The Murder of Edward Quartermaine
Chapter 11: Cat and Mouse

Port Charles
PCPD

WSB Agent Robin Scorpio looked at the
arrest warrant in her hand and then up at her
uncle with a shake of her head.

“I can’t believe he’s really guilty.”

Mac Scorpio returned the look. “It’s been
three years since you were in Port Charles. You
and your agents were the ones who put him on
the list of suspects. Your ordered his arrest after
the shooting at the Outback. You have to know
that every piece of evidence makes him look
guilty.”

Robin studies the files. “That’s part of the
problem. It shouldn’t be this easy. We’re dealing
with professional terrorists. If Sonny’s linked
with them, he wouldn’t leave evidence in files
hanging around waiting for someone like us to
find them. When the Holden family was
massacred because of their involvement in
Bolivia, there was not one shred of evidence to
link anyone to the crime. I mean everyone in the
WSB knew what had happened, but there was no
hard evidence. Nothing we could take to court.
A family slaughtered and there was nothing to
connect our suspects with the crime. Now,
suddenly, there is more evidence than we need to
convict Sonny of terrorism , murder, and
attempted murder. With what we’ve got, we
could have Sonny locked up behind bars for the
rest of his life in 24 hours with just one phone
call.”

“So, let’s do it. Half the department will
lend you their cell phones.”

Robin smiles wryly. “Taggert’s already
offered. Several times. It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Because of your personal feelings for
Sonny?”

Robin shakes her head. “Whatever
personal feelings I had for Sonny disappeared
three years ago” Robin pauses, then begins again.
“I will always be grateful for Sonny for what he
did for Stone and for the friendship he offered me
once. That’s it. Anything else died three years
ago. This is about doing my job and my instincts
are saying that Sonny is not the person behind
this.”

“Then who is?”

“I don’t know. Yet. But the more that
happens, the more I can’t help but think that
somehow to some degree, all of this is a personal
vendetta against the Quartermaines. Against
Edward. Against ELQ. It’s as if somebody is
taking advantage of the situation in Bolivia to
orchestrate their own little passion play. Someone
with a reason to seek revenge against Edward
and ELQ. Someone willing to use the murder of
innocent people as a cover for what they really
want.”

“Which is?”

“Edward Quartermaine dead. ELQ in
ashes.”

“Then why make the attempt on Emily,
not once but twice.”

“As part of the revenge. Emily is
Edward’s right hand at ELQ. Rumor has it that
the old man is grooming her for the CEO position
in a few years. AJ is a temporary stop gap.. Or
maybe it’s someone with a personal vendetta
against Emily who is just using this as an a
opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.”

“Well if you’re looking for people with a
reason to kill Edward Quartermaine, you’d better
look at half the town as suspects. Beginning with
Ned Quartermaine who just got ousted from the
family business and seems pretty bitter about it.
Then there’s Jason and Carly who want revenge
for losing Michael. Sonny because of business. As
far as I know the only one in town who doesn’t
have a grudge against Edward is Lulu Spencer
and she’s only seven- give her a few years and
she’ll find a reason to hate the old man too.”

“The question is who wants Edward dead
badly enough to do anything to get what they
want and damn the consequences to anybody
else.”

“Jason.”

Robin nods. “I agree. Jason would do
anything if he thought he could get Michael back.
Or to make Edward pay for causing him to lose
Michael in the first place. A strike against AJ
might be dangerous to Michael, but a strike
against Edward ....But why would Jason set
Sonny up. I know they aren’t exactly close
friends anymore but I didn’t realize they had
become bitter enemies. And would he hurt Emily
in the process”

“Sonny and Jason split pretty rough when
Jason and Carly married,” Mac watches his niece,
surprised at how calmly she can talk about the
man who once upon a time claimed her heart.

“I still...” Robin’s train of thought is
derailed by her cell phone.

“Scorpio.”

“Hey beautiful.” A thrill runs through
Robin at Frisco’s voice. “How are you?”

