Faith

Chapter Nineteen

© 2004

~*~*~*~*~*~Two Weeks Later~*~*~*~*~*~

“Sonny,” Carly called from the living room. “Michael’s finished with the sign. Can you come help him put it up?” Sonny emerged from the kitchen, his sleeves rolled up, a few wisps of hair falling into his face. He looked incredibly handsome. She grinned over at him as he approached, “How’s dinner coming?”

“The same way all of my dinners are. Perfect,” he smiled his dimpled smile almost making Carly swoon. She gave him a quick kiss before he went over to where Michael stood with his sign. “That looks great Michael. Jason and Courtney are going to love that.”

“I hope so. It sure took me a long time to paint it,” he sighed heavily handing the sign to Sonny. A few minutes later, Sonny had the sign up over the fireplace.

“How does that look?” Sonny looked over his shoulder at Carly and Michael.

“Beautiful!” Carly exclaimed. “Michael, let’s get this mess cleaned up before they get home okay?” He nodded and began to help his mother clean up. Sonny was on his way back to the kitchen when there was a knock at the door. Sonny answered it, surprised at who was standing there.

“Evenin’ Mr. Corrinthos.”

“What do you want Coleman?” he sighed, trying to control his aggravation. A slow smile spread across Coleman’s face as he leaned against the doorframe.

“Aren’t you gonna invite me in?”

“No.”

“Come on now. I have some information you might find useful.”

“There’s nothing you could possibly say that could be useful to me.”

“Oh, I think there is. It has to do with your baby sister,” he smiled. Sonny’s dark brown eyes turned almost black. Fear began to build in the pit of his stomach from the power and anger that radiated from Sonny, yet he somehow remained calm. Sonny turned to Carly and Michael.

“Carly, take Michael upstairs for a minute,” he turned back to Coleman and opened the door wide enough for him to step through it. Carly eyed Coleman suspiciously for a moment, but led Michael upstairs as Sonny requested. Once they were out of sight, Sonny spoke again. “You have five minutes.” Coleman looked around the living room for a moment.

“Looks like the happy couple are coming home today.”

“Get to the point,” Sonny barked.

“Alright, here’s the deal. The night Courtney and Jason got married someone came into my bar. They had way too much to drink and began talking to themselves. They began to make threats to Courtney. Now I don’t know how serious this person is to be taken, but I have a soft spot for the girl,” Coleman smiled. “I don’t want to see her get hurt again.”

“Who?”

Coleman paused for a moment, “Elizabeth Webber.”

“Elizabeth was threatening Courtney?” he asked, almost not believing him.

“I swear this is the truth. She said she was going to make Courtney pay for taking Jason away from her. She said Jason belongs with her and she was going to take care of Courtney and the baby she carried.” Sonny stood there silently staring at him with a blank _expression on his face. “Look, take the information and at least watch Elizabeth. Courtney is finally happy. I’d like to see her stay that way.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you care so much about Courtney? Did you think I’d pay you something for this information? That’s probably the only reason you came to tell me isn’t it? If you cared so much you would have told me two weeks ago when it first happened.”

Coleman sighed, “You’re right. Money did cross my mind, but I had an attack of conscious okay. It doesn’t happen very often for me, but it did this time.” Sonny still stared at him blankly. “Whatever man, I’m out of here. I just hope you listen to what I’ve said and protect Courtney.” Coleman quietly shut the door behind him as he left. Carly descended the stairs when she heard the door shut.

“What was that about?”

“He was giving me some information he thought I might need,” he answered vaguely. ‘Typical answer,’ Carly thought to herself. She shook her head knowing he wouldn’t say anything more. He gave her a small smile, “I’m going to go finish dinner before they get here.” Carly watched him as he made his way back into the kitchen, all sorts of things going through her mind, wondering just what Coleman had to say that could have affected Sonny that way. She continued to think about it while she finished setting up for Courtney and Jason’s welcome home party.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Courtney slowly woke from her nap. She stretched, letting out a content sigh before finally opening her eyes. When she did, she found the most beautiful eyes she’d ever seen staring down at her. She smiled and curled further into his lap.

