Entry tags:
Just Between Friends - Chapter 24
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 23
The first thing Frisco saw when he drove up to the cottage was the black Mercedes belonging to Skye Chandler Quartermaine. It didn't look like anyone was inside, so he assumed she was inside the house.
He stepped out of the WSB issued SUV and looked around. He walked along the side of the house. The small yard was surrounded by trees; windows were obstructed by bushes. The neighboring houses weren't visible. He would need to order a ton of perimeter alarms. Good thing the WSB had practically given him carte blanche, something that in its self made him suspicious, but he was far beyond questioning his bosses' reasoning.
Overall, the cottage was more isolated than some apartment in town, but it was far more defensible. Access in and out could be controlled. No false alarms brought on by innocuous tenants and their guests. Possible escape routes, should they be attacked.
"Like what you see, Agent Jones?" a smooth, feminine voice said from behind him.
Frisco turned around and saw Skye standing on the stairs, her hands on her hips and her red hair blowing in the breeze. "You must be Skye," he said. "Please, call me Frisco."
"You were one of Steffi's boys, weren't you?" she asked, with an amused smirk.
"Excuse me?"
"Steffi Brand. You look like one of the hot, young boy toys she 'managed' back in the day."
It had been years since he'd heard that name and even longer since any stranger had connected him with her. He was so far disconnected from that chapter of his life, it almost disturbed him that someone still knew. "That was a lifetime ago," he replied, rubbing his forehead awkwardly.
"Seems like it, doesn't it?" she agreed, sighing. She turned and walked back into the house.
He followed her. The inside wasn't much to look at. No decoration, the few pieces of furniture covered with sheets. Presumably, everything went with Jax and Brenda when they separately moved out. "So, how did you know Steffi?" he asked, making conversation.
"I was with a friend of hers, Mike..." Skye trailed off, thinking. "God, it's been so long, I can't even remember his last name."
He thought she'd looked vaguely familiar from the file photos, but he couldn't place from where before. The file had mentioned something about her singing, although he didn't connect it. He remembered Mike and the snotty redhead barely out of her teens that he'd "managed". "I remember you now. The boarding school brat. Didn't you end up singing in some dive in some little town?"
She nodded, with a slight roll of her eyes. "Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, and the guy that owned the dive was my first husband."
Tom Cudahy and their marriage was a pretty sordid tale, if he remembered her file correctly. "A friend of mine lives in Pine Valley," he said absently. "She's the police chief."
"Anna Devane," she replied. "My grandmother and my father have mentioned her a few times. And the Quartermaines talk about her constantly. They make her sound like some female James Bond. Rescuing people from deserted islands, saving the world and all sorts of other tall tales. Adam swears they're making those superwoman stories up."
Frisco chuckled. He was sure to someone that hadn't witnessed Anna's adventures, she probably did seem larger than life. "Guess you just had to know her when she lived here."
"I guess," Skye sighed. "Well, this is the place," she said, gesturing around and turning the conversation back to business. "The furniture is included. Would you like to go upstairs and see where my husband bedded his whore?"
Definitely very bitter, he concluded, by the way she asked that question. "How many bedrooms?" he asked, as if she hadn't just mentioned Jax and Brenda.
"Three."
"We'll take it."
She was taken aback. "That was awfully quick. You haven't seen the rest of the house yet."
"I spent last night on Luke Spencer's old couch," he snorted. "This looks like Shangri-La to me."
"You don't want to discuss this with your wife?"
He shrugged. "She trusts me," he told her, smirking. "I'm sure she'll love it."
Skye shook her head slightly, obviously trying to understand his eagerness. "You don't even know what the rent is."
He smiled flirtatiously. "Are you trying to talk me out of this, Skye?"
"No," she snapped. She closed her eyes momentarily, recomposing herself. "I just wasn't expecting an answer so quickly."
Frisco pulled out the papers delivered by the WSB earlier that morning. He handed all but the last to her. "This is what I'm offering."
She glanced at the top page, confused. The number, however, caught her eye. "This is three times what I'm asking. What's the catch?"
"This needs to look like a sale."
