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The Quintessential Q
Chapter Sixty One
Details.
Bands of rose rest on the horizon as the sun comes up another day. Gradually the night retreats as do the hard working people of Courtland Street. The hookers head home for a few hours sleep before catching the nooner crowd. The dealers go back to their cribs to count their money and the stupider among them to sample their own product. Johnny comes out of all night convenience store with what passes for coffee. He'd winces when he takes the first sip and clears his throat. When this is all over he's going to come back and give this guy one of Jason and Sonny's legit business cards. Johnny rubs the back of his neck. He'd been out here all night. He closes his eyes for an instant. The wrong instant, a white panel van passes him with two occupants. A van heading to the right part of town having already finished it's business in this part of town.
"One more time through." Johnny says to himself. "Maybe in the daylight..."
Jerry leans his head back against the wall in the interrogation room of the PCPD and crosses his arms then closes his eyes. Taggart was taking his sweet time. He'd told Carly to be fast but did the girl listen... nooo. Jerry snorts. The cop hadn't needed to be distracted. Already facing disciplinary action for having his protectee on the news he'd what the hecked and held Carly's purse while Jerry held her coat. Not totally derelict in his duties he'd wanted to frisk Carly before sending her in. Jerry veto'd that one knowing it would bring around too many memories of the searches back in Ferncliffe. Carly promised the cop earnestly she wasn't going to kill Viki Porter, just mess her up a bit. It had taken Taggart long enough to show up, long enough for Carly to get a few rounds in. Taggart had steam coming out of his ears when he arrived and groaned when he'd seen Jerry. Jerry grins at the memory.
"Where is she?" Taggart does his best to be intimidating. Jerry just smirks but the cop's cowed.
"Um well, Sir, I...I..." The cop stutters when Taggart focuses full glare on him. The cop doesn't need to continue since just then there's the sound of a glass object hitting the wall and a voice Taggart's too familiar with from behind the door.
"You throw like a girl." Carly sneers. She blocks Viki so she can't get around her and is ready to finish what she started when the door behind her opens. Carly doesn't turn around at the noise; she'd been expecting company. "Go away, Taggart!" Carly glares Viki who had started to get brave when the Lieutenant showed up.
"I want her arrested for assault!" Viki screeches. "Do you see what she did to my face, my nose?"
"Oh please! I told you were rooked by that plastic surgeon ages ago. I'm doing you a favor. I think those caps could use a little work too." Carly closes in on Viki again but Taggart comes up behind her and grabs Carly around the waist lifting her up and away from Ms Porter. He carries the struggling Carly out into the hallway. The cop shuts the door so that Carly can't get back in.
"Check on your charge, Officer." Taggart orders. "And call dispatch for relief. They can take Ms Porter to the hospital while you come back to the station to give me your report." The officer nods and hands Jerry Carly's pocketbook.
"Good luck, Mate." Jerry pats the cop on the shoulder.
"Same to you. I think we're both going to need it."
"You both know the way to the station." Taggart grinds between gritted teeth.
"Why?!" Carly protests straightening her shirt and brazening the situation out. "Viki and I were just having a... spirited discussion."
"Yeah, and we're going to have one too. Down at the station. I don't have time for this garbage."
Jerry doesn't open his eyes. "What are you doing, Caroline?"
"Saving Taggart some time. Where the hell is he anyway?" Carly complains. "I have to get home. AJ is probably worried."
"Oh I bet AJ knows exactly where you are unlike your mum who thinks I'm over at your house keeping you out of trouble."
"Aren't I suppose to get a phone call or something."
"Oh I'm sure you will... eventually." Jerry opens his eyes to see what Carly is doing. She is over at the bulletin board that outlines the case. She'd grabbed a marker and was crossing off Katherine's name and adding Orchid's name to the top of the very long list-- half of which Taggart has already crossed off.
"Do you have the picture with you?" Carly asks Jerry.
Jerry searches his pocket and comes up with the folded up print out of the video capture. He folds it up into an airplane and wings it to Carly. She snatches it up and presses it flat again then pins it to the bulletin board with Orchid's face circled. "You think that's going to get you out of the dog house with Taggart?"
"Yep. But he's still going to be ticked." Carly acknowledges. "He hates when I solve his crimes for him."
"What in the hell do you think you're doing!" Taggart slams the door behind him. "Get away from that board!" Taggart checks the board out and sees the changes Carly made. "Who is this? And where did you get this picture?"
Nikolas crashes on the couch in Stefan's study. Stefan had protested, Mrs L had protested but he held his ground. Having dealt with Stefan for years, he knew if he wasn't sitting right on top of the phone and fax machines what ever he got from Stefan would be sanitized... to protect him. Lucky was still doing searches back at the carriage house. Tracking down names, vehicles, residences, credit card charges, banking information. As soon as Lucky had come up with Orchid's address, Nikolas had relayed it to Stefan via phone and then headed back to Wyndemere after Lucky had kicked him out of the carriage house for looking over his shoulder. Stefan sits at his desk re-reading the same page over and over until the phone rings. Stefan pounces on it on the first ring but it's too late; Nikolas is awake. When he hears Stefan say Reese's name, Nikolas hits the speaker on the phone. Stefan reluctantly hangs up the receiver. Now whatever Reese had found would be relayed to them both. "Go ahead, Reese. What have you discovered?"
The tinny voice of Reese comes over the speakerphone. "Informative but not good news, sir. I am faxing you copies of the subject's diary. She appears to blame Ms Quartermaine for the ruin of her career. Claims she was blacklisted at Ms Quartermaine's instigation. There is a wall of clippings tracking Quartermaine's movements. The search has been particularly slow and painstaking."
"Why?" Nikolas asks already dreading the answer.