“Hey.”

“Hey. Have a good nap?” he asked with a smile.

“Uh-huh.” she yawned. “Are we home yet?”

“We will be in about ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” She sat up quickly, “UGH! Why didn’t you wake me? I need to fix my hair and makeup.”

“You can do that in the limo. Besides, I think you look beautiful.”

Courtney blushed slightly, “You do?”

“You’re always beautiful to me.”

“Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“Not in the last two hours,” he grinned.

“I love you Jason.”

“I love you too,” he kissed her softly. She pulled away and stood up.


“I’m going to go freshen up before we start to land.” Jason watched his wife disappear into the bathroom with a blissful smile on his handsome face. He jumped slightly, startled when his cell phone rang. It hadn’t rang not once in the last two weeks. He laughed softly and answered it.

“Morgan.”

“Jason, it’s Sonny.”

“Hey.”

“Where are you?”

“We’ll be landing in about ten minutes. Is something wrong?”

“Is Courtney there with you now?”

“She’s in the bathroom,” Jason said beginning to worry. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know how much I trust this information, but Coleman came by tonight. He said the night of your wedding Elizabeth was at his bar talking about how she was going to make Courtney and her baby pay for taking you away from her.” Anger unlike anything he’d felt before began to take over Jason. He fought to control it. “Like I said, I don’t know how much I trust this information, but I’m going to have someone follow Elizabeth just in case. I don’t want to take any chances. I didn’t want to get into this when you got here, that’s why I called you instead. Don’t mention any of this to her. She doesn’t need to be worried about this when there may not be anything to be worried about, especially in her condition.”

“I won’t. We’ll see you soon.”

“Bye.” Jason struggled to keep control of his anger. He was able to get control of himself before Courtney emerged from the bathroom. The moment he saw her his heart swelled with all the love he felt for her in his heart. His eyes traveled down to her softly rounded stomach and he thought of his child growing inside of her. He loved the both so much. He honestly didn’t know what he would do if something ever took either one of them away from him. Right then and there he vowed he’d kill Elizabeth before he let her take away his happiness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Half an hour later, Courtney and Jason walked into their penthouse, sitting down their luggage. Courtney set her purse on the couch and turned to Jason with a bright smile. He pulled her to him in a warm embrace.

“Are you glad to be home?”

Jason sighed, “I loved having you all to myself without interruptions, but I did miss everyone. What about you?”

“Same here. I guess we should go across the hall before we start to unpack.” Jason took her hand and led her across the hall to Sonny and Carly’s. As soon as Carly opened the door, she pulled Courtney into a big hug.

“I missed you guys so much. How was Greece? You’re so tan. I really hate you. How’s my little niece or nephew doing? Have you been having as strange of cravings as I have….” her voice trailed off when Jason and Sonny’s loud laughter rang through the penthouse. She turned to them with an evil glare. “What?”

“You might try giving Courtney a chance to actually answer a question before you bombard her with a million more.” Sonny grinned at his wife. She rolled her eyes.

“Whatever Sonny. I just missed her that’s all.”

“Well I missed her too. Can I hug my sister?” Sonny pulled Courtney from Carly’s grasp and gave her a tight hug. “We really did miss you around here.”

“We missed you too.” Courtney smiled. She then saw the sigh Michael had made for them. It read ‘Welcome home Jason, Aunt Courtney, and Baby!’. Tears sprang to her eyes as she searched the room for Michael. She bent down and pulled the little red-head to her, holding him for a moment. “Thank you for the sign Michael. It’s so beautiful.”

“I didn’t mean to make you cry Aunt Courtney,” Michael looked up at her, his little face filled with worry.

“Oh no honey. It’s happy tears not sad tears.” Jason came up behind her and wrapped his arm around her waist.