"Look like a sale?" She put her hands on her hips, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What the hell does that mean?"
"We need the appearance that you sold the house to me. The details are in the contract."
She glanced at the other pages. "Why don't you give me the gist of it," she said dubiously, crossing her arms, the papers dangling between two fingers.
"The WSB will create a title with my name on it and pay you that sum every month until we no longer need the house, then the new title will be replaced with the original, reverting possession back to you and you can do with the house what you please. With a few improvements, of course."
"Why on earth would you and the WSB go through all that trouble? Why not just make me an offer to buy it?"
That would be logical thing, he silently agreed. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you," he said with a small sigh.
"What are you at liberty to discuss with me?"
"Only the terms of the agreement."
"Okay, you want to use my house for god knows whatever it is you WSB guys do without my knowledge and I'm just supposed to take the cash and look the other way."
She wasn't convinced and worse yet, was now suspicious of him. He hated the decision his superiors had made. It was putting him in an exposed position. "We're not suggesting anything patently illegal. There's nothing that could get you in trouble. This agreement shields you from any legal responsibility."
"And if your latently illegal activities damage anything on my property?"
"The WSB will take care of all repairs before transferring the title back to you. You'll get the house back in perfect order."
"What if the house is unsalvageable?"
"You will be paid high market value for the property, plus a percentage extra."
"What are these improvements you mentioned?"
"We'll need to install a new security system. It'll improve the value of the property for you."
"What kind of system?"
The usual system was proprietary and would be removed when they left, replaced by a consumer system. But he wasn't going to tell her that. "State of the art, top of the line. The best the WSB's money and experience can buy."
She paused, obviously thinking. "Why should I agree to this? What's in it for me, besides the money?"
"You will be paid handsomely, more than you'd ever get renting to nobodies." She still didn't look convinced. He decided to bring out the big guns. "Look, Skye, you told me yourself your husband cheated on you here and you seem a little bitter about it. What do you care what happens to Brenda's house?"
He saw suspicion cross her face. "How did you know this was Brenda's?" she asked cautiously.
He knew he should've kept his mouth shut. Information was sometimes a bad thing. Especially when it wasn't information that hadn't yet been revealed. "My goddaughter lived here a few years ago," he said, covering.
"Oh, really," she shot back doubtfully. "And who would your goddaughter be?"
"Robin Scorpio. She was living with your brother Jason at the time."
"Until she told AJ about Michael. I've heard the story," she finished for him. She sighed, looking over the papers. "I need some time to think about this."
He handed her the last page and a pen from out of his jacket. "Fine, but I need to you to sign this right now."
She sighed again, this time in annoyance. "What is this?"
"Nondisclosure agreement," he answered. "Basically, our conversation is never to be repeated to anyone."
"I get it," she said. She signed her name and handed the pen and paper back to him.
Frisco walked to the door and paused. He turned back to Skye. "Please don't take very long considering the offer. I don't think I can take much more of Luke's couch."
Carly was amusing herself by tossing Fruit Loops at a snoring Luke when Frisco arrived back at the club. She looked up at him, a silly grin on her face.
"Still passed out?" he asked, leaning down over the back of the chair and grabbing a handful of cereal from the box in her lap.
She giggled as she threw another piece at Luke. "Yeah."
He ate the cereal in his hand before speaking again. "Bored?"
"Yeah."
"Well, don't waste the Fruit Loops," he said, grabbing another handful of cereal. "I'm sure he has peanuts or bolts or something else around here to throw at him."
"How'd it go?" she asked curiously, still throwing cereal at her uncle. "Did she say no?"
"She didn't give me an answer."
"I hope it's no."
He stepped away from the chair and towards the table where his files were. "I don't really care what you hope."
She set the box on the floor and turned around in the chair, kneeling and resting her elbows along the back. "Hey, what was the file the WSB dropped off this morning?"
"I thought you were asleep."
Carly rolled her eyes. "Luke's drunken moaning woke me up."
"Oh. It was just some paperwork for the cottage."
"Paperwork?" she asked, confused. "What kind of paperwork? You hadn't even met with her yet."
"They wanted the lease to look like we bought the place."
