The man watched from the shadows as Brenda Barrett ran. When she was on the jet to the states, he made a call. "Find out where Miss Barrett is staying in Port Charles and then take care of them."
"Yes sir." replied the voice on the other end before hanging up. Looking around the hospital, the person in the scrubs tried to figure out where Brenda would go. The Quartermaines where she had stayed as a teenager, one of the exes. Both were free at the moment or maybe the man she had married but didn't love. Would Brenda flee to her protector, Jason Morgan.
At the end of shift, changing clothes and heading out, they tried to prepare for the arrival of Brenda, but at the same time... they couldn't help wondering about the beautiful woman who had left town under a cloud all those years ago.
In Sam's dream, she was agreeing to switch places to protect the helpless model, while inwardly sneering as Jason yet again put a helpless woman before her. She didn't know how Brenda had done it but she had all the men wanting to protect her and all the women in a tizzy about her returning.
Seeing yet another woman knocking on the door, visiting with Brenda, she couldn't help thinking that Robin who should be jealous of the beautiful model didn't seem to be and when the doctor mentioned her friend Elizabeth, she was furious when Brenda mentioned recalling how sweet Elizabeth was.
But later, when Brenda asked about Jason and her having kids, Sam smirked and almost told her the truth but instead just repeated what she had trained herself to say. That she couldn't have children and what had caused that to happen.
Devlin showed up for his meeting. "Sir, as you can see the drugs show-" The man hit the floor, blood flowing from his ear. Kicking the man, turning he looked at his second in command and said "Take care of the body. He did what he was supposed to. Then get someone close to check on Ms. McCall. I want to know the minute she gives birth then deal with her."
Reading the paperwork, he made a call and said "Make the offer and then get the woman to over extend herself, but on a personal level. I want her to be leveraged out."
Jason woke up, looking at the calendar then at his still sleeping wife. "Elizabeth?"
When she looked up with only one eye opened, Jason laughed and said quickly. "This is it."
"Jason, its a baby not a pizza. She will come when she wants to come." With that she rolled into his side and was soon back asleep. The man sat there, pouting a bit as his wife didn't seem as excited as he was. According to Kelly Lee, today was the day their daughter would be born.
Sticking close, he called Audrey and prepared her to get Cam at a moments notice, ignoring how she pointed out it was only six o'clock in the morning, then he called his partner who threatened to remove body parts. "I was on the phone with Japan until four this morning."
"Let Georgie handle the office then." said Jason before frowning when he was hung up on. Deciding to call his assistant, he was worried when she didn't answer the phone. Leaving voice mails, he was starting to grow concerned after the fourth one in an hour garnered no return call.
"Jason, you have to go to work." said Elizabeth at ten AM when she had had more than enough of Jason following her around, his eyes never leaving her belly. Taking her phone, she called Georgie who said "I know, I have been on the phone with him every single time I turn around."
At four PM , Monica was called and after laughing at her son for almost fifteen minutes, announced that babies have their own schedules and for him to just relax. At nine, Elizabeth was seriously contemplating a divorce when Jason now had Cam and Jake sitting with him on the sofa watching her stomach.
Muttering that he could take the boys, too. She went to bed, more than a little tired from the tension her husband was creating. The next day, woken up again at Six, Elizabeth threatened to move into GH, only to find her husband had gotten her bag and was already loading the boys.
Kelly Lee gave a huge sigh, she couldn't ignore the call, Elizabeth might actually be in labor, but after the man had rejected her suggestions to bring labor on, she really didn't now what to do for him.
Jason looked at his watch, then at the timer he had on it. It was now seventy nine hours past Elizabeth's due date and he was getting worried. Looking at his wife who was serenely reading to the boys, he stood and went to the kitchen and called Kelly.
Hearing Elizabeth call out to him, he just sighed, knowing she was going to tell him to leave it alone but instead he heard the sound of small running feet then Cam looked at him and said "Daddy, Mommy said it is time."
Kelly heard the little boy through the phone, and waited patiently then heard Jason asked "Time for what Cam?"
Cam looked at his daddy and said "Daddy, Mommy said our little girl is being born."
Jason looked at the cell in his hands, hung up and called GH only to realize he had been on the phone with Dr. Lee. "Epiphany, we are coming in."
"That fine, Mr. Morgan. We will be waiting." said the nurse then looked at the doctor who was mimicking giving labor as she talked to Lainey Winters and said "Dr. Lee get a hold of yourself. Mrs. Morgan is on her way in."
Alexis who was walking past, gave a sigh, she wished Jason and Elizabeth well but for now, she had to concentrate on Molly and Sam.
As the clans of Quartermaine, Hardy and Morgan all arrived at GH, Elizabeth was in the room squeezing Jason's hand. "Elizabeth, I need to check on things." said Kelly as she looked under the sheet and said "Things are looking good but it might be a while."
Two more quick visits and then Kelly said "Okay, now it is time to push."
Jason felt the need to pass out as Elizabeth yelled in pain while gripping tightly onto his hand. Getting control, Jason looked over at his wife who had just given birth, he had held his young daughter and had handed her off to her mother. "I love you."
"I love you too." she said then kissed their tiny, dark haired daughter then him. Their eyes met and Jason gave a self effacing smile as he recalled all they had been going through over the last few day. Elizabeth just giggled then said "You have to tell the boys, then everyone else."
Leaving, Jason quietly slipped down to the daycare and told his sons that they had a little sister. Cam was excited where as Jake didn't know what the big deal was. In the waiting room, Jason looked around and then seeing his sister, told her the news and said "Will you explain to everyone else, I want to get back to Elizabeth and our daughter."
"Jason, you forgot something." she said after a great big bear hug. "The name?"
"Adrianna, Adrianna Catherine Morgan." Seeing her moving towards the rest he looked for his partner and gave him the news. "Six weeks."
"We will be fine. Georgie should be up to full speed by then and I can handle the local stuff." When the man had returned down the hallway, he located the younger woman asleep on the blond male who had created such a stir for Dante and Brooklynn.
Lulu had tried to cause trouble, pointing out that they had once dated, until Lucas himself had introduce his partner to the police officer. Then explained why Brooklynn had come to him for help. Then apologized for his cousin. "Sorry, but Spencers by blood, have a selfish gene a mile wide. Even my mom on occasion."
Moving in, Johnny woke up Georgie then gave her the news and after she yawned he offered to drive her home. "That is fine, Lucas is staying with us, for the wedding this weekend."
Nodding, he asked if she was coming to the office in the morning. "Yes, we have some work to do then I am slipping out to make sure that everything goes smoothly. Brooklynn is worried about her mother and Dante's."
When she left, Johnny knew that at some point, if they were going to even move on to the next level he was going to have to explain about his past with Olivia and knew that it didn't paint him in a very good light.
Edward and Monica were leaving GH when they saw Carly sneaking in. Calling up to warn Jason, they watched as the blond bobbed and weaved as she went to cause trouble.
"Should we stay?" asked Edward only to be told no that Jason had been waiting for this moment.
Inside, Jason thought about the call and when Carly entered he looked at the drunk woman and said "You need to leave."
"I came to see your latest bas-baby with the woman who stole you away from me." she replied while looking at him owlishly. "So, where is this child. I want to see it."
"My child, is none of your business." he said coldly then called security. When they were escorting her away, Jason said "Carly, I know you are in trouble, I know that you are spending more than you are making. Soon, you are going to have nothing and I won't lift a finger to help you."
"Right, that is why you are keeping an eye on me." she snorted in disbelief. "Jason, when I hit rock bottom, I know you will be there, you are just trying to teach me a lesson."
