Carole asked a question last week, and I thought I should clarify. While this is a GH fan fic and the characters in this story are based on the characters on the show, the story is completely mine (and in some ways similar and others, completely different from GH itself). Hopefully, you can get everything you need to know from this story. If there’s something that’s confusing or unclear, let me know and I’ll try to work that in to the next chapter.
Chapter 5
“Come on Spinelli. It’s been two weeks. Are you telling me you still don’t have any idea what’s going on?” Jason growled as he paced his penthouse. He had come home from learning about Jake and had immediately put Spinelli on the task of figuring out what was going on with Sonny. He wanted to have as much information as possible before he confronted Sonny about his betrayal.
“Um, well … that is not entirely correct, Stonecold.” Spinelli paused and chewed on his lip before continuing, “What I know so far is that Mr. Corinthos-Sir seems to be receiving some shipments through … unknown channels. What I know is that the cargo is coming into Port Charles on Corinthos-Morgan ships, but it is unclear to me without more research where that cargo originated or why he is keeping this information from you. There also seems to be a discrepancy in the income coming from the Puerto Rican holdings. There was a period of time about four years ago where the income from those holdings ceased for a period of about six months, and then they resumed directly prior to your return to Port Charles. I have not yet been able to track down where the money from those holdings went during that period.”
“If I figure out where those shipments are coming from, that should help me figure out what they are. The records have to be somewhere in the system. I’m going down to the warehouse to look around. We’re expecting a shipment tonight, so I’ll just make sure I’m on hand when it’s offloaded. We’ll see if I can find out anything from that angle. You work on the money trail and we’ll compare notes in the morning. Just make sure you don’t do anything to arouse Sam’s curiosity. I don’t want to have to explain all of this to her until I know what’s going on.” If I ever tell her, he thought to himself. Since he’d come back from Elizabeth’s, Sam had been annoying him more than usual. She questioned every move he made and seemed unhappy when he said it was business and that he couldn’t tell her any more. She was pushing him to go out more and do things he didn’t enjoy doing – social things. He didn’t know if Sam was changing or if the time he’d spent with Elizabeth had made him wake up to his dissatisfaction with his relationship with Sam. One thing was for sure, she was going to freak out when she found out about Jake.
“The Grasshopper will retire to his regrettably pink room and follow the well-hidden paper trail until I unearth the root of the deception. I will have an update for Stonecold by the dawn of the new day. Be careful tonight, you never know what you might find lurking around the docks in the dark.” Spinelli replied as he gathered his laptop and snacks.
“Spinelli,” Jason called after him as he started up the stairs. Spinelli stopped and turned. “Thanks for your help with all of this. I really appreciate it.” Spinelli simply smiled and nodded and continued up the stairs.
Jason looked at the clock and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He had a few minutes before he needed to leave, and Sam wasn’t due home for another hour. He moved to the balcony and dialed Elizabeth’s number.
“Hello?” She picked up on the fourth ring, slightly out of breath.
“Hey Elizabeth, it’s Jason.” Just the sound of her voice made him smile.
“Oh hey, Jason. Jake and I were just playing trucks before dinner. How are things going in Port Charles?”
“Things are still up in the air. Spinelli is working on tracking down some information for me, but it’s like finding a needle in a haystack. However, we’ve found some discrepancies around the time Sonny lied to us, so maybe that will go somewhere. How’s Jake?” Jason asked as he stared out over the Port Charles skyline.
“He’s good. He’s a really happy little boy, but he asked me today when my friend Jason was going to come back. He had fun playing with you.” Elizabeth could hear Jason’s turmoil and frustration and wanted nothing more than to soothe him as much as she could, even though she kept telling herself that Jason’s happiness was no longer her concern.
“I miss him, Elizabeth. How is it even possible that I miss him when two weeks ago I didn’t even know he existed and I’ve only spent one day with him?” Jason asked as he dragged his hand through his hair. This was all such new territory, but luckily Elizabeth seemed to understand him.
Elizabeth sighed. “You miss him because he’s your son and despite the time you’ve missed, you love him. It’s that simple.”
“Can I come back this weekend and spend some time with him?” Jason knew he wouldn’t be able to stay away any longer, even if it meant lying to Sam again.
“Jason, you can see him any time you want. You know that, right? Let me know when you’ll be here and I’ll make sure I’m around. And if you want, we can tell Jake you’re his father. It’s up to you.”
