PCPD

No one had to tell Frisco Jones where to find Jason
Morgan. All Frisco needed to do was to listen for the mob
boss’s voice in the squad room.

“I want to know where my sister, Emily Quartermaine,
is. And I demand to know where Sonny Corinthos is.”

The veteran uniformed officer shrugged. After three
years of watching Morgan get his way in Port Charles he was
kind of having fun stonewalling the angry young man. “As I
explained Mr. Morgan, the information you requested is not
available. You will have to wait and speak with one of my
superiors if you want more information.”

“Then I demand to speak with Mac Scorpio now.”
Jason’s voice was low and taut.

“As I explained” the officer allowed himself a not so
small smirk “Commissioner Scorpio is busy. If you would like
to leave your card, I will be sure to have him call you.”

“That’s okay,” Frisco said casually as he interrupted the
conversation. “I’m sure the Commissioner wouldn’t mind if I
attempted to answer Mr. Morgan’s questions. If Mr. Morgan
wouldn’t mind following me.” Frisco looked at the body guards
flanking Jason. “Alone. You do remember what it is like to do
something alone, don’t you?”

Jason’s hostility was apparent as he followed Frisco in
to an empty office. Smoothly and unseen by Jason, Frisco
triggered a hidden recording device built into the desk as he sat
down.

“Now how can the WSB help you today Mr. Morgan?

Jason’s tone was impatient. “My sister. Sonny. I want to
know where they are.”

“Your sister Sonny? I didn’t realize you had one.”
Frisco grinned. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that speaking in
complete sentences is probably a stretch for you. As are such
concepts as truth and integrity.”

“I refuse to sit here and be insulted,” Jason began.

“Then stand,” Frisco pushed the chair back and put his
feet on the desk. “Doesn’t matter to me. The way I see it I’m
the one holding all the cards here. The WSB doesn’t have to tell
you anything. You can read it in the newspapers or catch it on
Good Morning America with the rest of the world.”

Jason attempted to calm down. “I know that my sister
and Sonny were at the Outback last night when the shooting
occurred. Neither were admitted to the hospital, neither have
been seen since. I have the right to know where my sister is?”

Frisco shrugged. “This is the sister that you haven’t
spoken to in almost three years? Who didn’t attend your
wedding? Who according to all of my sources (he emphasizes
the word my) walks out of a room when you walk in?”

“Emily and I have had our differences,” Jason allows
uncomfortably. He had never been able to understand the
breech between himself and Emily. So he and Carly had plotted
to get AJ drinking again, he would have done anything to get
Michael back. It was only AJ, after all. It had never occurred to
him that as a recovering addict herself, Emily would see his plot
as morally reprehensible and turn her back on them. Although
he still couldn’t see what he had done wrong, he missed Emily’s
blind faith in him. “But she is still my sister.”

“Funny time to start thinking like that.” Frisco looked
at him. “Do you want to tell me where you were last night?
Around seven.”

“At home. With my wife.”

“That’s right. Your wife. The little woman. The ball and
chain.” Frisco grinned. “Sorry that last one just sort of slipped
out. I suppose your wife and all of your bodyguards would be
willing to verify your alibi.”

“Alibi?” Jason looked at Frisco smoothly. “Are you
accusing me of something?”

“Why? Did you do something you feel guilty about?
And please try to limit yourself to the last month or so if you
feel a confession coming on. I’m booked for New Years and my
date would really hate me if I stood her up.” Jason’s anger just
seemed to provoke something in Frisco. He knew that he was
being outrageous and unprofessional. But this was the man who
had almost destroyed the woman he loved. It was astonishing to
Frisco that he, who was usually an easygoing kind of guy, could
harbor such hatred for Jason Morgan what he had done to
Robin. It was a hatred that was matched only by his pity for the
man who had let the best thing he would ever have walk away.

“My sister.” Jason growled.

“The location of Emily Quartermaine is currently
classified information. What I can tell you is that she is safe and
the WSB intends to keep her that way.”

“And Sonny.”
“Mr. Corinthos is currently being held as the prime
suspect in the investigation into the shooting at The Outback.
The Attorney General has ruled what happened an act of
domestic terrorism invoking the statutes of the Domestic
Terrorism Act of 2001.”