"Why?"
Frisco shrugged. "I assume they're going to use it beyond your protection. I guess they think WSB agents coming in and out of my house won't look quite so odd."
"Why not just buy it then?"
"Don't ask me. I don't bother to figure out the WSB's reasoning anymore. It interferes with the work."
Lucky knocked on the apartment door as he entered. "Dad?" he called out. He smiled politely at Frisco and Carly, who pointed to the sofa. He took one look at Luke passed out and groaned.
"Anything I can help you with, Lucky?" Frisco asked.
Something was obviously weighing on the younger man. "Nah, man. I just need to talk to Dad. But I guess it can wait."
"If you change your mind," the agent told him, "you know where to find me."
"Thanks. Can you just let me know when..." Lucky trailed off, gesturing to his father.
"Sure."
Lucky left, with Carly watching interestedly from the chair.
"Wonder what his problem is?" she asked.
"Don't know," Frisco replied thoughtfully.
She eyed him suspiciously. "Do you know something?"
He shot her a sarcastic grin. "I know lots of things."
"I meant about Lucky," she said, rolling her eyes. "You had that Frisco look again."
"Frisco look?" he asked, confused.
"You get this far off look when you're trying to put the little pieces of information together." She tried to imitate the look, but failed miserably. "I can see your mind actually working."
He smirked, amused by her take on his facial expressions. "Good to know."
"Don't worry, you don't do it in mixed company." She paused. "So, you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Lucky..." She grunted in frustration. "I hate it when you play dumb!" she grumbled.
"Excuse me, you were just talking about my 'Frisco look'."
"Excuse me, if you can't keep up with a simple conversation."
"Who do I look like? Sigmund Freud?" he snapped. "I don't know what's bothering the guy, okay?"
"If you don't want to tell me, fine. Just say so."
"There's nothing to tell, Carly. The kid was just acting kinda funky yesterday too. That's all. I know nothing."
She wasn't buying it. "Then what was the look for?"
"Nikolas was anxious to talk to him last night. I was simply wondering if something was up with Laura. Happy now?"
"Wha? Laura?" They both turned at the sound of Luke's raspy voice. He groaned from the sofa as he tried to sit up. "What are you saying, man?"
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Frisco said, slightly irritated. "Go find your son. He was just here looking for you."
The older man rubbed his eyes groggily. "Something happen to my angel?"
"We were just speculating, Luke," she told him. "Lucky didn't say what he wanted."
Luke finally woke up enough to notice the cereal. "Why the hell am I covered in Fruit Loops?"
"Breakfast is served!" Carly replied, laughing uncontrollably.
Even Frisco was snickering, trying to hide a smile. "Go downstairs, Luke," he ordered.
Frisco was slumped in one of the chairs across from Luke's desk, nursing a growing headache and a glass of scotch while Carly searched real estate listings. By dinner, he was sure the cottage had fallen through, something that didn't bother her one bit. She was convinced she could find something better. So she'd gotten on the internet and started looking. She'd been bugging him every once in a while with something she liked, but nothing was jumping out. Well, not at him anyway. She found some very pricey houses in very upscale neighborhoods she liked, of course. Like he or the WSB would even consider a house on the same block as the Quartermaines.
"Didn't you say something about needing a security system?" she asked, twirling her hair absently between her fingers. "This one has a state of the art system and a panic room, whatever that means."
At this point, he was beyond putting forth any effort. "It's a hidden room that can be locked from the inside, in case of a break in," he tiredly explained.
From the pictures, the house looked nice, and it wasn't terribly expensive. At least compared to some of the others she'd pulled up. A few gallons of paint and some decoration, she might even be able to call the place home. "Secret agents need secret rooms, right?" she said hopefully. "Like the one at the penthouse?"
"Put it on the maybe list."
Someone knocked on the door, as it swung open. "Frisco?" Skye asked, sticking her head through the doorway. She saw the two and stepped further into the room. "Luke told me I'd find you back here."
"Skye, this is Robin," Frisco said politely, but was simply going through the motions of introducing the two women.
"We've already met," Skye said, smiling sincerely at Carly. "It's nice to see you again, Robin."