“Not too bad, sexy,” Robin ignores the
look of seasickness that passes over Mac’s face
and steps a few feet away. “Just missing you.
How is Lucky?”

Robin can hear the tension. “Still
missing.”

“Missing as in out in the cold or missing
as in missing.”

“Missing. Whoever caught up with him
and Ms. Quartermaine did a good job of driving
them off the cliff. We’ve found the car shot to
pieces and burned to ashes, no sign of Junior or
the girl.”

“They couldn’t be......”

“I wouldn’t go notifying any funeral
homes yet. My guess is he has her someplace in
these woods. We’ll find them soon and hopefully
before it gets dark. How are things in good old
Port Chuck?”

“Confusing. We found some real evidence
against Sonny at his apartment. Enough that
Reno authorized an arrest warrant and I’ve
already handled two calls from the President’s
advisors wanting to know when I was officially
arresting Corinthos. They want this thing
wrapped up and wrapped up fast.”

‘In time for the six o’clock news.”

“Something like that.”

“But you don’t buy it?”

“How could you tell?”

“I can read you like a bad romance novel
Scorpio. You don’t want to arrest Sonny.”

“I can’t help but feel that if I do this, put
Sonny in jail and throw away the key, I’m giving
this killer what he wants. I’m helping his plans
along. On the other hand....”

“You let Corinthos go and it throws a
huge monkey wrench into the situation and we
wait and hope the killer makes a mistake and we
nab him.”

“Or her.”

“Or her. It sounds like a plan to me. If
Corinthos was a set up, then it stands to reason
the killer is going to make another move to either
eliminate Corinthos if he or she perceives him as a
threat or another stab at planting evidence. We
put a wide enough net out and we could catch
something. There’s only one flaw in your thinking
love.”
“What’s that?”

“If Corinthos is really guilty, you’ll be
setting a murderer free.”

“I know. Believe me I know.”

“Robin you know as well as I do that this
business is about trusting your instincts. If you’re
instincts say to let Corinthos go, do it. You’ll
blow poor Taggert’s day to smithereens, but we
can make it up to him later.”

“I am so glad that you called,” Robin’s
voice softens. “I really needed to hear your voice
about now.”

“What’s wrong?” Frisco’s voice is rich
with concern and love which washes over
Robin.

“I ran into Jason.”

“Hell.”

“That’s pretty much what I gave him.”

She can hear the smile in his voice.
“Good. I just wish I had been there to see it.”

“Taggert was. He can give you a blow by
blow. I think he took notes.”

“Have I mentioned yet how much I like
that Taggert guy?”

Robin laughed. “No you haven’t.”

“Anyone who dislikes Corinthos and
Morgan as much as I do is okay. Even if he does
work for your uncle.” She can hear a pause on his
end. “I have to go. I’ll call you the minute we find
Lucky. We will find him. Do what you need to do
with Corinthos and don’t let anyone give you any
flack. This is your case. You call the shots.”

“I love you,” Robin says softly.

“God I hope so,” Frisco returns the vow
fervently. “Because I love you so damned much it
scares me sometimes.”

“Me too.”

Robin puts her cell phone away and turns
to her uncle. “We let him go.”

Mac nods.

Taggert, walking up and overhearing,
makes a mental note to cancel the order for the
two cases of champagne he ordered. Hiding his
disappointment, he approaches the two Scorpios.

“So what’s the plan?”

Robin smiles. “We use Sonny as the
cheese and we bait a trap.”

“We have anyone in particular in mind to
catch in this trap.”

Robin meets Taggert’s eyes. “Let’s just
say an old friend.”

Taggert grins and decides that he won’t
cancel the order for that champagne after all.

