Chapter Twenty-Four
Sam rushed out of the house, not sparing a second to look back. She saw the look in Lucky's eyes and knew if she valued her life, leaving now was a must.
Once she had put some distance between her and Lucky, she wondered where exactly she was heading.
She knew Jason was at the hospital, watching over his precious Liz, after the custody case was held over, Sam and Lucky had discovered what had happened to Elizabeth. With that knowledge, she understood she could not got to him for help. She wasn't sure where she should turn. Because the idea of standing on her own two feet and taking what was deserved never really crossed her mind.
She had asked Lucky, after they had heard the news about Elizabeth, if he wanted to check on her or go see her, to her surprise, he laughed saying she was a silly woman. "I'm married to you Sam, I don't care what happens to her. She chose Jason over me, so what happens to her now, is none of my concern."
Brought back from her thoughts, she was once again left with the undeniable reality that she was homeless, not a single person she could turn to and actually hope to find a semblance of shelter.
A fleeting thought suddenly occurred to her, it struck with brutal force and would not leave her mind. Of the men who were still alive that she had scammed, where had they gone, because she could not fool herself into thinking they were not in Port Charles, why else would Amelia go through the trouble of outing her on National TV. The thought that followed that one was even simpler, if they found her, what would they do to her.
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Jason left the Q mansion his mind a jumble of questions and anger. The entire drive to the hospital Jason argued with himself, trying to decide if telling Liz the latest news that he had learned. After much contemplation he decided against it, she had enough on her plate at the moment, he didn't need to bombard her with his anger and worries.
He had also contemplated talking to Carly about it, but then he thought better of that too, in good time he was sure it would be discussed at length, right now Liz had to concentrate on getting better so she could come home to him and the boys.
"Hey honey, Carly, how are you guys? Shouldn't you be sleeping love?" Jason asked, his worry once again coming to the forefront of his mind.
Liz and Carly both answered in unison, "Hey Jase!"
"Just so you know, I was asleep, but a funny thing happened. I thought I was dreaming, but some over protective blonde woman was threatening to haunt me if I died, can you imagine a ghost haunting a ghost." Liz said with a smile.
Jason looked at two of the most important women in his life, completely at a loss for words. He had expected Liz to scoff at his worry, but instead she was joking around with Carly. Perhaps it was time to limit their time together, it looked like Carly was starting to rub off on Elizabeth. "I stopped by and seen the boys tonight, Cameron told me to tell you, he misses and loves you." Jason said and then continued. "Carly if you would like you can take off, I am back for the night and spending some time alone with Liz would be wonderful."
"Oh I see, your trying to get rid of me, are you saying I have over stayed my welcome?" Carly huffed, but gave herself away when she smiled. Shocking both Jason and Elizabeth, Carly leaned over and placed an affectionate kiss to Liz's forehead, then turned on her heel and walked out with a wave of her hand.
The couple took a few moments to gather their thoughts, it sometimes baffled Jason how one moment Carly could be emotionless and unfriendly, to only do a complete 180 and be friendly and caring and down right compassionate.
"I also wanted to talk to you about something, it has been on my mind ever since we first took the boys to the Quartermaine's." Jason said casually.
"What's on your mind darlin'?" Liz questioned, as she gestured for Jason to share the bed with her. It was going to be awhile before she felt completely herself again, but she was on the road to recovery.
"Well I was busy playing with the boys and Cam was just thrilled to have me there, but while I was there, I noticed how Cam gravitated towards my father's favorite chair. The funniest thing is, he would stand beside the chair, Monica says he has never sat in it before. But when he goes and stands beside that chair, he gets this far away look in his eyes, like, I don't know. It is really hard to explain, but after a few moments, he came running back over to flop in my lap, the odd thing is, he won't talk about it." Jason said, happy that he could talk about this with Elizabeth, without her thinking he was off his rocker.
"What do you suppose it's about, it couldn't possibly be, could it?" Liz asked. She didn't bother with making a facial expression she was still bandaged up, it would be a couple days until they were removed. She had thought she would be self-conscious looking like this in front of Jason, but she could see his love for her, shining clearly in his eyes.
"What, like Cameron's seeing my father's ghost or something, I don't know, it sure looks like that. Maybe he is much more attuned to the things in that house and the people there, than we could possibly know. Maybe he senses what that chair meant to Alan and what it now means to the family." Jason said, all the while contemplating if it wasn't something more.
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Rodriguez had had a rough couple of days. After finding Skye's body in the water, he had filled out forms in triplicate. Mac wanted everything done by the book, he didn't want a slip up. The Quartermaine's were an influential and rich family, even though they were at odds with Skye, they would still want the investigation done properly.
Of course as of right now, no one knew, Mac wanted to keep it under wraps. Port Charles was known for its criminal activities and the bloodshed that had caused over the years, but in less than that three days, a woman was hospitalized because of a monstrous beating and another one was found floating dead in the harbor. Something was going on here and before he leaked any information to the press he wanted to understand better what was going on and who was doing it, because it was now almost positive the same perp had done both atrocities.
The odd thing they found though was a ring supposedly left behind or perhaps dropped in haste while someone tried to flee. Whatever the reason they now had it down in forensics, it was not the finding of the ring that bothered Mac so deeply, but the ring itself. He felt like everything he believed in was going to be tested, should the case see the inside of a courtroom.
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Sam had no choice, it was getting late and she needed to find a safe haven for tonight at least. She was physically exhausted, so she figured she would try Kelly's first. Perhaps Mike hadn't seen the show, if that was the case, she could at least get one nights sleep in a place she felt safe.
