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Title: Just Between Friends
Author: speedy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Expecting her second child and caught up in a mafia war, Carly Corinthos has a secret that will change the lives of everyone she knows.
Disclaimer: I'm not the Rat, so obviously the characters aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them for awhile.
Notes: Just moving this over from my now defunct website. This veers off canon right before the panic room fiasco in 2003.
Chapter 12
Frisco was working the bar alone during the afternoon lull. There was only one customer, Frank the drunk who practically lived at the opposite end of the bar, he couldn't see keeping the bartender on for the rest of the shift. In Frisco's two days of working, he'd become privy to the story of Frank's life, after the guy drunkenly bitched at him for two hours about Luke's absence. It was insensitive he knew, but he could see why Frank's wife had left him. There were only so many times Frisco could hear how "the man" was keeping him down and still buy it. Sadly for Frank, he'd passed that point yesterday.
Frisco was still going over books, trying to make sense of Luke's financial mess, his back to the door. He stopped momentarily as he heard the door open and close, not looking back. Feet shuffled across the floor. He caught a glimpse of grey hair in the reflection from the water glass in front of him. Luke. It had to be. Mr. Disappear-At-A-Drop-Of-A-Hat-With-No-Explanation.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, Luke," he said hostilely.
"I think you'll have to get in line."
The amused voice wasn't Luke's, but Tony's. Frisco swung around on the bar stool in surprise. He hadn't expected his brother to show up. "Tony! What are you doing here?"
"Had to see for myself."
He rolled his eyes. He had a feeling the news didn't come from Luke. "Felicia came to see you, huh?" he said, annoyed by the talking behind his back. That always got on his nerves.
"How'd you guess?"
"Well, it was her, Luke or... uh, my wife." He nearly said Carly, but had to stop himself. He was usually good at the undercover stuff, but between Felicia and Tony, he was definitely going to blow their cover. He just wasn't used to lying to them like this, not to their faces. "I doubt you've seen Robin and I'm sure you'd have more comments if you'd talked to Luke, who happens to have conveniently taken off on me. That leaves Felicia and her agenda of getting rid of me."
Tony sat on a nearby stool, keeping his distance. "She's not trying to get rid of you," he said, although not sounding very assuring. "But could you blame her if she did?"
"Yes," Frisco answered flatly. "I just want to see my girls while I've got the chance. That's all."
"And she doesn't want to see them hurt."
He wanted to tell his brother the truth, but he knew he couldn't. It was a no win situation for him, not leaving very many options open. "I don't want to hurt them either, but there are things that are beyond my control, Tony."
"So quit," the doctor said, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "I'm sure Mac would give you your old job back."
"Hey kid," Frank's grisly voice interrupted. "Get me another cold one."
Frisco sighed. He walked behind the bar, getting the lone customer another beer, the cheapest domestic on tap. "You might wanna think about switching to coffee soon," he suggested, setting the new mug in front of the guy and gently tossing the old one into the dirty bin under the counter.
"Why? I'm not going anywhere," Frank grumbled cynically.
The agent shook his head, glancing at his brother. "Of course."
He walked back to his bar stool, returning to his conversation with Tony. "If you came here to lecture me, you can leave now," he told his older brother.
Tony chuckled. "I had to see my little brother actually working a regular job."
"What does that mean?" Frisco scoffed. "I've had regular jobs before."
"Rock star, TV show host, cop, and last but not least, spy. Not exactly your average 9-to-5, collect-a-paycheck-and-go-home jobs, little brother."
"I'll have you know, this is not the first bar I've worked at," he replied defensively.
"Before the rock star thing worked out, I'm guessing."
He rolled his eyes. "I did work some regular jobs back then."
"That's been awhile, Frisco." Tony's voice was weary, aged. "I'm not the only one getting old."
He had a point and Frisco knew it. He knew he wasn't a young man anymore. He had the teenage daughters and facial lines to prove it. Hell, he had the seniority in the WSB to prove it, as if he needed another reminder.
A young man, well dressed in a designer suit, entered the bar and approached the two men. He held an envelope and a clipboard in his hands. "Agent Jones?" he asked, looking between them.
Frisco's jaw tightened slightly as he smiled at the young man. "I'm Agent Jones."
The young man handed him the clipboard. "Please sign at the bottom."
