Written in 58 minutes.

Monday, September 30, 2024

Bobbie’s Diner: Courtyard

Molly’s hand froze, hovering over the handle of the diner’s front door. Behind the panes of glass she could see the dark hair of her older sister swinging over her shoulder as Kristina picked up an order and turned back towards the door.

A run in with Kristina was the last thing Molly needed. She could pick up something closer to the court house.

She was halfway across the courtyard before Kristina’s irritated voice stopped her. “You can’t even say hello to me?”

Molly closed her eyes, counted to five, then turned to face her sister. “I find when I say hello to someone, they think it opens a conversation. I try to avoid that with people I don’t want to talk to.”

Kristina scowled. “You don’t want to face me because you know I’ll call you out on your bullshit—”

“My—” Molly couldn’t even complete her thought, she was so genuinely baffled. “My bullshit? Have you lost what little sense you had left?”

“Do you know what Sam’s been going through since you started your little war?” Kristina demanded. “Thanks to you, Sam’s life is destroyed—”

“Thanks—” Molly held up a hand. “I can’t—I’m sorry. How exactly is Sam’s situation my fault? I just saw her—”

“If you’d just kept your nose out of all of this, Dante wouldn’t have been assigned to the case,” Kristina retorted. “He was so busy focusing on that instead of his own kid. Rocco dragged Danny into trouble, and now Sam’s lost custody of both her children. Why couldn’t you just let the real lawyers handle it, huh? Why do you always have to go after glory?”

“That is a wild chain of events you’ve linked to me. Dante was barely involved in the case before he had to recuse himself, and Rocco and Danny were drinking for months, long before—why am I even justifying myself to you?” Molly shook her head, and turned, heading for the parking lot, then turned back. “You know what, Kristina? The reason I’ve been avoiding Sam is because you’re always there. The last thing Sam needs is someone who blames everyone else for her problems.”

“I’m helping her,” Kristina shot back.

“Yeah, the way you helped me and TJ? You want to try to help yourself to one of Sam’s kids?  Your kind of help, Kristina, is poison. I just wish I’d seen it sooner. Stay away from me.”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth exhaled slowly, then turned to face Cameron. Her baby. The first child she’d brought into this world. The little boy with messy curls and a sweet smile who had made her a mother and day after day, had given her the strength to keep going when the world had seemed against her.

How did he get so tall? When had he turned into a person with his own thoughts and feeling and dreams? With his own moral compass and direction?

“I’m not going to apologize for trying to protect you and your brothers from all of this. For not wanting any of this to touch you. This is my problem, and I’m going to fix it. I won’t make my problems yours. I’ve done that enough, Cameron. You already delayed Stanford for a whole year—”

“Willingly,” Cameron said. “I have zero regrets about waiting to go, or coming home. Mom.” He stepped towards her. “I know you have guilt about how much time I spent with Jake and Aiden. How much babysitting I did, especially for Aiden. You think you took pieces of my childhood because it was just us, and it’s not true, okay? It’s not.”

“Cam—”

“Aiden doesn’t remember the way things were without Jake. Those years when we thought he was gone.” Cameron gestured to her, then to himself. “But we do, right? We know. And I can’t forget it. You’re not the only one who blames themselves for Jake running out the door that day.”

“You were just a little boy, Cameron,” Elizabeth managed. “It was my job to keep you safe—”

“Being there for my brothers, being part of raising them, making them into they are? That was a privilege, Mom. I don’t regret a single moment I spent with either of them. And I don’t regret standing here with you instead of being in some lecture in California. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“No, you’re not.” She sighed, then nodded. “All right. You’re not the only one, Cam, who thought two weeks ago that things would be different today. That somehow, the real killer would have been found. Or that the Feds would realize it’s not me. And it’s not Jason. The motion to dismiss tomorrow— it was always a long shot that this nightmare would be over.”

“So it’s just the fact there’s been no movement on the actual case?” Cameron furrowed his brow. “Joss said that the FBI did another search—”

“They did. And we got the preliminary results.” Elizabeth hesitated, weighing her words carefully. “Whoever put that gun in my car — we always knew it was almost certainly the real murder weapon. Otherwise, why go to the trouble? But they couldn’t match it definitely to the scene. That gave Diane the wiggle room she needed to make an argument for bail. I’m not a risk for flight without a match to the murder weapon.”

Cameron stared at her for a long moment. “But they found something that matches it. Another bullet?”

“One that’s not too damaged. The report isn’t back yet, but yes. I expect it to be a match. Which means evidence that links me to the murder weapon.” Elizabeth leaned back against the sofa. “What I’m accused of — with my links to people who know how to disappear — I never should have made bail. But the Feds didn’t fight bail that hard. They wanted me out.”

“They wanted to watch you and Jason. Because they think he’s involved.” Cameron made a face. “I figured—”

“He’s not involved. Not even a little. We’re completely innocent. Believe me, if Jason had any evidence, he’d have turned it over. He wouldn’t have let me spend a single night in jail if he knew something. We have nothing to offer the FBI about this case.” Elizabeth looked out the window, towards the road where her car had once sat. One that was now somewhere in federal custody. “For two weeks, they’ve got nothing out of us. So the reason they let me go isn’t working. And now—this new evidence increases my flight risk—”

“They might try to revoke your bail.”

“That’s a real fear.” Elizabeth rubbed her mouth. “And maybe they think I’m better leverage behind bars. Maybe I’ll turn on Jason, maybe he’ll confess to protect me. Either way, tomorrow — we find out what the Feds are thinking. And I don’t know what happens next. I don’t know if the judge would revoke it immediately. I don’t—” Her lips trembled. “I don’t know if I’m coming home from the court house tomorrow.”

The words lingered between them, and Cameron just watched her for a long moment, then took a deep breath. “Okay.  You need to tell Jake and Aiden. And Danny.”

“Cameron—”

“Mom. This isn’t about protecting them. They need to know that there’s a real chance they might not be able to see you after tomorrow. If you let them leave for school tomorrow and then you’re just not here — ” Cameron shook his head. “No. I’m telling you right now they’re old enough to handle this information, but they’re still young enough that it’ll hurt like hell. And they’ll be angry at themselves for going to school when they should be with you in court tomorrow.”