“Which means?”

“That Mr. Corinthos can be held without legal
representation for the time being.”

“Damn.”

“You could say that.” Frisco paused.

“You can’t seriously believe that Sonny would order a
hit like that. He isn’t even in the business.”

“So he says. So you say. To tell you the truth I find your
whole visit here puzzling. You have a sister you haven’t spoken
to in years, yet suddenly you are the picture of brotherly
concern rushing down here to check on her safety. And all this
concern over your former business partner? It makes me
wonder, what you are really doing here?”

“Are you implying?”

“Oh no, I’m not implying anything. I’m coming right out
and stating it. The attack last night was a clear attempt to
injure or even kill Emily Quartermaine. We know whoever did
it or ordered it was only using Emily as a means of getting at
Edward and ELQ.”

“I would not hurt Emily.”

“Right. We all know how highly you regard the bonds
of family.” Frisco surveyed Jason. “I’ll tell you what I think. I
think if it meant getting even with Edward Quartermaine for
taking your wife’s son, you wouldn’t hesitate to take every
Quartermaine down.”

Jason says nothing just stares coldly ahead.

PCPD
Robin closed the door to the interrogation room behind
her, leaving Sonny alone to think things through. Once the door
was closed, she let out a deep breath. Damn, that had been
hard. Harder than she had expected it to do. Every time she said
something harsh or cold to Sonny she had seen Stone’s face.
She shook the image away. A part of her would always love
Stone and cherish his memory. The same part of her would
always be grateful that Sonny had been there for both Stone and
herself so long ago.

But that was just the point. It had been long ago. So
much had changed since Stone died. Sonny had changed. She
had changed. She could not blindly worship Sonny Corinthos
anymore. That meeting before she left for Port Charles had
swept the blinders away. She had never expected Sonny to
understand what she had done or to see that it was the only
thing she could have done to try to set things right again. For
herself. For AJ. For Michael. For Jason. Even for Carly. She
knew what it was like to live a lie about your parents. To be
told for years one truth and then suddenly have it swept away
and replaced by another truth. She had loved her mother. Anna
Devane had been an incredible woman who Robin mourned in
small ways almost every day. Yet in some small hidden way she
resented the fact that Anna had kept her a secret from her father
for so many years. Her father had missed her first word. Her
first step. Her first day of school. It was that could only be
compensated for never remedied.

Whatever Jason and Carly thought of her, she knew that
AJ had deserved to know the truth about Michael. Just like her
father had deserved to know the truth about her.

“Robin,” Her uncle’s voice cut in to her reverie. “Are
you okay? Is the shoulder bothering you?”

Robin looked up. “Not really. I kind of almost forget I
was shot.” She eyed her
uncle warily. “Are you speaking to me?”

Mac’s expression of concern disappeared. “We still have
a lot to discuss. This relationship of yours and Frisco is
.....unacceptable. But you were right what you said at the
hospital. We have more important matters to discuss right now.
I still don’t understand how you made the transition from Yale
student to WSB agent, but that’s what you are and as the local
police my department is at your disposal, as am I. I can’t offer
my support about you and Jones. But I can offer my support on
this case.”

“One out of two...I guess I can accept that for now.”
Robin grinned weakly.

“So do we keep Corinthos? We might have enough
evidence to book him. Not enough to convict, but enough to
get by a preliminary hearing.”

Robin shook her head. “We keep him for the rest of the
24 hours. I want a full team at his penthouse and the place
swept from top to bottom. Get a warrant. I want everything we
find to be admissible. No technicalities.”

Mac nodded. “I’ll get my best team on it. So Corinthos
is our suspect? It fits- he starts dating the Quartermaine girl at
the same time the threats begin. The calls to Bolivia. It all ties
together nicely.”

“That is what bothers me. It’s too neat. Almost like he
wanted to be caught.”

“Or someone wanted us to catch him.”

“My thoughts exactly. I think Sonny is being set up.
And if that’s the case, I say we let him loose and let the games
begin.”

“Sort of like the dog chasing the cat who is chasing the
mice.”

“I told you all those Saturday mornings watching
cartoons with Maxie and Georgie would pay off,” Robin grins
at her uncle. “Let’s just hope that if we let the mouse loose, the
cat will come out and play.”

