Dance with the Devil: Chapter 20

It was actually Starr who decided they needed to go to the cops. “This case can’t get any stranger for John then it already is. Why not just add a not-murder to it,” she reasoned. “Besides, he is the one who gathered the evidence against Dad in the first place. It would be poetic justice to prove he may have been wrong.” The Starr of her youth was coming through her words, the co-conspirator, the defender of her father’s actions. The four made their way to the police station and found John McBain. “We need to talk in private,” Starr said when they arrived.


John looked at the Starr and Jack and Sonny’s family, ushering them into the interrogation room. “Is this about your dad’s shooting?” he asked.


It was Molly who began. “Part of it is,” she said as she looked to Jack. John caught the look but encouraged Molly to continue. “Is it true that Heather Webber is a suspect?” With John’s nod, Molly explained about the vendetta Heather seemed to have against Sam.


She laid out her theory and when she was finished, John nodded. “Our investigation has already come to many of the conclusions you have,” he said. He was impressed by the teenager’s arguments about the case. “I think we may all be coming to the same conclusions.” He got up to leave but as he opened the door he saw the looks on the four faces. “Is there something more?”


It was Jack’s voice that piped up. “Listen, this may sound a bit far-fetched but it’s about another shooting case” he said haltingly.


Molly chimed in again. “This morning, I saw someone in the park. It was a man in a wheelchair. I didn’t know him, but I thought I had seen him before. When I was looking online, I found the man.” She was deciding how best to put this to the detective. “It was a murder case in Pennsylvania.”


John didn’t understand. “He was a suspect in a murder case in Pennsylvania?”


Jack let out a breath. “No…” he paused as he looked at Starr. “He was the victim.” With that said, Jack handed the picture Molly had printed out of Victor Lord. Jr. John looked at it.


“Let me see if I understand correctly. You” he pointed to Molly, “saw Victor Lord, Jr. in Port Charles Park in a wheelchair,” he clarified.


“And according to the description Molly gave us when she told us before coming here, he was being pushed by Allison Perkins,” Starr added.


John really didn’t know what to say. He felt a chuckle coming on but fought it. “And I thought that when I left Llanview, I left all that behind.”


“Well, you followed Dad here in the first place,” Starr mumbled but when she realized she had been heard, she gave off a well-practiced innocent look.


Molly moved closer to John. “Look, we all know how crazy this may sound.” She thought for a moment. “Check the cameras in the park. I saw them by the entrance.” She gave John an approximate time for the encounter.


John took the information but as the group turned to leave he told them, “Do not say anything until you hear from me. Starr, Jack, you family has enough your deal with, between Tea’s baby and now your father.” He walked off as Starr looked at her watch.


“Oh, we have to get going. Dad’s dinner is soon and Mom wants us there early,” she said. Starr turned to Michael. “Call me tomorrow and we’ll go out for lunch.” Michael nodded, smiling.


“I guess I’ll see you around, then,” Molly said hesitantly.


“Yeah, I’ll call you,” he replied. As she began to walk out, he said, “Uh, that house out on the island, you seemed to want to show it to me the first night we met. Maybe we can do that.”


Molly smiled at the thought. “That would be great. I love exploring it and showing it to others.” With that, she left and Michael followed her.


As Starr and Jack made their way to the hotel, Starr couldn’t resist teasing her brother about Molly. He did his best to ignore her as they made their way into the suite. Sam was there, still watching TV. “Hey, were are Mom and Dad?” Starr asked.


Sam just pointed to the bedroom door, engrossed in his program. Starr walked over to it, listening for any sound. She didn’t her any and, slowly opening the door, found her parents asleep. They looked more contented then they had ever looked. As she went to close the door again, it squeaked and Todd opened an eye. “Shorty, is that you?”


“Yeah, Dad, Jack and I just got back to get ready for dinner,” Starr explained.


The voices woke up Blair and she looked at her daughter. “Wow, we must have been really exhausted. I mean, for you,” she turned to Todd, “to fall asleep in an afternoon…” She looked at the clock. “Oh, we have to hurry up. Don’t want to keep the family waiting.”


“No, really, we can,” came Todd’s answer. When he got a look from Blair and his daughter, he merely shrugged. “What? I really don’t want to have to go to this dinner anyway. But Emily Post feels it wouldn’t be proper to not have not some little ’do,” he finished in a fey English accent, one he generally used to mock Viki.


Starr left the room to begin corralling her brothers. As Todd began sitting up, Blair grabbed his good black suit out of the closet. As she was about to begin helping him get changed, he waggled his eyebrow at her. “I’ll only let you help me get dressed if you promise to help me get undressed.”


