General Hospital Rewrite Part One

December 19th 2016 Part 2

12:02 p.m.
     "What happened to you after you left the hospital on Decmeber seventeenth?" Nathan asks. "I went to the cemetery my uncle, Tom McKean, is burried. It helps me to talk to him." She says. "Was there anyone else around?"
     "There was one guy. He was at another grave but he helped them to get me." She answers. "Could you recognize him?" Dante asks. "I could do more than that. His name is Winston Rudge. He's got a British accent, kinda boxy face, real short brown hair. You'll know it's him cause he's missing the tips of both his ears."
     "Do you have anything to do with that?" Dante asks. Jo glances over at Diane, who nods slightly. "It was self defense." She says. "Both ears?" He asks. "It was two different times."
     "We believe you. You aren't being interrogated Jodie. We wanna know what happened to you so we can help bring down the people who did this." Nathan assures her. "Are you sure? Cause it doesn't feel like that. I'm victim in all of this. Stop treating me like I'm hiding something. I'll tell you anything you wanna know."
     "We don't mean to make you uncomfortable. Why don't we stop asking questions and you just tell us what you think we need." Nathan says. "I was kneeling in front of Tom's grave when Veronica, Veronica Heidegger of Star Global that is, and Rudge came up behind me. Veronica distracted me by mentioning Jameson while Rudge, what's the word, subdued me. Rudge knocked me out and they brought me to the docks."
     Julian moves from the wall and kneels next to her. "It's okay honey. I'm here." He holds her hand. "They kept me in like a storage closet or something. I got loose and hid behind the door. When Rudge came to get me I got the upper hand and got out."
     "What about the knife?" Dante asks. "It was just there. I don't know how it got there. Maybe one of the guys dropped it." She says. "Or someone was helping you. We have security footage of a guy going into the room, clearly holding a knife, and when he leaves, the knife is gone. Jo, sorry Jodie, don't spare important details."
     "I didn't see any guy. I got out of there myself." She lies. "We aren't saying you didn't. Can you look through this and tell us if any of these guys are the one in this picture?" Dante puts a folder of mug shots and a print out of a security tape in front of her. She opens the folder and looks through the mug shots, hoping not to see her savior.
     She stops, her eyes landing on Stars' face. Fernando Cruz, FC. Nathan catches her lingering and nudges Dante. Dante looks at who's she's stopped on. "Nando Cruz. Is the man in the picture him?" He asks. She shakes her head. "I've never seen him before. He just, he kinda looks like a guy on this show my friend watches. I've never seen any of these men."
     "Are you sure? Wanna take another look?"
     She pushes the folder and survalance photo away. "No one helped me. No one expect my dad. He tried to lead everyone away so I could escape." She says, touching her forehead to his. "What happened after you and your father were separated?"
     "I tried to run. They had the parking lot covered. I wouldn't have made it ten feet. I ran back inside to try and hide again. I found a spot behind a storage unit but a guy followed me." She explains, straightening back up. "Oh yeah, we found that guy. You did quite a number to him. We know it was self defense but, it was personal too. The gun he had on him, it matched the one that killed your uncle, Agent McKean."
     "I know who my uncle is, was." Jo corrects. "It was overkill. You didn't have to do what you did to just get away. What he did he say?" Dante asks accusingly. "I did what I did to survive." She claims, lifting an eyebrow. "What did he say?" Dante presses.
     "That killing me was gonna be more fun than my uncle. He said Tom didn't scream for help, he didn't try to crawl away and get help. He laid down and died. Just like I did for Benson." She growls, feeling the knife in her hands, the blood sticking to her, the satisfaction of feeling him go still.
     "He mentioned Jameson?" Nathan asks, snapping her out of it. She nods, not looking back up. "Jodie, we need you to look at this. This is the file of the man you killed." Dante drops another file in front of her. She looks down at it, the name catching her eye. "Timothy Jameson? Any relation?"
     "Half brother. Did you know?"
     "No." She answers, crossing her arms. "Must be genetics." She adds. "So you believe in nature over nurture?"
