Written in 60 minutes.

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Tuesday, September 9, 2024

Webber House: Living Room

Jason stepped back, allowed Diane inside the house. “You didn’t have to come all the way over here—we could have talked about the interview on the phone.”

“No, no, I wanted to nail down some final details before tomorrow.” Diane set her briefcase on the chair, looked around the downstairs. “Everything back to the way it was before the search warrant?”

“As best as the boys could remember.” Jason picked up a pillow that had fallen off the sofa that morning. “Diane, we’ve both made them some pretty big promises—” He faced his lawyer. “What if we’re wrong? What if they don’t let her out?”

“It’s kept me up at night,” Diane admitted. She laid a hand on the top of the armchair. “But that’s one of the reasons we gambled with naming you the third party custodian. I really don’t think the feds will be able to resist the opportunity.”

“I still really don’t understand what I’m supposed to do,” Jason said, folding his arms. “The guy on the phone just asked me a bunch of questions about my background and employment. I’ve never even heard of this thing before.”

“It’s unique to federal investigations, which, thank God, you’ve never gotten this far on federal charges. It’s not that different from posting bail for someone,” Diane said. “You’re just guaranteeing Elizabeth will meet her bail conditions. The AUSA will have complete access to the both of you. Monitoring who comes and goes while she’s house arrest, probably wiretapping the landline, showing up unannounced — they think you’re both in a conspiracy, Jason. They’re going to want to catch you conspiring.”

“I guess. But the guy on the phone asked me about the felony charges from 2010,” Jason said. “I told you that would be an issue — it was with Sam’s parole officer—”

“And that’s how we’ll know if we’re going to win,” Diane replied. She raised a finger. “If they object to you, then they’ll probably fight tooth and nail to keep her inside and pressure you to turn yourself in. But if they let it go—” She lifted a shoulder. “Then we’re golden.” She hesitated. “But it is a risk, Jason. You have to keep yourself out of trouble right now. No suspicious activity, no shipments in the warehouse—”

“I told you. I’m clean. I gave up enough for Sonny, and for Carly,” Jason added. “I’m out. And I’m staying out. There’s no risk, Diane. Elizabeth and I are innocent. We don’t know what happened that night, other than what we told the cops already. There’s nothing to catch us on.”

Diane nodded. “And it does give me more tools to play with, so I appreciate that. Well, if the interview went well, and we’re all set there — ” She sighed. “I do have some bad news, and I think that Jake and Aiden would probably prefer to hear it from you.”

PC High: Cafeteria

“I don’t think he’ll agree,” Danny said with a shake of his head. “We came too close to getting caught the last time we asked—”

Rocco cracked open his carton of milk. “Aunt Liz is like my dad when it comes to Aiden. She never asks question — the only reason we nearly got nailed was you forgetting to turn off your phone and leaking our location. But we’ve got a plan for that.”

“Still—with everything going on at his house—” Danny paused when Aiden dropped his tray next to them and climbed over the bench to sit. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Aiden looked from his cousin to Danny, then back again. “Did I interrupt something?”

“No. No. We’re trying to get to Frankie’s party this weekend, and we know you can’t go,” Rocco added. “Cam’s supposed to be here, right?”

“Yeah. He’s coming on Friday. And the last time we went to Frankie’s, I got sick.” Aiden made a face. “I think I gotta build up to that much vodka.”

Danny snorted, and Aiden threw a fry at him. “When this is all done with your mom, we’ll have to work on that. But I’ve got to get away from my mom or I’m gonna lose it.”

“And you need me to be part of the cover story?” Aiden asked. “I don’t know—”

“That’s what I said. Your mom’s coming home tomorrow — I hope so — and Cam being here — you’ll be too busy. And Dante might not believe we’d stay the night with that going on,” Danny told Rocco.

“You’re not thinking of it the right way—” Rocco pointed a carrot piece at him. “Cam’s coming home. That’s my cousin, man. And he’s going to my dream school. I gotta start thinking about college, and it’d be good for Aunt Liz, you know. Distraction. Plus, Danny — he needs to be there for his big brother.”

“I’m very worried,” Danny added.

Aiden wrinkled his nose. “Isn’t the FBI, like, tailing you? I mean they weren’t here today, but Rocco said something happened in the park—”

“Ow—” Rocco grimaced, then kicked Danny back. “Hey. It’s not a secret, dickhead.”

Danny pushed his tray away a little, some of his good mood fading. “They’re not gonna bother me again. That guy believes me now.”

