Written in 58 minutes.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Belle Forest Drive

Alexis clutched Sonny’s coat jacket, her heart in her throat as the SUV moved across the partially submerged bridge.

“Come on, come on, come on,” Sonny muttered under his breath. “Make it, make it—”

If the SUV lost traction, if it was swept away by the creek which now looked more like a raging river spilling past its banks, all but erasing any evidence of the roadway that had comfortable sat above it. How many times had she taken this drive and not even considered the water that ran beneath it, rolling past her housing development and emptying into the lake—

The initial propulsion had the SUV halfway across the bridge and it continued to move, much more slowly through the flood waters. All around them, the rain continued to pound down, feeding the flood—

And across the road, somewhere out of her sight, her babies, her precious girls were trapped somewhere and Alexis couldn’t get to them, couldn’t fight for them, couldn’t do anything—

The SUV stalled for a beat — likely no more than a handful of seconds, but, oh, they felt like a lifetime as Alexis watched the back tires start to slide across the roadway. Sonny released her, took a step forward—because, of course, his son and the man he’d loved as a brother were in that vehicle risking everything to get to her girls.

But at the last minute, the SUV cleared the bridge, picked up speed, and the headlights disappeared where the road curved into the trees.

“He made it, the crazy of a bitch—” Sonny let out a bark of bewildered, terrified laughter, his gray streaked hair stuck to his temples.

“Emergency services are on their way,” Diane said, panting slightly as she joined them underneath the umbrella. “And they’re going to get a chopper on the other side of the creek.”

Alexis couldn’t stop shaking. She just wanted her girls, she wanted them safe in her arms — where she could yell at them. What were they thinking being out on a night like this?

“Let’s get in the car,” Diane said, touching her shoulder. “No need for us to stand out here where we can’t do anything but wait.”

Webber House: Living Room

“Mom? Mom!”

Jake tried to tune out the pitch of Danny’s panicked voice, climbing with every attempt he made to reconnected with his mother. The call had dropped, and Danny couldn’t get her back on the phone.

And their father wasn’t answering either—Jake dialed his mother’s number next, waiting, and waiting, and waiting—

But nothing.

“What do we do?” Aiden wanted to know. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know!” Jake snapped, and Aiden stepped back a beat, swallowing hard, his eyes too big for his face. Jake took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just—” Wished Cameron was here. Cameron would know what to do.

What would Cameron would do?

“Okay. Okay. We can track them. We can—” Jake hung up his phone, and with shaky fingers navigated to the app that he’d protested when his mother had put it on the phone. Why did she need to know where he was all the time? Didn’t she trust him?

You? Yes. The world? No. And look, I’ll put myself on here. You can track me, too.

“She’s—she’s out by Sam’s mom’s house,” Jake said, confused as his mother’s little blue dot traveled. “And she’s with Dad.”

“They must be going to see your mother,” Aiden told Danny. “See? Your dad’s already on the way. Call your grandmother—”

“Right, right.” Danny fumbled with his phone, found Alexis’s contact information, and pressed send.

But there was nothing. No answer.

“What about your aunts? Kristina or Molly? They have to know where your mom is, right?” Jake said, coming over to Danny’s phone.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. Mom sounded so scared, and she wouldn’t tell me—why wouldn’t she tell me—” Danny gripped Jake’s shirt, his eyes tear stained. “Why didn’t she tell me?”

“We’ll call Molly, okay? She’s in the DA’s office, right? She’ll know about accidents, okay? We’ll call, and we’ll keep calling—”

“No. No, we have to go out and start looking—” Danny made a break for the door, and Jake dropped the phone, reaching his brother just as Danny started to open it.

“Are you kidding? There’s flooding, and you hear that rain? And even if it wasn’t, we don’t know where to go. Let’s not play Noah’s Ark until we know something.” Because that’s what Cameron would do. Collect the facts. Make informed decisions.

Except that one time he’d nearly shot Jake’s dad who was trying to escape from jail—

Because he didn’t have the facts, Cameron had told Jake later, with some real regret. He’d been stupid. Acting on impulse. All the things he’d yell at Jake about.

“Here—” Aiden held out the phone, Molly’s contact information on the screen. “Let’s start with her, and then we’ll make a list if she doesn’t know anything. We won’t stop until we figure it out, okay, Danny? We’ll find your mom.”

Belle Forest Drive

There’d been one moment — just one — when he could feel the weight of the SUV change slightly, becoming almost weightless as the back of the vehicle had lifted, caught up in the rushing creek waters, and if they’d been even a foot further from the other side—

Elizabeth had never doubted Jason for a moment — or Dante. She knew that neither of them would have let she or Spinelli anywhere near the SUV if they’d been truly worried that they might not make it across—

But there’d been that moment when she’d seen Jason go stark white, and his fingers clench on the wheel, the roar of the engine as he pressed down on the gas pedal —

When they’d felt the water fall away, when the SUV had picked up speed, and they were back on firm, albeit, slick ground, she could breathe again.

But then the reality of what they might be speeding towards sank in — would they make in time? How many minutes had elapsed between Chase’s first frantic radio call to Dante and getting in the car —

How fast were the waters rising?

They came around another bend, where the trees broke open and the first houses could be seen — where the sides of the road sloped down, the incline steep on the left side as it led down to the creek. A car was parked haphazardly across the road, the headlights on, doors open and trunk popped.

Jason brought the SUV to a stop, but Dante was already out of the car the second he started to slow, running towards the abandoned car, slipping as he reached it.

“Where’s Chase?” Elizabeth demanded, all but falling out of the car and sprinting towards Dante. Jason reached him first, Spinelli just behind Elizabeth.

“Which side—” Spinelli went to one side, while Jason went to the other — and found that a bungee cord had been tied to the trunk of the car and was over the side of the embankment — until it disappeared into the inky night.

“The damn fool went down there on his own,” Dante bit out, limping slightly as he squinted down. “I can’t see anything. Or anyone.” No headlights. Had Chase been able to see the car? He couldn’t remember.

