''You think you own the police?'' Taggert scoffed. ''Keep talking like that and you will buy your friend more time in lock up.''
''Keep him any longer and you will buy yourself an investigation by internal affairs.'' Sonny grinned to show he meant business. Before Taggert could respond, the door to the interrogation room opened. ''I’ll be in there.'' Sonny winked. ''Carly, call Alexis. Make sure she is on the way.'' Sonny quickly closed the door before either Carly or Taggert could protest.
''Am I being sprung? I need to find Emily. Did you call Benny? We need somebody looking for leads. The longer I am in here, the further way she gets.'' Jason was quickly nearing the end of his rope.
Sonny wasn’t sure he had ever heard Jason say so much at once. However, with all he had on his mind, he couldn’t enjoy it. ''I have talked to Benny. I called him from the car. Carly should be on the phone with Alexis, as we speak.'' Not knowing how to tell Jason the truth, Sonny stalled. ''Tell me everything you know about this guy who abducted Emily.''
''Zander dealt drugs at the raves. I think he worked for Sorel, but I can’t confirm it. These....'' A look of disgust crossed Jason’s face, before he continued. ''People wouldn’t let me use the phone.''
Sonny breathed in deeply. ''Sorel sent a pair of men towards the Canadian border. I can only assume they are going after Zander...and Emily.'' Sonny shuddred as he added the last words. ''I think that proves she wasn’t the target, but...'' It was all he could do not to let his mind wander. Imagining what Zander and Sorel might do to his daughter was much too painful. Having lost one child to kidnappers, Sonny took it harder than most. He never found his son. What if he never found Emily? Sonny couldn’t believe the irony. This was the exact situation he hoped to avoid by leaving his family.
''Emily will be in all of the papers in the morning. Sorel can not afford that kind of publicity. We have to find her first; He may try to eliminate Zander, to keep the press and police from implicating him by association.''
Sonny’s heart raced. He had to tell Jason, if Sorel knew about his connection to Emily, it would be so much more dangerous for her. ''We need to assume that Sorel knows Emily is your sister, and.....''
Not sensing the true reason for Sonny’s trepidation, Jason broke in. ''Which puts her in greater danger.'' Jason sighed. That was exactly why he needed to get out of jail.
''Yes.'' Sonny nodded. ''But it doesn’t compare to the danger that being my daughter brings her.''
Jason blinked hard and shook his head to clear his mind. Surely, he misheard. ''What?'' He demanded.
''I am Emily’s biological father.
--
''Your family must be so proud.'' Emily taunted. ''I am sure they always dreamed of raising a kidnapper, and a drug dealer too, they must drive the neighbors crazy with all of their boasting. Emily knew that goading her captor could be dangerous. However, after four hours of driving: exhaustion, hunger, and fear made her irrational.
Zander smirked. ''Oh Blue, you must have lived some sort of sheltered life. Not everybody’s parents are members of the PTA.''
Even fear couldn’t suppress Emily’s giggles. The mental image of the Quaretermaines at PTA was far too funny for words. She could just imagine her grandfather demanding executive veto power over her curriculum, and her parents arguing about the validity of sex education.
''What is so funny?'' Emily’s laughter unsettled her captor.
''You obviously know nothing about my family.'' Emily stifled her laughter.
''Don’t all of you blue bloods go to the country club for lunch, have a rousing game of tennis, and a spot of tea before gathering for cocktails?
''Where do you get this, Dallas? They are nothing like that. They are dysfunctional, at best. But at least they loved me enough not to name me Zander What kind of name is that? Were your parents punishing you for something?''
''I never had parents.'' A twinge of sadness became evident in Zander’s voice as he spoke.
--
V watched helplessly as Ned paced through the living room. ''We will find her. I can go to the PCPD. I still know a lot of people from when I worked there. Maybe, I can get some more information.''
''Can you go while I talk to the family? If they don’t shoot the messenger, I will meet you there when I am done.'' Ned tried to smile, but failed.
''Would you like for me to stay while you talk to Nikolas?'' V asked before responding to the doorbell. She immediately drew Nik into a hug. Over the year that V lived in the Gatehouse, she grew close to Emily and her boyfriend. The pair often came to visit Brooke, stayed for diner, and the four of them spent many a long night talking about nothing, or everything.
Nikolas relaxed slightly in V’s comforting embrace. After Stefan died, Nikolas learned the hard way who his friends really were. Laura was too caught up in her own routine to help her grieving son. Heaven forbid she shorten her extended vacation.
Alexis tried to help. She resettled in Port Charles to take over her duties as guardian. However, between work, her own grief, and spur of the moment trips with Jax, Nikolas hardly saw her. V had come through in the hardest times. She never minded staying up all night, just listening to Nikolas reminisce about the only constant figure in his life. ''Thank you, V.'' Nikolas whispered, saying so much more than that, with those three simple words.
Ned extended his hand for a firm handshake, which turned into an awkward embrace. ''Are you okay?''
Nikolas did his best to affect a smile. ''I will be, as soon as we find Emily.''
''I am going to the PCPD to press them for information. Why don’t you come with me?''
''Yes, you don’t need to face the wrath of Grandfather. He will undoubtedly find some way to blame all of this on you. You don’t need that kind of aggravation.''
''No, but I deserve it.'' Nikolas stood firm refusing to take the easy way out.
--
Jason sat in stunned disbelief. Surely, it was just an amazingly distasteful practical joke, but Sonny never joked when lives were on the line. ''You are serious? Emily, my sister, she is your daughter?'' A betrayed expression crossed his face.
Sonny wanted to look away. How could he face his friend like this? But no, Jason deserved honesty. ''I was just a kid when I met and married Paige, Emily’s mother. I was too young, really. But I didn’t know that then. I had been doing some legit jobs for the organization’s front company. I needed to make a few extra bucks to pay the rent, and they were always looking for a few good, clean, family men to sell the coffee, you know.''
Sonny exhaled and continued. He needed to explain it all. ''Babies cost a surprising amount of money, and I was offered a lot of cash to do a few shake downs. At first, I said no. How could my kids go to their first day of school and tell their friends that Daddy was a wise guy? But David, my older boy, got sick. He needed medicine more than I needed a clean record. So I did what I had to do. Simple stuff, at first, but you know how it is. You get draw in so quickly. Before I knew it, I was in over my head. It swallowed me. I pissed off the wrong people, and I had to pay the price. David was kidnapped. My son was taken from me, because I wasn’t careful. I cost my wife her first born. I couldn’t put her through that again. I couldn’t put my baby girl at risk. I couldn’t, so, I sent them away.''
Jason couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The man in front of him was a stranger. ''You stayed in? You tossed your family away and stayed in?''
''Nobody gets out. You know that.'' Sonny sighed. ''I threw myself into work. I became a boss; I did that for my family. As long as I was at the top, I could keep an eye on things. I could find out information about my son, watch over my daughter, and keep her safe.''
Jason let out an angry, exasperated sigh. ''A lot of good that did. She is out there, with one of Sorel’s men, and I am in here. You know why that is? I am in here, locked up when my sister needs me most, because I work for you.''