Frisco eyed the paper. Received by requesting agent, confidential information, destroy as needed, yada, yada, yada... Nothing he hadn't seen a hundred times. He signed where he was directed and handed the clipboard back. The young man gave him the envelope and turned to the door. "Good day, Agent Jones," he said as he left.
"Yeah, you too," Frisco grumbled as he opened the envelope. He glanced over the document anxiously, feeling his brother's eyes staring a hole in him.
"I thought you were inactive," Tony said suspiciously.
The agent stuffed the papers back into the envelope quickly. "I am. It's just some paperwork."
"What kind of paperwork?"
He turned his head slowly, looking his brother straight in the eye. "What's with all the questions? Don't you trust me, Tony?"
Frisco watched his brother squirm. He guiltily knew he'd put him between a rock and a hard place with that question. Tony would never admit he didn't trust his younger brother, not like this. He could always be counted on for support, even if he disagreed with whatever Frisco was doing at the time.
"There's something you're not telling me," Tony said cautiously.
The younger man rolled his eyes. "There's a lot I haven't told you. That doesn't answer the question."
The answer did not come easily. It sounded more like a concession. "Okay, okay. I'll take your word for it."
Frisco frowned, unable to deny his disappointment. In other words, Tony didn't trust him.
Carly sat at a corner table at Kelly's. The table was covered between the two laptops. God, she was glad for the wireless network connection in Frisco's computer, otherwise she'd be left back in that stuffy loft. Stuck with all the reminders of Pollyanna, who was off on her honeymoon with Jason. Not her idea of a good afternoon.
"Having problems?"
She looked up. Elizabeth Webber stood on the other side of the table, smiling. Carly didn't know exactly how to react. They had never been friends. In fact, they had been anything but. It was because of Liz that she had ended up in Sonny's arms in the first place.
But it wasn't Carly sitting at that table, not as Liz knew anyway. Frisco had lectured her a dozen times on that point since coming to Port Charles. She was a complete stranger and was expected to act as such, even to the people she hated before. She had to at least be nice, a lot was riding on her behavior. "Can't figure out what's wrong with the stupid thing," she said, uneasily returning the young woman's smile.
"I know nothing about computers," she said casually, "but I'm sure my ex could help you. He used to be a computer wiz."
"I'll figure it out eventually," Carly replied, trying to mask her annoyance. Yeah, like she needed any advice from Liz Webber or Lucky's help. She'd do this on her own. "It's... It's just frustrating."
"Can I get you anything? More tea?"
She went back to the computer, waving dismissively. "That'd be good. Thanks."
Liz walked away, just long enough to bring her another small pot of hot water and another tea bag. "I hope chamomile is alright."
"It's great."
She gave the younger woman a polite smile. Liz left to take care of other customers; Carly turned her focus back on the broken laptop. She hit a few keystrokes, tried to access a strangely named hidden directory. Windows disappeared and the screen suddenly turned blue.
The dreaded Blue Screen Of Death.
Again.
She groaned frustratedly. That was the third time she'd gotten the BSOD, third different directory she couldn't access. There was definitely something up with this damn machine. She jotted down the third different error code and looked it up on Frisco's laptop as Jason's rebooted.
Part of her wanted to strangle herself for giving in so easily to Jason. She was getting in over her head with this stupid thing, all because she couldn't say no to him.
The doors to Kelly's suddenly flew open, grabbing the attention of everyone. Carly turned her head and watched in disbelief as her uncle strolled dramatically into the diner. "Good afternoon, all you beautiful human beings!" Luke shouted cheerfully from the doorway, his arms spread as wide as the devious grin on his face, the doors slamming shut behind him.
For once, the usually busy and noisy diner was silent, all eyes on Luke. Liz was the first to break the silence. "Are you drunk, Luke?" she asked, throwing down the towel in her hands, not bothering to hide her annoyance.
People began to go back to their own business, most snickering or shaking their heads. "Nope," he answered, uncharacteristically gleeful. "Just had a wonderfully refreshing day off."
"So you came here to bother the customers?"
He shrugged. "I own half of the place, why not?"
Liz just shook her head and went back to the counter.
"Looks like you lost your audience," Carly said, just loud enough for him to hear.
Luke joined her at the small table. "Not all of it, I see."
"You shouldn't be seen out in public. My husband's liable to hunt you down. He didn't appreciate the mess you left for him."