“I don’t want—”

“Jake’s been through worse in his life, so he can handle it. And we can help Aiden deal. Danny’s part of the family now.  If they were, like, eight, Mom, maybe I can see hiding this. But they’re not. We’re going with you. If they try to take your bail, I think the judge should see who they’re hurting.”

“I never wanted any of this to touch you, to come near you. Promise me you’re going back to school after tomorrow—”

Cameron shook his head. “I’m not promising anything. Not anymore. We take it day by day, Mom, okay? Right now, I’m good through this week. We’ll see what happens.”

Elizabeth lifted her eyes to the ceiling, tried to find the words, the patience, something she could use to put things back the way they’d been only weeks ago. “I can’t stand this. I can’t—”

Cameron came to her, and pulled her into a tight hug. Oh, and how his hugs had changed — from the little arms that could barely wrap around both her legs—she pressed her forehead to his shoulder. “When did you grow up? And who let that happen?”

“I’m going to be here for you and my brothers, Mom. And I won’t regret a single thing I have to give up. Because I know what you gave up for us—”

“I didn’t—”

“You think I don’t know why you became a nurse?” Cameron asked, pulling back so he could look at her. “You wanted a steady paycheck, health insurance, a life for me. But it wasn’t your dream. You made it your dream, and it’s worked out. But you did that for me—”

“I don’t regret it, Cam. Not a single second—” Horrified, Elizabeth shook her head. “You were always worth it, and I don’t even miss the life I thought I’d have—I don’t even think about that anymore—” It wasn’t like her mother and the fellowship she’d given up for Elizabeth’s birth, it wasn’t.

“I know. So trust me when I say the same thing. I’m not giving up anything I’m going to miss. Not when it means I’m right here with my family.”

FBI Temporary Offices: Conference Room

Caldwell squinted, and straightened when he saw Gia striding through the door of the conference room. “Did you drive all the way up here to get a paper copy of the report or something? Because I could have brought it tomorrow—”

“I wanted to see it in person. Today.” Gia reached out a hand, and he set a folder in it, still bewildered. She flipped through it, skimming. “Walk me through how you got this information.”

“An anonymous tip told us to look at the PCPD logs for September 14.” Caldwell picked up his notepad, flipped through the pages. “We found that two officers had been dispatched to the 400 block of Elm Street for a drunk and disorderly. That came from the report — there was no address. Just a block. The report was sparse. Two juveniles—Rocco Falconieri and Daniel Morgan—were brought in, found to be under the influence, and released to their parents, Samantha McCall and Dante Falconieri. Seemed to pretty cut and dry, except the tip told us it involved Webber.”

“Did it?”

“We pulled 911 calls from the time of the report,” Caldwell continued. “Two came in, within about ten minutes of each other. The first was to report the two teenagers walking around Elm Street — she’d nearly hit them with her car. And the second was from 46 Elm Street. Three teenagers arguing on the sidewalk, making a lot of noise and one of them was on the ground like they’d passed out. Neighbor overheard them arguing about vape pen and being high.”

“Three teenagers.” Gia exhaled slowly. “That’s Elizabeth Webber’s neighbor. 46? She lives at 44 doesn’t she?”

“She does. Which explains why those kids were picked up on the 400 block, doesn’t it? They’re in her neighborhood—”

“Two drunk teenagers heading to her house.” Gia closed the folder. “If the third teen had been under the influence, they’d have brought him in.”

“According to our tip, they did. Only Dante Falconieri wanted the drugs to be hushed up and to make the third teen disappear from the files. The second 911 call isn’t in the report. And since the kids were released—”

“No further paper trail.” Gia pressed her lips together. “It’s not much,” she said finally. “No evidence that any drug use happened in the house or under Elizabeth’s influence or with her knowledge. If anything, this Dante has something to answer for.” She looked at him. “But Reynolds is going to use it anyway to revoke her bail.”

“He’s going for revocation?” Caldwell pursed his lips. “I guess that makes sense. Webber’s kept herself clean other than some custody dispute with Morgan’s ex, but she comes out smelling like a rose in that case. I guess the match makes the flight risk question come up again, and this report—”

“Would suggest she can’t stay out of trouble.” Gia closed the folder, then pulled out a chair and sat down, considering her thoughts, and pulling together how she wanted to approach this. “I can’t stop him from going into court tomorrow and telling the judge Elizabeth Webber is a flight risk and that there’s a strong enough case to justify the charges. Because that—well, that part is true.”

“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Caldwell said, pulling out his own chair to take a seat. “What are you thinking?”

“Reynolds can’t see it because Pikeman was his, and he’s still pissed at Morgan for how it went down. And I always understood how your investigation focused on him with the evidence we had at the beginning,” Gia said. “Maybe we can argue about how hard you went at his kids—”

“Had no choice—”

“But you didn’t break them.”

“No. And I really thought we would. Considering he’s been walking in and out of their lives. Plus, the youngest has a chip on his shoulder about his mom. Thought we’d piss him off enough he’d let the truth spill.” Caldwell grimaced. “Teenagers don’t hold up under that kind of pressure.”

“Not unless they’re telling the truth.” Gia leaned back in her chair. “I came onto this case thinking the same as Reynolds, you know. I had real doubts Elizabeth Webber was the shooter, but there’s enough in her case file to suggest she’d cover for Jason Morgan.  But I kept an open mind, and I’ve talked to the locals. They’ve put together some really compelling evidence that really makes it clear neither of them are the shooter. Which leaves us with two options. Either they’re innocent — or Jason Morgan set up a hit on an FBI agent with his teenager children, nephew, girlfriend, and a dozen other young witnesses in earshot who easily could have ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. And I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it.”

“I…thought at the beginning one or both of them had to be involved. Especially after we found the gun. But the time frame for this shooting — it’s such a small window — ” Caldwell stroked his chin. “I can’t believe he doesn’t know anything. But did he set it up? I don’t know anymore.”

“Neither do I. Because here’s my real question — ” Gia leaned forward. “Every piece of evidence we have that paints Elizabeth in a bad light? It’s coming from an anonymous tip. We’d never go near her trunk without that call. And now we have a police report falling into our lap right before the hearing? Someone else is directing this investigation, and I think if we find that person, we find our killer.”

