Chapter 2

Taggert walked slowly into the Brownstone. He hoped his near silent footsteps would not wake anyone up. As was his routine, he checked to make certain that the house was silent before going to his apartment. His apartment seemed too silent, the heavy air threatening to smother him. As a fissure of panic started deep in his gut, Taggert raced to Juan's room and opened the door. As he'd suspected, the bed was unmade. "Ok kid, where are you?"

Bobbie Spencer was reluctantly leaving her bedroom, having a morning shift at the hospital. But all she could think of was the trip that she and Roy were planning on taking. It would be so nice to just get away for a little while. She walked through the hall, hearing before seeing that her newest tenet was home. "Is there a problem Marcus?"

"Have you seen Juan?" The Lieutenant asked in a rushed voice. "He isn't home and that's very unlike him." Marcus could not explain his panic, but he just knew Juan was facing some danger. "The kid knows he has to be home." he added, his fear evident in his voice.

"Not since last night I haven't, but I wasn't watching for him to come in either." Bobbie tried as much as possible to stay out of her renters lives, although she did have a soft spot for the motherless Juan. "He left here saying he was picking Emily up for some sort of party. I assumed that he cleared it with you first."

"I knew about the party." Marcus admitted. "But he promised me he would be home by midnight. Even if he were feeling wild that would have brought him home at 2 AM at the latest. He scratched his head slowly. "You haven't any idea where he is at all?" He was mentally planning his next steps. First, he would check all the places Juan was likely to visit, and then he'd visit Miss. Quartermaine.

"None at all, he just stopped by to say goodnight. You should check with Emily. I'm sure she's seen him, since he was meeting her." She could understand the panic that Taggert was going through being a parent, and this was apparently the first time Juan had not shown up for a curfew. "I'm sure he just lost track of time. Teenagers tend to do that, but he's a good kid, he'll show up eventually."

"I plan on doing that as I leave here." Marcus assured with a small smile. "If he comes here first, tell him to call my cell phone. Now." he said in a serious tone.

"Of course I will. And I'll leave a note before I leave for work, in case he comes in a little later." Bobbie assured with a smile. "I dread Lucas getting that old, there are so many scary things out there for kids to get into that you can't protect them from. Right now, I can shelter him, but when kids get to be Juan's age, well there isn't that much you can do but hope that you raised them well enough so that they can make the right decisions."

Taggert sighed loudly as her words reached her ears. "Yeah I know that well. Thanks Bobbie." With that, he rushed off to find his charge. Juan wouldn't be far, but why hadn't the boy called?

~*~

Lucky glanced at Juan's body as he spoke to Nikolas, taking the time to study his former uncle's body language. Tony seemed defensive toward Lucky, a sure sign that he was considering Lucky suspect number one in the murder of Juan Santiago. "Nik how is her mental state? And why the heck didn't you call me sooner man? I've been running all over town looking for Emily."

"She's disoriented, but she's starting to come out of it." Nikolas said cautiously, not sure if that was truly the case. "And why would I have called you sooner Lucky? I just found her."

"Then where were you all night?'' Lucky's voice suddenly turned accusatory. "I was looking for her all night and I never saw you Nikolas. Not once, How likely was that?"

"You thought that I was with Emily all night?" As much as he wanted to be angry, the humor of the situation was too much even for him. "If we had been together, there would be no disorientation, just pleasure Lucky. I was out looking for my friend of course. I've been many places tonight, including the Quartermaine Estate and the warehouse district. Just what exactly are you accusing me of?"

"When were you at the Q mansion Nik? I was there three four maybe a half dozen times. How did you get in there? I went in the window. Heck, I waited there for an hour and I saw no one, heard nothing." Lucky sighed. "I'm not accusing you Nik, I just find it very hard to believe that you and I covered the same ground and never once saw each other."

"It's not that small of a town, I'm not surprised at all. I was at the mansion about forty-five minutes ago. I checked around the gatehouse and at the stable. I thought maybe if she was upset she wouldn't go back to the main house." It had never crossed his mind when his brother told him that he had found a dead body to accuse him or the murder, but apparently he had become a suspect. "I was on the far end of the park when I called to see if you or Liz had left a message on my machine, and the phone was off the hook. I came back to the cottage to see why that was."