“So, are you two hungry?” Sonny asked. Jason laughed softly and looked down at his wife with an amused _expression on his handsome face. “What did I miss?”

“Our wives are pregnant Sonny. Since when are they ever NOT hungry.”

“We resent that!” Carly and Courtney exclaimed in unison. Sonny chuckled they sat around the table to eat the wonderful meal he had prepared for them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

In the two weeks Courtney and Jason had been gone, Elizabeth already began to set her plan in motion. It wouldn’t be long now before Courtney and the child she carried would be out of the picture forever and Jason would be hers again. ‘Oh yes,’ Elizabeth thought smugly to herself as she cleared her tables at Kelly’s. ‘Courtney would be getting exactly what she deserved soon enough. No one takes what ’s mine!’

Faith

Chapter Twenty

© 2004

It had been three months since Courtney and Jason had returned from their honeymoon. The man Sonny hired to follow Elizabeth reported nothing unusual so far. Something still told Sonny not to stop following her just yet. Maybe Elizabeth was just biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment when she thinks Courtney will be most vulnerable. Both Jason and Sonny decided it best not to let Courtney or Carly know anything about the man they hired to follow Elizabeth. The last thing their wives needed was something like that to worry about in their condition.
Carly waddled down the stairs just as Sonny was getting off the phone with Peters, the man he had hired to follow Elizabeth.

"…yeah, okay good. Keep me informed." He hung up the phone and turned to his every expanding wife with a warm smile. "Hey there beautiful." Carly grunted loudly in protest.

"Yeah right. I'm so fat and my feet are killing me," she mumbled as she sat down on the couch with a bit of difficulty. Sonny sat down beside her and began to rub her tired feet.

"Well, five hours of shopping will do that to you," he joked, but Carly didn't look the least bit amused. "What's that look for? I didn't tell you to go shopping all day long when you're almost seven months pregnant. If you remember correctly I tried to get you to stay in bed."

"We needed to finish getting the stuff to decorate the nurseries. I mean you and Jason haven't exactly been too eager to help us with that."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute here. I told you I'd hire someone to come in and fix up the nursery however you wanted it to look. How is that not helping?"

"It's not the same Sonny and you know it. We want to bring our babies home to a room that we know we created for them. It just wouldn't be the same if some stranger came in to do it all for us." Sonny sighed heavily, knowing he'd never win this argument.

"Okay, you're right. I'm sorry I haven't been much of help with the nursery. I'm a bad husband and father," he pouted. Carly finally laughed.

"You're not a bad husband and father. Courtney and I know that you and Jason are busy, especially with this new business you've been handling since Jason and Courtney got back from their honeymoon." Sonny looked away for a moment, then turned back to his wife with a smile.

"Business has been pretty demanding the last few months."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Carly asked, sensing his uneasiness.

He smiled down at her, "Why don't I look and see what kind of baby stuff you bought?" Carly nodded, knowing he didn't want to talk about his business with her. Sonny began pulling out all sorts of baby items from blankets, to bibs, to toys. Finally he picked up a bag from Prada. He saw Carly biting her bottom lip as he stared at her questioningly. "Prada's making baby clothes now?"

"It's just a little something I saw and I just had to have it." Sonny opened the box to find a sexy black pantsuit inside.

"Carly, tell me why you bought a pantsuit in a size 3 when you are seven months pregnant."

"It's for after I have the baby," she explained.

"After the baby? What if you aren't a size 3 anymore?" The moment those words came out of his mouth he regretted them. Carly's brown eyes turned black as she looked at her husband.

"Are you saying I won't be able to get my figure back?"

"Of course not Carly, I just know how you love to eat…" his voice trailed off as he mentally cursed himself again. "You know how you love your chips and pizza, that's all I'm saying."

"Contrary to what you believe Sonny, I can show some self control. I will be a size 3 again. Mark my words buddy." She stood and headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To Courtney's."