"Hey, he was the one that wanted a job!" Luke shot back defensively.
"You knew what he was asking, Luke," she reminded him. "It wasn't spending all afternoon on the phone sucking up to distributors you forgot to pay."
Luke just shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were nothing. He flashed his usual roguish grin. "Can you blame me for trying to get a little something out of the guy?"
Carly sat back in the chair and crossed her arms, not sure how to respond to that. Luke Spencer was a real piece of work, hardly worth her energy and probably best left to Frisco's temper.
Liz came over to check on her. "You can tell him to leave at any time, if he's bothering you," she told Carly, looking pointedly at Luke. "I'll make sure he goes somewhere else."
"Oh yeah? What do you think you're going to do?" he asked her teasingly.
"I'll tell Bobbie and have you barred from here for life." She poked him in the shoulder as punctuation. "No more Kelly's ATM for you."
Luke looked between the two young women, grinning without a single ounce of guilt. "Hey, have you met Robin?" he asked the petite brunette, changing the subject.
Liz smiled at Carly. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Elizabeth."
Carly returned the polite smile, tightening her unseen hand into a fist. "I remember seeing you at party the other night," she said, grudgingly making conversation. "You were with some dark haired hunk, right?"
"Yeah, my boyfriend," Liz answered, smiling happily. "Ric runs The Cellar with Carly."
"How funny," Luke said, wiggling his brows mischievously at his niece. "You two have something in common. Robin's new hubby is running my club."
Carly opened her mouth to comment, but Liz beat her to it. "That would explain why you're not there, running off your own customers," she scoffed, a sardonic smirk on her face.
"You know, Elizabeth darlin', I bet you and Robin here would get along real well. You both give me a hard time."
Carly resisted the urge to kick Luke under the table, instead deciding to give him a dirty look. The look only seemed to egg him on. "Why don't you take a load off and join us, Elizabeth? Robin's new to Port Chuckles and doesn't really know anyone except Courtney and my ungrateful niece. I'm sure she could use a friend that's not directly connected to the mob, considering her husband's usual profession."
As soon as they were alone, Frisco's temper wouldn't be the only one Luke would have to face. Carly wanted five minutes alone with her uncle. She was going to rip him apart with her bare hands. The nerve of him, trying to force her into making friends with Liz for no reason other than to amuse himself.
Liz pulled up a chair and sat down, much to Carly's dismay. "I remember Lucky mentioning something about a Frisco Jones years ago. He's a WSB agent, right?"
"Most of the time, yes," Carly answered.
Luke got up with a smirk, winking at his niece. "I'm sure Robin will tell you all about the man. I'm going to make sure my club's still in one piece."
"Give hubby dearest my undying love," Carly told him as insincerely as possible without tipping off the young woman.
He saluted her as he walked out. "Will do."
If Carly could've gotten away with leaving, she would've run after him. The bastard had left her alone with Lizzie fucking Olsen. She was so going to kill him.
"What exactly does the WSB do, if you don't mind me asking?" Liz asked curiously. "I don't know much about them."
Carly sighed. Questions that would only lead to more questions, questions she didn't want to answer, especially not to Elizabeth. This was going to be a long conversation, she could feel it in her gut. Luke was so going to pay for this.
Carly practically attacked Frisco the second he walked in the door of the loft. He'd brought home dinner from the club, burgers and fries for both of them. The only advantage to living with Frisco, he happily fed her junk food habit and Luke's Place had the best cheese fries in town. "Cheese fries are mine!" she demanded, grabbing the plastic bag with two styrofoam boxes from his hands. She hopped away, keeping the bag just out of his grasp.
Frisco smirked. "Touch them and you won't get your present," he said, teasing her.
"What present? You got me a present?" she asked excitedly.
He pointed to the bag. "Hands off the cheese fries," he ordered.
She dropped the boxes on the kitchen counter and took a step away from them, a big grin on her face. "They're all yours."
He handed her the envelope from the WSB. She ripped it open eagerly, not even looking at the outside. She flipped through the papers. "What is this?"
Frisco pulled the boxes from the bag, claiming the box with the cheese fries for himself, and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. "The information you asked for," he said, making himself comfortable at the table. "Charlotte's hospital records from Florida."
She read the first page closely, leaning against the counter. It was a summary of the file, the record of a Jane Doe. "This is Charlotte? You're sure?"
