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Morgan Benson 7

Once in the cottage, Morgan looks around. There is a tidy galley style kitchen. The tunnel opens up in what appears to be a pantry just off the kitchen. There is a staircase that goes up to a loft but the rest of the Hunter’s cottage is a technogeek’s wet dream. A wall of monitors are set to a variety of pictures and none of them appear to be Spoon Island. There is a large workstation that has a clear desk except for a wireless keyboard. Behind the desk sits an older man with sharp features. The glasses he is wearing have an amber tint them that doesn’t do anything to disguise his curious look.

“I take it you’re Mouse.” Morgan quips.

“And you’re Morgan Benson. Last time I saw you in person was your graduation from the University.

Morgan gives him a questioning look. “You were at my graduation?”

“Sure, Law School Miami in May. Baby couldn’t make she was up to her ears with adopting Fancy and it happened to fall right when she couldn’t leave the state. I know that graduating isn’t as big a thing for you lawyers as passing the bar. Good show on that too.”

“Since your reputation precedes you, I have to wonder if you hacked to get the results.”

“Of course I did.” Mouse nods. “If Baby waited for you to tell her anything we’d still be waiting for a phone call.”

“There is an account with over five million dollars in it.”

“If you invested the money you’d have more. Even Jason Morgan could have told you that. Let me guess. You never looked at it.” Mouse laughs and shakes his head. “I guess we should feel honored that you at least use the emergency number when you need it. Baby would feel that more important.”

“And what every Baby wants...”

Mouse gives a lopsided smile and laughs. “Her reputation precedes her. Baby isn’t here. She is in California. Inconvenient timing opens this weekend in Los Angeles and New York.”

“Dillon Quartermaine’s latest movie?”

“Fancy’s in it– your niece. Brutally killed in the first act but she dies well. Baby doesn’t know about the two times you’ve called the emergency number. No reason for her to know– situations were both handled.”

“The same way you never informed Anders Pappas when Lisa called?”

“The goal is for people to use the emergency number when needed. Snitching is not part of the service. You’re flagged on Lisa’s file. Just to let you know, so Mona would know what was up if you made an inquiry.”

“That will need to be updated. If anything is going on with Lisa I’ll need to know. Including the status on Constantine Macon.”

Mouse’s brows rise above his glasses. “That’s a blast from the past. A name I hadn’t heard in quite a few years. Parole hearings now every six months. But some how Macon never manages to keep his nose clean right when the hearing is coming around.”

“Good. And if I told you that Lisa and her mother are still afraid of Macon and that he managed to relay threats to them while they were in Port Charles. That Lisa has no desire to come back to Port Charles because of the threats made?”

Mouse leans forward dropping his elbows on the desk. “That is news to me.” He points to a comfortable chair on the other side of the desk.

“Hey Mouse, I thought we were going to the movies!” Michael calls out as he enters the cottage. He stops when he sees that Mouse is not alone. “You are the last person I expected to see.”

“Uncle Jason gave me some information I needed to verify.” Morgan answers looking over his shoulder to see his older brother in the entryway.

“Really.” Michael quirks a brow. How likely would it be that his little brother would be verifying anything from Uncle Jason with Mouse.

“Yeah, I’m a little tired of being observed like a rat in a maze. Already called Uncle Jason on the plant he put on me, that he’s had on me since college. Now I want to know if CSMC has been playing the same game with my life.”

Michael looks from his brother to Mouse. “Uh huh.”

“Why do I get the feeling you wouldn’t be surprised?” Morgan quips.

“Because he wouldn’t be. Michael lived with us while he was studying at General Hospital.”

“I was supposed to live at the Quartermaine’s but you remember the drama– the press was after all of us– you, me and Kristina. Uncle Jason put you on lockdown. CSMC didn’t mind having visible guns on the perimeter to keep the press on the other side of the road. It was better to be at the cottage than bring it down on the Old Man.”