"Why?"

Carly glared at him over her shoulder, her chin raised indignantly, "To see if she has some chips or pizza." Sonny laughed as she walked out of their penthouse.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

~*~*Two Weeks Later*~*~

"Emily!" Courtney exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you. I can't believe you and Nikolas are engaged." Courtney hugged her sister in law tightly.

"You deserve it sweetie," Carly smiled as she hugged her as well. Courtney and Carly took turns admiring the beautiful emerald engagement ring she wore. Emily couldn't stop smiling.

"I'm so happy you guys. I never imagined I could ever be this happy."

"Have you talked about a date yet?" Courtney asked as she took a sip of her herbal tea.

Emily shook her head, "No. We aren't in a hurry. Probably within a year or two."

"That long? I couldn't wait to marry Jason. I felt like a month was too long to wait."

"If I were pregnant we'd most likely be getting married sooner, but since I'm not there isn't a big hurry."

"You two do what you feel is right. Whatever you decide we'll be here to support you," Carly smiled warmly at her.

"Thank you guys so much. I don't think things could get any better."

"Oh yes they could. I could have this baby already. My back hurts, my feet hurt, and I feel like the baby is going to kick a whole through me sometimes," Courtney laughed as she lovingly rubbed her huge belly. "In all seriousness though, I can't wait for our baby to get here. I keep wondering if it's a boy or if it's a girl."

"I still can't believe you didn't find out if you were having a boy or a girl," Carly said. "I'd die if I'd had to have gone nine months without knowing we were having a boy."

"I want to be surprised."

"Have you and Sonny decided on any names yet?" Emily asked.

"I'm pretty sure we've decided to go with Morgan, after Jason."

Courtney smiled, "He's so proud that you guys decided to name your son after him. He didn't stop smiling the day you told him."

"Sonny and I both love Jason so much. We wanted to show it by naming our son after him."

"What about you Courtney? Have you and Jason decided on any names yet?"

"Well, we've talked about it, but we haven't decided on anything yet. It's really a lot harder than I thought it would be."

"It is a big decision."

Emily nodded, "I can only imagine how hard it would be to pick a name for your child. I have a hard enough time deciding I want to wear in the morning." Carly and Courtney laughed.
Elizabeth watched them through the window at Kelly's, hating them even more. Courtney had everything Elizabeth wanted. She had the man she loved and now she even had her best friend. She couldn't stand it anymore. Elizabeth knew she needed to get rid of Courtney as soon a possible. The faster she was gone, the faster she'd have Jason and Emily back in her life.

"Smile and laugh all you want Courtney. Soon I'll be wearing Jason's wedding ring and I'll be planning Emily's wedding with her. Just you wait and see what I have in store for you," she whispered to herself as she turned and walked away from the window.
Peters watched Elizabeth stare through the window for at least ten minutes. It looked as though she was talking to herself too. When she walked away, Peters walked over to see what she had been staring at for so long. He wasn't surprised to see Courtney Morgan sitting inside. He reached for his cell phone as he began to follow Elizabeth once more.

"It's Peters. I think whatever Elizabeth has planned will happen soon. I just saw her staring into Kelly's for at least ten minutes. When I checked to see who she was staring at it was Mrs. Morgan."

"Don't let Elizabeth out of your sight. I'll send someone over right away to follow Courtney." Sonny hung up then dialed Jason's number to let him know what was going on. "….You have to try to stay calm Jason."

"Calm?!? Sonny, my wife and child are in obvious danger. How can I stay calm?"

"If Courtney finds out what is going on, she might put herself in even more danger thinking she's protecting her child." Jason sighed heavily knowing Sonny was right.

"I'm sending Marco out to follow Courtney wherever she goes. Peters is staying close to Elizabeth. I'm not going to let anything happen to her Jason."

