The images flashed through her mind again and again.
Jason hurt and bleeding. Thane taking him away. The gun in Jack’s hand as he ordered Thane to stop.
Thane.
The lies he’d told.
The friendship she’d given him.
The love she’d given him.
Tears slipped down her cheeks as the door behind her swung open. She sat up and swiped the tears away.
Jack Bauer grabbed a matching chair and brought it close to Emily. She’d barely said a word since the face off with Thane at the hotel.
Thane and Jerry fucking Jacks. He was still furious over the fact that the man who’d done him the courtesy of warning him about what was about to occur also happened to be the one who helped Thane make that morning’s tragedy take place.
Jack had already notified the WSB and CTU along with a half dozen other international organizations but his connections were no match for Jerry’s. When Jerry wanted to burrow down and hide, he knew how to do it and stay hidden.
Still, if Jerry was with Thane, then Morgan was still alive.
He could trust Jerry that much.
“Dr. Quartermaine, I need to ask you some questions,” Jack began as he took a seat next to her.
“Why does Thane want Jason?” She had ignored his words and instead asked a question of her own.
Jack leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. Normally, he would bypass, and use his skills to successfully get as much information from a person without revealing too much himself. This time, it was different, for both of them.
He let out a breath. “Six months ago, Jason Morgan murdered an undercover agent named Nakia Kelly in Hong Kong.”
Emily let out a horrified gasp, her hand flying up to her mouth. Half a second later, she grimaced at her own foolishness. She knew this about Jason. She knew he killed people for a living.
Jack paused and swallowed hard, taken aback by his own wash of emotion. Nakia herself, he hadn’t known too well, but it had been the way Thane spoke of her and acted around her that Jack had noticed.
His brother happy. His brother content. His brother in love and making a life.
“Nakia was Thane’s wife.”
Emily sat frozen for several long seconds, as the pieces of Jack’s story came into view. She mentally examined each and carefully placed them in the correct place in the puzzle.
Jason killed Nakia.
Thane loved Nakia.
Thane wanted revenge.
Thane seduced Emily to get closer to Jason.
Thane had Jason.
Other pieces drifted into frame, demanding their place. Why had Jason gone to Hong Kong? Why had he killed Nakia? Was anything Thane told her true?
Her breath hitched on one in particular.
Did Thane ever care about her? At all?
She gave her head a shake, pushing the other questions, the other pieces to the periphery of her mind and focused on the most important thing.
“How do we get Jason back alive?”
Jack watched as Emily’s resolve grew, despite her shaky voice.
“I have to find them and fast. There won’t be much time,” he stressed and Emily heard the edge in Jack’s voice telling her that they were very much in the same boat. They both had a loved one in this dangerous chase. They wanted the same thing.
“Now I have agents out pounding the pavement, looking for them, but I need your help.” Jack looked Emily square in the eye, his blue orbs dark with worry.
Emily looked down at her phone. “There is someone I can call,” she said softly.
*~*
Sabrina did her best not to run, not to cause co-workers, patients and visitors alike to look curiously in her direction as she flew down the hallway to where the highest level of security in the entire building was situated. She rounded a corner and nearly crashed into Faith who was nursing a half-full coffee near Ronan’s room.
Faith gave her a startled look. “What is it?”
“Is it true?” Sabrina asked; her eyes wide with incredulity. “Ronan is a WSB agent?”
Faith overlooked the fact that Sabrina hadn’t apologized and simply nodded. “That is not all,” she began slowly. “He is also the son of Robert Scorpio.”
Sabrina’s mouth dropped. “You’re shitting me!”
Faith frowned at the vulgar remark as Sabrina leaned against the wall, shell shocked by the revelation. “Oh my god, that’s why he looked so familiar,” she said to herself.
“What do you mean?” Faith asked, now a little concerned by Sabrina’s reaction. Sabrina turned to Faith to explain. “Now that I really think about it, they look so much alike; no wonder Ronan looked so familiar to me. He looks like Robert.”
Faith’s brows furrowed together, the explanation still unclear. “How do you know Robert Scorpio?”
A look came over Sabrina. It wasn’t a blush, but her eyes dilated for a brief moment and her lips quirked ever so slightly. “Well,” she began; her voice uncharacteristically hushed and melodic.
Faith knew, in that instant, she knew the very basic parameters of how Sabrina and Robert knew each other. Her ruby stained lips thinned, and despite the gravity of the situation, curved into a small, deliberate smile. Her eyebrows arched knowingly. “Ahhh, I see,” she observed simply.
“Shut up!” Sabrina said teasingly, her sudden feigned indignation serving only to broaden Faith’s smile further. “I was just out of medical school, on a residency in Milan and we met at a museum,” Sabrina said in a hushed tone, her hands gesturing dismissively. “He was very handsome,” she stated haughtily.
Faith let out a gentle laugh, placing her hand on Sabrina’s arm. “I bet he was,” she chided playfully. Sabrina let out a sigh, but it was light hearted in nature, knowing that the ribbing from Faith was not intended to sting, but amuse instead.
