A Drunken Man's Words
by SexisFan

chapter 5

Sonny sat in the pre-dawn darkness and stared at nothing in particular. Nothing he'd done had turned up any leads and Alexis was still gone. Her bank account hadn't been touched. Her credit cards hadn't been used. He'd pointed that out to Kristina when she told him another had passed without a call from Alexis. His intention was to make the redhead see the seriousness of the situation. But the result was that he got another scolding about Alexis' right to privacy and his own inordinate amount of gall for violating it.

It was hard to disappear without a trace. She had to be getting money from somewhere. And why hadn't she called? No one had heard a word from her, unless they were lying to him. He didn't think her sister capable of deceit, she just wouldn't be good at it. But the nephew was another matter. Had he been telling the truth about not knowing where Alexis was? Sonny had his doubts, so several of his best men were now watching the young Mr. Cassadine. A few more were searching out the elder Mr. Cassadine. If Alexis wasn't keeping in touch with her Port Charles relatives, perhaps she was in contact with her brother. If he could find Stefan, perhaps he could find Alexis.

Sonny wanted to believe that she was alright. But something inside was telling him that the longer she was gone, the less likely it was that she'd come back to him. He didn't know the basis for the feeling. It wasn't logic, for he was certain that Alexis would return to her life in Port Charles. But would she return to resume a place in HIS life? That, he feared, was less likely each day she stayed away.

********

Alexis rolled over and reached out, only to find the other side of the empty, the sheets still warm. Geez, Alexis thought, he got up so early every morning. Some rattling in the kitchen caught her attention, and Alexis realized that this must be had wakened her. What in the world was he up to now?

"Quincy?" Alexis called, propping herself up on her elbow. "What are you doing?"

A chair scraped across the kitchen floor, followed by a thud and the sound of metal rolling across a hard surface.

"Quincy?"

Suddenly Alexis' call was answered by an excited ball of black fur. A wet snout was shoved lovingly under her chin as the puppy happily licked Alexis 'Good morning'. Alexis laughed delightedly at what had quickly become a favorite morning routine. The puppy excitedly wrestled with Alexis, wagging his thick tail furiously as she scratched behind his ears and ran her fingers through his thick, black coat. How in the world had this little guy come to mean so much to her in just a few short days, she wondered.

Quincy bounded down from the bed and ran for the doorway. Sliding to a stop, he turned around to look at Alexis with bright eyes, offering up a high-pitched bark. Alexis laughed again.

"Alright, alright," she giggled. "I know what that means. Let's go." Alexis slipped from under the covers and slipped a silk robe over the matching short gown she'd worn to bed. Heading out of the bedroom, she stepped around the garbage can lying on its side on the kitchen floor. Grabbing her cell phone and slipping it into the pocket of her robe, Alexis moved toward the sliding glass doors overlooking the deck. Quincy barked excitedly, running circles around her feet as she led him toward the door.

"Watch it, baby," she warned warmly. "If I trip and break something, neither of us is going outside." At the utterance of the word 'outside', Quincy ran straight for the glass doors. He shivered with excitement as he waited for Alexis to open the door. In a few seconds, the door was sliding open and Quincy was set free to run. Alexis followed, descending the wooden steps to the cool sand below. Following the footprints left behind by her frolicking friend, she made her way through the dunes and down to the beach. Quincy was already busy chasing gulls and nosing in the wet sand at the water's edge. Alexis stood still for a few moments, taking in the quiet morning. The sky was a soft June blue dotted with tufts of white clouds. The ocean was the color of steel and sparkled with the reflection of the early morning sun rising over it.

Alexis' attention focused back on Quincy as the happy puppy ran circles around a pile of seaweed washed onto the shore. Curious as always, he nudged the slimy lump cautiously with his nose, then jumped back, waiting to see if his exploration would provoke a response from the unfamiliar fancy.

Alexis shook her head and chuckled softly. This little fellow was such a character. And she was so glad she'd stumbled across him. This impromptu road trip was only a few days old, and already her life was changing because of the experience.

Alexis strolled slowly along the water's edge, the weight of the cell phone in her pocket riding against her hip. She would have to try to reach Kristina again. Alexis didn't understand why her sister had turned off the answering machine, but it was just like Kristina to be so frustrating. Alexis had been trying for two days to talk to her sister, and couldn't catch her in the penthouse. She was starting to get worried. It sure would make things a lot easier if her sister would carry a cell phone. At least then Alexis could leave a voicemail for Kristina. But of course in unique Kristina fashion, cell phones were a big no-no, something about negatively altering the energy field surrounding one's aura or some such mumbo jumbo. In any case, Alexis would try again. She just hoped Kristina wasn't worrying about her. This trip was just what Alexis needed.

