Written in 58 minutes. SEE YOU TONIGHT *cackles*

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Miller & Davis: Lobby

Elizabeth shook out her umbrella before wrapping it up and shoving it in her purse. “I don’t remember the last time it rained like this,” she told Jason, whose hair was still a little damp. “I’m so sick of gray skies and puddles.”

“It’s supposed to clear up in another day—” Jason started but stopped when Spinelli came out of his office. “Hey. We’re late, sorry—”

“No, it’s okay. I don’t—” Spinelli made a face, shoved his hands in his pockets. “I don’t really have a lot to to tell you. Not bad news,” he added. “It’s just a lot of data to go through, and you know — it’s never the first file you open.”

“No, we’d never get that lucky,” Elizabeth said with a weak smile. She took a deep breath. “But you still think something will be found with everything you got?”

“The security footage has to give us something, and don’t forget, we’re about to have a list of every single time you opened that trunk between the murder and the time your car was seized,” Spinelli reminded her. “You said you didn’t even remember opening it at all — so it should be one trunk pop — we line that up with your schedule, and security footage from the neighborhood or the hospital, and we prove it’s not you.”

“And with any luck, prove who it was,” Jason added.

“Seems so easy, doesn’t it?” Elizabeth said. “But you’re right. I’m just ready for this to be over.” She saw Diane heading down the hallway towards them. “But now we get to talk about my bail being revoked next week—so—I hope you find it fast.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Sonny’s Office

“I don’t know what was so important I had to rush over here,” Alexis said, with a huff. She tossed her briefcase on the chair, then turned to face Sonny as he closed the door behind her. “You said it was an emergency, and I have to remind you — I’m not technically your lawyer—”

“But you are Kristina’s,” Sonny said, and Alexis closed her eyes. “You’re don’t seem surprised by that.”

“No.  I’ve been dreading this since I spoke to Sam this morning. Has Kristina talked to you? Do you know what she did?”

“That would depend on what we’re talking about,” Sonny said. He went behind his desk, but remained standing. “Do you know the whole story?”

Alexis furrowed her brows. “Are we not talking about the same thing? You know I don’t like riddles.”

“Let’s start with this. Dante just left here. He’s convinced Kristina sent an email that tipped off the U.S. Attorney’s office about Rocco and Danny’s incident with the official report leaving out that the boys were picked up in front of Elizabeth’s house. With Aiden.”

“Oh, God. Dante knows? This is a disaster.” Alexis sat down for a moment, then jumped back up. “What did he say? What does he want to do?”

“He’s been suspended because Anna thinks he abused his power to change the report — so he’s a little pissed off. Not to mention — Kristina didn’t think it through. She’s made it so that Danny and Rocco’s names are on the federal record for drinking and smoking weed.”

“And everyone thinks Sam did it,” Alexis muttered. She sank back down, rubbed her temple with one hand. “I accused her, Dante went after her — Jason came after her last night, and Danny was in court when it happened, so of course, he believes his mother did it after all the ridiculous things Sam has done lately—this is a nightmare, Sonny. Because while I am now convinced Kristina actually sent the email, I’m not sure I can persuade Jason or Diane that Sam wasn’t involved in some way.”  She looked at him. “Kristina wouldn’t have done it if Sam hadn’t been filling her head with all the ways Elizabeth destroyed her life—she’s got no reason to go after her—”

“I…wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Sonny said. Alexis frowned, straightened in the chair. “I’ve been avoiding it — trying to come up with anything that explains what I know in a different way —”

“Sonny, what are you talking about? Kristina was obviously trying to help Sam. I’m the one that gave her the damn idea. I told her Diane was worried about Elizabeth’s bail—”

“The gun that killed John Cates matches one that’s missing from my safe.”

Alexis closed her mouth, her eyes widening. “The gun—” She held up a hand. “Wait a second. Wait.”

“I thought it was one of my guys, and framing Jason makes sense — he’s still seen as an informant with my people — but Kristina screwing with Elizabeth’s bail?” Sonny leaned forward. “Her phone went missing right after that bullshit tip was sent to the Feds. She was furious with Cates—”

“That doesn’t mean she killed anyone! Oh my God, Sonny, can  you hear yourself right now—” Alexis got up, turned away, dragging her hands through her hair, squeezing her eyes shut. Then she turned back, looked at him. “The day before that damn gun was found — the FBI came back around. Asking about our alibis.”

“They couldn’t do anything with Jason — his alibi was tight. So they did their second round of statements,” Sonny said nodding. “I remember. Kristina—” He sighed. “She was angry. She didn’t have an alibi. Oh, man.” He sat down, looking every inch of his years. “She did this, didn’t she? She killed an FBI agent, and then decided to frame Elizabeth.”

Davis & Miller: Diane’s Office

“I don’t know how we avoid any of the boys taking the stand,” Diane said with a shake of her head. “I understand neither of you want that. I don’t want it either. We can try to have the hearing sealed—”

“I just don’t — I don’t want Danny to get up in court and have to talk about any of this,” Elizabeth said. “Testifying is terrifying, and he was so upset yesterday—” She looked at Jason and he reached for her hand, squeezing it.

“He blames himself for all of this. We’ve tried to talk to him about it, and I know he realizes that we don’t blame him, but I’m not sure it makes a difference,” Jason said. “Elizabeth’s freedom comes first, but—”

“Then we need to reframe this for Danny. Yes, he made a terrible and stupid decision that night. A decision that he, Aiden, and Rocco had been making for months. But he has a chance to help Elizabeth stay free,” Diane told them. “That might even be empowering for him—”

“I’m not agreeing to it until we have a chance to talk to his doctor,” Elizabeth said. “I’m trying to get in to see Fletcher this week,” she told Jason. “But his schedule is so filled — he only took Danny as a favor to me.” She looked at Diane. “You can call everyone else. Dante, Sam, me, Jason, Dex — I don’t care. But the boys are off limits—”

“Elizabeth—” Jason began at the same time Diane scowled and said, “Nothing is off limits—”

But they were both cut off when there was a knock on the door, and Spinelli opened. “Hey, uh, sorry to interrupt—”

“Did you find something?” Elizabeth demanded, getting to her feet. “Tell me you found something that makes this entire conversation useless—”

“I—” Spinelli looked at Diane, took a deep breath. “Okay—”

“Wait—” Diane held out a hand. “Spinelli, let’s go have a conversation in your office.”

“What?” Elizabeth frowned. “Why? What’s going on?” She looked at his lawyer. “Diane? What’s going on that he can’t say in front of both of us?”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Street

Dante flicked on the windshield wipers — the rain had picked up again and was now coming do so fast that the wipers were going at full speed. The dashboard screen lit up with an incoming call — Chase.

Dante tapped the button to answer it. “Hey. Tell me you got something.”

“Sam’s here. She just went in the house.”

Dante grimaced. “Damn it. They’re going to circle the wagons, aren’t they? Alexis has been in with Sonny for almost twenty minutes. Kristina’s gonna find a way to make Sam feel like this was Elizabeth’s fault or some bullshit, and Sam will eat it up. She was already halfway there when I talked to her last night.”

“You don’t think Sam is pissed that she’s getting the blame?”

“She is. But Sam thinks her sisters are her responsibility. She’s been covering up Kristina’s messes for years. She’ll blame everyone but Kristina—” Dante shook his head. “No. I’ll get someone to cover me here, but I need to be in that house. I need to get in the middle—Call someone to take over here. I’m heading your way.”

He put the car in reverse so he could back out of the spot, and started to edge out into the road — but then a car pulled in front, turned sideways so that no one could get around him. A familiar one.

“Goddamn it, what the hell is she doing here?”

“Dante? What’s going on?”

“Anna,” Dante bit out. “I’ll call you back.” He turned off the engine, and got out into the rain to confront the commissioner.

Davis & Miller: Diane’s Office

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jason said, getting to his feet. “If you’ve got something, Diane represents us both—”

“Jason, I’m asking you to trust me,” Diane said, also rising. “Spinelli and I are handling this very carefully—”

“Handling what?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “Do you have a suspect or something else?” she looked from her lawyer to the investigator, then back to Diane. “Whatever it is, we can handle it. And we’re obviously not going to tell anyone.”

“It’s not just—” Diane started, but Spinelli interrupted her.

“I think it’s time, Diane. We wanted to have enough—” Spinelli held up the paper in his hand. “It’s not enough to act on, but it’s enough for me. And besides — Stone Cold needs to know this.”

Diane sighed, took her seat. “All right. All right. What do you have?”

“The email trace came through from the Feds. We know who emailed Reynolds,” Spinelli said. “The IP address led them to an account that’s paid for by Sonny.”

“Sonny?” Jason’s frown deepened, and he exchanged a mystified look with Elizabeth. “I don’t understand.”

“That’s where the Feds would have had to stop looking — without a way to look at the account,” Spinelli said slowly, “they can’t pin it to a device yet. But I can. Not officially. Not yet. But I can tell you because I set up this computer as a favor last spring and I had to connect it to Sonny’s security. That’s why he pays for the internet.” He paused. “It’s Kristina’s. Kristina sent the email.”

Davis House: Living Room

Water dripped down from Sam’s soaked sweater and jeans, puddling on the wooden floor beneath her as she stood on the landing, her hands curled into fists. There was something obscene, she thought, finding Kristina sitting in front of a warm fire, curled up on their mother’s sofa like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Because she didn’t, did she? No matter what happened to Kristina, there was always someone right behind her, picking her up.

Always.

Kristina looked up, startled at Sam’s sudden entrance, and her eyes went wide. She set down the phone in her hand and got to her feet. “Sam. Hey. I was, uh, waiting for Mom.”

“Yeah, I bet you were.” Sam came down the two steps into the living room, the water trail following her. “Going to make this her problem, aren’t you? Just like you made it mine.”

“I—” Kristina closed her mouth, took a deep breath. “Dante already talked to me, so I know you guys think I did—I know you think what happened in court yesterday is my fault, but I didn’t do it. I wouldn’t hurt Danny like that—”

“Shut up,” Sam said, and Kristina closed her mouth, startled. “Don’t. You don’t get to ever say my son’s name again. Do you understand me? Not after what you did to him.”

“Sam—I know you’re angry, and I understand that you and Dante need to blame someone—” Kristina came towards her, her hands held out — liking she was talking to a wild or feral animal.

“Don’t—don’t—lie to me. I held your hand at every step after that baby—after Irene died,” Sam said, and Kristina’s nostrils flared at the use of the baby’s legal name. “I told Molly to have patience, to give you space, after everything you were planning to do to her, to TJ—I took your side. And you repaid me by destroying my life.”

Kristina scowled. “Destroying your life? Please, Sam. You barely have a life left to destroy. Everyone immediately knew you did it, and now you’re trying to shove the blame off me like I’m the one who came up with the idea. I only did what you wanted me to do.”

Sam went still, and the rage drained from her body suddenly, leaving nothing but ice. “So that’s the plan. You’re going to tell everyone I made you do it.”

“And they’ll believe me, won’t they, Sam?” Kristina tipped her head, a slow smile curving on her face. “They want to blame you already. Everyone knows how insane you are about Elizabeth. They want to give me a reason for doing it. We did it together —” Her voice changed, hitched. “We did it together, S-Sam, I w-was just so scared what would happen if you didn’t get Danny back. I was so scared of what you’d do to yourself. I’m so sorry. I was just trying to help.” Kristina’s smile deepened. “What do you think, Sam? Who are they going to believe?”

+17

Written in 61 minutes.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

“You can ask the question anyway you want, Commissioner. My answer’s still the same.” Dex shifted slightly, a bit uncomfortable under Anna’s gaze. “I wouldn’t have a reason to talk to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. We did nothing wrong—”

“Nothing wrong?” Anna pursed her lips. “You allowed a superior officer to dictate what was written down in a report—”

“The policy of the PCPD has always been to release an intoxicated teenager to their parents if it is proven to be a first offense,” Dex interrupted. “We have no record, even unofficial of either Rocco or Danny being brought in any point. Why would I treat them more harshly?”

Anna lifted the report. “There’s no mention of the weed—”

“The vape was empty when we found them, and there’s no policy to test every suspected user when the only crime is public intoxication. If we’d found them in a car, that would have been different.” Dex shook his head. “I’m sorry, Commissioner, that this ended up being a headache for you, but I ran the arrest report past my training officer and he had no issues.”

“And Detective Falconieri had no influence on your decision? None whatsoever?”

“He was there as a concerned and angry parent. I’d already decided to leave Aiden Webber out of the situation as he was clearly sober and had proof he hadn’t been with the others. He had photographic evidence as well as phone calls to back up his story. I handled this case the same way I would have handled any other.”

Anna pressed her lips together. “All right. You can go.”

When the rookie had left, she sat at her desk, considering the reports again, going over other similar cases. As much she might want to argue with the outcome, Dex had handled the case the same way she might have. That still didn’t change the problem at hand—

Her intercom buzzed. “Commissioner, Agent Caldwell is here to see you.”

“Wonderful. Just what I need.” She got to her feet as the agent strode in. “Caldwell. What do we owe this visit?”

“We just got the first trace back on the email that tipped off Reynolds about Webber’s kid.” Caldwell tossed a file on her desk. “You’re going to want to read this.”

“It came from one of my officers?” Anna lifted the report from the folder, sliding on her reading glasses, then furrowed her brows, looked back at Caldwell. “Is this accurate?”