Lulu watched from the back of St. Francis church bitterly angry as Dante married Brooklynn Ashton. She saw Sonny pat his son on the back, as well as his son shrug it off. She saw Lois talking to her old friend, she saw others equally as happy. Except one. Olivia Falconari looked like she swallowed a bug as she wished the happy couple well then left the church.
Smugly sure that the older woman was on her side, she told Milo who had a gun on her that she wanted to leave. He silently took her to the door and said "Don't come back."
Hurrying to Olivia's place, she rapped quickly on the door, no answer. Deciding to see if she was at work, Lulu went to the hotel. And eavesdropped as Olivia was clearly talking to someone. "I can't believe it. You promised, you promised she wouldn't get to my son."
The voice from the phone just chuckled while the woman steamed. "Damn it, I won't let this happen."
"Interfere and I will make sure your little boy knows all about your lies, Olivia. That you knew about Brooklynn, that you lied to the girl. That you planned to keep them apart."
"You, you knew her connection to Port Charles, didn't you?" she shouted. "You bastard, how could you?"
"I don't understand, one thing. Why was this Spencer girl more acceptable?" asked the voice.
"I had something on her, I knew she had an abortion and I know how Dante feels about that." she replied. "I was getting ready to get rid of her as soon as summer was over."
"AWWWW, poor selfish mommy." said the voice. "Don't think for a minute, this changes things. You are going to do exactly what I tell you, or you will be spending your golden years alone. No mama's boy to prop you up."
The man on the other end up hung up the phone then gave a soft chuckle. Amazing what some people would do for their family's. Calling his contact in Port Charles, he checked on the patient and gave his approval to their own plan. "Just be careful, we don't want the patient to wake up too soon."
Sending in his other pawn, the man looked at the photo of Sonny Corinthos and Alexis Davis before heading back to his home. The woman he wanted scared, the man, well he was going to get a taste of the dream then have it ripped away like Sonny had once done to him.
Six weeks to the day and two weeks after Adrianna was baptisted, Jason and Elizabeth left Port Charles for Italy. They had planned for this time away, with tutors for new student Cam and had hired yet another of the Juarez siblings to help with Jake and the new baby. Johnny and Georgie if they didn't give in to their attraction or kill one another would handle most of the business there, with Jason dealing with their European partners.
As the family bonded with their newest member, Jason still was worried, something had him concerned about Port Charles, maybe it was that Devlin had died, maybe that someone had clearly been herding poor scared Brooklynn home.
In Rome for the first week in October, Elizabeth opened the newspaper and gasped. "Jason!"
Looking up from where he was feeding their daughter, he said "What is it?"
"Brenda, someone tried to attack Brenda Barrett, here in Rome. Her fiancee that actor Murphy Sinclair was hurt rather badly." she said then when he had finished burping Adri, she handed him the paper. "Jason, she is in the hospital, here. We have to check on her, not just for us, for Robin as well. She would have wanted us to."
Calling the two guards outside on the doors, Jason said "We will be heading out for a a couple of hours, no one, other than us are to be allowed inside."
"Yes sir." the guard said then stopped his boss. "Sir, a man by the name of Maximus Giambetti, rumor is he is looking to talk to you, but under the radar if you know what I mean."
"Jason, you go see what Max's dad wants, I will check on Brenda." she suggested only for him to say he would go with her, then check in with the man. Arriving at the American Hospital, Elizabeth quickly asked for Brenda Barrett only to be told she was unavailable.
Frustrated, Jason called Jasper Jacks who looked at Carly playing with Morgan and Jocelyn then said "I will make a few calls, but right now, I have company that might object."
"It's important Jax." Jason stated then waited for the blond to call him back. "Okay, its taken care of."
On the floor where Brenda was staying, they saw two large burly men in front of her door. Telling one of them their names, they were let in to see the woman with her face to the wall and crying. "Brenda?"
Groaning then wiping her tears, she turned and saw Jason Morgan and couldn't resist "How is my favorite husband?"
"Someone else's husband." announced Elizabeth with a not so friendly smile. "How are you feeling Brenda?"
"I know you." she said her eyes narrow. "Spencer, you are connected to the Spencers somehow."
"I was, it was a very large mistake." announced Elizabeth. "We saw the article in the paper and came to find out how you were."
"From Port Charles?" she asked doubtfully looking at the couple standing near her bed. "Jason wouldn't come across the street let alone the ocean to check on me."
"We are in Rome with our children." the nurse announced. "I was friends with Robin, and well I knew she would have been worried."
The brunette frowned slightly as she thought about her late friend. "She would have been kicking my rear. Someone is trying to kill me, Jason. I thought I was wrong, at first but now, now poor Murphy is paying the price for my ignoring what is going on."
"I will be right back." said Elizabeth as she went in the hallway to call and check on the children. Leaving Jason to get out of Brenda what was going on.
Brenda explained about the odd coincidences, the near misses and the car accident that didn't seem like an accident. "Its like I am being well stalked. It's was more harassment until this time. When the rock exploded, the shards hitting my fiancee, I just didn't want to face it. Then Suzanne, my manager insisted on bodyguards, I just don't feel so safe."
Jason looked at her and said "Your aren't safe. The men outside were given are names, didn't call to verify, this room is so easy to get into and that you are a patient here has already hit the newspapers. You need to be someplace safe, I can arrange it, but Brenda, you are going to have to listen to me. I can't, I won't let you not listen to me because if it is a choice between saving you and my family, I will walk away, do we understand each other."
Swallowing her pride, she agreed to go where he wanted until he announced she was going to Port Charles. "No! I can't."
"See, this is what I am talking about. The very first thing I tell you, you reject. Fine, I am out of here." Jason would gladly help but not if it put his family in danger.
Brenda saw Jason leaving, then closed her eyes and said "Do we have to tell anyone that I am there."
"Define anyone?" he asked wanting to know exactly what she was thinking.
"Sonny or Jax." she said. "I know that you are partners."
"We aren't. Actually." he stated. When her eyes widened, he said "He screwed up one too many times and almost endangered my family in the process. I haven't talked to him in quite a while, where as Jax and I are partners in a small venture."
"Jax? Blond man with tousled curls and very beautiful eyes with a great smile." she asked in disbelief.
"That would be the one. To be honest, mainly Johnny, my partner and Georgie deal with him, but I see him at contact time." Jason was a bit thrown at the tone of the words, clearly there were some unresolved feelings between the model and the Australian.
"O'BRIEN?" she shouted only to see him shaking his head no. "Wait, not O'Brien?"
"No, this Johnny is the son of of the late Anthony Zachara." he announced. "He is going to be the one taking care of your security detail unless you want to be dealing with Carly."
Shuddering at thought, she asked "You haven't cut that harpy loose, your wife must love that."
"Carly is out of my life, but she refuses to accept it and you being back in it, won't go over well with her."
Brenda arrived in Port Charles and was soon staying at John Zachara's house. Looking around, she said "This really doesn't seem to suit you."
"It's my fathers, he was paranoid so I thought this was the safest place for you." he replied then said "I have assigned two men as guards, Jason is doing some quiet checking in Italy?"
Shrugging helplessly, she told him all she had been up to since leaving in 2003. "I stayed busy, then when Robin died, some part of me just needed to do something, something that she would consider a good deed, for a lack of a better way to explain it."
"Now, Jason said you need to be seen, are you up to that, and who do you want to see."
"I guess, I should visit with the Quartermaines, maybe stop to see Mac and Robin's cousins. Other than that, I have no idea." she replied. "Did Jason tell you to help keep me away from Jax?"
