"Everything is going as planned." Purring into the phone, Shelby Smith swirled the Chianti in glass, a satisfied grin on her face. "This town will be yours soon."

"I want Corninthos and Morgan. I don't give a crap about Port Charles." Snapped an angry voice. "This is taking too long."

The grin vanished as quick as lightning. This was the problem when you worked with complete wack jobs. They couldn't see the beauty in a well designed plan. Men were so damned predictable. They let their pricks do the majority of the thinking. Their testosterone made up the the other ten percent of the time.

Her Mama always said the best weapon any female could hope for was a hot little body that could make a man's blood run south. With just the sway of her lips, and a well practiced smile she could make the most powerful man forget their own names and turn to putty in her hand. A nice ass and big tits didn't hurt either. It never ceased to amaze her how incredibly stupid men could get over well a few well placed body parts.

It also helped when the man was already dumber than a box of rocks. Which was why she'd hunted Vincent Marino down. He'd been easy to manipulate. A few meaningless fucks and the promise of Corinthos and Morgan brought to their knees. Which was fine with her. She wanted Port Charles. To do that she needed the Lord and Prince out of her way. But if things went south she sure as hell couldn't have a trail of bread crumbs leading back to her.

"Vincent how many times do I have to tell you that for this to work we have to take our time. Sonny and Jason are feeling the pressure and they have no idea how to fight back yet, or who. You should've seen the way they reacted today when they found Max. They're starting to realize just how vulnerable they are." Trying to keep the edge out of her tone, Shelby drained the glass of wine she'd been earlier enjoying.

"Tell me about that school teacher again."

"Elizabeth Webber?" The Kindergarten teacher had dropped from the sky at the opportune time. Just another person to use and manipulate. "Sweet little thing. All sugar and spice and everything nice. It's enough to make a person want to puke."

"You're positive she won't go to the cops?"

"She's too loyal to the Spencers to do something like that." Standing up in one fluid motion, Smitty crossed the room to the desk in the corner. Looking down at the pictures she'd stolen from the moving boxes she'd pilfered through just hours ago. It's been painfully easy it slip in through the bulkhead. The lights had been out in the idiotic little shed in the woods. The boxes had been filled with nauseating sentimental crap. She'd been hoping to hit pay dirt on the little muffin face, instead she'd only come up with a handful of pictures, student awards and odds and ends that weren't worth the space.

"Besides Sugar, it's to our advantage that she keeps her mouth shut for now. It's better to bribe her with latter."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line. She could picture in him fighting to figure out the meaning of her words. The nitwit was probably scratching his head with one hand, his butt with the other.

"Honey, she's ours and she doesn't even know it yet. School teachers can't go around hiding murders. Especially ones who are ass deep in school loans and a new mortgage. Throw in a little threat toward that obnoxious ass Luke -."

"How exactly does that get me what I want?" Vincent spit into the phone. "I don't care about Spencer or some stupid teacher who has nothing to do with Corinthos and Morgan. Apparently I haven't made myself clear. I don't give a shit about Port Charles or Spencer. I want only one thing. Sonny and Jason's head on a platter."

Of course he did, Shelby though with boredom.. They'd had this conversation over and over. The man was predictable. Which was one of the reasons she'd chosen to use him. When she'd been hunting up the perfect schlub to use in her perfect plan Shelby had to make sure he had all the qualities needed in a fall guy. Fortunate for her, Sonny and Jason had created the perfect man for her.

Vincent Marino wasn't known for his brains. A stupid street thug who'd gotten extremely lucky for a short amount of time. With his mediocre good looks and silver tongue he'd found his place with some extremely stupid drug dealers who evidently were incapable of doing their research before invading unknown territory. If it hadn't been for the harsh, but well deserved lesson Sonny and Jason had reigned down on him she would never been able to manipulate Vincent the way she had.

After his miserable failure in Port Charles Vincent hadn't been able to pick up the pieces. No one with any sense would come within a mile of him. Most of his men had all but abandoned him, making him look even more the fool. So when she'd approached him she barely had to make an effort to bring him on board. It wasn't that he had to do much. No, he was foolish enough to believe that she'd fallen for him. That they were in this together. But Mama hadn't raised a fool. If something went wrong, she'd throw him under the bus without blinking an eye.

"Sweetheart you're getting all worked up again." With a roll of her eyes, Shelby purred into the phone. "I thought we agreed we were going to make them pay first. Make them hurt like they hurt you honey."

"You said this wouldn't take long. This has been going on for months now."

Gritting her teeth Shelby, wondered just how many times she had to live through the same old song. "Yes and with Max dead."

"Shelby -."

"Vincent." Shelby sang back. "Patience honey. If we go too fast something's bound to mess everything up. You trust me? Don't you baby?"

"Of course." Vincent replied. "You know how I get when we're apart like this."

"Don't worry about a thing baby. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve then we'll see each other soon. I promise." Blowing a few kisses over the phone, Shelby let out a low throaty laugh she knew he loved before hanging up the phone.

