Robert Searches the Eckerts Home
The setting the cellar of the Eckerts' home. Mac's escaped from prison during the earthquake, and Finian gave him a key to a house to hide in, not telling Mac whose house it is. Jenny comes down the cellar and is shocked to discover Mac's presence. He looks at her imploringly and takes his hand off her mouth, which he covered before she could scream in surprise. This is taken from a script, so the actual aired version may be somewhat different.

Jenny: "Mac! I can't believe this! What are you doing here?"

Mac: "You wouldn't believe me if I told you..."

Jenny: "Try me. I mean, what are you doing at my house?"

Mac: "I didn't know it was your house... I swear. Finian brought me here, said I'd be safe for a while."

Jenny: "Finian! That snake. He lied to me!"

Mac: "Look, he did it to protect both of us. I can't get into that now. Just let me stay here for a few hours, Jenny. Please?"

Jenny: "I can't! You're a fugitive from justice. My parents would kill me if they found out..."

Mac: "I'd never have come here if I'd known, but I can't go back out now. They'd hunt me down like a dog."

Jenny: "I'm sorry... there's just no way I can let you stay here."

Mac (pauses): "I hate saying this, but... I helped you once, remember?"

Jenny: "That was different! This could jeopardize my whole family. Forget about the fact they'd disown me!"

Mac: "Jenny, please. I promise I'll be out of here in a couple of hours... please..."

Jenny (torn): "I can't, Mac. I just can't..."

The scene fades out, returns later. Mac is pleading with her, but she's rattled.
Mac: "Come on, Jenny. Just a couple of hours, until I can figure out what to do."

Jenny: "You've got to understand, I can't do that."

Mac: "Why? There's nobody else around, is there?"

Jenny: "There will be."

Mac: "When?" (She looks confused, thinking.) "Think."

Jenny: "Well... Dad's at a neighborhood watch meeting."

Mac (wryly): "That's appropriate. They're doing a great job..."

Jenny: "You're lucky most of the neighbors are in that meeting... You'd have probably been spotted..."

Mac: "How long do those meetings last?"

Jenny: "It varies. Sometimes short, sometimes long. Depends upon the crime in the neighborhood."

Mac: "Who else?"

Jenny: "My brother. He's at class. And my nephew's at a boy scout meeting. Who know's where Joey is?!"

Mac: "Then, what's the problem?"

Jenny (thinking): "My mother! She'll be home from the market any minute. and Aunt Dottie. How long can confession take when you're a nun." (They hear a bell ring.)

Mac: "Please, Jenny."

Jenny: "Let me see who it is."

The scene fades out, returns later. Jenny's come back downstairs.
Mac: "Who was it?"

Jenny: "Nothing important."

Mac: "Look, Jenny, I've got a plan to get away. All I need is a little time to hide out, until I can put it into affect." (He looks at her, moves in closer.) "You've said you believed in me... would you deny me that much?"

Jenny: "Of course not! I'm glad you're out of there." (She moves away from him, resolutely.) "But there's something you don't realize. Something that's more important.. to me, anyway."

Mac: "Well, talk is cheap. I get it..."

Jenny: "No, you don't! I've already caused my family so much trouble..."

Mac: "But nobody's gonna know!"

Jenny: "What if they find out?"

Mac: "Then tell them you didn't even know I was here... You had nothing to do with my ending up here, after all."

Jenny: "No. I can't lie... and I can't live with myself if I get them into another jam." (An impasse is reached.) "Maybe we can figure out something else..." (They freeze as they hear the front door bell ring, then a knock.) "Oh, my god..."

Mac: "You'd better get it..." (The knocking becomes more of a pounding as Jenny starts heading upstairs.)

Jenny (panicked, talking to herself): "Sounds like dad. Maybe he forgot his keys... but the door's not locked. Maybe he doesn't know that..." (She turns to Mac.) "Oh, Mac, what have you done?" (Mac has no answer as she goes upstairs. She opens the front door, and tries to cover her shock to discover Robert is standing there.) "Commissioner Scorpio!"

Robert (stepping inside, uninivited): "Good thing you answered. I was just about to let myself in..." (Camera pans to Mac in the cellar, who panics when he hears Robert's voice.)

Jenny: "What? Why would you do that I mean, you can't do that..."

Robert (pulling out the search warrant from his pocket, holding it in her face): "I can do just about anything I want. This is a search warrant."

The scene fades out to commercial, returns later. Jenny looks at the search warrant, barely able to read the words, trying to compose herself as he looks around.
Jenny: "What does this mean?"

Robert: "Exactly what it says? I'm searching the house... room by room."

Jenny: "But why... why would you come here?"

Robert: "Where else would I go if I were looking for an escaped prisoner named Mac Scorpio."

Jenny: "That? Mac?" (The camera pans down to the cellar where Mac's frantically trying to find a place to hide.)

Robert: "Come one, you're the only friend he's got in Port Charles. Let me amend that. The only sane friend, and, frankly, I've had occassion to wonder about that." (Pause.) "I still think you assisted him in some way."

Jenny: "That's crazy! Why would I get myself involved in something like that?"

Robert: "The Greenbelt girl? Come on, you're being modest. Your reputation precedes you." (Pause.) "Now I want the truth! You delivered pastries to the Lavery house earlier today. Mac was hiding out there!"

Jenny: "I'm innocent. My dad took an order over the phone and I delivered it. That's all."

Robert: "To whom?"

Jenny (Pauses, decides to go for it): "I left it there without seeing anyone!"

Robert: "How convenient. You expect me to believe that? We know all about your relationship with Mac. You've visited him several times in jail."

Jenny: "He's my friend! I'm not denying that. But I don't know how he got out, or where he is."

