(Author's Notes- Hey Everyone! Sorry we took so long with this next chapter. Just so you know, Nikolas and Jason may seem a bit out of character in this chapter. We hope you don't mind, and hope you enjoy reading! Please Review when you're done! –E.B.F.R. & Cleopatra1)
Port Charles, Harborview Towers -
With Liz by his side, Lucky walked up to the silent bodyguard on watch. Johnny knew them fairly well from Emily, and occasionally saw them around. He had to admit, he had a fondness for the four teens that were generally never seen too far apart.
He was already concerned for Emily after overhearing of her abduction a few days ago, and the worry in Lucky Spencer and Elizabeth Webber's eyes didn't help his worry any. Without question, Johnny knocked on his employer's door.
After hearing permission to enter, Johnny quietly announced the duo's arrival.
Nodding their heads in thanks, Lucky and Liz tentatively made their way into Sonny Corinthos' penthouse. Sonny wasn't generally surprised to see Lucky and Liz, almost as if it was eventually expected, perhaps more than once.
"Hey you two, hear any more news on Emily?" Sonny asked.
"No, but we've got some other news and it's not any better," Lucky said with a sigh.
"Elizabeth? You okay? You look a little green. Come to think of it, so do you Lucky. You look like you've just seen a ghost. What's going on?" Sonny's eyes narrowed in suspicion to their color and their further strange behavior.
"Well...When Nikolas got the tickets to the Alcatraz Halloween Ball, being held right now, he said that the guy he was too suspicious, was hiding something. To Nik, it sounded like the ticket seller, with an impossible name to pronounce by the way, had one of those voice devices to disguise his voice..." Liz spoke unevenly.
"Long story short, Liz and I found this website. It scrambles up your name as well as adds letters. It also does the opposite for already foreign names." Lucky continued, fast forwarding the story to the important information.
At Sonny's questioning look, Lucky clarified. "I tried it out with my own name, and trust me; you'd be amazed and scared at the results."
"So...we decided to enter the name of Nik's ticket contact..." Liz couldn't continue as she placed her face in her hands while Lucky wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Sonny indicated for them to sit down in order to try and keep Liz a bit calmer. He had not before because their conversation went straight to the point.
"What did you find?" Sonny asked quietly.
"Sonny, we found out Tom Baker escaped from jail. We don't know when or how, and I highly doubt the PCPD will give us answers of any kind, most likely claiming that we're the ones who are wrong and seeing things that aren't there. So, I'm not going to call them anytime soon. I've been calling my dad's, Jason's, and Nik's cell phones since I found out, but they haven't answered, probably at the masquerade. Which is good, I mean so they can find Em and bring her home safe, but anyway I finally left a voice mail on their hotel answering machine. Now, the only thing we can do is pray they have her and she's okay." Lucky explained, rambling slightly due to his overwhelming worry and loss of security.
"Don't worry Lucky. If Tom does indeed have her, which unfortunately at the moment it looks to be, we will find her. We'll get her back, and we'll keep her safe after that, Liz that goes for you as well. Would you like for me to put Francis on the job to look out for you?" Sonny asked, deciding quickly.
"Thanks Sonny. That'd be great. And even if I said no, I know you'd be watching out for me anyway." Liz replied with a smile.
Then while Lucky continued to look around Sonny's place, something hit him. "Hey, didn't you say the other day that there was a new guy in town? Andrews I think you said his name was? You said you had your guys looking into it right? Did they find any new information?" Lucky asked hopefully, knowing Sonny wouldn't say much for their safety anyway.
"As a matter of fact, we do have some new information on the guy. I was just about to call Jason with it, but since he's not answering his phone right now, it's not something to leave on a voicemail. I'll tell him whenever he calls back." Sonny replied.
"Do we have that much time?" Elizabeth wondered aloud, her voice continuing to waver in fear for one of her best friends and only girlfriend. Soon, Elizabeth and Lucky had left, after having made sure Francis was told of his new orders.
Meanwhile, the boys were thinking along the same lines, Lucky's message still echoing in their minds.
