Written in 41 minutes. Stopped a little early today  — I’m just so tired. See you tomorrow or Saturday!

Thursday, October 25, 2000

Chloe Morgan Designs: Offices

Emily popped the top from her salad container and slid it beneath the black plastic container. “I don’t like what being adults has turned us into,” she told Elizabeth. “We used to see each other every day.”

“Because you ate at the diner where I worked.” Elizabeth flicked through her notes, occasionally popping a grape in her mouth. “We have actual responsibilities now.”

“Right. Adults. I don’t like it.” Emily scooted her fork around the salad, compiling the perfect combination of spinach, tomato, onion, and carrot. “How’s this going? You still like it?”

Elizabeth scribbled a note beneath the itinerary. “I think so. I spent most of last night memorizing time zones because I’m making travel arrangements for next month—well, I’m planning them. Lottie’s going to approve them. Chloe’s going to Tokyo for some fabric thing—did you know it’s thirteen hours ahead of us?”

“It’s kind of like time travel, don’t you think?” Emily mused. “You get on a plane to London, it takes like eight hours, but it’s only like four hours later. Like you go back in time. Or forward. It’s a shame I couldn’t use that to get more time on homework.” She leaned over the desk, trying to read Elizabeth’s notes upside down. “Is it helping you with yours?”

“It’s not homework—” Elizabeth made a face. “Well, maybe it is. It’s my trial run — booking the flight, the hotel, transportation. I had to do it for a Paris trip, too. I should have paid more attention in high school. You wanna go with me to the mall after work? I think I need to get some language books. French and Italian to start with.”

“I never pass up a mall trip.” Emily speared a tomato. “Have you, uh, heard from anyone since Monday?”

“Other than Jason on Tuesday, no. And—” Elizabeth twirled her pen, considering her next words. “Lucky was waiting for me when I got home on Monday. We had another fight. You?”

“Nikolas is avoiding me. Was it a new fight or more of the same? I mean, you’re okay, right?” Emily furrowed her brows. “You’d tell me if it was a bad one?”

“Just words.” Elizabeth back in her chair. “Before—um, before you know, Valentine’s Day. Did you think I was selfish?”

Emily lifted her brows. “Is that a serious question? Or something Lucky said?”

“Both. I guess. And it’s not just Lucky. I—my parents used to say it to me,” she admitted. “And Sarah used to say it. Maybe it’s…” She bit her lip. “Maybe it’s why I was so upset. My family thinking it was one thing — and maybe I knew Lucky wasn’t my biggest fan. I guess I never let myself think about it. Most of the time I don’t even let myself think about before, but I’m trying to wrap my head around it. Lucky was irritated by me before. And then after, he was my best friend. My rock. He never looked at me twice until it happened.”

“I think,” Emily said carefully, “that you and I didn’t know each other well enough to have fully, fleshed out opinions. And other than my first day back at school, we didn’t run into each other much. I don’t know that I would have called you selfish,” she added. “But opportunistic.” She winced. “Does that sound harsh? I don’t mean it to—”

“No. It’s—it’s not that far off. I mean, I only helped you because I thought it would impress Lucky. Not that it did any good.” Elizabeth sighed, pushed aside her notes and reached for her lunch. “I’ve just been thinking about it lately. About when I moved here. And why I stayed. I could have gone to London that summer with Sarah, you know? And my  dad did say maybe I could finish high school there. I stayed to be with Gram, but also…I stayed to be with Lucky.”

“Do you regret it now?” Emily tipped her head to the side. “Do you wish you’d gone?”

“No. Maybe. I don’t know. I’m glad you and I became friends, and that I got to know Jason,” Elizabeth added. “I guess it doesn’t matter. I didn’t go. But I guess — I almost didn’t take this job because of Lucky, too. I never  thought I’d be that girl, you know? I made my entire life about Lucky, and when he was gone, I was so lost. I wouldn’t have been if I’d had plans outside of him. If art school had been about me, and not us maybe I’d have gone to New York.”

“I get that. I mean, I was going to run away to be with Juan, remember?” Emily wrinkled her nose. “Talk about making dumbass choices to be with a boy. And you did take this job. It was the right choice, Liz. I know it sucks how things worked out with Lucky. Believe me, I was one of the people telling you to keep the faith, right? That you and Lucky were meant to be. I never thought he’d be like this. But it sort of tracks. You know? He makes pictures of people in his head, and when they don’t act the way he thinks they should, he cuts them out. He did to to his mom over Nikolas, and his dad. And now he’s doing it to you because he thinks you should give up everything, stay at Kelly’s forever so he has someone to eat fries with.”  She pointed her fork at Elizabeth. “Don’t let whatever he said the other night screw with your head.”

“Trying not to. But it might not matter if I can’t get my passport. I still haven’t heard from Steven or my parents. And I was on hold with the people in Colorado for like an hour this morning — they can’t find me with my middle name either. But Sarah? They found. No problem.”

“Steven still hasn’t called you back? What a jerk.” Emily dropped her fork. “It’s been a week. You told him how important it was, right?”

“I did. I don’t know what else to do. I was thinking maybe I could just start calling storage places. My parents might have got one when they closed up the house.  But would they even release that information?”

“No. No, you’re not going to waste even one more minute on that phone. Or waiting for someone to call you back.” Emily rummaged in her purse, pulled out a wallet. “Let’s put your new travel skills to rest. Here’s my credit card. Get us a flight to Memphis tomorrow.” She held it out but Elizabeth just stared at her. “I’m serious. Book us a hotel and transportation and everything. We’re gonna show up at your brother’s door and force him to talk to you. And if that doesn’t work, I’m gonna get Grandfather to call Washington—”

“Emily—”

“You ran around all summer trying to save me, the least I can do is get you this passport. And you know what, I’m gonna get Grandfather on it anyway. He’s been bored. But we’re going to Memphis so you can tell your brother what a jerk he is.” Emily waved the credit card again. “Take it and start booking. You know Chloe would let you go in a heartbeat to get this done.”

“Where is Chloe letting you go?” said the woman in question, emerging from her office. She saw Emily, smiled brightly. “Hey, sweetie. How are the classes?”

“A lot of reading, and Elizabeth and I are going to Memphis to track down her brother to get her birth certificate dealt with,” Emily told her. “He won’t call her back.”

“Are you still having trouble getting a valid copy?” Chloe asked, a slight scowl pulling at her features. “That doesn’t seem right. What do your parents say?”

“I…can’t get them on the phone either. They’re with Doctors Without Borders, and I think they’re there somewhere in Eastern Europe. I’ve left messages with their contact, but nothing yet. Chloe—”

“Go to Memphis. And Emily, we should think about getting Edward on this, don’t you think? He’s always looking for a good reason to complain to his senators. Especially with the election coming up.”

“I don’t want to bother anyone,” Elizabeth started to say, but Emily cut her off.

“It’s not a bother. We’ll stay over on Saturday, and do something fun. Maybe go to Graceland. You’ll see. We’ll get this all fixed this weekend. Book a flight for after my last class, I’m done at eleven.” She held out the credit card again. “Let me do this for you, Liz. It’s my turn to back you up.”

+25

Written in 62 minutes. This part is a little short. I know the big pieces of the story, but I haven’t thought out all the connective tissue between them if that makes sense, so some conversations take longer because I want to make sure I’m as close to Jason’s voice as possible, if that makes sense.

See you tomorrow.

Tuesday, October 23, 2000

Chloe Morgan Fashions: Chloe’s Office

“Tell Barbara I’ll call her later—” Chloe paused. “No, strike that. Tell her I’ll call her nine tomorrow morning—her time. And yes, I know that means I have to get up at three to do that,” she added before her assistant could do more than open her mouth.

Elizabeth jotted a note to herself to actual learn the time zones — she didn’t really know any international ones, and could only remember how American zones worked because she’d moved from one to the other.

“Oh, Elizabeth—” Chloe whirled back at the door, causing both Lotte and Elizabeth to nearly run into her. “I know this is short notice, but you can come to New York next week, right? The whole week. I’d need you there by Monday afternoon at the latest.”

“Yeah, no problem—” But Chloe had already heard the first word and dashed down the hall to her next meeting.

Elizabeth bit her lip, then looked at Lottie. “I have a question about New York—”

“I already fast-tracked a company card so you can book future travel, but I’ll handle the flight arrangements this time,” Lottie said, wincing as she sat behind her desk. “I can get you a car to the airport if you need it—”

“No, I—” Elizabeth stopped. “A company card?” she repeated.

“Mmmm. I handle the travel arrangements—the flights, the transportation, hotels — I put together some notes for February. You need to get that right,” Lottie said, her usually friendly face pinched. “Chloe’s planning a huge return launch and if she misses a single day in Paris or Milan because you didn’t understand the time differences—”

“She won’t. I’ll get it right. I promise,” Elizabeth added. “I can do that—”

“Really? Because you still haven’t applied for your passport. Chloe made it clear, didn’t she? The only way you can even try to do my job is if you’re at her side at every minute. You have to be able to travel to London in January. That’s—”

“It’s—I’m getting it handled. There’s just an issue with my birth—I’m handling it,” she said. Or she was damn well trying. She’d spent her lunch break trying to track someone down at the records office in Colorado, and then ten minutes leaving another message for Steven and her contact at Doctors Without Borders. “I won’t let you down.”

