Port Charles Chronicles: Chapter 49

       Within minutes of pulling away from the curb, the cab driver had managed to find the limo and was following.  Jack quickly added to his instructions. “Don’t let them know you’re following.  Hang back a little.”

“Gee, Kid, do you do this often?”

“No, but I’ve seen enough cop shows to know if you’re tailing someone, they shouldn’t find out.”  He sat back next to Molly.  “I wonder where’s he’s headed?  You live here.  What’s in the direction he's leading us?”

“The Metro-Court and that brownstone, where he was yesterday, are both in that direction. Plus, the landing to Spoon Island isn’t far from here, but there isn’t anyone living on Spoon Island right now.  Do you think he’s going to meet Johnny?”

“Yeah, I do.  That’s what I’m really hoping for.  I want to get a picture of the two of them.  Starr will believe me then.  If Tomas is Lorenzo Alcazar, he’s been lying for a long time.  Everyone here thinks Alcazar is dead.  I think the police might be interested in knowing he’s back in town.” The cab slowed to a stop. “Hey why did you stop?” Jack looked out and saw the limo stopped just down from the entrance to the Metro-Court.  “What’s he up to?”  They watched but Alcazar didn’t leave the car. 

“Hey, Kid, what do you want to do?  The meter’s running.” 

Jack spoke to the driver.  “Let the meter run, I don’t know what the guy is up to, but since he’s staying in the car, so are we.  He could leave anytime.  Just wait.”  

“It’s your dollar, kid.” The driver pulled into a parking slot several cars back from the limo and they all just waited.

****

Inside the limo, Tomas pulled out his cell phone.  

Carly was behind the desk when the call came in and as her desk clerk was busy, she answered.  “Good Afternoon, Metro-Court Hotel, how may we help you?”

It had been along time since he had heard or talked to Carly but he recognized her voice instantly. She believed he was dead, it was unlikely she would know his voice. “Yes.  Can you tell me if Ms. Cramer and her family have arrived?  I was told I might be able to reach her at this number.”

Carly paused before answering. The voice on the other end of the line sounded familiar but she couldn’t place it.  You’re imagining things, Carly, answer the man.  “I’m sorry. Yes, Ms. Cramer and her family arrived a couple of nights ago.  Would you like me to ring their room?”

“If you would be so kind.” It was as he had feared. Blair was here. Carly came back on the line.
  
        “There’s no answer in their suite.  They must be out.  Do you wish to leave a message?”

“No thank you.  I’ll try a little later.” Tomas hung up.  He looked at his watch.  There was a little time left until his appointment with Johnny. He would wait a few more minutes to see if Blair came back.

He was just about to order the driver to head for Johnny’s when another limo pulled up to the entrance.  He watched as Blair got out.  She was waiting for someone else to exit the vehicle.  His hand tightened around his briefcase as Todd stepped out of the limo and pulled Blair into his arms.  The bastard’s still alive.  Tomas’ free hand moved to the gun residing in his pocket and he watched Todd kiss Blair before letting her go.  His fingers caressed the handle.  Calm down, you can’t take him here.  There are too many witnesses.    He pulled his hand free of the gun and noticed that Blair entered the hotel.  His eyes went back to Todd and Tomas watched him get back into the limo and leave.  There wasn’t enough time to follow him and make his appointment with Johnny.  “You get to live a little longer, Todd.  When I’m finished with my business, I’ll be able to give you my full attention.”  He pressed the call button for the limo driver. “You can leave now. You know the address.”

****

Jack and Molly had been sitting there watching for a while.

       “Who do you supposed he’s waiting for?”  Molly asked Jack.

       “I don’t know, maybe whoever he’s meeting.  Maybe it’s going to take place in the hotel.” Jack continued to watch. “It’s strange he’s not going in, though.” 

        Jack looked over at the meter. The cab ride was getting expensive.  He was about to give up when another limo pulled into the driveway of the Metro-Court. He observed everything that happened.  It surprised him a little to see his parents kiss, but from the way Starr had been talking the night before and all the conversations with his mom, he realized he should have seen it coming.  Jack’s eyes turned back to the other limo. If that was Tomas watching, he wasn’t going to be happy.  That’s it.  It is Tomas!  “I was right!  Alcazar is Tomas!” He turned to Molly.  “That’s my mom and my dad. Tomas hates my father and is in love with my mom.  He must have found out that my mother brought us here.  It would explain why he’s just sitting there.  He’s been waiting to see if she is around.”