"GUYS! DON'T YOU ANSWER YOU PHONES ANYMORE?" An aggravated, scared Lucky came across the machine. "Emily's in trouble! Please call me back ASAP and tell me you have her! Please! Nik, you were right about the ticket seller...God, please, hell have Emily be the one to call me back as soon as you get in, and make sure her captor suffers for it." "Lucky, calm down, please. Just stay calm and tell them what they need to hear." They heard Liz's scared voice in the background. "Okay...guys the ticket seller, and the most likely of candidates for Em's captor...its Tom Baker. He's escaped...Please just find them, and make sure Emily's safe..."
That was what Lucky had said after hanging up, and a little of Elizabeth's input. It didn't seem real to them, much less to Elizabeth and Lucky back in Port Charles.
"I don't see how this can be possible." Nikolas commented, almost in a whisper, his face expressing shock.
"I can. With those guardian idiots that 'watch' those criminals…'High Security' my rear..." Luke shook his head.
"Not helping Luke." Jason insisted.
"Luke, you're the detective here. Say something that would help Emily's case, anything. Please!" Nikolas asked suddenly, overcome with fear he could no longer control. Both Jase and Luke were shocked at the fear in the young man's voice, assuming never hearing him so scared before.
"Um…" Luke paused looking for something. "Sorry I seem to have run out of things to say that would lighten our moods or rejuvenate our hope, even a small riddle in the slightest of ways."
"Wonderful," Jason stated flatly.
"Hey," Luke remarked. "You try to be expected to make jokes all the time. You run out of material, Hercules."
"No one is expecting you to..." Nik started to say sensing the tension between them peaking, and an inevitable argument to come, but was cut off with Jason's response.
"Didn't run of material if you could come up with that idiot," Jason reputed.
"Come on guys," Nik insisted, seeing their tempers flare and their annoyance grow for each other's company. "We don't need to start getting on each other's nerves."
"Tell that to the clown over there." Jason answered.
"Does it look like I have a big red ball on my nose?" Luke asked, insulted.
"Give it time Luke! It's probably in your bag and you just haven't put it on yet." Jason assumed.
Deeply annoyed, Luke glared at Jason. "Yes well," Luke started to say before Nikolas interrupted him.
"Are you hearing a WORD that I'm saying?" Nikolas asked them. As he got their attention, he exclaimed "Thank you!" before continuing. "Like I said, go to your separate corners, take a walk, and get an hour's sleep, anything so we can back on track. We need to focus on Emily! Your sister, your son's best friend, my best friend, you remember her right?"
"Speak, boy, speak." Luke insisted sleepily.
With a glare Luke's way, Nikolas went on. "Like I said, Emily was kidnapped again tonight due to unfortunate circumstances." He refrained from looking to Jason accusingly. It wasn't really his fault they'd been spotted and she got away. "Now, should we be fighting each other or the dictator that is keeping her captive, which I note is a rapist and blackmailer?"
"We don't know that for sure." Jason said, not wanting to think the worst. He still had hope that there would be another lead. In this business though, Jason had learned not to take coincidences too far.
"Jason! You heard what Lucky said, just as Luke and I did! It's TOM, he HAS her! He's the one I spoke to-" Nik started, getting himself worked up.
"Jase's right Nikolas. It doesn't necessarily mean that he is indeed her captor." Luke spoke up. "It could be all a coincidence and its best to base assumptions on facts, not feelings. We don't even know when Tom escaped, maybe it was after Emily was taken, therefore he is given an alibi and we are back to the start."
Nikolas's feelings escaped Luke and Jason's logic. "How could he not Luke! Come on! I know him better than the two of you! Think about it! Why would he kidnap Em, and God forbid not Liz, myself or Lucky? Huh? Why?"
"He wants revenge. So what, you want revenge yourself now. Em unfortunately and probably was the easiest target to obtain at the time. No one was around her, and you, Lucky, and Liz were together. He wants revenge on all of you." Jason said, not getting Nik's point. "And the best way to do that is separate you three, divide and conquer is a pretty common strategy."
"No Jason! You're wrong." Nikolas decided. "Liz was out in the hallway, waiting for Lucky and I to get back from…..teaching Juan a lesson. Liz was surrounded by people, anyone would probably have seen her be kidnapped in plain sight. They would have seen something. So yes, Liz was alone, but with many people around her. Em wasn't. She had no one but herself to depend on, and aside from being by her, yes Tom wants revenge."