“Okay—”

“But I still had a question. About New York. And traveling. I—where do I stay? I mean—I know that’s probably a stupid question, but is there a specific hotel? Do I stay in the same one as Chloe? That can’t be right. Hers cost so much money—”

“Travel is part of the job, so it’s paid for. And of course you travel with Chloe. You stay in her suite.” Lottie flipped through some paperwork, only half paying attention. “Except in London. She has a house there for herself. I usually stay at the flight in Knightsbridge, I’m sure you’ll be there. And there’s an apartment in Chelsea—New York,” Lottie clarified. “That’s—thank you for thinking of it. I’ll add some notes about both places to the binder I’m leaving you.”

“Oh. I—” Elizabeth sat down at her desk, her mind whirling. She’d understood there’d be travel — of course, it had been the center of Lucky’s concerns — and her dreams. But the nuts and bolts of it — the idea that she’d be staying in New York and London residences—

“You look like you’re going to pass out. What’s wrong?”

“What? Oh.” Elizabeth blinked, focused on Lottie. “Nothing. It’s just—I was a waitress at Kelly’s last week and I lived over the diner. This is…”

“A different world,” Lottie finished. “Play your cards right, and Chloe will find a place for you when I get back to work. But screw this up, and I’ll make sure you never work in this industry again. I have just as many contacts as she does.”

Lottie’s advice — or threats, depending on how Elizabeth wanted to think about it — were still echoing in her head hours later as she trudged towards her car in the parking lot, her tote bag full of fabric samples, her arms bogged down with Lottie’s notes to study at home. She had a lot to do before she was on her own — and not nearly enough time to learn it all.

As she approached her car, she realized that someone was leaning against it — waiting for her. Night had already fallen, the only light source from dim street lamps, but Elizabeth would know him anywhere.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” Elizabeth asked. “You didn’t call, did you?” She dumped her things on the hood of her car, started searching for her phone. “I was going to check when I got in the car—”

“No, Emily told me when you’d be done.” Jason straightened. “I mean, I called, but I didn’t leave a message.” He hesitated. “I didn’t really know what I’d say.”

Despite the way their last conversation had ended, her lips twitched. “Hi, it’s Jason. Call me back?” she offered, and he shook his head, but he was smiling, too. “No, I guess that would be too ordinary for you.”

“I used to just go to Kelly’s when I wanted to see you,” he told her, and she made a face. “Sorry. That’s—probably the last place you want to think about.”

“No. No, it’s—it was a good place for me. For a long time.” Elizabeth sighed when she realized the only call she had was the missed one from Jason. Nothing from her parents or brother. Or the state of Colorado. She tossed her phone back in her bag and looped it back over her shoulder, picking up the rest of her things. “I don’t mind thinking about it. I had a lot of  good memories there, and I miss it sometimes.” She unlocked her passenger door, dumped her things, then closed the door to turn back to him. “Especially when I think about how scary what I’m doing here is. Not your kind of scary,” she added when he looked skeptical. “But in a few weeks, Chloe’s entire professional life is going to depend on me, and I just realized how little I know about time zones. Like, what time is it in London right now?”

Jason furrowed his brow. “Well, it’s almost seven here, and it’s five hours. Until the end of the month when the clocks change. And then it’s four.”

“The—right.” Elizabeth let out a long breath. “You know, I didn’t know how to wait tables either and I figured it out. Eventually.” She folded her arms. “So…um, I guess you had something to wanted to talk to me about if you had to track me down.”

“I—” He scratched the edge of his eyebrow. “I didn’t really think about the car—I just—I used to pick you up at Kelly’s—”

“Gram is letting me use the car for now until I can save up for a down payment.” She bit her lip. “You could always just drop me back off at the car if—I mean—” She looked past him to his bike, parked a few spaces over. “It’s been a long day. I could use a break.”

Hangman’s Bridge

Elizabeth leaned over the stone edge of the bridge, closing her eyes. The air was chillier, and there was a bite now to the wind that swirled around this high up over the river. “It’s always so quiet here,” she murmured. She looked at Jason. “We don’t have to talk about last night. We were—it was a disaster from start to finish, and I’m sorry I bothered to go.” She paused. “I mean, I’m just—if that’s not what you wanted to talk about—”

“It—it is,” Jason said, then winced. “I just don’t…I know really know what to say. I don’t like the way I handled it,” he said finally. “With Sonny. I’m sorry you or Emily had to hear any of it.”

“And if we hadn’t?” she asked, turning so that she faced him, her hip pressing against the edge of the bridge. “It’s none of my business, I guess. I’m sorry…I’m sorry I made it weird by bringing up Carly. I, um—” She looked away when he looked at her sharply. Her cheeks heated. “It felt right in the moment, but later, I guess I realized I was sort of…putting myself on the same level, and I don’t—I know that I’m not—”

“You’re nothing like Carly,” he told her, and she dropped her gaze. “That’s not a comparison I’d ever make. She puts herself in the middle. You wouldn’t.”

“I—” Elizabeth lifted her gaze, bewildered. “Because I’m not—”

“But Sonny wanted to put you there.” Jason shifted, looked out over the distance, where the night met the horizon, melding into one. “He knows he was wrong, but he doesn’t admit that well. He’d rather turn the blame on someone else.”

“Okay, but—” That didn’t really explain anything, Elizabeth wanted to say, but stopped herself. “I guess I just don’t understand why Sonny—never mind. It really doesn’t matter—”

“You were right,” Jason told her, simply. “Sonny and I were making it personal. For whatever reasons, and all that matters is making this over. You and Emily deserve to make a clean break from all of it. The other two—” His face tightened. “I don’t really care, but I know you wouldn’t want them to take the weight.”

“I don’t. Our plan might not have a been a good one—or maybe the way we went about it — but all of us wanted the same thing. To make sure Emily couldn’t get in trouble for it. I just don’t know how we can do that anymore. I don’t know what to do. How to fix this. And maybe it’s not fair to expect you to know either—”

“You and my sister are in trouble,” Jason interrupted. “If Zander can tie any of this to you, even with rumor, that will follow you. I don’t care what people say about me. I made sure I don’t have to answer to anyone. But that’s not what you or Emily wants. I told you both — I wanted you to come to me when you couldn’t solve it on your own. Or even before you tried.”

“But I don’t want to cause problems with you or Sonny. I’m—It just feels selfish to expect you to drop everything and fix a problem you didn’t create—”

“Selfish,” Jason repeated. He shook his head. “You’re only in this problem because you’re standing with Emily. You’ve risked your life and your freedom to help her. You’ve done the same for me. When I didn’t deserve it,” he added. “Selfish is the last word I’d ever use to describe you.”

Tears pricked her eyes and she jerked her gaze away from him, staring hard at nothing in the distance. When she was sure she could speak without her voice breaking, she took a deep breath. “Okay. So we’ve cleared it all up. I don’t expect you or Sonny to give us details after this. I know it’s better when we don’t know.”

“It is—” Jason tipped his head. “Are you okay? What did I say?”

“N-nothing. Nothing,” she repeated. “It’s just—it’s been a long day,” Elizabeth said finally. “But we’re okay now. You and Sonny — you’ll handle this, and Emily and I are out of this. Right? Back to a need to know basis.”

“Yeah,” he said slowly, as if unconvinced by her answer. But he wasn’t going to push her, and she was grateful for it. “Come on. I’ll take you back to your car.”

+26

Ending is a little bit awkward, but as I was writing it, I started to doubt my own memory of that storyline on GH, so I wanted to hold off on making it worse, lol. I didn’t realize I was going to need this nugget of information, so I never looked it up, and I couldn’t find the answer in time to finish the scene properly. Off to research 😛

Written in 56 minutes.

Monday, October 22, 2000

Luke’s: Office

He’d already been annoyed when he’d talked to Elizabeth, and then to Emily — both of whom had repeated more than once that they felt trapped into attending whatever bullshit Lucky Spencer had dreamed up. After weeks of dealing with the consequences of a plan thought up by Lucky and Nikolas, Jason wasn’t interested in finding out whatever brilliant idea they’d cooked up this time.

Luke being present didn’t bother him much — but learning he’d gone to Sonny — who hadn’t picked up the phone to talk to Jason before showing up here tonight?

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Elizabeth said, stepping out from behind him and going to Emily’s side. The two of them remained close to the door and to him, unintentionally creating a divide between them and the others.

Sonny had gone to Luke’s desk — of course, straight to the position of power. He was perusing Luke’s cigar collection, Nikolas watching him with some suspicion (maybe he wasn’t completely useless) while Lucky had planted himself in front of the desk, his arms crossed, chin lifted.

“Nothing’s going on yet,” Luke said, slapping his cigar case shut. “Corinthos showed up without an invitation as far as I know. Told me you’d set it up,” he said to his son. “Thought you didn’t need me.”

“I don’t. But your office is secure. You sweep for bugs,” Lucky said, with a careless lift of one of his shoulders. “Emily said Dara Jenson is suspicious. I figure she’s got to be watching us.”

“She’s not,” Jason said. He closed the door, but didn’t come any closer. “I know someone in her office. She thinks Zander’s full of shit trying to beat the charges. He’s been trying to sell that story to anyone who will listen. Even if his own lawyer doesn’t believe him.”

Emily released an exhale of breath, pressing a fist to her chest. “Seriously? We’re—we’re okay?”

