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Capitolo 14

"Can you track her through her phone, Spinelli?" Jason asked as he ignored Sonny's mumbling and struggled to hear the hacker.

"Regrettably, the Ethereal One has left her phone behind in our tranquil domicile and is therefore untraceable using the mobile device," Spinelli sighed.

"What about the security cameras around the villa?"

"They reveal nothing out of the ordinary. Fair Elizabeth left the grounds of the compound under seemingly normal circumstances."

"What about her car?" Jason ventured. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Sonny resume his clipped, agitated pacing but there was no way he was cutting short this conversation to placate him.

"It was discovered in the parking lot just across the street from the Post Office. The security footage I've uncovered reveals nothing unusual."

Jason grunted and bit his lip. There were too many thoughts at war in his brain and he couldn't think clearly because of Sonny's pacing and the dead bodies surrounding him. Annoyed, he signaled Vaughn to start his clean up and quickly left the study and the Zacchara mansion as Spinelli continued his end of the conversation.

"Stone Cold must rest assured that the Jackal and Sergeant Spencer are doing everything within their means to uncover the whereabouts of our beloved Etheral One."

"Have you called any of her friends? The gallery? Check the train stations, bus stops, airports and marinas, too," Jason ordered as fresh, cool air hit his lungs. He felt Sonny's heat only paces behind him, still demanding his attention.

"The Jackal will explore all of those possibilities, however..."

"However, what?"

"It is also the Jackal's duty to inform Stone Cold that not only is the Ethereal One temporarily off our radars, the Former D.A. of Darkness, Mr. Lansing has also escaped our traces."

Jason took another deep breath to steady himself. His first impulse was to jump into his jet, fly back to Bermuda and scour the island himself but he knew that his very capable team could handle things from that end. His next impulse was to find Ric wherever he was and beat the living shit out him even though he was not yet convinced that Ric had anything to do with Elizabeth's disappearance.

"Spinelli, find my wife. Get Nico the rest of the guys on the street looking for her. Call me with updates. I'll see what I can do to track her from here."

"Yes sir, Stone Cold!"

"Oh, and pay close attention to the airport."

Jason snapped his phone shut and finally spared a look at Sonny who'd been closely listening to Jason's end of the conversation.

"So that freaky Spinelli kid is working for you, and Elizabeth, who isn't dead, is your wife and now she's missing?"

Jason bristled at Sonny's brusque tone and bit back his desire to take his frustration out on his partner. "I know we've got issues between you and me, but right now locating my wife is more important. Can you get Stan and his computer over to the penthouse?"

"Yeah," Sonny said his agitation still in place.

"Good," Jason replied getting lost in his own thoughts.

"You think the Zaccharas found out about her?" Sonny asked.

"No. But Ric suspects she's alive. That's why he set this whole thing with Claudia in motion...to try to ferret out Elizabeth's location. He's been investigating me, having me followed in an effort to find her and he's been spying on you for days."

Jason let him react to that bit of news before he bored his intense blue eyes into Sonny's and vowed, "Sonny, I swear to you, if I find your brother anywhere near my wife, he's going to roast in the embers of Crimson Point with Claudia and Anthony Zacchara."

Still stunned to learn that his brother had been spying on him along with all the other new information he'd recently had thrown at him, all the mob boss could do was nod and follow as Jason left the gardens of the Zacchara mansion behind while the heat of fire and smell of smoke filled the air.

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Elizabeth's heart beat wildly in her chest as she stood staring at her ex-husband. The chill that skittered up her spine made her shudder involuntarily. She discovered that her hands were clammy and trembling. Her lungs were tight, forcing her to breathe in short, quick pants that rattled her chest. All because the face that had haunted her waking dreams for the last few nights was there before her and the wild, obsessive look his eyes was rapidly draining her courage and confidence away.

Ric's expression was purely mesmerized as he took in every inch of her. His hands worked convulsively in and out of fists as if he were fighting to keep himself from touching her. Elizabeth kept her distance from him but knew that there was nowhere to hide herself, nowhere to run. She stiffened her spine and took a tentative step forward, the sound of her heeled sandals reverberating against the thick stone walls with a haunting echo.

The cell was damp, dark and cold with one beam of diluted sunlight filtering in through a tiny window in the corner. The soft roar of a large body of water could be heard coming from the outside. Inside, the crystal dripping of several leaks mingled with the sound of Ric's labored breathing and the loud thudding of Elizabeth's heart in her ears. He took a jerky step forward, his eyes still fixed on Elizabeth, the intensity of his stare making her shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"I can't believe it's really you," he said as he took another step.

Elizabeth remained quiet. She suddenly had a profound understanding of Jason's philosophy of silence. Her only choices at the moment were to use every ounce of her strength and will to keep her mouth closed or descend into hysterics. Thinking of her family and the life they had together steadied her along with the comforting weight of her warm gold and ruby wedding band. Swallowing thickly, she took the final steps towards the bars of the cell, and wrapped her small fingers around the frigid, unyielding metal.

Ric staggered forward and briefly covered his hands with hers before she rapidly jerked them away. He let his hands fall slowly back down to his sides as he repeated, "I can't believe it's really you."