"Not necessarily, a crowd could mean it would be easier to kidnap Liz with the loud noises and distracted people." Jason suggested.
With two blank looks of cluelessness, Nikolas eerily walks to the bed, took a pillow and hurled it against the wall, between the two men.
"TOM TOOK HER! IT WAS EMILY'S TESTIMONY THAT PUT HIM BEHIND BARS IN THE FIRST PLACE! ITS THE ONLY LOGICAL CONCLUSION!" Nikolas yelled.
Jason visibly shook his head," I'm leaving. I have to call Sonny anyway." Jason said as he grumbled away to the other room, highly doubting any sleep would come tonight or for many nights after that. Nikolas and Luke were sharing a double room and Jason was in the other attached room, a single.
Luke watched as Nikolas' mouth hung open agape. Nik's eyes narrowed incredulously. "How could he just say that and walk out?"
"He's Jason. 'Nuff said." Luke replied.
Soon Luke watched as Nikolas walked to the window in thought, well over his tantrum.
"We'll get her back Nikolas. We will." Luke said, dropping any humor whatsoever. Even he knew now wasn't a time to joke. He knew in his heart how serious this was. He wanted Emily to be safe and sound just as much as everyone else.
"When?" Nikolas asked impatiently. "How long does she really have? I mean I, we, was so close. What if-" He continued, clearly distressed.
"Hey now, don't go and asking 'what if?' It won't get you anywhere. Look, why don't you go take a load off your shoulders, take a shower, de-stress." Luke suggested.
"Thanks Luke." Nikolas replied with a nod of his head, as Luke patted him on the shoulder as he walked by.
Making sure he first heard the shower faucet and Jason on phone with Sonny, Luke decided to use one of his favorite reinforcements:
His Secret Weapon...
Taking out his cell phone, his conversation was quite brief:
"Hey, how you been doing? Busy? Bored? Both?...Well great, being it's the latter, have I got something for you. A good friend of mine's been kidnapped. We're in San Francisco, California right now, looking for leads, where are you?...Really, great, be ready in a moments notice. I'll stay in touch."
Sonny's Penthouse -
Sitting on his desk and opening a drawer, Sonny drew out a file. It was too thin, all about this possible new threat, everything Jason needed to know. However, there were still many blanks and questions on the guy. The research therefore continued.
He was just making notes as to the information needed as the phone rang. "Corinthos here." Sonny replied.
"You called?" The voice on the other line asked, Sonny immediately identifying it, Jason.
"Yeah, I did. Our guys found out more about Andrews, but tell me first, did you get Emily back as Lucky, Liz, and I hope?" Sonny asked.
A long silence fell before Jason sighed, obviously the sign of bad news. "No, we didn't. We identified her of course and her captor but after a lady pulled off my mask he recognized me, grabbed Emily and got away as a blackout followed." Jason told him, guilt heavy.
"I see." Sonny said, not sure what else to say, "But it all seems planned, the escape I mean."
"I know. We are going to go back to the prison tomorrow and check everything out again, try to find some clues as to where to go from here." Jason replied.
"Good idea," Sonny agreed with the same line of thinking. Pulling it out and opening the file to the first page, he cleared his throat. "Right now, that information on Andrews or actually Gregory Philip Andrews III is his full name."
"The 'Third?' Jason had to ask.
"Yeah, he has a suffix on his name." Sonny confirmed.
"Guess Stan is going to have to pay extra attention then, we don't want to get the wrong Andrews. Is there anything on his deceased or living family?" Jason murmured.
"Well, whether or not he had children or brothers or sisters are not known yet but it does seem likely he was married at sometime. Stan found what he thought was a marriage certificate but he is still trying to confirm its legality." Sonny reported.
"In that case, divorce is likely." Jason assumed. "Has he been arrested, charged, anything about a criminal record beyond what we know?"
"He has been arrested numerous times, but only charged once. Spent some jail time but is now out. The exact charge or length still unknown," Sonny told Jason.
"No offenses Sonny but you are not giving me a lot to work with," Jason commented, not being able to help the bitterness coming through, especially after tonight. His cynicism was at its worst.
"I know and I'm sorry for that but this guy is slicker than I thought. I can tell you right now that I have men watching his business. There are secret meetings and transportations at night, so he might be smuggling in drugs, hoping not to get caught. Actually seeing if people are selling is an entirely different story. The distribution is too massive to really track down." Sonny explained.
