The Shadows Fall: Chapter 13

"McBain, I have to give you something."  Todd walked into the lieutenant's office without asking.  

"Manning, I'm busy, and I have a closed-door policy.  You're supposed to knock."

"Sorry.  It's important."  He tossed the lighter onto John's desk.  

"A lighter.  Looks suspiciously like the one that your father had."

"Yeah, suspiciously.  It was a wedding gift.  Look, my wife is pregnant.  My son is going through some things, and so am I.  But I can tell you, something's wrong.  I need your help.  Can you trace it?  Can you find out who sent it?"

"I'll try.  You're spooked."

"Shouldn't I be?  You try being someone's object to whittle away at and fry for 8 years."

John swallowed.  No matter what people said about Todd Manning, he had to have admiration for someone who could come through all of that without completely dissolving.  "I'll try.  I'll do my best.  Was there a card?"

"The card is in the box.  I'm worried, McBain.  I'm really worried for my family."

He left, hoping he had made the right decision of going to McBain without telling Blair.  He knew she was dealing with so much, with Jack's issues, her morning sickness, exhaustion, guilt.  He'd tell her when he got home and make her understand.

Later, Williams dropped him at the door to the building, and he rode the elevator up to the penthouse, fumbling for his keys.  When he opened the door, he saw her, sitting on the staircase, holding a tiny baby blanket in her hands.  She was crying.

He placed the keys on the table and walked to her, taking her into his arms without even asking.  He held her, rocking and shushing her tenderly.  "It's all my fault,"  he heard her say through tears.  "I should have known.  He was my baby, Todd.  He was my baby boy."  Her body was wracked with sobs, and her hands gripped the baby blanket tightly.  "I brought that man into this family.  I let him be near my children.  How could I not have known..that he...he wasn't...?"

Nothing he was saying or doing was stopping her cries.  He gently wrenched the blanket from her hands, and folded it, lying it on the arm of the chair nearest the staircase.  Then, he reached down and lifted her in his arms, like a child, and carried her up the stairs.

"I'm a bad mother," she wept.

He placed her on the bed, "No, no, babe.  You're not.  You didn't know.  Shhh.  This isn't good for you."

She looked up, her face twisted in despair.  "Did I let you down, Todd?  I left you there to rot.  I left you there to be at their mercy.  What is wrong with me?"  She screamed, her chest heaving.  

He could only look at her, palm her cheek and say, "Shh.  No, it's all right.  Shh."

He gently lifted her arms and removed her top.  He did the same with her slacks, and replaced the clothes with her favorite soft nightie.  He brushed her hair, lovingly, and lotioned her hands.  Nothing was calming her.

Blair looked at her husband, and while watching him care for her, she flashed on another time, when he washed her hands from powder burns and protected her when she had lost her mind and shot Max.  She started to cry harder, thinking of how, regardless of his mistakes and his self-hate, he had always taken care of her.

She searched his eyes for an answer, and instead, got his pity.  She recognized the slight sadness in his eyes, and his helplessness to quell her.  Without warning, she grabbed his face and kissed him with everything she had, stopping only to let a despairing whimper escape.

He swung her legs over the bed, and putting her hands at her sides, and began to pleasure her every way he could think of.  He just wanted her to feel good and to forget; he was certain that is what she needed.  He could remember well times she asked him to do just that.  Now, it was part of his life's plan to be her protector, her answer and her lover, all in one.

Later, in the darkness of midnight, he felt a tugging on his sleeve.  "Dad?  Dad?"

He opened one eye.  It was Sam, standing aside their bed.  Blair was partially draped over him, deeply asleep.  "Hey buddy, what's up?"

"Dad!" Sam urgently whispered, "Jack ran away."

Blair stirred, but did not wake, turning and facing the other way.  Todd slipped out of bed, and took Sam's little hand, leading him back to his bedroom.

In Sam's room, his little bed was messed, his favorite stuffed turtle was on the bed near his pillow, and his little prayer book was by the bed.  "Come on, buddy, let's go to sleep."

"But Dad, Jack ran away!  I saw him."

"It's all right Sam, I'll find him.  How do you know he ran away?"

"I just do.  What else would he be doing leaving the house in the middle of the night?"

Todd rolled his eyes, "Yeah what else would your teenage brother be doing?"  He tucked the little boy in.  "All right, I've got this covered.  Don't wake your mom or talk to her about this right now, okay?  I'll take care of it."

"That's what my old father said."

Todd stopped short.  Sam was Zeus' son.  He'd forgotten about that.  Sam was five years old.  He sat on the bed, careful not to alarm his boy.  "What did he say, Sam?" 

"What you said, the thing about not talking to Mom about something."

Todd swallowed.  "What was the something?"

Sam thought.  "One time, he got real mad at me.  It was when I was your friend, and he didn't like it.  He told me never to talk about you anymore, and he said not to see you again."

"Okay.  And what did you say?"

"I said 'I'll see Spiderman whenever I want.'"

Todd stifled a grin.  "And then what?"

Sam squirmed in his bed a little, and then said, "He shook me."

"Here, do it to me.  Show me."  Sam put his little hands on either side of Todd's biceps.  Then, Todd went limp and let him shake him.  The little boy shook as hard as he could. "Wow, you're pretty strong."

"He was, too.  He did it really hard, and it hurt, so I yelled.  That's when he told me not to tell Mom.  Then, Starr came and butt in."

"All right.  I am glad you told me about that.  Sam, did he ever hurt you any other times?"

"Only when I was bad.  Well, goodnight, Dad."

"Sam?  Can I ask you something else?"

He took his turtle into his arms and squeezed.  "Yeah?"

"You know you can trust me.  No one is going to hurt you, ever.  Not while I am around." 

The little boy shook his head.  "Yeah, I know.  Mom said you're her hero.  Mine, too."

"Sam, when you were bad, what did he do, the other guy?"  Todd felt a lump in his throat again. 

"Eh, I don't know.  He yelled and stuff.  He scared me when he yelled.  He shook me sometimes, one time he grabbed my arm.  That's prob'ly it."

Todd sighed.  "Are you sure, bud?"

"Yeah.  I mostly always listened to him.  I didn't like him to yell at me.  Mom says I am a good boy."

Todd's heart shattered for a moment and he choked up.  "You are."  He put his hand and his son's head, "You are a very good boy.  I love you a real lot.  You're the best partner Spiderman ever had."

"Okay.  Goodnight, Dad."

"Goodnight, Sam."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Little Guy."

Todd sat in the dark for a while, thanking the sky above for saving this little boy from too much harm.  Relief washed over him, and then he tended to the next issue at hand: Jack.  Making his way to the living room, he sat up working, waiting for Jack to get home.  When he heard the elevator arrive on their floor, he went and hid in the kitchen, and watched as Jack stumbled in the dark and found the staircase.  He waited a few minutes before returning to Blair and their bedroom.  Tomorrow, he would put his plan into place.  Thanks to Sam, he was going to beat his oldest son at his own game, and figure a way to help him.

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