“Baby has always been very careful to keep a distance between you and her business. She made sure you had the resources you needed and kept a step back. That’s Baby.”

“But she also would have known how you were keeping an eye on things.” Michael throws a hand up toward the bank of monitors. “Come on, Mouse, show Morgan what you can do. Show us CSMC Miami.”

Mouse shakes his head but with a quick tap of keystrokes. The view of the monitors changes to the offices, clubs and businesses that are associated with CSMC- Miami, including Miami Nice, Morgan’s cleaning service.

Morgan gives a half laugh and shakes his head in disbelief. “Lisa told me there was no way four guys could keep the same cleaning service for the last six years. Is there anything inside my house?”

“No. Perimeter only.” Mouse nods. “CSMC has a house on the other side of the canal... that’s your actual weak spot. Anyone could come in on the canal side of the property.”

Morgan looks over at Michael. “Do they do this to you too?”

“Only when I’m in CSMC range. Which is not the continent of Africa.”

“Give Baby time.” Mouse counters.

“He sounds like he’s kidding– he’s really not.” Michael tells his brother. “What is it, Mouse? Johannesburg, Dubai... Cairo?”

Mouse just smiles and switches his monitors to another town, this time Los Angeles at the Tower Center. “Why don’t you two go ahead to the movie. I can find something around here.”

Michael is about to protest but then he realizes. “You’ve already seen it.”

“Twice.” Mouse agrees with a nod before continuing proudly. “Fancy did a great job. The girl has got serious chops. One of these days I’m going to be saying I knew her when. Don’t think she’ll be worried about her next gig for awhile.”

They hadn’t made the earlier show. Instead it had been the last show of the evening. Inconvenient Timing. Neither of the brothers spend much time in movie theaters and Netflix didn’t deliver to Zambia. “What was the last movie you saw?” Michael asks after they come out of the theater and head to Jakes for a drink.

“Honestly? I think it was Soccer Town.” Morgan admits. “I don’t get to the movies often. There is always something else to do down in Miami.”

“Yeah, know that feeling.” Michael agrees. “And normally I’m about 8 hours away from the local movie theater. It’s more of a priority to make sure I get my journals than the latest vids. And I already knew the story line for Soccer Town. It is something I like to do when I take some time off.” Michael admits. “Two hours in the dark not thinking about medicine is almost...”

“A vacation?”

Michael laughs. “True.” The conversation is filled with silences until they arrive at Jakes.

“I’ve been hearing about this place lately.” Morgan looks at the roadhouse bar on the outskirts of Port Charles. “Lisa knows the owner.”

“Cole Radcliffe.” Michael nods. “He’ll probably be here tonight. Friday and Saturday nights are pretty notorious around here and have been for decades.” He opens the door and is hit by the raucous sound of the party going on inside. “Doesn’t sound as if much has changed.”

The jukebox is pumping. All the pool tables are full. The only seats available are at the bar. There are two bartenders behind the bar and the barmaids are busy with the tables and checking on kitchen orders. Michael and Morgan take seats at the bar. The older man in a western style shirt flips a couple of cocktail napkins in front of them. “What’ll you have?”

“Q Special.” Michael orders.

“Beer, whatever is on tap.” Morgan requests.

The male bartender continues to work the bar while the female bartender takes care of the barmaids’ orders. As soon as everyone at the bar has a drink the man makes his way over to the two at the end of the bar. “So the sons of sweet Caroline make their appearance. How is your mother?”

“Pretty much the same.” Michael shrugs. “She had a good birthday. Morgan, this is Cole Radcliffe. Cole, this is my brother Morgan.”

“Haven’t seen you since your high school graduation. Queen of Angels. You graduated a year before Chandy. Karin and Kristina were bad enough but you kicked open the door. After you graduated, I was spending more money on graduation gifts than I ever want to think about.”

“You’re going to have to talk to Kyle about that one, Cole.” Michael laughs. “Luckily not everyone goes around adopting six kids. You limited it to three.”