Blair smiled seductively at him. “I think I may be able to make that promise,” she said, “though only if you return the favor.” She leaned in for a passionate kiss.


After getting Todd ready, Blair went into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later with a black, spaghetti-strap dress that came to a low V-line. The skirt, though long, had a slit that hit at the right place. As she finished getting dressed, there came a knock at the door to the suite and, after a minute, Sam ran in to inform Blair and Todd that Tina was here.


“Have her come in here,” Todd told the little boy. He then wheeled in Blair’s direction. “I need to talk to her alone.”


If this had been Todd from before everything had gone crazy, Blair would have been suspicious. But since the shooting, he seemed to have gotten closer to all his family, even Tina. She kissed him again and walked out of the bedroom, unable to resist the urge to throw the red-head a dirty look. To her relief, one was returned to her, assuring her that Todd may have been healing his relationship with his sister, but she was not extending the courtesy to Blair.


Tina closed the door behind her and pulled a gift bag out of her purse. Todd was impressed. “You actually got this for me. I thought you’d refuse to do it.”


“Well, you’ve known my objection for years. But, I will not stand in the way of true love.” As Todd was looking in the bag, Tina decided to broach another subject with him. “Have you thought about the wedding?”


Absent-mindedly, he answered, “No.”


A wide grin spread on her face. “Well, that’s perfect. I can plan the wedding.” Her gaze was faraway as she said, “I planned such a lovely wedding for Natalie and Brody, but then we learned that John was little Liam’s father and the whole thing collapsed.” She sighed at the memory.


It was only when he heard Tina mention their niece’s non-wedding that he realized what was happening. “Ah, Tina, while that’s a lovely offer, I have actually planned a wedding or four in my time. Three with Blair alone. I really am sure I’ll be able to handle the arrangements.” He looked down at his lap. “Besides, nothing is happening on that front until I’m vertical again.”


“Well, that’s something else I was going to mention tonight, but I’ll let you in on the secret early,” Tina began. “Cord learn that there’s a possibility of BE acquiring something from another company. He’s going to stay here while working on the deal, a tricky one he said because he may be in a bidding war or something with another company, so we’re stay here too. Plus with Sarah doing bookings for the Haunted Star, all the Roberts family will also be staying in Port Charles!” she exclaimed cheerily.


Todd was left speechless, which was a major accomplishment on it’s own. He merely gave his sister an open-mouth stare and wheeled himself out of the room in silence, but not before stuffing the bag Tina had brought him behind his back. Standing there was his wife-to-be and children. “We ready to go?” he asked as Tina huffed her way out of the bedroom and suite.


Blair looked back at Todd after the door slammed shut. “Is everything alright?” Blair asked, chucking a thumb at the departing figure.


Todd sighed as he said sheepishly, “It seems we’re may not be the only ones staying in town for a while. Cord has a deal to work on here and they, Tina, Sarah and him, are also staying.”


“So, I’m going to be running into her everyday?” Blair asked with a disgusted look on her face.


“Well, maybe not everyday,” Todd hedged. He looked back up at her. “Look, I’m going to be busy with this physical therapy. Now, I can still run the Sun but I need a managing editor I can trust. Jessica’s got everything under control down in Llanview, Briggs begged off when I first acquired my Port Charles holdings, so I was wondering if you could come and help me?” He smiled at her, trying to seal the deal. “It’ll be like old times. You and me, running the paper. Jack, if you want to come on board, I’d love that.”


Blair smiled, remembering when she had worked with him years ago as Jack threw him a small smile. Before she could answer, Sam piped up, “What about me, Uncle Todd? You don’t want me working with you?”


Todd looked at his nephew. “Of course I want you to work with me! But, you’re a little young and I don’t want to take away from your playtime. When you’re a little older, you can definitely come and join us.” He looked up at Starr. “In fact, there’s only one person here who doesn’t seem to want to join the family business.” He turned to Starr. “Come on, Shorty. How about it? Even if it’s just a day job?”


Starr thought about it. Considering all the media holdings the Lord family had, she had never even considered entering the family business. But now, she gave a serious thought to it. “Yeah, you know, I think it may be something to at least try out.” With that, the whole Manning family had bright smiles on their faces.


After a minute, though, Todd’s expression dimmed and he heaved out a sigh. “Now, let’s get this stupid dinner over with,” he said as the family departed. Even facing the prospect of a big family dinner, though, didn’t dampen his spirits on the latest Manning venture.
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