Written in 57   minutes.

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Elm Street Pier

Jason grabbed Brenda’s elbow, holding her back from stepping out onto Pier 52 and the launch that would take them out to Alcazar’s yacht, anchored just off shore. “Repeat the plan to me.”

“Do you think that I wasn’t listening the first eight times you made me do this?” Brenda demanded. “Do you think I’ll be stupid and—” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I know it’s not about that. It’s how you’re keeping your cool. Okay. We get on the boat. You demand that Elizabeth be allowed to send back to shore first and Luis will refuse. Then you’ll start negotiating which will distract him because he’ll be annoyed, and while he’s annoyed, Sonny’s men will be getting into position.”

“The second they take the shot,” Jason told her, “I’m going to grab Elizabeth. You go for the boat. Don’t think of anything. Just go.”

“I can do that. But I need you to make me a promise—no, don’t shake your head at me, Jason Morgan. Luis Alcazar is my problem. He came here because I wanted to go home and he wanted to make sure I didn’t have a home to come back to.”

“You are not responsible for his obsessions—”

“No. But he’s not your problem to fix. I came to you because I was desperate and because I knew I could count on you,” she confessed. “I only tried to blackmail you with Sonny and Carly because I was scared. But over the last couple of days, I remembered what I’d always tried to forget.”

Jason’s brows drew together in confusion. “What?”

“You looked miserable the day Sonny sent you to stop the wedding. And I forced you to tell me the truth in front of everyone. You tried to be kind. And I made it your fault. I blamed you because I couldn’t bring myself to admit the truth. Sonny didn’t love me enough to find a way out of it.”

“Brenda, that was a long time ago—”

“I know it, but it’s always been there between us. I resented you because it hurt too much to put the blame where it belonged. And because of that, I need you to know that if anyone isn’t coming home today, it’s me—”

“Brenda—”

“You and Elizabeth have a whole lifetime in front of you. I need you to promise me that you will get her out of this. I can survive Luis. He can’t break me, and I can live to fight another day. Elizabeth—he doesn’t care about her. So if it actually does come down to saving her or me, I want you to know that I expect you to get her home alive.”

“Brenda—”

“You don’t make promises you don’t try to keep. It’s something I’ve always respected about you. I’m not stepping foot on that yacht until you promise me.”

Alcazar’s Yacht: Upper Deck

“Ah, right on time.”

Elizabeth glowered at Alcazar as he watched the boat moving towards him with some satisfaction. She couldn’t do more than that since he’d gagged her and tied her hands together—he’d also lightly tied her legs together. She could shuffle along, but there’d be no running.

“Let’s see if your husband has some good sense,” Alcazar said. He grabbed her arm and dragged her forward.

Jason stepped on board first, sweeping a brief look over Elizabeth before turning back to reach out a hand to Brenda.

“Search him,” Luis said to one of the men standing nearby. “Confiscate any weapons.”

Jason’s glare could cut ice as he spread out his arms and allowed himself to be subjected to the pat down by the guards. “You think I’d take a chance with Elizabeth’s life on the line?”

“A man can’t be too sure.” Alcazar’s greedy eyes took in Brenda, his eyes lighting up with something dark and twisted that sent shivers down Elizabeth’s spine. “I know you think you have a way out of this, but I’m ready for anything you have planned.”

He looked at Elizabeth, lifting his dark brows. “You’ve been a lovely, charming companion. Even amusing. Did you know, Mr. Morgan—” He returned his gaze to Jason. “She thought perhaps this kidnapping was better than her last. She’s waiting on a third to decide for sure.”

Alcazar took Elizabeth by the arm and gently maneuvered her in front of him. Elizabeth wasn’t entirely sure what she expected—maybe he was attempting to start the trade with a sign of good faith?

Was he really going to trade her? Did Jason have a plan—

But then Alcazar released her arm and she realized only in the second before it happened what he’d planned.

He had pushed her so that her back was against the railing, then reached into his suit jacket.