“The email address was spoofed — one of those fake email generators you can get anywhere on the internet now. Pretending to be sent from the PCPD—but it actually came from an IP address here in Port Charles. That IP address is under the account of Sonny Corinthos.”

“This doesn’t make any sense. Why would Sonny try to—” Alexis stopped. “It doesn’t make any sense,” she repeated. She looked at the agent. “What are you thinking? Why did you bring this to me?”

“Because Reynolds thinks this is Morgan trying to screw with the case. They were planning to ask for bail revocation based on forensics — Diane Miller is too smart not to see that coming. So Reynolds thinks that they wanted to dilute the goverment’s case and bait him into using this  police report—”

Anna held up a hand. “Let me stop you right there. That is pure fantasy. I may have my doubts about Sonny or Jason’s innocence in this case, but I assure you — neither of one of them would go to this trouble. Particularly Jason. It concerns his son, putting his drinking on federal records. If Reynolds is going down that road, he’s lost his mind.”

“I tried to tell him that,” Caldwell said with a grimace. “But he won’t listen to reason. He’s fired his second chair, thinking that Morgan paid her to take the case. He’s got tunnel vision, Anna. He’s convinced Morgan orchestrated this hit, and he’ll find anyway he can to explain the evidence to support that theory.” He paused. “I’m not entirely sure he won’t fabricate it. He took a serious reputation hit on the Pikeman case, and he won’t stop until he takes down the man he thinks is responsible.” He looked at her. “Or woman.”

Anna exhaled slowly. Tread carefully, she thought. “Well, then I suppose we ought to find out why that email was sent from Sonny Corinthos’s computer, then shouldn’t we?”

Belle Forest Drive: Street

Chase watched Kristina slam the car door, and practically run up the stairs to her mother’s door, then fiddling with the keys before letting herself in. He’d parked a few doors down from Alexis’s home, but the tree-lined entrance  made things a little difficult. He’d assumed Kristina was  going home or to her father’s —

She’s at her mother’s, he wrote in a text to Dante. A moment later, his phone rang. “Hey.”

“Hey—I’m outside my dad’s restaurant. I was sure she was coming right here—” Dante grimaced. “But maybe I spooked her too much. If she heads to Alexis and talks to her — that’s her lawyer. We need her making more mistakes.”

“I know.” Chase paused. “Maybe it’s not a good idea to talk to your dad. This whole thing was a mistake—”

“No. I think—I think we can still do this. Just sit tight. Wait to hear from me.”

Chase had only just barely ended that phone call when another lit up the screen. “Hey. I thought we weren’t supposed to talk by phone—”

“Well, I just got removed from the case, and I’m probably a few hours away from being brought up ethics charges,” came Gia Campbell’s irritated response. “So it doesn’t really matter, does it?”

“What happened?”

“Carly happened. You’ve lived in Port Charles long enough, haven’t you? She went off at me after the hearing, and Noah got curious. He did a little digging — he found my connection to Elizabeth. It’s just a matter of time before he finds out how well I knew her — engaged to her former-brother-in-law, we were in a car accident together—”

“What?” Chase demanded. “You never told me about that—”

“Because none of that matters. And—” Gia stopped. “Look, I put my ass on the line to get to the truth here. The only way I save my career is to make Noah look like an inept asshole, so tell me everything you’ve been holding back. You have a suspect, I know you do.”

Chase shook his head. “I’m not screwing up my case—”

“Detective, I don’t think you understand. Noah Reynolds isn’t listening to sense. You know the case he’s got against Elizabeth. It’s garbage. It’s dead on arrival as soon as those alibi witnesses get on the stand. He accused me of taking money from Jason Morgan to take this case. You’re either with him or against him. I need something to take to my superiors, some evidence he’s overlooking. Give me something I can use.”

Chase looked back at the driveway, at Kristina’s car. “Caldwell didn’t clear all the obvious suspects. Not thoroughly. There’s two that have no solid alibi, and they both have a motive.”

“Motive? Like what?”

“That’s all you’re getting from me. You go through your files, you’ll find some the trail we found. You come to me with a name, well, then maybe we can talk.” He tossed the phone aside, then gripped the steering wheel with clenched hands. Dante needed to  come through with something — because something was about to happen.

There was a rumble of the thunder, and Chase glanced out the window just as the skies opened up. “More rain. Great. Just what we needed.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Office

“Uh, hey, Dante.” Sonny got to his feet as his oldest son came in. “I didn’t—I didn’t expect to see you today.”  He came around the desk, gesturing at the door to the office. “You want some lunch or something—”

“No. It’s not that kind of visit — ” Dante closed the office door, then looked at his father. “I came to ask you if you know what Kristina’s been up to since her charges got dropped.”

Sonny’s hand fell to his side, and he lifted his chin slightly. “I don’t know. Isn’t she working at Charlie’s or her center—”

“Do you know what happened at Elizabeth’s hearing yesterday?” Dante wanted to know, watching his father carefully. “You’ve been keeping your distance from Jason, so maybe you don’t.”

“I know Diane didn’t get the case dismissed, but other than that—” Sonny lifted his hands. “I’m out of the loop on purpose, Dante. The last thing Jason or Elizabeth need is to be associated with me—”

“You know Rocco and Danny got brought into the PCPD a few weeks ago for drinking, don’t you?” Dante pressed.

“I—yes.” Sonny furrowed his brow. “What does that have to do with Kristina? Did she give them alcohol or something? Because she knows better—”

“Kristina was one of maybe five people that knew Danny and Rocco were arrested on Elizabeth’s property. And one of two people that might think it was a good idea to tell the U.S. Attorney so he could revoke Elizabeth’s bail and send her back to prison.”

Sonny grimaced, then scrubbed a hand down his face. “I did not know that,” he said quietly. “You think Kristina had something to do with it? And—one of two people—I’m guessing with Danny involved, the other is Sam.”

“Yeah. I—” Dante hesitated. “I already accused Sam, but I don’t think she did it. I think Kristina did it, thinking it would help Sam — and that it might even help her.”

“How—” Sonny stopped, tipped his head. “Dante, what are you saying?”

“I just want you to know how much all of this has affected my family. Affected yours. Rocco and Danny are now on federal record, drinking. I’ve been suspended because Anna thinks I used to make Dex change his report to be more favorable. To cover up Elizabeth’s involvement. We’re being accused of corruption, Dad. And that’s before we get to Danny being in court, hearing that his brother’s mother might be taken back to jail because he was drinking. This hurt a lot of people, Dad. And if it had worked — if Elizabeth were back in jail, well, everyone would be really distracted.” Dante met his father’s eyes. “I need you to know how many people are affected by what Kristina did. Because if you help her try to get out of this, you’re choosing her instead of me. Instead of your grandson. Your best friend and his kid. All of us who were just living our lives, trying to do our best.”

“Dante—”

“I’m asking you, Dad, that if Kristina did this — or something worse —” Dante shook his head. “Not to help her get away with it.”

Port Charles High: Parking Lot

Danny’s sneaker hit another puddle and he scowled, dragging his hood down further on his face. “This is some bullshit,” he muttered, weaving around cars with Aiden on his heels as they both followed Jake to the senior parking lot. “You could have picked us up out front—”

“And avoid all of us being drowned rats—” Jake fished his keys from his pocket, his wet, blonde hair hanging over his forehead. “Not a chance.”

“Oh, shit—” Aiden barely had time to react before someone darted out from between two cars and seized Danny’s arm.

“Hey, get off—” Danny froze when he realized it was his mother, her dark hair stuck to her cheek in strands, her long-sleeved shirt soaked and dropping. “Mom?”

“Get away from him,” Jake said, trying to get between them. “Aiden, get in the car, call my dad—”

“I just need a minute, please—I’ve been waiting an hour for you to come out—” Sam shoved her hair out of her face with her free hand. “I’m sorry. There’s no other way to talk to you—”

“Yeah, how do you think the court is going to like this?” Jake demanded.

“Mom, you can’t do this, everyone’s gonna  be so mad—” Danny’s voice trembled. “What are you doing here? You have to go—”

“Not until you listen. Until you tell me that you know I didn’t tell anyone about Aiden being there that night, about Elizabeth’s house—”

“Bullshit, no one else knows who hates my mother,” Jake cut in. “Danny, come on—”

“No! I know why you think that—” Sam released Danny, looked at Jake. “I know that I’ve done nothing but resent you all your life. I know I’ve done terrible things, but not this — I wouldn’t—”

“Wouldn’t try to have Elizabeth thrown in jail to get her away from me?” Danny demanded, having recovered from the shock. “I watched you do it like a week ago, okay? So shut up, you’re just lying again—”

“No, no, that was different—”

“Different because you couldn’t punch her again?” Jake demanded. He whipped around to look at Aiden, still standing frozen by the car door. “Damn it, Aiden, get in the car and call my dad!”

“Stop lying!” Danny cried. “Stop! You blame Elizabeth for everything! Who else hates her as much as you do? You tried to get her taken away, tried to keep me from talking to the doctor, why would I ever believe you again?”

“I didn’t do this. Danny, please. I can handle everyone else thinking it—but not you. Please—” Sam made another grab for Danny, but Jake put himself between them.

“You want to talk to my brother again, you go through the lawyers. Stay away from him—Danny, Aiden, get in the goddamn car!”

Aiden jerked the door open, slid into the backseat, but Danny stood there another minute, the rain pouring down around them, just staring at his mother.

“I want to believe you,” he said, his voice cracking. “I don’t want to think you’d do this, but how can I trust you? After everything—” He shook his head, got into the car and slammed the door.

“Danny—” Sam tried to move past Jake, but he shoved her back a step.

“Get out of here, or my next call is to the cops,” Jake said, and Sam shook her head. “Whatever you tried with this stunt, all it did was make our family stronger. More ready to fight. I hope that gives you nightmares, Sam. That everything you’ve done to keep Danny near you just pushes him away. You’re your own worst enemy.”

“I—” Sam’s eyes were anguished. “Don’t you think I know that? That everything I’ve done to you, to your mother, every damn wrong turn — no one believes me, and it’s my own fault. But I didn’t do this, Jake, okay? I didn’t. And I’m going to find out who did if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

+37

Written in 56 minutes. Didn’t get as far as I wanted, but we’re okay. See you tomorrow!

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

General Hospital: Parking Garage

“Diane knows she can call if they find something, right?” Elizabeth asked, rummaging through her purse for her ID. “Willow’s already offered to cover any time if I have to run out early, and—”

“Diane knows.” Jason reached for her hand, squeezed it. “You’re her first call. But—”

“But she told us not to expect a miracle today.” Elizabeth closed her eyes, leaned back against the car seat. “But we deserve one, don’t we? Why can’t Spinelli just open a file and the first thing he sees is my trunk opening when I’m nowhere my car? Why can’t the first video show someone planting the gun—” She broke off, took another deep breath, then looked at him. “I just want this over. I know that’s not brand new information. I know you feel the same. But I’m just—I’m tired of putting Cameron on a plane. I’m tired of going to Syracuse every damn week for a drug test. I’m tired of the ankle monitor. I’m just tired of all of it.” She bit her lip. “And none of that is your fault, so I’m sorry—”

“Don’t apologize,” Jason said with a quick shake of his head. He leaned over, kissed her, intending the embrace to brief, reassuring, but she threaded her fingers through his hair to draw him in closer. When he pulled back finally, slightly breathless, he leaned his forehead against hers. “I want the rest of our lives to begin,” he said softly. “But until it does, you don’t need to apologize for being angry. For telling me how you feel.”

“I just—” She smiled weakly, her fingertips brushing his temple. “I guess I’m just used to you blaming yourself for everything that goes wrong. I know they’re coming after me because of you, because of Pikeman, but I don’t hold that against you. I would never blame you for this.”

“This is happening because of me,” Jason said slowly, and she wrinkled her nose, “but you’re right, that doesn’t make it my fault. It’s not easy to separate that in my head. Not when I think I should be able to fix it.”

“Sitting around, doing nothing, it’s hard for you, I know. We keep talking about it, but…” She stroked his hair. “I just needed you to know that I know it’s different this time. I can feel it. I can feel that it’s not just getting me out of trouble fast that matters. It’s making this over in a way that keeps us together. That keeps you with me, with the boys—”

“I love you,” Jason said. He kissed her again. “I’ve wasted too many chances with you. I’m not wasting another.”

“I’ll see you after work. I love you, too.”

Hanley Federal Building: U.S. Attorney’s Offices

Gia gestured for Noah to wait another minute as he stood near his desk, a folder in his hand and an irritated expression on his face, then turned her attention back to the phone in her hand. “No, I understand. I’m just hoping to get the analysis back sooner than that — is there anything we can to hurry it along — we’re really only interested in location data and the use of her trunk—okay. Okay. I’ll wait for your call.”

She set the phone back on the base, then twisted in her chair to face the other man. “The techstream data from the car is already with the expert you contracted, but he really can’t promise anything sooner than three to four weeks. The videos — we might get more information back sooner—”

She stopped when Noah dropped the folder on the her desk, furrowed her brow. “What? What’s this?

“Open it,” he said tightly. “And then you tell me.”

With dread in her stomach, Gia picked up the folder — it was thin — nothing more than a few sheets of paper at best. She lifted her gaze to his. “Noah—”

“Open it.”

She flipped it, then exhaled with some relief. It wasn’t some surveillance or tip report about her trips to Chase’s apartment —

It was an article about the Face of Deception contest more than twenty years earlier — with Gia and Elizabeth’s photos side by side, and a headline announcing Elizabeth taking the title.

