Family Secrets

"I don't get it, Jase."

"Neither do I," he sighed.

They looked at the scattered pictures in front of them, both with questioning looks and contemplation.

"It can't be some kind of threat, can it?"

"No," he shook his head. "If they were pictures of you, Michael and Ethan, I'd say yeah, but this is just --"

"It's weird," she finished.

At that moment the doorbell rang.

"That's probably Marci,” Jason sighed.

"You think she'll be able to help?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "I figured she might have better luck than us."

Carly opened the front door and hugged her friend. "Hey, tramp," Carly grinned.

"Slut," Marci offered. "Hey, Jase," she smiled as she walked into the living room.

"Hey, Marci," Jason grinned at her.

"Why do you still ring that doorbell?"

She shrugged. "Don't know. Habit?" She smiled and turned back to Jason. "You haven't killed my husband today, have you?"

"Nah, even though I was tempted."

"Thanks, I really do appreciate it."

"Only reason I haven't done it yet."

"You do realize Manny is more scared of you ditching his ass than anything, right?" Carly asked as she came up from behind her and slung an arm over Marci's shoulder. "Face it, Marci, there's no way in hell he's leaving your ass or you leaving him."

Marci sighed dramatically. "Damn."

Jason chuckled. "If you ever want me to get rid of him, let me know."

"I'd just need you to get rid of the body."

"That's not funny, Marcella," Manny said coming from the kitchen.

"Yes it was, love."

"No, chiquita, it wasn't."

She hugged him tightly and they briefly kissed.

"You know I could never kill my honey," Marci whispered.

"Why are you always coming from the kitchen?" Carly asked him.

"I get hungry and I know there's nothing in there you made."

Carly narrowed her eyes at him. "You're lucky your wife is my best friend or I'd have Jason kill you."

"Jase," Manny started as he turned to him, "Compadre? Would you kill me?"

Jason shook his head and smirked. "Not unless you pissed me off."

"I always piss you off."

Jason shrugged, "Guess not then."

Carly smacked Jason's arm as he laughed.

"Assholes," Carly and Marci both replied.

Marci turned to Jason and Carly, "So where are they?"

"Right there," Carly sighed as she pointed to the coffee table.

Marci sat down and went through the photos. She chewed the inside of her cheek, trying to think. "You said there weren't any prints, right?" She asked not looking up from the pictures.

Jason sat next to her and sighed. "Everything came back clean. No prints, no note, we got shit. The only thing we know is that some kid dropped the package early this morning."

"So it's not some kind of warning or threat then. You've never seen these people before?" she asked both of them.

Carly bit her bottom lip as she looked at Marci. “I don’t know, Marci. The woman, she looks familiar. Like I’ve seen her somewhere before, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually met her.”

"Okay," Marci sighed. She stood up and went over to the door. "I'll let you know if I come up with anything."

"Thanks, Marci."

"No problem. What are friends for and all that shit, right?"

Manny walked up to her and kissed her quickly. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, sweetie."

Marci waved at the small group and closed the door behind her. Jason quickly set his gaze onto Manny and shook his head. "How the hell you ended up marrying a P.I. is beyond me."

"I told you -- she was looking for me. It was fate."

Carly sighed and sat on the couch. "Hopefully she'll find something quick or I'll end up dying of curiosity." She closed her eyes and frowned as she heard the familiar cry come from the baby monitor. "I swear that baby refuses to sleep."

Jason chuckled softly. "I got it," he said as he ran up the stairs.

"God bless you, Jase." She turned her head to Manny. "So when are you giving Marci her baby?"

"Oh hell no, Carly. Don't try to pull that shit on me."

"Manny! Come on, you've been married for forever! Don't you --" the sound of the doorbell silenced her. She raised an eyebrow at Manny. "That can't be her, can it?"

He shrugged and opened the door. "Why do you even bother?" he asked.

"Habit, I tell you, habit."

Marci walked in quickly and sat beside Carly. She placed her laptop on the coffee table in front of them and reached around for the phone cord behind them.

"How the fuck?" Carly started.

"I haven't even looked for anything yet, but I got it. I remembered something and the laptop was in the car," she said quickly. "I got it," she said again excitedly. "I knew I had seen him somewhere before."

She began to type quickly and Jason came down the stairs.

"Damn, Marci, that was fast even for you."

"Come here," she said without looking up. Jason took the seat next to her. "I knew I recognized him from an old case years and years ago."

Jason narrowed his eyes as she typed some more and a website finally appeared on the screen. "Llanview?"

"Where the fuck is that?" Carly asked.

"Pennsylvania," Marci answered.

Carly bit her bottom lip as she saw the woman from the picture appear on the screen. "Okay, so who the hell is she?"

