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Morgan Benson 10

“Yeah, that sounded like it hit a wall.” Georgie mutters as she wires in her laptop to Morgan’s big screen. She gets everything set up the way she likes and then starts checking in with people. Mac first. “Hey Uncle Mac.”

“Hey pumpkin.” Mac’s cheerful face is right there on Morgan’s big screen.

“Any news?”

“His picture is all over the Port Charles news. Doing new breaks. Taggart is doing follow up with any of Macon’s known associates and family. Lucky is checking on whatever doo dad you had set up with the monitors and I never want to hear that tone in your voice again when you’re ragging me about listening to the scanner. How are things there?”

“Oh you mean other than Anders’ sister not knowing Baby is Morgan’s sister?”

Mac looks at her blankly. “How in the hell does that happen?”

“I have no idea.” Georgie looks up. There is another impact in the room above her. But it didn’t sound like anything broke... probably a shoe against the wall.

Morgan grabs a shoe out of midair and tosses it aside. He repeats again. “I told you that my father’s daughter worked for CSMC. I said that she wouldn’t do a thing for me. And she hasn’t. I have seen my sister twice in my entire life. Once she showed up at the reading of my father’s will and then at my high school graduation. That’s it!”

“That is totally BULL! It’s Baby Ashton. She knows everything. She’s the one who had your car bugged. You know it.”

“No.” Morgan sighs. He takes a seat. “That was my Uncle Jason and Barry.” He sighs again. “When I was in Port Charles and finding out about Macon, I got a face to face with Mouse. He says there is nothing in the house. But evidently Miami Nice is owned by CSMC.”

“I KNEW it. I knew 4 guys in a sin bin couldn’t keep the same cleaning service for five years!”

“I paid them very good money.” Morgan says defensively.

“There isn’t enough money in the world.” Lisa retorts. She sits down on the bed next to her half packed suitcase. “You don’t know. You really don’t know what she’s like.” It’s half statement and half question.

“Face to face twice.” Morgan nods. “At my highschool graduation she handed me the card for the emergency line and a visa card. I used the emergency number. I never touched the visa. I found out at my mother’s birthday party there was over five million dollars in the account. Uncle Jason says it’s from her part of our father’s estate that she’s administering. Monthly deposits since I graduated from high school. Mouse thought it was pretty funny that I had no idea. You know more about my sister than I do and after hearing stories from you– I’m fine with that. So... is your brother going to turn me into paste?”

Lisa sighs. “Probably. I should call my mother. You said Anders was on the way there.”

“And you haven’t told him you’re pregnant?”

Lisa shrugs. “If he would have called me I would have told him. And if he would have asked mom she would have told him. He didn’t call. He didn’t ask.”

“But Mouse knows.”

“And Mouse will tell... but he won’t tell Anders. He’ll tell Baby. Baby will decide if Anders needs to know. The head of CSMC Miami might call Anders since the goons brought me to your place. Professional courtesy. You know like if one of his people got in trouble up in Boston– Anders would let him know.”

“Who is the head of CSMC in Miami?”

“No idea. I’m not part of CSMC. I keep telling you that. Why don’t you ask your cleaning service. Or the goons at the gate?” Lisa and Morgan just stare at each other for awhile and the moment is broken by a rap on the door.

“Hi didn’t hear anything hitting the wall for awhile. Everyone okay up here?” Georgie asks.

“Yeah, we’re fine.”

“Still pissed but fine.” Lisa corrects.

“Well as long as you’re not throwing things, I’m about to conference with Mouse thought you might want to be in on it.”

“Why?” Morgan asks.

“To find out what they’re doing and where so we aren’t stepping on each other’s toes. I got the official update from Uncle Mac about what the cops are doing. Mouse will have the update on what everyone else is doing.”

“What about Uncle Jason?”

“Stan and Spinelli are on it– but they are keeping the search to New York– again with the stepping on toes thing. Now if you were in Puerto Rico in stead of Miami– they’d be all over it. CSMC has the better resources here in Florida.”

“How do you know that?” Morgan asks.

“I googled CSMC Florida.” Georgie shrugs.