“I told you, I lived in Port Charles. I’ve never hidden my time modeling.” She closed it, tossed it aside. “I knew Elizabeth briefly, but we haven’t talked in years. Not since I went to law school—”

“If it doesn’t matter, then why didn’t you say anything?” he demanded. “This is a massive ethics violation—and damn it, it’s more than just a modeling run-in. Carly Spencer recognized you. I knew there was something to it when she gave you a dirty look yesterday. I had no idea you had a history with our defendant—”

“A history that Elizabeth Webber knows very well, and if she had an issue with it, I’m sure her lawyer would bring it up.” Careful to keep her expression bland and uninterested, she offered a careless shrug. “I haven’t thought about any of that in years. Carly was running Deception at the time with the former mayor—Elizabeth won the title and resigned within a weeks. I took over and had a very short, successful career. There’s no bad blood there. Don’t you think Diane Miller would have mentioned it?”

“She doesn’t have the duty to the court—”

“Noah—” Gia sighed, rubbed her temple. “There’s no conflict here. I never represented her, we knew each other briefly in an ancient, closed chapter of both of our lives. Neither us are models now, are we?”

“Did Jason Morgan get to you?” Noah demanded. “Did he pay you to offer a second chair?”

Gia scowled. “No! Of course not! You can check my books — check anything you want! Are you crazy?”

“I’m crazy?” Noah repeated, his voice raising, pulling the attention of others around him. Her cheeks heated. “You’re cozy with the defendants in my murder trial, the same defendants that screwed us on Pikeman—”

“Knowing Elizabeth Webber twenty-four years ago has nothing to do with Pikeman, and I spoke to Jason Morgan maybe twice the entire time I lived in Port Charles — in fact, he wasn’t even living there at the same time! How dare you suggest—and he isn’t even a defendant in this case. That’s your goddamn bias, not mine! He’s not charged with this murder, Elizabeth is!”

“They’re the same person—”

“Not in the eyes of the law they’re not, and you damn well know it. You can’t prove these charges against her, not at trial. You only let her out on bail to catch Morgan in a cover up, but you have nothing! And you’re panicking—”

“You’re fired,” Noah cut in. “Clean out your desk.”

“You can’t fire me, I don’t work for you!” Gia shot back. “Go ahead. Report me. I can’t wait to tell Freedman everything I know. Do you really want her looking at your cases? At your tactics?”

Noah’s scowl deepened. “You’re off this case—”

“You’re wasting time and resources prosecuting someone you know didn’t commit the damn crime! Good luck getting anyone to help you.  Anyone who looks at it will know it’s a pile of shit.”

Bobbie’s Diner: Courtyard

Kristina sailed through the double doors, then stopped cold when she saw Dante near her car in the parking lot. She wanted to turn around, go back inside, to claim that she hadn’t seen him — but their eyes had already met, and she knew he wasn’t going away.

She didn’t know what to think the fact that she hadn’t heard from her mother or Sam all morning — she’d assumed if Alexis had thought about Kristina’s connection, that Sam obviously would.  But maybe she’d talked her mother down the day before — and maybe Sam didn’t think Kristina had anything to do with it.

But Dante had a look in his eye —

“Everything okay?” Kristina said, slowly approaching him. She shifted her coffee to the other hand so she could fish her keys from her coat pocket. “You look like hell.”

“Well, I got suspended, so we can start there.”

“Sus—” The keys fell to the ground with a plink of metal as she blinked at her brother with surprise. “What?”

“Yeah. Anna thinks I abused my authority to get Dex to cover up evidence.” Dante folded his arms. “So I’m under investigation until she can decide I’m clean.”

“I—” Kristina pressed her lips together. This was crazy! Everyone was getting in trouble — except for Elizabeth. What the hell was going on? “That’s stupid. Anna should know better—”

“She’s not the only one.” Dante lifted his brows. “Did you tell the feds about that night?”

“Are you kidding me?” Kristina rolled her eyes, then put her coffee on the hood of her car. “That’s so stupid. Why would I do that?”

“To help Sam get Danny back.”

“I—I didn’t have anything to do with it—”

“I don’t believe you,” Dante said flatly, and Kristina felt her heartbeat begin to pick up. He sounded so unshakeable. “You’re impulsive, Kristina. You don’t think—” He rapped his head with a fist. “You think — let me get rid of Elizabeth for Sam, but it doesn’t occur to you that there are consequences, that your one stupid little action ripples out to everyone else! Danny was in court yesterday, and now he thinks his mother has turned him in to the Feds for drinking and doing drugs—”

“Whose fault is it that he was there?” Kristina demanded. “That’s Jason, not giving a damn about anyone but  himself. This is exactly why Danny belongs with Sam! Jason and Drew are selfish bastards—”

“What about Rocco?” Dante demanded, and Kristina stopped, stared at him. “He’s in those reports, too. Did you even think about your other nephew? About me? About Aiden Webber? None of us asked for any of this.  We were all just trying to protect our sons — Elizabeth and Jason, too. Do you think Danny and Rocco having to testify and tell everyone Elizabeth never knew a damn thing — did you think that was a good idea?”

“I—” She licked her lips. “I didn’t do this—” But her protestation was weak. “I didn’t do this—”

“No one else knew,” Dante said. “No one else knew about Aiden and Elizabeth. Just you.”

“I—he was arrested. Dex knew—and Dex has betrayed you before—betrayed Dad—”

“Dex talked to Aiden that night. He knew Elizabeth and Aiden were clean. Why would he go after  her this way? He’d go to Anna directly. Someone wanted to hurt Elizabeth.” Dante stepped closer. “And that leaves two people in my book. Sam. And you.”

“I—” Kristina swallowed hard. “Sam was really angry—” She stopped when she saw Dante close his eyes, shake his head again. “She was—”

“All she’s done for you— all she’s sacrificed—and you’re going to stand here and blame her.” He shook his head. “Maybe you really thought this would help. Maybe you didn’t think past any of that. There’s part of me that really wants to believe that. But I can’t.”

“Dante, I didn’t do any of this—I didn’t,” Kristina insisted. “It’s not fair for you to accuse me with no evidence—”

“No evidence? Damn it, Kristina, no one else knew. Just the people involved, Dex and his partner, and you. The only question I have is—is getting Elizabeth away from Danny the only goal?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it, shook her head mutely. What was he insinuating? What could he possibly mean?  “I didn’t do this,” she said again.  “I didn’t—”

“You did. You know it, I know it, and pretty soon, everyone else will know it, too. And don’t think about going to Dad with this,” Dante said when Kristina stooped to pick up her keys. “He can’t save you. He won’t—”

“There’s nothing to save—” Kristina stopped, took a deep breath. “I did nothing wrong. Nothing wrong,” she repeated. “I don’t need Dad to fix things that aren’t broken. You’ll see. You’ll all see. Get away from the car, damn it. Go find out who really did this.”

Dante took a few steps back, said nothing else when Kristina got in her car, then backed out—the container of coffee left on the hood tipping over and going flying as she took off. He took out his phone, lifted to his ear. “She just left. Do you have her? Okay. I’m heading over to my father’s now.”

+35

Written in 55 minutes.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Port Charles Airport: Departures

Cameron turned to face his mother, his bag slung over his shoulder. “I told you Jason didn’t have to stay in the car. I’m not mad at him anymore.”

“He wanted to give us a little privacy.” Elizabeth brushed at an invisible piece of lint, forcing herself to smile. “I hate why you’re coming home so much, but I do love to see you. I like having all my boys at home.”

“I miss it sometimes,” Cameron admitted. “Even sharing with Jake—and don’t apologize for that. Danny needs his own space, and it’s not fair to move him when I’m in and out — and when I’m gonna get my own place when I get back in May,” he told his mother.

“I’ll just be happy to have you back in the same zip code.” Elizabeth lifted herself on her toes and kissed Cameron’s cheek, before hugging him tightly. “I love you, honey. So much.”

“I love you, too.” Cameron didn’t immediately release her, and she saved one more minute with her firstborn. It was so hard saying goodbye to him, even knowing it was temporary.

She watched until he checked in at the desk, then disappeared into the terminal. And then just one minute before leaving the terminal and sending Jason a text to stop circling the terminal and pick her up.

“Everything go okay?” he asked after she’d slid into her seat and buckled herself in. She sighed, leaned back.

“Yeah. I just wish it would stop raining. I hate the idea of them taking off in this weather—” She glanced up uneasily at the gray skies. “I’m not sure I remember what the sun looks like at this point.”

“He’ll be okay.” Jason reached over for her hand, squeezed it. “They won’t take off if it’s not safe.”

“I know.” But Elizabeth would be tracking the flight all the same, unable to rest until her baby boy wasn’t thousands of feet above them in the skies.

Port Charles High: Lobby

Danny hunched his shoulders, his fingers gripping the backpack tightly. “It’s like they all know,” he muttered, looking at the other students with narrowed eyes.

“No one knows anything.” Jake switched off his phone, shoved it back in his pocket. “Stay out of trouble, okay? And both of you -” He jabbed a finger at the school’s trophy case. “Wait right here after school for me.”

Without waiting for an answer, he headed down the senior hall way, and Aiden rolled his eyes. “They’re never going to let us take the bus again, are they?” he complained following Danny towards the freshman wing.

“Not in this life time.” Danny passed the bank of lockers where he’d usually find Rocco and forced himself to look away. Rocco was still suspended until the following Monday, and it was weird being here without him.

It would be even weirder when Rocco came back and was in a different first period class.

The warning bell for homeroom sounded, and Aiden jolted. “Oh man, Devers is gonna make my life miserable if I’m late again. See you at lunch.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

And Danny needed to haul ass too — he couldn’t get in trouble. Not again. There was too much on the line.

Quartermaine Estate: Parlor

“Man, did you  have to get suspended at the same time as me?” Rocco grumbled, flipping open a textbook on the coffee table and opening his school computer. “You’re not gonna sit there all day and watch me, are you?”

“Don’t tempt me,” Dante said with a scowl, then turned at the sound of footsteps. When he saw Chase in the foyer, he turned back to Rocco. “Stay here.”

Without waiting for Rocco’s agreement, Dante hurried to catch his partner. “Chase. Hey. Hey.”

“Oh—” Chase stopped, his hand on the door. “Hey. I was gonna try to set something up with you. We need to have a conversation.” He angled his head around to see Rocco watching the from the sofa. “Without an audience,” he said to Dante in a quieter tone.

“I figured. I guess you talked to Molly,” Dante said.

“Molly?” Chase furrowed his brow. “No, not since she recused herself. Why?”

“I just figured—” Dante stopped, turned to see Rocco at the entrance of the parlor. “Didn’t I tell you to stay there?”

“I am there.” The teen pointed down at the threshold, indicating that technically he was still in the other room. “You guys are acting like you’re talking government secrets. Is this about what Grandma and Ned were yelling about last night?”

“No—wait, what were they saying—” Dante held up a hand. “And why were you listening?”

“Dude, Canada could hear Grandma when she gets on a roll.” Rocco shrugged. “I guess someone is trying to blame Aunt Liz for what we did a few weeks ago or something, right?”

Dante grimaced. “No.”

“Yes,” Chase said, at the same time then winced when Dante sent him a dirty look. “He was there, Dante. And look — we’re trying to track the source — we got reason to believe that whoever tipped off Reynolds has a bigger role to play—”

“I don’t understand.”

“I can’t get into it,” Chase said with a shake of his head. “You know that, not the specifics. But we need to know who else knew all the details. You know, that Elizabeth and Aiden were involved.”

Dante hesitated. It would be so easy to turn this over to Chase, to just tell him about Kristina’s possible involvement. But he didn’t know for sure, did he? Talking about it with Molly was one thing — but bringing it to Chase was something else.

“Well, Aunt Kristina could probably help you.”

Dante whipped his head back to Rocco. “What?”

“Yeah,” Rocco said. “You were gonna pick her up, remember? That’s why me and Danny could just…get out without you checking with Aunt Liz. And she stayed over. I bet Aunt Kristina told someone. She sucks at secrets. Especially good ones.” He looked at Chase. “You should ask her.”

Dante exhaled slowly, then looked at Chase. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “You should probably check with Kristina.”

Miller & Davis: Spinelli’s Office

Diane paced the short length of the office, tapping a pen against her hand. “Sonny Corinthos finally grows a conscience and, of course, the information is unusable.”

“Not in a court of law—” Spinelli ignored Diane’s scoff. “But it closes out a hole in our theory, doesn’t it? Where does Kristina get an unregistered gun? ”

“The real question is why Sonny is handing this information over—” Diane pursed her lips. “Do we think he knows anything?”

“If he knew something, Kristina would already be out of the country,” Spinelli answered immediately. “He’s always regretted not doing more to keep Michael out of jail. If he thinks there’s a good chance you’ll win the case just on the merits—”

“And I will, but I’d rather not put everyone through a damn trial—” Diane nodded. “But I tend to agree with you. Maybe Sonny has a theory, but he doesn’t have any proof. Or maybe he really thinks one of his guys tried to do something and isn’t coming forward because it backfired.”

“Or maybe one of his guys is going after Jason for playing informant,” Spinelli said.

“None of which, again, I can do anything with.” Diane turned to face him, gestured at his desk. “You were expecting a data dump. Where are we?”

Spinelli sat down, flipped open his computer, tapped a few keys. “Car data came in raw, and I’ve already sent it to the analyst you want to use for trial. I’m gonna do my own run through and hope it matches something. I was hoping to find just the trunk pops, but it’s buried in all the data.”

