Written in 62 minutes.

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Thursday, October 3, 2024

Miller & Davis: Lobby

The sun had just begun to peek over horizon when Maxie knocked on the glass door of the law offices. The security guard on the night shift sat behind a desk, scrolling lazily on his phone, glancing up when he saw her there. He made a face, then got to his feet, lumbered over. “Not open until nine,” he told her, the words muffled behind the glass door.

Maxie flicked through her phone, then held up a photo of herself and Spinelli. “He’s here, isn’t he? Let me in. I’m his—” She grimaced. “Partner.” Because girlfriend seemed too silly. And honestly, how could he work here and not know who she was?

The guard rolled his eyes, but then punched something into the pad beside the door, then unlocked and pulled it open. “He’s in the back. Next time, have him tell me you’re coming.”

“He doesn’t know,” Maxie said, sliding her phone back in her tote, then started down the hallway leading to the support offices. She knew exactly where to find Spinelli, and would have even if the app on the phone hadn’t told her.

The office he’d been assigned was towards the back, near Diane’s office, the door open just enough for a sliver of light to fall onto the carpet. Maxie pushed it open and found her target scrunched over a desk, skimming through papers, then looking at his computer screen. “Spinelli.”

He jolted at her words — which meant he hadn’t heard her approach or noticed her standing in the doorway. When he lifted his gaze to meet hers, his disheveled hair standing on end from running his hands through it over and over, his eyes rimmed with red, exhaustion etched into every line of his beloved face.

“Maximista—” He blinked, looked around. “What—” He licked his lips. “What time is it?”

“Almost six-thirty.” She reached inside her tote, removed the large insulted jug of coffee and set it on the desk, then followed it with a wrapped sandwich. “Because I doubt you’ve bothered to eat since last night or that I could talk you into going home to sleep.”

Spinelli blinked again, then rubbed his hands over his face. “I didn’t—I should have called—”

“You did. A text just before midnight.” Maxie tipped her head to the side. “And Mac came by after they shut down the search for the night. He thought I might need to leave, so he and my mom are with the kids. I guess I was surprised to see you here and not at the hospital or out…” She pressed her lips together. “What’s going on? Why are you here?”

“I don’t—” Spinelli stared blankly at the papers, then at her. “What do you already know?”

“Drink some coffee, take two bites, and then I’ll tell you.”

He grimaced, but followed directions and accepted the water she also fished from her bag. “Well?”

“I know that Sam and Kristina were an accident last night. That Kristina was found, that Sam is still…” Maxie shifted with a sigh. “That she’s still missing, and that her car was caught in the flash floods out by her mother’s place. I also know that the police are investigating one or both of them for something because Mac was talking about Chase being out on scene because he was following someone.” She paused. “I also think it’s related to the case because Jason was there last night, too. And seeing you here — I know it now. What’s going on?”

“It’s a long story—”

“Sum it up, and we can talk details later. What has you pouring over the investigation files all night? You can trust me, Spinelli. You know that.”

Spinelli slid a piece of paper across the desk at her. “You see this? The line I highlighted?”

“Looks like gibberish to me,” Maxie told him with a wrinkle of her nose. “But I think it says something about something on September 3.”

“That’s the records from Elizabeth’s car the day after John Cates was murdered. Her trunk was opened with her remote key fob at 1:13 in the afternoon on September 3.” Spinelli turned the computer screen, tapped a key, then gestured at the bottom. “That time stamp —”

“Matches this time and date—” Maxie stopped, taking in the still image of a car parked on a curb in a neighborhood she knew very well. She’d grown up nearby, had played with her cousin hundreds of times. “That’s Elizabeth’s house. That’s—” She looked at Spinelli. “That’s Kristina.”

“Footage from her neighbor’s Ring Camera. Kristina opens the trunk, places a metal box inside, then closes it. She goes towards Elizabeth’s house — crouches down by the door, then leaves. We think she was dropping the fob in front of the house, hoping they’d think it fell off Elizabeth’s keys or something.”

Tears stung Maxie’s eyes — she didn’t know why. She hadn’t known the murder victim, didn’t know Kristina that well. And she certainly didn’t care much about Elizabeth. But she knew Spinelli had been working tirelessly for weeks to find evidence exonerating Elizabeth, to prove her innocence. And now he had.

“This is connected to last night, isn’t it? That’s why you came here and spent all this time going through files that could have waited until we knew about Sam.” Maxie looked at him again, her throat tight. “What happened, Spinelli?”