     "Not always. If they were raised together, that explains it, nature and nurture." She says. Dante and Nathan exchange a few glances. Jo narrows her eyes at them and looks over at Diane, who just gives her a reassuring nod. Dante gets up and leaves the room. Jo keeps her relief inside, in all honesty she didn't care much for Leo's maternal older brother.
     "We found blood where you were standing on the edge. It's not yours, it's Tim Jameson's. So you weren't shot, but you did fall into the water. How'd you get to shore?" He asks. "I swam."
     "Not funny." Julian warns. "I think it's a little funny." Diane starts. "Clearly Ms Miller is at no fault here. This questioning is taking too long and frankly is a bit invasive." She adds, putting a hand on Jo's shoulder. "We just need to make sure we have the full story. You swam, right? What after? You must've been soaked in freezing water, how did you manage?"
     "From the ice inside my soul." She growls sarcastically. "I just did. I wanted to survive and I did." She snaps. "I'm glad. What happened to the knife?" He asks. She remembers hiding it back under her bed. "I lost it. It's probably at the bottom of the harbor."
     "We'll still have people at the harbor for a few days. We'll tell you if anything comes up." He says. "Does that mean I'm free to go?" She asks. He shakes his head. "I still have a few more questions."
     "Shoot."
     "What did you do after you got to shore?" He asks. "I passed out. I was in and out most of the day, everything is kinda hazy. I got home like, one or two, took a shower, made some food, then my parents got home and I went to sleep. That's why we didn't come last night, I was asleep by five."
     "How'd you get back to your house?" He asks with a questioning look. "I have these great things called legs. I walked." She says. The warehouse was just outside Port Charles and no where near walking distance to Julian and Alexis' house.
     Julian picks up on the inconsistencies too, casting a glance to Diane. She returns on but doesn't stop Jodie. "You walked? After nearly drowning?"
     She had no plan of telling anyone about her rescuer but she wasn't entierly lying. She had walked from the second warehouse to home, though it was a considerably shorter distance it was still a pretty long way. Jo blinks at Nathan, waiting for his reaction. The door opens behind her and Jordan walks in with Dante staying just outside. Nathan gets up and walks out.
     Julian tenses, holding his daughter's hand. "Hi, Jodie. Do you remember me?" She asks. "You keep trying to put my dad in prison for nothing. It's hard to forget the woman who had your pregnant step-mother arrested."
     "We're trying to help you Jodie." She says. "You're trying to find someone to blame for this. I'm not stupid. I worked it out pretty quickly. By it, I mean the PCPD. I'm a Jerome, meaning I'll never be innocent in your eyes. Whatever I say will be used against me." There's a knock at the door. Jo rolls her eyes. "So good cop, good cop didn't work, is that bad cop?"
     "I don't know who that is." Jordan says. Julian opens the door. "Agent Lee, what can I do for you?" Jordan asks as Tom's partner walks into the interrogation room. "This is a federal investigation now. That's my witness you're talking to." She tells her, walking to Jordan and waiting for her to move.
     She takes Jordan's seat and dismisses the commissioner. Jo watches as Jordan leaves in defeat. "Hi Agent Lee." Jo greets. "You can call me Elle. Your uncle was one of my closest friends. We're practically family." She says, touching Jo's hand. "So you knew him pretty well?"
     "I did. We worked well together. I was told you caught the bastard who killed him. Good job." She says. "It was self defense." Jo claims, sticking to her story. "Not with the anger I saw in those crime scene pics. That was rage. I don't care. He was gonna rot in prison forever for killing a federal agent."
     "I did what I had to so I could survive." She says. "I see a lot of your uncle in you." Elle comments. "Oh God no." Julian mutters quietly. Elle opens the folder of mug shots. "Any of these guys stick out?"
     "No."
     "You sure? Someone helped you get out. Who are they?" She asks, leaning forward. "I helped me get out."
     "Whoever it was, they won't be charged with anything." She assures her. Jo can feel herself in Stars' front seat, see his eyes, taste his lips. He was her hero. Her savior. The reason she's alive.
     "No one helped me."