There was a scream, a shout, and then just the glint of the yacht’s light on the metal of the gun before the night exploded with the sound of fireworks and a hot slice of pain arrowed through her shoulder.

The force of the shot sent her reeling and then Alcazar shoved her over—

Elizabeth tried to scream as her body twisted and rolled before she hit the freezing dark waters of Lake Ontario, but her cries were muffled by the gag in her mouth. She tried to swim, tried to move her arms, but quickly the current of the lake dragged her under.

___

Brenda choked back a sob as Luis shoved Elizabeth, bound and gagged over the railing of the yacht. With little more than an apologetic glance at Brenda, Jason launched himself overboard after her.

Brenda rushed to the railing, a crazy thought of trying to go after them, trying to help—but that wouldn’t solve anything.

“I’m sure Morgan had a plan,” Luis murmured. “I knew you’d make it clear to them that allowing the sweet Elizabeth to disappear with me into the night would be a terrible future for her. At first,” he added. “I could have charmed her. Make her fall in love with me.”

“The way I did,” Brenda said softly. She could see nothing at all. No figures. No thrashing in the water. Elizabeth had probably already sank down, unable to keep herself afloat, and Jason would never come back without her.

“I do have a way about me,” Luis said. He turned away to one of the guards. “It’s time to go. Let’s leave while Corinthos and his men are distracted—”

“I thought I did love you,” Brenda said. “I thought I didn’t have anything else to live for, and you were kind. I didn’t want to have sex with you, but you made me feel like I owed it to you.” She turned to look at him. “And I guess you’re not a man who minds when the woman lays still beneath him like a corpse.”

His mouth twisted and he flicked his eyes to the guards. “Leave us,” he snarled. In less than a minute, they were alone on the deck.  “That’s not how it was—”

“You thought you had this all it planned out,” Brenda said, “but I know you, Luis. And I knew you’d find a way to separate me from Jason. I also knew that you never thought I was very smart. Or bright. Your mistake was assuming that everyone saw me that way.”

“Brenda—”

“I knew you wouldn’t have me searched.” Brenda reached beneath the bulky sweater she wore, drew out the gun Jason had given her, and leveled the barrel at him. Luis’s eyes bulged  and he put his hands up.

“Brenda—”

The bullet struck him between the eyes, his head exploding around him as his body hit the deck, already dead.

There were footsteps rushing towards her as the guards came towards her, but Brenda just pointed the gun at them. “He’s dead,” she snarled. “And now you’ll do exactly what I say or you’re next.”

___

Jason hit the water less than two minutes after Elizabeth, but he knew it might already be too late. He knew the odds, knew that she’d been tied up, unable to swim—

But he was never going to leave her behind. Either they both went home or neither of them did.

On his third dive beneath the frigid waters, his muscles aching and his lungs screaming, he found her. She was twisting and desperately trying to break free to the surface, using her tied hands like a shovel, digging at the water—

Jason used what energy he had left to drag Elizabeth to the surface and tug the gag from her mouth. He could have wept when he heard her drag in a long, desperate breath.

“You found me,” she managed. He looped her hands over his neck, using his legs to keep them both afloat. “You found me.”

He pushed her sodden hair away from her face, smoothing his thumb over her lips. “I will always find you,” he promised. He kissed her, just for a minute, just to feel her mouth against his.

Jason twisted them, trying to see how far they’d drifted from the yacht. He had to get her to shore before they both froze. The lights of the yacht looked distant, but he knew his eyes could be playing tricks on him. He didn’t know if Brenda had been able to pull the gun on Alcazar, but by now Sonny’s men would be in the water.

He had to believe that.

“Untie my hands. I c-can s-swim,” Elizabeth managed, her teeth chattered. He lifted her arms from around his neck to try to undo the ropes, but his fingers were fumbling and his legs were tiring from keeping them both afloat. If he couldn’t get these ropes undone, the ones around her ankles would be impossible.