“Okay. Okay.” Dante turned to the others, swept his soaked hair from his face. “Spinelli and Elizabeth, you’ll wait up here—I don’t want to hear any arguments,” he said when he saw Elizabeth open her mouth. “Spinelli, there’s a radio in Chase’s car. Get it. You’ll keep it up here. Jason and I’ll follow Chase’s trail, and we’ll radio up if we need medical help. I know the basics, and you can talk us through anything else,” he told her.

Elizabeth grimaced, then nodded reluctantly. Spinelli returned with the radio and with a flashlight.

“Here, take this. We can’t see anything — be careful. The weather service expects the creek to crest at nearly nine feet above its usual levels,” Spinelli told them. “You need to get down there, get them out, and get back.”

“Let’s go.” Jason took just a moment, to squeeze’s Elizabeth’s hand, then gestured for Dante to start down in front of him. He gripped the rope tightly and he and Dante started to make their way down the mud slick embankment.

General Hospital: Nurse’s Station

Molly wound her arm through TJ’s as they strolled towards the station where they would have to part ways as he got back on shift. “We should really do this more often,” she told him, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Why don’t we meet in the on-call room next time?”

“I told you,” TJ said, offering her a half grin, turning to face her. “It’s not like what you see on television. I don’t have time to be getting lucky between patients.”

“Well, I should hope not since I’m not here,” Molly returned with a grin. She leaned up to his kiss him on more time. “The holidays. This Christmas. Can you take a few days? We’ll go down to New York, see my dad or something. I think we both need a break.”

“Agreed.” He kissed her again. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” She started towards the elevator, leisurely plucking her phone from her purse when she felt it began to ring. A call from Danny? At this time of night? Curious, Molly accepted the call.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up—”

“Please tell me you know where my mom is,” Danny cut in, his voice rising until it cracked. “Aunt Molly, please.”

“I—I don’t know.” Molly turned back to find TJ watching her. Something in his expression must have caught his attention because he came towards her. “Danny, what’s wrong?”

“Mom—Mom, she called and she was scared, and she was telling me she loved me and that she couldn’t get out, and Grandmom isn’t answering and neither is my dad or Elizabeth, and I don’t know where she is, Aunt Molly, you gotta find my mother—”

“Okay, okay slow down—” Molly reached out, gripped TJ’s scrub shirt. “Your mother called you and said she couldn’t get out, that she was scared—and no one was answering? Not your dad either?”

“N-N0, he and Liz were s-supposed to be at the lawyer’s, but they’re not. They’re out by Grandmom’s house, but they’re not answering—”

Grandmom’s house. The flash flood advisory. Molly’s heart sank. She couldn’t get out, she said she couldn’t get out, that she couldn’t get out—

She closed her eyes, forced herself to speak evenly. “Danny, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I am at the hospital. TJ is going to find out if there’s been any accidents or anything else in the ER. I am going to start calling people and I will find out what’s going on, okay? I will find out what’s going on.” She gestured for TJ who jogged over to the nurse’s station, started talking to the nurse behind the counter. “Where are you right now?”

“I-I’m home.”

“Are you alone?”

“N-No. Jake and Aiden are here.”

“Good. Can I talk to Jake? Just a minute, honey.”

Molly heard some rustling, and then Jake spoke. “Uh, hello?”

“Jake. Hey. I need you to promise me you’ll keep Danny at home with you until you  hear from me. You know him, you might have to tackle him. But don’t let him leave, okay?”

“I won’t—but, um, do you know anything? What’s going on?”

“I don’t—” Molly’s throat tightened for just a moment, and then she was able to speak again. “I don’t know. But I’m on it, and I’ll get answers. I’m going to call some people, find out if anything has been called in. I know people, Jake. I will find—I will find out what’s going on. You stay with Danny. Don’t move from that house until you hear from me or your parents.”

Belle Forest Drive

The cord was slick and difficult to keep a good grip on, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as trying to stay up right on the mud slick hill, and more than once, Dante or Jason had had to reach out to the other to keep them from falling—

The rain had only gotten worse, the drops more like little pellets that were being shot at him —  and he imagined if he could feel the cold on his skin, he’d be freezing. He could hear the creek waters getting louder as they moved down the hill —

But still no sign of a car or anyone who had been in it.

Though the descent couldn’t have taken more than five minutes, maybe a few more — Jason heard Dante shout — and they could see the end of the cord where it was still fastened around Chase’s middle.

The younger man was on his knees next to a crumbled form, dark hair spilling out onto the mud and leaves. Jason moved closer, and his heart sank when he realized it was Kristina, with a nasty gash on her head.

“Where’s Sam?” Dante demanded. “Where’s the—” He looked over and saw the creek ten feet away — rushing past them, faster than he’d ever seen it. It was usually nothing more than a rolling creek that was usually good for wading or maybe a little bit of fishing in one of the deeper spots —

Now it was a rushing, roaring flow of water that had swallowed half the hillside.

“I couldn’t—” Chase’s voice was hoarse, and he had his own forehead gash that was oozing when he lifted his face to Jason. “I couldn’t get to the car—I tried, I tried ,but the water it just — I couldn’t—

“Where’s the car?” Dante demanded. “Where—” He looked over where Chase had been looking, and Jason followed his gaze.

The car was gone. Maybe it was still somewhere, beneath the waters. Or maybe it had been carried away by the furious waters that had crept towards them even closer than it had been when they’d arrived.

“Sam!” Dante cried. He started towards the water’s edge. “Sam!” He stumbled, and Jason caught his arm as the man looked like he might try to jump into the flood.

“You can’t do that! You’ll be dead before you—” Jason’s words stumbled to a horrified stop as he realized what he was telling Dante. What was he was admitting.

What he would have to tell Danny.

That any attempt to find Sam now would be suicide. There was no way of locating the car, not like this, not with the storm still raging around them, with the waters still rising and expected to come up another two feet—

“You can’t help her now,” Jason said, squeezing Dante’s arm tight. “You can’t help her now. We have to get Kristina, and we have to get out of here before it’s too late for us, too. We can’t—” He took one minute to look back at the creek, his stomach rolling at the thought of Sam somewhere in it. Was she trapped? Was she still alive somehow?