Lisa nods. “You know that thing about icebergs? Ten percent above water? It’s the same thing with CSMC. Whatever she found multiply it by about ten. I really should call my mom before we conference with Mouse.”

Georgie pulls out her cell. “Here use mine. I don’t know if your mom will pick up an unknown number but at least it’s a New York number rather than tying you to Morgan’s house.”

“Thanks.” Lisa takes the phone and goes out onto the balcony to make the call.

Georgie looks around at the half packed suitcase and shoes that have hit the wall. “That was fast.”

“If there is one thing that Lisa knows how to do it’s pack. And she really hadn’t unpacked from moving from her apartment to here.” Morgan gets up and picks up the shoes around the room and tosses them back onto the floor of the closet. “How bad is Baby really? I mean Lisa acts like she’s into everything and a total control freak.”

Georgie snorts. “Yeah, well that’s about right. The good news is that she’s not Faith Ashton. The bad news is she learned a lot from Faith in the seven years before Sonny killed Faith.”

“You knew Faith right?”

“As little as possible. That woman hated me because I was dating Dillon. Dillon did his best to keep us as far apart as possible. And high school relationships don’t last... I get that now but even Dillon knew that I’d be a lot healthier if he kept Faith happy.”

Lisa comes in shutting the phone as she does and hands it to Georgie. “Well that was fun. Anders is there and he’d already seen the blanket Mom was making. But you’ve gotten a stay of execution until Macon is caught.”

“Well then lets go down and conference with Mouse.” Georgie pockets her phone and heads back downstairs. It’s been a long day and it’s starting to get dark but she’d just as soon hit the ground running in the AM and that means getting a plan in place tonight.

Morgan looks at his big screen which is now a huge monitor. Georgie had set up a web cam at a distance to get all three of them in frame but she is the one running the laptop as well as a blue tooth receiver in her ear.

“Hey Mouse.” Georgie calls out when the conference comes online. “How is dirtbag logic holding up?”

“Lots of folks up here getting multiple visits– cops, jason’s guys, CSMC guys. I’ve put the word out to the CSMC guys that Macon is threatening family of CSMC.”

Georgie winces. CSMC is a little rabid where family is concerned. It’s why they have a branch in Iowa, it’s also how they got their start on the legitimate side- making sure there was safe housing for family. “That much heat there is no way he’s going to be able to land there.”

Mouse nods. “We’ve only gone hardcore on this guy after Morgan told me about the threats against Lisa and her mom. So only the last two months. Anyone he’s been in touch with– phone, letter or email in the last two months has been contacted.”

“So basically this is all your fault.” Lisa declares. “You put the pressure on him in prison and he killed someone and escaped. Mom and I had everything under control running under the RADAR and you put a big old sign on us saying here they are and you’re going to die anyway– so you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Maybe.” Mouse agrees. “We’ll know if he shows up in Port Charles. If he hasn’t been making good on his threats then he’ll head back here. If he’s had this planned longer than two months then he’ll be heading to Tarpon Springs.”

“Damn.” Lisa mutters under her breath and gets up to move out of camera range. She might be ticked at Mouse and CSMC but she knows that Macon has been planning this a lot longer than two months. The pressure from CSMC probably just upped the heat, moved up the timetable.

“What do you already have in place?” Georgie interjects. “I don’t want to be duplicating any efforts here.”

A schematic of Morgan’s property comes up on the monitor. “We’ve got nothing inside the house. We’ve got the guys who brought Lisa over stationed here and here...” Dots light up on the schematic. “... we’ve got a base of operation here...” A dot lights up over at the house across the canal. “... there is 24 hours video and armed surveillance that can cover this area.” A cone of is drawn onto the schematic that encompasses not only the back of Morgan’s house but that of the neighbors on either side.

“The security on the gate is crap.” Georgie tells Mouse. “Never mind just jumping the fence. I could disarm the gate with a phillips screwdriver and a couple of wire nuts.”

“Yeah, but you’re Georgie Jones, sweetheart.” Mouse counters with a grin but then get serious. “Yeah, I’ve been putting together a shopping list for the last two months just waiting for the okay.” He clicks some buttons and the list comes up along with a revised schematic with placements. Georgie studies the list it covers all the hardware she’d been thinking and a few extras.

