My Brother's Keeper #3

You may now read this at Passionate4Todd

http://passionate4todd.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-brothers-keeper-3.html

My Brother's Keeper #2

You can now read this at Passionate4Todd
http://passionate4todd.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-brothers-keeper-2.html

My Brother's Keeper

You can now read this novella at Passionate4Todd 

http://passionate4todd.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-brothers-keeper.html

The Debt by RLEE

THE DEBT

Things tended to get lost in Angel Square.  The heart of Llanview, Pennsylvania was not all that spacious, but it was still the most spacious public area in town.  Nothing much was distinguishable about it apart from the post in the center and the park nearby.  Some days were busier than others; the size of the everyday crowd really just depended on how cold it was.  This year, the temperature was threatening to drop to below freezing by the end of the first week of December.  Because of this, people were taking any opportunity they had to pass through Angel Square and do their holiday shopping before Llanview became a giant popsicle.

Starr had a natural talent for Christmas shopping.  However, the past six months of her life had been dedicated to preventing her family from tearing itself apart.  The return of her father, the death of the uncle she’d come to love as a father, the struggle to help her siblings cope with the confusion, grief, and anger…needless to say, the season had kind of snuck up on her and caught her unprepared.  Which was why Starr thought it was the perfect time to bundle up her daughter Hope in snug layers of fleece clothing and take her to Angel Square. 

“Can you believe it’s above fifty degrees out here?  It’s supposed to go down by, like, thirty,” Starr remarked to Danielle, whom she’d had to coerce to come along with several guilt trips and promises of “having a fun time.”      

“Yeah,” her sister said, using a dull tone that was drowned out by the song started by a caroling group.  Out of everyone in the family, Danielle was the Manning child who’d had perhaps the roughest time adjusting to the changes the family went through.  Because in addition to losing one father and gaining another one, her mother’s grief had turned into a mental illness, culminating into her admission at St. Ann’s Hospital.

            Hope, taken in by the singers’ rendition of “The Carol Of The Bells,” waddled up to the group.  Standing close enough to keep an eye on her, Starr spoke quietly to Dani.

            “How’s Tea? Has there been any change?”

            Dani’s eyes welled, and she sniffled, “Um, yeah.  I talked to Dad last night.  St. Ann’s told him–they told him…” Her voice trailed off, meaning that her mother had taken a turn for the worse.  Starr nodded, and pulled Dani into a hug.  Dani’s voice cracked as she continued, “Uncle Tomas said he’d stop by here after he visited my mom today.” 

            “It’s going to be all right,” Starr whispered, letting go of Dani.  Sighing, she turned to check on Hope.  “Oh no…” she muttered.  The girl had wandered off.  Her heart skipping beats, Starr approached the carolers.  “Hi!” she said, forcing down the panic that wanted to fly out of her voice, “That little girl, the one who was watching you sing–which way did she go?”

            “Oh,” one of the carolers frowned.  “Someone picked her up.  Wasn’t that man her father?”

“What?” Starr turned around wildly.  “What man?  Where did they go?”

The carolers couldn’t remember any details.  Ordering Dani to call the police, Starr took off.  “Hope!” she cried. She searched every corner of Angel Square, looked around the benches and the park and the playground.  She must have gone around the post fifteen times calling her daughter’s name.  Meanwhile, the number of witnesses dwindled until they had all gone home.  By the time the police showed up, they had grave news: Whoever had taken Hope was long gone.  The afternoon was darkening into an icy evening when Dani’s uncle, Tomas Delgado, arrived.  Starr’s tears were frozen on her face, turning her skin raw.  Inconsolably numb, she had to let Dani explain the situation.

Soon Dani and her uncle were the only ones left with Starr in Angel Square.  Tomas said in a low voice, “I’m sorry, Starr, but the police are saying I should take you home now.”

“I’m not leaving,” she said softly, hoarse from yelling for Hope.

“Starr, the police are going to do their job.  You won’t find your daughter by staying here.”

Starr fixed her gaze upon the post as though she was afraid it would disappear too.  Dani asked, “Do you want me to stay out here with you?”

“Danielle,” Tomas said in warning.  “I called Todd.  He and Blair are expecting both of you to come home within the hour.”  He put a hand on Starr’s shoulder, and said with a bit more gentleness, “You need to be with your family right now.”

Starr trembled.  “I only looked away for a second.”  Her eyes stung, but she had no tears left.  What kind of mother was she?  One who lost her child in the blink of an eye.  One who had no tears left to shed for the daughter she might never see again.

A single snowflake–the first one of the month–swirled its way to the pavement.  Starr watched as it landed.  Before she could blink, it had dissolved and was gone.

*~*~*

Two weeks later

December had never been so cold in Llanview.  Christmas was coming, the storm alongside it.  Blair Manning watched from a window as snowflakes floated to a coating of white at the bottom of the penthouse.  From the living room’s television, Llanview’s local news channel’s meteorologist pointed to a giant map behind him.  

“It’s going to get as low as ten degrees within the next couple of days, so expect to have the blizzard that we predicted last weekend hit Llanview hard and fast,” he announced in his usual cheerful voice.  “We’ll have more to report as the day continues.  Watch out and have a safe holiday, everyone!  We’re going to go back to Monique Clasterling to hear her update on the Marty Saybrook investigation…”

She heard someone coming down the spiral staircase and sighed.  “How is she?” Blair murmured without turning around.

“I managed to get her to eat something,” Todd said, joining her.

She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to attempt a smile or simply cry again, so Blair settled for small talk.  “She had dinner?”

“Some raisins.  Ocean Spray brand.”

She closed her eyes.  “My poor baby girl…”

Todd put his arm around her, and she leaned into him, taking in the comfort of breathing in his warm musky scent.  At the same time, he checked the watch on his other hand and announced, “Viki’s going to be here soon with the gifts.”

Blair nodded, already resigned to sharing the evening with Todd’s sister.  She loved Viki, but she couldn’t see how putting more gifts under the tree for Hope was going to cheer up Starr.  Viki was getting remarried to Clint Buchanan close to Christmas though, and wouldn’t have much time to celebrate the holiday with the Mannings. 

“Where’s Jack?” asked Todd suddenly.

“Oh...he was helping Sam build a snowman, I think.”  Or maybe that had been Dani–Blair honestly couldn’t remember who was doing what these days.  Except for Starr, who seldom left her room and was apparently only eating raisins now.

Todd said he would go round up the kids for visiting with their aunt, but she barely heard him.  After he left the room, Blair continued staring out the window, wondering where her pain ended and where Starr’s began.

*~*~*

Dinner with Viki was a morose affair.  She’d brought her own cooking, for which Blair had to practically drag Starr out of the room to eat.  Dani had helped, since she was the only one that Starr seemed able to talk to lately.  Jack and Sam, in comparison, had been excited enough about the presents, only to find out that they wouldn’t be opening any tonight.

Blair refused to let any of the kids to go upstairs while Viki was visiting, so they just hung around the staircase, pretending to watch the Christmas programming on television while waiting to bolt.  This rule of courtesy that Blair was enforcing kind of hindered Todd, who was hoping to discuss something with Viki in private.

As soon as his wife was busy cleaning up the table, Todd went for it.  “So…Well, tonight sucked.”

Never short on patience or sympathy, Viki asked kindly, “How are you holding up?”

Todd blew some air out the side of his mouth.  “Do you have to ask?”

“No, I suppose not.”

What else can I say? he thought.  If I could, I’d hunt down the bastard who stole Peanut and debone him from head to toe?  Finally, he said in a low voice, “Can you believe the priority of the news reports these days?  Hope’s picture hasn’t been shown for days, but we still get by-the-minute updates on the weather and Marty Saybrook’s escape from St. Ann’s–.”

Viki gave him a peculiar glance.  “How do you feel about what happened to Marty?”

How do I feel about the woman I raped being criminally insane, or how do I feel about her being on America’s Most Wanted?  he thought about asking.  He shrugged instead, thoroughly uncomfortable.  “Viki…if I was in that situation, you’d want me to find a way out of it, wouldn’t you?”

