If Only…

Chapter 22

It never failed to amaze Carly the kind of trouble she could get in. It shouldn't have been any kind of surprise at this point in her life…but somehow it always was. She tapped her fingers angrily on the arm of the chair, glancing around the room, trying once more to wrap her mind at Scully's earlier comment.

"What makes you sure that Sonny is the one we want?"

That made her more nervous then when she was sure that this was all about Sonny. She had no clue what anyone like Joseph Scully would want with her. It had been years since she'd dealt with anybody from Florida or the random, useless jobs she'd had when she'd left home. Though she had encountered a number of shady types….she knew none of them could be looking for her.

Growling, she got to her feet, pacing the small section of the plane she'd been confined to. Scully and Kong had deposited her there with nothing more then a quick "We'll be there soon. Don't try anything" then locked the door, leaving her alone. The door loomed there and she pressed her ear against it, trying to determine if they had a guard outside. She bent, jiggling the handle, studying it for weaknesses. If she picked it open, she could run down to where she was sure Elizabeth was hiding. She stared at the lock for a long moment, then shook her head. Too risky. If they caught her, she might give away Elizabeth and she already felt bad enough that the girl had gotten dragged into this mess.

"What the hell is she doing here anyway?" Had they gone back and grabbed her too? She put one of her hands to her forehead, ignoring how it shook and prayed they hadn't hurt anyone. Maybe they had gone back to kill Frankie and were using Elizabeth as a contingency plan? That made no sense. She wouldn't have been hiding. They would have known about her. She was sure they had no clue that Elizabeth was onboard the plane.

The door opened and Kong pushed an angry Elizabeth into the room.

Well, so much for that theory.

"Hey!"

Carly caught the other girl when she tripped and glared at Kong, snapping as she steadied Elizabeth. "Did your Mama teach you those manners?" He closed the door loudly, and Carly looked over at the girl standing next to her. The first words out of her mouth surprised her. "What the hell were you thinking?!"

Elizabeth paused in straightening her clothes and raised an eyebrow, something tugging at her lips. Was she going to laugh? "You sound like Sonny."

Carly opened her mouth to argue but… "Oh jesus. I do." She shoved one hand through her hair, taking a deep breath. "Sorry about that." More calmly, she asked, again. "Elizabeth. Why are you here?"

Elizabeth looked slightly abashed and raised her arms in emphasis as she said, "I'm your rescue team."

Carly blinked.

Elizabeth shrugged. "Okay, so maybe not." She buried her face in her hands, releasing a growl. "I was trying to help. If you hadn't gone out there to throw away -- they wouldn't have gotten you."

Carly rolled her eyes. "Oh my god. Elizabeth, please. Do not even go there. They had me targeted. They would have gotten me regardless."

"That's what Johnny said. I know."

"You saw Johnny? When? Where?" Suddenly remembering how she had gotten there, she grabbed Elizabeth's arm. "Is Frankie okay?" Carly couldn't bear it if her friend had been…

Elizabeth squeezed her hand. "It's okay. He's…hurt. But I think he'll be okay."

Carly breathed a little easier and then restated her question. "What the hell are you doing here, Liz?"

"I jumped on board so that we wouldn't lose you." Elizabeth waved away the incredulous look Carly gave her. "It seemed like a good idea at the time. I snuck on board and called Sonny when I knew where we were headed. What?"

Carly was staring at her in…Elizabeth wasn't quite sure what the look was. She'd never seen Carly look like that.

"You risked your life to help me?"

Elizabeth ducked her head. "Okay, don't make me out to be a hero. I mean, I just, you know, acted first and thought after. I just didn't -- Jason loves you, Carly. So does Sonny. And they're my friends…I felt…look, it doesn't matter why I did it. We're here now."

Carly hid a smile. Lizzie wasn't as useless as she'd once thought. She might even be likable. "You just trying to make me like you, aren't you, Lizzie?"

Elizabeth met her gaze and gave her a smirk. "Wouldn't dream of it." She glanced around the room then back at Carly, eyes excited. "Okay, so what's the plan?"

Carly fiddled with the door handle, kneeling to get a better look at what she was working with. "What makes you think I have a plan?"

Elizabeth snorted and crossed her arms. "You telling me you don't?"

Carly shook her head. "No. But…"

"What?"

"My plans don't usually work."

Elizabeth made a face. "You told Sonny that your plans are brilliant."

"Well, yes. But he had a point," Carly turned her head as she spoke, "my execution sucks."