Faith linked their arms together and leaned to Sabrina. “So; how was his Italian?” she asked suggestively.
Before she could stop it, a bark of laughter escaped Sabrina’s lips and both women burst into a fit of giggles as they began walking. Cassadine women were made of many things and a wicked sense of mirth was an absolute necessity in dark times like these.
*~*
Alexis tapped away at the keys on her laptop, knowing full well she’d be at it all day and well into the night. The revelations about Ronan and Robert Scorpio, not to mention the dust up between Marcus and Sonny had made the day a memorable one.
She had sent Kristina with Alazne to shower and change at Wyndemere. The head of the family in Nikolas’ absence, Alazne had quietly said a few choice words to Kristina before the headstrong girl could object and Kristina had relented. Kristina had promised to return within the hour, but when Alazne wordlessly squeezed Alexis’ hand, Alexis knew Kristina would not be returned to the hospital until she’d eaten a decent meal and had rested.
Wanting to give Molly a break from all the dreariness, Stefan and Faith had taken Molly to the movies at a multiplex down the street. Alexis had bit back a smile as Molly eagerly summarized the movie she most wanted to see.
“You wish to see a film where two teenagers dying of cancer fall in love.” Stefan’s expression was neutral, but there was a barely perceptible wince to his forehead that Alexis and Faith caught.
Molly sighed dreamily and clasped her hands together. “The book was sooooo good, I have to see the movie again.”
“You have seen it already?”Stefan asked; a hint of disbelief to his tone. “You wish to see it again?”
Molly nodded feverishly “She says okay and it’s just so amazing,” she recounted breathlessly. Stefan’s eyes widened ever so slightly. He adored his niece, but he would never understand why American cinema engaged her in such a way that French cinema didn’t.
“That sounds like a wonderful film choice,” Faith said approvingly. “Afterwards, we can go for dinner, just the three of us.”
Molly gave her aunt and uncle a delighted, winning beam. “Can we go to Kelly’s? I’ve been dying to try their poutine.” Stefan paused, as if shoring up a reserve of strength. He offered her an affectionate smile. “Of course we can.”
Andresj and Dara had both departed as well, each promising to return at some point, leaving Alexis alone in the waiting room.
Marcus had received a call and with a dark scowl, pressed a kiss to her cheek and muttered a remark about Jack needing his help.
Alexis returned to her work, scribbling on the notepad, sending off legal related questions to one of her assistants over her smartphone and as was often the case, was so preoccupied and in the ‘zone’ as her daughters called it, she didn’t notice the large shadow looming over her.
“And how are things here?”
Alexis looked up at the sound of the deep timbre. She bit back a harsh reply and instead took her glasses off. “You are not welcome,” she said bluntly. “That’s how things are.”
Archer offered a tight smile. “I didn’t shoot him.”
Alexis closed her laptop and sighed, placing it on the seat next to her. Archer grabbed a small plastic chair and sat down in front of Alexis.
Alexis flicked her gaze to the third person in the room, the guard who watched Archer like a hawk, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. She gave a small hand wave and the guard moved back.
“Did you know Helena was going to kill him?”
Archer shrugged. “I knew he was playing with fire.”
Alexis gave an irritated growl. “Did you know he was a WSB agent?”
A nod. “Also a thief.”
Alexis frowned. Archer leaned forward, offering a wry grin. “He took something from her, something of great value to her. She thanked him in kind.”
Alexis grimaced. “Stop,” she stated in a sharp tone. “This is not a joke or a game.” Archer drew back, but said nothing.
Alexis looked at the man closely, examining his face for signs of something she couldn’t quite say. What was it about him? Why had he reached out to her? Why had, for the briefest moment, she felt a kinship with Helena’s youngest son?
“Why are you here?”
Her voice was soft, as though she genuinely wanted an honest answer from him.
He leaned back in his chair, easily resting one long leg over the other. “I wanted to check on you.”
Alexis’ eyebrows shot up in clear confusion and disbelief. “Really?”
“Your daughter has been through the ringer. Whatever affects her, affects you,” he pointed out, his accent a soft drawl. “I like you.”
Alexis didn’t know whether to be completely horrified, bewildered or flattered. Perhaps a smattering of all three.
“You can like me and check on me from London,” she noted dryly. “You don’t need to be here to have this conversation.” Archer shrugged impassively.
Alexis leaned forward and studied Archer once more. “So either you are here for her,” she said, her voice turning icy at the last word. “Or, you are here for yourself.” She tilted her head to one side, narrowing her gaze.
A look of dawning drew over her face. “There’s a woman.”
Archer laughed his denial but it only served to confirm was Alexis suspected. She shook her head. “You don’t believe me?”
Archer’s eyes twinkled, but there was a dark edge to his relaxed demeanor. “There are always women, Alexis.”
Alexis took Archer’s chin in the tips of her fingers of both hands. Her touch was gentle and Archer stilled at the gesture. She felt the stubble and noted how the friction of his facial hair was so much like Archer himself.
“You don’t see it,” Alexis said, her voice matching her touch.
“See what?”
“How much like Stefan you are.”
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