The Quartermaine Estate

Edward looks at his two grandsons for a
moment, finding each one disappointing in his
own way. Not that he wasn’t proud of them in his
own way either. Ned had done all right with the
position of CEO, until he had gone against the
family in the custody affair, taken up again as
Eddie Maine, and then of course there was that
whole Alexis affair that had blown up in all of
their faces. Ned still had a good head on his
shoulders, but he had too many distractions in his
life to be a good CEO. And ELQ needed a great
CEO these days. The international business scene
was too chaotic to have a CEO who didn’t give it
everything they had. So had arranged Ned’s
ouster and installed AJ. AJ wasn’t perfect, but he
was willing to give the job more of his time than
Ned. Not to mention that AJ understood that he
wasn’t Edward’s first choice as CEO. Emily was.

However Edward still couldn’t figure out
how to convince the ELQ stockholders to accept
a nineteen year old as CEO. So he put AJ in
there, assumed that AJ would help Emily
establish herself as a force at ELQ, then in five
years or so Emily could take the reins. The girl
had a natural instinct for business that amazed
even him. What she had done to ELQ Europe in
the few months she had been there had been
amazing. Her work with the new products
division was borderline brilliant.

Edward looks at Ned and AJ and the
papers spread out on the table in front of them.

“Are you sure you want to go ahead with
this?” AJ asks his grandfather. “Whoever tried to
kill Emily at the Outback isn’t playing games.”

“ELQ has never given into terrorists
before. We won’t start now. We do too much
business in too many high risk markets. We give
in to them in Bolivia, we’ll find ourselves under
threat in Indonesia, Africa, Eastern Europe.” Ned
looks at his grandfather.


Edward beams. “Exactly. I understand
your concerns for your sister and you all know
how worried I am about her myself, but this is
business. We’ll let the WSB handle this and trust
their expertise. Plus our own security. We have
security posted throughout the Estate and
throughout ELQ. We’ve installed metal detectors
temporarily and armed guards at ELQ.”

“I’ve also made arrangements for any
employee who feels they cannot handle the stress
to telecommute from various ELQ subsidiaries.
I’ve also authorized bonus pay for those who
chose to stay. I’ve also made it clear that the
threat is against the family and not our
employees. Although the shooting at the Outback
last night has everybody rattled.” AJ finishes.

“They’ll hang in there. They’re tough or
they wouldn’t be working for us. Now as for our
plans for Bolivia. I’ve been in touch with the
military government there. They’ve agreed to
help us speed up our plans. We should be able to
break ground in two months and finish
construction in six. I’ve had our planners redesign
and streamline some of the building and
manufacturing designs for greater efficiency. The
sooner this plant becomes a reality, the sooner the
threat to myself, to ELQ, and to Emily is over.”

“Their government is willing to push this
plant ahead?”

“It will mean millions to the Bolivian
economy. Plus they do not want to be seen as
giving in to the rebels.”

“I still don’t like it. What if the rebels win
eventually?”

“Either side is going to need our business,
Ned.” Edward says softly. “The only reason the
plant is being targeted at all now is that the rebels
know what a coup it will be to the military
government to bring economic stability to the
people. Most of the people of Bolivia are more
concerned with getting enough food to eat than
the who governs them and both sides know it.”

“All right,” AJ concedes. “We push ahead
and move the timetable up. What do you want us
to do?”

“AJ, the construction division will have
to work overtime to make sure they are ready to
go. They will need supplies sent to Bolivia,
housing for our workers, and pretty much
anything else you can think of. I want you as
CEO to make sure everything goes as planned.
Emily’s been working on the prototype and the
preliminary planning. Her department should be
able to help you.”

AJ nods, his mind mentally at work
making lists after lists of things he will need to
do.

“And me?” Ned asks.

Edward looks at his grandson. “I need
you to go to Bolivia to supervise the entire
process.”

“What? You want me to go to Bolivia?
You have to be crazy.”

“Not at all. This project needs a
Quartermaine to be there to supervise or people
will lose faith in it. In us. In ELQ. AJ can’t go,
there’s too much for him to do here and he has a
child.”

“I have a child too. Or did you forget
about Brooke Lynn?”

“No, but I think you do. When was the
last time you saw Brooke Lynn? That’s what I
thought. I need you in Bolivia and that is where
you will go.”

