Chapter Thirteen
"They are what?"
Johnny laughed at the disbelief on her face. "Married. They have been for awhile now. I think three or four years."
"Are you serious, Johnny? Why would they only pretend to just be dating then?" she demanded, confused at what was going on. Then remembering the smoldering looks she smirked. Looks like she had been right all along. They did have feelings for another, just more than she had imagined.
He grimaced. "Because of Sonny. Brenda knew that finding out that she was married to Jagger would start him on a downward spiral. A bad one. Her just going to dinner with Jagger caused a huge scene at the Metrocourt. Before he gets the chance to do anything too stupid I want him neutralized, and this will make sure that no one wants to deal with him. Jax had to throw him out of the hotel yesterday evening. He threatened to kill Jagger in front of Kate. I almost feel sorry for her. She doesn't realize that Sonny is obsessed with Brenda."
Disgusted at Sonny's constant need for control, she shivered. "He has changed so much through the years."
"Not really. He has always had this side. It was there when he got Karen Wexler addicted to drugs and stripping in his club. He took advantage of a young girl because he could. The Sonny that you remember, he was the act. He wants to be seen as a better person than he really is. By the time that we are done with him, Jason will be running everything. I may not like everything that he has done, but in business he is calm, rational, and has the brains not to go off half cocked in a rage."
When the doorbell rang he immediately knew who was there. Jagger had called him early this morning to let him know that Ric Lansing would never be a problem again. His only regret was that the cops had come here to question him.
Elizabeth pulled the door open. "Lucky, Dante."
Lucky gave her a cold look while Dante offered a strained smile. "Sorry to bother you so earlier, Elizabeth. We have a couple of questions for Johnny."
"Where were you last night?" Lucky demanded as he shoved roughly by his ex wife.
Narrowing his eyes at Lucky as Dante quickly grabbed her arm to steady Elizabeth, Johnny decided to have some fun at his expense. "I was here. Why? Do you want a play by play of our night?" He grinned as the other man's face turned red. "I got back from the warehouse at about ten-thirty and have been here every since."
"So you didn't have anything to do with Ric Lansing being beaten and then shot and killed last night?" scoffed Lucky.
Elizabeth gasped. "Ric is dead?"
"Yes. He was found this morning a little after six," Dante informed her softly while keeping an eye on his partner. "So Johnny was here all night?"
She nodded. "Yes."
"Of course he was. You would never lie, would you, Liz? We all know that you are the perfect princess that never speaks anything other than the truth."
Dante pulled Lucky toward the door while cursing at his inability to seperate the job from his personal issues. "Thank you both. I will be in touch if any other questions."
Waiting until they had pulled out of the driveway, Johnny wrapped his arms around her and brought her against his chest. "You ok?"
"Yeah, just shocked. I feel bad for Molly, that is about it." She looked up at him and decided not to even ask. By the look in his eyes, she already knew her answer. "So, sometime today I need to have a talk with Brenda and Jagger. They could have at least told me. And Robin is going to beat them. They better hope that they don't need medical attention anytime soon."
"I already warned him that you would be chewing him out," he said with a chuckle. "What are you doing with your day off?"
Heading back into the kitchen to start breakfast, Eizabeth shrugged. "Not much really. Jake and I will probably just clean and play until Cam gets home from school. I am starting my Christmas shopping tomorrow though. Georgie and I are meeting at the mall since Jake wants to see his friends at daycare."
Johnny watched as she started mixing the pancake batter. "I will have another guard for you tomorrow. My father is acting off, so I would feel better if you had two, especially at the mall where it is crowded."
She frowned. "It's only for a short time, right?"
"Yes. I know that you hate having people following you. I am sorry about the need, but until I am sure that he won't cause any problems, I can't take the chance. He is dangerous, Elizabeth."
Turning, she pressed a kiss against his lips before grabbing her hot chocolate. "I know that he is unstable, Johnny. It's ok. Do you care to wake Cam and Jake while I finish this up?" she asked with an innocent smile.
He shook his head and snorted. "You only send me because Cam is cranky in the morning, just like you." Her laughter followed him into the living room as he headed up the stairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"We can really stop this charade?" Brenda asked with a hope tinged voice.
"Absolutely," he murmured, pressing his lips to hers in short kiss. "Not a moment too soon either. I have missed coming home to you every night. I already bought the house that you said you wanted near the Quartermaine's."