Surprised, she knit her eyebrows together.  “Whatever does that mean, Todd?”  It took her about a second later to ask, “Have you done something?”

Todd didn’t have a chance to respond.  Loud repetitious knocking at the door startled everyone, and the kids stood on guard.  Todd was closest to the door, so he opened it with some trepidation to greet Lieutenant John McBain.

“Who is it?” Little Sam asked, craning his neck to get a look at whoever was at the door.

Todd said loudly, “It’s Scrooge, here to say bah humbug.”

McBain didn’t crack a smile, as usual.  “More like the Ghost of Christmas Past, Manning.  I need to ask you a few questions.”

“Here and now?”

“At the station,” McBain replied.

Todd turned around to see the inquiring faces of his family.  Blair stepped forward, clearing her throat.  “John?  Is there a problem?”

            “There might be.  I’m going to have to take your husband in for questioning.”

            The multitude of reactions was astounding.  An alarmed Viki looked back and forth between Todd and John.  “Questioning? Why?”   Then Dani cried, “What for?” at the same time Jack asked, “What’d he do this time?”

            Starr came to his side, looking very small and frightened.  “Dad?”

            Todd locked into a staring contest with McBain, who came out the winner.  “We need to get to the bottom of this, Manning.  There’s an eyewitness who saw you at St. Ann’s a week ago.”

            An uncertain Dani asked Todd, “You…you just went and saw Mom?  Right?”

            Todd was tempted to say yes, especially when Blair demanded, “Is that it?”

  However, McBain beat him to an answer.  “No, there isn’t any report of him visiting Tea Delgado.  He was seen talking to another patient.”

            While they waited for the good lieutenant to answer, Todd found his attention preoccupied by a broken Christmas bulb planted in the garland that was hanging from the doorway.

            “He was seen with Marty Saybrook.  On the same day that she broke out of St. Ann’s.”

*~*~*

Todd and McBain weren’t exactly friendly, what with one of them being an ex-convict and the other being a cop.  The two men were wary, but respected each other enough to keep themselves at a distance.  Although, Todd did have to admit that he liked the lieutenant a hell of a lot more than any other officer he’d ever met.  Which was why he went to Llanview’s police station with him in a semi-cooperative manner.

They went into the empty interrogation room.  Todd was long familiar with the drill, so he sat down and suggested, “Why don’t you have a seat, Lieutenant?”

“You sit, I’ll stand,” John said in a tired voice. 

“Okay.” Todd leaned back in his chair and stretched his fingers.  “You stand, and you tell me why you hauled me down here.”

John crossed his arms, much like a father getting ready to scold his son.  “While we were looking into Marty Saybrook’s disappearance from St. Ann’s, someone who works there came forward.  He said you were the last visitor Marty had before she vanished.”

Todd shrugged, coming off as indifferent.  “I wasn’t there to visit Marty Saybrook.”

McBain was unfazed.  “That’s right, when you checked in with the front desk and showed them your ID, you claimed you were writing an exposition piece for your newspaper.”

A prickle of impatience started festering inside Todd.  Just what was McBain’s point?  “I was writing an exposition piece.  In case you haven’t noticed, the patients at St. Ann’s are an endless topic for a human interest angle.”

            John eyed him with a flash of doubt before continuing, “Okay, if you say so.  Being there at that time makes you a possible witness, though.  Are you going to deny that you saw Marty?”

            Todd tilted his head to the side, contemplating.  He wasn’t sure whether McBain was fishing for information in order to get a lead on Marty, or just because he was bored and needed to arrest someone tonight.  “I saw a lot of people.”

            “But not Tea Delgado,” John said evenly.

            A bit of sadness tugged at Todd.  In truth, he had asked a doctor about Tea while he was there.  But all he felt like saying to McBain was, “It’s kind of hard to interview someone who’s catatonic.”

            The cop nodded.  “Fair enough.  Look, Manning, if you saw anything that can help us find a lead on what happened with Marty, now is the time to tell me.”

            Todd remembered seeing Marty that day.  She had been lucid enough to answer his questions and tell him that St. Ann’s was treating her nicely.  However, she missed her freedom.  She missed her son, Cole.  And thinking of Marty and her son made Todd think of his own family.  Of Starr, and of her daughter with Cole.  The child who seemed to have disappeared.  The child that no one was doing a damn thing to find. 

            “No,” he told McBain.  “I don’t know anything that can help you.”

*~*~*

            After Todd had gone home, John McBain went to deliver his statement to the commissioner.  “Did Manning give you anything?” Bo Buchanan asked at once.

            John shook his head.  “He says he doesn’t have any information.”

            Bo scratched his forehead in thought.  “And that usually means he’s up to his neck in this.”  He took the report and filed it.  “John, I want you to check the tapes from St. Ann’s security cameras.  Find out exactly what Manning did while he was there.”

            John frowned.  “You don’t think he helped Marty Saybrook escape from the hospital, do you?”

            Signing off on a document, the commissioner remarked, “You said it, not me.”

*~*~*

            Blair had fallen asleep waiting for Todd to come home, and when she woke up early the next morning in an empty bed, she immediately assumed the worst.  Then, on her way downstairs, she heard his voice. 

            “Now you listen to me carefully, you dirty son of a bitch,” she heard him say into a phone.  “You’re going to get your ass back to town now, or I’ll tell everyone– .”  He broke off at the response from the other end, and snapped, “Fine.  You go to hell.”  He hung up and muttered another string of curses before turning to see Blair behind him.  “Hey.”

            She folded her arms.  “That was some conversation.”  Please don’t make me ask, she prayed in silence.  Because she really didn’t want to know what he’d done this time.  This was the man she loved, the one who stomped all over someone’s feelings on one day, then acted to the contrary and treated those same feelings with tender sensitivity the next .  The man who could give away her newborn child to a stranger or trick her into thinking that a group of hitmen were targeting her on one hand, then bring the child back to her or save her life on the other hand.  All in the name of love.

            To her surprise, he didn’t blow her off.  “I did someone a favor and he skipped town without so much as a thank you.  Pretty rude, huh?”

            Great, now she had to ask.  “Was this favor a legal one?”

            He raised an eyebrow.  “Of course.”

            “Todd, what did John McBain want with you last night?”

            “Oh you know, the usual.  He felt like bringing out a bowl of pretzels and watching ESPN.  The poor guy works too much, has no social life whatsoever.”

            Blair was about to interrupt when she heard Starr’s voice exclaim, “Dad!”

            Todd smiled.  “Hey Shorty.  You’re out of your room?”

            “Yeah, I was going to ask Mom if she’d heard from you.  What happened last night?”

            Relenting, Todd told them about his trip to St. Ann’s, how he’d gone to write a news article on the care of mental patients and how John had thought that he might have information on Marty Saybrook’s disappearance.  When he finished explaining, Starr said to him in relief, “I’m so glad that you were just the witness for once and not a suspect.”

            Todd wrapped his arms around her and said as Blair looked on, “Yeah, me too.”

            Then their daughter’s expression turned sad again.  “I can’t lose you too, Dad.”

            “You won’t,” he promised.

            Starr sighed and retreated to her room.  Now that she was gone, Blair decided it was time to play hardball.  “You know, The Sun never printed out a feature on St. Ann’s.”  His face turned into a blank mask.  She added, “And it’s not like you to personally go out and do research on your own.  You have plenty of qualified journalists who could have done that job.”

            “Yeah, well, maybe it’s just a subject that’s near and dear to me,” he said offhandedly. 

            “Because of Tea?” Blair tried.

            He stared at her.  That’s not it at all, she realized, thinking of the phone call she’d walked in on.  What was Todd hiding?

            At last he said, “You know what?  I think I’m going to shovel some snow.”  He headed for the front door.

            Unable to help herself, Blair threw her hands up in the air.  “That’s it!” Her voice stopped him for a moment.  “I want the whole story, whatever it is you’re not telling me!”

            He hesitated.  Then his face broke into a sly smile.  “Put it on your Christmas list.”  He opened the door and left Blair still calling his name.