There was no way to answer that question without killing himself, and he wasn’t willing to do that. He’d risked enough to get down here, to try to save her. It would have to be enough. He hoped it would feel like enough when he faced their son.

“We have to get out of here,” he repeated to Dante. “Now.”

+34

Written in 54 minutes.

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Belle Forest Drive

The car rolled and rolled and rolled, the screams from the women inside swallowed by the swollen waters of the creek rushing towards Port Charles and Lake Ontario and the relentless thunderstorm.

Chase reached the side of the road just as the car landed near the bank of the creek — or what was now the bank of the creek — it had already risen almost a foot past its typical height. It was difficult to see what was going on through the rain, so Chase tried to hesitantly start down the embankment, but immediately, his foot caught in the mud and he nearly lost his balance, tumbling after the car.

“Damn it, damn it—” He scrambled back to safety, then cupped his mouth to yell down to the car below him. “You have to get out! You have to—fuck—” They wouldn’t be able to hear him —

He rushed back to his car, reached for his radio. ““Central, 3-12—signal 10-50, rollover, vehicle in the creek. Be advised, flash flooding, water rising—requesting FD and EMS, priority. Hurry!”

And then he found his cell phone, using the lights of the dashboard to find Dante’s contact information. Please let Dante be nearly here and not on the other side of the damn creek—

Below him, Sam’s sedan was upside down, the top side crushed down, windshield and windows shattered from the rollover.

Kristina could barely breathe, her fingers fumbled to unbelt her seat belt which she immediately regretted the decision when her body dropped hard out of the seat and hit the roof, a sliver of something stabbing her side. “Shit, shit, shit—”

She looked over to see Sam, still belted in but her side of the car was more crumpled, the dashboard crushed in. Her sister was moaning, blood coming from a cut on her scalp.

Kristina fumbled for Sam’s seat belt as Sam became more and more conscious. “Hold on, hold on—” she sobbed. “I’ll get us out of here. I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry—”

But when she released the belt — Sam didn’t drop. The steering wheel was pinning her to the seat. “Help—” Sam swallowed hard, then tried again. “Help me—you—you have to…you have to—”

“Okay, okay—” Kristina’s eyes widened as she felt something wet beneath her knees as she knelt next to her sister. Water. The water was inside the car. “We have to get out, we have to get out—the water—it’s coming in the car—”

“Pull—” Sam held out a hand, trying to get a grip on something. “You have to pull me—”

Kristina took her  by the shoulders and try to yank Sam backwards, out of her seat, but Sam just screamed, and Kristina lost her grip.

“I can’t—I can’t get you—I have to get help—I’ll get help—” Kristina crawled towards the window. “I’ll get help—”

“Don’t leave me! Kristina! Kristina—”

But Kristina had already crawled through the window, and Sam’s cries were swallowed by the storm.

Davis & Miller: Parking Lot

Though every muscle in Jason’s body was screaming to go faster, he carefully backed out of the parking spot and pulled the SUV onto the road. The storm was getting worse, and the last thing any of them needed was to get in accident themselves.

“Spinelli, where are they?” Jason demanded to the tech that had hastily followed them to the car and was tapping keys furiously on his laptop. “Where did that call come from?”

“He’s going as fast as he can,” Elizabeth reminded, dialing her own phone. “I’ll get 911 on the phone, Diane—”

“I’m going to start with Alexis—” the lawyer next to Spinelli said.

“Belle Forest Drive,” Spinelli interrupted. His voice was a bit strangled as he continued. “Just near Cobb Creek.”

A possible accident just where they’d closed the road for a flash flood?

Jason pressed his foot down on the gas pedal — just a little bit faster.

Belle Forest Drive

Dante gripped the phone one more time. “You can’t—” His throat tightened and he had to force himself to continue. “You can’t get down there?”

“I’m getting cord from the trunk—” Chase’s voice was barely audible. “Tie it to my car and to my waist—but it’s all a mud slick—”

Dante looked out over the bridge — Cobb Creek traveled a low bridge and he’d stopped where water was already flooding over the surface, making travel by car dangerous — the car could easily be swept away.   Belle Forest Drive continued over the other side of the river and then curled out of sight into a copse of trees. “How far away are you?” he demanded. “From the bridge?”

“Maybe half a mile—”

“Dante, what’s going on?” Alexis demanded, coming up from his father’s car, still somewhat dry beneath the umbrella his father had in his hand, though Sonny was fighting against the wind to keep it above them. “When can we get past the bridge?”

“Chase, I’m going to try to get to you, okay? Don’t be stupid. Don’t try that on your own. I’m going—I’m going to get there—” Dante said, looking back over the flooded water. “I’ll be on foot, so it will take some time.”

“Dante—”

“I’ll be there.” Dante hung up the phone and turned back to his father and Alexis. “Sam and Kristina were in an accident on the other side of the creek.”

“Oh my God—” Alexis grabbed Sonny’s arm. “How bad?”

“We don’t—Chase doesn’t know. The car went over the embankment and it’s down by the creek—”

“No!” Alexis cried. She lunged forward, as if she was going to run through the floodwaters with nothing powering her but maternal terror —

“Chase is getting down there, I’m going to get there to help him. It’s all—” Dante looked at his father, saw the worry and terror he knew must be in his own expression.

“You can’t go alone—” Sonny shoved the umbrella at Alexis. “You stay  with the car—” They turned back to the road as another pair of headlights appeared.

“Please let that be emergency vehicles,” Dante prayed.

But it was a familiar SUV, and Jason jogged up to them, followed almost immediately by Elizabeth, Diane, and Spinelli.

“We have to get to the other side of the creek,” Jason said, lifting his voice to be heard over the rain. “There’s been an accident—”

“Sam was on the phone when it happened—” Elizabeth said almost at the same time.

Diane came up to Alexis, put an arm around her. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

“They went over the road, they’re by the creek, and I can’t wait to catch you up, I have to go—Chase is on his own trying to reach them—” Dante shoved a radio at his father.

“How the hell are you going to get over that creek?” Sonny demanded, gesturing wildly towards the bridge that couldn’t even be seen — the water was rushing so fast and had risen several inches while they’d been standing there.