+34

Was hoping to get one more scene in, but couldn’t manage it. I gotta tell you, I almost want to try to get back to updating more because I feel like I’m finally back into the story groove. I need to find time in the schedule. Or we need to add more hours in the day. SOMETHING.

Monday, September 30, 2024

Hanley Federal Building: U.S Attorney’s Offices

“I think it’s a mistake,” Gia said, with a quick shake of her head. “I don’t think she’s a flight risk, and you’ll just piss everyone off asking for a bail revocation we can’t win.”

“First, she only got bail because I didn’t argue that hard.” Reynolds leaned forward, tapped his pen on the folder in front of him. “And having her out for the last few weeks hasn’t helped us one goddamn—and don’t start with me about her not being guilty. We’ve been over this—”

“And we’re going to keep going over this.” Gia lifted her chin. “Look, you and I work well together because we both push each other to face reality. To talk about the hard facts. And the fact is that Elizabeth Webber has a rock solid alibi with evidence that corroborates her statements. She ran towards the gunshots. She absolutely broke her shoe doing that —” She flipped through her folder and slapped down the still frames. “Caldwell’s interrogation of Jake Webber. Elizabeth comes in, and she’s wearing sneakers—”

“Maybe she has bad fashion sense—”

Gia slapped down another printout. “Brook Lyn Quartermaine posted a family shot from the barbecue. Elizabeth, wearing the sandals an hour before the shooting. You think Diane Miller isn’t reading the report and pulling the same information?”

Reynolds exhaled slowly. “Gia—”

“I know. I know. You don’t think she’s the shooter, you think Morgan did this. You think he set himself up with an alibi from his mother or the kids, and arranged for someone else to take out Cates. But you’re walking into court with a theory of the crime that you know didn’t happen—”

“Elizabeth has a short window to make the shot,” Reynolds interrupted coldly. “She knows it. She loses track of time with the kids, and has to run down to the boat house. Breaks her shoe. There you go. Done.”

“And the kids who saw her going off with Michael before the shooting? Not enough time for her to walk to the garden, then run to the boathouse and shoot John Cates.” Gia scowled. “Look, I’m not saying Jason Morgan isn’t guilty. I’m just—I’m not comfortable going into court tomorrow to argue before a federal judge a theory of the crime that I don’t think happened. I don’t think she’s involved, Noah. I think Morgan or someone else planted the gun or left it in her trunk afterward.”

“Then she should tell us what she knows—”

“You’re not listening—” She huffed when the phone rang and Reynolds held up a finger to cut her off while he lifted the receiver to his ear.

“Yeah? What do you have? Really? Wait—” Reynolds swiveled to his desktop monitor. “Yes, I see the email. All right. I’ll check it out and get back to you.” He hung up, then scanned the email, clicking an attachment.

“What is it?” Gia asked.

He grinned, then turned to look at her. “A police report connecting Webber and her kids to drug use in the home.”

She went still.  “What?”

Webber House: Kitchen

Cameron found his mother loading the dishwasher and remained at the threshold between the kitchen and living room. “Uh, everyone gone?”

Elizabeth flicked him a glance, then returned to rinsing out a coffee cup and setting it in the top rack. “Yes. Your brothers are at school, and Jason and Danny had an appointment at the hospital.”

“Oh.” Cameron came into the room, slid onto one of the stools. “I thought he was going back to school this morning.”

“He’s going tomorrow. Jason wanted him to see the doctor first.”

“Oh,” he said again, then folded his hands on the counter, staring at them. “I know you’re mad at me.”

“Mad? I’m not mad.”

Now he lifted his eyes to find his mother staring back at him coolly. “Mom. Can we talk about this?”

“I wasn’t aware there was anything to talk about.” She folded her arms. “You sounded like you had it all figured out yesterday. What do you need me to say?”

Cameron opened his mouth, then closed it. He hated when his mother did this — when she was all frosty and sarcastic. It was like building a brick wall of ice — chipping away would just give you frostbite. “I should have talked to you, okay? Before just…deciding.”

“I’m sorry, I thought we did the last time you came home. Made a decision to handle this. Was I confused, Cameron?” Elizabeth asked. “Did I imagine you making a deal with Jason that he’d take care of airfare for you to come home every other week?”

“No—”

“And the return ticket you had yesterday—wasted money. I raised you better than that.”

“You raised me to take care of my brothers,” Cameron argued. “I’m doing that. Circumstances changed—” When his mother just shook his head, he scowled. “No, don’t do that. Mom. Come on. Stop acting like this is something stupid I did, okay? I made arrangements to skip a few in person lectures. I’ll get the notes, and I’m going to miss one lab. That’s it. I can handle the rest of it. I didn’t do this lightly—”

“You did this without speaking to me—”

“You’re my mother, and I love you, but I’m not a kid anymore. I don’t actually have to get your permission.” He got to his feet. “And you’re going to stop treating me like I’m twelve.”

“You deliberately waited until the last minute to tell me you weren’t going — so that I wouldn’t have time to change your mind — if you want to be treated like an adult, then act like one.”

“You mean like you do?” Cameron demanded. “How about nearly getting thrown in jail for kidnapping, Mom? How about helping Uncle Nikolas keep a pregnant woman hostage? Is that an adult thing or—”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, took a deep breath. “I made a mistake—”

“That’s not a mistake, Mom. You made a decision, and then you threw Uncle Nikolas under the bus to get out of it. I’m not saying I wanted you to go jail, and you know I don’t give a damn about Esme Prince. Not after what she did to Spencer. But she should have been in jail all those months. She never would have able to get amnesia and wiggle out of trouble—” He took a deep breath. “I don’t want to fight with you. I should have talked to you before  yesterday and I’m sorry. But I knew you’d do this. I knew you’d be angry about it, and you wouldn’t agree, and we’d go round after round like this. Because I fight like you do. We both go for the jugular because it’s quicker.”

She closed her eyes, then combed her hands through her hair. “Cameron.”

“Because  yeah, we had an agreement. Two weeks ago. When I thought this whole thing was stupid. I thought the next time I came home, they’d have, you know, found the real killer.” Cameron laid his hands on the counter. “But it’s worse now. Right? I’m not imagining that.”

