Breaking the Lock

Fourteen

He was exhausted. He couldn't sleep and sat in his motel room, staring out the window going over what had happened so far. Byron had taken Britt and beaten her then sent him photos to get his attention. He had shown up in Port Charles and taken Maxie. The only piece of luck had been the witness who had supplied the license plate but that had been enough for him to figure out who was behind all of this. Nathan had a pretty good idea why Byron was doing all of this: payback. He just hoped that he could get Maxie to safety before Byron exacted his revenge on Nathan.

 With Britt recovering in the hospital, Nathan checked into a motel to get some rest and wait for Dante to arrive in Geneva. The local police had pulled in Denny Byron and his girlfriend and were in the process of questioning them. If they had any relevant info, Detective Ferris promised to call with the information as soon as possible. Until then, all Nathan could do was wait.

It was almost eleven when his phone rang. He picked it up answering tersely, "West."

"Nathan, it's me."

"Maxie!" He sat upright, immediately alert. "Are you okay? Has he hurt you?"

"I'm... I'm fine, Nathan. I'm so happy to hear your voice," she said quickly. "I don't have much time. He's only giving me two minutes."

"He thinks I'm tracking my phone calls," Nathan said. "I'm not. Maxie, is he listening? Just answer yes or no if you can."

"Yes."

"Are you okay? Has he hurt you in any way?" He closed his eyes bracing himself for the answer.

"I'm okay, really. Britt-"

"Britt's in the hospital. She's going to be fine. Maxie, listen to me. Don't say anything right now, just listen. Britt told me how you got out of the handcuffs. You need to be more careful. I know who has you and I know how he thinks. He's kicking himself for underestimating you and he may punish you for that. Don't antagonize him."

"Nathan, I need to tell you something." His stomach gave a lurch at the desperate tone in her voice. He did not want her to say it and he most certainly didn't want to hear it. A loud hammering noise filled the background of the phone call forcing him to raise his voice.

"No! Maxie, I'll find you."

"Nathan, please. Don't do that. It's what he wants." There was a pause as the pounding subsided a little. "I need you to tell my parents that I love them. I know Spinelli will take care of Georgie but you keep an eye on her too."

"Maxie, no. Don't talk like that! I'm not going to let him hurt you." The banging stopped and he heard Maxie give a short shriek. "Maxie?!  Are you still there?"

"Her two minutes are up."

"Byron, you sonofabitch, if you hurt her-"

Byron chuckled. "If? That's a good one. She's on a timer. You remember that game right, West?"

Nathan clamped his jaw down in anger. "What do you want?"  

Byron laughed. "I think you know. You'll hear from me again, West. Tick. Tock."

The phone went silent. Byron had given him the only warning he ever gave anyone who had crossed him. He stared at the phone briefly, adrenaline and anger pumping through his system. He remembered Byron's game all too well and Maxie was in worse trouble than anyone except Nathan could understand. He was going to find her before her time was out though and he was going to make sure that Frank Byron couldn't hurt anyone ever again. 

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Dante arrived at the motel around midnight. He brought a bag of burgers and coffee along with information. Nathan was too worried to eat but he did take the coffee Dante offered, sipping the scalding hot liquid while Dante ate. He told Dante everything that had happened including the phone call from Maxie.

"She's still alive, that's good," Dante said. He crumpled up the paper wrapper and tossed it in the trash can.

"She's alive for now," Nathan snapped.

"Tell me more." Dante folded his arms over his chest. "You know this guy pretty well. What's his plan?"

"He's playing a game. Back when I was on the force in Manhattan, Byron was the guy that had an angle for everything. He knew everyone who was important in the precinct. And he knew their secrets. It's how he got away with what he'd been doing. He used to play this game... He called it Stop Watch. Someone bothered him or didn't do what he told them, he'd take someone important and give his vic 24 hours to comply."

"You mean kidnapped? That's twisted."

"It was usually arrest without cause. But depending on how serious he thought your offense was, he wouldn't bother with an arrest. He'd just go for someone the vic loved; kids were a good target. He usually got what he wanted when he took a kid."

Dante exhaled sharply. "And if he didn't get what he wanted?"

Nathan looked squarely at Dante, "Murdered them. There's no other way to say it. I don't know how many he killed, but I saw him do it once and that was enough. It was 17 year old kid. Son of some crime boss who played hardball."

"So you testified against him." Nathan nodded. "And now he's out, blaming you for his downfall. He took Britt and Maxie to punish you, so what does he want?"

"Me. He'll call again to arrange a meeting and he'll expect me to comply."

Dante got to his feet. "That's simple then. We trace the call, figure out where he is and take a SWAT team in with us."

Nathan shook his head. "No, it won't work like that. Not this time." He rubbed at his forehead wishing he could erase the knowledge of Byron's games. "This isn't business this time, Dante. Frank Byron wants to even the score with me. He isn't going to just hand over Maxie if I show up. He tried to kill Britt already. He's playing his game but he's changing the rules. He already tried to kill Britt; I won't risk Maxie's life. I'm not going to sit around and wait for him to call. I'm going to find him first."

"We," Dante said getting to his feet. "We'll find him first."