“Ha. I should be that lucky. Skye keeps a book on every kid that ever stayed the night at our house. Why do you think I’m still working after all these years?”

“To get out of the house?” Michael offers.

Cole laughs. “Yeah, there is that.” He puts his foot up on one of the shelves below the bar. He focuses on Morgan. “You look like your father.”

“Am I supposed to thank you? Maybe be insulted?” Morgan stiffens.

“No. It’s not a compliment just a statement of fact.” Cole shrugs. “If I blamed the son for the sins of the father I’d have to shoot myself. The one thing nobody has control over is their parentage. Hell I’m just grateful that Chandy takes after her mother. I never planned on contributing to the gene pool.”

“You may have not planned on being a father but I’ve heard that you do okay with the parenting. Lisa Pappas sends her regards.”

Cole grins. “How is the kid doing?”

“Stubborn, perverse. gorgeous.”

“Yeah, that’s pretty much the way I remember her too. That’s a diploma that cost me some bucks. She sent a copy to the house. Skye took one look at that diploma and I was on the hook for a big fat check and a card. She knew about Lisa helping me and Anders down in Tarpon Springs.” Cole shakes his head. “Heard she moved from Gainsville down to Miami.”

“That was fast. She just moved down to Miami a month ago.”

“Mouse has nothing on my wife when it comes to keeping track of her kids.” Cole sees someone trying to catch his eye and moves down the bar to pour another drink. He grabs a bowl and fills it up with peanuts bringing it back to Michael and Morgan. He sets it in front of them and taking one of the peanuts cracks the shell and downs the nuts. “So you two out cruising for chicks?”

“Just came from Inconvenient Timing.”

“Yeah, that one caused a war over at Maxie’s house. The kids all wanted to see it because Fancy is in it. R rating.” Cole shakes his head. “Since mine are all over 17, it was out of my hands. Maxie put her foot down and wouldn’t like the four youngest go even though Elena and Mariah are within months of being 17.”

“That’s not going to work.” Morgan interjects.

“Oh no kidding.” Cole nods. “I’m sure they’ve all already seen it. It’s just going to take going over to Joe’s house down the street. Well I suppose if they think they’re getting over on Maxie with the movie they won’t be off getting people to buy them beer. Got to feel for those kids anyway. There is nothing they could do that Kyle and Maxie haven’t already pulled.”

Michael informs Morgan. “Kyle used to babysit me before you were born. Not when I was with Mom, when I was staying with Dad and Lydia. I was playing soccer before but Kyle was playing for PC High- varsity back then. He gave me a big head start. Kind of weird thinking he has kids that are older than he was when he was babysitting me. How is Pavel doing?”

“Good. He’s still working on his degree, goes to Arizona on his down time. Since he turned pro when he was 19, he’s been doing a lot of online work but Arizona isn’t as flexible as Berklee was with Chandy. He has to show up at least one quarter a year. At this rate, Drew will have his degree before Pavel.”

“I can’t keep up.” Michael admits.

“Welcome to my world. I think Skye has a spreadsheet that she uses for keeping track of them all. Drew is majoring in Biology over at PCU. Wants to be a vet. He’s already planning on going to the vet school at Tufts. Full scholarship at PCU for playing soccer. Which is good because Tufts doesn’t give athletic scholarships. The money saved in tuition at PCU is going to be spent on the vet school... in the first year. Kyle has already contacted Anders to see if he’s got anything in North Grafton outside of Boston. Kyle’s hit a grown man’s idea of hell– teenage daughters. Elena and Mariah have both hit the age where they know how to drive, know what they want and the bad boys are starting to look appealing...”

Morgan winces at the thought and wonders if it is his future.

“...My Bill is going to be graduating from high school this year planning on heading off to Emerson– Art.” Cole rolls his eyes. “Anders will probably put him to work painting apartments to pay his rent.”

“Chandy music, Bill art, Hill hat designer...”

