Written in 61 minutes.

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Morgan Penthouse: Kitchen

Jason winced at the empty interior of his fridge, then closed the silver door revealing Elizabeth leaning against the counter cradling a bag of pretzels between her brace and chest and digging with the other hand to the bottom of the bag. “Sorry. We should probably order something or I can send someone for Kelly’s—”

“Mmm, chili or pizza?” Elizabeth closed her eyes, considered the choice. “Oh, they both sound good. But that’s not helpful. And don’t feel bad. It’s not like you were expecting an overnight guest.” She wandered over to the other side of the kitchen to dispose of the now empty bag, leaving Jason to frown after her. Overnight guest? The wording didn’t entirely sit right with him, but the vibration of the cell phone put distracted him.

He tugged it from his back pocket, moving towards the living room and the junk drawer where he kept a stack of takeout menus. “Yeah?”

“Hey, it’s Francis—”

Jason stilled, halfway to the living room. He saw Elizabeth poking through some of the other cabinets, finding them nearly as empty as the fridge. Francis was the guard sitting outside Audrey’s house.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not sure, but the same car has circled the block three times in the last hour. The first time was just before you stopped by, then twenty minutes ago. And just now. I didn’t know if you wanted us to wait on a fourth go to catch the driver, or—”

“You ran the plates?”

“Yeah, Stan did. It’s a rental, and he can’t get into their database to see who picked it up. What do you want us to do?”

Could mean anything, really. Could be someone who was lost and looking for a house, but the even intervals made that unlikely. Had someone seen him leave the house earlier with the bag? Did they know Audrey was alone? Or were they waiting to get a chance at Elizabeth?

Jason rubbed his temple. A wrong move here could be catastrophic, and he didn’t know how many more mistakes he’d be able to come back from. He opened his mouth, then hesitated when he saw Elizabeth in the doorway, clutching her injured shoulder.

“I want you to sit on the house and not to do anything. If they’ve come around that many times, they could be looking at all the cars, checking who owns what. If you or me come back to the house, they might think they’ve been made. I don’t want that.”

Elizabeth came closer, her eyes wide, but she remained silent.

“Okay, and Mrs. Hardy?”

“I’m going to call Mac Scorpio. Have him send a uniform or someone to pick up Mrs. Hardy. Take her to the hospital. He’ll be able to reassure her better than the rest of us. Then you stay on the house the rest of the night and report back.”

“Got it.”

Jason ended the call and was already dialing the number for the commissioner’s direct line, and was once again grateful when Elizabeth said nothing, just watched and listen.

“Jason, hey, we’ve got an update on the event—”

“Mac, there’s a car circling Audrey Hardy’s house and we don’t know who it belongs to,” Jason interrupted. “I need you to send someone to convince her to go to the hospital.”

Mac waited a beat. “Okay, I’ll ask an obvious question. Why aren’t your guys grabbing her right now?”

“Because she might not go with someone she doesn’t know, and if someone’s watching the house, they might think something’s up. I’m going to take a chance that no one expects me to be in contact with you. Mac—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll run by myself. Audrey and I have a history, I can convince her faster. Jason, once she’s at the hospital—”

“I’ll handle it from there and get you the license plate number. You can get the information faster than me. Thanks.”

“I’ll call once we’re in the car.”

Jason flipped the phone shut, then looked at Elizabeth whose pallor had faded until it was stark white. “I know you have a lot of questions—”

“She needs to go to the hospital and not here because you don’t want anyone to know you caught them. You don’t want them to dump the car when you might be able to trace it. But right now you need to call Bobbie because she’s at the hospital, and we—we—can’t go there. So someone has to talk to my grandmother.”

“And with Bobbie’s help, I can get your grandmother out to the Forest Hills house. It’s got security at the gate,” Jason said, pressing the speed dial for Carly’s mother. “I should have moved her earlier, but—”

“It’s okay, just call her. And we’ll—we’ll wait for Mac to tell us that he was able to talk to my grandmother.” Elizabeth swallowed hard. “She’ll go with Mac. That was smart. She’ll go with Mac,” she repeated, more as a mantra than as a statement of fact, as if she said it enough it would make it true.