ELQ
AJ Quartermaine leaned back against the leather chair
and allowed himself, for just a moment, to admire his new
office. He’d finally done it. After years of listening to Ned’s
constant put downs, AJ had proven the world wrong about him.
It hadn’t been easy. Four years of sobriety taken one step, one
meeting at a time. The custody battle over Michael. He would
have lost that if it hadn’t been for Emily cueing him in on Jason
and Carly’s plan. He still found it hard to believe that the same
brother who had once tried desperately to get him to stop
drinking and plotted to get him drinking again. The same
brother physically at least. Whatever faint hope he had harbored
that some day his relationship with Jason Morgan could be half
as close as his relationship with Jason Quartermaine had been
had died with Emily’s words. He had resolved to fight harder
for custody by proving that he was the better parent. He had
moved into a home of his own with Michael and Laeticia and
found that, away from the craziness of the mansion and Carly
and Jason, he and Michael had bonded. A year later, the judge
had awarded him custody and given Jason and Carly supervised
visits. AJ grinned. He loved his job. He loved his son. He
looked at his watch. Too early to call Michael now. One of the
reasons AJ liked coming in so early on days like this was that it
meant he could be out of here early enough to take Michael out
for the afternoon.

Michael and the uniformed officer assigned to protect
him. AJ sighed, the attack at the Outback had been horrible to
read about. How much worse had it been for Emily to live
through it? Yesterday he had been impatient and even cocky
with the Robin and Frisco. Now that he knew how serious the
threat was, they would have his full cooperation. He had spoken
to his grandfather last night about the possibility of pulling out
of Bolivia but his grandfather had been insistent. He just hoped
that they all didn’t end up regretting his grandfather’s
stubbornness. The phone rang and AJ picked it up on the first
ring.

“AJ Quartermaine.”

“Enjoying my office?” Ned’s voice was caustic and
bitter.

“Actually I was thinking of redecorating,” AJ replied
evenly. “Are you coming to the meeting that grandfather is
calling this afternoon at the mansion? He wants to discuss the
situation with us?”

“You mean the fact that someone tried to kill Emily last
night? I told both grandfather and Emily that that project was a
mistake. The situation was too unstable. But neither one of
them would listen to me. The only grandfather listens to these
days concerning business is Emily. I’m surprised he didn’t offer
her the CEO position after my ouster.”

“He did. She turned him down. Told him she wasn’t
ready.” AJ said casually. “Are you going to be there today?
Should I even consider you still on this company’s payroll,
considering I haven’t seen you here since the restructuring.”

“Restructuring? What a polite way to phrase it. You
mean when the old man threw me out.”

“Grandfather did what he did for the good of ELQ. I
would think you of all people would understand that.” AJ
allowed himself a smirk. “You know if you don’t like your
current position as head of R and D, we could always use an
innovative thinker like you to be in charge to oversee
paperclips and coffee makers.”

“Shut up AJ,” Ned said wearily. “And don’t get too
comfortable in that position. The old man won’t always be
around and I still have a lot of influence with the board and the
shareholders.”

“Whatever you say,” AJ replied sweetly. “Just be there
this afternoon.” AJ hung up on Ned.

It was incredibly petty of him to admit it, but that felt
good. Real good.

The phone rang a minute later.

“AJ Quartermaine.”

“AJ? What are you doing in this early? I meant to leave
a message.”

“Emily? Where are you? Robin said you wouldn’t be
able to communicate with us? How are you really? They told us
you were unhurt but the mansion has been frantic.”

“I’m fine. Or at least I will be. I’m better now than I was
a few hours ago. I called to tell you that I want you to sit in on
that meeting this morning with the developers on that new mall.
Lark has my notes and she’ll know what to do. Don’t make any
commitments till I get back..”

AJ can hear a scuffle and his heart skips a beat, then
relaxes when he hears a familiar male voice.

“Quartermaine?”

“Lucky? What happened? Where is Emily?”

“Your sister is fine.” Is all Lucky says before he hangs
up, leaving a puzzled and confused AJ.

“What was that all about?” He wondered.

New Hampshire

“What was that all about?” Lucky unwittingly echoed
AJ’s words as he hung up the pay phone and looked at Emily.
“I told you. No communication with anyone in Port Charles.”

