Posted by Kim on 8/18/2001, 11:57 am "You have information for me?" Mac briskly asked. Sonny suppressed a smirk as he thought that Mac went straight to the point of their meeting. He was meeting Mac to give some him information but he wanted to get some information in return. Instead of answering Mac's question Sonny responded, "How is D.A. Jensen? I heard that she wasn't hurt the other day." Mac raised his left eyebrow and looked quizzically as he replied, "I'm sure that Dara would be surprised about your concern, but she's doing fine." "She was lucky. The guy who shot her must have been interrupted." Sonny didn't finish the rest of the sentence but both Mac and Sonny knew that professional hit men routinely shot their targets at close range in the head. Only Mac's timely arrival in the garage parking lot stopped the driver from exiting the car and delivering the fatal shot. That grim thought made Mac irritable and he snapped," Do you have any information about the shooter or is this purely a social call?" Sonny watched Mac's expression change as he thought of the shooting and was surprised by the intense emotions Mac was unsuccessfully trying to hide. "He's really serious about her," marveled Sonny. "This information is more valuable than I originally thought." "Roger Griffith is the guy Moreno hired. He's based in Florida and in addition to being a successful assassin, it's believed that he owed Moreno a personal favor. I heard that he hired two local guys who were helping him out with the hit on Dara, but they bailed on him when the attempt was unsuccessful and now he's going to make the hit on Bannion alone." Mac didn't trust Sonny implicitly but he knew that Sonny wouldn't deliver this information unless he was absolutely sure of its accuracy. This was the break they needed to apprehend the shooter quickly before he left Port Charles. Having a name would give them information about his methods of operating and help the police in anticipating his next move. "We'll follow up on your information. Thanks." "No problem. So this closes the account between us, right?" Sonny smoothly asked. "If your information is correct, yes, it does." "Give my regards to D.A. Jensen," Sonny said as he moved to join Carly and Michael again. Walking out of the park, Mac placed a call on his cellphone to Taggert for new security arrangements for Bannion. ***** The trial had gone as expected today for Dara. The murder victim was a finance officer at an international bank that had a branch in Port Charles. Relatives and friends of the deceased man's testified about his relationship with Moreno and how Moreno was forcing him to launder drug money through the bank. When the man was on the verge of making a deal with the FBI to testify against Moreno and break his ties with organized crime, Moreno hired Al Gwynn to kill the banker. After his apprehension, Gwynn made a deal with the DA for a 20-25 year prison sentence and to place his family in the witness protection program in exchange for his testimony that Moreno gave him the order to kill the banker. He was scheduled to testify tomorrow at Moreno's trial. Bannion was present when Moreno gave the order to Gwynn to shoot the banker and he was scheduled to testify on Friday, the day after Gwynn testifies. At the moment, everything with the trial seemed to be going well. Dara picked up the telephone to call Mac to see how his day went and to tell him of her plans for the evening. He was still working when she called at 7 p.m. and she told Mac that she'd drop by his office on the way home. "I'll only be a few minutes," Dara informed her security escort as she entered Mac's office and he closed the door. Dara wrapped her arms around Mac's neck and kissed him sweetly as she asked, "Hi, how was your day?" She heard Mac exhale and could feel his body relax as he held her. It gave her an indescribable pleasure to know that some of the tension Mac experienced through the day left when he saw her. Mac just held Dara closely to him for several seconds and grazed his face against her cheek before replying. He pulled his head back to gaze into her eyes and replied," It was a mixed day." On the downside he thought of his earlier personal conversations with Taggert and Felicia. On the plus side they'd made a lot of progress in identifying the person who attempted to kill Dara and this was what he decided to discuss with her now. Later during the week or the weekend he'd share with her the conversations he had earlier with Taggert and Felicia. "I do have some news for you." Keeping his right arm snaked around her waist Mac led Dara to his desk where he picked up a photo and handed it to her. "Based on a tip from Sonny Corinthos, this is who we believe fired those shots at you last night." Dara stared at the photograph for almost 30 seconds. It was a photo of a clean-shaven man in his late 30s or early 40s with short, light brown hair, grey eyes, and aquiline features. Dara had seen the man for only a few seconds and he was wearing tinted glasses, but the shape of the face and the haircut of the man in the photo and her attacker were similar. From the police file that was also on Mac's desk Dara read of Griffith's past arrests and that he was suspected of committing at least 7 homicides. As she remained silent looking at the file and the photo, Mac cupped her face in his hands and gently kissed her. "We're still looking for him, Dara. We really think that he's going to go after Bannion now and that you aren't in any danger. But we're going to keep the extra security on you for a while." Dara reassured Mac, "I'm not worried, really. It's just that I was a little taken aback by possibly seeing his face again. And even though I couldn't testify to it as a certainty, I agree, this probably was the person who tried to kill me." Wanting to turn the conversation away from her attack she asked," What are you going to do to keep him from Bannion?" "We actually moved Bannion today from his original safe-house location. But we left the security in place as a decoy for Griffith and we're making it seem as if Bannion is still there. Bannion will stay at the new location for only the next 36 hours or so and after he testifies he'll go directly into the witness protection program with the Feds." Glancing at the clock Dara said," I have to go. Ellen Burgess and I are having dinner together tonight and we're meeting at my apartment at 8 p.m." Tilting her head toward the stack of papers on his desk she inquired, "Are you going to be here much longer?" "I'll be here little while longer," sighed Mac. For a few fleeting seconds he thought of asking about dropping by her apartment after Ellen left but he decided not to rush things. Instead he offered," Why don't I give you a call tonight around 10:30 to say goodnight? I should be at my apartment by then." Dara agreed and with a last kiss goodbye she left the office.
Considering it was a cold winter's day in late January, there was a surprisingly large number of people in Port Charles Park. After walking for a few minutes, Mac caught sight of Sonny Corinthos watching Carly and Michael build a snowman. As Mac approached them, Sonny spied him and told Carly to continue playing with Michael while he had a conversation with Mac.
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