"Her name is Blair. Blair Manning. And this," she typed some more and another picture appeared, "is her husband, Todd Manning. And the kids in the pictures are their kids."

Jason shook his head. "Okay, but what the hell does that have to do with us?"

"I don't know," Marci sighed. "Manning, he owns a newspaper. This newspaper actually, The Sun, and he's some rich fucker, but I still have no idea why someone would send you this." She leaned back against the couch cushions and looked through the pictures one more time. "Maybe I'm missing something." She shook her head and sighed, "But these are just regular pictures. Something a magazine or newspaper would take pictures of. There has to be something I’m missing."

~~~~~~

Ben Reed pulled the contracts out of the folder and sighed deeply. His oldest and dearest friend was finally gone and he intended to keep the promise he made over a year ago.

He stuffed the contents into an envelope and sealed it shut. The first of three sets of envelopes had already been hand delivered yesterday, but there were two more to go. The last ones, he would be present for. Ben briefly wondered what the temperature in Llanview and Port Charles was like. He hadn’t left his Florida home in years. He slipped his jacket on and sighed. He was about to find out.

~~~~~~~~~

Carly made her way through the crowded blues club and took the last available seat at the bar.

“Well if it isn’t Cousin Carly! What are you doing all the way out here?” he looked behind her and raised an eyebrow. “And without Jason? What’s up, cuz?”

Carly grinned at her younger cousin. “I should be the one asking you that since it looks like you’re moonlighting here of all places. Isn’t Deception paying you enough money, Lucky?”

Lucky leaned against the bar and grinned at her. “Are you offering me a raise?”

“In your dreams, Lucas.”

“It’s Lucas Lorenzo Junior to you.”

Carly laughed softly and looked at him again. “Where’s your dad, Cousin Lucky?”

Lucky tilted his head to the side and regarded his cousin carefully. “Now I know something’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wrong. Can’t I just come by and talk to my uncle?”

Lucky simple looked at her and she shook her head. “Fine. I need to ask him something.”

“Does this have anything to do with those weird pictures you got?”

“How did you—. Never mind,” she waved him off. “Is he here?”

Lucky finally nodded his head and motioned towards the back room. “There’s a hot poker game going on.”

”Figures,” she muttered. She rose from her seat and grinned at him. “Thanks, Lucky.”

“Be careful,” he warned her.

She simply nodded her head and made her way towards the back room. She found Luke engrossed in a game along with Roy Diluca, Mike Corbin, and Tony Jones. Luke, who never kept his back to the door, raised his eyebrows when he saw his niece enter the room.

“I call, boys,” Luke stated, not taking his eyes off of her.

The men showed their hands and Luke stuck his cigar back in his mouth. His flush beat all the others.

“Thanks for your loot, gentlemen. I hate to take your money and run, but hey them’s the breaks.”

He rose from his seat with loud protests coming from the other men and headed straight towards Carly.

“What’s up, Caroline?” he smirked at her.

She bit the inside of her lip and finally made eye contact with him. “I need your help, Luke.”

Luke’s cigar almost fell out of his mouth at the unexpected request from his niece. “Let’s go to my office, shall we?” he recovered.

Luke sighed and he once again went through the pile of pictures Carly had brought to him. He tossed them on his desk and simply shrugged at her.

“I don’t know, darlin’. She looks familiar for some reason, but I can’t place her.”

Carly took in the information and bit her bottom lip. “I got the same feeling and I don’t know why that is.”

“Well, Jason’s looking into it right?” She nodded her head. “Well then I’m sure he’ll come up with something. Try not to worry about it, Caroline. If I find out anything, I’ll give you a call.”

She rose from her seat, collected the pictures and made her way to the back door. “Thanks, Luke.”

“We’re family, darlin’. No need to thank me.”

Her eyes misted over at his heartfelt statement and she blamed her reaction on the overactive hormones caused by the pregnancy. “I’ll remember that,” she told him softly.

Luke watched her leave his office and propped his feet on his desk. It was then that he noticed that Carly had forgotten one of the pictures. He tilted his head to the side and reached out for it. There was something about the woman. She looked familiar for some reason. He could feel it deep in his gut. He put his feet down and reached for a cigar out of his humidor. He propped the picture up on his desk and lit the cigar.