“Can’t ever get a break, can we?” Diane made a face. “Security footage?”

“We got the neighbors on either side and one person across the street. I’m still waiting on two more neighbors to come through. Security company says by Friday, but I’ve got enough to start looking.” Spinelli looked at her.  “I already looked at the time stamps that match Kristina’s trip to Elizabeth’s, and all I have is her car. That doesn’t mean we won’t get more—”

“But it also just might mean she didn’t end up on tape. The neighbors we’re waiting on — any of them worth waiting for?”

“McCormick’s camera looks directly at the spot where Elizabeth’s car was parked that day, or at least where Elizabeth remembers it being parked.” Spinelli checked his notes. “He didn’t get back to his company right away, and it delayed the files a few days. Friday morning.”

“Well, let’s see if we can get those trunk pops. You make that your priority today. Jason and Elizabeth are coming by later today to talk about the bail hearing, and why don’t you let them go through the video? They’ll feel better doing something for a chance.”

“Are we ready to tell them about Kristina?” Spinelli wanted to know.

Diane stopped at the door, looked back at him, and hesitated, tapping her fingers against the door’s edge. “We find a trunk pop for the time she was at the house, yes. I think we tell them what we think is going on. But right now, it’s just theory. And I don’t know if I want to tell Jason that we suspect his son’s aunt, Sonny’s daughter, someone he’s protected for his whole life—well, once we put that thought in his head, I don’t know he puts it away. Let’s get something just a little more solid before we do that.”

Davis House: Front Entrance

Alexis sighed, stepped back to allow Sam entrance. “If you’re here to ask me to fix this for you—”

Sam scowled, whirled around to face her mother. “No, there’s no point in wasting my breath. No one is going to just believe me — not you, Dante, Jason, and probably not Danny. You all think I’m Satan—”

“Sam—”

“Don’t—” Sam pointed at her mother. “The only way to fix this is to find out who the hell did this because it was not me. I had nothing to do with it.”

Alexis didn’t speak for a moment, then nodded. “All right. I had a theory that perhaps Kristina pushed you into this because I know she’s been very supportive of you —”

“You make that sound like a crime. Kristina’s just listened to me, okay? Maybe she gave me bad advice—” Sam held up both hands. “I’m not getting sidetracked, okay? I think you’re on to something with Kristina. Because she was being supportive. And she definitely…well, she was encouraging me to attack Elizabeth in my therapy session. I can believe she might think getting Elizabeth out of the picture might have made a difference. I just don’t understand how she’d know to do—” Sam stopped. “Mom, why do you have that look on your face? What did you do?”

“I might have…in passing…mentioned that Diane was concerned about Elizabeth’s bail,” Alexis said with a wince, and Sam’s scowl deepened. “Well, I’m sorry! I never thought she’d do something like this! This hurts Danny—”

“Oh, but it’s absolutely something I would do, right, Mom?” Sam demanded. “Do you even know how insulting you sound right now?”

Alexis pressed her lips together. “You have been known to become so angry at Elizabeth that you were unable to hear your son in the same room begging you to stop. Let’s not pretend that you’re innocent in this situation, Sam. If Danny  believes you did this, it’s because you have made it very clear to him that what he wants doesn’t matter if it involves Elizabeth. And that is the same message Kristina obviously received if she had anything to do with this. Why do you think it was her in the first place?”

“We’re going to ignore everything else because I can’t—I can’t deal with that right now.  Because I have to find my idiot sister and make sure she didn’t do this — and if she did, then I have to get her to confess to about a thousand people so I can get my son back in my life. I do not have time to litigate my issues with you.”

“Well, you had better find the time, Sam, because maybe it’s natural for your ex-husband to think you did this first, but your current boyfriend, your mother, and your son also thought you were the most natural suspect. That’s not thing something you can overlook.”

Sam jerked the door open and threw her mother one last furious look. “No, it’s not. But believe me, we’ll deal with that after I clear my name.”

+41

Was hoping to cover more ground in this update, but the first scene took me a little bit to get right. Written in 59 minutes. See you Tuesday!

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Webber House: Master Bedroom

The light patter of raindrops was her first conscious thought as Elizabeth woke the next morning. The bedroom was still dark and quiet, and she considered just letting herself drift back into sleep, curled up next to Jason who continued to sleep — one of the rare times he wasn’t already awake.

She closed her eyes, absorbing the comfort of being wrapped up with the man she’d loved since she was eighteen, sometimes with her whole heart, and others with only a piece reserved for him. Last night had felt like some sort of break through, even more than their argument the previous day when she’d learned Jason had considered confessing to free Elizabeth from the charges. She finally felt like they were both committed to being together — not just as parents, but as two people who loved one another.

Jason’s breathing changed, and he shifted in bed, his arm that had been laying beneath her, splayed out along the mattress came up, curling over her shoulders, his fingertips stroking slowly. “You should sleep longer.”

“Thought about it,” she said, keeping her head tucked into the curve of his neck. “But my mind is awake now. Remembering what we have to do today.” Make sure Danny got back to school, put Cameron on a plane, go to work for a few hours because the nursing schedule needed to be handled and then — “Spinelli kept saying today was important, and I just…what if he finds something that gives us a real suspect — what if he finds out who put that gun in my trunk?”

“There’s no guarantee it’ll happen today,” Jason said, his tone cautious. “He said there was a lot of data and video to go through.”

“I know. I know. And he’s working as fast as he can. Just…the thought that the truth is in some file that’s just sitting in an office. That there’s proof someone did this to me. I’ve tried so hard not to think about it, to keep it this academic fact that doesn’t mean anything except making it over.”

“But?” he prompted when she fell silent.

“I can’t stop thinking that it’s someone we know. That knows me. Knows us.” Elizabeth sat up,  bracing herself with a hand lightly on his chest, finding his gaze in the shadows. “I keep going over and over that week in my head, thinking about everyone I came into contact with, who was at the house, who was at the hospital, and I just—I can’t think of a single reason any of them would have targeted me.”

Jason leaned over, switched on the lamp next to the bed, illuminating the room with just a little bit of light. “I don’t think anyone seriously thought the FBI would go after you like this,” he said. “This was to get at me—”

“So that you’d confess and the cops wouldn’t keep looking. I know. I know. But then it’s someone who knows you—”

“But not well enough to know you. Not really. Yes, I considered turning myself in,” Jason said, and she made a face. “But I didn’t. Because I didn’t want to, and because I’m not guilty. And you would never have let me go through with it. Because we’re both innocent. This isn’t like Michael. I confessed to something I did, and it was a loophole that got me out after his release.”

“I just—there’s the fear that we’ll know the truth from what Spinelli gets today — and then a whole other fear that we won’t. That it’s data and footage, and somehow, it won’t have any answers. That Diane will have to go trial with what we know now.” She sighed, swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Maybe I should tell her to do whatever she can to delay things. Until we get something—”

“Let’s get through today,” Jason interrupted. He slid across the bed so that he could be on her side, then sat next to her, pulling her against him. He kissed her temple. “We’ll get through today, and tomorrow, and the next day. Let Spinelli work.”

“I know. I’m just…” She sighed, relaxed against him, feeling comforted by his warmth and arms around her. “We finally have this. But I’m so afraid it’ll be like it always is. We’re strong, you and me, when it’s just us, in this warm little bubble where everything is perfect. And the rest of the world—”

“Not this time,” Jason promised. “This time will be different.”

“I almost believe it when you say it.” She smiled at him, touched his cheek, kissed him, then touched her forehead to his. “I might need you to say it a few more times.”

“Whenever you need it. I love you,” he murmured, and her smile deepened.

“You know, you didn’t say that before last night,” Elizabeth said, tilting her head back slightly so that their eyes could meet. “Neither did I. Strange, isn’t it? But I love you, too.”

He kissed her again, long, lingering, then sighed when they heard a shower switch on above their heads.

“Back to real life,” Elizabeth said with a shake of her head. She slid off the bed and moved towards the master bathroom door on the other side of the room.

“Don’t worry,” Jason said when she’d reached it, and she turned to look back at him. He tapped his temple. “I’ll remember where we left off.” She grinned, then closed the door.

Webber House: Kitchen

Danny’s palms were sweating as he approached the kitchen where he could hear his dad and Elizabeth talking quietly — happy tones, he thought, and wondered if it that’s what it meant to be an adult — being able to be happy even when the world sucked.

He reached the doorway, then nearly doubled back when he caught his dad leaning down to kiss Elizabeth in front of the fridge, and she was laughing. But before he could make a decision, Elizabeth saw him. “Danny. Hey, you’re up early.”

Jason stepped back, reached for his coffee cup. “You’re usually the last one down.”

“Yeah, well, I wanted to, um, talk to you before everyone else. And I know you gotta leave to take Cam—” Danny shoved both hands in his pockets. “We were up talking last night before you got back. About what you said about being normal and just ignoring all of it.” He took a deep breath. “And we decided it was bullshit.” He winced. “I mean—um—”

“It’s wishful thinking,” Elizabeth supplied, with a smile he thought looked a little like a smirk. “A nicer way of saying bullshit,” she added, and he found himself smiling back at her. “And you’re right. We can’t be normal or ignore it.”

“But you’re still going to school and so is Jake and Aiden,” Jason said. “And Cameron’s getting on that plane. Whatever you guys decided—”

“No, that’s not—I mean, yeah, all of that is happening. It has to. I get that part. You need us to be doing all the right stuff for the court,” Danny said. “Cameron explained that to us — that we gotta prove that we’re better with you here. Not in jail. So we have to do the right stuff. And if they wanna use me to make you go back—”

“They’re not using you,” Elizabeth interrupted, then winced. “I’m sorry—I just—I can’t let you blame yourself for any of this, Danny. This isn’t your fault—”

“I was stupid and selfish, and I dragged Aiden into it—” Danny pressed his lips together. “But I gotta prove to the court that I’m doing better or that I’m trying to, so we talked about it, and me and Aiden wanna tell the judge everything. About you not knowing anything, and how you were both so mad at us, and that you’re the one who found me a doctor,” he told Elizabeth, “and that you’re the one that made Mom let me go,” he said to his father. “And that I never even saw you that night. Or any other night we were supposed to be with you. I wanna tell them so they know this isn’t your fault.” He barely made to the end of his prepared speech before his voice broke and he lifted his chin because maybe then he wouldn’t cry.

Jason came around the counter, crossing the kitchen to Danny’s side, and put a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. You’re okay.” Danny thought about pulling away, but didn’t when his dad pulled him into a half hug, rubbed his shoulder.

“We talked about that before we came home from Syracuse. With Diane, and then we discussed it,” Elizabeth said. She came towards them, but stopped a few feet away. “Yes, there’s a chance you or Aiden might have to talk to the judge. We don’t want to lie to you about that. But your dad and I told Diane to find any other way to keep that from happening. To see if maybe Dante or Dex or someone else can tell the judge what happened.”

“I can do it, though. I’m not a baby you have to protect—”

“You’re my son,” Jason said, and Danny felt something turn in his stomach. “I don’t care if you’re fifty or two months old, I am always going to protect you. I don’t think that the best thing for you is to get up on the stand and let some prosecutor or judge question you about what happened. It’s none of their business.”

“Mom—Mom made it their business—”

“Even if that’s true, that doesn’t mean we have to cooperate,” Elizabeth cut in. “I don’t want Aiden involved either. We don’t want any of this to touch you more than it already has. I’ve testified more than once—and your dad—”

“I’ve spent more time in a court room than I want,” Jason said. “Neither of us want that for any of you. To make you part of the system. You’d be admitting to crimes, Danny. Under oath. Drinking, smoking weed — you put that on the record, and someone can use it against you.” He hesitated. “You’re my son, Danny, and you’ve got my last name. That’s two strikes against you before you even walk out the door—you saw what happened with the FBI. They assumed you were lying, that you and Jake were protecting me. They went after you both once. I’m not in a hurry to let it happen again.”

“I—” Danny closed his mouth. “I didn’t think about that,” he muttered, dropping his gaze. “That really sucked.” He nodded. “And now Aiden’s connected to you, and he’s Elizabeth’s son, and they all think she’s lying to protect you, too. Okay. So you don’t want me to testify. But I’m ready. If you need me.”

“That means a lot to me,” Elizabeth told him. “But don’t think for one minute that there’s a single ounce of blame on you for any of this. You were a stupid teenager, Danny. You did something irresponsible, and so did Aiden. You have every right—” Her voice broke slightly, and Danny felt his dad’s arm around him tense. “You have every right to make those mistakes and not have to pay for it the rest of your lives. No one has any right to hurt you.”

“Elizabeth?” Danny said, when she had turn away, and his dad went to her, took her by the elbows. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“It’s not you, it’s not—” Elizabeth closed her eyes, shook her head slightly. “I wasn’t that much older than either of you, and I did something stupid one night, and it—something terrible happened because of it. I blamed myself for a long time.” She looked at Danny. “This isn’t your fault, Danny. And any one who tries to blame you or Aiden or even Rocco — they’re wrong. No one is going to use you or any of my boys to hurt me. I won’t let it happen. I appreciate your offer to testify, but believe me, it will only happen if we have no other choice.”

