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The Quintessential Q
Chapter Sixty Two
Step by Step; Stair by Stair
After circling the building, Johnny finds the point of access. All the doors and windows are boarded up. Or so it appears. One colorfully grafetti'd 4x8 sheet of plywood isn't nailed down... anymore. Johnny hunkers down with his back to the building and looks out at the parking lot. Well it had been a parking lot once; now it was a weed choked, trash littered, cracked macadam surface. Looking carefully, Johnny can see the bent grass tire tracks. Knowing only that someone has left and fairly recently, Johnny cautiously enters.
Edward strides through the press presence in front of the PCPD not answering any questions. Maddy trails along in his wake. Edward doesn't slow down until he reaches the detectives Bull pen. "Where is Taggart?! I want to know what he's doing to get my granddaughter back."
In the interrogation room, Taggart's attention is pulled from the bulletin board to the raised voice in the outside room. "Oh Great."
"Yeah, great." Jerry mutters.
"It is great if he gets me out of here. I have to go home." Carly elbows Jerry. Carly goes over to the door and opens it up. "Edward, Taggart is right here."
"I'm going to get you for this." Taggart rolls his eyes. Taggart puts on a happy face for Edward but makes sure the bulletin board is covered again. "Mr. Quartermaine." Taggart nods politely as Edward enters but he double takes as he sees who is behind Edward. "Maddy? What are you doing here."
"Mr. Q, didn't want to wait for his driver so I gave him a lift." Maddy stops trying to stay out of sight.
"Carly, what in heaven's name are you doing here?" Edward frowns at Taggart. "Are you wasting your time and my tax money by harassing one granddaughter while another is missing!" Carly watches smugly as Edward starts ripping into Taggart. Jerry closes his eyes and leans back against the wall again.
"Wake me when they're done nattering." Jerry yawns.
Maddy takes in Carly's disheveled appearance, the broken skin on her knuckles, and the clump of blonde hair that is resting on the shoulder of her shirt. She pokes Edward in the middle of the back to get his attention. "Mr. Q, I think somebody got in a fight."
Edward, an old brawler himself, takes a close look at Carly then back at Taggart. "What's her bail? The girl has a baby at home to take care of."
AJ walks through the open door of the interrogation room. "I'll pay my wife's bail. And my father-in-law's." AJ pulls out his check book.
Taggart runs his hand over his head. They were coming at him from all angles. Damn Quartermaines. Damn press cases. He really had much better things to do-- like find Emily and Rita. "She isn't under arrest... for now. All of you just..." Taggart wrestles with being diplomatic and loses-- three days without sleep taking it's toll. "...get out, get out of my station, get your nose out of police business and leave the investigating to the professionals!"
"Well that's a fine bit of gratitude!" Carly protests with her hands on her hips.
AJ puts a hand at the base of Carly's spine. "Come on Honey, time to go home. I left Michael with Jax and John to come pick you up."
"You WHAT!" Carly practically races out of the room.
"Oh smooth." Jerry nods at AJ as they walk out of the room together.
AJ shrugs. "I didn't want there to be any feet dragging."
"I think we're more likely to lose our ride home."
Johnny eases up the stairs hugging the wall. He tests each stair after almost falling through one earlier. As he comes up to the landing of the third floor he closes his eyes and visualizes the outside of the building, which window had the braid hanging from it. It could be a trick, a trap, but one he had to check out. This is the part that would have given Mr. Morgan a headache, using the outside of the building as a map to the inside of the building. Johnny tests the stairwell door cautiously opening it. Confirming the coast is clear, Johnny starts testing doors of apartments that face out.
Reese straightens his coat and with a smooth move offers the Super a couple of C notes to let him into the photographer's apartment in New York City. The muscle was waiting down in the suburban. Reese enters the apartment and then shuts the door in the Super's face using an elbow. Once inside he puts on latex gloves. The things he did for the Cassadine's. He looks around in disgust. Much like Orchid's apartment this one shows signs of misuse. He rewinds the answering machine and listens to the messages while tossing the desk for credit card bills, appointment books, address book, anything. Gathering the information into a tidy pile, Reese pulls out his cell phone and dials Wyndemere. This time he isn't surprised when Nikolas answers the phone. "Master Nikolas, I have more details to relay."
"Give me a second, Reese." Nikolas hooks up the three way. "Lucky, you there?"
"Yeah, let it rip, Bro." Lucky sits ready with a notebook in front of him to take down all the information. As soon as he hears Lucky's confirmation, Reese starts calling off credit card numbers.
Reese is still on the line when he hears Lucky's, "Bingo."
"What have you got, Lucky?"