“J-Jason—”

He put her arms back around his neck. “Can’t waste time. You need to get to shore. She’d been shot and nearly drowned. A bullet in the shoulder, the waters of the lake—she’d die from blood loss and infection if he didn’t get her to shore—

“But—”

He ignored her protests and started swimming towards the yacht. He had to believe Brenda had been able to defend herself or that Sonny had been able to get on board—

Had to believe it—

His arms were screaming and his body felt numb, but Jason kept swimming, the feeling of Elizabeth’s arms around his neck reminding him that he needed to keep going. Needed to get her to shore.

“Jason! Jason!”

His brain was foggy—he couldn’t concentrate, couldn’t hear the screams of his names—was that in his head?

A bright light blinded him, but then he realized it was the small boat that had ferried them between the pier and the yacht. He saw Sonny’s face dimly and Brenda’s just behind him. The boat was still maybe twenty feet away, but he’d know them anywhere. “Jason!” Brenda called again.

“Elizabeth—” Jason pulled her arms off his neck as Sonny threw a life ring out towards them. “Elizabeth, you need to hold onto this.”

“J-Jason—” Her voice slurred as her eyes drifted closed. “Y-You, too—”

“You first.” He fitted the ring over her. “I love you.”

“I love you, too—”

Then Sonny was pulling on the rope, dragging Elizabeth away from Jason, towards the boat. Towards safety.

Jason continued to tread water, but everything hurt and he was so tired. So cold.

____

“Get—Get Jason,” Elizabeth’s words were barely audible as Sonny and two of their men dragged her onto the boat. Brenda was sobbing as she frantically pressed gauze to Elizabeth’s shoulder and Max swiftly cut through her bindings.

Sonny threw the ring out back into the direction of where he’d last seen Jason, but there was no tug on the line to indicate it had been grabbed.

And by the time they reached the spot where Jason and Elizabeth had been sighted, there was no one.

Sonny sucked in a breath or horror he frantically pushed the light around the surrounding water.

“Jason—where’s Jason—” Brenda demanded, scrambling away from Elizabeth. “Jason!” she screamed. “Jason!”

“We—” Sonny sucked in a harsh breath. He traded a look with Max. “How is she?”

“Pulse is thready. Her body core temp is low,” Max told him. “And we can’t stop the bleeding.”

“Jason!” Brenda’s scream disappeared in the rough waters of the lake. “Jason!”

 

“Brenda, we need to get Elizabeth to shore—she needs medical attention—”

“No, no! We can’t—” Brenda’s breathing was labored and choppy, sobs breaking her speech. “No, I can’t leave him in the dark, in the water! Please—please—” She turned back to the water, and for a wild moment, Sonny thought she meant to throw herself overboard.

“Brenda—”

“I’ll go in, Boss—” one of the men offered. “Get the boat to the yacht and send it back out. We’ll keep looking for him. He must have drifted. I’ll find him.” The guard, Richie, Sonny strugged to remember, started to shove off his shirt and pants, revealing a wetsuit underneath. “Jason thought we might need to be ready for anything.”

“Okay, okay. Go in, Richie. We’ll come back for you,” Sonny promised, and the guard slipped beneath the waves. Sonny gave the order for the other guard to turn the boat back to the yacht while Sonny turned to the still sobbing Brenda.

“If Elizabeth dies while we’re searching for Jason, he’d never forgive me,” Sonny said. “He made it clear to me. She comes home.”

“I can’t stand leaving him in the water. I remember—I remember accident. I remember hitting the water—” Brenda pressed her hands to her eyes. “I made it out of the car, and I swam for hours. Hours. It was so cold, so dark—I just wanted to close my eyes and sleep. I finally did. I can’t leave him here.”

“We’re not—”

“We are!” Brenda looked back to the spot where Jason had disappeared, where they could just see Richie diving beneath the water. “Promise you won’t stop looking until you find him. However you find him.”

“I won’t,” Sonny said, hoping like hell he wouldn’t be bringing Elizabeth’s husband home in a body bag.

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