(Author's Notes – Hey guys! We're back with another chapter. We hope you like it. Please Read & Review! –E.B.F.R. & Cleopatra1)

Chapter #11 –

Phoenix AZ –

In the limousine, Emily had bit her lip, holding back her tears, watching the prison and the party disappears from view. Letting her thoughts go, she was both relieved and scared to see someone she knew. It wasn't a huge surprise to see Jason, she knew even though he hated parties he would go for her. It was the choice of costume which surprised her.

She could also have sworn that the detective he hung around with was Luke, and a part of her would have liked to think one of those waiters was AJ, but she couldn't be sure. For one thing why would AJ and Jason work together? Moreover, why would AJ act as a waiter if he could go for just a guest? It didn't make any sense, she didn't have time to figure it out either, nor was she sure she wanted to.

Nikolas, on the other hand was a god send as she frowned deeply. 'I should have just gone with Nik when I had the chance. I can't believe he found me either, but at least I know they're okay…I hope.' Emily thought. Not being able to fight it any longer, she risked a glance towards her captor and quickly looked away. She could have sworn that was a death glare from him. He was not happy, and she knew it. She sensed the barely contained anger, with tension between so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Pushed back into her room roughly, she backed into a dark corner following her momentum, as she heard the footsteps become distant, the door slam, and the footsteps fading. She had no clue of where she was, nor did she have the time to figure it out. Soon, she heard the footsteps approach from the other side of the door and she stayed stiffly in place. 'He must have forgotten something...' She scoffed quietly to herself after that initial thought. 'Yeah, he forgot to yell at you like there was no tomorrow – poor choice of words...' Em thought, frightened at the prospect.

The door opened with a loud, slow squeak, and blinding light. Em squinted her eyes from the brightness, and realized that the place hadn't been well kept considering the door hinges needed oil desperately. She shuttered when it came to what else might be crawling in the room with her.

The foreboding shadow finally cast over her, and although she couldn't see his face, something about that gave her a slight sense of comfort: she couldn't see the anger written all over his face. Though she knew it was there nonetheless

"That was slick, very sneaky. You thought you could get away with this? Get away from me? What made you think you could trick me?" Her captor said in a low growl.

"Wait, how do you know it was me-" Emily argued.

"Who else could it be? You were the only one who knew of my plans!" The man shouted.

"No…no…Jason Morgan is my brother. He has many contacts…he could, does find things out…" Emily said, praying that would be enough and that he couldn't tell how nervous she was. That was the first sign of guilt despite her obvious stuttering.

He said nothing, and being in the dark, she wasn't convinced he had yet left, but heard his deep breathing. Maybe he was considering her option after all. "I'll be back…" Her captor replied roughly, leaving her alone once more with the sound of the slamming door.

Port Charles –

(When we last left you…..

"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…)

The Quartermaines are arguing again, not that that is a huge surprise. At least it's not about Juan again. It's about money this time. I have long since tuned it out though; it started during dinner time however, so I had to get into the conversation. It was a bunch of Blah…if I'm going to be able to get any scholarships, what college I should go to, of course something suitable for a Quartermaine. First money itself and then college. Money before college? Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Especially coming from millionaires! It's supposed to be about where you fit in and where you are happy, but my oh-so 'loving' parents are making it a huge joke.

That's the least of my worries I fear. I'm sure my friends and family would be telling me "I told you so." Well, I guess my friends would at least not say it out loud, but the Q's are a whole different story. I however didn't want to believe anyone; I actually wanted to believe something good was in Juan. I have however; found out that there is not one good thing I can say about him.

I don't know what to do about him. The pressure won't stop, and it's becoming too much…Maybe if I just say yes, and agree he'll back off…But, no, I know his thinking, and cant say yes, he wouldn't back off at all, instead he'd come to expect it. I'm not ready and that's that, but since he's not taking the message I will have to end it despite my lack of courage. This is so difficult! To think I was convinced I loved Juan! I obviously have no clue or even the slightest concept as to what love is because it wasn't what I thought I had with Juan, and it isn't sleeping with him just so he will back off.