"I didn't get that one, I would have thought you would be more worried about Sonny." he said with a furrowed brow. "I heard you two were the love of each other's lives."
"No, well, I don't know about him. But no, he wasn't of mine. It was more, unfinished business, then I moved on to Jax and that was blown out of the sky. Now, still years later, he is still the one my heart beats faster because of."
Brenda had known that the minute Jax hadn't shown up at their wedding. She went to see a doctor when she had returned to Europe, to get her head on straight. When she had figured out she had kissed Sonny to ruin things with Jax before she was happy had been quite a shock for the woman.
"JOHNNY!" they both heard the loud voice then saw the frustrated brunette entering with a cell phone open. Stopping when she saw the brunette from the back, she said Oh, uh, sorry, I didn't know you were entertaining anyone."
Grabbing her arm as she started to leave, he said "Wait, I thought you knew Brenda?"
"Brenda?" she asked then looked at the woman standing there. "Wow, hey, Brenda. Maxie will be excited to see you. Wait, are you the person?" she groaned then said "Damn, I just can't wait for Carly to hear about this one."
In Italy it was morning before, Jason made some contacts then went to visit Maximus Giambetti. "I know you are aware who Brenda Barrett is, do you have any idea why someone would hurt her?"
The big Italian looked at the blond and said "A better question to be asked would be, who would be hurt by hurting her. Your ex-partner has been asking questions, the man he sent wasn't that discreet he drew the attention of someone who has a grudge with Mr. Corinthos."
"So they went after Brenda, damn, I sent her to Port Charles." he said then calling Johnny to give him a warning. Leaving a voice mail, he checked his own message. Crap, calling again he said "If you are right, we are going to remain in Italy like planned."
At the villa, Jason found Elizabeth painting while the children all played on the grass under a tree. "Now this is a picture."
Being careful to keep the paint away from him, Elizabeth kissed Jason then said "Did you get things squared away?"
"For now." he said his voice thickening as he realized he could see Elizabeth's legs outlined from where the sun was shining on her. "What do you say to having the children taking a nap?"
With a smile she leaned up and kissed him again before saying "You try and get Cam to take a nap and he will fight it. Just let nature take care of things."
Deciding to help nature, Jason lifted the umbrella shading Adri, gave their little girl a kiss then went to chase the boys around in the huge yard. When the yawning started, he soon had them all inside with very little maneuvering.
Jason left the boys and Adri tucked in the small cots in the playroom then hearing the shower went to join his wife. "Would you like me to wash your back?"
There was some soft laughter then a wet arm pulled him into the large shower, still dressed.
Alexis was nervous, Sam was now past the danger point, from here on out, the stem cells were viable, now it was time to make sure her child would be born healthy. Seeing Dr. Niles giving Sam a shot, she asked slightly suspiciously "What was that?"
"A pre-natal vitamin. Dr Lee authorized it. I just saw that it hadn't been administered this month." she said with a soft smile. "Relax, Ms Davis, we all understand how important this situation is."
In the hallway, Lisa text the message then went back to her own work. Seeing Patrick Drake, she tried to get his attention but it was like the man she had known was gone. Seeing Steven Webber coming down the hall, she saw him getting ready to talk to Alexis Davis and distracted him for five minutes, knowing that by now the needle mark would have shrunk to the size for the vitamins the woman was supposed to have gotten.
Early the next morning, Dr. Niles was found on the roof the hospital, threatening to jump and disoriented. Soon a patient at Shadybrook, she was visited by a shadow. "You did your job well but I warned you away from Dr. Drake. You broke my trust."
Carly was having a bad day. First a big society wedding had gone with their rival, having told Jax that they wouldn't deal with her, then Monica Quartermaine had stopped in to see her. "Carly, I just wanted to let you know, Michael is in LA with Ned. But he is planning on coming home for Thanksgiving. Since he is spending the day with us, he is going to Sonny's for dessert."
"Thank you for letting me know about MY son." she snapped. "Is that all?"
Looking at the blond, Monica sat down across from the blond. "No, it was just an excuse. Carly, have you talked to your mother lately?"
"We live in the same house, Monica. Remember, thanks to your father-in-law, my house was claimed by eminent domain for that new park." she snapped. "Besides, my family is none of your business."
Feeling a bit sad, Monica stood and wished medical ethics didn't require her to keep Bobbie's secrets. The woman had had a slight stroke, and was refusing to tell her daughter or Lulu. Since these two young women were the biggest reasons her blood pressure was so high, Monica was trying to find a way to help.
Once Monica had left, Carly was upset when two more high profile events called and canceled. Then Marty came to her office. "There is a man at the front desk, demanding to see you."
Out front, Carly stalked to the counter, looked at the man and said "Yes. You wanted to see me?"
"I am Ronan O'Rielly, Ms Corinthos and we need to talk." he said then pushed forward to hand her a piece of paper. Carly read what it said then turned white just as he said "In private."
"Follow me." she said then w hen they were in her office said "Jason, Jason really sent you to me. How is he, has he dumped that insipid little bitch? Where is he?"
"I am to bring you to him. But we can't tell anyone." he said. "Can you be ready in the morning. Mr Morgan also thinks that the man holding him has people close to your ex-husband. For Mr. Morgan's safety you can't warn him."
Nodding, Carly said "I can be ready tonight, would that be better."
"No, make it look like you have to go out of town. Tell the man out front that my boss, a reclusive billionaire is coming to town and wants to discuss a suite and a large gathering."
At her apartment, Olivia frowned when her son didn't answer his phone. He had been rather upset with her the previous day for stopping over to visit him at his new house. That had to be the result of HER, Dante had always been there for his mother.
Thinking on work and how Jax had been distracted all day, she frowned when the DA stopped in to visit her. "May I help you?"
"I was curious about your past with Sonny Corinthos." she said sitting down across from the dark haired woman. "We uh, slept together last month and I might be pregnant. I don't want to tell him but at the same time secrets have a way of coming out."
Olivia felt her lips thin as she looked at the red head. "I can't give you any advice except you should know that he is slowly losing it."
With a heavy sigh the woman stood then said "I know and that is what worries me. We met when he came to see me about the charges regarding Claudia Zachara's murder last year. Tried to pin it on the woman's brother even after the proof that Mr. Franco was the killer. He was charming in an oily sort of way."
"I just, I guess I was thinking you might be a good person to talk to since Dante is such a sweet young honest man. I saw him with his wife and child today. He clearly loves her very much. It wonderful to see young love."
Walking to the door after grabbing her keys, Olivia went to remind her son that she had given birth to him. At the new house, she knocked on the door and was let in by Brook. "So, I see you are yet again keeping my son away from me. I called you earlier, told you that I wanted him to visit and then I hear you were at the park. There is no way Brook, I am not letting you get between my son and me."
Looking at the woman who had caused her so much grief, Brook said quietly "Olivia, we pieced it together, or rather Georgie did. She made a few calls. I know that you were aware that Lucas was just my friend, that you knew my baby was Dante's. I just don't get why."
"Because you are nothing. You should not be with my son, that baby shouldn't exist. I, me, I am the only person who loves Dante. You, you are nothing. The spoiled brat of that bitch Lois Cerello. From the moment I held Dante, I knew, I knew he was the one person who would never leave me, the one man who would love me always, the one man who would always put me first."
Dante had been coming down the stairs, looking at his wife with sorrow. He had not been happy to read what Georgie had found, even less when Lulu had come to him, saying his mother was a liar. He hadn't believed the blond, certain she was playing games instead it turns our she was telling the truth.
"Mom, we need to talk." he said then saw Brook's regret about his learning the truth. Kissing his wife, he said "This is going to be ugly, I will take her home."
