Notes ---

Ahh … So many excuses, so little space.

I shall spare you the billion reasons why it took so long to get back to this story and simply get on with it. (But partially in my defense I'll say … Guza/Frons/GH = ASS) *grin*

One small step for normal people, one giant leap for me.

I don't own GH or the characters, just the junk you see here.

Making A Memory

Chapter 56

"Where are we going?" Elizabeth asked as she drove down the deserted road.

"Somewhere we can be safe until I make arrangements for us to leave."

Mark continued to look around them suspiciously, though no one had been on the road with them for over an hour. Elizabeth worried at his paranoid state as she managed a quick glance at the gun ever present in his hand.

She still could not believe that someone so obviously disturbed had been clever enough to get them off of the well protected Corinthos property unharmed. If she hadn't been with him to see how it was done she never would have been able to guess how it was possible.

After she'd managed to coax him away from the house, and her children, Elizabeth had to admit that she'd hoped somewhere in the part of her that believed in miracles that one of the guards would catch them before they made it off the estate. It seemed virtually impossible to get out of there without being detected. She didn't consider the fact that he shouldn't have been able to get on the property in the first place.

It wasn't until he led her to the garage that she found out how he had; and realized that no one would be coming to save her.

She wondered at first if he thought to get a car and just ram his way through security in a hail of bullets and possibly kill them both. In his current state it wasn't that farfetched a notion. Then he went to one of the large wooden shelving systems that had been built into the walls for storage and opened a double cabinet at the bottom. Reaching inside he lifted what looked to be a panel of wood and engaged some sort of mechanism that came to life with a couple of low clicks. Before she knew what was happening, one of the shelving units swung out from the wall revealing an opening in the floor.

Elizabeth gasped in surprise and barely caught her breath when Mark grabbed her arm and brought her towards it. Looking down she just saw blackness and for a moment feared he meant to shove her into some kind of pit.

"Here," he said.

It was then she saw the flashlight he was handing her. With a shaking hand she took it from him and aimed the trembling beam of light into the void in the floor. A relieved breath left her when she saw the ladder rungs leading down.

"Hurry," Mark said as he pushed her to go ahead of him.

She turned and stuck a foot on the first rung and carefully made her way down. The flashlight in her hand made it difficult to navigate, but she reached the bottom without falling. She flashed the light around her and was only met with more darkness in what appeared to be an underground tunnel.

There wasn't enough time for her to get her bearings or even seriously contemplate the possibility of running when Mark was once again at her side having come down the ladder after her. It also occurred to her it might be foolish since he no doubt knew the area better than she did and could find her easily, not to mention it would make him angry; something she definitely wanted to avoid.

She looked up and saw that the opening they'd just come through was closed, which dimmed her hope of someone noticing anything amiss at the discovery of a secret passage suddenly appearing in the garage. That was unless anyone already knew there was a passage. The one person likely to be aware of it was in a hospital bed recovering from the injuries caused by the man next to her.

Elizabeth closed her eyes a second and hoped Sonny was recovering well. The guilt at her being the reason it happened and that two men were dead washed over her again. It lasted until Mark touched her and brought her back to the current danger she was in.

"This way."

She pointed the light in the direction he indicated and they began to walk. The ground was nothing but packed dirt and she stumbled occasionally on some rocks as he rushed her along. To alleviate some of the nerves in her stomach she decided to indulge her curiosity and ask him the question on her mind.

"How did you find this place?"

She felt more than saw the self-satisfied grin on his face.

"I was working on the car one day when I dropped a bolt into one of the drainage grates in the floor. When I went to get it out, I noticed part of the mechanism under the floor. I wondered what it was so I tried to trace the path of it. I had to remove some of the boards to do it, but that's when I found the latch that releases the door." He shook his head in remembrance. "I couldn't believe it when that door opened."

They soon stopped at another ladder and Mark climbed up and slid another door away from an identical hole to the previous one above it. He turned around after he'd lifted himself out and reached for her. She climbed up as well and was surprised to find they were in another house; one she'd never been in before.