+42

Written in 59 minutes.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Vista Point: Parking Lot

“I don’t—” Jason stopped, cleared his throat. “I never hated you for any of that—”

“Well, then you’re a better person than me.” Elizabeth leaned her head back against the seat, closed her eyes, rain still dripping from her hair, sliding down past her ears to the collar of her shirt. “Because I hated you for Courtney. For Sam. Not for long, but I won’t pretend I wasn’t jealous or that I didn’t wish you were a little unhappy because of it.” She sighed, a little unsteadily. “But I let it go. I moved past it. Yes, it hurt when you and Sam got back together, when you—” She pressed her lips together. “I wondered what was wrong with me—”

“Nothing—” Jason interrupted immediately and she smiled, looked at him, saw the worry in his eyes. She reached out, touched his cheek.

“I believe that now. I think we both made mistakes and made choices that hurt each other. Unthinkable choices, maybe, but they made sense when we made them, didn’t they? You try to stop, to explain them—” She furrowed her brow, looked out the windshield, letting her hand fall back to her lap. “And it’s like watching a horror movie, screaming at the stupid girl — don’t run up the steps, don’t look back, don’t open that door — but God, in the moment, she’s so afraid — she can’t think. She can’t do anything but feel and react to what’s in front of her.”  She looked at him again. “You don’t watch movies, but think about Carly making all her mistakes, doing everything you told her not to — and understanding that for her, it was the only way she knew how to live. And you accept that about her. You forgive her. You forgave me. Let me forgive you, Jason. Or this never works.”

“I—” Jason hesitated. There was an internal logic that appealed to him — because of course, he’d forgiven Carly so many sins over the years, hadn’t he? “I want to, but—I don’t know.”

“I stopped hating myself for Zander when Cameron was born, you know? I will always regret hurting you, and doubting that we were moving towards something, but if I don’t have that night with him then, then he and I don’t have a history where we create that perfect little boy. Imagine my life without Cameron —” Her smile came back again. “I forgave myself for lying to you about Jake after he came home. Because Lucky doesn’t bring him back if he doesn’t have some sense of paternal responsibility towards him.  I know there are problems with that logic — he never gets kidnapped if Helena doesn’t think Jake is a Spencer, and maybe — maybe Cameron’s your son if we don’t screw things up—”

“But I get it,” Jason said, and she looked at him. “I get it. If I don’t forgive Sam, there’s no Danny. Maybe you and I could have made it work, and we’d have more kids —”

“But they’d never be the boys we have now, would they? Imagine our lives without them? I don’t want to. So I have to forgive myself, Jason. And I have to forgive you. Because all those choices brought us here, didn’t they? You told me once that you didn’t believe in regrets. That you lived with the choices that you made and moved forward.” She reached for his hand, held it between both of hers. “You let yourself forget that, I think, when the choices piled up, and you didn’t like where you were. Let me forgive you,” she repeated, “and then forgive yourself. You did the best you could at the time, and second-guessing choices you made a life time ago is only going to make you—and me—unhappy. You don’t understand why I could love you then, but I did. And I love you now. For the man you are, the man you were, and the one you’re still trying to be. I love all those pieces of you, Jason.”

He looked at his hand, at her fingers curled around his palm, her skin as soft as ever but showing some light signs of age—just the faintest of wrinkles around her knuckles. The only evidence really that she’d changed from the girl he’d met in a bar all those years ago. “I am never going to stop regretting that we’d had more time,” he told her finally, lifting his gaze to hers. “Or wishing I spent more time with Jake and Danny. There are some regrets I can’t let go of. But you’re right. If we keep going around in circles, if I keep doubting that you could really love me, then I’m only going to have more of them. I came home and I knew that I wasn’t going back to the life I’d had before. That I’d left my sons for the last time, and that I’d spent the rest of my life making up for it if they’d let me.”

He brought one of her hands to his mouth, kissed her knuckles, then found the words to continue. “I came home,” he repeated, “and I didn’t know there’d be another chance for us. I thought I’d let go of that a long time ago. That I was okay with just being friends and parents. But you looked at me that first day, and I don’t know. I just remembered the way I felt with you when we first met, when I would run into you on the docks, and it was always the best part of my day. I started going to Kelly’s more just so I could see you,” he confessed, and Elizabeth bit her lip, trying to hide a smile. “I felt safe with you. Then. And now. Even before you dragged me out of the snow and forced me to keep living. I thought the best way to love you, to love our son, was to be away from you. To stop the world I’d chosen from touching you. I wanted to keep you smiling, and I didn’t think I could do that. I thought that it was enough for me that you were in the world, alive and safe. But it’s not.”

He shook his head. “It’s not. The last few weeks — living with you, actually getting to have that dream we’d only talked about, it’s everything. Tonight, I remembered all the reasons I didn’t think you could love me forever, and I almost let it ruin it. I want to promise that I won’t let it happen again, but I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. But I promise that I will love you for the rest of our lives, if you’ll let me.”

“We’re okay,” she murmured. She leaned forward, brushed her mouth against his,  and he held her close, deepening the embrace. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Webber House: Danny’s Room

Jake twisted the paperclip into the lock, then released a breath of relief when he heard the tumbler in the lock click and the knob twisted easily. Never fails, he thought, opening the door to find his brother stretched out on the bed.

“Go away,” Danny said dully, but didn’t stop staring at the ceiling or move an inch.

Jake slid the paperclip in his pocket, then went to lay next to Danny, folding his hands beneath his head and staring up at the same ceiling. “I’ll say my piece, and then if you want me to go, I’ll give you the paperclip and tell you how to block it next time.”

“Fine. Get it over with.”

“I was pissed at you,” Jake said. “For making today about you. For making what my mother’s going through about you.” His stomach rolled. “I’m still sort of ticked off about it, but I’ve calmed down.”

“Great. Go away.”

“I used to be jealous of you because you got to live with Dad every day for a while when he and your mom were together. That you got to have that, even for a few months. I hated him and you for it.” Jake hesitated. “You and I had different relationships with Dad, and then he was gone. And we were finally in the same place. I felt guilty. I thought maybe it was my fault somehow, because I’d wanted you to have less time with him.”

“That’s stupid.”

Jake decided to take it as a sign of encouragement that he didn’t get told to get out again. “Yeah, well, I was your age at the time, and you know how dumb you are. Anyway. We got him back, and I hated you again for not hating him for leaving us—”

“Is there a point to this or are you just gonna keep telling me how much you  hate me?”

“I was jealous of how much time you got to be with Dad, and I thought it was because he loved you more,” Jake admitted, feeling his muscles tense from the confession. He felt the bed shift as Danny sat up.

“That’s stupid,” Danny repeated. “Dad doesn’t love me more. He hates my mom, he probably wishes I’d never been born. It’s so obvious, dickhead. He loves your mom, and you’re the one he wanted—”

“If Dad didn’t want you, you wouldn’t be here right now,” Jake said, sitting up. “Do you think taking on a custody battle while my mom is being accused of murdering an FBI agent is something he wants to do?”

“No—”

“Anyway. My point to all this was Dad’s screwed up with both of us, and we’ve both had reasons to be disappointed in him, so we’ve got that going for us. But I don’t think Dad did any of this to hurt us. You know? Leaving the way he did. He’s an idiot for that, but I think he thought we’d be okay without him. And my mom — she’s been an idiot, too. About a lot of things. Dating stupid men, making dumbass decisions to help my uncle Nikolas — but nothing she’s ever done was to hurt me. So when I get mad at you for how you acted to day, I forgot what we were talking about. What your mom did.”

Danny’s eyes glittered and he looked away. “So what?”

“It sucks that she went after my mom like this, and that she used you to do it. I’m sorry. I’ve never liked her for a lot of reasons, but screwing with you like this — it sucks. You don’t have to talk about it, because she’s still your mom, so I know it’s weird and complicated. But I just—I don’t know. I wanted you to know you’re not alone. That even if you pissed me off today, you’re my brother, and I love you.”

Danny exhaled slowly, then looked at his brother. “I love my mother,” he said slowly. “But I think I hate her, too. Is this how you felt with Dad last summer?”

“Yeah. A little, I guess.”

Danny scrubbed his hands through his hair. “But you’re right to be pissed about me making this about me. I want to fix it. I want to help make sure my mom can’t get what she wants — that I’m not the reason your mom’s bail gets revoked. I just don’t know what to do.”

“And that’s why I’m here. Come on. Let’s go talk to Cam. We’ve got some ideas.”

+34

Written in 63 minutes.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Vista Point: Parking Lot

Jason was already wrestling with the catch on his seatbelt before Elizabeth’s door had slammed shut, and he almost fell out of his side, slipping on the soaked gravel lot. Why the hell had he pushed her—why hadn’t he just told her what happened and let the whole damn thing die—

By the time he’d got around the side of the SUV, a crack of lightning illuminated the parking lot and he caught sight of her on the steps to the observatory deck. What was her plan? Or maybe she was too upset to even think of one—

He found her at the guardrails, her back to him, her fingers gripping the top railing, long since chipped and flaked from disrepair and disuse, the rain pounding around them, her hood had fallen off and her hair was plastered against her skull and neck. She was just barely visible in the one light post that still worked.

“I’m sorry—” He lifted his voice to be heard over the sluicing drops, slapping into his skin, dripping beneath the collar of his coat, soaking his clothes beneath the open sides. “Elizabeth—”

“For what?” Elizabeth demanded, whirling around, the tips of her hair whipping along with her. “For what? Do you even know?”

“I—” He stepped towards her, wanting to cut the distance, wanting to just touch her, feeling sure if that if he could that, if he could just hold her, this would somehow go away or he would find the words to explain in the explicable—

“You’re sorry I’m upset, okay, fine. Fine. You’re sorry you dragged me out of the house—” Another slap of thunder interrupted her, and she closed her eyes, shook her head. “I don’t want to do this. We aren’t doing this—”

She started past him, and he caught her arm, holding on when she would have shaken him off, careful to keep his grip gentle but firm. Maybe there were no words. No magical phrases that would extricate him from a mess he’d created long ago —

Nothing other than the truth.

“You deserve better.”

She turned more to face him and then stunned him by swinging out with her other hand curled in a fist, arcing towards his face. He caught it, wrapping his hand around her wrist, bringing both her hands to his chest. “You deserve better—” he tried again.

“Stop! Stop! Stop making excuses! You’ve been using that line since I was eighteen goddamn years old and you were too damn afraid to let me make my own choices!” Elizabeth cried. She yanked back and he released his grip on her hands. “You didn’t want me enough, you never want me when there’s another option—”

“That’s not—” Jason scowled when she just shook her head and darted back towards the parking lot. He’d left the SUV running, and he wasn’t entirely sure she wouldn’t just take off without him.

He caught up with her halfway between the parking lot and the SUV but kept going until he overtook her and was able to get in front to stop her. “Why do you ask questions you don’t want the answer to?”

“Because I’m a goddamn idiot—” Elizabeth stopped, slid her hands over her rain slicked hair. “Fine. Fine, tell me about how I deserve better for the one thousandth time in our lives, and how that somehow explains why that means I end up raising our son alone and Sam gets to share your name, home, bed, money, everything and somehow its because I’m just too damn good for you—”

“She’s what I deserve.”

Elizabeth stared at him, another lightning crack flashing the bewilderment in her expression. “What?”

“You deserve better than me. I’ve always known that, but I can’t—” He stopped, then forced himself to continue. “But I can’t stop wanting that to be wrong. Can’t stop wanting you. Wanting that life we almost had, that we could have had if I’d been a better man. So I went out and found someone I thought I deserved. Someone who wasn’t any damn better than me. Sam was what I deserved.”

“That—” Elizabeth shook her head. “What are you saying? Because of Sam’s past, she somehow gets the life that I begged you for? What kind of bullshit answer is that? Why can’t you just tell me the damned truth? Okay, just tell me! Tell me you loved her more, I can take it—”

“I’m not going to lie to you,” Jason bit out. “Even if it’s what you want to hear. You wanted the truth, I’m giving it to you. I don’t deserve you.” He held out his hands. “I’ve killed people with my bare hands, damn it! I’ve taken lives, and you’ve spent your life saving them! You’ve been back in my life for six months and you’re on trial for murdering a fucking an FBI agent because of me—”

“Don’t—” She stabbed a finger at him. “Don’t you dare act like I don’t know exactly who you are. Do you know how stupid you make me feel when you act like this?”

“You’re not stupid—”

“You did this to me once before. You demanded to know why I loved you, why I wanted to be with you, and I am so sick of having to justify my choices, my feelings—” The words were ragged, dragged from somewhere deep, and even if he couldn’t see the tears on her cheeks, he could hear them. “You don’t think you’re good enough for me. And apparently, you wanted some as dirty as you think you are. Great. Glad we figured that out—” Elizabeth held out her hands. “You know what? This was a mistake. You’re right. I do deserve better than someone who thinks I don’t know my own mind, that I can’t possibly love him. I am done having this conversation. Done. You don’t think you deserve love, and there’s a part of you that doesn’t respect me for trying to giving it to you anyway—”

Stunned, Jason couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, and she took that chance to whip open the passenger, but he recovered in time to catch the door before she could get it wide enough. “You think I don’t respect you?” he managed. “Is that—is that what you really think?”

“What do you expect me to think?” Elizabeth asked, turning to him, close enough now so that he could see the tears shimmering in her eyes. “You throw my love in my face every chance you get. Don’t you get that? Every time you tell me I deserve better, you tell me you don’t respect my ability to make my own choices. I know what you’ve done, Jason. I know who you are. You’re the only one who can’t seem to handle that fact. I’ve stood by you with gunshots, bomb threats, kidnappings—I have never flinched. Not first. That’s always been you.”