“Kristina framed Elizabeth for the murder, or was trying to set up Stone Cold. I don’t know. And she emailed the prosecution for the case to get Elizabeth’s bail revoked. We all thought—” Spinelli rubbed his face. “We thought it was Sam. Trying to get rid of Elizabeth, or help her custody case. But it was Kristina. Sam found out and she was in the car last night. She called me.”

He held out his phone, stared at it. “I don’t talk on the phone much anymore. The calls I’ve made recently have been about the case, so I installed an app to automatically record them.”

He pressed play.

“…I just don’t…why…her bail…important…”

“…told you…I…to help…you said…no one…know.”

“We’ve been over this, Sam. And if Mom can’t make this go away, I’m not admitting to anything.”

“You have to tell them, Kristina. You have to tell them I didn’t know. Danny believes I did this to him—do you really think your feelings are more important?”

“He’ll get over it. He’s done worse to you.”

“I just wish you’d tell me why you did this. Why you really did this. You had to know there was a chance people would think it was me—why did you take the risk? Why not try to get Mom to use it in the custody papers? Why go to the same lawyers who tried to put you in jail?”

“You needed Elizabeth out of the picture—”

“No, no! I didn’t—not like that! Damn it, Krissy, it wouldn’t have solved anything! She’d be a goddamn martyr and everyone would be trying to get her out—you really think it would make Danny’s life better that way?”

“But Jason wouldn’t be able to say he’s got a stable home—”

“No, no, I still think there’s another reason. You were ready to blame me and gaslight everyone else into blaming me, too, until I asked you why you wanted Elizabeth’s bail revoked.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

“Don’t play stupid, Kristina. You’ve never had a negative thing to say about Elizabeth in all these years, and now suddenly you’re trying to help by putting her in jail. I don’t believe you. Just tell me what you did, and we can talk to Mom. We’ll fix it. But you have to tell me what you did.”

“What do you want me to say? That I finally see Elizabeth as a manipulative bitch like you always said—”

“But you’re doing it now not when it would have made a difference. I mean, when she lied about Jake Doe, you weren’t talking like this, but she’s accused of murder, and you want her in jail over it. Kristina, did you put that gun in her trunk?”

“Why are you asking me that? How can you even—”

“What is that? Is that your phone?”

“Damn it—let go—”

The recording stopped, and Maxie lifted her gaze to Spinelli’s. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my god. Kristina — she caused the accident. Sam was driving, and Kristina must have tried to get the phone—she heard that beep — what was it?”

“Flash Flood advisory. Came through her phone, and all the phones around mine.” Spinelli exhaled slowly. “Sam called Danny from her car. She was trapped, terrified, couldn’t get out.”

Maxie pressed a fist to her mouth. “Oh, God. Spinelli. She killed her own sister. She killed—” The horror of it silenced her, and she couldn’t form another word. She’d lost her own sister to unspeakable violence. Georgie’s murder had broken Maxie’s world in ways that couldn’t be articulated, and for twenty years, she’d tried so hard to push it down. But to listen to the sisters argue on the phone, to know where they’d ended up — Tears spilled down her cheeks. “She caused the accident.”

“I couldn’t do anything to help. Couldn’t look for Sam. Couldn’t do anything for her kids, for Stone Cold — but this—” Spinelli  stared at the mess of paperwork. “I could do this. Find the answers. So I came here.” He scrubbed his face over his hands. “I knew she did it. I knew it, somewhere deep inside. But I’m watching her plant that gun, Maximista. And now I know everything that happens because of it.”

They both looked at the frozen image of Kristina at Elizabeth’s car, trunk still open, a box in her hands. “She did it in broad daylight,” Maxie murmured. “There’s something obscene about that, isn’t there? Almost evil.”

Belle Forest Drive: Accident Scene

The blood coursing through his veins must be pure caffeine by now, but Dante tossed back the last of the coffee Michael had delivered. They’d stayed out by command center all night, listening for any sign of news — good or bad. But there’d been nothing.

Now, with the sun rising in the sky, the dusky reds and pinks fading into a soft blue, the quiet scene began to pick up. More trucks arrived, specialized in rescue and recovery. Dante watched them from the car Chase had abandoned by the side of the road. There’d been no sight of the car or of Sam almost from the moment Chase had lost sight of the headlights in the floods. They were attempting to ping her phone, knowing she’d had it to call Danny, but they hadn’t been able to locate it beyond a general area which meant it was probably dead.