“I don’t want what’s happening here to stop you or Jake—”

“I agreed to go back to California because I didn’t want you to cry. Not again. I was on the phone, Mom. When you got home after making bail.”

Elizabeth looked at him, her eyes shimmering. “I’m fine now—”

“You’re doing what you’ve done my whole life. You put on the mask, and you pretend for us. When Lucky walked out, when we lost Jake, when the truth about Jake Doe blew up — when Franco pulled his stunts and then when he died—” Cameron shook his head. “You put on the mask, you pretend to smile and hold it together, and for my entire life, I believed it was the real you. I just thought that my mother was like concrete. That nothing could break you.” His voice changed, thickened. “And then I was in California, on a stupid phone, watching you break down. Listening to you cry. And that was after five days in jail.”

She started to speak, then shook her head, folding her arms around her torso.

“I would have promised anything if I thought it would keep you together. Because that scared the shit out of me, Mom. I came home, I tried to keep everything light. I tried to focus on the good. But I’m not going to forget that night. Or the way you and Jason sounded when you didn’t know I was listening. What’s happening that made you scared again?”

She shook her head again and walked past him, heading for the living room and he followed. “Talk to me, Mom. I can handle it.”

“It’s not—” Elizabeth turned, lifting her hands. “It’s not about you. Okay? It’s me. I’m not putting any of this on you. I’m your mother. It is my job to protect you. You are going back to Stanford, you’re going to graduate, and go to medical school and have everything you ever dreamed about—”

“Mom—”

“So if you need me to sign some paper that says you can be Aiden’s guardian if something happens to Jason, okay, fine. I’ll sign it. But you are going back to school—”

“You can’t make me go anywhere,” Cameron said gently. “Not anymore. I’m not a kid. You raised me to stand up for what’s important. And I’m doing that. I’m not going to be three thousand miles away when my family needs me.”

The tears spilled down now and she turned away, holding her fingers against her mouth.

“Answer my question, Mom. What’s happening? What’s changed?”

General Hospital: Fletcher’s Office

Danny picked at a piece of his sweater. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Dr. Fletcher, sitting across from him with that stupid same patient expression on his face, balanced the notebook on his knee. “I don’t want you to do anything, Danny. I ask the questions. You answer them however you want. Or not.”

“You’ll just think I’m avoiding the whole thing.” Danny made a face. “I don’t know is an answer, okay.”

“We don’t have to talk about the hearing anymore—”

“We can’t talk about something I didn’t go to,” Danny retorted. “I told you. They wouldn’t let me. I know Dad said I wouldn’t want to go, and that it wasn’t even up to him, which, okay, fine. But I’m not a stupid kid, right? I should get a say in what happens to me. And not through some lawyer. She got to go and speak for me, but I should have been there.”

“What do you think would have been different?”

Danny frowned, looked at him. “What?”

“If you’d gone,” Fletcher clarified. “What would you have said? How would you like the outcome to have been different?”

“I—” Danny stopped. “I don’t know,” he answered, but the question was an interesting one. “I wanted to see my mother. And I got to see her the next day, but it just ended up in a fight like it always does. She has an idea in her head of how things are and she doesn’t listen when I talk. Maybe in a court, when she has to be quiet, it’d be different, you know?”

“We can do that, you know,” Fletcher said, and Danny furrowed his brow. “We can do a session with your mother where she has to listen to you. I can’t punish her with a fine if she doesn’t follow the rules,” he added, “so it won’t be the same.”

“The last time I asked her to come see you, she acted like it was a great idea until she remembered Elizabeth found you, and then she started that whole fight, and it ruined everything.” Danny shook his head. “It wouldn’t make anything better. No matter what I do, Mom feels attacked. And everything gets worse. Dad tried, you know. He didn’t want her to feel like a bad mother, so he didn’t choose the real supervised visits like Drew did with Scout. He said I could see her however much I want with my grandma or aunts around. He thought that would be better or maybe he didn’t want me to blame him.”

“And you think that was a mistake?”

“I don’t know. It’s not his fault, I guess,” Danny said begrudgingly. “But he’s always doing that, I guess. Trying to be fair to everyone, but you can’t do that, right? Sometimes people are just wrong. Like Mom was wrong to keep me from seeing Dad, and he just wanted to avoid the court thing so much he let her get away with it. But we ended up here anyway, and made it would have been better if we’d done it months ago.”

“Let’s talk about the visit with your mother.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Mom was acting weird and being too nice—and then Grandma told I’d come back from seeing you, and she asked me questions but I didn’t really want to talk to her about it.”

“Why?”

“That’s a stupid question,” Danny retorted. “Mom didn’t want me to come here in the first place. She’ll tell you it’s because it was Elizabeth’s idea, and okay, sure, but it’s because she thinks you’re going to tell me she’s a terrible mother, and that’s, like, her worst fear. So she doesn’t actually want to talk about it. She doesn’t care what I say here as long as it’s not blaming her. She started to apologize about the fight with Elizabeth again, but it was like she was blaming me so I knew I could piss her off and make her say what she really feels.” He looked away, stared hard at the bookcase against the wall. “So I brought up Elizabeth—” His throat tightened. “I brought her up first,” he said, swinging his gaze back to the doctors. “I brought up the fight, not my mother. Because the only time my mother’s ever honest and tells me what she really thinks is when I piss her off, and it’s a shortcut when I talk about Elizabeth. So I did it. And it worked. My mom doesn’t care about anyone but herself. And that includes me.”

+35

Written in 64 minutes.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Webber House: Street

Unless you don’t trust me to stay either.

Elizabeth turned her head to look at him, found his eyes on hers. “You know it isn’t that simple.”

“I think maybe it is,” Jason replied.  “Otherwise, why not give Cameron the paperwork he wants, and send him back to school? Yeah, he’ll miss a few classes staying through to Tuesday, but he’s not threatening to drop out.”