He released the door and put a hand at the nape of her neck tugging her forward, the pad of his thumb sweeping across her jawline. “I know that—”

“Do you?” she demanded. “Because it doesn’t feel like it from here. We’re fine one minute, and then you go see your ex-wife, and now all of a sudden, you don’t deserve me and she’s the filth you do deserve, and I just don’t understand how we always end up back here—”

He cut her off, dragging her against him roughly, covering his mouth with his, her lips cold beneath his, but as sweet and addictive as they’d been the first time he’d finally managed to taste them all those years ago, when he’d cursed himself for ever hesitating in the first place.

Thunder rolled, and lightning cracked again, and he finally released her, leaning his forehead against hers. “I do love you. I hate that you don’t believe me—”

“Love isn’t the problem, though, is it?” she sighed, then kissed him lightly, sliding her fingers through his short, damp hair. “You just don’t want to let me love you. All these years, and you still don’t trust that I can know every inch of who you are and love you anyway.”

“I want to—” Jason exhaled slowly, then stepped back, letting the door fall open more. “Get in. We’re going to drown out here, and I don’t want to scream at you just so you can hear me.”

She bit her lip, then nodded, and turned, jolting slightly when he boosted her slightly to help her up into the SUV faster.

When he was back in the driver’s side and had switched on the heater, he somehow had found the words he’d needed so desperately earlier. “Sam was already angry when I got there, already on the offensive. I guess she’d talked to Alexis, and she knew Danny was with us today.” He stared straight ahead. “She started in on the greatest hits — I’ve spent more time raising Carly’s kids, that the only way to hurt me is to use someone else since I don’t care about myself —” He looked at Elizabeth. “And before I know it, we’re talking about that summer.”

“Jason—”

“I think—I think I knew that you’d asked her to use that show to look for Jake.” Jason stopped,  took a breath. “When she mentioned it, I didn’t remember because it hadn’t seemed important. Or maybe I didn’t know. I don’t know. But I didn’t realize she’d refused.”

Elizabeth’s lips thinned, pressed into an unhappy line. “I don’t know if we need to re-litigate it—”

“You wanted to know why it was fine one minute, and now we’re back having this conversation,” Jason said, and Elizabeth sighed, nodded. “Because you knew she’d refused. You knew she’d come to your house and, I don’t know, did she try to make you think Jake was dead?”

“I—” Elizabeth’s breath was shaky when she spoke again. “I think so. At the time, I just thought she was drunk, and angry about us, about Jake, and I didn’t think about it again. Not even after you told me what she’d known. What she’d let happen. I guess now — going back — it gives it all another texture, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. And you knew all of that. You knew that when she and I — you knew that. And you still—”

“You told me she had changed, and I believed you,” Elizabeth said slowly. “And up until these last few months, Jason, I had mostly believed it, too. Plus,” her lips curved in a humorless smile. “We both know I tried my hand at revenge—”

“Less than a day, you held that truth back about Danny. No one knows that but me,” Jason told her, and she closed her eyes. “You came clean. You told me yourself, even though you knew what might happen. Don’t think that doesn’t make a difference, Elizabeth. You and Sam — that’s not a comparison.”

“So she takes you on a journey of the greatest hits, and we’re arguing up at Vista Point—”

“Because the same reason you’re angry with me — it’s the same anger I have. The same disgust. The life I wanted with you — with the boys — I gave it to her, and I don’t have a good reason. I don’t have the words I need to make you understand, because I don’t understand it either.” He met her gaze. “I looked at her tonight, and I saw the woman I’d chose instead of you, and I hated myself. So maybe it’s hard to understand why you don’t hate me, too.”

Elizabeth bit her lip, looked down at her fingers, at nails that she’d bit down to the quick over the last few weeks, he realized.

“Once upon a time, you offered me the world, and I looked at you, and I told you I didn’t want it. I wanted to be with Lucky.” She looked at him, a ghost of a smile curving her lips. “And then I kissed you in my studio, and turned around and slept with Zander. I looked you in the face and told you my face wouldn’t change, and then I left anyway. I forgave and married Ric after he locked Carly in a panic room. I asked you, on the day you buried your father, to let Lucky raise your son. And then, on the days after you buried your sister, I asked you to let the secret continue.  I married Franco, the man who tormented you and Sam for years. I don’t know, Jason. Should you hate me for all those things, too? Or are you the only person who makes life-altering mistakes?”

+38

THIS WAS NOT WHERE THIS PART WAS SUPPOSED TO END OR WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN.

but i have to stop. i ran out of time. went over it in fact, so ugh. Written in 70 minutes see you tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Kristina’s Apartment: Living Room

Kristina stepped back from the door, a bit warily. “Mom? Did I know you were coming over?” She glanced behind her at the remains of her dinner on the coffee table, some laundry strewn across an armchair, and just the general chaos.

“No. No. This was—this was an impulse—” Alexis strode past her daughter, dropping her briefcase on an armchair, then whirling to face Kristina, her hands raised. “I know you’ve been trying to be supportive of your sister—of Sam,” she added when Kristina made a face. “Is there a chance that your support has been more…” Alexis paused, her hands hands frozen in mid outstretch as she tried to articulate whatever was in her hand. “More vociferously agreeable than it should have been?”

Mystified, Kristina closed the door. “I’m lost. Vociferously—” She squinted. “Agreeable? As opposed to what? And what does that even mean?”

“I don’t know.” Alexis put her head in her hands. “I don’t know. I just know that Sam’s crossed a line, and I’m trying to go back in time to understand how this happened. Sam told me yesterday you’ve been supportive. What kind of support would you say you’ve offered?”

“This—what kind of question is that?” Kristina edged around her mother, and started to gather the laundry on the other chair, shoving it into a nearby basket. “I’ve been doing what you and Molly and Dante apparently can’t. Listening. Not telling her she’s an awful person—”

“Okay, see, that’s—” Alexis stabbed a finger at her. “That’s where I think there’s a disconnect here. Because we’ve all been listening to Sam. But only one of us is doing some kind of girl boss nonsense—”

“Mom.” Kristina rolled her eyes. “Stop trying to talk around it or, like, trying not to offend me. What do you think I encouraged Sam to do?”

“Well, I know for a fact you thought she should go to her appointment yesterday and defend herself. We could start there.”

“Why—why is that a bad thing? You know, I see where Molly gets it now.” Kristina lifted the basket, carried it her bedroom, and tossed it on the floor. Returning to the living room, she planted a hand on her hip. “Sam might not have handled everything with the Molly Lansing-Davis Seal of Approval, but she’s doing the best she can. Okay? And it doesn’t help that she’s got Elizabeth Webber prancing around like she’s some kind of Mother Theresa—or actually—you know what—she’s exactly like Mother Theresa. Pretending to be perfect and a bitch behind the scenes.”

Alexis opened her mouth, then closed it, her expression sour. “I don’t even know what to do with that statement, Kristina. Elizabeth isn’t—Okay, so did you maybe mention the conversation you and I had on Sunday? About Elizabeth’s bail?”

“We—” Kristina stopped, looked at her mother, her heart pounding just ever so slightly. “Conversation?”

“When I told you they were worried that the government was going to attack Elizabeth’s bail. Don’t play stupid with me, Kristina. We were standing right here discussing it. And you spent the day with Sam. The same day the feds learned about Danny and Rocco’s arrest. Did you tell your sister to mess with Elizabeth’s bail?”

“I—” Kristina couldn’t do anything other than stare in disbelief. “How—why do you think Sam did that? Wait, did something happen to Elizabeth’s bail?” Had it actually worked?

“No. Not yet. But it’s set for a hearing—” Alexis shook her head. “And no one else could have done it.”

“What do you mean? Everyone knew Danny was arrested for drinking. Both of them,” Kristina added. “That was—I mean, everyone knows it—”

“Not everyone knows about the arrest on Elizabeth’s property. No one that would use it against Elizabeth. Don’t defend your sister, Kristina—”

“I’m not—” Kristina stopped. They were blaming Sam. That was a lucky break, she thought, pressing a fist against her chest. She hadn’t realized how limited the knowledge was — but unfortunately her sister was the perfect suspect. Guilt churned in her abdomen. But if they suspected Sam — “They’re blaming Sam? You’re blaming her, too?”

“Well, who else would be stupid enough to do something like this without thinking about the harm it would do to Danny?” Alexis shook her head. “Diane’s trying every trick in the book to keep Danny and Rocco from having to testify, even in a closed hearing, but—”

“Whoa, whoa—” Kristina held up her hands. “What do you mean, testify? Why would they have to testify? Can’t Dante or Sam or Elizabeth—”

“Well, they can, and believe me, no one wants those boys dragged into this, but what’s the alternative? Letting Elizabeth rot in jail?” Alexis picked up her bag. “I’m not blaming you, Kristina, if you talked to her about the bail situation. I’m sure you just wanted to give her something to, God help us, look forward to. Something to cheer her up—”

“I didn’t tell her about the conversation. I didn’t even think about it—” Or she hadn’t longer than it had taken to send a quick spoofed email about the arrest. “What did she say when you asked her about it?”

“Denied it, of course. But what is she going to do? Admit that she willingly threw her son under the bus? God, this is going to destroy any chance we had of getting her case moved up. Why can’t just one of you think before you do something?” Alexis jerked the door open, looked at Kristina. “Do me a favor. Stop trying to help your sister. It’s just encouraging her—in fact—stay away from her.”

Oh, that wouldn’t be a problem, Kristina thought, locking the door behind her mother, then leaning against it. If everyone was blaming Sam, how long it would take Sam — or Dante — to remember that conversation over breakfast?

She needed a story. And fast.

Webber House: Kitchen

Jason stepped into the kitchen, frowning slightly when Elizabeth straightened up, the dishwasher clicking shut. “One of the boys should be doing that—”

“I don’t mind.” She dried her hands with a dish towel, smiling when he came behind the counter, kissed her lightly. “Danny still not up to talk?”

“No. I’m not sure what I’d say to him even if he did.” Jason stopped, looked towards the living room, frowning when Aiden’s head dropped below the edge of the sofa, but Jake on the armchair wasn’t even pretending not to be listening. “Can we—”

“If you want to talk about picking up dinner,” Elizabeth said, raising her brows meaningfully, “we may want to wait until we go to Diane’s office tomorrow. Even my bedroom has heating vents.”

“Heating vents—” Jason nodded, understanding. He rubbed his chest, considering waiting overnight to have this conversation. “We could—we could leave them alone, though. Right? Go out somewhere.”

“Really?” Elizabeth studied him for a moment, and maybe it was too much to ask after how long the day had been, considering it had included two long car drives and a hearing. But her curiosity won out. “We could do that. Have to be a covered vehicle,” she said with a sad sigh. “I can’t wait until it stops raining.”

“You and me both,” Jason muttered, following her towards the living. He could use a fast drive in the dark, whipping around the corners, letting everything go. Once he might have done it anyway, despite the steady pounding of the rain. The added danger of turns on slick back roads would have been all he’d needed.

But he’d never do that with Elizabeth on the bike, and now — he was all too aware that he was a father with a responsibility to come at night. He’d spent too many years throwing that away. He’d have to find another outlet for the adrenaline rush.

“Your dad and I are going for a drive,” Elizabeth said, picking up her purse and checking it for her house keys. “Jake—”

Jake grimaced, climbing to his feet. “You don’t have to go out to talk, you know. I’ll keep them away from the vents—”

“Yeah, but who’s going to keep you from listening?” Cameron wanted to know. He snagged the game controller from Aiden. “I’ll get the babies in bed, Mom. You and Jason are good.”

Elizabeth just rolled her eyes, shrugged into the coat Jason was sliding over her shoulders. “Don’t stay up late. You have an early flight,” she reminded Cameron, then turned to Jason. “Let’s go.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam paced the short space between the end of the sofa and the fireplace, rerunning the day through her mind — irritated with herself for losing her temper at every turn. Her mother, that was fair — stunned shock and indignation had clouded her ability to react with anything other than denials.

And Dante — well, that had been another level of shock — she closed her eyes, sank onto the sofa, remembering the way he’d looked at her. The doubt she hadn’t been able to raise until the very last moments when she’d been beyond caring. She’d thought he knew her — had thought that this time she’d found someone who knew all her dark places and loved her anyway. Who understood her.

By the time Jason had showed up, Sam had nearly decided to embrace the villain label everyone wanted to slap on her. Why not? Everyone had already made up their minds—

But Danny. Danny must believe it, too. How could he not with his father assuming it was true? And—she bit hard on her lip, remembering the way they’d ripped at each other — the scar tissue she’d ripped open. Her only consolation was knowing that Jason would never, ever tell Danny about Maureen Harper because he’d never be able to explain himself enough for Jake to forgive him for marrying Sam after it.

The lightning flashed out the terrace windows, and Sam jolted from the sound of the thunder clap directly after, like a bomb exploding just outside the building. She rubbed her mouth. She couldn’t let this accusation stand. She didn’t give a damn if Jason or Elizabeth believed Sam was innocent—but Danny—

Danny had to know the truth.

But who could have done it? Dante would never — and there was no one else who even had a motive—no one else who could have even known there was any Elizabeth side of the story to use against her—

Sam sighed, dragged her hands through her hair again, then got to her feet, turning towards the stairs. A hot shower and some sleep. That’s all she needed —

Then she stopped when another bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the darkened first floor. The dining table between the terrace and the stairs.