“And Lee, bus designer.” Cole raises his coffee cup in his toast to his son, the mechanic. “He may never go to college or he may but I’m sure he’s learning more from Alice than any automotive or diesel engine school. He’s already planning on buying Alice out when she’s ready to retire. They’re good kids.”

“So Hill giving you the run around the way Mariah and Elena are Kyle?”

Cole raps on the wood of the bar. “Not with boys. And I haven’t had to step in anyway, Lee and Bill handle that. The only worry I have with Hill is her blindspot where The Old Man and your Aunt Tracy are concerned. She spends a lot of time with Tracy.”

Michael winces. “Different strokes.”

“She’s that bad?” Morgan asks.

Both of the other men nod and as one. “Oh yeah.”

Back at the hotel, Morgan glances at the clock. It’s too late to call Lisa. He’d be back in Miami in about 12 hours anyway and six of that is going to be spent in the air. One year down and he won’t be back here again for another. He’d learned a lot on this trip, including being 5 million dollars richer than he had been when he arrived... sorta. His first instinct is to give it back, even burn it. His second thought was the plumbing situation down in Venezuela. If he was going to throw the money down a ****hole– might as well make it literal. He had one that needed money thrown at it. Five million would go a ways in improving the sanitation in the village. Hell putting it in trust, invested properly would complete a lot of projects over time. He’s going to have to consult a planner damn it. His sister has always been a pain in his ass, even if he only found out about her when he was 17. To save himself some time in the morning he does his packing now only leaving out what he would need in the morning and calls down to the desk for a wake up call. He’d set the alarm as well but the last thing he wanted to do was miss his flight.

And he thought the airport had been a zoo. Morgan looks around the emergency room on a Sunday afternoon: kids are crying as are a few of the adults and it’s standing room only. He walks over to the receptionist who he already knows is a nurse actually doing a visual triage of people as they are checking in. “And the chances of Lisa getting out of here on time?”

She laughs in his face. “You’re so funny. She’s eligible for an extra break if she hasn’t already forgotten. She’s working the urgency care side.”

“I think I’ll go out and get her something to eat and come back.” Morgan looks around at the packed house. He doesn’t have the skills of the staff but the room seems harried and rushed rather than explosive. He also sees that there is security at the entrance to the ER and then more toward the entrance of the cubes. It doesn’t take him long to find the nearest fast food place and pick up a meal to go. Lisa had said the food in the cafeteria at the hospital isn’t too bad. But it sounded like Lisa needed FAST food. It’s not like he’s been coming by all the time but often enough to get a nod from the security guard and be flagged through when he comes back with a quick snack. He heads back to the break area as soon as he catches Lisa’s eye and raises the bag. She nods and focuses on the older woman sitting in front of her.

Lisa comes into the break room and the food is already sorted out so all she has to do is take a seat. With a heavy sigh. “I needed this.” She reaches for the beverage first and takes a big sip. “So how was the old homestead.”

“Went to see Cole Radcliffe. He sends his regards and thanked you for yours.”

“Good.” Lisa reaches for the wrap sandwich. “And your mom?”

“Dancing with Uncle Jason and playing pool with Michael.” He pauses. “It was actually a pretty good birthday for her. There have been a few disasters over the years where Michael and I just got the hell out of there because we were freaking her out. No matter what anyone says... she doesn’t really know us– But she does like to party. How crazy was it around here?”

“Not too bad. Next weekend is going to be a joy. Full moon.”

“There is no truth to that is there really?”

“As long as people believe it’s true, it’s true.” Lisa retorts. “I appreciate you doing this. I was really starting to fade and was about to hit the vending machines. I don’t want to hear it. Believe me next weekend I’ll pack a snack.”

“See you Monday when you get off work?”

“You trying to get me to spend my weekend at your place?”

Morgan grins at her and getting up from the table gives her a lingering kiss. “Call me when you get home.”

Very weird day. How y'all doing? Deb