       “But he’s still not getting out of the car.   If he wanted to talk to your mom, wouldn’t he be going in?” Molly was confused.  “Another thing, why is he meeting with Johnny Zacchara?”

       Jack shook his head as bewildered as Molly. “I don’t know.  He’s got an apartment here.  I’m sure my mom has no idea that he’s this Alcazar guy.  One thing is clear, he’s up to no good.  We need to see what he does next.”

       “Hey kid, the limo you wanted me to follow is leaving.  What do you want to do?” the cab driver asked.  

       “Keep following.  My dad is in the limo that left in front of him.  Tomas could be tailing my dad or he could be going to that meeting.  The only way to find out is to do what we’re doing.”  Jack leaned forward, as they pulled out into traffic. “Hurry don’t lose him.”  He couldn’t explain it but now he found himself worried about his dad.  Tomas had hurt his dad a long time ago and not even known him, now he hated him.  What would Tomas do now that his mom had chosen his dad?  They watched as the first limo containing his father turned. Jack breathed a sigh of relief when Tomas’ car didn’t follow.  A couple of minutes later, they were back on a familiar street.  The street where Johnny Zacchara lived.

        They were a couple of blocks from the brownstone and Molly suddenly grabbed Jack’s hand.  “That’s my brother’s car.” 

         Michael was just pulling into a parking space on the street. They passed it and Jack saw Starr sitting in the front. “Hey, Driver, stop!  This is where we get out.”

        “But I thought we were following the limo, why are you stopping now?” the driver asked.

        “Because I know where that limo is going to stop.  It’s just up ahead, pull over here.” Jack let Molly get out and turned to pay the driver. “Thank you.”  He pulled out his money and paid the fare with the hundred from his wallet. “Keep the change.”  His Uncle Victor would have probably turned over in his grave at the size of the tip, but for once Jack felt like being generous.  

      “Gee thanks, Kid, I’ve got to ask.  Who’s the guy you’ve been following?”

       “He’s an international arms dealer, named Alcazar.” Jack replied.

        The driver’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding, right?”

        Jack shrugged, looked down that street at the now stopped limo. “Nope,” he said and stepped out of the car, joining Molly on the sidewalk.  Leaving the driver totally nonplussed, he took Molly’s hand and they walked back towards Michael’s car.

       Starr stepped out of Michael’s car. “ What are you doing here?”

       “I could ask you the same thing,” said Jack.

      “I asked first,” replied Starr.

      “We’re following Alcazar.  Now it’s your turn.”

       “We’re following Johnny.  He was acting all suspicious earlier, so Michael and I decided to see where he was headed in such a hurry.  What do you mean you’re following Alcazar?  How did you even find him?  Tell me, Jack.”  

        “Look, Alcazar just arrived for some kind of meeting with your Johnny Zacchara.  I wanted to get a picture of the two of them so I could prove he was Tomas to you.  Look at this, I took it outside Alcazar’s apartment earlier.” He took out his phone to show the picture he had of Tomas.

        Michael interjected. “Wait a minute.   Molly, why on earth would you be outside Alcazar’s apartment?  If it really is him, the guy is dangerous.  What were you two thinking?”

        Molly’s chin went up and she met her cousin’s eyes.  “We just wanted to see if Jack’s suspicions were true.  We never expected to find anyone there.  By chance, the guy was home and when he left, we decided to follow him.  Don’t worry Michael, he never saw us.  Besides, you two are following a known mobster too.  Johnny is just as dangerous as this Alcazar guy.” 

        Starr looked at both Michael and Molly.  While she agreed with Michael that Jack and Molly probably shouldn’t have been following an arms dealer, Molly was right, Johnny was just as dangerous.  “Michael, she has a point.  You’ve been trying to talk me out of working with Johnny for just that reason.  They’re fine, nothing happened. Jack, let me see that photo.” Jack passed the phone to his sister and she got a good look at it. “My God, it is Tomas.”

      “Yes it is and there’s something else.  He was spying on Mom earlier.  I don’t like it, Starr.  She thinks Tomas is in Llanview and he’s here and in the middle of something illegal.  I’d bet money on it.”

     “Well, it appears we’re all here for the same reason.  Something is up.   You said you were following Alcazar, where is he?”

      Jack pointed up the street. “That’s his limo outside Zacchara’s apartment.  They’re having another meeting.  Wait, it looks like more visitors are arriving.”  The four of them watched as several more cars pulled up and parked behind the limo.

