Jason’s Penthouse
Ric Lansing stared at the witness list in confusion. What was she doing on there?

Alexis Davis frowned at the lawyer. “Ric, what’s wrong?” she asked. Brenda and Jason looked at Jason’s lawyer from across the living room.

Ric braced one of his hands on the desk and looked up at the married couple. “I just got Baldwin’s witness list.”

“Who’s on it?” Alexis asked. She rose from the couch and crossed the room.

“Well, most of it was pretty much what I expected. AJ Quartermaine, Skye Jacks…but well, there are two that surprised me.” He looked at Jason and Brenda. “Is there any reason Scott Baldwin would be calling Elizabeth Webber or Courtney Quartermaine?”

Brenda glared at Jason. “What, you have two mistresses now?”

“No,” Jason snapped. “I don’t know what–” He stopped and shook his head. “No, she wouldn’t say anything. She’s not like that.”

“Who wouldn’t say what?” Ric asked. “I thought I asked you to keep whatever is between you and Courtney discreet.”

“Courtney?” Alexis said. “You’re sleeping with Courtney?”

Jason rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m saying that Elizabeth wouldn’t have told anyone that. She said she’d keep it to herself and I trust her. So no, I don’t know why Baldwin would call her as a witness.”

“You told your ex to keep your new girlfriend a secret?” Alexis asked. She snorted. “Men.”

“Wait, wait, this Elizabeth is your ex?” Brenda asked. “So, what she break up with you because of me?”

Jason glared at her. “Butt out.”

“Look, if Baldwin can prove this marriage is a sham, he can force you two to testify against each other.” Alexis shook her head. “I’m going to go talk to Courtney, find out if she knows why Scott called her.”

Before Ric could volunteer, Jason stood. “I’ll go talk to Elizabeth.”

Without another word, Jason had grabbed his jacket and left. The three stared after him.

“Hmm…should it worry me that my husband is so anxious to speak to this Elizabeth?” Brenda asked, her voice tinged with humor. “I think I might be jealous.”

“I’ll be back when I find out more. Brenda, lock the door. Remember that Jax isn’t allowed within five feet of this penthouse,” Alexis told her. She pulled on her coat. “Ric, stand guard. We’ve gone to a lot of trouble to keep this marriage looking real.”

She left, leaving Ric and Brenda alone.

“So, I thought you and Elizabeth were dating,” Brenda said. “Why didn’t you volunteer to talk to her?”

Ric stared at the door in confusion. “As his lawyer, I should have. I was going to but Jason had said he was going and left before I could say anything.” He looked at Brenda. “Since when did Jason and Elizabeth date?”

“Hell if I know,” Brenda said. “When I died, he was dating Robin and she was hanging out with Lucky Spencer. Guess that’s changed.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Elizabeth shifted the phone to her other ear. “Yeah, I’m on hold for Scott Baldwin. Uh huh, Elizabeth Webber. Right.”

Jason took a seat at the counter, staring at Elizabeth’s back as she was on the phone. His stomach dropped. She couldn’t have gone to Baldwin. Even hurt, Elizabeth wouldn’t have done that.

Elizabeth turned and stopped, seeing Jason. She stared at him for a few minutes, not saying anything. Finally, Scott came onto the line and she started talking again. “Mr. Baldwin? This is Elizabeth Webber….uh huh…right, so I just got this subpoena to testify against Jason and Brenda. I think you might have made a mistake….right…no, I don’t have anything that would to your case….listen…no…Mr. Baldwin–Scott–hey, listen to me–I’m not–” She brought the phone away from her ear and glared at it. “Little jerk hung up on me,” she muttered, hanging the phone up. She looked at Jason. “What can I get you?”

“So you don’t know why Baldwin’s calling you as a witness?” Jason asked, relieved.

Elizabeth shook her head. “Not a clue. So, don’t worry. Your little secret is safe with me. Is that all?”

“He’s calling Courtney, too,” Jason said.

Elizabeth crossed her arms. “And what? You thought that I was vindictive enough to run down to Scott Baldwin and tell him what happened?” She shook her head. “Sorry. I told you–I don’t even want to think about it, and if I wanted to get revenge, I’d just smack her around again.” Elizabeth picked up a coffee pot and headed to go fill up someone’s cup.

Jason just shook his head, stood and left.

Courtney’s Loft

Alexis rubbed her eyes wearily. “Courtney, just tell me. Does anyone know of this little affair that would go to Scott or the police?”

Courtney shrugged. “I mean AJ’s probably got his suspicions, but he doesn’t really have any proof. Not unless he hired someone again. I really don’t know.” She bit her lip. “Well, Elizabeth Webber was pretty mad when she found out. She slapped me and went off on the both of us in Kelly’s.”