“I said no one in that office believes it,” Jason said, gentling his tone as he shifted slightly to look at his sister. “But Dara’s just an assistant. Her boss is pushing her to use Zander to hook a bigger fish. He wants headlines before the election next month. He’s running for re-election.”

“Politicians,” Luke muttered.

Sonny scratched the corner of his mouth. “That was my read on it — Garrett Floyd. Wants to move up to mayor in a few years. Building a profile for himself to keep climbing. So if they want a big fish, I figure we give them one—”

“If Zander could give her Sorel, he’d have done it already,” Jason interrupted, and Sonny’s eyes darkened. He didn’t like being interrupted. “Dara was pushing Emily about me. No one believes the story Zander’s trying to sell — that it was Emily who put the body in his car. But they think it was us.”

Nikolas frowned. “I don’t understand—does that—does that mean the ADA isn’t looking at the rest of us?”

“They don’t seem to think Emily would have gone to anyone else with this kind of problem,” Jason said dryly and Emily dropped her eyes, looked away. “So, no, other than being her friends and possible witnesses, no one thinks you hid the body of a dead cop for weeks.” He looked at Lucky, at Sonny just behind him. “So you don’t need to get involved. I’m handling it—”

“Actually—I’m handling it,” Sonny said, and Jason grimaced. “Talked to Lucky here, and made some calls. I confirmed what you heard,” he said. “Which means it’s not just your sister’s problem. And that I need to be involved. I already put some things in motion—”

“What? I thought we were—” Elizabeth glared at Nikolas. “You told me we were coming here to talk about what to do—”

“I thought we were, so don’t get pissed at me, okay?” Nikolas retorted. “Lucky, you agreed—”

“Don’t blame him,” Sonny said with a wave of his hand. “He brought the problem to me — the way you all should have months ago. We need Zander’s case to go away. It was on the track to plea agreement before they started talking about dropping the murder charges. We make sure we can tie Zander to the cop before he was dead, and he won’t have a choice.”

Jason exhaled, slowly, trying to gather his temper. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“A witness is going to come forward in a few days,” Sonny said. He started to walk towards the door, stopping in the center of the room, in front of Jason. “He’ll tell Dara he saw the photos in the paper and remembers seeing them at the rave the night the cop went missing.”

“You’re paying a witness?” Luke said with a lift of his brows. “That seems risky.”

“I’m not worried. The guy was known to go to raves, no reason anyone could doubt him.” Sonny lifted his brows. “If he goes to trial, we’ll deal with a jury—” He reached past Jason, to grasp the doorknob and Jason reluctantly moved out of the way. “So everyone can relax. It’s out of your hands now.”

He left then, closing the door behind himself. Jason shot Luke a look, then went after his partner.

“You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” Emily demanded. “I told you it was being handled—”

“And now I know it is,” Lucky interrupted. “You wanted me to hand it off to your brother who hates me guts and doesn’t think much of Nikolas, and then keep me in the dark. Well, that’s bullshit, Em. I was good enough to help you when your saintly brother wasn’t around—”

“I let myself believe we could handle this! I was stupid and we were completely out of our depths. Damn it, Lucky, all it would take is for Gia to decide to come clean, and we’re all dead—”

“She won’t be doing that,” Nikolas said, and Emily shot him a malevolent look. “I handled the rest of her tuition to Columbia. She’s already back in the city. Taggert was happy to see her go, thinks she got a scholarship.”

“Until she wants more money, Nikolas. I hope you’re prepared to pay her off for the rest of her life,” Emily snapped. She squeezed her eyes shut, fisted her hands at her sides. “This happened to me. You had no right to go behind my back like this, Lucky.” She looked at him, at her oldest friend. “I was already having trouble even looking at you after last week, but you’ve just made sure I know I can never  trust you again. Liz, let’s get out of here. I have things to do.”

“Wait—” Lucky stepped towards Elizabeth, but she hurried out, down the hall towards the back entrance, with Emily hot on her heels. She slammed the door behind them.

Elizabeth stumbled to a stop when she heard angry, raised voices near the back door. She held up a hand for Emily to be quiet.

“You should have called me. The second Spencer talked to you. You knew I was handling this—” Elizabeth couldn’t remember the last time she’d heard Jason so angry. Maybe that day on the docks when Sorel had stopped her.

“How would I know that?” Sonny said, with sulky note in his voice. “You don’t talk to me. I don’t know what’s going on—”

“Sorel was mine to handle, remember? Because it was about my sister. That was the agreement, Sonny. Are you telling me I can’t trust your word?”

“You don’t trust me, you made that very clear when you told me you didn’t forgive me about Carly.” Sonny’s voice shifted, becoming more resentful and scorned. “Admit it. You’re just waiting for me to screw up with her so you can rescue her. That’s what you do, isn’t it? That’s why you’re pissed. You were going to save the day, and I took it away from you.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Jason demanded.

“I’m talking about you keeping me in the dark. Not telling me that Smith’s case might get dismissed. I told you how I wanted it handled, but it’s not enough for you. You gotta play the hero, right? I hear you already got a start last week in Kelly’s.”

“You’re not making any sense—”

“Don’t play stupid. I know exactly what’s going on. You want to be the one to make Zander Smith pay for what he did to Elizabeth—”

“For what he did to Emily,” Jason corrected, the words sounding like they’d been passed through a clenched jaw. “To my sister—”

“So your guy didn’t show you the file, huh? You didn’t read about Zander’s statement? Why he thinks he was targeted for the frame job! He admitted it! He drugged Elizabeth at one of those damn raves!”

+19

Written in 60 minutes.

Monday, October 22, 2000

Port Charles High: Parking Lot

“Complete waste of time,” Elizabeth muttered, jerking her grandmother’s car door open and tossing her purse in before she climbed in.

She closed the door, switched on the engine, then let her head fall back against the head rest, closing her eyes and considering her options.

She hadn’t heard from Steven or Sarah since the call on Friday night, and her parents either hadn’t gotten the message through their contact or were also ignoring her. The high school hadn’t saved her birth certificate either — it had been used to establish residency and age, and then they’d tossed the copy, keeping only the guardianship contact on file.

A stupid piece of paper shouldn’t be this difficult to get — or important enough to derail her future. Elizabeth was running out of time to get the passport application in before it was too late and if she couldn’t go to London in January, she’d be out of a job. Maybe Chloe would throw her a bone and let her answer phones, but the prospect of traveling and participating in the actual creation and display of the clothes had been dangled in front of her.

Elizabeth didn’t want to mess this up.

Her cell phone, which she’d left in the center console of the car while she’d gone inside, vibrated, sliding back and forth into the cup holder. She answered with looking at the ID. “Yeah?”

“Liz? Is this a bad time?”

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, then leaved over to switch off the radio, cutting off Christina Aguilera in mid baby come on—

“Nikolas. Hey. No. I just got out of work. What’s up?” Please don’t be about Lucky. Please don’t be about Lucky—

“I just got done with Lucky. Uh, have you talked to him yet?”

“Nikolas—”

“It’s—it’s not about that. Okay? You made it clear you don’t want to talk about it, and we’re not. But we’re all meeting at Luke’s — in the back office. Tonight.”

“We’re all?” Elizabeth echoed. “What does that mean?”

“I left a message for Emily. Lucky wants to talk about….you know.”

Elizabeth pressed her lips together, silently counting to ten. “We don’t need to talk about it. Emily told you guys it’s being handled—”

“I know. And I might hate it, but I get it. It’s just—Lucky doesn’t want to do it that way—”

“I don’t care—”

“It doesn’t matter what you or Emily or even I want. If Lucky thinks he’s got a plan, we’re better off hearing him out and trying to talk him out of it. Instead of ignoring him. I don’t want him trying something on his own. He’s…look, I know we’re not talking about it, but I can’t get around it. Lucky knows fixing things with you might be impossible, but maybe you’ll at least talk to him if he can make this go away. He’s determined to be the hero, Liz. I tried to stop him, but you know how he gets.”

“Yeah.” She exhaled slowly. “Yeah, I know how he is. At Luke’s? I guess his dad is going to be there since we’re meeting in his office.” Luke could be counted on most of the time. “Is Emily calling Jason or do you want me to do that?”

“I…did not get the impression that anyone was supposed to do that. I wasn’t there last week, Liz, but I don’t know if we want the two of them in the same room—”

“Oh, but it’s fine for me to be in the same room with him? I’m obligated to hear Lucky out, but we can’t even include the one person Emily and I want to handle this? No. If you want me or Emily there, Jason has to be included.”

“Come on, Liz. You don’t speak for Emily. She knows how important this is to handle carefully, and she knows Lucky better than almost anyone. We can do this without Jason—”

“I think this entire summer has proved that wrong, don’t you? Fine. Emily can speak for herself. But we asked Jason for help. I’m not going around his back to hear anyone out unless he’s involved. We don’t know if he’s already put something into motion. So it’s me and Jason or no one at all. Your choice.”

Port Charles University: Lewis Hall Commons

Emily dumped her backpack and purse on a table in the corner of the room, and flipped open her phone. She picked through her missed calls — voicemails from Nikolas and Elizabeth — separated by only ten minutes.

“Well, that’s not a good sign.” She sat down, listened first to Nikolas, then directly to Elizabeth. As soon as Elizabeth’s had ended, Emily hit her speed dial.