“Not yet.” Elizabeth scrubbed her hands down her face, then exhaled. “Cameron…has had to pick up the slack for my poor choices his entire life,” she said slowly. “You and I both know that I haven’t had the best judgment in men,” she added, and didn’t look at him for his reaction. He probably wouldn’t say it out loud, but he’d be thinking it. “For years, Lucky raised him like his own son, and then one day —” She flicked her wrist. “He went to Ireland, and the only son he showed even a little interest in was Aiden. And that’s suggesting Lucky has any real interest in Aiden at all. Cameron was old enough to remember that. He’s old enough to remember the way people talked about my affair with Nikolas. When you were coming around that last summer…”

Elizabeth looked at him. “And Drew — when he was Jake Doe, before he had any memories of his own, he was planning to adopt Cameron and Jake. But he found out I’d lied, and he only cared about Jake after that. I’ve had men in and out of his life promising they’d stay, and they never do. Not a parade, it’s not like I brought home every man I dated, but it was enough to teach my little boy that he couldn’t rely on the choices I made to look after his brothers. This isn’t about you, Jason. Not entirely. It’s about me and my mistakes.”

“Then let me call Diane, and have her write  up something to add Cameron to Aiden’s guardianship paperwork. We’re not going to need it,” Jason added. “You’re not going to jail—”

“You don’t know that—”

“I do know that,” he corrected, and she grimaced, looked out the window again. “You’re not going to jail,” he said again, “and I’m not going anywhere. Right now, Cameron doesn’t trust either of those statements. Let’s give him peace of mind, Elizabeth. So he can go back to the life you want him to live.”

Webber House: Kitchen

Jake watched his brother dump out the now soggy ruined cereal. “Are you trying to make things worse for Mom? Dad’s not going to walk out on Aiden if he’s promising to stay—”

“That’s not what you were saying when I was here in August.” Cameron turned, lifted his brows at his brother. “Back then, it was all, ‘Why spend time with him, he’ll just leave again.’ What happened to that?”

“What happened to being okay with my dad being around?” Jake retorted. “You’re the one that told me and Aiden they were back together. You liked the idea—”

“Sure. I like the idea. But that was two weeks ago when these charges seemed like something stupid  that would go away. It’s all so stupid I was sure that everyone would figure it out, and this would be over. That Mom would be here if and when Jason took off again to save some other idiot who gets himself in trouble. But you didn’t hear the way they were talking yesterday. They’re worried, Jake. Mom’s in real danger—”

“Then we deal with that,” Jake interrupted. “You’re not the only adult in the room, Cam, not anymore. I’m eighteen in May. Mom’s trial is months away—”

“You’re going to Spain. Mom’s right. You’re applying for this program, and you’re going. You’re not going to get stuck here—”

“Why, so you can be the damn martyr? Maybe I’ll take Aiden with me, okay? We’ll both go to Spain.”

Cameron’s smile was faint. “No, because I’ll be home in June, Jake. I got into the medical school here  at PCU. Early decision. It was a lock anyway with the Hardy/Webber connection, but I’ll be here to take care of things. It’s your turn to go out in the world, Jake.”

Jake huffed. “Well, congratulations, asshole. But that doesn’t fix this problem—”

“We don’t have a problem. Mom has my terms. I’ll go back after the hearing if they make me Aiden’s guardian.” Cameron folded his arms. “And now Jason knows exactly how I feel. Mission accomplished.”

Webber House: Aiden’s Bedroom

Danny scowled, lifted his ear away from the vent. “I can’t hear shit—”

“No, mostly because Mom and Jason left,” Aiden said. “I told you, Jake and Cam know better than to argue in the kitchen. Who do you think showed me that you can hear the living room this way?”

Danny sat at the desk chair. “Why do you think Cameron isn’t going back?”

“I don’t know.” Aiden slid back on his bed, folded his legs, and picked at a loose thread in the comforter. “It’s probably hard to be that far away with things happening here. I wanted to go to Mom’s hearing on Tuesday, and she’s like, no, I have to go to school, like I’ll be able to concentrate anyway.”

“She wants everything to be normal, I think. That’s not a bad thing.”

Aiden scoffed. “None of this is normal, Danny. My mom’s charged with murdering a guy she didn’t even really know. She wears an ankle bracelet and can’t even leave the city. Your dad’s been appointed to be, like, her baby sitter. They put her in jail, Danny. Okay?”

“At least you got to stay in your house,” Danny retorted. “My mom went to jail, and Dad dumped me and Scout with Grandma Monica. But everyone’s arguing about how to make sure you get to keep your life exactly the same.”

Aiden opened his mouth to snap back, then closed it. Because Danny had a point. “Okay. Yeah. But you were, like ten, when that happened. I don’t know why your dad did what he did—”

“He was still working for Sonny,” Danny interjected. “He doesn’t now. But it still sucked. It’s like, he couldn’t figure out which part of his life was important. It should have been me. And then, he, like died a year later, except he was never dead. What’s going on with your mom is awful and I hate it, but it could be worse, you know. And my dad’s not going to let her go to jail. He wouldn’t let Carly go either, remember? That’s how this whole dumb thing started. That’s what my mom said. He faked his death to keep Carly out of jail.”

Aiden furrowed his brow. “So…what, your dad’s gonna do something to keep my mom home? Like what? He can’t fake his death again.”

“No, but everyone’s like — they want your mom to flip on my dad, right? The Feds don’t know our parents are, like, innocent or whatever. There’s nothing to know. They just want my dad. So maybe my dad is gonna…” Danny made a hand gesture. “Take your mom out of it.”

“Oh.” Aiden weighed that realization. “Oh, well, that’s dumb if they’re both innocent.”

“Adults are stupid, what else is new.”

Kristina’s Apartment: Living Room

At the knock on her door, Kristina slapped the top of her laptop closed, and jolted to her feet, her heart pounding. She wasn’t expecting anyone—

“Mom.” She pressed a hand to her heart, stepped back to let her mother through the door. “You scared me.”

Alexis frowned as she passed her, set her case down on the chair. “I knocked.”

“Yeah, but—never mind.” There was really no way to explain the edge Kristina was living on. She knew that security footage was being subpoenaed from her apartment building that would make her alibi non-existent, that they were expecting more footage and data from Elizabeth’s neighborhood — she was almost sure she wasn’t on any of the cameras, but almost wasn’t absolutely.