Jason’s breath escaped on a sigh. “I’d like that a lot. Thanks Elizabeth. I’ll let you know later in the week what my plans are, if that works for you.”
“That’s fine. I’ll talk to you then. Bye, Jason.”
“Bye.”
As Elizabeth hung up the phone she turned back to the living room and met Brenda’s eyes. “That was Jason.”
Brenda smiled, “So I gathered. All that talk about Jake and telling him about Jason being his father kind of gave it away.” Brenda got up from the floor and moved into the kitchen with Elizabeth. “Elizabeth, do you know what you’re doing?”
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth asked as she started to pull the ingredients she needed for dinner out of the cupboards.
“I understand that Jason is Jake’s father, and that you were in love with him, but from what Jax tells me, Jason is a dangerous guy. Are you sure you want your son to be a part of that life?”
“Of course I want Jake to be safe and happy, but I’m not willing to keep Jason out of his life. If I were going to do that, I never would have told Jason about Jake in the first place. Sure, Jason’s life is dangerous, but he’s also very careful about protecting the people he loves. He would protect Carly and Michael with his life – Sonny’s wife and child, and I know he would do the same for Jake. And no one knows about Jake at this point, so I don’t think there’s much danger.”
“Ok, I can see that while Jake is a secret, he’s safe. But what happens when Jason’s … business associates find out about him?” Brenda was concerned after what she’d learned from Jax. It sounded like Jason was a really dangerous guy who killed people for a living. She still couldn’t understand how someone as quiet and reserved as Elizabeth had ever gotten involved with a guy like that.
“I don’t really know, Brenda, but I know that Jason will do whatever he has to do to protect Jake, so I’m not going to worry about it until I have to.” Elizabeth turned and thrust a pot into Brenda’s hands, “Here, fill this pot with water. You might as well be useful since you’re standing in the kitchen.”
Brenda moved around Elizabeth in the tiny galley-style kitchen to fill the pot. “I only worry because I care about you, you know that don’t you?”
Elizabeth bumped her hip with Brenda’s and smiled, “Of course I know that. You’re my best friend and you’ve been there for me from the beginning. I just don’t know all the answers and I refuse to worry about something I can’t change. Jason and I will figure things out when the time comes. Until then, I’m just going to act like everything is fine.”
*****
The night was cool and the moon was barely a sliver in the sky as the crates from the Corinthos-Morgan ship were offloaded onto the pier. Jason supervised the work from the shadows next to the warehouse. He hadn’t advertised his presence, but wasn’t really keeping it a secret either. He was positioned so he could read the information stenciled on the side of each crate as it was moved from the pier onto the loading dock, and he was checking that information against the manifest. Paperwork had always been Sonny’s area because Jason couldn’t stand it, but tonight he was making an exception. Tonight he was going to make sure everything that came into the warehouse was what was supposed to be there. He’d been at it for almost an hour when the first red flag went up - the crate on the forklift wasn’t on the list. Jason noted down the number on the crate and decided that when everyone was gone, he would take a look inside the crate and see what was in there. Over the next hour, Jason noted a total of ten crates that weren’t on the shipping manifest. It took another hour for the crew to finish in the warehouse and leave for the night. As Jason slipped through the side door of the warehouse he was aware of the complete silence. The safety lights illuminating the isles gave off an eerie orange glow and emphasized the quiet. Jason found the first crate on his list and as quietly as possible removed the lid. Inside were coffee bags, just like in every crate that came through the warehouse. Jason removed two layers of coffee bags before he found the false floor. It was what was underneath that would be interesting. As Jason carefully removed the plywood, he listened for any movement in the warehouse – anything that would indicate he wasn’t alone. There were security guards roaming around, but Jason had made sure they were in another part of the warehouse before he’d opened the crate. The plywood came out, and Jason sucked in his breath at what he saw. The bottom half of the crate was full of automatic weapons – rows of them. The Corinthos Organization did not run guns, or so Sonny had always said. Jason carefully repacked the crate and put the lid back on – the entire process of unpacking and repacking accomplished in under five minutes. Jason exited the warehouse through the side door and was on his bike before he gave himself time to think about what he’d found. Sonny had either taken to moving guns, something he’d always been adamantly opposed to, or he was moving merchandise through his warehouse for someone else. And the only person in Port Charles who was a known gun-runner was Lorenzo Alcazar.