*~*~*

            Angel Square must have been where hell froze over.  It was cold enough to kill, the weather having reached its predicted extremity.  The beginnings of a snowstorm had driven all the other people away, so it was empty.  Todd walked past the post and into the shopping district.  Everywhere he went, the front doors for all of the shops bore “Sorry, We’re Closed” signs.  Outside the Old Gold and Silver Antiques store, he withdrew his cell phone from his pocket.  The air instantly bit his hand even though he was wearing gloves, and he cursed out of habit.  Fortunately, the phone turned warm while he waited for someone to pick up.

            No one answered.

            Overwhelmed with intense frustration, Todd stomped through the snow all the way back to the post.  Where is he?  he wanted to know.  Hasn’t that bastard gotten what he wants yet? 

            When the job is done, meet me at the post in Angel Square and I’ll pay my debt. That was what the man had said, and Todd was just now beginning to think that he had made a grave error in trusting him to keep his word.

            His phone suddenly buzzed.  Startled, Todd pulled it out to see that he’d gotten a text message.  He wiped the falling snow off of the screen to see only two words: Not yet.

            A small pile of snow dumped from the top of the post onto his shoulder.  Todd grabbed the crumbling lump of white powder, and threw it as hard as he could at the ground with a sputtered yell.

*~*~*

            When Todd got back to the penthouse, Viki was waiting for him.  “Didn’t I just see you last night?” he wondered while she got up from the sofa. 

            “I wanted to talk to you about our conversation last night,” said Viki quietly.

            Todd turned around to take off his coat.  “You should get back to Llanfair before you’re snowed in here for the night.”

On that cue, Blair walked in and told him, “Todd, Viki came by to see if you were all right or if you needed to be bailed out of jail again.”

“I can see that,” he replied.  Viki gave him a pointed look, and Todd said quickly, “Blair, do you think you could give us a few minutes?”

Her mouth twitched at irritation for their secrecy.  “I guess I’ll go check on Starr for the hundredth time today.”

As soon as she was out of the room, Viki began.  “Last night, you asked me if I would want for you to get out of a situation that was similar to Marty’s.  And as soon as I asked you whether you’ve done anything that could get you into trouble, John McBain came and took you in for questioning.”

“Viki, you have to trust me–,” Todd began.

She held up a hand.  “I’m not here to ask questions, Todd.  I’m here to give you an answer.”

Todd shifted his weight guiltily.  “Oh.”

“If you were in trouble with the law, I would want you get out of it.  And I would want you to be very sure of what you were doing.  Are you sure, Todd?”

He thought about telling her.  He could trust her.  Not to mention, lying to Viki made him feel terrible, as though he was knifing her in the back.  But he couldn’t tell her.  Not her or anyone else in the entire world.  So he mumbled, “I thought you weren’t going to ask questions.”

Viki sighed.  “Be careful, then.”  She looked as though she would say something more, but thought better of it and chose instead to pat his arm lightly on her way out. 

*~*~*

For John, it was yet another night of examining evidence.  He was planning on spending all night re-watching the security footage from St. Ann’s, or at least until he caught a glimpse of Todd Manning with Marty Saybrook. 

A woman cleared her throat and said, “Hey.”  He looked up to find Natalie standing in front of his desk.  She leaned in to see a shot of Todd exiting the hospital, donning a heavy winter jacket and a ski cap.  John fast forwarded through the timeframe in which Marty was reported missing, then rubbed his eyes.  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were here.”

            Natalie tossed her brassy red hair over her shoulder and replied, “I didn’t want to interrupt in case you found anything important.  I was just going to let you know I’m headed home.  What about you?”

            “I need to finish going through the tapes,” he told her.  Then a thought occurred to him.  “Hey, do you want someone from here to drive you?” He didn’t need to elaborate on his question; Natalie knew he was concerned for her safety with Marty on the lam.  Marty had thrown her off a rooftop less than a year ago, and as far as he could tell there was still a chance Natalie was in danger.

            But as Natalie started to decline, her eyes widened.  “Oh my God.”

            John stood up.  He’d seen the same thing she had on the screen playing the hospital tape: Todd Manning leaving the hospital for a second time.  He rewound the tape to the first time Todd walked out.  He did not come back inside. Fast forward to an hour later, and Todd–or someone else dressed in the exact same winter coat and a ski cap–left through the other exit. 

            “Do you want me to get my uncle Bo in here?” Natalie asked.

            John looked to her in hesitation.  “I’ll handle it.  Don’t bother him yet,” he said at last.  Manning, you’d better have a damn good alibi ready.

*~*~*

            Three nights later, Blair received a call from John.  “Is your husband around?” he asked her.  Her glance darted to the foot of the sofa, where Todd was resting.  Starr was above on the couch, engaging in a quiet conversation with him.  Blair said to John, “He’s not available right now.  What’s going on?”

            “I might as well give you a heads up.  The LPD has reason to suspect Todd of helping Marty Saybrook out of St. Ann’s.”

            Blair bit her lip to keep herself from blurting out something stupid.  John kept saying, “When you have a chance, tell Todd we’d like to speak with him again about this.”

            Blair sighed.  “Thank you, I will do that.” She hung up in time to hear Starr whisper to Todd, “What if we never find her?  What if she’s already…already gone?”

            Todd murmured back to her, “I know you’ve already heard things like ‘don’t give up’ and ‘everything will be fine.’  But I’m just going to throw out there that I grew up without believing in miracles.  And then you came along and everything changed.  Shorty, you’re going to get her back.  Trust me.”  He looked up to see Blair standing over by the Christmas tree.  With her eyes, she told him that they needed to talk.  He excused himself, kissed Starr goodnight, and followed Blair up to their room. 

            Blair wasted no time.  “That was John McBain on the phone just now.  Are you going to finally tell me what you’ve been keeping from everyone?  Why is he under the impression that you helped free Marty Saybrook?  I mean, that’s just absurd!”  But even as she ranted to him, she could tell that it was true.  “Oh my God!”

            Todd grabbed her hands.  “Blair.  Blair!”

            “How could you–why? Just tell me why?  Were you helping her to get over your own guilt?” She sat on the bed, unsure of whether she was in shock or just plain angry. Perhaps a bit of both, but that wasn’t all it was.  This came completely out of left field.  “That was it, wasn’t it?  You felt guilty!”

            “Of course I did!” he shot back.  “I still do, and that’s never going to change.  You need to calm down!”

            “Oh yeah?” she cried.  “You make me calm down.  You go to prison for this, and see if I’ll calm down then!”

            “I’m not going to prison,” he said, his tone soft but firm.  He took her into his arms, and just held her for awhile.  He ran his fingers through her hair, shushing her gently the whole time.  She lifted her face to his, and he kissed her, tentatively at first, then a little bit more passionately.  She moaned, calm now but also longing for more of his touch.  They eventually found their way to the bed, after her sweater had somehow come off and she’d unbuttoned his shirt.  In a way, she knew that making love would not fix anything.  And she knew he was probably more aware of that than she cared to admit.  It wasn’t what they needed to stay with the rest of the world; it was what they needed to make the rest of the world go away.

*~*~*

            The next day was the morning of Christmas Eve.  Todd barely had time to dress before Bo Buchanan came to the door, with John McBain at his side. 

            “We found Marty Saybrook last night, and took her into custody,” Bo announced.  “She admitted that you assisted her escape from St. Ann’s by suggesting that she disguise herself as you.  John, read him his rights.”

            As McBain recited the Miranda to him and set him in cuffs, Todd had a chance to see the reactions of his wife and kids.  He saw their devastation, especially Blair’s and Starr’s, and a voice inside his head chastised, Nice going, Manning. Was it worth it?

            It was, he thought, mentally commanding the other voice to shut up. 

            To the cops, all Todd said was, “You’re making a huge mistake.” They didn’t listen to him.  Then again, they never did.

*~*~*

            “I want my phone call,” Todd insisted as John escorted him to his cell.  Unlocking it, John realized that in between stonewalling questions and making cryptic comments, Todd had not once denied or confirmed his guilt.