"I don't think we have time to worry about that now. So, what's the plan?"

Carly stood up, hands on her hips as she met Elizabeth's hopeful stare. "We wait."

The light seemed to dim slightly from the younger girl's eyes. "We wait? But…I don't…"

Carly placed a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, steering her toward one of the chairs. "If I thought that we could safely get off this plane, I'd be the first one looking for the parachutes. But we're over water so doing that would be stupid. We can't overtake the plane cause even if we weren't outnumbered, we'd have to be able to fly the damn thing to get back home."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. "You really thought this true, haven't you?"

Carly shrugged. "Pretty much. Look, once we get to land, then we'll figure out a way to ditch these morons and get back to the States, okay? Until then we play it cool." Carly patted Elizabeth's shoulder before moving to look out the window. "Besides, Sonny knows where we're going. He'll find us."

Elizabeth remembered the worry in Sonny's voice. "Yes. He'll do whatever it takes to find you, Carly."

Carly smiled slightly. "I know."

"Benny, I don't care…I don't care if they don't like it. They're headed to Venezuela and I'm going there find them." Sonny slammed the phone down, turning to glare at Jason. "Why does he argue with me?"

Jason shook his head. He wondered that himself on a daily basis.

"He's just looking out for you, Boss." Johnny answered, double-checking his weapon as he did. He could feel the commissioner's eyes on him but he ignored how wrong it felt to be working with him. This was about rescuing Carly and Elizabeth. And for all that he wanted Mr. Corinthos in jail, Scorpio was a straight shooter. Saving two lives would always be more important.

Mac stepped up to them, two files in his hands. "Here's everything the WSB had on the whereabouts of Joe Scully." He handed them to Luke, who turned one folder over to Sonny while he looked through the other.

Sonny shook his head. "Why the hell didn't anyone tell us he was alive?"

Luke snorted. "You're a part of…"

"I am a coffee importer, Luke."

Mac rolled his eyes. "Right. They never even told me about it. I just followed a hunch and called in a few favors and viola. Every move that Scully has made since we thought he'd been killed all those years ago."

Sonny read through some papers. "His power is growing. Why didn't he come for me sooner?"

"Maybe he felt he needed you as vulnerable as possible?" Luke guessed, frowning down at the paper in his hands. "It looks like he doesn't work alone though."

Mac nodded. "He's still working for a family. Always the smartest way. He has the most powerful position next to the actual head of the mob, which in this case is just that, a talking head, but if it goes bad, he can still get away without too much trouble."

Sonny nodded. "He was always looking ahead."

Luke snapped the folder shut and turned to Sonny. "So, what are we doing here, Corinthos?"

Sonny glanced at Mac, who gave him a slight nod, and he met Luke's eyes. "We're headed to Caracas. You coming?"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "You know, I have been meaning to work on my tan."

"Jesus." Elizabeth whispered, her eyes following the line of the driveway that curved and led to the huge house sitting in the middle of the empty field. She glanced at Carly. "How the hell are they going to find us?"

Carly shook her head slightly, glancing at Kong in the front seat. "I don't know. But they won't have to. We'll find them." Her eyes surveyed the grounds. For at least a mile in each direction all one could see was fields of grass, some scattered trees…Her eyes fell on the cover of the forest that surrounded the perimeter. If they could make it to the woods, they could get out. She'd been keeping track and she knew the closest town was only about thirty miles or so north.

They could do this.

The car came to a halt and when the door opened, she gave Elizabeth a reassuring nod and followed her out of the car. The light was bright and for a moment she was blinded. It has been a couple of days since they'd seen the outside. Straight from the airplane to what Carly assumed was a safe house and they'd been locked in a dark room. She and Elizabeth had bided their time, agreeing that reaching their final destination would give them more of an advantage.

So they'd co-operated and…here they were.

They followed Kong to the door and he paused, letting them go first. Elizabeth looked surprised but said nothing. Carly smirked at him. "Good manners, Kong? I wasn't expecting that. Your Mama would be proud." Carly saw the color rise in his cheeks and she took note. It might be useful for later.

She scanned the large, airy entryway, registering the expensive furniture and knickknacks that filled the space in each room. The taste was elegant but not overbearing. There were guards in every room they passed. This wouldn't be easy at all.

They climbed the stairs, pausing on the second landing to wait until Kong had spoken quietly to an older woman, who glanced at them with compassion in her eyes. She pointed in a direction and then proceeded down the opposite way. Carly watched her go, wondering who she was and knowing that she had to find out.