Once at the apartment, Dante listened as his mother demanded he have a DNA test run, then told him that Brook was a liar who couldn't be trusted and then told him how a boys' momma was the only one who would never betray him.
"Mom, I am done. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, but over the last few months, I have seen you, seen how you treated Brook, your grandchild."
"That brat isn't my grandchild. What is it going to take for you to believe me?" she cried out. "She is a tramp who lied to you. She is just like her mother, keeping you from me."
As Olivia continued talking, Dante froze when she called him Sonny, then blamed his Aunt Connie, then Lois and finally every single woman that the man had ever been with for his not loving her. "Mom, I think you need some time away."
Calling Jax, Dante asked if he could stop over. After explaining, he saw Jax's expression and said "What is it?"
"Know something all those woman have in common. They have all either ended up in Shadybrook or it's ilk, died or destroyed their careers for the man. I will help you make the arrangements."
When Olivia was taken out of her apartment in a white straight jackets, she was screaming for her son to help her while Mac supervised. Dante stood there in shock while Brook just held his hand not believing what was going on.
Mac was leaving when Jax stopped him. "Mac, can you trace a phone call from Carly's office for me. She had a meeting with some potential guest and we haven't heard from her in almost a week."
"I just need your permission. Come down to the station." he said. Doing so checking they were frowning when the blond left his office. "Marty, would you please tell the commissioner what you told me."
After getting the tape, Mac ran it through the new software, not expecting much until it dinged. Calling Sonny, Jacks and Bobbie to meet him at his office, Mac then called the FBI. "Thank you Agent Raynor."
When the three had joined him, Mac called Johnny and had them contact Jason. "The man in this picture with Carly, he isn't some assistant for whoever Carly thinks. His name is Ronan O'Rielly."
"Mac, who is that?"
"A hired gun. I called around, Agent Raynor said that they had tracked down a request that went out for a hitter a few months ago. They thought it was in regards to Brenda Barrett because of the description."
There was also that it had originated in Port Charles to begin with, but Mac wasn't about to share that with this crew. "Now it looked like it was regarding Carly."
Bobbie was in shock while Jason asked "What was the description, Mac. You know that Brenda was attacked in Rome and that we have her hidden for safety."
"Just that she was involved with both Jax and Sonny. Also that she had an interest in tracking down a man who grabbed some child. They thought it was Brenda because of her involvement with that group in Rome." he said with a sigh, then looking at Bobbie said "Raynor did some back tracking Morgan, when I called him."
"What is it?" asked Jason, he could hear the tight tone of Mac's voice.
"There was some chatter a few months ago. Regarding grabbing an infant. That a woman would pay a huge amount for the baby to disappear. And if the mother didn't make it a bonus." They all heard Jason swearing as Bobbie tried to deny that Carly would harm Elizabeth.
"MORGAN!" shouted Mac trying to get the blond's attention. "No one, apparently was willing to take the contract. The agency considered putting someone investigate. They sent a man undercover and he saw no one suspicious. Except the description was a blond woman nearby who knew the cop."
"What?" asked most of the room while Mac swore fluently.
"Dante, I was asked to send Dante in. He went to the meeting in Montreal." Jax recalled Carly visiting their hotel in Montreal and coming back in a bad mood, about the time Elizabeth gave birth. "Said no one showed up, but that Carly might have blown his cover when she greeted him in the lobby of the hotel, and no, it wasn't hers."
Sonny left, not wanting to be in the middle of this mess. He had been making plans and if Carly's ill thought out scheme had ruined things he was glad she was out of the way. Then his mind flickered to this hired killer, he knew the name but to hear that Carly had been gotten so easily racketed up his paranoia as he went to the restaurant office to make a few calls.
Jason was telling Elizabeth what Mac suspected Carly to have done. "Why?"
"What do you mean, why?" asked Jason as he paced back and forth. The boys were asleep and Adrianna was curled up in her sleeper cot so he tried to keep things as quiet as possible.
"Just this, Carly doesn't plan long term but even she couldn't think grabbing our child would give her any leverage. Then there is this. Carly's plans never work, we know that so how is it that this one stayed under the radar."
Calling Milo and Max's father, Jason listened to what was said and asked "Are you sure?"
"Like I said with the Barrett woman, who is hurt by them being hurt."
Jason thought back to what Johnny had told him then called his partner. "Olivia is locked up right? Then we have Carly, now missing presumed dead. Brenda in danger, what else has been going on?"
"What about Alexis Davis?" he asked.
"Nothing, she has been dealing with her daughter being sick and of course Sam." he said then when Georgie entered waving something he covered the phone and said "What?"
"Jason, I was having Spinelli do some research." Hearing his groan, the woman laughed then said "Cody is on it. Now that we have what I was looking for, I told him to cut him loose with payment. Cody took him straight to the airport and he was on a plane for Tennessee."
"What did he find?" asked Jason. They had cut Spinelli loose after he had almost cost them their legitimate business after he had been working for them and tapped illegally into a few government computers for Carly aka the Valkyrie.
"Nothing." she said quietly. "At first, then when he dug deeper, we found Carly. She is dead. A car accident in the Catskills was the original call, but they didn't have a body, then they found one. I was a bit surprised because I knew the place near where they found her. It was near the spot that Trevor had me grabbed to use as leverage against Johnny for some reason."
Jason made another connection. "The hospital where Sam was born, its not far from there, also the Cassadines have a cottage there. When they grabbed Jake in 08, we found out from one of the kidnappers."
Leaving Georgie in charge of a hidden Brenda, Johnny drove south. Early the next morning, after talking to the coroner, he called Mac Scorpio and gave him the news. "We found Carly. You might not want her mother to see her, though."
Sending the autopsy report, the medical examiner said "Were you friends with the victim?"
"No, my partner knew her years ago." he said then shuddered as he read the copy of the report. Carly had bled out after her mouth had been sown shut with dental floss. "What does this mean?"
The man in the lab coat, read and then said "It's strange, we found that it looked like her hands were cramping from something when she died."
Tracking back to the Cassadine cabin, Johnny felt sick when he saw the piles upon piles of paper. "I will learn to keep my mouth shut."
Going through, he saw the rest then heard footsteps. Mac entered along with the two agents. "I told you to wait for us."
"I just got here." he said then showed them the papers he had found. "An estimate but each lined sheet has 29 lines on each side and then each pile has about a hundred pieces of paper. This man had her write this about 5800 times each packet. Then they change."
Raynor looked at the papers then said "What does it all mean?"
"Whoever hired this man, knew Carly." said Mac. "This one is about being pushy, about how she dressed, about her kids. About her jealousy. Wow, read this one."
"She slept with her mother's husband?" asked the agent. Mac absentmindedly said "Yeah, years ago."
Johnny heard the shouts then the men went in back. Following, he said "Well that explains the smell."
Ronan O'Rielly, hit man was now dead, his own blood filling the huge bathtub. "What on earth is going on?"
"Sir, the papers were numbered. Commissioner, do you know what this means?" Mac read them in order then said "This is pretty much the story of her life. I know about all of these or can at least place them with events, except this one is out of order."
"The hit and run?" asked Johnny then looked at the date. "Wait, this is about driving the roads after spying on someone. Maybe Jason and Elizabeth, the accident where they were cut off and Jason was hurt. Remember, Sonny and she blamed Elizabeth. It was the end of the Morgan Corinthos partnership."
Mac moved to the next pile then swore before watching the Italian calling his partner. An hour later, Max Giambetti's was eating with his boss in the main dining room when his cell phone rang. Listening to what his very angry father was saying, he looked at his boss then gave a sigh. "I will let him know."