“Kelly’s?” Alexis repeated. “You mean everyone heard?”

“No, no. Elizabeth had already closed for the night,” Courtney assured her. “It was just the three of us.”

“Do you think Elizabeth would have gone to Scott Baldwin?” Alexis asked, knowing the question was ridiculous. If Elizabeth had told Jason she wouldn’t say a word, she wouldn’t.

“Possibly,” Courtney said. “Like I said…she was pissed.”

“All right. Well, I can’t tell you to lie,” Alexis said. “It’s unethical and I’d be disbarred.”

“I don’t have a problem doing it,” Courtney said, trying to be helpful.

“I don’t care. I won’t go along with it,” Alexis said. She stood and gathered her things. “I’ll see you later.”

Jason’s Penthouse

“So, Elizabeth has no idea why Scott called her as a witness?” Ric asked.

“Right,” Jason replied. “I heard her on the phone with him.”

Alexis sighed. “Well Courtney wasn’t much help. She says that AJ had suspicions but that as far as she knows, Elizabeth is the only person who knew for sure. She seems to think Elizabeth would have done it.”

“She wouldn’t have,” Jason said. “Elizabeth’s not vindictive.”

“I don’t know. If I found my ex-boyfriend was dating someone else, the first thing I’d do is sabotage it,” Brenda said, knowingly.

“Yeah, well Elizabeth doesn’t think like you,” Jason told Brenda with a glare to match the tone of his words.

“Look, what does Elizabeth know about Alcazar?” Alexis said. “As I remember she was involved with it remotely over the summer.”

Jason pinched the bridge of his nose. “She doesn’t know much. She overheard a conversation between Alcazar and Roy DiLucca about Sonny. Alcazar told Roy that he had something Sonny wanted and that turned out to be Brenda. Uh…I know that when Elizabeth helped Zander after he was thrown off the yacht, Alcazar was looking for them, so they stayed here in the penthouse.”

“And other than that?” Ric asked. “She’s been removed from the situation, right?”

“Since October,” Jason answered, briefly flashing back to that night in the penthouse. “She and Zander moved out when they found out Sonny was alive.”

“Yeah, what a nice lie that was,” Alexis muttered. “And you and Elizabeth haven’t had any contact since then?”

“Just a few conversations,” Jason answered. “Uh, last month when she found about Courtney. I saw her in Kelly’s after she moved out. But other than–” He stopped. “Oh, man.”

“What?” Brenda asked.

“I saw her at Luke’s in November,” Jason told them. “Right after we found you weren’t sick.” He shifted, uncomfortable with talking about Elizabeth with these people. “I told her that we weren’t going to be married much longer.”

“Trying to get her back, huh?” Brenda said with a knowing smile.

Jason glared at her. “Shut up,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Okay, so not only does Elizabeth know about Courtney, she knows that back in November you and Brenda were planning on ending the marriage.” Alexis sighed. “Great. So there goes our case.”

“How would Baldwin know about that conversation?” Brenda asked. She looked at Jason. “I mean, it’s not like you told her in front of a lot of people right?”

“Right,” Jason agreed. “But we were still at Luke’s. Anyone could have overheard.”

“And Elizabeth probably doesn’t even realize she could ruin the entire case,” Ric said.

“Is there any way to get her testimony blocked?” Brenda asked. “I mean, if she’s forced to reveal her knowledge about Jason and Courtney, one of you could bring up that she and Jason dated. She’d be like a scorned girlfriend, you know?”

“No,” Jason broke in. “You’re not tearing into her on the stand.”

“Jason, it might be the only way to take the sting out of her testimony,” Ric said. “We have to discredit her.”

“Why? Because she’s telling the truth?” Jason asked.

“No, because Elizabeth’s testimony–if it’s the reason that Scott’s calling her–it could prove the marriage is fake. And if they can do that, they can force you both to testify. And you know Scott would take Brenda over Jason. He’d call her and Jason would go to Death Row,” Alexis said. “Jason, we have to discredit her testimony.”

“And what about Courtney?” Ric asked. “I mean, she’s the final nail in Jason’s coffin. Even if we discredit Elizabeth’s testimony, she’s still going to have testify and the only reason Baldwin is going to call her is about the affair.” Ric sighed. “I mean, AJ’s easy enough to break. His hatred of Jason and Sonny is deep-seeded and well-known. But–”

“Courtney is going to lie,” Alexis said. “I have no doubt about it. Whether we tell her not to or not, she’s going to do it. She told me as much.”

Brenda glared at Jason. “And after all that about me and Jax getting us convicted, it’s your fault. Jerk.”

| Chapter Two →