He said, “You’ll have plenty of time to call your lawyer before your arraignment.” As   Todd sat down on the bed in the corner of the cell, John could no longer keep his cool.  After all, he’d given the guy plenty of chances, hadn’t he?  He’d even put off showing Bo those tapes.  And for what?  Since when did John owe Todd any leniency?  “Dammit, Manning.  Did you do this for Marty because you owed her after raping her? Is that why?”

“No,” said Todd.  He took a deep breath and announced, “I did not help Marty Saybrook escape.”

“Oh really? Marty seems to think differently.”

“John, she is psychotic! Questioning her about it must’ve confused her or something. Trust me, I did not do what you’re accusing me of doing. Now give me my damn phone call.”

“You’ve just been processed,” said John, turning to go back upstairs. “It’ll take about an hour.”

Todd said loudly, “I have an alibi!”

            John kept on walking.  Why do I even bother? he asked himself on his way to his office.  Manning was a criminal, after all.  Yet despite that knowledge, John felt a conflict surge within him.  Was it really worth taking him away from his entire family?  From his wife, and kids, and sisters, nieces…

            When he went into his office, someone was already inside.  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

            Tomas Delgado turned to him and said, “I heard you have arrested Todd Manning for getting Marty Saybrook out of St.Ann’s.”

            “We have,” John replied curtly.  “What’s it to you?”

            Delgado smiled.  “Well, I just came in to tell you that your accusation isn’t possible.  Because I was there with Todd at St. Ann’s, visiting my sister.  He played no part in Marty’s escape.”

*~*~*

It must have been the crack of dawn when John McBain opened Todd’s jail cell.  “Merry Christmas, Manning,” he said gruffly.  “Your alibi buddy came through.”

“And Marty’s confession?” Todd said, knowing there had to be a catch.  He was always suspicious whenever things worked out a little too perfectly. 

“She recanted.  Apparently she was…confused.”

“But you don’t believe her.”

“No.  But we found Marty, and that’s what our primary concern was.  Seeing how the remaining evidence against you is circumstantial, we’re not going to pursue it any further.” 

Todd smirked.  “‘We’re’ not?” 

John corrected himself.  “I’m not. But off the record, I did finally figure this whole thing out.”  Todd fixed a wary look on him, but did not reply.  McBain continued, “I couldn’t figure out your motive for setting Marty free.  I thought at first it was because you felt you owed her a debt of some kind after the rape.”

“Maybe it was–.”

            McBain talked over him.  “Then I realized that this wasn’t about Marty at all.  As soon as Tomas Delgado declared himself as your alibi, I saw the connection.”

            “Which was?” Todd challenged, unsure of whether he should be nervous or relieved that someone else knew what he had been carrying around with him.

“When we found Marty, she had a syringe in her purse.  She wouldn’t say what it was, but I recognized it.  She got it from the CIA compound she’d been hiding in for months before she came back to Llanview.  It was a serum, Manning.  I think she was going to bring it to Delgado, but we intercepted it.”

At that revelation, Todd thought he might be sick.  It was all for nothing, what he’d done, what he’d been through.  “You have to give Delgado the syringe.”

McBain raised his eyebrows, and Todd expected him to ask why.  To press him for more information.  But the cop simply stated, “I already gave it to him.”

Todd stared at him, bewildered.  John explained, “When I discovered that the serum was used for bringing someone out of a catatonic state, it all came together.  Tomas wanted the injection for Tea Delgado.  So…I let him have it.”

“You did?”

“You went through all that trouble for it, so why not?”  For once a bit of amusement crept into John’s voice.

“Bo should give you a raise,” Todd remarked, completely amazed.  You’ve gotta give credit where it’s due.

McBain stepped aside to allow Todd out of the cell.  Hardly able to believe his luck, Todd was strolling past John when the lieutenant said, “There’s one thing I’m still not sure about.”

Todd paused and looked back. 

“How was Delgado able to get both you and Marty to cooperate with him?” But Todd didn’t have to answer, because as soon as John studied his expression, he knew.  “Of course,” John said.  Todd nodded, and continued on his way.

*~*~*

People were finally starting to return to Angel Square.  Standing by the post, Todd just wished things would hurry up, so that there would be no one who noticed the transaction.  It took half an hour for him to spot a figure in a dark wool trenchcoat coming in. 

“You’re late!” Todd called.

“I didn’t have to come at all,” Tomas Delgado pointed out.  “I could have just left you holding the bag.  But I didn’t.  A deal’s a deal.  Besides, I like this place.  It’s full of second chances.”

“Yeah well, don’t think you can get away with a stunt like this again,” Todd warned.

“Of course not.  I’m a man of my word, Todd.  Now, it’s time for me to fulfill my end of the agreement.”

“About damn time,” Todd snapped.  He didn’t mention how he was already planning to retaliate against Tomas for putting him and his family through hell.  After all, revenge was a dish best served cold.

*~*~*

The first words Starr heard on Christmas morning were Jack’s.  “Wow, I got a brand new X-Box!” he shouted from downstairs.  She groaned and threw the covers over her head as her door creaked opened.  “Starr? Sweetie, you’ve got a phone call,” said her mom.

Starr groaned.  She’d given up hoping to hear good news, and she wasn’t about to get hurt like that again.  “Tell whoever it is to call back tomorrow.  Or never.”  A beep one second later indicated that she was on speakerphone.  “Mom, seriously, I don’t want–.”

            “Merry Christmas, Shorty!” her dad’s voice interrupted.  Her eyes widened, and with a gasp she instantly sat up in bed. 

            “Dad?  Are you okay?” she blurted.  The thought of him in prison put a fresh edge on her pain.  But he sounded a bit too upbeat for someone behind bars.

            “I’m great.  Hey, can you do something for me?”

            “What?”

            “Can you meet me in Angel Square in an hour?”

            It took thirty seconds for the words to fully register.  “You–you’ve been released?” Her heart rate must have elevated to the sky just then.

            “Yeah, and I’ve got a present for you,” answered Todd.  “So, can you come?”

            Starr looked at her mother, a daringly broad smile on her face.  “Make it twenty minutes!” she said.

 Against Blair’s wishes, Starr stayed in her pajamas and simply threw on a heavy coat, hat, and boots.  She drove over three roadside snowmen on her way to Angel Square, and when she got out of her car, she nearly forgot to take the keys out of the ignition.  Her excitement, though, was nothing compared to when she saw her dad standing by the tall post.  She froze only for a moment, and then tripped into the snow as she ran.  Eventually he began making his way towards her, and when they finally met, she looked at the child in his arms.

“Momma,” beamed Hope.  Todd passed her over to Starr, who was shaking so bad she was afraid she’d drop her daughter into the snow.  Yet she didn’t.  And as she sobbed and laughed, she realized that she should have known all along this would happen.  Because while things tended to be lost in Angel Square, that was also where they tended to be found.

THE END

This selection was posted for author, RLEE.  Her work can also be read at Cataz's Site

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Ask Anything by RLEE

Ask Anything

by RLEE 

Prologue

            Another lifetime ago, I thought I knew pain.  That was before I’d lost any sense of time, my sense of self along with it.  Whatever it was, it was like watching one of those home movies on a film projector. The picture was grainy and interrupted occasionally with black and white snow inside the screen; the scenes themselves were choppy, going from a blip of a woman screaming underneath me in darkness, to a lengthy shot of a small space full of people–indistinguishable figures under the harsh fluorescent lighting.  From there, it became static, then black, and then I returned to a chair in the center of a white room.  Tight straps pinned me to the chair so that I couldn’t move anything except for my eyes.  That was when she appeared before me. 

            “Help me!  Please!  I don’t want to die!” she begged. 

            I tried to answer that I would save her, but it was as if my jaw was glued with cement.  The paralysis was absolute, the energy of my panic wasted from inside.  They were going to kill her, and me, and as a prisoner inside my own body, I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

            “Dad!” she shrieked.  “Daddy!”

            Starr!  Starr!  The sound of my muffled voice was trapped inside my mouth. 