"You, too," Carly replied, returning the smile.
"Did you make a decision?" the agent asked, sitting up.
Skye took the chair next to him. "I'll do it."
Frisco and Carly glanced at each other. Something about the redhead's answer didn't sound convincing. In fact, it sounded irritated more than anything.
"What made up your mind," he said, "if you don't mind me asking."
"The jerk deserves it!" Skye snapped. "He deserves to have that damn house burn to the ground!"
The jerk was obviously Jax.
"Do you know what he did?" she continued, oblivious to the lack of reaction. "That arrogant ass actually came to my family's home and demanded that I sell the house to him. Said that I couldn't rent his precious" - she rolled her eyes as she spit out the words - "cottage to a bunch of strangers. The nerve of him!"
Carly snickered, earning her a scolding look from Frisco. "How awful," he said emotionlessly.
"If the WSB wants his little love shack, the WSB can have it as far as I'm concerned."
"We appreciate your help on this matter."
The redhead stood. "Whatever. I don't care. Just as long as I get paid." She dug the keys out of her purse, as well as the papers Frisco had given her. She dropped them both on the desk. "You can move in whenever you want. It's all yours."
"Pleasure doing business with you," Frisco said, taking the contract and checking the signature.
"No, the pleasure is mine," Skye sneered, smiling resentfully. "Feel free to blow it up when you're done." She stormed out of the office.
"Geez! Bitter much?" Carly commented as soon as the redhead had disappeared.
"You would be too if you were her."
She smiled as she leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. "I would've taken care of the situation myself."
"I don't doubt that. You would've made Brenda regret the whole thing, I'm sure."
"Damn straight."
"You're the best at making people wish they'd never met you."
Carly glared at him. She wanted to smack him for such a backhanded insult. "No, I think you're taking the cake on that one these days, man." Her tone was unmistakable. She was pissed off.
Frisco smirked, albeit halfheartedly. "I don't think I could possibly live up to your distinguished example."
"Oh, shut up."
"You first."
Chapter 25
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 23
The first thing Frisco saw when he drove up to the cottage was the black Mercedes belonging to Skye Chandler Quartermaine. It didn't look like anyone was inside, so he assumed she was inside the house.
He stepped out of the WSB issued SUV and looked around. He walked along the side of the house. The small yard was surrounded by trees; windows were obstructed by bushes. The neighboring houses weren't visible. He would need to order a ton of perimeter alarms. Good thing the WSB had practically given him carte blanche, something that in its self made him suspicious, but he was far beyond questioning his bosses' reasoning.
Overall, the cottage was more isolated than some apartment in town, but it was far more defensible. Access in and out could be controlled. No false alarms brought on by innocuous tenants and their guests. Possible escape routes, should they be attacked.
"Like what you see, Agent Jones?" a smooth, feminine voice said from behind him.
Frisco turned around and saw Skye standing on the stairs, her hands on her hips and her red hair blowing in the breeze. "You must be Skye," he said. "Please, call me Frisco."
"You were one of Steffi's boys, weren't you?" she asked, with an amused smirk.
"Excuse me?"
"Steffi Brand. You look like one of the hot, young boy toys she 'managed' back in the day."
It had been years since he'd heard that name and even longer since any stranger had connected him with her. He was so far disconnected from that chapter of his life, it almost disturbed him that someone still knew. "That was a lifetime ago," he replied, rubbing his forehead awkwardly.
"Seems like it, doesn't it?" she agreed, sighing. She turned and walked back into the house.
He followed her. The inside wasn't much to look at. No decoration, the few pieces of furniture covered with sheets. Presumably, everything went with Jax and Brenda when they separately moved out. "So, how did you know Steffi?" he asked, making conversation.
"I was with a friend of hers, Mike..." Skye trailed off, thinking. "God, it's been so long, I can't even remember his last name."
He thought she'd looked vaguely familiar from the file photos, but he couldn't place from where before. The file had mentioned something about her singing, although he didn't connect it. He remembered Mike and the snotty redhead barely out of her teens that he'd "managed". "I remember you now. The boarding school brat. Didn't you end up singing in some dive in some little town?"