You look like hell. Dante keep you all night?

Kristina.

Vista Point: Parking Lot

“Well, this was probably a terrible idea,” Elizabeth said, when lightning flashed, lighting up the SUV. She held her hands over the heater. “You know, you didn’t have to wait until we were all the way up here before you told me what happened. I don’t think the boys have hid any listening devices in the car.” She looked over at Jason’s profile, hoping to see even a hint of a smile.

But he was facing forward, his hands curled over the wheel.

“Jason?” She leaned up, flicked on the light for the inside of the car. “How bad was it? Did she at least have an excuse that wasn’t garbage?”

“I—” Jason flexed his fingers, then leaned back with a heavy sigh, rubbing his face. “I’m sorry. The whole drive up here, I’ve been thinking about what to say, and now that I have to say it—” He looked at her. “She didn’t admit it. And the conversation isn’t worth talking about.”

“Okay,” she drew out, bewildered. So why had they gone out in the storm, driving for fifteen minutes in silence? “I mean, it was always a long shot she’d admit it especially since it’s backfired—”

“Cameron was there. At the parking garage. He saw me leaving and followed.”

“I—” Elizabeth sat up. “What?”

“He didn’t follow me upstairs,” Jason added, and she relaxed only slightly. “But he was pissed. First because I guess he thought I was there behind your back and then mad at both of us when I told him you knew.” He paused, the beat of silence heavy. “It was stupid for me to go. Even more stupid for me to think it would accomplish anything. And Cameron was right to be angry.”

“I guess I thought you’d get her to admit it. I mean, she doesn’t usually hide when she does something like this—”

“I don’t think she thought past hurting you,” Jason told her, looking over at her again. “Danny didn’t factor in at all. I thought I needed to hear it from her, to confront her, to make sure she understood how much she hurt Danny, but I didn’t. It won’t fix it. Nothing can fix any of it.” He let his head fall against the seat, looked up the roof the car, then turned his head so that their eyes met. “But it was Cameron I wanted to tell you about. You can have a conversation with him if you want, but I didn’t brush him off. Or tell him it wasn’t his business. Because it was.”

“We’ve been telling them to live their lives — I’ve been pushing him back to California, begging him not to let this ruin his life—yeah, he gets to be angry we did something impulsive.” Elizabeth bit her lip, looked out the front, but there was nothing to be see beyond the rain sluicing little rivers in the glass. “I don’t know why I wanted you to go. What it would change.  Cameron’s right. It was stupid, and risky. Too risky.”

“Did you think—” Jason stopped, squinting slightly as if searching for the right word or what to say. “Did you think that she would talk herself out of it? That I would…find a way to forgive her? Because I did before?”

“No—” Elizabeth said, then stopped, really letting herself consider the question. “I don’t know. I don’t think—I don’t think I would play games like that.”

“It’s not a game, though, is it? I did forgive her for something that hurt you. Hurt our son. Cameron. And I did it after I told you that we couldn’t have a future together.”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, her stomach rolling. She looked forward again, fisting her hands in her lap. “I don’t see why we have to drag this back up again. What good does it do? It happened the way it happened. Now we have Aiden and Danny, so there’s no point—”

“Elizabeth.”

Her name on his lips, just said in that tone, with a bit of exasperation, had her scowling at him, “What do you want me to say, Jason? Yes. It hurt me when you forgave her. When you married her. When you wanted to have children with her. The life you promised me, you gave it to her. Yes, it hurt. Does it make you feel better to drag that out of me? Is that what you wanted? Why you made me come all the way up here? Here, of all places—” she bit out. “Where you walked away from me over and over—screw this.” She shoved at the door, twisting the lever to open it, then dashed out into the rain.

+37

Written in 62 minutes.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Harborview Towers: Parking Garage

Still unsettled and somewhat raw from the encounter with Sam, Jason just shook his head. “Not now—”

Cameron stepped in front of him, preventing Jason from reaching the driver’s side door. “No. Now. Because I promised my mother I’d go back to school, and there won’t be later. What the hell are you doing here? What happened to not being stupid?”

“Your mother knows I’m here—”

“And that makes it okay?” Cameron demanded. “For the two of you to lecture me and my brothers about ignoring all of this, not doing any that screws things up? Fine. Have it your way. We’ll talk about it at home, and you can explain to Danny what the hell you were doing and why can’t—”

Jason caught Cameron’s arm as the angry younger man turned away, and tightened his grip when Cameron tried to shake him off. “Okay. Okay—okay, let’s just—” What the hell was he going to say? “I shouldn’t have come here, and Elizabeth probably shouldn’t have agreed. But it’s complicated—”

“It’s really not. Either her freedom is the most important thing for both of you or you’re more worried about settling personal shit. Which is it?” Cameron wanted to know. “Why did you have to confront your ex-wife?”

“I don’t—” No, it wouldn’t be good enough to brush Cameron off with platitudes or vague answers. “Let’s both just—” Jason released him. “I don’t know what I thought it would do. I guess maybe I thought I could just—look at her, and she’d admit it, and I’d know what to do next. Or at least we could have a conversation about it. I don’t know why I thought that would work. We haven’t been able to do that since I got back.”

Cameron just shook his head, looked away for a brief moment. When he focused on Jason again, his expression was grim. “I don’t know why I thought it would be different this time. You always do this. You come into my mother’s life, you make her think she’s important to you, you make me and Jake think we matter, and then you take off to whoever needs you next. You did it when I was kid—you think I don’t remember, but I do—and now, what, Danny’s mom is the next person who needs your help? It’s worse to do it this time, because now Jake believes you’re gonna stick—”

“I can’t change what I did before,” Jason interrupted. “I can’t go back and be a better man. A better father. All I can do is try to be better now—”

“And this is you being better? Screwing with Mom’s bail—”

“I’m not doing that—this won’t—Sam won’t be telling anyone about the conversation we just had, trust me,” Jason told Cameron.

“That’s not good enough. Why the hell would Sam be quiet about this when she threw Danny under the bus to get to Mom already?”

Jason grimaced. What was he supposed to do? Tell Cameron they’d discussed the time Sam had allowed Jake to be kidnapped? That she’d hired men to menace Cameron in the park when he’d been a toddler?

“You’re not an idiot, so when I tell you that there are things in my past — things in Sam’s past — that if people knew, if the wrong people knew — we’d both end up back in jail—you know what I’m talking about,” Jason said finally, and some of Cameron’s ire faded.

“When you were working for Sonny,” Cameron said. “Is that what you mean?”

“I’m not—” His throat tightened, and he wondered if he’d have to answer these questions with Jake and Danny one  day. Michael and Morgan, they’d grown up in the business. They’d always known who their father was — who Jason was. But Cameron and his brothers had been sheltered in a way — protected from the reality of what Jason had chosen to do with his life. “I’m not a good man. Not in the way that you, your mother, your brothers, Danny — that any of you deserve. I’ve always known that.”

Cameron shifted, dropping his expression to the ground. “Mom says—”

“Your mother, as we both know, forgives easily. Too easily,” Jason added. “I’ve done things that—that I wasn’t always ashamed of. I made choices when I was your age that I can’t change. I didn’t know what I was throwing away when I made them. People tried to explain it to me, but I thought they wanted to control me.” He rubbed his forehead, thinking of his parents, of his grandparents. “Maybe they did, but they were right. I threw away a future where I could be the kind of father my kids should have. I thought walking away, staying away — that it was the best way I could give them the life they deserved. Leaving your mother, leaving you and your brother — it was never easy. And I never wanted to do it. It’s why I kept coming around. Because I loved you all too much to stay away.”

Cameron hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay. I can get that. And I know you’re not working for Sonny anymore. I always knew—” He met Jason’s gaze. “I always kind of knew who you were, okay? What you did. So did Jake. We just ignored it. I guess like Mom. But what does that have to do with you coming here—”

“Sam lived that kind of life, too,” Jason told him. “Before she ever met me, she’d been on the wrong side of the law. It was—” How to explain that he’d considered Sam his equal because she’d lived a life that was as dirty and grimy as the one he’d chosen?  “There are things we know about each other,” he said finally. “That we’ve kept back because if one of us—if she used any of it — she knows I’d stop protecting. That’s why I had to do this. Why I thought I had to do this,” he corrected. “To remind her what I know. And to make sure she understood what this did to Danny.”

Cameron studied him for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. That feels—that feels true. I didn’t—I don’t know. I didn’t expect you to—I don’t know,” he repeated.

“You thought I’d brush you off with bullshit,” Jason said. “I might have or tried to make you understand it’s not—I can’t treat you like you’re a kid anymore. I get that. But I still remember—” The corner of his mouth curved up slightly. “I still remember the first time I met you, okay? When you were maybe six months old, so having you stand here in front of me, at the same height — it still throws me.” He paused. “I can’t promise not to do anything stupid like this again, Cameron. But I’ll try to be as honest as I can with you — and your mother.”

“That’s fair.” Cameron shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Did you—I mean, did she tell you why she did it?”

“We never got that far, but the truth is, Cameron, Sam hates me, and she hates your mother. I just didn’t know she hated both of us more than she loves Danny. That’s the only way any of this makes sense.”

TJ & Molly’s Apartment: Living Room

Molly stepped back to let Dante into the apartment, closing the door behind him. “Your expression makes me think something terrible happened,” she said with a nervous smile. She leaned against the door. “What’s wrong?”

“Is TJ around?” Dante asked, glancing around the apartment, leaning to look into the tiny kitchen.

“No—he’s at the hospital. Dante—”

“Did you hear about the hearing in Syracuse?”

“No, I—” Molly frowned, came away from the door and passed by Dante on her way to the dining table, layered with paperwork. “No, I thought we were both staying out of that. It’s killing me, but we recused ourselves—”

“Officially because of the incident with Danny and Rocco,” Dante said, and she sighed, lowering herself back into the dining chair. “But we both know it’s because Alexis and Kristina were on the list of suspects and couldn’t be eliminated.”

“Dante, we really shouldn’t—”

“I’m not telling you anything I know officially. Or anything that Chase doesn’t already know.” Dante dragged out the chair across from her, sat down. “This was on a personal level. Danny went to Elizabeth’s hearing with Jake and his brothers.”

“I guess that makes sense. He lives with them—”

“Reynolds made a move to revoke bail based on what happened the night Danny and Rocco were arrested. Because someone told him about the original 911 calls.”

Molly went still, her eyes widening. “Someone—”

“There was a second 911 call — reporting Elizabeth’s address — a neighbor who saw Aiden that night. The vape made it into the call.”

“I didn’t—I didn’t know there was a second 911 call—”

“I didn’t either. No one told us,” Dante said. “But once you go looking for the dispatch records, it’s right there. I got suspended — Anna thinks I used my authority to cover it up—” He grimaced. “I did—”

“You didn’t do anything unethical, Dante. The PCPD releases intoxicated teens to their parents all the time — even those who are high on drugs. It was a first offense — and Danny got into treatment, and I know you’re taking Rocco’s situation serious—” Molly shook her head. “But I don’t understand — why would someone report that?”

“Everyone suspected Sam — and so did I,” Dante admitted. He looked at his hands, laid them flat on the table. “Because of what happened at the Towers, when she threatened to have Elizabeth arrested for kidnapping. We also—I thought she wanted Elizabeth out of the picture.”

“Getting her bail revoked would do that, but it would also hurt Danny if it’s this way, and I don’t think Sam would do that. I know she hasn’t done herself any favors—” Molly paused. “But you brought up Mom and Kristina being suspects. Dante?”

“I think,” Dante said, forcing himself to continue, “that Kristina might have either given Sam the idea or did it herself. Because…she knew Danny and Rocco were at Elizabeth’s. Or supposed to be there. And I think we might have told her the whole story. I don’t remember doing it, but I can see us sitting at breakfast table, and it just coming out. I wouldn’t have thought twice about telling her—”

“Of course not. It involved Danny, and Kristina wouldn’t—” Molly rubbed her temple. “Dante. ”

“Kristina could have done it just to help Sam, but she might have also done it to complicate everything. Because if Elizabeth goes back in jail, she’s out of the picture. Sam goes back for custody, Jason’s fighting that —”

“Maybe they’re not concentrating on her case as much. Letting the trail keep getting cold.” Cold slithered down her spine. “Dante. We’re not really—I know we couldn’t eliminate her, but are we really saying that Kristina murdered Cates and framed Elizabeth?”

“I don’t know,” Dante said. He met his cousin’s worried eyes. “But I don’t think it’s as crazy as I did a few weeks ago. And I can’t—I think we have a duty as officers of the court — I think Diane should know Kristina’s a suspect.”

Pozzula’s Restaurant: Sonny’s Office

Spinelli knocked on the open office door. “You rang, Mr. Sir?”

The use of the old nickname usually brought the hint of a smile to Sonny’s lips, but not today, Spinelli noticed as the aging mobster got to his feet from behind the desk. “You came fast.”

“You said it was important. About the case. Other than the kids, I don’t really have any other priorities right now.” Spinelli set his bag on the chair. “What’s up?”

“Something I probably should have—” Sonny rubbed his chin. “Something I probably should have said a few weeks ago but I didn’t really think it was a possibility. Even now, I don’t know if you can do anything with it. But, uh—”

He turned, and removed the painting from the wall behind his desk, revealing a safe. He spun  the combination and opened it, stepping aside so Spinelli could see inside. “The gun that was used — Brick told me the make and model. I had one of those. Unregistered,” Sonny added, and Spinelli looked at him, alert. “I didn’t—I don’t know when it went missing, but it’s gone.”