"It certainly sounds suspicious; can you at least tell me what this guy looks like? If I have to watch out for him sometime in the future," Jason requested.
Sonny winced at the disappointment that he would give. "Sorry, Jason, none of my guys can get a lock on the guy; haven't seen him in the flesh yet, trying to keep a low profile no doubt."
"Fine," Jason said, "call me when you get something useful." He snapped and closed his cell phone.
In California, there was chaos and accusations and intense emotion but a whole new chaos was forming back at the Quartermaine mansion.
Quartermaine Mansion -
"That's it!" Edward exclaimed, raising his hand in the air with an air of power. "Dangnabbit it's been what? Five days and we haven't heard from anyone! I promised only one day so now I'm calling the police!" Edward bellowed to all the family in the living room which consisted of his son and daughter-in-law, as well as his grandson Ned.
"Edward, no! We will wait to hear from Jason or AJ, or whoever that calls in with an update." Lila commanded of her husband, as she was the ever-patient one.
"Edward, please. Let's just wait a little longer." Monica pleaded, both mentally and physically exhausted. Drinking some coffee slowly she thought of over the last few days. She was running out of excuses, for the hospital and the high school considering only Bobbie knew of it.
Everyone jumped when the shrill of the phone rang. Glancing over at it for a long second, Edward, heading over there anyway, picked it up. "Hello?" After whispering it was AJ, the family was both disappointed and happy. "Do you have Emily?...Hmm, I see...oh...okay. Keep looking...Goodbye."
"Well?" Monica asked hopefully, Alan went to hold her hand for comfort if it was otherwise, as his gut suspected.
Edward shook his head somberly, becoming serious instead of belligerent. "AJ said that they found her last night and saw her first hand, that there is no physical injuries, but when they were about to make their move to get her, the lights went out and she and her captor got away." Edward explained
Crying softly Monica took a tissue from her husband and wiped her eyes. "They have to find her!" Monica solidly said, muffled somewhat with the tissue. Sighing, she continued "I guess we have to wait just a little longer then, for the right time for AJ, Jason, and the others to bring her home." Monica was understandably and understatedly disappointed.
"How much longer do you want to wait Monica? Does Emily even have that much time?" Alan bitterly replied. Unable to cope with what he was saying, Monica burst out crying again and he immediately felt guilty for voicing his thoughts.
"Alan, please you're not helping any of us, speaking like that right now. The last thing we need to lose is hope" Ned quietly insisted.
"You got any better ideas Ned? Because for one I am not going to sit here any longer, while you and Emily wait for her 'heroes.'" Alan spat.
"I like your thinking son, now excuse me while I call the police." Edward said regally and walked toward the phone. Hand on the phone, Ned argued against this action.
"Grandfather, don't. You don't know what you are doing." Ned insisted desperately.
"Oh, but I do…" Edward said as another voice forcefully entered the conversation, strictly prohibited from non-family.
"Where is Emily?" The voice demanded to know. Everyone turned to see Juan Santiago pushing his way through the doorway.
"Excuse me, but Juan Santiago is here." Reginald the Butler said as he came in, unable to announce his presence and the family's privacy before the young man boosted through uninvited.
"Any news on Em?" Juan asked again trying to be calm, act as if he actually cared. He was the boyfriend after all; well to them anyway. Juan gave no indication whatsoever that he had heard from Emily. Nor was he going to. To the Q's, he was Emily's boyfriend, whether they liked it or not. In their minds if she hadn't broken up with him by now, hopefully she would soon for his actions.
Had Edward, but especially Alan not been hell bent on thinking up ways Jason would get Emily killed rather than saving her, Alan would have wrapped his hands around Juan's neck for cheating on his daughter. But there was a time and place for that another day, so they just glared with hatred at the teenage boy.
During Juan's forceful entry, a lone figure snuck in past the foyer and quietly up the stairs as the family screamed and yelled at each other, which wasn't new but unusually chaotic.
"No." Alan told Juan coldly.
Sniffling, Monica explained. "AJ, Jason, Luke, and Nikolas spotted her last night, and were about to get her, but she disappeared again." Monica sadly replied.
"Figures." Juan muttered.