She nodded, with a slight roll of her eyes. "Pine Valley, Pennsylvania, and the guy that owned the dive was my first husband."
Tom Cudahy and their marriage was a pretty sordid tale, if he remembered her file correctly. "A friend of mine lives in Pine Valley," he said absently. "She's the police chief."
"Anna Devane," she replied. "My grandmother and my father have mentioned her a few times. And the Quartermaines talk about her constantly. They make her sound like some female James Bond. Rescuing people from deserted islands, saving the world and all sorts of other tall tales. Adam swears they're making those superwoman stories up."
Frisco chuckled. He was sure to someone that hadn't witnessed Anna's adventures, she probably did seem larger than life. "Guess you just had to know her when she lived here."
"I guess," Skye sighed. "Well, this is the place," she said, gesturing around and turning the conversation back to business. "The furniture is included. Would you like to go upstairs and see where my husband bedded his whore?"
Definitely very bitter, he concluded, by the way she asked that question. "How many bedrooms?" he asked, as if she hadn't just mentioned Jax and Brenda.
"Three."
"We'll take it."
She was taken aback. "That was awfully quick. You haven't seen the rest of the house yet."
"I spent last night on Luke Spencer's old couch," he snorted. "This looks like Shangri-La to me."
"You don't want to discuss this with your wife?"
He shrugged. "She trusts me," he told her, smirking. "I'm sure she'll love it."
Skye shook her head slightly, obviously trying to understand his eagerness. "You don't even know what the rent is."
He smiled flirtatiously. "Are you trying to talk me out of this, Skye?"
"No," she snapped. She closed her eyes momentarily, recomposing herself. "I just wasn't expecting an answer so quickly."
Frisco pulled out the papers delivered by the WSB earlier that morning. He handed all but the last to her. "This is what I'm offering."
She glanced at the top page, confused. The number, however, caught her eye. "This is three times what I'm asking. What's the catch?"
"This needs to look like a sale."
"Look like a sale?" She put her hands on her hips, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "What the hell does that mean?"
"We need the appearance that you sold the house to me. The details are in the contract."
She glanced at the other pages. "Why don't you give me the gist of it," she said dubiously, crossing her arms, the papers dangling between two fingers.
"The WSB will create a title with my name on it and pay you that sum every month until we no longer need the house, then the new title will be replaced with the original, reverting possession back to you and you can do with the house what you please. With a few improvements, of course."
"Why on earth would you and the WSB go through all that trouble? Why not just make me an offer to buy it?"
That would be logical thing, he silently agreed. "I'm not at liberty to discuss that with you," he said with a small sigh.
"What are you at liberty to discuss with me?"
"Only the terms of the agreement."
"Okay, you want to use my house for god knows whatever it is you WSB guys do without my knowledge and I'm just supposed to take the cash and look the other way."
She wasn't convinced and worse yet, was now suspicious of him. He hated the decision his superiors had made. It was putting him in an exposed position. "We're not suggesting anything patently illegal. There's nothing that could get you in trouble. This agreement shields you from any legal responsibility."
"And if your latently illegal activities damage anything on my property?"
"The WSB will take care of all repairs before transferring the title back to you. You'll get the house back in perfect order."
"What if the house is unsalvageable?"
"You will be paid high market value for the property, plus a percentage extra."
"What are these improvements you mentioned?"
"We'll need to install a new security system. It'll improve the value of the property for you."
"What kind of system?"
The usual system was proprietary and would be removed when they left, replaced by a consumer system. But he wasn't going to tell her that. "State of the art, top of the line. The best the WSB's money and experience can buy."
She paused, obviously thinking. "Why should I agree to this? What's in it for me, besides the money?"
"You will be paid handsomely, more than you'd ever get renting to nobodies." She still didn't look convinced. He decided to bring out the big guns. "Look, Skye, you told me yourself your husband cheated on you here and you seem a little bitter about it. What do you care what happens to Brenda's house?"
He saw suspicion cross her face. "How did you know this was Brenda's?" she asked cautiously.
