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Chapter 41

Jason picked up his wife and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He was heading for the stairs when his phone rang. When it stopped and beeped loudly he turned back to the couch. "That's an emergency call." The loud beep was the alarm. Looking at the device he frowned. "It's Marco." His LT wouldn't call without a reason. "What happened?" Jason asked returning the call.

"Sorry to interrupt your day off." Marco started. "Scully was just taken out."

"Idiot." Jason said shaking his head. His private time with his wife was going to have to wait. "Have you called Johnny?"

"No, I know he's with Ben." Marco knew Jason would pass the message along.

"I will let him know." Jason understood his LT's reluctance to disturb his boss. Hanging up he looked at Elizabeth. "I need to go to work, can Ben come over?" Johnny was going to want to go in.

"Sure." Elizabeth could see guilt in his eyes. "It's okay Jason." She stood up and gave him a soft kiss. "Just be careful."

"Tonight." He said in a husky whisper.

"It's a date." She promised. "Go." She told him.

Jason grinned as he walked across the hall. He knocked and waited for Johnny to come to the door. "How is Ben?"

"Good. No fever all day. He's a bit sluggish but its passing." Johnny looked at Jason, the boys kept the same schedule so Cameron was most likely napping which meant Jason should be with Liz. "Spencer?"

"Scully." Jason told him.

"Idiot." Johnny said with real heat.

"Exactly." Jason agreed. "Elizabeth said that you can bring Ben over."

"I'll go get him." Johnny was in jeans and a polo shirt but wasn't going to get changed. He came downstairs holding a sleeping Ben and walked across the hall with Jason. "Thanks." He said to Elizabeth as he put his son on the couch. The little boy was still in his pajamas.

"It's just a virus?" Elizabeth wanted to know what she was dealing with.

"Yup." Johnny told her. "The doctor didn't even prescribe anything. She said to just let it run its course."

"Okay. We'll be fine, can you let Em know he is here?" Elizabeth looked down at the sleeping boy. Maybe when he got up she'd put Cameron in his jammies and the boys could stay like that for the rest of the day.

"Sure." Johnny gave her a grin.

"Do I need to check on Cera?" Elizabeth asked her brother in-law.

"Only if Em is going to be late." Johnny answered. They hadn't tried a play date with the cats yet.

"If you guys are going to be late give me a call and I'll make dinner for Em, the boys, and me." Elizabeth said walking them to the door.

Jason kissed her. "Later." He whispered as a reminder. She nodded before shutting the door. Turning she walked over and straightened the sleeping child's blankets and checked for fever. Satisfied she head to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

They drove right to the warehouse. In Jason's office they waited for Marco to join them. "What happened?" Jason asked when their LT. did.

"From what I can gather Scully tried to take Duke out. The shooter missed and hit Holly instead." Marco had been getting information in at a steady pace.

"Shit, how bad?" Johnny couldn't help but feel a shiver run through him.

"I called Max and sent Ryan over as well." Marco told his boss. "The Towers is locked down." He knew what was expected of him. There was no indication this was going to spill over into their holdings but it was better to take a hard line up front.

"Thank you." Johnny had a lot of respect for Marco.

The LT. just nodded. "From what I am hearing Holly was just grazed, but Duke went ballistic, and he had every right to do so." Marco conceded. "What was Scully thinking?"

"He wasn't." Jason ran a hand over his cheek. "Even if Scully had succeeded Angus would have taken him out. This was not a war he could win."

Marco had something else to report. "Jason."

"Yeah?" Jason looked at his LT.

"Your aunt was spending the weekend with Scully. I don't have any information on her leaving Rochester nor do I currently have a location on her." Marco knew that Duke wouldn't go after Tracy. Like them he didn't target women, but accidents happened.

"Shit." Jason didn't need this. He had warned his aunt about Scully. "How was Scully taken out?"

"Car bomb." Marco reported. "I don't know how many people were in the car at this time. I'm tapping resources."