I can't believe I fell for his charm, which is so artificial. Perhaps I was too naïve, I mean, I did temporarily fall for Nikolas too. Good thing though is his charm has no effect on me anymore. He is there to comfort and protect me when needed, I really can't ask for more, nor do I want more. We will never be more than friends and I'm perfectly content with that, perhaps more relieved. The last thing I need is to get in that family. The Q's are well enough.

Still that doesn't help my situation any. There is that an idea of breaking up in a public place, with people watching, but while that would be safe, it'd be humiliating. Something tells me that the safety issue is more important. 'Course, I could ask my friends to be there, Lucky would get up the second Juan walked in the door. Liz could be a good witness if it gets out of hand.

Then again, there is that scenario of do it over the telephone or in a letter, which may seem cowardly but I will consider it. No doubt, Juan will not be happy despite his lost interest in me, but at least I'd be somewhere other than around him. Again, maybe I should be somewhere he doesn't expect to find me, but little good would that do. I'd have to face him in school anyway.

So, either scenario wouldn't really work. Juan wouldn't believe the person if I told someone else to do it either. Talk about your mess, here I am scared of my own boyfriend that I cant even break up with him to get out of the whole frightening affair. Affair…no that doesn't quite sound right. Still, to think I thought it meant something. Despite it all, I have to do it soon. He's coming to rehearsal tonight. I don't have the courage to tell him that I really don't want him there…Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.

Everything can wait for an hour though, even tonight. This whole problem has given me a headache, so I will let it be for now, take a brief nap, then get ready to go to school for another dress rehearsal.

All Lucky saw was red as his now dark blue eyes became slits. Calmly closing the book, Lucky took a deep breath. "I am going to find that creep, wrap my hands around his scrawny neck, and squeeze until he turns blue."

"Lucky…" Liz was at a loss for words but agreeing with him at every point.

"You disagree?" Lucky asked pointedly.

"Trust me Lucky; you'll be right next to me, maybe even behind me when we find him. There's going to be a nice sized line behind us to throttle Juan. However, I really don't think you, me, NIk, Luke, Jase, and especially Em would want to hear that you're being charged with first degree murder while she's still gone." Elizabeth convinced him.

"Do you have any suggestions then?" Lucky inquired.

"Yeah, tell Sonny, exactly what we have been doing since the search begun. I know, it won't be as much fun as doing it ourselves but at least when Emily returns he will be out of her hair." Elizabeth replied.

"Fine, but if that doesn't work I call first dibs." Lucky reluctantly agreed.

"You aren't going to be the only one to say that." Liz laughed as they got up to head to their next destination.

When they arrived, they were shown in and explained their discovery.

"…So if you could have a word with Juan he shouldn't cause any more trouble or stress for Emily especially when she gets back." Elizabeth replied, finishing her explanation.

Sonny looked at the two kids and nodded his head in understanding. He sensed something along the lines of their suspicions was happening with the way Emily always avoided the boyfriend subject. "Can I keep the diary for now, unless you think it can be useful other ways?" He asked of them.

Elizabeth was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving it within his possession but knew if anything was to be done, she'd have to give it up. Nodding, she took it out of her bag and handed it to Sonny.

Taking it, he opened it up to the specific entry and quickly ran through it. Nodding when he finished, he looked to them. He had a cool exterior they knew, so any anger towards Juan's part was disguised. "I'll take care of it." He promised them, as he stood up and placed Emily's diary in his desk for now.

After a courteous "thanks", they left.

California –

None of the three men in the hotel room slept well and neither had AJ who had taken a room for the night at the same hotel. They were all worried sick about Emily, and forced themselves not to think about what could be happening to her at that very moment, and all the minutes she had spent with her captor since she got kidnapped.

Once joined by AJ early the next morning, the four men simply stared at each other, in their own little worlds, all trying to figure out a plan to get Emily back among the ever present worry in everyone's eyes. Nikolas and Jason had a feeling Luke knew something they didn't, but wasn't about to push him, Luke obviously would tell them of it when the time was opportune. Not quite about Emily, but just something.