Dante couldn’t think, couldn’t articulate a response. “I don’t know. I can’t just stand here and do nothing!”

“The SUV might be able to get across,” Jason said. “It’s higher off the ground,” he told Dante. “Let’s go—”

Elizabeth started to follow them, but Jason turned and stopped her. “No, stay here—”

“Shut up,” she retorted. “And don’t waste time trying to argue with me.”

Cobb Creek

Kristina was still crawling up the side of the hill, sliding back every few minutes. She just had to get to the top. She’d get Sam help, she’d get some to help, someone stronger who could get Sam out of the car.

She’d get help—

Then she slipped, lost her balance, and tumbled down, the world rolling rapidly until pain exploded in her head and everything went black.

A hundred yards away, the water had risen high enough that Sam’s legs were soaked, and her voice was hoarse from screaming for help, and every piece of her body was screaming in pain as she kept trying to wrench herself free.

She had to get out, had to get to her kids, had to—

Her fingers brushed a familiar object, and Sam lifted her phone from where it had fallen next to the console. It was wet, but it still lit up. She choked back a sob, and had started to dial 911—but then she felt the cold water by her waist.

There wasn’t enough time. Not for emergency to reach her.

There wasn’t enough time.

Her fingers trembled, and she dialed the only number that mattered now.

Webber House: Dining Room

Danny stretched his legs out underneath the coffee table and scowled at the computer screen with the algebra problem mocking him. “I don’t know why being normal has to include homework,” he muttered, tapping some keys, trying to think of the first step.

But it was hard to think straight about anything. It was easier for Jake and Aiden, whom he could hear in the kitchen bickering over dinner. Their mom might be in trouble, but at least their mom didn’t make everything impossible on a daily basis.

His cell phone buzzed on the table by the computer, and Danny picked it up. His mother’s name flashed on the screen, and he swallowed hard. He wasn’t supposed to talk to her. He knew that. And if he kept helping her break the rules, it would make it harder for her to get better. For them to ever have a chance to be normal again.

He hit ignore on the call, and then went back to his algebra.

Belle Forest Drive

Sonny and Alexis had both argued vociferously for maybe thirty seconds to be allowed to go with them, but it was obvious they couldn’t all go, and Sonny was given the radio to stay in touch.

The only way across the bridge that had any hope of working with the water already three feet over the road was to go fast. If the engine got flooded, hopefully the spurt of gas would get them to higher ground.

Cars could be replaced. His son’s mother couldn’t.  And Elizabeth’s only chance at freedom was trapped in the car, too.

“Ready,” Dante said. “Leave the belts off. If we need to get out of the car—” He swallowed hard, looked at Jason. “Go.”

Jason pressed the gas pedal, slowly at first to get the car moving — and then as they approached the bridge, hit it all the way to the floor — and the SUV sped up as they approached the flood waters.

Webber House: Living Room

The phone was silent for a moment and then it lit up again — his mother was calling again. Danny grimaced, then finally picked it up — “Mom, you know—”

“D-danny? Thank God. You need to listen to me.”

Danny jolted at the hoarseness of his mother, at the sounds from her side of the call — the rain sounded like it was right on top of her. “Mom?”

“Did I just hear you say Mom?” Jake said, coming from the kitchen, Aiden trailing behind him.  Danny shook him off and then put her voice on speakerphone so he could put the volume all the way up.

“Mom, where are you? You sound awful.”

“I—I’m in trouble. And I-I c-can’t get out. It’s cold—and there’s water—but just listen—”

Danny gripped the phone tightly. “What do you mean?” He looked at Jake, who was already pulling out his phone. “Where are you?”

“An accident, I don’t have a lot of time—the water—just listen to me. Please.”

He’d never heard his mom sound like this — so scared and hurt and awful — and what did she mean there was water? “I’m listening, Mom, but tell me where you are—”

“I love you. I have loved you from the moment I knew you existed. I love you. You need to know that. I know I didn’t do a lot of things right, and I—I hurt you, and I’m sorry. But I love you.”

“I l-love you, t-too. Mom, you’re scaring me. Tell me where you are—”

“You’re—you’re going to be okay, I know it. I can feel it—” There was a pause, and his mother gasped. “You have your brothers, and you’ll take care of Scout. You’re—you’re the best thing I ever did in my life. I love you so much. I wish—”

And then the call disconnected.

+37

Written in 65 minutes.

Wednesday, October 1, 2024

Davis House: Living Room

Kristina took a deep breath. “Okay, listen. Listen. I think—” She closed her eyes, put up her hands, took another breath. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t want this to turn into another Kristina screw-up, okay?”

Sam  shook her head. “No, that’s not good enough. Not for what you were just trying to pull.” And why was she backing off it now? “What the hell did you do, Kristina?”

“Nothing! I mean, I sent the email because Mom told me bail was a problem and I just thought—” Kristina stopped. “I just thought if I got Elizabeth out of the house for a little while, the judge would give Danny back to you, and you guys would be okay—”

“You wanted her to go to jail—”

“So did you! Why am I the bad guy for trying to do the same thing?” Kristina demanded. “You were right! If Elizabeth weren’t around manipulating Danny or Jason, everything would be better!”

She wanted to believe her. Wanted to believe her little sister had just screwed up again — but it didn’t feel right. “All right, fine. You wanted to help. You didn’t. Now you have to tell everyone what you did so that Jason doesn’t use this to keep custody of Danny permanently. I could lose even my visitation rights. You have to tell everyone—”

“So I can hear another round of what a screw up I am? No. No. Let’s just wait it out, okay, Sam? No one knows for sure. You and me, we’ll just stick together—” Kristina came forward, clasped her hands together, holding them in a beggar’s pose. “We’ll tell everyone we don’t know anything! Please, Sam! Let’s just tell them we don’t know anything!”

“That won’t work. It won’t. Danny believes this, Kristina. He believes it. Mom and Jason and Diane and all of them — even Dante. They think I did this! There are no other suspects!” Sam shook her head. “No. You have to tell them what you did. You have to. For everything I’ve ever done for you.”

“Please, Sam! You can’t tell them! You can’t!”