Jason just nodded, it didn't surprise him that Duke went old school in his retribution. The Scotsman would find it fitting to do to Joe, what the now dead mob boss had done to Sonny. Rochester wasn't their territory and while they had informants it still took time to get them to report in. They had to make sure it was safe. Pulling out his phone he called his father. "Dad."

"Hello Jason." Alan was still at the hospital, he wondered if this call was about Elizabeth's report.

"Do you know where Tracy is?" Jason didn't have her number.

"She is spending some time in Rochester." Alan could not think of a reason for Jason to seek out his aunt. Alan had urged his sister to heed Jason's warnings about Joe Scully Jr. He thought she was dating the mobster just to irritate her nephew.

"Could you call her please, something has happened and I need to locate her." Jason wouldn't give his father any information that would place him in a position to testify. "I can hold on." He really hoped that Tracy was fine. While he didn't like the older woman, her death would devastate the family.

"Sure thing." Alan put his son on hold and made the call.

"Everything is locked down." Johnny told his partner. "I don't see anyone making a move against Duke to avenge Scully." All organizations had allies. Joe's would be suicidal to make a move. Scully had been wrong from the jump.

"Good." Jason was still waiting for his father to come back on the line. "Thank you Marco."

"You're welcome." Marco knew that was his cue to leave his bosses alone.

"How long before Maximus calls?" Jason wondered out loud.

"I'm guessing shortly." Johnny knew that the older man would want to get the territory into someone's hands today. Just then Johnny's phone buzzed. "Hello."

"Johnny." Maximus said in greeting. "How are you?"

"I am well, and yourself?" Johnny always thought it funny how polite they all were with one another. His use of manners would thrill his deceased mother.

"I was having a very good day until about thirty minutes ago." Maximus knew that both men in Port Charles would already know what was happening. "Can you take Rochester?" There was no point in dragging this out.

"Jason is here with me." Johnny wanted Maximus to know that he was not making this decision alone. "We can."

Jason knew what Johnny was agreeing to. Maximus did not like to be on speaker phone. He nodded while he waited for his father to come back on the line. The longer this call took the more worried he became. If Tracy was dead Jason was worried that it would destroy his relationship with his family. While he had nothing to do with Tracy dating Joe, they might still blame him. He didn't want to lose the Quartermaines, not only for himself but for Cameron as well. Elizabeth would not continue a relationship with them if they turned their backs on Jason. Emily and Johnny would be placed in a difficult position as well.

"Good." Maximus was not surprised that they were prepared for this call. "Keep the region stable." He requested.

"We intend to." Johnny responded. The next step would be for Maximus to tell them how much this new territory would cost them. Johnny didn't expect the cost to be too high, but even he was surprised by what the head of the families had to say.

"Take the territory. It is your due for Scully's disrespect of Mrs. Morgan." Maximus was just glad that he didn't have to deal with Joe anymore.

"Thank you Maximus." Johnny grinned at his partner. "We will send someone over right away."

"Very good. Have a good day Johnny, give my best to Jason." The older man said ending the call.

"Jason." Alan came back on the line.

"Yes." Jason sat down on the edge of his desk.

"Tracy is in New Mexico. She is on a business trip, she left early Monday morning." Alan told his son.

"Thanks dad." Jason said ending the call. "Tracy is fine." He just hoped that she stayed out west for a while.

"Good. Maximus said that the territory is ours to compensate for Scully's lack of respect." Johnny told his partner. "I'll send Cody and some guys to start the transition." Sending their enforcer would be making a statement.

"Benny should go too, Bernie can oversee things from this end." Jason added. "I'm really hoping that Joe was smarter in business than in other aspects of his life." The last thing they needed was to come to the attention of the Feds.

"We need to start making calls." Johnny moved to the sitting area of the office. He would start with their guys, while Jason began calling the heads of other families in the area to make them aware of what was happening.

