Dance with the Devil: Chapter 19

With Todd out of the hospital, Starr decided to take some time to work on some new songs at the Haunted Star. While she was there, Michael showed up. “My mom called and told me that your dad is out of the hospital,” he said to her.


“Yeah, just today. But it’s going to be rough on him.” She saddened momentarily. “He’s still got a bullet in his back and it’s impairing the use of his legs. He’s going to need very risky surgery from what the doctors tell us.”


“Well, from what I’ve seen of Todd Manning, he’s a fighter. No one usually dares to go after Sonny Corinthos and lives to tell the tale,” Michael replied. “Ah, after your done here, you want to catch a bite to eat?”


Starr smiled but her expression changed immediately. “We’re having a family dinner for my dad at the Metrocourt tonight. My Aunt Viki and Aunt Tina insisted, even over my dad’s protestations. Look, maybe we can have lunch tomorrow and we can catch up,” she suggested.


Michael nodded. “I’d like that. We really haven’t spent much time together since the truth came out. I’ve kind of gotten some of the story but it’s very confusing,” he said.


Starr gave him a sympathetic smile. “Trust me, it’s very confusing. Suffice it to say, Tea’s baby died and was switched with Sam Morgan’s baby. They all happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Add to that this Heather Webber woman who hates Sam for some reason suggesting the whole thing in the first place,” she sighed as she continued, “not that that excuses what my dad did. It’s just, from what he said, he didn’t want to go along with it in the first place,” Starr explained.


“Do you think the authorities believe him?” Michael asked.


“For now, yes. But John McBain believed at first that my dad didn’t kill my uncle and then arrested him for it months later,” Starr explained. She walked away from him with a sigh.


“What’s the matter?” he asked.


She shook her head, grim-faced. “My dad has pulled so much crap over the years, when he’s innocent, no one believes him.” When she turned back to him, he have her a long-suffering smile. “Of course you understand.”


“Well, you are a case in point. He told you and I told you he didn’t shoot out Anthony’s tires. But, you read about him, saw his reputation and help on fiercely to that belief,” he said. “Hell, even my brother Dante didn’t think he was guilty and he came to town to put him behind bars.”


“Well, in fairness, Anthony was the one who told me it was Sonny,” Starr offered.


“You do know, he was institutionalized for a number of years? I know Alexis never brought it up in the trial, but it would have also helped my dad’s case,” Michael returned. “I am still surprised, though.”


Starr was taken aback. “What about?”


“Well, this town has brought you nothing but heartache, you and your family. Your dad’s shooting, your cousin…” Michael began hesitantly.


“Cole and Hope,” Starr finished. She felt the tears coming, but held them at bay.


With a nod, Michael asked, “Why did you stay?”


Even Starr was unsure. Why had she stayed in Port Charles? After Sonny’s trial, after her own run-in with the law, she still chose to stay. “Maybe I stayed to make good memories in hope of erasing all the bad ones. Even if they have gotten worse over time.”


Michael smiled at that thought. “Well, I hope that from now on, Port Charles only brings you good ones,” he said as he turned to leave.


“Wait, I think I’ve done all I can here. Want to walk me back to the hotel?” Starr asked. She quickly grabbed her things and they walked out of the club together.


Down the pier, Jack Manning waited for Molly Lansing-Davis. She had sent him a text to meet there so they could go to the police station with the conclusions they had come to regarding the shooting. Finally, Molly arrived.


“Why didn’t we just meet at the station like we had decided?” Jack asked.


Without answering, Molly pulled a folded sheet of paper out of her bag. “When I was leaving the park this morning. I nearly walked into a woman pushing a wheelchair. I was staring at the man in the chair until the woman, who I assumed was his nurse, scolded me for it. But there was something familiar about his face. I went home and did a search online. This was the man,” she said as she handed Jack the paper.


Jack opened it and threw her a confused look. “Molly, this is my fath-, uncle, Victor Lord, Jr.”


“I know, Jack,” she said.


“Molly, he died last summer. My dad was put on trial for his murder. There was a body and a gun, the whole nine yards!” he exclaimed, his voice getting louder.