Morgan whistles. “How much?”

“You’d get the family discount.” Mouse quips then quotes.

“Take it from that joint account. How soon can it be delivered?”

“Tomorrow at sunrise, expect a delivery truck.”

“Florist?” Georgie asks.

Mouse grins. “Close– landscaper. Figure you’ll be digging a few motion detectors. It’s good cover.”

“If the money isn’t taken from the account the driver will be turned back.” Morgan declares flatly. “Then we’ll make our own arrangements.”

“No problem.” Mouse hits a few keys. “It’s already gone.”

“What does Baby know?” Georgie asks.

Mouse’s eyes go flat. “She’s up to speed.”

“So is she here or maybe...” All of a sudden it hits her. Lucky probably would have figured it out before even getting on the conference call. “... Gainsville– Lisa’s old apartment. Where Lisa was living until CSMC went anvil on Macon. Where he would have been planning on hitting her. If he was going to make good on his threats. What she planning, Mouse– Patience two?”

“Patience went looking for what she got.”

“Don’t think I haven’t been doing research too, Mouse. I’m real good at putting the dots together. I was down in Texas then; Morgan was in Europe staying with Robin’s mother. Doesn’t mean I don’t have access to sources. Doesn’t mean that I wasn’t notified I was a target but come on-- Baby without guards? What are the odds– with Patience on the loose? She’s in Gainsville isn’t she? That’s where CSMC thinks Macon is going to hit. That’s why you’re so hardcore in PC you want to make sure that he heads there. CSMC has a habit of repeating itself. Going with what works. This isn’t going to work a second time, Mouse. It’ll just dig Patience back up and there is no statute of limitations on murder.”

“Leave it alone, Georgie. This isn’t about you. It isn’t even about Morgan. It’s about threats against CSMC. Morgan updating his security is just a bonus.” Mouse shuts down the conference.

“Son of a bitch.” Georgie mutters.

“Patience?” Morgan asks feeling totally as if there were more than one conversation going on and he’d missed most of the nuances.

“Patience Dillon.” Lisa is the one who answers. “Anders just started working for Baby. It was the same day as he testified against Macon on Baby’s orders. He was telling the grand jury what he knew and Baby was putting a bullet into Patience Dillon who’d been stalking her uncle-- Dillon Quartermaine. It was some kind of summer house and Baby was waiting there alone for her boyfriend. Patience broke in and Baby capped her. All of Baby’s guys had alibis including her Russian mob boyfriend. That’s what is so suspicious. They all had alibis and nobody’s alibi was better than Ander’s testifying in front of the grand jury. Mom and I were living in a CSMC safe house.”

“Come on-- she was what? 17 or 18?”

Georgie shakes her head. “Eighteen. Two things you need to know about your sister. Well there are lots of things but basically two things if you’re planning on crossing Baby Ashton. A) she plays chess. She was taught by a Cassadine how to play chess; she is always working three steps ahead– always looking at the big picture. And B) she always gives the cops a chance to take care of things first. If the cops find Macon first– he’ll live until he gets the chair for this third strike. If Baby finds him first, or he finds Baby first well there will be a nice wreath at the funeral.”

“Aunt Georgie, I’m trying to convince Lisa that Baby isn’t the boogie man and you’re really not helping.”

“She’s not doing this for Morgan, Lisa. She’s doing this for you. If CSMC had known about the threats when they were happening...”

“Don’t give me that hindsight crap and don’t try to guilt me. Mom and I handled it and we kept Anders out of it. We could have kept on handling it. And just cause Baby doesn’t think we can-- doesn’t mean she gets to make our choices for us. I don’t owe her anything.”

Morgan winces. “I feel like I just walked into a fight between my father and Uncle Jason.”

Georgie considers that then nods. “Okay yeah, I see that. Sonny and Baby always think, thought– oh whatever-- they’re right and that they have to handle it. Thing is Sonny never had any impulse control and he just got worse toward the end. Baby is nothing but impulse control.”

“Anders says it all the time. Baby doesn’t like surprises. All her people work to make sure that she doesn’t get any.” Lisa nods. “It’s one of the reasons why our conversations are short. He’s drank the koolaid. What ever Baby wants, Baby gets. Baby doesn’t like surprises. Baby says. Baby, Baby, Baby.”