He nodded. "She's the only Jane Doe in the time frame that fits the story."
She glanced through the other pages. She recognized some of the terms and language from nursing school, but she'd need a medical dictionary and her old textbooks to really make sense of the details. "Doesn't say much. Just a bunch of medical mumbo jumbo."
"Oh, I don't know about that," he said with a sly smile.
She glared at him. She hated when he got vague like that. "Show me the part that helps me."
He put a fry in his mouth, then took a swig of beer. "Billing statement."
She flipped to the last page. She saw the part he meant at the bottom of the page and read it out loud. "Paid by third party in cash, no name given." She lowered the file. "Who's the third party?"
He shrugged. "Don't know."
"So where did she go when she was released from the hospital?"
"Don't know."
Carly rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "That is so helpful, Frisco," she sarcastically snapped.
"It's being investigated," Frisco assured her. "I've got an agent pursuing the family angle starting tomorrow. We'll track the money from here."
"They paid in cash. You're never going to find anything."
"She had to live on something all those years while she was following you. We find her source of income in New York, I bet we'll find who paid her hospital bill." He shrugged again. "That's just my hunch, though."
Carly sat down at the table across from him and pulled the Styrofoam box to her. "The WSB is willing to investigate this?" she asked softly.
Frisco didn't answer immediately. "Call it reevaluating the risk assessments," he told her finally. He sat back, taking a deep breath. "Carly, all they gave me was the one agent. He's going to handle the investigation in Florida; we're going to have to do the rest, until we've got something more solid to show Washington." He paused. "It took a lot of sweet talking to get even that."
Sweet talking, huh? She smiled in satisfaction. "So you admit I'm right about her?"
His expression remained neutral. "I admit nothing." He reached for the box. "Now hand over the cheese fries."
"Hell no!" she cried, slapping his hands away. "Medical records don't qualify as a present!"
Her efforts were in vain however. He got enough of a hold on the box to get it away from her. "Too bad, they're mine."
"Shut up!"
Frisco picked up a fry and waved it triumphantly. "You first."
A knock on the door startled both of them. They looked at each other. They weren't expecting anyone. Frisco reached for the gun he kept holstered on his ankle as Carly walked to the door. She took one look back at him before opening the door.
Carly was stunned to see Georgie standing on the other side. She gave the girl a soft smile. "Hi," she said, surprised. She moved aside to let her in. "Honey," she nearly choked on the word, "Georgie's here."
The teen walked in all smiles, her boyfriend nervously trailing behind her. Frisco hurriedly re-holstered his weapon, but not quick enough for his daughter not to notice. "Ankle holster?" she asked unsurprised, pointing to the gun as he stood up.
"Habit," he replied, shrugging.
Frisco stayed near the table, unsure of what to do. Luckily for him, Georgie made the first move. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly, enjoying having his daughter in his arms. "I'm glad you stopped by."
She pulled away, still smiling. "Well, Dillon and I were in the neighborhood..."
He eyed her dubiously.
"Or not..." she said guiltily. "Anyways, I thought since you're home a little while, maybe we could go out to dinner on Friday? Me, Maxie, you," she glanced back at Carly, "and Robin."
Frisco and Carly looked at each other in surprise. "Yeah, that'd be great," he replied disbelievingly. "How does the Port Charles Grille sound? Say 8 o'clock?"
Georgie smiled happily. "Sounds great! I'll let Maxie know!" Dillon cleared his throat. Georgie looked back at her boyfriend. "We have to go. Dillon's taking me to some old movie."
"It's not just some old movie," Dillon said. "It's Casablanca."
Frisco chuckled. "Have fun. It's a good movie."
She hugged her father again and headed out the door with Dillon. "See you Friday!" she said, waving as she left.
"Bye," Carly said to her stepdaughter. She closed the door and turned back to Frisco. "Congratulations."
He was grinning from ear to ear, happier than she'd ever seen him. "My daughters want to see me," he said, sounding as if he didn't quite believe it.
She smiled sadly. She was happy for him, she knew how much those girls meant to him, but she couldn't help feeling jealous. She loved Michael just as much, and she wanted him back.
A plan began to form in Carly's mind. Michael was so close, she couldn't stay away any longer. Tomorrow she'd find a way to get to her son.