Her first days on the road had been full. Early on, she'd had to do some shopping, something that was unavoidable since she'd taken off out of Port Charles with nothing but the clothes on her back. Driving southward the first full day of her trip, Alexis got off the interstate at the first large city and headed for the mall. There she purchased a collection of casual and comfortable clothes, so different from her tailored suits that no one in Port Charles would likely recognize her on the street. Jeans, T-shirts, shorts, some sleepwear and lingerie, sports shoes, sandals, some grooming necessities, and a couple pieces of soft luggage to hold it all. She'd also stopped at a bookstore in the mall, realizing that it had been years since she'd read anything just for fun. Contracts, legal briefs, law books - that was all she'd read for as long as she could remember. Determined to change that, Alexis left the bookstore with a shopping bag full of paperbacks whose covers had caught her fancy. She had a similar experience passing a music shop. Ducking in on impulse, Alexis had quickly collected a variety of CDs, everything from oldies to instrumentals to classic rock. She'd even picked up a disc of opera, remembering how her mother's voice had once been such a joy and comfort for her. Of course, CDs were of no use without a player, so she picked up one of those, too. With her parcels safely stashed in the trunk of her new car, she returned to the road.

Alexis had driven for the rest of the day, stopping only when necessary for gas. Just before dusk she reached a little town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Deciding that it was time to stop for the day, she'd pulled into the lot of the first motel she saw on the main road. The owners of the Delmarva Inn, Bill and Bonnie, had been quite warm and friendly, making her feel almost instantly as if she was a member of their family. There weren't a lot of visitors passing through town, so Alexis became the beneficiary of all the couple's attention.

First she'd been served a wonderful home-cooked meal prepared in the little diner that the couple operated in conjunction with their motel. Afterward, they all retired to the front porch for apple cobbler and a continuation of their rambling talk about nothing in particular. The normalcy of the evening was so foreign to Alexis, but then this trip was about new experiences she had reminded herself every time the instinct to withdraw from their friendliness arose.

Sitting on the porch in a worn wooden rocker, Alexis had been watching the twinkling of fireflies in the yard. Barely visible in the darkness was the darker form of a small dog excitedly chasing after the luminous insects. The scruffy little thing would run toward a flash of yellow, only to find nothing there when he arrived. Then off to the side, there would be another flash and he would race toward it, stopping in confusion when again he found nothing. Alexis couldn't help but laugh as she watched his futile hunt.

"Does he ever catch anything?" Alexis asked, nodding toward the little dog.

"Him? Naw." Bill answered simply, shaking his head.

"He yours?" Alexis queried.

Bill shook his head again. "He don't belong to nobody but himself."

Alexis watched the pup, her heart aching with an understanding of what it meant to belong to nobody but oneself.

" His sire was a pure-bred who jumped his fence and took up with a stray," Bonnie offered. "The momma kind of hung around here and there. When she had her pups, she crawled right under this porch to do the birthin'. He was the only one who lived," she explained, looking down at the little dog that was now frolicking at the fringes of light shining onto the yard from the porch. Bonnie continued, his momma took good care of him for a while, til she was hit by a car on the road out there."

Alexis felt unexpected emotion rising in her throat. It was silly, she knew, to identify with an animal. But so far, his life story sounded a lot like hers.

"Yep," Bill concurred. "Since then he just hangs around. Skittish around people, he is, so he keeps his distance. He stays just close to see what's going on and to not be completely alone." Alexis understood how the little thing felt. "He's a spunky little thing. He'll take on any dog what tries to mess with him. He'll fight off any threat bold as you please. But he don't let no one love on him. That's the one thing he seems to be scared of. We put out food for him, let him sleep under the porch. He seems happy enough with the arrangement."

Alexis glanced over at Bill's sincere expression. She had no doubt that the older man believed that this was true. But in her own heart she wondered how any creature could be happy with the kind of existence described, the kind of existence Alexis had known for most of her life.

Feeling a bit emotional, Alexis thanked her hosts and excused herself for the night. It was beyond time for her to get some sleep, she explained before receiving their understanding wishes for a good rest and sweet dreams.

Alexis made her way slowly to her room and closed the door behind her. She drew a bath and was about to disrobe when she heard something outside, near her door. Edging closer to the door, she heard what sounded like a soft cry. She stood frozen, wondering who would be crying outside her door. Then suddenly there was a scratching on the door and Alexis realized that the cry she was listening to was actually a dog's whimper. Slowly turning the knob and opening the door, Alexis found herself face to face with the little black dog. His coat was filthy and matted, but his eyes were bright and intelligent. For a several long seconds they simply looked at each other, as if each was expecting the other to make some move. Finally, the pup stood and calmly walked into Alexis' room. Alexis softly shut the door behind him, and from that moment they had been inseparable.