“I am not a puppet for you to order
around. That’s AJ’s role or now Emily’s. Let
them do your bidding.”

“At least they wouldn’t screw this up as
badly as you screwed up that European Common
Market venture last year. If Emily hadn’t been
there to undo the damage....”

“You know what? I’m sick of hearing
about what a business prodigy Emily is. I’m sick
of you trusting Junior over there instead of me.
I’m sick of you bossing everyone around. You
want to send me to Bolivia to get rid of me. Fine
I’ll make it easy for you. You won’t have to send
me anywhere to get rid of me. I quit. I quit
ELQ. I quit this family. I quit.”

“You can’t quit.”

“Watch me.” Ned stands and starts to
walk out.

“You’ll be back.”

Ned looks at his grandfather. “Maybe to
dance at your funeral old man.”

There is silence after he goes.

“Who do we send if not Ned?”

Edward looks at AJ. “We have no choice.
We have to send Emily.”

“We could send Tracy?”

“Not even Bolivia deserves that.”

“If you will excuse me, I’m going to go
get my son from Grandmother and take him
home.”

“I’m going for a walk to clear my head.
Till your grandmother I will be in later.”

AJ nods and Edward leaves.


Sometime later
The apartment of Lark Madison

Lark closed her eyes and leaned against
the inside of the door after she had shut it. She
had just spent almost 24 hours in a holding cell.
She had been interrogated more times than she
cared to think about. She was tired and hungry
and mentally exhausted.

She was also not alone.

“They released you?”

Lark jumps at the sound of the cold and
remote voice.

“What are you doing here?” She turns to
face the intruder.

“My boss wanted to make sure that you
kept our little secret?”

“You want to know if I told them what I
know?”

“Precisely.”

Lark shakes her head. “Do I look like that
much of an idiot to you? If the police
found out that I’ve been spying on ELQ and
Emily Quartermaine for your boss all of these
months I would be locked up for the rest of my
life.”

“Just as long as you remember that you
have as much to lose as we do.”

“I remember. But I want you to remember
that none of this was my idea. You forced me to
do this. You said just information. I gave you
information. If I had known you were going to
use it to go around trying to kill Emily .....”

“You would have what- let the world
know your dirty little secret.”

“Why not? The world knows most of my
dirty little secrets anyway.”

“And look how the world treats you.”

Lark is silent. “Just don’t expect me to do
your dirty work anymore. I’m through. Done.”

“Oh no, Ms. Madison. Not by a long shot.
We own you now. You will do what we tell you
to. When we tell you to. Or you will find out for
yourself that as good as we treat our friends is as
bad as we treat those who betray us.”

“Go to hell.”

“Eventually. But not until we get what we
want.”

There is a smile on Johnny’s face as he
leaves Lark’s apartment.

Lark waits for the door to close before
giving in to the urge to breakdown.

PCPD

Sonny sits quietly at the table as Robin
enters the room.

He nods in her direction. “What now?
More questions?”

Robin shakes her head. “You’re free to
go. We just finished processing the paper work.
(which means the lab boys just called to say they
were finished with Corinthos penthouse) We
apologize for the inconvenience but knowing
what an upstanding citizen you are we hope you
will realize the need for what we did.”

“That’s it! You put me through hell for
24 hours and that’s it! An apology and you’re
free to go?”

“I’m sorry,” Robin said softly. ‘Did you
want something else?”

Sonny stared at Robin. What else did he
want? He wanted to talk to Robin. He
wanted to explain. He wanted...hell he didn’t
know what he wanted.

“Where’s Emily? Is Lucky still with her?”
He frowns when he sees a shadow crossing
Robin’s face. He knows instinctively that
something is wrong with Emily.

“Robin. Where is Emily?”

Robin shakes her head as if to clear it.
“That information is on a need to know basis and
you don’t need to know.”

Without thinking, Sonny grabs Robin and
pushes her up against the wall. “To hell with that
WSB crap. Tell me where Emily is and tell me
now.”