Listening to the phone disconnect, Vincent waited a moment before flipping the phone shut. When a woman said trust her, it usually meant she was knee deep in shit and planned on burying you in it. He'd been on to that southern belle the second she sauntered into the hole he'd been hiding in for the last year. With her throaty laugh and naughty little southern drawl, he'd known she was trouble. But the opportunist in him also knew she offered what he'd been searching for.

A way to pay Sonny Corinthos and Jason Morgan for the pain and humiliation they'd inflicted upon him. She he'd let her flirt with him. Laughed at the right times, acted dumb when it suited him. When it was time for her to announce the play she'd been setting him up for, he'd been more than intrigued, if not suspicious. No one screwed the Port Charles royal family without major retribution.

Knowing he was the running joke with the families. Making it close to impossible to have anyone take him seriously. Once the news hit that he'd taken down Corinthos's golden empire things would change. He wouldn't have to put up with the inept fools he had working for him now. The few men who'd stayed loyal to him would be rewarded handsomely, while the traitors who'd slipped off into the night would be hunted down. Paying with their blood.

Turning to the other man in the room, Vincent studied him. Juan Suiz was ugly as sin. Not even his own Mother could love the face he'd been given. But he was strong, loyal, and didn't mind getting his hands a little dirty. Some thought he liked it a little too much.

"I'm tired of waiting." Vincent's lip curled, feeling disgusted over the amount of time he'd felt Shelby had wasted. He was sick of living in the shadow of his past failure. "I have a job for you."

Elizabeth Webber was a walking, talking pain in the ass. Never in his life had he met someone more clueless or willing to live in denial. It boggled Jason Morgan's mind how anyone could survive day to day life like that.

Her cat. She'd blamed her butt ugly, flat faced fur ball for the mess in her basement. He'd all but dragged her down the neck breaking steps to prove his point, only to have her laugh in his face. And none of the ball-less wonders would back him up, even though the truth was in each of their eyes.

Stalking through the door of the penthouse, Jason had to restrain the urge to slam the door behind him. It took a lot of will power, but the last thing he needed was to wake Michael up.

"Jase." Letting himself in, Sonny ignored the irked look on his friend's face while he made himself at home on the chair near the fireplace. "Want to tell me what exactly you were trying to prove tonight?"

Placing his hands on his hips, Jason stared at his friend in disbelief. "I could ask the same thing. Even a chimp could tell someone'd been down there."

"Do you really think Elizabeth needed to know that. Don't you think she's been through enough today?" Sonny snapped back uncharacteristically. "The last thing she needed to deal with was a break in."

"So lying to her is what she needs?"

"Yes damnit." Sitting forward, his eyes flashing, Sonny's voice was as cold as steel. "We were already going to place a few guys at her place, so why make her feel anymore violated than she must already feel."

"If someone broke into her house she should know. Instead she's walking around without a clue. Her head stuck in the clouds." Feeling he was right, Jason couldn't keep the anger from his tone. "Especially with what happened today we know it's not a coincidence."

Shrugging his shoulders with practiced grace, Sonny sat back just a little. "What if it was? Maybe it was that cat of hers."

"You've got to be fucking joking."

"Who cares. She's got Francis watching her house. I've got a few of the runners who've been itching for a chance to prove themselves keeping an eye on her when she's not there. Not to mention the Spencers."

"Luke's going to Miami."

"For a few days. Maybe a week. Lucky isn't most likely to leave her side without the use of the jaws of life. Besides why do you care?" Scratching the side of her head, Sonny tilt his head to the side. "I didn't get the impression that you liked her all that much."

"I don't even know her." Jason answered tight lipped. "That doesn't mean she doesn't deserve to know."

"Well it's done."

Didn't he know it. Even if he wanted to make an issue of it, there was no way she was going to listen to him now. Maybe Sonny was right. Why should he care if she wanted to believe that her spooky cat made that mess in her basement? So far she'd been holding up with what had happened, would this be what pushed her to hysterics?

"Daddy?" Michael's sleepy voice called from the stairs.

With a heavy feeling of guilt, Jason turned to where his son stood rubbing his eyes. "Michael, buddy what're doing up?" Moving across the livingroom, Jason crouched down in front of his son.

"I tried to stay awake so I could say goodnight." With a jawbreaking yawn, the tiny redhead looked ready to fall asleep standing where he was. "Where were you?"

It was times like this that ate a hole in his stomach. Michael's love and devotion made him feel like such schmuck at times. He deserved to have him there at night, tucking him into bed. Reading to him from the travel books they both enjoyed. Instead, his five year old tried to stay awake so he could see him.

"I had to do something."

"What?"

"Someone needed my help." Seeing Michael was going to ask who, Jason pulled him into a hug. "How about I tuck you in."

"Will you read to me?" Rubbing his eyes again, his question already forgotten, Michael started up the steps.

"It's too late." Wanting to promise he would the next night, Jason smiled at his sons pout.

"Jase, I'll talk to you tomorrow." Sonny stood, waiving as he headed to the door. "Goodnight Michael."

"Goodnight Uncle Sonny."

"Hey Jase." Waiting until Michael went up a few more steps, Sonny looked his friend in the eye. "It was the right thing to do."

"I can't say I agree." Watching his friend let himself out, Jason waited until the door shut before following his son up to his room.