"Transactions within the week: no-tel outside of Port Charles, van rental. What a moron using his own credit cards." Lucky mutters.
"I'm just grateful they are." Nikolas says grimly.
"Slow down, bro." Lucky insists cautiously. "They don't have to be members of MENSA to pull this off. All they have to be is willing to pull the trigger. Everything that I've seen so far says this isn't about money, or at least not all about money."
"Mr. Spencer is right, Master Nikolas." Reese agrees quietly. "This appears to be a sloppy Timoria. The character, or lack there of, of this Orchid person and the photographer is what we need to ascertain."
"I think we already know enough about their character." Nik retorts sharply. "Gather the men and return to Port Charles directly. The field of battle will be here." Nik disconnects the call to Reese leaving only Lucky on the line.
"Been brushing up on your Sun-Tzu, Bro?" Lucky says ruefully.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Art of War, Man. Art of War."
"What would you do if it were Elizabeth?"
"I'm not arguing, Bro. I've got your back on this one."
Johnny closes on the door of the apartment that is his best bet. He grasps the knob and it turns easily in his hand. But the door doesn't open. There is a deadbolt. None of the other doors had deadbolts. Johnny presses his ear to the door and can hear the soft murmur of a female voice, only one. He takes a deep breath-- Rita. Johnny pounds on the door. "Rita?"
"Johnny? Johnny, is that you?" Rita pounds the door back. "Let us out."
"Step back from the door, Baby. Way back." Johnny insists. He pauses long enough for Rita to follow his direction and to take aim at the lock. Lodging two shells in the lock, he follows up with a sharp kick to the door. It bursts open and rebounds against the wall. "Rita?"
"Over here." Rita kneels next to Emily.
"When were they here last?" Johnny asks insistently; he has his firearm at the ready and scans the room.
"I don't know. Not long. I don't know what their schedule is, Emily does. She can feel when they are coming again."
Johnny frames Emily's face in his hand and pats her cheek. "Come on, Em. Wake up." When she seems unresponsive he gets more insistent yelling at her. "Wake up!"
Emily's eyes open. "Johnny?" Em closes her eyes again. "Don't look at me." Emily protests looking away and curling up in a fetal position hiding her face.
"I already know about the drugs. They sent photos to the mansion." Johnny insists pushing Emily's hands away from her face. Taking her hands he pulls her into a sitting position.
"Be careful. She's got a sprained ankle. It might be broken." Rita talks fast. "She dumped the motorcycle to miss hitting the van. Her ankle was under the bike."
"Are you okay?" Johnny runs his hand over Rita's shoulder and down her arm.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Rita hugs Johnny. "We knew you would come."
Johnny brushes a hand over his little sister's cropped hair. "I got the signal." As his eyes have adjusted to the dark he notices that Rita isn't as fine as she claimed. He inhales sharply. "Who did it."
Rita brushes her hair forward over her face to hide the bruises. "I don't know. I never saw their faces. I was trying to get away the first time they came back and the guy caught me."
"Yeah, and the guy is probably still limping. If not singing soprano." Emily tells Johnny. "Your sister is a brawler in the making. Cook will be proud." She still avoids his eyes but is getting her gumption back. "Okay reunion over." Emily insists. "I want to go home."
"You got it." Johnny stands up and takes off his jacket and shirt.
"This is very nice but I really want to go home." Emily jokes.
"First things first." Johnny takes off his bullet proof vest and drops it over Rita's head tightening the Velcro straps as far as they will go around her torso. Then he slides back on his shirt and jacket. Remembering that he had walked here and his van is on the other end of Courtland St, Johnny takes out his cell phone and turns it on. He speed dials Jason. Johnny tells them he has found Em and Rita and while they're okay it'd be best if they're checked out by a doctor. Jason tells him they will pick up Alan at the clinic on the way down. After hanging up, he assists Emily onto her foot and she hops for balance. Johnny swings her up into his arms.
"I'm too heavy." Em protests.
"Well if you get too heavy, I'll just drop ya and you can meet us at the base of the stairs."
"Johnny!" Rita croaks out but Emily laughs. Rita leads the way out of the apartment and down the stairs. Johnny picks his way with care.
Emily runs her hand along Johnny's shoulder and keeps her voice too low for Rita to hear. "Just no fireman carry. My stomach wouldn't take it." In a louder voice. "I promised Rita a leather jacket like mine."
"And as soon as the press aren't camped out at your house or the Judge's, you can make good on the deal."
Emily blanches and starts to panic. "Press? I can't deal with people right now. I really can't."
"Then you won't. Don't worry about it now. Now just worry about getting down the stairs."