He knew he should've kept his mouth shut. Information was sometimes a bad thing. Especially when it wasn't information that hadn't yet been revealed. "My goddaughter lived here a few years ago," he said, covering.
"Oh, really," she shot back doubtfully. "And who would your goddaughter be?"
"Robin Scorpio. She was living with your brother Jason at the time."
"Until she told AJ about Michael. I've heard the story," she finished for him. She sighed, looking over the papers. "I need some time to think about this."
He handed her the last page and a pen from out of his jacket. "Fine, but I need to you to sign this right now."
She sighed again, this time in annoyance. "What is this?"
"Nondisclosure agreement," he answered. "Basically, our conversation is never to be repeated to anyone."
"I get it," she said. She signed her name and handed the pen and paper back to him.
Frisco walked to the door and paused. He turned back to Skye. "Please don't take very long considering the offer. I don't think I can take much more of Luke's couch."
Carly was amusing herself by tossing Fruit Loops at a snoring Luke when Frisco arrived back at the club. She looked up at him, a silly grin on her face.
"Still passed out?" he asked, leaning down over the back of the chair and grabbing a handful of cereal from the box in her lap.
She giggled as she threw another piece at Luke. "Yeah."
He ate the cereal in his hand before speaking again. "Bored?"
"Yeah."
"Well, don't waste the Fruit Loops," he said, grabbing another handful of cereal. "I'm sure he has peanuts or bolts or something else around here to throw at him."
"How'd it go?" she asked curiously, still throwing cereal at her uncle. "Did she say no?"
"She didn't give me an answer."
"I hope it's no."
He stepped away from the chair and towards the table where his files were. "I don't really care what you hope."
She set the box on the floor and turned around in the chair, kneeling and resting her elbows along the back. "Hey, what was the file the WSB dropped off this morning?"
"I thought you were asleep."
Carly rolled her eyes. "Luke's drunken moaning woke me up."
"Oh. It was just some paperwork for the cottage."
"Paperwork?" she asked, confused. "What kind of paperwork? You hadn't even met with her yet."
"They wanted the lease to look like we bought the place."
"Why?"
Frisco shrugged. "I assume they're going to use it beyond your protection. I guess they think WSB agents coming in and out of my house won't look quite so odd."
"Why not just buy it then?"
"Don't ask me. I don't bother to figure out the WSB's reasoning anymore. It interferes with the work."
Lucky knocked on the apartment door as he entered. "Dad?" he called out. He smiled politely at Frisco and Carly, who pointed to the sofa. He took one look at Luke passed out and groaned.
"Anything I can help you with, Lucky?" Frisco asked.
Something was obviously weighing on the younger man. "Nah, man. I just need to talk to Dad. But I guess it can wait."
"If you change your mind," the agent told him, "you know where to find me."
"Thanks. Can you just let me know when..." Lucky trailed off, gesturing to his father.
"Sure."
Lucky left, with Carly watching interestedly from the chair.
"Wonder what his problem is?" she asked.
"Don't know," Frisco replied thoughtfully.
She eyed him suspiciously. "Do you know something?"
He shot her a sarcastic grin. "I know lots of things."
"I meant about Lucky," she said, rolling her eyes. "You had that Frisco look again."
"Frisco look?" he asked, confused.
"You get this far off look when you're trying to put the little pieces of information together." She tried to imitate the look, but failed miserably. "I can see your mind actually working."
He smirked, amused by her take on his facial expressions. "Good to know."
"Don't worry, you don't do it in mixed company." She paused. "So, you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Lucky..." She grunted in frustration. "I hate it when you play dumb!" she grumbled.
"Excuse me, you were just talking about my 'Frisco look'."
"Excuse me, if you can't keep up with a simple conversation."
"Who do I look like? Sigmund Freud?" he snapped. "I don't know what's bothering the guy, okay?"
"If you don't want to tell me, fine. Just say so."
"There's nothing to tell, Carly. The kid was just acting kinda funky yesterday too. That's all. I know nothing."
She wasn't buying it. "Then what was the look for?"
"Nikolas was anxious to talk to him last night. I was simply wondering if something was up with Laura. Happy now?"