Because they’d ask the same question Sam had? Kristina hadn’t tried this woes me crap until Sam had started questioning her motives — God, why did Kristina need Elizabeth out of the picture? Why had she done this?

She needed help. She needed someone else to figure this out — she needed someone else to know. Someone who wouldn’t be snowed by Kristina’s damsel in distress act — someone who would dig—

Sam looked at Kristina. “I can and I will. Come with me, and we’ll talk to Mom. She’ll understand, Krissy. She will, okay? She knows what you’ve been though. She’ll know how to handle this.”

“Just Mom?” Kristina asked. “No one else has to know?”

“No. No one else will know. Come with me and we’ll fix everything.”

Pozzulo’s Restaurant: Street

Dante wasn’t going to wait for Anna to move her car — time was running out before the cover up started. He reversed his car into the parking lot, then shifted gears and drove over the curb to get in front of Anna’s car.

He slapped a few buttons on the dashboard, commanding it to put a call through to Chase, then nearly skidded off the road when  he tried to come to a stop at a red light. The rain was pooling on the the sides of the roads, deep enough that his tires were splashing up a ton of water.

“Dante, where the hell are you?” came Chase’s first words. “Sam and Kristina just left — they’re in Sam’s car, heading back towards town.”

“Damn it. Damn it. You’re following?” Dante demanded, making another turn. “There’s only one road out of Belle Forest down to the rest of town. I’ll cut them off near the Cob Creek bridge. I’m not letting them get to Alexis or my dad. Kristina isn’t getting away with this. Not this time.”

Davis & Miller: Diane’s Office

“Well, there really isn’t much that either of you can do,” Diane told Jason and Elizabeth. “Spinelli needs to get that trunk pop and footage to match, and we need to continue gathering evidence. Whether she did it or not—and I’m leaning towards guilty for the record — she’s an excellent alternative suspect for the jury trial.”

“So you don’t have enough to get the charges dismissed.” Elizabeth folded her arms, feeling chilled. The prospect that Kristina of all people had carried out this scheme seemed so strange and unlikely — but there had been that strange visit the day after—and Kristina would know Jason’s protective instinct might have led him to confess to protect her—

“I just can’t stop thinking—” Elizabeth stopped, looked at Jason who’d gone to the window. He’d need a minute to adjust to this — not that it would help, she thought. He’d sacrificed so much for the sake of Sonny and Carly’s children — for Sam’s sister. Because Kristina was family to him.

No wonder Diane and Spinelli had kept this from them. Even as alternative suspect  for the purposes of trial, the idea that Kristina had purposely framed Elizabeth —

“We’re really saying that Kristina — the same woman who was gullible enough to be brainwashed into a cult — we’re saying that she pulled off framing me?” Elizabeth wanted to know. “It just sounds so impossible to me. I know—you’ve made a good case. I just can’t wrap my mind around it.”

“Well, she didn’t pull off anything—” Diane said. “It’s actually a pretty terrible frame job. You have an alibi, which is why the FBI initially didn’t pursue you or Jason. She managed to get the gun into your trunk, but she can’t put it in your hands. She tried to use the tipline to get the FBI into your car, but she wanted to pretend to be smart about it, so she used a notorious gossiping nurse who works with you — but she doesn’t know your work schedule or that you and this nurse wouldn’t have been near each other. And she doesn’t know enough about the technology to know we can prove it’s false. It’s not smart, Elizabeth. She’s literally on your security camera returning the key she probably dropped on your front step. Otherwise, why is she back at your front door after you’ve left, kneeling down and then leaving?”

“But I never lost my key—”

“You didn’t have them that day,” Jason said quietly, and Elizabeth stopped, looked at him. He turned to look at her. “You left your purse at the house when I picked you up. When we were up at Vista Point, you realized you hadn’t put your house keys in your pocket, and you couldn’t get back in the house.”

Elizabeth’s lips parted, and she turned to Diane. “He’s right. I’d forgotten — we made a joke about — I locked myself out of Kelly’s once — you promised not to break the glass this time,” she said to Jason. She put a hand against her chest. “But I got home, and Aiden and Jake were home. And my keys were in my purse. They were already home—”

“She’s benefiting from luck, Elizabeth. Not intelligence. You didn’t know your key was gone because you didn’t take them. The boys don’t mention finding it because it’s probably not a big deal and no one even thinks of it for days, and by then,” Diane said, “they’re upset and stressed by your arrest, then Danny and Aiden are in trouble — and no one ever goes back to that day and asks questions. Because why would we? She’s Sonny’s daughter. Her visit that day was strange, but so what?”

“She’s Sonny’s daughter, why would we think—” Elizabeth pressed two trembling fingers to her mouth. “She took advantage of that, didn’t she? It’s not just luck. It’s the blind spot we’d all have.”

“I didn’t even think twice at her first story. It made sense to me, didn’t it? No one thought anything of it until we went back and checked alibis. And having access to a gun that matches the murder weapon — it’s not a slam dunk in court, but I think, in this office, it’s enough—”

Spinell’s phone rang as Diane spoke, and he turned away to answer it. “Hello?” His brow furrowed. “Diane—”

“What is it?”

“I don’t—” He tapped the speaker phone button and they could hear rain — and voices. Muffled. “It’s Sam, but I don’t know if she meant to call me—”

“Wait—” Jason came forward, his hand held out. “Can you turn up the volume?”

Spinelli obeyed, and the voices became more distinct — Sam…and was that Kristina?

“…I just don’t…why…her bail…important…”

Jason’s mouth pinched, and Elizabeth’s stomach dropped. Oh, God, had Sam known about the email? Had it been her idea?

“…told you…” Kristina’s voice came through, but it was hard to make out her words. “I…to help…you said…no one…know.”

There was a shift in the voices, and now they were coming in more clearly — the phone had moved maybe.

“We’ve been over this, Sam,” Kristina said, sounding annoyed. “And if Mom can’t make this go away, I’m not admitting to anything.”

“You have to tell them, Kristina. You have to tell them I didn’t know. Danny believes I did this to him—do you really think your feelings are more important?”

“He’ll get over it. He’s done worse to you.”