Robert: "You're going to have to convince me of that, or I'll take you back down to the station and get a sworn statement. Would you prefer that?"

Jenny (near tears): "No! I'm telling you everything I know..." (At that moment, her mother, Angela, arrives opens the front door, bags in hand. She's shocked to see Scorpio standing there with a worried Jenny.)

Angela: "I saw your car. What is going on? Why are you here?"

Robert: "I've come to search the house, Mrs. Eckert. I'm looking for Mac Scorpio."

Angela: "But he escaped, didn't he?... Jenny..."

Jenny (turning away): "I don't know anything about it, Mom. I told him..."

Angela: "Why would you come here? A family like us?"

Robert: "Because it's the perfect cover." (He starts moving towards the stairs.) "I'll start with the upstairs."

Angela (dazed, to no one in particular): "Can he do this?"

Jenny: "He's got a warrant.

Angela (gathers herself, sighs): "I'll show you the way." (They start up the stairs.) "Jenny, I hope you made your bed this morning."

Jenny (extremely nervous): "Oh, Mom, I hope I did, too."

Angela: "You don't have to look through everything, do you?"

Robert (stoic): "Afraid so."

Jenny: "Everything?"

Robert (snaps): "Yes! Everything."

Angela: "All right, all right. As long as you do it quietly. My husband's not feeling well."

The scene fades out, returns later. Robert's coming down the stairs with a still protesting Angela. Jenny's trying not to bite her nails.
Angela: "I'll never understand why you had to go through my underwear drawer. Really!

Robert: "I apologize for the inconvenience, Mrs. Eckert, but if I can't find the man, I'd like to at least find some leads to his whereabouts."

Angela: "Well, you've searched high and low, haven't missed anything. Obviously, we have nothing to do with who or what you're looking for."

Robert: "That remains to be seen." (He gestures to the front and back doors.) "Those are the only ways to get in and out of the house?"

Jenny: "Yeah, and you can just about see the whole house from here. No place for anybody to hide."

Robert (opening the closet door): "You'd be surprised where you run across desperate people..."

Jenny: "We have nothing to hide, either."

Angela (indigent): "To think we'd harbor a fugitive from justice. That's ridiculous..."

Robert: "Everything looks straight up, so far..."

Jenny (relieved): "See? I was telling the truth."

Robert (pointing): "Where's that door lead to?"

Jenny: "Just the cellar. Nothing down there."

Angela: "Now, Jenny, that's not true. We keep our gardening equipment there. And I've got all the kids' art work from kindergarten on up. You have any children, Commissioner?" (He nods.) "Then you know how that is..."

Robert (allows a tight smile): "Yes, I do..."

Jenny (thinking Robert's going to leave): "Well, that wasn't as..."

Robert: "Will I need a flashlight for the cellar?"

Jenny: "Huh? For what?"

Robert: "The cellar."

Jenny (gulps): "I dont' think so."

Angela (looking at Jenny): "We have a light down there. No problem."

Jenny: "Right."

Angela: "Just get it over with, Commissioner. We don't want to go through this again... ever."

Robert: "Thank you."  (He starts down. Jenny looks heavenward. Angela looks at her quizzically. Jenny covers. Down in the cellar, Robert's coming down the stairs, the light cutting through the eerie shadows. He moves around silently, methodically. There is not a sound to be heard. He moves into the space under the stairs, looks down as he hears the crunch of feet, scuffles it with his toe a beat, thinking. He reaches over to the wall where gardening tools are stacked up, removing a pitchfork. He begins probing the gravel fill, careful to cover the whole area, then starts stabbing it hard.

The scene fades out, returns later. Robert's still stabbing the gravel, then hears Jenny calling to him from upstairs.
Jenny: "Commissioner Scorpio?"

Robert (yelling up): "Yeah. What is it?"

Jenny: "There's a phone call for you. It's police headquarters."

(Robert gives the gravel an extra awful stab for good measure, leans the pitchfork against the wall, and starts upstairs. Entering the entry, he takes the phone from Jenny. Angela's standing nearby.) Robert: "Scorpio."

Anna (on the other end of the phone, in his temporary office): "Robert? Turn up anything there?"

Robert: "Not yet. What's up?"

Anna: "Frisco didn't find anything at the Rehab Center."

Robert: "What about the group?"

Anna: "He's still questioning them here. He's not getting anywhere, I'm afraid."

Robert: "Figures. What do you think?"

Anna: "In my opinion, they're too inept to have been involved in Mac's escape."

Robert: "A convenient act, if you ask me."

Anna: "I don't think so, except for Finian O'Toole. He may know something, but we can't get it out of him. Do you want us to hold him until you get back?"

Robert (thinks): "No. He may be more useful to us on the street. Have Frisco put a tail on him."

Anna: "What about the others?"

Robert: "Let them go when Frisco's finished with them. Tell them not to leave town."

Anna (laughs): "I wouldn't worry about them going anywhere..."

Robert (looks at Angela and Jenny): "Oh, and Anna, I want you to arrange for a couple of guards for the Eckert house. One for the front. One for the back. Twenty four hours around the clock."

Anna: "They'll be there right away."

Robert: "Good. See you when I get back." (He hangs up as Sister Dorothy, Jenny's aunt who happens to be a nun, enter, flapping in shock.)

Sister Dorothy: "Now what! There's a police car out front!" (She spots Robert.) "Angela, what's going on?"

Robert: "I'm looking for an escaped prisoner. Mac Scorpio. Have you seen him?"

Sister Dorothy: "A fugitive? Here? Angela! Jenny! What is he talking about?" (They move in to comfort her.)

Angela: "There, there, Aunt Dottie. Jenny, get her some water." (Robert looks on discouraged as his search has been fruitless.)