A sedan pulled up from the direction of Port Charles, the road having been reopened. Anna stepped out, her face bare of makeup, her hair pulled back into a tail at the nape of her neck. She didn’t look she had slept much either.

“They’re beginning the search again,” she told Dante when she reached him. “They’re starting closer to the lake, hoping that nothing has been swept out with the current—”

“Don’t talk to me like I don’t know what they’re planning,” Dante bit out. He met her cool eyes. “I’m not a moron. I’ve done these before. They’ll check the culverts, the bends, anywhere the car could have been caught. You know I know that, so why are you even here?”

Anna opened her mouth, then closed it when Michael approached, another tray of coffee and a brown paper bag in his hands. “I’m sorry. Am I interrupting?” he asked.

“No. I was just telling Dante that we should know something in a few hours. I also—” Anna paused. “I’d like to offer you another chance to tell me why you and Detective Chase were so quick on the scene. If you know why half of your family seemed to find themselves at the accident scene—”

“Sure. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know as soon as you tell me how Valentin was able to escape custody,” Dante said, lifting his brows.

“Dante—”

“You stopped me. Five minutes. Do you know what would have happened if I’d been just five minutes quicker?” Dante demanded. “I’d have been across the creek, I’d have been here when the accident happened. Chase and I could have gotten them both out of the damn car. But you decided you knew best. You decided you came first. Just like you did this summer.”

Anna folded her arms, took a moment to collect herself. “I know you’re upset—”

“The FBI wanted Pikeman. You knew who Pikeman was. You and Jason made sure Cates didn’t have that information in time to do anything about it. Jason’s a criminal who has his own priorities. I don’t expect better from him. But you, Anna? You had a responsibility to this city. To your officers. Valentin is the reason I was shot on those docks,” he bit out. “I nearly died because he ordered Sonny’s murder, and sent a team of mercenaries to carry it out. But you didn’t think about that, did you? Whatever happens here today, Anna, I can’t change it. I can promise you this — no one in your department will ever respect you again. I’m not the only one who knows what happened.”

He snatched a coffee from Michael, then walked away.

Webber House: Kitchen

No one had really slept in the house, though they’d tried. Elizabeth had come downstairs around three to make herself a cup of a tea and found all three boys in the living room — Aiden in the arm chair, Danny stretched on the sofa and Jake on the floor, the television screen autoplaying YouTube videos quietly. She’d thought they were asleep, but Aiden had looked at her, and she’d realized they just didn’t want to be alone or cooped up in their rooms.

Now, day had broken across the city, and she was making another pot of coffee, listening to Jason talking on the phone to Michael, and the plans for the search. There was no question of sending the boys to school, and she’d already sent emails indicating they wouldn’t be back for the rest of the week. But she’d insisted they go upstairs, shower, and change if only to give she and Jason some time to figure out what they were going to do — if that were even possible.

The shower above their heads clicked off, and Elizabeth looked at Jason, lifting a brow. “What does he say? Are they letting volunteers help or—”

“No, uh—” Jason set the phone down carefully, stared at the counter for a beat, then met her eyes. “They’re not saying anything, but Michael doesn’t think they expect to find…they’re not expecting much. But the longer she’s missing—” He shook his head, looked towards the window overlooking Elm Street. “No body means something, I know. They didn’t find Sonny’s. He came back. And in Greece—”

“And if it weren’t for that phone call, I think we could all hold on to that,” Elizabeth said. Jason sighed. “But—”

“But it changes something that she was trapped or pinned in the car. There’s no guarantee that she didn’t—before the car was moved—” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to do. But they don’t want family members out there. Especially not her son. Michael says they can’t make Dante or him leave, but I think maybe he’s right. I don’t want—Sam wouldn’t want Danny to see her—” He stopped. He didn’t need to finish the thought, and she didn’t follow up or respond. There wasn’t a need to.

His phone vibrated and Jason reached for it. “It’s Spinelli—” he told her, pressing the accept button. “Yeah?” He straightened, looking at Elizabeth. “Okay. Yeah. I’ll tell her, and I’ll let you know what—I’ll let you know.”

“What’s going on?” Elizabeth demanded as Jason set the phone down. “What did Spinelli say?”

“He, uh—” Jason shook his head slightly, then looked at her again. “He said they found something, but he doesn’t want to say it over the phone. Just that he’s meeting with the FBI later today to turn it over, and he and Diane want to show it to us first.”

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