She began to fade. My breathing came in slow and steadily relaxed, even though I had been trying with all of my strength to yell out.  Then her name disappeared from my mind.  Just like that, she was gone.  So was I.  With that knowledge, everything else went blank. 

               

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Two weeks ago

           

The morning was a dingy gray when The Sun became as frustrating as any other job out there.

I’d always been a multi-tasker.  For example, I could manage a newspaper staff, sue the pants off of an investment company, and eat a tamale at the same. Well, I hadn’t exactly finished that second one yet, but I was getting there. 

            “I don’t need another apology,” I said into the desk phone that was cradled between my ear and shoulder.  “Look, I already talked to one of your representatives about a reimbursement, and he gave me the ‘no can do’ speech.”

            The voice on the phone replied smoothly, “Mr. Manning, we do understand that you were a victim of identity theft.  The most we can do is drop your name from TERRA’s list of shareholders.”

            “That’s…generous of you,” I said, masking most of the menace from my voice with a forkful of tamale.

“A reimbursement for the assets you’ve lost over the past three years is not possible at this point.  Had we known two years sooner, before TERRA turned into a privately owned company, we might have been able to offer you more compensation.”

“Right, only two years ago some black ops agency was jabbing me with experimental drugs until I was catatonic.”  The guy on the other end laughed.  He thought I was kidding.  Greedy little piranha, I fumed.  You’re shark bait now.  I didn’t even bother resisting the next words that wanted to slide past my tongue.  “Hey, I’m glad I’m amusing you.  How’s this for laughs?  I’ve been talking to some more of your former ‘clients’ and found out they’re just as pissed off at you as I am.  Maybe more.  So laugh all you can now, because TERRA’s representatives are going to be on the unemployment line very soon.”  Satisfied that I’d finally shut the jerk up, I slammed the phone onto the receiver.

One knock at the door later, Mr. Ribbs had let himself inside my office.  I had no idea what his first name was; but then again with a surname like his, who needed a first name?  Ribbs was all muscle, like some winner from a bodybuilding competition.  But for some reason, he preferred to hide his impressive physique under an ugly tweed blazer.

Standing up from the chair, I addressed him with grave professionalism.  “Ribbs.  I’m assuming here that you got the job done?” 

Instead of speaking–something he’d only done twice in my presence so far–he handed me a list of the former clients that were ready to support my case against TERRA.  At least, they were ready to support my case as long as I “supported” them.  I knew it sounded like hypocrisy, wasting more money on people that would help me sue a company that robbed me.  But what was twenty grand compared to the million-dollar sinkhole that my long-lost twin brother had funded in my name? 

As I examined the document, a female voice said from the doorway, “Mr. Manning?”

I didn’t even look up to greet my Ask Anything columnist.  “Hello Brenda.  You’re fired.  Ribbs, good work. Keep in touch.” I returned to my chair, still perusing the list.

After Ribbs was gone, I glanced up to see the spitting image of a middle-aged Christina Ricci staring at me.  “‘You’re fired?’” she repeated, with a bold amount of incredulity that reminded me of my wife. 

“Sure, you heard me.”  Idly, I spun halfway around in the chair, wondering why Brenda couldn’t be more silent but efficient, like Ribbs.  Then again, why couldn’t Ribbs have been more like Brenda?  If he’d been more sociable I would have taken him to Rodi’s for some beers.

“Mr. Manning, you can’t be serious,” Brenda said in protest.

Finally tucking the list away in a file cabinet, I turned my attention to last Friday’s edition of The Sun.  “Dear Ask Anything,” I read aloud.  “My brothers and I are facing a serious dilemma.  Our mother is on life support, and the time has come to decide whether or not to pull the plug–.”  I broke off and gave her the look that she’d have to have been a total idiot not to read as Are you frickin’ kidding me?  “You get, like, hundreds of letters asking for your advice each week, and you choose this one?”

Confused, she said, “It affected me more than most of the letters.  I thought I could help.”

I wagged an index finger at her as I read, “Dear Grieving, I regret to inform you that the only possible resolution to this dilemma is to seek family counseling for yourself and your brothers.  The rest is up to you–.”  I interrupted myself again, this time with a chortling laugh.  “What kind of rotten advice is that?  Did you also tell the White House that raising the national credit limit would ease the deficit?”

A fire lit in her eyes, and she snapped, “Well, what would you have suggested?”

“That’s the point, Brenda.  I wouldn’t have answered that question to begin with.”  I handed her an email that I’d printed off from a reader.  Maybe things will compute for her if she reads it herself.  At least, I hoped that’s what would happen.

She cleared her throat.  “To whom it may concern at the staff of The Sun, I am sorry to say that I will miss reading your Ask Anything column.  The idea of an advice column that will reply to any kind of question is a good one, but lately it’s been a huge disappointment…”

Brenda slapped the piece of paper back down on my desk.  I wasn’t smiling.  “You can collect your things downstairs,” I told her. 

Crossing her arms, she said firmly, “You have to give me another chance.”

I was trying to be serious, but I couldn’t help laughing again.  It seemed like she would have gotten along really well with Blair.  She was stubborn, driven, and bold.  She also gave really lousy advice. 

“You’re going to regret this, Todd Manning,” she spat.

The humor of the situation died.  I stood up, towering over her.  I never took a threat lightly.  For a moment, she hesitated, her big brown eyes locked in on my face.  A face like mine was pretty hard not to gawk at, even without the scar that slit across my cheekbone like a scarlet thread.  It was a mark of my hell-raising days.  I must have graced the front page of at least two hundred tabloids, so anyone in Llanview who wasn’t at least familiar with my name had to have been living in a bomb shelter for the past twenty years.  Unless, of course, it was just a tourist.  Either way, they usually didn’t last long here.  Not if they crossed me.

“Get out,” I said, my voice soft and dangerous. I watched her turn around, never once taking my eyes off her retreating back.  It was only when she reached the door that she ran like the room was going to swallow her whole.

“Good riddance,” I muttered, sitting back down to finish my tamale.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Someone once asked me how I slept at night.  My best answer to that was that I didn’t sleep at night.  I drank a six-pack, watched Dexter on DVD and pretended that I lived in a world where even serial killers could become productive contributors to society.  After the morning I’d had working against TERRA and Brenda, I wanted to do just that.  But when I came home to my penthouse at one-thirty in the afternoon, I found that Blair had beaten me to the television.

I tossed my keys on the coffee table and sat down on the couch beside her.  In a bored monotone, Blair explained, “The remote control is broken. It’s stuck on The Bold and the Beautiful.”

            “Oh.”  I glanced at the tall blonde woman on the screen and said, “Isn’t that what’s-her-name?” I snapped my fingers.  “Bambi.  That’s Bambi, right?”

            “Something like that,” she answered, then said in an agitated tone, “You know, I can’t believe she’s tried every man in town and she still wants that same old loser.”

            On the screen, Bambi Or-Something-Like-That exclaimed to said loser, “But I swear, I only slept with your brother because I thought you were dead!”

            I frowned at Blair, who was looking downcast about something.  “Beats the hell out of me.  What’s wrong?”

            She sighed.  “A guy named Hansel Ribbs called, saying you owed him two thousand dollars.”

            Oh great, now Ribbs talks.  Shell-shocked, I said stupidly, “Wait a second, his first name is Hansel?

            She stood, forcing me to get up to face her.  “Mm-hmm.  He said he did you a favor.”  Someone might as well have thrown a large icepack at my neck, that was how tense I was.  “Todd?” she prompted with her usual southern belle-cadence in her voice.  She crossed her arms as she waited.  “What did you do?”

            My poker face came too little, too late.  She didn’t have to know what I was doing in order to know that I shouldn’t have been doing it. 

            Dropping all traces of a friendly overture, she said, “Whatever you’re doing, you need to stop, Todd.  You could get all of us into a huge amount of trouble!”

            “That’s not going to happen,” I said firmly.

            “That’s what always happens!  Your plan goes wrong, and your family is left to deal with the mess.”  Blair added, “And what about Jack?  Do you want to send him the message that it’s okay to do this sort of thing?” 