"I just find it strange." Lucky admitted. "I was at this park many times and I didn't see anyone, not you not him no one. Then I get back here and Juan's a stiff." Lucky sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Juan's corpse is the least of our worries right now Lucky. We have to protect Emily, and try and cover ourselves, Liz also. We very well could fall under suspicion for this. We have motive, and there are many people who saw us in an altercation with him just hours ago." There had been a small fight at the Rave, just before he, Lucky and Liz had left to try and find Emily, and he knew it had been witnessed by nearly everyone there. "Have you been in contact with Liz since we split up?"

"Nikolas I know you haven't been in America forever but listen to me here. I am at the scene were a young guy DIED." Lucky said emphasizing the last word. "It looks like murder Nik and I'm the prime suspect. I was the one standing over the body. As soon as I get rid of these people and get free I will be there and we can work on the Emily situation. And no, I haven't spoken to or seen her since we left the rave. She hasn't called you?"

"Yes, I know the routine Lucky, you aren't the only family member of mine to go through this process." Helena and Stefan as well as his mother had been so accused since his move to Port Charles. "I will call my aunt, they can't hold you without just cause Lucky, and all they know is you found him. Doesn't seem very just to me. And no, I have not spoken to Liz since we went our separate ways. Nor have I run into her."

"So three of us were all over town all night and none of us saw each other? The town is a ghost town late at night. Liz and I were on foot and you with that fancy Jag, and none of us saw anything? It sounds suspicious to me Nik." Lucky was surprised that the police haven't yet arrived but he knew they'd be there soon enough. "I may take you up on that offer." He said slowly, "but the police aren't even here yet. Let's see how they deal."

"I saw nothing, but I wasn't looking for Juan to be honest. I was more concerned about Emily's well being then about finding the scum that did this to her." There had been no love lost between himself and Juan, and he only put up with him for Emily's sake. "Do not say a word until someone is there to represent you Lucky. Nothing at all, not until you call me. Alexis, she will make sure that this is taken care of before it even starts."

"What do you mean by that. Nothing is starting. I didn’t do this." Lucky said in a rush. "I don’t need Alexis. Retain her for a our friend there." Lucky groaned as he caught Tony gazing deeply at him. "Look I have to cut this short. Tony Jones won’t give me any privacy now. I’ll get in touch with you when I can Nik"

"I'll be waiting for your call Lucky. Please just be careful though." Nikolas' mind was already whirring, trying to figure out the easiest way to find Alexis this early in the morning. There was to much at stake to leave this to chance. "I'll take care of things on this end. Just worry about getting yourself out of there as soon as possible. We need to regroup."

"I will. I'll call you when I'm done. Don't tell Em, Nikolas okay?"

"I won't tell Emily anything until you get here. I'll talk to you soon Lucky," Nikolas said ending the conversation by closing his phone. This was going to be one of those mornings, he knew it before the call from his brother, but now, he had to face Emily and pretend that everything was fine.

"Don't tell Emily what?" The woman in question was standing just behind him, having snuck into the room when he hadn't returned right away. "What do you two think you aren't going to tell me?"

~*~

Sonny watched the tropical sky for a moment. "Carly wait. Don't get Michael yet. I think I'm overreacting. I'll just call home and have them check on Juan." Sonny felt foolish for overreacting so much. As he walked out onto the veranda he sank into a chair. "Go back to bed Carly"

Carly considered his request, but thought better of going back to bed. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that the possibility that he would need her was strong. She picked her robe up from the floor where she'd discarded it earlier, and wrapped it tight around her, walking out to stand behind Sonny. "Why don't I wait just in case. That way you won't have to wake me up if we do have

"Well if you want to." Sonny said in an offhand way. He had to mask his concern with lighthearted words and actions' But I'm, sure it was just a bad dream. He suddenly felt foolish and shrugged. "I'm just gonna call Johnny and have him check up on Juan."

"On Juan?" Sonny hadn't mentioned the boy since he had been over a couple of months ago, but now all of a sudden he's worried? "If anyone can find out anything, it's Johnny." Carly wasn't sure what to make of it, but she didn't want to push at all. She put her hands on his shoulders, noting just how tense he was, and started rubbing softly.

