Anna slowly woke the next morning from a completely inappropriate and improbable dream. She willed her way out of it only to surface into a pounding headache and roiling stomach. "Damn you Robert," she cursed, blaming him for both dream and hangover. She winced at the clock. She had an hour to feel human and to make her way to Kelly's to meet Robin, Patrick, and Emma. And Robert.

After her shower she felt slightly better. "Just coffee, no food," she promised herself. "I can manage that. Sure. No worries." Anna peered at her reflection in the mirror. "I'm getting too old to be doing this kind of thing," she thought. And then, in spite of herself, she broke into a broad grin at the memory. She coughed, and frowned slightly. Time for some damage control.

By the time she reached Kelly's, everyone else was there waiting. The only empty seat was next to Robert; Robin, Patrick, and Emma were huddled together on the opposite side of the table, laughing, touching. Robert saw Anna first and smiled, said nothing. Robin noticed her father's glance up and sprang up from her chair. "Happy New Year, Mom!" They hugged. "You look fabulous! Is that a new jacket? That colour's terrific on you."

"No, no," Anna looked embarrassed; "this isn't new, I've had it for a while. I guess you just haven't seen it. It's nothing special."

Robin peered into her face. "Ah, but your eyes look a bit tired. Did Uncle Duke take you someplace nice last night? Did you have fun ringing in the New Year?"

Anna glanced over at Robert. "No. Duke was called away. We couldn't celebrate together."

Robin frowned. "You should have called me. Patrick, Emma and I would have loved to have you join us."

Anna smiled and hugged her daughter. "It turned out alright. You needn't worry about me. I had a lovely evening anyway."

Robert finally spoke. "How about sitting down now so we can order? I'm famished."

Anna looked at him and raised her eyebrows in question. Her stomach gave a little lurch. How in god's name could he be hungry? She sat down.

But after two cups of coffee, which cleared her head quite nicely, she found the smell of eggs and bacon more and more appealing. Robert, tucked in, noticed her eyeing his plate. He paused and looked up at her. "You want something?"

Anna clutched her mug in her hands. "No, no. Looks good, though. Hmm."

Robert held his fork suspended between plate and mouth. "You did have a chance to order something for yourself earlier. You said you couldn't possibly manage. For some reason you didn't elaborate on." Slight smile.

Anna was looking at his bacon. "Well, I wasn't hungry then. I guess I'm getting my appetite back. It's okay—I have a protein bar in my glove compartment."

Robert stared at her, sighed, put down his fork, and handed her a piece of bacon. "Don't be a martyr. Eat the damn thing. I'm pretty sure you've already sinned in thought. Why not follow it up with the action?"

Robin and Patrick chatted happily through the meal. She asked questions about what had happened since she'd "died," restricting her inquiries to subjects trivial and salacious—who was seeing whom now, who had separated, who had come to town, who had left. Occasionally Robin placed her hands over Emma's ears, but the little girl was generally too absorbed in her chocolate chip pancakes and in Robert's strategic distractions to notice what her parents were talking about. Anna tried to occupy the conversational space between the two groups, enjoying both but staying largely silent. "Sam is Julian Jerome's daughter, and she's dating Ava Jerome's ex?" "You had a pet platypus, grandpa? What was his name?" "That's nothing – Carly Jacks is dating a serial killer." "His name was Reginald. At least it was until he laid an egg. Then it was Regina."

Anna glanced at her watch. It was late; she should leave for the station. "I'm very sorry to say this," she announced, first looking at Emma, then Robin and Patrick, and avoiding Robert's eye, "but I need to get to work. It's been lovely to see you all this morning, and I wish you all the very best New Year." She stood up and planted kisses on the top of Emma's head, on Patrick's cheek, and on her daughter's lips.

Robert spread out his hands. "How about a kiss for grandpa?" Emma laughed.

Anna smiled. "Emma will give you one for me, won't you Emma?" And Emma did.

Anna put on her jacket and slung her bag over her shoulder. Robert got up. "Time for me to go as well," he announced.

"Don't leave on my account, Robert," Anna protested.

"Of course I'm not," he answered. "I have somewhere to be. But before I go I thought I'd bend your ear about something. I'll walk you to your car."

After they left, Robin looked at Patrick with eyes narrowed and the hint of a smile on her lips. "Something's going on," she said. "I don't know what it is. But I've developed a sixth-sense for these things. Dad's up to something."