“Hey, Em. Did you talk to Nikolas?”

“No, I just heard his voicemail. Why are we meeting tonight? He didn’t really explain.” Balancing the phone in the crook of her neck, Emily started to dig through her bag for her biology textbook and notebook to start the reading for the next class. “And all you said was to call you. I started with you.”

“I don’t know exactly, but Nikolas suggested that if we didn’t show up, Lucky might go off and do something stupid—hold on, I’m pulling into the driveway—” Emily heard an engine switch off and Elizabeth’s voice came back over the line much more clearly. “It was a basic blackmail.”

“I wish it weren’t about something so important so we could just tell him to go to hell,” Emily replied. She leaned back in her chair, folding one arm across her chest. “But he’s not wrong.”

“No, he’s not. But neither of them wanted Jason to come tonight.”

Emily sighed, dragged a hair through her hair. “I’m so sick of this. This happened to me. And I know you’re all involved now, but it comes back to me. And I’m tired of them acting like they’re in charge. The penis does not bestow special powers.”

Elizabeth choked back a giggle. “No, it does not. And I’d pay a thousand bucks to hear you say so in those exact words. I told Nikolas I’m not coming without Jason, and I left a message for him. You might want to follow-up with one of your own. He’s going to be pissed, and I just—I’m so pissed off by all of this. I just want this to be over, and we can trust Jason to make it over.”

“And that’s what we’ll tell him to night. That anything either of those morons do is without our consent and I won’t support it. In fact, if it goes down wrong, I’m not protecting them. I’m over it. You called Jason?”

“I just left a message letting him know when this is happening and that we didn’t ask for it. Nikolas was actually, like, you don’t speak for Emily—as if I don’t know exactly how you feel about this—you’re right. They really think they’re somehow better equipped to handle this.”

“Well, we’ll make it clear tonight. I’ll call Jason, too. I want him to hear it from me how much I hate this and don’t want it.”

“We’re going to fix this, Em. One way or another. I’ll see you tonight.”

Luke’s: Parking Lot

The sun had already set by the time Elizabeth pulled into the back parking lot where the staff generally kept their cars. The front lot was already filling up — it was an awkward hour between the happy hour rush and the usual crowd — but it was probably the worst place for a meeting.

Elizabeth had reached the trunk of her car, picking her way carefully through the gravel lot, but stopped when she heard the familiar roar of a motorcycle. It grew louder until the bike was visible down the street. It turned into the lot and pulled into the empty space next to Elizabeth.

“Oh, good. You got the message,” Elizabeth said, meeting him at his bike. He switched it off the engine, and climbed off, letting the bike rest on the kickstand. “I am so sorry about this—”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Jason told her, but his expression was tight, his words a  bit clipped. “I talked to Emily, and she said you were both basically forced into this.”

Elizabeth winced. “Forced is—well, it’s accurate,” she admitted. “But it was mostly Nikolas reminding both of us that Lucky could go off on his own without our input, and we’d be better off at least know what was going on. And I insisted you be here because — well, I guess I wanted to be fair, you know? We asked you to help us fix this mess, and here we are, making it worse. I’m so sorry—I could have filled you in later—”

“No, I want to hear the stupid plan from them,” Jason said, but his expression eased slightly. “Because whatever they’re thinking, I’m not going to do it. And I’ll make it clear they need to stay out of it.”

“Okay—” Elizabeth’s phone rang and she pulled it from her bag. “Oh—” She made a face. “She would call me back right now. Go without me, I need to take this—”

“I’m not in any hurry,” he said.

Elizabeth flipped the phone open. “Sarah, I’m so glad you called me back—”

“Well, I have like three minutes, Lizzie, and then I have to get back to my study group. I have exams this week.”

“Right, well, this will be quick. Do you know where Mom and Dad kept our birth certificates? Gram never got a copy of mine, and I can’t get it from the state for some reason. I wanted to see what yours said to see if I could figure out why mine isn’t coming up.”

“Birth certificate? Seriously? I don’t know where they were when we lived in Boulder, but Dad gave me all my documents when I went to London.” Sarah was quiet for a beat. “I don’t know why he wouldn’t have sent yours to Gram. Maybe he forget. Why?”

“I need to apply for my passport. Okay. Well — I guess I wanted to know how Mom and Dad were listed on yours, like maybe there’s something I can use to help find mine.”

“What do you mean?” Sarah demanded. “You’re making it too complicated. Date of birth and parents. It’s all you need. I mean, you probably don’t even need parents. You have that awful middle name. Make them search for that.”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Okay, well, if you think of anything else—”

“I’m not going to think about this after I get of the phone, okay, Lizzie? I have better things to do. Honestly, any child could figure out how to get their birth certificate. Grow up. You’re too old to be calling Mommy and Daddy every time you run into problems.”

“I—” Elizabeth stopped when she heard silence on the line. Her sister had hung up. “Thanks so much,” she muttered to the air. She turned around, looked back to Jason. “Let’s get this over with.”

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“That depends on your definition of okay,” she retorted, then took a deep breath, dropped her phone back in her purse. “It’s—it’s fine. Sarah gave me a lead on my birth certificate that I’ll handle tomorrow. Let’s go inside. I just want this done.”

Luke’s: Office

Emily folded her arms tightly across her chest. “I don’t know what stupid plan you’ve cooked up, Lucky, but I told you, I don’t want any part of it. I don’t want your help anymore. I’m handling it—”

“Oh, we were good enough for you when Jason wasn’t around, but now that he’s here, you don’t need us?” Lucky snapped. “That’s some loyalty for you. How many times have I got you out of trouble?”

“I don’t know, Lucky. Your plans have left me and Elizabeth kidnapped, drugged, held hostage, guns in our faces—we’re not kids anymore. We’re not running away from home, are we?”

“Okay, okay—” Nikolas stepped in between them. “Let’s take a deep breath. I know we haven’t exactly had a lot of success, Emily, but we’ve tried hard to fix this—”

Emily closed her eyes, tilted her head back. “I know. And despite all of it, Nikolas, it’s not over. It’s still happening. We can’t keep going back to the same ideas, over and over again. We have someone who wants to help — help me anyway,” she added when Lucky snorted, “and he has contacts that I don’t—”

“You mean he has a gun and is willing to use it,” Nikolas said flatly.

“I have had it—”

“Are we interrupting?”

Emily turned and blinked when Luke came in — followed by Sonny. The two men came into the room, and Luke went for his cigars. He offered one to Sonny, who accepted. “What—what’s going on? Why are—” She looked at Lucky. “Why are they here?”

“You’re right, Emily,” Lucky told her. “Maybe we can’t handle this on our own—”

“Maybe?” his father offered and Lucky threw him a dirty look.

“You went to your contact, fine. But I can go to mine, right? And they’ve been in the business longer. They know more. And we’ve got a plan.”

Emily opened her mouth, then closed it. “I don’t understand. You’re asking Sonny. That’s the same thing as asking my brother. They’ll just do this together. Why all the drama? Why do any of us have to be here tonight?”

“That’s a good question,” Jason said, stepping in from the hallway, Elizabeth a step behind.

+27

Written in 64 minutes.

Friday, October 19, 2000

Hardy House: Living Room

Elizabeth folded her arms, and frowned. “What do you mean? You didn’t screw up anything, Em—”

“I did. I just—I didn’t really want to tell you or anyone else. I was hoping Zander would make a deal or that I’d just be able to ignore all of this.” Emily turned away, paced a few lengths away until she stood behind the sofa, then spun back. “I told you guys that nothing happened while I was kidnapped. He didn’t hurt me or…anything else. And that’s true. But…” she paused, looked towards the ceiling for a beat, then brought her gaze back to Elizabeth. “He sold me a sob story, and I believed him.”

“I know. You said he tried to tell you that he was in the room and argued with Sorel’s men to leave you alive. But you realized it was a lie. Don’t feel bad for believing him, Em. You were upset, and terrified. You did what you had to do—”

“I didn’t just believe him,” Emily said softly. “I told him that we’d help him get away from Sorel. That all we wanted was to make sure whoever killed Ted Wilson was punished. That…it’s what we thought we were doing. When we put the body in his trunk.”

Her words hung between them, the silence awkward. Uncomfortable.

“You told him we put the body in his trunk,” Elizabeth repeated slowly. “I thought he was making that claim because he’d leapt to the conclusion. I mean, it made sense. He knew he’d left the body with you. And now it was back with him, so—but you told him. Confirmed it.”

“I believed him,” Emily repeated. “I believed that he screwed up and was trying to make it right, but that he owed Sorel—I don’t know. It feels like a jumble now, you know? It was so clear when it was happening, but then later, when I realized he was just a lying piece of—” Her voice faltered, and she dropped her eyes to the ground. “I was just hoping it wouldn’t come up. Or that Dara wouldn’t believe him. I’m sorry—”

“It’s—” Elizabeth took a step forward. “It’s okay, Em. I’m not—I wasn’t there, you know? I can’t tell you if I wouldn’t have made the same choices. And we all do crazy things when were in the middle of the crisis. I told you, I stabbed Lucky once. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even know it was him—anyway. You did what you had to,” she repeated and Emily looked at her. “You’ll never know if Zander was planning to kill you and make a run for the border. Maybe you made him slow down, or got his trust and he kept you alive. You made a choice in the moment because it felt like the right one. I’m not going to judge what you did now.”