      Michael frowned.  He recognized a couple of the men that belonged to Anthony’s mob.  “Those are Zacchara‘s men.  Dad believes Alcazar is dead.  I don't like this.”

       Molly looked over at her cousin.  “Mom got all upset this morning when I mentioned Alcazar.  She said she was going to talk to Uncle Sonny.”

       “That’s not good.  Molly, did you tell her you thought he was here in Port Charles?”

        “No, I just asked her who Alcazar was and said a friend thought he had seen him.  She got all weird and took off.” 

        “So, she just got spooked because you mentioned him.  She doesn’t really know he’s in town.  That means if she talked to my dad, he’s probably reassuring her Alcazar is dead.  I don’t want to get Dad involved in this.  As Dad’s son, Dante’s too close to all this, too.  If your mother’s friend is Alcazar, he could be planning a takeover.”

         Starr turned to Michael. “We could get John McBain involved.  We don’t have any idea what’s going on, but he’s here working for the FBI.  If Tomas is this arms dealer Alcazar, they would probably like to know he’s still alive.”

        Jack spoke up.  “Let’s see if we can get a little closer and take a few more pictures.  I don’t care for McPain, but I don’t want Mom getting hurt either.  Whatever Tomas is up to, he’s still after Mom and I don’t want him near her again.”

        Starr nodded, she felt the same way Jack did.  “Tomas has hurt this family enough.  The more pictures we can show John, the better.  Aunt Tea is going to be devastated if all this is true, but it can’t be helped.”

****

Inside the brownstone, the meeting was going as planned.  Legal papers were signed and Tomas met each of his new lieutenants.  “I’m glad we were able to come to this arrangement so amicably.  You gentlemen should know changes are coming.  I plan to start taking back territory from Corinthos, several of my operatives are already in place setting things in motion.  Before long Sonny Corinthos is going to find himself knee-deep in trouble with the feds.  Even as we speak his latest shipment of coffee will have some valuable contraband added and calls will be made to the proper authorities.  The man owes me and I intend to collect.”

Johnny groaned inwardly.  The last thing he had wanted was to be let in on Alcazar’s plans.  Still, he couldn’t help being happy that Sonny was going to get what was coming to him.  He too owed the man for exposing the truth about his mother and grandfather to everyone.   Just like he had been blindsided by Sonny, Sonny was now going to be blindsided by Alcazar.  Karma was a bitch.

The meeting ended.  All the men had been given their new assignments.  Johnny turned to Alcazar.  “I guess a drink is in order.  What will you have?” He went to his bar and poured himself a stiff one.

        Tomas joined him. “I’ll have whatever you’re drinking.  So now you’re clear, Johnny.  A simple transaction and the weight of your grandfather’s organization is off your back.  If you ever decide you want back in.  I can always use another lieutenant.”

       “No way, I’m out and I intend to stay out.” Johnny downed his drink and poured another.

        Tomas laughed. “No one is ever out.  Take it from me, once you join, you’re in for life.  You can take breaks but you’ll never be free until you’re dead.  See me out.”  A short time later they stood on the front stoop of the Brownstone. Tomas turned to Johnny unaware they were being photographed.  “Don’t worry, for now, you’re off my radar, but I know what you did.  If I need you, I’ll call.”  He walked down to the limo and got in.

        Johnny stood still as a statue. Tomas’ last words echoing in his head. “I know what you did.”  His heart sunk.  I’ll never be free.

        Behind the bushes, not far away, phones were taking pictures.  They had all heard Alcazar’s last words to Johnny.  They all looked at each other.   After Johnny returned inside, they came out of hiding.  Starr asked what everyone was thinking. “What do you suppose Johnny did?  He didn’t seem too happy with that comment.”

       “I don’t know, but the way Alcazar said it, sounded like blackmail to me.  He’s got something on Johnny and he’s going to hold onto the secret,” said Michael.

       “I don’t care what he has on the guy.  I just want to get these pictures to McPain.  Then I want to get back and talk to Mom about what we’ve found out.  She needs to know.”

       “Jack’s right, we can’t get any more involved.  Let’s let the police handle this.  Michael, I think Uncle Sonny and Mom need to be told, too. It’s getting close to dusk, Mom’s going to be wondering where I am.  We need to go, give our stories to this friend of yours, and then I need to get home.”

       They all walked back to Michael's car and headed for the PCPD.









*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***
Your comments are 'payment' for the work of the authors. Our writers like to hear your feedback. Please leave a comment when you read.