Robin doesn’t lose her composure. “I
suggest you back off or this gun I have pointed
in your chest goes off. Not that I’d miss anyway,
but at this range, you’d be dead before you hit the
ground.”

Sonny looks down and sees the barrel of
Robin’s gun pressed against his chest. He never
even saw her get it out..

“Robin I...” He begins softly, not knowing
how to apologize. It wasn’t his style to
manhandle woman especially this woman. But the
fear for Emily had been so strong that he hadn’t
thought, he had just reacted.

She shrugs. “I know. You’re sorry you
hurt me. You didn’t mean it. And all that.”
She meets his eyes. “Just get out of here before I
change my mind.”

He start to leave when she stops him.
“One last thing. Don’t even think of leaving town.
You make a move towards any airport or airplane
or if any vehicle you’re in crosses the city line,
you will be back here. And you’re next visit
won’t be nearly as pleasant as this one.”

Sonny nods and then leaves.

Robin waits a minute and then sits down
heavily, carefully rubbing her shoulder which had
started to throb again.

“You okay?” Mac and Taggert entered
the room.

“Your uncle here wanted to charge to the
rescue but I convinced him you could handle
Corinthos.” Taggert said.

“Thanks,” Robin smiled weakly. “Are we
set?”

“Yep.” Taggert said almost gleefully. “We
have three teams covering Corinthos- our best
men he won’t spot them. We’ve tapped his
phones, set up video cameras in his penthouse
and in the corridor outside his penthouse, and put
a tracking device on his car. All state of the art
WSB equipment that Corinthos would not find if
we pointed it out to
him.”

Robin nods in satisfaction. “Good.” She
pauses. “Any word from Frisco?”

Mac shakes his head. “Do you want to
notify the Quartermaines?”

“Let’s give Lucky a little more time.” She
turns to Mac. “I’m going to go do check in with
the men we have stationed with Edward and with
ELQ. Then I’m going to go back to the hotel to
check out some things.”

“You should try to take a nap while you
are there.” Mac says with concern.

Robin smiles. “You probably don’t want
to hear this but I usually have difficulty sleeping if
Frisco’s not around.”

Mac blanches. “You’re right, I didn’t
want to hear that.” He turns to Taggert. “Stop
grinning and get to work.”

Taggert moves to get to work but he
doesn’t stop grinning.


White Mountains
Emily is dreaming. In her dreams, she and
Sonny are dancing across a ballroom somewhere
in Europe. She is wearing a golden ballgown with
her hair swept up and set with small diamonds
that glitter under the crystal lights. Sonny is
dressed in a black tuxedo that makes him look
even more dangerous and even more irresistible.
She can feel the awareness between them like a
current connecting them to each other. She smiles
at him, a dazzling smile full of promise and
seduction. She is in love. She has never felt this
way before. Ever. And she can tell by the glint in
his eyes that he feels it too. He doesn’t see her as
a little sister. Or as a best friend. He sees her as a
woman. The woman he wants. The woman he
needs. She smiles at the thought even as she
moves closer.

A dangerous light enters his eyes and he
sweeps her onto a terraced balcony that
overlooks a formal garden, the light of the moon
is reflected in the pool below them.

“I thought we were going to dance,” she
says silkily even as she lets him pull the length of
her body against his.

“We are. There are many different ways
of dancing. The kind you do in public,” he kisses
her a deep and passionate kiss that lights a flame
all the way down her soul. “The kind you do in
private...” He finds a hollow in her neck and
proceeds to devour it, finding a primal sense of
satisfaction when she moans softly. “The kind
you do standing up,” His hands run over her
slender frame, moving tantalizingly close to
where her body craves his touch. “And the kind
you do laying down,” and to her amazement he
lowers her to the cold marble floor, heedless of
the dancing figures inside the ballroom and she,
caught up in the incredible feelings building up in
her, doesn’t utter a word of protest.

