Written in 56 minutes. Both scenes ended up a little longer than I planned, so there’s only two. See you tomorrow!

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Thursday, September 26, 2024

Metro Court Hotel: Restaurant

Carly beamed when Jason slid into the chair across the table. “I can’t believe you actually showed up. I figured you’d be too busy.”

Jason frowned, picking up the menu and skimming it even though he didn’t really care. “I said I would.”

“I know, but—never mind.” Carly gestured for the server to take their orders. “I don’t want any interruptions.”

That didn’t exactly bode well, but Jason didn’t say anything. Once the server had left, Carly folded her arms on the table and leaned forward. “I doubt Spinelli told you this, but I went to see him yesterday—”

Jason lifted his brows. “Is this going to ruin my day?”

“No. Because you already know the details. I mean you know what I’m going to say, I just don’t know if you know that I know. Except I talked to Elizabeth and maybe she brought it up—”

“Carly.”

“Right. Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I know Gia Campbell is on the case.” When Jason’s head snapped up, she continued. “Michael recognized her name when he saw the warrant, but couldn’t remember anything other than she’d worked for me. Which makes sense, he’d been really young when she was around. And I don’t even know if she was around, but I definitely talked about her a lot at home—right, getting to the point,” she said when she saw Jason’s expression. “I know Gia’s on the case. I talked to Elizabeth and Spinelli, and they both seemed to think this was under control. I did get Spinelli to say he’d look into it, but I doubt he can make it a priority—”

“And he shouldn’t. Diane knows. We’re following her advice—”

“Jason. Please don’t tell me you think it’s a coincidence that Gia Campbell shows up out of nowhere as second chair on Elizabeth’s case. We both know that’s not how this works. She’s here to make trouble.”

“Maybe,” Jason allowed, shifting slightly. “But she’s limited in what she can do—”

“I can’t really tell you what Gia can do, but I can tell you if she’s anything like she was then, she’ll be ruthless and take every opportunity to go after Elizabeth. She did in that competition. She played dirty.”

“I know—”

“You don’t, but that’s not my point either. Maybe you’re right. Maybe legally, she can’t offer much. But I’ve been thinking about nothing else for the last twenty-four hours—”

“That’s terrifying to hear.”

“Jason.” Carly tipped her head. “The FBI doesn’t want Elizabeth. They want you.”

Jason exhaled slowly, then nodded. “I know that. We’ve known that all along—”

“Gia knows exactly how far Elizabeth would go to protect you. I went home last night, and I pulled out everything I have from Deception, and I talked to Maxie—”

“Carly—”

“Just listen. I asked Maxie to pull out the Face of Deception records, anything she could find which wasn’t much, but I think I’d forgotten exactly when all of that was. Or what else was going on. Until I saw the date. February 2001. The warehouse fire. Do you remember?”

Jason nodded slowly. “I do—”

“You came home that winter to help Sonny deal with something in the business. I don’t remember if I ever know more than that. But I also remember that no one even knew you were in town at that point. It came out later you’d been staying with Elizabeth, right? Keeping your return quiet. And she’d lied to Lucky.”

“She—yeah.”

“Jason, everyone knew that. You know that, right? Including Gia. Gia knew that she’d lied to her boyfriend to keep you safe. That’s not something in those PCPD files, is it?”

“I don’t see why that matters—”

“The feds are going after Elizabeth to get to you. They either think she’s going to turn on you, which I doubt she would even if she had something to offer—which is the nicest thing I’ve ever said about her honestly. Or they think you’re going to confess to get her off the hook. And Gia knows enough to make sure they believe that. You can guarantee that Nikolas whined to her about you and how you took advantage of her that first time in her studio. Do you know if he knows you were shot then?”

“I don’t—” Jason squinted. “Carly, I’m not sure why any of this matters.”

“Gia’s not going to do damage in the court room, I trust Diane to handle that. But if Gia tells that Reynolds guy everything she knows or might know— including that Elizabeth will and has broken laws to protect you—she did that when she was a eighteen-year-old kid, Jason. Do you think they’ll ever believe she wouldn’t now, twenty-five years later when the two of you have this history, a child, and a relationship now?”

Jason absorbed that, but still shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. They already think she’s hiding something—”

“I don’t care about them.”

“Then what are we doing here—”

“I care about you and what you are planning to do. Because the FBI isn’t going away. Even if the PCPD finds out who really killed John Cates — they don’t care. Do you think Cates was the only one pissed about  how the Pikeman investigation fell out?”

“No, but—”

“Jason. Can you really sit there and tell me you don’t have an endgame in mind?”

Jason looked away. “No.”

“That’s why it bothers me this woman is on the case. Because she can give them more ammunition. More conviction that Elizabeth would protect you at risk to herself. They’re not going to give up. If Diane doesn’t win at this hearing, then we’re talking about a trial. And a jury.”

“I know.” Jason waited a beat. “I don’t want you to worry about any of this, Carly.”

“Okay, well, now you’re just being stupid. Because who better than me knows what kind of suicidal mission you’ve got in your head? You gave up two years of your life to protect me, which I never asked for. And I’m still pissed about,” she added. “You give up what’s left of your life to protect Elizabeth from a crime she didn’t commit, she’s going to be just as angry.”

“She can be angry and free,” Jason said finally. “Just like you—”

“What’s stopping me from telling Elizabeth about this conversation? About what you’re obviously planning if this starts to go south?”

Jason looked at her, and Carly fidgeted, but didn’t break the gaze. “You can tell her. It won’t change anything.”

“Except piss her off. You want to live with that over your head?”

“Carly.” Jason stopped, unsure exactly how to proceed. “It’s not something I want to  do, okay? And it’s not like I’m thinking about it today. Or next week. Just—it’s an option.”

“It’s a stupid option.”