A weak argument, given how much my son hated me.  “Aw, c’mon Blair.  He’ll probably want to do the opposite of anything I do just to stick it to me.  You know he’d throw a parade if I was gone.”

Blair talked over me like she didn’t even hear.  “He’s only sixteen and he’s already gotten into trouble with the law!”

            I protested, “I wasn’t here for that–.”

            “So what? You think you aren’t responsible for how he’s turned out?” she shot back.  “He grew up finding out his father had raped a woman! How do you think that affected him?”

 I stared out the window behind her, momentarily transfixed by the way the sky brightened before it dimmed again.  My self-loathing had always been there; like the scar on my cheekbone, I could never, ever forget it. Every time a glimpse for redemption came my way, I’d blink and it was gone.

            “He also knows that you gave him away as a baby and made me believe he was dead,” she continued.  “Now on top of that, he’s not only coping with the loss of the only father he can remember having, but with the revelation that you’re his biological dad.  So don’t you dare tell me that what’s going on with our son is not your fault!”  Giving me one last glare of disgust, she stormed up the staircase. 

I watched the light slowly filter behind the drifting clouds.

             

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            In the evenings, Blair sang at the nightclub Capricorn.  Seeing how she hadn’t been in the mood to invite me and I didn’t really do well with crowds anyways, I stayed behind.  I guess I was becoming a bit more predictable with age because I had a couple of visitors.

            Standing in the doorway, I grinned at them.  “Tired of having your own place?”

            Starr shrugged and shifted little Hope from one arm to the other.  “It gets a bit boring.  No drama at all.”

            “I feel for you.”

            She giggled, something that I’d missed about her since she’d moved into her own apartment.  “Are you going to invite me in or not?”

            I pretended to ponder.  “Hmm...” She gave an exaggeratedly scandalized scoff, and I said quickly before she could leave, “All right, all right, I was only kidding!”

            Once Starr and Hope were settled on the couch, I said to the little one, “Hey Peanut, how would you like some butterscotch pudding?”

            “Yuh!” Hope replied, a big smile on her face.

            Starr chimed in, “Ooh, make me one too!”

            As I started mixing the pudding powder in with the milk, I asked, “So how are you doing on your own?”

            “Well, it’s a bit overwhelming. Hope doesn’t really like daycare all that much. I might have to take Aunt Viki up on her offer to babysit while I’m at college, even though I don’t want to bother her.”

            “You wouldn’t be bothering her,” I countered.  My sister was essentially the living patron saint of Llanview, and her mansion was like a fancy homeless shelter.  “Viki’s house was once so full of kids that she could have run her own daycare center.  But hey, here’s a bright idea.  Why don’t you let your mom babysit Hope here at the penthouse?”  Starr bit her lip but didn’t answer. “Uh-oh, what’s with the face?” I asked, bringing the pudding bowls to them.

            “No, no, it’s nothing.  Thank you…” She winced.  “I just don’t think Hope should be around you and Mom when you guys fight.”

            “Who told you we’ve been fighting?”

            “Jack.”

            “Oh,” I muttered.  “That figures.”  He probably didn’t tell her we were arguing about him though.  Mostly about him, I reminded myself.

            With an apology written in her eyes, Starr continued, “Look, I love you both and I want you to be a part of my daughter’s life.  But you and Mom fought a lot while I was growing up, and I was caught in the middle of it.  Hope won’t be.”  She kissed Peanut’s head and smiled.

            “Sorry,” I murmured.

            She nodded and put her hand on my shoulder.  “So, what was it tonight?”

“What?  Oh, the fight.”  I sighed.  If there were two people in the world that I could have told anything to, they would have to have been Starr and Viki.  “I’ve been working on something.  Your mom doesn’t know the details, but she read me the riot act anyways.”

Her eyes were wide with intrigue.  “What are you doing?”

“Um…trying to sue a company that your uncle helped fund with my money.”

Starr blinked.  “That…sounds legal?”

“I’m suing with claims that I paid people to falsify,” I admitted reluctantly.

“Oh, okay.” She gave a nervous laugh.  “Aren’t you going about this a bit–.”

“Yes, I am. But I plan on getting back every penny of the million dollars Victor gave TERRA.  What I’m paying these people is like pocket change in comparison.”

Looking thoughtful, Starr put a spoonful of pudding in Hope’s mouth and asked me, “Are you sure that this is worth it?  I mean, do you really need the million dollars?”

I raised my eyebrows.  “Have you seen the bills for the penthouse lately?”

“Fair enough,” she chuckled.  “Then are you sure that what you’re doing is the best way to get your money back?”

I shrugged.  “Do you have a better idea?”

She took a bite of pudding before responding.  “Maybe.  There’s this guy on campus–I think he has a crush on me, but whatever–and he works as an intern for TERRA.  I could talk to him for you.”

             The manner in which she reached out to me with this gesture, genuinely and without any reservations, moved me so much I was afraid to accept it.  Every glimpse of redemption, I thought sternly.  “Shorty, you have no idea how much it means to me to have you on my side.  But I don’t want to involve you in this.”

            She rolled her eyes good-naturedly.  “Oh, please. Dad, if it keeps you from getting sent to prison, fighting with Mom, or even losing any more of your money, I am more than happy to help.”

            It was more than I deserved.  I knew that.  What I didn’t know is how much I would come to regret it.         

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Sun, four days later

 Dear Ask Anything,

I am in my late forties, yet my wife is an unconventional lover.  I’m more of what you’d call a “bed of roses” type of guy, while she prefers to have sex every night involving studded leather costumes, handcuffs, etc.  How can I convince her to let our relationship become more natural and mature?

~Pained in Pennsylvania

Yikes.  If Brenda had been around to see this letter, she would have answered back with something along the lines of, “You and your wife should try counseling, blah, blah.”  My fingers clacked a response on the keyboard.  When I was done, the message on the monitor was as followed:

Pained,

Well, what can I say?  That you and your wife are a bit old for playing S&M?  If she really likes torture sex, and you are, as you put it, a “bed of roses” person, then torture her with the Christian Slater film by that name.  By the way, your wife sounds like a red-hot babe, and I would seriously rethink the whole “natural and mature” relationship if I were you.

I moved onto the next letter. 

Dear Ask Anything,

People are starting to ask questions about my line of work.  It might not be legit, and I’m afraid to dig any deeper.  I’m trapped because they warned me I can’t leave until my probation’s over, and I also really need the money.

~Business Blues

            Hmm…

            I moved on to the next letter. 

            Dear Ask Anything,

            My former boss is a jerk who cut me off without a dime.  I want to get my severance pay, but he won’t even let me into the building! How can I get justice for what was done to me? 

            I smirked and typed Nice try, Brenda. 

            Hey, this was fun.  I looked at the very last one for the day.

I am having a hard time accepting my biological father. After spending so many years thinking one person was my dad, then finding out he wasn’t, then doing the same with another man, I don’t want to go through the ordeal of bonding with a new dad again.  I really don’t have anything against my real father, but I don’t think he understands. What’s the right thing to do here?

            ~Torn in Three

            The second I was done reading, the memory of my night with Starr and Hope seemed to fade.  It just didn’t seem to be enough in light of being rejected by my other two children.  Jack had called me Scarface when I first showed up to reclaim my life from Victor.  And Dani…well, she hadn’t called me anything at all.  She pretty much crossed the street whenever she saw me.  But now, with this letter, I did understand her position.  The way she was treating me wasn’t personal.

            I opened a drawer under my desk and put the email in there for safekeeping.  I must have spaced out for a few minutes, because the next time I found myself paying attention to what I was doing, the phone had somehow wound up in my hand.  It was already ringing on the other end before a girl’s voice answered, “Hello?” 

            As she repeated, “Hello?” I put the phone back on the receiver. What was I thinking, calling Dani’s phone? It’s not like I could have mentioned the email to her outright.  It might not even have been her email.  Who are you kidding, Manning? a small voice taunted in my ear.  You know it was her.

            As much as I hated to admit it, times like these were when I most often asked myself, “What would Viki do?”

