VIenna, Austria
Robert, Andre and the rest of the inside team got out of their car and trooped into the safe house secured by Dimitri's men. In the living room, Shane, Nestor and Nyssa organized and tested the night's equipment. Vincent and Raine joined them. In the kitchen, Heloise and Holly prepared a late lunch for everyone.
In one of the bedrooms, Edgar held a video conference call with Dimitri, Genji and Giles in Port Charles. Robert and Andre joined the conference.
"Your people are amazing, Dimitri," said Robert.
"There's a long tradition of resistance and rebellion in my country. I'll tell them you said that," said Dimitri with an easy smile.
"Is Anna back yet?"
"No, their plane is still up in the air. They've just left Portland," answered Giles. "Uh, there's one item you should be aware of Robert."
"Hmm?"
"Faison's in town. He's doing a book signing."
Robert's jaw clenched. He could feel the veins in his neck pulse. "Has he made any attempt to contact anyone?"
"Not that we're aware of. Temple Court and the Megaplex are all on the alert. Lars and Dani's teams have Andrew in visual contact at all times."
"Does Andrew know about him?"
"Yes. It's all over the news."
"How is he reacting?"
"Not at all. He's been deep into analyzing the ELQ and Cartel files. He'll be moved to the radio station about mid-afternoon. Full control and containment in force."
"Have Anna call me the second she lands," commanded Robert. He looked at Edgar. "Are we on schedule here?"
"Yes. Local sunset is at seventeen hundred hours," said Edgar. "Inside team transport set for twenty-two hundred hours. Showtime from twenty-two forty-five to twenty-three hundred hours."
"Tight timing," murmured Andre. "Doable but no room for mistakes. We'll have to be dead on target in the first pass."
A husky feminine voice was heard to shout out, "Robert? This better be the story of a lifetime!"
"Jackie's here. I've forgotten how assertive she can be," said Robert as he rose to his feet.
Scorpio House
Maxie parked her car on the driveway of her family home. She intended to check the mail, water the plants and get some things from the attic. She didn't know when Mac or Dianara would be home and she did promise to check on the place.
Maxie unlocked the front door leaving it slightly ajar as she disarmed the alarm. Alarm off, she turned to close the door when gloved hands pressed against her mouth and she felt herself pulled against a hard body. The barrel of a gun pressed against the small of her back. She froze.
WSB Headquarters, New York City
Frisco ran the detection wand with his right hand across one side of Chase's briefcase while his left hand deftly removed the tracer. He pocketed the tracer then made a show of checking the rest of the case for surveillance devices. Behind the desk, Chase confirmed his schedule for the day with the secretary assigned to him for the duration of his visit. He scribbled notes on his notepad.
Rap, rap.
Ross poked his head in. "Chase, got a minute? Can you join Connie and me in conference room three."
"Of course. I'll be right there," said Chase. He and the secretary exited the office leaving Frisco on his own.
Frisco waited thirty seconds in case Chase returned for his notepad. He did not. Frisco hid the notepad inside his coat and walked out with it past the busy secretary. In another office, he made photocopies of every page of the pad. Under the guise of having forgotten something in Chase's office, he returned the pad in the same position and location as he had found it.
He chatted up the secretary briefly before going to a temporary office to study the copies. The squiggles looked familiar.
"I know I've seen this stuff before. Where? When?" He laid the sheets out flat in front of him looking for discernible patterns like frequent shapes that could stand for commonly used vowels. They looked like gibberish to him.
Port Charles Police Department
Mac had barely gotten out of the passenger side of the Jaguar before Anna peeled away. He watched the car disappear down the street before entering the precinct. They had arrived at the Villa and the various minions had immediately dived into the boxes of potential evidence. Alex had gone off to check on Dimitri and Vik. Mac had cadged a ride with Anna who was heading into town for some appointment. Uncharacteristically, Anna had driven in silence the entire way.
The commissioner headed for his office. Before he got there, Captain Samantha "Sam" Wells came up to him.
"Mac, Snyman is ready to talk. His counsel wants to plea bargain. I said I'd listen first before agreeing to anything. The transcriber is just about ready to record his statement. Want to sit in?" asked Sam.
"Absolutely," said Mac. "Turn the audio recorders on, too. Is he turning evidence on Helena?"
"No clue. All his counsel said was that his client wanted a lesser sentence."
"Hmm, Helena could still wriggle off the hook. Not good."
"Snyman and his crew will be off the streets, Mac. That's a plus in the win column," said Sam. "We can't hit the jackpot every time."
"That reminds me. I have to check on the contraband we found in the catacombs. See if anyone has claimed it yet."
"I don't think anyone has come forward and the perps we nabbed aren't talking."
"Not surprising. They may be in the penitentiary but someone is leaning on them to keep their mouths shut."
"The usual suspect?"
"Who else? One day Corinthos' luck will run out," said Mac.
"We haven't been able to link his organization to the contraband. How can you be so sure?"
"He's the only barracuda in town. He took over the Smith gang, Alcazar's network and the Zacchara holdings. Who else is pulling the strings? A Jerome back from the dead?"
"I actually miss the Jeromes. At least they didn't allow gun fights to break out without permission. Now, every punk on the street has a gun and trigger happy to use it."