Anna had pulled out her keys. "My car isn't very far, Robert, so you have less than a minute to ask me what you want to ask. Be quick."

Robert was wearing a leather jacket and jeans. He'd always looked good in both, she'd thought. But why was she thinking it again just now?

"Won't take long, Sweetheart. Just one question." Robert paused for effect. "Who is Duke working for now?"

Anna stopped. She'd wondered about this as well but hadn't pressed. She considered telling Robert to mind his own business, but found she didn't want him to, and actually didn't mind him minding her business. She was tired of worrying and wondering on her own, and sighed. "I don't know, Robert. He hasn't told me and I haven't asked. He says he's working as a consultant for someone who's planning on opening a club. That's why he had to leave last night – he was called away to look at a prospective venue somewhere over in the warehouse district."

Robert cocked his head to one side and looked at her. "Doesn't it strike you as odd that he'd do that on New Year's Eve? Was he meeting an agent?"

Anna looked down. "I have no idea, Robert. I don't know how matters of real estate are handled. I've been a spy, a fence, and a cop. That's the extent of my job experience."

Robert pressed. "So how did he get this job? Do you remember him scouring the want ads?"

Anna laughed. "I think that's a bit old-fashioned. He's not washing dishes; the type of work he's doing isn't advertised in newspapers."

"Could he be involved in this Jerome business? Has the possibility crossed your mind?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "I know he wouldn't work for the Jeromes, so you needn't worry about that. If anything he'd be tempted to work against them." Her expression became more serious. "I warned him off. I told him to leave it alone, that I would take care of everything. I can only assume he's taken my advice."

"And what if he hasn't?" Robert asked. "What if he's back in the game in some way?"

Anna smiled grimly and shook her head. "He'd be courting jail time at best, death at worst. I hope he's not, because I want to trust him. And he should trust and respect me." With that she turned away, got into her car, and drove off.

Robert stared after her and wondered where Lavery was right then. He had a hunch he was up to no good. Robert's sense for this kind of thing was usually pretty accurate, but he had to admit that his judgement in this case might be off. It could be selfish, wishful thinking that Lavery's incarceration in the Turkish prison hadn't taught him a blessed thing and that, after all these years, he was still an idiot.

In fact, at that moment Duke was standing mere blocks away, gazing out at the water. He looked up at the sound of footsteps approaching. It was Sonny Corinthos, looking to all the world like the mob boss he was, hair slicked back, black trench coat, hands in pockets, cocky swagger. Duke decided they'd better make this quick—he wanted no one to see them together.

Sonny spoke first. "You should know that Alexis has finalized the legal details for the club. The space is rented, business licenses have been applied for and approved. We're almost ready. Julian is sure to start sniffing around soon."

Duke stared straight ahead and nodded. "I'm ready when you are. I understand that the arrangements have to be familiar to tweak Julian's interest. But you have to be aware that this will set off alarm bells for Anna as well. She's seen this all before, in case you've forgotten."

"Any new developments on the home front?" Sonny asked. "Anything you need to apprise me of relating to the PCPD?"

Duke grimaced. He'd didn't like betraying Anna in this way, but he had no choice. He had to protect her. "The Port Charles Police Department is still gathering information about the Jeromes, and about you. As far as I can glean, there are no plans to move—yet. They suspect you and Julian were at the warehouse during the shoot-out. But that's all I know. Anna is generally tight-lipped about her cases."

Sonny wasn't pleased. "Your job is to get her to confide in you, Lavery. I appreciate the inside information you've offered me on the Jeromes, but unfortunately it's more than twenty years old. If we're going to take them down, we need them to think you and I are in business together, and we need to make sure we've got the time and opportunity to trip them up. We have neither if the police interfere. We have to keep that from happening."

Duke's shoulders tensed. "Believe me, I want to keep Anna from going after the Jeromes. I want to keep her out of danger. But the woman has a mind of her own, and she's suspicious by nature and by training. I have to be subtle."

Sonny looked at him for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. "Your woman, your problem. Figure it out. Otherwise you're useless to me. A warning: in that case, the pleasure of destroying Julian and Ava will be all mine. I'll cut you out. Remember that. You're not fooling me. This isn't just about protecting Anna. This is about revenge."

Sonny walked away. And Duke realized just how badly he wanted to make Julian suffer.