Her green eyes sparkled at him in the picture and he grinned. “Alright, darlin’, just who the heck are you?”

~~~~~~~

"Lou, did you give that kid in research the stuff on Morgan?" Todd asked his personal assistant.

"How many times do I have to say yes?" she asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Don't get snippy with me."

"Snippy?"

He glared at her. "Get his ass in here."

"Who?" she asked innocently.

"Whatever the hell his name is in research!"

"Mark Jones."

"Get his ass up here. Now!"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Boss Man, sir," she mumbled as she left his office.

Todd shook his head as she left. God love Lou. He really did love her and was glad that she accepted his very generous offer to return as his assistant. The fact that she and Blair remained close all these years didn't hurt either. Todd and Lou fought like cats and dogs, but she was a part of the extended Manning family and so therefore it was normal behavior. Well, as normal as the Mannings got.

A few minutes later, a tall lanky man with red hair and glasses appeared outside of Todd’s office door. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door nervously.

“What?!” the response came.

"Mr. Manning, you wanted to see me, sir?" Mark called from outside the closed door.

A few seconds later, the door swung open and a menacing Todd appeared in front of him.

"You Jones?" Todd asked immediately.

"Yes, sir."

Todd walked back into the office and sat on top of his desk. "Tell me, Jones, where do you work?"

"Sir?" he asked walking further into his office.

"What department do you work in?"

"Research, sir."

"So that means you do research right?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Did I not send you information to work on?"

"Jason Morgan. Yes, sir."

"Then where the hell is my research?"

"I haven't . . . I'm still . . . I'm not . . ."

"Shut up! I pay you money for information I can use. You're not telling me anything here."

"Sir--"

"Just shut up and bring me everything that you've got." Todd glared at him for a second when he didn't move. "Now!"

"Yes, sir."

The phone rang as soon as Mark ran out of his office.

"What?!"

"It's Steve. You were right. Morgan did a complete background check on you and Blair."

"Fucker, I got you now. All right, so what did he find out?"

"Nothing that isn't public knowledge. He got crap. Unfortunately, his cleanup is just as good as yours."

"Damn."

"I'm still digging."

"I better have some fucking crap I can use by tonight."

“Sit tight, Todd. I’ll let you know as soon as I come up with anything.”

Todd slammed the receiver down and began to stare at the computer screen as his eyes grew cold. "Okay, who the fuck are you --"

~~~~~~

"And what the fuck do you want?" Jason cursed as he eyed the scattered photos on the desk in front of him and angrily shook his head. "Fuck this shit! This isn't what I need."

Johnny sighed deeply. "His tracks are covered just as good as ours are."

"I know. Luke didn’t find anything either with his sources in Pennsylvania." He picked up the ringing phone. "Yeah?"

"He did a complete background on you and Carly."

"Sonofabitch."

"He didn't get shit though."

"Fine." He slammed the phone back down and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm not playing with this asshole. He leaned his hands on the desk and looked at Johnny. "We're going to Llanview."

~~~~~~~~

Lou looked up from her laptop with a bored expression on her face as two men approached her. "Can I help you?"

"I want to see Manning,” came the straightforward reply.

Jason didn't wait for a response and made his way to the main office door. Lou was just as quick and blocked his path.

"Excuse me! I don't have any appointments scheduled for this afternoon and right now Mr. Manning is consulting with one of his employees."

"I don't care."

Jason walked past Lou again, but she grabbed his arm causing him to stop. Johnny came up behind her and grabbed her arm as well.

She turned back and glared at Johnny. "Get your fucking hand off of me. Now," she hissed.

Johnny couldn’t help it and smiled at her, there was no sign of fear in her eyes. Johnny’s smile never fell as he let her go.

"Mr. Morgan would like to see your boss."

"Jason Morgan?" she asked.

"That's right."

Lou turned back around to face Jason. He expected to see shock or fear in her eyes, but instead he was greeted with laughing eyes.

"I couldn’t give a flying rat's ass who you are," she smiled. "Now you can both take a seat and wait to see if Mr. Manning will see you or I can call the cops. Your choice."

Johnny stared at her, an amused expression on his face and glanced at Jason. He looked half pissed off and half amused as well.

Jason shook his head and finally agreed. "Fine, we'll wait. Two minutes and then we go in."

"Ooo, I'm scared," she replied sarcastically.

She shouldered past both of them and they watched her walk away.

"Damn, she's hot," Johnny said happily.

Jason shook his head. "It makes me wonder how many people have tried this before."

They walked back to the waiting area as Lou pressed the intercom button.

"Yo, boss, there's a Jason Morgan here to see you." She didn't wait for a response, knowing she wouldn’t get one and disconnected.

"How 'bout some coffee?" Johnny asked.

"How about you go to hell?" she replied not looking up from her laptop.

Johnny snickered quietly. "So hot," he whispered to Jason.

Jason shook his head, already impatient. "Fuck this," he muttered and walked back to the office.

Lou didn't stop him this time, which made him suspicious. For all he knew Manning could have a back way out of there. He turned the doorknob, but it was locked.

"Manning, open the fucking door!" he yelled.

"Yeah, like he'll answer now," Johnny grinned.

Jason pounded once more and then kicked the door open. What he saw in front of him made his eyebrows ascend into his hairline.

“Sonofabitch,” Jason cursed under his breath.