"Wha? Laura?" They both turned at the sound of Luke's raspy voice. He groaned from the sofa as he tried to sit up. "What are you saying, man?"
"Good morning, sleepyhead," Frisco said, slightly irritated. "Go find your son. He was just here looking for you."
The older man rubbed his eyes groggily. "Something happen to my angel?"
"We were just speculating, Luke," she told him. "Lucky didn't say what he wanted."
Luke finally woke up enough to notice the cereal. "Why the hell am I covered in Fruit Loops?"
"Breakfast is served!" Carly replied, laughing uncontrollably.
Even Frisco was snickering, trying to hide a smile. "Go downstairs, Luke," he ordered.
Frisco was slumped in one of the chairs across from Luke's desk, nursing a growing headache and a glass of scotch while Carly searched real estate listings. By dinner, he was sure the cottage had fallen through, something that didn't bother her one bit. She was convinced she could find something better. So she'd gotten on the internet and started looking. She'd been bugging him every once in a while with something she liked, but nothing was jumping out. Well, not at him anyway. She found some very pricey houses in very upscale neighborhoods she liked, of course. Like he or the WSB would even consider a house on the same block as the Quartermaines.
"Didn't you say something about needing a security system?" she asked, twirling her hair absently between her fingers. "This one has a state of the art system and a panic room, whatever that means."
At this point, he was beyond putting forth any effort. "It's a hidden room that can be locked from the inside, in case of a break in," he tiredly explained.
From the pictures, the house looked nice, and it wasn't terribly expensive. At least compared to some of the others she'd pulled up. A few gallons of paint and some decoration, she might even be able to call the place home. "Secret agents need secret rooms, right?" she said hopefully. "Like the one at the penthouse?"
"Put it on the maybe list."
Someone knocked on the door, as it swung open. "Frisco?" Skye asked, sticking her head through the doorway. She saw the two and stepped further into the room. "Luke told me I'd find you back here."
"Skye, this is Robin," Frisco said politely, but was simply going through the motions of introducing the two women.
"We've already met," Skye said, smiling sincerely at Carly. "It's nice to see you again, Robin."
"You, too," Carly replied, returning the smile.
"Did you make a decision?" the agent asked, sitting up.
Skye took the chair next to him. "I'll do it."
Frisco and Carly glanced at each other. Something about the redhead's answer didn't sound convincing. In fact, it sounded irritated more than anything.
"What made up your mind," he said, "if you don't mind me asking."
"The jerk deserves it!" Skye snapped. "He deserves to have that damn house burn to the ground!"
The jerk was obviously Jax.
"Do you know what he did?" she continued, oblivious to the lack of reaction. "That arrogant ass actually came to my family's home and demanded that I sell the house to him. Said that I couldn't rent his precious" - she rolled her eyes as she spit out the words - "cottage to a bunch of strangers. The nerve of him!"
Carly snickered, earning her a scolding look from Frisco. "How awful," he said emotionlessly.
"If the WSB wants his little love shack, the WSB can have it as far as I'm concerned."
"We appreciate your help on this matter."
The redhead stood. "Whatever. I don't care. Just as long as I get paid." She dug the keys out of her purse, as well as the papers Frisco had given her. She dropped them both on the desk. "You can move in whenever you want. It's all yours."
"Pleasure doing business with you," Frisco said, taking the contract and checking the signature.
"No, the pleasure is mine," Skye sneered, smiling resentfully. "Feel free to blow it up when you're done." She stormed out of the office.
"Geez! Bitter much?" Carly commented as soon as the redhead had disappeared.
"You would be too if you were her."
She smiled as she leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. "I would've taken care of the situation myself."
"I don't doubt that. You would've made Brenda regret the whole thing, I'm sure."
"Damn straight."
"You're the best at making people wish they'd never met you."
Carly glared at him. She wanted to smack him for such a backhanded insult. "No, I think you're taking the cake on that one these days, man." Her tone was unmistakable. She was pissed off.
Frisco smirked, albeit halfheartedly. "I don't think I could possibly live up to your distinguished example."
"Oh, shut up."
"You first."
Chapter 25