“Oh.” His heart started to pound, but Spinelli’s face didn’t betray that. “Who has access?”

“I know the combo,” Sonny said. “Jason does — or did at one time. I don’t know if he still does.” He paused. “Carly knew it, but I doubt she remembers it. And Kristina — she needed money for something, and I gave it to her. But anyone in my organization could probably get in,” Sonny admitted. “It’s not an important safe — just some things in case I need to get out quickly, but most of the guys know it’s here.”

Spinelli looked at him, squinted. “So what do you think happened?”

“Maybe one of my guys took a gun they knew couldn’t be traced and did me a favor,” Sonny said. “And, well, not everyone knows me and Jason are square, you know? All they know he’s an informant. So maybe they were looking to make trouble for him. A little payback.” He shook his head. “Like I said, you can’t do much with this — I can’t prove the gun came from me or that I ever owned it. But I figure I can give you a list of suspects, right? I got the—” He picked up paper from his desk, held it out. “I got a list of the guys I know for sure came through the restaurant last three months or so. Maybe it can help.”

+40

Written in 58 minutes.

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Webber House: Street

The tail lights of a familiar SUV pulled out of a parking spot, heading down Elm Street and away from the Webber House. If Cameron had been even thirty seconds later making the turn onto the block, he would have missed Jason leaving, and as it was — he only had maybe a split second to decide whether he’d snag the spot left empty right in front of the house or if he’d follow his mother’s boyfriend.

Because he’d been under the impression Jason had intended to stick close to Danny that night, Cameron wondered where he was going — and if Danny was with him.

Honestly, as his mother’s son, it wasn’t really a decision at all. He’d never be able to ignore that natural born curiosity and instinct for mischief. He pressed his foot on the gas pedal to speed back up.

Gatehouse: Kitchen

Michael leaned back against the counter, folding his arms. “So you’re back to thinking Sam didn’t tip off the feds?”

Dante dragged a hand through his hair, restlessly moving around the small space. “I don’t know what to think. No one else even makes sense.”

“Not even Dex? It wouldn’t be his first time switching sides,” Michael reminded him. “I hired him when I was still angry with Dad, and Dex was basically useless to me from the beginning. And then he betrayed Dad anyway to work with the cops—”

“Not much of a betrayal since Dex was useless to Dad, too,” Dante pointed out. He hesitated. “I’m not discounting the possibility that Dex said or did something. But going to Reynolds and not Anna doesn’t make sense. Anna’s been unhappy with me and Chase since we went along with Molly with this whole thing. You want to screw with me at work, you go straight to her. Why go after Elizabeth’s bail?”

“What about the connection to Cameron?” Michael wanted to know. “Wasn’t there some overlap before Joss and Dex got serious? Joss didn’t want to admit it, but I’m pretty sure she cheated—”

“I mean, maybe?” Dante said, but it was phrased as a skeptical question. “It seems like a long way around to screw with a guy who didn’t even really put up a fight. What’s the reason? All it would do is keep Cameron around. He’s been home more these last few weeks than the last year and a half. No, I get why Dex seems like a good suspect, but—” He stopped. “I don’t think it’s him. I can ask him to tie off the loop, but I can’t see it personally.”

“I just don’t like how it loops back to Sam. I don’t want it to be her,” Michael said. “It makes all of this worse. No one else knew Elizabeth and Aiden were involved that way? Retrace your steps. What was going on that night?”

Dante sat at the table, rubbed his chin. “Feels like a million years ago,” he murmured. “Sam and I were sitting in the living room, talking about Kristina and Molly. When that was our biggest problem.” He paused, looked at Michael. “Kristina came over that night. I was picking her up when I dropped the boys at Elizabeth’s.”

“You didn’t go in?”

“No. Just—” Dante shook his head. “Told them to tuck and roll, you know? I’d done it a thousand times — which they counted on. They never went inside, at least from what Aiden says, and I believe that. They knew we trusted them — well, I trusted Rocco to keep Danny in line. When Wiley gets to that age, let me tell you — ” He met his brother’s gaze. “If their lips are moving, they’re lying.”

“Noted,” Michael said dryly. “What about Kristina? What time did she go home?”

“She—” Dante went still, swallowed hard. “She didn’t. She slept over. She had a few beers. She was with us the next morning. We told her about the arrest.”

Michael straightened. “Kristina knew?”

“I mean—did we tell her about the Elizabeth of it all?” Dante stopped. “I don’t know. I can’t remember. It—it was a bad night. And it kept getting worse, you know? Sam walked out of the station, Rocco was a mess, Jason and Sam got into it—”

“Okay, if you didn’t tell her then, could Sam have told her later? Sam’s been angry at Elizabeth, hasn’t she?”

“Yeah.” Dante blew out a breath, got to his feet. “Yeah. I can see Sam talking about it. She was angry at herself for leaving, then Danny gets going on this therapy thing and Elizabeth finds him the doctor — you put that together with Elizabeth’s kid not caught drinking, and Danny on her property—if we didn’t tell her that next morning, I can see Sam confiding it later. I mean, it’s her sister.”

“But if Kristina’s the one that knows—is she really going to tip off the same lawyer that tried to put her in jail?” Michael asked. “I know she’s been messed up since losing the baby, but—”

“I don’t know. I don’t—” Dante shook his head. “I don’t know. Don’t—don’t say anything. To Jason, I mean.” When Michael looked skeptical, Dante held out a hand. “Jason will take it to Diane, and then it’s out there and we’re accusing Kristina of something pretty awful. I just—let me find out if Kristina knew for sure. There’s—there’s a lot going on there that I can’t tell you right now.”

“I’m not gonna keep it to myself forever,” Michael warned him. “If Kristina’s going around trying to screw with Elizabeth’s bail, Diane needs to know. Alexis needs to know so it can stop. I don’t care if Kristina thinks she was helping, this could have seriously backfired. Elizabeth could be in custody right now if there’d been a different judge. She deserves to know who’s sabotaging her. And Sam doesn’t deserve to carry the blame if she didn’t do this. Danny needs to know if his mother did this.”

“Give me—give me tomorrow,” Dante told him. “Let me look into a few things, okay?”

“I’ll give you a day, but Thursday, Dante, I’m telling Jason and Elizabeth what Kristina knew. Or could have known.”

Penthouse: Hallway

Jason banged on the door for a third time. “I’m not going anywhere until you open this door, Sam. I know you’re there.”

There was another pause, a shuffling of the shadows peeking from beneath the gap in the door between the floor and the floor. But nothing else.

“I can see you moving on the other side of the door, Sam. You either talk to me now or I’m talking to Diane about fighting even supervised visitation.”

He heard the click and tumble of locks, then the door was yanked open to reveal Sam, her eyes red and puffy, bloodshot. “Please. We both know Diane has that ready to go. She’s just been waiting for a chance to get me out of your life.”

“Maybe, but it needs my signature.”

“Oh, what a white knight you are,” Sam spat, “refusing to steal my son from me. Why not? You stole AJ’s son, didn’t you? You’d rather raise Carly’s kids than your own—”

“You hate me, that’s fine. But you keep going through everyone else to attack me—”

“How else can I make sure it actually hurts?” Sam retorted. “You don’t give a damn about yourself, you never have. I can’t hurt someone who barely has a pulse. It’s the only way to get your attention—”

“Is that why you did it? To get my attention? To get Danny’s? Are you really that desperate?”

Tears glittered in her dark eyes, her mouth pinched. “You never forgave me for Jake did you? For what I did in the park. You told me you did, you came back to me, and married me, and we planned a life together, so I thought you did. But you will always believe the worst about me because—”

“Because you stood by while an unstable woman took my son out of his stroller and walked away with him?” Jason demanded. “Because you hired guns to threaten Jake and Cameron—Jake’s not old enough to remember, but Cameron was a toddler. He damn well knew what was going on—”

“More worry about a kid who isn’t yours,” Sam said with a roll of her eyes. “Well, hey, since we’re listing my crimes, let me give you a few more reason to hate me.” Her fingers clutched the edge of the door. “Did Elizabeth tell you she and Lucky came to the studio and begged me to let them use the show to look for Jake?” Her smile was wide, contrasting with the hatred in her eyes. “And I told her no.”

Jason exhaled slowly. “You told her no.”

“Well, I couldn’t take the chance Maureen Harper might see that weeping whimp crying for her son to come back, could I?” Sam curled her free hand into a fist. “Elizabeth never told you about that, huh? Did she tell you about the visit I paid her? When I tried to make her think Jake was dead so she’d stop whining and stop looking?”

Jason took a step back, a slick, sick feeling rolling in his gut. “No, she never told me.”

“Well, then maybe I should have been grateful all these years, huh?” Sam wanted to know, the hateful smile still curving her lips. “She really could have put the nail in my coffin if she’d wanted to. Guess I’m lucky she’s still a pushover. Must be what you see in her, right? She’ll forgive the worst.”

He’d lost control of the conversation, and now he realized that he’d expected her to admit it, the way she always did when confronted with her deeds. With her tears, her apologies. They’d all been lies. Every inch of them. She’d never been frozen in fear or overwhelmed with resentment or hatred of him. She’d hated Elizabeth just as much as she’d hated him.

“What about Danny? What are you planning to tell him about what you did?” Jason asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. He wanted to shove a fist somewhere else, but he’d never hit a woman, and he didn’t need broken or bruised knuckles, not right now.

“I don’t know.” Sam leaned against the door frame. “What are you telling Jake about marrying the woman who let him be kidnapped?”

“You’re not going to do that,” Jason said, but then she smiled again, and he realized he really didn’t know what she might do in a mood like this. “Because telling Jake means telling Danny. And he already believes the worst about you.”

“Well, who’s fault is that? Why was he in court, Jason? He should have been in school, where he belongs. But you need him to paint a picture to keep that bitch out of jail, don’t you? Everyone’s so worried about Elizabeth—”

“I forgave you, Sam,” Jason interrupted, and she rolled her eyes. “I forgave you because I believed it was about me, and I blamed myself more than you. I forgave you because I thought I knew who you really were. But I didn’t forget. I won’t ever forget what you’re capable of doing to someone you think is taking something from you. But I didn’t want to believe you’d try to have Elizabeth’s bail revoked like this — because this doesn’t just hurt her, her kids, or me. It hurts Danny.”

Sam pressed her lips together, and some of her fury faded, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly. But she remained silent.

“Not because he’s Jake’s brother or that he cares about Elizabeth, which are both reasons to keep the peace,” Jason added, “which you used to know. But because it puts him on the hot seat. They didn’t just talk about the alcohol and being drunk, Sam, did you know that? Your stunt made sure everyone knew he was high. That Rocco was high, too.”

Sam snapped her gaze back to him, alert. “What?”

“What did you think would happen when you told them to look at the 911 calls? To look for the report? There’s going to be a bail hearing, and in order to prove Elizabeth and Aiden weren’t involved, Danny’s going to have to tell people what happened. Is that what you thought would happen? Did you even think about what Danny would have go through? Or was it another moment of weakness?” Jason demanded.

Sam’s mouth trembled, but then she stepped back. “Go to hell.” Then slammed the door.

Miller & Davis: Diane’s Office

Diane tapped a pen against the desk blotter. “Your, uh, source in the AUSA’s office has an interesting point,” she said. “The tip that put them onto the 911 calls isn’t that different from the one that sent them to Elizabeth in the first place, is it?”

“I still think it’s Sam,” Spinelli said slowly. He sat in one of the armchairs clustered around a smaller table. “There are things in her past — things Stone Cold never shared with you because you’d use them in his murder trial — that make it easy to believe it.”

Diane lifted her brows. “Oh, you had better believe we’re coming back to that, my friend. But Sam could have done this. With a little help from her sister. Alexis has told me that she’s worried — Kristina’s been very supportive of Sam — encouraging Sam to try to use therapy to twist the narrative against Elizabeth.”

“Oh, man.” Spinelli sat back. “So Kristina could have given her the idea?”

“Or Kristina did it herself. I can’t imagine Sam wouldn’t have confided in Kristina all the details about that night at the police station.” Diane sighed. “It just troubles me so much that every new piece of evidence we have points at Kristina being involved in some way, whether she’s the shooter or she’s helping cover up for someone. And if you get that data tomorrow that proves the trunk was opened with her in the area—” Diane paused. “I don’t relish the thought of telling Alexis what her daughter might have done. Killing Cates — that’s one thing. Attempting to get rid of the gun by framing Elizabeth or Jason — I worry now, Spinelli, if we’re correct, that Kristina sees Elizabeth as the enemy in her sister’s situation. What she’s capable of doing to cover her tracks and help Sam regain custody.”

“Dante’s been suspended because of all of this. Chase is planning to reach out to him, find out what he knows.” Spinelli leaned to the side, plucked out his vibrating phone. “And now I have a message from Mr. Sir,” he murmured.

“Sonny? What could he want?” Diane demanded.

Spinelli got to his feet, picked up his bag. “I don’t know. But I’m interested in finding out. I’ll call you when I know more.”

Harborview Towers: Parking Garage

Jason slowed his steps as he approached the row where he’d left his SUV — recognizing the figure leanging against the back window.

“Cameron.”

Elizabeth’s oldest son straightened, lifted a brow the way his mother often did. “We spent all day keeping Danny from calling her, and now I here I find you. I was under the impression confronting Sam would screw with my mother’s case. Did something change?”

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