At least it was Spinelli and Diane looking into the footage. They’d most likely discard her as a suspect, but that didn’t mean Kristina wasn’t trying to do research on her own. Could they find out when a trunk was opened on a car? Damn it, she should have used the key, and not the remote.  And she should have found another way of planting the gun on Elizabeth, it was just — when she’d seen the keys that morning, it had felt like an opportunity falling from the sky.

But now Kristina realized it had been an impulsive move, and she didn’t know to clear the path that might lead right to her door.

“What brings you by?” she asked, pasting a cheerful smile on her face, and looking at her mother. “I  thought you’d had enough of me after all the time we used to prep my case.”

“Well, I was on my way home from Sam’s and thought I’d pop in.” Alexis tipped her head. “You said you were looking for ways to keep yourself busy, and your sister could really use you this week. She has a parent session with Danny’s doctor.”

“Oh?” Kristina  folded her arms. “What does that mean?”

“Well, it should mean that Jason and Sam attend a session with the doctor to talk about the progress and any concerns the doctor has — without revealing specifics. But—” Alexis pressed her lips together. “It has to be separate sessions since Sam isn’t supposed to be anywhere near Elizabeth right now.”

“What does Elizabeth have to do with any of this?” Kristina demanded. “She’s not Danny’s family—”

“She’s Jason’s partner,” Alexis corrected. “Danny is living in her home. She’s his stepmother in all but name. I think Dante’s planning to go with Sam.”

“Oh.” Kristina pursed her lips. “I guess that makes sense. But I really think Jason should be leaving Elizabeth out of this. He knows how Sam feels about her. Isn’t involving her just going to aggravate Sam more?”

“It probably will, but your sister is going to have to learn how to share. Take it from me —” Alexis lifted a brow. “I worked very hard to keep Sonny out of your life, and he worked just as hard to stay in it. Who won that argument?”

“Mom—”

“I had my reasons, and I still believe in them. Mostly,” Alexis added. “But I never worried about the women Sonny brought home. You never saw Carly or Connie or Nina as mother figures, did you?”

“No,” Kristina said. “But that’s different. They knew they weren’t my mothers. Elizabeth is taking advantage of the situation.”

“Even if that were true, Sam is playing right in her hand by making the situation more difficult. Kristina—” Alexis put up a hand. “I’m not here to debate who gets to be involved in Danny’s therapy.  I just thought you might want to check in on Sam a little more this week. I have no idea what the doctor is going to say, but your sister is very sensitive right now. She needs someone more sympathetic to lean on. And that’s not me right now.”

“It’s so insane that we’re even considering Elizabeth as a maternal figure in Danny’s life. She’s been accused of murder!”

“Falsely,” Alexis said. “Even so, it doesn’t concern the court. Her charges aren’t about endangering children—”

“The kids were like a hundred feet away!” Kristina retorted. “You could hear them!” When her mother frowned, she added, “I’ve been to the boat house, Mom. I know how close it is to the house.”

“Either way, it does not matter. She’s innocent,” Alexis added. “I made it clear to Sam I was never going to use that as a reason to keep Elizabeth out of Danny’s life.” She picked up her bag. “Just check in on your sister, please? I need to go. I’m meeting Diane for an early dinner.”

Kristina followed her to the door. “How can you talk to Diane after she took Danny away from Sam?”

“Because Diane is my friend,” Alexis said, almost impatiently. “We’re in the same practice, and we both have Danny’s best interests at heart. She’s got her hands full with this ridiculous murder case, and I’m going to spending as much time as I can helping her prepare for this motion to dismiss on Tuesday.”

Kristina opened the door. “Why? Is she worried she won’t win? I thought everyone said the case was flimsy.”

“Flimsy doesn’t mean what it should. And there’s always the chance the feds will try to revoke bail. They threatened you a few times, remember? So Diane wants an extra eye on the briefs. Kristina—” Alexis looked at her daughter. “I want you to be there for your sister, but don’t play into her worries about Elizabeth—even if you personally believe them,” she added when Kristina opened her mouth. “Because those worries aren’t admissible in a court of law. The judge didn’t care about them last week, and that’s not going to change. It does no good to dwell on them. Elizabeth is in Danny’s life, and we’re all going to have to accept it.”

Kristina spent a long moment staring at the closed door after her mother’s left, considering Alexis’s final words. Elizabeth is in Danny’s life, and we’re all going to have to accept it.

She sat down at her sofa, and flipped her laptop open. “Not if I have anything to say about it,” she muttered.

Webber House: Kitchen

Elizabeth walked into the house, straight past the kitchen, and went up the stairs. When they  heard a door slam above them, Cameron winced slightly, then looked at Jason who came into the kitchen. “If you’re looking for an apology—”

“For what?” Jason wanted to know. “Are you sorry for anything you said? Do you take any of it back—”

“No, and I wasn’t going to apologize anyway—”

“I didn’t ask for one. And neither will your mother.” Jason waited a moment. “I’m not going to pretend that I understand or know everything about you and your brothers after being around for a few months. I made bad choices, and I made them over and over again for years. I knew they were the wrong choices, and I still made them. I didn’t know or see that I had other options.”

“And you do now, and now  you and Mom will live happily ever after,” Cameron retorted. “Right?”

“Cam—” Jake said with a roll of his eyes, but his father held up his hand.

“I want that to be true, but you don’t have to believe me. I don’t expect it. Either of you,” he added, looking at his son. “It wasn’t that long ago that you were angry at me for what I did. And I know there’s still a part of you that still is.”

Jake said nothing, dropped his eyes. Jason looked back to Cameron.

“I can’t make anyone believe me when I tell you I’m not going anywhere. I’ve earned your lack of trust. The only way to undo that is just to keep my promise and accept you might not ever stop waiting for me to leave.”

Cameron swallowed hard, and now he had to look away for a moment. “It’s not that I want you to go,” he muttered.

“I know. But you don’t trust me, and your mother has asked me to look after your brother. A man you don’t trust. So I’m going to call Diane, and we’re going to put your name on the guardianship contract.”