“Yeah, only because now he thinks your dad was using you guys.” Rocco bit into his carrot with relish. “Still, that puts pressure back on him, right?”

Aiden frowned. “Wait. The FBI thinks Jason made it so that you guys saw him right after the gunshots? Like they still think he’s involved? But that would mean he knows something, and Jake says he doesn’t.”

“Well, yeah, but Jake’s dad also pretended to be dead for a while, so…” Rocco shrugged, popped the last of the carrot in his mouth. “Anyway, you can see why our boy needs a night away from all of this. If we could get you out, we would.” He leaned in. “And listen, if we get caught, we’ll just say we dropped our phones in your backpack without you knowing. We’ll take the heat. We just need somewhere to leave them so our locations look solid.”

“And you know your mom would believe that. Her sweet baby can’t do anything wrong.” Danny leaned over to pinch Aiden’s cheek, who swatted his hand.

“Shut up, asshole. Fine. I’ll cover for you, but you’re gonna owe me. Big time.”

Jamesville Correctional Facility: Protective Custody

The guard shoved the plastic tray through the slot in Elizabeth’s cell door, and almost as soon as she had a grip on it, he slid it closed, shutting off even a window to the outside world.

She’d had one hour of exercise yesterday — but it had been alone, in a separate yard from the other inmates. Other than the guards who walked her to and from, her ankles and wrists clanging from the shackles and cuffs she wore everywhere — she hadn’t seen anyone other than Diane on Sunday.

Elizabeth set her tray on the cot, then sat down, crossed legged, leaning back against the wall. Twenty-four hours from now, she’d know if bail were being granted. She’d be home before midnight tomorrow. She’d made it this far — just a little while longer.

She looked down at the tray, her stomach rolling at the plain mashed potatoes and the mush that was supposed to be some kind of stew. Her appetite had vanished in the last four days, and this wasn’t reactivating it. She reached for the small bottle of water, then noticed something sticking out beneath the plate of stew — some kind of paper—

Elizabeth picked it up and jolted — it was a photograph of the boys, taken the day Cameron had gone back to school in August, barely two weeks old. She flipped it over and pressed her hand to her lips at the familar handwriting. I’m sorry it took so long. It was unsigned — likely to avoid trouble if it had been intercepted.

She didn’t know how he’d done it, but Jason had found a way to make this terrible situation at least sort of bearable. She traced her boys’ face, so beloved, so grown up — she’d see them tomorrow. She’d be home tomorrow.

She kissed her boys’ faces, wishing it were them. Please, let this almost be over. Please.

Webber House: Living Room

“One silver lining—” Jake dropped his bag on the floor by the door. “I get to skip the first calculus test tomorrow—”

“How do you already have tests?” Aiden flopped onto the sofa, kicking off his sneakers. “Man, I am never taking those college classes. You want to be an artist, what are you doing in Calculus?”

“Using my brain, numnuts—” Jake rapped Aiden’s head. “You wouldn’t know anything about that. If it’s not in a recipe, you can’t be bothered.”

“Hey, I’ll never go broke. People always need to eat. Pretty pictures—” Aiden snorted. “Good luck paying the bills—ow—get off—” he screeched when Jake just sat on his chest.

The door opened behind them, and they both hurried to their feet — Jake remembering a moment too late it wouldn’t be their mother coming in to catch Jake bugging his little brother.

Jason paused in the doorway, the key still in his hand. He frowned. “Why are you standing like that?”

“Uh, no reason.” Jake shoved his hands in his pockets. “We’re good for tomorrow, right? Like, I already told my teachers—”

“Yeah. Yeah.” Jason closed the door, dropped the keys on the table next to the door. “There’s just—we should talk about what to expect.”

“I’ve been to court before,” Jake said, sitting back on the sofa, Aiden falling next to him. Jason sat in the arm chair. “It’s no big deal—”

“Federal court is different.” Jason paused. “Diane tried really hard, but your mother—she’s not going to be at the hearing tomorrow.”

Aiden went still. “What? But you guys said—”

“Why the hell not?” Jake said at the same time.

“We said that she’d make bail. That’s still true. We think,” Jason added. “But your mother is in a prison about eight miles outside of Syracuse. They’re not going to transport her to the court house. She’s going to appear by computer.”

Jake scowled. “What, like on Zoom? That bullshit the school tried to make us do on snow days? Man. That’s not fair! Doesn’t she have, like, rights?”