Looking at Milo sitting across from him. "I need you to go to the bar."
Once his brother was gone, Max looked at his boss and said "Did you know that Carly caused Jason and Elizabeth's car accident a few years ago. The one that sent him to Seattle for surgery."
When Sonny stilled then looked at him, Max said "I hope for you sake, you didn't. I never told you, but Jason overheard what you said to Elizabeth, in that room. It's what caused the final break. Someone knew, the same someone that killed Carly."
The Cuban went back to that fateful day and recalled what he had said to Elizabeth Webber. "You are trouble and always have been." he added. "I get that Jason loves you and you love him. Yet, every single time he gets involved with you, something happens that puts my business at risk."
At least he now had proof that she was the reason Jason had betrayed him. As he came back to what Max was saying, he said "Wait, are you saying Brenda is in town?"
"Yeah, Pops said Jason has her someplace safe." he said with a sigh then saw the wheels moving in Sonny's head and just warned the man. "No, you have to know that if you interfere you will be taken out."
"Not necessarily." he said. Standing he went to make a few calls while Milo returned. Max called his father and said "I can't keep him away."
"Then he dies. Max you might want to think if your loyalty to this man is such a good idea. He is planning his own funeral."
In Italy, Jason was quietly telling Elizabeth the rest of the story as per Maximus. When his wife paced back and forth, clearly angry, he just pulled her into his arms and said "She is gone. I wish that we had known before, I would have loved to let her know what I think of her pulling this."
Elizabeth gave a heavy sigh and said "I hate that she was tortured, what we have heard, it's wrong but at the same time, I can't help wondering Jason. Someone out there knew all this stuff about Carly. They KNEW she was getting away with this stuff. So who is doing this and why now?"
Shivering as a cold draft seemed to drift across them, Jason said "I don't know. I am beginning to think this is all connected. Brenda's attack, the past few years, all the stuff that Helena did, and was the kidnapping attempt on our children connected to this other stuff. And I know this world, in spite of the protections on us, that someone didn't make an attempt on Adrianna and you, this tells me that someone, more than likely who ever is maneuvering us like we are pieces on a chess board is playing a very deep game."
"Jason, should we go home?" she asked her mind on protecting the children.
"No." he replied. "I think that for some reason, they want us here, away from the games."
Rubbing her back, sensing Elizabeth was frightened by the knowledge that someone, someplace was keeping tabs on them, he said "I am going to warn Johnny. Let Cody and him work the Port Charles angle while I work on things from here."
"Jason, I know I don't have to say it, but please be careful." she said kissing her husband as they stood there watching the stars twinkling in the sky, both having no idea that their fears that whoever was doing this close was true as the man looking at the monitor said to the man who entered.
"It's almost time. I want our people to let the pawns in our little game loose. Then have our people start to deal with Corinthos. By now, he has to wonder what is going on, let's let him know about Barrett, then make sure that she is the last thing he sees before he died."
On Thanksgiving, Brenda who had had it with hiding, was taken to the Scorpio residence by Johnny where she was charmed by Robin's daughter Emma. Seeing Patrick Drake for the first time, she hugged the man and said "I can see why she loved you."
Midway through the meal where she also met Maxie's husband Matt Hunter, she said "You two girls are getting too big. Georgie, what about you, are you seeing anyone one?"
The brunette saw the awkward tableau between Johnny and her then said "Did I just stick my foot in my mouth?"
"No." Georgie protested with a weak laugh. "I just spend more of my time with Jason and Johnny, so it has been hard to find time to date. Most nights, I have dinner in the office or at meetings with Johnny."
Johnny looked at the woman who had no idea what was going to be happening as he just hid his frown. Elizabeth Morgan was right, she told him that Georgie had self esteem issues as a result of her family and what had happened with her ex Dillon. That if he wanted a future with the woman, a blunt, frontal assault was the only way to go.
Looking at the calendar, he saw that Christmas was less than 28 days away. Making things happen was slow work, but surprisingly he had been shocked when Mac had agreed to his plan on their long drive back from the Catskills. He had agreed with Johnny's take on the situation.
A week later, Patrick Drake had just dropped his daughter off at daycare when he got the call. "The McCall woman is awake."
At the same time, Audrey Hardy was opening a letter, it's contents had her gasping for air, shocked. Making an immediate telephone call, she said "Someone knows."
Jason thanked his mother for the news then went to find Elizabeth. "Your grams had a heart attack. She was at City Hall and grabbed her chest just before collapsing. She was rushed to GH where she is now in a room. They gave her some nitro pills and she is resting comfortably."
"Oh god, did, did whoever this is get to her." she asked horrified.
Gathering his wife into his arms, he said "No, the man I had on Audrey said she was feeling off for a few weeks, Monica just told me that she had been warning Audrey to slow down a bit since Thanksgiving but that she has been insisting on doing things for herself, just like another stubborn member of the Hardy family."
Pouting a bit as he kissed her, she said "I am not stubborn."
Hiding the grin, she saw the corners of his mouth twitching and elbowed him. "You should be very glad I love you, right this moment."
"We have to go back, I will arrange for Etta to get our suitcases while I take care of the kids presents." he said quietly. "You get to deal with the heathens."
Jason had tried to keep it light, but Elizabeth was still upset about her grams. "Elizabeth, she will be fine. Monica and Dr. Julian are both monitoring her, Emily has said she won't leave her until we arrive and Steven is on his way back from Colorado."
"Wait, what was Steven doing in Colorado?" she asked blinking in surprise.
"He told Monica that he was looking for something, for Audrey." Jason said as he went to arrange for the jet and to ease them through the customs process.
December 15, again
Elizabeth and the boys entered the elevator while Jason was carrying their little girl. Audrey had been well enough to talk to them when they called and wanted to see the children since it had been a few months. Neither were real thrilled with the idea, since they knew Sam was awake and a patient there.
Hearing a ding, she looked up just as Jason stepped out and heard someone screaming "NO!" Elizabeth saw rushing towards then and pushed the boys behind her, worried about Adrianna as well only to see Jason's arms encircle their daughter as if to protect her from the screeching woman.
"Sam, now is not the time." said Alexis. Elizabeth saw the attorney and sighed at how exhausted she looked even as she looked around for a way to protect her children. When Sam opened her mouth and started shouting again, all they could do was stare as the woman seemed to have lost all contact with reality.
"How can you do this to me? To our child?" she asked. "How could you cheat on me again? After all I have done for you? All I have given up to be with you? How much I put up with that bitch you call a best friend? That stupid kid that is going to grow up to be a serial killer?"
Agreeing with Sam's comment on Carly, she had to wonder who the future serial killer was. But when the upset pregnant girl reached out and grasped Jason's hand, Elizabeth wanted to slap her right then and there.
Reaching out, Sam placed his hand on her stomach and said "Can't you feel it, our child, growing inside of me? Please, Jason, tell me, tell me that this isn't true. That you didn't take back this slut?"
When Monica moved forward, Elizabeth quietly asked her to take the boys away. They had been warned about Sam, but seeing was believing as clearly she had lost her mind.
Elizabeth then turned to Sam and said "You are a good one to talk. You slept with your stepfather," Yes, she had slept with Jason while married to Lucky, but at the time he had been boffing a teenager who was his drug supplier.
"You, you bitch. You act holier than thou then slept with Nik while being engaged to Lucky, and didn't even use birth control. Nik was mourning your so-called best friend, and you screwed him in the same bed he slept with Emily. I mean, Jason's sister was barely dead before you were hanging all over him." Pretty much everyone in the area's jaw dropped at what she was saying, including Jason and Elizabeth's.