It was the damnedest thing, Bill proclaimed the next morning when Alexis emerged from her room with the little dog, his coat now gorgeous silken waves of shining ebony. It was a miracle, Bonnie declared, when Alexis told her of how the puppy, once bathed and brushed, had bounded up onto her bed and slept at her side throughout the night. Acknowledging a connection that could only be pre-ordained, the couple had convinced Alexis that the dog belonged with her. While it sounded kind of silly to her rational mind, Alexis felt the connection in her heart. So it really didn't take much to convince her to adopt the adorable little fellow.

And that was how Quincy and she came to be. Though they'd only been together a few days, they had a shared rhythm that seemed to have always existed.

Alexis turned on her heel and started to head in the opposite direction on the beach, back toward the cottage she had rented. Quincy followed without having to be told to do so.

Lifting the cell phone from her pocket, Alexis dialed her own number back at the penthouse. After several rings, she was just about to hang up when someone picked up and Alexis heard Kristina's voice.

"Hello?"

"Kristina, hi."

"Alexis! What's wrong? Why haven't you called?" her sister scolded.

"I HAVE called," Alexis defended. "The answering machine hasn't been picking up."

"What? I don't understand. It's sitting right here and it's on. Maybe something is wrong with. . .damn," Kristina swore, "Sonny!"

"What about Sonny?" Alexis asked, her heart racing just a bit at the feel of his name on her tongue.

"He stole the tape out of the answering machine. You know, Alexis, that is one impossible man. I can't believe that I ever thought you saw anything in him. He is. . ."

"Whoa," Alexis smiled as she cut off her sister's rant. It was kind of fun to see someone else driven to frustration by Sonny Corinthos, especially since Alexis had been enjoying her vacation from the pressure and the antics. "What makes you think Sonny took the tape?" she asked rationally.

"I brought him over here to listen to the message you left. Actually, I called him to tell him you were okay and he didn't even hang up the phone before he was over here demanding to know where you were. I told him I didn't know, that you were okay, and I let him listen to the message. Then I found out that he'd been having you followed and I blew up at him. I told him if I knew exactly where you were, I'd never breath a word to him. Then I left him here and stormed out. He was gone when I came back, and since that time all I've done is look for a blinking light on the machine. It never occurred to me that he might have taken the tape with your message. I don't know why I didn't think of it, though. He has been all over this town at least three times, driving everyone nuts in his search for you. He's even been to Spoon Island to see Nicholas. Somehow he knew you weren't using your credit cards and he wanted to know how you'd get funds to finance your trip. The nerve of that man!"

Alexis grinned. Kristina sure was a talker. And she could perfectly picture the image of her little sister telling off the mob boss of Port Charles without blinking an eye. And Sonny. How he hated to not be in control. That is what was behind his determination to find Alexis, she was certain of that.

"Kristina," Alexis soothed. "Breathe."

Alexis heard a deep breath on the other end of line. And then, "Where are you Alexis?"

"Just between us?" Alexis asked.

"I swear," Kristina answered earnestly.

"I mean it, Kristina. I want this time for myself. I don't want anyone coming to drag me back to reality. So if I tell you. . ."

"Alexis, no one will find out a thing from me," her sister promised.

"Well, I'm on the Outer Banks of North Carolina," Alexis began.

"North Carolina?"

"On Hatteras Island to be exact. I've rented a beach house, and I'll be staying for a while. I'm not sure how long. And I'm fine," Alexis assured her, anticipating the younger woman's next thought.

"Are you sure, you're okay?"

Alexis' attention was drawn to the tall sandy-haired figure crossing the dunes. The ocean breeze whipped at his open shirt, revealing a broad expanse of bronzed chest underneath. Realizing that she had spotted him, he smiled and waved. Alexis smiled back at him.

"I'm positive," Alexis promised.

"You aren't lonely?" Kristina asked, sincere concern in her tone.

Alexis' smile grew broader as the gorgeous mountain of masculine flesh drew closer, calling out her name in greeting.

"Not the least bit lonely, Kristina. Not the least bit lonely."

********

Sonny's cell phone rang and was quickly dug out of his breast pocket by his eager hand.

"What is it?" he rasped, his tone curt.

"We got some news on Ms. Davis, boss. Something from a contact at the motor vehicle division. And something else. . ."

Sonny's heart leapt to his throat. Finally, not one lead but two. "Tell me where Alexis is," he ordered. "I need to find her. Fast." It was true. Though he didn't know how he knew, he knew it was true. He would lose Alexis if he didn't get to her soon.

chapter 6