you a two-for-one deal. Alexis and Carly's whereabouts."

"I'd quit with the wisecracks right about now." Jason said, his voice low and quiet. The unspoken threat in his voice silenced Mason momentarily.

"That's much better." Luke said. He turned to the others. "Let's do what we came here to do."

Jason handed Mason off to Max, and then he and the others went back into the office. Instantly they were all professional; they spread out across the room, expertly searching for hidden spaces. Jax started towards the desk, then chancing a look at Sonny, halted in his tracks. Sonny had paused, looking across the desk-top.

"I'll check the file cabinets." He told Sonny. "You want to do the desk?"

"Yeah..." Sonny said. His eyes shifted slightly snapping back into focus. For a moment, he had looked at the desk and had seen Alexis' touch. In the midst of the Cassadine opulence, he sensed how she had already made this office, the bastion of Cassadine power, her own. There was a Montblanc pen on the desk; he recognized it...she'd given him one for a present once. On the corner of the desk was a his present to her, a glass jar full of chocolate-covered espresso beans. For a moment, those scenes imprinted themselves on his mind, catching him off-guard. Then Sonny caught himself, wrenching himself from his thoughts.

There was no reason for him to be thinking of those memories as though they were last memories of a time, of a love lost. The anger he felt for Mason turned, twisted suddenly and was aimed at himself. Was a part of him readying to give up on Alexis? What kind of man was he? What was he thinking? A sick anger filled him, twisted his guts and made him sick.

Mason must have been watching him as well because he laughed – it was hard and short. "Sweet memories of that desktop, Corinthos?"

"You should really shut up now." Sonny said quietly. Mason only smiled in return, then laughed aloud as he saw the quiet anguish in Sonny's eyes.

"Why, is it some shrine of your beloved Alexis? Should I ask for a moment of silence?" Mason said. "You'll never see her again, you know that, right, Corinthos? If she isn't dead, then she's dead to you."

Sonny turned towards Mason. Moving in close, he looked into Mason's eyes, seeing the contempt and uncaring gaze staring back at him. Without warning, Sonny slammed his fist into Mason's stomach.

"I told you, you should shut up." Sonny told him. His anger had gone ice-cold. Mason had no idea how close he was standing to his own death. Right now, Sonny could very easily kill. He felt himself slipping away into the dark place, when nothing matter…nothing at all. Because if he'd lost Alexis, then nothing in this world mattered any more.

"Hold on, compadre." Luke said. He had walked over to the bar, and after helping himself to a shot of liquor, picked up Mason's cell phone and held it high.. "Could be we don't need the smart-guy's input after all." He smiled a little smile at Stan. "How would you like to play with my program, my man?"

Stan grinned back. "You know it, man." He looked at the desk for a moment, but after a second look at Sonny, moved to the small couch at the other end. Once there, he unpacked his computer gear and started setting up the connections between Mason's phone and the laptop.

Sonny moved back to the desk. He hesitated for a moment, and then sat in the chair. There had to be something here that would give them a clue as to where find his Alexis. His leg bumped against an object under the desk. He looked down; saw her briefcase. Sonny lifted it to the desk and opened it. He looked over the files inside. He recognized them; they were for the most part, the same ones he'd collected from her apartment the night Stefan had died.

Whiteville. Something about that name jogged his mind. There was something he should know. Sonny reached for the folder and opened it. And the truth was there, staring him in the face. His stomach twisted in on itself. He'd tried to deny it, but at last, he had to face it. Carly's movements had been tracked, showing all of her movements – two days after she had disappeared, and ten days before she had resurfaced at her own funeral. Eyewitnesses, forensic evidence from the cabin she had hidden herself in. As thoroughly as Alexis could be, Carly's every step had been documented, down to the receipts at the fast food joints she had visited.

Carly had lied to him. Whiteville was where she had hid out; Jason had told him that much earlier. He'd told him the truth and Sonny had to admit he was right; he hadn't wanted to know anything more once Carly had returned from the dead.

All the while as he mourned for her, grieved and let condemnation flood into his soul, she had sat back and let it happen. Carly, more so than anyone else, knew how badly her death would have hurt him. She, more than anyone else, knew the guilt that he would heap upon himself, like hot coals, burning and searing into his soul. She had known it and planned for it – counted on it. She had deliberately plunged the knife into his soul and then had cruelly, with malice aforethought, twisted it.

And now, here was another truth; Alexis had known but hadn't told him. Why? Because she hadn't wanted to hurt him, she had tried to shield him from ever finding out. But at what cost. Had Carly found out and had that been the final straw? Is that what caused her to set Alexis up to be kidnapped? He found it hard to believe that Carly could stoop so low. And how he had allowed himself to believe her lies – all of this was his fault.

Jason came to stand beside him. He took the papers from Sonny's suddenly nerveless hand and quickly skimmed them over, nodding to himself quietly. "This fills in the blanks." He said.

"Alexis never told me." Sonny's voice was still and quiet. Jason looked at him, but couldn't read him.

"She probably was waiting for the right time to tell you. You've both had a lot on your plates lately."

"I wonder when that would have been."

"Probably when it didn't matter anymore." Jax joined the conversation. From his position at the file cabinets, he couldn't help but overhear. The rest of them were making a point of staying as far as of hearing as they could.

Sonny wasn't surprised at Jax's words. He was ready, as always, to come to Alexis' defense. When would he realize that it wasn't needed? But he listened to him anyway. "That's pure Alexis." Jax said. "She was waiting for you to grow up… to get past the obsession you and Carly had for one another. She was protecting you – more than likely from yourself."

"You're right." It was a hard admission to make, but one that was true. After all, it wouldn't have been the first time she'd done it. There were only two ways the outcome could have went...he would have lost his mind to pure revenge and gone after Carly, giving her payback for her lies…or else he would have blinded himself to the truth, let it push him back into the dark places of his soul, condemning himself, telling him that it was his fate, that it was no more than he deserved – that it was all a man like him deserved. And while Carly would twist the knife into his conscience at will, that was something that Alexis could never, ever do.

But this time, it might have cost her everything.