Sonny tensed up further as her hands found their way to his shoulders "Yeah Juan, I can't explain it ok?" He leaned into her touch, realizing for a moment that her touch was the best comfort he could imagine at the moment. "Thank you." he whispered in a soft voice before pulling away slowly. "I want you to continue this when I'm off the phone."

Her instinct was to reach out, but he made it clear that he didn't need that now. "Of course I will, this or anything else you need," she said just as softly as he had spoken, but the underlying meaning was clear, at least she hoped it was.

Sonny shook his head, cupping her cheek gently as he reached for the phone. "Nothing right

now."

"Just keep it in mind for later, you never know." Carly stepped away, and moved back a few feet, giving him privacy to make his call, but staying close enough to be there if he needed her.

Sonny nodded, dialing Johnny. After a few moments he had the young guard ready to check for Juan. "He'll call us back as soon as he had word that Juan's all right." Sonny shared with the beautiful blond. "My neck is still tense."

"I think I can take care of that," She closed the gap between them, smiling softly. "But you're going to have to help out some. Just relax Sonny. I'm sure everything is ok, you said yourself, it was only a bad dream."

Sonny stretched out on the chaise lounge face down and pillowed his head on his arms. "I just don't know Carly." he admitted softly. "But I'll willing to forget if you can help me."

"Let me see what I can do, these fingers have been known to work miracles before," Carly leaned over, whispering in his ear. "If not a miracle, I can at least offer a distraction."

"Mmmm." Sonny said with a low groan as her hands started kneading his muscles. "This is great babe. With you here I can just about forget anything."

~*~

Alexis Davis looked hurriedly at her clock. She was meting her ex for an early breakfast at the Grille. it was amazing that he'd agreed to this, as his mornings usually consisted of some green sludge he called a protein shake. It smelled like raw earth and tasted even worse. "Ugh Jax why do you drink that stuff?" Alexis asked, trying not to roll her eyes. With one final look at her suite she made her way down to the Grille's dining room.

Jax was waiting impatiently for Alexis in the lobby of the Port Charles Hotel. He had been up for a couple hours already, having just come back in from his morning run. If anyone else had wanted to meet for breakfast without guaranteeing a large takeover, he never would have agreed, but for his favorite ex wife, he would suffer through what she called breakfast. "Where in bloody hell is she? If she's going to make an appointment, the least she could do is be on time." He grumbled aloud.

"I am two minutes early Jasper." Alexis said as she came up behind him. "Check your watch again." She said tapping him on the arm. "Good morning, by the way."

He did as she suggested, and as usual, she was right. "I was just practicing for when you were late, because on time has never been something you're good at." Jax leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "So what do I owe the pleasure of this invite to?"

"Well that's one of the things Cassadines don't do best." Alexis said as she tapped his arm gently again. As his lips brushed her cheek, Alexis tried not to sigh. He was so sweet tender and handsome and much as her feelings for Ned were slowly eroding over time, her feelings for her one time husband were growing day by day. Even though Alexis knew how futile it was, her heart was involved with the blond Australian. "So how is Chloe?" She asked mildly.

Alexis and Chloe had been friends at one point but now Alexis was merely being polite. The blond had been treating her with increased callousness since Stefan's disappearance. So many times, Alexis had rushed over to play nursemaid and be a best friend as Chloe excitedly regaled her with details of the dreams of Stefan's last moments with Helena. Didn't she care that Alexis had lost her long time protector and brother? Many days it seemed she didn't care.

"She's Chloe," How else could Jax put it, without sounding heartless. He cared for the blonde beauty, but she no longer turned his head in the way that she had when they had first me. But with her illness, there was little he could do without upsetting everyone. "But we didn't come her to discuss her did we? I'd much rather talk right now about how you're doing. I know things are difficult for you. Let's go sit down, and you can tell old Jax how you're hanging in.

"Old Jax?" Alexis said with small smile. "You still look young and virile." Alexis immediately felt at ease with him,. As he tucked her protectively under her arm, the independent lawyer almost sighed. He had the ability to make her feel protected and cared for without impacting her independence.

