Chapter 11: Turnarounds
Her head was about to explode. If she had to read one more chapter about Shakespeare's life or his use of iambic pentameter verse, she was going to scream. Elizabeth was sitting on the floor of her room, books, papers, her laptop and encyclopedias scattered around her, drowning her personal space. She was typing her final paper due on Friday, but things weren't looking up...
"William Shakespeare, British poet and playwright, is considered the greatest writer in world literature." As the black cursor blinked she tried to relax her muscles, but it wasn't working. She just had that one sentence of a 10 page essay. "Who cares about dear William Shakespeare's life? I enjoy reading his plays, but I don't need to know that he married at age 18 or that he lived as a country gentleman until his death in 1616. This is crap! I'd rather read his 154 sonnets."
The man standing at her door moved a couple of feet inside and startled her when he talked. "Unfortunately your last essay is not about his actual work but about his life. So you'll have to do a lot more than one opening sentence."
Elizabeth was looking at him with wide eyes and an exasperated sigh left her lips. Her hand was on her chest. "You scared the shi..."
"Watch the language." The tall man sat in the edge of her bed as he talked.
"How many times have I told you to knock first? I don't appreciate being interrupted like this."
"Come on Lizzie, your door was ajar. I was worried about you. I've hardly seeing you the last two weeks."
"I've been studying."
"Yes, Grace has said as much. I just missed you at the dinner table these last few days. Did you get the new paint brush set I bought you?"
"They are way to expensive, you shouldn't have. The wood box was excessive too. I was doing just fine with mine. You didn't have to buy me anything."
"I know I didn't, but I wanted to. And besides, your graduation is just around the corner take them as an early gift."
"You still shouldn't have."
"It's done, so there's no point on arguing about it anymore." Steven was about to lose control and that wasn't part of the plan. He had to play the concerned brother for a few more weeks.
Elizabeth was making some notes on a paper and had blocked out her brother when he decided to talk again.
"Is everything okay, between you and your friend?"
"Your still here." She said nonchalantly.
"Obviously, I am."
"What did you say about my friend? I'm trying to concentrate here."
"I asked you about, what's his name? Morgan? I haven't seeing him around much lately."
"Jason is a very busy man. And contrary to others, he actually listens when I tell him I'm busy studying and doing school work."
Steven stood up and walked to the door, trying to even out his temper before speaking again. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, Elizabeth. Excuse me for worrying about you and wanting to know about your life." He turned and was half way to the hallway, but he turned and stomped back in to Elizabeth's room. She looked up to find a very distraught Steven. "You know what? I'm not sorry. You've always being crying to everyone about how we ignored you and never cared, but the minute I walked trough the doors wanting to be the brother that I failed to be all those years ago, what to you do? You act like a total bitch. You ignore me and you criticize every decision that I made. You question my motifs and you dismiss me like I'm not worthy. But this was the last time. If you want to be a bitter and jaded human being, be my guest. I tried, so next time you get the urge to cry on someone's shoulder about the big and bad Webber's, remember that I made an effort to fix this for you and you never gave me a chance."
After the outburst Steven walked out of the room, his face red with rage. Elizabeth was still sitting on the floor looking astonished after her brother. She couldn't speak she couldn't even blink back the tears as they rolled down her cheeks. Then a sob escaped her throat as Grace made her way into her room.
"Are you okay child? I heard him almost yelling and I came as fast as I could. Did he hurt you?"
Elizabeth could just move her head from side to side. Grace knelt beside Elizabeth and took her face between her hands and made her look at her. "Are you okay?"
It was then that Elizabeth's voice found a way to her throat. "What have I done?"
xxxx
Jason, Francis and Quincy were staking out a place called Gallo Ronco, a rundown bar, sitting deep on the mountains of Adjuntas, a small town in the south of the Island. But Jason's mind was elsewhere. His last talk with Elizabeth had left him thinking about what happened the day he failed to show up to pick her up after school.
"Look I understand, you had work to do. You don't have to apologize to me. At least you were decent enough to call my home and notifying Grace that you wouldn't be able to make it. The only thing that I do regret is that we didn't get to go on a ride and on top of that I had to spend all afternoon with Steven."
"So Grace told you that I called her?"
"Not exactly, Steven did. But enough of that already, I saw Barbara at the group section the other day. She was happy that I was doing so well. She said that our friendship seemed to be special and that it helped to have you around."
There was a long silence on the line, so she spoke again. "She's right you know. Your friendship has being the best thing that has ever happened to me."
"Things are not that simple Elizabeth. We still have a lot to talk about."
"You mean about your bus..."
He spoke before she was able to finish her thought. "Yes, about that part of my life. There's things you can't know about and things get dangerous sometimes. Like right know."
"What do you mean? Are you in trouble?"