            And because Viki wasn’t going to materialize at The Sun to answer me, I was going to have to go to her. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Viki was rushing out the door when I arrived at Llanfair.  “Where’s the fire?” I asked, intentionally blocking her path.

She sighed, “Well, it was in the kitchen.”

“Hold on, you mean there was an actual fire?”  I could barely believe it.  Llanfair was supposed to be safer these days than the Vatican itself.  “Is everyone all right?  Clint and the kids?”

 “Bree is here for a visit, so I was just trying to bake some cookies with her.  I think everything’s fine now, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, I won’t,” I said a bit too quickly.

She narrowed her eyes at me.  “I was just on my way to pick up some store-bought cookies, since our oven seems to be broken.”

            Seizing the opportunity, I said, “Great, I’ll come with you.”  Any other person I knew would have been ticked at my self-invite, or in some cases even horrified.  Not Viki.  She just sighed again with some more impatience and let me tag along.  In no time, we were at the grocery store and I was telling her all about Jack and Dani, and Dani’s confession about her ambivalence, and about how messed up Victor had made everything by taking over my life for eight years.

Viki was her usual empathetic self.  “Oh, Todd, you’ll just have to give the kids time, especially Dani.  I went through the same thing as you when I found out Natalie was my daughter.”  She plucked a box of semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies off a shelf.

“Yeah, I guess if Dani had made it through high school believing that some drunken beauty-school dropout was her father, and if she actually wanted to get to know me now, then it would be the same.  You should get these,” I added, putting a package of Keebler’s Coconut Dreams into her cart.

“Bree doesn’t like those.”

“She doesn’t?” I looked at the chocolate-drizzled coconut flakes on the wrapping, and shrugged. “Her loss.”  Viki must have realized that her pep talk didn’t really work this time, because she wound up buying me the Coconut Dreams.

“I’m sure the kids will come around,” she told me upon our return to Llanfair.

I stared down at my feet and mumbled, “What if they don’t?”

“Their loss,” she said warmly.

           

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Five days later

I hadn’t seen Starr since the night she came over.  She’d been sending me quick texts to say stuff like working on it and nothing yet.  In the meantime, I was at The Sun more than usual, replying to the most ridiculous questions that people should have been able to figure out themselves.  How did they even make it this far in life without any common sense?

Dani’s letter remained inside my desk.  Every now and then, I was tempted to answer it.  But what was I supposed to say, Hey kid you’re not the first person in this town to grow up believing someone else was your father? Nah.  Give this new guy a chance?  Yeah, right, like she was going to listen to that. 

Soon I got burnt out working at the office, and so I finally decided to take my work home with me. I was reading a letter from “Suicidal Sue” when Blair came in the door with Jack.  Jack was scowling as Blair grabbed his arm and said, “Jack, listen to me!  I don’t want you doing this ever again!”

“All right, fine.” He jerked his arm away.  Then he noticed me sitting at my chair.  “What are you staring at?” he snarled.

“Jack,” Blair warned.

“Someone who didn’t get enough hugs when he was little?” I guessed.

Blair shot me a dirty look.  “Our son tried driving to school today. Without a license!”

“So what?” Jack yelled loud enough for the entire East coast to hear.  “I didn’t total the car!”

“Whose car did you use?” I wondered.

Blair snapped, “Mine!”

“Oh,” I said with a shrug and turned back to the letter.

“What do you mean, oh?”

“Oh, as in next time he can use my car?”  I wasn’t in the mood to tag team with Blair against Jack.  When it came to choosing between her or my kid, there was no contest.  Even if this kid couldn’t stand me. 

            Jack, who evidently wasn’t expecting me to side with him, just stared at me like I’d crashlanded from Mars.  With a sigh, Blair said to Jack, “Just go upstairs and do your homework, okay?” 

He nodded and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like, “Whatever.”

I expected Blair to read me the riot act as soon as Jack was in his room, but she just leaned on my chair and asked, “You haven’t heard from Starr, have you?”

I froze.  Something was wrong.  “No,” I said.

“I talked to Viki.  She said that the daycare center called her since she’s listed as the emergency contact.  Apparently Starr didn’t pick up Hope today.”

My throat went dry as I asked, “Then who has Hope?”

“Who do you think?” Blair threw up her hands.  “Viki took her to Llanfair! Todd, I haven’t heard from Starr in days.”

I nodded.  It was dawning on me that I hadn’t heard from her in awhile either.  And it was very unlike Starr to not check in with at least one of her parents every other day.  I got up, grabbing my jacket and my keys.

“Where are you going?” Blair asked.

“I’m going to go look for Shorty.  I’ll be back soon.”  Before she could protest, I was gone.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

“Okay,” I muttered under my breath inside the car, turning the steering wheel.  “Who would be the last person to speak to a girl before she goes missing? Ruling out the parents, it would have to be her friends.  And since I don’t know many of her friends…”

My stomach clenched as I approached Tea Delgado’s house.  This was going to be awkward as hell.  I knocked on the door.  The person I wanted to see opened it.

“Hi…” said Dani, sounding nervous.  “Mom’s not home yet.”

“That’s okay, I wanted to talk to you. Can I come in?”

            She hesitated.  “Um…”

            For crying out loud, I wasn’t a vampire who could come and go as he pleased after one invitation.  I interjected, “This is about Starr.  She’s missing.”

            Dani’s expression changed from wary to panic.  “I heard from her two days ago,” she fretted, stepping aside to let me pass.

            “And?” I prompted.

            “She said she thought was being followed.  Like, she’d see a black car following her sometimes.  Yesterday we ran into this woman who totally flipped out on her.”

            “What?”

            Dani explained, “Yeah, this crazy woman followed us around yelling about how you were a ruthless monster who needed to die.”

            Suddenly, I went ice cold.  It was as if time stopped, my breathing along with it.

            Dani studied me.  “Do you…know who she was talking about?”

            Nodding, I drew a long breath.  Then I said quietly, “I need you to come with me.”  Brenda, I thought.  Looks like I have a few questions to ask you, for a change.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            I’d made it a habit in my life to not trust a lot of cops.  And I definitely didn’t want to see Commissioner Bo Buchanan.  He was about as effective as a dog chasing its tail.  Yet see him I did.  He looked at me as I told him about what was going on with Starr and he grunted in response, “So you’re telling me your daughter has only been gone for a couple of hours? Manning, couldn’t she be hanging out with her friends at this time of night?”

            I glared at him; fortunately, Dani backed me up.  “With all due respect Commissioner, Starr wouldn’t have let Hope stay at a daycare center past working hours. She was also pretty sure someone was stalking her.”

            “The woman from The Sun? Brenda?”

            “Yeah, listen Bo, can you bring this woman in already?” I said with blunt impatience.  “She harassed my daughters the other day, can’t you bring her in for that?”

            Bo sighed, “Manning, you know that we usually don’t file a missing person report unless someone has been gone for at least forty-eight hours.”

            So that must why Llanview never finds its missing citizens. Anger was starting to build up inside me.  Most people I knew felt hot in the face when they got angry, or couldn’t think coherently, or started venting and crying, me me me!  But I could think straight.  Well, methodically, anyways.  My rage felt like my lungs had been replaced with an iron furnace and someone turned on the fire.  God, it hurt, and I knew I could hurt others with it too. The incompetence of the Llanview PD was the last straw.

            “Listen,” I grit my teeth at Bo.  “If anything happens to my little girl because of some stipulation you have on not finding someone before forty-eight hours have gone by, so help me but you and this entire force will be held responsible.”

            Bo Buchanan didn’t quiver.  I hadn’t expected him to.  I didn’t expect him to say, “All right, Manning, we’ll bring her in,” either.  But he did.

            The thought of anything happening to Star made me sick, especially since I knew that it was somehow my fault.  Dani and I waited in Bo’s office for about two hours.  Every now and then she would say something useless, and then fall silent again.  I couldn’t really say much either.  Finally, Brenda arrived with two officers escorting her inside.  Then Dani cried, “This is her! She’s the one who chased Starr and me down the street the other day!”