“You got to talk to your father,” Emily shot back. “I
just wanted to say hi to my brother.”

Lucky looks at her silently.

“All right. That was tacky. I know that you didn’t invite
Luke to break into our motel room.” Emily smiled sheepishly.
“And I shouldn’t have called AJ. But its a pay phone and I
made the call to AJ’s private line. Not to grandfather or the
mansion or ELQ or even Sonny.”

“No more phone calls. No more doing anything without
my permission.”

“I bet you joined the WSB for the ego trip,” Emily
mumbled under breath as they headed towards a booth in the
corner of the truck stop. They hadn’t even bothered to try to
pretend to go back to sleep after Luke had left.

“What did you say?”

“I said fine.”

“Good.” Lucky looked at her as she studied the menu.
“I’m sorry that Luke’s visit interrupted your sleep. You must be
exhausted. You’ve been through a lot in the last twelve hours.”

“I’m fine,” Emily looked away from the concern in his
eyes, their momentary closeness after Luke’s visit forgotten.
“When I get back to Port Charles, I’ll take Sonny up on his
offer of to show me Puerto Rico.”

Lucky scowled. “How romantic. He can show you all
the places he used to visit with his dead wife. Next year you can
go to Florida and visit all the places he and Brenda used to go
to.”

“At least Sonny doesn’t...” Emily stops herself and
Lucky sighs. How many times must he apologize before he is
forgiven? Does he want to be forgiven?


“It wasn’t because of my ego.” He says softly a few
minutes later. At Emily’s puzzled expression, he continues. “I
didn’t intend to join the WSB when I left Port Charles. I just
knew that I couldn’t live here after everything that had
happened. I needed to be as far away as possible so I went to
California. And I drifted. Took up surfing. Almost bleached my
hair. Just enjoyed being free and away from everything and
everyone who had caused me pain. (he looks at Emily) Or who
I had caused pain. After a month or so I was bored out of my
head. That was when Robin showed up at my doorstep. They
had been keeping tabs on my since they helped me escape. I
should have been angry but I was so tired of being angry that I
didn’t even bother to try. I accepted their concern and before I
knew it, I was at the academy and training for the WSB. It was
what I needed. A direction. An outlet for my anger. A feeling of
control over my life. A life to control.”

“I feel the same way about ELQ. After Jason, after your
“death”, after (she looks up at Lucky) after Nikolas and Liz, I
just needed something in my life that I could trust and depend
on. I was so lost for such a long time. (Her eyes cloud over and
she doesn’t see the concern in Lucky’s) I don’t think I would
have made it without grandfather and without my work. It was
strange to find that after years of being bored by any
conversation remotely business like to realize that I liked
business.”

“So,” Lucky says softly, “are you happy?”

The question catches Emily off guard. Was she happy?

“I’m not unhappy,” she replies softly.

Lucky nods in understanding. “Sometimes, that’s as
good as it gets.”

Forty five minutes, Lucky and Emily are back in the
rented car and on the road again. They are headed towards the
Canadian border and passing through the White Mountains of
New Hampshire. The WSB has a safe house located just south
of the Canadian border that they are heading for.

They are moving on an isolated stretch of the road,
Emily sleeping quietly in the passenger seat, when Lucky first
notices the black SAAB following them.

“Emily? Emily wake up. We have company.”

Emily wakes up and looks behind them, her heart racing
she hears once again the bullets from last night echoing in her
head.

“What do we do?”

“We don’t panic,” Lucky assures her. “In my bag there’s
a cell phone. Grab it. Good.” Lucky pulls out his gun. He takes
the phone from Emily and pushes a familiar code.”
“This is Spencer. I have the target, but I also have a tail.
I’m going to need back up.” He listens for a moment. “Too far.
The tail is too close. I have to loose it now. I’m heading on the
side road (Lucky gives them the coordinates) now. All right.
Understood.”

Lucky turns the phone off.

Emily looks at the car that is still behind them, staying
right with them.”

“Are they coming? Are they sending help?”

“They can’t. Part of being in the cold is being alone.
They’ll send some back up now, but we’re on our own for the
next thirty minutes or so.”

“That car is going to catch us in the next thirty
seconds.”

