Chapter 23

Sean was shocked by the woman staring back at him from his computer screen. If he didn't know any better he would say that she was Anna looking back at him. The woman on the screen was in fact, Dr. Alexandra Devane and she was the daughter of Charlotte Devane and her late husband, Ronald Devane. Who was indeed Anna's uncle? At the very least, Anna and Alexandra are first cousins, but even Sean felt there was more to all of this. First cousins do not look this much alike. They do not look like twins. They will need to get to the bottom of this but maybe that can wait. For now, he can tell Anna that yes they are related and that Alexandra's story does check out.

It hadn't taken Sean all that long to find the information he needed on Dr. Devane and he figured there was no point making Robert and Anna wait to know what he had found. He will continue the deep dive into the Devane family history and discover how these apparent cousins look like twins and even share a birth date. That might be the perfect thing to keep him distracted while they have to wait, actually.

When he had told him, Mac was relieved to hear that Sean had made contact with Anna and Robert the night before. With all the uncertainty they are dealing with, the fact there wasn't much happening here was a good thing. They just better know when and if things do start happening.

Sean looked at his watch and decided he might as well give Robert and Anna a call, then head into the office. Once they know Alexandra is who she says she is, they can figure out what they want to do next. Then he can get to work on some of the actual police cases that need his attention.

…

Robert was pacing as he kept looking down at the paper in his hand. He knows he has to make this phone call. What he doesn't know is how to convince this woman they barely know that she needs to meet up with them somewhere and to make sure she isn't followed. Oh, and that she should really not tell anyone about any of this. Alexandra has to have her own concerns about this entire situation by now. Why would she even agree to meet with him again, even without the extra precautions?

Anna, on the other hand, had been very quiet since Sean had called them earlier. Yes, he had confirmed they would be cousins but Robert felt sure they were all thinking the same thing. Anna and Alex Devane are twins, they have to be. How else could this be explained? They look almost identical. Robert looked over at Anna again, she was looking out their window, staring off into the sky. He had to do this for her, he had to convince Anna's 'sister' that she could be in danger. He picked up the phone and called the number on the card she had left them.

After two rings she answered, for a moment he wasn't sure what to say. Then, "It's Robert."

"Hang on." Alex quickly looked around to make sure there was no one around. "I was hoping you would call."

"Yeah, we just needed to, um."

"Go into hiding?" she asked bluntly.

"Yeah," Robert said with a nod as he looked over at Anna.

"Look, I get it. I understand. After I left your hotel I did a little digging into Robert and Anna Scorpio and their life in Port Charles. Your story seems to check out, you're both dead according to what I could find. I assume there was some digging into me and my past as well."

It pleased Robert to know she had looked into them and knew they had not lied to her. "A friend of ours may have done that for us, yes."

"Will you come back to the study?" Alex asked.

"No, we can't risk it. If the WSB is trying to lure Faison to that hospital and to you, I can't be anywhere near that."

Alex looked around again, the only other people she could see were still on the other side of the room working on something. "I thought you might say that. I can come back to your hotel, we can talk there."

"No, we can't do that. We aren't staying there now. We did go into hiding."

Alex slowly nodded, this situation is serious. "I assumed as much. We need to talk again so how do we do this? Where do we meet?"

"I don't think it should be anywhere near your work or home. It can't be near where we are." It might be but Alexandra didn't need to know that. "We should meet somewhere you don't often go, maybe where you've never been before."

"I have the day off tomorrow and I haven't been over to Dartmouth yet. Could we meet over there?"

Robert grinned, he liked that idea very much. The less he and Anna had to move around right not the happier he would be. There is no need to take stupid risks and get found out. He took a moment to answer, letting her believe he had to think about that. "Yeah, I think we could do that. Do you have somewhere in mind? It shouldn't be too public."

"I was thinking we could go to a restaurant over there. It would look like sisters going for lunch and one brought their husband. That wouldn't draw attention to us would it?"

"I wouldn't think so, no." Robert was fine with letting her come up with the idea but should he let her pick the location? "Is there somewhere you have in mind?"

"No, I probably couldn't even name a restaurant there unless it was part of a chain, sorry."

"Alright, can I call you back in about an hour? I'll find someplace for us to meet then call you back."

"Yeah, I'll be here all afternoon. The patient I was assigned to dropped out of the study so I have a lot of paperwork to keep me busy."