The brunette who had come down from the other side of the hub to greet her brother and her best friend, stopped shocked at what the woman was saying, quietly made herself known. "Sam, what are you talking about?"
"Rebecca, you know what I am talking about. Elizabeth the whore Webber who spread her legs for Nik after you sister died at the Black and White ball. She can't help cheating on any man she is with." Sam looked around and saw the expressions of disgust on people's faces. "And that isn't the worst of it. She lied, told everyone that her kid was Nik's, when clearly she was also fucking my boyfriend... lying to me all this time."
"Sam, come with me." said Kelly Lee. They had done all they could, had redirected hospital traffic away from Sam's room, kept people who she claimed were dead or gone away from her. Even her own sisters had been banned because they were afraid what they would say.
Shaking her head, hoping the baby would be fine, she tried to get Sam to come with her. But the woman just refused to move. Glaring at Elizabeth she said "You, you having Jason's child is nothing, so am I. He loves me, he has always loved me You trapped him with that kid, then tried it again... but he still came back to m-"
Sam's adrenaline was pumping and she never felt the prick of the needle before she fell back unconscious onto the gurney they had waiting there. Alexis turned and glared at Jason. "What are you two doing here? You know that Molly needs her to deliver that baby healthy. Why the hell couldn't you stay away?"
"Alexis, my grandmother had a heart attack." said Elizabeth quietly. "While I am sorry for what you are going through, my grams wants to see the boys and they, they want to see her."
She was not going to apologize again, Elizabeth saw Alexis' face and knew she had come to realize what she had said went to far as she added. "I am sorry, but we are so close. So damn close."
Seeing Patrick coming their way, Elizabeth greeted her co-worker then said "I think you might need to tell us what is going on, don't you?"
"Sorry, I guess I should have told you more on the phone." he said grimacing. "When you are finished with your grams, and taking care of the boys, meet me in the conference room. Jason, we need you there as well."
Patrick went to get Alexis knowing she had to be there, there were things they had kept from her in the need to protect her but now, now they had no choice but to tell her what her eldest daughter had been up to.
After a discussion about how Sam should have been shocked out of her dream world but wasn't, they walked to where Jason and Elizabeth were now waiting. "Alexis, Elizabeth just told me that the night Sam took that dive, she was the one who in the middle of that chaos manipulating things in regards to telling Lucky the truth. She knew since May of '07 that Jake belonged to Jason."
Stunned, the lawyer looked at Jason, then at Elizabeth and closed her eyes as she was told what they had kept silent about for so long. "My daughter, my child watched as this woman kidnapped your son? Then hired two men; why didn't you tell us before this? When the press was making her out to be a victim?"
Elizabeth reached across then said grasping an upset Alexis' hands to comfort her and said "For you, for her sisters. We didn't think that you needed to add having this plus all the other stuff you had learned to be a burden to your future."
Alexis stood letting go of Elizabeth, then wiping her tears said "I had no idea. Jason, she truly believes that you are the father of her child. Has Patrick told you what she believes regarding the past few years. I mean, she knows part of the truth. I just don't get that."
"We think that having the television on and then hearing the medical staff talk as well as those visiting her telling her stuff, Sam turned it all around to make herself the heroine in her own dreams. Elizabeth, you heard what she was saying out there to me, it sounds like Sam got through this by turning things around in her head."
"Patrick, is she a danger to my family?" asked Elizabeth while her hand now reached for Jason's. They had enough to worry about, without adding an insane Sam McCall to the mix. She was already volatile enough.
Jason had already called in some of the guards he trusted with his family's protection then reading what Sam had said plus what Kelly Lee had taped and said "I think we need to consider going back to Italy immediately after the holidays."
Kelly entered and showed Patrick the results of her tests. "We just need her permission to induce. Alexis, I talked to Molly's nurse, we are a bit concerned because she has been tossing and turning in her bed."
Early in the morning two days later, after getting the feeling her grams was not telling them something, Elizabeth decided to see what they could find out during the family's visit with the woman that morning. When the boys had spent an hour with Audrey, she had asked Jason for a moment alone with Elizabeth.
"Grams, what is it?" she asked watching as her boys raced out the door to find their grandmother.
"I have something to tell you, something I have kept a secret. There are only two people still on this earth that know what I do."
"Who is the other one?" she asked only to be told it wasn't important. "Okay, so did Gramps know?"
"Yes. Elizabeth several years ago, we helped cover up a crime." Seeing her granddaughters shock, she said "No, not a murder or anything like that. Just a simple theft."
""Grams, what is going on." Elizabeth got the feeling there was something her grams wasn't telling her.
"A man ran into the street in front of our car one night. We stopped to help him and he begged us not to go to the police. Your grandfather wasn't sure it was the right thing to do, until the man announced that Mr. Corinthos was the one who had him beaten." Audrey saw Elizabeth's shock, then said "This was a few years before Jason went to work for him. He was still running that filthy strip club then."
"Okay, so Grandpa and you saved this man." she said a bit confused as to why it was coming up now. "How did you cover up a theft?" she asked a bit shocked.
"The man had been hired by Mr. Corinthos to steal something from the Barrett house. This was also a few years before he started to date Ms. Barrett, obviously." she said dryly.
"When he didn't get what the man wanted, he had him systematically beaten. When you and Jason first started being friends, I kept thinking about that poor man and knew what Jason did for Mr. Corinthos, it made me nervous because the thief, well, I had seen him frequently with Mr. Corinthos and described as a pal, or a friend."
"Oh grams, I wish you had told me." she said sadly. "What else?"
"The stolen item, the reason he was beat was because it was a fake. The original is still missing. At least I always thought so, then do you remember when you were gone, when you had to fake your death. I went to see Mr. Corinthos. Elizabeth, that item, the stolen jade box, it was on his mantle. And I made a point of admiring it. There was a crack in the original, it was how he had known that he was given a copy by his thief."
"Grams?" Elizabeth knew her grandmother and that if she had known the woman would have sent the police over.
"A man was there, a guard. He saw me looking at the box, he came to see me just before he disappeared. He said he had always respected you, then said one thing I have never forgotten and have been fighting for years. He said someday, Jason and you would get the courage to be together and if I ever needed to get rid of Mr. Corinthos to take the package he gave me to a man called the Balkan."
"Excuse me?" asked Elizabeth by now, past being stunned. "The who?"
"The Balkan, he is a well known art dealer. I had heard the name years ago. He is my age. Elizabeth I received a letter a few weeks ago. Someone knows everything. I went to my safety deposit box and got out the small package. Inside there was a... here, hand me my purse."
Elizabeth gave Audrey her purse. "When I opened the package originally there was a dragon seal on the box. Then when I got the letter, it had the same symbol but with a leprechaun dancing on that dragon. Now I heard about that assassin that took out Mrs. Corinthos, an Irishman."
"Grams, I think we need to get Jason in here." she said stopping the elderly woman from talking. Going to find her husband, Elizabeth gave him the short version as they went to Audrey's room. "Grams, I told Jason what you already told me."
"Elizabeth, my dear. Next time, let me finish." scolded the woman. "I was trying to tell you something. The symbol, this dragon with the green man, it isn't the Balkan's; he didn't like the Irish, felt they took the help of the those who had his country under their control."
"Johnny O'Brien." announced Jason. When both women looked at him, he scowled a bit at Elizabeth before saying. "Did you really think I would kill Johnny?"
"No, but back then you had your head so far up..." Jason kissed his wife then looking at Mrs. Hardy asked. "What did the letter say?"