Chapter 14
Author: speedy
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Expecting her second child and caught up in a mafia war, Carly Corinthos has a secret that will change the lives of everyone she knows.
Disclaimer: I'm not the Rat, so obviously the characters aren't mine. I'm just borrowing them for awhile.
Notes: Just moving this over from my now defunct website. This veers off canon right before the panic room fiasco in 2003.
Chapter 12
Frisco was working the bar alone during the afternoon lull. There was only one customer, Frank the drunk who practically lived at the opposite end of the bar, he couldn't see keeping the bartender on for the rest of the shift. In Frisco's two days of working, he'd become privy to the story of Frank's life, after the guy drunkenly bitched at him for two hours about Luke's absence. It was insensitive he knew, but he could see why Frank's wife had left him. There were only so many times Frisco could hear how "the man" was keeping him down and still buy it. Sadly for Frank, he'd passed that point yesterday.
Frisco was still going over books, trying to make sense of Luke's financial mess, his back to the door. He stopped momentarily as he heard the door open and close, not looking back. Feet shuffled across the floor. He caught a glimpse of grey hair in the reflection from the water glass in front of him. Luke. It had to be. Mr. Disappear-At-A-Drop-Of-A-Hat-With-No-Explanation.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, Luke," he said hostilely.
"I think you'll have to get in line."
The amused voice wasn't Luke's, but Tony's. Frisco swung around on the bar stool in surprise. He hadn't expected his brother to show up. "Tony! What are you doing here?"
"Had to see for myself."
He rolled his eyes. He had a feeling the news didn't come from Luke. "Felicia came to see you, huh?" he said, annoyed by the talking behind his back. That always got on his nerves.
"How'd you guess?"
"Well, it was her, Luke or... uh, my wife." He nearly said Carly, but had to stop himself. He was usually good at the undercover stuff, but between Felicia and Tony, he was definitely going to blow their cover. He just wasn't used to lying to them like this, not to their faces. "I doubt you've seen Robin and I'm sure you'd have more comments if you'd talked to Luke, who happens to have conveniently taken off on me. That leaves Felicia and her agenda of getting rid of me."
Tony sat on a nearby stool, keeping his distance. "She's not trying to get rid of you," he said, although not sounding very assuring. "But could you blame her if she did?"
"Yes," Frisco answered flatly. "I just want to see my girls while I've got the chance. That's all."
"And she doesn't want to see them hurt."
He wanted to tell his brother the truth, but he knew he couldn't. It was a no win situation for him, not leaving very many options open. "I don't want to hurt them either, but there are things that are beyond my control, Tony."
"So quit," the doctor said, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "I'm sure Mac would give you your old job back."
"Hey kid," Frank's grisly voice interrupted. "Get me another cold one."
Frisco sighed. He walked behind the bar, getting the lone customer another beer, the cheapest domestic on tap. "You might wanna think about switching to coffee soon," he suggested, setting the new mug in front of the guy and gently tossing the old one into the dirty bin under the counter.
"Why? I'm not going anywhere," Frank grumbled cynically.
The agent shook his head, glancing at his brother. "Of course."
He walked back to his bar stool, returning to his conversation with Tony. "If you came here to lecture me, you can leave now," he told his older brother.
Tony chuckled. "I had to see my little brother actually working a regular job."
"What does that mean?" Frisco scoffed. "I've had regular jobs before."
"Rock star, TV show host, cop, and last but not least, spy. Not exactly your average 9-to-5, collect-a-paycheck-and-go-home jobs, little brother."
"I'll have you know, this is not the first bar I've worked at," he replied defensively.
"Before the rock star thing worked out, I'm guessing."
He rolled his eyes. "I did work some regular jobs back then."
"That's been awhile, Frisco." Tony's voice was weary, aged. "I'm not the only one getting old."
He had a point and Frisco knew it. He knew he wasn't a young man anymore. He had the teenage daughters and facial lines to prove it. Hell, he had the seniority in the WSB to prove it, as if he needed another reminder.
A young man, well dressed in a designer suit, entered the bar and approached the two men. He held an envelope and a clipboard in his hands. "Agent Jones?" he asked, looking between them.
Frisco's jaw tightened slightly as he smiled at the young man. "I'm Agent Jones."
The young man handed him the clipboard. "Please sign at the bottom."