"When I came through the tunnel this is what I found."

Elizabeth looked around as much as she could with just the flashlight to illuminate her surroundings. He came over and took it from her, turning it off.

"This house is supposed to be empty. We don't want to let anyone know we're here."

"Where exactly is here?" she asked. She rubbed her arms to ward off a chill, unsure if it was the lack of heat or circumstances which caused it.

"It's the house next door; the one with the statue in back."

She could remember seeing it from Sonny's backyard. It had a beautiful patio with a marble fountain in the middle of its tiled expanse. It hadn't been working, but she could tell it was a fountain because of the position of the figure, a cherub pouring from an urn, and the bowl like base that must have held the water as it flowed out from it.

"Seems it's been empty for awhile," he said casually. "Good thing, or I wouldn't have been able to use it to get to you."

She tried to match his enthusiastic smile with one of her own, but it came out weak. As he pushed back the door above the hole, she saw that it was a bookshelf in its everyday incarnation. The room they were in appeared to be a library. Though empty of furnishings, since the house wasn't occupied, she noticed all the walls except the one that held the fireplace were bookshelves.

When the passage was sealed again it looked as if it had never been there.

The open door opposite the fireplace let in the only light, moonlight from the glass panels on either side of the front door across a large round foyer.

Mark grabbed her hand suddenly and propelled them forward. They didn't linger in the house, but were soon outside and making their way to the garage of this house. In the driveway Elizabeth saw how he had come. A dirty looking two-door awaited them. He surprised her by thrusting a key into her hand.

"You drive."

"But I-I don't know where we're going," she replied nervously.

"I'll give you directions. Come on."

He opened the driver's side door for her to get in. The picture of a perfect gentleman; if it weren't for the gun he still held.

She got in and he closed the door behind her; the click sounding like a cell locking behind her. He was around the car and in the passenger seat by the time she started the engine.

Mark flicked off the headlights when she turned them on. "Leave them off until we get on the main road."

Hoping she wouldn't crash into anything she began to take it slow, then wondered if a crash would alert the guards next door. She couldn't seem to keep her mind still to focus on any one thing. Every action they both took was analyzed in her mind, searching for any opening that made an escape possible.

"Just coast until we hit the main road, then go right."

His words brought her back and she did as she was told. In mere moments they were on the highway where he told her to pick up speed. She couldn't help but watch as her life quickly disappeared in the rear view mirror. It was an effort not to cry at the thought of it, but she knew she had to watch her reactions and emotions to keep from agitating Mark.

He already looked on the verge, seeming to sense that they were out in the open with a possibility of being noticed. His gun remained poised and ready to fire at any sign of trouble as his eyes darted all about.

After the house was out of sight he flicked the headlights back on and told her to just drive.

Only a few directions had been given to her since then and she tried to memorize them in the event she was given the opportunity to get away. But the silence beyond that was getting to her. Her body was tense now that they were truly alone and she was at the mercy of his madness. He continued to be overly alert and it made her skittish. She needed him to be in a calm state to have any chance of survival. It was then she decided to engage him in conversation; which was also a way to gain any information that could prove useful.

"It was amazing the way you got us out of there without the guards knowing." When she slid a glance his way he grinned, indicating he was pleased with her statement. "I wonder why Sonny wouldn't have such a vulnerability in his home secured?" She impressed herself a bit at the minimum of shaking in her voice.

Mark gave a small sniff at that. "I tried to tell him about it after I found it, but the big man was too busy to give me the time of day. Arrogant bastard." He sneered at the remembered slight. "Since he was so smart I figured he could find it on his own."

He chuckled to himself and Elizabeth breathed out her disappointment. That answered that question. Sonny wasn't aware of the passage, which meant no one else was. Her disappearance would be a complete mystery once discovered and the source of their escape would give no clues to those looking for her. She'd hoped maybe Mark left some evidence behind that could be found and hint at her whereabouts.

Every sign kept pointing to the fact that she was on her own, and the farther they got the lonelier she felt.