“She sounds so cold,” Elizabeth murmured, and the first pangs of sympathy for Sam bled through. No matter what they’d done to one another, Elizabeth had always believed Sam loved her son. What would it be like for your son to believe the worst about you?

“I just wish you’d tell me why you did this. Why you really did this. You had to know there was a chance people would think it was me—why did you take the risk? Why not try to get Mom to use it in the custody papers? Why go to the same lawyers who tried to put you in jail?”

“You needed Elizabeth out of the picture—”

“No, no! I didn’t—not like that! Damn it, Krissy, it wouldn’t have solved anything! She’d be a goddamn martyr and everyone would be trying to get her out—you really think it would make Danny’s life better that way?”

Diane rolled her eyes. “Never changes,” she muttered under her breath, but Elizabeth almost smiled because that actually made sense. Sam would never have put Elizabeth into the position of being even more of a victim.

“But Jason wouldn’t be able to say he’s got a stable home—”

“No, no, I still think there’s another reason. You were ready to blame me and gaslight everyone else into blaming me, too, until I asked you why you wanted Elizabeth’s bail revoked.”

Diane went still. “Is she—”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Don’t play stupid, Kristina. You’ve never had a negative thing to say about Elizabeth in all these years, and now suddenly you’re trying to help by putting her in jail. I don’t believe you. Just tell me what you did, and we can talk to Mom. We’ll fix it. But you have to tell me what you did.”

She knew, Elizabeth realized. Sam knew what Kristina had done. Had she called Spinelli on purpose? Was she trying to…help?

“What do you want me to say? That I finally see Elizabeth as a manipulative bitch like you always said—”

“But you’re doing it now not when it would have made a difference. I mean, when she lied about Jake Doe, you weren’t talking like this, but she’s accused of murder, and you want her in jail over it.” There was a pause. “Kristina, did you put that gun in her trunk?”

“Why are you asking me that? How can you even—”

Just then, the phone emitted a loud, angry beep — and so did the other phones in the office — Jason’s muffled in his pocket, Elizabeth’s in her purse, Diane’s on the desk — and Sam’s —

“What is that?” Kristina’s voice came through, upset and shrill. There was a scuffle. “Is that your phone?”

“Damn it—let go—”

And then the line went dead.

Belle Forest Drive

“You’re driving too slow,” Alexis muttered, watching the windshield wipers work furiously to keep the view clear.

“It’s basically a  hurricane, Alexis—Sam and Kristina aren’t going anywhere in this weather—check your damned phone,” Sonny retorted.

Alexis threw him a dirty look, then but rummaged in her phone, intending to check the location of her eldest daughters — which, ten minutes ago, had shown them at her home.

While she was squinting in the dark car without her reading glasses, Sonny saw a pair of taillights ahead that were stopped, the car angled across the road. “What the hell is—” He brought the car to a stop. “Is that Dante?”

“They left the house,” Alexis said at the same time. “They’re—they’re on the same road as us—”

And then the phone alerted with an angry warning —

“Flash Flood advisory,” Alexis said. “Cobb Creek is rising—they’re closing—” She looked at Sonny but he was leaning forward, confused as to why his eldest son was walking towards their car. “Sonny, they closed Belle Forest up by me. The girls are going to be stuck on the road in this—”

“Great. I knew we should have waited,” Sonny said with a sigh. He shoved open the door, and got out. “Dante, what the hell are you doing blocking the road like this?”

“Let me guess,” his son retorted. “You’re on your way to clean up after Kristina. Damn it, Dad, I told you stay out of this—”

Alexis ignored both of them, and scrolled through her contacts to bring up Sam’s number.

Belle Forest Drive: Road

Sam shoved Kristina back with one hand, keeping the other on the road. “Damn it, Kristina—knock it off—” but her sister was enraged, trying to find the phone that Sam had wedged between her thighs. The last thing Sam needed was Kristina to find that her phone had connected to Spinelli — had they heard enough? Had they heard anything?

“Give it to me—” Kristina drove for her again, and this time, Sam lost control of the steering wheel, sending the car into a careening skid — both women screaming—

Behind them, Chase had already slowed his car, watching their car wave back and forth on the lanes. He’d reached for his radio, intending to call for backup —

But then the car went skidding off the road—

Chase hit his brakes, his own car sliding slightly as he came to a stop, and got out of the car just in time to see Sam’s car go off the road — and flip down the embankment towards the creek.

+40

I wanted to write more, but I ran out of time. Written 66 minutes. LETS GO PHILLIES FOR MAKING ME STAY UP

Wednesday, October 1, 2024

Webber House: Living Room

Jake dropped his soaking backpack next to the door and flipped the locks. “Okay, we need to get our stories straight—”

“What story?” Aiden shook his head rapidly, raindrops flying from his shaggy hair, then he ran his hand through it, trying to get rid of excess water. “Mom’s not home yet. There’s no way she knows anything happened.”

“We can’t tell anyone,” Danny said. “My mom didn’t even do anything, okay? I mean—” he winced when Jake scowled. “Okay, yes, she did—I’m not talking about yesterday. All she did was—”

“Stalk you outside the high school when she’s not supposed to try to see you,” Jake said. “No matter what else is going on, she’s breaking the custody order. Dad needs to know—”

“What do you mean, no matter what else?” Aiden wanted to know. He squinted. “We know what else. Sam tried to get rid of Mom. Again. I mean, I’m not saying they need to know,” he told Danny. “But she was kind of crazy today—”

“I know, but—” Danny pressed his lips together, looked at his brother. “It just feels wrong. To get her in trouble. I know that sounds stupid.”

“It doesn’t. She’s still your mom, and—” Jake stopped. “I don’t know. I don’t know if I think she did it anymore.”

Danny frowned. “What? What do you mean?”

“I thought we were pretty solid on that part—” Aiden said almost at the same time.

“I don’t know. Your mom just—it was different. Maybe it was just because she was desperate-” Jake shook his head. “I don’t know. I just—when we tell Dad it happened—because we have to tell him—I don’t think we need to make it worse than it was. Your mom’s upset. She’s being accused of something really awful, right? And if she is innocent—”

“Why are you defending her?” Aiden demanded. “She wants Mom to go to jail!”

