Written in 58 minutes.

I changed the way Zander was arrested, so just go with whatever I say in this story, lol.

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Tuesday, October 16, 2000

Port Charles Municipal Building: Dara Jensen’s Office

Emily hesitated at the entrance to Dara’s office, finding the assistant district attorney behind her desk, a phone to her ear. Dara made eye contact with her, and held up one finger, before switching the phone to the crook of her neck, reaching for a pen on her desk. “Okay. Okay. No, I don’t exactly have the time for—I don’t make the calendar, Steve. I need that report done. Don’t give me excuses. Get it done.” She slapped the phone back on the base, her pretty features creased in irritation. “I’m sorry. I had to finish that call.” She gestured for Emily to come forward. “I know you said you had a packed morning.”

“No, it’s okay—” Emily came forward, wrapping her arms around her middle, the strap of her purse sliding down her shoulder, falling to her elbow. She reached for it. “My professor—he gets it. And you said it was important.”

“Take a seat.” Dara sat at the round conference table near the entrance, flicked open a folder. When Emily was settled, Dara leaned forward, resting her folded arms on the table. “The reason I asked you to come in today is to review your statement and talk about a few loose ends. The defense attorney is filing for a preliminary hearing—”

“A preliminary—” Emily drew her brows together, tilted her head. “I don’t understand. Don’t we just go to trial?”

“Normally, we would do a grand jury indictment and go from there, but a preliminary hearing — it’s nothing to worry about—”

“Is that when they think there’s not enough evidence? Like that it’s so clear that a judge can dismiss it without a jury? That feels like something to worry about.”

Dara sighed, rubbed the side of her face. “Emily—”

“Dara. You and I—this isn’t our first time, right? You handled…you prosecuted Tom Baker. I’ve been through this. And if it wasn’t something I needed to worry about, I wouldn’t be here. I can handle whatever you throw at me—”

“Smith’s attorney is filing to dismiss the murder charge, and there’s a chance that goes through,” Dara told her. “The only evidence tying Zander Smith to Ted Wilson’s murder is that the body was in his car.” She lifted her brows. “He says you and your friends put it there. Now, I’m not—” she held up a hand when Emily tensed. “I’m not saying I believe him. Or that a judge will. But I can’t tie him to the crime. Possession—it won’t be—it won’t be enough.”

“But it’s why he took me hostage—he kidnapped me—”

“Which is why it works at trial,” Dara told her. “When it’s connected to your case. But if the murder charge is thrown out—then all we have is your word—”

“He did it in front of witnesses!”

“Your friends. And one cop. Who happens to be related to one of the witnesses,” Dara told her gently. “I know it happened the way you said. I know you were kidnapped, Emily. But a jury might not believe you. Especially if you…” She hesitated. “When you were rescued, you…gave the appearance of being on his side. That he’d convinced you that he was scared and just trying to get away.”

Her eyes burned, and Emily shook her head, staring hard at her nails. “I was scared, and I was trying—he seemed like he was telling the truth, and I…I started to doubt myself. I started to—” God, she couldn’t explain it. Not without completely torpedoing the case and throwing everyone under the bus. She’d thought Zander was telling the truth about not killing Ted because well — he wasn’t the one who put the body in his car, was he?

Emily took a deep breath, looked at Dara. “You’re trying to tell me that the attorney is going to put me on the stand, and try to make it sound like I wasn’t in danger. Maybe Zander wasn’t going to hurt me. I d-don’t know. I don’t. Only he knows that. But he did put a gun to my head. He did force me to drive towards the border, Dara. And he did only release me at gunpoint. So what if he told me a sob story I sort of believed? I was terrified, Dara. It’s not…” She stared hard at the table. “It was like before. With Tom Baker. Holding me and Elizabeth in that studio. Not knowing what would happen. Tom seemed like a good guy, too, you know. But he wasn’t. He was a liar. And a rapist. And a blackmailer. And Zander Smith? He’s a liar, too. He killed Ted Wilson. He was a drug dealer working those raves. And he kidnapped me to try to escape.”

“All right,” Dara said after a long beat. “You testify like that, Emily, and a judge will believe you. I believe you,” she repeated. “But a jury? They’re not predictable. They’re just not. And there’s—I think there’s a strong chance that the attorney is going to bring your brother into it.”

“What?” Emily blinked, shook her head. “I don’t—Jason—he was barely here. He tried to find me, to rescue me, but—”

“Zander Smith works for Joseph Sorel. There’s no chance that you got caught up in a territory—Emily—”

Emily shoved her chair back, the wood scraping against the hard wood. “I’m not talking about my brother. He isn’t part of this,” she repeated. “I’ll testify to what happened to me. But I won’t answer questions about my brother. If you don’t like it, Dara, then drop my case and just go after him for the murder.”

Dara rose to her feet. “I am just demonstrating that the defense attorney can and will use your brother against you, Emily. It can’t be a surprise to you that Smith’s lawyers are going this way—”

No. Not when Emily had told Zander that her brother meant so much to her. She’d trusted him.

“No, it’s not. But I expected you to be a better attorney than that. Jason has zero to do with this case. That’s not me protecting him, that’s me stating the facts. You want to go after Sorel and Sonny? Go for it. I think they’re both garbage. But you try to go after Jason, if you try to use what happened to me to go after him, believe me, you’ll be sorry.”

Emily didn’t wait for Dara’s reaction or response. She whirled and fled the office, her heart pounding so hard she almost couldn’t hear the sound of her own ragged breathing.