“I know all that. But this was the man I saw. He was staring into nothingness and he looked helpless, but it was the same man.” she said again. “I can’t explain it either.”


Jack looked at the picture of Victor. Could it be possible? Could his uncle really be alive?


He was brought back to the hear and now by Molly’s next question. “I found an article that says when he died, he willed everything to his mother.”


Jack nodded, remembering the creepy redhead who wanted to mold Jack in her own image. Irene Manning had to be the scariest grandmother in the history of the world. “Yeah we all thought that was weird too, at the time.” Molly’s look encouraged him to continue. “My grandmother was my Aunt Viki’s college roommate.” He was really embarrassed by this aspect of his family history. “Let’s just say, my grandfather liked younger women. Anyway, when my Aunt Tina was a teenager, her mother, who is also my father’s mother, died and asked Aunt Viki to be her guardian. It was some years later that Aunt Viki learned that Tina was actually her sister. Then it was, like, another decade later that they learned about my dad and last year we learned about him and my uncle Victor being twins.” He looked at her apologetically. “Some screwy family, huh?”


Surprisingly, Molly laughed. “My mom learn a few years before I was born that she was the illegitimate daughter of a Russian prince and the nanny, who became a famous opera singer. The she remembered that her mother was murdered by my grandfather’s wife and that she had lost a little sister in the same night.” She gave his a comforting expression.


“Okay, maybe you win for most tragic parent,” he said, “I’ll treat you to a soda at Kelly’s.” He still didn’t know what to believe about Molly’s sighting.


As they sat there, Starr and Michael came across them. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” Michael asked his cousin.


Jack looked up from the paper and was unsure of what to say. He turned to Molly and then, looking back at Starr, said, “Okay, listen, I know this is crazy, but you have to swear to secrecy about what Molly and I are about to tell you.”


He looked at Molly, who spoke quietly to Jack. “Are you sure?” When Jack looked back at his sister’s worried expression, he knew he was already in too deep. He nodded back to Molly as he handed the paper to Starr.


“This is Uncle Victor. Why do you have a picture of Uncle Victor?” Starr asked.


Molly took a deep breath and told the older two what had happened in the park today, about seeing the man in the wheelchair. Starr sat down on the bench slowly. After a breath, she asked, “Are you sure?” Molly nodded as Starr began again. “When Dad was still in the hospital, John and the police commissioner came to question him about the baby switch. Tea walked in and dropped a bomb on all of us.” At Jack expression, she told them, “There’s no way the baby that died was Tea’s. They even ran a DNA test on it to prove it.”


Jack was bewildered. “How is that possible? Dad delivered the baby and he said he wasn’t breathing. Then Heather tried to help but said the baby was dead.”


Starr had a thought. “Molly, could describe the woman who was pushing the wheelchair?”


Molly nodded. “She wasn’t very tall, maybe in her late forties or early fifties. She had brown hair and was kind of mousy looking.” Molly closed her eyes, trying to picture the woman. “And her eyes were kind of wild, you know, like Heather.”


As Molly was talking, Starr pulled out her tablet and did a search. She pulled up an article from the Banner from the New Year’s Eve shooting at Llanfair. On the screen was a picture of her aunt and another woman. She handed the table to the teenager. “Is this the woman?”


Molly and Jack both looked at it and Molly nodded her head vigorously. Jack looked up at his sister. “Allison Perkins?” he asked, dumbfounded.


Michael was getting confused. “Who’s Allison Perkins?” he asked Starr.


“She’s a former nurse that has a strange fascination with our family. When our Aunt Viki had twins years ago, she stole one from the hospital and worked with this cult leader to make our aunt think the other was the daughter of this creep’s and not our Uncle Clint’s.” Starr took back the tablet as she continued. “She broke into Llanfair and shot my aunt after she confessed to the paternity switch earlier this year. She hasn’t been seen since that night.”


“So, what you’re saying is, she may have your not-dead uncle? The one your dad was on trial for killing, and your cousin may not actually be dead? Do I have that right?” Michael asked.


Starr looked at her brother, who looked back a Molly. “Sorry, but I think I might win this round,” he told her.
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