“That’s…nicer than I thought you’d be,” Emily admitted. “Or maybe I figured you and Jason would handle it. Lucky and Nikolas—” She let out an shaky breath. “I don’t know if they’ll be as understanding.”

“We don’t have to tell them. We don’t,” Elizabeth repeated when Emily made a face. “Okay? They know Zander’s making the claim, and you told them we were going to tell Jason and make it his problem. He’s going to handle this, Em. I don’t know how yet, but I trust him. Lucky and Nikolas don’t have to part of this at all anymore.”

“I guess.” Emily sat on the sofa, her knees pressed together, her shoulders hunched, and her hands curled in little fists. “I remembered him,” she said softly. “Taking my clothes off that night. It’s just flashes, but…it wasn’t Sorel’s men. It was him.”

Elizabeth sat next to her, reached for Emily’s hand. She’d known that someone had to strip Emily down that night, but she hadn’t really done more than think about it. The body next to her was the more pressing issue.

“Has…anything else come back?” she asked, and Emily looked at her, confused, then relaxed.

“No. No. He didn’t—I mean, I don’t think—you’d know, wouldn’t you? I mean, especially when you never—” Emily’s eyes went wide. “Never mind. Let’s just leave it at no.”

“You’d probably know if he raped you,” Elizabeth said. Emily pressed her lips together, dropped her eyes again. “You’re a virgin. Your body hasn’t…stretched that way. There’s…sometimes there’s bleeding. We took the sheets, remember? They were clean.”

“Oh.” Emily exhaled in a long breath, like she’d finished a marathon. “Okay. Well, I didn’t…feel different. Down there. So all good.” She hesitated. “Did…did you? Don’t answer th. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—” She started to get up, but Elizabeth tugged gently, and Emily sat back down.

“It was different for me. I hadn’t been drugged. I wasn’t drinking. I wasn’t unconscious. I…everything hurt. All over,” Elizabeth said. “Inside, too. I was a mess. But it doesn’t have to go that far for you to feel violated, Em. You were drugged and a strange man undressed you. Handled your body.  That’s not something you have to ignore. Unless you want us to. I’ll do whatever you need.”

“Right now, I just…I told you, and I told Jason. That’s really as far as I can handle it right now. I just want it to go away, Liz. You know? I don’t want to think about it anymore.”

“Then we won’t.” Elizabeth squeezed Emily’s hand. “We handed this off to Jason, like we should have weeks ago. If he needs us, he’ll tell us.”

“Right.” Emily forced a smile, then got to her feet. “I really do have to work on that paper. Um, don’t forget. Call Steven and Sarah about your birth certificate. And get in touch with your parents. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get the answers fast.”

She wanted to change the subject, so Elizabeth let her. She stood. “I’m calling them as soon as you leave. Good luck on the paper.”

“Thanks.”

After Emily left, Elizabeth left messages for both siblings, and for her parents’ contact at Doctors Without Borders. She didn’t have Emily’s optimism that she’d hear from anyone, but at least she could tell herself that she’d done everything she could before bothering the high school she’d barely attended.

When she’d completed her last call, she didn’t set the phone back on the base. Instead, she dialed another number.

“Hello?”

“Hey.” Elizabeth paused, unsure why she’d made the call or what to say next. So she went with the truth. “Emily just left. She told me she’d talked to you. About what happened with Zander.”

There was a long pause.

“About what she  said during the kidnapping?” Jason asked, a bit hesitant.

“About the night it happened.”

Another pause.

“I’ll pick you up in about ten minutes.”

Kelly’s Diner: Kitchen

“I don’t know how I got suckered into this,” Lucky muttered, dropping another tub of dirty dishes on the counter.

“It’s called money,” Penny told him, sailing past him with her own tub of dishes. “And we’re short on bus boys. Don’t worry, you get a cut of the tips. But, you know, you gotta smile more.”

She was gone before Lucky could think of something to say in return, heading outside to the courtyard for the last few hours of the dinner rush. He’d never liked her.

He didn’t really have a lot of options. Working with his father was out of the question, and his mother was always asking questions, looking at him closely, like she was waiting for him to screw up, or break down.

Working at the family diner was really the only choice left.

He emerged from the kitchen, fishing in the pocket of the apron for the order pad and scowling at the pencil that had broken in the pocket. He dropped it in the cannister behind the counter, found another one.

The bell over the door jingled, and Lucky turned to see how annoying his next table would be. It was Sonny.

His father’s former business partner stopped just inside the entrance, saw Lucky behind the counter. Instead of taking a table, he walked directly towards Lucky, taking a seat at the counter.

“Didn’t know you worked here.” Sonny flipped a cup on the saucer. “I was hoping to find Elizabeth.”

Lucky lifted his brows. “You didn’t hear? She quit. Why do you need her?” he demanded. He leaned in. “Because anything you’re doing about Zander, I should be part of it. Okay? It’s my life on the line, too.”

Sonny squinted. “What?”

“Don’t play stupid. Emily told me she was letting you and Jason handle everything and that me and Nikolas weren’t supposed to worry about it or get involved.” Lucky reached for the carafe of coffee, practically jerking it from the hot plate, then poured it in Sonny’s cup. “It’s bullshit. So anything you need to tell her, you can tell me.”

“I would…except I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Lucky bobbled the coffee slightly, and it sloshed over the tip of the cup, filling the saucer beneath it. “Jason didn’t tell you?”

“No. Why don’t you fill me in?”

Vista Point: Observatory Deck

The nights were growing colder, and it was even chillier up in the hills, and at the overlook that offered a half decent view of Lake Ontario — when it wasn’t cloudy and dark.

For now, the view wasn’t much more than a gray, black mash-up, the two colors swirling together until it was difficult to tell the horizon from the lake.

“I should have asked her about it a long time ago,” Elizabeth said, leaning back against the railing, shoving her hands into the pockets of her coat. “But we really just focused on the problem, you know?”

“I didn’t ask her either,” Jason admitted. He leaned over the railing, his fingers wrapped around the cracked and peeling painted wood.

“She’d been kidnapped, Jason. You had other priorities.”

“She was found next to a dead cop, Elizabeth. So did you,” he said, and she made a face.

“So if you’re off the hook, so am I. Still doesn’t make me feel any better.” Elizabeth sighed. “And she feels guilty about telling him the whole story. I’m not so sure Lucky or Nikolas are going to handle that part well. I told her not to  say anything to them.”

“So did I. I don’t want them involved,” Jason told her. “They’ve made enough stupid mistakes. And don’t try to tell me you went along with it—you and Emily wanted to get help from the beginning. The only thing you’re guilty of is listening to those idiots.” He winced. “That’s not fair—”

“But it’s accurate. And Emily and I are more willing to leave this in your hands. They might not be.”

“I’ll handle that if I have to. Look—” Jason paused. “You passed this off to me, the both of you. I’ll handle it. But it’s probably best if we don’t talk about it after this. Any of us.”

“Right. You want us to have plausible deniability. No lying required when we honestly don’t know what happens next. I’m for it. I just—we created a mess, Jason. I know making it your problem is the right solution, but that doesn’t make me feel less guilty for dropping it on you.”

Jason nodded. “I get that. I can’t change the way you feel, but maybe next time, you remember the way you feel right now, and it’ll stop you or Emily from doing it again. Maybe.”

“Next time?” Elizabeth said, lifting her brows.

The corner of his mouth slid up in a half-smile. “It’s you and Emily. There’s always a next time.”

+32

Written in 59 minutes.

Friday, October 19, 2000

Kelly’s: Courtyard

The first mistake was stopping at the diner  for coffee — and the second was lingering long enough that she didn’t make it out of the parking lot before a familiar car pulled into the spot next to hers.

“Wait—” Nikolas practically leapt from his Jaguar, dashing to the back of Emily’s car, ostensibly to prevent her from getting in her car and backing out. “You’re not returning my phone calls—”

Emily sighed, closed her car door and turned to face Nikolas, her coffee still in hand. “I haven’t talked to anyone all week, okay? I’ve been making up all the work I missed, you know, when I was kidnapped. And there’s no reason for us to talk. I told you. I handed this off to my brother.”

Nikolas scowled, stepped closer to her. “Don’t you think I have right to weigh in?”

“We tried it your way this summer, Nikolas. Your way was to listen to Lucky and look where we are,” she hissed. “I’m not innocent either. I let you convince me to keep my brother out of this, but I’m not making that mistake again—”

“Jason has no reason to give a damn about me or Lucky. How do you know he won’t sacrifice us to save you and Elizabeth?” Nikolas demanded.

Emily rolled her eyes, shifted the strap of her bag higher on her shoulder. “Because you don’t know my brother at all. One false step, and we all go down. He knows we’re tied together. And I wouldn’t let him screw you or Lucky over. Bad ideas or not, we all agreed—”

“But I don’t have say now? This is my life on the line, too—”

“I don’t have time to argue about this again, Nikolas. I’m doing what I should have done in the beginning — making this Jason’s problem to solve. I suggest you do the same. Now, please, get out of my way or I’m going to be late for class and my coffee is going to get cold.”

Chloe Morgan Designs: Executive Offices

Elizabeth’s fingers were aching as she furiously scribbled notes, trying to absorb every beat the conversation between Chloe and one of her designers.