“I know,” Lucky replies evenly as he takes the car off
the main highway. “Which is why you need to get down now.
Don’t worry. I said I would protect you and I will. The WSB
taught me a lot.”

“I guess they taught you how to drive winding mountain
roads at 90 miles an hour.”

“Nope, that was Frisco when we were working on a
case in Colorado once.”

Despite his light banter, Lucky inwardly swears as the
red car comes up close behind them. The windows are tinted so
Lucky can’t see who the occupants are. He does, however, see
the window being lowered and the automatic machine gun
come out. He feels the SUV buckle as the first spray of bullets
hits the rear tires.

“Oh my god,” Emily screams as Lucky swears again.
They are going downhill which buys him a few seconds, but not
much.

“Emily get your seat belt on.” Lucky shouts. Emily
shakily complies and moves up from her hiding place. “What
are you going to do?” Emily shouts back as the red car comes
up along besides them.

“What Spencers always do,” Lucky replies. “The
unexpected.” And with a quick jerk of the steering wheel,
Lucky deliberately heads the car off the side of the road and
down the steep embankment.

The two occupants in the red car stop almost
immediately, get out of their car, and head to the side of the
road.

Down at the foot of the embankment, the SUV is clearly
in flames.

“That job is done,” The first man says to the second.

“Yeah,” says the second. “Come on Johnny, let’s go
claim our reward.”

After staring at the now totally engulfed SUV and
seeing no signs of life for
several minutes, the two men leave and head back to Port
Charles.


PCPD

Robin pulls Frisco into an empty interrogation room. As
soon as the door is closed behind them, Frisco pulls Robin into
his embrace and gently then passionately kisses her. After a
moment, Robin pulls away and then leans quietly into the man
she loves, enjoying the feel of him close to her again. This has
been the longest night of her life and the day facing her
threatens to be equally long.

“You need to rest,” Frisco murmurs gently stroking her
long brown hair.

“So do you,” she responds.

“So let’s go back to the hotel and go to bed.”

“I thought you said I needed to rest?” She looks at him
with a smile.

“Absolutely. What else did you think I meant?” He
smiles innocently at her.

“Whatever you meant, it’s the best offer I’ve had since
we’ve arrived in town.”

“But you are going to turn me down?”

“I have to. Taggert’s leading a search of Sonny’s
penthouse and I want to be available if he finds anything.”

“You’re not going?”

“No. I figure Taggert can handle it. I want to look over
Lark’s statements and talk to her. I have a few theories already
that I want to check out.”

“Twenty fours and the case is solved. That has to be a
new WSB record.”

“I wish,” Robin sighs. “Every time I turn around
something new develops. I just keep thinking that there’s
something we are overlooking and once we figure out what that
is everything else will fall into place.”


“You can’t do your best if you are running on empty.
It’s 7 am now, let’s at least try to head over to the hotel by
noon to take a break. That should give Junior a chance to get
Emily to the safehouse, Taggert a chance to check Sonny’s
place, you a chance to talk to Lark, and your uncle a chance to
yell at me some more.”

Robin is about to nod in agreement when Frisco’s phone
rings. “He removes it from his coat pocket and answers it. He
listens for a moment, then hangs up and returns it to his pocket.

“Damn.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Junior ran into a bit of trouble and called for back up.”

Robin’s exhaustion disappears.

“Let’s go.”

Frisco shakes his head. “We can’t afford for both of us
to be gone. You stay here, I’ll call for a helicopter. Junior is a
smart kid and we trained him right. He’ll be find.” Frisco says
more to reassure himself than her. He turns to leave, stops, and
pulls her into a short, hard, and deep kiss. “I love you Robin.
Don’t forget that.”

“I couldn’t if I tried,” Robin replied breathlessly. “I love
you too.”

Fifteen minutes later Robin is on her way to Kelly’s for
some breakfast, mostly coffee to give her the strength to keep
going. The coffee at the police station is as bad as she
remembers from her visits there when she was a kid. In her
hands she holds some notes from Lark’s statement that she
wants to review.

So intent is Robin on her the thoughts in her head, that
she doesn’t see the tall and muscular young man in her path
until it is too late.

Robin grabs the file before it spills, begins to apologize,
and finally looks up.

“Jason?”