Frisco eyed the paper. Received by requesting agent, confidential information, destroy as needed, yada, yada, yada... Nothing he hadn't seen a hundred times. He signed where he was directed and handed the clipboard back. The young man gave him the envelope and turned to the door. "Good day, Agent Jones," he said as he left.
"Yeah, you too," Frisco grumbled as he opened the envelope. He glanced over the document anxiously, feeling his brother's eyes staring a hole in him.
"I thought you were inactive," Tony said suspiciously.
The agent stuffed the papers back into the envelope quickly. "I am. It's just some paperwork."
"What kind of paperwork?"
He turned his head slowly, looking his brother straight in the eye. "What's with all the questions? Don't you trust me, Tony?"
Frisco watched his brother squirm. He guiltily knew he'd put him between a rock and a hard place with that question. Tony would never admit he didn't trust his younger brother, not like this. He could always be counted on for support, even if he disagreed with whatever Frisco was doing at the time.
"There's something you're not telling me," Tony said cautiously.
The younger man rolled his eyes. "There's a lot I haven't told you. That doesn't answer the question."
The answer did not come easily. It sounded more like a concession. "Okay, okay. I'll take your word for it."
Frisco frowned, unable to deny his disappointment. In other words, Tony didn't trust him.
Carly sat at a corner table at Kelly's. The table was covered between the two laptops. God, she was glad for the wireless network connection in Frisco's computer, otherwise she'd be left back in that stuffy loft. Stuck with all the reminders of Pollyanna, who was off on her honeymoon with Jason. Not her idea of a good afternoon.
"Having problems?"
She looked up. Elizabeth Webber stood on the other side of the table, smiling. Carly didn't know exactly how to react. They had never been friends. In fact, they had been anything but. It was because of Liz that she had ended up in Sonny's arms in the first place.
But it wasn't Carly sitting at that table, not as Liz knew anyway. Frisco had lectured her a dozen times on that point since coming to Port Charles. She was a complete stranger and was expected to act as such, even to the people she hated before. She had to at least be nice, a lot was riding on her behavior. "Can't figure out what's wrong with the stupid thing," she said, uneasily returning the young woman's smile.
"I know nothing about computers," she said casually, "but I'm sure my ex could help you. He used to be a computer wiz."
"I'll figure it out eventually," Carly replied, trying to mask her annoyance. Yeah, like she needed any advice from Liz Webber or Lucky's help. She'd do this on her own. "It's... It's just frustrating."
"Can I get you anything? More tea?"
She went back to the computer, waving dismissively. "That'd be good. Thanks."
Liz walked away, just long enough to bring her another small pot of hot water and another tea bag. "I hope chamomile is alright."
"It's great."
She gave the younger woman a polite smile. Liz left to take care of other customers; Carly turned her focus back on the broken laptop. She hit a few keystrokes, tried to access a strangely named hidden directory. Windows disappeared and the screen suddenly turned blue.
The dreaded Blue Screen Of Death.
Again.
She groaned frustratedly. That was the third time she'd gotten the BSOD, third different directory she couldn't access. There was definitely something up with this damn machine. She jotted down the third different error code and looked it up on Frisco's laptop as Jason's rebooted.
Part of her wanted to strangle herself for giving in so easily to Jason. She was getting in over her head with this stupid thing, all because she couldn't say no to him.
The doors to Kelly's suddenly flew open, grabbing the attention of everyone. Carly turned her head and watched in disbelief as her uncle strolled dramatically into the diner. "Good afternoon, all you beautiful human beings!" Luke shouted cheerfully from the doorway, his arms spread as wide as the devious grin on his face, the doors slamming shut behind him.
For once, the usually busy and noisy diner was silent, all eyes on Luke. Liz was the first to break the silence. "Are you drunk, Luke?" she asked, throwing down the towel in her hands, not bothering to hide her annoyance.
People began to go back to their own business, most snickering or shaking their heads. "Nope," he answered, uncharacteristically gleeful. "Just had a wonderfully refreshing day off."
"So you came here to bother the customers?"
He shrugged. "I own half of the place, why not?"
Liz just shook her head and went back to the counter.
"Looks like you lost your audience," Carly said, just loud enough for him to hear.
Luke joined her at the small table. "Not all of it, I see."
"You shouldn't be seen out in public. My husband's liable to hunt you down. He didn't appreciate the mess you left for him."