“We’ll show the Alana in Milan, I think,” Chloe said, flipping to another page in the portfolio. “I think the simple lines will do well there, but the Harriet is better for London — they still enjoy a bit of gaudiness, particularly the hats.”

She continued to make those decisions for another ten minutes, until Elizabeth’s hands were ready to fall apart, but then the designer left and Chloe left the portfolio in the office that Elizabeth was sharing with Lottie to take a call in her office.

The portfolio was left open to the design Chloe had called “Harriet” — a pair of trousers and a blouse. Chloe had made notes in the margin that Elizabeth had put into her own, suggesting a change in fabrics.

Elizabeth’s hands were aching, but she switched to a fresh page in her notepad, exchanged the pen for a pencil, and for the next five minutes, her fingers flew across the page, swapping the graphite pencil for some colored pencils that were on the desk.

Chloe emerged from her office, having changed for her afternoon meeting, still fastening a gold hoop to match the one dangling in her right ear. Elizabeth didn’t hear her at first until the shadow fell across her desk.

“Oh, that’s absolutely perfect! I should have thought about that—”

The sketch was plucked from Elizabeth’s grasp, even as Elizabeth made a hasty grab for it but Chloe was already comparing it to the portfolio sketch.

“I think chiffon in these deep jewel tones—and that pinstripe to the trousers—” Chloe looked at Elizabeth. “This is exactly the look I was trying to achieve.”

Elizabeth blinked, her hands falling to the desk. “What?”

“I’m relaunching Chloe Morgan this year, and I’m desperate for a new look, something to really set us apart. Everything in the last decade has been about minimalism, you know? And that’s great, but it can be really boring in the wrong hands. Do you mind if I give this to Mario? He’ll be able to mock up some examples so we can see what it looks like with the fabrics and colors—”

“Wait. You—” Elizabeth got to her feet. “I was just messing around, you know? Just seeing if I could still—you want to make this into clothes?”

“This is exactly why I wanted to bring you on board, Liz.” Chloe beamed at her. “You’ve got the artistic eye. Lottie’s amazing for details and she’s got a great sense of color theory which is essential, but she’s never been much interested in the design. You listened to Mario and I go back and forth, and twenty minutes later, you’ve taken our ideas and made them into something real. If this is your idea of messing around?” Chloe held up the note pad. “I can’t wait to see what you do when you’re trying.”

“Oh.” Elizabeth’s cheeks heated, and she wrapped her arms tightly across her chest. “Well, you can give it to him, I mean if it helps.”

“Excellent. Oh, just think of how amazing it’s going to be for you to be with us in London, and you get to see your ideas walk down the runaways. How’s the passport coming? You sent the request for your birth certificate, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, I did. They said it might be two or three weeks,” Elizabeth said. “But maybe I could call the offices, and see if I could get it faster. Like, if they have overnight delivery or something.”

“Whatever you have to do. I want to make sure you’re with us when the season’s on us. You know Fashion Week is more like Fashion Weeks, rights? London, Milan, Paris, LA, New York—we’re going to have the best time. I’m going to drop this with Mario on my way out. Amazing job this week, Liz. You’re exactly what we needed.”

Luke’s: Bar

Luke emerged from the kitchens, making a face when he saw a familiar figure sitting at the bar, a bottle of Rolling Rock already in front of him. “We’re not even open yet,” he said, stepping behind the bar. He poured himself a tumbler of whiskey. “Which means this isn’t a social call.”

“No, it’s not.” Jason pushed the beer to the side slightly.  “I wanted to talk to you about this summer, and Sorel.”

“What about him?”

“I know there was a rave scene,” Jason told him. “It was mobile, right? Every weekend, it was somewhere else.”

Luke tipped his head. “Sorel’s boys were working it?”

“They were in charge of it. At least that’s what I’ve got. Every location was owned by Sorel or one of his people.”

Luke considered this information. “Makes sense. They were running drugs. That’s where Lucky and all them were at when Emily got grabbed. The last one before it got shut down. The guy who snatched her — he was the dealer, right?”

“That’s what we think, but the cops can’t prove it. No product in his car, nothing but the cop.” Jason met Luke’s eyes, lifted his brows. “And he’s telling his his lawyer and the DA that he didn’t put it there.”

Luke exhaled carefully. “Lucky came in the other day. Told me about their summer shenanigans. He mentioned Emily was talking to you.” He shook his head, sipped the whiskey. “I raised a moron. It brings me no joy to tell you that, but you already know. Admitted he stopped Emily from going higher up for help. No you, no Sonny, no me—morons. He knows better than to handle a dead body on his own. And a cop! Practically playing Whack-a-mole with him.” He set his drink down. “You don’t have to bring me up to speed. What’s the plan?”

“I…don’t know,” Jason admitted. “There’s not much we can do to stop Zander Smith from telling the truth in open court. His lawyer hasn’t gone to the media yet,  but it’s only a matter of time.”

“Quartermaines sell papers, plus the connection to you, to me—yeah. So we gotta shut Zander up. He’s a drug dealer, right? We think he’s the real killer?”

“Yeah.” Jason hesitated. “I have a few connections in lock up,” he admitted. “I could get it done. But—”

“But whacking him puts everyone under the spotlight, and whoever you hire could flip to get out of jail or get reassigned. Your best bet is for him to be out on the loose to do the job personally, but then—”

“Then I’m the suspect,” Jason admitted. “Yeah. Either way—”

“You’re screwed. But both options get Emily  and Liz off the hook. And my kid, which I know isn’t high on your list. We could work it so you got an alibi. You know a lot of people who’d lie for you.”

“I’m not putting anyone, even you, in that position.” Jason took another long sip of the beer. “I don’t know how we get Zander out of jail without getting the charges dismissed. They’re not giving him bail.”

“No. No, that’s for sure.” Luke sighed, stroked his jaw. “How long do you think before this gets worse?”

“Preliminary hearing is in two weeks,” Jason said. “It’s not a closed court, so if it doesn’t leak before then—”

“The media will get the story then. Okay. Let me—let me see who I know on the inside. I might have some connections of my own. And I got some friends I can call,” Luke told him.

“Let me know.”

Hardy House: Living Room

Elizabeth sat back in the desk chair, her fingers still clutched around the phone. “I don’t understand. Do you need more time to look?”

“Not a matter of looking, ma’am. I told you. It’s not in the computer.”

“Yeah, but—” Elizabeth got to her feet at the sound of knocking. She went to the door, flipped the locks and pulled it open, gesturing at the phone to let Emily know she was still occupied. “That doesn’t make sense. Could it be under a different date? I was born really late, maybe it’s on November 2.”

“Wouldn’t change anything. I looked by name and parents. Maybe you weren’t born in Colorado. Nothing else I can do for you.”

“Okay. Okay. Thank you.” Elizabeth hung up, scowled. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“What’s wrong?” Emily closed the door behind herself. “Was that about your birth certificate? I thought it was going to be a few weeks.”

“I called the vital records office, and asked her to look it up, to see if my order was processed yet. She did — and apparently they got it yesterday, and were planning to process next week—I’m getting a letter saying my request can’t be fulfilled.” Elizabeth put the phone back on its base. “They don’t have a birth certificate on file.”

“Well…that’s not possible.” Emily dropped her purse on the armchair, shed her coat. “You were obviously born. And you grew up there. There’s got to be some mistake. Maybe a spelling error or something. Maybe they put dad under G, you know, like G-E-O-F-F Geoffrey.”

“She looked under the last name. And my mother’s maiden name.” Elizabeth bit her lower lip. “The last time anyone saw my birth certificate, it was when I moved here. Dad was back in the country for a few days or something, and he handled it. Maybe I could call the high school. They’ve got to have it on file, right? I didn’t even graduate that long ago. And if I can see the copy—”

“You can see what Colorado should look for. It’s got to be some kind of weird mistake. Like it got digitized wrong, you know? All of that was on paper back then, and maybe they just did it wrong.”

“I’ll go into the high school on Monday. I just—” Elizabeth sighed, sat in the desk chair. “I just want to get this over with, so I can have my passport. Chloe’s talking about using my ideas in a design, Em! I want to be part of it, and I can’t do that if I can’t travel.”

“Oh, well, then we’ll get it done. Let’s not wait for Monday. Can’t you call your parents?”

“Not really. I haven’t talked to them in—” Elizabeth furrowed her brow. “It’s been a while. I have to call their contact at the Doctors Without Borders.”

“Well, do that. And you should call Steven or Sarah. They’re older, right? Especially Steven. Maybe he knows where your dad kept the certificates. If they’re in storage or something, we could get them.   You obviously have a birth certificate. No one gets to your age without one.”

“No, definitely not.” Elizabeth looked at Emily. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask you—what’s up? I thought you were planning to spend the weekend on that paper.”

“I am—but I wanted to talk to you first.” Emily twisted her fingers. “About what happened when Zander kidnapped me. And how I screwed everything up for all of us.”

+32

Written in 60 minutes.

Wednesday, October 17, 2000

Luke’s: Main Bar

It was still a few hours before the club would be in full swing, packed with the dock workers after their shift or corporate types enjoying the happy hour promotions, but Luke still had his hands full, filling in for the bartender who’d no-showed.

