Chapter Three: Missing Angel

Sonny sat fuming at the desk in his office at the coffeehouse. He's picked up, and hung up, the phone more times than he'd like to count. How dare Alexis hang up on him last night after implying that his daughter wasn't important to him? His children, all of them, were important to him.

Snatching up the receiver, he hit the speed dial and waited for the connection. He listened to the ringing over the line, practicing in his mind all the ways he'd tell Alexis off. He probably wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise knowing her. He never could when it came to the lady lawyer, but he'd be damned if he didn't try. What she said last night really hurt.

He wasn't so caught up in whatever he had going on with Kate that he wouldn't take time to discuss Kristina. Hell, he wasn't even with Kate last night when she came over. He was upstairs on the phone with his sons, making sure he got to say goodnight to them… just as he does every night. Just as he does to Kristina every night.

And even if he was with Kate, what did it matter to her? What did it matter to her who he spent time with? She had no room to talk. Not when she insisted on spending all of her time with that maniac Jerry Jacks.

What was it about that woman that attracted self-absorbed, insane men? Men that could really do her some harm. Men that he would have to protect her and Kristina from.

Voicemail. Again.

"Alexis, it's Sonny," he said and sighed heavily. All the words he'd wanted to say. All the ways he wanted to make her feel as badly as she'd made him feel just wouldn't come out. And he had no idea why. "Uh… just… call me."

He hung up more upset now than before.

Sonny was more upset with himself than Alexis. Sure, she'd intentionally cut him deeply last night, but she was probably doing it out of frustration. A lot has been going in her life lately. First, the threat of Anthony Zacharra and the disruption that caused. She had to move herself and the girls to Wyndemere for protection. A place that had just as many bad memories. A place that reminded her of times in her life that she'd rather forget.

Then, there was his brother Ric and Jerry Jacks and the never ending stress they put her under.

Alexis was frustrated and lashing out at him last night. He knew it then, just as he knew it now. But there was something in her voice last night. Something he couldn't quite place and it worried him.

He found himself wondering if maybe her battle with cancer wasn't quite as over as they'd hoped when the door to his office swung open with a violent force. Best friend and enforcer Jason Morgan walked inside and closed the door tightly after.

"We've got problems," Jason said in his usual dour manner. "Crimson Pointe has been stripped."

"What?" Sonny asked, irate.

"There is nothing there anymore," Jason said. "Just an empty estate." All the color drained from Sonny's face. "Somebody knew we were coming."

Sonny's jaw clenched tightly with anger and his dark eyes clouded over with unspoken rage. "You think Trevor tipped him off?"

Jason shrugged, honestly baffled at what could have happened. "I don't know. It's a possibility." He folded his arms across his chest. "It's also a possibility that Zacharra was never there at all. Trevor could have noticed the tail we had on him."

Rubbing a stern hand across his chin, Sonny conceded the notion. "Trevor's smart, he could have easily lead our guy to a vacant spot on purpose. While we're trying to figure out where Zacharra is… he's… making moves against us."

The thought that another threat could be brought down upon his family gave Sonny a horrible taste in his mouth. He looked at the pictures of his children that lined the desk. The thought that anything could happen to them, any one of them, made his skin crawl. He chose this life… not them. They shouldn't have to pay for his sins.

No one he cared about should have to pay for his sins…

"Alright, I want extra protection on my children, Carly, Kate… Alexis." He shared a look with Jason at the mention of Alexis. They both knew that she wouldn't accept the added security to her life but that point wasn't really up for discussion… from anyone. "Get Max and Milo underground to find anyone who works, has ever worked for, or knows someone who works for Zacharra and break them. I want to know anything there is to know about him… yesterday."

Jason nodded; cell phone already in hand to make the necessary calls. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to find Trevor Lansing and bring him to me." If his chilling tone of voice wasn't clue enough, the murderous look in his eyes gave away Sonny's intent. "It's time we put some much needed pressure on him."

Jason nodded and headed out the door. Opening it, he was faced with Kristina rushing in and wrapping her arms around his legs. She stared up at him with a wide grin while Viola stood just outside the door with Molly sleeping in her arms.

"Hey, Jason," Kristina said. Her cherubic face turning red when the tall blond man smiled down to her.

Bending down, Jason kissed the top of her head. "Peanut," he said, greeting her. He looked back to Sonny who was smiling despite the looming threat then excused himself, unwrapping Kristina from around his legs, who went running around him into her father's arms. He nodded to Viola and left.

Sonny pulled his daughter into a tight hug, reluctant to let her go. The thought that the danger surrounding his life could touch her, could for one instant take the light out of her eyes, forced all the air out of Sonny's lungs. He remembered when she and her brothers were kidnapped by Faith, remembered how lifeless and scared she was when she saw older sister Sam shoot and kill Diego Alcazar and he never wanted anything like that to happen to her again. Ever.