Brenda laughed with delight. "Thank God that Johnny finally decided to settle in Port Charles. He wavered between here and Rome for the last couple years."
"Being with Elizabeth is what finally settled the matter. There is no way that he would leave her."
"Robin and her are going to kill us," she groaned.
"You get to tell Robin. I'd say that Liz already knows." Jagger paused as they walked along the docks. "Francis is coming back. He will be here tonight."
Her eyes widened. "Sonny and Jason are going to freak. Johnny is really concerned, isn't he?"
"Yeah, and so am I. His father is gearing up. You know what he is capable of. Then there is Sam. Johnny is trying to convince himself that she will back off. I think he will be sadly mistaken."
Brenda tugged on his arm as she saw Lucky approaching with Dante. Trailing them by a couple of steps was Jason and Sonny. Inwardly grinning, she knew that she could not have planned this better if she had tried. "You ready to play ball?" she whispered happily.
"Jagger! We need to ask you a couple of questions," Lucky said as he stopped and glared. "Brenda, maybe you should run along."
"I think that I will stay, thank you very much," she snottily replied while studying the detective like he was a bug she had just stomped on.
Dante sighed. His morning was turning into a circus. "You are working for the Zacchara Organization, aren't you?"
"I work for John Zacchara specifically. After setting up security for a corporation overseas, he asked me to come and set up a security detail on Elizabeth Webber and her children. Why?"
"Can you give me your whereabouts last night and this morning?"
He flashed Dante a grin. "Sure. I was with John at the warehouse until about ten. I got back to my apartment about ten-thirty or so. I was there until about nine this morning when I went to Kelly's for breakfast."
Lucky rolled his eyes. "So you didn't leave your apartment all night? Can anyone verify that, Jagger?"
Putting forth her best blushing appearance, Brenda discreetly watched Sonny while clearing her throat. "I was with Jagger all night." She barely contained her composure as Sonny turned red and sputtered. Jason just watched expressionless.
"Do you know anything about Ric Lansing's death that could be useful?" Lucky demanded with a skeptical look at them.
Jagger lifted an eyebrow. "So someone finally took Lansing out? Hmm, well I do know that he had been spending time with Claudia and Anthony up at Crimson Point. I'm not sure why though. You'd have to ask the old man."
"Amazing how you and Johnny both were at home," Lucky stated with disdain. "Sonny and Jason were too. I find that hard to believe."
Sick of the litte creep, Brenda wrapped her arms around Jagger's waist. "Well Jagger and I were celebrating our seperation being over. It was hard not being with my husband every night. I missed him. As for Johnny, well, with Elizabeth being pregnant, John doesn't like to leave her alone at night too much. Especially with Baker still out there."
Stunned silence greeted her statement and she grinned. "Is that all, Dante? We were heading over to Elizabeth's."
"Wait! You are married? To Jagger?" Sonny demanded angrily.
"Have been for four years," Jagger replied. "She didn't want to come back to Port Charles, but she finally decided to."
"Elizabeth is not pregnant. She never said a word about it," Lucky denied.
Jagger chuckled and turned his cool gaze to him while keeping Morgan in his sight too. "Why would she after you called her other two sons bastards and then signed away your parental right? After you called her a whore, I don't think that she would really consider it your business, detective. Then you verbally attacked her and then shoved her at your last visit, I would say that you aren't really high up on her Christmas card list." Seeing that he had succeeded in pissing off everyone except for Dante, he smiled. "Have a good day."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~b~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Anthony trashed his home office and snarled in rage. His ungrateful, useless, and spineless son had somehow gotten to Ric. There was no other explaination. Howling in frustration, he threw his glass of wine against the wall.
This wasn't over. If it was the last thing that he did, he would have that pregnant witch killed. Now it was more than wanting the next heir. He was going to kill her slowly while John watched. No one got the best of him. No one!
"Oh, Johnny Boy, you messed up. I will have what I want!" he screamed to the empty room. "And I want you in pain and miserable."
Thinking about how his worthless son would react to the death of his beloved little woman, Anthony chuckled with glee. No one would expect him to take little Miss Webber out himself. Maybe he should kill her just like he did Maria, he thought with pleasure. After all, that had nearly broke John back then. Excited about taking everything away that John loved, he stood and gave a wicked smile. Yes, that would be perfect. He might even let her little brats watch for fun.