"Meaning?" Ned rudely replied for clarification.
"Meaning, that whenever Emily's around Jason, or especially Nikolas, heck when she's with any of her friends she's always caught up in trouble! Always! I have to drag her out of it each and every time." Juan complained
Ned challenged this view. "Name one instance." Juan however stayed quiet, not finding one real example. "I rest my case." He concluded.
"As unusual as it is, I agree with Juan's point here. He has caused a lot of trouble when he first came to town and started seeing Emily, but Jason however has also led her into trouble time and time again." Alan said, for once agreeing with Juan, a most unfortunate circumstance.
"I suggest giving Mac Scorpio a call, have him come over." Juan suggested.
"Exactly my thoughts, and exactly what I was about to do." Picking up the phone again as the dial tone echoed in the room.
"Wait! Alan, Edward, what has the Commissioner done for us? Nothing! The PCPD never found Emily when Zander kidnapped her. Jason and Lucky did." Ned said, for he felt it was their last and only chance. The police had a knack for screwing up and making things worse.
"If it wasn't for Jason, Ned, Emily wouldn't have been involved with Smith kidnapping her, nor would she be in this situation in the first place!" Alan said angry.
"Actually to clarify, it was the teen in front of you who I can attribute to Zander kidnapping Emily, not her friends, not Jason." Ned said
"Look Alan, you can't just assume to think that everything is Jason's fault. He isn't perfect, far from it but I can tell you that there is a possibility that this entire thing is out of his control." Ned argued back.
With the family at odds, loudly arguing, Juan took the opportunity to slip out the patio doors with not a soul noticing. He wasn't going to get any answers here.
Emily's Room –
Closing the door to Emily's room quietly, Elizabeth did a quick overview of her friend's room. As always it was clean and organized, that was Emily after all. Biting her lip nervously as she considered where to start her search first and to keep from crying, she looked for something that could help Emily. Skimming her room for anything that might help the guys find her, Liz began to search.
Moving a few pillows briefly, only to place them back in their original spots, Liz felt a bit guilty snooping around her best friend's bedroom. However, she, Emily and everyone was desperate. Their worst enemy supposedly had their best friend, it had yet to be proven, and no one knew their status. She needed Emily to be okay, to see her again...and if needed for it, would be there every step of the way if her worst-case scenario (that was next to death) happened.
Shaking the dreadful thought out of her head, Liz continued to search. Looking in drawers and moving papers Liz found nothing. Despaired, Liz sat down on the bench right under Emily's window. Resting her head on the wall behind her, Liz raked her brain for possible places where Emily could keep things.
"Come on Liz, you're a girl. Where do you keep your personal items when you don't want someone finding them?" Liz said aloud. With her feet hanging down over the edge of the seat, she jumped as she heard the increased yelling from downstairs. As Liz's feet came up instinctively her heels clipped the edge of the seat, lifting it up briefly, before it slammed back down. Curious, as she herself didn't know that Em's bench was another storage space, Liz lifted it open.
"Hey, look!" Elizabeth stated, as she found a book, Emily's diary she truly believed. She knew Em had one, and knew she wrote in it often but as her own, had no idea where it had been. Glancing at the last few pages, for the most recent entries Liz's face became red with anger at what she did read.
"I have to get this to Lucky now." Liz said as she managed to slip out of the mansion quickly. Running down the lawns, she stopped at the gates and pulled them open, pulling her through.
Rummaging through her purse, she took out her cell phone and used speed dial until the person on the other end answered. "Lucky, I found something that could be of use."
"Really?" He asked incredulously. "Come to the boxcar then, I'm here with my laptop." He invited her.
"Okay, I'll be over as soon as I can." Elizabeth told him.
When she arrived, they got straight to work. "Here, look at this." Elizabeth instructed him as she opened a page.
"Um, Elizabeth, this is Em's diary, I know we are desperate but this is a huge invasion of privacy." Lucky commented uncomfortably.
"Well I for one would like to tell Emily that when she's home, may I mention ALIVE and furthermore she can scream at us then!" Liz hit him on top of his head.
"Okay, okay…." Lucky muttered, reading the page Liz insisted he did. He dropped it in shock, unable to speak of its contents.
The book fell to the ground and the wind blew inside the car to turn the pages back to its original passage that read…