The boys were sitting on one of the couches watching a movie, while Elizabeth and Emily sat on another talking. The guys were still at the warehouse so Liz had made dinner. Ben was doing better and was expected to go to daycare tomorrow.

"So how late will the guys be?" Elizabeth asked her friend.

"No clue." Emily stretched. "Depending on what the problem is they could be out all night." Both women had been told to stay inside for the remainder of the evening.

"Does stuff like this happen often?" Elizabeth would be lying if she said she wasn't a little afraid. Not having been through anything like this before it was unnerving to have no idea of what was going on.

"No." Emily assured her friend. "The guys run a very tight ship and very few people are willing to end up on Jason's bad side." Johnny was also feared, but honestly not as much as her brother. "I'm guessing that whatever is taking place is outside the territory, otherwise someone from the police department would have shown up by now. The police do not let an opportunity to harass our guys go by. It was worse when Sonny was alive, however they will still show up occasionally with a warrant to search the penthouse."

"If that happens can I send Cameron to your place?" Elizabeth didn't think he would take well to having his personal space invaded.

"Absolutely. When they are done with you I'll send the boys over while they search our place. Like I said it doesn't happen much anymore. The PCPD finally realized that Jason and Johnny don't bring anything overtly incriminating home." Emily was aware that there were things in Johnny's office that pertained to the illegal side of the business, but they were protected. "How did things go with dad?"

"I got cleared to return to work. Do you know how things went with Leyla?" Elizabeth was curious.

"She left the hospital in a huff." Emily said with a smirk. "She was so pissed that there was a steam cloud over her head. She kept talking about how she was not the one who was running around attacking coworkers. I so hope Gail says she needs a long stay in Shadybrook." Emily said with an evil grin. "I got some more inside information."

"Spill it." Elizabeth peeked over and saw that the boys were starting to flag some. Elizabeth had given Cameron his bath right after dinner tonight while Em did the same. If the boys passed out watching the movie it would be fine.

"We are getting our first class of nurse practitioners in three weeks." Emily knew that this information would be of interest to Elizabeth.

"That makes sense, school is winding down for the year." For Elizabeth it meant that now really would be a good time to serve notice. The hospital would have more than enough trained staff. She had filled out the application right after Jason left and then faxed it over. Now all she had to do was wait to hear back. "I was thinking of having a family dinner for Cameron's birthday, any advice?"

"At the mansion?" Emily wanted to know.

"No, here at the penthouse. I purchased a table and chairs today." Elizabeth sucked at party planning. She'd also never hosted a dinner party. "I was thinking of keeping it casual."

"The Quartermaine's don't do casual." Emily said laughing.

"I was thinking of serving chicken nuggets and fries, with ketchup for dipping." Elizabeth was also laughing now.

"Oh my god, I would love to see that. I don't think Edward has ever had a chicken nugget in his life." Emily had to wipe her eyes she was laughing so hard. The last time something happened and Johnny had to spend all night at work, Emily had passed a tense night alone with Ben waiting for her husband to come home. Having someone to sit and talk with made this easier to deal with. "Can you do something for me?"

"Sure name it." Elizabeth really loved the relationship she was developing with Emily. No one would ever replace Sarah, but having a sister was the best.

"Can you guys take a vacation this summer?" Emily requested. When she saw the question come into Liz's eyes she just went ahead and answered it. "Jason hasn't taken real time off in years. He only started taking regular days off once he married you. He needs a break. If you are worried about traveling with Cameron, the family has a lake house that you could go to."

"Who would drop by?" Elizabeth asked with a grin.

"Everyone. So that might not work." Emily said laughing. "I think all three of you could use the time away. Maybe early in the summer, the six of us can go to lake house together."

"I'll see what I can do." Elizabeth looked over. "They've fallen asleep."

"I guess we should go." Emily said not really wanting to.

"There's no rush." Elizabeth told her friend. "We may as well worry together."

"Thanks." Emily said with a grin.

"Anytime." Elizabeth grabbed the remote. "Let's find something on television that doesn't require any brain cells to watch."

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