"The days of the patriarchal capo are done and over with. It's all about the money nowadays. Hit them where the money is. That's the way to bring them down," said Mac as he lead the way to the interrogation room.
Scorpio House
Thump.
Gagged, blindfolded and tied to a chair in the living room, Maxie had listened to her assailant wandering around the house. She followed his progress by the direction of the sound of heavy footsteps and doors opening and closing.
She had tried to get herself free but her captor had randomly checked on her. After finding her on her side on the floor, he had set her chair upright, wound duct tape around most of her torso and her legs. Then he placed her sideways on the floor with her head on a pillow.
Blind and unable to move, Maxie had ceased trying to free herself and instead concentrated on listening and remembering what she could about her captor. It was obvious she wasn't going to die today but she was still mad at being abducted.
Ring! Ring!
Maxie perked up at the sound of the phone. The answering machine began to play. She heard her captor thundering down the stairs. Before the message stopped recording she heard the jangling squeal of the message tape being removed from the machine.
Her captor was breathing hard from exertion. She heard and felt him hovering over her. Against her hands, she felt the cold edge of a blade.
Snik!
The duct tape around her wrists was loosened and cut through. The same happened to her legs. Experimentally, Maxie flexed her hands and feet. She and the chair were lifted together and turned about. Behind her head, she could feel the knots of her blindfold being undone.
She heard her captor walk away. The front door opened and then silence descended. She was alone.
Villa Scorpio
Genji and Giles studied the two model planes found by the security patrols in the last three hours. One had been found near the front gate and the other close by the rarely traveled back road. In a cubicle, Alys Norton studied video footage.
"Same make of camera on both. Same mounting, remote control settings and batteries. Same everything," said Genji.
"Could it be a hobbyist in the area?" asked Giles.
"I would say yes if I didn't know that these miniaturized cameras are not available to the general public. Strictly classified and restricted to military use." Genji examined the disassembled planes. "This first one here looks like a glider but it has a modified electric motor for longer distance remote capability."
"How far?"
"At least a half mile off," said Genji. "They are designed to fly over a target area, take pictures or video then return to base. Total airtime varies from thirty minutes to twice that. This one has enough juice to last nearly an hour."
"Too bad they're not getting back home," said Giles. "These are beauties."
"If they didn't know we were jamming signals, they must know now," said Genji.
"Robert has the right idea about buffer properties on either side of us. Surveillance traps for this sort of thing."
"I like to think of It as an extra layer of frustration for anyone interested in our little operation." Genji studied the plane for markings. There were none. "The question is who is it this time?"
Alys called out, "White Chevy truck. Driven past the front three times."
"Sure?" asked Giles.
"We logged the makes, models and license places of the residences and companies in the area. The truck is not a match. And ..." Alys moved towards the central monitoring station. She touched a control. A picture appeared on the main display. "Whoever he is, he's scouting around the back road now. Should I send a patrol to intercept?"
"Not yet. Let's see what he wants," said Genji.
Genji and Giles studied the dark-suited figure in the monitor. It was a long range view and details were unclear. The man's features were obscured by glasses and a wide-brimmed hat. Out of an aluminum briefcase, the man took out a pair of pliers and unlocked the small electrical and telephone panel that were mounted on a pole by the side of the road and just outside of the property line. He took more gear from his case and attached them inside the panel.
"Obviously a professional," said Giles.
"Alys, please have Chamberlain switch the transmitter to all generator power immediately. Better put the copter into shelter. Flights to be at need only. Update all patrols on our friend." ordered Genji. "Giles, order two more generators for pickup today."
Alys left to carry out her instructions.
"Two?"
"One in reserve and I'm putting the other into service for the main house," said Genji. "This will cut our public electrical use profile to something that would be close to the norm for a farm. No sense making it too easy for our new friend to figure out what we do based on electrical consumption."
"Is that what he was doing? Adding a meter?" asked Giles.
"A temporary one. He probably suspects we jammed his toys. He wants to make sure and he's curious, too. He'll return tomorrow and get his measurement data. Too bad for him that we use own communications network and not the local service, " said Genji. "Giles, can you feed the phone some non-data."
Giles grinned still watching the figure on the monitor as he got into his truck and left.. "I can manage that. Any requests?"
"Anna and Robert recorded some fake conversations didn't they?"
"Yes. A while ago. So did Mac, Maxie and Dianara."
"And Andrew?"
"He did a set of recordings but Anna's forbidden the use of his recordings in part or in full," said Giles. "I'll set up the calls and have SIMON update the local carrier's database. Good enough to fool our friend?"
"It should be. If he sees through it then we deal with him in a more serious fashion," said Genji. "For his sake, he should just stay away."
Book Nook Bookstore
By one o'clock the line of eager fans had thinned. Disguised with a floppy hat, a bun and spectacles, Anna posed little resemblance to her usual self. With disgust, she bought a paperback copy of the first Davnee book and took her place in line. She counseled herself to patience as she got closer and closer to the head of the line. Each time Faison charmed a fan, Anna gritted her teeth harder.
When it was her turn, she opened the book to the title page and slid it towards him. Faison did not look up. He began to sign the book.
"Thank you for coming. What name should I put here?" he asked.
"The white rose," said Anna softly as she took her spectacles off. Her eyes were narrowed with serious intent yet her voice was cool and calm. "I'm your ... number one fan."