“Maybe she did a few weeks ago, but—look, our mother is being accused of something she didn’t do, right? It sucks. Mom tries to hide it, but it’s messing with her. I just—” He looked at his brother. “I think we need more proof before we say she did it. So we just tell Dad she stopped us, tried to talk to us, and we left. Okay? We don’t have to tell him she was waiting for us in the parking lot or anything.”

Danny swallowed hard. “You really think she didn’t send that email?”

“I think she probably did, Danny, but she looked—” Jake exhaled slowly. “I can’t explain it. Maybe she didn’t do it herself. Maybe she knows who did. But until we know for sure — it’s not just you, right? We gotta think about your sister. If we make her out to be crazy, Drew’s gonna use it against her. And I don’t know about you, but I think that would make this worse. Let’s wait until we know for sure what she did before we ruin Scout’s life, too.”

Davis & Miller: Diane’s Office

“Kristina?” Jason repeated, baffled. “Kristina sent the email? Why? To help Sam?”

“It makes awful sense, doesn’t it?” Elizabeth said. “Kristina wanted to help Sam get Danny back—and I’m just guessing — but if I were back in jail, Jason’s situation changes. Sam might be able to get the custody order revised—” She stopped, tilted her head. “Why would you need to talk to Diane alone about that?”

“Well, that’s where this gets complicated,” Diane said. “Because, yes, if Kristina sent the email, that’s something,” she told Spinelli. “But I don’t really see how that helps us—”

“You don’t think—” Elizabeth held up her hand. “You’re not suggesting Kristina had something to do with Cates’ murder.”

“That’s not possible. Kristina’s not capable of that,” Jason said with a shake of his head. “Maybe shooting him, but everything else — that’s not her— it’s not—”

“Jason’s been taking care of Kristina almost since she was  born,” Elizabeth argued. “She’d never turn on him like this—” The implication was horrifying. “She’d never betray him—”

“She might,” Diane said softly, “if she blamed Jason for John Cates being in Port Charles at all. After all, it was Pikeman that brought him here, wasn’t it?”

“That’s—” Jason couldn’t speak. Couldn’t finish the thought. “She’s Sonny’s daughter—”

“She had access to the murder weapon — or at least a gun that matches the one found in the car. Sonny confirmed that himself — one of his is missing, and Kristina had the combination,” Diane told him. “Sonny thought it was one of his guys, framing you for being an FBI informant—”

“Kristina wouldn’t know, would she?” Elizabeth asked, putting a hand on Jason’s arm. “She might know you came back to town with Cates, but she might not realize you were forced into working for him. That wasn’t—that wasn’t general knowledge. You had to tell me, remember? I mean, maybe Sam said something to her, but Sam was so angry with you—”

“Stop—stop talking like this is a real possibility,” Jason interrupted, then winced when he realized how sharp his tone was. “I’m sorry, it’s just—”

“It’s Kristina,” Elizabeth finished. “You’ve put your life on the line for her. Over and over again. You’re right.” She looked at Diane. “It’s not enough. She had access to the gun and sent an email. There are other explanations—”

“She has no alibi,” Spinelli said. “She was at your house the day after the murder, and we have her on camera coming back to the house after you’d gone. She got rid of her phone just after the false tip was sent to the feds.”

“I—” Elizabeth paused, then folded her arms around herself. “What do you mean, she came back to the house after I was gone? You—”

“We think maybe she picked up an extra key while she was in your house. Did you have it laying around? You told us you were doing laundry while she was there. Did you leave her alone in the living room?”

“I don’t—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No. No. I don’t have an extra key fob. I used to, but Cameron took it with him to California, and I forgot to get it b ack—” She went to her purse. “The cops never took my keys, and my fob is right here—” She fished inside, and plucked it out, handing it to Spinelli. “See? She couldn’t have taken it.”

Spinelli examined metal ring, then shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe. But—Fair Elizabeth, Stone cold, it brings me no pleasure to say it might be her,” he told them. “We both—we avoided such an unpleasant thought. We’ve been waiting for something more—”

“She sent the email, so what? She was probably trying to help Sam—” Jason said.

“But she must know that Sam was blamed — doesn’t she know?” Elizabeth asked Diane. “Why wouldn’t she just tell everyone? It’s an awful, stupid thing that she did, but she’d have to see letting Sam take the fall would be the opposite of what she was trying to do. What did she say when she found out?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t spoken to Alexis since she talked to Kristina. Alexis—Alexis did tell me that she’d mentioned your bail hearing to Kristina. In passing, not thinking. Kristina knew what Noah Reynolds might do with that information. Alexis—she doesn’t know what we know.”

“It’s not just us,” Spinelli said. “The PCPD—it’s why Dante and Molly recused themselves. Kristina is their prime suspect, too.”

“Are you—” Elizabeth stopped. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t form a full thought. “She’d know about Michael,” she said softly. “She’d know that you’d confessed to keep him safe in prison. And if Sam did tell her — if she knew about why you went to work for the FBI, she’d know it was to protect Carly.” She looked at Jason, his expression grim suggesting he’d connected those dots as well. Or that he was starting to come around to the theory. “It’s not…that crazy to think if I was accused of murdering an FBI agent, you might confess to save me.”

“And if you confessed, the FBI would stop looking,” Diane said. “Investigation is over. Story ends. Kristina gets away.”

“That’s…” Jason took a deep breath. “That’s…I don’t know. It makes sense, but—” It was Kristina. Sam’s sister. Sonny’s daughter. How much of his life had he sacrificed for Sonny? For Sam?

Elizabeth touched his arm, slid her fingertips down until she took his hand. “It’s worse than either of us thought,” she told him, and he remembered their fear that the murderer was someone who knew them.

He’d just never let himself put Kristina on that list. It was like putting Josslyn on the list or Molly.

“I’m sorry. You see why we waited to bring it up,” Diane said. “All we need now is for Spinelli to find those trunk records and for it to match the time Kristina is at your house that day.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want this to be true,” Spinelli said. “I just—I have no explanation for everything we know.”