He looked her over again, his eyes filled with awe. "You look the same. Your hair is longer. Still so beautiful," he murmured, reaching through the bars in an attempt to touch her hair.

Elizabeth took another step back, making sure she was out of his reach. The look on his face changed the fear she'd been feeling to revulsion. It was the same eerie, chilling expression he'd had on his face the night she'd seen him on the webcam. She took a deep breath to fight off the sudden surge of nausea that swelled inside of her and stiffened her spine. This time Ric was real, in the flesh, and Jason was far away where she couldn't take comfort in his embrace. Elizabeth had to face Ric on her own this time and somehow liberate herself from this insanity.

"I knew you weren't dead," Ric whispered as if he were afraid that anything louder would cause her image to vanish forever. "Well, not at first. I didn't start to suspect until I saw that painting at Sonny's and then..."

"I don't...I don't need to hear this," Elizabeth finally said as she fought the desire to shudder.

"But...but it was like you were sending a message to me. I saw that painting and heard your voice. And then the one in Sonny's office and the other day at Wyndemere...It's like you've been calling out to me to rescue you from wherever Jason's..."

"Jason's my husband, Ric," Elizabeth declared, hoping to shock him into silence. "We have two children and a beautiful home and a very happy life..."

Ric snorted and shook his head incredulously. "How happy can you be as the presumed dead moll of a hitman? Cut off from the people you love who love you?"

"Jason loves me. My children love me. I have friends..."

"What about the friends you left behind in Port Charles, Elizabeth? What about your family? Your sister? Your brother? Your parents? Your grandmother? What about me? We weren't together when you disappeared but that doesn't mean that I loved you any less!"

Elizabeth shook her head and crept further away from the bars. Ric saw her retreat, recovered himself and with a quiet voice confessed, "I still love you. I mourned you. And all because Jason is a violent, dangerous and selfish thug who decided to take your life from you so he could have a life he doesn't deserve..."

"So I could have a life with the man I love and our children," Elizabeth countered.

Ric shook his head again, barely stifling a dry, mirthless chuckle. "Don't you see, Elizabeth? Don't you see that if Jason weren't a murdering, thieving, hoodlum you wouldn't have to live the way you're living?"

Elizabeth let out a dry chuckle of her own. "Just how do you think I'm living, Ric? What misery has your imagination put me in?"

He stepped away from the bars and put his hands in the pockets of his dress pants, tilting his chin up as if he were preparing for closing remarks. "Judging by the way you're dressed," he began, "better than I thought." He took another sweeping look at her dark designer jeans, expensive sandals and soft light blue cashmere cardigan. "But I'm biased and have a hard time giving Jason credit for anything, especially when it comes to you."

"That's exactly your problem, Ric!" Elizabeth blustered as she took an angry step forward. "Your prejudice against Jason blinds you!"

"And your unconditional worship of him blinds you!" he fired back. "So you eat well and have nice clothes, but what kind of life can you possibly have in hiding? On the run? You need to open your eyes and see that this life you've chosen isn't the best for you or your children."

Elizabeth covered her face with her hands. She breathed deeply, let the air out slowly and templed her fingers over her mouth. She looked sharply at Ric, studied him intently between the bars of the cell. In four years he hadn't changed one bit. In four years the only thing that had grown about him was his agenda and prejudice against her husband. She knew it would be a waste of breath, but still she lowered her hands and took the moment to explain.

"I don't live in hiding or on the run. I live on three acres of beachfront property in a huge two-story villa. I have great friends and I'm still involved in the art world. I move around freely and I'm happy. In the last four years of my life, there is absolutely nothing I've wanted for except maybe more time with my husband, which I would have had if it hadn't been for you and your constant scheming!"

Ric covered his own mouth with his hand and shook his head. "My constant scheming?"

"Yes, Ric!" Elizabeth yelled, "Your constant scheming with Faith Roscoe, with the Alcazars and now the Zaccharas! All of the bogus charges you've brought up against Jason, keeping him tied up in court and in jail..."

"Bogus? Do you hear yourself, Elizabeth? Do you not realize that this man you claim as your husband is a gangster? A hitman? Are you so brainwashed and disconnected on your three acres of beachfront property that you've forgotten that Jason has killed people, shed actual blood, to pay for this twisted fairytale life you live?"

"I know what Jason does. And I also know who he is. And for me, there's a difference. Not so much for you because there's only one thing you see: Jason has what you've always wanted. Despite what he does, people love him and respect him...the same people who have nothing but loathing and mistrust for you. You're just a jealous, petty excuse for a man who doesn't know how to let go..."

Ric's face hardened, he rushed at the bars and threw himself up against them. He reached for her erratically and although she was frightened by his display, Elizabeth stayed rooted to the spot, her determination overriding her fear.

"...and I've had enough of you constantly interfering in Jason's business and plotting to destroy his life. And as of right now, your scheming days are over," Elizabeth declared as she produced the keys to the cell from her back pocket, jingled them in his face and backed away from the cell as he repeatedly shouted her name.