Chapter 4

Jax and Skye managed to make their way from the office, after most of the rats had scurried out. In the lobby, they encountered a team of exterminators that had been called in by the Board of Health. "I thought the building was empty?" one of the men asked them. "Uh, it is now," Jax replied, taking Skye by the hand and leading her out the door. Once outside, she hugged him, although she felt a bit uneasy at his wimpish behavior. "Thank you Jax. You saved me once again." "My pleasure. So let me guess, Corinthos did this?" Skye nodded her head, "I saw him before I went into the office. He told me that AJ was in there." She paused recalling the conversation. Then, a sickening realization came over her; "oh no!" "What's wrong?" Jax asked. "AJ! Where is he? He wasn't in the office, Sonny just said that to get me in there. But he was here right before that." She stared at Jax with her mouth open, "you don't think he..." "What, you think Sonny made him disappear?" Skye didn't respond, but that was exactly what she thought. "Come on, let's go," Jax told her. "Where?" Skye asked; "where are we going to stay?" "My yacht." Skye relaxed a bit, and followed Jax to his car. If nothing else, maybe she'd get him into bed tonight.

At the Quartermaine mansion, Monica sat quietly with a word-processed letter in her hand. She couldn't quite accept what it said, but then again, stranger things had happened in her family.

Dear Mom and Dad,

By the time you get this letter, I will be long gone from Port Charles. I've fallen madly in love and have run off to live with the woman of my dreams. Unfortunately, the woman of my dreams is Courtney Matthews, Sonny Corinthos' sister. You both know that we could never be together here; Sonny would never allow it. So we decided to run away together. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. For once in my life I'm blissfully happy.

AJ

"So, are you going to call AJ?" Janine asked Courtney. "No," she replied. "He's been really nice to me, but I don't really like him the way I think he likes me. Besides, he's safer if I leave him alone. Then Sonny won't have a reason to hurt him." "That's good thinking honey," Janine replied. "Besides, Sonny set us up so well, we don't need that Quartermaine money now."

Jax and Skye had settled in for the night. Despite her best attempts at seducing him, Jax didn't seem to be interested. Skye couldn't help but start to wonder about him. First the rat thing, and now this. She reluctantly went to sleep in a separate cabin, but was awoken by Jax calling her name two hours later. "Skye! Get up here!" She realized he was on deck, and stumbled out of bed to join him. As she climbed up, she realized everything was wet. On deck, Jax was fastening his life jacket on. "Jax? What's going on?" "The boat is sinking!" he declared. "Sinking? We're docked!" she yelled at him like he was a moron. "Take a look around," Jax replied. Skye did so, and realized they were not docked, but out in the middle of the water. "How did this happen?" "I have no idea. The lines were cut or untied and we drifted out, I guess." "So why are we taking on water?" Skye asked. "Good question. But I think I'll wait to find out after we get off this boat! Can you swim?" Skye nodded her head. Jax helped her get into her life jacket, and they held hands as they jumped overboard.

The next morning...

After spending the night in the Quartermaine boat house, Skye and Jax made their way to the main house. Skye was hoping everyone would already be out, and they were, except for the servants, and Lila who was in her room. They helped themselves to the breakfast bar and hot coffee. They'd spent the night huddled together trying to keep warm, making use of the towels they found, but Jax seemingly still had no interest in sharing body heat in a more intimate fashion. As they ate, Skye noticed a letter on the table. She picked it up and read it. "It's from AJ! It says he and Courtney ran off together, so Sonny couldn't get to them." "Makes sense," Jax replied. Skye shot him a look like he was a turnip, "then why would Sonny have just seen him in the hotel office? What, do you think AJ was telling him about his plans? Use your head Jax!" She turned and headed out of the room. "Where are you going? Jax yelled. "I'm going to take a hot shower and find some warm clothes to put on. Then, I'm paying a visit to Sonny Corinthos!" Skye yelled back.

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