He kissed her cheek then brushed her hair behind her ear just the way she liked. "What are you doing here, Peanut?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be at your play date with Mandy?"

"Viola said she needed to talk to you before we went," Kristina answered, prompting Sonny to look up into the nanny's face. Even if he didn't know Viola as well as he did, Sonny knew he would have been able to tell something was wrong just by looking at her face. The poor girl looked as though she'd seen a ghost.

"It's regarding a personal matter about Miss Davis," Viola said, her voice cracking under obvious stress.

Sensing the news to be of a dire nature, and silently praying it had nothing to do with her cancer, Sonny bellowed for Max and Milo to enter the office.

"Hey," he greeted the men who entered promptly then looked to his daughter sitting on his lap. "Peanut, why don't you go and pick out some ice cream and snacks to take on your play date? Okay? Max and Milo will help."

Kristina's face contorted with confusion. "Dad, you never let me have sweets before dinner," the observant girl told him. Sonny smiled. She was so much like her mother.

"Well then I guess you better go before I change my mind, huh?"

He kissed her cheek and scooted her along.

"Max, take Molly, too," Sonny said. Whatever Viola had to say would upset her and he didn't want the baby to be privy to that. Alexis would never forgive him if he let someone upset her girls.

Viola let the bodyguard take the sleeping baby and watched him leave the room, closing the door softly behind him. Rising from his chair, Sonny offered Viola the seat in front his desk, noting how stiffly she sat down. This wasn't just nervousness… the girl was full of fear.

He walked to the wet bar and poured a glass of water for her. She drank it slowly, the glass shaking in her hands.

"Viola," Sonny's voice was surprisingly sensitive. "Tell me what's wrong."

The girl looked up into Sonny's face and she looked so fragile, like if he were to touch her she would crumble. "It's about Miss Davis."

"You said that."

"I'm sorry. I… just… I don't know who else to go to. Her nephew has been having emotional outbursts and… I just…"

"It's alright," Sonny consoled her. "Take a deep breath."

Viola did as instructed. The air filling in her lungs only seemed to choke her. "Miss Davis is missing."

The words hit Sonny like a ton of bricks.

"What?"

"She didn't arrive home last night on the last launch to the Island. I checked her room this morning and her bed hadn't been slept in. She would never go to sleep without talking to the girls and wishing them sweet dreams."

"What?" Sonny asked again, his brow creased in confusion. "I talked to Alexis last night. I called her."

"I spoke with her, too. She said she was at the docks awaiting the last launch. The ferryman said she didn't get on it."

The wheels in his head began to spin. None of the scenarios it conjured were pleasing. "Okay, okay, wait. Does Kristina know?"

"No," Viola adamantly shook her head. "I would never tell her anything like that. I told her that her mother probably left before she woke up. That she was probably busy with a big case."

Sonny had since moved from in front of the girl to the other side of the desk. He plopped down in the chair like the air had been forced from him. Running his hands through his hair, he couldn't think clearly.

"Missing?"

"I wanted to inform the police but she hasn't been missing a full twenty-four hours yet. They wouldn't be able… by then it… could be too late. Mr. Corinthos… she would never go to sleep without seeing the girls first or at least saying goodnight to them." The tears that brimmed her eyes fell now increasingly. "I'm sorry to just show up like this but… I didn't know what else to do."

"That's alright, Viola," Sonny assured her. "You did the right thing. Absolutely the right thing." He pulled out a tissue and handed it to the crying girl. "Alright," he said, walking again to her. "Pull yourself together and take Kristina and Molly to the play date. Don't let Kristina know anything."

"I won't, I promise. She's been through enough with Miss Davis' cancer." The idea hit her. "Could Miss Davis' cancer have come back? Could that be why she's… missing?"

"I don't know. I don't know. But I'll find out, okay? Everything will be fine."

Sonny wasn't sure who he was assuring the most: Viola or himself. He waited for her to leave with the girls before calling Max and Milo into the room. "I want the two of you to go and find Jerry Jacks and bring him to me. Alexis is missing and Jerry is her most dangerous client. Bring him to me but do it quietly. Can't have Jax and Carly involved. Then get Stan and have him put a trace on Alexis' and Jerry's phones. I want to know who they've been talking to."

His men left and Sonny sat alone in his office thinking about Alexis once again. Could the cancer have come back? Could she just need some time away to get herself together? But why wouldn't she try to keep some normalcy in the girl's life? Or could the dangerous life Jerry Jacks leads have been the cause of her disappearance? Or could his own impending danger have touched her.

He'd get answers. He had to. His daughter wouldn't lose her mother and he wouldn't lose one of his very best friends.

"What trouble has found you, Alexis?" Sonny whispered aloud. "And how do I save you from it?"