by Lisa B
Chapter 106
Walking into the kitchen, Eduardo spotted Emily with her face buried in her hands. He paused in the doorway not wanting to intrude on her privacy. Turning to go back into the workroom, a voice stopped him.
"Don't leave on my account. Did you want something?"
"A cup of coffee…Italian or Turkish preferably."
Emily rested the palms of her hand against the table hesitating momentarily before pushing herself up. Karen's death and the separation from her family were starting to take their toll.
Eduardo watched as the woman continued in quiet dignity. Emily Thompson reminded him so much of his own mother. He cringed. He had let down his mother, the memory of his father and most of all Isabella. He wondered when the exact moment was that he knew Remi was a cad who terrorized his sister. He was ashamed to admit it had been long ago and far away. A nice bourbon neat or a night at the baccarat tables helped to erase the image from his mind. Funny how life shifted so quickly
Eduardo Romero, the only son of smart and forward reaching man, was a failure. He had forgotten how to work but reveled in spending the bounty of his sister's labors. It had been so easy to let Isabella do whatever needed to be done to make the company what it was today. The playboy and his beautiful sister ruled the world of antiquities and priceless treasures. Mama was happy. Her daughter was married even though it was to someone she didn't quite like or trust. Isabella never complained or cried. She simply hid the bruises and her husband's indiscretions. For his part, Eduardo stumbled along in drunken bliss and chose to ignore the obvious.
His sister had made a terrible mistake and now she might be paying for it with her life.
He felt a hand, with fingers as cold as ice, brush against his forearm. "You boys think that you can change the world." Emily shook her head at the naivete. "No one could have saved her. Isabella had to save herself." She guided Eduardo to the table and took the cup from his heads. Walking to the stove, she listened as the bubbling black liquid hissed and crackled filling the pot with its wondrous brew. Finally, the cacophony of sounds silenced indicated that the coffee was done. She filled Eduardo's cup and set it before him. She turned to get the cream from the fridge.
"Café black is fine. Sit Mrs. Thompson." Eduardo rose pulling out the chair with instinctive good manners that had been a part of his training since birth. At least on that count, he had not failed his mother.
"Call me Emily." She graciously accepted the seat he offered. Settling in, she continued. "This self-torture over events that are long past will do no good. It only takes your focus away from what is important finding Isabella and Jerry now. We cannot live the lives of those we love. If we're lucky, we can give gentle advice and hope our words will be listened to. My daughter is dead. I want that man to pay but more importantly, I want to end his killing spree."
"It is very easy to make your head look away from the truth. For once, I am facing what I have done. I knew Remi hurt her and I did nothing. Isabella suffered in silence so I drank and caroused to blind me from the truth. The company was prospering. Mama was happy. The family was solvent. My ignorance may have cost us everything." His voice dropped. "The company is on the verge of ruin. Isabella may be laying dead as we speak and I am helpless."
The melancholy defeatist attitude woke Emily from her own thoughts of mortality. "The pity-fest is over for today. This will get us no where. Come," she held out her hand to her new companion. "Let's get back to work."
Entering in to the workroom, the volume of papers was hard to ignore.
"Jerry leaves quite a paper trail. How far did you get?" Emily asked picking up the credit card receipts for the 50th time.
"I started with the receipts. Nothing rang a bell."
Throwing her arms up into the arm, frustration strangled their efforts. "There's that damn florist again."
Eduardo looked up from the papers he was skimming. "Florist?"
"Hmm?" Running her fingers through her hair absentmindedly, she was unaware of her outburst. "Oh, yes, I haven't had this discussion with you yet." She chuckled shaking her head. "Jerry has the world's largest florist bills. Jax thinks I'm crazy and that it means nothing."
Eduardo grabbed the sheet from her hands. "Let me see that. This address looks so familiar. I wonder?" He fumbled through his pockets looking for his organizer. He finally found it in his overnight bag. Excited, he waved the book at Emily. "That's it. He's been sending flowers to Fadia."
A perplexed look remained chiseled on Emily's face. "Fadia, who is Fadia?"
Frantically, Eduardo pushed papers out.
"Stop! What are you doing? You're making a mess of all the papers we've already gone through." Emily grabbed for the man to prevent him for causing any more damage.
He shook her off. "Get me the phone. This IS what you've been looking for. Look at the phone logs. He called the embassy in Amman right before he disappeared."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know Fadia too. I've dated her off and on. The number is burned into my heart and in my mind. Let me call her."