“This is the last time I put you in charge of hiring,” he told Claude, snatching up a bottle of vodka to finish off a screw driver. He set it in front of the patron who tossed down some money and slid off the stool, melting into the crowd.

Lucky took the empty spot, folding his arms on the bar. “You must  be desperate if you’re out working the bar,” he told his father.

Luke arched his brow, grabbed a pint glass and filled it with a pale ale, then set it in front of his son. “And you must be looking for something if you’re finally showing up here. I’ve been calling you. So has your mother.”

Lucky’s mouth tightened.  He picked up the beer. “I need some advice.”

Luke looked over at Claude, then the crowd around them. “I can give you maybe ten minutes right now, but if you hold off an hour, Nance will be here to take over. Your choice.”

“I’ll wait.” Lucky took the beer, slid off the stool, and disappeared in the crowd.

Jake’s: Bar

Emily sat across  from her brother, and eyed his burger with some suspicion. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone actually eat Jake’s food before.”

“I wouldn’t eat the calamari,” Jason told her. He pushed his plate aside slightly, folded his arms, leaning in. “You want something? I can get Jake.”

“No, I ate on campus.” Emily twisted her  fingers in her lap. “Um, you’re not mad that I sent Liz to talk to you, right? You just seem to take  bad news from her so much better, and I figured I could handle Lucky and Nikolas for her—”

“I’d only be angry if you didn’t come to me,” Jason interrupted, and Emily let out a sigh of relief. “I’ve been making some calls, trying to find out how serious this is — if Dara’s playing with you or if we should be worried.”

“And?”

“It’s not likely they’re dismissing the charges,” Jason told her. “Maybe if it were another drug dealer, but it’s a dead cop. They’re looking to get the max. Death penalty,” he added when Emily frowned.

“I didn’t even think New York had that anymore.”

“No one’s been executed since the sixties, but, yeah, Death Row is still a thing. Dara’s counting on a cop killer not getting much public support.”

“So it won’t just be my word against his,” Emily said. “She was lying.”

“Not—” Jason paused, considered his response carefully. “She’s not wrong. Charges are probably going to stand, but a jury’s unpredictable. Maybe they convict, maybe they don’t. The only thing connecting Zander Smith to Ted Wilson is that body in the trunk.” He lifted his brows. “Gia Campbell could link them.”

“She could. But then she’d have to leave me out of it. She saw us both that night,” Emily told him.

“Right. And even if she was willing to leave you out of it, if Zander’s pointing at you guys for the frame job — they’ll ask about you. Or the others. I don’t know that we want to put any of this in Gia’s hands.”

“No, I don’t trust her. Nikolas might, but—” Emily sighed, sat back. “It’s a mess, isn’t it? We created a giant mess that first day, and there’s no way out.”

“It’s a mess,” Jason agreed, and she made a face. “I’m not going to lie to you. We don’t have a lot of options here. We need to stop this from going to trial or even to this hearing she’s talking about. Find a way to make Smith plead guilty or tie him to the whole thing.” He tipped his head. “When we found you, you weren’t so sure he was guilty. But now you are. What changed? Maybe there’s something in there.”

Emily stiffened, fisted her hands in her lap again. “I was stupid before. Okay? He seemed…he seemed lost. Confused. Scared. He told me that…that it wasn’t him that night. That it was someone else who worked for Sorel. That he stopped them from killing me, too.”

Jason sat back in his chair, considered her for a long moment. “He was lying to you.”

“I—” Emily frowned. “I know that. But how do you?”

“Because you don’t kill a cop and leave a witness. Especially a witness like you. They know who you are, Emily. Not just to me. But to the Quartermaines. High profile witness. No. That’s not how it went down.”

“I—I know. I—” Emily stopped. “I don’t remember anything about that night. Not really. But I woke up…without clothes on,” she said, dropping her eyes to the table. “And I wasn’t…nothing—I know nothing happened. I…” Her cheeks heated. “I just know. Trust me.”

He clenched his jaw. “Okay.”

“When we got home, when it was all over, after he’d been arrested, I—I just…I had this dream. This…” Her throat felt tight. “I think I remember someone taking off my clothes. I’d been having those flashes for weeks, but nothing that I could stitch together, and maybe it wasn’t real. Maybe I’m just thinking I remember it, but I think I remember it….being him.” A tear slid down Emily’s cheek, and she swiped at it. “Don’t—don’t tell anyone, okay? It’s…it’s not a big deal. Nothing even happened. But it made me think twice about his story. And now I think he was playing me. I think he wanted me to tell him about what we did. And—it worked.” She finally looked at him again, her eyes swimming. “I told him everything. Because I’m stupid, and I believed him.”

Hardy House: Living Room

“Hey, Gram.” Elizabeth set down the bags she’d brought home from work and crossed the room to greet her grandmother with a kiss on the cheek. “I thought you had plans with Bobbie, or I would have been home sooner.”

“Oh, well, I rescheduled them, darling.” Audrey sat on the sofa, patted the cushion next to her. “I wanted to hear about your day at work, and, well—I thought perhaps we might discuss something Bobbie shared with me when she called earlier.”

Elizabeth slowly lowered herself onto the sofa. “You heard about Kelly’s,” she said. She bit her lip, shook her head. “Silly to think it wouldn’t have gotten around. It happened in front of the whole diner, and now everyone knows, don’t they?”

“I can’t speak for everyone,” Audrey said, “but all I know right now is that you nearly fell down the stairs, and that Lucky seemed to cause the fall.” She reached for Elizabeth’s hand. “I won’t pry, darling, I promise. It’s just…you seemed so upset when you came here on Sunday, and I knew you’d quarreled with Lucky. I didn’t realize how badly it had gone. If you don’t want to speak about it, I’ll respect your wishes. I just…I thought you should know that I know. And that I’m here.”

Her eyes burned, and she looked away, squeezing her eyes closed. “I don’t really know what to say. I’m still not…” Elizabeth looked back at her grandmother. “Lucky and I had an argument on Sunday. About the job. Or it started that way. I was trying to tell him that I thought maybe this could be a way to get back something I lost after the rape, and…” She looked down at their intertwined hands, at her grandmother’s fingers, the wedding ring she still wore more than six years after losing her husband. “Lucky didn’t like me very much before. He liked me better after. He loved me,” she said softly. “And I was so amazed that someone would — no one  had. Not really. And Lucky was the first, I thought, to see me. The real me.”

She looked up towards the ceiling, trying to gather herself, to organize her thoughts. “But it wasn’t me. It was pieces of me, broken into jagged little pieces that I was desperately trying fit back together, you know? I… didn’t want to be around people. I didn’t want anyone to look at me. I wanted to disappear into a crowd.” Elizabeth exhaled slowly. “That’s who Lucky thought I was. Shy. Quiet. Submissive,” she added softly. “We never argued, because I just assumed he knew best. He’d taken such good care of me, Gram. He knew just what to do that night, even if I didn’t do it. He—he knew to get his aunt. A-and that I needed to feel safe, and that I needed to find out who did it—and he liked being my hero.”

“Oh, my darling.” Audrey touched her cheek, gently swiping away the tears that had continued to fall. “Do you think he doesn’t love you now?”

“I don’t think he knows me,” Elizabeth told her. “Or that he wants to see that I’ve changed. I’m more myself, again, you know? Not…not all the way. I think I’ve learned to be a little less reckless with people’s feelings. But I was so scared all the time, Gram. And now I’m not. Now I give into impulse, like agreeing to Chloe’s job when she asked me. A-and I spent all afternoon talking about fabric and materials and clothing, and it was so much fun. There were people everywhere, and it was crowded, and I didn’t feel scared, not even a little. This is the first time since that night that I’ve been on my own. Really on my own. And I love it.”

“I can tell. Your whole face lights up when you talk about it.” Audrey tipped her head. “What happened on Monday?” she asked gently.

“I just wanted to get away, to give us some more time, I needed more time. I packed my  things, and he was arguing with me the whole time, trying to stop me. A-and then when I was trying to go down the steps — he grabbed the strap of my bag. I lost my balance.” Elizabeth sighed. “I would have fallen all the way down, but Jason and Emily were at the diner, and they’d heard the yelling. They were already at the bottom of the stairs, and Jason—he caught me.”

“Well, then I suppose I owe Jason a thank you for his quick reflexes,” Audrey said, and Elizabeth laughed. “What?”

“That must have hurt to admit.”

“I can acknowledge when Jason’s done something useful,” Audrey said with a sniff, then smiled. “That doesn’t sound so bad. Bobbie’s description made me worried you were hiding broken bones or something.”

“I…was shaken up,” Elizabeth admitted, and Audrey’s smile faded slightly. “I know Lucky didn’t mean to hurt me. But he grabbed my bag to stop me. He didn’t care that I was on the steps, or that I told him—I told him no,” she said softly. “And he didn’t care, Gram. He didn’t care. He doesn’t understand what he’s done wrong. Or if he does, he doesn’t think it’s so terrible. But it is, Gram. How can I be with someone who only saw value in me after I’d been broken into pieces?”

Luke’s: Office

“Are you here about that business at Kelly’s the other day?” Luke asked, closing the office door behind him. Lucky turned at the desk, faced his father and scowled. “Because I didn’t think I’d have to tell you about putting your hands on a woman—”

“I’m not sure you have the right to tell me anything about treating a woman right,” Lucky said caustically. “I can handle my relationship, Dad. Elizabeth—she’s taking this job, and it’s fine. She wants it, whatever. I can support that. And I know how to fix it. She needs to see that she still needs me, that I can still be the guy she fell in love with.”