"He knew that I uh, before I meet Steve. I was a flight attendant, they had to be nurses back then. Uh, Elizabeth." Getting it, Elizabeth chuckled and said "Grams, were you involved with a bad boy, isn't that what you called Jason?"
"No, at least not like you think." she said embarrassed. "At the time, he was determined to rescue his country, and I well, there was too much I didn't know so I came to see Lucille, then met your grandfather Steve and well the rest is history."
"Mrs. Hardy, what is it you are trying to tell us." asked Jason, he could see she kept getting sidetracked but knew that whatever was going on was important.
"He had two children, a girl stillborn and a boy with a woman in Cuba." she said. "She was the daughter of a counterrevolutionary trying to get Castro out at the time. I found out all of this when Harlan Barrett moved to Port Charles. You may not remember but the man wasn't always on the side of the law. He had connections in Cuba."
"Mrs. Hardy, do you think that Sonny is that child?" asked Jason even as he wondered about Mike Corbin. "Do you think he knows?"
"I don't know, but I know the letter wasn't written by the man I knew, the part that has me concerned is that he knows way too much about some stuff here in Port Charles. It's why I am convinced it is your former man, O'Brien. I think he went looking for the man I knew and that somehow he has replaced him."
Jason talked to Audrey a few minutes more then went to make a few calls. "I need you to check into this Balkan, compare his movements from 2003 to five years before and to now."
Heading to the office, Jason pulled off the road and thought for a few minutes. Then turned and went back to GH hoping that Elizabeth had taken the children home. "Mrs. Hardy, what didn't you tell Elizabeth?"
There was a deer in the headlights look then the woman said with a heavy sigh. "The letter I received wasn't the only one, the next mentioned you. He said to tell you to look into Southridge Construction. That all your answers lie there."
"How many more letters?" he asked looking into her eyes. "It's very important, please, don't kept it from me."
"Two, the one that caused the heart attack, I found out that Steven's son, Jeff, well did something stupid and now he can't return as a result. If he had dealt with it at the time, things would have been fine. Now, it is too late. He is facing jail time."
"What did he do?" asked Jason as he tried to figure out what to do about the man who had abandoned his daughter.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and said "He lied about something to help a friend. Unfortunately that friend was using him. Now, Jeff has a felony charge, the moment he enters the country, he is going to jail."
Determined to talk to Steven about that, Jason thanked her and went to make a call. After talking to Johnny, he said "I need to speak to Brenda. Find out what she knows then locate her assistant this Suzanne woman, she lied to me."
"She is at Crimson Point." replied Johnny. When he heard Jason growl, he said "Hey, Brenda wanted her to come. I had Georgie drive her out because security wouldn't have let her in otherwise."
Cody did the research, wishing they still had Spinelli then grimaced thinking on it, maybe not, the man was a pain in the rear. Then thinking on it, called over to GH, Stan said "I will be over in an hour."
When Jason called back giving him the name of the construction company, he hit a brick wall at first then made a call to the Romano family's enforcer. "They are outsiders, wanting a piece of the pie. Tell you boss to contact us, there were rumors about someone with the inside track making deals with them."
Getting that they suspected Sonny, Cody looked at the man entering and said "Stan, great timing, can you track down Milo and Max's movements. See if they connect at any point with Southridge Construction."
"Don't have to." the man said grimly. "When I was driving by Sonny's restaurant, they are doing the expansion."
"How did we miss that?" asked the bald man as he called his boss, told to take it to the family's by Jason as he decided it was time to talk to Brenda and Suzanne, together. When he arrived, Georgie was already there and the young woman didn't look too happy.
Coming into the hall, she said "Suzanne is trying to get Brenda to return to Rome."
"I need you to head back." he told his assistant. "Try and get Brenda to go with you, I need a moment with Suzanne."
When it didn't work, Jason called Johnny. "I need you here."
When the man arrived, Jason who had been talking to Georgie waited until she had pulled down the driveway and then they rejoined the women just as the phone rang. "Let Johnny get it. Suzanne, we need to talk."
"Jason, if this is about my going back to Rome, she is right. I can't just abandon my responsibilities." Brenda had been reminded that people depended on her getting the word out about the abuse those children were suffering.
"I agree, you will be heading back to Rome, but without you." he said looking at the older woman. When Johnny returned, he said "Was I right?"
"Yes, and I talked to the man himself." he said grimly letting Jason know that Maximus had found Brenda's attacker. He had also made one more call, one that they would never have before going legit.
"Brenda, the Balkan doesn't want to harm you, you were sent to Port Charles to protect you. Were you aware that Suzanne has a past with Murphy Sinclair. They were lovers when he was just starting out and she was an established top tier model."
The model looked at her friend then said "No, but what does that have to do with anything?"
"Did Murphy ever mention his late fiancee to you?" he asked never taking his eyes off the woman who was now looking a little nervous. "That she died in a skiing accident, while Suzanne was there."
"No, I didn't know that." she said then looked between Jason and Suzanne and said "What else don't I know?"
"Suzanne, why don't you tell her?" asked Johnny from where he stood. "Brenda, we know who the Balkan is. My guess is that Ms. Bandaue doesn't. Yet according to her, your invite the night of the attack came straight from his office."
"Brenda, you can't believe some thug with a history of killing people, over me. Mr. Morgan has his own reasons for wanting you to stay in Port Charles. Why else hasn't he done more to catch your attacker."
Jason walked over and whispered a name in Brenda's ear. The model froze then stared at Suzanne a minute then slapped the woman across the face. "You, you did this. You terrorized me, for what? You knew I was going to say no, that I had no intentions of marrying Murphy. Why? Why did you do this?"
Reaching up to cup her now stinging face, Suzanne was going to deny the accusations, then looked around as the police entered the room. "Why? You are asking me why. Seriously, you can have any man you wanted, but you walked into my office and he just drooled. Made it clear what we had was in the past and staying that way this time. Then when I got to know you, I liked you, decided you would work well for his mate, you were going to END THINGS. How dare you?" she asked the woman.
"And in the end, the person who ended up dead was him." said Brenda in disgust. "Get her out of my face."
Mac came forward, then said "Brenda, I need to contact the police in Rome, we don't have anything we can charge her on here."
"Actually you do." said Johnny pulling out the letters from his desk. "These were sent to Brenda, while she was staying here."
That evening, after watching the news, a man sitting in a chair looked at his associate and said "Push Corinthos, I want him gone."
"Sir?" asked the older man. They knew Corinthos was going to die, but to push the man might send him over the edge and that, they didn't want. At least not yet. "And the woman?"
"Just keep an eye on her daughter." he said coldly. "What about the others, how are they reacting."
"That red head, she is worried about her grandchildren. Dr. Niles, do I send her the present."
"No, our men found out that she wasn't involved with Ms Scorpio's death. The hotel, find a way to empty it, then take it down." he said before adding. "The Towers, too if it is possible."
Over the next few days, as Sam drifted in and out, she heard things, that didn't make sense, but then the news added to her confusion as a loft apartment building burnt to the ground. That Dante Falconari's old place was the start of the fire, concerned them. But when there was a fire at the Towers, followed by one down at the docks in an old Corinthos Morgan warehouse, Mac talked to Jason.
"I have found a connection between each of these buildings and you." he told the man.
"I am aware of that. The lofts, I gave Courtney an apartment there, then the Towers, of course that and the warehouse was connected to me." he replied just as Mac got another call. Grimacing he said "Corinthos, his latest venture just burnt to the ground."
Leaving, Mac went to talk to the man, only to be called over by the fire inspector. "It was arson, but this time, we have the guy."
"You recognize the signature?" asked the cop.