Georgie shakes her head. “That wasn’t Baby that was Faith. Baby’s stepmother. She was the one that didn’t like surprises. She was the one that coined the phrase whatever Baby wants and yeah, the guys in CSMC are totally indoctrinated into taking orders from a woman. I get it, Lisa. It’s very scary what those guys are willing to do because they think it will make Baby happy.. Faith already had her hooks into Dillon Quartermaine when I started dating him. Dillon would have done anything for her– including kill. I’m still convinced he married Brittany Slade because Faith picked her out for him. But sooner or later you have to let it go and live your own life.”

“I’m trying. And one phone call and I’m sucked right back in.”

“I’m not going to regret Mona calling you to take me to Atlanta.” Morgan counters. “Not when I’m getting everything I never knew I wanted because of it. Lets take this one step at a time. Macon first and then my sister. We’ll make our position clear, Lisa, and if she won’t honor our wishes well there is always a cacao plantation in Venezuela that could use a lawyer specializing in expanded markets and a nurse with a book addiction. But that is a worst case scenario. Macon first.”

“And a new cleaning service.”

“The day Macon is dead or back in jail.” Morgan agrees.

“Good Morning, Miss Georgie.” Georgie’s laptop announces in Hugh Laurie’s voice.

“What time is it?” Georgie doesn’t look up from where her head is buried in a pillow.

“Six AM. You were concerned that Mouse was being accurate in his time frame of the delivery of supplies.”

“Okay. Thanks. How are things at home?”

“We did have a trespasser. I have already sent a picture to you and to Uncle Mac.”

“Put it on screen.” Georgie turns over on the couch so that she can see the big screen. “House, that is a deer.”

“Yes, I know. I did the facial recognition program– Odocoileus Virginianus. The thief ate the contents of two flower beds and destroyed three others!”
“Well Uncle Mac isn’t going to be able to do anything about it. He doesn’t do arrests or animal control anymore. Call Marshall T at Big Dawg Landscaping and have them come out. When they have time– I’m going to be here for awhile. Was there a breech in the fence?”

“No. The perpetrator jumped the fence and left the same way. It clearly shows a weakness in the perimeter another two feet to the top...”

“Forget it, House. You’re not getting a ten foot fence with concertina wire on top. It would never pass city council not to mentioning making the property look like a prison.”

“But Miss Georgie, the flowerbeds!”

“Call Marshall T. He’ll fix the flowerbed and probably have some ideas of plants that the deer won’t like and will avoid if planted around the perimeter. Anything else?”

“No. That is all.”

“Fine. I’ll check in at noon and I have my cell if there is an emergency.” Georgie reaches over and taps a series of keys on the laptop.

Lisa is at the door with a cup of coffee. Just one. She hands it to Georgie who takes it automatically and takes a grateful sip. “Who was that? It sounded like Hugh Laurie.”

“It’s my home computer– since I didn’t want to listen to something that sounded like directory assistance I put his voice in. A couple of his comedy shows and the program had enough words to put together a voice. Sorry if I woke you?”

“Nah, I was up. Couldn’t sleep. Morgan is up too.”

“Well everything has to go about as normal. Everyone leaves for work at the same time. Nothing to make anyone know that there is anything unusual going on here. So it will be you and me getting the system installed.” Georgie sets the coffee down next to the computer. “In fact if you want you can pick the voice for the house computer.”

“I think it’s a little creepy.”

“That’s why the voice is important. You don’t pick the Christian Bale from American Psycho you pick Keanu Reeves from Bill and Ted or oh classic. How about Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything.”

“You can do that?”

“Sure. The computer does all the work. Just need to get a couple of John Cusack films let the computer scan for the words it needs to get started and ta da your computer has a voice.”

“I’ve never seen a system like that. Not even at the hospital and they are all about the bells and whistles.”

“That’s because it is custom.” Jacques says from the door. “I am known for working at home. It would not be unusual. I will assist you with the installation.”

Georgie winces and knows she is not going to get out of it. “Fine, you’re in charge of getting Morgan and Pete out of here so that the place doesn’t look like we’re going armed camp... even if we are.”