Part Four

Jason pulled the SUV up the front of Elizabeth's house and slid down from the driver's seat in a breath. Down the street in both directions other cars had stopped, blocking traffic from both directions and he trusted that his other men were now making their way into Elizabeth's backyard.

Walking down the path he knew he had a lot of explaining to do and a lot of questions to ask. He knocked on the door and leaned to the side look in the window, one hand hovering just above the grip of his gun where it was jammed in the back of his waistband. The floor had toys scattered around, somewhat normal for this time of night, the boys weren't in bed yet. Another knock was quickly answered with a sharp bark of sound.

"I said I'm coming!" Striding down the hallway was nurse Epiphany Johnson. She looked up and caught his startled gaze with a narrowed look of her own. She mounted the stairs and swung the door open after a solid click to open the lock. "What the hell took you so long?"

Sonny opened the door to the penthouse and pointed up to his old office. "Take the packages upstairs, Max. I'm going to go through them myself."

Max paused in the doorway, his gaze a little nervous. "Jason told me he was-"

Pinching at the bridge of his nose, Sonny sighed out his frustration. "Just who is in charge here, Max?"

"You are, Mr. Corinthos, sir."

"Then take those things upstairs!"

Max slid past the smaller man with Milo following tight on his heels, their arms full of packages. Sonny reached into one pocket after another searching for his pills. He fought his growing frustration and gave up on the search.

Carly perked up at the sight of the boxes parading by. "Did you bring something for me, Sonny?"

Without a word for her he followed the two brothers upstairs and left her seething in the living room as she glared at the guard on the door.

Jason looked past Epiphany down the hall. "Is Elizabeth here?"

Two fists landed on their respective hips. "Is she here? Is she here?" When Jason didn't answer she lifted one hand and poked him in the abs. "Don't you have someone watching her?"

Shaking his head, he started to open his mouth but she stopped him cold.

"She left the nurse's station to get the boys from day care last night and never got there… and before you try to give me some lame story about how she probably just got distracted and drove off for a weekend alone like Audrey and Lucky seem to believe, she left her purse, her keys, her phone." Some of the anger and ire drained away as Jason reached out a hand and leaned heavily on the post just inside of Elizabeth's door. "We know something's wrong, Jason."

His head snapped up. "We?"

Epiphany nodded. "Robin and Patrick have been helping me with the boys."

"So the boys are safe?" Some of the fear dampened but the gnawing desperation in his middle grew with each passing moment. "Can I… Can I see them?"

She held her hand out toward the hallway and Jason walked toward the kitchen. He didn't make it one step inside before he saw a friendly face. "Jason!" Cameron slid out of his seat and ran around the table to give Jason a hug.

"Hey, Cam," he noticed that the boy's head was almost to his belt, "you've grown!"

"Jason… up! Up!" From his toddler seat at the table, Jake held out both of his hands toward the tall man in the room. "Up!"

With a small gasp of air Jason drew Cam along with him until he could pick Jake out of his seat and hug him to his chest, the sticky mess of the boy's dinner sliding onto his jacket as the child clung to him. "Hey, Jake… how are you?"

Jake gave a beleaguered sigh and hugged Jason closer. "Lonely…" the boy huffed, "Mommy's gone."

"Not for long, buddy," Jason pressed a kiss to Jake's head and squeezed Cam's shoulder. "Not for long."

The boys settled down with that simple reassurance and went back to dinner. Epiphany followed him out to the door, her voice low even though the boys couldn't possibly hear them.

"I have guards outside, no one is going to get to them." He saw Epiphany's worried look. "I don't have time to explain."

"Just go," she looked at him with trust in her eyes, "we'll keep them occupied until you bring Elizabeth home."

A moment later Jason was on his way back to the penthouse, he needed help.

Elizabeth looked down at the loose gown she was wearing. It had been the only thing available to her when she finished her shower. The baleful eye of the woman left to watch her had discouraged any kind of conversation. As far as Elizabeth knew the woman didn't speak a lick of English. She'd tried to ask her a few questions and only received a stoic look in return.

When she had the robe secured at her waist with the belt she followed the woman down the hallways and to a formal dining room. There was little furniture to speak of, a long heavy wooden table with a half a dozen chairs spread around it. Candle topped candelabras at three points with wilting flower arrangements between them.

Anthony Zacchara noticed her look at the blooms. "If you hadn't played possum for me they'd be fresh so don't you go blaming anything on me." He indicated the seat beside himself and she slowly lowered herself into it, sitting as far away from him as the chair allowed. "I have someone buying clothes for you, but like so many other people in my life they're a disappointment and so you'll have to wait until they finally get here. "

A servant brought a decanter and filled a glass with a dark red wine. She eyed the glass with caution as the man backed away.

"This all very… very nice, Mr. Zacchara, but I-"

"Elizabeth," he sighed, setting his own glass down, "I had hoped we could just enjoy a meal together, but I guess that was too much to hope for."

"I just," Elizabeth gave him a smile, trying to fight down the panic she felt inside at this man's seemingly obvious unbalance, "I just want to get home to my boys and-"

"A child's primary allegiance," Anthony intoned, his finger held aloft in instruction, "is to her father. Something you should keep in mind, Elizabeth. It will help us get along in the long run."

"Father?"

Anthony used his free hand to give her a pat on the shoulder. "Just let me explain."

Her hand shook as she raised her own glass to her lips. "Please."

When Jason arrived back at the penthouse the guard at the door gave him a relieved smile. "Good, you're back."

Jason stopped short. "What happened?"

"He…" the man looked away searching for a word, "He 'changed his mind'."

Narrowing a look at the guard Jason insisted. "What do you mean?"

"He brought those packages from the office here," the guard continued on fast knowing that Jason would be upset, "he took them upstairs to look at them and then… then… ten minutes later he shouts down to the door that Carly and the boys are going home… that they're safe. Nothing to worry about."

"And did he give a reason?"

The guard looked away.

"Dammit." Jason shoved his key into the lock and stepped inside. What he saw stopped him short. The room was strewn with paper, bits of cardboard boxes and other things that had probably been in the boxes at one time. The fire in the fireplace was roaring even though the heat in the room was stifling.

Sonny looked up from his seat on the coat, his glass of scotch picking up the light like a jewel. "While you were gone, I figured it out, Jason."

"Figured what out, Sonny."

"Anthony Zacchara lost his edge. We stopped his plan to kidnap one of our own… and now his game… his game is worthless… so I," he gestured to the mess in the room, "got rid of it."