The Way Back: Chapter 33

"I told them.  Finally.  I told Blair, Starr and Jack."  Todd said.  Ray sipped his coffee, and offered Todd a cup.

"No thanks, I am jittery enough right now.  I feel like...I feel like I'm jumping out of my skin, sometimes, Ray."

"That's perfectly understandable, because it's hard being in your skin right now, Todd."

"I told them everything, almost.  I mean, I didn't describe every moment of Hell, but I let my kids ask me questions."  He reflected, "Starr, she just wanted to know if I would stay with them this time, not leave like I used to."

"And?"

"I told her yes.  I never want to leave them again."

"Well, this last absence had nothing to do with you, Todd.   It was never your choice."

"In a way, maybe.  I was bullheaded enough to think I could face and get the best of Mitch Laurence.  I was very wrong."

"This brings us back to the crypt, right?"

"Can we talk about Jack first?"

"Sure.  We can talk about whatever you want, Todd."

***

Having dropped Todd off at therapy, Blair drove to the Manning Mansion, determined to get her husband back his ring.  Husband.  She smiled to herself.  Have I ever not thought of him as my husband?  I think I even saw him that way when I was married to someone else!  She laughed, in spite of herself, and turned into the drive.  Walking to the front door, she realized it was already open.  Tea was sitting on the staircase, crying, and The Impostor had his arm around her shoulders.  Dani was cradled in Shaun's lap, crying and clutching a teddy bear.  He was rocking her.  Blair attempted to take in the scene, and wasn't sure what to make of it, at first.  Behind her, she heard the sirens of police cars blaring, and then, the doors of vehicles slamming shut.

"Tea?  What happened?"

Tea looked at her, lifting her head from The Impostor's shoulder.  "It's Tomas," and she broke down.

The Impostor looked at Blair, and said, "Tomas was shot and killed on the back patio.  Dani found him."

Blair sprung to life.  "Oh my God, Tea, I'm...I'm so sorry."  Turning to Shaun, she went and took Dani from him, and comforted her, while Shaun readied to talk to detectives.  There was McBain, standing in the doorway in black (did he wear anything else?), with Brody, in police clothes.

"What happened here?"  John attempted to make his voice inaudible to Tea and Dani as he moved Shaun and Brody into the living room, facing the doors that lead to where Tomas' body was.

Shaun explained the events of the morning; they had been awakened by a piercing scream, that came from Dani and continued for several minutes.  Racing down the stairs, Tea had fallen and hurt her ankle, it was swollen and needed medical attention.  'Mr. Manning' had run to the screams and found Dani frozen, staring at her uncle.  He had taken her in his arms, covered her with a blanket and handed her off to Shaun, and attended to Tea, as she limped through the foyer and into the living room, seeing her brother dead on the patio stonework.  Shaun assured John that Tomas had been dead overnight.

"The kid's going to need serious therapy,"  Shaun said, watery-eyed.  Dani was crying but unresponsive in Blair's arms.  She was shushing, and rocking the child, close to her chest.  Tea's ankle was the size of a huge grapefruit.  John went to her.

"Tea, you have to go to the hospital."

She was shell-shocked.  "Where's my daughter, I have to go to her."

Blair got up, carrying Dani, who had adjusted herself over Blair's shoulder.  "She's right here, Tea.  Oh my God, I'm so sorry,"  Blair said, handing Dani to her mother.  Supporting the child's weight on her lap, Tea kissed her forehead, at which Dani broke into hysterical sobs.

"Mommy!"  She cried, and from the side of her, The Impostor stroked her hair.  Tea was shaking all over; the pain from her ankle was second to the pain in her heart from the loss of Tomas and the despair of her child.

John watched as The Impostor took the child into his arms, and magically quieted her.  "It's okay, sweetheart, everything will be okay.  Here," he said, pulling a coin from his pocket, "look at the coin.  Are you watching?  You remember this one?"

"Yes," she spoke.  John breathed a sigh of relief.  The girl was speaking, she was lucid.  A good sign.

"Watch it carefully."

"It's going to disappear."

"It just might.  Watch."  The Impostor moved the coin like liquid through his fingers without hesitation.  Suddenly, it vanished, seemingly into thin air.

Dani actually smiled.  "I love you, Daddy."  She said, resting her head on his shoulder.  John made a mental note of both the magic act and the way the child loved this man.  There had to be some good in him somewhere.  Then, he drew his attention back to an unlikely place.

"Blair, what are you doing here this morning?"  he said.  Everyone in the room looked to her for an answer.  The Impostor was the exception; he ignored Blair and was entertaining Dani by bringing the coin back out from behind her knee.

"I was..." she cleared her throat, "I'm, uh sorry John, I am just taken a little for a loop, here, I was once very close to Tomas."

"I recall.  So, what brought you here today?"  he repeated.

"I came to confront him," she nodded her head toward The Impostor.  Another mental note for John:  She can't call him Todd.  She added, "For going off and scaring Sam for that vacation they took.  Sam was afraid he was gone and never coming back, and I wanted to talk to him about that.  Sam is his son, after all."