"Running and the rest of my routine keep the physical part young, but Lady Jane always said I was an old soul, what ever that means." He said pulling her a little closer. "Now come on, I've already ordered breakfast for us, they'll have our shakes waiting for us when we sit down." Jax knew how little Alexis cared for his high protein diet, and loved to tease her about it. "I made sure that yours was going to be orange, because I know how you feel about drinking something green."

"Jasper you have clearly lost your mind." Alexis shook her head in amusement. "I am a bacon and eggs woman and it would do you well to remember that."

"No, I'm sure that I'm correct in remembering that you love any of my shakes as long as they aren't green." Jax lead her back to the private dining room where the waiter was setting up a small buffet of fresh baked pastries, fluffy scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, as well as both french toast and pancakes. "I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I asked for a bit of everything. What ever you don't finish, I'll eat, since you can't live on protein shakes alone. Just don't quote me on that, because I will deny it until I die."

"Jasper Jacks and saturated fat, it's a match made in heaven." Alexis teased. He made her feel so at ease, more so then Ned did lately even. Alexis couldn't reconcile herself with Eddie Maine much as she tried. Sure, he excited her but there was something very elemental that was missing in their relationship. The lawyer and the rock star story didn't do much for Alexis. She loved Ned, but she was no longer in love with him.

"I told you, I'll deny it to the end, so just forget you ever saw this Alexis." How could she keep changing the subject, when it was obvious there was more to this breakfast then she was letting on. "Now stop trying to get out of it. I've asked you a couple of times how you're doing, and I want an answer Ms. Davis, since I was kind enough to get all of your favorites for breakfast, it's the least you can do.

"How am I?" Alexis asked blankly. She shrugged slowly and sighed. "I'm surviving Jax. That's what I do." She said as she searched for answers. "I have to fight Helena off. She cannot become the Trustee of the Cassadine holdings. And I need.... answers about Stefan."

"Tell me what I can do Alexis. You know that I’ll help out however I can. I might not have any use for your brother, but you helped me out so much with mine, that it’s only fair I return the favor." The prospect of facing down Helena Cassadine again was worth helping, even if it wasn’t to help Alexis. He had a score to settle with the old crone.

"Just be my friend Jax. I'm not going to drag you into this especially not when you need Helena right now. How do you plan on getting the drugs for Chloe if you make an enemy out of her. Really, I just need your friendship." Alexis said. When he looked away, she muttered' An no more nocturnal calls where your girlfriend goes every every detail of my brother's death"

"You know I’m always your friend first and foremost, what are ex-husbands for after all." He said with a grin. "As for the drug for Chloe, maybe it would we could get it and still stop Helena from becoming trustee. I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine."

"So what is it you have in mind?" Alexis asked as she leaned in close.

"What did Helena want most, when we were dealing with her before?" Jax asked, knowing he was putting himself on the line here. "I’ve never been one for wanting to play games, but if the cause were right, I’d do it."

"She wanted total control Jax. She wanted to hold all the cards. That's what she always wanted." Alexis sighed and ran a weary hand over her face. "What do you have in mind?"

"Let’s give her what she wants, or the illusion of it at least. If she thinks she’s going to be in charge, she’ll let her guard down, and then we have her where we want her." A plan was already formulating in Jax’s head and he smiled at Alexis. "I’ll distract her if you can get the goods on her."

"And just how do you plan on distracting her Jasper? I will not have you hurt." Alexis admitted, knowing that her feelings for him were being shown in the tenderness her voice expressed.

"Leave that to me Alexis, and I won’t let myself get hurt." He wouldn’t allow the old crone to get the best of him twice. "I’ll just have to work on what’s left of her heart. She won’t know what hit her when we’re done."

"Jax no that would be a disatsre. Please don't do it." Alexis voice was risintg as panic assailed her

"Alexis, I promise nothing will happen. I’ll have you to make sure I don’t go to far. I trust you with my life, and I know you won’t let anything happen to me, just like I won’t let anything happen to you." Jax grinned at Alexis, hoping to put her at ease. "Trust me, please. It’s could well be our only hope to make sure we both get what we need right now."

She reached over to clutch his hand in her now icy one. "Please promise me that you will stay away from her. I need someone I love to be safe. Please Jax, it's bad enough that I can't have you, but I will not allow you to be sacrificed as well."