“You—” Cameron’s eyes widened slightly. “You’re really going to do that? I mean, I figured Mom would never—”

“She wants you back at Stanford, finishing your degree. She told you both weeks ago that this—this isn’t going to stop either of you from being the people you’re supposed to be. Because that would mean who ever is doing this to your mother wins. And none of us want that.” Jason folded his arms. “If you’d come home and you’d had this conversation with her — if you’d told us you overheard us talking about the hearing, we would have talked to you. She might have even accepted you staying for the hearing. But you didn’t want to do it that way. You wanted to force her hand. To take away her choice. And for that, you do owe your mother an apology. She raised you better than that.”

+48

Written in 67 minutes.

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Quartermaine Estate: Gate House

Willow hesitantly knocked on the open door of the small office Michael kept on the first floor. “I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“No. No.” Michael closed the top on his laptop. “I’m sorry. I lost track of time. We were supposed to go to the main house for lunch or something, weren’t we?”

“That’s why I came to get you. The kids are ready—” Willow paused. “You should tell Jason that Danny needs to be more careful if he’s going to sneak onto the estate to see Scout.”

Michael stopped, frozen still, half bent over his desk. He straightened, met her eyes. “What?”

“Yesterday. Drew wanted me to pick Scout up from Trina — and Danny was there. I’m not going to  say anything,” Willow added, folding her arms when Michael winced. “I’m not going to apologize for telling Drew about Rocco and Danny doing drugs and drinking with Scout in the next room, but I also don’t think keeping Scout from her brother is the right decision either. I’d tell Drew that if I thought he’d listen.”

Michael let out a careful, measured breath. “I keep hoping Drew will go back to normal after the election, but he’s obsessed with optics right now. I didn’t know Danny was here yesterday.”

“I got the feeling that Cameron organized it.” Willow smiled faintly. “That doesn’t surprise me, actually. The year I had Aiden in my class, he constantly talked about his big brother.”

“He’s always been a good kid.” Michael tipped his head to the side. “You’re not telling Drew Danny was sneaking around?”

“No. No one is getting hurt. I’m sorry if you’re still angry with me about that—” Willow paused as Michael came towards her, then walked past her to leave the room. “Michael—”

“I don’t know what you want from me,” her husband said, turning back to face her. “I trusted you, and it was a mistake. If you think I knew Danny was here and wasn’t telling you, well, I didn’t. But I wouldn’t have told you.”

“Michael—”

“Jason raised me every much as my mother or Sonny,” Michael added. “Maybe more. His kids are my family. I haven’t always been able to be there for them or Jason, but he came to me for help, and I couldn’t do it. Look what happened, Willow. Scout was ripped from her home, Dante and Rocco moved out, and Sam lost both her kids—”

“I think assaulting Elizabeth probably had something to do with it—”

“Because Scout and Danny were already gone. Danny — that’s different. But Scout?” Michael shook his head. “That’s on you. Because we both knew what Drew was going to do. So, thanks for not snitching on Danny yesterday. It was literally the least you could do. What more do you want from me?”

Webber House: Living Room

Elizabeth picked up a pillow from the ground, and frowned when she saw Cameron exiting the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in his hand. “Are you sure you want to eat before we leave for the airport?”

Cameron hesitated,  stopping just before he reached the stairs, and behind him, Jake nearly crashed into his back. “Hey, what the—”

“About the airport.”

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes, dropped the pillow to the sofa. “What about the airport?” she said in a tone that could have frozen a tropical rain forest.

“I’m not going.”

Jake slowly stepped back, deciding the best place for him was out of his mother’s sight. He knew that look. He knew that the sound in her voice.

“Yes, you are.” Elizabeth lifted her chin. “Go upstairs and get your things.”

“I’m not going,” Cameron repeated. He set the cereal bowl on the shelf by the stairs. “I’m not twelve, Mom. You can’t make me.”

“Cameron Steven Webber.”

“Elizabeth Imogene Webber.”

Before Jake could appropriately process that his brother had just used his mother’s full name in response to his full name, the door behind them opened, and Jason came in, followed by Danny and Aiden.

“Hey, sorry, we’re late,” Jason began, then stopped when he sensed the tension in the room and stand off between Cameron and Elizabeth. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. We’re leaving for the airport in fifteen minutes, Cameron.”

“It’ll be a wasted trip,” Cameron replied pleasantly. “I cancelled my return ticket.”

“Oh, damn,” Aiden breathed, his eyes wide.

“Go upstairs,” Jason told the younger boys who’d come in with grocery bags. “Just leave them there—”

“But—” Danny began, but Aiden just shook his head. He set his two bags on the ground, and, with his head bowed, hurried across the room. Danny reluctantly followed suit, and their footsteps thudded up to the second floor.

“I already emailed my professors,” Cameron continued, “and they know I’m missing classes. It’s fine. I’m only missing one lab and my grade can handle that—”

“We’ll get another ticket at the counter.”

“Mom, it’s not happening. I’m staying—”

“Cameron, we had an agreement,” Jason said, his tone quiet but firm. “Every other weekend—”

“That was before I found out about Tuesday.” Cameron folded his arms, watched Jason’s expression tense, and his mother’s mouth twitched but she didn’t look away.

“What’s Tuesday?” Jake asked, brow furrowed.  “Your hearing, right? The motion to dismiss. The one Diane said—” He went still. “The one Diane said weeks ago she’d be able to win. Is—is that not happening—”

“It doesn’t matter,” Elizabet interrupted. “I asked you for one thing, Cameron. To stay at school and finish out the year—”

“Yeah, and I was willing to do that when I thought we were all being honest with each other. We’re not.” Cameron looked at Jake. “I was at the Quartermaines yesterday. Joss said the FBI was at the crime scene again. And Mom and Jason were talking about Tuesday like it was the end of the goddamn world yesterday morning. The FBI found something, didn’t they?”

Elizabeth closed her eyes, pressed both hands to her face. “Cameron.”

“That’s a yes. You don’t have to tell me what. I don’t actually care. It’s bullshit since you’re not guilty. But the feds don’t give a shit about that. Are they going after your bail?”

“What? They can’t do that,” Jake said before Jason or Elizabeth could. “She’s doing everything they asked—”

“If they think she’s going to run—they can petition to revoke. Which means Mom goes back to jail for months. Until the trial.”