"Why do you think it was there?" Nothing else he could tell her would be helpful, but at this point she spoke just to keep herself from going crazy in the silence.

"I looked it up when I found it. Sometimes in those old houses, men would make secret passages so their mistresses could come and go undetected."

It took all her strength not to flinch when he reached out and pushed her hair behind her ear. The single act disgusted her in ways she couldn't explain. That was as intimate as kissing to her. It belonged only to her and her husband. She wanted to scream at him that he had no right to touch her that way, no right to take her from Jason and her children for his own selfish reasons.

Instead she stayed still and gritted her teeth to keep quiet. Maybe silence had its benefits.

Spinelli started into wakefulness when he heard the Star Wars theme playing; which was the unique ringtone of his phone. It was on a low sound setting, but he was a notoriously light sleeper. He squinted to see what time it was but his vision was still blurry from sleep. The warm weight of an arm across his chest kept him from moving too suddenly. He didn't wish to rouse his Fair One from her peaceful slumber.

It hadn't been long that they'd been sleeping in the same bed, yet he couldn't remember what it had been like without her there. Though they had so far not experienced the coital pleasures together, he was still happier than he'd ever been. He felt powerful as the Goth God Zune when she told him how safe she felt in his arms and that she didn't have nightmares anymore. That was worth more than any delights of the flesh.

Of course he still really, really, really wanted those as well. But he would wait forever for her. His only concern was her comfort and state of well being.

He attempted to slide carefully out from under her arm. In doing so he ended up balanced precariously at the edge of the bed; losing his battle with gravity he ended up on the floor with a resounding thud. He took a moment to recover the breath that was knocked out of him and heard the remaining occupant of the bed whimper in her sleep. The top half of his head popped up at eye level over the side of the bed to make sure she was alright. When her eyes remained shut he quickly reached up and grabbed the phone from its cradle on the nightstand; his eyes staying fixed on the face of his lady love.

He pressed the button and answered in a whisper. "'Tis I … The Jackal."

"Spinelli, I need you to get to your laptop now. I need some information."

"Stone Cold?" he returned in a slightly higher tone of surprise. When Georgie shifted on the bed he clapped his hand over his mouth and got down on the floor. "What does the Master require?" he whispered even more softly.

"Speak up! I can't hear you," Jason replied in annoyance.

"I'm making my way to my trusty laptop as we speak."

He proceeded to do a commando crawl across the floor of his now serenely green bedroom and out the door. When safely in the hallway, he stood and carefully pulled it almost closed behind him. He tiptoed down the hall and then ran down the stairs, skidding over the wood floor in his socks and coming to a stop in front of the desk where his laptop sat. As it powered on, he scrubbed a hand over his face to more thoroughly wake up.

"Your grasshopper awaits instruction," he said in his normal voice.

Jason did his best not to blow up. It wasn't the kid's fault he was in hell right now. Besides, if he didn't keep a handle on his emotions he would lose it and never get it together enough to find Elizabeth.

"I need the address of that doctor friend of Greer's."

He was almost positive that was who took his wife. The only other person to consider at the moment was Zacarra, but at the time he imagined Elizabeth was taken Zacarra thought he had him right where he wanted him just waiting to take his last breath. Sonny was out of commission from the bombing and nothing was stopping him, as far as he was concerned, from taking over Port Charles. So what would have been the point of kidnapping Elizabeth? It wouldn't gain him anything, and the one person who it would give him leverage over was supposedly cooling his heels in a basement.

The only person who was still on the loose and a threat to her was Mark. Jason could feel it in his gut that he was the one who took her. One contact of his they hadn't examined yet when they searched for her before was the good doctor. The one Elizabeth said gave Mark the drug to fake her death. If they were close enough for something like that, perhaps providing a hideout wouldn't be much of a stretch.

He'd heard Spinelli clicking at the keys and waited for an answer with a pen and paper in hand.

"Here we are," he finally replied. "Dr. Harry Mason. 1250 Corrigan Street. Great Neck, New York."

Jason jotted it down. One of his men would be heading there to have a little chat with Dr. Mason.