"Neither will I," Jason vowed as he hung up the phone.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Peters followed Elizabeth to the other side of the park where she stopped at some nearby payphones. He casually sat on the bench beside the phones, close enough where he could hear what she said.

"It's time," he heard her say. "I'm tired of waiting. I want it done tonight."

When Elizabeth walked away, he walked behind some nearby bushes to make his call to Sonny. Before he could finish dialing the number he was hit hard on the back of the head. Everything immediately went black as he fell to the ground unconscious.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Marco stood in the shadows of the street, watching Carly, Emily, and Courtney from a distance just as Sonny had instructed him to do. The last thing Sonny wanted was to alarm them. If they knew Marco was following them, they'd immediately know something was wrong. He watched them as they walked along the sidewalks, looking in various store windows as they went along.

"Damn," Courtney cursed. "I have to pee again."

"You just went like ten minutes ago," Emily exclaimed.

"Just wait till you get pregnant. You'll have to go a million times a day too," Carly laughed.

"I'm going to see if this store has a bathroom. I'll be right back." Courtney left Carly and Emily on the street as she went in search of a restroom. The store didn't have a public restroom, but the storeowner was nice enough to let her use the restroom in the back storeroom. Courtney practically sighed in relief when she finally made it to the restroom. As soon as she opened the door, she was face to face with a black, hooded man. Before she had a chance to scream, he covered her mouth with a handkerchief. She was only able to struggle for a few seconds before her eyes drifted closed. The hooded figure lifted her into his arms and carried her out the back entrance. No one ever saw him.

Faith

Chapter Twenty-One

© 2004

Ten minutes had passed and Marco still hadn’t seen Courtney come out of the store. He pulled out his cell phone and immediately dialed Sonny.

“Hello?”

“Sonny, it‘s Marco. I’ve been following them all afternoon. Everything’s been fine till now. Courtney went into a store to use their restroom. It’s been ten minutes already and she hasn’t come out of the store. What do you want me to do?”

Sonny sighed heavily, “Damn it! Go into the store to look for her. Call me back immediately.” As soon as Marco hung up, Sonny began to pace the floor waiting for his call back.
Marco quickly walked up to Carly and Emily who were both looking at a baby layette through one of the other store’s windows.

“Mrs. Corrinthos, Ms. Quartermaine, I need you to stay where you are.” was all Marco said as he walked into the store. The store owner directed him to back where the bathroom was. When they got there, Courtney was no where in sight. On the floor near the door was a purse. Marco picked it up and looked inside only to find it was definitely Courtney’s. “f*ck!” Marco cursed as he ran out the store. He grabbed Carly by the elbow and lead her to a car that was waiting nearby. “Mrs. Corrinthos, Ms. Quartermaine get in the car please.”

“Wha..Marco, what is going on?” Carly demanded as she stepped inside the car. “Where is Courtney?”

Sonny answered the phone before the second ring, “Sonny, it’s me. She’s gone. When I got there all that was left was her purse on the floor.”

“Son of a….” Sonny began, but refrained himself.

“I’ve got Mrs. Corrinthos and Ms. Quartermaine in a car. Want me to send them back to the penthouse?”

“Yes. I want you to search the area until Jason and I get there.”

“Right,” Marco said as he hung up the phone. He leaned down and spoke to the driver, “Take them to the penthouse.”

“Wait, Marco. Where is Courtney? What’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you Mrs. Corrinthos. Please, just let the driver take you to the penthouse.” Carly wanted to argue some more, but she shut her mouth knowing it wouldn’t do her any good to argue. Once the car was gone, Marco immediately ran down the alley to the back entrance to the store, searching desperately for any clue that might lead to Courtney.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When Carly and Emily got up to the penthouse, she saw Sonny and Jason. Carly knew by the looks on their faces, that whatever it was wasn’t good.

“Sonny, tell me what’s going on. Why did we leave Courtney at the store?”

