The Shadows Fall: Chapter 17

With Blair soundly sleeping at home, safe, he ventured to the police station, and then The Break Bar to do a little researching.  The bar would open at 3:00 p.m. for Happy Hour, and he would make his way there after doing the most important thing of the day.  McBain.  Walking in to the main hub of the office area, he knocked on the detective's door.  "McBain, it's me.  Can I talk to you?"

John encouraged Todd to come in, and said, "Manning.  What's up?"

"Just following up on that gift.  The lighter?  Any prints?"

"None. Just yours and Blair's.  There was one other print, a smudge.  It was not Carlo Hesser's.  No match."

Todd sat in the chair across from the Lieutenant.  "This is not good, John.  I took Sam downstairs in the penthouse lobby today to put him on the bus.  I saw someone watching him.  When the bus drove by, he was gone."  Todd winced.  "He was dressed the same way as the man I saw at the wedding."

John looked at the man across from him, and took in his appearance and demeanor.  He seemed calm enough, but when he talked of the watcher, his hands trembled slightly and his coloring changed.  "Manning, if I may?"

"Yeah, sure."

"There was no one at the wedding.  I checked the entire perimeter, Bo did too.  No one was there.  I know you've been through a lot.  Could you have imagined it?"

Todd stood up.  "I see where this is going.  You're assuming I am making this up. That I have some 'problem.'  It's possible, sure.  I could have imagined it at the wedding.  But today, I really saw him.  I did...am I imagining the lighter, John?  Someone sent it to us.  That person is real.  So is the man I saw today.  And as much as it doesn't seem so, so was the man at the wedding."

"I didn't say I didn't believe you.  I am just posing a question that might explain some of this.  You and Blair are pretty well-known public figures.  People follow your lives.  Anyone could have sent that gift."

"I have a feeling you're going to wait until something worse happens, and I can't go with that.  I'm asking you to do something.  Please."

"I'll be outside your building tomorrow, myself.  I'll watch you bring Sam down and I'll look for the man."

Todd sighed a bit.  "Thank you.  That I will appreciate.  See you later."  He turned to go.

John called after him, "How's Blair doing?"

"She's all right, tired all the time, but all right.  Thanks for asking.  No hard feelings on the conversation we just had."

"No hard feelings."

Todd left the LPD, determined.  "No hard feelings, but, Manning, you want something done, you have to do it yourself."

 
At The Break Bar, there were two or three folks already parked, belly up, and drinking.  He ordered a beer, that he would nurse for a while, and kept his eyes and ears open.  He did not want to draw attention to himself, so he refrained from a trip to the back, the curtained hallway and secret doors for the moment.  When he thought back to the young woman with the Managing Editor of the Banner, he felt sick in his stomach.  She was about Starr's age, or a little older.  He sipped his beer, being sure to make it last.  The bartender eyed him curiously, when he realized he hadn't removed his coat, and did, hanging it on the hook on the wall next to the bar area.  He went back to his bar stool and sat, drinking occasionally.  

His eyes darted around the room, first falling on a shabbily dressed older woman with long, gray stringy hair, sucking down a tall draft.  On the other end of the bar, he saw a man, in a business suit, looking into his highball glass as if it was his long lost woman.  Todd turned back to his own bottle, took another sip and became lost in thought.  That lighter.  Can't let anyone hurt Blair or the baby, or the kids.  If this is Carlo, somehow, he won't live long enough to deny it.

The man in the business suit called the bartender over.  "Give me another double, will ya, Hank?"

Todd became distracted and watched the man.  He was definitely under some kind of stress.  His suit was rumpled, his hair was out of place, and he appeared to be unshaven.  He heard him ask Hank, "Can I go to the back, Hank?"

"You need to sit down and stay put, Matt.  You gotta get it together."  Hank walked away.

Todd moved over next to the man.  "Hey.  Might as well not drink alone.  I'm Sam."  He extended his hand.  

The man took it.  "Matt.  Matt Hardy."

"Good to know you,"  he tipped his beer back.

"I don't know about that."  He sunk into the bar stool like a pile of mush.  Todd was rather put off by him; giving up on life so much and so easily.

"I heard you talking.  What's in the back?  Any bookie action, if you know what I mean?"

"Nah,"  the inebriated guy winked and then frowned, "but it's bad news, brother, bad news."

"Why?  I'm a gambler myself.  Never been bad news for me.  Okay, what happened, if you want to talk about it?"

"I'm in trouble.  I might lose everything I have."

"How?"

"Someone has some dirt on me.  It's pretty bad.  They want to tell my wife and she'll leave me, and take the kids.  They are threatening to tell my boss, and ruin my chances for a promotion."

"What do they want you to do?"

"Shit, I shouldn't even be talking about this.  Not to someone I don't know."

"Sorry, I guess I thought I might be able to help, you know, just lend an ear."

"Yeah, well, you're a stranger.  How do I know you're not one of them?"

"I'm not one of anyone.  I'm just a guy, a father like you."

Matt stopped, and drank the rest of his drink.  "Well, I'm leaving, Sam.  Sorry I snapped.  I've got to go home while I still have one."

Todd shook his hand.  "See you, Matt.  Good luck."

The man went out of The Break Bar, and the door closed behind him with a whoosh of wind.  A group of five came in after that, and took a table in the corner.  A few moments later, several people came in and sat themselves around the bar.  Todd looked toward the back.  He wanted to get a peek at the goings on there, but wasn't sure how to do so without being caught.

He threw money on the bar and realized he needed a better plan.  "Thanks," he said to Hank, who was watching him go.  He would have to come back with a scheme that would get him into the back rooms to see what was going on, first hand.  Why had Matt been blackmailed, who was it, and what did they want?

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