“We might have been able to force it. But it would have delayed the hearing another day, maybe two.” Jason paused. “Diane thought, and I agreed, that it was better to have her home than to fight for the chance to sit behind in the court room.”

“But I wanted to see her,” Aiden said. He crossed his arms. “It’s not fair. They haven’t let us even talk to her on the phone—”

“They’re not going to let her out, are they? Because if they were going to let her out, they’d bring her to the hearing—” Jake said, cutting off his brother, who looked at him with wide eyes.

“That’s—that’s not how bail works,” Jason told them. “Even if she were in the room, she’d still be taken back to the jail. The judge grants the order, it goes for processing, and it’s hours.”

“We’d probably have a better view of her if we stayed home and watched it online,” Jake muttered. “Oh, wait, we can’t. The FBI took all our stupid computers.” He leaned back. “And Cam’s Playstation. And they say Mom’s the criminal.”

“I’m sorry,” his dad said again, and Jake looked at him. “I—I was hoping we’d get to see her, too. It’s been hard for me, and I know it’s worse for both of you. I promise you, if Diane thought there was a way—”

“I’d rather have her tomorrow, I guess.” Aiden heaved a heavy sigh. “And we should go to the hearing anyway. Right? Because part of the reason Mom needs to come home is for us. I mean, you’re doing fine,” he added hastily. “I’m not ungrateful or anything—”

“Don’t be stupid,” Jake said, elbowing Aiden lightly. “Dad’s not gonna take offense if we say we wish Mom were here instead of him. He’s not an idiot.”

His dad’s smile was a bit a relief. “I get it. And yes, you should both still be there. You’ll be able to see her a little bit, and she might get to see you. But then you’ll both come home while I wait to pick her up at jail. It’ll be late,” he repeated when Jake started to protest.

Jake decided not to argue that right now. He’d fight that battle tomorrow. “Okay, but—you’re like really sure they’ll let her come home? How do you know?”

“We’re going to know within the first five minutes,” Jason told them. “As soon as he says what I’m hoping to hear, I’ll let you both know. And no, I’m not telling you what it is.”

“Fair enough. I just—I really want her to be home.”

“Me, too,” Aiden said, and he leaned against Jake slightly, like he used to when they were both younger.”That makes us three of us.” Jason got to his feet. “Where do you want to order dinner tonight?”

PCPD: Commissioner’s Office

Caldwell knocked on Anna’s open door, and she glanced up—removing her reading glasses when she realized who was there. “Agent.” She gestured at the chair in front of him. “Have a seat.”

“I don’t have a lot of time,” he said, though it was a lie. When she’d asked to meet with him, he’d dropped everything, relieved not to orchestrate a reason to set his trap.

“This won’t take long.” She got to her feet, still holding her glasses. “We’ve had some phone calls from concerned faculty and administration at the high school.” One brow winged up. “Interviewing their teachers? Their friends? Don’t you think you’re going a little hard on a couple of teenagers?”

“I have a dead agent, Commissioner—”

“And you’re spending all your time harassing two boys over an alibi that corresponds with the one Monica Quartermaine gave. She spoke with Jason just shortly before the gunshots—”

“She didn’t hear the gunshots, and she’s his mother. ”

“Oh, so everyone is lying.” Anna leaned against her desk, her arms folded. “If you believe that, then why is Elizabeth Webber in federal custody on murder charges?”

“Because it’s a conspiracy. You know, when someone helps someone get away with a crime?” Caldwell tipped his head. “You’d think you’d know what that is.”

There was just a slight narrowing of her eyes, but she didn’t bite. “Michael and Elizabeth alibi one another, and Jason’s boys alibi him. Perhaps neither of them did it—”

“Then one of them knows who did. And until they come clean—I follow the leads I have.”

“How can you be so sure?” Anna demanded. “You have no evidence of this phantom deal you claim Jason—” She stopped when Caldwell reached inside his pocket. “What are you doing—”

“Playing you a copy of our most important piece of evidence. On one condition—” He scrolled through his phone until he reached his files. “I’d prefer to have the commissioner’s cooperation for this, so I’m willing to give a little. But if this leaves this office—”

“It won’t.”

“I’ll know where it came from,” Caldwell finished. He pressed play. And Jason Morgan’s voice began to speak.

“Cates. We need to talk. Around six thirty. The boathouse on the Quartermaine estate. I’ll be there tonight…I’m ready to make the deal.”

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