Lorenzo and Alexis's house.
Dante approached the front door, still visibly shocked at the news Anna had imparted to him earlier in the evening.
Lorenzo opened the door before Dante could knock or ring the doorbell.
Neither one said a word as Lorenzo led Dante to his study.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," Lorenzo said.
"Close enough," Dante said, "We're all about to think we're seeing one."
"What exactly is going on?" Lorenzo asked.
"I got a call from Anna while we were at the Floating Rib," Dante said, "You might actually want to sit down for this."
"I'll stand," Lorenzo said, "Now what did Anna have to say and how does it concern Kellie?"
"Taggert found Charles alive in a holding cell at the Cassadine compound in Greenland," Dante finally just said bluntly.
Lorenzo was momentarily speechless, trying to process what Dante just told him.
"Charles?" Lorenzo replied, "You can't possibly mean Charles Scott as in..."
"Kellie's father-in-law," Dante said, "That's exactly who we're talking about."
"What? How?" Lorenzo said, stunned, "It's not possible."
"Anna's convinced," Dante said, "Said she saw him herself. I'm still trying to believe it."
"Still his identity will need to be confirmed," Lorenzo said, "DNA test, fingerprints, dental records."
"And that will be happening," Dante said, "As soon as he gets back to Port Charles."
"Who knows when that will be," Lorenzo said, "I would assume the WSB will hold Charles for a while since the Cassadines are notorious for brainwashing."
Dante shook his head.
"Given what happened with the WSB in Greenland," Dante said, "Anna didn't recommend filling in the WSB on who Charles is exactly yet. She doesn't want him being held in a WSB facility indefinitely and she's not sure she has the contacts to keep tabs on him for her after Frisco was ousted as director. The WSB is transporting everyone to New York City for a full debrief. Charles's brother, Maximus Giambetti, Sr. is supposed to intercept Charles at the airport in Greenland and bring him directly to Port Charles."
"It'll log his identity with the WSB on the island," Lorenzo said, "but then move him off their radar before they can move Charles elsewhere. Do we need to be concerned about brainwashing?"
"Anna is pretty confident we don't," Dante said, "Charles didn't think he'd been subject to any of that but does admit he might not know for sure. Anna after speaking to him and asking questions says he answered no to questions about whether he's missing periods of time, finding injuries he doesn't know he got, etc. Part of the reason Anna contacted me about this is so I can keep an eye on Charles for that when he returns here."
"Did Charles say how and why he ended up Victor's captive?" Lorenzo asked.
"So we were never able to make a solid connection between Cyrus and the sniper that shot Charles," Dante said, "Turns out Victor was behind the sniper. Victor had decided to neutralize Kellie ahead of his plot to release that virus into the world and prevent her from having any influence on Spencer. With the mob threats, Kellie was dealing with last year, Victor figured he'd use that to his advantage. There's still the possibility he could have been working with Cyrus or someone else. Victor may have also been getting revenge against her for killing Peter August who would have been able to activate Drew's brainwashing."
"But Monica, Kellie, Sam and Drew watched Charles die before the paramedics could get to them," Lorenzo said, "He was bleeding out."
"According to Charles, the sniper used a bullet similar to the one Kellie apparently used to make it look like she killed Sam on Spoon Island years ago," Dante said, "He apparently thought Kellie might be useful as a test subject for brainwashing or the virus."
"And Victor paid off whoever he needed to," Lorenzo said, "Including someone to provide a look like body I'm sure."
"The PCPD will have to exhume and autopsy the one that was buried," Dante said, "There are a lot of questions that will have to be answered. Right now, Charles is apparently hesitant about telling Kellie anything before he's checked out. My biggest concern is how and when we tell my sister. That's why I wanted to talk to you. I didn't want to ask Jason to keep this from Kellie until we could figure this out and I thought you might have insight on how to handle this. Given you've probably had to make these types of security decisions before with her."
"I don't think we should tell her yet," Lorenzo said, "She might be upset with us. But I'd prefer to be 100% certain this isn't a trick. But depending on how many people from Port Charles already know about Charles, that's not a secret easily kept at this point. I'll get in touch with Maximus. Tell him that he needs to get Charles vetted and checked out before he comes back to Port Charles."
"And if this is a trick then what?" Dante asked.
"Then it'll be up to Maximus what to do with him," Lorenzo said.
"How is it you're on speaking terms with Maximus Giambetti, Senior, again?" Dante replied.
"I made sure to let his cousin who showed up for Charles's funeral last year know that I'd like to speak with him," Lorenzo said, "I believe you met him."
"Right his cousin that looks a lot like Maximus who's not allowed to be in the states," Dante said.
"I'll be in touch," Lorenzo said, "I'll let you know what Maximus says. You should probably be getting home now."