“Okay. Okay. Let’s say it’s true. What does that mean? What do we do next?” Jason asked.

Pozzulo’s: Street

“Move your car,” Dante said, slamming his car door shut, striding towards Anna who remained in the car, but rolled down the window. “Damn it, Anna, get out of my way—”

“You’re interfering in a police investigation,” Anna told him, lifting her voice slightly to be heard over the rain. “If you’re here to protect your sister—”

“So what if I was?” Dante demanded. “Are you the only one allowed to do that? Are you the only one allowed to bend the damn law?”

Anna shoved her door open, forcing him to step back. “If you have something to say to me, Dante, stop tiptoeing around—”

“Oh, I’m done playing games with you, Commissioner,” Dante retorted. “You and I both know you screwed up the Pikeman investigation by tipping off Valentin. He flew out of town, and the FBI has had it out for Jason Morgan ever since. Which is why you tried to play ball and serve him and Elizabeth to cover your own ass! You called the FBI as soon as you got the call about Cates —”

“They were always going to take the case—”

“You could have fought it! Damn it, Anna! You let them walk all over you, and drag an innocent woman into jail! Are you happy? Are you satisfied? Was it worth it to let Valentin walk away?”

Anna shook her head. “You don’t understand. You weren’t there—”

“I don’t need to be there to know you let the man responsible for shooting me flee the country,” Dante bit out. “The man who nearly killed my father. But you weren’t thinking about that were you? Just like you weren’t thinking of Elizabeth and her kids when you let the FBI use our jail to book and hold her—”

“I didn’t have a choice, damn it—”

“Not once you let Valentin escape, you didn’t.” Dante shook his head, laughing bitterly. “My God. Laura’s made a lot of terrible mistakes in her life, but putting you back in charge at the PCPD was one of the worst—” He turned away, started back towards his car. “Get the hell out of my way, or I’m going to ram your car and force you. You have no right to hold me here.”

“Dante, wait—” Anna came after him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. “You must understand that I never meant for any of this to happen! It’s all gotten so out of control! I thought it would be enough that Cates knew who Valentin was! I thought they’d be satisfied—”

“Well they weren’t!” Dante exploded, turning back to face her.  “He’s off somewhere, probably laughing at how stupid you were to let him go, Charlotte’s on the run with a fugitive, Elizabeth’s facing life on jail, Danny and Rocco’s lives are ruined, Sam’s life is destroyed, and my sister is probably a goddamn murderer—was it worth it?”

“You can’t seriously blame me for all that’s happened—”

“No. No I can’t. But if you’d have an ounce of integrity, my God, how different would this all be?” He yanked his car door open. “Get out of my way. Now.”

Davis House: Living Room

“Who will they believe?” Sam repeated. She laughed, though the sound was more bitter than amused. “You really think you’re going to get away with it this time, don’t you?”

“I don’t see why not. Everyone knows you’re unhinged about Danny’s relationship with Elizabeth. Mom’s been worried for weeks. Molly thinks so, too. You’ve already tried to have her arrested. All I have to do is tell Mom that it was your idea. That I just mentioned the bail to you, and you were off and running — it’s such a shame you didn’t think about Danny.” Kristina shook her head, sorrowfully. “It’s just like that day in the lobby, isn’t it? You just see or think about Elizabeth, and nothing else matters. I only did it because you begged me to, because you had me so worried about what you’d do next.”

“You’ve really lost it, Kristina. You have just—” She sliced her hand through the air. “You have absolutely just lost the plot. Ever since you lost the baby, you’ve just—I’ll tell Mom about this, and she’ll believe me—”

“You sure about that? I mean, I already managed to convince Mom to draw up custody papers for me. Custody papers I was going to use against Molly and TJ.” Kristina took a step towards her. “Do you really think Mom won’t think you took advantage of me? I’ve been so upset, so desperate to help you — and you told me this would help—I didn’t even realize what it would do to Danny—I feel so awful knowing he was hurt—”

“You—” Sam couldn’t form another word, because she wasn’t entirely sure that Kristina couldn’t pull it off. That their mother wouldn’t place the blame on Sam who had always been too headstrong for her own good—that Kristina wouldn’t be able to play the gullible, manipulated sister she’d always been. How many times had Kristina been taken advantage of? What if Alexis didn’t believe her? What if Dante didn’t—

‘They’ll know I’m telling the truth,” Sam said, but it was more to herself than to Kristina. She focused on her sister. “I’ll make them see I’m telling the truth. I’ll do whatever I have to do. But—I don’t—” Her voice faltered for a moment, then she found it again. “I don’t understand. If you did this to help me, why can’t you just—why can’t you just tell them that? Why do you  have to make it my fault at all? I didn’t tell you to do this. Why can’t you just tell them the truth?”

“It is the truth,” Kristina told her. “You needed Elizabeth out of the picture, and I knew that everything would be better if she went to jail. You’d get Danny back. I did it to help you. To get Elizabeth to go away—”

“Elizabeth has never done anything to you,” Sam said. “She’s never—I don’t understand. I don’t understand why you did this—How could you do this to her—I was getting Danny back. I was going to therapy. I was—I had a plan, Kristina. Why would you think putting Elizabeth in jail for months and months was  good for anyone—”

“You don’t have to understand. It doesn’t matter anymore. It didn’t work. All that matters is getting our stories straight.” Kristina smiled, but it looked forced — and suddenly she didn’t seem so confident anymore. So cold or assured.

Because Sam had asked the right question, hadn’t she? Why couldn’t Kristina just tell them the truth? She done it to help Sam, but it had backfired. Kristina had made it her life’s mission to make stupid mistakes that backfired — why was this different?

Why couldn’t Kristina just tell them what happened?

“You didn’t do this for me,” Sam said, and now Kristina looked at her, her eyes sharp. “You didn’t do this for me. I’m the excuse, I’m the—” She paused. “I’m the excuse,” she repeated. “You wanted Elizabeth’s bail to get revoked. You used what you knew about Danny to do it. Why? Why did you want Elizabeth out of the picture?”

+32

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?”

+38

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.”

+40

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.”

+36

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.”

+42

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.”

+43

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.”

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