His lips are on hers and she can feel the
fire growing between them. His hands gently cup
a breast and caress it with a tenderness that
catches her breath and breaks her heart. She
moves frantically closer to him, desperate to feel
the heat radiating from his solid body. She looks
up into his blue eyes and knows that this is where
she belongs.

She stops suddenly. Blue eyes?

She opens her eyes and comes wide
awake only to find herself held close in Lucky’s
arms. His eyes open and lock with hers. She can’t
turn away. The sensations from her dream seem
to be echoed in reality as his closeness floods her
with feelings she had thought long gone.

Lucky reads the invitation in her eyes and
finds himself responding. He lowers his head and
kisses her.

For a moment, Emily lets the world
explode around her and then reality hits. This
isn’t Sonny. It’s Lucky. Lucky who hurt her so
badly once. What was she doing? She pulled out
of his embrace and slapped him, backing away as
she did so.

Lucky frowned. What the hell happened?
One minute she was kissing him in a way that
brought back strong memories and the next she
slapped him. “What was that for?”

“For taking advantage of me.”

“For what?” Lucky asked incredulously.
“Who was seducing who?”

Emily flushed. “You took advantage of
the fact that I was dreaming about Sonny.”

Lucky wondered what bothered him
more. Her accusation or the fact that she was
dreaming about Sonny in that way. Definitely the
latter.

“Fine. I took advantage of you. If that’s
the way you want to remember it, go ahead.”
Lucky positively sulked. Where was all his cool
professionalism where she was concerned? He
was a trained WSB agent for god’s sake.

Emily looked at Lucky. She should be
past this. She was happily involved with Sonny
Corinthos. She had a successful life. So why did
Lucky still have the power to make her feel things
no one else could. He had saved her life and here
she was acting like a spoiled little brat.

“Lucky I...” She begins, but stops when
she hears voices coming nearby. Lucky grabs her
and pulls her behind him even as he pulls out his
gun.

A moment later, Frisco steps into the
clearing below the overhang, a grin plastered on
his face. “Is this the way you always greet
visitors, Junior?”

Lucky returns the grin. “Just the
obnoxious ones. What the hell took you so long?”

“Took longer than I expected to find
you.”
Lucky smiled lazily. “I was always good
at hide n seek. It comes with being a Spencer.”
Lucky paused. “Speaking of being a Spencer,
you will never guess who we ran into.” He
reaches into his jacket and pulls out an envelope.

“Luke.”

Lucky’s jaw dropped. “How do you do
that?”

“Years and years of field work that honed
my instincts.” Frisco chuckles. “Plus it says
Luke’s name on the envelope.”

“Oh.” Lucky looks deflated.

“Don’t worry about it Junior. Let’s get
you and Miss. Quartermaine to a safe house so
that we can figure out what to do next. The
sooner I get the two of you settled, the sooner I
can get back to to Robin in Port Charles.”

“You don’t have to worry about getting
me to a safe house, Agent Jones,” Emily says
calmly. “The only place I’m going is back to Port
Charles.”

Neither agent says a word although Lucky
can think of a few he wants to say.


The Quartermaine Estate
This is too easy, the figure watching
Edward Quartermaine thinks. The old man has
chosen a fairly remote and isolated part of the
estate to sit and think in. There are no signs of
guards or anyone else around. The fast falling
night will provide plenty of shadows to hide in if
one was worried about escaping the estate
undetected. It was a perfect set up for a murder.

Once Edward was dead.....the figure
grinned as they thought about what would
happen next.

The darkly clad figure pulled out a gun,
expertly placing a silencer on the end. The
figure had considered stabbing which would be
more pleasurable, but had decided on a gun as
being more effective. The gun in hand, the figure
approached the unsuspecting Quartermaine
patriarch.


Coming Next: The murder of Edward
Quartermaine finally happens and the fallout is
devastating all around, Lark looks for a way out,
Taggert stumbles on a clue, Sonny takes action,
and Robin and Carly face off.