Sonny sighed, “Carly sit down.” Carly slowly made her way to the couch and sat like she was told. Sonny sat beside her, taking her hand in his. “Jason and I hired someone to follow a person who we thought could be a threat to Courtney. It’s been months, and nothing has happened…until tonight.”

“What?” she asked, her face showing the fear she felt inside.

“Marco was following you tonight because we got word that the person who posed the threat might act soon.” Sonny paused for a moment before he met his wife’s gaze again, “We think Courtney has been kidnapped by this person.”

“What?” Carly and Emily screamed.

“This can’t be happening Sonny. Why didn’t you tell us about this before? We could have made sure we were safe.” tears streamed freely down her cheeks.

“We didn’t want to worry you in the condition you both are in.”

“A lot of damn good it’s doing Courtney now Sonny! She’s almost eight months pregnant.” Carly began to sob, “What if she’s hurt somewhere? You’ve got to find her Sonny, please find her.” Sonny wrapped his arms around his wife and looked up at Jason who stood emotionless like a statue behind him. Sonny knew Jason was dying inside, but Jason knew if he let what he was feeling completely take over he would go crazy and right now crazy most likely wouldn’t be any good for Courtney or their baby. Once Carly’s tears finally subsided, Sonny stood.

“We have to go now. You’ll be okay here. There’s guards outside the door.”

“Sonny, please call me to let me know if anything happens.”

Sonny kissed her softly, “I will, I promise. I love you Carly.”

“I love you too.” Carly watched Sonny and Jason walk out the penthouse, praying they would find Courtney and everything would be okay.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The moment they got downstairs to the parking garage, Sonny’s cell phone rang again. “Hello?”

“Sonny,” Marco began. “We found that detective you hired.”

“Where was he?”

“He was in the park behind some bushes. It looks like he’s been whacked on the head pretty badly.”

“Can he talk? Does he know who did that to him?”

“He said he didn’t see who it was, but he was pretty sure it was Elizabeth. He said he was about to call you when all of a sudden he was hit. He was going to tell you that he overheard Elizabeth say she didn’t want to wait any longer. She wanted the job done tonight.”

Sonny sighed, “Alright. Make sure he gets to the hospital, then continue to look for Courtney.” He hung up the phone and told Jason what the detective said.

“I swear I’m going to break every bone in her body if she’s done anything to Courtney or our baby.” Jason said through clinched teeth.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Courtney slowly began to awaken, her head feeling as though it weighed a ton. She tried to move her hands, wincing as she realized they were tied tightly behind her back. She tried to look around at her surroundings, but everything was still a blur to her. Suddenly she heard someone speak.

“Well, well, well…look who’s awake.” Courtney felt her blood turn cold as she realized who it was…Elizabeth. “I was beginning to think you were never going to wake up. Of course that would have been just fine by me. The less messy I get my hands the better. But, here you are, back from dreamland.”

Courtney fought to find her voice, her throat bone dry from the chloroform, “Why are you doing this?”

“Why!?” Elizabeth yelled, getting down in Courtney’s face. “You’re not that stupid Courtney. You know exactly why I am doing this. You pretended to be my friend and you stole my boyfriend. I should be the one wearing his ring. I should be the one carrying his child.” She stood up with an evil smirk, “But not to worry. I will have what’s rightfully mine soon enough.”

“What?” Courtney laughed through the tears that were beginning to fall down her cheeks. “Do you actually believe you’ll get Jason after I’m gone. He HATES you Elizabeth. He’d rather die than to ever touch you.”

“Shut up!” she yelled, slapping Courtney’s face with the back of her hand. “Jason will be mine.” Courtney was fighting to keep herself from blacking out again when she saw something move in the shadows. She squinted against the darkness, trying to see who or what was lurking there.

“Stop it Elizabeth.” Courtney grew nauseous at the sound of his voice…AJ. “I..I can’t do this, Elizabeth.”

“What do you mean?” she whirled around to face him. AJ was no longer standing in the shadows. He was not five feet away from her, staring down at her with his beady brown eyes.

