Chapter 5

Sam felt as though she had been punched in the stomach. "They're gonna….kill him?" she whispered. "No! No! He didn't do it, Diane! He was with me…WITH ME!" she sobbed. "He's innocent and now they're going to kill him!"

The older woman held Sam as both cried. "This can't be happening," Sam whimpered. "I could deal with him in prison. But…but I can't lose him. Without him, my world stops turning."

The moment was interrupted as the FBI team entered the PCPD. Agent Taylor approached them.

"Ms. Miller, Ms. McCall, you will each get to see Mr. Morgan for a short time before he is transferred. Ms. Miller, he'd like to see you first. Please come with me."

Diane entered the interrogation room to find an amazingly detached Jason Morgan sitting at the table.

"Jason…" she began.

"Diane," he interjected. "There's not a lot of time before I have to go. Take care of Sam for me. She's going to need someone for the next couple of weeks. I can't go into a lot of detail, but it's going to be okay. Please trust me."

"Okay," Diane agreed. Jason had something up his sleeve. "Please don't tell me you're planning some outlandish escape from custody."

"I promise," he assured her. "Thank you for all you've done for me. And especially for taking care of Sam since this all started."

"It's been my pleasure to be your attorney, Jason," she said as she shook his hand. "And I'd like to also consider you my friend."

"Absolutely," Jason said with a nod.

"Sam is dying to see you. I'll warn you, she didn't take the sentence well. I hope you can give her the same reassurance you gave me."

With a final smile, Diane left the room. Sam entered and began to sob as Jason wrapped her in his arms.

"I…I can't believe this is happening," she wailed. He held her tighter and he whispered soothingly to her.

"It's going to be okay."

"How can you say that?" she almost yelled as she pulled away. She was furious with the world and Jason was cool as a cucumber. "Do you not care that they're taking you from me? That they're taking your life for something you didn't do? Are you going to be this damn calm when they put that needle in your arm?" She was seething. How could he stand there with such indifference?

"Sam," he simply said. The pure gentleness of his voice pulled her from her rage.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "This is just so wrong. But Jason, aren't you scared? You don't have to be strong for me, I can handle it. Well, I can't, but it's okay…you deserve to get to show how you feel about this…"

"Sam," he said again, a bit more loudly this time. "I promise you, it's going to be okay."

She stopped and looked into his eyes. She was surprised to see peace in the crystal blues looking back at her.

"You're serious," she realized. "This isn't really going to happen, is it? This isn't real?"

"Let's sit down," he said as he led her to the table.

"Today before the sentencing, I made a deal with the FBI. Apparently that's what they wanted all along. They had enough circumstantial evidence against me even though I didn't do anything wrong. They told me that I would get the death penalty, so I gave them all the information I had on our rivals in exchange for my freedom," he said.

"Oh, thank goodness!" she sighed with relief. "So the whole death penalty thing was a cover?"

"Yeah. If I hadn't agreed to the deal, it would have been a real sentence. Sam, I have to leave. Because of who I ratted out, I have to go into Witness Protection. There's still going to be an execution, but it will be fake. We have to make them think I'm dead or my life really will be in danger. You're the only person I'm telling. I persuaded the FBI to let me tell you because I know you can keep it to yourself. Sonny and Carly are going to be devastated, but you're the only one I trust. Take care of them for me, and watch out for the boys."

"What do you mean, take care of them?" Sam demanded. "I'm going with you."