CHAPTER FIVE "But only for a moment," he told Luke. "My boss will be returning soon from the accident and he will not be pleased with me if you are wandering around." "I understand," Luke said, going over to give his 'daughter', Nikky, a hug. "I have three daughters?" he whispered as he embraced the 'girl'. "Yes," Nik answered, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. This was outside of enough, he thought. Being a Spencer might well be more than he could take. Lucretia?" Luke called, expecting Lucky to appear, which he did, and Luke smiled at the young man he still considered his firstborn in spite of facts to the contrary. "Babe, you're a sight for sore eyes. Come give your old dad a hug." Gratefully, Nik stepped back, aware that he was seeing a Spencerian plan unfolding before his eyes, and, knowing that this whole thing was a cross between an impromptu speech and a complete adlib, he hoped that he wouldn't miss his cue. He headed back to the front office as 'Lucretia' went to 'her' father where they hugged briefly. "Which one of my last two daughters did you bring?" Luke asked. "Lulu?" "No," Lucky answered his falsetto carefully in place. His voice cracked, but he cleared his throat as effeminately as possible, and responded, "Jer---that is, uh, Geraldine. Yeah. Geraldine came with us." Just then, a shriek resounded throughout the office, and Lucky turned quickly. "Geraldine?" "He pinched my a**," the last young 'girl' announced indignantly, and Luke, recognizing his cue, stormed into action with a vengeance that would have done the father of any outraged daughter justice. With a quick left hook, he knocked the jailer out cold, and quickly removed his gun, while Nik turned his attention to the other man in the front office. It was over almost before it started, ending with both of the policemen locked, unarmed, in their own cells. "Smooth," Luke complimented his 'girls' as they quickly left the office. "I assume that there's a reason for this maneuver?" He turned to face his newest 'daughter' and asked, "Haven't we met?" "Sort of," Jer answered. "You saved my life when you killed those guys." "I thought you looked familiar," Luke commented as the trio headed down a side street. He looked around and added, "We can't stay long. This might be a one horse village, but they take their crime seriously, and this won't set well with them." "We thought it was for the best," Lucky told him. "Jer said that you might be in trouble from whoever is after him." "Makes sense," Luke said as they headed away from the town. "I take it that there's more going on than a simple school boy playing hooky?" "Yeah," Jer answered, as the sirens wailed in the distance, announcing the return of the rest of the police department. "There's murder." "This has to be a mistake," Jax said to Garcia who was standing just inside the door of his penthouse. "It can't be anything else." Garcia looked at the stunned face of a man he'd met on several occasions and had come to consider a friend in recent months, and shook his head. "No mistake, Jax. The call came in from Switzerland a short while ago, and I was asked to tell you. The gendarmes thought it would be better this way than over the phone." "Better? How can finding out that your wife is dead be good under any circumstances?" He turned away, then back. "What happened?" Garcia's answer was simple. "It was a car accident in the Alps--she went over a cliff, and for what it's worth, it appears that she must have died almost instantly. Jax, I'm sorry." "Are they absolutely certain that it's her?" Garcia nodded. "As certain as they can be from evidence gathered at the scene. The car exploded and burned on impact--it was over 100 feet down--and the rental car was registered in her name. Her purse with identification was found nearby--slightly scorched, but driver's license and passport were readable." "And her.......body?" "Burned beyond recognition. I'm sorry, Jax. The explosion made things very difficult--but an autopsy is planned." "Is there any chance..." Garcia sighed, feeling very uncomfortable with another man's grief, though in his heart, he empathized. He'd felt a similar, if by some standards inappropriate, grief when Lily Rivera Corinthos had died, and the need to deny the event was more than understood. "The authorities think that Brenda was in the car." Jax's eyes took on a bleak, haunted look. "Do the authorities know where Sonny Corinthos is yet?" Garcia shook his head. "No. Unfortunately, he's disappeared. All borders have been monitored, and his description was sent to Interpol. WEB and the WSB have both been working on this, as well." "He said he'd kill her," Jax told Garcia, his tone changing from bereaved to vengeful. "Corinthos threatened to kill Brenda, Robin and Jason." Meeting Jax's eyes, Garcia said, "If he was behind the accident, he won't get away with it." "I should have killed him when I had the chance. Men like him destroy everything and everyone they touch." "I know what you mean," Garcia agreed, fervently. "He