"No. Not yet. But I do have to o away for business again. You'll have to promise me, that you'll be careful and that if you see something strange you'll call me okay."
"What do you mean something strange?"
"Look Elizabeth, people have seen us together. They know you're my friend and sometimes they use the people we care about as leverage. I'm not saying you're a target, but we have to be careful. If you see someone suspicious around you, you have to tell me immediately."
"I trust you Jason. But you have to promise me, that you'll be careful."
"I will."
"See you later."
"You too."
Someone had called saying he wouldn't make it on time to pick her up. He sure as hell didn't call, and he knew that neither Francis, nor Marcos did either. There was just one explanation; someone didn't want him to meet with Elizabeth and whoever it was had gone to great lengths to make sure he didn't. He remembered the police patrol that came out of nowhere to stop him and stalled him for almost half an hour. But who was it? Was it Steven or someone else?
A voice broke down into his thoughts and pulled him back to reality. They were sitting inside a black Durango around the curve from the Gallo Ronco. Francis was sitting on the driving seat beside Jason. "Johnny is in position. The two older men are already inside."
"Lets keep an eye on them, they are our bugs. Quincy, it's your turn."
"I'm on my way boss." The younger guard was dressed as a homeless and was about to patrol the back parking lot. If the two older guys were the carriers they would think that Johnny was their gofer and they would give him the information, before the real one got there.
They were all in position when a blue Saturn made its way to the back parking lot of the bar. Johnny moved in to the table were the two older men where sitting. Quincy was in position when three men dressed in jeans and black t-shirts made their way out of the car. The driver stayed inside the car, while the other three made their way to the back door of the Gallo Ronco.
"Oh no you don't." Francis opened his microphone and directed Quincy. "They are yours Q."
"I'm going with him, his out number back there." Jason tucked his gun in the waistband of his black jean, the black leather jacket hiding it from view. Slowly he made his way to the back of the bar, careful not to be seeing by the patrons inside.
Quincy had made his way to the door first and was now blocking the way of the three other men.
"Salte del medio." (Move from the way.)
"Me puede ayudar?" (Could you help me?) Quincy extended his hand and asked for money again.
"I can watch your car for you." He tried in English when the other three men didn't answer.
"No thank you. Some one is watching it already. Now move."
"I just need a dollar and I can buy a quart of rum. Come on. Por favor." (Please.)
One of the three men reached his back pocket and Quincy took a step back. The taller of the men stopped him. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for 'un peso'." (A dollar) The young man reached his back pocket and the third one stopped him again.
"Dejalo." (Forget it.) Then he moved closer to Quincy. "You'll move or I'll move you. Is that understood?" He lifted his shirt and showed his shinny new toy. The 9 mm shone in the moon's light.
Jason was watching from his post and realized that the driver was now out of the car and a couple of feet away. He took the opportunity to step closer to the car and managed to take his knife and punch the two left wheels of the car.
Quincy was still talking with the four of them, when he got the okay from Francis. Johnny was out. He just had to take Quincy and they'll be on their way.
"Is okay, my friend there's no need for that. I just wanted some of the good elixir, you know. Something to ease the pain... but if you don't have money to spare that's okay with me. I'll just be going now."
Quincy tried to step out but one of them moved a step in front of him. The driver took a step closer to the group and asked. "Is everything alright?"
The tallest of the three took some money from his side pocket and gave it to Quincy and then answered without turning around. "It's good. Go back to the car, Wilson."
Jason took a couple steps around the dumpster and waited for Quincy. He took the money and thanked the group. "Gracias, man. Thanks."
"I don't want to see you around when we go inside."
"No problem, dude. I'll be out of your hair as soon as you go inside." He took a step around them and made his way out of the parking lot. The three men didn't even glance his way and walked trough the door.
Jason walked out of the darkness and followed Quincy. "Move it, Johnny is out we have to get out of here. You scared me there for a moment."
"Yeah, well they scared me for a moment too. Look I got a five." He waved the five dollar bill at Jason. "Who would've thought that those lowlifes had a conscience?"
"Not me. Move it before they see us."
Francis had the car around and waited for them to get in, before slamming the gas and driving out of there.
xxxx
Steven was in the study going through Jason Morgan's file once again. He hoped that he wasn't making a mistake. They shouldn't be getting in trouble with this kind of people, not even for the amount of money at stake. How good could the money be if he was dead? Even though Morgan was not convicted of anything, he had being linked to the East Cost Mob Lord Sonny Corinthos, and that was more than enough trouble in itself. The fact that this man had some sort of interest on his little sister made it a risk he wasn't about to take. But if he had help, someone with enough motivation and working in the same business as Morgan he'll never be suspected of anything. He closed the file and took the phone, but when he was about to punch in the number there was a slow knock on the door.
"Come in."