Then, out of the blue, breaking the silence, AJ said "We should go back to the prison."

The three men looked to AJ. Jason catching AJ's line of thought elaborated "Yeah, back to the scene of the crime and the last place we saw Emily."

Soon, they all ventured their way back to the port, back to the prison, all in solemn silence.

Meanwhile, over at Alcatraz Island, Zander, who had snuck into the party, last night, saw the exchange between Nikolas and who he assumed was Emily. The girl in the mask and white dress had the same height in heels, body build, and coloring of hair. After all, he kidnapped her, he would know. Feeling a slight twinge at the fact that it wasn't him who spoke to her, he pushed it aside and continued to inspect and search the area for any other type of clue. He wasn't going to give up though Emily helped him, now he was going to return the favor.

Frustrated at the moment however, Zander went outside and leaned against the old building. With his arms folded, his ankles crossed, and his face and body shielded from the wind by his hat and jacket, he sighed. It was cold, but he didn't care. It was then he realized he was looking in the wrong place as he remembered last night. It was also then he realized, he wasn't alone, as he looked up into the faces of Emily's brothers, one of her best friends, and Luke Spencer. 'Uh oh.' he thought- none of them looked happy.

"Okay, look. I know what you're going to say, but I can–"

"I think it's about time you go home, Smith." Jason said with a growl. The last thing he needed was another criminal around making mischief.

"I don't normally agree with Jason, but he's right Zander. Go home. We don't need to baby-sit you while we're trying to find Emily." Nikolas replied coolly.

Zander glowered at that insult but knew if he disagreed it would not help Emily. "I know that Nikolas. Look, I think we're–"

"We're not doing anything Zander. You are going on the next flight back to Port Charles." Jason said in a threatening manner.

"Relax Jason. Maybe the kid can help. We can always use an extra pair of eyes. Besides, we know he's not going to kidnap her again. If he's going to take her anywhere, he's going to take her home." Luke said, not wanting to start another fight. Considering Jason was easily angered these days it wasn't easy.

"We don't need him." Jason said as he took a quick glance at Nikolas and walked into the prison. With an annoyed glare, Nikolas followed.

Swearing softly, Zander ran his hand through his hair.

Luke looked on with some sympathy. With a hand on Zander's shoulder, AJ looked at the kid who kidnapped his sister merely a month ago. Although not having a lot of confidence in the kid, every opinion mattered somehow in the search for his sister and in a way he thought Smith had a thing for a sister. Not the best thing in the world all things considered but Luke was right, they could always use another pair of eyes, and if it helped finding his sister, then…well he was all for it. 'I just hope this is a good idea.' AJ quickly thought. With a twitch of his face, he looked Zander straight in the eye. "What do you think we need to do?"

"Well–"

"If I came all the way from Colorado to find the three of you trying to search for this girl, then I'd say we're in a big trouble here." A feminine voice said out of no where. A slender brown haired, brown eyed woman then emerged from the shadows.

"Where'd you come from?" Zander asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, you weren't here a minute ago." AJ said just as baffled.

"She was on the boat right behind us." Luke said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"Guys, what's up?" Nikolas asked suddenly, as he and Jason returned and saw the newly arrived guest.

After realizing they needed help searching inside and seeing those he left outside with some new girl, Jase wanted to get back to work and start the search as fast as possible. Ignoring Zander completely, Jase sighed. "Look you two; this is no time to be talking to tourists. I'm sorry miss, but–"

"Hey now, watch it Mr….Mr. Macho! She's a friend of mine." Luke said, defensively.

"Luke, we really don't have time–"Jason argued.

"I'm the one who called and asked her to be here." Luke said firmly before continuing with the introductions.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet a cousin of mine and Lucky's; very distant, and maybe a few times removed but family nonetheless. Zander, Jason, Nikolas, and AJ, I'd like you to meet Samantha McCall."