Luke folded his arms. “If you got all the answers, what do you need me for?”

“I said I know how to fix it, but what I mean is, I know what has to be done. I just…” Lucky shrugged. “I don’t know how to do it. But if I can make all this go away, if I can just save us all, I just know Elizabeth will forgive me.”

“Make all what go away?” Luke demanded. “What kind of trouble are you in?”

“That guy who kidnapped Emily? Zander Smith?” Lucky said. “I didn’t tell you the whole story. But he’s trying to say we put the dead cop in his trunk—and we did. Because  Zander killed him and left in a bed next to Emily, after he drugged her. We all tried to cover it, but it’s gone wrong. I messed it up, and now we’re all screwed. Unless I can make this go away.”

“You—” Luke exhaled slowly. “You played hide and seek with the body of a dead cop. Okay. I need a drink. Or ten. Then we’ll talk about how the hell to fix this.”

+32

Written in 54 minutes.

Tuesday, October 16, 2000

Jake’s: Second Floor Hallway

Elizabeth’s fist hovered over the door, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to knock. Doubt mixed with wave of shame and embarrassment rolled through — this would be the first time she’d spoke to Jason since that awful scene in Kelly’s, and while she didn’t think Jason would force her to talk about it, it might be harder to push it aside.

She wasn’t very good at pretending around Jason.

Before she could make up her mind, the door was jerked open with an irritated Jason on the other side. “What are you waiting for—” He stopped, his expression immediately softening. “Oh. I didn’t know it was you. I could—” He paused. “I could see someone standing on the other side, not doing anything.”

Her cheeks heated, and Elizabeth folded her arms, her hands still balled into fists. “It’s fine. I—I wasn’t sure if you’d even be here. I saw your bike, but—I just—I didn’t know.”

“Do you—” He stepped back, gestured awkwardly towards the interior. “You can come in. Unless you need to go somewhere—”

“No, I can—I can—unless you have to—” She closed her eyes, let out an irritated huff. “This is so stupid. And awkward. For no good reason. You’re probably not sure what to say to me since I fell apart yesterday, and I’m freaking out because you saw me fall apart, and now I can barely look at you because I’m just trying to forget it—” She stopped, forced herself to look at him, her irritation ratcheting up when she saw the amusement in his eyes. “You’re laughing at me.”

“Not at you. At—you’re right,” he admitted. “I’m worried about you, but I don’t want to push. Especially if you don’t want to talk about it.” Jason tilted his head. “But you came here anyway, so whatever it is, it seems important.”

Relief spread so quickly that she nearly felt dizzy from the switch. Of course he understood. Jason always understood. “It is. Important, I mean.”

“Then come on in.”

Kelly’s: Dining Room

Emily swung her bag on the table, and sat across from Lucky and Nikolas. She’d called Nikolas to set up the meeting and had deliberately waited into the courtyard until she’d seen them both sitting at a table.

She wasn’t about to let herself be alone with Lucky — not with her anger still so close to the surface. Elizabeth had made it clear that she wasn’t ready to deal with it, and it wasn’t Emily’s place to force the issue.

“Em, I’m so glad you called—” Lucky began, leaning forward. “I need to talk to you, to make you understand—”

“This isn’t about yesterday,” Emily interrupted. “We’re not discussing it,” she continued when Lucky scowled. “And if you can’t respect that I don’t want to talk to you about it, then I’ll leave and tell Nikolas later. I’ll cut you out of this conversation entirely, Lucky.”

His expression soured and he leaned back, slouching in his chair. “Guess I’ve been convicted and sentenced to life already. You’re not even giving me—wait, wait—” He held out his hand when Emily shot to her feet. “Okay. Fine. I’ll accept your terms. On the condition that you’ll eventually hear me out. You’re my friend, too,” he reminded her.

Emily slowly lowered herself back into the chair, keeping her gaze steady on Lucky’s. “I don’t need to hear you out, Lucky. I know what I saw, and I don’t care about why. I just don’t. This isn’t a situation where I can stay neutral. Maybe Nikolas can. He wasn’t here. But I was. And I saw it. Push me again on this before I’m ready, Lucky, and I’m going to walk out that door and it’s the last you’ll hear from me.”

“Lucky agrees,” Nikolas said, before his brother could say another word. Lucky shot him a dirty look. “What’s going on? You said on the phone it was important. You were supposed to meet with Dara this morning. Is it—did it go badly or something?”

“You could say that.”

Jake’s: Jason’s Room

Jason rubbed the back of his neck, wincing as Elizabeth described the meeting Emily had had with Dara that morning. He wasn’t a man to look back or point out mistakes, particularly when the person knew they’d hadn’t handled a situation well. And he knew that Elizabeth and Emily had their own regrets how they’d handled finding Ted Wilson dead in a bed beside Emily that summer.

Elizabeth stood in front of him, twisting her fingers together, her expression pained, her eyes looking everywhere but at him. “Emily and I decided the best way to handle this is…to not handle it ourselves. Or at least not by ourselves. She’s telling Nikolas and Lucky because…well, it’s obvious. And I volunteered to tell you because she already feels stupid enough about this.”

“I wish you’d keep them out of it,” Jason muttered before he could stop himself, but he felt better when Elizabeth finally met his gaze and the corner of her mouth quirked up in a smile. “I know why you’re telling them but the last thing any of us need is them going off and handling it on their own.”

“Emily and I are hoping we can stop them because we’re telling you right away. And Emily’s making it clear to them if they do something without the agreement of all of us, she’ll never forgive them. We have to tell them — they’re in just as much trouble as Emily and I—and you might not care about that—”

“I don’t, and neither should you.” Jason folded his arms. “You both wanted to go for more help. You both recognized this was bigger than both of you, and you let yourselves be talked into making it worse—”

Elizabeth made a face. “Okay, well, listen, don’t let us off the hook, okay? Yes, in hindsight, our plan was horrible. But in the moment, it felt right. And I didn’t just go along with it, Jason. I agreed—because I didn’t know any better. Don’t treat me and Emily like we’re dumb girls, okay? We both went in, head first—”

“Okay, then all four of you are brainless,” Jason said, and she huffed, looked away. “You’re right, you didn’t know any better, and now Emily’s facing perjury if she gets on that stand and tells a lie. A provable lie. Didn’t Taggert’s sister know what was going on? She could flip on you.” When Elizabeth opened her mouth. “And don’t tell me that you have information on her.  A cop’s murder is more important than extortion. Emily is the bigger target. Especially if they think they can get to me. How sure are you that Gia Campbell is going to keep her mouth shut?”

Elizabeth folded her arms again, arched a brow. “How long have you been holding that in?”

“What?”

“I knew you were irritated with us, I guess I just didn’t realize how much. And, okay, you’re right. On every level. We were brainless. Immature. And stupid. But in my defense, it was my first dead body,” she retorted. “And we screwed up. And this is why Emily was so eager to let me fill you in. Because she didn’t want you to be disappointed in her again.”

Jason scowled. “Don’t do that. Don’t come for me for help, and then get pissed at me because I’m pointing out the biggest problem in any plan we come up with. Gia Campbell is a problem. She knows the truth. Her brother’s a cop. Her loyalty is not to you. Or to Emily.”

Elizabeth sighed, some of the frustration fading. “I know. You’re right. You’re right. I’m sorry.” She sat on the edge of the bed, looked at her hands. “I know we screwed this up. And I get that we probably screwed it up so bad it can’t be fixed. I just—Emily was in trouble. We wanted to make it go away.”

“I know.” Jason sat next to her, and was relieved when she twisted to face him. “I know. When Emily needs you, you’ve got her back. I just…don’t know how we get out of any of it,” he told her. “Zander Smith is telling the truth when he says you put the body in his trunk. And the only person who links Zander to that cop is Gia Campbell. She saw him with the drugs, she saw him with the cop the night he went missing—”

“But she also saw him with Emily,” Elizabeth finished, “and if she leaves that out—she’s committing perjury, too. And has no reason to protect any of us unless Nikolas pays her off.” She paused. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter what any of us do. We can’t control her. And if she decided to go tell the truth and wash her hands of this entire nightmare, I wouldn’t even blame her.”

She met his gaze. “I’m sorry. I know I’m dropping an even bigger mess in your hands than it would have been even a month ago. I take accountability for letting Lucky and Nikolas convince us that it would be better to leave you out of it. They made us feel like we were protecting you. The last thing you need is to be associated with a dead cop.”

He reached for her hand. “I can handle it. I don’t have a reputation to protect, but you and Emily — you do. And I’m going to do whatever I have to so that this doesn’t ruin that. I promise. Give me a day or two to find out how serious this is — Dara might have been trying to scare Emily into saying something against me.”

“That’s true.” Elizabeth squeezed his hand, then released it and got to her feet. “Maybe it’s all a bluff. That would be the best option.”

Jason rose. “Do you have a ride home or—”

“Oh, Emily dropped me after dinner. She was going to pick me up after and take me back to my car at Charlie’s.”

“I can do that,” he offered.

Elizabeth brightened. “On the bike? We could take the long way.”

Jason grinned, then reached for the door. “Yeah, we can.”

+33