Nevertheless, as she approached Kelly's she could see the darkness of the café, her heart plummeted at the sight. "Where to next", she asked herself. So taking another chance she head to the Metro Court, but before she could even walk in the doors, instinct made her stop. What if the men she had scammed were staying there, it was a logical assumption seeing as how it was the classiest hotel in Port Charles.
Before her feet could continue in the direction of the hotel, Sam turned on her heel, animosity flaring her anger, but her anger soon turned to desperation and despair. She decided to go to the only place that might be safe, the boxcar. She had Jason talk about it numerous times, especially when speaking of Liz. So like the two men in her life, who had also lived there, she went to the boxcar, realizing with a sinking heart, all her choices were being taken out of her hands, fate had now caught up and karma was ready to kick a little butt.
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Carly sat beside Jax, quietly, to his surprise and listened as he told her all the horrible things Sam had done. It unnerved her that she could have been so easily blindsided by Sam's or Angela's scam. She had fought for Sam, tried to convince Jason he was making the wrong choice's when he pushed her away, but all along Sam was a lying, backstabbing conniving harlot.
"She deserves to get exactly what is coming to her, I only hope Jason doesn't do something stupid. He has never dealt well with lies and Sam sure and a doozey of a lie going." Carly said, her anger obvious in the way her fisted hands wrung the blanket covering them.
"Elizabeth will keep Jason calm, she has a special power over him, but unlike Sam, she doesn't use it against him." Jax replied as he gently coaxed Carly's hands to loosen the death grip on the blanket. "Let's get to bed, throughout everything we still have a wedding to finish preparing for, a wedding which is quickly approaching.
"You are ever so right, but if you aren't overly tired…" Carly said, letting her words drift off, all the while applying a come hither wink in Jax's direction.
"You minx, I am not tired in the least, let's see how tired you are when I am finished with you." Jax said as he scooped Carly into his arms, carrying her to their room.
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Seeing as how Rodriguez had found the ring, he also knew the importance of it. But had sworn his silence to the chief.
There was something very odd going on, and his instincts suggested that the outcome of all of this was bound to tear families apart and cause the community to uproar, if his instincts were right.
Nothing of this magnitude had ever occurred in Port Charles on that he was positive. There had been uncountable mob wars and deaths caused by said wars, but the brutality and cold calculation that went with these two crimes seemed to make all the rest look like a schoolyard fight. It disturbed him that people could be so malevolent.
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Jason and Liz enjoyed the quiet of the hospital, since she was out of the woods so to speak, she was not constantly monitored, she had the call button if she needed anything.
The nice thing though, was what Epiphany had done for the two young lovers. Now that she was not going to be bothered much, Epiphany managed to get a double bed placed in Liz's room, so as to make the couple more comfortable, seeing as how she knew Jason would not be leaving until Liz was free to leave the hospital.
Jason held Liz in his arms, gently fingering the dark bruise on her right arm. It had now turned an ugly blue-black color. It hurt his heart to see her perfect skin marred by such a mark.
Liz had finally fallen back to sleep, but just before she submitted to the charms of the Sandman, she thought this, "I have found home once again." It surprised her to think that only when wrapped in the tight embrace of her love, could she truly find peace, her children offered her another version of peacefulness, but it was as if Jason were a giant among men, for in his arms, she knew nothing could take from her the haven they had created.
Becoming his wife was only something that would compact the feeling more. For she knew in her heart that she had found the one man God had created for her. And while death comes for all in time, she understood now that she had found love and trust, she had nothing to worry about. Because even death could not stop them from being joined. And while other women constantly worried about fidelity, Liz knew she never would have to worry about such a thing. It was a calming reassurance that set her mind at ease and allowed her to sleep peacefully for the first time since being admitted to the hospital.
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Jason felt the exact same way as Elizabeth, but tonight his mind was on other things, he had just received a curious call from Detective Rodriguez. The detective had been sworn to secrecy, but understood the likelihood of the police catching the person who had done this to Elizabeth was nil to none. Mac was a great police chief, but the P.C.P.D. always came up lacking when it came to making the important bust.
So going against every fiber of his being, he contacted the enforcer. Relaying to him the finding of a ring, possibly thee ring, the one with "SLC" on it. He even went so far as to explain to him what the letters meant.
When Jason heard the meaning behind those three baffling letters, thoughts began bouncing back and forth in his mind, commanding attention. If he could just wrap his mind around that damn ring and the words engraved upon it, then perhaps he could find the person responsible.
Sleep was not a friend this night. By four in the morning Jason was cursing the dread Sandman and his alluding peace. Thoughts and accusations spiraled through his mind.
He thought of people who would wish him harm, the list was massive, but he kept coming back to the realization that it had to be someone closer to both Liz and Jason, it seemed to personal to have not been made by someone who knew them and while the men and women who loathed Jason and Sonny were always willing to catch a break and take over his territory, they didn't know Elizabeth well enough to do this to her.
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After the ring had been analyzed, Mac had ordered Cruz into his office. The ring Rodriguez had found had two different types of blood, one being Elizabeth Webber and the other belonging to Skye Quartermaine.
"Okay Cruz, we need our best men on this case, it is disconcerting that we could possible know the man behind these heinous acts, remain tight lipped, if one word of this gets out, we will be buried." Mac said, pacing rapidly back and forth in his little office.
"Not a problem boss, but how do we go about finding this man. He has been intelligent so far, he has left no physical evidence, it is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack." Rodriguez replied.
"That may very well be, but to sit and do nothing would be an affront to our duties and our oaths." Mac replied, turning once more back to pacing.
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