Curtis Ashford

Donnell Turner as Curtis

Curtis Ashford initially came to Port Charles in 2015 on a job as a private investigator, though his personal reasons for taking the case quickly became evident. The assignment, given to him by Hayden Barnes, would take him to the same town his nephew T.J Ashford lived in with his mother, Curtis' ex-sister-in-law, Jordan Ashford. He had been estranged from them for years, and came in search of reconciliation.

Faster than he anticipated, Curtis established himself in Port Charles and has come to think of it as home. He grew closer to his family, made good friends, fell in love, and helped start up a private investigation business with a friend: Ashford & McCall.

## Background

Before settling down in Port Charles, Curtis' life felt like one obstacle in front of the other. The first tragedy to strike was over twenty years ago, when Curtis learned that his older brother Tommy was shot and killed by a fellow marine while in Afghanistan. He left behind his son, T.J. Ashford, and his wife, Jordan Ashford. A devoted and ambitious cop, Curtis turned his attention toward his job, where he thrived. Jordan Ashford decided to recruit him to work with her in the DEA. Curtis accepted the offer, but the intensity of his job combined with the grief for his older brother led him to a cocaine addiction that would eventually ruin his career.

After working to get clean, Curtis started over in the field of private investigation. He quickly worked his way into a reputation of being reliable and efficient, and expanded his clientele base. His reputation reached as far as Hayden Barnes, who just so happened to be the perfect reason to go to Port Charles. His addiction had led him to be estranged from his family, but after a lot of hard work, Curtis mended his relationship with Jordan, and established one with his nephew T.J. After a failed relationship with Valerie Spencer, Curtis and Jordan slowly began to grow closer and closer in early 2017.

Though they had some difficult hurdles on the way to wedded bliss, Curtis and Jordan tied the knot in November of 2018. Compared to most, their marriage didn't have the best of starts. First, Kiki Jerome was found murdered in the honeymoon suite Jordan and Curtis were meant to start their new life together in.

Soon after, Jordan began to reconsider her position as Port Charles' Police Commissioner. With her son T.J. now fully grown and in medical school, she began to long for the rush that came with being a undercover operative in the DEA. Increasingly unhappy as commissioner for a city that could never fully rid itself of criminal organizations and mob presence, Jordan began to search for other options. Curtis tried to find a way to keep his wife happy, but also close to home.

Jordan also wanted to stay close to her new husband as well as her son, but failed to find any good options. She kept working as commissioner of Port Charles, though quietly reached out to the DEA without Curtis' knowledge. In April of 2019, the DEA offered her an undercover job on the west coast. Jordan accepted and appointed Mac Scorpio to temporarily take her place as commissioner, not expecting the job to last more than a month or two.

## Present Day

Fast forward to September, and Curtis can count on one hand the number of times he's spoken to Jordan since she left town six months ago. It has put a strain on their very new marriage, and Curtis has begun to wonder if Jordan feels she made a mistake in marrying him.

Sometime in August, when it got to the point that it had been an entire month since he heard anything from his wife, Curtis reached out to an old contact in the DEA. His contact assured him that Jordan is alive,; she is just too deep into an undercover position to risk revealing herself. While Curtis started out as nothing but supportive of his wife's wants and desires, and patient with the months she was away, it was at this point that he really began to question the state and future of their marriage as their first anniversary as husband and wife steadily approached.

Living across the country was not the way he wanted to start his married life, but he's yet to have the opportunity to reach out to Jordan and talk things out with her over something other than a voicemail. He remains torn between wanting his wife to be happy in her career, and wanting them to start the life the planned together. As a result, Curtis has been redirecting his focus onto family, friends, and work. Anything to get his mind off how empty his marriage feels.

    On one of the days Curtis was trying to distract himself from dwelling on Jordan, Emery Ward walked into his office at Ashford & McCall, looking for help on a personal case. She explained that she was a member of the Ward family, who were once well known to many members of Port Charles society, and who are connected to the Quartermaine family. She was looking for the diary of her great grandfather, Dan Ward, and was hoping Curtis could help. Always up for a challenge, Curtis accepted the job and began the search.

After a week of detective work, Emery stops back into Ashford & McCall for an update. Motivated and with plenty of free time, Curtis had already reached out to the owners of the home that once belonged to the Wards for decades. While he didn't emerge with Dan Ward's journal, he was able to give Emery an old packet of photos from the Ward family. Not deterred, Curtis filled her in on how his next step was to scour the public library, where old boxes belonging to the Wards had been donated. When Emery offered to come along to help with the search, Curtis agreed.

## Personality

Despite a difficult past, Curtis has completely turned his life around. He struggled with loss after loss, including the death of his parents, and a few years later, the circumstances surrounding the death of his older brother. He turned to drugs to cope, but only ended up estranging himself from what was left of his family, as well as losing his job at the DEA. With great determination, Curtis has been sober for ten years, and has rebuilt his life.

Most people who know Curtis would agree that he's an easy man to get along with. He is kind, compassionate, generous, and has an easy time of making people laugh. His skills as a private investigator often aid the many friendships he's made, as he makes a point to be objective, observant, and thorough. He is willing to help those in need, often offering his services for free or even going as far as to secure the safety of someone he cares about without any needed prompting.

## Important Relationships

* T.J. Ashford: His legal nephew and new stepson. He looks out for T.J. like he is his own and wants nothing but happiness for him.
* Jordan Ashford: His wife. Despite having been recently married, he has barely spoken to her in six months. He worries that Jordan left for the DEA as a result of having regrets over marrying him.
* Stella Henry: His aunt, and the woman who raised him and his brother after their parents died. They can drive each other crazy, but he appreciates her candor and often looks to her for guidance.
* Drew Cain: A good friend. After having worked together on many different occasions since 2016, the two have grown close. Alongside working at Ashford & McCall, Curtis still helps Drew out as Aurora's head of security.
* Laura Collins: Somewhat of an unofficial partner of his, Curtis and Laura have become good friends. He is protective of her.

## Crimes Committed

Below is an abridged version of Curtis' misdeeds:

* Cocaine addiction [2010–2011]
* Illegally entered the PCPD evidence locker [2015]
* Broke into Sonny Corinthos' office and took a picture of a confidential file [2016]
* Broke into the Asian Quarter and later into Olivia Jerome's tomb with Drew Cain [2017]
* Physically fought with Dr. Andre Maddox [2017]
* Arrested for breaking and entering [2018]
* Broke into Wyndemere with Sam McCall [2018]
* Held Ryan Chamberlain at gunpoint [2019]
* Assaulted Ryan Chamberlain [2019]
* Put Shiloh in a choke hold [2019]
* Assaulted, disarmed, and restrained Cassandra Pierce in defense of himself and Laura Collins [2019]

## Health and Vitals

Below is an abridged version of Curtis' medical history:

* Recovering cocaine addict [2011–]
* Shot in the chest [2013]
* Punched while trying to stop a fight between Drew Cain and Nikolas Cassadine [2016]
* Willingly trapped himself in an elevator rigged with a land mine with Drew Cain [2017]
* Suffered a leg injury following an earthquake [2018]
* Knocked unconscious by Ryan Chamberlain [2019]
* Held hostage by Ryan in a cabin rigged with explosives, along with Laura Collins [2019]
* Held hostage at gunpoint on The Haunted Star by Cassandra Pierce, along with Laura [2019]