was indirectly responsible for Lily's death, you know." Hearing something in his tone, Jax looked up. "You loved her," he said, figuring it out. "You loved Lily." "Yes," Garcia admitted, for the first time to himself, or to anyone. "I loved her. And, I think she could have loved me, but that SOB....." Their eyes met, and both nodded. "He's got to be stopped. For good," Jax told him. "No ifs, ands, or buts about it." "Agreed. Permanently." Jax paused, and then asked, "Would you consider heading up a special task force initially dedicated to ending Sonny's criminal career once and for all?" "Is this a job offer?" "A permanent position. The hours are flexible, the pay is excellent, the benefits are top notch, and your boss will give you free reign to conduct investigations at your discretion. You'll also be backed by the best legal representation in the world, should you run afoul of conventional legal systems." "Sounds like a dream job to me." "Then, let's talk money, staffing and anything else you'll need." They shook hands, men of one mind, united in grief and vengeance. "I just can't believe this," Lucy said to Kevin who was trying to offer sympathy. "Dead. Brenda can't be dead. She can't be. I'd know about it if she was. I mean, I do know about it, but what I mean is that I'd know about it if she was dead." "I think I understand," Kevin said, slipping into his psychiatrist mode. Comforting someone else was far more comfortable than dealing with his own demons. Those weren't going anywhere for a while, but it was possible that he could help Lucy cope with Brenda's loss. "It's called 'denial'. You don't want to believe that someone so young, so lovely, so vibrant, full of life, could be dead. It's what people all over the world felt when Diana died so tragically young." "No," Lucy insisted. "That's different. And, it's not just because I knew Brenda--see, Kevin, I really knew Brenda. I mean, I understood her." She looked at him and said, "We went through a lot of similar events in our lives--came from similar places, emotionally, though not financially, or socially. We've worked closely for quite some time, and we have this---this---this link. She can't be dead, Kevin. She just can't be." Kevin shook his head, and pulled Lucy into his arms. "The authorities say she is, Lucy. They have her identification, her car, and a body." "And Sonny Corinthos is loose," Lucy told him, pushing away. "Do you really think that Sonny would be satisfied just having her dead? That egotistical little crook wouldn't be happy with that. He'd want to look into her eyes and watch her suffer, watch her understand that he was behind it. He'd want everybody that loved her to suffer her loss, but he'd want her to suffer most of all. He want her to know that the people she loved were in pain, that they believed her dead. He wouldn't want it to be quick for anyone, least of all Brenda. Besides, in his own twisted way, I think he still loves her." "You really think that Sonny is behind this?" "Who else?" Sonny Corinthos looked at Frank White, and wondered why he felt uneasy around him. True, the man had engineered his escape from jail, and from what he'd learned, had even tried to kill Jared Andrews, one of the men responsible for Sonny's incarceration. But, that in itself should be sufficient to cause problems. He'd be under careful scrutiny by the law enforcement systems, especially WEB. "So how'd you escape?" Sonny asked him. "I mean, you were locked up, weren't you?" Frank grinned, a nasty smile on his face. "I was in a mental illness facility. It was determined that I'd been temporarily insane when I made that attempt, and when I showed myself to be contrite..." "The bleeding hearts in charge let you go." "That about sums it up." "What I don't know is how you got me out." "I have friends," Frank confided. "Powerful friends who wanted you out." Sonny paused, that same, uneasy feeling growing. More than a few powerful people had tried to kill him in the past--from both sides of the law. "And who might these people be?" "Don't worry, Corinthos. They're friends." "Names," Sonny demanded. "I need names." Frank turned to him, and said simply, "You'll have them when the time comes. At the moment, however, you're in no position to demand anything. You were in solitary confinement for your own safety, if you recall. You've offended a lot of people, Mr. Corinthos, when you chose to spill your guts a few months back. Some of those people want you dead, and if you go back, you can rest assured that they'll get what they want." "So I'm supposed to trust you?" "I got you out, didn't I?" "But what for? So somebody else can kill me?" "No. Somebody else wants your assistance, and to that end, is willing to make you an offer that you can't refuse." "I thought that was supposed to be my line." Frank grinned again. "My boss will be pleased to see that you haven't lost your sense of humor. You'll have even more to smile about shortly. Shall we go?" "What the hell? Like you said, I don't have a lot of options, do I?"