“Cameron—” Elizabeth pressed her lips together. “I don’t think that’s going to happen, but I’ve been making plans in case this goes badly, I promise. I told you—you and Jake — your futures stay on track. Stanford graduation in May, Spain—” she looked at Jake. “None of that goes away.”

“Except you’re in jail and I’m three thousand miles away from my brother. And don’t tell me Jason’s here to take care of things,” Cameron added before Elizabeth could say anything. “I like you, and I’m glad you’re here now, but you’ve been here before,” he told Jason. “Jake and Danny didn’t stop you from faking your death and splitting for two years. I’m not trusting you with my brothers’ futures.”

“Cameron,” Elizabeth said sharply, and he looked back at her, his eyes sober and serious.

“I love you, Mom. You know that. But I’m not a kid anymore. You want to give Jason guardianship of Aiden, that’s fine. But you’re putting me as the back up.”

“No, I’m not—”

“You are. Because if Jason doesn’t stick around, Aiden ends up with Grandma Laura who thought trying to free the sick psycho who tried to kill Trina was a great idea. Or with his worthless father. That’s not happening. You want me to go back to Stanford? Fine. Put me as Aiden’s second choice for guardian and I’ll go back after your hearing on Tuesday.”

Penthouse: Living Room

Sam paced the length of the penthouse, rubbing her arms. “I don’t know what to do, Mom. Dante said Rocco wants to move back in—” She looked back at her mother, sitting at the dining table with Sam’s custody paperwork sprawled across the surface. “And I want him back home. But I don’t know if that’s the right choice with Rocco’s history.”

“Or the fact that Rocco expressed a distinct and intense dislike for you.”

“Don’t remind me.” Sam stopped at the doors to the balcony, watching the rain fall outside. “Dante thinks it’s guilt about Lulu. And how I handled Jason’s return.” She made a face. “You probably agree with Rocco about the way I treated Danny.”

“My opinion on that isn’t relevant,” Alexis said. “But I think any change in your living status has to be weighed appropriately. The judge was concerned about the tension between Danny and Rocco. Has that changed since then?”

“I don’t know. Neither of them have been in school, remember? Danny’s supposed to go back tomorrow.” Sam picked at the cuticle of her thumbnail. “And Rocco’s suspended another week. I don’t think they’ve even spoken to each other.”

“And Scout’s removal was predicated upon Rocco and Danny’s substance abuse. Danny’s taking steps to mediate that with counseling. What about Rocco?”

Sam made a face. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask.”

“You—” Alexis stopped, then slid her reading glasses back on, turning her attention back to the paperwork. “I don’t know what advice to give—”

“Say what you were going to say.”

“What?”

“Don’t play stupid with me, Mom. What were you going to say about Rocco?”

Alexis sighed, looked at her daughter with weary eyes. “I wasn’t. I was going to say it about you. This is a child who has lived in your home for nearly two years. You were in a stepmother role to him. He’s suffered a similar to loss of a parent that your son did. And you know that he’s been acting out, lashing out just like Danny. And your only concern for Rocco is how it affects you.”

Sam huffed. “Oh, okay. So it’s another round about what a selfish bitch I am. That’s great.”

Alexis removed her reading glasses and slid them back in her case, then began to gather her paperwork. “Well, if the shoe fits, you ought to get used to it. Because it’s the truth.”

“Excuse me?”

Her mother got to her feet. “You’re being a selfish bitch,” Alexis said. “Stop it. Or you’re going to end up staying the way you are now. Alone and miserable.”

Webber House: Living Room

With Cameron’s ultimatum still lingering in his ears, Jason stepped forward, a hand held up as if it would stop mother and son from continuing to rip into each other. “I don’t think this is solving anything—”

“There’s nothing to solve. Cameron’s going back to California tonight. If he wants to have a conversation about his brother’s future, he can do that. Next weekend,” Elizabeth added when Cameron scowled. “Because you might want to think you’re grown, having this conversation with me right now but waiting until the last minute because you’re going to force it to be your way isn’t exactly convincing me you’d be the right person to look after your brother. If it became necessary, which it won’t. Go upstairs and get your things. Now.”

“I’m not going, Mom. There’s no conversation that’s going to change my mind.”

Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort, and Jason put a hand on her forearm. “Let’s just take a few minutes to talk, okay?” he asked. He looked at Cameron and Jake. “Put away the groceries. We’ll back.”

He pulled open the front door, and Elizabeth stalked past him, going down to the curb and yanking open the SUV door. Jason hesitantly followed, climbing into the driver’s side.

“I’m not having this argument in public. You have no right to get in between me and Cameron—”

“Normally, no, and you know I wouldn’t,” Jason interrupted her. “But his problem is with me, and you can’t ignore that.”

“Oh, so I’m a bad mother, now?”

“No one’s —” Jason flexed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Don’t do that. Don’t jump six feet ahead to something no one said.  Nothing Cameron said was wrong, and you know it. There’s a very real chance they’re going to try to put you back in jail after the hearing.”

Elizabeth looked away, but he could see her lip trembling in the reflection of the window. “He’s going to screw up his whole future—”

“He won’t. He’s worried that he can’t count on me to take care of Aiden. And he’s right to worry.”

“What?” Elizabeth’s head whipped back. “How can you say that—”

“Because for his entire life, Cameron’s been listening and watching me make promises to him and to you that I haven’t kept,” Jason said quietly.

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, then stared straight ahead, out the windshield. But she remained silent.

“And he’s right. I threw away years with Jake. Not just the last two. But all the ones I lost believing he was better, safer away from me,” Jason continued. “Cameron doesn’t have a problem with me, but he doesn’t trust me. I don’t get to run from the mistakes I made. I have to deal with them. You’ve forgiven me, but we both know you shouldn’t have.”

Elizabeth shook her head, flicked at an errant tear. “You don’t get to tell me what I should do. You know better.” She leaned her head back against the seat rest. “I can’t let him give up his future to take care of his brothers. It’s not his job. Or his responsibility.”

“He won’t have to. You heard him. He’ll stay for your hearing on Tuesday, and you’ll make him a backup guardian for Aiden. He’ll go back if you do that, Elizabeth. It’s up to me to make sure he doesn’t need to worry about it. Unless you don’t trust me to stay either.”

+40