"Yeah, after all."  John said.  He flashed on his last conversation with Todd and Blair, in his office, when she revealed that Tomas was responsible for his capture, confinement and torture for the last eight years.

Blair was thinking of the same scene in her mind as John was, and pieced together where John's mind was probably going.

The Impostor paid them no mind whatsoever.  He was now bringing Dani over to Tea, and watching as paramedics checked her ankle, all the while soothing Dani and demonstrating overt concern for his wife.  The three of them headed outside to get into the ambulance; Dani needed to be checked out for shock and hypothermia; and Tea clearly had a broken ankle.

Blair called after them, "Tea, can I do something?"

Tea said over her shoulder, "I don't know," she was still crying, "Maybe hang around and make certain the police don't ransack the house too much."  Then, to her husband, "Look at me, I'm worried about the house when my brother is dead!"  She broke down again, starting Dani to wailing a second time.  Tea vanished into the ambulance, and The Impostor, cuddled and spoke to Dani in low tones, outside, before loading her into the SUV to follow.  The entourage drove off.  Blair stood in the doorway, watching them go.  She was crying, covering her mouth with one hand.

"So, Blair, what have you and Todd been up to the last day or so?"  John asked.  Brody, the forensics team and Shaun had already moved into the patio area.

"John, don't start this, okay?  For the last few weeks, I've been grateful for your ability to see Todd as more than a common criminal or someone to despise.  Please don't ruin that now."  He was not budging.  Impatiently, "He was with me, at the penthouse.  Last night we spent the whole evening making love to each other, if you must know.  He's been through a lot."  Her eyes clouded.  "And before that, he spent several hours with me and our children, answering any questions they had about him and his life and disappearance, which lead him to admit to anyone aside from himself his own rape and sexual abuse at the hands of his adoptive father.  Is that enough detail for you?"  Her voice was elevating and a tear made it's way down her face.
He put out a hand to steady her.  "I'm sorry, Blair, for what he has been through.  In light of this murder, you know I had to ask."

She stayed silent.   

"Was he with you every minute last night?  I've been married to you, Blair, you're a heavy sleeper, especially after...a busy day."

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms, "Yes, I am positive.  He can't even be anywhere without me right now, as a matter of fact, except for therapy.  He's so damaged..." her breath caught in her throat, "he's so damaged that he can barely face the world alone.  He did not do this, if that is what you are asking."

John backed off, "Okay.  Another thing, did you know that the other guy did magic?"

"No, today was the first time I saw him do that.  But what does that matter?"

"Nothing, at least not for now."

Brody called from the other room, "Lieutenant, you'd better see this."

As John went off, Blair quickly ascended the stairs.  She knew just where to find the ring, and she had to move fast.  To her delight, it was precisely where she thought it would be; the jewelry box on the bookshelf in the master bedroom.  Perfect.  She shuddered a moment, thinking how that same room was not only Tea's, but could possibly have been Marty's.  She made it back to the foyer before John returned.  He sauntered in from the living room, holding something in a latex-gloved hand.

"Blair, what do you think of this?"

She looked at the bloodied sketchpad with her image on it.

***

"So, it seems your admission of your own pain and your own secret helped your son to do the same."  Ray summarized.

"I suppose it did."

"How did it feel to actually say the words about your own rape, Todd?"

He fidgeted.  "It was...it was really hard, but after it was out, and I saw them all feeling the pain with me, and then it brought Jack out, I actually felt better admitting it.  I was always afraid to admit it, my whole adult life, thinking people would see me as less, somehow.  That women would shun me, that everyone would think I was weak."

"And?"

"That didn't happen.  Blair, well, she knew.  She always knew.  I never even had to tell her, and she knew.  I think she knew from the first time she and I made love that Christmas."

"And she always accepted you.  She accepted you as a person and as a lover.  As a man."

He teared up.  "Yeah.  She never once....Blair always loved me, I guess, I just didn't see it.  Other times, I was too screwed up to be able to accept it.  I always wanted to, but I hated myself a lot.  All the time.  That made me make some really shit decisions, you know?"

"I know.  I'm just glad you do."

"Yeah, I do.  Giving Jack away was probably the worst one, the others, there are too many to name."

"Now what, Todd?"

"Now, I guess I face what my father did to me.  I continue to try and move past it, right Ray?"

"Sure that's a start.  What else?"

"Face all of the torture, everything.  Face all of the lost time.  Face all I've done?"

"Yes.  You're not totally free of it yet.  You've got to face every bit of it, what they did to you, who they were, what each one of them brought up in you.  It's not over, but it's getting to the last act.  I know you're not one hundred percent ready for it yet, but it's got to come."  Ray looked up, "Ah, look who's here?"

Blair was gliding across the lawn, in a white ensemble, and the way in which the sun hit her made him want her so much he was certain Ray knew.  Within a few moments, she was at their doorway.  She wasn't smiling, though, and he caught the red puffiness around her eyes.  "Blair, what's wrong?"  He said, going to her and bringing her into his arms.

"Tomas.  Tomas is dead."

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