And if it was the last thing Jason did, he’d make sure it would be.

Hardy House: Front Porch

Audrey peered through the peep hole, then slid the deadbolt open, flipped the other set of locks, tugging the door towards her. “Mac? What on Earth?”

“Hey, Audrey. I’m gonna come in, all right?” Mac said, but then didn’t wait for an answer. He came forward, and Audrey stepped back automatically crinkling her brows.

“What’s going on—”

“There’s a car circling the block,” Mac told her and Audrey closed her mouth. “One of Jason’s guards has been timing it. Every twenty minutes. They don’t know anything else, and I’m tracking it down, but we needed to move you somewhere safe in a way that doesn’t let anyone know we caught their car.”

Audrey exhaled slowly, pressed a fist to her chest. “Jason just picked up some things for Elizabeth. She called and said she needed to be somewhere safer. Has something happened? Is someone else hurt? Oh, please don’t tell me someone else has died—”

“To the best of my knowledge,” Mac said, “everyone is fine. Jason sounded fine, and I don’t think he would if Elizabeth were hurt, all right? We’re together, Audrey. Jason’s cooperating with the PCPD, so this is above board. We think we’re starting to narrow down on the who and the what, and we’re working out a plan to prove it. But it’s important that we keep everyone safe while not tipping them off.”

“All right, all right. I won’t—” Audrey picked up her purse. “If you’re here, then it is obviously important. But I will be wanting some answers when I get where I’m going. And I won’t take no for an answer.”

Morgan Penthouse: Living Room

The moment the cell phone rang, Jason snatched it up and flipped it open, answering it and pressing the speaker button. “Mac?”

“We’re in the car on our way to the hospital,” Mac said. “And no one following that I can tell. There’s a squad car sitting at the hospital that’s going to trace any car that drives by after I pull into the parking lot.”

“Gram?” Elizabeth said, stepping towards the speaker. “I’m so sorry about all of this.”

“Just tell me you’re all right, darling.”

“I’m okay. I’m better now that I know you’re safe. Thank you, thank you for going with Mac.”

“When this is done, Elizabeth, you and I are going to have to have a conversation,” Audrey said with a tone Jason recognized, but Elizabeth didn’t look bothered.

“I’m looking forward to arguing with you, Gram. I love you, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jason closed the phone, then looked at her. “I’m so sorry—”

“Don’t—don’t apologize—” Elizabeth went into his arms, and he pressed his lips to her temple. “Gram’s okay. I don’t care if I argue with her for the rest of my life. This is going to be over soon. Brenda’s coming home, and if this is about her, Lorenzo Alcazar or whoever he is won’t be able to resist the chance to get his hands on her. Obsession or revenge, it’s the same sickness and it’s going to be his undoing.”

Yacht: Dining Room

Luis strode through the double door entrance, and Ric sighed, sliding his plate away from him. From the expression on the crime lord’s face, it was clear he was in a rotten mood and he had a habit of sweeping dishes from tables when he was like that.

“Lost a kitten?” Ric asked, and Luis looked at him, glowered. “Sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood.”

“Morgan,” Luis muttered, and on that subject, Ric could commiserate. Jason Morgan had a way of making you feel insane. He paced across the room, then back to the table. He laid his hands on the surface, flattening them. “You know him. Why would he wait until today to start herding the chicks into the coop? Why not immediately after I made you disappear and disposed of that twit blonde?”

Ric frowned, tipped his head. “What does that mean?”

“Elizabeth Webber left her grandmother’s house this morning with just her guard in tow. Just like any other day since her release from the hospital.” Luis scowled. “She hasn’t returned. Nearly an hour ago, Morgan picked up a duffel bag. I assumed the woman was spending the night.”

Ric fought to keep his mouth twitching into a matching scowl, but he obviously failed since Luis’s expression slid into a sly smile. “Don’t like that, do you?”

“She’s still legally married to me,” Ric muttered, “not that you know it.”

“No, not with her two months gone with Morgan’s bastard. In any case, it was unfortunate but nothing that tripped my suspicion. But the commissioner of the PCPD just picked Audrey Hardy up and left with her.”