There is a long pause on the other end. Reese hadn't expected to hear Nikolas' voice. Finally he answers. "The men have had to use extreme caution due to the large number of hypodermic needles littered throughout the apartment."
Nikolas grabs Stefan's calendar off his desk and whips back through the pages until he finds the date.... the Saturday when Emily had been called to New York. He gives it to Reese. "Reese, check Orchid's diary and appointment book for anything around that date. It's when it all began. Hopefully the name of the photographer will be in there as well."
"We're losing the night, sir. The team is going to have to leave in the next fifteen minutes or we risk discovery."
Nikolas slams his fist down on Stefan's desk but it is Stefan that answers Reese. "Understood. Contact when you've cleared the scene." Stefan disconnects the call. "Nikolas...."
"I know, I know." Nikolas swears low and fluently. Working on the house had exposed him to an entirely new vocabulary. "Needles. Drugs. If she's hurt Emily..."
"It will be handled."
There is a rap on the door. Mrs Lansbury enters and goes over to a discrete panel in the master's study. "What is it, Mrs Lansbury?" Stefan asks impatiently.
"I think you need to see this, Sir. Cook was watching it while preparing breakfast." Mrs L hits play on the tv and selects the local news channel. They are rehashing the local news for all the people who went to bed before the eleven o'clock the night before. Nikolas finally gets to see what Maddy had warned him about the night before. When the picture of him and Emily is flashed on the screen Stefan groans and reaches for the phone.
"Cut the phone lines to my mother's yacht and set up scramblers. No communication in or out cellular, short wave anything. Detain anyone that leaves the yacht and bring them here." As soon as Stefan hangs up he winces.
"We should have done that last night." Nik shakes his head. "Maddy told me but I didn't realize how... revealing the pictures were."
"There is more, sir." Mrs L gets both men's attention to return to the television. For the early morning news the station had taken up position on remotes: the police station, the judge's house, and the Mansion.
"Well that is one blessing." Stefan sighs in relief. There were no signs of a crew at the landing of Wyndemere. "Who is Maddy?"
Maddy Reynolds yawns and then stretches. It felt like she had just left the kiosk and here she was back again to open it up. She always opened the new ones for awhile to get the feel of the market before turning it over to her staff. Closing wasn't normally part of the plan. Aunt Dara was still asleep when she left this morning and there was no way that Taggart could have gotten to her so fast. So far the coast was clear.
"Are you open?" A gruff voice startles Maddy she pulls a quick 180 to see who had come up behind her. She relaxes when she sees who is there.
"For you Mr Q, sure." Maddy pulls Edward a fresh cup of coffee and then adds a piece of shortbread remembering Emily talking about Edward's sweet tooth. Maddy pours her own cup of coffee and than waves Edward over to the bench by the kiosk and takes a seat next to him. She glances down at her watch. The earlybirds for the AM shifts on the docks wouldn't be here for another twenty minutes and her day person should be here in 15. "There been any news on Em?"
Edward shakes his head. "No. But I'm not worried. I know the girl is fine." Edward bluffs and Maddy nods going along with it. "Lila worries though."
"Yeah, Em's a tough cookie. Look how often she gets over on you. Not many can say that. How did you get by the news crew?" Maddy asks curiously.
"Haven't put the boat up for the winter yet. Came down by water. The driving service will pick me up at the end of Elm street pier."
"Oh sneaky." Maddy grins loving Edward's slight of hand with the press but then grows serious. "It's going to be over soon, Mr Q."
"How can you be so confident?" Edward stares at his coffee not even touching the shortbread.
Maddy stares at Edward and her jaw drops. "You don't know?"
"Know? Know what? What are you talking about? What do you know?"
"Well it happened late last night, maybe nobody wanted to get Miz Lila's hopes up you know in case it doesn't pan out."
"Enough dillydallying. What do you know?" Edward demands.
"Nikolas Cassadine thinks he knows who has Emily. Who not where." Maddy continues in a rush. "But that means they are getting closer right?"
"Cassadine! I knew her hanging with that Eurotrash would come to no good! The whole family is made up of murderers, thieves, and yes, Kidnappers!"
"It isn't the Cassadines, Mr Q." Maddy puts a hand on Edward's arm to restrain him. "It's someone Emily knew from modeling."
"Modeling!" Edward's rant changes course almost without pause. "I knew that would come to no good. Bad element there. First it was that blackmailing cyberporn peddling, Tom whatever, and now this. I told her father-- convent school in Tibet, all girls school, none of this posing, primping and watching every ounce that goes in her mouth."
"Tibet is under control of the communist chinese." Maddy blurts out.
"Details." Edward waves his hand. "Does Taggart know about this?"
Maddy shrugs. "I have no idea." Edward rises and finishes his coffee. He sticks the napkin with the shortbread in it in his pocket. "Don't you have an FBI agent at your house?"
"I never thought I'd say this but they are more incompetent than the PCPD." Edward mutters. "I'm going down to the police station to see what they are doing with this information."
Johnny wanders down by the abandon buildings next to the railyards. His focus is out rather than down and he trips. As he rights himself he looks down. He kneels down not caring in what and grabs a ribbon from his path. He looks at it and grows increasingly confident. Rita had been wearing this the day of the show. He stares at the building in front of him not knowing exactly what he is looking for until he sees it-- about three floors up there is a short rope, no a braid, hanging from a small window. He pulls out his cell phone and calls Jason. "I think I know where they are." Johnny informs Jason and then gives him the address.
"We're on our way. Stay put until we get there."
Johnny pretends to not hear the last. "I'm going to go in and check the place out." Johnny disconnects the call and then turns off his phone. He checks his weapon to make sure it's locked and loaded and then eases up on building.