"Hey, he was the one that wanted a job!" Luke shot back defensively.
"You knew what he was asking, Luke," she reminded him. "It wasn't spending all afternoon on the phone sucking up to distributors you forgot to pay."
Luke just shrugged nonchalantly, as if it were nothing. He flashed his usual roguish grin. "Can you blame me for trying to get a little something out of the guy?"
Carly sat back in the chair and crossed her arms, not sure how to respond to that. Luke Spencer was a real piece of work, hardly worth her energy and probably best left to Frisco's temper.
Liz came over to check on her. "You can tell him to leave at any time, if he's bothering you," she told Carly, looking pointedly at Luke. "I'll make sure he goes somewhere else."
"Oh yeah? What do you think you're going to do?" he asked her teasingly.
"I'll tell Bobbie and have you barred from here for life." She poked him in the shoulder as punctuation. "No more Kelly's ATM for you."
Luke looked between the two young women, grinning without a single ounce of guilt. "Hey, have you met Robin?" he asked the petite brunette, changing the subject.
Liz smiled at Carly. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Elizabeth."
Carly returned the polite smile, tightening her unseen hand into a fist. "I remember seeing you at party the other night," she said, grudgingly making conversation. "You were with some dark haired hunk, right?"
"Yeah, my boyfriend," Liz answered, smiling happily. "Ric runs The Cellar with Carly."
"How funny," Luke said, wiggling his brows mischievously at his niece. "You two have something in common. Robin's new hubby is running my club."
Carly opened her mouth to comment, but Liz beat her to it. "That would explain why you're not there, running off your own customers," she scoffed, a sardonic smirk on her face.
"You know, Elizabeth darlin', I bet you and Robin here would get along real well. You both give me a hard time."
Carly resisted the urge to kick Luke under the table, instead deciding to give him a dirty look. The look only seemed to egg him on. "Why don't you take a load off and join us, Elizabeth? Robin's new to Port Chuckles and doesn't really know anyone except Courtney and my ungrateful niece. I'm sure she could use a friend that's not directly connected to the mob, considering her husband's usual profession."
As soon as they were alone, Frisco's temper wouldn't be the only one Luke would have to face. Carly wanted five minutes alone with her uncle. She was going to rip him apart with her bare hands. The nerve of him, trying to force her into making friends with Liz for no reason other than to amuse himself.
Liz pulled up a chair and sat down, much to Carly's dismay. "I remember Lucky mentioning something about a Frisco Jones years ago. He's a WSB agent, right?"
"Most of the time, yes," Carly answered.
Luke got up with a smirk, winking at his niece. "I'm sure Robin will tell you all about the man. I'm going to make sure my club's still in one piece."
"Give hubby dearest my undying love," Carly told him as insincerely as possible without tipping off the young woman.
He saluted her as he walked out. "Will do."
If Carly could've gotten away with leaving, she would've run after him. The bastard had left her alone with Lizzie fucking Olsen. She was so going to kill him.
"What exactly does the WSB do, if you don't mind me asking?" Liz asked curiously. "I don't know much about them."
Carly sighed. Questions that would only lead to more questions, questions she didn't want to answer, especially not to Elizabeth. This was going to be a long conversation, she could feel it in her gut. Luke was so going to pay for this.
Carly practically attacked Frisco the second he walked in the door of the loft. He'd brought home dinner from the club, burgers and fries for both of them. The only advantage to living with Frisco, he happily fed her junk food habit and Luke's Place had the best cheese fries in town. "Cheese fries are mine!" she demanded, grabbing the plastic bag with two styrofoam boxes from his hands. She hopped away, keeping the bag just out of his grasp.
Frisco smirked. "Touch them and you won't get your present," he said, teasing her.
"What present? You got me a present?" she asked excitedly.
He pointed to the bag. "Hands off the cheese fries," he ordered.
She dropped the boxes on the kitchen counter and took a step away from them, a big grin on her face. "They're all yours."
He handed her the envelope from the WSB. She ripped it open eagerly, not even looking at the outside. She flipped through the papers. "What is this?"
Frisco pulled the boxes from the bag, claiming the box with the cheese fries for himself, and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. "The information you asked for," he said, making himself comfortable at the table. "Charlotte's hospital records from Florida."
She read the first page closely, leaning against the counter. It was a summary of the file, the record of a Jane Doe. "This is Charlotte? You're sure?"
