Chapter Seven

Zach rode the elevator in silence, his forbidding expression ensuring that none of the guests who got on and off the elevator during the long trip up to the pent house suite attempted to speak with him.

"Man, you look like hell," the words slipped out as Sonny opened the door to admit Zach into the suite. Grimacing at his own lack of tact he barged on. "What happened? Is it – your wife?" Zach hadn't left the hospital once in the days since Sonny came to Pine Valley, he couldn't imagine what situation could have driven the other man away from her bedside except . . .

"She's awake," Zach replied shortly pouring himself a drink. He turned back towards Sonny paying careful attention to the way the liquid churned against the sides of the glass. "She woke up," he repeated.

"That's good news, isn't it?" Sonny asked warily, concerned that Slater didn't seem pleased by this turn of events. "What are you doing here? Your wife just woke up from a coma why aren't you with her?"

"Kendall doesn't want me there," Zach had to force out the admission.

"She asked you to leave?"

"Not in so many words but she made herself pretty damn clear." Zach finished the drink, slammed his glass down on the coffee table and turned away. "It doesn't matter now," he said closing the subject before Corinthos could pry further. "What matters is taking care of the Dragon. I have to make sure that she's safe now; I owe her that."

"Alright," Sonny accepted the subject change without argument. "The Dragon," he said walking over to the desk and sorting through the papers that were scattered across it. "This is everything that I've managed to dig up on Garrett Williams, aka the Dragon. An apparently legitimate businessman operating out of New York; he's engaged to Mimi Reed, the police captain who's been tasked with bringing him in. Got to hand it to the guy, it takes stones to cozy up to a woman whose job it is to bring you down," Sonny sighed thinking back to Hannah Scott.

Sonny picked up a folder containing detailed notes on all of Williams' holdings, both his legitimate business interests and his more questionable activities. He handed Zach a picture, "This is your guy. He's got quite an impressive resume, started out as an enforcer under Frank Smith, worked his way up. He was a hitter for a while, got more than one kill under his belt. When Smith went down Williams struck out on his own; he'd already made a bit of a name for himself. He's got his own organization in the city now; not as big as mine but he's not exactly small time either."

"He's also got a thing for young girls, not exactly pedophilia but they do tend to be jailbait." Sonny tossed the folder down in front of Zach, "So the question is – what do you want?"

Zach picked up the folder and leafed through it idly. In a matter of days Corinthos had managed to get a comprehensive dossier on a man that Zach himself had spent weeks researching without even finding a name. He didn't bother to read the folder, Sonny had given him the highlights he didn't need any more details.

"I want Kendall to walk again," Zach said bleakly. "But for right now, I'll settle for making sure that she's safe," he met Sonny's eyes without flinching, "whatever that takes."

Sonny nodded choosing not to comment on Zach's initial response. "Alright," he answered, "I see two ways that can happen. The Dragon's either going to have to die or go to prison."

"Prison?" Zach repeated in surprise, "would that be enough? With his connections he could still get to her from jail and if he thinks that I'm responsible . . ." Zach trailed off. Julia and Noah had gone into the WPP because they feared retaliation for testifying against one of the Dragon's underlings – he wanted Kendall safe but he was determined to do that without destroying her life; no matter the cost to himself.

"You wouldn't be involved," Sonny promised, "He'd have no reason to strike back at either of you. I can break his power structure at the same time anyway. I do this, he won't have the juice to order a hit from prison. It would be enough; you'd both be safe."

He looked at Zach seriously, "Question is, would it be enough for you? He shot your wife, if you want blood I could understand that."