She handed him the phone. Sitting on the edge of the seat, she waited anxiously. It seemed to take forever before Eduardo finally got through. His animated hand gestures and the rising excitement in his tone of voice told her what an interpreter would have. He had hit the jackpot. Finally, there was a lead.
Hanging up the phone, Eduardo pulled a map from a pile near the door. He pinned it to the wall. "Here." He said pointing to the map. "Jerry had Fadia call the man who owns a building on this street. She's calling him again to find out what the deal was." He drew a red square on the map. "We need to get to this building. Some where in this area is the key to finding my sister."
Emily stared at the map feeling that for the first time they might actually find Jerry and Isabella. Now if only Jax would come back.
*************************** Port Charles New York **********************
Jock sat on his hospital bed staring at the door. His brother Ryan was taking forever with the doctor. Ryan had dragged Jock kicking and screaming to General Hospital for a check up. Jock wanted to find out where the hell Joanne had skipped to.
Covert…the word kept playing through his mind. She was definitely up to her eyeballs in a covert operation that was funded by revenge. Why had he ever told her Jason Morgan was behind the hit? Could he keep his big old mouth shut…NO? He had to spill it to her the moment he woke from the coma. Naturally, Joanne "The Terminator" Fambrough high tailed it to Port Chuck with Morgan in her sights. Her leaving meant one thing. Jason was not in town and she found out where he was.
His brother's mother hen cackling was keeping him from finding out where the hell she was. He made from Boston to New York without splitting open any stitches or causing any internal bleeding so what was a few more frequent flyer miles if the need be. At least Ryan had come alone. Jock dreaded confronting his mother. Mary McGillen did not take kindly to her sons going against doctor's orders. She had lit into Brendan the time he sawed off his cast in the garage instead of going to the doctor's office. Mom had called several cops who owed her for one reason or another and made them cuff Brendan and haul him to the doc's office in a squad car. Life with Mary McGillen was never boring.
Ryan finished up taking with the specialist, walking into the room he meant Jock's glare.
"Oh shut up. I can have Mom on the next plane if you'd like."
Jock hopped down from the bed. "Clean bill of health. So there are no medical emergencies to keep me here, is that it Ry?" Jock headed for the closet to find his clothes.
Leaning against the wall, his brother watched in quiet amusement. "Forget it, bro. I stashed your clothes while you were going through the poke and prod routine."
Jock rushed his brother and slammed him into the wall. Once a football player, always a football player. "This is no time to get cute Ry. You know and I know Joanne is in over her head. She's looking to kill someone who almost succeeded in killing me. Are you going to help me find her or am I going to have to hurt you and do it alone?"
Ryan gently pushed his brother away. Realizing the only choice was to help, he pointed to the burner next to the bed. "Bottom drawer. You better think of a way to explain this to Elaine."
Jock pulled on his jeans. "I told you not to get married!"
Jock signed out of the hospital and decided the best course of action was to head back to Kelly's. "I need to make a couple of phone calls."
Ryan was on his third cup of coffee before Jock came back. Jock slid into the chair across from him and motioned for the waitress to fill his cup.
"Ryan what the hell is going on. My friends tell me Brenda Barrett has left the country twice headed for London. Once on a private plane and once yesterday…commercial from New York. The second one has got to be Joanne but what's with the sudden migration to England. I know it's not for the weather."
"Got me. Last I heard Brenda was in Boston with the rest of the Jacks clan."
"Let's go. The next flight to London is in 3 hours and we're going to be on it." Jock paid the check and steered his brother towards the waterfront. "We need to make a little stop. There's a nice gentleman who's waiting for us to take a couple of pictures." Ryan looked at him strangely so Jock explained. "Passport photos. Don't ask."
Jock hoped they could get to London before Joanne did something stupid. There'd be plenty of time on the plane to call Brian Smith and find out what the hell was going on.
**************************** London England **************************
Brian Smith bounded up the stairs two at a time. He stopped for a moment before unlocking the apartment door.
Entering, he yelled. "Brenda? Brenda!" as he searched each room. Just as he feared, she had left. Taking his time, he searched each room again. She didn't leave a noted. Then he noticed the light on the answering machine.
He rewound the tape and listened to the inane messages. Just as he was ready to give up, the message from Samantha Beyers started. He ripped the answering machine out of the wall and hurled it across the room when the tape cut off just before Sami Beyers gave Brenda the address of where Julia was staying.
Now both Barrett sisters were missing. Brian went in the bathroom and threw up.