They stopped in front of a double door and Kong opened it to reveal an enormous room with a canopy bed of wood on one end. The rest of the room was filled with a small sitting area, what looked like a reading nook, and another set of doors. He motioned for them to step inside and closing the door behind them, he gestured at the room.

Elizabeth took that as a sign they were to explore. She moved to the bed, staring at the luxurious bedding and turned to Carly with a confused look. Carly returned it with one of her own. This made no sense.

"Kong…are you sure this is our room?"

"Si, senorita."

Carly stared at Kong -- wait, his name started with an N - what the hell was it? "Um…okay. Jesus, my Spanish isn't the best. Um…esta seguro?"

"Si." He reached for the second set of doors and opened to reveal an opulent bathroom with a claw-footed bathtub lined up to one wall, what looked like a whirlpool in the middle, a stand up shower and a double sink. "For you. Please."

Elizabeth's mouth quirked up a bit. "I think he's trying to tell you something, Carly."

Carly stuck her tongue out at her. "Shut up, smartass." She nodded at - Nathan! That was it! "Thank you, Nathan." She motioned at their clothes. Maybe they could borrow some from the staff. It was too early to try for an escape. It would be better if they rested, had some food, a shower…

He nodded in understanding and pointed to a door she had missed when they'd walked in. Opening it, she and Elizabeth's mouth dropped open at the walk in closet filled with every type of cloth imaginable. "Holy…"

"Para las dos."

Elizabeth looked at Carly. "What?"

She shook her head to clear it. "He said it's for both of us." She didn't understand any of this. "What the hell is going on?"

Nathan bowed quickly as he left the room and Carly heard the sound of it being locked but her mind was still reeling from all this. "I don't get it."

Elizabeth held her hands out. "I've never done this before but I'm thinking this isn't how hostages are usually treated."

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure this isn't normal procedure."

There was a knock on the door and the two women glanced at each other, turning in unison to stare as Scully entered the room. "Ladies. I hope these accommodations meet with your approval. We made sure to make them as comfortable as possible. I also went ahead and had the staff prepare you dinner."

Carly quirked an eyebrow. "What's the catch, Joey?" She saw the smallest tick in his jaw at her tone and waited to see what he would do next. She was pushing him but there was more to all this.

"Nothing, of course. When you've cleaned up, just dial seven on the phone and it will get you to the kitchen. They will bring up the food. I will be back for you, Caroline, then."

Carly's eyes widened. "Why?"

Scully locked eyes with her. "So, that you can meet your host."

She took a step forward. "I want to meet him now."

Elizabeth stared at her, tugging on her sleeve gently. "Carly, is that such a good idea?"

"The sooner I know who I'm dealing with the better." She responded quietly and saw Elizabeth nod her head, moving to her side.

Scully narrowed his eyes at them, shaking his head and pointing at Elizabeth. "You stay."

"What?" Elizabeth shook her head. "No fucking way I'm letting Carly out of my sight." There was no way she would let them get separated. God only knew what they would do to Carly.

"Carly is the only one that he wants to see. He cares only about her."

Elizabeth sighed, and held onto Carly's stare. Scully watched some silent communication pass between the two women. After a long moment, Elizabeth backed up a step. "Fine."

Scully nodded. "Good. Take the opportunity to get cleaned up, Ms. Webber. Rest. I promise nothing will happen to Caroline here."

Elizabeth met his eyes. "I would hope not, for your sake." She nodded at Carly, who reached out to grasp her hand for a moment before heading to the door. She glanced back at Elizabeth.

"I'll be fine."

Elizabeth nodded and when the door closed, she sat with a sigh on the bed. She hoped that was true.

Carly walked silently, following Scully down two flights of stairs, ignoring the looks from the guards and servants they passed. Everyone seemed to be staring at her, making conversation in whispers and Carly wondered again what the hell was so special about her.

They reached an oak door and Scully knocked. Carly heard a muffled, "Come in." and she was escorted inside. Her eyes roamed over the large bookcases and fell to the large, oak desk in the center. The back of the chair faced her and she straightened up when Scully spoke.

"Sir, Caroline wanted to see you immediately."

Carly threw Scully a glare. Few people called her that and she wasn't comfortable with having him use her name. The chair swiveled around and Carly sucked in a gasp.

"Daddy?"

Frank Benson smiled up at his daughter. "Caroline. I'm so glad to see you."