“I can’t hurt her…I won’t hurt her.”

“You knew what the plan was AJ. We get rid of the person who has hurt us most.”

“I know. I thought I could but…” AJ looked down at Courtney’s large stomach. “She’s pregnant Elizabeth. I can’t do it.”

“Fine! I’ll do everything myself then,” she seethed as she walked to the other side of the warehouse. AJ looked down at his feet, not moving. Courtney decided to try to talk to AJ to see if she could win him to her side.

“AJ,” Courtney whispered so Elizabeth couldn’t hear. “AJ, I know you wouldn’t hurt me or my baby. Please, please, untie me so I can get away. She’s crazy. If you don’t help me she’ll kill me and my baby. Please AJ. I know you aren’t a killer, please…” AJ looked down at her, his confusion evident in his eyes. Courtney didn’t say anything else as Elizabeth approached, gun raised ready to fire.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sonny and Jason looked everywhere they knew to look and they still had yet to find any trace of where Elizabeth may have taken Courtney. Not knowing where else to look, they decided to stop by Jake’s to see if Coleman had any other information that might be helpful.

“She’s been in quite a bit the last few months. I haven’t heard her making any plans, but I’ve seen her a lot with Courtney’s husband.”

“What?” Jason growled, “I haven’t been in here with Elizabeth.”

“No,” Coleman shook his head with a chuckle. “I mean her ex-husband. My bad. Elizabeth and AJ looked like they were getting pretty close here lately, but like I said I never heard them planning anything.”

“That no good son of a bitch!” Jason yelled as he picked up a nearby chair and shattered it against it’s table.

“Hey!” Coleman began to protest, but Sonny threw a couple hundred dollar bills on the bar and he immediately shut up.

“Calm down,” Sonny whispered softly into Jason’s ear.

“How can I be calm?”

“By thinking of Courtney and the baby. If you stop thinking rationally right now, we’re never going to find them.” Jason fought to get control of his anger and took a deep breath. “It makes sense now. Elizabeth needed some muscle to pull this thing off. That’s why she went after AJ. Who better to help her destroy you and Courtney than yet another person you’ve both supposedly done wrong. AJ must have been the one to take her from the store. Remember there wasn’t any evidence that showed Courtney being dragged and we both know Elizabeth isn’t strong enough to carry Courtney.”

“We’re looking in all the wrong places,” Jason said, his mind starting to work like it usually did when he was on the job and his job didn’t include finding his kidnapped wife. “Where would they take her? It would have to be somewhere that we would NEVER think of looking. Somewhere close…maybe too close.” It was then that Sonny and Jason realized just where they had to have taken her.

“The warehouses.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Courtney’s eyes grew huge as she looked into the barrel of the gun Elizabeth held in her hands, “Please AJ. Help me.”

Elizabeth laughed, “Do you really think he’s going to help you after everything you and Jason did to him? You left him for his own brother, Courtney. There’s no way he’d ever help you.” Tears were cascading down Courtney’s cheeks, “Oh how I love seeing you so upset. But don’t worry dear. I’m going to take care of you and that bastard you’re carrying.” Elizabeth aimed the gun to Courtney’s stomach.

“No!” Courtney yelled, just as AJ jumped on Elizabeth. They wrestled with the gun when suddenly it fired. They both stood there for a moment in shock. Courtney didn’t know if either of them had been hit. Suddenly AJ crumpled to the floor, his chest covered with blood.

“Look what you made me do!” Elizabeth screamed. “That should be YOU laying there on the ground.” Angry tears streamed down Elizabeth’s face as she raised the guy again. “Say goodnight, Courtney.” Courtney closed her eyes, waiting for the shot. She jumped when she heard the shot ring out. She opened her eyes and saw Jason fighting Elizabeth for the gun. She was once again succumbed by her fear. ‘Jason!’ her mind screamed. ‘Something’s wrong,’ Courtney thought to herself as a mind-numbing coldness began to take over her body. She looked down at her chest and saw blood…her blood.