"And the name of the guy Conlan and Greer worked for before was Corelli, right?"

"Yeeeesss," Spinelli dragged out curiously as he looked at the information on his screen.

"I need his phone number."

The only other option he had to work with was that Corelli or one of his employees who knew Greer might have some idea of where he'd go. He wrote down the number as it was called out. This conversation was one he'd have to do personally; one boss to another.

With Sonny in the hospital, that's what he was.

"Uh … the grasshopper is puzzled. Does the Master still seek the hiding place of the Treacherous One? One would imagine he'd be hiding far, far away; in a country with no extradition treaty."

Jason felt his hot breath rush out across the knuckles of his hand holding the cell phone. "It's more urgent than just knowing where he is." He closed his eyes and said the words he hated more than anything, "Elizabeth's gone."

Spinelli gasped and asked shrilly, "Again?!"

As soon as the thoughtless word escaped his lips he put a fist to his mouth. He then used that fist to smack himself in the head in punishment. His friend needed his help and here he was subjecting him to his unfortunately chronic case of foot-in-mouth disease.

"Stone Cold … the Jackal apologizes most profusely for his insensitive and most inappropriate outburst. His only excuse is acute shock and dismay …"

He couldn't blame Spinelli. For a brief moment the same thing went through his mind. It was completely insane … and it was definitely the last time. Whoever had his wife right now was a dead man. And Jason would make it known that the same fate awaited anyone who dared attempt it again. There'd be no negotiation, no deals … no mercy.

"Just look for any information you can on Greer or Mason you may have missed. If you find anything call."

Jason hung up on Spinelli mid-sentence. He had too much to do.

First he called one of his men, who was especially adept at making people talk, to go and see Mason. He was ordered to make sure that the man's wife and child were not involved in any way. That ruthless he was not.

Meanwhile he made a call to Corelli as current boss of the Corinthos organization. It was an understanding he and Sonny had always had. If anything happened to him, Jason would have complete and unchallenged control of his territory. Sonny had that much faith in him.

Jason never liked being the boss. He'd done it before out of necessity, but truth be told, he'd been relieved to go back to his old job. In this instance though, he soaked up the power. He let it seep into his bones until it was a part of him. He didn't shy away from it or take it on reluctantly, because this time he would use it to get what he wanted. Elizabeth.

He dialed the number Spinelli gave him and waited for an answer. He took a slow deliberate breath and became more lethal than he'd ever been as an enforcer. It was the first time he was ever ready to say what he wanted and intend to get it, without apologies, without asking; just stating the fact of what was to be.

"Corelli," he stated matter-of-factly, "Jason Morgan calling." He stared straight ahead in the SUV he sat in on the side of the road. "I have a problem that needs to be dealt with … and you're going to help me."

"Well?!" Anthony came to the door of his study and faced down the man who stood before him, waiting for a response.

"W'We're still looking for him Mr. Zacarra," the man said fearfully.

"Whhhhhy … can't you idiots do one simple thing right?!" Anthony slammed his fist on the desk hard enough to make it shake.

"Something's going down s-sir," he said in an attempt to stem his bosses rage with some information. "He's got men out all over the city looking for something."

Anthony looked at him quizzically. "Something? Something like what?" he spat.

"I-I don't know boss," he replied; reluctant to give any negative answer. "But whatever it is, it's real important to him."

"Huh. Important you say?" Anthony rubbed his chin in thought. "If it's important enough … all I have to do is get my hands on it first and I'll have that bastard right where I want him." He rubbed his hands together and chuckled a bit gleefully. "If I can't get to Morgan … I'll just have to have Morgan come to me."

To be continued …

It's a short one, but at least I'm getting back in the swing of it. (Yes, Stella is still trying to get her groove back.) I still appreciate you guys reading/reviewing this story and inquiring about it during my gaps. I'm trying to get myself back together … We'll see how that goes since I've never been very together to begin with. Hee

Again, my Soaps GH Message Board pals keep me from disappearing into the cyber void with their support.