Ric opened his mouth, then closed it. “You think that’s connected to Morgan?”

“You don’t?”

“I—I don’t know. That’s—” Ric shifted, wincing at the soreness in his back. “Audrey Hardy loathes Jason Morgan. She kept saying that she was glad Elizabeth was away with him. And Elizabeth never tells her anything about her life. She never spoke a word of any of my…shortcomings,” he concluded. “I find it extremely difficult to believe that Mac and Jason and Audrey would be working together on anything. Didn’t Mac arrest Jason?”

Luis straightened, his features easing. “That’s true. He dropped the charges when Corinthos was committed, and well, that case was never that strong.” He folded his arms. “Perhaps an actual emergency at the hospital?”

“Carly’s still there. Bobbie and Audrey are old friends. Could be anything, Luis. Were you planning to grab the old woman? How does that get Sonny and Elizabeth into a room together?”

“It doesn’t. I wanted to figure out if Morgan had any cars on the house, but my people didn’t finish getting a full list of parked cars.” Luis tapped his chin. “All right, we’ll see how this plays out. In any case, it doesn’t affect my plan very much. I can make adjustments.”

“Like what?” Ric asked suspiciously. “How are you planning to get Sonny and Elizabeth alone in a room together?”

Luis smirked. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” he called over his shoulder, sauntering towards the door.”

“Yes, actually!” Ric called after him. “I thought I made that perfectly clear.” He sighed, then picked up his fork and began eating.

General Hospital: Hallway

Bobbie stepped out of Carly’s room pulling it closed, then embraced Audrey in a tight hug. “I’m so relieved to see you.  My heart’s been pounding since I spoke with Jason.” She reached over, squeezed Mac’s hand. “Thank you.”

“We’re running those plates now, and if we can get the shell company Alcazar’s using, I think it’s going to give us a fresh lead. I’ll keep Jason in the loop,” Mac told them.

When he was gone, Audrey shook her head. “I am trying to be understanding about all of this, Bobbie, and I think I’ve been very supportive, but since the moment Elizabeth was shot, all hell has broken loose, and my granddaughter seems to be no safer than she was that day—”

Bobbie pressed a finger to her lips, then pulled Audrey inside the hospital room where Carly was resting. “Keep your voice down. And don’t tell me you’re blaming Jason for that—”

“Who else—”

“Lorenzo Alcazar. Or Luis Alcazar. We think he faked his brother’s death so that he could drop out of sight and get his hands on Brenda. But Jason’s had her in hiding for months.”

Audrey blinked, took a step back. “What? What?”

“All of this goes back to Brenda Barrett. If it’s Luis, then it’s a sick, twisted obsession for a woman who doesn’t want him. He’s nothing better than a stalker, and he’s stolen years of Brenda’s life. If he’s Lorenzo, he’s a twisted bastard looking for revenge against a woman who escaped her stalker. The only thing Jason is guilty of is hiding a terrified woman, protecting her. What would you have him do, Audrey? Feed Brenda to the wolves?”

“No, no, of course not.” Audrey swallowed hard. “I hadn’t thought of it that way—”

“Well, once you stop looking at Jason like the enemy, it gets easier to see the rest of the world. Is he a perfect man? No. Does he live his life entirely on the right side of the law? No. Do you think I was happy when my daughter married Sonny? Or kept Michael in that life? Of course not, Audrey. But none of this happened because of the life they chose. It’s because Sonny’s untreated mental illness was exploited by a twisted man who thinks he has the right to kidnap and terrorize women.”

Audrey closed her eyes. “It’s so much, Bobbie. I’m so scared for Elizabeth, for that child—”

“The safest place she can be right now is at the Towers with Jason. You were here that night. Can you tell me he’s going to let anyone near her again?”

“No, no.” Audrey pressed two fingers to her lips. “All right. All right. Whatever I need to do, I’ll do it. I just want my granddaughter and that precious baby safe, Bobbie. That’s all.”

“That’s—” Bobbie broke off when the monitor began to beep wildly. She turned around and by the time she got to the bed, Carly was awake, clutching her hands to her belly. “Carly?”

“Oh, God, I think I’m in labor!”

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