"Can I speak with you or am I interrupting?"
To say that he was surprised was an understatement. Elizabeth was in the study asking for him. It had been three days since his little scene and he had doubted it had worked at all. He dropped the phone and sat back on his leather chair.
"No, not at all. What do you want now? I've been staying out of your way, what is it? Is my cologne stinking up the house or something?"
Elizabeth winced at his tone. "I deserved that. But I'm not here to fight with you. I wanted to say I was sorry about the other day."
He bit his tongue to keep from smiling. It had worked. She was coming around. He cleared his throat. "You're sorry?"
"Look, I know I haven't been a ray of sunshine, but you have to understand. It is really hard to believe that out of the blue someone from my family comes to my home and proclaim his intention of wanting to mend old wounds and reconnect."
"Look Elizabeth, we've been trough this already. I already told you I won't make another attempt at actually caring. You've made it clear you don't care anymore and I can't blame you. I know how difficult it's being from you since Grams died."
"It has being really hard. And I've had to be alone for a really long time, but now you're here and if you still want to try this brother and sister bonding thing... I can try."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'm willing to give you a chance. And to prove it... here." She took a ticket from her pocket and left it on the desk.
"What's this?"
"It's for my graduation ceremony. It's going to be this Wednesday at 6 o'clock."
"You want me to come to your graduation ceremony?"
"Yes. Take it as a peace offering and we can take it from there."
He took the ticket and stared for a minute. Then he looked back at her. "Thank you, Lizzie. This means a lot to me."
"Even though it didn't seem like it, the fact that you're making an effort means a lot to me too."
xxxx
Jason and Francis made their way into the seaside mansion. The lights were turned off and it was quiet. They dropped the bags on the foyer and walked to the living room.
"It seems like Teresa went to sleep early." Francis made his way to the bar and made himself a drink. "Do you want something to drink?"
"You seem pretty comfortable moving around Francis. Maybe it slipped your mind that this is my house." Jason was standing in the middle of the room with his arms over his chest watching the older guard move around.
"Come on Jason, is not as if you actually live in this house. You spend most of your time at the casino, on business or out with Elizabeth." He walked back to were Jason was standing drink in hand.
"And your point is?"
"Nothing man. It's just that you wouldn't even realize a change even if it comes and bite you in the ass. You should take better care of your things."
"This is just a house. I would've been fine renting a room or sleeping at the Hotel and Casino."
"Johnny is a lucky dog. I can't believe you gave him a Penthouse suite at the hotel."
"He deserved it. He did a good job in Dead man's drop, and besides Elizabeth already forgave him."
"So while he sleeps his ass off what are we going to do? We need to figure out if the info that we got from the two dudes down in Gallo Ronco has a tail."
"For now we wait. We still need to see what Benny has so far from Port Charles. But I do need a favor from you."
"Anything man. What's up?"
"I'm still not sure, but something is definitely up. I need you to look up everything you can find on Steven Webber and his family."
"Steven Webber? As in Elizabeth's brother?"
"Yes. Do you remember the day the cops pulled me over and I was late to pick her up and when I got there she had already left?"
"I remember."
"I talked to her the other day, to explain and she said it was alright because I had already called to say I wasn't going to be able to make it."
"But you didn't know you were going to be late, why would you call?"
"I didn't, but someone did."
"How would someone know that you wouldn't make it, if no one knew you were going to be pulled up by the cops?"
"Unless some one did know."
"And you think Steven Webber had something to do with that."
"The only other suspect is Tony Morales."
"We got info on the Morales boys and they are dealing in Miami, so he's out."
"Right."
"Okay, man I'll get on that first thing tomorrow." Francis finished his drink and left the glass on the glass table. It was then when he found the white envelope addressed to Jason. "Hey, you've got mail."
"From who?"
"I don't know it just says Jason Morgan." Francis took the envelope and gave it to Jason.
Jason took the envelope and opened it. There was just a 3' by 5' white card. It was then that he saw the typed sentence...
Stay away from Elizabeth Webber or you will regret ever meeting her.
Jason's face was unreadable and before Francis could react they heard a splash from the pool out side. They both turned and faced the glass doors.
"What was that?"
Jason dropped the card on the table and took his gun out. "Let's go."
Francis followed him, with his gun drawn too. Jason made sure not to make a sound as he walked outside to the poolside. A light illuminated the back gazebo and they saw the shadow coming out of the pool. They stood on the side of the pool and pointed their guns at the figure that was emerging from the water.
"Freeze." Jason yelled his voice stone cold.
"Don't try anything or we'll shoot."
The person took a tentative step to the side where the light from the gazebo shone of his skin and put his hands up, slowly turning to face them. Jason and Francis were both shocked when they realized it was a woman, a very naked woman, to be exact.
"Don't shoot. I can explain everything."