Chloe Morgan Designs: Executive Offices

Chloe’s smile was warm and bright when Elizabeth stepped off the elevator. She stretched out her hands, grasping Elizabeth’s. “I’m so glad that you can start so quickly! I’ll have to thank Tammy when I stop at Kelly’s next—”

Elizabeth winced, following Chloe into the foyer of her office suite. “I wouldn’t do that. We didn’t—she wasn’t exactly happy.”

“Oh—Oh, she must be irritated I’m stealing one of her best waitresses—”

“Not—” Elizabeth shook her head. “No. It just—it wasn’t exactly amicable. I just—she’s unhappy with me, and I wouldn’t have said so but I didn’t want you to get caught in the middle—”

Chloe waved a hand. “No, of course not. I’ll just avoid the diner. It’s easy now that we’ve moved into our new headquarters. Opened just this month—” She gestured to the room they were in. “What do you think?”

Elizabeth looked around, took in the pair of desks outside a larger door, likely Chloe’s personal office. One desk had a lived in look with photos and files and fabric samples, and the other was empty. “You’ve come a long way from the space you were sharing with Ned.”

“I know. He was so kind to loan it to us, but I really needed more room. Especially if I truly want to make this my home away from home.” Chloe gestured at the empty desk. “This is for you. And—” her smile brightened when another woman joined them. Elizabeth had seen her around L&B a few times. She was a taller woman, someone who could have walked the runways of the fashion world, with long legs, a mass of raven curls tumbling down her back, just a shade darker than her skin and warm eyes.

She was also enormously pregnant, and had one hand on her belly, the other at the small of her back.

“Lottie, amazing timing.” Chloe gestured at Elizabeth. “This is Elizabeth. You must have met her this summer, didn’t you?”

“Not by name, but I recognize your face,” Lottie said, extending a hand, her voice cool and posh, the British accent keeping her words slightly clipped. But her smile was friendly and genuine. “And I’m relieved Chloe found someone she likes to look after her while I’m gone.”

“And we’ve got her full-time,” Chloe told her assistant. “Even better.” She looked back at Elizabeth. “I know I told you that we’d be doing international travel in January, but it would be amazing if you could do a bit more of that sooner. I know it’s a lot to ask, but Lottie really shouldn’t be going back and forth to New York—”

“I was all right with next week’s trip, but it would have been the last,” Lottie said. “Do you have your passport yet?”

“Oh.” Elizabeth made a face. “No. Not yet. I’m so sorry — my grandmother never got a copy from my parents when I moved here, and I just sent the form to Colorado yesterday. I’m hoping to have it by the end of the month. I know that’s an issue—”

“No worries. Whenever you have your passport application ready, I’ll just have Edward make a call and get it fast-tracked. I don’t use my connections often, but I’ll do it for a good cause.” Chloe patted Elizabeth’s shoulder. “You’ll be Lottie’s shadow for the next few weeks. I’m so excited you could come on board. She did such lovely design work for the Nurse’s Ball, Lottie. I told you then we needed to steal her for ourselves. I’ll leave the two of you to get to work because I have that call with New York.” She headed for her office, and Elizabeth was on her own.

“Chloe isn’t lying,” Lottie said as Elizabeth set her purse down on the empty desk. “She really did have you on a short list for some time, but I think she was waiting for the right moment. She wasn’t sure if you’d leave your current jobs. She said you were extremely loyal, and would need a good reason.”

“I…” It was a little insane to think she’d been on anyone’s shortlist. She almost couldn’t process it. “It  came at the right time. I needed a change. And I…” She paused. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Luke’s: Office

“Well, I don’t know what you want from me, Laura.” Luke lifted his brows. “The boy isn’t returning my phone calls—”

“He hasn’t been back to the diner,” Laura said, pacing the length of her husband’s office. “And he hasn’t come home. Not that he would,” she added on a mutter. “I just—I can’t imagine it happened the way Tammy said it did—Lucky would never hurt Elizabeth.”

“No. He wouldn’t.” Luke hesitated. “But Tammy said it seemed like it was an accident. They were fighting.”

“And that’s another thing—why would they be fighting? They just got back together. They should be at their happiest!” Laura folded her arms. “Has he told you anything? About them?”

“Am I supposed to tell you every little thing he says to me, Laura?” Irritated with the conversation, he walked out of the office, hoping Laura would drop the topic entirely. But she was on a roll and followed after him, still going.

“We just figured out why he was acting so strange! We’ve broken Helena’s hold on him! Elizabeth should be happy! Not picking fights or quitting her job over it. Tammy said she just picked up and left—not that I believe her. She must be wrong—”

“Laura—” Luke stopped when he reached the main bar and saw Jason on a stool, a beer in front of him. He looked back at his estranged wife. “Listen—”

“Tammy said you were there,” Laura said charging forward, stabbing a finger at Jason who turned slightly on his stool so that he was looking at her. “Said you took Elizabeth home—”

“Emily took her home,” Jason interrupted. “I stayed in the courtyard to make sure Lucky didn’t follow them to the car.”

“I—” Laura stopped. “You’re saying this actually happened? That Lucky pushed Elizabeth down the stairs. I just—I don’t believe it—Did he push her?” Laura demanded.

Jason looked pained, but answered. “No. But he grabbed her bag, pulled her back, and she lost her balance. Not much of a difference to me. We need to talk—” he said, looking past Laura, but she’d turned away from him and was glaring at Luke.

“I told you. Lucky would never—”

“I didn’t said he would. Don’t go putting words in my mouth—”

“You hired that hooker to run your aunt’s diner and now she’s lying about our family, Luke. I expect you take care of this. Fire Tammy so Elizabeth get her job back and this can get sorted out.”

Laura didn’t wait for Luke’s agreement before storming away, back through the offices. Luke scrubbed his hands down his face, then looked at Jason. “What actually happened? And how bad is it?”

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