“Your opinion is noted—”

“And the second I think you’re going to put this stupid plan into action, you’d better believe I’m going to tell Elizabeth. And she’ll kick your ass.”

“Can we be done with this conversation now?”

“For now.” Carly sat back as the server approached with their lunch orders. “But not forever.”

Chase’s Apartment: Living Room

“Is there a reason we’re meeting at your residence?” Gia asked, her eyes skimming the entire room, including the whiteboard with the details of the case displayed. Except for suspects, she noted. The basic details, witness statements—but nothing about who had done this except a list at the corner with those who had been eliminated.

“You said we needed to be discreet.” Chase closed the door. “This is discreet.”

“I’m not doing anything wrong,” Gia said, turning back to face him. “I’m allowed to talk to the investigators, local and federal.” She slid the strap of her bag off her shoulder and set it on the table. “But this isn’t a conversation I think my boss would appreciate me having.” She tipped her head. “And why are you working here?”

“You never know who’s listening.” Chase folded his arms. “You asked for this meeting. Why?”

Gia was quiet for a moment then unzipped the bag she’d set down to extract a manila folder. “To deliver the preliminary report. Diane Miller isn’t getting that until at least Monday, so if you could keep it to yourself or make sure it doesn’t get back to my superiors — that would be great.”

Chase took the folder, but didn’t open it. “Why are you giving me a preview?”

“Because I have doubts about this case, and so far — neither Caldwell or Reynolds seem all that interested.” She paused. “I took this case because I used to live in Port Charles. Because I knew some of the participants twenty years ago. I knew Elizabeth.”

“That’s a conflict of interest—”

“Says the man married to Jason Morgan’s cousin.”

“It’s not the same thing and you know it.” He lifted his brows. “And you’ll be out of luck at that hearing when Elizabeth sees you—”

“Do you think Diane Miller didn’t do a search on my name the moment she saw it on the docket? She knows I used to live here. My connection, as brief as it is, is public. I was engaged to Nikolas Cassadine, and Elizabeth and I competed against each other in a modeling competition. That alone would be enough to recuse me if Diane requested it. She hasn’t.” Gia paused. “I took this case because I knew Elizabeth, I know the kind of work Jason and Sonny are — or were — involved in. And I knew Elizabeth would do anything to protect Jason. I don’t think I ever thought she was the shooter, but I was almost positive Jason was.”

“Was?” Chase echoed.

“Your witness statements. It…I started to ask questions. And Reynolds wasn’t interested in the answers. He doesn’t care Elizabeth isn’t the shooter. And doesn’t care that Jason probably wasn’t either.” She sat on the arm of the sofa. “I think somewhere in their minds, they’ve convinced themselves that Jason hired someone or knows what happened. Maybe that’s true. But that’s not the facts he put in evidence. Or the argument he intends to make to a jury. And that bothers me.”

Chase opened the folder, skimmed it, then lifted his gaze back to the lawyer. “They found the fourth bullet?”

“Yes. And its condition is good enough to send for testing.”

“I expect it to match. Someone planted the car in Elizabeth’s trunk. They’re not doing that if it’s not the murder weapon.”

“You’re sure it was planted?” Gia asked as Chase went to his board, started to make some notes. “How do you know?”

“The tip that came in, pointing the feds in that direction — it was a fake.” Chase looked back at Gia. “Whoever created the tip used an AI generator to mimic a real nurse who works at the hospital, Amy Driscoll. She used to be a gossip columnist. You know the tip, right?”

“I do.”

“Elizabeth and Amy were never anywhere near each other the only day they both worked at the hospital. We have both their time covered from the beginning to the end of their day. Not only that — Jason never goes to the hospital. You have to sign in at the front desk. He’s not there or on any security footage that entire week. The tip is junk. Someone wanted us to look in that trunk.”

“Okay. That—I can follow that. Caldwell—there’s no follow investigation on the tip,” Gia admitted. “He took it, and ran with it. And I’m not sure he cares it’s false.” She nodded. “Okay, so the bullet doesn’t seem to be a problem.”

“The other item you noted — a broken heel. Several witnesses related that Elizabeth came back to the house with a broken sandal. They found out when they came back that Caldwell had grabbed the boys, and Elizabeth sent Michael for her sneakers that she’d brought with her. But they weren’t going to wait. Michael remembers throwing the sneakers through a window as they were pulling out.”

“She broke it running towards the gunshots. Reynolds plans to argue it was running to get to the spot in time — ” Gia winced. “I’m not supposed to tell you that.”

“The heel supports her story. And Michael isn’t the only member of the family that remembers this. One of the uniforms took my wife’s statement. She remembers the broken shoe clearly — because to get to the car and get over the gravel, Jason had to carry Elizabeth.” Chase smiled slightly. “Brook’s a romantic.”

“Okay. Okay.” Gia blew out a breath. “This is kind of crazy,” she admitted. “I got involved in this case because I was sure Elizabeth was involved. It seemed like the kind of stupid mess she’d get involved with because of Jason. I could tell you so many stories—” She smiled faintly. “And I’m sure Elizabeth thinks I got involved because of our past. That was part of it. I never really liked her. And maybe I wanted to be on the sidelines when she finally got what was coming to her.”

“But you’re here, having this conversation with me—”

“I became a lawyer because I wanted do something good with my life. To be better than I was before. I like the challenge. I don’t mind taking a case to trial even if it’s a longshot. But I’m a little funny — because I want my defendants to be guilty. There’s no victory in watching Elizabeth go down for something she didn’t do.” Gia got to her feet. “Just my luck. I finally get a chance for a little bit of revenge, and my conscience won’t let me enjoy it. Reynolds wants payback for the Pikeman investigation falling apart. He’s not going to quit until we force him to. Are you interested?”