“Jason…” she called out weakly just as Jason knocked Elizabeth unconscious. Jason looked up and saw Courtney, his fear evident in his eyes. He quickly ran to her, untying the knots that held her hands.

“Courtney, Courtney hold on baby. You’re going to be okay. An ambulance is coming,” Jason said, trying to sound calm despite the fact that he was panicking inside. He gently lay her down on the floor, pulling off his shirt to try to stop the bleeding from the wound on her chest.

“Jason…” she whispered. Courtney could feel consciousness slipping away, “I love you.” Everything went black.

Faith

Epilogue

© 2004

“Everyone say cheese!” Emily called as she snapped a picture. Morgan Corrinthos and Hailey and Joshua Morgan all sat around the twins birthday cake, their faces smeared with chocolate icing. It was Hailey and Joshua’s first birthday. It was hard for everyone to believe that exactly one year ago they almost didn’t make it into the world. Morgan was born three weeks later. Jason watched his children as they continued to dig their hands and their feet into the already demolished cake with a smile on his face. He looked away for a moment, his face darkening at the memory of what happened that night.

“Hey,” he turned around, smiling down at his angel who was almost taken away from him. Courtney wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him softly, “I know what you’re thinking about.”

Jason laughed, “Oh really? How do you know?”

“I could tell by the look on your face. Honey, please try not to think about that night. It’s our children’s birthday party. Let’s celebrate the fact that we’re all here and we’re all together.” Jason’s gaze moved to the left side of her chest. A faint scar was still visible, only reminding him once again how close he came to losing her and his children. Courtney knew what he was looking at, “That scar will never go away, Jason. It’ll be a permanent reminder of that night, but it’s up to us to make the most of the rest of our lives together. Elizabeth can’t hurt us anymore. You and Sonny made sure she was taken care of the moment she went to prison. And AJ…well, Elizabeth made sure he’d never hurt anyone again. I don’t want to dwell on the past or think about the ‘what ifs’. Life’s too short. If I’ve learned anything from that experience, it’s that.”

“I know you’re right.”

“I know I am too,” Courtney grinned as she looked over at their family. Emily and Nikolas had married just two short months after Courtney had been kidnapped. Emily realized she had to live for each moment she had in her life, and she didn’t want to wait any longer than she had to to marry Nikolas. Of course not six months later she announced her own pregnancy. Now at almost seven months, Emily was finally beginning to see what Carly and Courtney was always complaining about.

“Darn it,” Emily sighed as she struggled to get up off the couch. “I have to pee again.”

“See,” Carly laughed. “We told you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Emily mumbled as she waddled down the hall to the bathroom. Courtney looked back up at her husband who was watching their children with a content smile on his handsome face. She leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

“Guess what?”

“What?” he looked down at her suspiciously. Courtney gave him one of her dazzling smiles.

“Don’t you even want to take a guess?”

“Come on Court, just tell me.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “You’re no fun.”

“Courtney…” Jason began.

“I was just going to tell you…I’m pregnant.” Jason’s eyes grew huge as he looked down at his beautiful wife.

“You’re…pregnant…again?”

Courtney laughed, “Well that happens sometimes when two people have sex. I do recall our sex life to be pretty active these days.”

“Well, yeah…” he stood there in stunned silence letting it all sink in. “Another baby…wow.” Courtney laughed, knowing he would react this way.

“Let’s hope it’s just one this time,” she teased. Jason looked down at her questioningly, “What? We didn’t know we were getting twins the first time. How am I to know it won’t happen again?”

“I’m feeling a little woozy,” Jason said as he sat down in a big chair. Courtney climbed onto his lap with a big smile.

“Are you up for another round, Daddy?”

Jason laughed, kissing her lips softly. “Always as long as you are always here beside me.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Courtney smiled. “You just have to have a little faith.”