At
least four officers had questioned Marcus Taggert as to what he
was doing in the precinct near midnight when he wasn’t even
scheduled for duty. And the answer had been given the same way all
four times: “Just had a little work to finish up on the computer,
a few faxes to pick up.”
It wasn’t a lie. That the computer check and the faxes were
related to a kidnapping that hadn’t even been reported would
have shocked his brothers in blue. They probably would have fainted
if they knew the child involved belonged to the dapper don of Port
Charles. But such was life.
Marcus made a hard copy of the file he’d just uploaded from
the WSB. He was thankful the Scorpio name still carried such weight
in the agency. Then he waited impatiently another twenty minutes
for a fax from the same department. Shuffling through the sheaf
of papers, he decided he had what he needed and would be off to
the docks to hop a ride to Spoon Island.
But he stopped short as he looked up and spotted Carly prancing
into the station house, guns blazing as it were. She looked tired
and a little unsteady on her feet. But more than that, she looked
like she’d lost her best friend. Marcus thought of the embrace
he’d seen Corinthos lay on Alexis Davis at Luke’s club
the other night. Maybe Carly had indeed lost her best friend.
“Who do I talk to about a report I wanna make, damn it?”
she yelled when no one rushed over to ask if they could help her.
Carly was well known here as a troublemaker. Not one of the officers
was too anxious to assist the woman.
Finally, Officer Bryant, an older man two minutes from retirement,
ambled forward, a sour look on his face. “It’s real late,
Mrs. Corinthos. Not too many men on desk duty. Forgive us for not
seeing you when you first came in.”
“Whatever.”
“So what is it I can do for you?”
“I need to report a kidnapping—”
“I got this one, Bryant,” Taggert said, stalking up to
Carly, grabbing her by her slender arm, and dragging her out into
the hallway. Once out there, he recoiled from the alcohol fumes
that seemed to be seeping through her pores.
She instantly exploded at him. “What do you think you’re
doing?”
“No, Carly, it’s what you’re doing that you better
be concerned about,” Marcus told her.
“I’m reporting a crime, a kidnapping. Now let me go.”
“I know exactly what you’re reporting. My question is,
are you sure you wanna do that?”
Carly stared at him, wide eyed. “What do you mean, Taggert?
Do you already know about this?”
“I’m not confirming or denying anything, Mrs. Corinthos.
All I want you to do is stop and THINK before you act. Will your
report make you feel better cuz you’re mad at your husband
right now? Yeah, probably. Will it HELP that little girl? No. And
if it HURTS that little girl, Sonny will never ever forgive you
for what you’ve done.”
Carly snatched her arm away from him and stood glaring into his
face. “Maybe I don’t care if Sonny forgives me. Maybe
I don’t care about Sonny at all.”
“Really?” he questioned. “If that were so, you wouldn’t
be here, half-smashed, making an ass of yourself. You’re trying
to hurt him. And that means you still care. But this time hurting
him could cost him a child. You’re a mother, Carly. You willing
to cost him his child? If so, then by all means go on back in there
and file a report.”
Carly tried to stand her ground, eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Why
the hell would YOU be on Sonny’s side? You hate him. Why are
you trying to defend him now?”
“I’m not defending him; I’m defending a little girl,”
Taggert replied in a matter-of-fact tone. “ Of course if you
try to report me for this, I’ll deny it ever happened…so
don’t even bother.”
He watched as the woman’s shoulders slumped in defeat, and
her mouth began to tremble. “Damn it, it’s not fair,”
she wailed. “It’s not fair that he’s doing this to
me. That he told me he’d make us work and then he can’t
let HER go!”
For the first time since he’d known this woman, he felt sorry
for her. There was a very real anguish in her eyes. “I know
it’s not fair,” he said. “But right now, you got
a shot at getting past it and maybe coming out the other end as
friends or whatever. Once you report this alleged crime, you’re
done, Carly. And you know it.”
His words had been an eerie echo of Sonny’s. And Carly stood
there considering them for a very long time, even after he had walked
out of the precinct door. Marcus Taggert had left the biggest decision
of her life in her hands.
Sonny hopped out of the speedboat with Nikolas, Johnny, and two
other bodyguards close behind him. He turned to them and barked
out plans rapid fire. “We’ll check out that little neighborhood
off Central Avenue. There are some Russian immigrants who’ve
established businesses there.”
“Yeah,” Nikolas agreed. “There’s this social
club in that area. Someone there might know of Nadia or Yuri.”
“I also thought Johnny could check out some of the places locally
where they sell supplies for stables and stuff…” Sonny
added.
“Sounds like a plan,” Johnny agreed.
“Yeah, but you’re not gonna need it,” someone said,
standing nearby on the pier.
Sonny whirled around to see who was speaking and rolled his eyes
when he spotted the man.
“Taggert, I don’t have time for your harassment today.
So pencil me in for later on this evening, ‘kay?”
Taggert smirked and strode cockily toward Sonny. “Nope, sorry,
Mini Mobster, but I have a matter that needs your immediate attention.
Well, two matters actually.”
“We don’t have to stop and talk to him, Sonny,” Nikolas
snapped. “Let him call Alexis and schedule a meeting.”
The detective’s eyes narrowed on Nikolas. “Quiet, Prince
Pretty Boy. Me and you haven’t been on good terms since you
dissed my sister, so why don’t you stand over there and be
the strong, silent type, huh?”
Sonny frowned and pointed a finger into Taggert’s chest, stopping
just short of touching the man so he couldn’t be charged with
assaulting an officer or the like. “Look, man, I’m asking
you nicely to cut me a break. Soon as I’m done with what I
have to do I’ll report to the station. I promise. But not before
that.”
Taggert shook his head. “You know, it’s hard as hell to
be nice to you. Anyone ever tell you that?”
“Everyone but my mother, rest her soul. What’s your point?”
“Here’s my point,” Taggert said and shoved the sheaf
of papers he carried into Sonny’s chest. Sonny leafed through
them, his breath catching as he noted the letterhead on the faxes
that read World Security Bureau. There were reports and photos relating
to Yuri Brezhnikov and a pony-tailed man named Johan Christopher.
“You’ll find the addresses of properties Brehznikov owns
that you might not be aware of. Maybe he’s holed up in one
of ‘em with your kid. Oh, and Johan Christopher, known to be
a henchman of Helena’s, entered the country two days ago with
a return ticket to Greece for tomorrow afternoon. I take it he’s
the courier for the baby. So you got a brief window to get your
kid back. We both know the way Helena rewards people who fail missions.
So this Christopher guy isn’t gonna want to get on that plane
tomorrow without your baby in his arms, know what I mean?”
Taggert didn’t wait for a thank you; he simply turned to leave.
Then he slapped a hand on his bald head and turned back to Sonny.
“Oh yeah, almost forgot, your wife tried to make a kidnapping
report at the precinct tonight. I think I talked her out of it,
but who knows with Carly. She could always change her mind. Better
put John boy there on her.”
This time Taggert did turn to go. He stopped because of one question
that came from a stunned Sonny Corinthos.
“Why would you help me?”
The seasoned cop pivoted but didn’t completely turn around.
He simply said: “It’s the right thing to do, man. That’s
all.”
Sonny had had to reevaluate so many things he’d believed to
be true in the past few days. He’d never thought that one of
them would be Marcus Taggert.