He nodded. "She's the only Jane Doe in the time frame that fits the story."
She glanced through the other pages. She recognized some of the terms and language from nursing school, but she'd need a medical dictionary and her old textbooks to really make sense of the details. "Doesn't say much. Just a bunch of medical mumbo jumbo."
"Oh, I don't know about that," he said with a sly smile.
She glared at him. She hated when he got vague like that. "Show me the part that helps me."
He put a fry in his mouth, then took a swig of beer. "Billing statement."
She flipped to the last page. She saw the part he meant at the bottom of the page and read it out loud. "Paid by third party in cash, no name given." She lowered the file. "Who's the third party?"
He shrugged. "Don't know."
"So where did she go when she was released from the hospital?"
"Don't know."
Carly rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. "That is so helpful, Frisco," she sarcastically snapped.
"It's being investigated," Frisco assured her. "I've got an agent pursuing the family angle starting tomorrow. We'll track the money from here."
"They paid in cash. You're never going to find anything."
"She had to live on something all those years while she was following you. We find her source of income in New York, I bet we'll find who paid her hospital bill." He shrugged again. "That's just my hunch, though."
Carly sat down at the table across from him and pulled the Styrofoam box to her. "The WSB is willing to investigate this?" she asked softly.
Frisco didn't answer immediately. "Call it reevaluating the risk assessments," he told her finally. He sat back, taking a deep breath. "Carly, all they gave me was the one agent. He's going to handle the investigation in Florida; we're going to have to do the rest, until we've got something more solid to show Washington." He paused. "It took a lot of sweet talking to get even that."
Sweet talking, huh? She smiled in satisfaction. "So you admit I'm right about her?"
His expression remained neutral. "I admit nothing." He reached for the box. "Now hand over the cheese fries."
"Hell no!" she cried, slapping his hands away. "Medical records don't qualify as a present!"
Her efforts were in vain however. He got enough of a hold on the box to get it away from her. "Too bad, they're mine."
"Shut up!"
Frisco picked up a fry and waved it triumphantly. "You first."
A knock on the door startled both of them. They looked at each other. They weren't expecting anyone. Frisco reached for the gun he kept holstered on his ankle as Carly walked to the door. She took one look back at him before opening the door.
Carly was stunned to see Georgie standing on the other side. She gave the girl a soft smile. "Hi," she said, surprised. She moved aside to let her in. "Honey," she nearly choked on the word, "Georgie's here."
The teen walked in all smiles, her boyfriend nervously trailing behind her. Frisco hurriedly re-holstered his weapon, but not quick enough for his daughter not to notice. "Ankle holster?" she asked unsurprised, pointing to the gun as he stood up.
"Habit," he replied, shrugging.
Frisco stayed near the table, unsure of what to do. Luckily for him, Georgie made the first move. She walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He hugged her tightly, enjoying having his daughter in his arms. "I'm glad you stopped by."
She pulled away, still smiling. "Well, Dillon and I were in the neighborhood..."
He eyed her dubiously.
"Or not..." she said guiltily. "Anyways, I thought since you're home a little while, maybe we could go out to dinner on Friday? Me, Maxie, you," she glanced back at Carly, "and Robin."
Frisco and Carly looked at each other in surprise. "Yeah, that'd be great," he replied disbelievingly. "How does the Port Charles Grille sound? Say 8 o'clock?"
Georgie smiled happily. "Sounds great! I'll let Maxie know!" Dillon cleared his throat. Georgie looked back at her boyfriend. "We have to go. Dillon's taking me to some old movie."
"It's not just some old movie," Dillon said. "It's Casablanca."
Frisco chuckled. "Have fun. It's a good movie."
She hugged her father again and headed out the door with Dillon. "See you Friday!" she said, waving as she left.
"Bye," Carly said to her stepdaughter. She closed the door and turned back to Frisco. "Congratulations."
He was grinning from ear to ear, happier than she'd ever seen him. "My daughters want to see me," he said, sounding as if he didn't quite believe it.
She smiled sadly. She was happy for him, she knew how much those girls meant to him, but she couldn't help feeling jealous. She loved Michael just as much, and she wanted him back.
A plan began to form in Carly's mind. Michael was so close, she couldn't stay away any longer. Tomorrow she'd find a way to get to her son.
Chapter 14
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