"Yes, but when I say we have the guy, our men caught him in the process of starting yet another fire." replied Chief Wisman. "At that diner down by the docks."
Mac saw the man in the back of the fire inspectors car and said "Wait, I know him. A bolo was sent a few weeks ago, some connection between Spencer and him."
"I thought you would us to keep him." replied Wisman. Moving in, he opened the door and said "He is all yours."
"What the hell is your interest in Spencer and why are you going after the these buildings?" he asked as the man with the scruff and the ponytail was taken away. As the fire department finally got the fire under control, Mac got another call, this time about a break-in at Alexis' house.
Heading out there, he was a bit annoyed when the attorney tried to claim it was a false alarm in spite of the broken window and clear mess in her living room. "Alexis, if you don't tell me what is going on, I can't help you."
Nervously she just said "Nothing, honestly, Mac. No one broke in."
"And the reason your house looks like you are auditioning for an episode of World's Messiest House is?" he said then when she shut down, he said "Fine, but you know how to reach me if you help."
Cruz called him as he drove back t town and said "Sir, the kid, you might want to hear his story."
"In the morning, right now, I want my bed." said the man as he finally got some sleep.
In another household, Elizabeth and Jason were telling Brenda all that had been learned in the last few months. "Things weren't adding up. We knew there was someone on the inside, but then we found out the article in the paper, the one that sent us to see you. It wasn't in the normal newspaper. There were a few other things."
"When did you find out about Johnny O'Brien." she asked shaking her head. "I have spent almost six months terrified of this man and all this time he has been an old friend. Why didn't he just tell me?"
"I didn't know, either. Only Audrey Hardy suspected and that was only because of the letter she got." said Jason. When Elizabeth stood and went to check on the children, she was thanked by Brenda. "You didn't have to come and check on me, yet you did. I just can't help wondering how he knew?"
"He used to guard Elizabeth." said Jason as he watched his wife leaving the room, not knowing that Brenda was watching wistfully as she remembered a time when a man she had loved had looked at her that way. "As of tomorrow, you are free to go wherever you want."
"Uh, I am thinking of sticking around." she said with a sad laugh. "Jason, she is the one, the reason you were such a mess all those years ago, isn't she? It wasn't the tall blond."
"Yes, but I still can't help thinking at times that I don't deserve to have her in my life." he replied with a grin of his own. "But if anyone were to try and take her away. they would have quite a fight on their hands. She and our children are my life."
Hugging her old friend, she said "I am going to shock the hell out of Jax and go check into his hotel."
Seeing her impish grin, he said "Are you sure that is what you want to do?"
"Yes, I can't keep hiding from my past, nor my fears and after almost a month and a half of Georgie and Johnny nonsense I have seen enough evasion techniques to last me a lifetime. I need to talk to Sonny as well, make it clear that we are the past."
"Brenda, the man you knew, he is long gone. Be careful." was all he said. Then stopping her asked about the jade box.
"Dad brought it back from the Caribbean years ago. I mean, it was worth some money but I was kind of glad when it went missing. Dad told Julia it was the key to great riches and they both were obsessed with it. Why?"
"I will tell you when this is all over." he said then watched her leave. Heading up the stairs, he saw his wife showering and went to lock up. When she still hadn't came out, he slowly fell asleep his mind wrapped up in figuring out what the heck Johnny O'Brien was playing at pretending to be some notorious killer.
Elizabeth entered the bedroom, then gave a soft chuckle when she saw Jason asleep with only a sheet covering him and as he tossed and turned, it moved lower yet, exposing his lower stomach. Running her warm hand down his chest, from shoulder to thigh, as an artist she admired the play of the muscles but as a wife, she found herself gently teasing him, hoping he woke up.
"You are playing with fire." said the sleepy voice of her husband as he leaned on his elbows and lifted his torso off the bed. Bending down, she kissed the scar from when he had stayed at her studio all those years ago as he reached to take her hand.
Lifting her eyes, she said "I am feeling cold, so fire, yeah, that sound real nice."
Jason slid his hand up her arm, along her collarbone, cupping her nape before gliding the back of his hand down her chest, between her breasts, not touching just teasing. The turning the hand over, placed his palm against her ribcage before heading back up until his fingertips grazed her nipples, watching as they tightened and pointed.
Circling gently then molding the softness surrounding it, Jason looked at her and said "No matter how many times we wake up curled up together, when I see you like this, I am amazed at how beautiful you are."
When her arms went around his neck, Jason rubbed her nipple gently, just enjoying her response then when she moaned, knowing what would come next, he said "Mine." Then lowered his head and pulled her pointed tip into his mouth.
His mouth never left her, as he used his hands to lift her across him until she was straddling the hard evidence of his want. When he had her where he wanted her, Jason moved his hand up to cup her other breast to tease and torment even as he made a meal of her.
"Dammit, Jason." she moaned. "Stop, you are driving me crazy. I want to play too."
With a wicked smile, he released the nipple, looked into her eyes then lowered his head to torment her yet again. Between the sudden hot moist breath to the cold hitting one tip and then the other nipple being teased and played with, Elizabeth was about to lost it.
Jason used his tongue to strum then encircle her now aching nipple and Elizabeth felt the sensation traveling from her breasts down to her thighs, the heat pooling inside of her. Squeezing her thighs around his straining hips, she moaned as Jason pressed up, nothing between them but their need.
Elizabeth reached down, curling around his hardness, watching his face as his hands and lips suddenly stilled and he was now the one moaning out loud as she gently stroked him, then firmer and finally faster, finding the speed she knew it took to drive him wild. Just as she felt his pulse quicken, he reached down and turned her onto her back, lifting her hands and pinning them above her head.
Curling them around the headboard, Jason kissed his way down her neck, his mouth moving lower, taking time out to place gentle kisses on each mound, he moved lower again. His tongue flicked at her belly button then each of her hipbones.
His hands gripped her hips as he gently kissed the top of her curls then their path moved lower still. As he kissed her very sensitive clit, Elizabeth's back arched off the bed, partly at what he was doing and partly in the knowledge of what was going to come next. His hands tightened their grip as he separated the moist folds and placed a kiss on the spot he knew would drive her wild.
His tongue stroking in and out of her center, making her moan and arch as he held her hips in place not letting her move at all. Thrusting her fingers into his hair, trying to get him to ease up, she moaned yet again when he lifted his head just for a second to flick again at her bud.
"Jason, please, please." she panted as he pushed two of his fingers inside of her and sent her over the edge, their eyes staring into each others the entire time. Releasing her grip on his hair, she moaned at seeing the triumph in his eyes, her arms falling to her sides as she felt boneless.
Jason gave a soft laugh then before she recover, he moved up, over her body and thrust hard, entering her fully while her insides were still trembling from her orgasm. When this quickly sent her over, yet again, he leaned down and whispered in her ear, we aren't done yet.
As her second climax gripped him internally, clenching tightly around him, she took her joy in his loud moan as burying his head in her neck to make sure the children didn't hear, he thrust again and again and again.
When Elizabeth came for the third time, she was beyond thought but Jason still wasn't finished as he slowed down long enough for her to recover then asked "Are you ready for round four."
Letting out a helpless moan, she wrapped her legs around his hips as he started to move harder, then faster until she was positive that she was seeing lights. This time, she felt his body become rigid as he could no longer control his own response.
Their world was centering on where they were intimately linked, her thighs still gripping him as they both went over the abyss. As they relaxed, Elizabeth ran her hands though his hair and down his back laughing when he said if she kept that up they would be in for round five.
Slowly drifting off to sleep, Jason tightened his arms around his wife and gave thanks that they were together.