Ric's Office --

A few days later, Zander had agreed to meet Ric in his office to talk about the case against Sonny. Ric had already served the arrest warrant and searched Sonny's penthouse for anything that may help build his case. Alexis was asked to sit in on the discussions, since she and Ric both would be handling this case.

Ric sat behind his desk jotting down some notes on his legal pad, when he heard a few knocks on the door. "Yeah, it's open." he called from his desk. The door opened and Ric looked up from his papers and saw Zander standing in the doorway. He invited his brother into the office and to have a seat. They'd wait for Alexis who would be showing up at any minute.

Zander and Ric didn't wait more then a few minutes before Alexis walked into the office with her briefcase in hand.

"Alexis and I will be working on this case together, Zander. I asked her to sit in on our get together this morning, so she can get up to speed on what's going on." Ric explained.

Zander glanced towards Alexis who took a seat next to him in the empty chair. Alexis cracked a smile as she and Zander made eye contact for a brief moment.

"Zander, I need you to tell us about the night Frank Smith was shot. And I need every little detail you can remember, even if it doesn't seem important, it could be helpful." Alexis said as she took out her legal pad and pencil to take notes.

Alexis was very thorough and she wanted to be sure she had all the information she needed to win. Ric took out the mini tape recorder from his desk and set it up in front of Zander. Zander saw the recorder and froze in his seat. The last time he saw the recorder, it wasn't a pleasant experience for him, and he certainly didn't like his story being on tape for everyone and anyone to hear.

Ric noticed Zander's reaction to the tape recorder. "Sorry, we need to have this down on record." Ric replied hoping that Zander wouldn't let the recorder or Alexis keep him from telling his story.

"Nah, that's okay. You need to get this down, I understand." Zander replied as he tried to get comfortable in his seat.

"Whenever you're ready, Zander." Alexis said as she sat waiting for him to tell his story to her.

He tried to relax in the chair as he began telling them what he remembered about the night Frank was killed, but his insides twisted as he thought of what Sonny had done to his mother and the man he knew to be his father.

"It was late, after midnight, I think. I woke up and was thirsty, so I went downstairs to get a drink. I saw a light on in my father's study, which wasn't unusual, dad often worked late. I went to the kitchen and got a drink, and on my way back to bed, I heard loud voices coming from the study. The door now slightly open, so I could see who was in with my father, before the door was closed tight and I didn't hear the voices when I came down, just when I was going back. I stood and listened at the door, making sure they didn't see me. Frank and his visitor were arguing back and forth, dad was furious with Michael about something but I didn't understand why, and he didn't tell the whole story while I listened. Dad shouted about betrayal and what he did to those who betrayed him. He shouted at Michael about sleeping with my mother and then he said that Michael would pay for his crimes, and it wasn't fair that I had to pay for what he had done. Michael said that he would make my father pay for the crimes he committed against my mother and then he shot him. After hearing the shot, I hid in the shadows till I saw Michael leave the study in hurry. I ran upstairs and back to bed like nothing had happened."

Ric turned off the tape recorder as Alexis finished up writing down notes on her legal pad. Zander sighed heavily as he sat a little more relaxed in his chair after telling his story for the third time.

"Okay is that everything you remember, Zander?" Alexis asked and Zander glared at her.

"Isn't that enough?! I just gave you Sonny Corinthos on a silver platter, what more do you want from me?!" Zander snapped back as he stood up from his chair in disgust.

"We just need to be sure we're not missing anything, Zander. Any little detail can be called on and then we have problems." Ric said trying to convince his brother why they needed all of what he remembers.

"Look, I found out last night that my mother was raped by my father's ... sorry, Frank's right hand man, and that the right hand man, is my real father, not Frank. Let me make this clear, for the two of you, my father is Sonny Corinthos! Is that clear enough for you?" Zander said as he noticed the looks coming from Alexis and Ric both. "And the two of you want more? What do you want, blood?!" Zander continued and Alexis raised an eyebrow.

"A blood sample wouldn't hurt, we could prove conclusively that you are Sonny's son." Zander returned another glare towards her.

"You're kidding right? I already know that the man is my father, why would I need to have DNA to prove it?! He raped my mother, and he murdered my stepfather! I want nothing to do with the man and I hope he spends the next 25 years to life in prison for it!" Zander stormed out of his brother's office in anger.

Ric leaned back in his chair and watched his brother storm out of the office. "Wow, that went well, don't you think?"

"Do you think he'd see a professional?" Alexis asked as she put the legal pad back into her case. Ric sat up and leaned forward on his desk.

"Zander? Are you kidding? No, I'd say a shrink is not something Zander would do willingly." Rick chuckled. "Besides, he's not on trial here, Sonny is." he added and got up from his seat.

"Okay, you're right. He wouldn't go willingly, but he needs to talk with someone, Ric. He's very angry and ..."

"And what, Alexis? I can certainly understand why Zander's angry! Hell, I'm angry about it .. remember, this was my mother too! But I'm handling it alot better then Zander is. I didn't witness the killing of Frank or hear it first hand what happened, and of course I'm not the child of a rape! But taking into consideration all that boy has been through over the past 15 years and more importantly over the last few days, he's doing considerably well."

Alexis could see that Ric was getting more agitated the longer she stayed and tried to convince him otherwise about his brother, so she decided to take her thoughts and her case elsewhere.

"If you need anything else, I'll be in my office." she said as she headed out the door.

After Alexis left the room, Ric's knees buckled underneath him and he fell into the chair. He had heard Zander's story, but he didn't really listen and once he did, it finally sank in that what had happened to Zander's mother, had happened to his. He was too busy trying to build a case against Sonny to realize what Sonny had done, he had done to his mother. Ric was 12 at the time, and didn't live with his mother and her new family. He had been enrolled in boarding school and spent most of his time away from home. He only came home to visit during the summer.

Ric sat alone in his office and stared at his surroundings. He had worked so hard to get where he was, his mother made the sacrifices any other mother would make for her child, a good life, a good school, all the love she could give him and for someone like Sonny Corinthos to strip that from her was inconceivable, it didn't seem real. As he sat alone, he could feel his eyes fill with tears, he couldn't imagine what Zander was going through.

He was startled by a knock on the door, and he quickly wiped his eyes dry with his hands, hoping that no one saw him crying in the dark. He composed himself and got up from his seat. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked as he approached his visitor.

"I just thought you'd like to see this, sir." the young intern said as he handed Ric a manila colored folder. Ric thanked him for bringing the information to him and closed the door. He went to take a seat behind his desk and opened the folder to read what it had to say.

He read over the papers inside and slammed down his fist on his desk in disgust. "Dammit!" he shouted to an empty room. "He's not going to get away with this! Sonny Corinthos is not getting off this easy!" Ric got up from his seat and stormed out of his office. Ric was on a mission and he wouldn't rest until he saw Sonny Corinthos behind bars, and no one was going to get in his way to put him there.