            I shot up to get at her.  “Where the hell is my daughter!”         Her police escorts caught me by the arms.  Damn it, so close!  I was ready to kill her.

            “Get this son of a bitch away from me!” Brenda shrieked at Bo.

            Bo said sharply to his men, “Get him out of here!”  Next thing I knew, Dani and I were being pushed out of the room. 

Dani began to sob.  “This is all my fault.  I should have told someone sooner…”  She buried her face in her hands, tear drops sliding past her fingers.

My heart throbbed painfully inside my chest.  I put my arm around Dani.  “No,” I hushed.  “No, this is my fault.  I made another enemy and now Starr’s paying for it.  I should have known.  Oh God I should have known…”  She looked up at me as if she’d never seen me before in her life.  After half an hour, the door to the questioning room opened.  Brenda stepped out, looking rather…sorry.  No, she couldn’t have been sorry.

“They’re letting you go?” I realized, aghast.

She shook her head in remorse.  “I didn’t kidnap your daughter, Todd.  I told the police what I could about yesterday when I saw her.  There was this black car circling around the block, and that’s all I know.”

I was too shocked to say anything. Dani, however, asked, “Did you see the license plate?”

“No.  I saw who was behind the wheel though.” She held me under a direct gaze.  “It was that man who was in the office.  The day you fired me.”

“Ribbs,” I whispered.  No way.  It didn’t make any sense.  There was another piece missing in the puzzle, and I was going to find it even if it killed me.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            I was deep in thought as I took Dani back to her house.  “There’s something I can’t place my finger on,” I mused.

            She asked, “What is it?”

            I thought about what Starr had been doing for me.  She was talking to someone about TERRA, and a few days later she was gone.  What did that have to do with Ribbs?  He could have been working for the company as a spy.  Yes, considering how I used TERRA’s resource contacts to find him, that made sense.  But I’d never told him anything about Starr.

            A memory of the letter from “Business Blues” swam around in my head for a bit.  “Of course,” I hissed.  Dani jumped at my inflection.  “Starr found out something TERRA didn’t want her to know.  Ribbs knew I was trying to discredit TERRA, and was afraid the truth would come out.  So he took her.” I strode over to the entrance and flung open the door.  “The son of a bitch took her!”

            Dani chased after me. “Where are you going?” she asked, alarmed.

            I stopped long enough to say very seriously, “Danielle, I need to ask you something.”

            Wide-eyed, she whispered, “Ask me anything.”

            “If I don’t come back from TERRA headquarters tonight, will you get the word out about what’s going on?” She nodded, tears swelling in her eyes again. 

            I’d almost turned around when I heard, “Dad…” Stunned, I let Dani throw her arms around me.  I embraced her back tightly, and she whispered, “Please come back…”

            “Okay,” I said softly, my heart breaking into a hundred pieces at this bittersweet moment.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            I’d researched the hell out of TERRA, but I still didn’t know exactly what it was.  Internet results for it repeated basic vocabulary for an investment company: stocks, shares, quotes, bonds, etc.  But when I got to its headquarters, it all became clear to me.  TERRA was just a cover.  If the guy who’d called himself “Business Blues” had been the one Starr talked to, then that meant TERRA was running illegal operations.  But for what?

            I saw Ribbs waiting outside the headquarters building.  He was standing under a fir tree, a gun in his hand.  That didn’t intimidate me in the least.  “Where is she?” I demanded in a low voice, getting close enough for him to shoot me at point-blank range.

            He could probably have broken my spinal cord with his pinky, but I didn’t care.  He just stared at me.

            “Inside,” he grunted finally. “It’s unlocked.”

            I knew what I was going to be walking into.  Again, what did I have to lose by going in there? Starr was my world.  Hope needed her mother more than her mother needed me.  I pushed open the door to the dark building.  I couldn’t see a damn thing.  A tense thirty seconds had passed.  Then I heard it.  Footsteps.  I looked to my right.

 “We’ve been expecting you, Todd Manning.”

I struggled not to run towards the voice and beat the crap out of its owner.  Clearing my throat, I said, “Where’s my daughter?”

“We’ve been taking care of her for you.”  That voice.  I knew it from the phone–it was the same jerk I talked to last week! 

“Then let her go.” 

“She’s in no condition to go anywhere,” he said in his eerily smooth telemarketer-from-hell voice.

My heart nearly stopped.  “What did you do to her?”  No answer.  I tried again.  “Whatever you want from me, I’ll give it to you.  I–I’ll drop the lawsuit, give you a million more dollars if you want.  I’ll make everyone forget everything I’ve been saying about TERRA.”

“It’s too late for that.  This facility has been compromised.”

Okay, now I was officially freaked out.  The blood must have been draining from my face.  “Facility?”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet, Mr. Manning?” 

A presence I hadn’t noticed before brushed behind me, but I reacted too late.  Something sharp was stabbed into my neck and then I was released.  The spinning sensation of vertigo washed over me. Everything was so dark that I honestly couldn’t tell I had been injected with something until my knees buckled into an agonizing fall.  While I was half-asleep, the other half did somehow end up figuring it all out.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            It was the first of many needles.  Sometimes they’d give things that made me fly, and that felt wonderful.  But mostly what they gave me made me crash hard.  Every now and then, they’d talk to me during my lucid moments.  I heard screaming and it might have been mine after they told me they’d killed her.  I knew deep down it had to be a lie.  If Starr had been dead, I would have known already.  Yet, truth or lie, it still broke me.

            Sometimes I’d remember where I was.  I’d been tortured by this agency before, but this division was even nastier than the last one.  Maybe it was because my mother wasn’t the Big Boss at this one; I couldn’t figure it out.  And then it just stopped mattering.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

The Present

I can hear Starr’s voice.  “Dad, please come back to us…” 

Finding my voice, I whisper, “Shorty…I’m so sorry.  My fault...”

“No,” she chokes out.  “I wanted to help you.  I just wanted to know that someone was always going to be on your side, even when everyone else wasn’t.”

I never thought I’d wind up in Heaven, yet here she is with me.  She seems so real.  I turn my head, suddenly aware that I am lying on some kind of table.  “You’re here with me…” I smile.

She sniffles.  “Yes, I’m here.  So is Mom.  Jack, Dani, Aunt Viki…I even brought Hope.”

What? I bolt up at once.  They can’t all be dead, I think, looking around wildly.

Blair comes over and kisses me.  “We were almost too late. Thank God Dani called the cops the day after you went missing. The agency can’t hurt you any more, they’ve all been arrested.”

“Starr? You’re okay?” I ask.

She smiles sadly.  “A little shaken up, but they didn’t hurt me at all. They kept talking about how you’d come for me.”

“Are you okay?” a concerned voice asks. Everyone looks up, scarcely believing that it’s Jack. 

“Yeah,” I tell him.  “I was out of it most of the time.” Dani comes over by me, and I say, “Thanks for coming through.”

She laughs through her tears.  “I promised, didn’t I? You’re my father.”

Meanwhile, Jack shifts his weight, looking uncomfortable. “Dad…I’m really sor–.”

I hold up my hand.  “You can make it up to me by letting me teach you how to drive.” He smiles like I’ve all of a sudden turned into his favorite athlete.

            With Hope in her arms, Viki walks up to me and says, “You are very, very lucky Todd.”

            “Yeah,” I agree.  More than you all will know.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Epilogue

            The Sun, next day

            Tomorrow, the latest Ask Anything column will read as follows:

Dear Ask Anything,

I am having a hard time accepting my biological father. After spending so many years thinking one person was my dad, then finding out he wasn’t, then doing the same with another man, I don’t want to go through the ordeal of bonding with a new dad again.  I really don’t have anything against my real father, but I don’t think he understands. What’s the right thing to do here?

            ~Torn in Three

            Dear Torn in Three,

            This only seems like a difficult situation. The right thing to do here, however, is very simple.  When your real father asks if you’d like to go to a concert or a movie with him later today, you say YES! 

            Thanks for writing!

            ~Ask Anything

THE END

This selection is posted for author, RLEE.  You can also see her work at Cataz's Site

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