Robert grinned, "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's alright, I've been a little too distracted lately to really focus on anything anyway."

"Alright, we'll talk again soon." With that Robert ended the call, he turned to see Anna watching him.

"She's willing to meet us?" she asked.

"Yes, she is. Where do you want to go for lunch tomorrow? You pick then I'll call her back and set it up."

Anna grinned, "Alright, that I can do."

…

There was a knock on Sean's door as it was opened. He looked up wondering what was going on. "I need to talk to you. They said I could come in." She closed the door behind herself.

He was shocked to see her there. "What are you doing here?" Sean got up and walked around his desk as she closed the door behind her.

Ronda Norris had not risked anything so bold as this. She couldn't wait to meet up with Robin and then hope she passed this on quickly. She and Mac don't talk about any of this and she couldn't pass this off as a chance meeting, not with what she has to tell them today. "Sorry, I couldn't wait to pass this on. Agent Ross has left Port Charles. He was talking about wanting to be there for the fun."

"I take it the fun would be Faison," Sean concluded.

"I think so. My boss up on the Crow's Nest was back in Port Charles and had a not entirely pleasant discussion with Colin Ross the other day."

"So they could be getting ready to spring their trap," Sean concluded.

"Wherever this woman is that they are using as bait she is about to get a lot of unwanted attention."

Sean walked over and locked his door. The person that had to be the target wouldn't be the only one in danger if the WSB's plan works. "Are you worried that someone might have seen you come here?"

"No, and I don't care what anyone says. I am doing what's right. Besides, no one is watching me that closely. You Robert and Anna have helped the WSB several times over the years. I might get in trouble if it came out today but if it's after the fact then I was just helping the right team."

That made him grin. "You don't think the plan to trap Faison will work?" Sean inquired.

"No, I think they are underestimating Faison and how cautious he will be. Ross is way too overconfident. Even if this woman looks a lot like Anna, Faison is going to want to make sure before he approaches her. He will take his time and plan his moves. They are going to slip up and he'll know it's a trap."

Oh, she definitely looks like Anna. "You seem to know a lot about Faison."

"I have studied him extensively actually. During my training, I first heard about him and learned about the kind of thing he was capable of. The things he could apparently do. I was intrigued and wanted to learn about him and thought the more I could learn the more it could help with future cases if I ever had to deal with anyone even slightly similar to Cesar Faison."

"I could understand that. Wanting to understand what your opponent could be capable of."

Ronda nodded, "While I was recovering that was when I found out he was alive. Then I started reading about his recent activities in Port Charles. The things he did." Ronda shook her head in disbelief as she spoke. She didn't need to tell Sean what Faison had been up to, he had been a part of it all.

Sean couldn't help but think about all the things that man had done after showing up in Port Charles. "Just when you think he couldn't stoop any lower. He does something even more diabolical."

"I don't know for sure where Colin was heading but I do know it was along the east coast and I think he said he was heading north. I don't know if that meant he had to or if Faison would be, maybe both would. I still believe they have a very good idea where he is."

Sean did not like the sound of any of that. Where along the east coast? Could it be as far north as Canada? Alex has been there for a while now, if she's their bait, they are luring Faison right to Anna and Robert. What the hell is Ross up to? "Ronda, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I want you to keep me posted if you hear anything else about where they might be headed. There have been other developments as well. We need to stay on top of this."

"I will." Then Ronda glanced around. "It might be time I got out of here. Maybe, for now, I should still be a little concerned about who might see me talking to any of you."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. Thanks for coming to tell me this."

"You're welcome." Sean then unlocked the door and Ronda left. He sighed and then went to sit down. Why does it all have to happen at once?

…

"I don't understand, Sir. Why do you want to change course? You had made it clear you didn't want any delays."

"This is not a delay. This is something I need to do. If I am going to approach the woman I love after our latest spat I need to bring her a gift."

"We can stop along our route and you could buy her something."

"This is not something I can simply buy. I will give her the one thing she will never want to live without."

"And that is in Port Charles, New York?"

"Yes," was all he said.

"Alright." Slowly shaking his head, he started changing their route. The guy is paying him a lot of money for this trip, if he wants to take a detour then that's what they will do.

"There, that wasn't that hard was it?" He turned and looked out the window into the night. He grinned, quite pleased with himself, then took a drag from his cigarillo. He will not rush. He will not make mistakes this time. If Anna is out there, he will find her and he will make her his once and for all.